A slice of Meade County farmland could see Kentucky's next data center proposal, according to the landowner and a rezoning proposal filed in late September.

Neighbors told me they're worried about utility rates, infrastructure, and quality of life.

Story: www.courier-journal.com/story/news/l...

This fall, #Kentucky farmers will harvest soybeans, the state's top crop, from an area twice the size of Rhode Island. China, the world's largest soybean buyer, isn't buying.

"It's a critical time for Kentucky agriculture right now," one economist said.
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Here's one interesting snippet from the order:

Chemours says it has not looked at reducing production at its Washington Works plant to curb PFAS emissions, even amid a series of permit violations and legal challenges.

In one of many incidents we reviewed at the BlueOval SK plant, a hazardous chemical “rushed out” of an open pipe, traveling “roughly 2 meters in all directions,” until an employee plugged it with their hand.

From a months-long investigation with reporter Olivia Evans:

Bonus feature on this one: Compare The Courier Journal's flood photography to floodplains in several affected communities. Interactive in the story, and at this link: datawrapper.de/_/36BRD/

Here's a map of all the offices with canceled leases so far, according to DOGE. This also includes two OSMRE offices, the agency overseeing current and former mine lands.

These cuts leave fewer staff to tend to 700,000 acres of rolling Eastern Kentucky forest — where partner organizations say the agency was already shorthanded and underfunded — ahead of peak tourism season.

Last year, I obtained emails and letters between Republican senators and Kentucky's Energy and Environment Cabinet.

They showed tensions between lawmakers and the cabinet over permitting for the coal industry. From the late Sen. Turner, predecessor of SB 89's sponsor Sen. Madon:

This bill had just 12 minutes in a Senate committee, from introduction to a vote. It passed the full Senate 30-5 and is now in the House.

Regulators say it would strip groundwater protections for thousands of private wells and more than 150 public water systems. Here are some:

Sweeping layoffs could spell disaster for recreation, forest management and firefighting, the union said.

In the Cumberland District of DBNF, which includes the Red River Gorge area, a majority of USFS recreational staff received probation notices, according to workers.

Here’s the 2024 Goodreads summary! All but a few of these came from @lfpl.bsky.social’s main branch.

I wrote about the "mind-boggling" number of tires littering #Kentucky waterways + the "river cowboys" working to clean them up.

Kentucky's programs to address waste tire handling and proper disposal aren't keeping up with the problem, advocates say.

Story:
www.courier-journal.com/story/news/l...