♪ >> I think we need to change this next generation to show what the value that paycheck is.

>> The incoming Senate majority floor leader talks about getting people back to work.

Just think about how good our lives are.

We have family that loves and take care of you.

So try to put yourselves a refugee issues.

A school for unique learners shows its compassion.

Plus, some engineers become Lt Gen Ears and all for a good cause.

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

♪ ♪ >> Good Evening and welcome to Kentucky EDITION for this Friday, December 20th, Tgif.

I'm Kristine that and filling in for Renee Shaw.

Thank you so much for joining us.

Months after Kentucky lawmakers passed a bill making it illegal to camp in public spaces in Kentucky, a Louisville police officer is making headlines according to Louisville, Public Media, the officer cited a woman as she was going into labor.

Still be a good man with Kentucky.

Public Radio joins are more Rogers to talk about it.

>> So you broke this story this week about the woman in labor being cited for street camping.

And so let's first set this up for us.

The details of the story understand this happened back in September.

What can you tell us about what unfolded that day?

Sure.

So it was September Lieutenant Caleb Stewart who heads the downtown area Patrol for Louisville Metro Police Department was kind of making the rounds going between overpasses and >> we hang up homeless individuals and warning them about the street camping ban in Kentucky.

Those created by the Safer Kentucky Act passed earlier this year in Kentucky.

And he essentially it pulls up on the scene.

He gets out of his car and there's a woman standing next to a bare mattress.

Clearly pregnant.

And and she she shout over to him.

I'm in labor.

I might be in labor.

Is that okay?

And then she goes on to explain to him that she's her water has broken.

She's leaking fluid and she needs an ambulance.

She tells him that her partner, her husband, went to find a phone because she doesn't have one he calls an ambulance for her and then detain sir.

And just why she's being detained.

He said it's because you've been street camping.

And as she waits for that ambulance, she's clearly extremely distressed.

He walks of to the car and rights or a citation for street camping and hand it to her for she gets in the ambulance.

>> So the lieutenant did call the ambulance for her.

When you reached out to Louisville Metro Police Department, what was their response to how the situation was handled?

Sure.

So essentially what LMPD told me is that, you know, officers have to use their discretion at any given moment and >> that is what this officer did and that some people might not agree with that decision.

They also told me that he called the ambulance and that that should be praised.

He also they also add told me that she has been previously reached by outreach workers twice before and that she has declined their services.

In a follow-up with city officials are was informed that those both of those outreach efforts happened before sheet.

The street camping ban went into effect in Kentucky.

They were, you know, in June May, I believe.

>> So on.

Yeah.

That's kind of what they were telling me about his actions and that they essentially fall within LMPD policy.

>> And you just filed this report yesterday.

But in that short time frame, have you or do you know the response from local officials are the community feedback?

Sure.

>> I'm seeing a lot of of concern from the community I've spoken with Mayor Craig Greenberg just went to a press conference with him today and asked him a question and basically he's defended LMPD is actions said you know, police are acting in complicate situations and saying there are other resources available for homeless individuals other than sleeping on the street and kind of applauded some of his own efforts to 8 homeless people in the city.

Some other officials have expressed disappointment, for example, Kyra, to Congressman Morgan McGarvey e told us at Kentucky Public Radio that, you know, you can't police your way out of homelessness and that he was disappointed in the situation.

So there has been a few feedback and we'll see what kind of action we get from from lawmakers if any.

>> All right.

So be a good man with Kentucky public Radio.

We appreciate your reporting.

Thank you for sharing more insight and perspective into this story.

Thank you.

I appreciate it.

>> According to Kentucky Public Radio, the woman at the center of this story has been assigned a public defender who says she and her baby are now in a shelter.

She has a court date for late January.

Well, Congress has until midnight tonight to pass a spending bill or face a partial U.S. government shutdown.

So what would that shutdown look like?

The full scope depends in part on how long it lasts and which government functions are affected.

Some federal benefit programs such as Social Security, Medicare or are safe.

But some civilian employees could be sent home according to the Congressional Research Service.

There are more than 23,000 federal civil employees in Kentucky.

Additionally, the Department of Defense says there are more than 54,000 military personnel in the Commonwealth.

Daniel Grossberg, that state representative accused of sexual misconduct says he will seek another term in 2026.

That's according to W H a S in Louisville.

Grossberg has denied all wrongdoing.

He already has an opponent in the Democratic primary.

Max Morley, a former public educator, says he will also run in the 30th district.

He says the community deserves better leadership.

And there are some new faces to leadership in the Kentucky General Assembly this upcoming legislative session.

