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Yahoo
a day ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Kentucky to award grants worth $5 million for opioid research, innovation
Attorney General Russell Coleman speaks on Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024, during the Graves County Republican Breakfast. (Austin Anthony for the Kentucky Lantern) The Kentucky Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission will award $5 million in grant money for research projects and 'innovative approaches to developing and implementing effective novel therapeutic interventions' for opioid use disorder and treating substance use disorder. Applications for the $5 million will open July 1 and will close Dec. 20, Attorney General Russell Coleman's office announced Monday. Winners will be decided next March or April. Eligible applicants are nonprofit and for-profit entities that have good standing with the Secretary of State and government entities. 'So much good work is being done to transform lives in our Commonwealth thanks to more than $85 million in opioid abatement funds already distributed,' Chris Evans, the executive director of the Kentucky Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission, said in a statement. 'This $5 million is meant to push us further in our ability to innovate and come up with new solutions to battle this epidemic.' Overdose deaths have been on the decline for the last three years. Still, 1,410 Kentuckians died from an overdose in 2024. 'For too long, Kentucky was at the epicenter of the drug crisis. Now, by funding cutting-edge innovation, we also have the chance to be at the heart of the recovery,' Coleman said. 'We're looking to leaders in prevention, treatment and recovery to bring their best research ideas that can drive the solution, and, in turn, help save lives.' The commission's job is to distribute the state's more than $800 million in opioid settlement funds. So far, it has allocated more than $85 million to 130 organizations, according to its website. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Six Kentuckians have died in storms, 70 counties declare emergencies, governor says
Basil Griffin Park in Bowling Green was still inundated on April 7 after days of heavy rain. Warren County is one of 70 in Kentucky under an emergency declaration. (Kentucky Lantern photo by Austin Anthony) The death toll from the floods that hit Kentucky over the last week has risen to six, Gov. Andy Beshear said Thursday. Those who have died are, according to Beshear: a 66-year-old Campbell County man, a boy in Franklin County, a 74-year-old woman in Nelson County, a 65-year-old man in Trigg County, a 27-year-old man in McCracken County and a 50-year-old man in Bullitt County. The state's Team Kentucky Storm Relief Fund will cover the funeral expenses for those lost. Additionally, at least 70 of Kentucky's 120 counties have declared states of emergency following the deadly storms. 'That means in each of these counties, they believe that there is enough damage, that there was enough flash flooding, storm damage, or river bank flooding to necessitate a state of emergency,' Beshear said during his weekly press conference. Beshear is asking President Donald Trump's administration for individual assistance and expects to submit that application Friday, he said. 'We want to make our best case to get that first round in, and then we will add counties after that,' Beshear said. 'We've been through enough of these, we know that that is the fastest, most effective and most efficient process to do it.' Meanwhile, the Ohio River at Louisville crested Wednesday at nearly 68 feet, but won't crest further west for a few days yet. It's expected to crest at Owensboro on Saturday or Sunday, in Henderson on Sunday, and then in Paducah sometime next week, Beshear said.
Yahoo
31-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Saying he is ‘grateful' to lawmakers, Beshear signs bill for Kentucky flood aid into law
The Rolling Fork River in New Haven, Feb. 17, 2025. ( Kentucky Lantern photo by Austin Anthony) Gov. Andy Beshear signed a bill into law that sets up a new state aid fund for Kentucky communities affected by recent floods, though he has said the bill 'isn't enough.' House Bill 544, which received final passage in the General Assembly Friday with bipartisan support, establishes a new SAFE fund, or State Aid for Emergencies, to respond to widespread mid-February floods. The bill does not appropriate new dollars to respond to the floods. Kentucky previously started SAFE funds after floods in Eastern Kentucky and tornadoes in Western Kentucky. Beshear said in a video shared on social media Sunday that he was 'grateful' the legislature passed a new SAFE fund on the final day of the 2025 legislative session. The governor said the legislation 'is going to help communities, cities and counties' affected by the floods, which took 24 lives. 'After all or any of these natural disasters, the families that are impacted deserve our very best,' Beshear said. 'They deserve that promise that we're going to rebuild every structure and every life.' 'We're there': Beshear urges legislature to lift its cap on emergency spending Under the legislation, $48 million will be transferred from the previous SAFE funds to the new one created by the bill. It also allows $100 million to be spent on flood aid from the current state budget on governor-declared emergencies, instead of the $50 million limit per fiscal year set by the legislature last year. Beshear said in February that the $50 million cap for the current fiscal year already had been reached. When asked about the legislation before the veto period began in March, Beshear told reporters that the bill was 'a little bit better from where it originally was' as it would allow funds allocated for next fiscal year to be used now. However, he said, that could be a problem for future natural disasters in Kentucky if funding is still limited. Beshear said that 'while the bill isn't nearly enough, I'll sign it.' In other flood-related legislation that was filed this session, Beshear allowed a bill to become law without his signature that gives Kentucky public school districts options to make up or waive days lost to bad winter weather and floods. The Senate added protections for a controversial online school from enrollment caps imposed by state education officials. Additionally, the Senate passed a resolution that would have created a task force that would review how the state could become better prepared for natural disasters. However, the legislation did not move in the House.
