Sarah Ladd
@sarahelizabethladd.bsky.social
health and policy reporter at the Kentucky Lantern • community college english and journalism instructor • dog mom • woman • first gen: AA, BA, MFA • sladd@kentuckylantern.com
Measles hits the 100-case mark in Kentucky From @sarahelizabethladd.bsky.social kentuckylantern.com/2026/10/09/m...
Measles hits the 100-case mark in Kentucky • Kentucky Lantern
Kentucky has now confirmed more than 100 cases of measles as the state grapples with its highest case load this century.
kentuckylantern.com
Beshear asks Trump to reconsider federal changes to Head Start From @sarahelizabethladd.bsky.social kentuckylantern.com/2026/10/07/b...
Beshear asks Trump to reconsider federal changes to Head Start • Kentucky Lantern
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear has asked President Donald Trump to reconsider proposed changes to the Head Start program that he said would “destabilize early education systems that we have developed over...
kentuckylantern.com
Kentucky’s drug czar to retire after 22 years on the job From @sarahelizabethladd.bsky.social kentuckylantern.com/2026/10/07/k...
Kentucky's drug czar to retire after 22 years on the job • Kentucky Lantern
Van Ingram, the longtime head of Kentucky’s Office of Drug Control Policy, is retiring at the end of 2026, Gov. Andy Beshear announced Wednesday.
kentuckylantern.com
I wanted to triple check my voter registration status so I used the @kentuckylantern.com's voter guide, easy peasy. Here it is! kentuckylantern.com/voter-guides...
Voter Guide: 2026 General Election • Kentucky
From Kentucky Lantern | Shining brightest where it’s dark
kentuckylantern.com
‘A political prisoner’: Roebling Bridge ICE protestor now faced with felony charge, arrested From @sarahelizabethladd.bsky.social kentuckylantern.com/2026/10/05/a...
‘A political prisoner': Roebling Bridge ICE protestor now faced with felony charge, arrested • Kentucky Lantern
More than a year after a Northern Kentucky protest at Roebling Street Bridge over federal immigration officials’ arrest of an Ohio cleric, a protester was arrested Monday morning on an upgraded charge...
kentuckylantern.com
Appeals court denies South Dakota’s defense of ban on abortion pill advertising
Appeals court denies South Dakota’s defense of ban on abortion pill advertising
An appeals court shut down an attempt from South Dakota’s attorney general and governor to overturn a decision that blocks enforcement of a law that criminalizes abortion pill advertising in the state.Gov. Larry Rhoden and Attorney General Marty Jackley, both Republicans, filed the appeal in August after a lower court blocked enforcement of the law while a lawsuit over the law’s constitutionality played out.
bit.ly
Around 14,000 families receiving KY Transitional Assistance Program benefits in 2025 didn’t receive most child support owed to them, experts say. In 2027, Sen. Craig Richardson plans to renew his push to reform the process. From @sarahelizabethladd.bsky.social: kentuckylantern.com/2026/10/01/t...
The government keeps child support owed to poorest Kentuckians. GOP lawmakers seek change. • Kentucky Lantern
FRANKFORT — Around 14,000 families receiving Kentucky Transitional Assistance Program benefits in 2025 didn’t receive most child support owed to them, experts said Thursday.
kentuckylantern.com
Democrats in the KY House are hosting a "listening session" on data centers this morning with about 50 people in a room at the state capitol attending. Various people will speak — will have a few updates throughout the speakers.
Her lawyers said in emergency legal filings that after two syringes of lethal drugs were administered, Pike did not lose consciousness and still had a heartbeat, and that she described a burning pain in her arm. She has since been hospitalized.
Christa Pike was set to be Tennessee’s first woman executed in 200 years. She survived.
Pike survived two doses of lethal injection drugs, her attorneys say. This is Tennessee’s second failed execution attempt this year.
