>> The thin Blue line is getting tooth and it's getting harder and harder to hire and KET police and Kentucky.

>> This is something that affects all 120 counties.

We obviously have some important events that occur here in Kentucky that makes Kentucky sometimes a magnet for human trafficking.

>> Kentucky's attorney general on a crime more widespread than you might think.

>> Exciting part of This job, things just pop up randomly don't know when the next corner you're in a turn.

When something awesome that's going to happen.

>> And how a Kentucky artist landed a job working for and even drawing Dolly Parton.

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

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

♪ ♪ Good evening and welcome to Kentucky EDITION on this Wednesday, January.

The 11th, I'm Renee Shaw.

>> Thank you for winding down your day with us after Louisville's 3rd straight year of triple digit homicides.

Gun violence is again taking a toll on the Derby city.

Louisville has had 10 homicides in the first 10 days of the New year today.

Mayor Craig Greenberg held a press friends with the interim Louisville metro Police chief and community leaders to call for an end to the violence.

The mayor called the violence, quote, simply unacceptable.

>> Today we have new reaction and community uses.

We need everyone's help to stop this violence.

And you cannot be won.

and we should not expect and want them to find some.

Yes, they are part of the solution.

>> They are part of a local family.

We are here today because each and every one of us NBA agent of change.

This is a new thing for you to that.

>> We want to cash in and you, too.

It should be noted that.

>> Vision doesn't call for us and be able to do that.

>> You guys use that.

>> We are of the movement.

>> Mayor Greenberg also announced he's authorizing additional software to help the L a PT solve cases.

The mayor did not offer additional details but says it will be the first of many steps to help prevent and solve crimes.

LMPD is asking for anyone with information about the shootings to call their anonymous tip line at 502, 5, 7, 4.

56 73.

Police departments across Kentucky say they need more officers.

A survey from the police executive Research Forum proves it's getting harder to recruit police and even harder to KET them.

Kentucky additions.

Laura Rogers reports.

>> I'm here at the Bowling Green Police Department where they currently have 121 sworn and 12 vacancies.

The Glasgow Police Department is down 4 officers.

The Franklin Police chief says he's currently good on numbers, but he would like to hire an additional 3 or 4 officers next year.

>> I just did master's thesis on recruiting and retention and law enforcement in Kentucky.

The literature that's out there right now says the national you're saying, you know, reduction of the amount of police officers.

>> Well, unfortunately, what they're really tough time for for a couple years.

And I think that hurt us.

And then you have a lot of owner officers retiring out.

You have so officers that are just they're getting out altogether.

We just don't want to do the profession anymore.

>> Police agencies, especially in more rural communities where the hiring pool is smaller, say fewer people are applying for the job.

Chief Solomon says where they would typically have 25 to 30 applications today.

Those numbers have dropped to an average of 15 to 20 applicants.

>> It's a very difficult profession.

A lot of people understand you start taking in, you know, the dynamics of the job, the safety, the scrutiny.

>> We work holidays.

We work.

7 days.

We for 65 days a year and it's very stressful and we see a lot of things.

And there's a lot of stress.

In this job.

The Glasgow Police Department has made some changes.

They hope will help fill their open positions.

>> We used to not accept applications year-round.

We implemented that along with the testing, you know, on a monthly basis.

>> There are other measures both help encourage more interest and working as a police officer.

>> We start to have to offer things such as you know, take on fleet, you know, outside of your county.

When you have a quality applicant, the last thing that you want to do is say, hey, you know, you can come work here.

We've got to move here.

>> We're trying over the last year, promote with the using our better benefit package.

We've upped the mileage on the take home.

A fleet of for vehicles.

We have been working in conjunction with the city Council last couple years, unable to get a couple of good pay increases.

>> We need to be competitive with their pay.

You know, we do need to get the pay.

I'm up for the officers so we can compete with other agencies.

I compete with chaos.

Pay.

I have to compete with Boeing.

