>> Really little little infants.

Little kids who are we sent from RSV to this year.

December is not so merry for thousands of sick and talking.

>> To my knowledge, this is the most significant, the largest rental assistance program we've ever run in Kentucky.

>> More help is on the way for Kentuckians having trouble paying the rent.

And you have a little less free because now they know that we know how to get through it.

And that's how far we've come from, how we build back and all that stuff.

Students in Mayfield look back on what they've learned a year since the tornadoes there, how they're inspiring their teachers and maybe you too.

And a power plant that was field by Paul is about to be replaced by something vastly different.

>> 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 Monday, December the 19th, I'm Renee Shaw.

Thank you for winding down your Monday with us.

>> Kentucky just set a record with 6 pediatric flu deaths so far, including 3 in the last week.

That's according to Governor Andy Beshear, who says this could be the worst flu season and 10 years.

Lexington's Hospital say they are at or near capacity heading into the holidays.

Doctors say they're seeing a surge in respiratory viruses during the first full week of December.

The state recorded more than 6,000 confirmed flu cases.

Kentucky is currently reporting more than 29,000 flu cases.

This season and at least 54 deaths.

Doctor Jenna Cooper is the medical director for pediatric emergency medicine at Kentucky Children's Hospital.

She says RSV cases appear to be declining.

Still, she says the sheer number of RSV and flu cases she's saying is surprising.

>> So we're seeing twice as many patients per day on average to the months of October November.

And we were even during our COVID surges.

So much more overwhelming numbers of respiratory patients and especially young ones.

Really little little infants, little kids who are pretty sick from RSV include this year.

>> Doctors are encouraging everyone to be vigilant yet again when deciding how to spend time with family and friends this holiday season.

>> I think that in many instances we can feel good visiting with our friends and families during the holidays.

the but that's true.

We bear some important things in mind.

One is that you can be more confident that you're not going to disease transmitted to you if you've been fully whether that's with.

A COVID vaccine of flu vaccine and the other just good rule of thumb kind of going both ways between both you and the people who may be various holiday gatherings is that if people are sick, don't mix together.

>> With Christmas now, just 5 days away.

You may be asking if it's too late to get vaccinated.

Here's Doctor Gould son again.

>> It's never too late.

Ideally, it would have been good to have the vaccine a little earlier because it does take a little bit of time to build a perfect.

But you can see some benefit from the vaccine within a few days.

so if people are questioning whether they want to get the vaccine, they should get it.

And not convinced themselves that is too late and that that's reason to not get that.

>> UK hospital says it currently has 45 patients being treated for COVID.

37 with flu and 15 with RSV Baptist Health and Ch I Saint Joseph had lower numbers.

But all 3 hospital said they are operating at 97% capacity or higher.

Still, doctors say if you feel like you need to go to the ER, don't hesitate.

>> If you think that you have an emergency condition, don't sit back and and wonder, well, are they going to be really busy or not?

Because we're going to see you were going to take good care of you if you are really ill, you're going to get taken care of.

Even pastor doesn't matter if we are to pass of the above capacity, 4 below capacity.

Come on.

And if you have an emergency.

>> Kentucky's public health Commissioner Doctor Steven Stack says less than 40% of Kentucky children have received a flu shot this season.

He adds all 6 kids who died from the flu this year were not vaccinated.

Kentucky's COVID positivity rate is 9.0.

85 1%.

According to the new numbers out today, this compares to 8.63% a week ago, 15 Kentucky counties are in the high category for COVID.

This is the map released Friday.

9 of the 15 hi counties are in western Kentucky in red.

If you've been blocked from giving blood and other news because of recent travel to France, Ireland or the United Kingdom, we have some good news.

The Kentucky Blood Center has lifted those restrictions.

There was concern people who had traveled to those places could transmit a variant of mad cow disease.

But the FDA now says that's no longer a concern.

So the people affected can now give blood again.

The blood center says this affected about 4,000 people.

Governor Beshear today announced more than 15 million dollars will go toward eviction relief in Lexington.

This is in addition to the 31 million, the state has already allocated to Lexington through the healthy at home Eviction Relief Fund.

The program launched last year to help homeowners renters.

And landlords impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The program offers 15 months of rent and utility assistance.

That includes up to 12 months of back rent and up to 3 months of future rent.

To date, the program has assisted more than 50,000 households in Kentucky.

>> To my knowledge, this is the most the largest rental assistance program that we've ever run in Kentucky.

And it's coming at the right time now.

We not only been impacted by the pandemic, but we do have very difficult inflation.

And that while it's temporary, it's still tough on our families.

This money should help our families get through this hard period because what's coming after is pretty exciting.

