Local restaurants and shops that rely on state workers for a portion of their income weren’t the only ones that took a financial hit when the coronavirus pandemic forced many government employees to work remotely. The city’s occupational tax revenue also plunged.

Usually athletes are hailed for their prowess during competition. However, this past summer U.S. Olympic gymnast Simone Biles and tennis star Naomi Osaka captured the spotlight not for their performances, but rather for admitting their struggles with mental health. And they aren’t alone.

There was welcome news from the Franklin County Humane Society earlier this week. The organization, which marks its 76th anniversary this month, announced that it will break ground for the new animal shelter on Carpenter Farm this weekend. A ceremony is planned for 2 p.m. Sunday at the futur…

On Sept. 27 the city commission unanimously voted to lease the former Frankfort Plant Board location on West Second Street to Yes Arts, a program that started in 2016 as a partnership with the Franklin County Drug Court and expanded two years later to include youth art classes, camps and wor…

Lately The State Journal has dedicated a lot of time and space in this newspaper to coverage of the issues currently plaguing Kentucky State University. This change may have some regular readers wondering why we have chosen to devote so much of our energy and resources to coverage of the sch…

Including this year’s Frankfort High School boys soccer team, only two public schools have ever reached the All “A” Classic state tournament championship game in the event’s history.

It has been nearly 16 months since an effigy of Gov. Andy Beshear was suspended from a tree on the Capitol grounds and demonstrators — some of whom were armed — stormed past security signs to the front door of the Governor’s Mansion following a Patriot Day/Second Amendment rights rally-gone-…

Having long been advocates of public art count us among those who are glad to see a new mural is in the process of being painted on the side of the Broadway Clay building in downtown Frankfort.

In case you missed it, on Tuesday we ran a story about an online business being run by a couple who moved to Kentucky from Roseville, California, two years ago (“Couple from California finds home, success in Frankfort”).

It’s a question that gets tossed around quite a bit by armchair quarterbacks — who is the greatest local high school football player?

With the coronavirus pandemic entering its 18th month, most of us know at least one person who has succumbed to the virus. For many local residents that person is late former Franklin County Fiscal Court 3rd District Magistrate Don Sturgeon, who passed away from COVID-19 in mid-December of 2020.

In a landmark Kentucky Supreme Court decision two weeks ago the state’s highest court upheld laws passed by the legislature last winter that took away the governor’s pandemic policy-making power and put the proverbial ball in the hands of state lawmakers, who will convene Tuesday, to strateg…

Despite what the stat books reveal, the Franklin County High School football team wasn’t running up the score on its crosstown rival, Western Hills, when it was leading 55-0 on Aug. 27 and Jon Jon Griffin scored from three yards out with about a minute left in the game. The Flyers weren’t sh…

Perhaps it’s because Frankfort is the heart of state government that we have grown accustomed to politicians being tight-lipped and evasive when it comes to questions they don’t want to answer. And while those tactics may work in politics, we expect better from our local hospital — especiall…

Who would have suspected that when the sun rose over New York City shortly after 6:30 a.m. on Sept. 11, 2001, that it would be last the time the skyline included the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center?

Cheers are in order for Buffalo Trace Distillery and famed tour guide Freddie Johnson — the face of Freddie’s Old Fashioned Soda line, which is produced at the distillery. They have teamed up and are donating a portion of the proceeds from soda sales to an historical restoration project curr…

During an escalation in coronavirus cases, which has landed 115 of the state’s 120 counties in the red zone with an average of more than 25 coronavirus cases per 100,000 population reported daily over the past seven days, Team Kentucky — a term that was coined by Gov. Andy Beshear during the…

When it comes to Frankfort’s past perhaps no one is more knowledgeable than Russ Hatter, who has been city historian at the Capital City Museum for the past eight years and served as assistant city curator for 11 years prior to that, which is why we are saddened to hear the news that Hatter …

With all the talk of the coronavirus, mask mandates and the superintendent’s annual evaluation, one agenda item that didn’t get much press from last week’s Franklin County Schools Board of Education meeting was a Frankfort Plant Board donation of $12,000 that will be used to fund water bottl…

Unlike Frankfort Independent Schools and Scott County Schools, which are requiring students and staff to wear masks, Franklin County Schools — following in the footsteps of several other neighboring districts — announced Monday night that facial coverings are recommended to be worn while in …

Oftentimes, the work of Frankfort’s Architectural Review Board (ARB), which aims to protect neighborhoods in the city’s three historic districts, goes unnoticed. But, the body has made three recent unanimous decisions deserving of our commendation.

There’s much to dislike on both sides of the increasingly shrill debate over so-called Critical Race Theory, and we’re saddened to see Kentucky become a battleground of a national culture war flamed by opportunistic politicians in search of votes from a polarized electorate.

