Boone County in Northern Kentucky has the state’s healthiest residents, while Owsley County in Eastern Kentucky is the unhealthiest of the commonwealth’s 120 counties.That’s according to the latest county health rankings compiled by the University of Wisconsin and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.Dr. Sarojini Kanotra, director of the Behavioral Risk Factors Surveillance System for the Kentucky Department of Health, says the rankings generally coincide with regional income and education levels, along with access to medical care and healthy food."The healthier counties are clustered in the central and western parts of Kentucky, whereas the least healthiest counties are in the eastern part of Kentucky," she said. Jefferson County, which ranks 33rd, gets high marks for access to medical care but a low grade for air quality.Central Indiana’s Hamilton County is ranked as that state’s healthiest; Scott County, in Southern Indiana, is ranked last.
Rick Howlett was midday host and the host of LPM's weekly talk show, "In Conversation." He was with LPM from 2001-2023 and held many different titles, including Morning Edition host, Assignment Editor and Interim News Director. He died in August 2023. Read a remembrance of Rick here.