How This Red State Expanded Voting Access
Many Republican states have restricted voting options, but Kentucky is charting a path that once looked impossible. Can anyone else follow?
Jon Cherry via Getty Images
Election officials chat in the polling area in the Kentucky Center for African American Heritage on Nov. 3, 2020, in Louisville, Kentucky.
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On the afternoon of Jan. 21, a group of public officials gathered in Kentucky’s Capitol in Frankfort for a delicate conversation about changing how the state conducts elections. Masked and spread out in a room typically used for committee hearings, they didn’t have much time.
Kentucky Gov to Relax Virus-Related Capacity Limits on Businesses, Events
“We’re very close to the end of this,” the Democratic governor said.
Starting May 28, Kentucky businesses and events with fewer than 1,000 people will be allowed to operate at 75% capacity, Beshear said. That standard applies to indoor and outdoor gatherings.
Also, any indoor and outdoor events drawing more than 1,000 people will be able to operate at 60% capacity, also starting May 28, the governor said.
The timing is based largely on making it a priority for students to finish the academic year in school while recognizing that COVID-19 “is not done with us,” he said.
Introduction
On the afternoon of January 21, a group of public officials gathered in Kentucky’s Capitol in Frankfort for a delicate conversation about changing how the state conducts elections. Masked and spread out in a room typically used for committee hearings, they didn’t have much time.
There were only 22 days left in the legislative session.
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The group included state legislators, Secretary of State Michael Adams, Republican and Democratic elected county clerks, representatives of the state elections board and (virtually) a staff member for U.S. Sen. Rand Paul. They took turns laying out what the executive director of the state elections board described as a “hodgepodge” of priorities increasing voter access among them that somehow had to evolve into a bill that could pass. Everyone put their wish lists on the table.
Beshear toasts bourbon startup; touts progress against virus
BRUCE SCHREINER, Associated Press
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Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear speaks with reporters following his tour of the UPS Worldport facility in Louisville, Ky., Tuesday, Apr. 27, 2021. UPS is tone of the primary shippers of the COVID-19 vaccine.Timothy D. Easley/AP
Gov. Andy Beshear on Tuesday touted Kentucky s progress toward reaching a post-pandemic normal while celebrating a startup bourbon distillery the kind of event his predecessors savored.
The governor participated in a ribbon cutting for a tasting room where visitors will sample spirits crafted at Log Still Distillery in Nelson County.
The central Kentucky distillery developed by a family with deep roots in the state s bourbon history is the centerpiece of a destination experience called Dant Crossing. It includes a bed and breakfast with plans to open an amphitheater, restaurant, train depot, event center and museum. It also will feature w
Kentucky collected record sales tax revenues somerset-kentucky.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from somerset-kentucky.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.