Latest news with #SarahLadd
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Kentucky Lantern journalists win regional reporting awards
Kentucky Lantern reporters, from left, McKenna Horsley, Sarah Ladd and Liam Niemeyer won regional awards from the Society of Professional Journalists for reporting published in 2024. (Lantern photo) LOUISVILLE — Kentucky Lantern staff took home seven awards at the regional Society of Professional Journalists awards dinner, held Thursday in downtown Louisville. The awards were for 2024 reporting on government, health and energy issues in Kentucky. Sarah Ladd, the Lantern's health and policy reporter, won four awards — first place in the social justice reporting category and second place awards in feature writing, health reporting and government categories. 'I covered a lot I am proud of in 2024, including the stories I wrote about kinship care, mental health, a mobile maternal health clinic in Eastern Kentucky and more,' Ladd said. 'I'm excited and humbled to have that coverage recognized by my professional peers. I love the chance to continue telling important stories in my home state.' McKenna Horsley, the Lantern's politics and government reporter, won a second place award for her education reporting on the Kentucky Community and Technical College System. 'Louisville is home to some of Kentucky's brightest journalists and it's amazing to see the Lantern shining among them,' Horsley said. 'I am grateful to my sources, my readers and public records for making my reporting possible.' Liam Niemeyer, the Lantern's environment and energy reporter, won a second place award for his coverage of energy issues facing Eastern Kentucky. 'It's always an honor to have our work recognized, especially with all the talented journalists in Louisville,' Niemeyer said. Additionally, Tim Sullivan, one of the Lantern's freelance journalists, won first place in sports reporting. Lucas Aulbach of The Courier Journal won Journalist of the Year and Piper Hansen of Louisville Business First won Rookie of the Year. The Lantern, which launched on Nov. 30, 2022, is part of the nonprofit States Newsroom network and makes its work free to read and republish under a Creative Commons license. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Federal cuts threaten to undo Kentucky's hard-won progress on addiction and recovery
Kentucky distributed 170,000 doses of Narcan last year, contributing to the state's continued decline in fatal overdoses. (Kentucky Lantern photo by Sarah Ladd) As the White House and Congress weigh difficult budget decisions, Kentuckians are watching closely, especially those of us who work to address the opioid and overdose epidemic. Proposed federal cuts to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) threaten to dismantle the programs responsible for a 30% reduction in overdose deaths in Kentucky over the past year. On May 1, Gov. Andy Beshear announced that overdose deaths in the commonwealth decreased for the third year in a row, with a 30.2% decrease in 2024 over the previous year. Fatal overdoses decreased among Black Kentucky residents from 271 in 2023 to 170 in 2024 — a 37.3% decrease that reversed a recent trend. According to the 2024 Kentucky Drug Overdose Fatality Report, 1,410 Kentuckians lost their lives last year to a drug overdose. In 2023, Kentucky reported a 9.8% decrease compared with 2022. In 2022, there was a decrease of 2.5% from 2021, marking the first year Kentucky saw a decrease in overdose deaths since 2018. By working together, the governor said, Kentucky is saving lives. He credited the state's continued decline in overdose deaths to several factors including: More than $29.7 million was distributed in grant and pass-through funding from the Office of Drug Control Policy; 170,000 doses of Narcan were distributed; 84 syringe exchange program sites served 27,799 unique participants; More than 17,390 Kentuckians received addiction treatment paid for by the Kentucky Opioid Response Effort; More than 17,980 Kentuckians received recovery services (housing assistance, employment services, transportation, basic need services, etc.) in their community paid for by the Kentucky Opioid Response Effort; 19 Kentuckians sought treatment through the Kentucky State Police Angel Initiative; More than 3,320 incoming calls were made to the KY HELP Call Center with more than 14,080 outgoing follow up calls, And 21 counties are now certified as Recovery Ready Communities representing nearly 1.5 million Kentuckians. As the leaders of People Advocating Recovery and the Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy, we have seen the impact of this crisis firsthand — and we have seen the transformative impact of smart investments from public safety and recovery organizations working hand in hand for overdose prevention, treatment and recovery. Let us be clear: we strongly support responsible governance. Government efficiency, fiscal discipline and strategic workforce development are essential for a thriving nation. But these proposed cuts, particularly to frontline recovery and public health services, will not achieve those outcomes; they will undermine them. The proposed restructuring of HHS would eliminate approximately 20,000 federal jobs within that agency, including layoffs within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). These are the very institutions leading our nation's response to addiction and mental health. Weakening them now is like pulling fire crews off duty during wildfire season, while the fire is still smoldering. Equally alarming are reports that Congress is weighing as much as $880 billion in cuts to Medicaid over the next decade. These cuts would devastate the already strained safety net especially in rural areas, like Appalachia, leading to hospital closures, spikes in ER use and inevitably increased incarceration of people with untreated behavioral health needs. Cutting essential recovery infrastructure is not a pathway to economic stability. In fact, it threatens the very workforce development efforts policymakers want to prioritize. We cannot grow the economy by sidelining millions of Americans who are in or seeking recovery in the midst of this crisis. Instead, we must invest in them. When people recover, they return to work, support their families, contribute to their communities and economy. This is not the time to abandon our efforts to end this deadly public health crisis. Now is the time to reaffirm our promise to curb addiction, save families and children, and erode this deadly disease once and for all. Kentucky and the nation have made great progress, it's time we turn that progress into prosperity for all and make recovery a national priority. Tara Hyde, left, is CEO of Pe ople Advocating Recovery, a nonprofit based in Louisville that works to eliminate barriers to recovery from substance abuse disorder. Van Ingram is the executive director of the Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy.
