♪ >> It >> hasn't happened in almost 2 years.

A case of measles and Kentucky, but now we have one as another state deals with the measles related deaths.

>> And even when the event started, the governor and I were in conversation and talking on the phone quite often.

The secretary of Homeland Security gets a bird's-eye view of Kentucky's flight damage.

>> I'm typically not in favor of destroying the weapons that you think in this particular case.

You've got a pretty good bills.

>> Guns that have been used in deadly shootings may no longer and often public option.

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

♪ ♪ >> Good Evening and welcome to Kentucky EDITION on this Thursday, February, the TWENTY-SEVENTH I'm Renee Shaw and we thank you for spending part of your Thursday night with us.

>> Picture more movies being made right here in Kentucky.

>> And Frank, for today, a legislative committee said yes to a bill that would establish a Kentucky film office sponsored by Senator Phillip Wheeler.

A pipe full Senate bill.

One would expand upon Kentucky's film incentive programs by adding a centralized department to support and market film productions in the Commonwealth.

More about this as we begin tonight's Legislative update.

>> The Kentucky film Motion Picture and Sound recording industry already generated about 200 million dollars worth of revenue in 2022, which probably up other businesses in the state generate another 128 million dollars.

The industry suppliers and businesses where the employees and its suppliers are located in shop.

Our estimated to have paid about 27 million dollars in local, state and federal taxes in 2022.

Senate Bill one will create the infrastructure inside the Kentucky film Office which will be administratively attached to the Cabinet for economic development.

The film office will serve as the hub for marketing industry coordination, workforce development and solidifying Kentucky's position is an attractive destination for feature film production in 2022. the Kentucky Legislature passed the Kentucky.

>> And her team of incentive program.

>> And this is consistently ranked in the top 5 programs nationally.

However, states with newer and less robust incentive programs.

Often report a return on investment of over a billion dollars a year after just a few years.

And the fact we are underperforming compared to our can a competition.

Not because of our incentive program, but because we lack a designated state film office to market Kentucky and the manpower to field industry inquiries and service major productions, some of its key responsibilities.

The office will work closely with the mobile and regional film Offices, Tourism Commission's.

>> To streamline the permitting process market.

Kentucky is a prime location for film production and facilitate the development of a skilled workforce and count collaboration with films to film studios and training programs.

If you sit and look at.

>> All of the credits when a film is done.

I mean, there's every kind of job imaginable from, you know, the caters to the drivers to make a partisan.

These are all jobs that can and will be filled by Kentuckians.

So beyond the numbers that you see in in the packet that you have which are very, very compelling the kind of ripple effect of the positive impact on Kentucky.

And, you know, the work of the film office to bring those productions bring.

Those dollars is so important.

We're losing a lot of >> series that are as is Senator Wheeler said, you know, I know of at least 4 since Hatfields and McCoys there set not and are filmed in Atlanta for Romania or where her is.

So we need to get those Kentucky stories.

At least home was not done our job in the past quite showing what type of opportunities for the film industry.

>> Are here, dedicated film office will help us.

Get that type of production is needed to provide both important jobs and economic development investment within the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

>> Senate Bill one was approved in committee today and it's expected to get a Senate floor vote on Tuesday since the Kentucky Entertainment Incentive program was passed in 2022.

Film Productions have been approved.

And 76 Kentucky counties.

The nationwide college athletes are expecting a payout.

And for the first time Kentucky colleges will directly pay their sports stars if Kentucky lawmakers act our Jeanne Leffler details.

>> Last year student athletes and the NCAA reached a settlement in a national class action lawsuit that's prompting new legislation in Frankfort.

>> And the recent house versus NCAA lawsuit has introduced potential changes that could reshape student athlete compensation.

A proposed 2.5, 7, 6 billion dollar federal settlement is expected to be finalized by April 7th 2025, which may allow universities to directly copied, say student athletes, something not previously covered in our framework.

>> Senate Bill 3 is Kentucky's answer to meet the new name image and likeness rights of student athletes often called nil for Short University of Louisville and University of Kentucky's athletic directors support it.

