By Linda Blackford | Editor
Good morning!
Remember that protest last year on the Roebling Bridge where journalists and several protesters were arrested? Well, one of the protesters seems to be getting a heavier charge than anticipated, leading his lawyer to call him a political prisoner. Sarah Ladd has the story.
In other unsettling news, states are getting ready for every eventuality in case President Trump and his allies decide to disrupt the midterm elections next month.
And in Commentary, we need to remember that voting is a sacred rite in American life.
Have a great Tuesday, and thanks for reading.
The Roebling Bridge in January 2021 from the Smale Riverfront Park, looking across the Ohio River to Covington. (Photo by Sarah Ladd)
By Sarah Ladd
More than a year after a Northern Kentucky protest at Roebling Street Bridge over federal immigration officials’ arrest of an Ohio cleric, a protester was arrested Monday morning on an upgraded charge.
President Donald Trump gestures as he exits the stage during a midterm election rally at the Choctaw Event Center on Oct. 1, 2026, in Durant, Oklahoma. (Photo by Jessica Tobias/For Oklahoma Voice)
By Jonathan Shorman
When Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin declared in September that Immigration and Customs Enforcement could serve warrants on individuals at polling places this fall, officials in Denver, a liberal city where roughly 14% of residents are foreign-born, quickly sued.
“Every day we find new things to be astonished about but I think that we just want residents to not be afraid to vote because that’s ultimately what the president was after,” Denver Mayor Mike Johnston, a Democrat, said in an interview.
entuckians will got to the polls again on Nov. 3, 2026. (Austin Anthony for The Kentucky Lantern)
COMMENTARY
By Sylvia Lovely
It was an early November day, cold and snowy. My father, Walter, was 85 and recovering from cataract surgery gone bad. He did the things an 85-year-old did – he read his newspaper daily despite an 8th grade education, told WWII stories, and doted on his grandchildren. But there was one more thing he did on that cold, snowy November morning.
Moving slowly with a patch securely over his left eye, he sat down at the dining room table as I arrived.
“Daddy, it’s time to go vote,” I said.
“I don’t think I can this time,” he replied.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Thanks so much for reading Morning Lantern. Did you know our weekend digest is also free? Sign up here. And if you enjoyed today’s edition, please forward to a friend. Increasing our readership helps us cover more news.