Joe Sonka 😐 Profile Banner
Joe Sonka 😐 Profile
Joe Sonka 😐

@joesonka

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I cover Kentucky state government for Kentucky Public Radio including @LouPublicMedia @wkupublicradio @wkms @889WEKU . I’m over @ other apps now see pinned tweet

Louisville, KY
Joined March 2008
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@joesonka
Joe Sonka 😐
10 months
All my Fun Stuff is over at BlueSky and Threads for the time being, fyi. #kygov
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Joe Sonka 😐
10 months
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@joesonka
Joe Sonka 😐
4 years
Won a Pulitzer and this little girl went pee on the potty. A big night of accomplishments in this household.
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@joesonka
Joe Sonka 😐
7 years
. @KellyannePolls says that 2 Iraqi refugees "were the masterminds behind the Bowling Green massacre." (There was no such massacre.)
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@joesonka
Joe Sonka 😐
4 years
Jaw-dropper from the journalism students at ⁦ @manualredeye ⁩: A Kentucky State Police training slideshow obtained via open records request quotes Hitler, advocates being ‘ruthless killer’
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@joesonka
Joe Sonka 😐
4 years
Sen. Rand Paul, who built his career on resisting big government overreach, hasn’t tweeted in five days.
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@joesonka
Joe Sonka 😐
4 years
They’re in!
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3 years
JUST IN: Kentucky Supreme Court rules unanimously in favor of Gov. Andy Beshear on his COVID-19 emergency regulations. They stay in place.
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@joesonka
Joe Sonka 😐
4 years
Charles Booker received 88,116 votes in Jefferson County, which is the most votes a primary candidate has ever received there. Previously it was Barack Obama in 2008 with 76,162. If Booker wants to run for mayor of Louisville in 2022, that ain't a bad springboard. #kysen
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@joesonka
Joe Sonka 😐
2 years
. @RepJohnYarmuth opposes nomination: "...it’s clear that this is part of some larger deal on judicial nominations between the president & McConnell. I strongly oppose this deal & Meredith being nominated for the position. That last thing we need is another extremist on the bench"
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@joesonka
Joe Sonka 😐
2 years
NEW from me and @adwolfson : President Biden is poised to nominate an anti-abortion Republican attorney for federal judgeship in Kentucky, in apparent deal with Mitch McConnell: via @courierjournal
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@joesonka
Joe Sonka 😐
1 year
Sen. Berg, who lost her transgender son Henry to suicide earlier this year, is still crying at her seat after the SB 150 vote.
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@joesonka
Joe Sonka 😐
4 years
I talked to former KY medical chief & child abuse expert Dr. George Nichols: "Bevin clearly doesn’t know medicine and anatomy. I worked for six consecutive governors as chief medical examiner, and fortunately I didn’t have to report to that asshole.”
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@joesonka
Joe Sonka 😐
4 years
Judge ruled that anyone on the pavement outside the door was in line and could vote.
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@joesonka
Joe Sonka 😐
1 year
People are screaming at the senators from the gallery. "You're all fucking pieces of shit!"
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@joesonka
Joe Sonka 😐
4 years
Can’t believe I really win the Noble Prize, a dream come true.
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@joesonka
Joe Sonka 😐
4 years
When Bevin called me in December he urged me to dig into the cases of his pardons, saying, "if it's done, right, I'm telling you, you could win a Pulitzer Prize.... I don't know if you write well enough or do research well enough to do it, but if somebody had that ability..."
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@joesonka
Joe Sonka 😐
3 years
I guess they really don’t screen out their town hall participants
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@joesonka
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4 years
Koenig added: “I would advise any male politician to eliminate the word hymen from their vocabulary.”
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@joesonka
Joe Sonka 😐
4 years
Jefferson County Attorney Mike O'Connell is dropping the felony charges from the 87 protesters arrested on the attorney general's law this week.
