A top ranking Kentucky Senate Republican is calling it quits.

Part one of my conversation with Senate Majority Floor Leader Damon Thayer >> when former Kentucky Governor Julian Carroll will lie in state at the Capitol Rotunda.

>> I believe that the pressure this a basic I think the we have the capacity to grow enough healthy, good just for everyone.

>> Farmers and community organizations in Louisville come together to fight food, insecurity and bring fresh produce to those who need it.

Most.

>> So when with people on track, we're happy times.

>> And all aboard were bound for this Woodford County Museum.

>> Production of Kentucky Edition is made possible in part by the KET Endowment for Kentucky Productions.

Leonard Press Endowment for Public Affairs and the KET Millennium Fund.

♪ ♪ >> Good evening and welcome to Kentucky EDITION on this Wednesday, December, the 13th, I'm Renee Shaw.

Thank you for spending some of your Wednesday night with us.

Big changes are coming to Frankfort today.

The longest serving Republican Senate majority floor leader in Kentucky history.

>> Announced he will not seek reelection state.

Senator Damon Thayer of Georgetown represents the state's 17th Senate district this time next year.

He will have served his district for more than 2 decades.

>> But he isn't giving up on politics today.

I asked him about the timing of his decision and if he'll run for office again.

Why and why now?

>> I some good things happening in my private business life.

My consulting company has been picking up since the pandemic.

I do some horse racing work outside of Kentucky and then my bourbon company, Kentucky Senator Burton Israeli at a key spot.

It's a nascent burgeoning Brandon on behalf of my business partner, my investors.

I have a fiduciary responsibility to help grow that company.

And that brand.

And this this job, this supposedly part time job is really full time and it it's it holds me back from being able to fulfill a lot of my private sector commitments.

I I don't have a job offer lined up.

People think all of us to have a I don't have a job are not going to DC not now, but I'm not going to close off any door.

>> And I I I would KET I'm not done with politics.

>> Well, that was my question.

I mean, what does this foretell for a future political appearance, cameo or 4th at 5th act for you?

Never say never.

>> I you know, there's going to be an open seat for governor in 4 years.

That would have to take a look at the field.

Are you interested?

Sure.

Absolutely.

Yes.

And I think I think I I think I could be a compelling candidate for governor and I would certainly put that on the list of things I would consider doing.

Now, if why haven't you consider that before?

Now?

You know what I've learned in politics is you don't pick the time the time picks you.

And I've seen people force it.

I've seen people force running for governor and I I never wanted to be that person.

And I just never felt like, by the way, that was result.

That was advice from Alan Williams.

>> A former party chair.

Yes, and yes.

Change maker kingmaker.

She queen maker has huge way to help to make a lot of things.

That's >> And, you know, I always felt like in this Senate job that I picked me, but I never felt like the time was right for me to run for You know, I I certainly wasn't going to last time and all my friends were riding right and and, you know, I would take a look at the perspective field and 2027 and consider that there are other things that I would consider to if there were open seat.

>> Such as United States, Congress, United States Senate.

All things are possible.

Only if there's an open I'm not another challenge.

An incumbent l absolutely not right there.

They're all my friends and they're all doing a really good job.

>> Interesting stuff.

We got more interesting stuff tomorrow.

We'll hear more of my conversation with senators say are including who he thinks should replace him as majority leader in the Senate.

And if concerns about a primary challenge in May was part of his decision to leave Frankfort.

Also today, State Representative Phillip Pratt said he, too, will not seek reelection.

The Republican from Georgetown was first elected to the state house in 2016.

Currently he's chair of the small business and it committee the filing deadline for candidates is January.

The 5th and other news attorneys for pregnant Kentucky woman who sued the state demanding the right to an abortion says she's learned her embryo no longer has cardiac activity.

It's unclear what that means for the lawsuit filed last week by the plaintiff identified only as Jane Doe along with Planned Parenthood and the ACLU of Kentucky.

The suit is over to state laws that went into effect last year.

