And it's very traumatic.

These events change your whole life.

Assessing the damage after almost a dozen tornadoes hit Kentucky.

Why some are calling the devastation the storms left behind unusual.

It's truly one of the best things that you will ever see in your life.

It's worth taking time.

It's a bucket list item.

We have some tips to help make your eclipse viewing out of this world.

They need a lot of assistance.

They can't care for themselves anymore.

They can't be themselves.

And one woman's story of caring for her dying mother after years of estrangement.

Production of Kentucky Edition.

Is made possible in.

Part by the KET Millennium Fund.

Good evening and welcome to Kentucky Edition on this Friday, April the fifth.

I'm RENEE Shaw.

Thank you for starting off your weekend with us.

The National Weather Service continues to survey the damage from Tuesday's severe storms that spawned 11 confirmed tornadoes in Kentucky.

Of the 11, two were two tornadoes.

One hit Boyd County.

The other struck the City of Prospect, where one veteran of the National Weather Service says it left behind damage like he's never seen before.

We had fuel for the storms.

Instability got warm, kind of humid ride, wind shear.

Winds turning with height in the atmosphere.

All the bad things that you look for in tornadoes, there's people have lost lots of property, trees and flipped in their house and two by fours, four walls.

And and it's very traumatic.

These events change your whole life.

We heard glass breaking.

We heard some thumping.

We thought, oh, something's fallen on the roof.

When we came out, this is what we found.

We saw no roof.

We saw these trees down further, the house gone, all of the pergola, the backyard torn up.

So it was pretty, pretty amazing, really, when you think about it.

Now, that was a direct hit.

I mean, we how it was a couple of houses around here were hit, but not nearly like this.

We just took the full blow.

I think we had stepped out for a little break in Saint Augustine on Monday morning, bright and early, and got the news Monday afternoon that there's been tornadoes and things come through our neighborhood.

We are so blessed that our house is not near to damage as some of these others are.

Most of this is just tree damage for us, but we are so lucky to have not to have as much damage as some of our neighbors do.

They just kind of tossed everything this way.

The tornado came up from behind.

Their stuff was just absolutely scattered everywhere.

And I mean, the crazy part of it is just with all the devastation and everything and, you know, everything laying around back here, the folks next door have a hot tub that's in the backyard.

The cover still snapped on them fully intact.

So, I mean, just how directional.

And I mean, it just kind of takes the path where it wants to take.

I've seen some weird impalement.

There's a home in the Brookhouse subdivision in Jeffersonville that has I've seen two by fours in the sides of buildings, in garages.

This is at the top and the apex of the house.

I've never seen that before.

Ever.

And they were not in the path of the tornado.

It was debris that came and hit their house.

It's just crazy because you don't see the exact path.

It just kind of got bumped around everywhere, I suppose.

I mean, it's Mother Nature's mean when she wants to be.

Governor Beshear is urging everyone who suffered storm damage to take pictures and report it to County Emergency management officials.

He said Even if you don't think you'll need FEMA's help, your neighbors might.

And reporting the damage could help the state reach FEMA's funding threshold.

Moving on now to state government news.

Yesterday, the governor announced bills passed by the Kentucky General Assembly that he had either signed or vetoed.

More in tonight's legislative update.

Among the governor's vetoes, House Bill 804.

It's a bill to allow the parties in cases involving state laws or regulations to change the court where the case is litigated.

The governor says he vetoed the bill because he believes it's an unconstitutional violation of separation of powers.

804 is yet another attempt for the legislature to control the venue.

The different constitutional or legislative challenges are filed in courts.

What it attempts to do is take the decision of venue entirely out of the judicial branch and give it to any one of the litigating parties.

They can just simply ask for a change of venue without any process or evaluate.

It violates the separation of powers.

It is squarely in the judicial branch's authority to handle things like venue.

The Supreme Court's already struck down several laws on this.

I don't think we should keep going back and back and back and passing different versions of unconstitutional laws.

The Republican supermajorities in both chambers will have a chance to override this and other vetoes when lawmakers reconvene next Friday.

And the following Monday.

We'll talk about this veto with NPR senior editor Ryland Barton in just a minute.

During our Inside Kentucky Politics segment, the May primary is six and a half weeks away.

It's May 21st.

If you want to vote by absentee ballot by mail and you qualify, you can make the request starting tomorrow using the state's online portal.

