music >> I think, infuriated the nation.

It infuriated everybody in Woodford County.

I know.

>> We talked with the parents of a brutally slain six year old and their work to change a law to protect others from a tragedy like theirs.

>> And I worry that young people are at risk of self-harm.

[MUSIC] >> But others say letting 18 to 20 year olds carry concealed firearms is a matter of self-defense.

[MUSIC] Cutting jobs and closing two schools.

What could be on the way to Kentucky's largest school system?

[MUSIC] >> Production of Kentucky edition is made possible in part by the KET Millennium Fund.

>> Good evening and welcome to Kentucky Edition.

For this Wednesday, January 21st, I'm Renee Shaw, and we thank you for winding down your Wednesday with us.

Kentucky lawmakers have set their sights on Jefferson County Public Schools.

Today, Senate Republicans filed Senate Bill one, a bill number historically reserved for lawmakers.

Top priority this year's SB one looks to take some power from the elected school board and hand it to the school superintendent.

The General Assembly passed a similar bill in 2022 that was struck down by Kentucky Supreme Court just last month, the justices said.

Lawmakers cannot target a specific school district, quote, unreasonably.

Senate President Pro Tem David Givens says his bill spells out those reasons.

>> They felt like we didn't give sufficient reason for treating Jefferson County differently.

As you look at Senate Bill one, we opened with 42 reasons, very specifically of why this is the largest school district in the state, impacting the largest number of students and receiving the highest level of state general fund moneys of any district in the state should be treated differently.

We don't need a board that has to be involved in that level of operation.

They should hire the best.

And from what I'm hearing, their new leader is doing a fine job of making some tough decisions, and I'm proud that he's doing that because things have to be addressed sooner rather than later.

>> Another senator, Lindsey Tichenor, filed Senate Bill three, requiring school districts to publish key financial documents, including budget proposals, monthly financial reports, vendor payments and audit information on their websites.

The bill also creates timelines and rules for budget development, public meetings and financial reporting, and we'll have more about Tichenor's measure tomorrow on Kentucky Edition.

Jefferson County schools are a step closer to budget cuts, adding up to $142 million.

The Board of Education voted last night to accept a 20 2627 draft budget.

Among the cuts, $44 million from central office, leading to 300 job cuts and a reorganization of the department and leadership.

$41 million from school budget funds not directly tied to student instruction, and 13 million from operations and transportation.

The draft budget is considered an early stage in the budget process.

The board also approved plans to close King and Zachary Taylor Elementary schools.

Last spring, the Fayette County School Board voted to raise the local occupational license tax to help plug a multimillion dollar budget hole.

It was a move that was deemed unconstitutional by the attorney general's office in Kentucky.

Republican Senator Amanda Mays Bledsoe of Lexington has filed a bill that would block Fayette County's ability to try and raise that tax again.

Our Mackenzie Spink continues tonight's legislative update.

[MUSIC] >> Senator Amanda Mays Bledsoe says she's heard from Fayette County residents that they felt blindsided by the school board's vote to increase the occupational license tax.

>> Tax increases are serious and require community buy in.

Certainly not the day after a holiday weekend without public notification, which the Attorney General eventually ruled unconstitutional.

>> Currently, in order to raise the occupational license tax, a city needs to have a population of 300,000.

Lexington's population is currently roughly 330,000.

Senate Bill 76 would raise that threshold to 500,000, which would intentionally delay Fayette County's ability to raise the tax.

Supporters of the bill say it's to give the county time to rebuild trust and to allow more time for community buy in before another proposed tax increase.

Louisville Democrat Cassie Chambers Armstrong voted no on the bill, and Minority Floor Leader Gerald Neal passed on the measure.

>> So I don't know the details of what happened in Fayette County or if this was the correct exercise of this particular tool.

But as someone who used to be in local government, I don't believe in taking tools away from local government.

I believe in local control and in letting local communities make decisions.

And so for that reason, I think it's an important tool for local government to be able to retain in case they need it in the future.

And so for that reason, I vote no.

>> I'd like to see what this means generally.

And, you know, I have tremendous trust in you.