>> The funds that were announced today allow us to move the program forward into a new phase.

It's time to prepare from meeting our communities, housing challenges when the pandemic and the federal funds our in our past going forward, we will be able to prioritize vulnerable populations such as households with children and elderly while focusing on those cases, any eviction court at greatest risk of costing someone his or her home.

Some of this money will be directed to new housing, stabilization activities such as mediation, any eviction court and providing access to counsel for tenants.

We want to ensure we are serving our residents with the greatest risk of housing, instability by focusing on the parts of the housing stabilization program that have been most successful and proven to have the greatest impact.

The state has also launched the team, Kentucky Homeowner Assistance Fund.

>> Qualified homeowners can apply for up to $35,000 to help with delinquent mortgage payments.

Property taxes, insurance and utilities.

In political news, the Kentucky General Assembly begins its 2023 session just 2 weeks from tomorrow.

We'll preview the session and what we can expect from lawmakers on Kentucky tonight this evening and hear from state Senators Damon Thayer and Reggie Thomas, House speaker David Osborne and Representative Cheryl and Stephen sent all in leadership.

That's tonight at 8 Eastern 7 central right here on KET.

A recent death and allegations of abuse of children in state custody led to lawmakers asking questions last week members of the General Assembly's Judiciary Committee asked Cabinet for Health and Family Services.

Secretary Eric Friedlander about issues with the system and how they'll be addressed.

Our Casey Parker Bell reports on the meeting.

>> We are saying to that child.

We will do better.

We will do better for you.

Then the situation that we find you in.

Too often.

And certainly the case you referenced.

We failed in that mission.

>> In July 7 year-old Jaycee on Terry died while in the care of the Bellwood and Brooklyn Foster care facility.

The coroner ruled the death a homicide last other alleged her son had been abuse on the care of the same facility last week.

Legislators look for answers on how death and abuse can occur with children are in state care.

I don't know what the heck happened here and and why this failure led to the death of a 7 year-old.

Can we talk about that?

>> Here's what we can go in the midst of investigations there to arms of investigations.

The CBS looking into abuse and neglect.

There's the inspector generals looking into the licensure the facility in the facility's actions or lack thereof in this case.

>> Friedlander says the investigations are ongoing but are nearing their conclusion.

Legislators were visibly frustrated with the lack of answers to some questions about the investigation and changes the Department of Community based services is making to improve conditions.

State Senator Whitney Westerfield asked if the CBS was aware of issues at the Brooklyn facility before the death.

Just looking at everything before this one, do you see a pattern at this facility?

>> The investigators did not see a pattern at this facility prior to this investigation.

But now there might be that's not unfounded.

Some obscure tap dance of the yes might be a pattern that that's my ally.

Mister You and I get along really well.

That was it.

That's a frustrating response to hear.

>> The DCPS deputy commissioner says there are about 9,000 children currently in the state's care.

This lets state Senator Wil Schroder test how investigations are conducted when allegations of abuse are reported.

>> What level?

When you hear something like a child's been locked in a closet, at what level does that then go this should be a phone call to the haze needs to be a a visit in person.

>> Our our policy is face-to-face contact with the child victim and family.

So I mean that.

>> normally you normally would not.

We will not be making a phone call to initiate an investigation.

We will be making an unannounced home visit too.

>> The family and interviewing the child properly separately.

>> For Kentucky edition, I'm Casey Parker Bell.

>> Thank you, Casey.

Senator Whitney Westerfield says he will request Secretary Eric Friedlander return to the Judiciary Committee during the session of the General Assembly next year to update legislators on the investigation's findings.

Plans are in the works to bring new life to a coal-fired power plant in western Kentucky.

The Tennessee Valley Authority says its board of directors approved 216 million dollars to build a solar facility on top of a coal ash landfill.

It's set to happen at the Shawnee Fossil Plant and Paducah and could potentially produce 100 megawatts of solar power.

>> But we could use that power for says 2 things.

Use it to attract investment into our region and also use it to reduce our carbon output as everything that PPA is doing now is about carbon reduction.

We're looking at the carbon ising our system exploring in nuclear technology, battery technology, hydrogen and solar is one of those key elements to reduce our carbon output, which also makes our region more attractive for development.

>> TVA says it's currently 50% carbon free.

This project is in the early stages.

The focus now turns to engineering regulatory approvals and a public comment period.

They tell us the timeline is flexible.

There is no set date for it to be completed.

The TSA says it's finding more guns at airports and there are signs.

The same thing is happening in Kentucky.

The TSA says it's found more than 6300 dawns at airport security checkpoints so far in 2022.

Now that's a new record.

And the year isn't over yet.

And 88% of those guns were loaded.