Yahoo
11-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
KY House budget chair ‘begins the conversation' on state aid for flood victims
An aerial view of Bacon Creek in Hart County, Feb. 16, 2025. (Kentucky Lantern photo by Austin Anthony) The chairman of the House budget committee has introduced what he said would 'begin the conversation' on millions of dollars in state aid for Kentuckians reeling from recent statewide floods. Rep. Jason Petrie, R-Elkton, said the measure, which does not appropriate any money, would create a new SAFE fund, or State Aid for Emergencies, like Kentucky had after earlier Eastern Kentucky floods and Western Kentucky tornadoes. He introduced it as a committee substitute for House Bill 544 in the House Appropriations and Revenue Committee Tuesday morning. Hours later, the House passed the bill with a vote of 99-0. In February, floods washed over Kentucky and bitter winter weather followed. In total, 24 people were killed. Shortly thereafter, President Donald Trump approved an emergency declaration for the natural disaster. The legislation would allow millions of dollars in aid to address the effects of the February floods, said Petrie, who is also the committee's chairman. In the last state budget, the General Assembly imposed a spending cap on emergency funding to respond to natural disasters, but Petrie said at least $23 million is left before the state reaches the cap. At the start of the new fiscal year on July 1, the cap will reset to free up an additional $50 million. Petrie also said $48 million could be transferred from the previous SAFE funds to the new one created by the bill. The latest version of the bill was not immediately available online Tuesday morning but added later that morning. Petrie repeatedly said the bill mirrored legislation for the previous SAFE funds. All committee members present voted in favor of the bill. In response to questions from committee members, Petrie said information about damage estimates from the flood is continuing to evolve. If the legislation needs to change before the current legislative session ends, 'we still have sufficient time to' amend it. 'If we were to leave this session and whatever is done at the end of the session has been accomplished — if it is insufficient for this event or any other event, and there is always the mechanism of calling a special session, having an agreement beforehand and coming in and taking care of the issue,' Petrie said. Under Kentucky law, the governor calls special sessions of the legislature. However, at the end of last month, Beshear had said there would likely be no need for a special session in the coming months. His administration was a part of conversations about the legislation with Republican lawmakers. This story was updated Tuesday afternoon.
Yahoo
22-02-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Kentucky death toll now 15 after ‘flooding, snow storm, bitter cold' sweep state
Trammel Creek floods Mount Lebanon Road in Warren County, Feb. 16, 2025. (Kentucky Lantern photo by Austin Anthony) Five additional deaths announced Friday bring Kentucky's weather-related death toll to 15 people. How to help and get help in the midst of Kentucky flooding, winter storm Gov. Andy Beshear said the most recently confirmed dead are in Caldwell County, an adult male; Morgan County, adult female; Ohio County, adult male; Pike County, adult male; Warren County, adult female. On social media Friday night, Beshear said, 'We are still dealing with this difficult flooding, snow storm then bitter cold situation in Kentucky.' Beshear said 'thankfully' the state had quickly received a disaster declaration from the Trump administration. 'We're waiting on a decision on individual assistance, whether the federal government is going to step up and provide direct help to our people.' Beshear has been in Washington, D.C. for a meeting of the National Governors Association which included a meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House.
