Joe Sonka
Enterprise Statehouse ReporterJoe Sonka is Kentucky Public Radio’s first enterprise statehouse reporter. He joined the team in October 2023.
Joe has covered Kentucky government and politics for nearly two decades. He grew up in Lexington and moved to Louisville in 2011, covering city and state government at LEO Weekly and then Insider Louisville. He became state government reporter for the Courier Journal in 2019 and was a lead reporter for the newspaper's 2020 Pulitzer Prize-winning series on former Gov. Matt Bevin's controversial pardons just before leaving office.
You can email Joe at jsonka@lpm.org and find him at non-Twitter apps such as Threads (@joesonkaky) and BlueSky (@joesonka.bsky.social).
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The Center for Rural Development announced it is not going forward with a land purchase in Somerset, following local officials’ concern it could misuse state funding.
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The state appropriated millions for a new workforce training center in Somerset, but a top county official fears it’s being used to buy land from a connected person at many times its cost from just two years ago.
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Kentucky Democrats are working to take back state House seats they lost to Republicans in Jefferson County in 2022, hitting incumbents for their stance on the state's abortion ban.
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Kentucky Supreme Court candidate Pamela Goodwine increased her already-massive fundraising advantage over her opponent in the past month, with the help of a supportive PAC that received a big check from former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
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Police say an old plane that often transported the governor and other state officials is no longer safe to fly, necessitating the purchase of a new aircraft.
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A Kentucky constitutional amendment to allow public funds to go toward private education is sparking a spending battle between powerful PACs.
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A nonprofit is suing companies involved with the cash payout games proliferating across Kentucky stores in recent years, citing a 226-year-old law that allows third parties to recover residents’ losses from illegal gambling.
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Winchester police seized nearly 40 machines from 11 businesses and charged owners with possessing illegal gambling devices, but a Jefferson County judge enjoined Louisville officials from taking enforcement actions against similar “gray machines.”
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A Kentucky judge found probable cause to move the murder trial of former Sheriff Mickey Stines forward, following the playing of security video showing him repeatedly shooting Judge Kevin Mullins.
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The Jefferson County Teachers Association’s PAC is spending $200,000 on ads for Judge Pamela Goodwine in her Kentucky Supreme Court race, extending her fundraising advantage.