>> We are in communication with Ford, seeking to understand the impact of this announcement.

>> Two big businesses are ending their partnership.

What it means for two battery plants in Kentucky.

>> If we all work together, we can thrive together.

>> State leaders join a campaign to fight hunger in two Kentucky counties.

>> EKU is proud.

We're number one for per capita Kentucky enrollment.

We're number one for our graduates going back to work in Kentucky communities.

>> EKU president talks about enrollment, special programs, and dealing with Frankfort and Washington.

>> And I think there was something in me that said a knife has legacy to it.

>> Plus, how a former pastor went from fire and brimstone to fire and steel.

>> Production of Kentucky Edition is made possible in part by the KET Millennium Fund.

>> Good evening and welcome to Kentucky Edition for Thursday, December 11th.

I'm Kelsey Starks in Louisville, filling in tonight for Renee Shaw.

We begin tonight with big news about Kentucky's two Blue Oval SK electric vehicle battery plants in Hardin County, SK on and the Ford Motor Company are ending their partnership.

SK on will take over the Tennessee plants, and Ford will take over the two plants.

In Kentucky, one plant is operating, the other has yet to start production after a downturn in battery demand.

Today, Governor Andy Beshear talked about the changes and the impact on those plants.

>> The news this morning is that Ford will be taking over control and operations of each of the Kentucky battery plants, while SK on will be taking over the Tennessee battery plants.

This is at least good news for Kentucky.

Ford has been committed to Kentucky since the first model T rolled off the line in Louisville, and their commitment to our state and our workforce remains strong.

We are in communication with Ford, seeking to understand the impact of this announcement and the direction the company intends to take.

I remain optimistic about the future of these facilities, but there is no question that actions taken out of Washington, D.C.

by this current administration and Congress has made it much more complicated and may make it take longer to achieve the desired results that we have in those two factories.

I can't get in front of Ford announcing its plans.

It's making decisions, really, as we speak.

But Ford has been a great partner to Kentucky, and we're going to work with them to get the best outcome and result that we can.

But these are two very valuable buildings.

There aren't many buildings in the world that size that you can do this level of sophisticated work in.

In many ways, there's some of the largest clean rooms in the world.

And so I am confident that there will be activity in at least Kentucky one in our future.

What that activity will be, whether it will take longer to ramp up, that we've all got to work through.

>> The governor also announced the post Dispensary in Beaver Dam in Ohio County will have a soft opening this Saturday, selling medical marijuana to qualifying patients from 10 a.m.

central time to 6 p.m.

or until supplies run out.

This will make it the first fully approved licensed medical marijuana dispensary to operate in Kentucky.

Aaron Petri, a Democrat running for Congress in Kentucky's sixth district, made it official yesterday.

This is Petri filing to run at the Kentucky Secretary of State's office.

Petri says she is the only Progressive Democrat in the race and the youngest candidate.

She says she's running with a focus on affordability, access and affluence for all.

Yesterday, the U.S.

seized a Venezuelan oil tanker as President Donald Trump refused to rule out U.S.

ground troops in Venezuela.

This comes as the U.S.

continues to attack boats near the Venezuelan coast.

Amy McGrath, a retired Marine Corps colonel and U.S.

Senate candidate, talked about U.S.

Venezuela policy and the bombing of boat attack survivors yesterday on CNN.

>> If the Pentagon had no problems releasing the first video and they they didn't, you know, they tweeted about it.

They were very proud of these videos.

And then, you know, when there's a controversy with the second, with the second boat strike, and there is these guys, as you just were mentioning, were clinging to the boat and to justify and say, well, there's there's cocaine there, and we have to go and destroy the boat when, you know, we have laws of war right now, we don't even know if we're at war because Congress hasn't authorized anything.

But, you know, our military, when you see people who are shipwrecked, you can't just execute them.

And so there is controversy here.

And if the Pentagon says they're the most transparent Pentagon, you know, which is what they've said, they ought to release this this second video.