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@joesonka
Joe Sonka 😐
2 years
Keturah Herron won her special election for state House tonight, becoming Kentucky’s first out LGBTQ state representative in history
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@joesonka
Joe Sonka 😐
4 years
Terry Bush, who hanged the effigy of Gov. Beshear, has been fired
@NeilHuffmanGM1
Neil Huffman Chevrolet GMC of Frankfort
4 years
A statement from Neil Huffman Auto Group on May 26, 2020.
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@joesonka
Joe Sonka 😐
4 years
@manualredeye The KSP spokesperson's statement explaining the presentation with three Hitler quotes is.... wow.
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@joesonka
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4 years
The scene right outside the locked doors in Louisville:
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3 years
Trump went after McConnell in his statement today by mentioning his wife’s ties to China. Usually any time a Democrat does this his allies go on the offensive calling them racists. Will McConnell’s allies call Trump racist?
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Joe Sonka 😐
4 years
Just In from Gov. Andy Beshear, reacting time this @manualredeye story: “This is absolutely unacceptable. It is further unacceptable that I just learned about this through social media. We will collect all the facts and take immediate corrective action.”
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@joesonka
Joe Sonka 😐
4 years
Door banging getting really aggressive now:
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@joesonka
Joe Sonka 😐
4 years
Gun-toting anti-shutdown protesters hung Gov. Andy Beshear in effigy and then marched the short distance to his house, chanting for him to come out of his house. Don’t know if he and his wife and young children were home.
@ladd_sarah
Sarah Ladd
4 years
Several people hung @GovAndyBeshear in effigy.
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@joesonka
Joe Sonka 😐
7 years
The Iraqis in question not only didn't commit a massacre or kill anyone in Bowling Green, Ky, prosecutor says they didn't plot attack there.
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@joesonka
Joe Sonka 😐
4 years
Some personal news
@PulitzerPrizes
The Pulitzer Prizes
4 years
Congratulations to @courierjournal . #Pulitzer
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@joesonka
Joe Sonka 😐
4 years
This is how the mother of the victim of Micah Schoettle, who raped her 9-year child, learned that @mattbevin had fully pardoned Schoettle after he had only served one year of his 23-year sentence.
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@joesonka
Joe Sonka 😐
5 years
Sanders ripping AT&T for promising jobs because of the federal tax cut but instead slashing jobs and benefits.
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3 years
Another soul fed to the beast.
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@joesonka
Joe Sonka 😐
4 years
Hey @nytimes , take down this garbage "51% reported" on your graphic, good god.
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@joesonka
Joe Sonka 😐
3 years
The batch of votes that put Biden over the top in Georgia were from the county of the late John Lewis.
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5 years
Broihier declined to get into policy details with me when we talked this week but he does on his website. Pro choice, for raising taxes on wealthy, addressing climate change, legalizing marijuana, raising minimum wage. #kysen
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@joesonka
Joe Sonka 😐
3 years
Good thing coal reliant Kentucky didn’t have any notable power outages
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@joesonka
Joe Sonka 😐
4 years
Kentucky secretary state just estimated that 1.1 million Kentuckians will cast a vote in this primary, smashing Kentucky's all-time primary record of 922,456 votes in 2008. That would be at roughly the same turnout rate of 32%.
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@joesonka
Joe Sonka 😐
2 years
Statement from White House spokesman: "In considering potential District Court nominees, the White House learned that Senator Rand Paul will not return a blue slip on Chad Meredith. Therefore, the White House will not nominate Mr. Meredith.” Biden nomination now off.
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@joesonka
Joe Sonka 😐
4 years
The Jefferson County Clerk's Office tells me they have received 185,811 absentee ballots in the mail as of this morning, and they're still coming in. Counting early and Tuesday in-person voting, that means Jefferson County has shattered its 2008 record of primary voters: 192.630
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@joesonka
Joe Sonka 😐
7 years
Rand Paul: "...the attempted bombing in Bowling Green, where I live." (Prosecutor said there was no attempt or even plot to bomb in America)
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4 years
Clerk spox Nore Ghibaudy says they’re open until 6:30 now due to judge’s injunction.