>> Chief, our guest says while her department does have a handful of open positions, her numbers are adequate to KET our city safe.

>> The community of Glasgow is well protected.

We serve them, take care of them.

Sure, we're sure.

But you know, these officers, they love their community.

So they're willing to work the overtime and stay the extra hours.

Being out there and getting involved with your community.

I think that makes a difference.

>> Now it's not just officers.

Many of these departments would like to hire BG PD tells me they currently have 7 openings for dispatchers for Kentucky edition.

I'm Laura Rogers.

Thank you, Laura.

>> Some former clients of a disgraced Kentucky attorney who ran the largest U.S. Social Security scam in history may have a chance to get their last disability payments back an agreement with the federal government would allow about 500 former clients of ex disability Attorney Eric Conn to request a new hearing seeking to have their benefits reinstated.

That's according to attorney Ned Pillars door Khan was convicted of bribing doctors to falsify medical records for his clients who lost benefits about 7 years ago.

Authorities say he's currently in federal prison serving a lengthy prison term for his scheme to defraud the federal government.

A 500 million dollars in disability benefits.

The Kentucky Supreme Court swore in its final justice today, Justice Kelly Thompson was elected to the court's second division in November.

Previously he served as a judge on the Kentucky Court of Appeals for more than 15 years.

2 new justices and a new chief justice were sworn in earlier this week.

The new court has several cases pending, including a high-profile case regarding the constitutionality of Kentucky's ban on abortions.

Oral arguments were heard in November.

It's unclear when the Kentucky Supreme Court will issue a ruling in that case.

Today is national Human Trafficking Awareness Day, Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron announced his office will receive $175,000 grant from the Department of Justice to develop a human trafficking awareness campaign and part 2 of my interview with Daniel Cameron.

He says that human trafficking isn't just an urban issue, has no area and the Commonwealth is immune.

The whole month of January is designated to this issue, which is becoming an increase in crime.

But many Kentuckians may think, well, is that really happening in Kentucky?

That sounds like something that would happen at the southern border or elsewhere.

Talk about the significance of this particular crime in Kentuckyian why we should be concerned.

>> Well, human trafficking is a big issue across the country and here in Kentucky, in fact, the Cabinet for health and Family Services just issued a report that said we had a 344 instances of human trafficking that were reported here in the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

This is something that affects all 120 counties.

We obviously have some important events that occur here in Kentucky that makes Kentucky sometimes a magnet for human trafficking but what my view is that you have to have an attorney general and a leader who's going to stand up for these issues that plague our most vulnerable.

And so we started the your I Save lives campaign.

That has really increased awareness about human trafficking.

I think it's why we're seeing in some more information and more reports being made on human trafficking.

We did was called Operation United Front, which was an months.

Multi here in Kentuckyian Missouri and other law enforcement agencies to apprehend suspects of human trafficking in and pull some folks are some victims out of some really dangerous situations.

So the more we talk about it, the more we share information related to it is important for Kentucky needs to know in for them to help in 8 us, particularly in this month where we're trying to bring additional awareness to this issue.

>> When you spoke about events in Kentucky that can really see a boost in human trafficking.

The Derby sporting We know that that's a big time win.

This activity takes place and people wonder why.

Why is that the case?

Can you explain that?

>> Well, with more people and more folks that come into Kentucky, you around these big events, you have a more crime that can happen or more folks that are being taken advantage of.

I'm proud to say that we've gotten strong, a buy-in and relationships with folks with the church Hill Downs and other big organizers of these events, the farm machinery show in the Kentucky Expo Center.

Those folks have bought into helping us this challenge.

But again, it takes all of us in all 120 counties to make sure we're using our eyes.

The slogan that we have is your I save lives and it's really simple message.

Your eyes can ultimately save lives.

And so we just want people to be aware of the signs of human trafficking.

And if you see something, say something, we want to make sure that we're doing everything, whether it's on the child abuse and human trafficking front or working on that big top line issue of the drug and opioid to combat those challenges and improve the public safety of the men, women, children, all 120 counties.

