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.

Cameron bests crowded GOP field to be gubernatorial nominee; will face Beshear in November

By: and - May 16, 2023

Boosted by an endorsement from former president Donald Trump, Attorney General Daniel Cameron beat back challenges from GOP mega-donor Kelly Craft and Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles on Tuesday to win the GOP nomination for governor. The attorney general, who was elected to his role in 2019 and has been heralded as a rising GOP star, […]

Rain dampens already expected low turnout in Kentucky primary election

By: and - May 16, 2023

LEXINGTON — Inside St. Luke United Methodist Church, David Osborne’s second year working as a poll worker is a quiet one, and quite different from his last election. “In the general election in the fall, we had about 80 people in line when the doors opened at (6 a.m.) This year we had one,” Osborne […]

Kentucky’s largest utility tests new law creating barrier to retire fossil fuel plants

By: - May 15, 2023

Republican lawmakers in Kentucky, raising concerns that planned and ongoing retirements of coal-fired power plants could affect the reliability and resilience of the electric grid, passed a new law that creates an extra barrier for utilities to retire such plants. Kentucky’s largest electric utility, which strongly opposed that law, is now testing it before the […]

Rep. Lamin Swann dies after ‘significant medical emergency’

By: - May 14, 2023

Rep. Lamin Swann, D-Lexington, died Sunday four days after his mother said he had a “significant medical emergency requiring hospitalization.” Swann’s mother, Pamela Dixon, in a statement said “there are no words to fully describe the grief and impossible loss that others and I feel right now.” Dixon did not provide information on the cause […]

Another lawsuit challenges Kentucky’s ban on ‘skill-based’ gambling machines

By: - May 9, 2023

A manufacturer and operators of so-called “skill-based” gaming machines have filed a lawsuit, the second of its kind, challenging the constitutionality of a new state ban on such machines that’s set to go into effect this summer.? Prominent Technologies, a Pennsylvania-based company that manufactures and operates “skill-based” machines often found in gas stations and convenience […]

Cameron seeks another ‘random’ change of venue, this time in challenge brought by teachers union

By: - May 9, 2023

Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron has again invoked a new state law that allows him to move some lawsuits to another circuit court chosen at random. Cameron is seeking to move the Kentucky Education Association’s challenge of another new law — one making it harder for the teachers union to collect dues — out of […]

Would her family’s financial stake in the coal industry affect Craft’s actions as governor?

By: - May 8, 2023

As the two have vied for the GOP nomination for Kentucky governor, Kelly Craft has frequently attacked Daniel Cameron because as attorney general he supported closing a coal-fired power plant in West Virginia to avoid burdening Kentucky ratepayers with the cost of required upgrades to the more than 50-year-old Mitchell plant. What Craft doesn’t say […]

Teachers union asks judge to block new Kentucky law barring payroll deductions to pay union dues

By: - May 1, 2023

FRANKFORT — Kentucky’s largest teachers union representing thousands of educators throughout the state is asking a judge to temporarily block a new law that prohibits the union from collecting dues through payroll deductions.? The Kentucky Education Association (KEA) sued the state last month asking for Senate Bill 7 to be struck down as unconstitutional and […]

Western Kentucky wildlife refuges receive nearly $18 million to buy land for waterfowl habitat

By: - April 28, 2023

Two wildlife refuges in Western Kentucky will receive almost $18 million from a federal commission to buy thousands of acres to protect waterfowl habitat in the state.? A release Thursday from the U.S. Department of the Interior stated the Migatory Bird Conservation Commission awarded almost $11.4 million to the Green River National Wildlife Refuge in […]

$124 million from feds will build hundreds of homes in tornado-impacted Western Kentucky

By: - April 26, 2023

FRANKFORT — Kentucky officials are opening up applications this summer for almost $124 million in federal funding to help rebuild housing and infrastructure primarily in tornado-impacted Western Kentucky, which Gov. Andy Beshear said could help rebuild around 600 homes.? The federal funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) will go to […]

If your Kentucky ‘farm’ is smaller than 5 acres, you now need a license to hunt or fish on it

By: - April 25, 2023

It was a small change in a 48-page bill that became law during this year’s legislative session. Senate Bill 241, sponsored by Sen. Robin Webb, D-Grayson, mainly sought to give the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources the power to acquire perpetual conservation easements for 54,000 acres of land in Southeastern Kentucky.? That aspect […]

Wildfire at Natural Bridge state park in Eastern Kentucky is ‘100% contained’

By: - April 24, 2023

A wildfire at an Eastern Kentucky state park that has been burning for about a week has been “100% contained” by firefighters from local, state and federal agencies.? A social media post Monday from the Kentucky Division of Forestry stated the wildfire at Natural Bridge State Resort Park was contained to 125 acres and that […]