By Linda Blackford | Editor
So we’ve been looking at some old Kentucky traditions this week: tobacco on Thursday and this morning cockfighting, which is still only a misdemeanor crime here. Federal authorities are getting more serious though, as our newest freelancer, the inimitable Bill Estep, writes about today.
In other business, Gov. Beshear has appointed two new people to the University of Kentucky Board of Trustees.
Now that Sen. Mitch McConnell is back, the Farm Bill is slowly moving forward.
And Matt Bevin’s appeal went in his favor.
Happy Friday! Thanks for reading.
A cockfight at a Kentucky pit (Photo courtesy Animal Wellness Action)
By Bill Estep
Federal authorities have charged five people in Kentucky in connection with cockfighting in cases that show the state remains a key player in the illegal activity, according to animal-welfare groups.
A statue of the University of Kentucky’s mascot, a wildcat named “Bowman,” sits on the campus in Lexington. (Kentucky Lantern photo by McKenna Horsley)
By Tom Loftus
Gov. Andy Beshear this week appointed Lexington businessman Joseph Palumbo and retired Circuit Judge Phillip Patton to fill vacancies on the University of Kentucky Board of Trustees.
A farmer harvests soybeans Oct. 7, 2025 near Dike, Iowa. (Photo by Cami Koons/Iowa Capital Dispatch)
By Cami Koons
Republican members of the Senate Agriculture Committee voted Wednesday to advance a farm bill, though Democrats on the committee voted against the package due to continued disagreements on a nutrition section of the bill.
Former Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin smiles at his arraignment in Jefferson County Court. Judge Angela Johnson sentenced him to 60 days in jail for contempt of court. (Pool photo by Matt Stone of the Louisville Courier-Journal)
By Lantern Staff
Former Gov. Matt Bevin will be immediately released from a 60-day jail sentence while the Kentucky Court of Appeals decides whether his incarceration was the proper punishment for his contempt of court charges, the Appeals Court ruled late Wednesday.
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