Kentucky
Mine safety offices in Kentucky and across Appalachia are on DOGE’s chopping block
‘Just getting started’: Trump speech on DOGE, budget and border
President Donald Trump used his remarks before a joint session of Congress to spell out his vision for the next four years.
The federal government has terminated leases for 29 Mine Safety and Health Administration offices across the country, according to the Department of Government Efficiency — including a majority of the agency’s field offices in Kentucky.
About one-third of the affected offices are in Appalachia. Leases were terminated for six MSHA field offices in Kentucky, more than any other state.
If all the targeted offices close, it would leave only a few MSHA field offices in place to police more than 100 Kentucky coal mines, where millions of tons are produced every year. Only a handful of states produce more coal than Kentucky, even as the commonwealth’s coal industry has waned.
It’s unclear where staff based in these field offices will work in lieu of shuttered office spaces — or how much the agency’s presence in Kentucky and Appalachia has been reduced amid wide-reaching federal layoffs and pressure to resign.
DOGE’s hundreds of federal lease terminations across the nation come after President Donald Trump ordered federal agencies to “take all necessary steps to terminate remote work arrangements and require employees to return to work in-person at their respective duty stations on a full-time basis.”
If lease terminations result in fewer mine safety regulators based in Appalachian coal country, advocates say it will come at the expense of miners’ health and safety.
“It’s callous, it’s cruel, and it will endanger and destroy the lives of coal miners,” said Willie Dodson, coal impacts program manager for Appalachian Voices.
“MSHA needs more inspectors, MSHA needs more resources,” he said. “And what this administration is doing is quite recklessly and thoughtlessly going in the exact opposite direction.”
Federal mine safety offices on DOGE’s chopping block
Leases for MSHA offices in Barbourville, Prestonsburg, Hazard and Harlan were terminated in Eastern Kentucky, in addition to offices in Beaver Dam and Madisonville in the west.
The six lease terminations yielded $2.3 million in savings, according to DOGE, although the department’s past claims of savings have been marred by errors.
The downsizing appears to leave just a few MSHA offices in Kentucky. The agency has offices in Lexington, Pikeville and Sturgis, according to its website, and DOGE has not announced lease terminations for these locations.
MSHA did not offer specifics on how the cuts would affect the agency’s oversight role in Kentucky and Appalachian coal mines, and referred The Courier Journal to the General Services Administration. The GSA, which manages the federal government’s office space and other logistical needs, said it is “reviewing all options to optimize our footprint and building utilization.”
“A component of our space consolidation plan will be the termination of many soft term leases,” a GSA spokesperson said. “To the extent these terminations affect public facing facilities and/or existing tenants, we are working with our agency partners to secure suitable alternative space. In many cases this will allow us to increase space utilization and obtain improved terms.”
Fewer field offices could hamper efficient coverage of the region by inspectors, who are required to make regular visits to mining operations. Winding roads through Appalachian topography could mean more hours of drive time for mine inspectors if they’re reassigned to centralized offices.
“MSHA is required to regularly inspect all underground mines in Kentucky at least quarterly and surface mines twice a year,” Rebecca Shelton, policy director at Appalachian Citizens’ Law Center, said in a statement. “We’re concerned that closing all of these offices would make this work impossible, so much additional travel would be required.”
“It’s clearly not about efficiency,” Dodson said. “It’s an incredibly inefficient move.”
If mine safety regulators lack staff or resources to provide proper oversight of mining operations, “I figure we’ll see a lot more young men get sick,” said Gary Hairston, president of the National Black Lung Association and a former coal miner in West Virginia.
Black lung disease, or coal workers’ pneumoconiosis, causes inflammation and scarring of the lungs. Rates of black lung disease have increased over recent decades — and in Kentucky and other parts of central Appalachia, one in five coal miners suffer from it, according to recent research.
Despite the coal industry’s decline in recent decades, about 2,000 people still work in Kentucky’s eastern coalfield, and an additional 1,300 people work in the western coalfield, according to state employment data from late 2024. Another 700 people work in preparation plants or office jobs in Kentucky’s coal industry.
“If the mine safety enforcement arm of the government is weakened, thousands of miners will be at grave risk because many of them will be required to work in much more dangerous conditions,” Shelton said. “History tells us that coal companies can never be trusted to self-regulate.”
The Kentucky Coal Association, an industry trade group, did not immediately respond to The Courier Journal’s request for comment Friday.
Kentucky’s Division of Mine Safety maintains its own branch offices in some of the towns where MSHA office leases were terminated. The division did not immediately answer questions about whether federal staff could share the state’s office space, or what a withdrawal of federal presence would mean for the state’s role in mine safety.
