Samantha Valentino
Reporter
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Samantha Valentino joined the WKYT team in April 2022.
She grew up in Connecticut where she fell in love with journalism at a young age. Samantha moved to Lexington in 2018 to study broadcast journalism and criminology at the University of Kentucky.
While at UK, she helped create the University of Kentucky's podcast "Bowman's Friends," hosted WRFL 88.1 F.M.'s news program "Campus Voices," and worked as an anchor, reporter, and producer for the UK Student News Network.
Samantha came to WKYT part-time just before graduating from UK and switched to full-time the day after crossing the graduation stage.
Updated: Sep. 24, 2023 at 1:34 PM EDT
|By Samantha Valentino
Accidental overdose becomes leading cause of death in Kentuckians under 40
Updated: Sep. 23, 2023 at 1:03 PM EDT
|By Samantha Valentino
Ky. Fish & Wildlife celebrates National Hunting and Fishing Day
Updated: Sep. 19, 2023 at 8:28 PM EDT
|By WKYT News Staff and Samantha Valentino
Our crews showed up to a home in the Joyland neighborhood at Rogers Road and Marshall Lane at around 8 p.m. Tuesday night.
Updated: Sep. 19, 2023 at 3:43 PM EDT
|By Samantha Valentino
More than 300 thousand people in Kentucky have faced cannabis charges in the past two decades
Updated: Sep. 17, 2023 at 11:25 PM EDT
|By Samantha Valentino and Alyssa Williams
Fraternal Order of Police Bluegrass Lodge 4 President Jeremy Russell took to Facebook Sunday night to raise his concerns about the Lexington Police Department’s current staffing shortage.
Updated: Sep. 17, 2023 at 1:27 PM EDT
|By Samantha Valentino
Hundreds participate in Lexington’s annual ‘Nature Hop’
Updated: Sep. 13, 2023 at 4:22 PM EDT
|By Samantha Valentino
Kentucky is facing a shortage of school counselors. More than 100 schools in the Commonwealth are without even a single counselor.
Updated: Sep. 12, 2023 at 5:43 PM EDT
|By Samantha Valentino
The federal “Assistance to Firefighters Grant” will expand paramedic training.
Updated: Sep. 11, 2023 at 12:00 PM EDT
|By Samantha Valentino
Lexington first responders honor those who died on 9/11
Updated: Sep. 10, 2023 at 1:53 PM EDT
|By Samantha Valentino
Lexington man dresses up as a bush, pranks UK students
Updated: Sep. 9, 2023 at 2:06 PM EDT
|By Samantha Valentino
Bluegrass Miracle League celebrates opening day
Updated: Sep. 6, 2023 at 5:25 PM EDT
|By Samantha Valentino
Wednesday, police released crime scene photos and footage from a nearby traffic camera. They say the video shows what they believe to be the moments before and after the shooting occurred.
Updated: Sep. 5, 2023 at 4:39 PM EDT
|By Samantha Valentino
The new COVID variant, BA.2.86, first appeared in the United States last month. New lab experiments show it could be less contagious than experts initially thought.
Updated: Sep. 5, 2023 at 3:21 PM EDT
|By WKYT News Staff and Samantha Valentino
A Kentucky inmate has died less than a week after police say she jumped out of a moving transport vehicle, according to the Fayette County Coroner’s Office.
Updated: Sep. 3, 2023 at 12:34 PM EDT
|By Samantha Valentino
New developments help protect the most vulnerable from RSV
Updated: Sep. 2, 2023 at 2:31 PM EDT
|By Samantha Valentino
Lexington 5K raises money to support midwives
Updated: Aug. 29, 2023 at 4:09 PM EDT
|By Samantha Valentino
The Lexington-Fayette County Health Department says COVID-19 cases have increased nearly 600% in less than a month. Lexington hospitals say they’re seeing an increase as well.
Updated: Aug. 28, 2023 at 11:45 AM EDT
|By WKYT News Staff and Samantha Valentino
A man charged in three sexual assault cases is now facing another indictment.
Updated: Aug. 27, 2023 at 3:19 PM EDT
|By Samantha Valentino
People from across the country traveled to Richmond to take a trip back in time this weekend.
Updated: Aug. 23, 2023 at 4:27 PM EDT
|By Samantha Valentino
While your recovery time from COVID-19 may not have been longer than a week or so, experts say you could feel the lasting effects of the disease for up to two years.
Updated: Aug. 22, 2023 at 4:42 PM EDT
|By Samantha Valentino
Kentuckians are now one step closer to being able to place bets on sporting events in Kentucky.
Updated: Aug. 21, 2023 at 3:45 PM EDT
|By Samantha Valentino
The Kentucky Board of Education is starting the process to search for a new education commissioner.
Updated: Aug. 19, 2023 at 3:08 PM EDT
|By Samantha Valentino
The Henry Clay Memorial Foundation says that they recently revised their mission statement in order to acknowledge Clay’s legacy from many perspectives, including the institution of slavery.
