Kentucky
Kentucky auditor, cabinet clash over access to child abuse database as new law takes effect • Kentucky Lantern
FRANKFORT — The legislature last year moved responsibility for a watchdog office and child support enforcement from the Beshear administration to Republican officeholders.
Barely out of the gate, one of the transitions is stumbling over a disagreement about access to a child abuse database.
Republican Auditor of Public Accounts Allison Ball on Tuesday sent what she labeled a “demand letter” to Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear and Cabinet for Health and Family Services Secretary Eric Friedlander. In it she says the cabinet’s refusal to allow access to some electronic records is endangering vulnerable children and federal funding. She demands access to the iTWIST database “as clearly mandated by state and federal law.”
The letter also is signed by Jonathan Grate, the new ombudsman.
In 2023, the legislature created the Commonwealth Office of the Ombudsman, an independent office attached to the auditor’s office, effective July 1 of this year. It replaced the Office of the Ombudsman and Administrative Review, previously part of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services (CHFS).
The ombudsman is responsible for investigating complaints about the cabinet and evaluating its performance and compliance with federal and state laws. The cabinet oversees a wide range of health, welfare and child protection programs.
A spokesperson for the cabinet told the Lantern that an older state law precludes the new ombudsman from receiving access to the records in dispute. That law specifies exceptions to confidentiality requirements for reports of child abuse and neglect; the new ombudsman is not one of the exceptions.
“The cabinet supports the auditor’s office desire to have full access to the system, but the current statutes passed by the General Assembly prohibit it. The cabinet supports changing the applicable laws in the next session to provide full access.
“In the meantime, we have been working with the auditor’s office to provide them with the maximum access allowed under the current law, but they have refused,” said Stephanie French, a CHFS spokesperson.
Joy Pidgorodetska Markland, communications director in the auditor’s office, responded that the cabinet’s proposal is unacceptable because it would allow the cabinet to dictate what the ombudsman is “allowed and not allowed to see” and reveal identities of internal whistleblowers.
“In no world is the subject of an investigation allowed to dictate what the investigator can and cannot see,” Markland said in an email. “What is the Cabinet hiding?
In her letter, Ball says the cabinet did not raise objections to the new ombudsman’s access to the records until after the 2024 legislative session ended.
The shifts in responsibilities from CHFS to the auditor and attorney general were enacted in 2023 in Senate Bill 48 which became law with bipartisan support in the Republican-controlled legislature but without Beshear’s signature.
The transfer of child support enforcement and services to the attorney general’s office does not take effect until this time next year but the AG this month assumed responsibility for administrative hearings previously conducted by CHFS.
In a July 1 release, Republican Attorney General Russell Coleman says: “With over $1 billion in arrears, spearheading the Commonwealth’s child support services is a daunting task. Even though the transition is one year away, we are working with our partners around the clock to make sure we get this right. It’s a no-fail mission where vulnerable children and families are counting on us.”
CYNTHIANA, Ky. (WKYT) – WKYT is monitoring an overnight investigation on a highway in Kentucky.
Kentucky Highway 36 West was closed at Poindexter Road for a police investigation in the overnight hours.
It reopened around 5:30 a.m. Monday.
We’re told Kentucky State Police is leading the investigation.
WKYT has reached out to several officials to try to learn more.
This is a developing story.
Copyright 2025 WKYT. All rights reserved.
Kentucky
‘We gave the crowd a game.’ Indiana All-Stars, Kentucky set girls single-game scoring record in 2OT nail-biter
Boys highlights: Indiana All-Stars 105, Kentucky All-Stars 92
Indiana All-Stars boys completed the series sweep against Kentucky on Saturday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
- Indiana Miss Basketball Maya Makalusky lead the All-Stars with 29 points, but Kentucky got finished off the series sweep Saturday night.
