apparently expresses frustration with public interest in his health.

The race to replace McConnell after his retirement heats up, along with other election battles.

Many Kentuckians talk about higher costs, but tax revenue is rolling into Frankfort as data center discussions remain heated.

Several Kentucky colleges and universities add AI programs.

Heading into a hot and humid August weekend, comment is next on KET.

Good evening.

I'm Bill Bryant and we welcome you to comment on Kentucky.

A look back at and some analysis of the week's news in the Commonwealth and the guests on our panel of working Kentucky journalists tonight are Keely Doll state politics reporter for the Courier-Journal.

Mason Brighton, political reporter for Spectrum News one and Alex Acquisto politics and health reporter for the Lexington Herald-Leader.

Also tonight, a report is out on police reforms in Louisville.

But let's begin with the latest on Senator Mitch McConnell, who is recovering at home after not being seen in public since June 14th.

That's when he fell and was hospitalized and then was sent to a rehab center.

Mason this week, CNN's Scott Jennings, who is from Kentucky, said he had talked to McConnell, said he is improving, but said McConnell seems to question why there is so much interest in his health.

>> Yeah.

And his remarks he talked about, you know, the fact that McConnell is from a different generation that tended to keep these sorts of things private and not discuss them.

Of course, that's perhaps an older way of thinking things in this day and age.

Perhaps it can be interpreted differently.

>> We live in a different era where people, if there's no information, the void gets filled.

>> Sure, people will peddle all sorts of theories, sometimes conspiracy theories to fill the lack of information.

And I think that's what has happened here to a degree.

We've talked before on the show about how he may be made a mistake in not saying sooner what had happened to him.

I visited Maine last week.

Some friends and probably four different people asked me, what's going on with Mitch McConnell?

It is definitely a national question.

Mitch McConnell is a very well-known figure, and it is just the day that the day and age that we live in today with the internet and people wanting answers to questions.

>> Kelly.

Kentucky's other senator, Rand Paul, also said that he wants empathy for McConnell and indicated that he thinks he will be back in the Senate in September.

>> Yeah, Rand Paul has said that.

You know, it's not like Mitch McConnell is on a beach holiday.

He's struggling.

He's trying to recover, and he's hope to see him back in September.

He said that there might be a couple of big votes that are coming up where the Republicans will need McConnell to pass legislation.

We've already seen his absence in committees affect some of the bills being able to get through, including the farm bill, which has stalled in committee after the absence of two senators, one being Mitch McConnell.

>> Said he hoped that at some point McConnell might call into his radio show.

>> You know, that was that was his big hope.

I think we'll wait and see.

I wouldn't hold my breath that it happens.

I think the next time we see him, perhaps it's on the floor.

>> Yeah.

All right.

Well, the race to replace McConnell rages on.

And Democrat Charles Booker is trying to make data centers an issue.

>> Any type of investment that is seeking to come to our Commonwealth and reap the benefits of of our land and our incredible brilliant workforce has to center working people.

That's going to be my bottom line, and I know that it's possible.

We need accountability because we have been sold out for far too long.

So yes, we're open for business.

If you respect our values and respect our people.

>> And Mason Booker cites a finding from the Kentucky Center for Public Policy that says tax incentives for data centers could cost the state some revenue.

And he said in a post this week, and this is a quote.

Kentucky is open for business, but we ain't for sale.

>> I think it really speaks to a lot of the concerns that communities across the state are expressing, that the perhaps these data center projects are coming in from out of state developers or out of county developers.

Not a lot of information has been made public, and people in those communities express a lot of concern about.

Should this project come through, what impact does it have on their community besides generating tax revenue?

>> Kelly how embedded in this year's election cycle is the data center issue?

>> I think it's hard to tell how much it will be in November for some of the larger races, like U.S.

Senate, but I think we could really see this show up in a major way in terms of local and county races.

A lot of times when there's these meetings on data centers, you know, constituents or people in the meetings will chant, vote them out.

If local county officials seem to be too lenient on data centers.

So it's something we could really see on a local level, but I'm not sure how much it will play into state or federal elections.

>> Another frustration that locals seem to have is with the nondisclosure agreements.

You know that many local officials are required to sign with a company that may be looking at their area saying they can't talk about it.