But when I look at the broader situation, the other information that comes in, I don't think I have sufficient information.

I think you got a great school system there with great leadership, and you're doing good work there.

And I certainly wouldn't want to stumble around and undermine any of that.

>> Senate Budget Chairman Chris McDaniel offered this contrasting view from the Democrats.

>> I feel like there's more than adequate information that's been out there.

The papers have written about it, citizens have researched it.

Open records requests have revealed abuses that, frankly, are unlike anything that I've seen in my 12 years in the General Assembly.

And I will say, State that I think, by and large, Fayette County does have a great school system.

The difference, I would say, is they have very poor leadership at the highest echelons.

>> Senate Bill 76 passed the committee favorably and will next head to the Senate floor for consideration for Kentucky Edition.

I'm Mackenzie Spink.

>> Thank you.

Mackenzie.

The proposed legislation does not remove or alter any existing occupational license taxes.

Young adults have the right to own a gun in Kentucky, but they can't carry them concealed.

A Northern Kentucky Republican wants to change that.

As she argues, it's a matter of self-defense.

Our June Leffler has more.

>> House Bill 312 would allow for law abiding Kentuckians, age eight through 18 through 20 to obtain a provisional concealed carry license, which has the same requirements as Kentucky Standard Concealed Carry License.

That includes a background check, training and proficiency in handling and operating a firearm.

Our Second Amendment is clear.

The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.

>> House Bill 312 passed a committee vote today, 15 to 3, with Democrats opposition.

>> In the military.

We train 18, 19, 20 year olds extensively, extensively, and they don't get to conceal carry.

They get to use it when we tell them they can use it.

I've been talking to a lot of high school students, and their concern is not if they will be shot at.

It's when.

>> I'm concerned that what training does in the short amount of time that it happens, doesn't mature.

An 18 year old brain into a 21 year old brain.

And I worry that young people are at risk of self-harm.

>> This legislation does not expand access, insomuch as it's already legal for individuals who are 18 through 20 years old to possess a firearm, and no aspect of this legislation changes any of the locations in which it's permissible for them to have that firearm.

>> The law already allows people over 18 to carry firearm to possess a firearm.

What goino carry concealed, it requires training, which is very good help.

The situation that my friend the lady from Lexington was concerned about insofar as her increasing self harm.

>> The House Judiciary Committee also took up a bill increasing penalties for human trafficking.

Students from Sacred Heart in Louisville and Jefferson County.

Republican present House Bill 320.

>> We realized that committing human trafficking is a felony, while promoting human trafficking is a felony.

We just want to equalize the felonies of committing and promoting human trafficking.

>> By punishing the promotion of human trafficking less severely than Indiana and Tennessee, we are making a safe haven for those who profit off of human trafficking in our Commonwealth.

>> The committee passed the bill unanimously.

It now heads to the House for Kentucky edition.

I'm June Leffler.

>> Thank you June and bright kids there.

The House Judiciary Committee also passed House Bill 366, requiring those convicted of possessing child porn, including computer generated images, to serve at least 85% of their sentence.

Phones down and hands on the wheel.

That's the goal of the phones down Kentucky act that's speeding through the Kentucky General Assembly this session.

Senate Bill 28 would outlaw handheld phone use while driving.

It advanced from the Senate yesterday.

Our Mackenzie Spink lays out the arguments made for and against the measure.

>> Under Senate Bill 28.

Using your phone while driving would be illegal, with the exceptions of using your car's digital display, having your phone mounted to the dashboard, or having your phone in your hand at a stoplight.

Last year's version of the bill would have prohibited usage at a stoplight.

>> We had a lot of questions last year when we talked about this, you know, can I talk?

Can I have the phone in my hand while I'm stopped at a stoplight?

A lot of people would say, we shouldn't do that.

They would.

You know, there's a lot of honking at red lights because somebody on their phone.

But this does not prohibit it.

>> Senator Brandon Smith voted yes on the bill, but had concerns about what it meant for law enforcement to see you on your phone.

Could surveillance footage be used to cite you?

Under Senate Bill 28.

