By Sarah Ladd | Health and policy reporter
We have a full newsletter for you this morning.
The attorney for former London Mayor Randall Weddle says that in the spring of 2023 the chief fundraiser for Gov. Andy Beshear’s reelection campaign “destroyed vital evidence” in a pending criminal case against Weddle for making excess campaign contributions to Beshear. Tom Loftus has that story.
Deborah Yetter brings us the story of a man’s years-long effort to preserve and restore what’s left of a Native American school established for members of the Choctaw Nation in Kentucky in the early 1800s.
McKenna Horsley has more news from the University of Kentucky as a law professor is suing to prevent a federal judge from becoming the next dean of the UK College of Law. Sarah Ladd reports that Gov. Andy Beshear is expanding his pre-K pilot programs, making a total of four pilots now.
Thank you for reading the Kentucky Lantern.
London Mayor Randall Weddle exits the courtroom at the Laurel County Judicial Center in London, Kentucky on April 15, 2026. (Morgan Hornsby/Kentucky Lantern)
By Tom Loftus
The attorney for former London Mayor Randall Weddle says that in the spring of 2023 the chief fundraiser for Gov. Andy Beshear’s reelection campaign “destroyed vital evidence” in a pending criminal case against Weddle for making excess campaign contributions to Beshear.
In a memorandum filed earlier this month in preparation for the hearing, Weddle’s attorney, Guthrie True, of Frankfort, said that information he received from the prosecution during the pre-trial “discovery” process shows “that the Attorney General’s star witness — who solicited the contributions at issue — has destroyed vital evidence.”
Dr. William “Chip” Richardson examines the front of the sole remaining building of the Choctaw Academy, a school for Native Americans, located on a farm he owns in Scott County, Kentucky. (Deborah Yetter/Kentucky Lantern)
By Deborah Yetter
Shopping for a farm in Scott County, Dr. William “Chip” Richardson, a Georgetown ophthalmologist, found one with a feature that grabbed his attention.
“There was this really old building,” said Richardson, who discovered that the stone structure was all that remained of a Native American school established for members of the Choctaw Nation in Kentucky in the early 1800s.
Now he’s immersed in a years-long effort to restore and preserve it.
A sign on the University of Kentucky campus says “Shared Governance” outside of the College of Law in September 2025. (McKenna Horsley/Kentucky Lantern)
By McKenna Horsley
A University of Kentucky law professor has filed a federal lawsuit to prevent a federal judge from becoming the next dean of the UK College of Law.
Professor Ramsi Woodcock filed the lawsuit Monday in the U.S. Eastern Kentucky District Court against the incoming dean, Judge Gregory Van Tatenhove, UK President Eli Capilouto, Provost Robert DiPaola and the university.
UK announced Van Tatenhove, who was appointed to the bench by Republican President George W. Bush, as the next dean of the college earlier this year, but the choice has been met with criticism.
Capital Day School students perform songs at Kentucky Youth Advocates Children’s Advocacy Day in the Capitol Rotunda. March 5, 2025. (Sarah Ladd/Kentucky Lantern)
By Sarah Ladd
Gov. Andy Beshear is expanding his Pre-K for All pilot program to Franklin County Schools and to Glasgow Independent Schools in Barron County, he announced Tuesday.
This comes more than two months after he announced he was launching Pre-K for all pilot programs in Robertson and Rockcastle Counties via executive order. Between all four programs, Beshear said about 3,000 students will be enrolled.
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