By Linda Blackford | Editor
Can it be Monday already? Apparently so. We must face the week, and to start you off, here are some interesting stories about our corner of the world.
Believe it or not, President Trump’s approval ratings are underwater in Kentucky. With at least one candidate putting some distance between himself and the president, what will the Trump brand mean for Kentucky’s midterm races? Reporter McKenna Horsley takes a look.
More than 50,000 Kentucky children are in kinship care, living with relatives instead of going into foster care. But the funding for the program has been held up for two years. That may now be resolved, writes Sarah Ladd.
Despite midterm redistricting in Republican states, our D.C. bureau reports the GOP hold on the U.S. House of Representatives is looking shakier come November.
And today’s Commentary is by yours truly, taking a larger look on the now controversial idea of Kentucky giving tax incentives to data centers.
Have a great week!
Ralph Alvarado is the GOP candidate for the 6th District Congressional race in Kentucky. (Kentucky Lantern photo by Chris Hughes)
By McKenna Horsley
President Donald Trump may no longer be the silver bullet in Kentucky elections that Republicans once had as voters face pains from an ongoing war in Iran and rising gas and grocery prices.
Michelle Tynes, of Hickory in Graves County, and her grandson, Ashton, are a kinship care family. An estimated 59,000 Kentucky children are being raised by relatives other than their parents. (Photo provided)
By Sarah Ladd
After two years of limbo, the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services has started implementing a 2024 law to help families who step in to raise a minor relative, known as kinship care families.
U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries speaks at the Detroit NAACP Fight For Freedom Fund Dinner on April 26, 2026. Jeffries is in line to become House speaker if Democrats win control of the chamber in November. (Photo by Andrew Roth/Michigan Advance)
By Shauneen Miranda
WASHINGTON — With less than 70 days until midterm elections, Democrats remain favored to regain the majority in the U.S. House.
President Donald Trump’s anemic approval ratings amid the war in Iran, concerns over the economy and a coalitional shift within the party mark some of the largest headwinds facing Republicans heading into November, according to election analysts and political scientists interviewed by States Newsroom.
Kentucky gives away about $9 billion in tax breaks every year. (Getty Images)
COMMENTARY
By Linda Blackford
Earlier this month, House Speaker David Osborne made an interesting comment to the Lexington Herald-Leader about whether Kentucky’s generous tax incentives to data centers were a good idea.
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