>> This will give us the ability to arrange and help get relationships with sponsors and those folks with our 4 student athletes and folks may want to use their name and their image and their likeness for young people.

So it allows us to legally comply the way that the statue was in the bill as originally we would be out of compliance and not be able to do some of the things that the new settlement is asking us to do.

>> The Senate Education Committee unanimously advanced Senate Bill 3 and now heads to the full Senate lawmakers ask how this might change the game like team rosters.

>> Maybe we can get away from some of this portal hopping that continues all the time.

Would that be something you could speak to?

Are you comfortable speaking to that?

Because I would love to see us get away from this.

This constant movement that doesn't support continuity at all.

Your thoughts?

So we we had for a large majority of years, probably 50 years.

We had the NCA and this is how it was structured and >> and quite honestly institutions and the NSA had a large majority of the hour and then with the approval of name image and likeness that that pendulum swung over here and student athletes have a lot of power now.

And so that, hey, if there's something there where it's like, hey, I this just isn't the right place for me.

This is a threat coach or the right institution than I do have the ability to transfer.

But getting away from essentially using the portal as a leverage to increase their value.

That's, you know, that's not what this was intended for.

>> In this new landscape, universities can allocate up to 20 million dollars a year to compensate their players.

How will they divvy it up and which Kentucky sports stars will get?

Some of that money is up in the air with reporting from brown.

I'm Jen Leffler for Kentucky Edition.

>> Thank you, June and Maya and Senate Bill 3 on nil is expected to get a Senate floor vote on Tuesday.

Murder weapons may be taken off.

The Kentucky State Police auction block under Senate Bill 144. sponsored by Republican Senator Danny Carroll.

The issue of seized guns being resold to the public became a statewide discussion following a deadly mass shooting in Louisville 2 years ago.

Legislation about this issue hasn't gone far in the past.

But Senate bill 144 may have a better chance.

Our McKenzie speak has more.

>> Currently in Kentucky, every gun confiscated by law enforcement is resold at a public auction.

This practice came under intense scrutiny after the old National Bank shooting in Louisville in 2023.

The gunman used an AR 15 rifle to kill 5 people and injured several more including LMPD Officer Nicholas Wilt families of the victims as well as the family of the shooter asked for the gun to be destroyed.

And although it was eventually destroyed, that's because it was seized by the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which chose to destroy the gun.

The following its investigation into the shooting due to a law passed in 1998.

If the weapon had been returned to Kentucky State police, it would have gone to auction Senate Bill.

144 would require that weapons used to homicides be destroyed instead.

>> This bill primarily deals with the destruction of firearms used in homicides.

The bill also allows the commissioner for the commissioners.

Designee to order the destruction of weapons that have been defaced where they can no longer be identified are contaminated with hazardous substances.

Is unsafe to discharge and is subject to return to an innocent owner who has requested that the firearm to be destroyed.

>> Funds from the public auctions held by Kentucky State Police provide equipments to the department as well as other police agencies concerned about losing the money.

The homicide weapons brought in came up during discussion.

It breeds in the in the first part of what the law used to be.

If we were to change this, that the state police would auction this off and then it would be destroyed.

>> Are you are losing out on some funds that because I know a lot of those options are the money would go back to Ksp.

Can you speak to that?

>> I can tell you how much fun as we would lose on homicide weapons because we don't track that right now, OK?

So there's no way for us to know which weapons were used in a homicide when they're turned into us.

So everything gets auctioned off.

I can tell you that we the auction brings in about 1, 1.2 million dollars a year.

Well, and then the state police keeps about 20% of that.

The rest goes to Kentucky, Homeland Security for for weapons and fast for other place agencies.

>> There is a fiscal impact statement attached to this bill, which details how much money the proposed legislation would take away from state or county budgets.

The attached statement shows that the Kentucky Sheriff's Association in the Kentucky Fraternal Order of Police believe there would be a significant fiscal impacts to local sheriffs offices, especially smaller police departments because of the training supplies and storage equipment required to house and destroy these weapons.

