While I served under President Trump.

And I respect him right now I'm focused on Kelly Craft, governor of Kentucky.

Kelly Craft on President Trump's endorsement of opponent Daniel Cameron and if she supports Trump's third bid for president.

When we're the ones experiencing the problem and seeing the problem happen, we're the ones that have to kind of focus and take action.

What one school system is doing to cope with a teacher shortage?

It's the closest thing to like a kind of almost religious or spiritual experience that one can get in nature and mammoth Cave sharing the spotlight with one of the most famous musicians in the world.

Production of Kentucky Edition is made possible in part by the Katy Endowment for Kentucky Productions, the Leonard Press Endowment for Public Affairs and the Katy Millennium Fund.

Good evening and welcome to Kentucky Edition on this Thursday, April the 27th.

Thank you so much for joining us tonight.

I'm Renee Shaw.

Some Republican candidates for governor once again shared the stage last night, this time in northern Kentucky.

The debate was hosted by Link N.K.

ywo9 and the Kenton County Republican Party.

Attorney General Daniel Cameron and former U.N.

Ambassador Kelly Craft were not present.

Commissioner Ryan Coral, Somerset Mayor Alan Kirk, Auditor Mike Harmon and former attorney Eric Peters.

Each had a chance to explain to voters what sets them apart from each other.

They were asked about the issues unique to northern Kentucky about the term woke and about education specifically.

Each candidate was asked about Governor Andy Beshear's proposal for universal pre-K and what they would do to fix what was called Kentucky's broken child care system.

I'm not in favor of universal pre-K, but from a standpoint of helping out individuals that are wanting to go to work, one of the things that I have been supportive of when it comes to some government assistance, the ten year program, and that helps and allows the individuals who want to go to work to make sure that they actually have access to child care.

I also agree with Mike on the whole issue that pre-K is not the solution.

We don't need more public education in the face of this movement of school choice, which I also support.

Let the daycare operators alone, Glenn, cut the regulations.

But I think we need to engage our faith based community as well.

I'm follow.

I'm proud that our church provides resources for those, especially with young kids as well.

And I think that we need a governor that works with our faith based community instead of shuns them.

I do support pre-K education because the data supports it.

The money spent on kids ages 3 to 5 produces better life outcomes.

But doesn't one that doesn't mean that I want further bureaucracy.

But I also think it's a gateway to school choice.

You see, the left has told us a lot that we can't support public school teachers and school choice.

And I say, why not?

The candidates were also asked about what's called cancel culture, their attitude toward former President Donald Trump, and issues unique to northern Kentucky.

And you will see several Republican candidates for governor this time.

Daniel Cameron and Kelly Craft will be in our studio Monday night, May 1st on Kentucky tonight.

We encourage you to send us your questions and comments by phone, tweet and email.

That's Monday night.

You don't want to miss it at eight Eastern, seven Central right here exclusively on Cutie.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Kelly Craft continues to track across the state on what she calls her kitchen table tour.

Today, the former United Nations ambassador stopped in Lexington to campaign.

Our Kacey Parker Bell was there for the campaign's Lexington stop.

President Trump and I both we know how to make Kentucky great again.

With less than three weeks until Kentucky's primary election Day.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Kelly Craft is traveling the state, speaking to what is going to tell our law enforcement, shaking hands and answering questions from potential voters.

You know, regulations and permitting used to be something that was supposed to build up your business.

Now we're standing in between you and growing your business.

The crowd of about 40 listened to craft as she made a case for why she should be the next governor.

One observer said the former United Nation ambassador's message about protecting children is what won her vote.

She spoke to the regular people, which I think is so important in today's crucial time, shall we say, the children, which are important to me, really touched you, touched me with what she had to say.

In the latest available public poll, Craft trails Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron by six points.

But Craft continues to travel the state, hoping to cut the gap.

What we care about is making certain that children have a quality education in order to reach their full potential.

But that's not happening right now with this vote.

Kentucky Department of Education and Fighting Kentucky's Opioid Epidemic.

Not one family has not been touched by this drug epidemic in the state of Kentucky.

And as governor, I will do everything.

And if there were a drug dealer or drug trafficker, if there's someone who causes the death of Kentuckians, they won't be leaving this state because I'll be signing their death warrant.

Craft also took a moment to speak to her family's experience with the drug epidemic.

I've had that empty chair.

I had that empty chair when my daughter was in it because she was so high or whatever it was.

And then I had it again when she ran away from home and again when I had to have her arrested.

I don't want another brother.

I don't want another family feeling that pain.

In just 19 days, Kentucky will know which Republican gubernatorial candidate will be taking on likely Democratic nominee and current governor, Andy Beshear.

For Kentucky Edition, I'm K.C.

Parker.

Bill.