It doesn't pass the smell test when you're like, hey, there's secret stuff in the in the second video, but not the first.

Come on, we all know this.

>> What do you.

>> McGrath is one of several Democratic candidates for the U.S.

Senate in Kentucky in 2026.

President Trump has vowed to defeat Congressman Thomas Massie of the fourth district in the 2026 Republican primary, but Massie is getting some big money help, the Kentucky Lantern reports.

Billionaire Jeff Yass has given $1 million to a new superPAC supporting Massie's reelection, and records filed with the Federal Election Commission show.

Yes has set aside millions in possible independent spending to help Massie.

Massie has criticized some of President Trump's policies, including spending policies and foreign policy actions, and Massie has been very vocal in his support for releasing the Jeffrey Epstein files.

Trump urged Republican editor Gallrein to run against Massie, and Gallrein is now in the race running on a pro-Trump platform.

Well, the holidays can be a stressful time, especially for people facing hunger.

A new campaign fights food insecurity in Clay and Laurel counties, with some familiar faces lending a hand.

>> CVS reached out to me and said, we want to do something in your region as as a good corporate citizen.

I talked to Brandon Storm because we want to think regionally, and we talked about the food pantry that has a regional presence and has the ability to effectuate a plan.

And Volunteers of America, and reached out to both of those.

And they said, here's what we can do if you get us this, if you get us some some access to funds.

And then when I mentioned that back to CVS, they said, hey, if you're willing to do that, we'll go up to $20,000.

If you find us a $20,000 match, which was easy to do.

And then we recently just got in two other donations, anonymous $10,000.

>> That will allow more children to be fed with healthy and nutritious meals, senior citizens to be fed.

And we're going to expand the number of routes and clay and then mobilize God's Food Pantry distribution center to be able to provide more support to families here in Laurel County.

We provide a lot of drug and alcohol treatment services and recovery services that are nonresidential, so those clients will have an opportunity to access a food voucher, and they will now have access to healthy, nutritious food.

>> It's a time of year because of the cold that can be stressful on your budget.

You've got higher heating bills and things of that nature.

You've got Christmas coming on and people are trying to do things with their family, which there's those types of things that they're wanting to spend money on.

And generally it can be just from a mental health standpoint, kind of a stressful season.

So this will help a lot of families.

And you heard the numbers.

It's not going to be 5 or 10.

It's going to be hundreds of families and hundreds of children that this is going to impact at a very critical time of the year.

>> We hope this is a catalyst.

We hope that other private donors and other public partners want to come in and say, hey, you know what?

This is a great initiative.

It's all about synergy.

It's all about working together.

It's all about resiliency and fortitude in the region.

And so we hope that that's a catalyst to begin other individuals contributing to this project.

And we hope this is just the beginning.

>> 22% of its citizens experience food insecurity on a regular basis.

15% of the citizens here in Laurel County experience food insecurity.

So we know this is a significant need.

>> I hope this partnership tells the community that's going to be impacted by this, that, you know, if we all work together, we can thrive together.

And, you know, it's not about me.

It's not about another location.

We all might cheer for someone else on Friday nights at the the basketball game or the football game.

But at the end of the day, we all live here and we all work here, and we need to work together and help one another.

>> The Kentucky Beverage Association also donated pallets of water for the food initiative.

A new plant opens in Hopkinsville, and a national magazine praises a Stanford hospital as one of the best.

Our Toby Gibbs has more in this.

Look at headlines around Kentucky.

>> Toyota Boshoku America's Hopkinsville plant is now open.

The $225 million facility will bring 157 full time jobs to Christian County.

The Hoptown Chronicle says it's a 365,000 square foot facility on 50 acres in South Park, a few miles north of Interstate 24.

The company is a global supplier of automotive interior systems with five facilities in Kentucky.

An explosion at Geveden since Collar and Louisville killed two people, hurt 11 and caused home damage in November of 2024, Louisville Public Media reports.