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@joesonka
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4 years
WE WON'T KNOW WHO WON THE BOOKER-MCGRATH #KYSEN RACE UNTIL JUNE 30 KNOCK IT OFF PIN TWEET
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@joesonka
Joe Sonka 😐
2 years
After confirming WH informed him Meredith would be nominated, Beshear added it his understanding right now that Biden has not yet submitted the nomination, “which I hope means in the very least it's on pause.” “If the President makes that nomination, it is indefensible.”
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@joesonka
Joe Sonka 😐
4 years
Meiners: This is a really controversial pardon. Bevin: Which one? Meiners: The child rapist. Bevin: Which one?
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@joesonka
Joe Sonka 😐
4 years
Yes, my editors left that quote in with a couple of --. 👍
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@joesonka
Joe Sonka 😐
4 years
Well over 600,000 Democrats are going to have cast a vote in this primary. NYT now has a vote total of 50,000 and saying "53% reported" I just can't
@joesonka
Joe Sonka 😐
4 years
Hey @nytimes , take down this garbage "51% reported" on your graphic, good god.
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@joesonka
Joe Sonka 😐
4 years
Be on the lookout
@bestofnextdoor
Best of Nextdoor 🏡
4 years
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@joesonka
Joe Sonka 😐
2 years
Unbelievable
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@joesonka
Joe Sonka 😐
4 years
So.... this poll by @Civiqs commissioned by @DataProgress on the #kysen Democratic primary has it... Booker 44% McGrath 36% Um, wow?
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Joe Sonka 😐
2 years
AP calls it for Charles Booker. Booker will be the first Black statewide Democratic candidate for office in the general election in Kentucky history.
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Joe Sonka 😐
3 years
If Facebook stays down we may be able to boost vaccinations enough to get to herd immunity
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Joe Sonka 😐
6 years
I’m trying to figure out what interest group or industry would benefit if the government bought a gun for 3 million public school teachers.
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6 years
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Joe Sonka 😐
2 years
I’m not going to fill your feed with my replies with this story to the BlueAnon “tHeRe ARe nO VAcaNcIes” crowd, so if you all can take care of that, that would be super.
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@joesonka
Joe Sonka 😐
2 years
😚👌
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8 years
Wins: Bombings.
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2 years
Seamless transition from “Biden would never do this fake news fake news” to “this is masterful strategy from Biden”
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Joe Sonka 😐
4 years
🚨 Metaphor Alert 🚨
@lbblackford
Linda Blackford
4 years
Seems like there might be an issue separating the statue from the base
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@joesonka
Joe Sonka 😐
4 years
Voicemail: I read your article on Yahoo. You're wrong. 700 people (polled)? Everyone I know is voting for Amy McGrath. And Kentuckians don't like Trump, you must work for him.
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Joe Sonka 😐
8 years
You have to click on this and see the look on Rubio's face and sound in his voice.
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Joe Sonka 😐
2 years
Gov. Beshear: "It is indefensible.” Rep. Yarmuth: "Why you would pick him... is beyond me." Booker: "This is some bullshit." Kentucky Democrats are sounding off against President Biden's WH indicating he will nominate an anti-abortion federal judge:
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@joesonka
Joe Sonka 😐
4 years
They’re running.
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Joe Sonka 😐
4 years
I'm on unpaid furlough for the next week and can't reply to messages about work stuff. Subscribe to your local newspaper.
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Joe Sonka 😐
4 years
Here in the Expo Center in Louisville. A whole lot of space and short lines to vote.
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4 years
@Civiqs @DataProgress Favorables in the Civiqs poll among general election voters: #kysen McConnell: 43/48 McGrath : 24/59 Booker: 33/29 Among Democrats: McGrath: 47/27 (!) Booker: 74/4
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@joesonka
Joe Sonka 😐
4 years
Actually, here's 60% in from Fayette County: Biden 73% Trump 25% Remember, Clinton only won there 51-43%. That is.... large.
