Views Archives

Kentucky legislature excluded public from all but the most carefully orchestrated ‘debate’

by Amye Bensenhaver
April 5, 2023

The legacy of the 2023 Regular Session of the Kentucky General Assembly can be summarized in a single word: disenfranchisement, writes Amye Bensenhaver, retired Kentucky assistant attorney general and co-director of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition.

Child care — the workforce behind the workforce — is in crisis in Kentucky

by Vanessa Gallman
March 27, 2023

The state needs a comprehensive refashioning of all early-childhood education — including what’s offered in schools — into a more seamless system, argue children’s advocates.

Al Cross: Kentucky legislature overdoes it trying to trip up governor

by Al Cross
March 23, 2023

Veteran state legislators aren’t comfortable with what should be common legislative process, observes columnist Al Cross.

Lincoln was no favorite son in his native Kentucky

by Berry Craig
February 10, 2023

When he won the White House in 1860, Lincoln lost every county and failed to tally a single vote in 36 of the state’s 110 counties.

Legislative session is a battleground in governor’s race

by Al Cross
February 9, 2023

Kentucky lawmakers can pass legislation that the incumbent would be embarrassed to sign or pay a political price to veto, observes columnist Al Cross.

One month of gratitude down and 11 more to go

by Jennifer P. Brown
January 30, 2023

After a decade of journaling about the world around her, Hoptown Chronicle editor Jennifer P. Brown decided to flip the focus.

Technological failures and flops challenge users of all ages

by Constance Alexander
January 24, 2023

From TV remotes to cellphones and laptops, technology evolves at a rapid pace, columnist Constance Alexander observes.

Will Kentucky legislature end a patient’s right to one free copy of medical records?

by Amye Bensenhaver
January 17, 2023

House Health Services chair Kim Moser’s HB 51 would allow providers to charge for copies to reduce health care costs.

How the distortion of Martin Luther King Jr.‘s words enables more, not less, racial division within American society

by Hajar Yazdiha
January 16, 2023

As scholars, civil rights activists and King’s own children have long pointed out, uses of King’s words are too often attempts to weaponize his memory against the multicultural democracy of which King could only dream.

Dinner and a book swap … also known as Saturday night in Hoptown

by Jennifer P. Brown
January 16, 2023

The first book swap at The Corner Coffeehouse attracted dozens of book-lovers.

Kentucky politicians of both parties patting themselves on the back for state surplus

by Jamie Lucke
January 9, 2023

No one in Frankfort is giving proper credit for the state surplus, which is the massive infusion of pandemic relief money, observes journalist Jamie Lucke.

McConnell, ever calm, takes on political chaos and its main avatar, Trump

by Al Cross
January 6, 2023

Mitch McConnell’s new mission, in likely his last term, seems to be saving the Republican Party from Trump, observes columnist Al Cross.