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Attorney General Andy Beshear joined City of Princeton Police Chief Don Weedman to host a human trafficking awareness training at city hall for law enforcement officials in Western Kentucky.
The training provides local law enforcement with information on current human trafficking leads, criminal cases throughout the Commonwealth and human trafficking indicators and trends.
The training, co-hosted by the Office of the Attorney General’s Department of Criminal Investigations and the City of Princeton Police Department, is being provided ahead of the upcoming solar eclipse, which is expected to bring thousands of visitors to Hopkinsville and throughout the region.
Beshear said it is unfortunate that human traffickers view large-scale sporting and community events as prime opportunities to engage in trafficking, and added that he is impressed with the preventative steps Western Kentucky’s leaders have taken to prepare.
“By working with Chief Weedman, the City of Princeton and many other regional law enforcement offices and organizations, we are more likely to prevent, identify and prosecute human trafficking cases in Western Kentucky,” said Beshear. “Sadly, human trafficking does not just impact one event or one area – it occurs in every county, city and community and that is why I have made combating this horrible crime one of my top priorities.”
In July, Beshear’s office provided multiple human trafficking prevention trainings for health care workers, local leaders and law enforcement throughout Western Kentucky. Trainings were held at Lourdes Hospital in Paducah, the Marshall County Rotary Club, Joe Creason Community Center in Benton, and at the Kentucky Association of Chiefs of Police Conference in Paducah.
Over the last year, Beshear has established the Office of the Attorney General as the leading agency fighting human trafficking, a modern-day form of slavery in which adults and children are forced into sex or labor services.
Beshear’s office is currently working 14 human trafficking cases and has assisted local law enforcement with resources in an effort to resolve 96 other human trafficking complaints. His office has trained over 1,500 individuals statewide and forged partnerships with the trucking and hospitality industries, and the Baptist Convention.
The AG’s office, along with Catholic Charities of Louisville, received a federal grant in 2016, the first Department of Justice grant ever awarded to a Kentucky agency for human trafficking. The federal grant provides support to the statewide human trafficking task force in its efforts to develop a process for collecting and interpreting data on human trafficking and model protocols for victim-centered response, investigation and prosecution of these cases.
The funding also allowed a specially trained human trafficking investigator to be hired.
In 2016, Beshear’s office arrested more online child predators than any year in the history of the office. The number of arrests, indictments and convictions totaled nearly 80. His cyber crime investigators also assist with the forensic review of technology on local human trafficking cases.
Beshear said that his office will continue to fight to protect trafficking victims who are often the most marginalized in society – victims of abuse and violence, runaways, refugees, immigrants or those who are homeless.
To learn more about human trafficking and efforts to fight it, contact the Attorney General’s Office of Child Abuse and Human Trafficking Prevention and Prosecution at 502-696-5300 or visit Catholic Charities of Louisville Rescue and Restore program website at http://www.rescueandrestoreky.org. The national human trafficking hotline number is 888-373-7888.
The Kentucky Arts Council has awarded more than $1.2 million in operating support to 95 arts organizations across the Commonwealth for the 2018 fiscal year through its Kentucky Arts Partnership (KAP) program.
The KAP program provides nonprofit arts organizations with unrestricted operating support to ensure that year-round participation in the arts is available to the people of Kentucky.
“The Kentucky Arts Partnership organizations do the heavy lifting for the arts in their own communities, and we are grateful for their hard work and passion to serve, educate and invigorate the Commonwealth,” said Lydia Bailey Brown, arts council executive director. “These grants will help them as they continue their work growing the arts across the state.”
The competitive grants are awarded annually. A list of organizations that will receive funding for the 2018 fiscal year can be found on the arts council website.
The Kentucky Arts Council, the state arts agency, fosters environments for Kentuckians to value, participate in and benefit from the arts. Kentucky Arts Council funding is provided by the Kentucky General Assembly and the National Endowment for the Arts.
The Jefferson County Board of Education announced today that it has issued a request for proposals (RFP) to begin the process of seeking a superintendent for the Jefferson County Public School (JCPS) District.
The previous superintendent of the district, Dr. Donna Hargens, resigned from the position effective July 1, 2017. The district is currently being led by an acting superintendent, Dr. Marty Pollio.
The RFP seeks proposals from firms that could assist the district in a national search for a superintendent. The firm would also be responsible for helping engage the public in feedback and forums during the search. Proposals must be submitted to the district no later than September 6, 2017 at 3 p.m.
“The Jefferson County Board of Education is committed to finding the best person for this position and that means conducting a national search to identify all potential candidates and engaging all stakeholders about what they’d like to see in a future leader,” Board Chair Chris Brady said.
The district also announced the creation of a web page to keep the public aware of search developments and opportunities for engagement. The RFP is available here.
JCPS is the largest public school district in Kentucky and the 28th largest public school district in the United States. The district is home to approximately 101,000 students and has approximately 18,000 employees, including approximately 6,000 teachers.
