Appalachia + Mid-South Newsroom Managing Editor - a collaboration of 7 NPR stations in Ky., W. Va. and Tenn. Mass shooting survivor.
Louisville, KY
Joined January 2010
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Some news: I'm Kentucky Public Radio's new managing editor. I’m excited to edit a talented statewide politics team and manage a collaboration of public radio stations that reaches all 120 Kentucky counties. lpm.org/news/2024-03-20/ryan…
Republican Ralph Alvarado squared off against Democrat Zach Dembo on the debate stage Thursday night as Kentucky’s 6th Congressional district becomes a heated battleground. lpm.org/news/2026-10-22/demb…
A new Kentucky state law gives candidates more time to file their campaign finance reports, making it more difficult for Kentuckians to know who is spending to get their chosen candidates elected in the final days of their campaigns. lpm.org/news/2026-10-21/whos…
The Kentucky Board of Elections received an envelope with a powdery substance matching postmarks of threatening letters received by election officials in 32 other states. lpm.org/news/2026-10-20/kent…
Voting rights and electronic privacy groups are suing the Department of Homeland Security for compiling sensitive data on Kentucky voters. State election officials have refused to share that information. lpm.org/news/2026-10-16/laws…
Political action committees have spent nearly $900,000 on independent ads to boost Kentucky GOP legislative candidates, while Democrats are mostly left to themselves. lpm.org/news/2026-10-14/pacs…
Democrats’ power has waned for decades in the Kentucky General Assembly, but national headwinds seem to favor them this election cycle. Here’s how national dynamics are changing state legislative races. lpm.org/news/2026-10-14/here…
Former Beshear advisor Rocky Adkins has tripled the fundraising haul of Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman, his main Democratic rival in the 2027 Kentucky governor’s race. lpm.org/news/2026-10-13/rock…
Ahead of her confirmation as ambassador to Greece, former northern Kentucky lawyer Eric Deters says Kimberly Guilfoyle asked him to wire $100,000 to her American Express account. lpm.org/news/2026-10-09/form…
USA Today’s parent company filed a lawsuit against OpenAI in New York federal court Thursday for allegedly using reporting from its 19 publications, including Louisville’s Courier Journal, without permission. lpm.org/news/2026-10-09/usa-…
Kentucky Democrats have lost ground to Republicans over the past decade, but gained a rare voter registration victory last month, ahead of the November election. lpm.org/news/2026-10-07/kent…
Former GOP state Sen. Ralph Alvarado is facing off against former federal prosecutor Democrat Zach Dembo for the Lexington-area Congressional district. What you need to know. lpm.org/news/2026-10-06/elec…
Concerns about partisan political influence in Kentucky’s judicial elections are growing, as Gov. Andy Beshear and GOP lawmakers are taking sides in a Court of Appeals race. lpm.org/news/2026-10-02/kent…
Retired miners, their families and policy groups are lobbying Congress to uphold worker protections and pass legislation that updates black lung disability programs. lpm.org/news/2026-10-01/appa…
Kentuckians from across the state described their frustrations with data center developments in their communities and begged lawmakers to act sooner rather than later. lpm.org/news/2026-10-01/kent…
Ryan Van Velzer retweeted
BREAKING: Tennessee governor puts a halt on executions after inmate Christa Gail Pike survives a lethal injection attempt. apnews.com/article/christa-p…
Ryan Van Velzer retweeted
For more than two months, I have been working on a truly horrific story about one of the gravest war crimes committed by the United States since Vietnam: The bombing of the Shajareh Tayyebeh school in Minab, Iran. It was one of the first targets struck in the opening hours of the war on February 28, 2026.
At least 156 people were killed in the U.S. cruise missile strikes—120 of them were children and 26 were teachers. We spoke to survivors, first responders, parents, doctors, teachers, psychologists, and other witnesses. Some of them had never before shared their experiences of that day.
It would be impossible to do justice to what happened in Minab that day with words alone. In more than 25 years in journalism and reporting on war, I do not believe I have reported on a more heinous single crime.
Massacre at Minab: The School That Became a Grave
dropsitenews.com/p/minab-sch…
Please share this story with as many people as you can.
Signal species are constantly sending humans messages about our changing world, and the Appalachia + Mid-South Newsroom produced an hourlong radio special all about them.
lpm.org/news/2026-09-28/the-…
Sabato’s Crystal Ball, an election predictor out of the University of Virginia, moved Kentucky’s Sixth Congressional District from a “likely Republican” win to “leans Republican.”
lpm.org/news/2026-09-30/poli…
After community members denounce a lack of transparency from public officials in a Carroll County data center project, some people are pursuing ethics complaints against those who approved it. lpm.org/news/2026-09-28/frus…