One is Kentucky's trigger law which made abortion illegal when the Supreme Court of the United States overturned Roe versus Wade.

The other is a law that bans most abortions in Kentucky after 6 weeks of pregnancy last year, Kentucky voters rejected a constitutional amendment that would remove the right to an abortion from the state Constitution.

As we told you on Monday, a new state law setting up a mechanism for funding charter schools was deemed unconstitutional.

The ruling came from Franklin County Circuit Judge Phillip Shepherd, House Bill 9 called for diverting funds from local school districts to fund charter schools.

In his ruling, Judge Shepard said the law creates a separate and unequal system of charter schools that does not meet the constitutional requirements for public schools.

Kentucky's House Democratic Caucus leaders said they were not surprised by the ruling and they said they're prepared to KET making their case of funding for charter schools again becomes an issue and the upcoming legislative session.

I'll have much more about this ruling in a few minutes when we check in with public radio journalist Rylan Barton.

Former Kentucky Governor Julian Carroll will lie in state in the state Capitol rotunda on Friday.

The state's 54th governor passed away over the weekend.

Friday's visitation services will be from 10:00AM until 12, 30 and again from one 30 in the afternoon to 5 o'clock.

That's all Easter time.

A memorial service will take place in between which KET will broadcast that memorial service that starts at 12:30PM, Eastern time.

Their funeral will take place on Saturday at Elevate Church in Frankfort, followed by a graveside service, complete with military honors.

Carroll was governor from 1974.

To 1979.

The Democrat led efforts to improve public schools and modernize the judicial system and 20 0, 4, He won a seat in the Kentucky state Senate where he served until 2020 Governor.

Julian Carroll was 92 years old.

Your supporters.

>> The slate new tonight, federal prosecutors will retry former Louisville police Officer Brett Hankison.

This comes just weeks after a jury failed to reach a verdict regarding charges that he used excessive force the night Breonna Taylor was killed by police in March of 2020.

The judge in that case declared a mistrial after several days of deliberation, Hankison fired 10 shots the night of the deadly raid but did not hit anyone.

A new trial would be the 3rd attempt to prosecute Hankison.

He was acquitted last year on state charges of endangering Taylor's neighbors.

The judge has set a tentative trial date for October of 2024.

The state's only public historically black university or HBCU is once again coming under fire for financial miss dealings.

This time from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges.

The group is in charge of accrediting universities in our region.

According to the Lexington Herald-Leader, the group is giving KSU a warning for some of its hiring practices.

In addition to KS use failure to meet certain standards relating to financial management under previous leadership.

Earlier this year, a state audit criticized KSU for wasteful spending on bonuses and benefits and sloppy record keeping the audit followed a vote by the Kentucky General Assembly to give 38 million dollars in emergency aid to help KSU deal with its ongoing financial problems.

Coffee was named K S use new president earlier this year in a statement to the paper, he said KSU takes this issue seriously.

And because of the steps KSU has taken now he anticipates the accrediting body will lift its warning next year.

Turning now to national politics and global affairs, U.S.

Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky greeted Ukraine's president on Capitol Hill yesterday.

President Volodymyr Zelensky told senators that with USAID, his country can win its war with Russia.

His visit came as President Joe Biden's request for an additional 110 billion dollars for Ukraine and Israel and other national security.

Meads is at serious risk of collapse and Congress Republicans are insisting on strict U.S. Mexico border security changes in exchange for in a Ukraine aid.

Speaking on the Senate floor, Senator McConnell says he's committed support to supporting both causes.

>> Support for Ukraine, Israel and rocks all about and committed to preparing the U.S. military to deter and defend against Chinese aggression.

I'm determined to get their national security crisis at the southern border.

Under control.

And I'm going to work to get >> It's unclear if Zelenskyy's trip to Washington was persuasive enough to persuade Republican holdouts.

It looks like health insurance giant.

Cigna and won't get together.