I sat down with Kelly Craft on Tuesday here at our studios.

We'll show you part three of that interview coming up in just a few minutes.

$8 million is on the way to 24 opioid abatement programs in Kentucky.

The Kentucky Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission is awarding the money.

That commission is within the attorney general's office.

Attorney General Daniel Cameron says, quote, Providing organizations with the resources necessary to combat the opioid epidemic is part of a larger effort by my office to stem the tide of the drug crisis.

I commend each of these organizations for their efforts to fight this scourge.

And I appreciate the diligent work of the Commission throughout the grant process.

During today's announcement of the grants, Attorney General Cameron said that while he has obtained nearly $900 million in settlement money from pharmaceutical companies, Governor Andy Beshear didn't get any opioid money for Kentucky.

The governor responded to that later in the day.

Well, I'm a little shocked that the attorney general would say I haven't brought any dollars in in opioid settlements.

I filed more lawsuits against opioid manufacturers and distributors than any other attorney general in the country.

I think he filed one every single lawsuit.

He's settling right now and not only filed, but I argued personally in court showing up when companies were trying to blame us for the millions of pills that they sent hundreds of thousands into really small communities.

Listen, as an attorney, you're always supposed to share credit with other lawyers on the suit, on a lawsuit, or especially the ones who filed it.

And if you'll remember, I settled.

Actually, Attorney General Conway settled the first opioid lawsuit on his way out of office.

I was able to award those funds, but we gave credit all the way back to Greg Stumbo.

Also today, the governor announced almost $4 million for 37 projects to improve parks and recreation spaces throughout Kentucky.

The money is from the federal Land and water conservation fine.

The money will go to playground equipment, replacement, construction of walking paths and bringing recreational facilities in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

And the governor announced that Congo LLC, an employee service company, will expand its Louisville headquarters, spend $8 million and create 500 full time jobs.

U.S.

Senator Mitch McConnell is blasting a Biden administration plan to create stricter emission standards for trucks and heavy machinery.

Senator McConnell says the new rules will have a devastating effect on the trucking industry and he says the rules aren't needed.

The nitrogen oxide emissions of new trucks on the market are already.

Listen to this already.

98 to 99% lower than they were as recently as the late 1990.

But the EPA's own estimates the new technology required to meet the latest arbitrary benchmarks could jack up truck prices by as much as $8,304 each.

Each.

Listen to what the truckers themselves have to say.

If small business owners can't afford the new compliant trucks, they're going to stay with older, less efficient trucks or leave the industry entirely.

Leave the industry entirely.

Senator McConnell is also critical of President Biden's stand on raising the debt ceiling.

The president wants a vote on the debt ceiling that isn't tied to future spending.

McConnell says, quote, It's way past time for the president to sit down with Speaker McCarthy and negotiate a bypass partizan path forward on the debt ceiling and quote mcconnell's remarks come one day after the Republican led House voted along party lines for a debt ceiling plan that slashes domestic spending.

All five Republicans in Kentucky's House delegation voted for it.

The only Democrat, Morgan McGarvey, voted no.

On Monday, crews contained a wildfire at the Natural Bridge State Resort Park.

The fire started April 17th and burned about 125 acres.

The Kentucky Division of Forestry says someone set that fire.

The fire management chief tells the Lexington Herald-Leader an arson investigation is underway and that if anyone has valuable information, they should call one 827 arson.

The Division of Forestry says Kentucky had about 10,000 wildfires from 2010 to 2019, with nearly 65% caused by arson and another 22% caused by people burning debris.

We have some better news today about Louisville Officer Nicholas Wilt.

He's the Louisville police officer shot in the head during the old National Bank mass shooting April 10th.

He remains in critical condition and in a medically induced coma.

But the Louisville Police Foundation calls Wilt's progress, quote, encouraging.

The family says it's optimistic he's starting on the path to recovery.

Last week, Wilt was moved from U of L Hospital to Jewish Hospital to receive care from a specialist.

We wish him all the best.

A key figure in the 1955 Emmett Till lynching has died.

A group in Mississippi lynched the 14 year old till because they thought he had whistled at a white woman.

That woman, Carolyn Bryant.

Dunham, has died at the age of 88.

The Associated Press reports Dunham died in hospice in Louisiana.

There were media reports that she recently lived in Bowling Green, Kentucky.

And the final installment of our three part interview with Republican gubernatorial hopeful Kelly Craft, recorded on Tuesday.

She responds to questions about President Trump's endorsement of Attorney General Daniel Cameron and not her.

Whether she wants the former president to stump for her should she survived the primary and if she regrets the so called empty chair ad that stirred controversy.

I was not in the race, so President Trump did not make a choice.

It was several months actually, before I entered the race.

And no, I did not speak with President Trump about that.

I worked tirelessly.