INDIANAPOLIS – After the marathon double-overtime battle between the girls Indiana All-Stars and Kentucky ended Saturday night inside Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Hamilton Southeastern’s Maya Makalusky sat near the scorer’s table to decompress.
Exhausted after Indiana’s 106-103 loss to rival Kentucky in the finale of the two-game series’ 49th running, Makalusky didn’t absorb her team’s sweeping defeat as much as the overall experience.
On Friday night at Lexington Catholic High School, the Indiana All-Stars girls lost 84-73 to Kentucky by the series’ largest single-game margin since 2022.
The next evening back in the Hoosier State, Indiana attempted to stave off Kentucky’s first series sweep since 2012 and 10th all-time since 1977.
Following a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Laila Abdurraqib (Lawrence Central/New Mexico) at the end of regulation to tie the score 76-76, it seemed Indiana had the momentum on its side.
Indiana’s 11-4 run to deadlock the game countered Kentucky’s 17-5 run that erased an earlier five-point deficit.
However, two five-minute bonus quarters proved enough time for Kentucky Miss Basketball’s ZaKiyah Johnson (Louisville Sacred Heart/Louisiana State) to secure the sweep.
Johnson tied the score in overtime by sinking 3-of-3 free throws in the final seven seconds after drawing contact on a desperation 3-point heave at the top of the key, and she dropped in eight of her game-high 34 points in the double overtime to lock down the win.
Johnson set a new single-game series record for points scored by besting both Kentucky’s Amiya Jenkins (31 in 2022) and Indiana’s Tiffany Gooden (1994) while establishing a two-game record with 62 points to again beat Gooden’s mark of 55.
Makalusky, the 2025 IndyStar Indiana Miss Basketball honoree, had a team-high 29 points. The Indiana University commit finished with 47 points for both games before fouling out with 27.4 seconds remaining in the final bonus period. She was named the Hoosier Shooting Academy MVP.
“Obviously, we have nothing to hang our heads about,” said Makalusky, who posted a team-high 14 rebounds with two assists and three steals. “I mean, we got double overtime. We played hard, and we should be proud of what we gave.”
What the Indiana and Kentucky All-Stars gave the downtown Indianapolis crowd was a historic show.
Marking the series’ first double-overtime game and third overtime contest in history.
Saturday’s game set a new single-game record for combined points scored at 209, while adding new standards for most combined field goals (72) that broke the record of 68 in 1994. Kentucky’s 106 points were the most scored by the neighboring All-Stars in a single game. The previous high was 101 in 2008 and 2022.
“We gave the crowd a game, and it’s all you could ask for,” Makalusky said. “It’s super exciting, and it’s great to see girls sports having their moment and the amount of support. Obviously, we want to go out winning, but at the end of the day, we have nothing to hand our heads about. The energy was up, and we were ready.”
Indiana led 16-15 after the first quarter and carried a 35-32 lead into halftime. Indiana took a 45-42 advantage in the third quarter on an and-1 layup by Makalusky and were up 53-48 entering the fourth.
In the game’s final five minutes of regulation Kentucky’s run created a whirlwind 15 minutes of tug-of-war with 13 ties and 13 lead changes.
Peyton Bradley (Meade County/Louisville) had 26 points, eight assists, five steals and seven rebounds for Kentucky as one of four players in double figures.
Abdurraqib finished with 11 points, four assists and eight rebounds. Indiana had five players with 10 or more points, including Jaylah Lampley (Lawrence Central/Mississippi State) and Addison Baxter (Columbia City/Butler) with 17 each. Monique Mitchell (South Bend Washington/Akron) had 10, while Brooke Winchester (Warsaw/Ball State) had 11 rebounds and eight points.
Kya Hurt (Lawrence North/Illinois State) dished out a team-high seven assists with eight points and three steals.
“I’m just glad I finally got to play on this team with everybody and enjoy this moment,” Hurt said. “We wanted this one really bad, especially because it went to double overtime. I was excited because we got a chance to play again and try to win the game.”
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