However, the statement did not come up in today's committee discussion.

The bill passed unanimously out of the Senate Veterans, Military Affairs and Public Protection Committee Senate Bill 144.

Will now head to the full Senate for consideration for Kentucky edition.

I'm McKenzie spank.

Thank you, McKenzie for that.

>> Louisville Democrat Senator Karen Berg has filed legislation to require the destruction of weapons used in violent crimes in years past.

But those bills have not been successful.

Last year's Senate Bill, 178 was co-sponsored by Republican Senator Julie Rocky Adams in an effort to demonstrate the bipartisan support for the measure.

But it died in committee.

The secretary of the Department of Homeland Security was in Kentucky yesterday to tour regions devastated by recent flooding.

Secretary Kristi Noem flew over parts of eastern Kentucky before meeting with Governor Andy Beshear in Frankfort.

She praised the state for its handling of the disaster response and said she spoke with the governor several times since the flooding began after a quick meeting with Governor Beshear Secretary Noem heard from members of Kentucky's emergency management team and then answer questions from reporters, including a question about President Donald Trump's statement that he'd like to eliminate FEMA.

>> We have the opportunity to do.

I don't always an hour and a half 2 hours in the year flying over the flooded area in the Kentucky River in seeing some of the homes that were destroyed in flooded some of the areas.

The hospital that was so calm jeopardized by flood waters that were very close to coming over the wall, but also seeing many of the as low as we could get all.

We did not have a chance to get on the ground because the trip was so quick and even when the event started, the governor and I were in conversation and talking on the phone quite often, I think that's been one of the benefits of of moving quickly is I was a governor.

54 and governors runs disaster responses.

I I did 12 FEMA related disasters in 6 years that I was governor of South Dakotans understand all the programs and the response and how it happens in the best response and typically in every state it is a locally mine disaster response that supported by the state and FEMA comes in and then build smaller resources behind that and fills in the gaps that's necessary.

And that's what exactly happened here.

So but we do that.

Well, it's helpful in leaders, know each other and can pick up the phone and call find message from President Trump today as he KET we were coming here and he wanted to all of you to know that he's I'm ready to help and respond and support.

We've talked about giving the states more opportunity just to get funds I and to decide how those funds get best utilized to serve their people.

I mean, that's really President Trump's vision.

You've heard him talk about eliminating FEMA and what he means by that is that the people that are closest to the individuals that were heard are impacted by a disaster.

Other ones who know what they need more than people city in Washington, D.C., too.

So the ability for us to, you know, grant dollars to the stage or to the local authorities so that they can decide how those moneys get and those resources get.

The point is important.

>> And our thanks to WLTX Channel 18 here in Lexington for the use of that interview, the White House has approved Kentucky's request for an expedited major disaster declaration.

That means individuals impacted by phone at flooding can apply for individual assistance grants more than $40,000.

So far that only applies to people in these counties that you see highlighted in yellow breath.

It Clay, Harlan, not leave Letcher Martin Owsley Perry and Pike counties.

More counties could be added.

Governor Beshear talked about Secretary numbs visit during his news conference today.

Any talk more about the state's flood response.

The governor talked about working with the Kentucky attorney or the Kentucky General Assembly, rather to provide the proper amount of money for the state's response.

>> The safe and we're working on with the state legislature is going to be really important to helping on that on the safe and productive conversations are going on right now.

We've seen an incredible willingness from our General assembly to help only positive things to say about how that's proceeding.

And I'm really optimistic that we're going to get something this session because everybody seems to want to help.

And remember, the process is important because there were the additions from legislative leaders that were really beneficial and how we put this together both for the West and the Beast.

And so I look forward to continuing to work with our legislature to try to get one of these funds in place as soon as we can.

But but to get it done correctly.

So when we look at what we're talking to lawmakers about, we're not reinventing the wheel are safe.

Funds were very similar from Western Kentucky.

Tornadoes in eastern Kentucky floods.