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1 year
Berg: "This is absolutely willful hate for a small group of people that are the weakest and most vulnerable"
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4 years
Beshear pleading with people to file for unemployment, said there should be no stigma for it. Don’t hear a governor say that every day.
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@joesonka
Joe Sonka 😐
3 years
Folks
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@joesonka
Joe Sonka 😐
4 years
Gov. Beshear’s senior adviser Rocky Adkins stepped out of the governor’s office, picked up a guitar and joined in with the bluegrass band playing in the rotunda.
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@joesonka
Joe Sonka 😐
4 years
I’m not sure how the McGrath campaign will react to this poll, but another Dem official has apparently decided that insulting me in my DMs is the best course of action. 🤷‍♂️
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@joesonka
Joe Sonka 😐
2 years
Email in my inbox from Eric Deters, GOP candidate for governor in Kentucky: "Suing you and your paper You are a joke of a journalist Fuck you and your rag paper and you can quote me" Consider yourself quoted.
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Joe Sonka 😐
2 years
I’m not one to brag, but it’s kind of impressive that I got Kentucky’s governor, both senators, the Senate judiciary chair and the president of the United States to all participate in my fake news hoax
@joesonka
Joe Sonka 😐
2 years
Rand: “This was a secret deal by McConnell” There’s that word again.
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Joe Sonka 😐
4 years
I'll be on the @maddow show in about 15 minutes to talk about the #kygov race, tune in.
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7 years
"Most people don't know that because it didn't get covered."
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Joe Sonka 😐
4 years
Independent pollsters out there.... it is time to come to Kentucky and revisit this #kysen primary. The course of events in the last two weeks is a lot bigger than just electoral politics, but I think we’re all interested in just how much the numbers have changed in this race.
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@joesonka
Joe Sonka 😐
2 years
There are people on social media right now complaining about the type of jacket Gov. Beshear wore this morning for his briefing on potentially 70-100 Kentuckians killed in tornadoes last night.
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@joesonka
Joe Sonka 😐
2 years
UofL just needs to find a new AD with long ties to the athletics department and lots and lots of free time
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Joe Sonka 😐
1 year
Gov. Andy Beshear was just asked what his definition of "woke" is (which I've never heard him use, unlike many here in Frankfort). He said woke is the "new name calling" that people use to describe anyone they disagree with.
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@joesonka
Joe Sonka 😐
4 years
Amy McGrath reaction to @ewarren endorsing @Booker4KY in Dem #kysen primary:
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3 years
U.S. House just voted to decriminalize marijuana and clear felony records of nonviolent marijuana offenses. Yarmuth voted for it and all 5 Republicans in Kentucky delegation voted against it.
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@joesonka
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4 years
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Kentucky black faith and civil rights leaders just put out a statement supporting Gov. Beshear's COVID-19 actions and ripping AG Cameron for opposing them. Noted that Cameron held a press conference with Pastor Jeff Fugate, whose church hosted a blackface sketch.
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@joesonka
Joe Sonka 😐
2 years
Via Zoom, we just had possibly the most awkward committee moment in Kentucky General Assembly history.
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3 years
Gov. Beshear: 331 new cases in Kentucky, lowest day since mid-September.
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@joesonka
Joe Sonka 😐
3 years
Gov. Beshear giving his presser now, says the 60+ deaths announced yesterday and record hospital number would have been the "trigger" for him to enact a statewide mask mandate for Kentucky.... if such power hadn't been stripped from him by the courts Saturday.
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@joesonka
Joe Sonka 😐
3 years
I don't know about you, but the only company I would trust to handle by car's warranty is one that sends me 10 automated calls per day from 10 different spam risk numbers from 10 different cities around Kentucky.
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