>> That's a good segue to the opioid abatement Commission that's been doing some work this past year.

So tell us what the ultimate goal of this commission is and what you hope the outcomes will be and the maybe the policy proposals that come forward.

>> We've been in the time that I've been in office to bring in over 800 million dollars is going to start flowing into Kentucky over these next several years to combat this opioid epidemic.

Bryan Hubbard is the head of the opioid task for Abatement Commission that we've assembled along with other stakeholders that have come to the table to say we just want the best ideas, any innovations that might exist to put this epidemic.

But the scourge behind us and the money is going to help.

It's not going to be a end.

All be all.

It's not a magic elixir, but it is important to have this money here in Kentucky as a significant down payment to break the cycles of addiction that played their people for too long.

>> We look the ARC program and Isaiah House and the things that are going on in northern Kentucky.

There's a lot of grassroots activity that's really for years, right?

Have been going toward opioid addiction abatement.

So is there are resources that those organizations can expect to come from this 800 million dollar windfall that would have encouraged people to do as it relates the the opioid abatement advisory.

Current mission is submit applications the really great thing about how we fashion agreement to bring the money into Kentucky's that 50% is going to go.

>> Right to our counties and cities and then the other 50% is going to go into this commission.

So I encourage our local leaders to formulate ideas and plans for how they will distribute that money.

We've got an application process that exist right now through the Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission that will help them allocate those dollars across Kentucky across the region.

As you know, Brian and his team have been doing town hall holes in public meetings across Kentucky to understand the the lay of the land, if you will, as it relates to the challenges that each region of Kentucky is facing, some people would say that if the state were to embrace a medical marijuana is a policy that that would ease the addiction from opioids.

What are your thoughts about that?

>> Well, I think we need to have a robust conversation with our Legislature.

Obviously, Jason, the miss and others are working through this process right now.

What I hate and what is unfortunate is that the governor is trying step by or circumvent that process rather than engaging cleared the second of order ret.

Yes, rather than engage Kentuckians in and have a robust conversation with this with folks in the General Assembly and bring people together he's decided to go in his own way.

We saw some of this in the midst of COVID better rather than bring people together to have a conversation about how we can really be a United Kentucky.

He decides again to go his own way.

So again, I think that we need to have a conversation about what medical marijuana looks like.

I think the law enforcement community need to be involved in this conversation.

Other stakeholders that I realize this is a sensitive area where people that recognize and understand that they getting help as it relates to a medical marijuana.

But we need to get have a larger conversation about what are the somebody who is daily in the midst of the opioid epidemic who sees fentanyl being laced with drugs here in Kentucky, we have to have leadership that brings people together to talk about it in comes to the ultimate solution.

And I just don't think we have that right now with this governor.

♪ ♪ >> Tomorrow night, the final segment of my interview with Attorney General Daniel Cameron.

We talk about his handling of the Breonna Taylor case and his endorsement by and all of former President Donald Trump.

Charter communications, a telecommunications company has given $50,000 to the Kentucky Democratic Party's building fun, according to the Kentucky registry of election finance.

Its the only contribution made to the phone during the final quarter of 2022, the Republican Party of Kentucky received more than one and a half million dollars during the last 3 months of 2022. earlier this week we told you about one of those donations from Pfizer for 1 million dollars.

A 2017 bill passed by the Kentucky General Assembly allows each party to set up building funds and there is no limit on how much a person or a corporation can contribute.

But the money has to be used to help construct renovate or maintain party's headquarters.

♪ Time now for our midweek, check-in of some major political developments in Kentucky over the past week with Rylan Barton, who is the managing editor >> of Kentucky Public Radio and Ohio Valley Resource.

Good to see you.

Rylan.

>> If you see it here >> So let's talk about the week.

That was the first week of the legislative session that ended on Friday.

Not Saturday as we had thought weeks before, but they did what they were going to do.

Those 4 days and we can say that was or was not much.