This compares to 5,972 guns found in 2021.

There's a similar trend in Kentucky.

TSA numbers from earlier this year show 119 guns found at Kentucky airports in 2021.

That's more than double the 58 guns found in 2020 during that time, the number of guns found at the Louisville International Airport tripled going from 17 to 15, one.

Congressman John Yarmouth of the 3rd district is retiring at the end of this term after 16 years in Congress, he says he's donating his papers to the University of Louisville's University Archives, the collection of digital and paper materials includes working drafts of legislation.

Letters recorded interviews and more Thomas says, quote, at its core, everything I've done in Congress has been about serving the Louisville community.

So I can think of no final act.

More fitting than turning over this historical record to our flagship university in the hands of u of l's students, faculty and staff.

I'm hopeful that my work will continue to serve the community for generations to come and quote.

♪ ♪ >> Newsquiz as an educational current events program produced right here at KET and shown in classrooms around the world.

>> The show's host Kelsey Starks paid a visit to some news quiz.

Fans at Mayfield Elementary School last week and she brings us their powerful story.

>> It may look like any normal day yet.

Mayfield elementary school, but for these kids, normal is all relative.

>> It should like weird because know the places that used to be there like gone.

And everything's wiped out.

>> In fact, the last normal school year for these 4th graders was kindergarten when the students were in first grade.

Their school shutdown for COVID their second grade year was entirely online.

And then halfway through their 3rd grade year.

>> More tragedy struck.

>> We set and they like to close it and we prayed.

This here have.

And luckily it.

But those people that we lost.

And it was dead.

>> The small town of Mayfield took a direct hit from a high-end EF 4 tornado on the night of December 10th last year.

>> The next morning he and we gather and and then was cry in because let we didn't make the by whole life really is like said to see, make the gun.

>> Now the White House is not what they were in like mainly everything was good.

It was like really said, everyone in the school has a story.

>> But it's what came next.

That tells the real story of this community.

>> Just remember, everyone had a purpose.

You know, whether I'm going to help one person or whether I'm going to help 100 people.

It's just I've got to go do something.

>> We were just.

Thinking about people who are school in other things, praying for the people and making sure that they were fine and it was huge.

It was scary and we would try our best.

>> To make sure that everybody in the town was taking care of.

We don't want anybody left behind.

And so I think that was that's the spirit of my field where a big family.

And when that he hit it shook us to our core and we all did our best to come together make sure that everybody is taken care of.

>> After a month long hiatus from what was supposed to be their normal year back at school, they return to class.

But everything changed.

I already saw when the school year started, you know, we have we had to start on focusing on working on some social emotional skills in the classroom.

Any white.

>> We KET we wouldn't have to be back.

And then coming back from the tornado, we KET it was going to be exceptionally important.

2 teach these kids.

You're going to have some big feelings after this.

And we need to teach you how to cope in the right way with these big failings.

Our kids are so resilient.

They want to know where we were spending time on these lessons about feelings that wind's reading groups.

We're going to be masked.

I just wanted normal.

>> So it.

>> Turns out news quiz is part of their normal.

So when the host of the current events program paid them a visit.

>> They were all smiles.

And full of questions.

Did you ever think of being an try riding any books normal for these kids now is perseverance, overcoming adversity and showing compassion for others.

Some big life lessons for kids who have been alive for less than a decade.

>> These kids like I look at them and they they're so tough.

There's just so resilient and strong.

And I'm so proud because they know now that they can get knocked down and stand back up and they know that they can do hard things and get through things this year has been so much better.

It's been so much better.

>> So just appreciation, you know, looking back.

>> No one.

What could have happened, what could have been worse, you know, through COVID through the tornado, it could have been worse in.

>> Despite how bad it was, but just trying to KET that attitude of gratitude and be appreciative.

I really hope they hang on to that.

I really, really do.

For Kentucky edition.

I'm Kelsey Starks.

>> Thank you, Kelsey, the Mayfield community and school district still need help for Mitt information on the recovery efforts and how to help visit Mayfield dot com.

♪ >> Right here in Lexington, the public now has access to free legal information and assistance to the Fayette County Legal Help Center.

>> Which is staffed by volunteer attorneys.

We sat down with Kentucky Supreme Court Justice Michelle color to talk about why the center was created and how it will help Kentuckians.

>> In 2017, the chief justice appointed me to take over our access to justice initiatives.

And we decided that setting up the access to Justice Commission would be our best and most effective route serving as many Kentuckians as we could.

So the real purpose of the commission is to help plug that justice gap that exist for those Kentucky INS.

They are intimidated or otherwise unable to access the court system to take care of those legal needs.