The portal closes May 7th.

The ballot will be mailed to you after you submit an application.

Make sure you qualify to vote absentee ballot by mail.

Everyone can vote during the three days of early voting, which is Thursday, May six through Saturday, May 18th.

Here's more voting news.

The deadline to register to vote in the May primary is April 22nd.

Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams says more than 8800 new voters registered in March.

About 4800 were removed from the voter rolls.

Those include dead people, felons and people who moved out of state.

Time now for us to go inside Kentucky politics for kind of mixing it up a little bit today since we didn't get a chance to talk with Ryland Barton at midweek.

We have him with us at the end of the week to give us kind of a recap of some major political news this week.

Good to see you on this Friday.

Renee, let's talk about some news when it comes to the disaster.

Of course, all of us have been covering that and our hearts go out to those who are still trying to clean up from that.

The natural disasters and the tornadoes that hit Kentucky this week.

And the governor has made some comments, admonishments, if you will, against the Republicans, encouraging them to revisit a cap that they've put on his ability financially to respond to natural disasters.

Tell us about this.

Yes.

So this was in this is part of the budget that the legislature passed before the outbreak, and it included a cap on how much the governor can spend on what's called necessary government expenses, which sometimes are used for emergency responses, which Kentucky's experienced a lot of natural disasters, especially in the last couple of years.

Governor Beshear criticized this, saying that the state would have burned right through the tap within the first few months of this year, and especially looking to previous years when there was a big flooding in 2022 in eastern Kentucky and the devastating tornadoes in western Kentucky in 2021, he's saying that the governor needs to have that kind of flexibility to respond to disasters, which includes, you know, that that requires sending out money to to folks to help with the cleanup.

I will also say it's a kind of point of personal privilege, a piece that we worked on in Louisville Public Media and Kentucky Kentucky Public Radio last year looking into the invasive and incomplete cleanup process after the eastern Kentucky floods showed just how much money is involved in this process and also how how difficult and tricky that oversight can be of the the massive industry of contractors that goes into cleanup in such a difficult cleanup.

It is in places like eastern Kentucky with all the flooding and debris in the streams that were there that the contractors and others are trying to work to clean up.

So it's an incredibly important issue, and that's a that story won an award just today from the Investigative Reporters and Editors Group.

So congratulations to Justin Hicks and Jared Bennett on that.

And also thank you to all the folks in eastern Kentucky who helped tell the story and helped us report out that story.

Yeah, well, congrats to them and please pass it along to Jared and Justin and to you and your capacity.

When you were managing editor at the time, so hip, hip, hooray for all of you.

Great job.

It goes to show what good journalism can do and in fact, did create some change that that came from that.

So let's move to talk about Governor Bashir has issued five vetoes.

So far, one an additional one that's already been overridden by the legislature concerning the source of income.

And so that's already out of the way.

They've already written that one.

But he did veto a bill dealing with change of venue.

And people are going to think, gosh, this sounds familiar.

Didn't they already do this one time before?

But you can tell us why it's being revisited and why it's different perhaps this time around.

Yeah, this has been on the wish list for Republican leaders of the legislature for years.

A lot of times when lawsuits over the constitution of constitutionality of state laws happen, they end up in Franklin Circuit Court.

So that's the the circuit court.

That's based in Frankfort.

The voters of Franklin Circuit elect the judges who are there.

And Republicans say that they're unfairly treated when their bills are challenged and end up in Franklin Circuit Court.

So for years, there have been bills that have come up to try to change the venue for where this happens to this year's version of it.

House Bill 804 Governor Bashir vetoed it, saying that this interferes with the separation of powers between the judicial and legislative and executive branches.

You know, the sponsor of this bill, Republican Representative Patrick Landry, said that really this this bill was filed to try and address some changes that justices have wanted to this bill.

So the previous version of this was struck down by the Kentucky Supreme Court.

So he says that this version of the bill actually addresses some of those concerns to try and make sure that that is constitutional.

I do imagine there will once again be a challenge over this and we'll see what the courts think about it this time around.

But this has been a very difficult issue for Republican leaders in the legislature to get past legal scrutiny.

Yeah, the governor did say in his weekly presser on Thursday that he is still reviewing several bills, of course, and he was asked specifically about the SAFER Kentucky Act or House Bill five.

And he said there are provisions that he agrees with, but there are some when it comes to the homeless provisions that he disagrees with.