19thnews.org
The @kentuckylantern.com is: -Free to read -Free for other outlets to republish.
Beshear creates a Kentucky Governor’s Office of Music kentuckylantern.com/2026/09/28/b...
Beshear creates a Kentucky Governor’s Office of Music • Kentucky Lantern
Gov. Andy Beshear created the Governor’s Office of Music last week by executive order, saying the new office will work to connect and support artists through the Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet.
kentuckylantern.com
RIP to this green shirt, which I bought sometime around 2013 at a Rue 21 and wore it into the ground until it has reached its current condition of being about to fall apart. #slowfashion
Tomorrow the Lexington Herald-Leader will lose a lot of great journalists, including most of the people who have been covering Kentucky politics and state government for us. Here's a too-quick summary of our losses, and yours. ^JC
KY’s Beshear backs black lung bill in Congress From @sarahelizabethladd.bsky.social kentuckylantern.com/2026/09/24/k...
KY’s Beshear backs black lung bill in Congress • Kentucky Lantern
Gov. Andy Beshear asked Kentucky’s congressional delegation in a Thursday letter to throw their support behind a bill amending the Black Lung Benefits Act to “provide adequate benefits for miners suff...
kentuckylantern.com
Changes to Kentucky Employees’ Health Plan raise Republican eyebrows From @sarahelizabethladd.bsky.social kentuckylantern.com/2026/09/24/c...
Changes to Kentucky Employees’ Health Plan raise Republican eyebrows • Kentucky Lantern
Lawmakers raised concerns this week that a new state policy could leave retirees covered by the Kentucky Employees’ Health Plan without coverage.
kentuckylantern.com
After Medicaid ban, Kentucky Planned Parenthood says it’s ‘not going anywhere’ From @sarahelizabethladd.bsky.social kentuckylantern.com/2026/09/24/a...
After Medicaid ban, Kentucky Planned Parenthood says it’s ‘not going anywhere’ • Kentucky Lantern
On the heels of a year-long Medicaid ban, Planned Parenthood officials say they are eyeing the midterms in November.
kentuckylantern.com
My puppy: Mommy my tummy hurts Also my puppy: Look at these sticks I found, I'm going to try and eat them all.
President Donald Trump’s budget chief, Russell Vought, has reportedly floated a proposal in which he would have a final vote on all National Institutes of Health grants. https://scim.ag/4horDQ8
White House move to seize control of NIH grant decisions upsets senators and scientists
Budget chief Russell Vought reportedly wants more power to veto DEI-related funding
science.org
Kentucky receives millions in federal funding for mental health services From @sarahelizabethladd.bsky.social kentuckylantern.com/2026/09/21/k...
Kentucky receives millions in federal funding for mental health services • Kentucky Lantern
Kentucky will receive $17 million in federal funding from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Gov. Andy Beshear announced Monday.
kentuckylantern.com
I just found out @mckennahorsley.bsky.social has 75,000 unread emails in her inbox. That's the most chaotic thing I've ever heard and I have second hand stress from hearing it.
The great Bill Estep of the KY Journalism Hall of Fame has his first freelance story in the @kentuckylantern.com. The story? More illegal cockfighting in KY. kentuckylantern.com/2026/09/17/f...
Feds take on Kentucky cockfighting with multiple indictments • Kentucky Lantern
Federal authorities have charged five people in Kentucky in connection with cockfighting in cases that show the state remains a key player in the illegal activity, according to animal-welfare groups.
kentuckylantern.com
Physically I’m back at work. Mentally I’m still here:
It was a dream come true to do this critically important work with colleagues I adore, admire and respect. I’m so sad that our run is over. And to anyone hiring out there: there’s not a single one of these folks I wouldn’t scoop up in a heartbeat.
All good things must come to an end, and that includes my time at the Lexington Herald-Leader. I don’t have anything profound to say now, but I want to put out there what an honor and privilege it has been to cover my home state with this incredible crew.