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Kentucky fatal overdoses decreased again in 2024
Narcan is an opioid reversal treatment. (Kentucky Lantern photo by Sarah Ladd). For the third year in a row, Kentucky saw a decrease in fatal drug overdoses, Gov. Andy Beshear announced Thursday. Still, 1,410 Kentuckians died from an overdose last year, according to the 2024 Drug Overdose Fatality Report, which was released Thursday. 'That's 1,410 too many people that we lost,' Beshear said. 'These are people's friends and family members, each one a child of God taken from us far too soon.' In 2023, Kentucky had 1,984 overdose deaths, which was a decrease from the 2,135 lost in 2022. Black Kentuckians also saw a decrease in 2024, a reversal from previous years. In 2024, 170 Black Kentuckians died from a drug overdose, a decrease from 259 in 2022 and 264 in 2023. The report does not break down deaths across all races. It shows 1,216 of the 2024 deaths were white Kentuckians, 170 were Black and 24 were of an 'other' race. This decrease means 'that this good news has come for all of our Kentucky communities,' Beshear said. Fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid, is still a key culprit in killing Kentuckians. Fentanyl was present in 62% of the 2024 deaths and methamphetamine was present in 51%, according to the report. 'Those two continue to be the most prevalent and ultimately most deadly drugs found in overdoses,' Beshear said. The counties with the highest rates of fatal drug overdoses were Lee, Knott, Breathitt, Powell and Estill, according to the report — all Eastern Kentucky counties. The age range most affected were Kentuckians 35-44, with 379 deaths in that age range. Five children aged 4 or under died from drug overdose in 2024; fewer than 5 died between the ages of 5-14. Van Ingram, the executive director for the Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy, said 'we still lost 1,400 Kentuckians, and so our work's not finished, not by a long shot, it's just time to get back to work.' Beshear cited prevention efforts such as Narcan distribution, syringe exchange programs and treatment recovery programs in driving the numbers down. The report says that for 2024: $29,754,033 was distributed in grant and pass-through funding from the Office of Drug Control Policy. 170,000 doses of Narcan were distributed. 84 syringe exchange program sites served 27,799 unique participants. 142,312 Kentuckians received addiction services through Medicaid. 17,399 Kentuckians received treatment paid by Kentucky Opioid Response Effort. 17,984 Kentuckians received recovery services like house assistance, employment services, transportation and basic need services in their community paid by Kentucky Opioid Response Effort. 3,329 incoming calls were made to the KY HELP Call Center with 14,087 outgoing follow up calls. 21 counties now certified as Recovery Ready Communities representing 1,495,518 Kentuckians. Kentuckians living with addiction can call Kentucky's help line at 833-859-4357. Narcan, which can help reverse overdoses, is available at pharmacies for sale and through some health departments and outreach programs for free. The legislature decriminalized fentanyl test strips in 2023, meaning Kentuckians can use them to legally check substances for the presence of fentanyl. 'Today's news should be very meaningful to all Kentuckians, and it ought to tell us that an epidemic that arose in our time, we should be able to defeat in our time,' Beshear said. 'This is not something we should leave for our kids and our grandkids. This is something we should continue to strive to do better, better, better at addressing.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Conversion therapy protected in Kentucky as legislature overrides Beshear veto
Supporters of LGBTQ+ rights draped banners in the Kentucky Capitol on the day Republicans finalized enactment a new law protecting conversion therapy and barring Medicaid from paying for transgender care. (Kentucky Lantern photo by Sarah Ladd) FRANKFORT — Kentucky's Republican-controlled legislature voted largely along party lines to override Gov. Andy Beshear's veto of a bill to cancel his restrictions on conversion therapy and prohibit Medicaid from covering transgender-affirming medical care. That means House Bill 495 will become law. It has an emergency clause, meaning that will happen immediately. In a statement after both chambers overrode the veto, Chris Hartman, the executive director of the Fairness Campaign, called it a 'a sad day in Kentucky.' 