There's now a proposal before the Louisville Metro Council to bar heavy industrial use at that site in the future.

The Geveden site is in a residential neighborhood.

Council member Andrew Owens proposal, if passed, would change the zoning.

This will be on the agenda when the council meets December 16th.

US News and World Report rates the Ephraim McDowell Fort Logan Hospital in Stanford as high performing for maternity care.

It's the magazine's highest designation.

It indicates a hospital has demonstrated excellence in key quality measures, the Danville Advocate Messenger notes.

The hospital was also praised for serving a community with limited access to maternity care, while meeting standards that ensure patients receive reliable and compassionate service close to home.

Last weekend, people at Whitley County honored the lives lost during the Pearl Harbor attack.

On December 7th, 1941, the Times Tribune says veterans, the daughters of the American Revolution, or Dar and the sons of the American Revolution gathered on the courthouse steps.

After the ceremony, the Dar placed a wreath on the Veterans Memorial in front of the courthouse.

With headlines around Kentucky.

I'm Toby Gibbs.

>> The 14th president of Eastern Kentucky University, was once a student there twice.

David McFadden, a first generation college student, is the first graduate of Kernel Country to lead the university.

Renee Shaw talked with him yesterday about growing enrollment and sharing their story to success, to decision makers in Washington and Frankfort.

>> President McFadden, thank you so much for dropping by.

>> It is so good to be with you, Renee.

>> We've been trying to do this for a couple of years, so I'm glad we get this time.

I want to talk to you first just about the value proposition of higher ed.

There's a lot of discussion happening in a lot of spaces, particularly in the Washington political circles, about what is a professional degree, what is the goal of higher education, how are you interpreting those conversations, and how maybe you resetting for what you're hearing in Washington?

>> You know, Renee, for me, you know, I'm a native Kentuckian.

I'm a first generation college student, and I'm the, you know, the first alum from the region that we serve to serve as president of Eastern Kentucky University.

I think that's such a powerful testament to the value of education without a without a degree, without that opportunity, it's just not possible.

And so I think you make a very personal first.

And, you know, we can go student by student in life, by life and have that conversation about the transformative power.

But then I think we can transition to the economic mobility that it creates.

And Georgetown does this study a couple times and, you know, every other year or so, and, you know, what we see is that, you know, a college degree in the in the lifetime earnings of a of a student is worth nearly $1.5 million more in earnings.

That is true economic mobility.

It is personal power.

It's economic power.

And I think that, you know, we've just got to continue to position that.

The investment in higher education is one that has a tremendous return to our communities here in Kentucky, to our economy, to really how we we we make Kentucky better tomorrow than it is today.

And so I think that there's a real opportunity to have that conversation.

And I do believe a lot of our policymakers here in Kentucky, those who represent us in Washington, have a deep appreciation for our public, for our post-secondary institutions, public and private.

>> Right.

And when you think about what the goal of higher education is, is to expand your your mind and your understanding of the world.

But it is also an economic development tool.

Is the conversation too driven by what industry and business needs do you think?

At times.

>> I think that, you know, we've got to be responsive.

And so I think, as you know, we think about Kentucky and we lay out a, you know, the pathway forward.

And, you know, what's the future economic opportunities for our state.

We've got to be really intentional about that.

You know, we think about Toyota motor manufacturing and, you know, 1987.

And when all that happened, you know, we've built a support system to, to to really support manufacturing in this state.

And EKU is proud to have the only manufacturing engineering program in the state and to be supporting that.

But all of our institutions are doing that.

And so I don't think we can be disconnected from where the economy is going, where the jobs are, because every student who walks across the stage at any one of our institutions should have the expectation that they're job ready, career ready in that way.

And so what that means is that they've hone those skills that are essential for them to to be able to be successful in their careers.

And in some cases, that's passing a licensure exam.

Like our nursing students, we've had 100% pass rate for the last so many years.

I mean, so many years of, you know, of our nursing program, but also those, you know, those critical communication skills, critical thinking, the ability to work in a team and really to discern fact from fiction in what's going on in the world.