So this is still in play, perhaps, and he he still has a few more days to issue some vetoes and very well could strike this one and reject it.

Yeah, that bill, there's so many different things in it.

The one but I think one of the biggest issues is this provision that would that would ban street camping in the state and create criminal penalty for it.

This is something that a lot of other states are considering right now and actually something the U.S. Supreme Court is considering.

There's a lawsuit that comes out of Grants Pass, Oregon, where they had a street camping ban.

The federal appeals court there blocked that.

It's been appealed all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court now.

And really, this ruling is going to change.

It's going to determine a lot of how states and cities are allowed to or to what extent they're allowed to regulate homelessness or street camping and whether they're allowed to attach criminal penalties to it.

This is something that the ACLU filed an amicus brief in that in that case, that's a friend of the court just kind of providing their opinion on on what the ruling should be and said that it would be this that would violate their laws like this, violate the Eighth Amendment.

So this is this amounts to cruel and unusual, unusual punishment that states would be issuing on on on folks that are homeless and and really have no choice but to but just to sleep on the street here.

Yeah.

So this is going to be a big, really big case for for the nation because it's going to determine a lot of what states and cities can do, including, you know, the legality possibly of this this part of that big sweeping anti crime bill, House Bill five that the legislature passed this year.

Last item, if we can, real quickly, McConnell has been back in the district, of course, which is the state, and he made a stop in Shelbyville midweek.

And he said, you know, I am a Ronald Reagan Republican and I don't subscribe to isolationist policies and philosophies.

And this is kind of an admonishment to people in his party, and he gets some flak from it, from those who are saying, let's not do any more support to Ukraine.

He says it's still needed.

He's still kind of holding on to this older version of what Republicans were.

But I think we've all seen it in recent years is a big division.

And what the party thinks the United States is role is in the world at this point.

A lot of there's a lot of more isolationist folks who say they shouldn't be meddling in foreign wars, even when it comes to defending Ukraine against the Russian invasion.

And the and this is an ongoing debate, but it very much seems, especially with McConnell's retirement from leadership and and former President Donald Trump's likely nomination as the Republican presidential ticket this year, that the more isolationist side is the side that's kind of winning out the political fight at this point.

Yeah.

Well, it's always good to see you.

Thank you so very much.

Really.

And have a great weekend.

And we should say programing.

Note that there's a double dose of Rylan Barton because you're going to be on comment on Kentucky tonight at 8:00 Eastern time right here on Katie.

So they'll get more of you then.

Thanks.

Thanks a lot, Renee.

You'll see flags at state buildings at half staff tomorrow.

It's in memory of CHAST and McWhorter, an EMT, and Somerset and Pulaski County who died in the line of duty.

McWhorter died Monday when a semi hit his ambulance in Garrett County.

McWhorter was just 26 years old.

He was a native of Clinton County in south southern Kentucky.

Funeral services are planned there tomorrow.

On Monday, we brought you Caring for the Aging Forum, a program about challenges faced by Kentucky's more than 600,000 caregivers.

During the forum, we highlighted the experience of a single mom in Lexington and what's called the sandwich Generation, where she's caring for a child and her elderly mother, who has late stage Alzheimer's disease.

Our Laura Rogers shared some of her conversation with Liz Hodge on the challenges of balancing caregiving with life's other responsibilities.

She has just really declined so very, very quickly.

Liz Hodges mother, Linda, now 76, was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease six years ago.

To ask her, can you take a shower on your own?

Well, yes, of course I can.

Can you cook a meal?

Yes, of course I can.

But if you let her go, try to do it.

She can't find the kitchen sink.

Or she turns the other way in the shower and reaches for the water and couldn't find it.

Hodge and her three siblings had to make some difficult decisions, which included consulting their mother's will to see who would become Linda's primary caregiver.

She had named me out of all my siblings who had the most strained relationship as her guardian.

That strained relationship has added another layer to an already emotionally draining experience.

There's a lot of childhood trauma that I'm processing while I'm caregiving, which is a difficult thing to do.

Well, you weren't there for me.

Why do I need to be there for you now?

You know I'm helping you to go to the bathroom.

Where were you for my high school graduation.

Despite that complicated back story, a silver lining.

Hodge says she and her mother have bonded since that devastating diagnosis.

So in her forgetting our history, it helped me heal our history.