'HB 495 opens the door to 'conversion torture' and denies Medicaid coverage for transgender healthcare,' Hartman said. Conversion therapy is a discredited practice that attempts to alter gender expression and sexual attraction that diverges from heterosexual normativity 'with the specific aim to promote heterosexuality as a preferable outcome,' according to the The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.' In 2024, Beshear signed an executive order aimed at ending the practice on Kentucky minors. 'Conversion therapy has no basis in medicine or science and causes significant long term damage to our kids, including increased rates of suicide, anxiety and depression,' he wrote in his veto message on HB 495. 'As leaders and policy makers, we should be in the business of protecting our citizens and kids from harm, not subjecting them to discredited methods that jeopardize their health, well being and safety.' Beshear's veto message did not mention the bill's ban on Medicaid covering gender-affirming medical care. Early Wednesday afternoon, the House voted to override the veto 78-20 along party lines. Democrats reiterated many of their previous objections, saying the bill was an 'overreach' and 'oppression.' 'I am here to stand in the gap between our trans friends, neighbors and constituents and the oppression that this body is inflicting on them,' said Rep. Lisa Willner, D-Louisville. 'This is going to be one of those times when we look back in history and say, 'was I on the right side of history?'' Rep. Mary Lou Marzian, D-Louisville, appeared to invoke a Lady Gaga song when she said, 'you're born this way' to LGBTQ+ Kentuckians while asking her colleagues to let Beshear's veto stand. Marzian said she hopes lawmakers don't 'go after' another minority population next year 'to make us feel good about ourselves. I hope it's not the disabled or mentally ill that we decide are less than us,' she said. Rep. Joshua Watkins, D-Louisville, said he's heard from constituents who are 'scared and terrified' of the legislation. Rep. Ken Fleming, R-Louisville, said that no matter where anyone stands on conversion therapy, Beshear 'overreached' his powers by issuing an executive order on the matter. A few hours later, the Senate voted 31-6 to override the veto. Sen. Robin Webb, D-Grayson, sided with Republicans in voting to go against Beshear. Sen. Karen Berg, D-Louisville, said it is 'absolutely appalling that we can sit here over and over and over again and legislate against a small, small group of people in this country that, by the way, do exist and do have every right to exist.' 'We know that kids who were forced to go through conversion therapy are twice as likely to attempt suicide,' Berg said. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 988. 'Why in the heck do we do this over and over and over again? Get over your hate,' Berg said. 'Let people live their lives the way they choose to.'
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Ban on public funds for KY prisoners' transgender care becomes law without Beshear's signature
Supporters of LGBTQ+ rights gather in the Capitol of the 2025 Fairness Rally, March 11, 2025. (Kentucky Lantern photo by Sarah Ladd) FRANKFORT — Gov. Andy Beshear is letting a bill that would take 67 transgender inmates off hormone therapy and block public funds for inmates' elective medical treatments become law — without his signature. Advocates have called Senate Bill 2 anti-trans legislation and criticized its high priority for the General Assembly this session. The bill says public dollars cannot be used to fund a 'cosmetic service or elective procedure' for Kentucky inmates. It also says if a health care provider documents that ending a treatment would harm an inmate, use of the drug or hormone may be 'systematically reduced and eliminated.' In a brief statement, Beshear's office said he 'does not believe that the state should pay for gender reassignment surgeries for convicted felons, as this would mean those in prison would receive better access to medical care than a law-abiding citizen. However, courts have ruled that federal law may require some nonsurgical care.' KY Senate votes to stop state funding of hormone treatments for transgender prisoners Some who argued against the bill cited the protections against cruel and unusual punishments guaranteed by the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and the potential cost of lawsuits based on constitutional claims.
