Ryland Barton
Ryland is the state capitol reporter for the Kentucky Public Radio Network, a group of public radio stations including WKU Public Radio. A native of Lexington, Ryland has covered politics and state government for NPR member stations KWBU in Waco and KUT in Austin.
Always looking to put a face to big issues, Ryland's reporting has taken him to drought-weary towns in West Texas and relocated communities in rural China. He's covered breaking news like the 2014 shooting at Fort Hood Army Base and the aftermath of the fertilizer plant explosion in West, Texas.
Ryland has a bachelor's degree from the University of Chicago and a master's degree in journalism from the University of Texas. He grew up in Lexington.
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Democrats are celebrating after flipping a Republican state House seat in northern Alabama. Marilyn Lands rode to victory on abortion rights and access to IVF.
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A Texas law empowering state and local police to enforce immigration law is currently blocked, but lawmakers in other states, including Georgia and Iowa, are still passing similar legislation.
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After the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos deserve legal protections, reproductive rights groups are worried about fetal personhood bills in several state legislatures.
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Congress has been slow to regulate the artificial intelligence industry, but states have been plowing ahead, proposing and passing laws dealing with AI in elections, fake images and health care.
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Though deemed a hoax, a bomb threat emailed to numerous state government offices across the country underscores the vulnerability of state legislatures to this kind of disruption.
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Jones was a Democrat who served as Kentucky's top executive from 1991 until 1995. He also held the office of lieutenant governor from 1987 until 1991 as a part of Gov. Wallace Wilkinson's administration. -
The legislator from western Kentucky has been a key player in conservative measures that have passed out of Frankfort in recent years. -
Kentuckians with certain serious medical conditions will be able to qualify for medical cannabis starting in 2025. -
Kentucky law is supposed to insulate the state’s education commissioner and board from politics. But the position has become a political battleground in recent years as governors and lawmakers fight over control. -
An infant was surrendered to a baby box in Bowling Green recently. It’s the first time that’s happened since Kentucky’s new law allowing the devices in 2021.