Editor's note: The editorial was updated on July 29 to correct an error. Former interim President Aaron Thompson was interviewed as a candidate for the permanent position in 2017 but was not among the finalists for the job.

Looking for something new to visit in Frankfort this weekend? The Capital City Museum officially reopens its doors to the public on Saturday following an extensive renovation project that spanned 12 months.

With the recent resignations of all three city-appointed board members in the past two months, the only remaining members of the six-person Kentucky Capital Development Corp. (KCDC) board are county appointees.

How do you envision the future of Lakeview Park? That is the question local officials are posing to the public.

With the recent adoption of several cost-saving measures, it seems the only thing Franklin County Schools families will have to provide for the upcoming school year is the students.

Could the lives of two Franklin County residents been saved had they been wearing helmets while riding a motorcycle on Cardwell Lane early Wednesday morning? We may not know that answer for a few more weeks when toxicology and autopsy results come back, but there is evidence that wearing hel…

The nominations are in and the official ballots are set for Frankfort’s Faves, the premier annual people’s choice awards contest for bragging rights in Franklin County, brought to you by The State Journal.

Frankfort Mayor Layne Wilkerson got a step closer to seeing one of his campaign goals, the Remote Worker Initiative, come to fruition Tuesday with the announcement of a program that will train city residents to become data analysts.

On Sunday, Americans will celebrate the 245th anniversary of our country’s independence. For us, Fourth of July fireworks signify our freedom and independence, but for our pets the sudden, loud noises and flashes of light can create anxiety and fearfulness.

Need an incentive to encourage your child to read over summer break? The Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives, Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority and KY Saves 529 is offering four $1,000 prizes to be put toward a college savings account through its “Go Wild! College Sav…

With the coronavirus pandemic not quite in the rearview mirror, many folks aren’t ready to venture too far from Frankfort this summer. Whether you are planning to skip a trip to a vacation destination or are just looking for ideas close to home, The State Journal’s staycation guide has you covered.

We have many questions for the Frankfort City Commission regarding the city manager hiring process, but the most pressing is why the first candidate who was offered the position was offered a $10,000 higher starting salary than the second candidate.

The only news better than students returning to the classroom is knowing that one expense families won’t have to cough up is the cost of school supplies.

Editor's note: This story was updated at 10:50 a.m. on June 11 to include Josephine Sculpture Park and Focus On Race Relations Frankfort as organizers.

Following 15 months filled with isolation, the city and downtown businesses are hoping residents and visitors are ready to get out and mingle this summer in the entertainment destination center (EDC) called the MIX District.

Known usually for the politicians who pass through a few months each year, Frankfort will now be recognized as the hometown of Wan’Dale Robinson, Kentucky’s Mr. Football 2018, thanks to two signs that will greet visitors to the capital city.

Franklin County Magistrate Michael Mueller’s recent call for more communication between city and county elected leaders on shared functions like economic development was music to our ears.

Frankfort’s search for a new city manager has had more twists and turns than an amusement park roller coaster ride. One moment it seems as though the city commission is making progress in its search for a new leader and the next moment it is doing a loop-de-loop and is right back where it started.

It’s time to celebrate area high school graduates, and once again this year Whitaker Bank and The State Journal are partnering to spotlight the Class of 2021 in a special Virtual Graduation.

The Franklin County Humane Society has asked the fiscal court for $200,000 in additional funding for a new animal shelter, and as county leaders work on the fiscal 2021-22 budget in the coming weeks, we believe they should pony up the money.

“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently,” claims noted American investor, business tycoon and philanthropist Warren Buffett, whose net worth of more than $100.6 billion as of last month makes him the seventh-…

It's that time of the year again. The State Journal will launch its annual Frankfort’s Faves readers choice awards on Monday with a new twist. The community will nominate the candidates to be included on this summer's voting ballot in each of more than 100 categories.

It should come as no surprise that two counties consistently among the top 10 of the state’s 120 counties for voter turnout percentage also have another statistic to brag about. Neighboring Woodford County and Franklin County are neck-and-neck in the race to fully vaccinate residents against…

Sometimes in life we all need a do-over. And that’s exactly what the Franklin County Board of Education agreed to give 223 students enrolled this year who showed interest in using 2021-22 as a supplemental school year.

From driving their tractors to school to planting student-grown flowers and plants on St. Clair Street in downtown Frankfort, high school students in the Franklin County and Western Hills FFA programs were out in force Friday to raise awareness of the importance of agriculture in our community.

Hoping to reach pockets of the population that have yet to be inoculated against the coronavirus, the Franklin County Health Department announced this week that it is teaming up with community partners to offer four walk-up vaccination clinics next month.

The ongoing debate over whether to allow backyard chickens in the City of Frankfort is the cluck of the town, with advocates and opponents divided on the issue. We don't have a strong opinion either way.