Southeast
Kentucky appropriation meant to cover local matches for federal grants could spin off huge returns
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — For years, Ballard County has longed to build a riverport to capitalize on its strategic location at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. Landing a federal grant would help launch the project, but there’s one catch — the rural Kentucky county can’t afford its share of the funding.
Kentucky lawmakers are working to overcome those obstacles with a House-passed measure that includes $450 million to cover local funding matches for communities and nonprofits that struggle to scrape together the money to qualify for federal assistance.
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“It’s going to be a game-changer,” said Ballard County Judge-Executive Todd Cooper.
The appropriation has the potential to draw billions of dollars in federal grants into the Bluegrass State, fueling economic development, infrastructure, community revitalization, transportation and other projects that otherwise might never get off the ground.
Kentucky legislator Richard Heath has spearheaded an effort to encourage state communities to learn about requirements for obtaining federal matching funds.
“From the state’s perspective that’s a fantastic return on investment,” said Hannah Conover, executive director of Grant Ready Kentucky, a charitable program that offers technical support to communities and nonprofits struggling with the complexities of submitting federal grant requests.
“There’s an enormous amount of federal funding for a broad array of things,” she added. “But getting access to that federal funding is really hard. And this is going to open the door for folks that previously have been shut out of these opportunities.”
The state GRANT program could unlock federal grants to support coalfield communities struggling from the loss of mining jobs. It could help communities recovering from devastating natural disasters, such as the 2021 tornadoes that hit parts of western Kentucky and 2022 flooding that inundated areas of Appalachia.
The matching funds are part of a much larger appropriations bill. That measure, which taps into Kentucky’s massive budget reserves to make one-time investments, such as paying down state pension liabilities and supporting infrastructure and economic development, won 96-0 House passage last week to advance to the Senate. Republicans have supermajorities in both chambers.
The Kentucky law that created the GRANT program passed with little fanfare in 2023, but the prospect of leveraging state dollars to win much larger federal grants is drawing considerable attention from communities and nonprofits. Lawmakers appropriated $2 million last year to get the program started and gauge grassroots interest by offering enough funding to cover matches for a few projects.
Already, nearly 100 applications totaling more than $102 million in matching fund requests have been submitted to the Department for Local Government, which evaluates requests and awards funding. Those totals are expected to grow significantly if the next round of state funding wins final approval.
Officials are hoping for stepped up efforts statewide to assist communities and nonprofits in requesting federal grants, with the proposed new round of state support looming to cover local matches.
The initiative has drawn strong bipartisan support. Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear says the program has “tremendous potential to help communities across Kentucky secure much-needed federal funding.” Republican Rep. Richard Heath, the lead sponsor of last year’s measure, says it’s a “once-in-a-life opportunity to get some things done that probably would never have gotten done.”
“We’re not looking for murals on walls,” Heath said recently. “We’re not looking for sidewalks. We want projects that are life-changing and game changers.”
Building a riverport would be that kind of project for Ballard County, with the potential to attract business and increase markets for farmers, Cooper said. The county, situated along Kentucky’s westernmost tip, needs more jobs for young adults to halt its steady population decline, he said.
The riverport project is expected to cost $50 million to $60 million. Area officials last year applied for a $9 million federal grant to help build the port at Wickliffe, the county seat 240 miles (386 kilometers) southwest of Louisville. The grant required a 20% local match, Cooper said.
“That was almost $2 million we would have to come up with that we do not have,” Cooper said.
In eastern Kentucky, the nonprofit group Backroads of Appalachia would like a federal grant to open more transitional housing for women in recovery from substance abuse, said Erik Hubbard, the group’s executive director. The group based in Lynch, 158 miles (254 kilometers) southeast of Lexington, hopes state dollars will help secure its match.
“As always, it comes to the match,” Hubbard said. “We could get a lot more funds for our people in our region, but it all comes down to our budget.”
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Southeast
GOP Rep Nancy Mace introduces ‘Death Penalty for Child Rapists Act’
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Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., has introduced a bill to authorize the death penalty as a potential punishment for the sexual abuse of children.
“We have zero mercy for child rapists. Those who prey on our most vulnerable deserve the harshest consequence we can deliver,” Mace said in a statement.
The proposal is aptly called the “Death Penalty for Child Rapists Act.”
Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., announces she will run for South Carolina governor during a press conference at the Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina, on Aug. 4, 2025. (Tracy Glantz/The State/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
“No predator should be allowed to walk away from the most unthinkable crimes against children,” Mace noted.
“This bill is simple. Rape a child and you don’t get a second chance, you get the death penalty. We will never apologize for protecting America’s children,” Mace added.
The bill would put capital punishment on the table as an option to punish those who sexually abuse children.
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Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., attends the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
“INTRODUCING: The Death Penalty for Child Rapists Act to amend Title 18 to authorize the death penalty for aggravated sexual abuse, sexual abuse of a minor and abusive sexual contact offenses against children. It will also amend the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) to authorize the death penalty for the rape of a child,” she said in a post on X.
