Tuesday February 3, 2026
Local Connection
Weather
Traffic
@LouisvilleDispatch
@LouisvilleDisp
SubscribeThe Kentucky Department for Public Health (DPH), within the Cabinet for Health and Family Services (CHFS) is raising the influenza (flu) level in the state from “regional” to “widespread.” Widespread activity is the highest level of flu activity, which indicates increased flu-like activity or flu outbreaks in at least half of the regions in the state.
“With widespread flu activity reported in Kentucky, now is a good time to protect yourself and your family by getting a flu shot”, said Hiram C. Polk, Jr., M.D., commissioner of DPH. “We urge anyone who hasn’t received a flu vaccine, particularly those at high risk for complications related to the flu, to check with local health departments or other providers.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommends flu vaccine for all individuals six months of age and older. However, the nasal spray flu vaccine should not be used because it has been shown to be ineffective. People who are strongly encouraged to receive the flu vaccine because they may be at higher risk for complications or negative consequences include:
• Children age six months through 59 months;
• Women who are or will be pregnant during the influenza season;
• Persons 50 years of age or older;
• Persons with extreme obesity (Body Mass Index of 40 or greater);
• Persons aged six months and older with chronic health problems;
• Residents of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities;
• Household contacts (including children) and caregivers of children aged ≤59 months
(i.e., aged aged • Household contacts and caregivers or people who live with a person at high-risk for complications from the flu; and
• Health care workers, including physicians, nurses, and other workers in inpatient and
outpatient-care settings, medical emergency-response workers (e.g., paramedics and
emergency medical technicians), employees of nursing home and long-term care
facilities who have contact with patients or residents, and students in these professions
who will have contact with patients.
Adequate supplies of flu vaccine are available for this year’s season. Vaccinations can be given any time during the flu season. The flu activity level is tracked weekly as part of the CDC national flu surveillance system.
“You should also follow the advice your parents gave you to prevent flu and other illnesses that tend to circulate at this time of year – wash your hands frequently, cover your mouth when you cough or sneeze and stay home when you’re sick,” concluded CHFS Secretary Vickie Yates Brown Gilsson.
Infection with the flu virus can cause fever, headache, cough, sore throat, runny nose, sneezing and body aches. Flu can be very contagious. For more information on influenza or the availability of flu vaccine, please contact your local health department or visit http://healthalerts.ky.gov.
Attorney General Andy Beshear joined the Truckers Against Trafficking (TAT), the Kentucky Baptist Convention, the Kentucky Hotel and Travel Industry, Free 2 Hope, the Kentucky Trucking Association, WDRB and Catholic Charities of Louisville to raise awareness about one of the nation’s fastest growing criminal enterprises – human trafficking.
The 11th of each January is National Human Trafficking Awareness Day. January is National Human Trafficking Awareness Month.
Over the last year, Beshear has established the Kentucky Attorney General’s office 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.
“Human trafficking represents the worst form of abuse, often to children, and it is increasing in Kentucky,” Beshear said. “That’s why my office is partnering with the public and private sector to enhance and improve policy measures and training opportunities to increase resources and awareness to help end human trafficking.”
Beshear’s office receives direct complaint information on possible human trafficking from the Cabinet for Health and Family Services and the National Human Trafficking Hotline.
In just the last quarter of 2016, Beshear’s office provided assistance on 14 possible incidences of human trafficking and acted as the sole investigative agency on five cases.
For 2016 as a whole, the AG’s Department of Criminal Investigations provided technical assistance to local law enforcement agencies on 32 possible human trafficking cases, resulting in the identification of two minors who were being trafficked for sex.
The office was selected by the United States Department of Justice as the first Kentucky government agency to receive a federal human trafficking grant, and has forged partnerships with the trucking and hospitality industries, and the Baptist Convention.
“As the largest denomination in the Commonwealth, the Kentucky Baptist Convention feels a special burden to stand with the attorney general to prevent human trafficking and rescue those individuals whose lives are systematically and cruelly devastated,” said Hershael W. York, chairman of the Kentucky Baptist Convention Public Affairs Committee and pastor at Buck Run Baptist Church of Frankfort. “The resulting devaluation of human life and the loss of human dignity is an attack on all of us. Victims of human trafficking are surely emblematic of Jesus’ concern for ‘the least of these’ and so we must accept the mandate of protection, deliverance and justice.”
