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Mariah P. Kendell

Mariah P. Kendell

Mariah Kendell is a Kentuckian Lantern reporter intern and a senior journalism and political science student at the University of Kentucky. Kendell’s love for journalism sprouted from an early interest in federal and state politics. She has interned in the U.S. House of Representatives, the U.S. Department of Commerce and the University of Kentucky College of Communication and Information. She is a native of Elizabethtown.

Lofton’s Law, criminalizing hazing, clears both chambers of Kentucky legislature

By: - March 15, 2023

FRANKFORT — The Kentucky House on Wednesday voted to make hazing that causes a death or serious injury a felony. Lofton’s Law – named after 18-year-old Thomas “Lofton” Hazelwood, a University of Kentucky freshman who died from alcohol poisoning at his fraternity house – was approved in the House by a vote of 97-3. The Senate […]

Anti-hazing Lofton’s Law passes House Judiciary Committee

By: - March 15, 2023

FRANKFORT — An anti-hazing bill is one step closer to becoming law in Kentucky after a 15-1 vote by the House Judiciary Committee.  Known as Lofton’s Law, Senate Bill 9, was introduced after the death of 18-year-old Thomas “Lofton” Hazelwood, a University of Kentucky freshman who was found unconscious in Farmhouse Fraternity after drinking approximately […]

Owensboro celebrates powerful history ‘Through Sleet’s Eyes’

By: - February 20, 2023

Moneta Sleet Jr.’s eye led him from his hometown of Owensboro around the world. As a photojournalist for Ebony magazine, Sleet captured on film some of the 20th century’s most iconic moments; his work earned a Pulitzer Prize in journalism, the first awarded a Black American. This week, the Ohio River town where nine-year-old Sleet […]

A son’s death. A mother’s quest. Hazing could become a felony in Kentucky.

By: - February 15, 2023

LEXINGTON — The death of 18-year-old Thomas “Lofton” Hazelwood sparked a conversation across Kentucky — one that, for many, was long overdue. On Oct. 18, 2021, the first-year student was found unconscious at the University of Kentucky’s Farmhouse Fraternity house. He later passed away from alcohol poisoning. “I had no clue what was going on. […]

Lucas Bertucci

In his UK lab, senior Lucas Bertucci plots a green revolution, one recycled metal scrap at a time

By: - December 23, 2022

LEXINGTON — As the global energy and climate crises balloon, one remedy may lie in something as small as a beaker — the place where Lucas Bertucci got his start in sustainability research. The chemical engineering student at the University of Kentucky is the first winner of the Lee T. Todd, Jr. Student Innovation Scholarship, […]