Kentucky
Kentucky Horse Park applauded for wheelchair accessibility
LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) – A mother and son from Georgia recently visited Kentucky for the first time. What drew them in, they say, was the wheelchair-accessible trolley rides at the Kentucky Horse Park.
Cory Lee, 34, has a form of muscular dystrophy. He’s been in a wheelchair since he was about four years old.
Sandy Gilbreath says this was the first time her son has ever been able to ride on a horse-drawn carriage. They say the inclusivity at the park amazed them and made their trip extra special.
“I really didn’t even have to think for a second about accessibility while we were there, which was amazing and really incredibly rare,” said Lee.
Sandy and Cory say they’ve been to all seven continents and 48 countries over the last ten years. They say they’ve seen a wheelchair-accessible carriage ride like they have at Kentucky Horse Park.
“When we do fall festivals, all of his life throughout the years, and they have hayrides and horse-drawn carriages, he’s never been able to do that,” said Gilbreath.
Cory was born with a form of muscular dystrophy called spinal muscular atrophy.
“I don’t want to say he doesn’t even know he’s in a wheelchair because he’s highly intelligent, but he does not act like he’s in a wheelchair,” said Gilbreath.
The Kentucky Horse Park says they’ve always had wheelchair-accessible trolley rides. Though, they got upgraded ones a few years ago. There’s a ramp and a space big enough that people don’t have to transfer out of their wheelchairs.
“Every day, we have guests here of differing abilities, and we want to make sure that everything works for them,” said Lee Carter, Kentucky Horse Park president.
Carter says last year, 1.4 million people visited the park. He says, from attractions to the museum, it’s all accessible.
“We want to make sure that you can get up close next to a horse and that you can experience that connection that everyone else does,” Carter said.
Cory was able to do just that, but this level of accessibility is not the case everywhere he goes.
“Sometimes people will say, ‘Oh yes, we’re accessible,’ but that might mean there’s a parking spot out front. We’re never 100% sure until we lay our own eyes on it,” said Gilbreath.
Sandy and Cory say they’ve made it their mission to make sure everyone can experience the world. Cory runs a travel website, posting wheelchair-accessible guides for every place they visit.
“Really trust your gut and get out there and try to see what you can and then keep pushing yourself to like see more, do more if you’re able,” said Lee.
Carter says that for the next season, they’re hoping to enhance their experience for their visual and hearing-impaired visitors.
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Jim Obergefell talks LGBTQ+ rights 10 years after Supreme Court ruling
Jim Obergefell, the lead plaintiff in the Supreme Court case that legalized gay marriage nationwide, looks back on its impact 10 years later.
Happy Pride Month!
About 9% of U.S. adults identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or something other than heterosexual, and some places are safer for and more welcoming of those in the LGBTQ+ community.
Here’s how Kentucky ranks compared to other states.
How Kentucky ranks for being welcoming, safe for LGBTQ+ members
Kentucky ranks No. 35 out of 50 states for being welcoming of the LGBTQ+ community, according to Out Leadership’s State LGBTQ+ Business Climate Index. While the commonwealth has climbed eight spots since 2019, it earned about 41 out of 100 possible points, receiving a B- grade.
The report comes as national scores continue to decline. The average state score has fallen for four consecutive years and now sits at 53.1, with 26 states scoring below 60, Out Leadership founder and CEO Todd Sears told USA TODAY.
The index suggests acceptance of LGBTQ+ people in the U.S. has declined in recent years, reversing progress that once improved the well-being and safety of LGBTQ+ communities, Sears said.
“When we started this index eight years ago, the goal was to show Americans the issues that were still live but invisible — HIV criminalization, conversion therapy, where state legislators actually stood — because once marriage equality passed, a lot of people assumed the work was done. It wasn’t,” Sears said. “What we’ve documented since is a genuine regression.”
