@lbblackford

Editor at Kentucky Lantern

 Lexington, Kentucky
kentuckylantern.com
Joined February 2009
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685Media
From @liamniemeyer kentuckylantern.com/2026/10/…

Proposed Mason County data center could get $50 million annual tax break, think tank estimates •...

A proposed Mason County data center campus for the technology company Meta could avoid paying about $50 million a year in local taxes. 

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Linda Blackford retweeted
Jared Peck
@JPprepsOct 16
Final. Bryan Station @BSHSBSoccer 2, Henry Clay 1. The Defenders earn their second 42nd District title in school history. Both teams advance to next week’s 11th Region Tournament.
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From @mckennahorsley kentuckylantern.com/2026/10/…

KY teachers PAC donated to conservative group to try to influence GOP primaries • Kentucky Lantern

The Jefferson County Teachers Association’s PAC donated $200,000 to a pro-Republican PAC in the May primary. Now, the same conservative PAC is running attack ads against candidates endorsed by the...

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Linda Blackford retweeted
Liam Niemeyer@liamniemeyerOct 15
Democratic KY Gov. Andy Beshear has issued an EO overhauling the board overseeing the state’s broadband network KentuckyWired, throwing another wrench into a contentious lawsuit the network is entangled in. This story will be updated. kentuckylantern.com/2026/10/… @KYLantern

Beshear issues executive order seeking to overhaul KentuckyWired board  • Kentucky Lantern

FRANKFORT, Ky. — Democratic Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear has issued an executive order overhauling the board overseeing the state’s broadband network KentuckyWired, throwing another wrench into a...

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Linda Blackford retweeted
Ben Roberts@InsideKentuckyOct 12
Big personal news: I've left the Herald-Leader, but I'll still be covering the Kentucky men's basketball team full time. If you enjoyed my coverage in the past, I’ll need your support to make this work. Here’s more on my new (independent!) approach: insidekentuckybasketball.com…

Inside Kentucky Basketball: A new site for Wildcats coverage

Introducing a new website dedicated to independent coverage of the UK men's basketball team from former Herald-Leader beat writer Ben Roberts.

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kentuckylantern.com/2026/10/…

‘Killing him over and over’: A Hopkinsville mom’s battle for the truth about her son’s death •...

She didn’t know it at the time, but on that night almost three years ago, Nancy Tucker was beginning an odyssey to uncover the circumstances of her son’s death.

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McKenna Horsley@mckennahorsleyOct 9
A campaign finance story from Tom Loftus and me kentuckylantern.com/2026/10/…

Lundergan, Calipari and more: In KY governor race, Adkins nets $1.75 million from donors • Kentucky...

Rocky Adkins, who is seeking the Democratic nomination in Kentucky’s upcoming governor race, has raised more than $1.75 million in his first quarter. 

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Josh Cowen
@joshcowenMIOct 9
The big financial voucher threat to public schools is in state budgets—including (in this case) in the education funding formulas. There are some good critiques of the federal scholarship tax credit, but they’re not primarily financial. Saying so cheapens the case against state vouchers by misattributing how the defunding threat works.
Miami Herald
@MiamiHeraldOct 9
Vouchers are set to get more than half of Miami-Dade’s state per pupil funds miamiherald.com/news/local/e…

Vouchers are set to get more than half of Miami-Dade’s state per pupil funds

Florida’s funding formula is estimated to send Miami-Dade families $766 million for vouchers compared to $737 million to public schools.

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Linda Blackford retweeted
Austin Horn@_AustinHornOct 9
FL’s education funding formula is the primary way schools get money. For the first time ever in Miami-Dade, that program is set to send more state tax $ to private school vouchers than to public/charter schools. More on the milestone & why it matters: amp.miamiherald.com/news/loc…

Vouchers are set to get more than half of Miami-Dade’s state per pupil funds

Florida’s funding formula is estimated to send Miami-Dade families $766 million for vouchers compared to $737 million to public schools.

