Current:Home > NewsKentucky sign language interpreter honored in program to give special weather radios to the deaf -NextFrontier Finance
Kentucky sign language interpreter honored in program to give special weather radios to the deaf
View
Date:2025-04-14 05:06:26
Putting grant money into action is routine for Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, but an effort to provide weather alerts to people who are deaf or hard of hearing is tugging at his heart.
The grant-backed campaign to distribute 700 specially adapted weather alert radios to the deaf and hard of hearing is named in honor of his friend Virginia Moore, who died last year. She was the governor’s sidekick as the sign language interpreter for his briefings during the height of COVID-19. The updates became a staple for Kentuckians, and Moore gained celebrity status. She even got her own bobblehead of her likeness.
Beshear tapped the bobblehead displayed on his podium as he announced the “Moore Safe Nights” program, which will distribute the radios at no cost to eligible Kentuckians who apply. It is an effort to ensure all Kentuckians have equal access to information that can keep them safe, he said Thursday.
“I think Virginia would have loved this program,” Beshear said, his voice shaking with emotion. “Virginia has a legacy for service that is living on with new programs.”
The weather radios were purchased with funding from an emergency preparedness grant and other funds, Beshear said. The state will seek additional funds with a goal of eventually providing the radios to every Kentuckian who needs one, he said.
The radios are equipped with pillow-shaker and strobe-light attachments to alert people who are deaf and hard of hearing of severe weather warnings issued by the National Weather Service. The radios also have text displays that light up, so they know the type of weather warning issued.
“As Kentuckians know all too well, severe weather can strike at any hour,” Beshear said. “And the most dangerous time is when people are sleeping.”
No matter how vigilant deaf and hard-of-hearing people are in monitoring weather alerts, their vulnerability increases once they fall asleep because they are unable to hear alarms and sirens, said Anita Dowd, executive director of the Kentucky Commission on the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.
“This equipment will allow users to rest easier knowing that they now have access to this important and often life-saving information,” Dowd said.
Kentucky has more than 700,000 deaf and hard-of-hearing residents, the governor said.
Moore, who died at age 61, was known as a tireless champion for the deaf and hard of hearing and served as executive director of the state commission that advocates for them.
On Thursday, Beshear spoke about their bond. At the end of each long day of work during the height of the pandemic, he said, he would see her on his way home to his family at the governor’s mansion.
“She’d look at me and say, ‘I hope you’re OK and take care of yourself,’ ” he recalled. “That’s pretty special. That’s who she was, looking out for everybody else, including me.”
___
Eligible Kentuckians can go to https://www.kcdhh.ky.gov/msn/ or call 800-372-2907 or 502-416-0607 to apply for a radio, Radios will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis.
veryGood! (5829)
Related
- Messi injury update: Ankle 'better every day' but Inter Miami star yet to play Leagues Cup
- Taylor Swift announces 1989 (Taylor's Version) is on its way: My most favorite re-record I've ever done
- What’s behind the tentative US-Iran agreement involving prisoners and frozen funds
- Breakout season ahead? In Kyle Hamilton, Ravens believe they have budding star
- Civic engagement nonprofits say democracy needs support in between big elections. Do funders agree?
- Mishmash of how US heat death are counted complicates efforts to keep people safe as Earth warms
- Inside Russell Wilson and Pregnant Ciara's Winning Romance
- Report: Dianna Russini leaves ESPN to become The Athletic’s top NFL insider
- Macy's says employee who allegedly hid $150 million in expenses had no major 'impact'
- Indiana woman sentenced to over 5 years in prison in COVID-19 fraud scheme
Ranking
- Macy's says employee who allegedly hid $150 million in expenses had no major 'impact'
- Woody Harrelson wears hat supporting RFK Jr. for president: 'Great seeing you'
- $1.1 billion solar panel manufacturing facility planned for Louisiana’s Iberia Parish
- Timeline: The Trump investigation in Fulton County, Georgia
- Report: Lauri Markkanen signs 5-year, $238 million extension with Utah Jazz
- Bills safety Damar Hamlin makes 'remarkable' return to field after cardiac arrest
- Watch: Orlando, Florida police officers save driver trapped in a car as it submerges in pond
- 3-year-old riding one of Texas’ migrant buses dies on the way to Chicago, officials say
Recommendation
Behind on your annual reading goal? Books under 200 pages to read before 2024 ends
Researchers have identified a new pack of endangered gray wolves in California
Some Maui residents question why they weren't told to evacuate as wildfire flames got closer
Selena Gomez and Francia Raísa Twin on a Night Out After Squashing Beef Rumors
Golf's No. 1 Nelly Korda looking to regain her form – and her spot on the Olympic podium
Men attacked Alabama boat co-captain for ‘just doing my job,’ he says
Jordin Canada speaks on success back home with Los Angeles Sparks, Nipsey Hussle influence
They lost everything in the Paradise fire. Now they’re reliving their grief as fires rage in Hawaii