From Kentucky Public Radio's Tony McVeighKentucky Governor Steve Beshear is applauding a new initiative from the Kentucky Housing Corporation aimed at helping Kentuckians purchase their first home. The deferred mortgage program will provide up to four thousand dollars for down payment and closing costs to first-time buyers who obtain their loan through KHC.“There is something about owning your own home that instills a pride and a sense of confidence in people. And the more people we can get to own their own home, the better citizens they’re going to end up being, the more productive they’ll end up being. It works every time. I mean, people, when they get into a home and they own it, they just do so much better in every other way,” Beshear said.Beshear says first-time homebuyers are also eligible for an eight thousand dollar tax credit provided by the federal stimulus package signed by President Obama in February. The state initiative, called the First Home Advantage Program, opens May 1st and closes November 30th.
Rick Howlett was midday host and the host of LPM's weekly talk show, "In Conversation." He was with LPM from 2001-2023 and held many different titles, including Morning Edition host, Assignment Editor and Interim News Director. He died in August 2023. Read a remembrance of Rick here.