Mold Remediation in Lexington, KY

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Click below for more of the Herald-Leader and Kentucky.com’s coverage of Thursday night’s men’s basketball game between Kentucky and Oklahoma in the Southeastern Conference Tournament at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee.

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Where to watch and how to follow Friday’s SEC Tournament men’s basketball game between Mark Pope and the No. 6 seed Kentucky Wildcats (22-10, 10-8 SEC regular season) and Nate Oats and the No. 3 seed Alabama Crimson Tide (24-7, 13-5 SEC regular season):

Game time is around 9:30 p.m. (EDT) at Bridgestone Arena (basketball seating capacity of some 19,395) in Nashville, Tennessee.

Network: SEC Network

Announcers: Play-by-play, Karl Ravech; analysis, Jimmy Dykes; sideline, Molly McGrath

Where to find SEC Network:

Spectrum Cable: Channel 516

DISH Network: Channel 404

DirecTV: Channel 611

UVerse: Channel 607 (1607 HD)

Over the air: WLAP-AM 630, WBUL-FM 98.1

Statewide list of UK radio network affiliates: Click here

UK Sports Network broadcast team: Play-by-play, Tom Leach; analysis, Jack Givens

Satellite radio: XM Channel 190, Sirius Channel 106, Internet Channel 960

Live updates: Join the conversation during the game at Kentucky.com.

Live video: You can live stream the game online from WatchESPN.com or the WatchESPN app, depending on your TV service provider.

Twitter: @johnclayiv; @markcstory; @cdrummond97; @kentuckysports; @heraldleader

Bluesky: @BenRobertsHL; @kentuckysports

Facebook: Photos and links on Kentucky.com and KentuckySports.com pages

The Kentucky roster: Click here

The Alabama roster: Click here

SEC injury reports: Click here

Read about this season’s first Kentucky-Alabama game: Click here

Read about this season’s second Kentucky-Alabama game: Click here

Kentucky-Alabama series history: Click here

The odds: Click here

For comprehensive postgame coverage: Kentucky.com

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Mark Story

February 21, 2025 7:27 AM

This story was originally published March 14, 2025 at 1:37 AM.

A bill once focused on removing regulation around at-home swimming pools was changed to block Lexington and other cities from putting density regulations on short-term rentals made popular by websites such as Airbnb and Vrbo.

Senate Bill 61, originally a bill loosening regulations on home swimming pools, was amended by House Speaker David Osborne, R-Prospect, late Wednesday to restricts cities’ abilities to regulate short-term rentals.

Other bills had been filed that limit local governments’ ability to regulate short-term rentals but those bills were not heard in a legislative committee during the 30-day session. Friday is the last day for legislation to pass prior to the veto period.

The new SB 61 would prohibit a city from including density restrictions including:

The bill would also require local governments to approve an application within 30 days and also says a local government can’t deny a request for a short-term rental unless there is a demonstrated public safety, health and welfare issue.

Lexington, Louisville and Covington have enacted density restrictions on the number of short-term rentals such as Airbnb and Vrbo in neighborhoods after many residents saw their neighborhoods over-run by short-term rentals.

Lexington recently changed its ordinance to allow the Board of Adjustment, which grants conditional use permits for unhosted short-term rentals, to deny a permit if the short-term rental is within 600 feet of another rental or if more than 2% of homes in 1,000 feet are short-term rentals.

If SB 61 passes, those restrictions would be immediately voided, according to the amendment.

Susan Straub, a spokeswoman for Lexington, said the city did not have a comment.

Walt Gaffield, president of the Fayette County Neighborhood Council, said the amendment was an attempt to circumvent public scrutiny.

“An amendment to a swimming pool bill to establish a state mandate over short-term rental regulation with no committee hearings is government in the dark and is unacceptable,” Gaffield said. “The amendment would eliminate all meaningful changes to the original short term rental ordinance and would suggest that the state legislature does not support local governments.”

Covington Mayor Ron Washington said local decisions are best made by locally-elected leaders. Covington spent four years tweaking and changing its short-term rental ordinance that it felt protected property rights and neighborhoods, he said.

“Our intent — and we believe we succeeded — was to retain property owners’ ability to create businesses and make money while also preserving the residential character of our neighborhoods, safeguarding the availability of housing here, and protecting our residents from the negative effects of bad actors who are using these rentals for parties,” Washington said.