>> Yeah.

Let's talk about how many students are walking across that stage at EKU.

Talk about your first.

Let's go to the enrollment numbers.

How big was your freshman class and how does that stack up?

And then talk about your matriculation and graduation.

>> Rate, nearly 2700 freshmen this year.

That's, you know, really kind of where we've we've kind of been in this growth cycle since 2020.

We tipped over 16,000 students for the first time this fall since 2017.

So we've been on a growth cycle since 2021.

Proud to be Kentucky's largest comprehensive university again for the first time in and probably over.

>> And how is that metric determined?

>> Total enrollment.

So CTE does their annual.

So last year we kind of on the degree seeking students side.

We were the largest comprehensive.

You will probably get those data out for this past year sometime in the next few weeks.

And we'll see where things are at this year.

But we've continued to see growth year over year.

Our freshman class has continued to grow.

We're growing and transfer students.

So lots of lots of excitement on campus, lots of high demand programs that are that are really serving kind of the economic and, and growth opportunities for, for the state of Kentucky.

>> Well, let's talk about aviation in particular, law enforcement program, criminal justice programs we know have been very successful and highly sought after.

Talk about some of the standout programs at EKU.

>> I think aviation is one that gets a lot of attention.

You know, one of the fastest growing GDP areas for Kentucky Aerospace aviation.

We're at over 500 students in that program now.

It has doubled in size in the last six years.

So much demand for particularly our pro flight students.

We've heard a lot about the, you know, the aging of the cockpit, the, you know, the those pilots that are sitting there.

So just such a high demand program in an area that's that's growing, not just here in the state, but really all across the U.S.

And as we think about supply chain, you and I were just talking about, you know, we're all getting deliveries at home, right?

The logistics of those things, just a big role for our students to play in that space.

But again, you know, when we think about our Kentucky communities, EKU is proud we're number one for per capita Kentucky enrollment.

We're number one for our graduates going back to work in Kentucky communities.

I think that a lot of that is driven by the fact when we think about education, first responders, health care, engineering, we think about the major things.

>> Hitting all.

>> Cylinders to every community.

It those are the things that that we we've done best for a long time at EKU.

>> What is your online education offerings look like and how robust is that been or becoming?

>> Yeah.

You know, 2006 was the first time we stepped into the online space, and I think we were probably the first public to really get in.

And so we're now nearly 5000 students online, continues to be the fastest growing sector of higher education, not just at EKU, but really across the nation.

And so excited about meeting students where they're at.

And I do think there's an expectation for those who are working professionally, those who are looking for certain, you know, certificates or certifications that they need.

But also, we've got a lot of first time, full time freshmen who, you know, are place bound for one reason or another and are deciding to pursue their education online.

So as the school of opportunity, we want to meet them where they're.

>> At, right?

Adult learners or nontraditional students, as they're often called.

What does that picture look like?

>> I think for us, it's it is a significant number of individuals across the Commonwealth and who who have some college no degree.

You know, maybe they tried college.

It wasn't for them.

They worked in a career for 20 years, and now they're thinking, hey, you know, maybe I want to do something different.

The economy has changed tremendously.

When we think about the jobs of today and the jobs of when you and I graduate from college, it's changed tremendously.

And so the reskilling and the retooling, I think meeting them where they're at.

But the important thing is recognizing their experience.

And so we've been really focused on company based education and credit for prior learning, trying to say, hey, if you work professionally, you hold these credentials, these industry credentials.

We can acknowledge and recognize those for credit and try to accelerate the timeline to a degree so that you can pursue whatever's next for you.

>> Tomorrow night, Renee will have more with president McFadden about the new School of Osteopathic Medicine to come online in a few years, and his asks from Frankfort in the upcoming legislative session that begins in January.

That's all tomorrow night right here on Kentucky Edition.

After years spent guiding a congregation, a former pastor decided to forge a new path as a bladesmith.