Mayor Greg Fischer is inviting all local faith leaders to sign on to a new online tool designed to better connect faith-based organizations with each other and Louisville Metro Government.
The Mayor’s new Faith Directory also will allow city leaders and staff to communicate information; hear concerns and suggestions; and to establish a list of venues for possible events and programs.
The Mayor will announce the new directory during a press conference at 1 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 8 at Metro Hall, just before a 1:30 p.m. forum for area faith leaders. All faith leaders are invited to join.
(Sign on to the new directory)
The Mayor said the new directory is an extension of the city’s #BeThe1 efforts to engage citizens, business leaders and faith organizations in ways to help prevent violence in our community.
“Our faith leaders are at the forefront of our compassion efforts in Louisville, and they are important partners in sharing and supporting our long-term violence prevention efforts,” the Mayor said. “This directory will create a more sustainable mechanism for communication. We will use it to keep the leaders and their congregations and constituents apprised of what we’re doing, including faith forums and other events where they can share their advice on what else we can be doing.”
Metro’s Office for Safe and Healthy Neighborhoods is working with the Mayor’s community engagement team and others to establish the directory, which invites faith groups to provide information ranging from their leadership, contact information, available meeting space and location.
Faith leaders can sign on by completing a survey at http://louisvilleky.gov/BeThe1.
For more information or to RVSP for Tuesday’s forum, contact Community Engagement Specialist Althea Jackson at (502) 574-1050, or althea.jackson@louisvilleky.gov.
Gov. Matt Bevin’s office will begin placing painted rocks around Kentucky this afternoon in order to raise awareness for Kentucky’s opioid epidemic and the “Don’t Let Them Die” (DLTD) initiative.
“Though this promotion is intended to be encouraging and fun, it seeks to raise awareness across the Commonwealth about a tragically serious epidemic,” said Amanda Stamper, Director of Communications. “Last year, 1,404 Kentuckians died as a result of an opioid overdose. Gov. Bevin is committed to providing the policies and resources necessary to ensure we eradicate this scourge.”
Painted rock searches, a form of hide-and-go-seek, is a new, wildly popular trend. The concept is simple: volunteers paint and decorate rocks, then place them for others to find. When one finds a painted rock they can photograph themselves with it and then post the photo to their social media outlet of choice. Finders are encouraged to then hide the rock for others to find. The goal is not to find and keep the rocks, but to make continue placing them for others to discover.
The DLTD painted rock campaign will be promoted on the Governor’s social media pages, including his new Instagram account. In addition to decorative art, these rocks will include a brief message of encouragement and hope, as well as the URL DontLetThemDie.com, a website providing information about opioids, treatment options, and the overdose antidote, naloxone. Rocks for this campaign will initially be hidden in the Frankfort, Lexington and Louisville areas but the Governor’s office hopes to have rocks placed in all 120 Kentucky counties within two weeks.
The “Don’t Let Them Die” theme encourages Kentuckians to recognize the inherent value of human life – even in the grip of addiction – and take proactive steps to support their friends, family and communities as they overcome this crisis. Kentuckians can help spread the word by painting and hiding their own rocks with DontLetThemDie.com painted on the back and sharing on social media using hashtag #DLTD.
Surrounded by young people who spent their summer working, Mayor Greg Fischer today declared the 2017 SummerWorks season a big success, with more than 5,200 youth ages 16-21 employed – breaking last year’s record total.
That number includes 800 youth employed by companies and organizations that directly teamed with the city and KentuckianaWorks to provide more extensive career training, led by a new SummerWorks partner, YouthBuild. Overall, a record 150 employers hired youth this summer.
“This year’s program was focused on creating deeper, more effective learning experiences for our youth participants, and YouthBuild did a phenomenal job in leading this effort,” the Mayor said. “Our 800 core placements received training to create résumés and prepare for job interviews, as well as coaching throughout the summer from YouthBuild staff or key private sector employer-partners. This effort helps us ensure that Louisville is a city of opportunity for all our young people.”
At a season-closing event at Kentucky Kingdom, two of those 800 young people shared their summer job experiences.
Munirah Sajjida, 17, said she has “loved my work” at the non-profit Plymouth Community Center. Munirah, who had been struggling with school attendance issues and other problems, also participates in the city’s ReImage program, designed to keep court-involved youth from getting into further trouble. She credited the SummerWorks program and ReImage with helping to get her life headed in a positive direction.
Jon Russell, who was hired back for a second summer as an assistant in human resources at Fourth Street Live! said his SummerWorks job “has given me skills that will be valuable to my dream of opening my own department store.”
Fourth Street Live! presented him with a scholarship, which he will use to attend the University of Kentucky. The company plans to award a scholarship yearly to a SummerWorks youth.