“We’ve spent months fighting to expose Jeffrey Epstein’s network of powerful predators. We’ve demanded accountability and pushed for transparency. Now we’re making sure anyone who rapes a child faces the ultimate consequence,” she noted.
Mace has served in the U.S. House of Representatives since early 2021.
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She is one of the candidates currently running in the South Carolina Republican gubernatorial primary.
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Southeast
Virginia Democrats talk affordability — and vote to nearly triple their own pay
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The Virginia State Senate and its Democratic majority may have voted to nearly triple their pay if a provision inserted into their final budget survives the House reconciliation process and reaches Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s desk.
The development comes as Spanberger has centered her campaign on “affordability,” with Richmond Democrats echoing that they are working to improve their constituents’ personal finances.
Virginia’s legislature itself was founded as a part-time, gentleman’s chamber, where lawmakers would return to their day jobs when Richmond wasn’t holding session.
Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger signs executive orders. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Proponents of raising the current 1988-established salary of $18,000 for senators and $17,640 for delegates say the structure restricts who can afford to serve as a lawmaker today. Lawmakers also qualify for a $237 per diem, mileage reimbursements, and coverage of office, meeting and other expenses.
Senators’ new salary would be $50,000.
Republicans were quick to criticize the final budget, with the Virginia Senate Minority Caucus saying in a statement that “teachers got a 3% raise, but Democrats give themselves 300%.” The actual increase would be closer to 178%, though one could say the new salary would be 300% of the original.
“The affordability hoax just gets worse and worse,” the caucus said, adding that the chamber’s majority killed a repeal of the car tax — something GOP gubernatorial nominee Winsome Sears ran on — while increasing the state budget by $1 billion overall.
Sen. Mark Obenshain, R-Rockingham, told WVTF it is the “wrong time” to address lawmaker pay.
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“It’s supposed to be affordability for working families across Virginia, not members of the General Assembly,” he said.
Virginia’s legislature — the oldest continuous legislative body in the New World — has been making laws since its inception as the House of Burgesses in Colonial Williamsburg, where Spanberger gave the Democratic Party’s State of the Union response.
In her speech, she claimed President Donald Trump is the one “enriching himself, his family and his friends” and said Republicans are the ones “making your life more expensive.”
“I traveled to every corner of Virginia, and I heard the same pressing concern everywhere: costs are too high. In housing, healthcare, energy, and childcare,” she said.
“Americans deserve to know that their leaders are focused on addressing the problems that keep them up at night.”
“Democrats across the country are laser-focused on affordability — in our nation’s capital and in state capitals and communities across America,” Spanberger said Tuesday.
The pay raise could be moot if the Democrat-controlled House of Delegates does not amend its own budget proposal to include the provision.
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The House’s budget includes $137 million for expanded childcare access, a minimum wage increase to $13.75 in 2027 and $15 in 2029, and a $20 million appropriation for state employees’ and home health care workers’ collective bargaining, according to Washington’s ABC affiliate.
Fox News Digital reached out to the governor, as well as the House and Senate minority leaders, for further comment.
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Southeast
Virginia murder suspect in bus stop stabbing had lengthy criminal history, multiple dropped charges
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A Virginia murder suspect accused of fatally stabbing a woman at a bus stop earlier this week has a lengthy criminal history filled with multiple arrests, but was let back onto the streets nearly every time.
Abdul Jalloh, 32, is charged with the Monday night killing of Stephanie Minter, 41, of Fredericksburg, at a bus stop shelter, the Fairfax County Police Department said.
Minter was found by officers with stab wounds to her upper body and pronounced dead at the scene, police said.
Abdul Jalloh, 32, is accused of killing Stephanie Minter, 41, at a Virginia bus stop. (Fairfax County Police Department; provided)
Jalloh, 32, who was seen on surveillance cameras exiting the bus with Minter at Richmond Highway and Arlington Drive, was arrested the next day.
He was arrested at a liquor store after an employee called 911. At the time, officers arrested him for allegedly shoplifting. Investigators linked him to the murder a day later.
Authorities were still trying to determine a motive for the killing and what led to the deadly stabbing.
A search of online court records revealed Jalloh has more than a dozen arrests in northern Virginia, including on charges of petty larceny and malicious wounding.
In most of the cases, prosecutors dropped the charges, FOX D.C. reported.
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Abdul Jalloh seen on a bus in Virginia. (Fairfax County Police Department)
Laura Birnbaum, the chief of staff for Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano, said Jalloh was known to the district attorney’s office and was “acutely aware of the risk he posed to the community.”
“That is why we convicted the defendant of a 2023 malicious wounding charge, and have since made every effort to hold him accountable each subsequent time that he has come in contact with the criminal justice system, including asking him to be held in custody whenever possible,” Birnbaum said.
“Unfortunately, the defendant in this case also had a history of selecting victims with no fixed address – some of the most vulnerable members of our community,” she added. “In multiple cases, we were unable to move forward with prosecution because victims could not be located or contacted.”
Stephanie Minter, 41, was killed on Monday after getting off of a bus in Virginia. (Provided)
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An obituary for Minter described her as a “happy, jolly” person.
“A beam of light in dark places,” the obituary states.
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