By Linda Blackford | Editor
As you’ve probably noticed from your ad-clogged social media feeds, election season is upon us and the silly season has begun. But you can cut through crazy with the Kentucky Lantern’s 2026 Voter’s Guide, guaranteed to answer all your questions except the big one: who is going to win.
In other news, a big crowd gathered in a Capitol meeting room on Thursday to vent their frustrations with data center proposals.
Frankfort was busy all around. Agriculture Commissioner Jonathan Shell called on Gov. Andy Beshear to give farmers relief from high diesel prices. Legislators discussed proposed legislation to keep child support with children.
In addition, a Western Kentucky utility is weighing a very uncertain energy future.
And then there’s the news from Tennessee. After a horribly botched execution on Wednesday, will Attorney General Russell Coleman and other death penalty fans take another look?
Constituents from across the state came to the “listening session” on data centers held at the Kentucky Capitol on Oct. 1, 2026. (Kentucky Lantern photo by Liam Niemeyer)
By Liam Niemeyer
More than 60 people filled a committee room for the “listening session” on data centers set up by Rep. Adam Moore, D-Lexington, with speakers coming from counties including Barren, Boyle, Boyd, Carroll, Daviess, Breckinridge, Madison, Mercer, Mason, Oldham, Fayette, Franklin, Jefferson, Pike and Woodford.
High diesel prices are hurting farmers during the fall harvest, Agriculture Secretary Jonathan Shell says. (Photo by Niki Kelly/Indiana Capital Chronicle)
By McKenna Horsley
Republican Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner Jonathan Shell is asking Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear to temporarily suspend a prohibition on using untaxed diesel on public roads.
A Kentucky lawmaker has proposed legislation to leave more child support in the hands of families. (Getty Images)
By Sarah Ladd
FRANKFORT — Around 14,000 families receiving Kentucky Transitional Assistance Program benefits in 2025 didn’t receive most child support owed to them, experts said Thursday.
Big Rivers Electric Corp. was formed in 1961 to supply power to three cooperatives, from left, Jackson Purchase Energy Cooperative (orange), Kenergy Corp. (gray) and Meade County Rural Electric Cooperative Corp. (blue). (Source: Big Rivers Electric Corp.)
By Liam Niemeyer
An electric utility serving Western Kentucky counties is telling the state regulator it anticipates keeping its existing coal-fired and natural gas-fired power plants open beyond 2050, a projection amid state and federal efforts seeking to boost fossil fuel-fired power.
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