Mayor Fischer said such SummerWorks’ “employer champions” hired youth, ages 16-21, for jobs in hospitals, restaurants, groceries, banks and hotels. Working closely with supervisors and mentors, young people worked on manufacturing assembly lines and grocery check-out lanes, assisted companies with their IT and human resources needs, helped process insurance claims, worked in pharmacies and helped ship packages around the world.
Several of Louisville’s largest companies greatly increased their hiring, including GE Appliances, Ford, Humana and Kindred Healthcare.
Employers new to the program included 21st Century Parks, Coastal Cloud, Hilliard Lyons, Hyatt Hotel, McDonald’s local franchises, MedAssist, MSD, Speed Art Museum, University of Louisville and Workwell Industries.
A combination of public and private funding sponsored SummerWorks jobs at more than 85 non-profit organizations and city agencies, including Boys and Girls Clubs, Kentucky Shakespeare, the Food Literacy Project, Louisville Metro Police, Louisville Fire, EMS, Metro Parks, Family Health Centers, Americana Community Center and Louisville Grows.
Funding for those jobs included $600,000 that the Mayor and Metro Council placed in last year’s city budget, as well as $100,000 each from the James Graham Brown Foundation, JPMorgan Chase Foundation and the family of businessman Paul Diaz.
This year, SummerWorks expanded its focus on creating job experiences that build entrepreneurial skills in young people. Small grants were provided to six partner organizations that helped youth learn to start their own business, learn computer coding, and gain invaluable on-the-job training in the medical field, building trades, and technology.
“We are thrilled to see this initiative grow and evolve in both the quantity of and quality of the job opportunities young people are able to experience,” said Michael Gritton, executive director of KentuckianaWorks, which operates the SummerWorks program.
Many of the companies joining SummerWorks this year were recruited by Greater Louisville Inc., the Metro Chamber of Commerce.
“GLI was pleased to partner with the Mayor’s SummerWorks Program and successfully recruit 30 new GLI investor companies and create 225 summer jobs for youth in our community,” said Kent Oyler, president & CEO of Greater Louisville Inc. “Hands-on experience in the workplace is critical for raising young persons’ expectations and building a quality workforce.”
The Mayor launched SummerWorks right after taking office in 2011, in response to the elimination of federal funding for summer jobs. That first year, 200 young people were placed in jobs. The program was recognized by the U.S. Conference of Mayors in 2014 as one of the nation’s best summer jobs programs for young people.
SummerWorks continues to work closely with Jefferson County Public Schools to place students in jobs that match up with what they are learning in school, and jobs in the key business sectors the city is strategically growing, such as technology, healthcare and business services.
Other companies participating included the Belle of Louisville, GlowTouch Technologies, Harland Clarke, Louisville Urban League, Louisville Zoo, Norton Healthcare, Oxmoor Auto Group, Speedway, Thorntons and YMCA of Greater Louisville.
The Mayor urged employers to make plans now to hire or support summer jobs for 2018. More information is at https://www.summerworks.org/
Labor Cabinet Deputy Secretary Mike Nemes visited Multi Packaging Solutions in Louisville today to present a Governor’s Safety and Health Award for the 278,279 production hours worked without a lost-time incident by employees.
“Congratulations to Multi Packaging Solutions on earning another Governor’s Safety and Health Award,” said Labor Secretary Derrick Ramsey. “Working over 200,000 hours without a lost-time injury is a great accomplishment and I commend them for their dedication toward maintaining a safe environment for its workers. On behalf of Governor Bevin and the Labor Cabinet, it is my honor to recognize this achievement for the hard-working men and women at Multi Packaging Solutions.”
Multi Packaging Solutions (MPS) is a leading global provider of value-added print and packaging solutions to a diverse customer base across the healthcare, branded consumer, and multi-media end markets. MPS provides customers with an extensive array of print-based specialty packaging, including premium folding cartons, labels, inserts/leaflets, rigid packaging, tubes, and specialty packaging across a variety of substrates and finishes. Founded in 2005 and now employs approximately 9,000 people in North America, Asia and Europe. Approximately 181 employees work in Louisville.
“This is a great honor for our facility, and a testament to the hard work and dedication of the men and women working here,” John Gadd, Environmental, Health & Safety Supervisor. “Our team members do a great job and do it safely.”
The Kentucky Labor Cabinet presents the Governor’s Safety and Health Award to highlight outstanding safety and health performance in Kentucky’s workplaces. A business may qualify for the award if its employees achieve a required number of hours worked without experiencing a lost time injury or illness. The required number of hours is dependent upon the number of employees.
According to a recent report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Kentucky employers reported the lowest incident rate for nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses in the state’s history.
Based on a mathematical calculation that describes the number of recordable incidents per 100 full-time employees, Kentucky’s rate improved from 3.8 in 2014 to 3.7 in 2015 – reflecting the most recent data available. This rate has steadily declined since it was first calculated in 1996, when a rate of 8.4 was reported.
For more information on the Governor’s Safety and Health Award, click here.