“Professional drivers have proven time and again that they are the eyes and ears of our nation’s roadways,” said Truckers Against Trafficking Executive Director Kendis Paris. “They are in places and see things that most of us do not. If we can train every CDL holder in America to recognize and report human trafficking as they’re seeing it, many more victims will be recovered out of a life of forced prostitution. Truckers Against Trafficking is extremely grateful to be partnering with the Kentucky Attorney General’s office and the Kentucky Trucking Association to reach this critical goal, and we applaud both groups for being leaders on this issue.”
“The Kentucky Trucking Association, our members and the trucking community in this state and around the country pledge our support to Truckers Against Trafficking and its mission,” Guy Young, president and CEO of the Kentucky Trucking Association. “Our thanks to Attorney General Beshear for his leadership on this important issue. We are hopeful that the public-private partnerships formed in Kentucky to fight human trafficking will continue to make a difference in this human tragedy. Awareness and training for our professional drivers has led to increased reporting of suspected activity, rescue of many victims, and the arrest and prosecution of those responsible. We are glad to extend our help to TAT in any way we can.”
“Kentucky’s tourism industry is fully prepared to help inform and educate our businesses and employees about human trafficking,” said Hank Phillips, president and CEO of the Kentucky Travel Industry Association. “This activity is so despicable, that there can be a temptation to ignore it and pretend it does not exist. We cannot do that and we will not do that.”
“Human trafficking is a crime that is hidden in the seams of Kentucky communities, in rural and urban areas,” said Marissa Castellanos, human trafficking program director for Catholic Charities of Louisville. “Workers are being abused and enslaved in horrific conditions on farms, in restaurants, in domestic work, and other Kentucky businesses. Men, women, and children are being exploited for commercial sex, forced to engage in sex acts, resulting in thousands of dollars in profits for traffickers. Survivors need supportive services in order to regain control of their lives and begin healing. Catholic Charities is committed to helping victims of human trafficking with case management services, basic needs, immigration relief, advocacy, and other services. We hope Kentuckians will continue to raise their awareness of this issue, and look for ways to engage as more conscious consumers and by reporting potential trafficking activities to law enforcement.”
Human trafficking victims are often the most marginalized in society – victims of abuse and violence, runaways, refugees and immigrants, Beshear said.
“They are coerced into submission by their abusers through many immoral means, including forced dependence on drugs, violence, threats and manipulation,” Beshear said. “And the problem is getting worse.”
Human trafficking reports to the Cabinet for Health and Family Services have grown by 50 percent each year, climbing from 51 victims in 2013 to 169 reported cases for 2015.
Beshear said his office is working with state and federal partners to fill these gaps in several different ways.
“We are getting real time case information from state and federal agencies, and reaching out to local law enforcement, prosecutors and social workers,” he said. “We’re offering support for investigations, victims services referrals, legal research, specialized training and prosecution assistance.”
Beshear recognized WDRB Television in Louisville for producing the human trafficking awareness video that will be shown to train the employees of each participating hotel, convention center and others from the tourism industry.
The Kentucky Human Trafficking Task Force will meet on Wednesday to discuss plans to use the federal grant to hire a specially trained human trafficking investigator, enhance the collaborative efforts of the task force to ensure victim-centered response, investigation, prosecution and follow up services in cases of human trafficking. The grant will also allow the task force and AG’s office to better collect data on human trafficking.
To learn more about human trafficking and efforts to fight it, visit Catholic Charities of Louisville Rescue and Restore program website at http://www.rescueandrestoreky.org, or contact the Attorney General’s Office of Child Abuse and Exploitation Prevention at 502-696-5300.The national hotline is 888-373-7888.
The Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Commission took another step toward its goal of increasing Kentucky’s elk population at a faster rate by proposing hunting season modifications and setting season dates at its Jan. 6 special-called meeting.
The commission recommends all hunting, fishing and boating regulations for approval by the General Assembly and approves all expenditures by the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. All recommendations must be approved by legislators before they become law.
Kentucky’s free-ranging elk population is the nation’s largest east of the Rocky Mountains, but the commission is taking strides to grow it faster as a way to create more recreational opportunity.
The commission moved to compress the state’s hunting season by ending the season December 31. In doing so, it proposed moving Cow Firearms Hunt 2 (second week) from January to December immediately after Cow Firearms Hunt 1.