>> So say I'm driving and I've got my GPS and my phone maybe on my leg, and they get me for speeding, but then they can look inside my window and see that my device is there, and then do an additional ticket on top of that may not be the case at all, but that's one of the questions, Mr.

President, that I was asked.

>> Senator Jimmy Higdon says the bill indicates that an officer has to see you visually, but Smith wants the language to be tightened.

Senator Mike Wilson also supported the bill as a longtime motorcycle owner.

He says the motorcycle community has been asking for a law like this for a long time.

>> I happen to be coming home from a football game that my son was playing in one time, and came across where a motorcyclist had been run over.

They ran over him from behind because they were looking at their phone and they killed him.

The motorcycle license clubs have talked to me over and over again about the dangers of people being on their telephones, and we all see it all the time.

>> One of the no votes was Senator Jay Williams, who claimed Hands-Free Cell Use is not the answer to Safer driving.

>> I voted no, but I am looking forward to really getting the solution for vehicles that we can have autonomous vehicles where the drivers there are driver assisted vehicles where like seat belts.

Every new car has one of those, and I think they have the potential to save as many lives as seatbelts have saved in the future, because that computer, that brake autonomous braking system, the collision avoidance braking system, it never rests.

>> Senate Bill 28 passed 31 to 7 and is now in possession of the House.

If the lower chamber makes changes to the bill, it will come back to the Senate for a vote or further negotiation before becoming law.

For Kentucky edition, I'm Mackenzie Spink.

>> Thank you again, Mackenzie.

All seven states surrounding Kentucky have enacted similar Hands-Free laws.

The bill is in memory of two year old Kimberly Burns, who was killed over three years ago in a rear end collision in Louisville.

Her mother, Alyssa Burns, has been advocating for the measure for months leading up to this year's session.

Our Emily Sisk has more about the little girl who inspired a movement, and the family fighting to spare others of their fate.

>> Alyssa Burns was the mother of almost two year old Kimberly, a smiley little girl with a big personality.

In 2022, tragedy struck when the Burns were driving on I-71 in Louisville, and a pickup truck crashed into the back of their car.

Kimberly died while Alyssa and her fiance suffered serious injuries.

>> With my brain injury, I was in shock.

It was like a month later when it finally, like really in my brain, hit me like, oh, I don't have a baby anymore.

I don't have a kid.

>> Police determined the driver of the pickup truck was, quote, not properly watching the roadway ahead and was inattentive.

In other words, he was focused on his cell phone and not the road.

That driver was not charged for Kimberly's death or the other injuries.

>> The person who killed Kimberly was able to drive as soon as he got a new vehicle.

So the only the only repercussion was him having to buy a new vehicle.

>> Burns says with the phone down Kentucky act, people will face the consequences of distracted driving, which will hopefully prevent more loss of life.

>> Some people just don't understand, unfortunately, unless it happens to them.

But my question is why wait?

Why wait until it's one of your people that you love?

If you have nothing to worry about, you have nothing to worry about.

If the shoe fits, wear it because now it's time for repercussions.

Our babies are losing their lives.

>> And Burns says she'll keep fighting, viewing Senate Bill 28 as just planting the seed of safety.

>> I would even add eventually speeding.

Speeding was a huge impact on my daughter's unfortunate happenstance.

>> As for her and her now one year old baby, Fiona Burns says she's still impacted by the trauma from Kimberly's death.

>> I still haven't driven since everything.

Being a passenger, all I see is people on their phones.

I don't even sit in the passenger seat anymore.

I sit next to my youngest child in the back because I just, you know, if we ever get hit like that again, then we will go.

At the same time, we will not be apart.

>> Senate Bill 28 was numbered to honor the date of Kimberly's death, October 28th of 2022.

For Kentucky edition, I'm Emily Sisk.

>> Thank you.

Emily.

Emily.

Now, Alyssa Burns isn't the only parent fighting for a change in Frankfort.

Yesterday we told you about Dean and Heather Tipton, the parents of six year old Logan Tipton, who was stabbed to death in the family's Versailles home back in 2015.