>> Yeah, that's a huge concern for people.

And I think that there's a lot of questions people have about something that has so much money behind it that could be moving into their community and not being able to get answers or to feel like a, your local officials who are elected to represent you can't answer something that's a big concern for people.

>> And a lot of what people know about data centers, because, you know, we don't have a lot of prolonged history with them in Kentucky yet, is what they hear from other people around the country who live near data centers.

The worry, I feel like, as Keeley was saying, this is going to be an issue in the coming years that really will animate voters, even in my hometown or home county of Davis County, the rumor of a data center animated people came to public meetings to talk about it.

The big worry is that, you know, these businesses with a lot of lofty promises of being financial boons for communities, will turn into an extractive industry.

And the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy Report you mentioned talked about how if data centers qualify as manufacturers or industrial processors, they could potentially be tax exempt or not have to pay certain property taxes, which is part of the allure bringing one into, especially a rural community in the first place.

So I think there are a lot of factors to consider, and people are reasonably suspicious.

>> And Booker's Republican opponent, Congressman Andy Barr, was in Paducah when a major data center announcement was made.

And he says that Kentucky should be a part of keeping the U.S.

in the forefront of the AI landscape, a global issue, really, and a global race for the United States.

So there's that side of the coin.

>> That is what's so interesting about this.

AI has become this new big thing in so many aspects of our world, but they need the data centers, you know, to they say to, you know, support this new industry.

So where do you put the data centers if you want to also support AI, but then do you potentially look at places like in West Kentucky, is this a better place to put one of these as opposed to some on farmland?

That's kind of the question that communities are still looking at.

>> And again, people reasonably have drawn parallels with coal mining, right?

It's this promise of these real financial opportunities, where these data centers are could potentially bring hundreds of jobs, certainly for the construction of them and then the maintenance of them.

But will those financial advantages pay off in the long run?

Will it actually help a community in the long run?

Because once you build one of these things and the one in Paducah has the potential to be one of the largest ones in the country, it is a big deal.

But I think long term, we don't really know how it's going to look.

>> Well, we get the feeling this is going to be a discussion in the legislative session.

It certainly is in this election.

And Kelly, as you noted in in local elections as well.

>> Yeah, I think it's definitely something that we already know we're going to see in, in the 2027 legislative session.

It's going to be big.

And I think that we could see this become a really big issue in future elections, the gubernatorial race and everything as we move forward, because it doesn't seem like they're going away anytime soon.

>> In that Senate race, a Barr was out highlighting a congressional efforts to improve the housing shortage during a stop in Bowling Green.

>> The most significant transformational housing reform legislation in decades.

That will solve the problem by providing more supply.

We need more building, more construction, more housing.

The more supply, the lower the cost for Americans, increasing the supply of housing, increasing access to mortgage credit.

That's how we're going to lower the cost of housing for Kentuckians here in Southcentral, Kentucky, across Kentucky and across the country.

>> Alex Barr was there talking about his support for the Road to Housing Act.

He says it would cut red tape, boost the housing supply, a major issue in communities across Kentucky.

>> Major and frankly, a perennial one.

I mean, this has been a years long issue that Kentucky has really not been able to fully solve.

And what Congressman Barr is saying is, is true.

And we're seeing that in even places like Lexington, where we have an acute shortage.

He's obviously talking about south central Kentucky.

And so it's a real issue that people across the political spectrum experience.

And it's also being politicized.

You know, you have Charles Booker saying, Congressman Barr so happy you're talking about this, but sort of late to the game that you're talking about it now.

And it's also something that in Kentucky, in the state legislature, largely Democrats.

So some Republicans have filed bills to address the housing shortage, affordable housing crisis.

Most of those have not made it over the finish line.

So it's definitely a an issue that a lot of people experience, but one that we haven't really figured out how to tackle yet.

>> Yeah.

And sometimes it hits the local communities and their zoning rules and against the state being under this pressure to provide housing.

And they attempt to make rules for the cities.

And then there's a there's a rub there, right?

>> Yeah.

And I think that like between Barr and Booker talking about how this has become such an issue this election, we've really seen Booker kind of hit again and again on issues of affordability, where it really has not been a major part of Andy Barr's campaign so far.

