Larry Smith

Lexington

Evening News Anchor at WLEX-TV (Lexington, KY)

Evening news anchor at LEX18. Studio host @ WNBA on Ion. Emmy, Peabody, & Edward R. Murrow Award winner. Veteran of CNN/Turner/Washington/Atlanta.

Articles

Seeking future triple crown contenders: Horse racing to not see chance at winner for 7th year

6 days ago | lex18.com | Larry Smith

LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — For a fleeting moment on Saturday, diehard and casual race fans had hopes that Sovereignty, who had won the Kentucky Derby just moments earlier, would make his way to Baltimore in two weeks to continue a quest for the Triple Crown at the 150th Preakness. But then, trainer Bill Mott said this: “I think we gotta talk about it. I mean, the pressure is on now to go.
The Ballad of Radio Paradise

Jan 10, 2025 | altaonline.com | Larry Smith

Back before there was the internet, podcasts, Spotify, and a masked DJ named Marshmello with 30 million Instagram followers, a four-year-old named Billy Goldsmith had a radio. For fun, the boy would practice taking the radio apart and reassembling it in his family’s living room in Paonia, Colorado, a tiny town in the western part of the state.
Heroes Among Us: Whitney Lewis, A.K.A the Queen of Trash

Oct 26, 2024 | lex18.com | Larry Smith

About 18 months ago, a local woman set out to make Kentucky’s gorgeous riverways and banks more pristine. And what she has accomplished has been simply amazing, getting an army of volunteers together to clean things up one bag at a time. “The more I show, the more they want to get involved. It’s amazing,” says Whitney Lewis, who we first met last year when she was on her way to collecting 10,000 bags of trash in just a few months. “Well, actually the first 5,000 bags I did by myself.
Heroes Among Us: Whitney Lewis, A.K.A the Queen of Trash

Oct 22, 2024 | lex18.com | Larry Smith

(LEX 18) — About 18 months ago, a local woman set out to make Kentucky’s gorgeous riverways and banks more pristine. And what she has accomplished has been simply amazing, getting an army of volunteers together to clean things up one bag at a time. “The more I show, the more they want to get involved. It’s amazing,” says Whitney Lewis, who we first met last year when she was on her way to collecting 10,000 bags of trash in just a few months. “Well, actually the first 5,000 bags I did by myself.
Heroes Among Us: Vision-impaired author finds success

Aug 6, 2024 | lex18.com | Larry Smith

JAMESTOWN, Ky. (LEX 18) — Samantha Sinclair has always had a vision. “I want to be a 9-1-1 dispatcher”, Samantha says. “It runs in my family. We say it’s in my blood. But obviously there’s a lot of people who have hesitancies about it.”But that hasn’t happened yet. You see, Samantha has been vision-impaired for most of her life. “Some things were hard,” Samantha admits. There were some people who were not really crazy about me going to public school.
Outlook and Character | Larry Smith

Jun 24, 2024 | firstthings.com | Larry Smith

In late 1989 or early 1990, in my home office north of Chicago, I received a provocative letter from Richard Neuhaus. The name may have rung a bell—I can no longer recall—but more important, his project intrigued me: to put faith first and to organize public life around it. Or, as he later wrote: “Religion best serves public life by relativizing the importance of public life, especially of public life understood as politics.
Heroes Among Us: Cancer patient receives generous gift from car salesman

Jun 4, 2024 | newsbreak.com | Larry Smith

It’s been a tough few months for Lisa DeStella. She’s undergoing treatment for stage one cancer, and in late December, a drunk driver hit and totaled her car in a parking lot in Nicholasville. After weeks of rental cars and bumming rides, she found a new car online.
Heroes Among Us: Dee Campbell volunteers at Lexington Humane Society

Jun 4, 2024 | lex18.com | Larry Smith

LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — Dee Campbell admits that she developed a love for animals through her husband Jimmy. But when he passed away, she felt compelled to do something in his memory at the Lexington Humane Society and found that the need was great. “Two and a half years ago started the James L. Campbell and Dee S. Campbell Hospice Program and everything else has transpired from there”, says Dee. “The services that that provides covers all the costs for the animals that are in my program.
Friends bond through decades of running

May 28, 2024 | lex18.com | Larry Smith

LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — Many of us run for our health, but Bernie Cornett does it because…. “I enjoy it. Don’t have anything else to do. For recreation.”I asked how long he has been running. “66 years!” he cheerfully responded. Bernie runs as much as four times a week, rain or shine, running for his faith. “My cap says ‘Run For God.' T-shirt says 'Run For God.' I’m very very very sincere about my worship. And He keeps me going. I’ve survived cancer twice," says Bernie.
Heroes Among Us: Georgetown baseball player inspires others

May 21, 2024 | lex18.com | Larry Smith

GEORGETOWN, Ky. (LEX 18) — At first glance, Grant Holland is your average 12-year-old boy who has an above-average ability to play baseball. “In my first year, I wasn’t the best player in the world. I was pretty bad, actually. But then I got better and better each year and that inspired me to play more and more and more," says Grant. But look a little closer. At his hands after a pitch. And then notice his feet, and you realize Grant is something special. “It feels really nice.