Five Things to Know Today
Two things to watch for:
One to read, one to do
- READ – A new edition of the general newsletter that goes to all ForwardKY email subscribers. Be sure to open and read it for updates about Forward Kentucky itself.
- DO – A new Reader Feedback Survey, which is your chance to weigh in on what we’re doing now and what we’re thinking about doing in 2020. When it hits your inbox, please take a few minutes to fill it out. Thanks!
AG Cameron, in response to two legislators, asks FBI to investigate Bevin pardons
Responding to a request by Sen. Morgan McGarvey and Rep. Chris Harris, attorney general Daniel Cameron asked the FBI to investigate certain Bevin pardons. (Forward Kentucky)
5 big messes that await Beshear at Kentucky’s Justice and Public Safety Cabinet
Gov. Andy Beshear chose Mary Noble, a former deputy chief justice of the Kentucky Supreme Court, to run the Justice and Public Safety Cabinet in his new administration. Noble, 70, who retired from the high court in 2016, has her work cut out for her. (Forward Kentucky)
KY General Assembly kicks off its 2020 session Tuesday. Here’s what to expect.
The 2020 legislative session of the Kentucky General Assembly kicks off Tuesday, the fourth consecutive session with Republicans holding over 60% of the seats in each chamber. What’s new this year is the occupant in the Governor’s Mansion: Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear. (Forward Kentucky)
A second Trump term would be “far worse,” say three historians
A second Trump term portends a far worse outcome than the first one, according to historians Bill Mulligan, Brian Clardy, and Ken Wolf. (Forward Kentucky)
Here are 8 Kentucky education trends to watch in the 2020 legislative budget session
After back-to-back legislative sessions full of school-closing protests and a rise in teacher activism, education is set to again be at the forefront of Kentucky’s 2020 legislative session. Gov. Andy Beshear ran on a public education-focused platform and won with the help of hundreds of campaigning Kentucky educators. Grassroots groups of teacher-activists, while celebrating wins in the opening days of Beshear’s administration, are still active and involved. They’ll be closely watching this year’s session, which begins Tuesday. This is a budget year, so lawmakers are tasked with passing a state budget covering the next two years.
Here are the key education trends and topics to watch for in Kentucky’s 2020 general assembly. (Courier-Journal)
Did you miss any of these?
Featured Content on Forward Kentucky
([new] indicates new since last Forward Five; 🔥 indicates lots of reads)
News
[new] 🔥 The difference between the parties in 3 simple charts. – Charles Gaba made charts of the racial/ethnic/gender makeup of the two parties in the U.S. House, and added a chart of overall U.S. population. Nothing in here that is new – but it’s still striking to SEE the difference. (read)
[new] Bevin’s pardon recipients could face federal prosecution, US attorney says – Former Gov. Matt Bevin’s controversial pardons are raising concerns with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Kentucky’s Western District, which said Tuesday it could seek to bring federal charges — if warranted — against any pardon recipients. (read)
[new] Beshear reverses Labor Cabinet “sickout” finding – Governor Beshear has reversed the finding of the Bevin administration’s Labor Cabinet that teachers broke the law when using “sickouts” to protest the education policies of the Bevin administration. (read)
🔥 The top ten Open Records stories of 2019 – As the year draws to a close, and a new decade dawns, we review the top ten open records / open government stories of 2019. (read)
Beshear vows not to repeat Bevin’s controversial actions when it comes to issuing pardons – Gov. Andy Beshear promised not to repeat some of the actions his predecessor took when issuing 650 pardons and commutations during his final days in office. (read)
🔥 A teacher-activist is running to unseat Kentucky House Speaker David Osborne – After years of leading education activism efforts, Tiffany Dunn is running to unseat House speaker David Osborne, one of Kentucky’s top Republicans. (read)
Commentary
🔥 These bad bills show how state lawmakers waste their time and your tax dollars – Linda Blackford is starting a “Bad Bill Watch,” and she has two bills already filed for KYGA20 that are excellent examples of legislative waste. (read)
🔥 With Ever-Trumpers, it’s not ‘the economy, stupid’ – Heading into next year’s presidential election, some of my progressive Democratic friends still think it’s worthwhile to try to convert Ever-Trumpers. This old union and NAACP-card packing Hubert Humphrey Democrat never shared their evangelical zeal. (read)
🔥 Kentucky loses an open-records champion, Rep. Chris Harris – Chris Harris championed open records and transparency even before he joined the legislature. Amye Bensenhaver shares why he will be missed. (read)
Merry Christmas was once synonymous with drunkenness and debauchery! – Trump (and others) want you to say “Merry Christmas.” But did you know that years ago, Christians tried to get everyone to say “Happy Christmas” instead? (read)
Posts with Most Social Media Shares in Past Fourteen Days
(🔥 indicates post with surge of recent shares)
- Paducah unions raise $10,000 to help brighten Christmas for 100 disadvantaged children (5,000+ shares [!!])
- Kentucky congressman snaps back: ‘Hell will be too good for’ President Donald Trump (1,000+ shares)
- 🔥 A second Trump term would be “far worse,” say three historians (847 shares)
- Another Kentucky-born congressman voted for impeachment (677 shares)
- Beshears will call Governor’s Mansion their full-time home (635 shares)
- Kentucky loses an open-records champion, Rep. Chris Harris (541 shares)
The Forward 5 is published Monday to Friday by Forward Kentucky, an independent media organization focused on progressive news and issues in Kentucky, and is re-posted with permission. You can sign up for the email version of the newsletter on their website.
