Brent Yonts, Lawmaker
Former Kentucky lawmaker Brent Yonts, who sponsored mine-safety legislation and led a key House panel during his long legislative career, died Friday after battling a COVID-19 infection. He was 72.
Yonts, a Democrat from Muhlenberg County, was first elected to the Kentucky House in 1996 and represented his western Kentucky district until his defeat during a statewide Republican wave in 2016. The GOP took control of the House in that election, cementing legislative majorities in both chambers.
Yonts was vaccinated against the coronavirus, according to former colleagues. He still contracted the virus, was hospitalized for weeks and eventually was placed on a ventilator.
In a social media post days before his death, his daughter, Ellen Yonts Suetholz, wrote about her father's battle...