Joe Geraci, cancer survivor, urges action on smoking
As our state faces an alarming rise in e-cigarettes and tobacco use, lawmakers must bolster funding for programs that address tobacco use. As someone who has survived tobacco-related lung cancer, I am calling on Sen. McDaniels to increase funding to $10 million for the state’s tobacco prevention and cessation program to combat this alarming trend.
The toll of tobacco in Kentucky is a huge problem, and we know that we must do more to fight Big Tobacco. In Kentucky, smoking is responsible for 8,900 deaths each year, including roughly 37% of cancer deaths. However, if lawmakers commit to funding lifesaving tobacco control programs, we can reduce these numbers, save lives, and create real, sustainable change.
We cannot wait until the next budget cycle to take action to prevent kids from starting to use tobacco, including e-cigarettes, and we must help those who want to quit. Please contact Sen. McDaniel and other Kentucky Legislative Members and tell them to help Kentucky get out from under Big Tobacco by increasing funding to $10 million for critical programs addressing tobacco use in our state.
— Joe Geraci, Edgewood
Louisville Church leaders protest HB 18
Douglass Boulevard Christian Church protests the recent passage of Kentucky House Bill 18, allowing landlords to discriminate based on a renter’s source of income.
This is clearly discriminatory against low-income populations and individuals with disabilities who may rely on government subsidies for housing. This interference in local governments’ prohibiting discrimination puts our most vulnerable fellow citizens in greater jeopardy of becoming homeless.
As a congregation striving to follow the example of Jesus Christ, we fervently protest the passage of House Bill 18, as it risks the lives and wellbeing of those who are most in need of decent housing.
We ask others to join in our protest by voting out of office those who have turned their backs on the very individuals that Jesus asked us to serve.
We also call on all faith communities and responsible citizens to observe Good Friday, March 29, as a day of prayer, fasting and repentance, especially for our legislature.
DBCC is an open and affirming Christian community in Louisville that stands for justice, equity and inclusion by ministering to needs and inviting people into community, so that all persons may experience with us spiritual growth in Christ.
— For the congregation: Derek Penwell, Senior Pastor; Ruth Ann Matthews, Board Chair; David S. Sprawls, Elders’ Chair
I wonder how “open” the DBCC community is if another faith started practicing in their place of worship and thereby supplanting the church members?
I see the need for faith communities to assist the poor and homeless. I partake as a practicing Christian in those acts of giving and serving. I completely disagree that our government should be that driving force, as that is Socialism. The end result of the socialist government theories spread by the “equity” crowd is a bureaucratic dystopian nightmare.
If I’m not allowed to discern who rents from me and at what price, then I’ve lost ownership and the government has stolen that ownership from me. Just like if your place of worship was taken over by an adverse faith.