What I'd like to see in this one is a little more flexibility between 2 of the 3 pots that were there to be able to move money where it's needed a little bit easier.

This 1, one thing's going to be different as we think about it is is the debris removal.

It is not localized, even though there's more in some places.

It is statewide and so thinking through how the fund can be used to activate that is is probably our biggest challenge as we as we look going forward.

But as long as we can get the right general structure in place, which we've worked with and I'm very confident that we can get a fund.

The works.

>> On a different topic, a reporter asked the governor if he had any interest in the U.S. Senate race in Kentucky in 2026.

Now that U.S.

Senator Mitch McConnell has announced he won't seek re-election.

The governor said he is not interested and will finish his term as governor when he was asked about seeking the presidency in 2028, the governor said he'll figure that out after his term as governor is over.

There are questions about whether the Trump administration's Department of Government efficiency is closing to Social Security offices in Kentucky.

I do wish has a list that says offices in Hazard and Campbellsville are already closed.

But Spectrum News says it checked and both are still open.

2 other government offices in Lexington are also on the DOE's list.

They are the U.S. Farm Services Agency and the U.S. Small Business Administration.

The U.S. Farm Services Agency has 2 offices in Lexington, one on corporate drive and one on least town road.

It's not clear which one could close.

It's a debate we're hearing across the U.S. and right here in Kentucky.

Should government employees working from home be required to return to the office.

Kentucky lawmakers are considering Senate Bill 79, a bill that includes an amendment that would require 30,000 state workers to stop working from home and go back to the office.

That bill passed the Senate state Senator David Givens of Greensburg, the Senate President pro tem says the house is likely to remove that amendment.

In fact, state Representative James Tipton is working to do just that with his own amendment.

That calls on the personnel cabinet to submit our report about telework.

It would include how many state employees telework what policies each department has in place and whether or not working from home is save the state money in recent years.

On Monday night's Kentucky tonight, Senator Givens talked about why so many Kentuckians are concerned about state workers not being in their offices.

>> Of all the calls that we get of constituent rights.

This is the one that touches the heart of the matter.

And it's just it's it's astounding to me that the administration Beshear administration is not hearing and responding to the challenge and that challenge falls along the lines of if you're trying to get some citing work done for utilities, it's impossible to get it done because no one's in the office.

If you're trying to get a vehicle registration a title for a rebuilt vehicle, it's impossible to get it done.

No one's in the office.

The phones are being answered.

The questions are being dealt with and the transactional nature of where the citizen meats.

Government is not being done efficiently.

We can go on and on.

If you want to talk about the transportation cabinet and the licensing headaches, the lands of people trying to get through the process of getting a driver's license is the number one frustration about hear about as a state legislator.

And it's a shame that we had to resort to this sort of megaphone because we've got some great state workers.

We really do have some great state employees.

Attracting and retaining talent today involves telework.

That's the nature of it.

But if you're a customer facing individual in an office that's an occupied and you're trying to work from home and you're not answering the phone because you've got some other things going on.

It's not a good investment of taxpayer time and money to not be served.

Well.

It's a state Part of my job is constituent concerns and looking to make sure that the property addressed and we all have those frustrations.

>> But it's the workforce issue not just in state government but its workforce issue.

And so first, I think it's really important that we recognize the hard work that our government employees that are doing our Legislative Research Commission, our staff, the amount of messages got immediately just so frustrated, upset because I mean, the ones I work with them, sometimes they put in 12, 1400 a east just around the clock and have if this amendment passes, this is literally taking just a hammer industry.

You know.

Workforce, I would be able to make a pick up the phone over important issue or because they be a labor violation.

They would be able to work on that, you know, from home to do things.

People have set up.

When you have an employee employer relationship, you know that you have a deal.

Worked out.

If you come in and said this is part of a benefits package that I work for from home on 2 June 30 because they have kids to come in and just take that away.

I think it's unworkable.

>> To can him.

Oh, I have that conversation and about other issues.

