Spotlight

By Jacob Dick The drive into Breathitt County can take a while from the western side of Kentucky, or at least the scenery makes it feel that way. Driving on the Hal Rogers Parkway for 59 miles at an incline with wooded hills on either side has a way of distorting...

(About this story: Author Austin Rutland conducted some interviews for this story in American Sign Language. Please note that Deaf with a capital “D” is commonly used to refer to people and communities that use American Sign Language as their primary language, while...

Story and Photos by Jodi Camp Walking down Main Street in Hopkinsville, an average looking man on the sidewalk has people honking and waving at him from their cars or stopping to get out of their cars to talk to him. The man seems normal, but when he opens his mouth...

By Emma Austin I sat in the backseat of my aunt’s car, sweating uncomfortably in a hand-me-down dress next to my cousin as we circled the lake on the road leading to Grandma’s driveway. It had been raining all morning, but at that moment the sun was shining brightly,...

By Allison J. Call In the middle of a cold Kentucky winter while most were trying to stay warm, Judy Cardwell stole a bag of ice from a Kroger in Bowling Green. Police officers apprehended Judy and charged her with petty theft, but she never served any time. Judy, 55,...

By Katie Roberts Kendra, 15, of Bowling Green, Kentucky dialed 911 on New Year’s Eve of 2014. She said her parents were drinking more than usual and a fight arose between her mother and father. That night, Kendra and her younger sister, Caitlin, 10, were taken out of...

By Hannah McCarthy First, she checks the post-it notes on the bedside table, the headboard and the walls around her to remind her of the day’s tasks. Next, it is time to medicate. She takes a 40mg Vyvanse for ADHD and a peach pill for folic acid in the mornings, and...

By Hannah McCarthy Just 2 miles outside of downtown Cave City, Kentucky, the landscape quickly turns from old brick and mortar to farmhouses and dirt roads. Down one such dirt road, a 45-acre plot of land rests nestled between patches of trees, large stretches of...

By Anna Lawson When Fares Al Huraibi was driving to the airport in Saudi Arabia in May of 2013 he felt like he was missing a piece of himself. He had been planning his move to the United States for some time, but leaving his family, especially his mother, was no easy...

By James Humphrey It was a typical preschool classroom in Hendersonville, Tennessee, on a hot August day in 1997. Four-year-old kids were playing with toys and socializing with one another as they waited for someone to pick them up. There was one boy who didn’t have...