Former Lieutenant Governor candidate and nearly 10 years state Senator Max Wise is the incoming Kentucky Senate majority leader Campbellsville Republican says state lawmakers may look at ways to plug in more Kentuckians into the workforce, especially youth and address diversity, equity and inclusion or dei Kentucky's pup with universities.

Here's part 2 of Rene Shots conversation with Senator Max Wise State.

Senator Max Wise, as we go inside Kentucky politics >> we've been a part of economic development committees and education committees and you've led those committees and we know that, you know, economic development is a big issue for Kentuckyian I've spoken to others about the labor participation rates, right?

Where do you see that being kind of molded together in the upcoming legislative session.

>> We want to continue to get the labor participation rate at a progressive stage that were seen positive percentages with that.

A lot of things we could probably do.

Renee of reducing some barriers, but I will say it into the day.

A lot of this is individual initiative making a culture of people that woke up this morning.

They were able body just saying I'm not going to work.

It could be because government is overextended.

A lot of programs.

I think we need to change this next generation to show with the value that paycheck is a lot of that starts at home.

I will tell you with my kids.

They learned at an early age you're going to be chores.

The same time you're going to get a job in the summer.

You may be landscaping or maybe working in a restaurant.

It doesn't matter getting that paycheck is a sense of self esteem and and appreciation of hard work.

We need to get back to that.

And I think that's what a lot of people want this common.

Well, they just want to go back to a time if we can get back to a time like that, that truly is about accountability.

But also it's about self worth and doing things on your own and not having government solve every problem that's out there.

>> I think I've heard you and others talk about how sometimes even particularly young males are very interested in the gaming culture to ride and that's become a distraction from having other life goals like a job career that are generations are looking at not necessarily a career, but just having a job and they're really more consumed with the balance of having more life than work.

Is that something that you can address from a public policy perspective?

>> You know, there was a book that I had all the members of the task Force Re and hope your viewers are watching.

This would take note of this milk man without work ever sold and it may be should be entitled work without me in.

Because the 25 to 54 year-old demographic, especially white males are starting to trickle away from the workforce that we had 30, 50, 70 years ago.

So host of reasons for that, we could have a whole nother saying that on the news.

But a lot of it is lack of accountability.

But it also is a sense of the laziness.

And the video game culture that you're talking about.

There's pain.

Many people, they are playing video games all throughout the night or there's things like that that there's just some situations now government can once again saw all of this.

But at the same time, if there's barriers, they are there to prevent a 15 or 16 yo from going to work.

We could help reduce some of those things.

We heard from Hart County, their area technology center to talk about driver's license issues.

You know, instead of a child right now because of the legislation that they're traveling from.

1, 2, sometimes 3 counties over.

Can we have drivers licensing being done at the high school?

Maybe that's something.

Maybe that's a solution may be reduced the driver's license age to 15 other states have got that.

So when we look at what government can maybe look at that young generation, that there's not an excuse, we can't do that because we're not allowed to.

Maybe we can cut through some of those things right there.

>> So let's talk about one of the big pieces of legislation that we expect to come across and 2025 and that's more Anti dei legislation and you have been on the record as saying that this will be maybe a front burner issue, given that there have been a few public universities who have taken steps to dismantle their offices and programs.

What more does does the legislature made to do and what do you anticipate legislation even looking like in this upcoming year?

>> It's a great question.

Can we just had our Senate caucus retreat?

There was discussions about anti the legislation.

There's not a bill draft yet that I've seen of what that will look like.

I think we look at big policy issues and we may be accused or controversial.

Some makes a common sense.

It's really from the spectrum that people look at, but sometimes big policy doesn't pass the first time.

It may take a session or 2 or 3 that finally found its way into a bill that since for minimal to become wall with this.

I think a lot of members, just they they don't want to see.

Are we changing the name plate or a building in title?

Are we really getting to the root of an issue?

And so I'm interested to see what that's going to look like.

Now we know Renee, that 138 members, everyone can file their own bill.

I don't yet know what that vehicle is going to look like.

That will of the bill be filed.

I foresee it happening.

I don't get no.

The priority will receive in the Senate because we've not yet label.

Here's our top 10 priorities.

But I would say that there will be a bill that will be filed and we'll see how it goes throughout the session and that what with that bill come from, you or some other member of the caucus will not come from me, right?

What I've already told my members is I want to be the best job in this job and it's not taking on I don't want to be the quarterback and I think being a quarterback, you got to be able to distribute the ball and it's not always me, me, me.

It's our other members.

And so listen, I've cared a lot of bills and I've seen the time that I've put into those my focus is on this position and making sure my first session, you know, I can do it an admirable job in I don't know if that bill will be house or Senate, but I will not be the primary bill sponsor all say that.