Now before the Kentucky General Assembly, when you watch last Monday night's Kentucky tonight online on demand at KET DOT Org Slash K White tonight.

♪ Kentucky now has a confirmed case of the measles.

Details in tonight's look at medical news.

The state says the cases from Franklin County, it involves an adult.

The adult had recently traveled internationally to an area with measles cases.

Health officials are now trying to contact anyone in contact with that patient.

They say someone could have exposed or been exposed at the Planet.

Fitness on Allen Way and Frankfort between 09:00AM and 12:15PM, on Monday, February 17th.

This is the first confirmed Kentucky case of the measles since 2023.

The news comes after a child died of the measles and West Texas.

That is the first measles related death in the U.S. since 2015, Texas reports 124 cases of measles.

So far, measles cases in the U.S. in 2024.

Were double the number in 2023, according to The Associated Press.

♪ >> Broadway's Moulin Rouge is playing right now at Louisville's Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts.

>> And you might see a familiar face on stage.

Lexington native Nathan Pfister is part of the ensemble and this traveling Broadway cast.

Our Kelsey Starks caught up with them backstage to talk about his homecoming for tonight.

Tough part Tapestry segment that looks at arts and culture.

>> This is where all your dreams come true.

>> Nathan Fist ERs dream was to one day dance on Broadway.

>> Grew up in Lexington, Kentucky when to stop of the school for the confirming arts 4th through 12th grade, which is truly like very formative I'm very lucky to have gotten to go to an art school at 4th grade.

He went on to study dance at Western Kentucky University and moved to New York with a dream of making it to a Broadway stage.

>> But it was his time at Kentucky Governor's School for the arts that truly made up his mind.

>> I think it was that moment where you do dance flick a hobby.

And like middle school high school and in going through this program works but really and truly was like pre college and be like, oh, wow, this is action that can do for >> a career making a career out of dance isn't easy, though.

After years of dancing in various productions and picking up side gigs to pay the bills, including a job selling merchandise in the lobby of Broadway's Moulin crews last August, Nathan got a call.

>> It's really like they say that your life changes and a day and your dreams come true.

It might.

My my dreams came true and make one phone call.

>> The call was to be part of the traveling ensemble in Broadway's Moulin Rouge.

Now playing at the Kentucky Center with Nathan on stage.

♪ For a Kentucky kids like Nathan Everyday on stage is a dream come true.

>> But performing on this Kentucky stage is truly special.

>> It's really cool to come back to the place where the people fostered, like believe in you and the like you can do this and to come now to share that with other people.

It's it's really cool that I know there's going to be somebody in the audience watching who wants to be on a Broadway show.

One TV dance.

Anything right?

What's the night?

And we'll get to.

And from Kentucky and we'll get to see me.

And they like I can happen.

I can I can do that.

Arts and culture in Kentucky, Louisville, Lexington, it is like booming and most people don't really put Kentucky on the map.

But it's we have a really great arts and culture here.

And so it's really cool to be a product and to get to represent the state when he's not performing in that traveling Broadway show.

>> Nathan finds time to make his way back to his hometown.

>> To get to go back and especially like where I I got I did teach the 4th graders and I can say like I was a fine dining, walked these halls, you same halls.

You all walk every day.

I walked in and you can do it, you know, hard work, determination.

>> Really pays off.

Like I said this.

People believed in me and so to pay out forward.

That is the biggest gift I can give.

>> For Kentucky edition, I'm Kelsey Starks.

Thank you.

Kelsey Moulin Rouge is at the Kentucky Center through March.

2nd.

>> The new season of PNC Broadway in Louisville was just announced yesterday and it includes MJ, the Michael Jackson musical, a return of Hamilton and book of Mormon and last year's Tony winner, the outsiders this weekend, students saying for scholarships.

>> The >> UK, all tech.

It's the 20th anniversary of the UK.

All tech vocal scholarship competition with $700,000 in prizes and scholarships up for grabs.

More about this big money saying off and how it can change lives tomorrow on Kentucky Edition, thanks for being with us tonight and I'll see you tomorrow night.

♪