He's focused on a lot of national topics, border security, stuff like that, keeping it America first.

Whereas Booker has really talked a lot about affordability issues within this campaign.

>> Mason wrap up on that Senate race.

Where do you think things go here in the next few weeks?

>> I think, you know, as we get closer to November, I think we're going to see a lot more national interest in this.

I think we see some big money spins in this, to put this on television in front of people's eyes.

And I think things might get a little ugly there close to the end.

>> So you think as we watch the sixth district congressional race that's in Central Kentucky, where Republican Ralph Alvarado faces Democrat Zach Dembo, there seems to be a growing consensus that it is close and is one to watch.

Kelly we noted last week after a poll that was done for the Democrats showed the race a tie.

Alvarado's team said they always expected it to be close.

>> Yeah, this is we've been saying since the primaries that this might be the race to watch come November.

And we've really seen that in the way that the candidates have been kind of hitting the ground running.

Throughout this past week, we've seen Ralph Alvarado in Powell County, in Madison County, in Berea, Kentucky, kind of along the very similar style that Andy Barr ran for his primary statewide for U.S.

Senate.

Zach Dembo has been on Bashir's podcast.

He's doing something with actor Steve Zahn.

Of course, they've got the Democratic dinner coming up this weekend.

So, you know, he's getting a lot of big endorsements out there as well from the union.

So it's the different ways that they're trying to get voters to come to their side.

And what we assume is going to be a pretty close race.

>> Mason the Democrats last won a race in in 2010, when the last time that Ben Chandler won reelection here in Kentucky in the sixth district.

To what extent, though, is Zach Dembo hoping to follow Andy Beshear's path in the governor's race in the sixth district, which would be to win Lexington big win a few other counties, maybe keep it close and then try to hold the margins down in the in the rural, maybe more Republican leaning counties.

>> I think that's the best case scenario.

To flip this seat over to the Democrats.

This go around the voter registration for Democrats and Republicans across the district is is almost nearly identical.

So I think appealing both sides will be appealing to the more moderate and independent voters.

We will see who comes out on top, who best delivers their message to that group of voters, because I don't think it's a sure win for either side.

>> So one, as we said, one to watch.

Well, Senator Rand Paul has been busy in state during this August recess.

He's made lots of stops and talks about numerous topics.

For one thing, he talked about the movement to delay a hemp ban that some say will cripple the industry.

>> Federal rules in place essentially are a ban.

So what they have in place come November is going to wipe out the hemp industry nationwide.

The one month reprieve is good, but we still need a solution.

Some people are talking about a longer extension to try to pass a solution for that, but I think the solution I like is Kentucky.

Look, our legislature spent a year researching this issue.

They passed rules.

You have to be 21 to get a drink with hemp THC in it, and sold in liquor stores.

That sounds very reasonable to me.

>> All right.

So, Alex, this is the ban that would outlaw hemp products with certain levels of THC, and it's coming quickly.

>> It's coming quickly.

And as Senator Paul was saying, it was delayed from going into effect, I think, from November to now, December.

But I mean, this industry in Kentucky, I believe, generated something like $330 million last year.

It is a huge industry in Kentucky and would have a massive effect on our economy.

And I believe today my colleague Piper at the Herald-Leader wrote a story talking to Representative Andy Barr, who's filed a bill to basically regulate these products rather than ban them.

And I think that is the move that we will start to see some momentum behind it.

Now, who knows if it will get passed, but there's definitely a push not to outlaw these products and just to regulate them instead.

>> Kelly Senator Paul has traveled the state extensively during this break, as we noted, and he answers about anything he's asked, doesn't he?

>> Yes he does.

He has been very busy and very talkative, which is great.

He talked about his visit to Fort Knox and seeing the gold.

He talked about Senator McConnell and, you know, hoping empathy for him and kind of hoping that he'll be back.

He talked about Pentagon spending and hemp, of course.

So he's been he's been very busy and pretty open book.

>> Well, revenue is rolling into Frankfort.

July.

Revenue is up more than 29% over last year.

Business and corporate taxes drove it.

Revenue was nearly $1.5 billion for the month.

