♪ And we want to try to break the cycle where we can and try to interrupt it and be as effective as possible.

>> The state's broad approach to drug prevention programs.

>> When someone makes the decision.

To become intoxicated and thing causes a highway fatality or injury.

We call it what it is.

It's a crash.

It wasn't an accident.

>> Police plan a holiday crackdown on drunk driving in Kentucky.

And these are people who are up against a vast carceral system.

And which often times it can feel like nobody cares about you.

Nobody hears you.

Plus how Whitesburg radio show connects inmates and their families.

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

♪ ♪ >> Good Evening and welcome to Kentucky EDITION on this Tuesday, December, the 17th, I'm Renee Shaw.

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

Fatal drug overdoses are on the decline in Kentucky.

State officials say one way to KET that momentum going is through efforts to prevent or delay substance use in the first place as our June Leffler reports, these prevention efforts can take many shapes.

>> Harm reduction and drug treatment can combat the worst health impacts of addiction.

Drug prevention is an upstream solution.

>> At the end of the day, you have to remember more than 1900 Kentuckians lost their life to overdose last year.

That's a lot of seats at the dinner table which are empty and we want to try to break the cycle where we can and try to interrupt and be as effective as possible.

>> In the past 2 years, Kentucky's opioid abatement Advisory Commission has awarded more than 10 million dollars to grassroots prevention efforts in Kentucky.

The commission is responsible for handling the state's opioid settlement money.

Public health experts say prevention works with the right strategies.

You know what I always say to people?

>> Is if you have resources to allocate towards prevention, you really want to be allocating resources to the programs that we know to be effective.

>> The state is focusing on youth prevention.

That's a great group to target.

But they need more than a lecture.

>> Well, I think there's this difference between just like educating.

>> You know about you.

This idea why not to use the absences versus addressing what might need somebody to be at risk freezing substances.

And I think the more effective programs are the ones that address underlying risk.

>> A prevention program coordinator in Kentucky explains the circumstances in a kid's life that may make them more likely to use substances.

>> You can think about risk and protective factors like a game board of Chutes and ladders.

So thank you.

Your shoots are the risk factors, things that make it more likely that tense?

Well, new substances, but also it's the same thing that oftentimes of the same factors risk factors for other types of problems like violence or delinquency or school dropout.

Those are things like.

Not feeling connected at school, not having an adult who keeping tabs on you not having an adult at home.

Then the flip side of those things are the protective factors.

And those are like the letters, honor, Gameboard supportive relationships.

It's cool.

Positive peer relationships.

>> Changing all of that might seem daunting but quality programs can often take small, intentional steps.

>> Trying to build up not for just for everybody, but especially youth that ability to be able to adapt to life circumstances and the adverse experiences that they might encounter and build up the resilience in a way that they can continue to grow and become the individual that they can be and to the best of themselves.

That's really what we're looking at doing is trying to make sure that we support children and families and their efforts to grow their family, their comfort and to be strong members of the community.

>> The attorney general's office is launching a statewide prevention program based off the Better without ad campaign.

That effort will come to life in schools and on social media.

It rolls out next year for Kentucky edition.

I'm John Leffler.

>> Thank you.

June Kentucky continues to award funds for treatment, recovery and prevention programs.

The commission is accepting grant applications until January 17th and more information about that is online at a G dot K y dot Gov.

Tis the season for holiday parties with liquor as a common staple for many festivities.

It's important to plan ahead.

And if you b**** it up, don't get behind the wheel.

Police in Kentucky are part of the National Drive sober or get pulled over campaign.

It started last Friday and runs through January.

1st during a news conference announcing the campaign, police said drunk driving deaths aren't just numbers.

They're people.

>> In 2018 and Lincoln County, an Amish buggy driver brace Troyer was killed when a defendant impaired driver struck his horse and carriage that same year in Louisville, Kentucky, detective was killed on the side of the interstate trying to make a traffic stop by an impaired driver.

In 2019 in Lexington on.

I-75 the Abbott family, a family of 5 other 5 and 3 children were killed when an impaired driver crossed into the wrong lanes of travel and struck their vehicle.

They were traveling home from their family vacation.

In October of this year in Henry County or Parade or and his passenger Austin down and Holly Hawkins were killed on their motorcycle, went to impaired driver in a pickup truck veered left of center and struck the motorcycle.

And just several weeks ago in Louisville, a 3 month-old infant.

Was killed in a fiery DUI collision.

And the mother was arrested for the impaired driving.

The above are just a few of the many preventable deaths occurring on our roadways across the state each year.

Last year in the Commonwealth of Kentucky alone, there were 4,324 crashes involving impaired drivers.