>> Will see part one of her nays interview with Senator Wise on yesterday's Kentucky edition, which you can find online and on demand AKT DOT org.

♪ >> In 2014, Kentucky ranked 4th in the number of deaths by overdose in the U.S.. >> That same year, the Kentucky Harm Reduction Coalition was founded by 3 volunteers who wanted change 10 years later, Kentucky HRC is celebrating a milestone anniversary and a decrease in Kentucky's overdose deaths in the last 2 years.

Their executive director says Kentucky has come far but nice continue its investment in harm reduction.

>> The actual taking of the substance is only the symptom of the problem is letting on the U.S. now that there's a problem and it says.

With harm reduction is a pathway for us to figure out what the root causes and address it.

And it's real.

>> Comets and has been around for a long time.

It's community.

It's social work is being out in the communities and boots on the ground effort.

We're going to meet the community where they are in harm reduction in its acceptable society for MS, you wear a seat belt.

He had a car seat.

I grew up because these weren't required.

You are held on the left.

A lot of injuries.

I'm sure it resulted in deaths in that way and what they do, they stand.

But it our seats, booster seats.

Now we have regulation around it.

That's the same thing that we support here.

People first policies.

People first policy says what do we do to eradicate this?

Not the 7 way and lock them up.

My house bill passes.

Because what's the solution in that in this tape here?

It's about that.

I'm asking people so.

>> Talk about the money.

A lot of people ask about You are one of the first organizations to get opioid abatement money from the state.

It was a half a million.

That sounds great is not enough.

So I tell people this is this work is serious.

And you could go away just like that.

So teen years awesome.

I could be having a conversation about closing this office-based and next year this time and now what?

What I found and loved about KET Weiser.

See when the side of working here was that all the foundational principles of harm reduction exist in this agency haven't engaged as it came in power as a pillar is remind you every day what you're doing, if you engage the community educated community, then you can empower them.

>> To move forward and take this self determination and posted it online.

>> According to the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Kentucky now ranks 7th in deaths by overdose is in the U.S..

Safe Services at U of L health provides resources to women who have experienced violence and assault and the service has new resources to help people thanks to the Violence Against Women Act in a grant of more than $62,000 from the governor to hire a full-time domestic violence advocate and create a new advocacy program.

>> Save services is a forensic.

It's a hospital based forensic program where we see victims of sexual assault, domestic violence, family, violence and human trafficking.

When I started in the program in 2013, we had 6 saying nurses and we covered about 70% of the schedule.

We received a grant in 2015 to start seeing victims of domestic violence.

We estimated we would see about 20 or 30 that year we actually saw 99.

So the program grew really quickly.

Whenever we started to universally screen for domestic every patient, every time we started asking them about their living situations.

And it just grew from there.

We typically see a little under 1000 patients a year.

That is really about 50, 50 with domestic violence and sexual assault.

We felt like our victims do not need to show up at one facility and have to go to another facility for the services.

That is why save services develop the community-based model in 2017.

We want to go to wherever the victims are.

We feel like when we can come to them, you can actually see a little bit of the relief that they're not going to have to leave that facility to be able to have the services provided to them.

Here at U of L Save Services provides medical forensic examinations to victims of sexual assault, domestic violence and human trafficking.

When the victims come to see us at any location throughout Louisville or southern Indiana, we will provide them with the examination.

We will help connect them with advocacy through the Center for Women and Families.

We have 25 licensed or certified.

Same nurses here on Kentucky's a unique state where we are mandated with a certification through the Kentucky Board of Nursing.

So there is an additional training.

They are our INS, but then they take an additional 100 hours of education to be certified as a sane nurse, we can still provide medications to help prevent from STDs.

We can also provide the examination and hold on to that examination for a year to allow them to have that time to be able to decide what actions they do.

Want to take as far as domestic violence goes, we will also help get them with law enforcement if they choose to report their crime and then we can also help them get a emergency protective order prior to being discharged.

One misconception that we hear all the time is that you can't prove you cannot get services unless you report to law enforcement.

That is not true at all.

We obviously want to encourage the victims too.

Take whatever legal action that they are ready to take at that point in time.

But some people just aren't.

They are in their healing process.

And that's OK, one part about the shot.

That is a little bit more difficult.

Once the victims leave the hospital, we typically don't see or hear about follow up until the case goes to court or we need to testify for are victims.

However, the social worker that we do have on staff is absolutely amazing.

She will reach out to the victims and help provide them with any housing services that they may need counseling services.

She actually will go and sit in on some of the virtual hearings with them as well.

U of L health also has a domestic violence leave policy for nurses and staff.

♪ >> And today, KET, he visited the Depasquale in Louisville.