After all, The Wall Street Journal reports that Cigna has called off plans to merge with Louisville based Humana.

If the merger had gone through, it would have created 140 billion dollar company.

The newspaper says the 2 companies couldn't reach an agreement on a deal.

Humana has 63,000 employees.

10,000 of those work in the Louisville area.

The University of Kentucky is awarding an honorary degree to a civil rights and human rights activist John Rosenberg, Rosenberg, who is a Holocaust survivor, helped found the Appalachian Research and Defense Fund also known as Apple Red, which is based in his adopted hometown of Prestonsburg, Kentucky.

Apple Red provides civil legal aid to those who cannot afford a lawyer.

He also founded the Appalachian Citizens Law Center and Whitesburg Kentucky to address coal related environmental health and safety Matters.

Rosenberg will receive his honorary degree at UK's commencement ceremony on Friday.

Congratulations to him.

We told you last week about a survey from the Williams Institute at UCLA showing Kentucky with the largest percentage of adults who are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender.

Well, the institute now says that estate.

The survey claimed more than 10% of Kentucky's adult population was LGBT higher than any other state.

The institute now says that number is 4.9%, which is less than the national average of 5.6%.

♪ Time now for midweek, check-in of some major political news so far this week with Rylan Barton, who is the senior editor for NPR States team.

So we're good to have you with just with you yesterday.

So it's good to see you.

2 times in a row >> you can see it again to run the yeah.

So we're going to dispense with the inauguration talk.

I think we've got a lot of that cleared the way for yesterday.

>> Let's talk about the big news story for today.

It's our top story.

The fact that Senate Majority Leader Damon Thayer has said that this next session in 2024, will be his last and he won't seek re-election.

>> Do some.

Yes, it's a big change.

And what the Senate's going to look like and how it's going to run.

Really the couple years from now, because he still says he's still going to be the Senate this This next coming calendar year.

But he's been a big force in the Senate.

He's one of the of the main of, you know, people who goes out and talks about the issues there's moving that's really through the legislature.

And you know that that position as Senate majority floor leader, you're kind of the the traffic, as they say, are you working with leadership to decide when bills are ready to a revote and and also just moving things along.

And that's something he's been praised for on on both sides of the aisle for his role in that.

But he's a and he's very combative and it's legislator.

He's somebody who really a year has been one of the the most fiery critics of of Democratic Governor Andy Beshear so it could be interesting to see who kind of Occupy central going for something called home.

The Herald leader reported he actually recommended that the Senate, but consider of Louisville, a Senator, Julie Rocky Adams as his replacement as House majority floor leader.

But there will be a different in actual election within his district to replace him just for that state Senate seat as well.

>> That's right.

And and there could be some really interesting action.

They're even if he had remained And we know that the first Friday in January, it is a very important day.

That's the filing deadline.

So we've had a rash of these announcements.

So it remains to be seen.

Who else may take retirement and we'll find out.

>> It's right on a lot of these really do come up close to that deadline of January.

5th.

We've got a lot of this announcement and coming.

But one other announced that we heard this week and might be related to to the mayor's announcement that he won't seek re-election.

Is that the full wrath Republican representative and chair person in the in the House announced he wouldn't seek re-election Believe he is in a in Senator Peris district.

So I don't know if that's related at all that that's just it's notable to those 2 Nelson City coming so close together right there on some of the big names on both sides.

The outcome in recent weeks.

>> Right.

And these are, you know, high high ranking folks and we talked about the others who said that they will not be seeking re-election.

Derrick Graham, we talked about who is the House minority floor leader and others who have been there for a long time.

So to be a lot of different faces there come 2025.

So let's talk about important, a decision that was also rendered this week by Franklin Circuit Judge Phillip Shepherd, Phillip Shepherd, when it comes to charter schools and this concerns House Bill 9.

>> Yeah, this is a bill from a couple years ago that actually set up the funding mechanism for charter schools.

Your how how would be funded in certain counties in the state this is the judge to filter it.