>> It definitely wasn't.

As if there wasn't a shocking all that we've we've grown to expect from the first week of legislative session in recent years Republicans can take took control of both houses of the Legislature in 2017, you know, usually they've been in those recent years.

They've used that opportunity to pass that big right to work.

Lot of abortion bills passed during that time of bills.

That would clip the governor's powers of there was no.

There was nothing like that.

It seemed to be hanging in the wings waiting to get past for lawmakers the so far looks like the big bill that Republicans are pushing for is a another cut to the state income tax and bring it down to 4% from 4 and a half percent.

This comes right after they just did a 0.5%, a reduction of effective at the beginning of this year.

That's the big priority.

They're trying to move toward, says decrease the income tax and slowly expand the sales other than that, not a lot of whole big proposals that surface that first week.

But we'll see when they come back on February, 7th.

One of the thing that comes to mind Republican, a Senate or Leader Damon fares proposal to make a lot more local elections partisan, including school board races, which are often which are nonpartisan.

And this is this is kind of a an attempt to the that the Republicans have been trying to make too.

I do kind of expand political Get a little bit of a shorthand for voters to to have when they're going to the ballot box voting for weighing in on some of those local elections that they don't always You know who the candidates are.

All right.

>> And we know that a representative Matt Lockett has a companion measure House Bill 50 the same number they are.

And so we'll see where that goes.

And if it's a leadership bill, you have to assume that there's a good pathway for passage there and they seem to just their appearance on Kentucky tonight Monday night and to be for that measure.

How we do know that there are some events that are happening.

There's impeachment hearings that will be happening.

That will be covering for K E T on next.

I think it's Tuesday or Wednesday of next week.

So they're still doing some things in this interim and then they ramp up fully February 7th.

>> That's You know, this is an opportunity for some of those discussions to happen on, you know, what's going to end up passing during the legislative session.

I think that there's also you know, some wait and see of what's going to go on right now.

So but a lot of it, too, has to do with the filing deadline that the governors that all of the candidates for statewide office that are on the ballot this So governor Attorney general, secretary of state, the filing deadline for that was last Friday, January 6.

So now with that in the rearview mirror, lawmakers can kind of focus a little bit more on the on the legislator in branded with that.

Those elections on the ballot.

We were going to be looking at some of that legislation through that lens you know who the candidates are as well.

>> Yeah.

And there is legislation filed that would move that filing deadline back.

>> To the last thing, this filing used to be at the end of January, they moved it up to KET some of the politics out of this decision-making Everything some of the leaders are learning that it's it's so it makes that first week really crazy.

And lot of people just don't know where where to go.

At that point.

>> That's right.

So speaking of which are reporters were all lined up on Friday, which January 6 was the filing deadline awaiting Matt Bevin.

So how do you describe what happened on Friday?

>> of for every good for everybody else.

Who's kind of signing up to 2 run for statewide office.

There were a lot of big surprises, but Matt Bevin, the former governor of each but a couple hours before the deadline at 4 o'clock, it tweet it out of of this.

This request for reporters to show up in the state Capitol Rotunda for an impromptu press conference.

But you said afterwards he would walk down the hall to to do something.

And he didn't say what that was.

Everybody assumed this had to do with him.

Finally to run for governor.

He showed up delivered about a 20 minute speech about of policy accomplishments during his administration talking about some of the things the legislature is doing and talking about the candidates who are running for governor this year sounded very much like use ramping up to run for governor.

And then after the speech, he simply walked out of the capital instead of down the down the hall to the secretary of state's office.

So I think everybody was a It was a little it seems like this is like a trolling moment for the former governor.

He always really locked horns with the press and and I think you know, after months and months of discussions of of will he won't he run for governor?

He put it to bed in this kind of common goal away.

But it was also just this really a central Matt Bevin moment where he scolded the press for a while and then just and then just left with very little ceremony.

>> Yeah.

And the way he started with the tweet train right at the very beginning, it's a beautiful day dawning in Kentucky right with the sign is going towards the toning of what does the governor trying to save by all?