Louisville also has density restrictions on the number of Airbnb and Vrbos allowed in a neighborhood.

Similar bills curtailing local governments’ ability to regulate short-term rentals were proposed in 2024 but did not pass.

Airbnb is in a legal battle with many Kentucky cities and local tourism boards over remittance of local hotel taxes to local governments and tourism boards, which are the main beneficiaries of local hotel taxes.

The Kentucky League of Cities and the Kentucky Travel Industry Association sued Airbnb over its failure to remit those taxes in December 2023.

That lawsuit is still pending.

Airbnb has agreements with some cities including Lexington, Louisville and Bowling Green. Airbnb is paying local taxes to those cities. Airbnb has argued remitting those taxes to so many cities and counties is too onerous.

However, some state legislators pointed out during an October Kentucky legislative hearing that Vrbo, a primary competitor of Airbnb, pays all of its local hotel taxes.

This story was originally published March 13, 2025 at 12:14 PM.

Lexington Herald-Leader

706-571-8597

Austin Horn is a politics reporter for the Lexington Herald-Leader. He previously worked for the Frankfort State Journal and National Public Radio. Horn has roots in both Woodford and Martin Counties.

The 66th Clark’s Pump-N-Shop Girls’ Basketball Sweet 16 state tournament wrapped up Saturday night in Rupp Arena.

For the fifth consecutive year, Sacred Heart Academy of Louisville won the championship. The Valkyries defeated George Rogers Clark 65-60 by scoring the final eight points of the game.

Game 13: Semifinals: George Rogers Clark 75, Frederick Douglass 52 | Box score | Recap.

Game 14: Semifinals: Sacred Heart 60, Danville Christian 44 | Box score | Recap.

Game 15: Championship: Sacred Heart 65, George Rogers Clark 60 | Box score | Recap | Slideshow.

Game 9: George Rogers Clark 50, North Laurel 42 | Box score | Recap | Slideshow.

Game 10: Frederick Douglass 61, Taylor County 53 | Box score | Recap | Slideshow.

Game 11: Danville Christian 60, Henderson County 55 | Box score | Recap | Slideshow.

Game 12: Sacred Heart 78, Cooper 61 | Box score | Recap | Slideshow.

Game 5: Sacred Heart 71, Johnson Central 25 | Box score | Recap.

Game 6: Cooper 70, Mercy 45 | Box score | Recap.

Game 7: Henderson County 45, Marshall County 30 | Box score | Recap | Slideshow.

Game 8: Danville Christian 53, Daviess County 40 | Box score | Recap | Slideshow.

Game 1: North Laurel 51, Ashland Blazer 42 | Box score | Recap | Slideshow.

Game 2: Taylor County 53, Knott County Central 35 | Box score | Recap | Slideshow.

Game 3: George Rogers Clark 64, Franklin-Simpson 42 | Box score | Recap | Slideshow.

Game 4: Frederick Douglass 48, Simon Kenton 39 | Box score | Recap | Slideshow.

Bracket: View the tournament pairings and scores

TV, radio: How to follow the state tournament

Sweet 16 predictions: A look at every team, plus @HLpreps’ game-by-game picks

Sweet 16 preview: Sixteen things to watch during the Sweet 16

Rosters: View the lineups for every team

Statistics: View stats leaders for every team

View live, in-game updates on Twitter/X from the Sweet 16.

This story was originally published March 15, 2025 at 10:45 AM.

Opinion articles provide independent perspectives on key community issues, separate from our newsroom reporting.

Op-Ed

Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place where gold is refined. Iron is taken from the earth, and copper is smelt from ore. Man puts an end to darkness and searches every recess for ore in the darkness and the shadow of death…He overturns the mountains at the roots. He cuts out channels in the rocks. And his eye sees every precious thing. He dams up the streams from trickling; what is hidden he brings forth to light. But where can wisdom be found. (Job 28: 1-3,9-12 NKJV)

These words were written approximately 1,500 years before the birth of Christ. But they may be more relevant today than ever. Overturning the mountains is now much easier and dams are more prevalent, which makes the need for wisdom ever more crucial.

