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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
As black lung surged, federal delays risked toxic dust buildup in Appalachia
In November 2010, Bruce Maggard called up to the top at an underground coal mine in Perry County to alert them that a car was coming back up the mine shaft. (Jonatahn Palmer / Herald-Leader file photo) PIKEVILLE, Ky. — It isn’t lost on Brandon Crum that the coal dust never really left him or his family. A fourth-generation miner who dug coal in Appalachia since he was a teen, Crum, now a radiologist, sits in Eastern Kentucky exam rooms, studying X-rays and lung scans, diagnos
May 11
Ongoing Coverage: Police use excessive force against autistic man in crisis
This pair of stories demonstrates the power of fast and efficient breaking-news coverage. I uncovered and broke this story and was able to quickly follow up by reporting about the real-world consequences of the officers involved. Police tape is pictured. (Royalty-free Getty Images) FBI asked to intervene after KY police reportedly slap mentally ill man following arrest The Laurel County Sheriff’s Office has asked the FBI to investigate the London Police Department following a
May 2
Ongoing Coverage: Kentucky county with few options says no to becoming regional dump
Not far from where I was based in Eastern Kentucky covering the region for the Lexington Herald-Leader, I followed a local political disagreement that had regional and statewide ramifications. Developers are eyeing the small community of Myra in Pike County, Ky., as the future site of a 450-acre landfill project that would store garbage from surrounding counties in several states. The community is pushing back. (Austin R. Ramsey / Herald-Leader) Eastern KY residents fight pro
Feb 23
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
Ongoing Coverage: GOP top cop targets fish and wildlife board chair appointed by Dem governor
Outdoorsmen and women play a key role in the protection of Kentucky's natural resources, because the state funds its fish and game agency primarily through hunting, fishing and boating licenses. I made it a mission of mine at the Herald-Leader to engage with the little-known agency and give readers an inside look at how it functions. Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Commission Chair Chuck Meade speaks during a May commission meeting. (Screenshot / YouTube, Kentucky Department of Fi
Dec 31, 2025
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
Ongoing Coverage: Environmental groups attack king coal in GOP-controlled state
Cultivating sources inside some of Kentucky's largest consumer advocacy groups and Republican lawmakers in Frankfort, my colleagues and I led coverage of dueling studies about the future of electricity in the commonwealth. TVA’s Paradise Fossil Plant in Western Kentucky, once a major source of coal-fired power, was shut down in 2020 after decades of operation. The plant’s closure marked another chapter in the region’s long transition away from coal. (Bill Estep / Herald-Leade
Dec 16, 2025
Labor Department Strikes Private-Market 401(k) Fund Warning
The Trump administration began clearing the way for alternative assets in workplace 401(k)s by eliminating Biden-era guidance warning plans about the danger off-market funds posed to retirement-saver nest eggs. The US Labor Department said it was rescinding a 2021 supplemental statement that cautioned against private-market valuation risks, illiquidity, and lack of transparency. Biden attached the statement to the strategy Trump’s DOL laid out during his first term, establish
Aug 12, 2025
Biden’s 401(k) Advice Rule Finalized Over Wall Street Objections
The US Labor Department has released a closely watched rule that will expand strict fiduciary standards of conduct to cover more retirement plan advisers, and has already drawn ire from Wall Street. The rule from the DOL’s Employee Benefits Security Administration could equip regulators with more power to oversee Wall Street heavy hitters and require companies to comply with expensive disclosure exemptions. EBSA will release the regulation on its website Tuesday following mon
Apr 23, 2025
Boeing Workers Reject Deal in Longshot Bid to Revive Pension
Boeing Co. workers are doubling down on reviving their legacy pensions, rejecting a labor deal with generous pay packages even as similar union efforts to restore those retirement benefits have failed. Two rounds of negotiations with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers to end a five-week strike have resulted only in offers to boost worker 401(k)s, signaling restoration of pensions axed a decade ago may be more of a bargaining chip than a viable r
Oct 10, 2024
US Overpaid Teamsters Pension Counting Dead Participants
The federal government overpaid one of the nation’s largest union-backed pensions by more than $127 million in bailout cash because it failed to detect dead participants the plan had reported, according to a new watchdog memo. A review by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation’s Office of Inspector General found the government’s private-sector retirement plan insurer didn’t cross-check deceased participants the Central States Pension Plan reported in its application for spe
Nov 2, 2023
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