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Trump’s new coal agenda will fund KY power plants already eyeing natural gas
A coal train idles near Kentucky Power’s Big Sandy natural gas-fired plant in Eastern Kentucky. Many of the coal-fired power plants slated to receive federal funds under President Donald Trump’s “clean, beautiful coal” plan are actively pursuing natural gas investments. (Austin R. Ramsey / Herald-Leader) PIKEVILLE, Ky. — At least three Kentucky coal-fired power plants actively pursuing natural gas improvements will receive a total $124 million in federal funds under a White H
Jun 6
Anglers want larger bass in Kentucky waterways. State biologists are fighting it
SB 39 would restrict game wardens from enforcing most fishing regulations on private lakes and ponds. (Austin R. Ramsey / Herald-Leader) JOHNSON COUNTY, Ky. — Legislation awaiting a final vote in the Kentucky Senate would strip state game wardens of their ability to enforce most fishing laws on private land and settle a growing controversy between regulators and angler groups who want to stock non-native, hybrid bass. Momentum for the bill, sponsored by Sen. Gary Boswell, R-O
Feb 6
KY environmentalists, GOP lawmakers have shared focus this year: AI data centers
An exterior view of the Kentucky State Capitol building in Frankfort, as seen Feb. 8, 2025. (Tasha Poullard / Herald-Leader) The GOP supermajority in Frankfort and Kentucky’s environmental advocacy groups don’t always see eye-to-eye, but this legislative session, lawmakers and green activists are focused on the same issue: artificial intelligence and the opportunities and risks data centers pose to the commonwealth. Energy- and resource-intensive data centers represent a boon
Jan 14
EKY city to ask Supreme Court to upend the state's restaurant tax system
Hazard city officials plan to ask the Kentucky Supreme Court to consider their legal battle challenging the state’s defunct tier system for local restaurant taxes. (Ryan C. Hermens / Herald-Leader) The Kentucky Court of Appeals has denied a petition for a rehearing from an Eastern Kentucky city attempting to levy a 3% restaurant tax, but the city’s attorneys intend to appeal the ruling on the grounds the amended state law underpinning local taxing authority is unconstitutiona
Dec 19, 2025
Series: An Appalachian water district remains desperate for help
Rural Martin County, Kentucky, remains one of the most underfunded water systems in America, contaminated by a devastated coal slurry spill more than 25 years ago. I used this short series to shine light on efforts underway in the community to clear up the community's water and reputation. The Curtis Crum Reservoir in Martin County, Ky., is seen Oct. 2, 2018. Water is pumped from the Tug Fork River and stored here before being treated and delivered to residents. (Alex Slitz /
Dec 12, 2025
Ongoing Coverage: A rural Kentucky community mourns a man killed in botched raid
About a year before I came on board at the Herald-Leader, police in the sleepy town of London, Kentucky, shot and killed a man they say pointed a gun at him while serving an early morning search warrant. After doggedly pursuing the story, I was able to report that police who showed up that night had the wrong address. Monthly vigils in downtown London, Ky., like the one seen in this Dec. 23, 2025, photo, will continue, organizers say, until the family and friends of Douglas “
Dec 2, 2025
Series: Groundwater Crisis Looms in Louisiana
New Orleans Public Radio coastal reporter Tegan Wendland and I spent months scouring documents and interviewing sources for a five-part investigative series that uncovered decades of overuse, unregulated pumping by industries and agriculture, and scant oversight or action from legislative committees in rural Louisiana. Known For Its Floods, Louisiana Is Running Dangerously Short of Groundwater Louisiana is known for its losing battle against rising seas and increasingly frequ
Mar 19, 2021
Swept up by Police
Analysis of arrests in 15 cities reveals most GeorgeFloyd protesters were charged with misdemeanors and lived within the metro area where they were arrested. Protesters arrested after the May 25 death of George Floyd were a diverse, young group of people who demonstrated close to home and were charged largely with nonviolent crimes, according to a Washington Post review of data on more than 2,600 people detained in 15 cities. The data contradicts suggestions by President Trum
Oct 23, 2020
Crime Rose Unevenly When Stay-At-Home OrdersLifted. The Racial Disparity Is the Widest in Years.