All of those bad choices lead to property damage, injuries of innocent people and over 180 preventable deaths.

Like the 10 people listed above.

Those lives connected to the ones who have died will never be the same.

>> When someone makes the decision.

To become intoxicated in thing, causes a highway fatality or injury.

We call it what it is.

It's a crash.

It wasn't an accident.

It had a specific Kohl's and it was 100% preventable.

Life lost on the high on a life lost on the highway is is a tragedy.

A serious injury on the highways.

Tragic and they're all preventable.

>> You know, a person can can have a drinking problem in a chronic, but a person can also just go out with family and friends and being enjoy time together and not realize that they've kind of met and exceeded their limits.

What I'd urge is if you're drinking, just don't drive.

Get a designated driver.

Somebody that can get everybody home safely.

Be ready to.

>> Order up an Uber or Lyft or any other rideshare option or have a sober friend to take you home.

>> The idea is to KET the holiday season.

Joyous and when there are crashes and fatalities that occur, that is the exact opposite of what we want.

So that's the reason we do this program.

>> As 2024 comes to an end, Kentucky is on the verge of having the smallest number of deadly crashes and 10 years.

Police hope that trend will last through the holiday season.

Now in National News, President Joe Biden has granted clemency to William Gallion Kentucky attorney who bilked millions of dollars from clients involved in a fence and drug settlement Gallion and 2 other lawyers.

Shirley Cunningham, junior and Melbourne Mills took almost 95 million dollars of a 200 million dollar settlement when they should have been paid about 60 million, according to the Associated Press, Gallion was sentenced to 25 years for fraud in 20 0, 9, and was eligible for release from prison in 2029.

This is not a pardon.

Gallion will still be considered guilty of fraud.

He will be under supervised release.

U.S..

Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky is offering support for President-elect Donald Trump's immigration plans and support for his choice to lead the Department of Homeland Security.

Governor Kristi Noem of South Dakota.

Paul is a member of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, the political website, The Hill quotes Paul as saying my first order of business will be getting her confirmed.

And I plan on trying to do that either the day of the inauguration or that week, quote, Paul says he supports removing people who are in the United States illegally and committing crimes.

But he says he disagrees with the idea of using the U.S. military in that effort.

He says that's a job for police.

The U.S. Senate is wrapping up its work as Congress's lame-duck session comes to a close.

But Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky is unhappy that so many important items are just now getting a vote.

>> Extending government funding.

But Friday was our top round.

>> Shouldn't the government down is a one-way ticket to new construction.

One important The government and one in broad decision and this time is no different.

The delivering urgent disaster relief to the non-negotiable and those commuters across the country continue to go through patients when the devastating storm season, the they're watching closely, the Senate deliver what it promised, much new to them.

The open man, the the government of on a certain way the Senate will finally road when a National Defense Authorization Act event is on the recent war with Chris Mission.

It is really inexcusable.

>> McConnell blamed the outgoing Democratic majority for the delays as the session ends.

McConnell will step down as Republican leader of the U.S. Senate starting in January as Republicans take control of the chamber.

Senator John Thune of South Dakota will become Senate majority Leader.

McConnell will remain in the Senate as Kentucky's senior Senator.

November 5th was Election Day, but today was an important day and picking the next president electors gathered in state capitals across America to cast their votes in the Electoral College.

That includes Kentucky's 8 electors who met at the Capitol in Frankfort and cast their presidential votes for Donald Trump and their vice presidential votes for JD Vance.

Met in the chambers of the Kentucky Supreme Court.

Kentucky will soon have a new deputy chief judge of the Court of Appeals.

The court's chief Judge Larry Thompson has appointed Judge Jay Kristopher McNeil effective January.

1st, McNeill will replace Judge Pamela Goodwine who was just elected to the Kentucky Supreme Court.

Thompson praise McNeil for his leadership knowledge and professionalism.

Phone calls and other communications to prisons can be costly.

That's part of the reason why Apple Shop radio station WMT created what's called calls from Home.

The weekly series allows listeners to send messages to loved ones incarcerated across Central Appalachia.

Kentucky edition went inside of W m M T's Possum, Dan Station for a closer listen to the nationally recognized program.

>> Shout out to all calls from home is over 2 decades old.

At this point, I was started right around the turn of the millennium.

And was created partly in response to the establishment.

I read I mean, and and Ballance Ridge in Wise County, Virginia, which is just over the Pine Mountain Ridge from where the MTA's and Whitesburg.

>> Good evening, my beautiful the in Monday on in the dual message.

Had you on that.

You and I miss you.

>> Connection is really important.

And so that's what we do on the show.