Joe and I both worked tirelessly for then candidate Donald Trump to make certain that he was elected president.

He saw that work ethic and he appointed me as the first female ambassador to Canada, But he appointed me there because he saw the work ethic.

He campaigned on tearing, tearing up NAFTA and he said, this is what we're doing.

We're going to negotiate.

We're going to negotiate to make certain that we keep hundreds of thousands of jobs in America and not outsourced to China or to Mexico.

We're going to make certain that we protect our farmers, our coal miners, our small business owners, our manufacturing industry.

We must make certain we keep jobs and create jobs in America.

I think it's really important that we we talk about drugs in Kentucky.

I went Renee, I went to the border because I wanted to see for myself.

It's wide open that fentanyl is coming from our border, moving up toward Kentucky's border.

I'm not going to wait and sign a letter with other governors.

Does it work that way?

I'm going to initiate this.

I'm going to be calling Governor Abbott.

We're going to have a hotline because before these cartels travel out of Texas, they need to know that road doesn't lead to Kentucky.

And you're saying you want the death penalty?

Yes, they do.

Now, how would that happen?

Because that would have to be done by statute, correct?

Correct.

Just by executive orders to accomplish that?

Well, I would be able to sign that death warrant.

And if a cartel member, a trafficker, a dealer, anyone gives drugs to a Kentuckian and it causes their death, I will sign their death warrant because I've had a child, I've had that empty chair.

I'm very fortunate that she's a healthy, young woman now.

But there is not one family in the state of Kentucky that has not felt the pain of addiction in their family or by someone that's very near and dear to them.

Ambassador, I do have to ask you about that ad that came out as kind of a debut of your platform.

And many people had lots of questions after watching that ad about did that mean that your loved one passed?

What was the relation of that loved one?

And many people wondered, Well, I'm questioning her judgment by leaving so many fill in the blanks.

Do you regret the missteps of that ad?

Would you have liked to have been more clear about who you were talking about and the impact it's had?

Or do you think that the public and maybe the media has been over scrutinizing that ad?

I absolutely would run that ad over and over again and not change a thing, because just today, I just met with two mothers, both who have adult children that are back on drugs again.

And they came up to me to say, our chair is empty again.

An empty chair means that person is just not sitting there.

And as a mother, I do not want another mother feeling that pain because that chair is empty when your loved one is sitting in it because they're high or they're deceiving you.

It's empty when they when they run away or when they're incarcerated, it's empty when they're in rehab to make a really tough pivot back to President Trump.

Do you still support him, given the fact that he has had a historic criminal indictment?

He's facing other investigation in the Georgia 2020 election interference investigation, a pair of investigations and his actions around January six and the mishandling of classified documents.

Do you still support him?

Would you still want his endorsement?

And should you come out of the primary May 16th, would you call on him to stop for you around Kentucky, the Department of Justice is being using this this department as a political weapon.

They have been since the Obama administration, and they're using this against anybody who doesn't believe in their woke ideologies.

President Trump was a target when he was candidate Trump when he came down that escalator.

He became their target.

He has not been proven guilty.

And we owe it to President Trump or anyone else to allow the system to work.

And I'm not going to stand back and watch anyone kowtowed to this Department of Justice that has done nothing but target President Trump.

Target our Louisville Metro Police Department and who knows what else next.

And so you support his third bid for president?

I'm going to support the candidate that is going to take us back to those principles, to our Constitution, to our rule of law, to our democracy.

And, you know, President Trump did just that.

But you're saying that it could be another candidate who is like President Trump, who you would also support?

You know, I'm focused right now on May 16th, and I'm focused on defeating Andy Beshear.

And while I served under President Trump and I respect him right now, I'm focused on Kelly Craft, governor of Kentucky.

As a reminder, a former ambassador, Craft is among the leading contenders in the GOP governors primary.

Who will be on Tete, Kentucky, tonight at eight Eastern seven Central to discuss the issues and themes of the race.

She along with Daniel Cameron and Ryan Quarrels, Eric Dieter's and Alan Keck.

It's an extended 90 minute program Monday night on.

Kentucky tonight as Kentucky's teacher shortage continues, one school district is taking matters into his own hands.

Scott County schools is offering a financial incentive to graduates who return as teachers.

We spoke to district leaders and teachers about the incentive and their hopes for the future.

More in tonight's Education matters.

We have a teaching and learning incentive for our teaching and learning pathway students that are in Scott County schools that might pursue being in future educators.

The pathway consists of them completing four courses upon completion.

They go off to college.

They come back to teach for us.

If they teach for us their first four years, they get a $10,000 per year stipend on top of their regular salary.

Initially, we thought about it as being a cost to cover college expenses, but maybe students don't have those expenses.

So really, there's no strings attached to how they use them.

