By Linda Blackford | Editor
Our senior senator was still mitching in action at the Kentucky Farm Bureau Country Ham Breakfast on Thursday, one of his normal summer stops. Nor did he bother to calm the conspiracists with a video appearance at the pork and politics fest at the Kentucky State Fair.
But if you’re looking for another kind of intrigue, we got the skinny on the annual auction for Kentucky’s best ham. (And for $10 million, it better be good.) It turns out the winning “bid” by Kelly and Joe Craft and Central Bank is less of an auction than a pledge of year-long charitable giving. At least that’s how Central Bank explained it. McKenna Horsley has the details.
Someone else skipped the ham breakfast, so he could talk about how Kentucky’s measles rates continue to rise. Get the shot, Gov. Beshear said.
And much better health news: Kentucky legislators has finally approved regulations for freestanding birthing centers, something that’s been in the works for a decade.
It’s Friday, and we all need it to be.
Kentucky Farm Bureau President Eddie Melton speaks during the KFB Country Ham Breakfast on Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026 at the Kentucky State Fair in Louisville. (Photo by Chris Hughes for Kentucky Lantern)
By McKenna Horsley
Kentucky Republican U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell continues to be absent from public life after he was hospitalized in June.
McConnell did not attend the Kentucky Farm Bureau Country Ham Breakfast at the state fair Thursday morning, an event he usually attends, and often uses to discuss the congressional farm bill.
UK basketball player Malachi Moreno holds the $10 million country ham above the winning bidders, Kelly and Joe Craft at the Kentucky Farm Bureau Country Ham Breakfast on Aug. 27, 2026. UK basketball coach Mark Pope is next to Moreno. Central Bank CEO Luther Deaton is seated next to Miss Kentucky. (Photo by Chris Hughes for Kentucky Lantern)
By McKenna Horsley
In what’s become a tradition for them, Republican megadonors Joe and Kelly Craft joined Central Bank in buying a country ham for $10 million.
Health officials urge Kentuckians to talk to their health care provider about getting the the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine.(Getty Images)
By Sarah Ladd and Liam Niemeyer
Kentucky’s measles outbreak has increased by 10 new cases, according to state data.
In total the state has now confirmed 29 cases of measles this year, the most seen since 1991, according to the Cabinet for Health and Family Services. Of those, 17 were confirmed in August, according to the state’s measles dashboard.
Mary Kathryn DeLodder, the director of the Kentucky Birth Coalition who has long advocated for more birthing options in the state, speaks about freestanding birth centers on Thursday, August 27, 2026. (Kentucky Lantern photo by Sarah Ladd)
By Sarah Ladd
After more than half a decade of advocacy, supporters of freestanding birth centers celebrated Thursday as a legislative committee approved regulations — essentially, the details — for how the centers will now be able to open and run.
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