We open up the phone lines every Monday night from 07:00PM to 09:00PM and folks who have people incarcerated in our broadcast range, we reach about 12 about a dozen state and federal institutions in our broadcast range.

Folks who have somebody incarcerated in that range can call in and leaving a voicemail message.

And then we air them at 09:00PM.

>> after.

The they've not being able to argue because we've been and I get when I get back to you, I'm going to go into and called it an yeah.

>> And from 7 to 9, we play requests.

We dedicate the second hour to hip-hop and rnb music first hours.

Anything goes but the whole the whole point, the whole point of what we're doing is to just KET families connected.

>> All right.

Eileen Key out here in California, I love you and I will talk to you, too.

>> Tonight, a lot of those folks are coming from outside the region.

So they're coming from Richmond, Virginia.

They're coming from DC We see folks coming as far as Chicago, California, even getting moved to the Super Max prisons.

>> You pump every day to make your life better.

Elegance is down and the mayor and the >> We know that connection being connected to.

Being connected to family be connected to culture, being connected to where you belong.

Has positive impacts on behavior and lowers recidivism things like that.

Red onion is back on lockdown.

And this is in the middle of a lot of really concerning information that's coming out of red onion, specifically.

Men who are incarcerated there have set themselves on fire.

Just 2 get out of the conditions just to get away from the mistreatment because they know that they're going to be transferred to the burn unit closer to home.

Shows us that that connection is is sorely needed.

The relationships that I've dealt with some of the and ladies who calling every week who request music, who, you know, let me know whenever something is wrong with the broadcast, those relationships are invaluable.

And I know that being able to connect to them in that way is it's not just it's not just good for the folks that are imprisoned.

In these institutions.

It's also good for the folks who are on the outside too.

And these are people who are up against a vast carceral system and which often times it can feel like nobody cares about you.

Nobody hears you.

>> I'm proud of you about it means a lot of becoming I'm proud of it and do I make it and I love you getting by if you to come.

>> In a perfect world calls from home wouldn't exist.

There wouldn't be a need for it in a perfect world or even in a world that would prioritize this issue.

Even with people still imprisoned, they would still they would.

They would be able to be connected to their families and to their culture.

>> That bridge or at the very beginning, no, though, they know by leaving down who the young.

>> He began acting >> every time we connect with somebody new who, you know, might be from California or my the overseas.

It's just a reminder of how vital this programming is and the power of radio and how it how it can connect folks.

>> mourning at heading out for a better day.

>> We thank bike Vickers for that report.

This past October, the Bureau of Prisons approved the construction of a new 500 acre federal prison and Letcher County.

♪ >> Part of Kentucky is dealing with a chicken pox outbreak and the county elections board response candidates claim about a, quote, flawed election.

Our Toby Gibbs has details in our Tuesday.

Look at headlines around Kentucky.

♪ >> The county board of Elections wants the Boone County Circuit Court to throw out an election challenge from Union City Commissioner Doug Bind find lost in the November 5th election.

He says the election process was flawed and he blames county clerk just a regular after voters in 2 precincts were given the wrong ballots.

Regular says it was human error and then election integrity was unaffected.

According to link Nky the Board of Elections says binds petition challenging the election failed to follow proper procedure.

The Kentucky Lantern reports a spike in chickenpox and Louisville and the Lantern quotes the city health department saying the cases involved the unvaccinated and babies too young to receive shots.

14 cases are reported in Jefferson County with a handful of cases in nearby counties.

The Appalachian Regional Commission is giving Morehead State University 4 million dollars for its space engineering program.

The money will go to space track, a two-week residency for high school girls.

It lets them build and launch their own satellites.

WKU quotes program Director Jennifer Carter.

It says it's a good pipeline for women to enter the aerospace workforce.

Bart's Downs, festive holiday decor is getting national attention the town will be a part of the today show's Merriest Main Street feature on Friday, December 20th, the news Enterprise says the public is urged to head downtown by 07:30AM.

Friday.

The Today Show appearance is expected around 08:25AM.

Eastern Time.

With headlines around Kentucky.

I'm told we get.

♪ ♪ >> You've probably heard there are more heart attacks around the holidays than any other time of year.

Is that true?

And if so, what can be done about it?

Doctor from Louisville's Norton, Heart and Vascular Institute talked about that.

And tonight, look at medical news.

Heart attacks tend to.

>> Walker Mall when it's cold and you know, the holidays typically cost comes with a colder time of the year.

And secondly, that's the time when people decrease activities because it's cold and they can't really go outside and the daylight to shorten the time.

So they can't really go out and do what they my physical activities that they want to do during this period so typically more common into winter.