Fears of weakened mine safety oversight from the federal level come as Kentucky lawmakers consider loosening state protections for miners. House Bill 196 would “reduce the number of emergency medical or mine emergency technicians required to be on shift” at mines, rolling back standards set years ago in response to the death of a miner in Harlan County.
Uncertainty for mine reclamation offices
In addition to uncertainty around mine safety field offices, DOGE data also appears to list two lease terminations for the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, the agency overseeing cleanup of millions of acres of former mine lands. (Instead of OSMRE, the DOGE database lists leases for the “Office of Surface Mining and Regulation Enforcement,” a nonexistent agency.)
One of the offices is in Lexington, and the other is in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The agency said its offices “remain open,” and did not offer further information on its long-term plans in the affected areas.
“OSMRE offices remain open and continue to provide services,” the agency said in a statement. “The Department of the Interior is working with GSA to ensure facilities or alternative options will be available for the continued delivery of Interior services as we embrace new opportunities for optimization and innovation in workforce management.”
The Lexington office is OSMRE’s only current location in Kentucky, according to the agency’s website. The next closest OSMRE office with an intact lease is in Wise, Virginia, across the Kentucky border from Whitesburg.
OSMRE’s mine land reclamation efforts saw a major boost from the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and Kentucky has received millions of dollars from the program annually to address its many acres of former mine lands and clean up remaining hazards.
Proper oversight of mine land reclamation is also a factor in Kentucky’s efforts to reduce death and destruction during extreme flooding. Strip-mined land, where vegetation has been eradicated, absorbs far less stormwater and can funnel more runoff into nearby communities.
Eastern Kentucky saw deadly flooding this year, and in the wake of devastating floods in the region in July 2022, Kentuckians For The Commonwealth called on OSMRE and the Department of the Interior to investigate “the extent to which the cumulative impact of surface mining, past and ongoing, exacerbated the devastating toll of lives, homes, businesses and property lost during the flood.”
Connor Giffin is an environmental reporter for The Courier Journal. Reach him directly at cgiffin@gannett.com or on X @byconnorgiffin.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Louisville celebrated Juneteenth with music, dancing and a parade highlighting Black culture, history and unity.
The Kentucky Black Festival’s Juneteenth Unity Parade brought hundreds of people to west Louisville, with marching bands, dancers, community organizations and families joining together to honor the meaning behind the holiday.
“Seeing the families having a good time seeing everyone dancing, with everything that’s happening in this city and happening in the world, a moment to just take a breath and smile and relax your shoulders is what this is all about,” said Walter Murrah, executive director of the Kentucky Black Foundation.
Juneteenth marks the day in 1865 when enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, learned they were free, more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued.
For organizers, the celebration is about more than a parade. It’s about recognizing the history that paved the way for future generations.
“Celebrating Juneteenth is more than just dancing and singing. It’s also reaching back and looking at the giants that paved the way for us, but also taking a moment to just celebrate our blackness because I think oftentimes it’s looked down upon, left out, overlooked, and those kind of things,” Murrah said. “And so being Black is beautiful. Being Black is, you know, it should be celebrated, and that’s what Juneteenth is about, is, you know, marrying the history but also looking ahead to what’s in the future.”
Attendees said the event created a space to celebrate their heritage and come together.
“We’re not celebrated enough, so with this being Juneteenth for freedom and unity to come together, this is the day for us to do that,” said Tara Britt.
Community members also emphasized the importance of teaching younger generations about the holiday and its history.
“It’s very important because if we don’t tell them, they won’t know. We have to get educated to educate them because it’s not in the schools right now,” said Shannon Gilbert. “So we get all the knowledge and give it back to them and make sure they’re educated because they’re the future.”
Organizers said the goal is to make sure Juneteenth is not only remembered but experienced through community celebrations like the parade.
Juneteenth became a federal holiday in 2021, but communities across the country have recognized and celebrated the day for decades.
Kentucky
Demetrus Liggins disputes Fayette County board’s claim he resigned, attorneys allege misconduct
LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX NEWS) — The attorneys for Dr. Demetrus Liggins issued a press release Friday alleging the Fayette County Board of Education publicly announced a resignation that never happened, cited the wrong Kentucky statutes to justify placing him on administrative leave, and installed a replacement superintendent without legal authority to do so.
The press release, dated June 19, 2026, gives FCPS a four-day deadline to rescind the administrative leave, withdraw the replacement-superintendent designation, and correct the public record. If the district does not comply, Dr. Liggins’ legal team has reserved the right to pursue contractual, statutory, constitutional, defamation, false-light, civil-rights, and tort claims.
