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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Last month, a shooter killed two students and injured 18 other people in a Kentucky high school. The state legislature is now considering a bill that would tap teachers or staff to be school marshals.
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Hundreds of thousands of people in Kentucky got health insurance under the Affordable Care Act, but the state is also home to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell who's led efforts to kill the law. With the failure of the latest GOP attempt to replace the ACA, the state's voters weigh in.
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Nearly every year a decades-old school busing program is threatened by the Kentucky legislature in one of the state's largest — and most segregated — cities.
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Republican Gov. Matt Bevin follows through on a campaign promise to end Kynect, the state's health plan marketplace. He also said he will change the state's approach to Medicaid.
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People in Rowan County, Ky., got marriage licenses Friday for the first time in two months.The county clerk there was jailed after she defied the Supreme Court to issue licenses to same-sex couples.