It's up private school for kids with unique learning challenges and one of their core subjects, his compassion.

Today, they showed off their service projects for this school year showing why education matters.

>> A possible is a school for children in kindergarten through 8th grade and our children all have something in common.

They have either a language based learning difference.

And so they might have dyslexia ardis graph yet dyscalculia and or they may have ADHD.

So and attention based learning difference.

Incredibly bright children.

They are able to solve any problem be really logical.

A lot of energy.

And so what are school does is we know how the brain learns to read.

So we're incredibly good at stimulating the brain so that their weaknesses become stronger and then we just super accentuate.

They're super powers.

>> You'll notice on our program.

This is our 28 here.

Doing these compassion projects.

And it really is a celebration.

It's a celebration of the power that we have to affect our world.

>> Just think about how good our lives are.

You have family that loves and take care of you.

So try to put yourselves in refugee issues because they literally had to flee their country because they couldn't live.

There.

It was destroyed right before their eyes.

>> Our Class.

>> K and one were honored and excited to welcome.

The most recently arrived.

Children from the following countries.

The Democratic Republic of Congo.

Nicaragua.

Afghanistan.

Cuba.

Venezuela, a global displacement has reached an all-time high.

There are an estimated 100 million refugees and asylum seekers in the world right now.

That means that one in 80 in every 80 people.

>> Has been driven from their home.

Is that a warm coat?

It means will help these children feel the love from these children and the hospitality of this whole community this winter.

>> They don't have cold over in their country.

And we are going to get them coats, boots.

>> 18 ce?

>> For them to wear.

Hear the >> The Depasquale is celebrating 55 years of educating kids.

It started in 1970.

♪ >> It is a magical time of year workers at one of Kentucky's largest companies are making sure every child can experience.

>> Some of that magic, a team of engineers from GE Appliances, putting their skills to work in adapting more than 100 toys for children with disabilities.

The so-called health Jen ears see see what we did.

There turned a lab at the company's Louisville based headquarters into a workshop.

>> We started looking we had electrical engineers.

So we KET we had people who could do the soldering.

Mechanical engineers who will help reasonably confident could take the toys apart and put them back together again and it was all in are all in our department.

>> The adapted toys are being distributed to several nonprofits and schools in Louisville, including JCPS the Visually Impaired preschool services and kids Center for pediatric therapies.

This is the last weekend before Christmas and you have Christmas options all over Kentucky.

begins has some of them in this look at what's happening around the Commonwealth.

♪ >> All aboard this weekend is your last chance to enjoy the Polar Express experience.

It's our back family drive-in in LaGrange.

Grab your golden ticket.

Your coziest blanket and your favorite Christmas goodies from the drive-thru treat station and snuggle up for a showing of this beloved Christmas tale.

Stop by the Faith Acres Farm in Butler this weekend as part of the Pendleton County mistletoe and farm markets holiday Farm trail with unique Kentucky, proud items, handmade, ornaments and items grown and produced right there on the farm.

Don't miss this perfect opportunity for last-minute holiday shopping.

You're invited to the Stanley and Family Enterprises 37th annual office Christmas Party this weekend in Lexington, enjoy adventure theaters.

Christmas party calamity.

Full of all your holiday favorites.

Nepotism, corky, co-workers, tax evasion.

And of course, fruitcake.

Explore the beauty of the 40 our forest during the guided hike winter solstice is this Saturday in Madisonville.

Grab your hat and gloves and get out in nature of the shortest day of the year.

While over to Bowling Green to meet real live reindeer during the reindeer farm stores this weekend.

Complete with an indoor playground, a gift shop and a petting zoo.

This is one of that.

You don't want to miss.

Immerse yourself in the holiday.

Seasonal magic with Christmas at Kentucky Kingdom this weekend in Louisville stopped by Santa's House race down to 175 foot long snow tubing hill or gaze upon the dazzling displays made up by over 1 million lights in this must-see family experience.

They transported back in time to when families gathered around the radio during the app Radio, our featured Miracle on 34th Street in Pikeville with the perfect blend of classic storytelling and local talent is timeless tale of Kris Kringle will leave you smiling all season long.

And that's what's happening around the commonwealth.

I'm told the >> It all looks fun and we hope you will join us again on Monday night at 6.30, eastern.

That's 5.30, central Kentucky edition where we inform connect and inspire subscribe to our Kentucky Edition email newsletter and watch full episodes and clips.

Take it or send us a story idea of public affairs at K T DOT Org and follow KET on Facebook X.

>> Formally known as Twitter and Instagram to stand the Loop.

Thank you so much for joining us.

Have a nice weekend.

♪ ♪