This year, Out Leadership added 12 new indicators measuring the effects of policies affecting LGBTQ+ people, including restrictions on bathroom access, pronoun and name use and gender-affirming care for adults. Sears said the additions were made to better capture policies that have increasingly affected LGBTQ+ residents and their families.
“For the last several years, we simply weren’t capturing forces that were already hitting LGBTQ+ citizens and their families,” Sears said.
SafeHome.org also ranks Kentucky on the lower side for LGBTQ+ safety. The state ranks No. 27 out of 51 jurisdictions, including Washington, D.C., and received a score of 80.7 and a B- grade.
The rankings are based on a score that combines state laws affecting LGBTQ+ residents and hate crime data. Researchers evaluated laws across several policy areas using input from a survey of more than 1,000 LGBTQ+ people and paired the results with FBI hate crime statistics before calculating the final scores.
Contributing: Jessica Guynn, USA TODAY Network. Reach Marina Johnson at Marina.Johnson@courier-journal.com.
Kentucky got consecutive home runs from Jayce Tharnish and Tyler Bell to take a 9-6 lead over West Virginia. Chase Alderman and Nile Adcock combined to record five consecutive scoreless innings. The Bat Cats were three outs away from reaching — and hosting — a super regional.
West Virginia had other plans.
Free passes, a balk, and a three-run home run from Paul Schoenfield plated five runs in the ninth. It was absolute chaos in Kendrick Family Ballpark. Kentucky snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.
That sets up one final game between the Wildcats and the Mountaineers again, but this one could sting for some time. Jeff Drummond and myself are reacting to the crushing loss by taking a look at what went wrong, how it got off the rails so quickly. and what could be on the horizon for tomorrow.
Smash that play button.
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KSR has been delivering UK Sports news in the most ridiculous manner for almost two decades. Now, you can get even more coverage of the Cats with KSR+. Now is the perfect time to join our growing online community. Subscribe now for premium articles, in-depth scouting reports, inside intel, bonus recruiting coverage, and access to KSBoard and House of Blue, the most vibrant message board communities in Big Blue Nation.
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There is a ton of stress right now in Lexington as Mark Pope and the staff are trying to land Milan Momcilovic, but this recruitment is being stretched out, which isn’t good for Kentucky. It sounds like the Wildcats have the highest offer NIL money wise, but he still hasn’t committed which has Kentucky fans scratching their heads.
Since Momcilovic pulled his name out of the NBA Draft on Wednesday night, Kentucky fans have felt pretty good about him being a Wildcat, but with the Wildcats being the hot name in the recruitment, fans wanted this done sooner rather than later. The other schools that are involved in this recruitment are Louisville and Arizona.
Louisville has spent a ton of money this offseason, but it sounds like they still have more in the tank, knowing their offer isn’t far off from Kentucky’s, according to reports. Arizona hasn’t offered as much as these two schools, so if Momcilovic were in it for the money, one would imagine that he ends up at Louisville or Kentucky.
When it comes to his system fit at these two schools, he fits in well with what both Pope and Pat Kelsey want to do. These teams want to shoot the three-ball a ton, and Momcilovic is the best shooter in college basketball. Both Kentucky and Louisville are in need of some shooters, so he would be a massive addition to either of these rosters.
Knowing the Wildcats had a ton of early momentum in this recruitment, Big Blue Nation wanted this to be a done deal late last week or early this weekend. It is midday on Sunday, and there is no word on his recruitment. It is head-scratching for Kentucky fans knowing that the Wildcats have a massive offer on the table, but he still hasn’t picked Kentucky.
While I do believe he will end up in Lexington, it is definitely a little bit concerning that he hasn’t done it already, knowing the Wildcats have thrown a ton of money his way. Pope knows how important adding a player like Momcilovic is to the upside of this team, so if he isn’t able to land him, things could get ugly next season in Lexington.
There is a world where he could commit later this evening, but if this keeps drawing out over the next few days, it really seems like Momcilovic might not want to be a Wildcat unless he is looking for more NIL money.
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