Free Republic

Tennessee and Kentucky can continue to ban gender-affirming care for young transgender people while legal challenges against those state laws proceed, federal appeals judges ruled. In a 2-1 decision by a 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel late Thursday, the majority wrote that elected lawmakers made “precise cost-benefit decisions” in instituting the bans and “did not trigger any reason for judges to second-guess them.” The laws were passed by Republican majorities in both states. “Prohibiting citizens and legislatures from offering their perspectives on high-stakes medical policies, in which compassion for the child points in both directions, is not something...

A family fled the Airbnb they were renting in rural Kentucky after making several startling observations about the house. The family, which consisted of the renter, Laura Schilling, her mother, and four teenage girls, were visiting Lexington the weekend of April 13 for one of the girls' equine competition. They were from outside the state, so they booked an Airbnb for the duration of their stay. They landed in Kentucky late on Thursday night, and were alarmed to find the front door wide open. In a Facebook post that chronicled her harrowing stay, Schilling wrote: 'I went in knowing that...

Two juveniles were arrested for allegedly vandalizing a Catholic church in Kentucky on April 9. The juveniles are accused of causing damages to St. Theresa of Avila Catholic Church “well over” $10,000, WDRB reported. “Sheriff Phillip Wimpee said his deputies responded to St. Theresa of Avila Catholic Church [on April 9] about a vandalism complaint,” according to the report. “When officers arrived, they saw extensive damage inside and outside the church and the Parish Hall on Rhodelia Road in Payneville, Kentucky.”

The Kentucky Senate sent a bill to Gov. Andy Beshear (D) Thursday that would strip him of his power to appoint people to the U.S. Senate. The bill seeks to hold special elections for Senate vacancies in Kentucky, according to The Associated Press. The legislation’s passage through the state Senate follows the late February announcement that Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), 82, would step down from his position as Senate Minority Leader at the end of the year.

“Nobody” should go to jail for “smoking weed,” Vice President Kamala Harris said Friday, despite having prosecuted nearly 2,000 cases of marijuana possession, cultivation, or sale as California’s attorney general. Harris’s public flip-flop is likely due to the politics of a difficult reelection campaign in which the Biden-Harris ticket is losing to former President Donald Trump in 75 percent of 2024 swing states, polling shows. Harris condemned prosecuting those who smoke flowers while speaking at a roundtable event about cannabis reform with musician Fat Joe and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D).

Republicans in the Kentucky House are proposing a resolution that would create “a sanctuary state” for fossil fuel-powered generators. The resolution, which was assigned to a committee Wednesday, appears to be modeled after the concept of “sanctuary cities,” which are local jurisdictions that have agreed not to comply with federal immigration regulations. The resolution aims to exempt Kentucky from EPA regulations regarding coal- and natural gas-fired power plants. Permitting for such facilities would be done by the state, and Kentucky agencies would be prohibited from collecting fines or penalties for violations of federal regulations related to fossil fuel-fired power plants.

A bill before the Kentucky legislature aims to roll back a reform of firearms law enacted to preserve resources for the benefit of the public. In 2000, on July 14, a Kentucky gun law reform bill became effective. The bill prevented departments from destroying valuable property. It required police departments to send the property to the Kentucky State Police (KSP) to be auctioned to firearm dealers instead of being destroyed.The funds obtained by the auction are used to help make police departments more effective. Since the year 2000, about 20 million dollars of revenue has been generated by the program....

More than a dozen senators — both Republican and Democratic — voted against a bill that would create partisan Kentucky Board of Education elections, but the measure ultimately passed the Senate Tuesday. In a vote of 24-14, the Republican-controlled Senate approved a bill that would transform the appointed board into an elected one. The legislation now goes to the House for consideration. The Senate’s seven Democrats were joined by Republican Sens. Jared Carpenter, David Givens, Jason Howell, Brandon Smith, Johnnie Turner, Whitney Westerfield and Phillip Wheeler in opposing Senate Bill 8. The bill’s sponsor, Senate Republican Whip Mike Wilson, of...

@RepThomasMassie My off-grid home runs on a wrecked Model S Tesla car battery that I repurposed. This is the display I created for it 6 years ago. The upper left graph is a 24 hour history of the net energy into the battery. Today was a great solar day in Kentucky!

Kentucky’s House Bill 500 jeopardizes worker rights, eliminating breaks, employer liability, and longstanding protections, raising concerns about fair labor practices. NEW “House Bill 500 leaves it to the employer to decide if they will provide an unpaid lunch break or force workers to juggle eating while on the job.” “Additionally, at present, employers must provide at least a 10 minute rest period for every 4 hours of work in addition to a scheduled lunch period. House Bill 500 repeals that requirement. The Government Does Not Care About You. You’re Already Working Your Life Away To Still Be Broke Now &...