Sadly, wisdom cannot be found in the majority within the hallowed halls of the Kentucky Statehouse. Senate Bill 89 which promises to ease regulations only on non-navigable waterways in Kentucky shows an outright lack of common sense.

Senator Scott Madon of Pineville attempted to assuage any fears by saying that it affects only “places that are not really waters but rather are just wet when it rains — are no longer subject to federal permitting. This decision was huge,” he emphasizes by repetition “was a huge win for industries and the private landowners.”

Ask any middle school student if pollution from the ground can affect the creeks and rivers and they can point to a picture of the water cycle on the wall of their science class that shows that “run-off water” is a big part of what ends up in our navigable waterways.

Check out the plastic bags, bottle, and diapers hanging from the branches along rural creeks after the waters recede from a normal spring high water event and then decide how much free rein you want to give the private land-owner.

Ask the people who live in Love Canal if they think it is important to let industry decide what they do on their land. Here is what the headline read in the NYTimes on Aug. 1, 1978:

“NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y.—Twenty-five years after the Hooker Chemical Company stopped using the Love Canal here as an industrial dump, 82 different compounds, 11 of them suspected carcinogens, have been percolating upward through the soil, their drum containers rotting and leaching their contents into the backyards and basements of 100 homes and a public school built on the banks of the canal.”

It is mind-boggling that 30 out of 39 of our Kentucky senators and 69 of our 95 representatives approved this legislation that might provide short term gains for a few but could destroy life-sustaining waterways for decades or centuries to come.

Where is wisdom?

Nina McCoy is the chair of Martin County Concerned Citizens. She lives in Inez.

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Click below to read all of the coverage from Kentucky.com and the Lexington Herald-Leader during the Girls’ Sweet 16 state basketball tournament in Rupp Arena.

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The 66th Clark’s Pump-N-Shop Girls’ Sweet 16 State Basketball Tournament continued with four quarterfinal games Friday in Rupp Arena.

The semifinals and state championship game are on tap for Saturday. Who will capture the title?

Follow along live Saturday as Jared Peck of the Lexington Herald-Leader provides live updates from courtside along with freelance writer Josh Moore.

Scroll down below to read their Twitter updates.

Game 9: George Rogers Clark 50, North Laurel 42 | Box score | Recap | Slideshow.

Game 10: Frederick Douglass 61, Taylor County 53 | Box score | Recap | Slideshow.

Game 11: Danville Christian 60, Henderson County 55 | Box score | Recap | Slideshow.

Game 12: Sacred Heart 78, Cooper 61 | Box score | Recap | Slideshow.

Game 13: Semifinals: George Rogers Clark (27-7) vs. Frederick Douglass (27-7), 11 a.m. | Live stats | Box score to come | Recap to come | Slideshow to come.

Game 14: Semifinals: Danville Christian (27-7) vs. Sacred Heart (33-3), 1:30 p.m. | Live stats | Box score to come | Recap to come | Slideshow to come.

Game 15: Championship: Game 13 winner vs. Game 14 winner, 7:30 p.m.| Live stats | Box score to come | Recap to come | Slideshow to come.

Game 5: Sacred Heart 71, Johnson Central 25 | Box score | Recap.

Game 6: Cooper 70, Mercy 45 | Box score | Recap.

Game 7: Henderson County 45, Marshall County 30 | Box score | Recap | Slideshow.

Game 8: Danville Christian 53, Daviess County 40 | Box score | Recap | Slideshow.

Game 1: North Laurel 51, Ashland Blazer 42 | Box score | Recap | Slideshow.

Game 2: Taylor County 53, Knott County Central 35 | Box score | Recap | Slideshow.

Game 3: George Rogers Clark 64, Franklin-Simpson 42 | Box score | Recap | Slideshow.

Game 4: Frederick Douglass 48, Simon Kenton 39 | Box score | Recap | Slideshow.

Bracket: View the tournament pairings and scores

TV, radio: How to follow the state tournament

Sweet 16 predictions: A look at every team, plus @HLpreps’ game-by-game picks

Sweet 16 preview: Sixteen things to watch during the Sweet 16

Rosters: View the lineups for every team

Statistics: View stats leaders for every team

View live, in-game updates on Twitter/X from the Sweet 16.

This story was originally published March 14, 2025 at 9:10 AM.