The commission also proposed the 2017 elk season dates:
Bull Archery:
Sept. 16 – 29; Oct. 14 – Dec. 8; Dec. 23 – 31
Bull Crossbow:
Sept. 23 – 29; Oct. 14 – Dec. 8; Dec. 23 – 31
Bull Firearms 1:
Sept. 30 – Oct. 6
Bull Firearms 2:
Oct. 7 – 13
Cow Archery and Crossbow:
Oct. 14 – Dec. 8; Dec. 23 – 31
Cow Firearms 1:
Dec. 9 – 15
Cow Firearms 2:
Dec. 16 – 22
The next regular Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Commission meeting will be 8:30 a.m. (Eastern time), Friday, March 17, 2017. Meetings are held at Kentucky Fish and Wildlife headquarters, located at 1 Sportsman’s Lane off U.S. 60 in Frankfort.
Lt. Gov. Jenean Hampton traveled across Kentucky this week meeting with over 2,000 high school students to share her personal story and promote the Lt. Gov.’s Entrepreneurship Challenge (LGEC).
The visits included stops in Ballard, Carlisle, Hickman, Fulton, Grant, and Boyle counties.
Lt. Gov. Hampton briefly discussed her personal story of rising from poverty and encouraged students to surround themselves with people who uplift rather than hold back. She cited Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and NASA as two of the most inspirational influences in helping her dream beyond her circumstances.
After sharing her story, Hampton’s time was dedicated to sharing details of the LGEC with students and giving them examples of how entrepreneurial endeavors (e.g., Apple, Uber) have led to positive societal changes and innovative job opportunities.
“Visiting with students, answering their questions, and sharing my story are some of the best parts about being Kentucky’s Lt. Gov.,” said Hampton. “I want students to know as well as believe that they are wildly creative and capable of incredible accomplishments.”
More information on the Lt. Governor’s Entrepreneurship Challenge can be found at www.kylgec.com
On Thursday, Gov. Matt Bevin presented five Kentuckians with the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. 2017 Leadership Award in Frankfort. The event, hosted by the Martin Luther King Jr. State Commission, recognizes individuals who embody Dr. King’s life and work, and who have made an exemplary contribution toward his legacy of service.
“Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. peacefully and passionately pursued his dream of a world where men and women would not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character,” said Gov. Bevin. “Those we honor with this award continue Dr. King’s admirable work by ensuring that every citizen of our great nation has the option of pursuing the American dream.”
Nominations for the award were solicited across the Commonwealth from the general public. The MLK Jr. State Commission received a total of twenty nominations. The following individuals were awarded the 2017 MLK Leadership award:
Youth Leadership Award Winners
Maegan Helm, Louisville, KY
- She is the founder of Ballard High School’s Black Student Union and has totaled over 75 hours of community service.
- This winner tutors students and works with the Metro Louisville Brightside Hallmark Neighborhood Cleanup.
- She has a 4.0 GPA and has won numerous awards for her academic achievements all while working part-time.
Ahmaad Edmund, Fairdale, KY
- This Male High School student has been elected president of his class for six straight years.
- He has been a member of the Muhammad Ali Center Council of Students.
- He is on the Mayor of Louisville’s One Love Louisville Youth Implementation team and the Police Chief’s Youth Advisory Council.
- He founded two black student unions focused on promoting educational and enrichment activities for African American students.
Madison Roy, Louisville, KY
- Since age seven, she has been actively engaged in giving back to her community. After learning one of her classmates had leukemia, she raised money for research of the disease.
- She has organized presentations to help young children learn about Dr. King and gain an understanding of his tremendous sacrifices.
- She is the founder of Youth in Action Network of Louisville, an organization that provides students with “giving back” and “self-help” opportunities that can be used when they apply for scholarships and college admission applications.
Adult Leadership Award Winners
Mitchell Payne, Louisville, KY
- Helping others, especially those that are marginalized, has been a tenet by way of his past involvement with the Louisville Black Achievers program, a program he founded in Shelby County.
- He has also helped others by serving in the Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Lincoln Foundation, Leadership Louisville, Leadership Kentucky, Urban League and N.A.A.C.P voter registration drive.
- As the Director of U of L Office of Black Affairs, he led a staff that designed one of the country’s premier models for recruitment, retention, graduation and job placement for black students at the undergraduate and graduate level.
- Also, after inheriting a 50 member university police department with only one African American male and one white female officer, he increased diversity by 40 percent within five years, without using goals or quotas, by working hard and developing strong community partnerships.