A state House committee advanced a bill to fully strip the Kentucky governor’s power to fill a U.S. Senate vacancy, just a day after McConnell announced he will step down from his Senate leadership position. A Kentucky House committee advanced a bill Thursday to fully strip the Democratic governor’s power to fill a vacancy in the state’s U.S. Senate seat — one day after Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell announced he will step down from his leadership role this year. The Republican-dominated state legislature had already passed a law in 2021 to shift such power away from the governor. Previously,...

Employees at a Kentucky Dairy Queen were forced to eat ice cream that had been tainted with cleaning solution, sending some of them to the emergency room. A manager at a Campton, Ky. location of the chain called all employees to a mandatory staff meeting Friday night where they forced the staffers to down the chemically contaminated soft serve “whether or not they liked” it, according to the parent of one of the young staffers. “I was livid,” Angel Patton told WKYT of the moment her 17-year-old daughter came home and told her what had happened. “They were told by...

More than 30 workers with the Kentucky Department of Corrections were caught having sex with inmates behind bars during a 16-month period, while others were found smuggling drugs and guns. A shocking investigation by Herald-Leader revealed 59 cases of employee-on-inmate sexual offenses in the past five years, with 35 cases involving possible criminal charges. Most recently, 42-year-old Amanda Kulka was charged with third-degree sodomy earlier this month for allegedly having a sexual relationship with an inmate half her age. The inmate, who has not been identified, was serving a lengthy sentence for burglary, assault and theft, according to the outlet....

Kentucky’s attorney general is investigating a health care company that wired $200,000 to James Biden the same day he wrote a check for that amount to his brother and future president Joe Biden. James Biden worked as a consultant for Americore Holdings LLC, a Florida-based hospital chain that later collapsed. Americore declared bankruptcy in Kentucky in 2022 under federal law amid reports of massive staff departures, poor patient care, and poor equipment at one of the hospitals in the state. It’s not clear whether the probe by the office of Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman, a Republican, extends to members...

Three Kentucky Fried Chickens (KFC) “abruptly shut off” the lights and fled Chicago’s South Side this week, reports Fox 32. One utterly useless alderman is all kinds of butthurt. “A closed business is not only a sore eye, but it’s a gateway for violence because when you see abandonment, it looks as if there is no love, no hope in the community,” Ald. William Hall of the 6th Ward told local news. Alderman Useless added, “It’s something we’re seeing across the city, but nevertheless, [in] neighborhoods, it hits differently.” He continued, “Any job lost is a life lost, in my...

A United Auto Workers (UAW) local union, UAW Local 62, and Ford have reached a deal to avert a strike at a Louisville, Ky., truck plant. The deal comes as the UAW union said nearly 9,000 autoworkers threatened to strike Friday at Ford’s most profitable plant that produces SUVs and pickups. Ford was “pleased to have reached a tentative agreement on a new labor contract,” according to a statement provided Wednesday to The Hill. The UAW said “local issues” related to “skilled trades, ergonomics and health & safety” were addressed with the deal. The union added that contracts with three...

In early 2020, Mandi Fugate Sheffel, 42, opened a tiny bookstore in her hometown of Hazard, in eastern Kentucky. Everyone thought she was crazy. Downtown Hazard was a forbidding place to start any business, much less a bookstore. The coal mines that once supported the area had closed over the past few decades. Many brick buildings from Hazard’s heyday were gone, bequeathing a gap-toothed look to Main Street. The rest were empty or occupied by attorneys and bail bondsmen. What’s more, Fugate Sheffel couldn’t afford a website or employees. She had never run a business before. And she had a...

A Kentucky transgender daycare worker reached a plea deal and avoided jail time after sexually-assaulting a baby while changing her diaper and bragging about it to a colleague. Maria Childers was arrested in February 2023 for inappropriately touching an infant and making inappropriate comments while changing the baby's diaper, reported WPSD Local 6. Investigators had received an anonymous tip that Childers had sexually abused a baby while working at Explore Learning Academy in Paducah in November 2022.

Transgender Daycare Worker Avoids Prison Kentucky transgender daycare worker "Maria Childers" will NOT be going to prison despite pleading guilty to sexually abusing a baby while changing its diaper. He hired a trans activist lawyer, who argued that he would not have access to estrogen, and the court agreed. The court then reduced his bond from $100,000 to $5,000 and released him, downgrading his felony sexual abuse of a minor charge to a misdemeanor and dropping all other abuse charges.ARTICLE

A Kentucky groundhog died on Groundhog Day — just days after predicting an early spring. Major, a nearly 10-year-old rodent meteorologist living at the Second Chances Wildlife Center, peacefully succumbed overnight to heart issues brought on by his age, the center’s staff said. “He was full of amazing energy up until the end. He will forever be in our hearts. It’s a sad day for us at the Center, especially for those who have been with us his whole life,” the refuge announced on Facebook. “We know you are sad too. Hugs to all of our friends. Know that he...