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Government shutdown: A political stalemate with no end in sight
If you are like me, you have questions and concerns about the latest government shutdown. As I said recently, it feels like a political football, something both parties keep kicking back and forth while the country waits for resolution. Federal funding expired at midnight Sept. 30, 2025, when Congress failed to pass spending legislation for
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Is Congress hypocritical?
The American government shutdown impacts about 1.4 million federal workers, with roughly 700,000 furloughed and another 700,000 deemed essential continuing to work without pay. This number does not include the 42 million Americans who rely on SNAP benefits. About 13,000 air traffic controllers and about 50,000 TSA officers are currently working without pay. Once the government shutdown
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Federal Bureau of Prisons ends union contract; CPL-33 vows legal fight
CITIZEN STAFF REPORT The Federal Bureau of Prisons has terminated its collective bargaining agreement with the Council of Prison Locals, a move the Trump administration says will improve working conditions but which union leaders denounce as an attack on employee rights. Bureau Director William K. Marshall III announced Thursday that the contract with CPL-33, which
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Kentucky’s fight against substance abuse
Few challenges have weighed more heavily on Kentucky families and communities than substance abuse. Addiction has touched every county, every community, every school district, and countless homes across the Commonwealth. It tears apart families, burdens our health care and justice systems, and cruelly steals both lives and livelihoods. However, there is hope. Each September we
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County honors former code enforcement officer Paul McCoy for service
BY ROGER SMITH MOUNTAIN CITIZEN INEZ — The Martin County Fiscal Court honored former code enforcement officer Paul McCoy on Thursday. Judge/Executive Lon Lafferty and magistrates presented him with a certificate of appreciation for his service to the county. Lafferty praised McCoy for his wide-ranging contributions. He noted McCoy’s efforts in code enforcement, festival support,
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Martin County still needs Alliance
BY NINA MCCOY In the wake of our most recent brown water event, people are rightly concerned and looking for answers, and possibly someone to blame. You can be assured the water board and Alliance are working with several entities to figure out what happened, and we will continue to report on what happened and
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Working is no guarantee you’ll have health insurance. Just ask Kentucky legislators.
by Jamie Lucke Kentucky Lantern July 23, 2025 FRANKFORT — Kentucky elects 138 people to serve in the state legislature, and 98 of them get their health insurance through the state-sponsored plan for public employees. Kentucky lawmakers also enroll 138 dependents in the state employees’ health plan. I bring this up not because I begrudge
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Opinion: All lawmakers and the governor agreed: SB 181 is necessary. We will make sure it’s clear and effective
BY SEN. LINDSEY TICHENOR Now that Senate Bill 181 is in effect, having passed 137-0 and been signed into law by the Governor in April, lawmakers have received questions about its implementation and overall necessity. The law requires school staff and volunteers to use traceable, district-approved platforms for direct communication with students—tools that parents can
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Opinion: How will the serpent reappear?
If Iran had successfully dropped a nuclear bomb on Israel or New York City, the world would have blamed President Donald Trump. People everywhere would have said, “President Trump could have done something about their nuclear building site but he didn’t.” This is something that will never be said. He and our military leadership certainly
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A conversation with Dr. Steven Stack, Kentucky’s new health cabinet secretary
by Sarah Ladd Kentucky Lantern June 23, 2025 FRANKFORT — Dr. Steven Stack says Kentucky, which already struggles with poor health, is “on the cusp of having a significant backslide” if the federal government cuts programs like Medicaid and SNAP. Stack, who on July 1 will shift roles from the state’s public health commissioner to