Now, the tendons are working hand in hand with lawmakers to pass Logan's law, a measure cracking down on the sentencing and release of violent offenders like Logan's killer.

Our Emily Sisk is back and has more with the Tipton family.

>> The last time I was in this Capitol, I was in elementary school.

>> These days, the Tipton family is no stranger to the Capitol or to state lawmakers.

That's because they've been fighting for action after their six year old child, Logan, was stabbed to death back in 2015.

>> He had a big heart.

He loved his family.

And he was too good for this world.

>> Last fall, Logan's killer, Ronald Exantus, was released early through Kentucky's mandatory reentry supervision program after he served less than half of his 20 year sentence.

His early release sparked public outrage, including at the national level, with U.S.

press secretary Caroline Leavitt posting on X that the white House was looking into his release.

At that point, ten years after Logan's brutal killing, state lawmakers talked with the Tipton's about the idea for Logan's Law.

>> When people see that a man murdered, brutally murdered my son, he spent less time than Logan was alive.

Logan was six years.

He barely spent more time in prison than Logan did it.

I think it infuriated the nation.

It infuriated everybody in Woodford County.

I know, and I think it was this had to happen in order for this law to be seen and know that this is the right thing to do.

>> And what are the conditions of Logan's law?

The bill has several parts, namely, it removes the not guilty by reason of insanity defense while keeping a mentally ill but guilty verdict.

It also tightens up the mandatory reentry supervision program, making offenders of a class B felony ineligible.

Representative TJ Roberts also said if a parole board unanimously votes against an inmate's release under mandatory reentry supervision, that release will be impossible.

Governor Andy Beshear insisted last year the parole board was not to blame for early release, having voted unanimously against it multiple times.

Parole board members faced death threats over release, but it was a current state law that required the Department of Corrections to release him on mandatory reentry supervision.

>> If the parole board is not comfortable with you living in their community.

The people of Kentucky should not have to live with you in their community.

>> And for Logan's mother, who sometimes still sets a plate for Logan at the dinner table, she hopes because of their advocacy, no other Kentucky families will have to experience the same pain.

>> If we can help just one other person, then maybe Logan's death wasn't in vain.

>> Nobody deserves to feel the way we have felt over the past ten years.

>> House Bill four, 22, currently has more than 60 co-sponsors from both sides of the aisle.

Sponsoring Representative Dan Pfister said he's confident the legislation will continue to gain bipartisan support in Frankfort for Kentucky edition.

I'm Emily Sisk.

>> Thank you Emily.

Representative Pfister says he does hope to get the bill in front of the House Judiciary Committee next week.

>> I'm Laura Rogers with Derek Opel, news director at CMS Public Radio.

And Derek, want to ask you about some things going on across Western Kentucky, including in recent weeks.

We've seen some anti ice protests.

Tell us more about those demonstrations.

>> Yeah.

They came in the wake of protests following the death of Renee Goode in Minnesota.

You saw him in Louisville and in Berea.

And the weekend after that in Bowling Green and in Paducah, where I was, we saw a couple hundred people.

I believe it was around or just under 200 in Paducah by Noble Park.

And all these people chanting, calling for justice and generally voicing criticism of actions taken by Ice in recent weeks, especially in Minnesota.

>> And what would you say was the messaging at these protests and tell us how it was presented?

Did things stay peaceful?

What was the tone?

>> The tone, I would say was fairly friendly.

There wasn't many, if any counter-protesters.

And, you know, they're playing music, Pete Seeger songs and generally chanting messages of unity.

I mean, these are people that are that are calling for for unity.

These are people that want an end to the violence that's happening across America.

>> But we don't think this will be an end to the protest.

Isn't there another one scheduled soon?

In Paducah.

>> A separate group has organized a demonstration that I believe is planned for the 30th of January in front of the McCracken County Courthouse, but I. I don't expect that to be the last one this winter.

>> And let's move now to new leadership at the Kentucky Film Office.

Kentucky native who has taken over that role.

Tell us more about Meg Pfister.

>> Yeah, the Kentucky legislature revamped that whole Kentucky Film Office situation last year.