Edward L. Palmer Sr., Radcliff, KY
- In 18 years of ministry, he has brought to his community social programs such as a visitation center, community food pantry, foster care transitional living program for young adults, male/female transitional housing and mentoring for children.
- He was appointed to the State Interagency Council and National Coalition for Juvenile Justice Executive Board.
- He has worked with the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to build community-based opportunities for families in need.
- He is serving his fourth term as Radcliff City Councilman.
- He also makes time to provide leadership and religious training locally as well as abroad.
The official award ceremony took place Thurs., Jan. 12, 2017, at the Thomas D. Clark Center for Kentucky History, 100 West Broadway St., Frankfort, Ky. Brigadier General Barbara Lynne Owens, Deputy Commanding General of the U.S. Army Human Resources Command, was the keynote speaker.
Additional information can be found at 
www.ome.ky.gov, or by contacting the Governor’s Office of Minority Empowerment at 502.564.2611 or kyome@ky.gov.
Ballard High School has inducted its inaugural Athletic Hall of Fame class, recognizing alumni who achieved outstanding accomplishments in their athletic careers or service to the athletic department at Ballard.
The Ballard Bruins Athletic Hall of Fame recognizes graduates and school supporters who are at least 10 years out of high school. In addition to acknowledging athletic success, the award also recognizes recipients’ post-Ballard graduation accomplishments and service.
Inductees include (by graduation year unless otherwise indicated):
- Marty Bailen, was involved in Ballard athletics for more than 40 years in all capacities, including announcer and statistician. The football press box is named after him.
- Pat Crawford, served as Ballard’s first principal, from 1968 to 1985. The football stadium is named after him.
- Allan Houston, 1989, played on Ballard’s 1988 Kentucky state championship team, and went on to play at the University of Tennessee, graduating in 1993 as the school’s all-time leading scorer. He also played for the Detroit Pistons and New York Knicks.
- Jeremi Johnson, 1999, rushed for more than 2,000 yards and scored 35 touchdowns his junior and senior seasons. He played football at Indiana University and Western Kentucky University, and was selected by the Cincinnati Bengals in the 2003 National Football League draft.
- Jeff Lamp, 1977, was on Ballard’s 1977 state championship basketball team, voted Kentucky Mr. Basketball in 1977, and starred at the University of Virginia. He was selected by the Portland Trailblazers with the number 15 pick in the 1981 draft. He also played for the Milwaukee Bucks, San Antonio Spurs and Los Angeles Lakers.
- Gary Plock, 1974, was a four-time Kentucky state champion and two-time All American in tennis. He was also an NCAA doubles finalist at the University of Texas, and was elected to the Kentucky Tennis Hall of Fame in 1985.
- Jim Reuther, served as Ballard’s first athletic director. The basketball gymnasium is named after him.
- Sally Sligar, 1975, earned multiple state championships in track and cross country in what were then state record times, and went on to run cross country and track at the University of Tennessee.
- Jeremy Sowers, 2001, threw four no-hitters in high school and led the team to consecutive appearances in the state championship game. Was named the Kentucky Gatorade Player of the Year, starred at Vanderbilt Univeristy, and was selected the sixth overall pick in the 2004 Major League Baseball draft.
- Susan Stoddard, 1982, ran track, played volleyball and softball, and excelled in basketball, which she played at the University of Florida.
- Kent Taylor, 1973, held school and regional records in the 2-mile, participated in the 1973 Mason Dixon Games, and went on to run track and cross country at University of North Carolina.
Inductees will be recognized at the Ballard Athletic Hall of Fame banquet which begins at 6 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 14 at the Marriott East Hotel, 1903 Embassy Square Blvd. For ticket information, visit Eventbrite.
Families in need of winter clothing for their children will be able to receive coats, hats and gloves beginning at 9 a.m. Monday, Jan. 16 at the Northwest Neighborhood Place, 4018 West Market St. The items were collected through the Coats with Candyce drive.
The winter wear will be distributed until noon or until all items are given out, whichever comes first. Families will receive coats, hats, gloves, and books for each child. Children must be present with their parent or guardian.
“I’m so proud of our community for supporting this program and donating items to help our children and youth feel warm and cared for this winter,” said Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) Superintendent Dr. Donna Hargens. “This is a perfect opportunity to honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and make a real difference in our students’ lives.”
The Coats with Candyce drive was sponsored by JCPS, 15th District Parent Teacher Association Clothing Assistance Program, AmeriCorps VISTA, REACH Corps and Neighborhood Place.