Police found Alani Hutchins, 16, slain in a car in June. A stray bullet hit Michael Goodlow III, 4, in the head on the Fourth of July. Someone shot Victrail Mora, 14, in the back of the head near the steps to his mother’s apartment on Aug. 12. At least 17 children have died violently in St. Louis this year, a tally that has shocked residents and underscored a widening racial crime disparity in that city and others amid the coronavirus pandemic. As the upward trajectory of cri
Oct 9, 2020
At College Health Centers, Students Battle Misdiagnoses and Inaccessible Care
After days of sharp pain shooting up her left abdomen, Rose Wong hobbled from her history class to the student health center at Duke University. A nurse pressed on the 20-year-old’s belly and told her it felt like gas. Wong questioned the diagnosis but said the nurse dismissed her doubts and sent her to the campus pharmacy to pick up Gas-X that afternoon in February 2019. The next morning, Wong doubled over in pain, and a roommate drove her to a nearby emergency room in Durha
Jul 13, 2020
Among More than 400 Arrested During Protests in the District, Most Cases Involve Curfew Violations and Burglary
Since demonstrations against racial inequality and police brutality erupted two weeks ago in the District, more than 400 people have been arrested, most for curfew violations or looting, and city law enforcement officials said they have seen no evidence so far that organized groups came to carry out violence. The most common charge was for violating a curfew that was in place for four days. Many other cases involve minor assault or destruction of property. President Trump has
Jun 16, 2020
Scant Evidence of Antifa Shows How Sweeping the Protests for Racial Justice Have Become
In the two weeks that saw an uprising against racial injustice and police brutality spread from the streets of Minneapolis to cities across America, the specter of violent, left-wing militants invoked by President Trump and a chorus of conservative voices has yet to materialize. Instead, multiracial crowds have appeared in every corner of the United States, as the president sent more than a dozen tweets blaming clashes with police on antifa, the label associated with anti-fas
Jun 13, 2020
TWC Special: Polluted by Power
I had the exciting opportunity to put my video editing skills to task working alongside a team of features videographers at The Weather...
Jun 5, 2020
Out of Sight, Out of Mind: Area Has No Explicit Rent Protections
W hen she and her children were forced to leave their last apartment in Owensboro nearly 10 years ago, she thought there was nowhere else...
Mar 31, 2019
Documents Reveal New Plan to Target Museum
A new plan city leaders say they are considering could result in several notable downtown institutions relocating in the wake of the much-anticipated International Bluegrass Music Center grand opening this fall. Details of that plan revealed to the Messenger-Inquirer this week indicate that the Owensboro Museum of Science and History could be forced to downsize and move from its current location at the former S.W. Anderson Building across the street into space where the blueg
Mar 29, 2018
Patients in Kentucky are Pondering the Affordability of Affordable Care
If there's one thing certain about the future of expanded Medicaid and qualified health plans in Kentucky, it's that nothing is certain. The line between who's for and who's against repealing former President Barack Obama's landmark health care overhaul is more divisive than just politics; it drives to the heart of a question over what role government will play, or even can play, in ensuring health and wellness. Millions of Americans say there's little to no place for g
Jan 17, 2017
Coal Rush: County Bucks U.S. Mining Trends
The story of coal in western Kentucky is an old one that shaped a region and supported its people for decades. Coal rose and fell on the banks of rivers in this region. Cities and towns followed the ebbing tides, too, and by the mid-century, a self-supported economy had formed. Coal was shallow and easy to extract from hillsides and it seemed to last forever. But, as embodied by John Prine's hit song "Paradise," about the fall of a community on the Green River to the east
Aug 20, 2015
Forest Service Eyes Healthier Woodlands
LYON COUNTY, Ky. — Down an old dirt road that skirts around the backwaters of a bay in dense woods near Lake Barkley, Demumbers Creek trickles louder than the chirp of birds and the rustle of squirrels leaping from branches. This time of year, the water runs fast here — and clear. It rushes downhill toward the bay near a small campground across the lake from Kuttawa. It’s calm, quiet, peaceful. This small stream at the northern tip of Land Between the Lakes National Rec
Apr 20, 2015
Children, Volunteers Find Hope in Special Advocate Programs
A long journey for a Paducah girl in and out of foster homes ended with a successful adoption this month. The Court Appointed Special Advocates program in McCracken County played a major role in the smooth transition for a girl whose parents could no longer care for her. At any given time, more than 250 kids receive help from CASA in the Purchase area. This story is of one girl, her new family and the CASA volunteer who helped her find a new home. Meet Miranda McGlone. She’s
Aug 8, 2013
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