And it really that this one foul of the of the provision, the state constitution that requires an uniform and efficient system of almonds.

Schools and and really defines how public dollars are spent on public education.

This, you know, this, max, pretty similar Leah of another so-called shoe school choice.

Well, that was struck down by the state Supreme Court recently that and that has to do with the attacks.

But for people to donate to scholarship funds for folks who go to private schools, both of these rulings together.

A really still you?

Probably what this next legislative session is going to look like in Kentuckyian Republicans.

Certainly some Republicans allege that you really want to get some sort of school choice.

Constitutional amendment passed because, again, this is the same provision in the state constitution keeps on coming up and and preventing.

I'm of the school choice measures from being implemented.

interesting timing for this ruling to happen and and yeah, I'm going back to that that a a conversation about senator there.

He said the bat is one of his priorities going into into his last legislative session to get better with the line.

as we talked before on this program and elsewhere, this is all the things that really slipped a Republican these so-called school choice or charter schools and really divide Republicans and it will be interesting to see how that discussion plays out in the next legislative session.

>> And we have seen that play out in the voting.

The roll call right in the House.

I mean, these measures have narrowly advance staff from the House within just a just a handful of votes.

So we'll see what happens.

Come January.

2nd, last item, we know that this country, the state has been on the verge of a child care crisis for many years.

And COVID certainly did not help it.

And now many childcare centers are looking at a loss of some federal funds from the American Rescue Plan.

Act.

The checks are being caught for the last installment there.

And this could mean some some really troubling times for the centers.

What are we learning about what the General Assembly may be able to do about this and the response to this crisis?

>> Yeah, the Kentucky later into the great story highlighting this issue trying to draw attention to You know, it's an American Rescue Plan Act.

That's a one of the coronavirus relief measures that passed during the pandemic.

A lot of that funding was used to it in a lot of different ways.

And one part of it with supporting childcare and and that this extra federal funding allowed a child care centers to one you stay open during the pandemic, but other employees.

A little bit more and of folks are running.

Childcare centers are worried that once this funding expired without any help from state government, that they're, you know, they're either going to have to the pope's less or increased tuition or for parents to send it to the child.

It's a child care So this is this is important thing for lawmakers to think about.

And this is only one of the issues you know, that coronavirus relief money and funding WALL-E. >> To KET bars on certainly in the future.

And this next few days, even before the year ends, we're looking for rendition day for the Kentucky Supreme Court to make other really crucial decisions affecting redistricting.

So that could be a matter that the General Assembly has to address on day one or 2 or 3 when they reconvene in 2024, thank you.

Ryan is always good to see you.

Have a good week.

Thanks for that.

♪ ♪ >> Finding and accessing fresh produce can be easier and the summer and fall when crops are bountiful.

Now thanks to a grant from the Kentucky Department of Agriculture.

A community organization is helping bring fresh food to people during the farming offseason.

>> We are certified organic farm right outside of Louisville.

And although county and we livestock, she as well as chickens and certified organic We have been working a local nonprofit new rich for about 10 years now >> weekly farmshare boxes to families throughout the area.

And I saw this grant opportunity advertise from the Kentucky Department of Ag.

And it seems like a great opportunity to try something new.

We thought it'd be a great opportunity to work with our long profit partner, new routes.

>> To see if they were interested and testing L expanded access and the winter months.

Normally we've ended in October.

So this was a way to KET getting food to on that.

>> The grant is just over $40,000 and it's over a 3 year period and it helps to Costs of expansion for our farm rebound farm.

Also other foreign partners and our partners at neighborhoods.

>> We actually use that money to help.

>> Senior living high rises and mobile.

This actually the 3rd year we've been doing it and this came out of just talking with the community, finding out senior citizens don't we have different dietary restrictions and needs and so we tailored a program to fit their needs.

And it has been very well and where implementing and other senior buildings as well.

We started this market over here 3 years ago.

A mom or a resident here, a Friendship House.

And we decided that we needed to do something to bring fresh vegetables to the people here.

