Written by Sarah Ladd for Kentucky Lantern If you or someone you know is contemplating suicide, please call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988. Almost a year after Kentucky launched a simplified, 3-digit suicide prevention hotline number – 988 – Gov. Andy Beshear said Thursday that more people are calling and texting crisis counselors. […]
Author Archives: Kentucky Lantern
Posted inNews, Politics, Top 3
Kentucky reports another record surplus. Will it lead to a third income tax cut?
Written by Liam Niemeyer for Kentucky Lantern Kentucky brought in a record $15.1 billion in general fund tax revenue during the last fiscal year — the most ever — buoyed by a strong jobs market, increasing salaries and wages and continued industry profits, the state budget director’s office announced Monday. Revenue in fiscal year 2023 […]
Posted inHealth, News, Politics, Top 3
Politics, pay and too few dentists: Barriers to healing the pain in Kentuckians’ mouths
Written by Deborah Yetter for Kentucky Lantern At the Red Bird Mission dental clinic in Southeastern Kentucky, patients with few or no teeth now are eligible for dentures through an expansion of the state’s Medicaid dental services for adults. “People are tickled to death,” said Dr. Bill Collins, the dentist at the United Methodist Church […]
Posted inCrime, Health, News, Politics, Top 3
Kentucky issues first statewide report of domestic violence data
Written by Sarah Ladd for Kentucky Lantern If you or someone you know has experienced domestic violence, call the National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline at 1-800-656-4673. Call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233. You can also contact any of Kentucky’s 15 domestic violence programs. Almost half of Kentucky women — 45% — and around […]
Posted inNews
Breaking the stigma: PTSD is complicated — and isolating
Written by Sarah Ladd for Kentucky Lantern This story discusses suicidal ideation and sexual assault. If you or someone you know is contemplating suicide, please call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988. If you’ve been sexually assaulted, you can call the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network helpline at 800-656-4673 or chat with […]
Posted inElections
Survivors of domestic violence can now hide addresses when registering to vote
Reach the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-7233 or text START to 88788. Kentucky domestic violence survivors just got a little extra help from the state in staying safe from abusers. Republican-sponsored Senate Bill 79 passed the General Assembly during the 2023 legislative session and Gov. Andy Beshear signed it into law. Called the “Safe at […]
Posted inHealth, News, Politics, Top 3
Kentucky sign language interpreters embody others’ words, are servants at heart
Written by Sarah Ladd for Kentucky Lantern Sign language interpreters aren’t quite used to celebrity. The job is usually more behind-the-scenes. Translating a diagnosis at the doctor’s office, standing off to the side of a stage. But the COVID-19 pandemic thrust the late Virginia Moore — and her office, the Kentucky Commission on the Deaf and Hard of […]
Posted inNews
Kentucky lost hundreds of physicians when it most needed them
Written by Sarah Ladd for Kentucky Lantern The commonwealth lost nearly 600 physicians from 2019 to 2022, Kentucky Medical Association Executive Vice President Patrick Padgett told legislators in Frankfort on Wednesday. The loss of 590 physicians represents a $1 billion economic loss, Padgett said. It also means a hit to patient services. And it happened during […]
Posted inElections, Frankfort, News, Politics, Top 3
Cameron’s office asks FBI to investigate $202K refunds from Beshear’s campaign, Kentucky Dems
Written by Tom Loftus for Kentucky Lantern The office of Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron has asked the FBI to investigate circumstances surrounding controversial political contributions made to the reelection campaign of Gov. Andy Beshear and the Kentucky Democratic Party last December. On Tuesday, Beshear’s campaign manager announced that the campaign and Democratic Party had refunded $202,000 […]
Posted inNews
Echoing history, reliance upon travel rises for abortion care post-Dobbs
Written by Kelcie Moseley-Morris for Kentucky Lantern When the U.S. Supreme Court issued its Dobbs decision one year ago, people of childbearing age in states across the country suddenly faced what seemed like a new prospect — having to travel hundreds or even thousands of miles from home to get an abortion. But historians say […]