And so I've able to have a relationship with her now that I would have never have had before.

A relationship that has included finding the best fit for long term care.

As her health has declined.

Linda is now in memory care, which is typical for an Alzheimer's patient.

They need a lot of assistance.

They can't care for themselves anymore.

They can't be themselves.

A lot of times, not mobile can go nonverbal and incontinent and things like that that they just need continuous care for.

Hodge once worked as a certified medical assistant.

Knowledge and training that have proved.

Helpful.

Through her mother's many hospitalizations.

I've been able to make decisions for our family, for her that I know are in her best interest.

But finding balance and support is still a challenge.

It takes a lot out of the caregiver.

I have to keep up my job and I have to keep up being a mom and I have to keep up trying to be a friend and keeping up some kind of life and sleeping.

There's also the financial burden.

Hodge and her siblings have liquidated their mother's assets to pay for her long term around the clock care.

It is $9,000 a month, a month to care for her.

Our fears as a family is what happens if we run out of that money?

Who's going to pay eight $9,000 a month to take care of her?

Which does add stress to the situation, along with guilt for not being everywhere all at once.

Especially women.

We are the caretakers.

And so we feel guilty if we're not at home making a hot dinner for your daughter.

Plus, being at the nursing home when your mom is sick.

Along with juggling those responsibilities, there is the sadness and grief that come with losing a parent.

Glenda is now in hospice care.

The nurses were driven nuts because they would hear Liz Hodge.

Liz Hodge lives hard all time.

She would ask for me constantly.

She's she.

Stop asking for me.

She doesn't know who I am when I come now.

She knows I'm a familiar warm face that she loves.

As he prepares for that final goodbye, she is thinking about her own mortality and eventual end of life care.

I stay healthy and active and do all the things.

But, you know, at some point, is this going to be me and my daughter taking care of me like this?

Thank you, Laura, for that.

You can see more of Monday night's discussion on caring for the aging Forum online on demand at Katie Borg.

It's part of a new initiative on aging called Next Chapter that focuses on issues facing Kentucky's aging population and their loved ones.

You can learn more at Katie Borg slash next chapter.

Many of you will travel to the perfect location or scout out a special spot to see the total solar eclipse on Monday.

While the path of totality is easy to predict, there is another factor that could dampen the celestial experience.

Our Kristi Dalton shed some light on the solar showdown.

We have a spectacular celestial event, but.

A lot of this is going to depend on the.

Weather.

With us now, we have John Gordon from the.

National Weather Service in Louisville.

John, we don't want this weather to mess up this forest.

Right.

What are the odds?

What are we looking at?

What do we need?

Well, probability is 66% of a cloudy day if you go back the last ten years.

However, you know, we're still watching some systems.

I'm hoping even if it could be cloudy that day and we're clear in the afternoon, it still might work out.

Don't cancel your plans.

Right.

Okay.

And you were just saying to me just a few minutes ago that you can be I mean, in Louisville, it's 99%.

Some areas there may be really close.

But if you can get to that path of totality, it's going to make a difference.

Oh, my gosh, folks, in 2017, we're very disappointed even in Louisville, that they thought I'm in 98%, I'm good to go.

And they didn't see very much at all.

Go north.

Go north, Go north.

So in that path of totality, what is so spectacular?

What are some things that may happen?

If it's if it's nice weather or.

Even if it's.

Cloudy, that may take us by surprise.

Yeah, I was really surprised.

In 2017, the medicine at the Kentucky medicine that took all these weather equipment all up and down the track and they found out that the average temperature in the middle of the afternoon in August, a hot day with high sun angle, went about in about 9 to 10 degrees in a span of 15 minutes.

It dropped.

That significantly affected the dew point, affected the temperature.

It was pretty weird.

That is bizarre.

And I think if if we are sunny that day, which I want it to be.

Right, Sunny, you will see a temperature drop.

Guarantee it if you're in the totality.

Okay.

And now in Kentucky, that totality is Paducah, Henderson and there near Wickliffe.

So just skimming the western portion.

So if a lot of people are heading over to western Kentucky or traveling to this path of totality, might be a little bit of a headache trying to get back.

Home, right?

Oh, traffic's a nightmare, folks.

I'm telling you, have a plan.

My advice is to leave immediately after or have a picnic.

Stay with some friends, go out to dinner, get some food, prepare, have a cup of patience, as they say.

