Kentucky

Sen. Mitch McConnell turned up the political rhetoric at a campaign stop in Oldham County on Wednesday, telling supporters that the country is in danger of being taken over by “radical liberals.”

  Kentuckians will again consider a ballot initiative to amend the state constitution in an effort known as “Marsy’s Law,” in what advocates say will institute specific rights and due process for crime victims. Yet critics of the amendment argue Marsy’s Law fails to live up to its promise for victims, and could create significant legal problems with criminal proceedings.

After Kentucky logged its highest-ever number of coronavirus cases last week, Gov. Andy Beshear says he believes the pandemic is escalating in the state.

There were 4,949 new cases of coronavirus cases in Kentucky last week—more than any other week during the pandemic.

During his Monday afternoon coronavirus briefing, Beshear blamed the rise on people who haven’t been following masking and social distancing requirements during the pandemic.

“When we get casual, when we don’t show urgency, what we see is alarming trends in the virus, more cases and ultimately more people passing away,” he said.

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.