People love labels: black, white, Democrat, Republican, Protestant, Catholic, conservative, liberal, Jew, Christian, Muslim.
Labels tell who is similar to us and who is different.
Human conflict — from ancient wars to the terrorism that dominates today’s headlines — has often resulted from people focusing on their differences, rather than their similarities.
For [...]
FRANKFORT --- Gov. Steve Beshear pledged Thursday to continue to work to bring a Harley-Davidson plant to Kentucky, even though it appears one of its manufacturing facilities will likely remain in Pennsylvania
"Until now, we have been encouraged by the possibility of Harley-Davidson coming to" [...] Have you ever wondered where the money goes when Kentuckians choose to pay a little extra for one of those pretty Share the Road license plates?
Some of it goes to pay for the reminder signs you see on roads. And $9,300 of it will soon be used to [...]
LOUISVILLE -- The Public Service Commission’s report on last fall’s wind storm and the winter’s ice storm will make 60 recommendations to utilities, government agencies and electricity customers. The storms cost the state at least a combined $1.2 billion in damages
While [...] 
FRANKFORT -- A three-judge panel of the state Court of Appeals has dismissed an appeal by three major media groups asking for the release of a 1983 statement by indicted road contractor Leonard Lawson in a previous criminal case.
The statement -- [...] I’m worried about the financial state of journalism.
Digital technology has given news papers more readers than ever. Ironically, though, that technology means newspapers no longer are the dominant force in advertising, from where the money to support journalism has always come.
To make matters worse, most newspapers are owned by big [...]
By Ryan Alessi - ralessi@herald-leader.com
LOUISVILLE — Gov. Steve Beshear said Tuesday that a bill allowing video slot machines at Kentucky racetracks would pass the full state Senate if given the chance.
“I’m pretty confident that we will have enough votes to pass the bill if [...] 
FRANKFORT — A state senator has prefiled a bill that would require independent political committees known as 527s to disclose during campaigns how much money they have raised and spent.
A horse industry group that formed a 527 is active in a state [...] 
FRANKFORT –Opposition has emerged to a state lawmaker’s efforts to delete a ban on dueling in the state oath of office.
State Rep. Mike Cherry, D-Princeton, said Tuesday at the first legislative [...] 
FRANKFORT – Attorney General Jack Conway failed to report on a state Executive Branch Ethics Commission form a big investment in a Texas energy company, his chief Democratic opponent in the U.S. Senate race, Lt. Gov. Daniel Mongiardo, said Tuesday.
Conway reported [...] 
By Halimah Abdullah and Lesley Clark | McClatchy Newspapers
WASHINGTON — Supporters of the U.S. embargo against Cuba have contributed $12,000 to U.S. Rep. Ed Whitfield since 2004 as part of a largely successful, multimillion-dollar effort to convince lawmakers to block efforts [...] 
By Beth Musgrave - bmusgrave@herald-leader.com
FRANKFORT — When legislators return to Frankfort in January for a new legislative session, they face a daunting task: how to pay for the state's essential services while revenue continues to decline.
Although official estimates won't be released until next month, initial projections' [...] This is Global Entrepreneurship Week, and it couldn’t come at a better time.
We’re just beginning to climb out of the biggest economic slump since the Great Depression. Bad economic times beg for good ideas, and the only way those ideas can make a difference is when entrepreneurs turn them [...]
At the Kentucky Long-Term Policy Research Center’s conference last month, people talked about how much more economic progress this state could make if cities and their surrounding counties worked together.
Jim Host thinks they’re right — but that they’re thinking too small. That’s no surprise; few Kentuckians think as big as [...]
FRANKFORT — The state’s budget director warned several agencies Friday to plan for a possible six percent spending cut in coming months.
In letters to agencies that have already been slashed over the past 18 months, State Budget Director Mary Lassiter said more cuts may [...] 
Other duties have me tied up this. Next week probably will be the same. And the week after that, I’m taking some time off for the holidays. Don’t know when normality will return.