I guess that's right.

That's easier said than done sometimes.

And also to be safe during the eclipse to protect our eyes.

There are a few different ways to watch the eclipse.

What are those?

Those?

They've got glasses they're handing out all over the place.

Gifts.

Pair those glasses.

They're really cheap.

You can get them on the Internet, Amazon, whatever.

Or you can find them at your room.

Make sure they're certified.

So they're certified.

Don't buy it from, you know, Bubba's.

But anyway, that will really help it.

And it's an amazing site.

It's truly one of the best things that you will ever see in your life.

It's worth taking time.

It's a bucket list item.

Yeah.

So let's get some sunny skies and enjoy a great eclipse.

Because it may be a while till we get another chance, right?

That's right.

They don't happen that often.

They don't.

And they may happen, but it may be in Antarctica or China or Africa.

This is as close as you can get.

Go, folks.

It's worth the time.

We will take that advice.

Thank you so.

Much.

Thanks, Kristie.

John Gordon always has the best advice.

And no offense to the Bubbas out there.

Tune in Monday for our special coverage of the total solar eclipse.

We'll be live from Paducah for Kentucky edition at our regular time.

And then we'll have a special broadcast Monday night at 8 p.m. Eastern.

Seven Central and Place of Kentucky tonight to highlight the celestial event from the path of totality.

Enjoy some good food, some nice antiques, and, of course, some eclipse related events.

Our Toby Gibbs tells us more in this look at what's happening around the Commonwealth.

Already underway is the 57th annual Bardstown Antique Show.

More than 50 antique dealers from Kentucky and beyond have gathered for this highly anticipated antiquing event.

Shop, art, furniture, jewelry and more tonight and Saturday at the Bardstown Antiques Show.

It's easy to see that spring is blooming into bluegrass.

And if you haven't taken the time to smell the flowers yet, the Crissy Mehan Nature preserve has a great opportunity tomorrow, join the two hour guided wildflower walk to see stunning spring flowers and get some steps in for the day.

Be sure to bring a camera to this great outdoors event.

The main Street dance company in Monticello has a great shopping experience.

Tomorrow in its studio inside a renovated historic building downtown.

This indoor vendor's market is a great way to patronize small and local businesses.

Don't forget to check out the raffle that goes to support the company's dancers.

If you collect dolls or you're searching for some childhood nostalgia, you'll want to check out the Triple Crown doll show and Sale in Erlanger on Sunday.

On top of the unique selection of dolls and toys, there will be door prizes and raffles.

So you're sure to leave this event with some treasure, no matter what.

If you're not in the path of totality for Monday's eclipse, the city of Marion invites you to travel to its viewing party.

This tailgate style party will have food, games, music and of course, a great vantage point to safely stare at the sun.

This event is a great opportunity to check out the eclipse and a beautiful Kentucky small town.

If you can't get that far west Rough River Dam State Resort Park will be experiencing 97% totality, and it's having a great lawn party for Eclipse watchers.

Not only will they have cornhole and mini golf going on, but protective glasses and eclipse swag will be available at the gift shop.

Bring your chairs out and make a day of it.

At Rough River Dam Wednesdays in Eddy, they'll are about to get a lot tastier.

This week is its first food truck Wednesday, and the city is closing down the street for some delicious dining.

Check out the joint, the fishing hole, hogs and dogs and more at food truck Wednesday.

If you're a fan of Derby season fashion, this next event is sure to fascinate you.

This Thursday is the Waterfront Botanical Gardens fascinator affair.

This fashion show and luncheon fundraiser will feature men's and women's derby accessories from some of the best milliners and designers in the area.

Be sure to check it out.

And that's what's happening around the Commonwealth.

I'm Toby Gibbs.

Thank you, Toby Gibbs.

Well, that'll do it for us this week.

Thank you for your patience as we were away for a couple of days.

So good to be back with you.

And we will be again Monday night at 630 Eastern, 530 Central, where we inform, Connect and Inspire special eclipse coverage you can count on from us.

We hope you're subscribed to the Kentucky edition email newsletters and watch full episodes and clips at Katie Dawg.

And you can also find us on the PBS video app on your mobile device and smart TV.

And of course, you're welcome to send us a story idea at the address on your screen, Public Affairs at Katie Dawg.

Thanks very much for being with us tonight.

Have a great weekend and we will see you on Monday.

Take good care.