Many of us remember Schoolhouse Rock!’s, “Bill” – the personified bill – “on Capitol Hill.” Poor Bill is a lonely bill with a lot of hope as he admits he has a long journey ahead of him to become a law. Bill realizes he’s one of the few lucky bills that actually gets heard in committee, which is the first positive step towards full passage. There’s a bill right now in Kentucky that, just by [...]

By Meagan Petty, high school freshman, and Noble Steenbergen, high school senior  We are members of the Monroe County CARES Youth Prevention Ambassadors. We are drug prevention advocates from south central Kentucky. Our group works to reduce use of tobacco, alcohol, prescription drugs, and marijuana among our peers. One area that our group has had a lot of success in is tobacco prevention. Each year we participate in the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids Kick Butts Day [...]

All Kentucky children deserve a safe environment in which to learn and grow. The Kentucky General Assembly’s School Safety Working Group (SSWG), led by Senator Max Wise and Representative Bam Carney, focused on just that. The bipartisan working group, comprised of legislators, citizens, such as Dr. Joe Bargione, who is a champion of the outstanding work of the BOUNCE Coalition in Louisville, and other experts in school safety, met since June 2018 to listen to and discuss proposals to [...]

Kentucky’s legislative School Safety Working Group (SSWG), made up of bipartisan legislators, stakeholders and other experts in school safety, has met since June 2018 to listen to and discuss proposals to improve school safety across the Commonwealth. While many states across the nation are feeling pressure to provide a quick, reactive solution, the SSWG, co-chaired by Senator Max Wise and Representative Bam Carney, approached these meetings through an intentional process -- hearing what is currently [...]

A new infographic from the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky and Kentucky Youth Advocates highlights the surge in e-cigarette usage among teens seen across the commonwealth and the nation. While youth cigarette smoking in Kentucky has steadily declined, the growing popularity of e-cigarettes, known as vapes and Juuls, is putting a new generation of teens at risk of nicotine addiction. “Kentucky just can’t afford to addict another generation to tobacco products, and the fact that youth e-cig [...]