With rising inmate populations and crumbling prison infrastructure depleting the state of much-needed funding, it is time to stop treating drug addiction as a crime and start regarding it as the public health issue that it is.

At last week’s city commission meeting Franklin County Schools Superintendent Mark Kopp and Frankfort Independent Schools Superintendent Houston Barber made a plea for a slice of the $3.9 million in surplus the city is looking to reinvest in the community.

On Monday, the superintendents of both local school districts asked the Frankfort City Commission for $1.5 million to upgrade the athletic fields at the three area high schools to synthetic turf. While the debate over whether to finance the project played out on the front page, we couldn’t h…

For one state representative from Eastern Kentucky, legalizing recreational marijuana is an economic issue, not a moral one.

A few downtown merchants were less than enthusiastic with the date change, turnout and marketing for last fall’s 39th annual Candlelight Tradition and voiced their displeasure at Wednesday’s Downtown Frankfort Inc. meeting.

A total of 34 candidates are vying for three local and three state legislative offices and with the Jan. 10 filing deadline for the May primary election in the rearview mirror, now is the perfect time to lay a few general ground rules for what we will and won’t accept in the form of election…

Looking to retire? Don’t do it in Kentucky.

The Taj Mahal of pedways — the Mary E. Sias Pedestrian Walkway, which connects Kentucky State University’s main campus above East Main Street to dormitories and athletic fields to the south — was crowned with its final touch earlier this week, a KSU sign matching the one near the campus entrance. 

The new Republican secretary of state’s effort to curb voter fraud by requiring official photo identification before gaining access to the voting booth would make it more difficult for Kentuckians to vote in elections — particularly for the elderly, minorities and disabled populations.

It’s no accident that Attorney General Daniel Cameron, the first African American elected to the office, is neck-and-neck with Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles in The State Journal’s informal poll asking which of the GOP constitutional officers has the brightest political future in Kentucky.

Once again Franklin County and Western Hills high school seniors and their families will be traveling the 50-mile round trip to Lexington’s Alltech Arena for graduation ceremonies. The Franklin County Schools Board of Education quietly approved the consent agenda, which included a contract w…

Monday marked a major milestone for Kentucky women. It was 100 years ago that the state legislature ratified the 19th Amendment, which eventually led to full voting rights for all women when the ratification to the U.S. Constitution was completed on Aug. 18, 1920.

For the state with the worst animal protection laws in the country for 12 years running, according to annual reports published by the Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF), a particularly gruesome animal cruelty case in Floyd County stresses the need for stiffer legislation.

Editor's note: This story was updated at 9:48 a.m. on Jan. 3 to reflect that Lakeview Park is not operated by the city.

For a newspaper editor who reads thousands of stories over the course of a year, one of the most challenging annual tasks is whittling those stories into a top 10 list.

The holiday season is an appropriate time to take a moment to think of those who are working to keep the peace and help people in need — our community's first responders.

Bill May’s health ultimately forced his hand, ending — or at least suspending — three decades of faithful elected service to his hometown. Frankfort’s mayor, who was diagnosed with cancer in March, chose wisely to focus on his physical well-being rather than the rigors of a 2020 political ca…

Where to educate your children is a personal decision for every parent, but Gov. Andy Beshear, one of Frankfort’s newest residents, is blessed to have a terrific option just a mile from home.

Last week’s news that any graduate of a public or private high school in Franklin County who has good grades will get a free four-year ride at nearby Georgetown College provided some early and unexpected Christmas cheer for local parents of school-age children.

Eight-year-old Virginia O’Hanlon wrote a letter to the editor of New York’s Sun, and the response was printed as an unsigned editorial on Sept. 21, 1897. Its message rings true more than a century later.

Local news is the bedrock of America’s democracy, holding leaders accountable and keeping residents informed about what’s happening in their communities.

Though not what she expected, Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman’s quick ascent in Kentucky politics while visibly pregnant and simultaneously juggling a family has struck a familiar chord with many across the state — ourselves included.

Each year we publish thousands of pages of stories of local, state and national interest, but our annual Christmas Greetings section, which will be included in Friday’s edition and contains letters written to Santa Claus from area youngsters, is one of our favorites.

In case you haven’t noticed, the Wilkinson Boulevard corridor has been quietly undergoing a facelift recently. The new Mayo-Underwood Building at the corner of Mero Street opened two months ago and the pedestrian overpass to Bellepoint is slated to be reconnected soon.

A Kentucky school district sued Juul Labs and other e-cigarette makers last month, alleging the manufacturers harmed its students and the school district by intentionally marketing to kids.

Like thousands of others, Frankfort’s Debra Graner braved Tuesday’s brisk December cold to witness the inauguration of Gov. Andy Beshear. And though she campaigned for him — going door-to-door and making endless phone calls — she wasn’t able to vote for him or anyone else because of a past felony.