It's just an opportunity for them to have an additional $40,000 in their pocket over four years.

So this is lady manifest and you can see a history of it here.

This is a step towards protecting the future of the profession moving forward.

You have situation where people aren't even posting positions because they know there's no one out there to fill these positions When we're the ones experiencing the problem and seeing the problem happen, we're the ones that have to kind of focus and take action on what can we do, what can we control?

We can't always wait for all the outside entities to make that change.

We have to do something to get teachers to want to come back to Scott County.

So the incentive is a great start for that.

There are folks that suggest that public education simply looking for a handout solves the problem for us.

We're trying to be a part of the solution.

We're trying to find a way to solve our own problem.

We know that the teaching profession is one that students early on may consider, may want to do and may think twice about it or go into another career because the pay is better when their heart or their passion was actually in teaching to begin with.

We have to show them that the profession is valued when they feel like we're investing in them early on, then knowing that, hey, if you come back, we're valuing that that time and that commitment you've put into becoming a teacher.

It definitely makes them think, why not come back home At this point?

You're going to use your lovely spatula.

I have been teaching for 20 years and I am a graduate of Scott County High School.

There's nothing better when I have former students that come back and say, Hey, I'm going to be a teacher.

This incentive really makes them think about coming to where they started.

It has created a buzz.

It's created some conversation.

We've got around 88 total students that have expressed interest in the pathway, which is up significantly from previous years.

I would be hopeful of this being maxed out because really there'd be no reason for them to go anywhere else in the state of Kentucky to teach.

The incentive will start with the graduating class of 2025 and is capped at 25 students per year.

Some very, very lucky concert goers will get a once in a lifetime experience this Saturday.

They'll make their way deep into Mammoth Cave to hear world renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma, The Louisville Orchestra and the Louisville Chamber Choir perform more on this unique event that's putting Mammoth Cave in the spotlight.

It's the closest thing to like a kind of almost religious or spiritual experience that one can get in nature.

And that's how I've seen it in the music reflects that music is very much about telling the Cave's story.

Music in the cave has happened for hundreds of years since the cave first came about in the mid 1800s.

So it's just the perfect spot for this type of activity for me as the composer to actually envision the music that you want to have played in a magnificent place like this.

It really is a once in a lifetime opportunity and I think that's not lost on anybody.

This event is really celebrating Mammoth Cave.

They are putting together a performance that is all centered around the cave.

So it's a really great opportunity for us to show all that we have here in a very unusual format.

One of the challenges with writing a piece for a place like this is that you don't want to use the cave as a backdrop.

This is not supposed to be a beautiful set for your thing like this.

This is too special of a place to simply use as a decorative background for your music.

And I always wanted from the beginning for the cave to be the thing on display.

The cave tells you what the music should be.

It tells you what the experience should be.

So from the very beginning, when this idea was brought to us, we brought in everyone on our team to say, Is this possible?

Can we do this without harming the cave?

We asked our biologists or geologist, Is this going to damage the rocks if we've got too much reverberation down here, will the bats become upset?

And they all said no.

Artists tend to just kind of expand their their thinking.

And the problem is that the staff here are so good and so amazing.

They found ways to make all of our craziest dreams possible.

It's been pretty amazing to see the size of some of these things going in.

There were two harps that went down into the cave that was pretty impressive and very large drums and a wind machine.

So as it was going in, I was just kept thinking, what is going to be happening down there in just a few days?

We were just rehearsing earlier today and to watch Yo-Yo Ma, one of the world's great artists and humanitarians playing music that you dreamed up is one of the most surreal out-of-body experiences ever.

And to hear that sound playing the notes that that I conceive to go in this space, it's so overwhelming.

It's the thing you dream of as an artist to have musicians like that play your music and then to play it in this this space.

I mean, we're we're so lucky to just stand in that same dust and do something to celebrate the place in this moment.

There were 500 tickets made available through a lottery system for the performances.

Organizers said they received more than 27,000 applications for tickets, with requests coming as far away as Europe.

I couldn't get mine, that's for sure.

Some people can't get to a medical clinic, so the clinic is going to them.

That's what people need.

They need a model.

They need care that addresses what's going on with them on a physical, mental and emotional level.

And that's what our model provides.

Take a ride on a bus that's now a clinic.

Tomorrow night on Kentucky edition, which we hope will see you forward, 630 Eastern, 530 Central, where we inform, connect and Inspire.

We encourage you to subscribe to our email newsletter and watch full episodes and clips of tech, Dawg.

Find us also on the PBS video app on your mobile device and smart TV.

Send us a story idea to public affairs at Kate Meet Dawg and of course, follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to stay in the loop.

Thank you so much for watching tonight.

I'm Rene Shore.

I'll take really good care and I will see you tomorrow night.