And Kelly a little bit of a paradox, as we've talked about affordability, many Kentuckians very challenged by the high costs out there right now, including parents buying school supplies.

They're noticing that, certainly.

But the corporate taxes are certainly rolling into the state's general fund.

>> Yes they are.

The state has warned that this is a few large payments from a small number of taxpayers, and maybe not something that is, you know, widely replicable throughout the state or throughout the year, but it's certainly a big number.

But we've also seen revenues in some other areas come down the road.

Fund revenue declined, I believe, about 14%.

But that is a lot of money coming into the state.

>> But is it the one time money maybe that that may not show up next month?

>> Yes.

I mean, it's always hard to tell when we have one month of data behind us.

But, you know, they're saying that this isn't maybe something that we should look forward to every month going forward in the fiscal year.

>> But a strong start to the fiscal year.

Yeah.

Right.

Well, Kentucky State University students have been moving in this week getting ready for a new school year.

Some local leaders across the state have been also raising some questions about what has been happening at KSU and Kelly.

You you covered a lawsuit filed against KSU saying that the school misrepresented an online master of social work program.

>> Yeah, so there was a lawsuit filed earlier this week saying that the school had marketed this online master's association, alleging that the school had marketed this online master's association to students.

The it started in fall of 2025.

They had about 50 students who then learned in May, according to the lawsuit that was filed, that the program was not accredited and that it might be hard for them to get licensure outside of the state.

So a couple of students, I think, are filed this lawsuit, and they're looking for a class action lawsuit for the Tuition's filed, because those credits will not transfer.

>> And KSU responded yes.

>> Yeah.

They responded and said that they were aware of the lawsuit.

But this is just kind of another thing that's been they've been in the news a lot this summer.

Ever since Senate Bill 185, which introduced sweeping changes to the school, passed, it's been kind of pretty tense, it seems, between CSU's Alumni Association and its leader in president.

>> And that was that vote of no confidence last week by the Alumni Association.

And yet today, this Friday, came a response from the president there.

>> Yeah.

It seems like they're they're just not on the same page about things.

And one of the really interesting things I will say is that the Senate, the General Assembly, seems to be very much behind the president.

The Board of Regents has said that they're behind the president, but the Alumni Association has little confidence in the way that he's leading the school.

A lot of these things are still very up in the air, considering that there's two lawsuits against Senate Bill 185, which are those big sweeping changes.

So we'll have to see how everything plays out in court and where that stands going forward this fall.

>> You tried to be very reassuring in the in the letter today.

Yeah, yeah.

All right.

Some local leaders across the state are calling on the federal government right now to restore Snap benefits.

This is what Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg said.

>> The cost of food is higher than it's ever been, and families are having to make difficult decisions every day, stretching paychecks further and further just to cover the basics to feed their family.

At the same time, policymakers far from here in Louisville are making the daily lives of Louisvillians even more challenging.

Following additional federal changes last year.

More than 10,000 people across Jefferson County no longer have Snap benefits, including 3000 kids.

>> So Mason obviously the federal cuts, prompting some local leaders to speak out.

>> Yeah, the mayor had a press conference earlier this week where he made those remarks.

It comes a week or so since he signed on to a letter with at least 200 other mayors across the nation calling on the federal government Congress to restore the cuts that were made to Snap and other assistance programs.

I think a lot like the data centers.

This is one of those issues that is being really felt on the local level with the cost of groceries being up, lack of federal programs, being there to support those in need.

I was at a food pantry earlier today and they said, you know, they've been doing this for a long time and they're seeing the highest numbers they've ever seen.

>> 1 in 5 Kentuckians is food insecure.

And that was before a lot of these snap cuts started.

And they're part of the one big, beautiful Bill act.

And I believe that the goal is to pare down the Snap program over the next decade.

And as Mason was saying, as people get cut from Snap, there's more emphasis on these local food pantries, churches to make up that difference.

And there's just not enough infrastructure to do it.

So I expect we're going to start hearing more leaders talk out as more people get cut from snap in the coming months and years.

>> Well, there is a report out on Louisville Metro Police Department, and it's been done by an independent firm hired to determine if the force is making progress.

Mason what does it show?

>> Well, so we got our very first report, basically looking at the first six months or so that they've been diving into the data.