Kevin Perito started his knife making business, Shepherd's Forge, in Winchester, shortly after the Covid 19 pandemic and quickly carved out a niche for himself with a distinctive style of craftsmanship.

More on his journey from ministry to metalwork in today's tapestry.

Our arts and Culture segment.

>> My uncle made knives for about 40 years, and he gave one to all the boys in the family when they turned 18.

But the fact that my uncle made them with his hands, like, was just next level for me.

And I think there was something in me that said a knife has legacy to it.

It took me until I was in my mid 40s before I ever, you know, got into any of this.

>> So one day he came downstairs and said, I think I can forge knives.

And I said, okay, I think you can give that a shot.

>> I never set out to have a knife making business.

I was already committed to ministry by the middle of my freshman year.

And if you can rewind to any freshman in high school, you know, making a life decision like that just doesn't happen very often.

But my life decision then lasted about 25 years.

I spent in the ministry in 21, in the midst of Covid, I got my first anvil verse forge, and everybody was in that restless stage.

But I was just like, I want to do this.

And it had been a. It had been a long time since I had felt that like pull.

>> Yes.

I was very surprised.

It was the first kind of artistic expression in our marriage that he had tried to take on.

I wasn't surprised that he wanted to try something new and try a new hobby.

He's he likes to try things, and it was going to be a small venture which just kept growing exponentially.

>> Jumped into this, sold a few knives, and then it just kept on evolving from there.

A little bit bigger equipment, more equipment, teaching classes, more shows, bigger shows.

Getting into the shows that you actually had to apply for and they had to let you in versus the show that they just wanted warm bodies to show up.

And every step of the way, it's just it's been it's kind of opened up.

So since I had a little bit of a base, by the time I stepped from the church, it made it a little bit easier.

There was something I could fall back on, and this is what is in front of me now.

>> He's stayed very consistently the same and actually, I think finds more expression of his faith now, even though it's much more of a private faith.

He's expresses himself so much more now because of this, and he's found other avenues to still share his heart with people and to share his imagination with people.

And that reflects very deeply into who we are.

>> It was strange at first seeing him wanting to do this.

I'd never really thought about people making knives until he started doing it.

>> It's my third born Landon.

He's helped me more than anybody else.

He knows the whole process from beginning to end.

He's handled all the knives.

Only thing he has not done is forged the knives.

>> He does most of the blade work on the knives like he does most of the knife making.

I think I really step up and help with the the handle work.

>> I focus primarily on kind of two big categories.

One, I have kind of everyday carry knives.

And then I've really been focusing a lot in the last year or two on my kitchen knives between cleavers, kind of a Japanese style knife that called the beloved after my wife.

And then I just released some paring knives this year.

I don't clean my knives up completely.

I don't grind and make them clean and shiny.

I leave that texture and that color across the top, so it kind of has its I think that's that seems to be my style that I've fallen into.

People have bought those knives because they can go, oh, I, I can tell you made this just by looking at it.

Any knife that I make, unless somebody intentionally destroys it, will outlive me.

The honor I get to have in making knives in this leaving legacy is the statement that that good work is salvation and our joy.

I get to make a living mostly out of doing this, and that is a that's just a great privilege and joy.

>> Kevin says he loved the teaching aspect of ministry, and has found other avenues to continue that through his work as a life coach and teaching knife making classes there at his shop.

Nearly 50,000 Kentucky families had their heat shut off last winter.

Advocates fear more Kentuckians will face the same this winter if state leaders don't step in.

>> We'd rather people have that extra funds that they can to buy groceries, to eat and be warm and safe instead of having their utilities cut.

>> The push for a utility disconnection moratorium.

That story tomorrow here on Kentucky Edition, and we do hope you'll join us again tomorrow night at 630 eastern, 530 central for Kentucky Edition, where we inform, connect and inspire.

You can watch full episodes and clips at ket.org and follow KET on social media.

Thank you so much for joining us this evening.

Have a great night.