So one of our missions is to try to reach out and help pull those Kentucky INS in literally provide them access to justice by helping them integrate into the court system.

What we give his legal information, not true.

Legal advice that you would sit down, get in an attorney's office are in or outside the courtroom that how to navigate these form so that you can get your matter heard by the court you know, just where what court it's in, what kind of thing you need to bring to do that so that those are the kinds of things we do here.

And we have been able to help over 600 Kentuckians just since July when we open when somebody walks in the courtroom and has no idea what they're doing, doesn't have an attorney.

I think common sense will tell you that can slow things up tremendously in.

Be frustrating for both sides.

So hopefully this helps people get the information they need so that they can get into court and family court or district court and they can take care of their matter.

And that helps everybody.

It helps the citizen.

It also helps our judges.

It helps our court clerks and most of all, we're expediting legal matters that need to be taken care of a lot of times people who are facing maybe financial crisis, maybe substance abuse crisis may be a death in the family, whatever it may be and they're overwhelmed enough with that problem.

And then you pile legal problem or 2 on top of it.

It can really be devastating to an individual or to a family.

So we're trying to take some of that piece away, trying to make it easier to take care of the legal issue.

This was the first.

So this is the prototype here in Lexington.

But I've spots available in both Kenton and Campbell counties.

And we are making arrangements to bring a very similar situation to Covington in Newport, which would be fantastic.

Citizens have to have confidence in their court system.

And if citizens are overwhelmed, intimidated, don't understand or can't access the court system.

They're not going to have confidence in it.

So I think there's the smaller individual goal of helping individual Kentucky INS and individual Kentucky families that are in crisis or that have a legal problem.

But I think there's that larger piece of providing a way for citizens to understand and navigate the courts.

That gives them confidence.

I've benefited from my legal education.

I benefit from my legal career.

This is a way that that I can give back as a justice on the Supreme Court that the entire court can give back and that the entire Kentucky Supreme Court can support.

Access to justice here in the Commonwealth.

>> The Fayette County Legal Help Center is open every Thursday from 11:00AM to 02:00PM.

And the Fayette County Circuit Courthouse.

The game is off today.

Workers lifted a beam into place at their future home of the blue Oval SK Battery park in Hardin County.

This is the plan that will make batteries for Ford and Lincoln Electric vehicles.

Starting in 2025. and this isn't an ordinary be on December 5th, 300 people signed the 6,000 pound beam workers, stakeholders, people from Hardin County and government leaders, including Governor Andy Beshear, all put their names on that thing.

♪ And a clock ticked trio of Kentucky birthdays.

The adoption of our state motto and the origin of UK Blue Toby Gibbs has all of that and more in our look at this week in Kentucky history.

♪ >> Was Amber 20th 17 92 the Kentucky General Assembly picked a state motto, the same model we have today United.

We stand divided.

We fall.

Happy birthday to TV journalist Diane Sawyer.

Morning Glasgow on December 20nd 1945?

Brent Spence, Democratic congressman from northern Kentucky from 1935.

To 1963.

Was born in Newport December, 24th 18.

74.

>> He may be best known.

Now is the namesake for a northern Kentucky bridge.

Legendary western explore an army officer Christopher Houston in Kit.

Carson was born December 24th 18.

0, 9, in Madison County is X points became the subject of countless dime novels.

The next day December 25th 18.

0, 9, Doctor, Ephraim McDowell removing 22 and a half pound tumor from a woman in Danville.

It was the first ovarian tumor surgery ever.

December 19th 18, 90 won.

The University of Kentucky then known as Kentucky State College play.

It's only football game of the year losing to center college.

The team picked its colors, blue and light yellow before the game to pick a shade of blue.

A student held up his necktie.

It's believed that's the origin of UK's just a shade of blue.

24 to 11 might sound like a football score.

But that was the score.

Is the UK basketball team beat Cincinnati on December.

20th 1983.

That game was a factor.

Is the NCA began using a shot clock in 1985.

>> And that's what was happening this week in Kentucky.

History on tow begins.

>> Thank you to be Gibbs.

We hope you'll join us again tomorrow night at 6.30, Eastern 5.30, central for Kentucky edition where we inform connect and inspire subscribe to our weekly Kentucky Edition, e-mail news letter and watch full episodes at KET Dot Org.

You can also find Kentucky Edition on the PBS video app on your mobile device and smart TV and follow KET on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Stay in the loop and also follow me on Facebook and Twitter at Renee K E T December 17th last Saturday is an unofficial holiday honoring those who serve.

But it was a special day at Camp Nelson Re flying coordinating with a similar ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery honors those who have worn the nation's uniform.

We leave you tonight with part of that ceremony.

Thanks again for watching and good night.