Last week’s closure of downtown convenience store Brothers’ Little Mart combined with the shuttering of Pic-Pac earlier this year has helped make portions of Frankfort a food desert, which is defined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as a neighborhood that “lacks healthy food sources.”

Perhaps lost amid Tuesday’s extensive inauguration day coverage was the story about Jennifer Yue Barber, a Frankfort native who was tapped Monday by President Donald Trump to hold the rank of ambassador as a representative of the U.S. on the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.

An open letter to the capital city on the day after the 61st Inauguration of Gov. Andy Beshear and Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman.

Started a little more than two years ago following a Together Frankfort event in response to the racial violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, Focus on Race Relations: Frankfort (FORR) has made and continues to make an impact in our community.

Perhaps it’s fitting that Gov. Matt Bevin had a few words of unsolicited advice for his political archnemesis Gov.-elect Andy Beshear. After all, the two have been barbs in each other’s sides for the last four years, so we really shouldn’t expect it to end now that the votes have been counte…

December, most notably known as the month that ushers in the holiday season, is also National Drunk and Drugged Driving (3D) Prevention Month — serving as a reminder to us all to hand over the keys to a sober driver when overindulging.

Like the majority of the country’s capital cities, Frankfort is stereotypically viewed by many outsiders as a place for big government and crooked politicians. But those of us who call Franklin County home know better, and Tuesday, with all the eyes of the commonwealth upon us for the inaugu…

It is no secret that one of the most crucial keys to success is to show up — which is exactly what students at Western Hills High School did on Statewide High Attendance Day in September. 

We said it was a “no-brainer” back in April after the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet presented its plans for paving and implementing a new traffic pattern on East Main Street at a Franklin County Fiscal Court meeting. In August — despite taking some flak from readers who disagreed — we reit…

Compared to last Thanksgiving, AAA is predicting an increase of about 1.6 million travelers this week, as Americans will be taking to planes, trains and automobiles to officially kick off the holiday season.

As we dive headlong into the upcoming holiday season, it’s easy to get distracted in consumer greed and materialism and forget that the simplistic but profound message of the season is charity and love.

The occasion of last weekend’s Candlelight festivities in Downtown Frankfort reminded us again of the importance of shopping at home.

Rookie City Commissioner Eric Whisman this week raised an intriguing possibility — that there may be millions in untapped tax revenue owed to the city by two privately owned state-leased buildings in Frankfort that, in his opinion, don’t qualify as being tax-exempt but are currently listed as such.

When Franklin County High School administration moved the undefeated football team’s second-round playoff matchup against Louisville Central — a game in which the Flyers had earned home field advantage — to Falling Springs Park in Versailles last week for the safety of the players due to the…

Unplug the vaping devices and stub the cigarette butts. Thursday is the American Cancer Society’s 44th annual Great American Smokeout — a day set aside each year to encourage smokers to kick the habit.

Ironically, it’s the self-proclaimed “Grim Reaper,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell — a man whose political strategy for the past several years has been to shroud House Democrats’ legislative priorities in the Republican-led Senate — who is calling for the country to “learn how to beh…

To eliminate even a shadow of a doubt about the propriety of post-retirement payments to a former executive director, the Frankfort/Franklin County Tourist and Convention Commission should hire an outside law firm to review the arrangement that recently was the subject of a critical state audit.

As journalists it is our job to answer the most fundamental five W’s and H — who, what, when, where, why and how — of each story. Usually, but not always, those questions have clear-cut answers. Other times they are murky.

For today’s kindergartners, being prepared for school is more than just knowing the ABCs and 1, 2, 3s. According to the latest results from the Governor’s Office of Early Childhood, the number of Frankfort Independent Schools kindergartners who are ready for school shot up 36 percentage poin…

It wasn’t long after Franklin County’s 50-32 drumming of Waggener in the first round of the high school football playoffs last Friday night that folks on social media began chattering about the condition of Benny Watkins Field.

Though Gov. Matt Bevin has refused to concede the gubernatorial general election to Democratic challenger Andy Beshear and has requested a recanvass, fellow Republicans U.S. Sen. Rand Paul and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have faced the reality that the unpopular governor’s stint h…

Hope — that is one of many aspirations that the network of volunteers with the nonprofit organization Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of the Bluegrass wants to instill in the children it supports in the family court system.

To say Kelly Everman, executive director of Downtown Frankfort Inc., has left her stamp on the capital city would be an understatement. During her tenure, she has led the charge on numerous projects from legalizing Sunday alcohol sales and organizing events such as the Downtown Summer Concer…

It’s been 100 years since the last Kentuckians who fought in World War I came home. Veterans Day — which is celebrated on Monday — gives us an opportunity to thank those who have served America in our military.