By Linda Blackford | Editor
Good morning! Today, contributor Tom Loftus gives us one of his periodic updates from his travels deep with in our campaign finance and other reporting systems. He does it so you don’t have to. He’s got news from Gov. Beshear’s PAC, from the Democratic Governors Association and from Frankfort lobbyist filings. Very interesting stuff.
In other news, the national leaders of Planned Parenthood talked to reporter Sarah Ladd about the problems they’ve faced with a year-long ban on Medicaid funding, and what they hope to see in state and federal elections in November that might ease the strain.
How many of you have the Merlin app on your phone so you can identify birds by their song (or am I just a big bird geek)? Well, reporter Liam Niemeyer has a story about a cool new project between the Kentucky Natural Lands Trust and the Cornell Ornithology Lab, which produced Merlin.
In Commentary, I spent part of this weekend reading Gov. Beshear’s new book, and I wrote about it. He’s running!
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Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear spoke at a campaign event at the River Place in Des Moines June 7, 2026 in support of Iowa Democratic gubernatorial candidate Rob Sand. (Photo by Robin Opsahl/Iowa Capital Dispatch)
By Tom Loftus
Gov. Andy Beshear chairs the Democratic Governors Association this year and in that role his job is to help elect as many Democratic governors as possible in November.
Outside Planned Parenthood’s Louisville Health Center on Sept. 18, 2025. (Kentucky Lantern photo by Sarah Ladd)
By Sarah Ladd
LOUISVILLE — On the heels of a year-long Medicaid ban, Planned Parenthood officials say they are eyeing the midterms in November, which they believe could be a deciding factor in future funding stability.
Cardinals were recognized as the state bird of Kentucky in 1926. (Getty Images)
By Liam Niemeyer
A land conservation nonprofit in Kentucky is using grant funding to add signs near birding “hotspots” in Eastern Kentucky that people can use to document birds through an app supported by an ornithology lab at Cornell University.
Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear, flanked by Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman and his family, takes in the celebration at his reelection party on Nov. 7, 2023, in Louisville. (Austin Anthony/Kentucky Lantern)
COMMENTARY
By Linda Blackford
If there are one or two of you out there who still have doubts that Gov. Andy Beshear will run for president in 2028, doubt no more. This week, he officially released “Go and Do Likewise: How We Heal a Broken Country,” joining the Presidential Hopeful section of your local bookstore already stocked with choices such as “Young Man in a Hurry: A Journey of Discovery” by Gavin Newsom, “Where We Keep the Light: Stories From a Life of Service” by Josh Shapiro, “Crisis of the Common Good: The Fight for Meaning and Connection in a Broken America,” by Chris Murphy. You get the idea – first you set up a PAC, then write a book with a colon in the title and you’re halfway to New Hampshire.
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