Updated: Aug. 16, 2023 at 2:08 PM EDT
|By Samantha Valentino
So far this year Lexington has had 14 homicides. At this point last year, there had been 29.
Updated: Aug. 15, 2023 at 2:12 PM EDT
|By Samantha Valentino
6,000 new students are moving into the university’s 19 residence halls this week.
Updated: Aug. 14, 2023 at 2:42 PM EDT
|By Samantha Valentino
Experts say pedestrians being killed in crashes is a troubling trend, and it’s only getting worse.
Updated: Aug. 9, 2023 at 4:26 PM EDT
|By Samantha Valentino
On Monday, Attorney General Daniel Cameron’s campaign shared a letter from UK HealthCare addressed to Republican Representative James Tipton.
Updated: Aug. 8, 2023 at 3:46 PM EDT
|By Samantha Valentino
A new restaurant is coming to Nicholasville, and the owner may surprise you.
Updated: Aug. 6, 2023 at 12:27 PM EDT
|By Samantha Valentino
Child psychologist weighs in on back to school anxiety
Updated: Aug. 2, 2023 at 3:57 PM EDT
|By Samantha Valentino
The petition has been live for less than a week, and it’s already garnered more than 1,000 signatures.
Updated: Aug. 1, 2023 at 4:08 PM EDT
|By Samantha Valentino
Whooping cough is spreading in Lexington, according to Fayette County health officials.
Updated: Jul. 30, 2023 at 3:12 PM EDT
|By Samantha Valentino
Tyler Childers’ new music video has taken the world by storm, garnering more than 2 million views on Youtube in just a few days.
Updated: Jul. 29, 2023 at 12:29 PM EDT
|By Samantha Valentino
‘Stuff the Bus’ event happening in Lexington this weekend
Updated: Jul. 27, 2023 at 4:25 PM EDT
|By Samantha Valentino
We spoke to one woman in Perry County about that fateful day one year ago.
Updated: Jul. 22, 2023 at 12:23 PM EDT
|By Samantha Valentino
HITS Fitness hosts St. Jude Fundraiser workout
Updated: Jul. 19, 2023 at 5:51 PM EDT
|By Samantha Valentino
According to state police, the vast majority of Kentucky’s serious crimes went down last year.
Updated: Jul. 18, 2023 at 4:10 PM EDT
|By Samantha Valentino
A potential UPS strike could have a significant impact both nationally and in Kentucky.
Updated: Jul. 17, 2023 at 3:59 PM EDT
|By Samantha Valentino
It has been over one year since a fire ripped through historic downtown Millersburg. Now a nonprofit is working to revitalize the city.
Updated: Jul. 15, 2023 at 12:29 PM EDT
|By Samantha Valentino
Family hosts Golf Scramble fundraiser for Kameron May
Updated: Jul. 12, 2023 at 4:11 PM EDT
|By Samantha Valentino
Soon, parents will take their children back to school shopping.
Updated: Jul. 11, 2023 at 4:04 PM EDT
|By Samantha Valentino
Attorney General Daniel Cameron made a stop in Lexington Tuesday afternoon to announce his public safety plan.
Updated: Jul. 10, 2023 at 2:18 PM EDT
|By WKYT News Staff, Chandler Wilcox and Samantha Valentino
Governor Andy Beshear, lawmakers and the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission joined together in making the announcement on Monday.
Updated: Jul. 9, 2023 at 12:46 PM EDT
|By Samantha Valentino
He proposed at a Taylor Swift concern and she ‘just said yes.’
Updated: Jul. 5, 2023 at 12:00 PM EDT
|By Samantha Valentino
AAA says more than 50 million people are traveling during the long holiday weekend. That’s a new national record, but it hasn’t come without a few bumps in the road.
Updated: Jul. 4, 2023 at 11:21 AM EDT
|By Samantha Valentino
Regardless of experience level, the Bluegrass 10,000 takes runners through downtown Lexington along Richmond Road and back.
Updated: Jun. 30, 2023 at 4:20 PM EDT
|By Samantha Valentino
The family of a Lexington murder victim is calling on leaders to make the city safer.
Updated: Jun. 29, 2023 at 6:02 PM EDT
|By Samantha Valentino
A new state law is cracking down on AirTag stalking.
Updated: Jun. 27, 2023 at 4:04 PM EDT
|By Samantha Valentino
People in Richmond are still working to clean up the mess this weekend’s severe storms left behind.
Updated: Jun. 26, 2023 at 4:33 PM EDT
|By Samantha Valentino
Members of one lexington neighborhood are upset after an art display was removed.
Updated: Jun. 25, 2023 at 2:02 PM EDT
|By Samantha Valentino
The non-profit raffled off two tickets to Swift’s ‘The Eras Tour’ in Cincinnati.