Health News
- Effort For Kids' Dental Health In Clark, Started By Volunteers And Continued By Health Department With Tax, Earns National Award
"A community effort to fight tooth decay in children in Clark County has been named a model for the nation," veteran journalist Al Smith reports in an op-ed for the Lexington Herald-Leader. The Clark County Dental Health Initiative received the award...
- Big Papers' Page 1 Stories Spotlight Recovery Center For Pill Addicts, Lack Of State Program For Problem Gamblers
Gripping stories from recovering addicts, on the front pages of Kentucky's two largest newspapers this morning, highlight Kentuckians' fights against all types of addiction, from gambling to drugs. Hope of recovery emerges from Laura Ungar's...
- Oral Health Grant For 25,000 Appalachian Children Should Be Beginning Of Statewide Effort, Al Smith Says
In an op-ed piece, veteran Kentucky journalist Al Smith praised the recent announcement that 25,000 Eastern Kentucky children in 16 counties will receive preventive dental care this school year. The project, funded by a $1 million grant from the Appalachian...
- State Gives Six Residential Substance-abuse Centers Federal Money For Operating Costs
First Lady Jane Beshear Tuesday presented $1.5 million in funding for six Recovery Kentucky substance-abuse centers, further securing the program started in Republican Ernie Fletcher's administration, and attending a ceremonial opening of the center...
- Morehead Substance-abuse Center Gets $250,000 Grant
The Morehead Inspiration Center, a substance-abuse rehabilitation facility, has received $250,000 from the state, funds that will be used to expand recovery options for addicts. MIC is part of Recovery Kentucky, an initiative that improves access to...
Health News
Veteran journalist sees hope in residential drug recovery program
"Kentucky's struggle to help its citizens who suffer from dependency on drugs and alcohol recently reached an impressive goal when leaders of that struggle who are prominent in different political parties celebrated the official opening of a $5 million treatment center in Western Kentucky," Al Smith wrote in an op-ed piece for the Lexington Herald-Leader.
Smith, left, reports on his trip to the dedication of the Recovery Kentucky residential center in Paducah with "First Lady Jane Beshear, wife of the Democratic governor, and Don Ball, the Lexington developer and Republican fund-raiser," who "left politics behind" to mark the opening of the 10th and last in a series of centers planned at Ball's urging by Gov. Steve Beshear's Republican predecessor, Ernie Fletcher. Smith praises Beshear or "retaining Ball as task force chairman and appointing the first lady as his cochair in a commendable commitment to making the program a bipartisan effort."
Recovery Kentucky uses "a recovery model that includes peer support, daily living skills training, job responsibilities and challenges to practice sober living," writes Smith, who overcame his own alcohol addiction almost 50 years ago while editing the Russellville newspaper. "The memory is so vivid I couldn't resist sharing it with some newcomers to sobriety in Paducah," he wrote, quoting himself: "I've been where you've been. It's a program of hope, it works if you work it." (Read more)
Recovery Kentucky uses "a recovery model that includes peer support, daily living skills training, job responsibilities and challenges to practice sober living," writes Smith, who overcame his own alcohol addiction almost 50 years ago while editing the Russellville newspaper. "The memory is so vivid I couldn't resist sharing it with some newcomers to sobriety in Paducah," he wrote, quoting himself: "I've been where you've been. It's a program of hope, it works if you work it." (Read more)
- Effort For Kids' Dental Health In Clark, Started By Volunteers And Continued By Health Department With Tax, Earns National Award
"A community effort to fight tooth decay in children in Clark County has been named a model for the nation," veteran journalist Al Smith reports in an op-ed for the Lexington Herald-Leader. The Clark County Dental Health Initiative received the award...
- Big Papers' Page 1 Stories Spotlight Recovery Center For Pill Addicts, Lack Of State Program For Problem Gamblers
Gripping stories from recovering addicts, on the front pages of Kentucky's two largest newspapers this morning, highlight Kentuckians' fights against all types of addiction, from gambling to drugs. Hope of recovery emerges from Laura Ungar's...
- Oral Health Grant For 25,000 Appalachian Children Should Be Beginning Of Statewide Effort, Al Smith Says
In an op-ed piece, veteran Kentucky journalist Al Smith praised the recent announcement that 25,000 Eastern Kentucky children in 16 counties will receive preventive dental care this school year. The project, funded by a $1 million grant from the Appalachian...
- State Gives Six Residential Substance-abuse Centers Federal Money For Operating Costs
First Lady Jane Beshear Tuesday presented $1.5 million in funding for six Recovery Kentucky substance-abuse centers, further securing the program started in Republican Ernie Fletcher's administration, and attending a ceremonial opening of the center...
- Morehead Substance-abuse Center Gets $250,000 Grant
The Morehead Inspiration Center, a substance-abuse rehabilitation facility, has received $250,000 from the state, funds that will be used to expand recovery options for addicts. MIC is part of Recovery Kentucky, an initiative that improves access to...