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There's something perfect about the wildest guy in Kentucky politics (ish) being the star in the wildest story we've seen in a while. I mean, except for the really massive corruption. wsj.com/politics/policy/guil…

Exclusive | ‘Honey Please’: Kimberly Guilfoyle Pushed Donor to Wire $100,000 to Her Amex Account

Text messages with a MAGA ally show Guilfoyle seeking funds and offering access to top administration officials before becoming ambassador to Greece.

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They didn't even room for this part: fox19.com/2022/10/20/eric-de…

Eric Deters, Kentucky governor candidate, charged after chasing nephew who flipped him off

Eric Deters is charged with one count of menacing and two counts of harassing communications, both Class B misdemeanors, along with third-degree criminal trespassing, the Enquirer reports.

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Linda Blackford retweeted
Tres Watson@treswatsonOct 7
Deters from the top rope!!
Rebecca Ballhaus
@rebeccaballhausOct 7
Kimberly Guilfoyle was preparing for her congressional hearing to become U.S. ambassador to Greece when she reached out to a Trump donor with an urgent request: She needed $100,000 that she said she owed American Express—in a way that wouldn’t leave a paper trail. “It won’t show up anywhere if you wire money to American Express,” she wrote on Signal, according to messages reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. “Please.” w/@DanaMattioli @drewhinshaw @JoeWSJ wsj.com/politics/policy/guil…

Exclusive | ‘Honey Please’: Kimberly Guilfoyle Pushed Donor to Wire $100,000 to Her Amex Account

Text messages with a MAGA ally show Guilfoyle seeking funds and offering access to top administration officials before becoming ambassador to Greece.

wsj.com
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Rainesford Stauffer@RainesfordOct 7
Really important read: "“We want to fight for each other,” Jordan-Carson said. “They’re elderly, and they’re disabled, and they’re low income, and don’t have the funds to fix things themselves, and they’re not being heard. It’s not right.” kentuckylantern.com/2026/10/…

'We want to fight for each other': Unionized Shelbyville tenants describe bugs, mold in housing •...

Mice, cockroaches, mold and water damage have pushed Evans and other tenants at seven different Shelbyville properties to form and launch a tenant union last month. 

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The Bulwark's @Timodc, who was in Lexington last weekend, said he got more recognition at @keeneland than at LSU games, so there's that.
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He also thinks the 6th District is in play.
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Kakie Urch@profkakieOct 7
insidehighered.com/news/gove…

Alabama’s New “Gulf of America” Mandate Impacts Colleges

Republican lawmakers say faculty can only call it the Gulf of Mexico for “historical purposes” in academic courses. Journalists are constrained by the restriction, too.

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kentuckylantern.com/2026/10/…

Commentary: It’s Banned Books Week, so find a First Amendment Library to exercise your rights •...

Three years ago, we talked a lot about banning books in Kentucky.  Back then, the wacky war on woke was gaining ground in our legislature and in our libraries. I remember talking to librarians like...

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From @liamniemeyer kentuckylantern.com/2026/10/…

'We want to fight for each other': Unionized Shelbyville tenants describe bugs, mold in housing •...

Mice, cockroaches, mold and water damage have pushed Evans and other tenants at seven different Shelbyville properties to form and launch a tenant union last month. 

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From @mckennahorsley kentuckylantern.com/2026/10/…

Internal poll shows Democrat Dembo leads GOP’s Alvarado in central Kentucky House race • Kentucky...

An poll from Democrat Zach Dembo’s campaign shows he has a five-point lead over Republican Ralph Alvarado in a Kentucky congressional race.

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Linda Blackford retweeted
Charles Ornstein@charlesornsteinOct 2
NEW: We’re Reporters, Not Teachers. We Were Able to Start Private Schools Anyway. propublica.org/article/propu… with our pals at @mtnstspotlight @ArkTimes @TheAssemblyNC

We’re Reporters, Not Teachers. We Were Able to Start Private Schools Anyway.

Our reporting has shown how easily people — some with questionable backgrounds — have founded their own private schools in barns, strip malls and other places. That led us to an experiment: If the...

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