Meg Pfister's job is going to be to market the state of Kentucky to people in the entertainment industry.

That means getting film productions to work here.

That means getting TV shows to shoot in the state, or even attracting theatrical productions like Broadway shows to do tech rehearsals or tours in the Commonwealth.

And that's her whole job, is to attract those dollars from outside the state and get them inside.

>> And, you know, we've seen a lot of movies being recorded in Kentucky.

I know there's a horror film being made in Franklin in Simpson County right now, but are we thinking that we could see more, maybe major motion pictures?

>> Yeah, I know that in the latest tranche of approvals from the Kentucky Film Leadership Council, which is the group formed last year to run the tax incentive program that helps get those productions made here in Kentucky.

There's a production by Paramount that's up for, I believe, like $8 million in incentives or they got that, got approved.

There was a movie that literally premiered in theaters last week, or maybe it was this week, Dead Man Wire, that that was directed by Gus Van Zandt, a a Kentucky native, and it was shot in Louisville.

Louisville stood in for, I believe, 70 Detroit.

So you're starting to see more of these things happen.

Obviously, Ethan Hawke's movie from a couple years ago was shot here.

So things might be looking up.

And obviously, of course, I think you saw as well there's some criticism of the Kentucky Film Leadership Council.

In a recent editorial on the Kentucky Lantern that came from Andrew McNeil, who's been a vocal critic of the way things are set up with the Leadership Council.

He is calling for more transparency and greater scrutiny of these of these state investments of taxpayer dollars through the KET or the Kentucky entertainment incentive program, because multiple people on this pretty small council are directly tied to some of the projects that have gotten money since they formed.

This is nothing illegal.

These are people that excuse themselves that they have.

That's like stating that they would have a common interest, but that hasn't stopped the projects that they're tied to from getting approved.

>> And then want to ask you about other economic development projects in Western Kentucky as well.

And that includes that investment in nuclear energy.

We're seeing some big news there.

What can you tell us about some of those projects?

>> You know, there's been so much happening in Kentucky when it comes to nuclear over the past year.

You've got the really splashy announcement of general matter.

The company tied to Peter Thiel, a billionaire investor and an ally of Donald Trump.

They're going to be wanting to enrich uranium here, right outside Paducah, at the former Paducah gaseous diffusion plant.

And just a couple weeks ago, they scored a $900 million task order from the Department of Energy.

And that's to make halo high assay, low enriched uranium, basically the fuel for the next generation of nuclear reactors.

That same site, the PDP, is also a likely candidate for a Doe project that could put an AI data center on that former uranium enrichment site.

Or it could see, you know, a reactor itself put there.

That's also possible.

Then you have global laser enrichment, another Paducah project, and that's one that would be a world first.

There's never been a commercial laser uranium enrichment site in the United States.

And this one is is is plugging ahead.

They got their application accepted by NRC in August.

And they're testing says that they have everything in line as of September.

But that's still a couple years away.

And then you have Fort Campbell got put on a short list to maybe participate in a micro reactor program.

And that's all thanks to a lot of lawmakers have really been pushing, including Danny Carroll.

He's been an active voice for the nuclear economy here in Kentucky.

And even right now in the legislature, he's prepping what he's calling the Kentucky Nuclear Site Readiness Program to maybe set up some sites outside of Western Kentucky that can participate in this nuclear economy.

>> Well, something to keep our eyes on.

I'm sure we'll be following the progress of these plans as time goes on.

Derek.

Opal with CMS, thank you so much for your time and for your excellent reporting.

>> Thanks, Laura.

>> And that will do it for us tonight.

We sure hope you join us again tomorrow night at 630 eastern, 530 Central on Kentucky Edition, where we inform, connect and inspire, particularly connecting you to what's happening in Frankfort.

You can subscribe to Kentucky Edition email newsletters and watch full episodes and clips at Keturah.

Look for us on the PBS video app that you can download on your mobile device and smart TV.

Send us a story idea at the email address on your screen, and look for us on the social media channels, Facebook and Instagram.

I'm Renee Shaw until I see you again.

Take really good care.

Have a great night.