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.

Criticism greets LG&E/KU plan to replace coal-fired power plants with natural gas, solar

By: - December 16, 2022

Kentucky’s largest utility, providing power to more than 1.3 million customers, is proposing to build two natural gas plants along with new solar installations to help make up for an energy supply shortfall created by the retirement of coal-fired power plants. It’s a plan that advocates of both coal and renewable energy in Kentucky strongly […]

Kentuckians will gather this weekend to mark first anniversary of tornado outbreak

By: - December 8, 2022

Western Kentucky communities that were devastated by a violent tornado outbreak last year are marking the one-year anniversary of the natural disaster this weekend with gatherings in churches, candlelight vigils and more. For elected officials and other community members organizing the events, it’s a chance to remember what was lost — lives, entire streets of […]

Fewer than a third of low-income Kentuckians eligible for home energy assistance get it

By: - December 7, 2022

Hundreds of thousands of low-income Kentuckians are eligible for a federal program to help with their heating bills as energy prices are expected to be higher this winter. Yet those on the frontlines of signing up Kentuckians for the program say there are barriers to reaching all who need such assistance.? The Low-Income Home Energy […]

Lack of bidders increasing costs to plug abandoned oil and gas wells in Kentucky

By: - December 5, 2022

Contractors? have started plugging some of the thousands of oil and gas wells abandoned by the fossil fuel industry across Kentucky, using new federal funding. But a lack of companies able or willing to bid on the work is increasing costs, a Kentucky official said recently.? Kentucky received an initial $25 million grant through the […]

Jobs were hard to find in Dawson Springs. Then a tornado struck.

By: - December 1, 2022

DAWSON SPRINGS — A long line of cars and trucks trails out of downtown, waiting to pick up bags carried by volunteers, cartons of eggs and more from a food pantry giveaway on a cold November morning.? The need is there, said Lisa Barnes, one of the volunteers loading food into each passing vehicle. As […]

Kentucky tornado survivors living in limbo

By: - November 30, 2022

MAYFIELD?— Makayla Puckett didn’t feel comfortable with talking about what happened until recently. She would speak about that December 2021 night and have to sometimes stop herself, the trauma too much to recollect.? The 25-year-old mother of two kids remembers squeezing into a small closet of their Mayfield home with her partner, the train-like roar […]

Kentucky lags on farm-to-school purchases

By: - November 30, 2022

The food-service director at Bowling Green Independent Schools will often get texts from a farmer in a neighboring county asking her if she wants the latest produce, like a fresh batch of purple cauliflower.? “We’re not ever going to say no. We can always add something fresh,” said Dalla Emerson. “We try to bake them […]