According to the press release, Dr. Liggins proposed discussions toward a possible separation agreement — he did not submit an unconditional resignation. His attorneys allege he expressly corrected the Board’s characterization before the Board acted, yet the Board publicly announced a “resignation notice” anyway.
The press release also notes a striking internal contradiction in the Board’s own June 11 letter: the document’s letterhead continued to identify “Superintendent: Demetrus Liggins, PhD” even while the body of the letter announced an “Acting Superintendent.”
Dr. Liggins’ attorneys argue the Board’s June 11 leave letter cited KRS 160.160 and KRS 160.370 — neither of which, according to counsel, expressly authorizes a board to indefinitely suspend a contracted superintendent, bar him from communicating with district-affiliated persons, exclude him from all school property, and install a substitute officeholder.
Counsel argues the Board deliberately avoided KRS 160.350, the statute that specifically governs superintendent terms, vacancies, acting appointments, and removal for cause, according to the press release.
The press release also invokes Lexington-Fayette’s unique status as Kentucky’s sole urban-county government under KRS Chapter 67A, arguing the Board’s legal framing is further flawed because Fayette County is not governed by the special Chapter 67C school-governance provisions applicable to a consolidated local government such as Louisville–Jefferson County.
Attorney Amos N. Jones issued a direct on-the-record statement in the press release.
“This is not administrative leave in any meaningful sense. They announced a resignation that never happened, displaced the lawful superintendent, installed another superintendent, silenced Dr. Liggins inside his own system, and then hired investigators to determine whether the result already imposed should be imposed. Kentucky law does not allow a school board to manufacture a vacancy, perform a removal first, and search for a justification afterward,” Jones said.
According to the press release, Dr. Liggins’s contract runs through June 30, 2029. His attorneys allege the Board’s actions breach that contract by stripping him of his office, authority, professional standing, and future-career value while continuing to pay his salary. The contract reportedly prohibits reassignment without Dr. Liggins’s express written consent.
The press release notes that any litigation or settlement arising from this dispute could carry significant financial consequences for Fayette County taxpayers.
The press release places individual Board members — not just the institution — on notice of potential personal legal exposure. Attorneys cite what they describe as a false resignation narrative, the alleged creation of a fictitious vacancy, concerted displacement, and a false-light portrayal of Dr. Liggins. The notice also warns Board members that attorneys retained by FCPS may not represent their individual interests and that they should have received Upjohn warnings about privilege and conflicts.
According to the press release, counsel has demanded preservation of all communications, drafts, closed-session materials, media contacts, video records, investigative instructions, succession discussions, and communications with public officials, unions, employees, activists, and outside counsel. The inclusion of “media contacts” and “communications with public officials” in the demand suggests Dr. Liggins’ legal team believes there may be involvement by parties beyond the Board itself.
As of Friday, June 19, 2026, the four-day deadline issued to FCPS is running. If the district does not comply, Dr. Liggins’ legal team has indicated it will pursue legal action.
Summer practice is full underway for the 2026-27 Kentucky men’s basketball squad. And while the on-court teaching is critical to the offseason, what’s happening off the floor is equally as important.
Earlier this week, head coach Mark Pope and the entire team made a trip to the Kentucky Children’s Hospital, where they helped put together Father’s Day goodie bags, built toys, played board games with the kids, and shared laughs all around. Watching Franck Kepnang, Mason Williams, and Jerone Morton smile ear-to-ear while losing in a board game will make your heart full.
This was more than just a quick stop, though. This was about building real relationships and putting smiles on the faces of kids who deserve it. Returning center Malachi Moreno even reconnected with one of his new friends.
“There was a kid I’ve actually kept in touch with for a while. His name’s Jackson,” Moreno said Thursday. “Took some of my teammates in to meet him. I met him at Dance Blue. We’ve been playing Fortnite together. Got his PSN (PlayStation Network) tag and we’re going to play some Fortnite. Me, him, Kam (Williams), and Trent (Noah), we’re gonna play some Fortnite together.
“He’s such a cool kid. I think the guys really took in what it means to be at this brand. We walk in any room, we’re gonna brighten someone’s day. They might not be as fortunate as us but we’re taking time out of our day to go see them, and we’re having fun with it. I just wanted them to realize how much fun these kids are having with us.”
Judging by the video that UK put out on Thursday (which you can watch below) , it sure looks like everyone was having a blast. Some things are bigger than basketball.
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