This is the driving east towards Frankfort.

Yeah.

And and so I guess, you know, he got will you know, one released?

Yeah.

One last jab at the press of before not running for governor.

>> Yeah.

So it was certainly a spectacle.

But the field is set and we will be following all of it.

It seems to be like a slow period in our island.

But this good time for us to catch our breath before things really ramp up.

And we thank you for always being in the mix.

In medical news tonight and improved COVID positivity rate in Kentucky.

>> The number is now 11.0.

74, according to the state, it was more than 12% a week ago.

Governor Andy Beshear says that while cases up our act nationwide, Kentucky is doing better than the U.S. as a whole doctor.

Kris Bryant with Norton Healthcare says there is a new COVID variant, though that's already having an impact.

>> Week for the last 5 or 6 weeks that proportion of new cases due to this variant XP.

Be 1.5 is increasing and sometimes it's doubling right now.

It counts for about 27% of all new COVID-19 cases in the U.S.. >> 13 Kentucky counties report high COVID activity.

That number declined in western Kentuckyian increased in eastern Kentucky over the past week.

The University of Kentucky is revising some of its COVID policies.

UK says it will no longer conduct contact tracing new hires at UK will not have to show proof of vaccination as of February.

1st and wastewater testing will.

And this month.

>> Why Kentucky artist who surprised to find herself working with a country music legend and she's not even a musician.

>> KET Kelsey starts talked to her for our arts and culture segment.

We call tapestry.

McKenzie.

Hayley is a Louisville artist and she is written and illustrated many children's books.

>> But the one she's working on now might just be the biggest of them all.

It is called Billy.

The Kid makes it big and it in our world here in little I would say McKenzie Hayley makes the author of this book is none other than Dolly Parton.

Oh, my gosh.

You know your children's book illustrator, You get the call that Dolly Parton has written a children's book.

And once you to illustrate what does that call it?

Well, it's actually I got an e-mail at have an amazing >> Nicole, at T to agency and just eat.

And that's the exciting part of This job, things just pop up randomly don't know when the next.

>> Coroner year in a turn when something awesome is going to happen and again, you know, saying that Dolly's people like my stuff and they want it to.

They were interested in using me for there.

The next book.

They usually want me at 8 the character.

So I did Dolly.

And then Billy, the kid.

>> And then after have the manuscript and it's already.

>> We call it had nation that already each were the words that are going to go on.

Each separate page already figured out and from there you start with some nails, just tiny little dry and >> concepts of what I want.

He lay out to look like and where maybe the text should go.

And I would think that would be very difficult, creating care actors out of 2 people who are very well known.

>> It was that this is bin one of the harder Dolly's character I think at least 5 revisions because her people had a specific way.

They wanted her to look which it it didn't necessarily.

I mostly dropped children and animals for my books.

So it it took a number you know, back and forth motion poll.

But we did finally hit upon it.

Big.

Yeah.

And then Billy, the that when it did take a little longer to none, I think it is just because it's based on real-life characters Sunday.

They know what they they've got an idea.

It doesn't always match mine, but sometimes when I present them with things, they oh, yeah, we do like this.

What do you think?

And maybe they told, you know what?

>> Drew this team to choose.

You.

>> To do this, I mean, already popular book.

They'd like to really all I know is that they liked my >> They sent me a >> PF showing me the specific.

>> Animal images that I've done in my portfolio and in books that they were drawn to and for me to lean into that kind of style, Billy, the kid makes it big is scheduled to come out and April of this year, 2.

>> Thank you, Cal say tomorrow on Kentucky Edition, Daniel Cameron final installment.

I ask him about his handling of the Breonna Taylor case and his endorsement by and a former President Donald Trump.

Plus fighting fires can be a dangerous profession but see how a group of researchers is trying to reduce on the job injuries for the men and women who do it.

We have to join you.

Have you join us tomorrow night 6.30, eastern right here for