And in addition to that, that sometimes snowfalls, depending on where you live.

So if you shovel snow on increases, don't market to typically too.

It puts you at risk to on mask the symptoms that probably before that you would not know the sun primary Care.

Doctor Oz show there's of fall.

The little things you get a little chess panther and that you're not sure what it is.

You call your doctor about if you have severe chest pain, but feels like an elephant, a sitting on your chest.

You will getting sweaty your short of privacy or we can.

This is not this is extraordinary for us to pick up the phone and called 9-1-1.

A lot of my patients try to tough it out.

And that's when we have bad outcomes.

It's pretty important tool to try to limit stress level to try to to compress and be able the emphasized plane still puts you.

On the streets because stress is in itself a risk to fall heart attack.

Everybody recognizes stress.

Everybody understands what stress.

And then so I think Rahm and my semi Leah man opinion and the stressful.

I think the most important thing is identifying your stress.

If you identify a stress and you can avoid them, that will be helpful if you cannot avoid them, try to reduce them.

If you cannot reduce them, it probably ships a c*** about.

That's what else.

>> The American Heart Association says more cardiac deaths occur in the U.S. on December.

25th than on any other day of the year, followed by December.

26 and January.

1st.

Being disconnect, disconnected from family and friends can be a serious problem for older adults.

According to the National Institute on Aging Loneliness in the elderly has been connected to an increased risk of dementia and functional decline.

Katie's doctor Wayne Tuckson spoke with neurologists.

Doctor Greg Chica about the impact social isolation land has on the aging brain.

That interview is part of Katie's next chapter initiative that explores the rewards and challenges of growing older.

>> I can take it.

Thank you very much for being with us.

Taking time to come into, don't have to check.

When we're talking about social isolation why we seem to be more likely to experience isolation as we get older.

>> You know, I think this is a general phenomenon because of the change not just within ourselves, but in the world around us as well.

And that to impact one another.

So, for instance, inside of each of us, we may begin to develop other chronic forms of early memory loss that make us all more residue reticent to get out there and simultaneously our friends as we get older, moved to be closer to their children and grandchildren and our social circles begin to shrank.

And so there's less opportunity.

And so that really presents a scenario where we have to work too.

Both external lead to create the opportunities to prevent social isolation and internally to push ourselves a little bit too not the captain on because social isolation is a killer.

In what way do you find the health impacts of social isolation?

>> So we we recently looked at this.

I in the in the COVID pandemic the seniors that we care for and what could be that we're quite worried about it.

The pandemic lockdown and the social isolation.

>> And we saw a dramatic jump.

Depression based on validated depression scale with as much as 90% of the senior population experiencing depression as a result of social isolation.

At that time.

And so it can be very dynamic just getting into a situation where social isolation is a part of it can dramatically turn your life upside down over a short few months.

>> You see anatomical changes as well as chemical changes.

It is a consequence of isolation.

Was it more just a functional say yes.

So I so we certainly do see changes in brain dynamic brain, him in jail, blood flow to different regions of the brain being restricted the eye in folks who are socially isolated.

Those areas of the brain that we turn on what we do, engage social, weighing essentially shutting down.

But are there certain communities or even regions where it's more likely that they'll experience isolation.

>> And the social isolation always go along with geographic isolation here.

I think those are great questions.

And the truth is we don't have an absolute answer for any one individual person, but one certainly can think about someone who lives.

>> In a more rural and remote area being dependent on driving their car for social engagement.

And then as we age some cataracts, a little macular degeneration, not quite as quick with our reflex is slowing that ability to actually get out.

So there is geographic isolation that.

Becomes more impactful as we age Tillman.

>> Our institutions as sensitive to the needs or to this problem of social isolation in a holy.

>> I think it's getting better.

I think this is something that is just really coming on into view for the majority of the aging population and for the majority of and minutes, traders political forces, business enterprises.

I'm always to actually change this.

I don't know whether or not it's you do the extension of the lifespan that the percentage of our population that's aging is increasing.

There are demands being placed on society of.

Yeah, we may be older, but we still want a good life.

We still want quality of life and we deserve it.

>> Well, you can see the entire one-hour program called aging and Health Care Akt special report is now available online on demand at KET DOT Org and you can find other resources about aging on online at KET DOT Org.

Slash next chapter.

Check it out.

Some vital information.

Well, that'll do it for us tonight.

We hope to see you right back here again tomorrow night for Kentucky edition, where we inform connect and inspire.

Connect with us all the ways you see on your screen.

Facebook X, an Instagram to stay in the loop.

Thanks again for watching.

I'm Renee Shaw until I see you again.

Happy holidays and take really good care.

So long.

♪