Author

Liam Niemeyer

Liam Niemeyer

Liam covers government and policy in Kentucky and its impacts throughout the Commonwealth for the Kentucky Lantern. He most recently spent four years reporting award-winning stories for WKMS Public Radio in Murray.

Kentucky Lantern is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.

Kentucky regulator denies electricity discounts for crypto mining proposal

By: - August 29, 2023

Kentucky’s utility regulator has denied millions of dollars in electricity discounts offered by utility Kentucky Power to support a massive cryptocurrency mining operation in Eastern Kentucky.? The Kentucky Public Service Commission in a Monday order stated Chinese-owned Ebon International, the proposed Lawrence County cryptocurrency-mining facility, would “unquestionably” create jobs along with tax revenue for local […]

Two canvassers stand in front of doorways getting the word out about LG&E and KU's power proposal.

Organizers out to help shape power generation in Kentucky for decades

By: - August 21, 2023

On a recent August weekend, canvassers walked along a neighborhood street in West Louisville, cars and semi-trucks roaring down the nearby interstate just a few hundred feet away. Chase Smith with the progressive grassroots organization Kentuckians for the Commonwealth knocked on each door, asking people if they “have a couple of seconds to talk about […]

FBI arrests former prosecutor who was impeached, removed from office by Kentucky legislature

By: - August 18, 2023

?A former prosecutor who was impeached, convicted and removed from elected office by the Kentucky legislature earlier this year is facing several federal charges including wire fraud and bribery. FBI Louisville Field Office spokesperson Katie Anderson in an email confirmed Ronnie Goldy Jr. — who was the commonwealth’s attorney for the 21st Judicial Circuit serving […]

Few in Eastern Kentucky could afford flood insurance. Now it costs even more.

By: - August 18, 2023

Few in Eastern Kentucky have flood insurance or have ever been able to afford it. A federal agency’s new pricing system is putting it even further out of reach, jeopardizing eligibility for federal aid after future floods.? The cost of flood insurance is a major reason that Terry Thies is trying to sell her family […]

Kentucky Supreme Court appears skeptical of ‘random’ change of venue law

By: - August 16, 2023

FRANKFORT — Several Kentucky Supreme Court justices appeared to be skeptical of a new law that allows cases challenging the constitutionality of state laws and decisions to be randomly moved to any of Kentucky’s 120 counties. The state’s highest court heard oral arguments Wednesday on the constitutionality of Senate Bill 126, which went into effect […]

Kentucky the final state to enter into federal agreement collaborating on land management

By: - August 10, 2023

Kentucky and U.S. Department of Agriculture officials are touting a new agreement they say will strengthen collaboration between agencies over the management of natural resources throughout the state.? A Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet release Thursday states Kentucky is the final state in the country to sign onto such a “shared stewardship” agreement with the […]

Incentives for Bitcoin mining operation run by Kentucky’s largest coal producer gets regulator’s OK

By: - August 9, 2023

Kentucky’s utility regulator has approved more than $4 million in electricity cost discounts over several years for a Bitcoin mining operation being run by Kentucky’s largest coal producer. The Kentucky Public Service Commission (PSC) in its Monday order said the economic development incentives offered by Louisville Gas and Electric and Kentucky Utilities (LG&E and KU) […]

A man in a pink shirt stands next to a wall with the phrase, "Bardwell: A Community of Unity."

20 minutes — and a world of worry — away from the political theatrics

By: - August 7, 2023

BARDWELL — Mayor Philip King has a problem. A flash flood on July 19 turned Bardwell’s Front Street into a river and dumped at least seven inches of water on city hall. Spending the hundreds of thousands of dollars needed for repairs would be a waste, he says, because the building would just flood again, […]

Beshear, Cameron warm up jabs in party gatherings before Fancy Farm main event

By: and - August 5, 2023

MAYFIELD — Republican Daniel Cameron said Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear is out of step with Kentucky values as Beshear said “the other side” stands for division and even hate during party gatherings leading up to the main event Saturday afternoon at the Fancy Farm Picnic. Rivals Cameron and Beshear will share a stage for the […]

Film series captures Black communities, struggles, solidarity across Kentucky

By: - August 4, 2023

Sherman Neal spent many days of the summer of 2020 in the Western Kentucky college town of Murray next to a Confederate monument at the county courthouse.? It was on the heels of the murder of George Floyd and the fatal police shooting of Breonna Taylor when Neal — a Black volunteer college football coach, […]

State budget leaders sit at a desk presenting details on the state's rainy day fund.

Kentucky’s ‘rainy day’ fund reaches new heights due to tax revenue surplus

By: - August 2, 2023

FRANKFORT — Kentucky’s budget reserve trust fund, commonly known as the “rainy day” fund, now sits at more than $3.7 billion in large part due to record tax revenues brought in by the state during the last fiscal year.? State Budget Director John Hicks told state lawmakers at an interim committee meeting Wednesday the budget […]

New federal funding to clean up Kentucky brownfields touted as transformative

By: - July 31, 2023

LOUISVILLE — For federal and state environmental officials, Louisville’s downtown soccer stadium is an example of what’s possible.? The site of the 11,600-seat Lynn Family Stadium, the home of Louisville City FC and Racing Louisville FC, was a brownfield, one of thousands of properties across Kentucky that face challenges with redevelopment due to pollution or […]