Derek Operle
News DirectorA native of western Kentucky, Operle earned his bachelor's degree in integrated strategic communications from the University of Kentucky in 2014. Operle spent five years working for Paxton Media/The Paducah Sun as a reporter and editor. In addition to his work in the news industry, Operle is a passionate movie lover and concertgoer.
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Kentucky’s state mineral, coal, is a rock and its state rock, Kentucky Agate, is a mineral. A bill that would swap the two to be geologically correct advanced out of a House committee Thursday.
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A pair of legislative proposals that aim to lay the groundwork for “Kentucky’s nuclear energy ecosystem” advanced out of a state Senate committee Wednesday.
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The Paducah City Commission approved last week a pledge of $500,000 to Columbia Art House, the group fighting to save the former theater, for the restoration of its deteriorating facade. Those funds are contingent on Columbia Art House raising $1 million by June 30, 2026.
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A new bill introduced in the Kentucky Senate this week would create a group to support the development of nuclear energy in the state.
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Officials with the Environmental Protection Agency and the Kentucky Division for Air Quality led a meeting in far western Kentucky on Tuesday to inform Calvert City residents about long-term health risks caused by chemical emissions in the area.
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Independent pharmacies in Kentucky have been closing by the bunch in recent years. It’s not for lack of people needing prescriptions or choosing to get their medicine at chain stores, though.
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A pair of western Kentucky families have filed a lawsuit against a Calvert City chemical manufacturer in the aftermath of an environmental report that revealed air emissions at the plant created an elevated risk of cancer in the immediate area.
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A Republican lawmaker is withdrawing and refiling a bill that would have added “sexual contact” to Kentucky’s incest statute because of a filing error that struck first cousins from the list of relationships that legally qualify as incest in the state.
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Crowds braved snow and single-digit temperatures to celebrate the legacy of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in far western Kentucky Monday.
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A Fulton Independent School District official confirmed Thursday that the system has asked the FBI to look into $1.1 million dollars in unaccounted for district funds discovered last year.