Kentucky

The justice system failed Breonna Taylor, says Tamika Palmer, the mother of the emergency room technician whom police shot and killed in her own apartment in March. She says Kentucky's attorney general was not up to the job of achieving justice for Taylor.

Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron says his office determined that two of the three officers who fired their weapons were justified when they fatally shot Breonna Taylor.

Officer Myles Cosgrove and Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly were returning fire and within their rights to defend themselves, according to Cameron, who spoke in Frankfort Wednesday afternoon at the Kentucky History Center shortly after a grand jury announced it was charging only one of the officers involved in Taylor’s death.

The grand jury indicted former Louisville Metro Police officer Brett Hankison on three counts of wanton endangerment, all connected to Hankison firing his gun and endangering Taylor’s neighbors. None of the counts are for firing into Taylor’s apartment, or directly linked to her death.

Greg Fischer, the mayor of Louisville, Ky., said Tuesday he has declared a state of emergency for the city "due to the potential for civil unrest."

Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron is poised to announce whether his office will bring charges against the police officers who fatally shot 26-year-old Breonna Taylor during a botched narcotics raid at her home on March 13.

The mayor reiterated he has no insight about when Cameron's decision will be announced, but he said the city must be prepared.

Kentucky’s local election officials have begun submitting plans for how they will conduct in-person voting during the upcoming General Election, but only plans from 26 of the state’s 120 counties have been approved so far.

Amid the coronavirus pandemic, Gov. Andy Beshear and Secretary of State Michael Adams are allowing anyone who wants to cast ballots by mail to do so and no-excuse early voting will be available in every county starting Oct. 13.

But for most counties, it’s still unclear how many in-person polling locations will be available in each county, or where they’ll be.

The State Board of Elections approved plans from the first batch of counties on Tuesday, most of them small and medium-sized counties.

Updated at 2:53 p.m. ET

The city of Louisville, Ky., announced a $12 million settlement Tuesday in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of Breonna Taylor.

The settlement also includes a series of police reforms to be adopted by the Louisville Metro Police Department, including establishing a housing incentive program to encourage officers to live in low-income neighborhoods within the city.

Other changes to police tactics include creating a clearer command structure when executing warrants at multiple locations.

Kentucky has now eclipsed 1,000 deaths since the coronavirus outbreak began six months ago.

Governor Andy Beshear called it a tough and unfortunate milestone in announcing on Wednesday that 1,004 Kentuckians have now died from COVID-19 since March.

“They’re one of us, and no matter how old they were, they deserved time," Beshear said. "No matter what other complicating health factors they had, this played a part in it, and we owe it to them to work hard to limit the future casualties we have.”

Much of the country is facing a long, painful recovery from the coronavirus recession. But some communities are getting a head start.

Owensboro, Ky., has already recovered most of the jobs it lost this spring, even as the rest of the country is experiencing a painfully slow improvement in employment.

Updated 5:03 p.m. ET

The Kentucky Derby, usually the first weekend in May, was postponed this year until Saturday due to the coronavirus pandemic. There aren't any spectators in the stands for this year's race, which is taking place just after Louisville marks 100 consecutive days of protests against racism and police violence.

Rupp Arena is named for Adoph Rupp, the famous University of Kentucky basketball coach whose sustained success in the mid-20th century turned the program into the powerhouse it remains today. The arena has borne Rupp's name since it opened in 1976, just a few years after his retirement.

But now at U.K., a list of demands from the school's African-American and Africana Studies faculty has brought new life to an old debate about the name of the school's basketball arena.

A Kentucky man accused of breaking Canada's coronavirus rules — twice — could be forced to pay a $569,000 fine ($750,000 Canadian), spend up to six months in prison, or both.

John Pennington of Walton, Ky., was initially fined $910 ($1,200 Canadian) on June 25 after an employee at a Banff hotel where he was staying suspected he was violating Alberta's coronavirus regulations, Royal Canadian Mounted Police Cpl. Tammy Keibel told NPR.