But we don't have a grocery store here.

Our grocery store closed, I think almost 7 years ago program moved out.

Now.

We do have that Kroger bus that comes by once a week and that's helpful.

But as far as getting fresh food in your offseason, it's very difficult during the winter, it became a big part on our farmers.

They actually helped and stepped up because they high tunnels are basically like greenhouses where they're able to act.

Still a grow leafy greens in the wintertime.

These type of growing spaces allow us to protect crops from frost and freezes and that push the growing season and 2.

>> December late in the into November, December January and February.

>> Our farm is bunch working to expand our production here to be able to continue producing food throughout the year.

But then also pushing our customers a little bit, you know, to to really look to local farms for the winter months as well.

It's really important that people have access to organic vegetables in the air.

>> They're so high priced in the market and new or to make them affordable for everybody so everybody can eat healthy.

And enjoy it.

We believe that everyone having the right to fresh food canned.

health and a multitude of ways to health issue that we need to solve.

>> I believe that the fresh food is a basic human I think the.

>> We >> have the capacity to grow enough.

Healthy, good, just food for We just have to find the ways to break down the barriers that are keeping that from happening.

>> The style just station is a museum located in a former Louisville and Nashville, Railroad Depot in Versailles started by Winfrey and Wanda actions in 1987, it houses hundreds of antique toy trains and various other types of toys.

>> So all aboard this week's Tapestry segment celebrating Arts and culture is bound for nostalgia station.

♪ >> I've been collecting trains most of my life.

I I started when I was 3 Monday about me.

My first rain in 1947.

So I've had trains all my life.

We are a historical museum as well as an educational museum.

We have hundreds of ending toys and trains on display as well as to operate.

Invite layout.

And this is all presented in the low historic Train Depot Bensinger Station.

It's a historic and presentation of toys that would have been playing with the from around 1900.

Until the 1950's.

We have a lot of toys and trains that were made in the 1920's and 30's.

We have a lot of cast iron.

We have 10.

We have wind up toys.

We have metal heavy, heavily built toys.

We very few plastic trays, most of our toys and trying to meddle because I prior to 1960, and the preand all of the material back at that.

That was little.

♪ I have a 1990's.

We KET.

Steam train that runs on We put water in the boiler and alcohol in the murder and you light it and a child would play with this toy.

And I don't know how many houses got burned down, but child playing with a glass staying dry in that used alcohol as a propellant.

And then I'm closet airplane collector and tell people.

Got a bunch of airplanes.

I branched out into toys a number of years ago.

A lot of the toys today are imposed virus and the toys that we have in here.

We're utility toys.

They were motorcycles and trucks and cars and and that sort of thing that play value every time I buy the toy have to look it up and learn all about it.

Find out, you know, you made it when it was made and it's a learning experience.

It is kind a magical feeling when you're around operating trains, I guess to say on the swale motion just a fascination >> And the children love it.

That children like to follow trying around.

And it's just amazing to watch the oceans to rise lined up and they giggle and they laugh and they had the best time when they come in here.

The older generation.

>> People my from 50 on up can appreciate the trains back rim.

A lot of people and trying said it's not so much today.

People go to the electronics nowadays.

They can kind of relive their childhood when they come in here because we have the toys that they played with their fans played with and their grandparents play with.

So like I'm gonna go back in time when they come here.

That's why we call it nostalgia station.

>> Appropriately named indeed.

The museum is open in Versailles, Wednesdays through Saturdays to check them out.

Well, do it for us.

And we hope you'll join us again tomorrow night at 6.30, Eastern 5.30, central for Kentucky Edition, we inform connect and inspire.

Connect with us all the ways you see on your screen there, Facebook, X and Instagram.

Send us a story idea and public affairs at KET Dot Org and check us out on the PBS video app on your mobile device.

>> Thank you so very much for watching tonight.

I'm Renee Shaw.

Almost see you right back here again tomorrow.

Have a good night.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