It shows that so far, Lmpd has made the most progress on updating its use of force policies.

But several other areas that are a part of the the Community Commitment Agreement, essentially a city led and city signed version of a consent decree after the federal one fell apart last year.

Other areas beyond those use of force procedures still have a long way to go.

But they did tell me the folks that are doing this independent monitoring, that this is going to be a multi year process.

So it will be a while before we see many of these changes fully enacted.

>> And some concerned citizens want Lexington to end its flock camera program.

Some in other parts of the state have expressed privacy concerns, but police say they helped them solve crimes.

So Mason there's the paradox.

Some fear there's a strong potential for abuse.

When local governments do the surveillance, then the data is held somewhere.

Police say, though, it really works well in solving crimes.

>> So this really is the fine line that comes up around automated license plate reading cameras.

Flock is the big company that is in most communities now.

They're the leading maker of these technologies.

And for many groups and many communities, they have a lot of concerns.

Like you mentioned, Bill, of how this data is being used.

There's been several examples across the nation of officers misusing it, using for non police purposes.

Many people have been resigned or facing internal investigations because of it.

And now we're seeing in Lexington, the Democratic Socialists of America group is now calling on the city to end its contract.

Northern Kentucky.

We had a city say that they were not going to sign a permanent one with flock.

So it will be interesting to see if that momentum grows here, as it has in other parts of the country.

>> Kelly it's interesting that it brings the political left and right together on an issue in some cases.

>> Yeah, it seems like we're seeing privacy concerns and flock cameras be kind of another thing like data centers or pesticide regulations, which we saw earlier in the state legislative session, which really has brought Democrats and some Republicans together.

We've seen Thomas Massie, I believe, filed a bill about flock cameras, and we've seen some other Liberty Republicans kind of echo those concerns, which, you know, it's really prominent on the Democratic side as well.

>> Does this look to be an issue, you think, in the upcoming session as well?

>> I think we could definitely see it again.

We saw one bill this past legislative legislative session, but I think we could definitely see this come up again, especially as these concerns continue to grow in small communities and constituents reach out to their representatives about it.

>> Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers may soon be getting gloves that can deliver an electric shock to help them gain compliance.

Purchase could be up to $20 million from a Lexington company called Compliant Technologies of Lexington.

They're already used by some jails and police departments, and there's some controversy about that potential purchase.

>> The company that is essentially marketing these devices, say 700 departments across the country, including some federal agencies and a lot of jails, are using this.

They bill it as a compliance tool, essentially, that doesn't leave marks.

And, you know, in the instant it has an effect, but doesn't have long lasting impacts.

But the ACLU of Kentucky said earlier this week that they do have some deep concerns.

The governor was critical of Ice as an organization and called for them to be retrained.

So I think if this all ends up going through and we see these devices used, I think there'll be a lot more criticism of this technology.

>> Late this afternoon, Fayette County Superintendent Demetrus Liggins announced his retirement.

It comes after a lot of back and forth with the district's school board.

Alex, what did he say about his decision?

>> He sort of blamed it on the fact that the district's credit rating had been downgraded for a third year in a row.

Of course, that's because the district had to borrow tens of $95 million to pay district bills.

This caps years of financial struggles for the district that date back to 2008.

He called it the last straw.

That downgrade.

And, you know, there's been a movement to maybe remove him to get him to retire before there's been sort of sparring between him and the board, outside legal counsel, outside firms doing reports.

He called it a runaway circus today when he announced his retirement.

>> Apparently the school board will meet Monday night and they'll take up this.

Wright offer to retire.

>> And I guess they will accept it and decide what to do next.

>> Well, with all the controversy about AI and data centers, several universities are moving forward in Todd, UK and Murray State, establishing AI programs this fall.

The private University of the Cumberlands has undergraduate and doctoral programs already.

Kentucky's late summer and fall festival season off and running early.

Corbin is wrapped up its 74th annual Nibroc Festival.

[MUSIC] Lexington is holding the woodland Art fair this weekend, the 50th anniversary of that and the Kentucky State Fair coming up August 20th through 30th in Louisville.

So that kicks off next week.

Well, let's comment on Kentucky.

Thanks for joining us and have a good week ahead.