[...]FRANKFORT -- Governor Steve Beshear is leaving open the possibility of a special legislative session in coming weeks to approve economic incentives for a possible Harley-Davidson plant in Shelbyville.
Harley-Davidson officials said last week that the Shelbyville location is the only one it's considering if [...] 
By Jack Brammer - jbrammer@herald-leader.com
FRANKFORT — An issues group connected to Kentucky’s horse industry began running advertisements Wednesday touting Jodie Haydon, the Democratic candidate in an upcoming special election to fill an open state Senate seat.
Keep Our Jobs in Kentucky Inc., which praises candidates who [...] The Associated Press
FRANKFORT — Democrat Jodie Haydon raised more than twice as much as his GOP opponent for his state Senate race.
Documents filed with the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance show Haydon took in $64,855 while Republican Jimmy Higdon raised $31,655.
The two are running in [...] 
There was a remarkable public forum at the University of Kentucky on Thursday. The moderator began by saying it reminded him of the old song Which Side Are You On?
Florence Reece, a miner’s wife, wrote that song about the economic controversies surrounding coal in Harlan County in the 1930s. Thursday’s [...]
By Halimah Abdullah - habdullah@mcclatchydc.com
WASHINGTON — For U.S. Rep. Ben Chandler, controversial votes against a health care overhaul and for energy policies that could hurt the coal industry are floodlights signaling critics that the once seemingly unbeatable congressman may have an exposed [...] 
FRANKFORT -- A former staffer of Gov. Ernie Fletcher announced Tuesday that he will seek the Republican nomination for the 6th Congressional District seat.
Garland "Andy" Barr, 36, promised a group of supporters at a Lexington hotel on Tuesday that he would bring fiscal conservative values [...] 
The Associated Press
FRANKFORT — Republican Jimmy Higdon has raised more than $31,000 for his state Senate race.
The Lebanon grocer is running in a special election against Democrat Jodie Haydon to replace former state Sen. Dan Kelly who resigned when Gov. Steve Beshear [...] 
By Halimah Abdullah, Bill Estep and Valarie Honeycutt Spears
WASHINGTON — Kentucky lawmakers are at the center of a political feud over the best way to derail interstate prescription pill trafficking, including the pipeline from Florida that plays a key role in [...] It’s astounding when you think about it: Lexington Mall has been dead or dying since before this year’s high school graduates were born.
It’s even more astounding when you realize that the 30-acre site could be one of the hottest pieces of real estate in Lexington if it were redeveloped by [...]
When people in Lexington talk about great high school marching bands, the names Lafayette and Paul Laurence Dunbar always come up.
But as with many things in Kentucky, there is a lot of greatness beyond the big cities, out in the small towns and rural counties that so often define this [...]
Sunday’s column:
This and that as the morphing of the state Senate continues:
Frankfort’s worst-kept secret in recent memory produced its expected conclusion when Gov. Steve Beshear picked former Senate Majority Leader Dan Kelly to fill a vacant seat on the 11th Judicial Circuit bench. Funny, isn’t it, how the months of [...]
The preliminaries of the Kentucky High School Marching Band Championships have concluded, and finalists will gather tonight at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium in Louisville for judges to decide the best bands in the state.
Preliminaries in the five divisions, based on school size, were held earlier today around Louisville.
Here are more [...]
The Kentucky High School Marching Band championships are under way today with perfect weather at Papa John Stadium in Louisville. Here are some photos from morning competition of Tates Creek, Henry Clay, Marshall County and George Rogers Clark High Schools.
Click on each thumbnail to see entire photo:
[...] Kentucky doesn’t just produce writers; it celebrates them.
The biggest annual celebration is Saturday, when about 200 writers — 150 of whom are Kentuckians — will gather at the Frankfort Convention Center for the 28th annual Kentucky Book Fair.
Authors will sit behind long rows of tables so thousands of readers [...]
