Kentucky

SMITHFIELD, Ky. (AP) — U.S. Sen. Rand Paul promised Saturday to wage a vigorous review into the origins of the coronavirus if Republicans retake the Senate and he lands a committee chairmanship.

Speaking to supporters at a campaign rally, the libertarian-leaning Kentucky Republican denounced what he sees as government overreach in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. He applauded a recent judge’s order that voided the federal mask mandate on planes and trains and in travel hubs.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Louisville mayoral candidate Craig Greenberg had a bounce in his step as he made his way from house to house in search of voters on a cold spring afternoon. But when people recognized him, it wasn’t for reasons he’d anticipated when he announced his run last year.

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear on Monday cited “drafting errors” in vetoing legislation that had been intended to expand the use of state lottery-supported scholarship money.

The Democratic governor said he was supportive of the bill’s original intentions — including expanding scholarship funding for proprietary education under the Kentucky Educational Excellence Scholarship program. The popular state lottery-supported program allows students to earn money, based on academic performance, to help defray college expenses.

MAYFIELD, Ky. (AP) — Sundays at the Bullock home in rural Kentucky were filled with lasting memories: big family dinners, cornhole, basketball and karaoke.

Those gatherings ended the night of Dec. 10, when a massive tornado obliterated their Dawson Springs house, trapping Chris Bullock, 17-year-old son Stevie and miniature poodle Dewey under a crumbled brick wall in the basement. Her husband pulled them from the rubble with minor injuries, but the house where she and her family lived for 26 years was gone.

MAYFIELD, Ky. (AP) — Sundays at the Bullock home in rural Kentucky were filled with lasting memories: big family dinners, cornhole, basketball and karaoke.

Those gatherings ended the night of Dec. 10, when a massive tornado obliterated their Dawson Springs house, trapping Chris Bullock, 17-year-old son Stevie and miniature poodle Dewey under a crumbled brick wall in the basement. Her husband pulled them from the rubble with minor injuries, but the house where she and her family lived for 26 years was gone.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — American whiskey exports, battered by tariffs and the COVID-19 pandemic, started rebounding in 2021, but distillers have more ground to make up to fully recover, an industry group said.

Exports of bourbon, Tennessee whiskey and rye whiskey reached $975 million in 2021, up 15% from the prior year, according to a report issued by the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States. Last year’s total was still down 18% from the record high exports — about $1.2 billion in 2018.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A former Kentucky police officer was found not guilty Thursday on charges he endangered neighbors the night he fired into Breonna Taylor’s apartment during a botched drug raid that resulted in Taylor’s death.

The panel of eight men and four women delivered its verdict for Brett Hankison about three hours after it took the case following closing arguments from prosecution and defense attorneys.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Nearly two years after Breonna Taylor’s shooting death by police, the only Kentucky officer facing criminal charges in the botched raid will stand trial Wednesday for shooting into Taylor’s neighbor’s apartment.

Brett Hankison, now a former officer, fired 10 shots near a side door during the raid, but none hit Taylor. Prosecutors say the bullets endangered Taylor’s neighbors — a couple and their infant child.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Jury selection resumed Tuesday with the first questioning of potential jurors for the trial of a former Kentucky police officer involved in the deadly raid that killed Breonna Taylor.

Prospective jurors in Brett Hankison’s wanton endangerment trial are being questioned individually, so lawyers can determine whether they have any preexisting biases before evidence is presented.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Jury selection in the trial of a former Kentucky police officer involved in the deadly raid that killed Breonna Taylor is scheduled to resume after a week of delays.

The first questioning of prospective jurors in Brett Hankison’s wanton endangerment trial is slated to get underway on Tuesday. It was set to begin last week but was delayed by inclement weather and after Hankison had to have minor surgery.