It's really exciting, but at the same time, it's a little bit scary.

Well, artificial intelligence has put you out of work.

Here are the pros and cons of A.I.. Plus, Daniel Cameron releases his public safety plan.

What he has in mind for state police?

Well, I think that it's a great solution to some of our recruiting challenges that we have, not just here in Kentucky or in Taylor Mill, but across the country.

How a special program is training soldiers as police officers.

Any time somebody doesn't do something for a while, you know, you just get rusty at it.

And school is no different.

And Kirby, curbing the summer learning slide, how the Kentucky Department of Education is keeping students engaged over the break.

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

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

Good evening and welcome to Kentucky Edition on this Tuesday, July the 11th.

I'm Renee Shaw.

Thank you for spending some of your Tuesday night with us.

Just like the weather here in Kentucky, the race for governor is heating up.

Last month, Governor Andy Beshear touted an endorsement of more than 35 law enforcement officials.

Today, his Republican challenger, Attorney General Daniel Cameron, released his public safety plan, which his campaign says is designed to make Kentucky the best place in America to be a police officer.

Our Casey Parker Bell has the details.

During an announcement in Louisville today, Daniel Cameron called public safety the first responsibility of government under a Cameron administration.

We will prioritize the safety of hardworking, law abiding citizens again.

We will talk about the profession of law enforcement honorably again.

We will put bad people in jail and keep them there.

And unlike the governor not offering talking points and empty promises, I'm offering Kentuckians a specific, hard hitting plan of solutions.

His 12 point plan calls for tougher penalties for drug traffickers and pursuing the death penalty for anyone convicted of murdering a police officer.

If elected, the Republican candidate for governor says his first budget will include a $5,000 recruitment and retention bonus to help bolster police forces.

Cameron also said he does not support gun reform.

Instead, he proposed dealing with gun violence in Louisville by adding a Kentucky State police post in the city.

He says the new post would act as a hub to support local law enforcement efforts.

When asked how the new post would be paid for, Cameron said he hoped to work with the legislature to use money from the state's rainy day fund.

This is not the first time Cameron suggested increasing the number of case posts.

In April, Governor Beshear criticized the suggestion.

It seems to show a lack of confidence by the attorney general and lmpd to respond to crime in Louisville.

Cameron also said Kentucky should follow the lead of other states in allowing murder charges to be filed against drug dealers who push deadly substances.

Of course, his plans are only possible if he wins in November and if he has support from lawmakers and Frankfort to that second point.

Cameron says his campaign has reached out to leadership in both the Senate and the House and says they're optimistic, much if not all, of the public safety plan would pass the legislature.

For Kentucky Edition, I'm Casey Parker.

Belle.

Cameron says he remains 100% supportive of former President Donald Trump, despite Trump's indictment related to possession of classified documents.

Cameron spoke to Spectrum one news.

He said former President Trump recognizes that he stands up for the values of Kentucky.

A judge has temporarily blocked a new Kentucky law.

A circuit court judge in Louisville issued a temporary injunction against Senate Bill seven, according to the Kentucky Lantern.

The bill prevents government employees from using automatic payroll deductions to collect union dues.

The judge sided with local unions, saying the bill would cause them significant hardships.

The judge did not rule on the constitutionality of the bill, which is still being debated in a similar lawsuit filed by the Kentucky Education Association.

Applications are now being accepted for retail sports betting in Kentucky.

The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission approved emergency regulations governing sports wagering yesterday.

Each of Kentucky's licensed horse racing facilities can apply for in-person sports betting, either at that main facility or at licensed satellite locations.

There are ten sites, including Churchill Downs, Keeneland and Alice Park.

Four more facilities will be opening soon.

The state expects all 14 to apply, with most being ready to start accepting sports wagers on September 7th.

Each facility will also be able to partner with up to three companies for mobile wagering, which will be legal in Kentucky beginning September 28.

Governor Andy Beshear today announced good economic news for Kentucky, But a leading Republican in the General Assembly says GOP policies are responsible for that good news.

First, let's hear from Governor Beshear.

Today, I can announce the general fund receipts and basically state revenue for fiscal year 2023 are projected to be $15.1 billion, the highest amount ever.

First time it's been over $15 billion.

In that number is a $1.4 billion surplus, the largest surplus in the history of the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

So one Republican state lawmaker is saying not so fast.

Senator Chris McDaniel chairs the Senate Budget Committee.

He put out a statement saying, quote, The 2023 revenue report shows the Commonwealth's economy is doing extraordinarily well, which is reflective of Republican leadership over the last eight years.

Ultimately, this record surplus, our third consecutive surplus, is validation in conservative policies and fiscal responsibility, yield optimal results, end quote.

U.S.

Senator Mitch McConnell is defending what he calls the, quote, independence of the U.S. Supreme Court.

And recent months, Democrats have criticized the court for some of its rulings.

And there has been talk of new ethics rules after reports of justices enjoying vacations and other perks from the wealthy.

Here is part of what Senator McConnell wrote in The Washington Post.

Quote, Democrats have moved from complaining about the Supreme Court's reasoning to questioning its independence.

The Senate Democratic leader has threatened justices by name that they would pay the price, quote, for not ruling the way he wanted and has taken to deriding the entire institution as a MAGA Supreme Court.

Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee are trying to tell a co-equal branch of government how to manage its internal operations, ostensibly to clean up its ethics.

Senator McConnell says criticism of the court's partizanship is exaggerated.

He wrote that in most cases, some Democratic and Republican appointees are on the same side.

Senator McConnell also spoke about the final destruction of chemical weapons at the Bluegrass Army Depot and Madison County.

On the Senate floor yesterday, McConnell said Kentucky and the world are now safer.

It's been the honor of a lifetime to lead this charge in the Senate and to push for the safety of Madison County families.

Each step of the way, we wouldn't be here today without the singular focus and determination of community leaders like Craig Williams, an extremely effective local advocate who devoted much of his career to seeing this project through.

And of course, we owe a debt of gratitude to the operators, technicians, construction workers and other staff for their work on the ground.

The United States signed a treaty in the 1990s requiring the destruction of these chemical weapons.

McConnell says the United States is right to be a part of an international coalition opposing the use of chemical weapons.

The US Senate is investigating the proposed deal involving the PGA and Saudi Arabia's public investment fund.

There was anger when the deal was announced because of Saudi Arabia human rights record.

Hearings began today.

U.S.

Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky is on the committee.

He says he doesn't think Congress should have any say over this private deal.

As an originalist, an originalist interpretation of the Constitution would lead to a different conclusion.

If we took the Ninth Amendment seriously, if we took the principles of liberty of contract seriously, we would acknowledge that the Constitution affords protection for such agreements.

We have no business asking the PGA about their negotiations or what they might do or what they might do.

It's not the business of government.

If members of the Senate wanted to express their outrage over Saudi Arabia in a meaningful way and gave them an opportunity to do so, in December 2021, I proposed canceling $650 million sale of 280 advanced air to air missiles and 596 missile launchers to Saudi Arabia.

But there was no congressional hearing.

We're here today talking about golf, but we didn't have one congressional hearing over sending hundreds of millions of dollars of advanced weapons to Saudi Arabia.

There was no expression of outrage.

Instead.

67 senators voted against my proposal and voted to continue selling arms to Saudi Arabia.

Also, Senator Paul says he would introducing a bill that he says will protect free speech by ending collusion between government and big tech companies.

Paul says his free speech protection Act, if passed, would punish federal employees and contractors who use their power to block free speech on Twitter and Facebook.

He says the bill would let people sue the government if their free speech rights are violated.

Well, you've heard a lot about artificial intelligence or A.I.

for short and whether robots will eventually replace humans on the job.

Well, we talked about AI last night on Kentucky tonight.

Our panel talked about the opportunities for progress, but also the potential dangers and how we need to handle the changes on the way.

I think we need to view A.I.

as a tool that's here.

And because of the computer processing speeds that we have, it's likely to grow exponentially in terms of what it can do.

But it is a tool that's based on human inputs.

You know, we're hearing about things like A.I.

and having these broader discussions because companies have created ways for us to use them.

You have image generating AI, and those are all private companies that have created ways for us to access this technology.

So it's not something that everybody is going to understand immediately.

We're not going to understand the potential implications immediately.

But I do think that we need to recognize that it's here and that we're going to need to really take a look at it through the lens of how it's going to immediately impact our world and how it's going to impact our world in the near future.

We are on the precipice of something that is, you know, straight out of a science fiction novel.

And it's it's really exciting.

But at the same time, it's a little bit scary because, you know, of the potential of job displacement.

I mean, you look for it passed the bar exam.

It passed, you know, the the medical licensing exam.

So you're talking about professional people who could be losing their jobs, but just kind of doing research and seeing where all this seems to be headed.

You know, it does appear like for cancer research or physics or, you know, rocket science, whatever, you know, there there's a great possibility of it doing, you know, tremendous things.

But then there's also the kind of the scary side of how do we make sure everything stays contained and that we proceed responsibly.

It's capable of independently discovering zero day exploits.

It can write novel code.

It's also very good at social engineering attacks.

Now, with proliferation of generated content, deepfakes, videos, pictures.

Those systems can simulate your boss, your spouse, your friend, even before you had to generate a spear phishing email by reading emails, by trying to figure out who you are and still a lot of people clicked on those malevolent links.

Now you can send a video to millions of accounts of someone they know and really trust telling them, Hey, what's your password?

I need some money sent to me.

So it's a nightmare in so many different ways.

I read a really interesting article that was all about are we just going to be editors from here on out?

And I don't think that that's where it's headed, because, again, that takes away the human element of it.

And I really hope that we start to celebrate real artists and real poets and real, you know, not just celebrating robot love, but, you know, instead we are trying to figure out like, okay, if someone's a real artist, if someone's a real writer, someone who wrote this book for real, they're able to play an instrument on the stage in a solo.

Like, I want to start to celebrate those kind of things all the more.

It was an interesting and very informative discussion.

Our panel talks about self-driving cars and so much more.

And you can also see a Lexington family with a connection that uses chat, tea to create bedtime stories.

You see all that and more by going to Katie Dawg slash K-Y tonight.

This programing note Monday night on Kentucky night, a conversation about Kentucky's energy needs now and in the future.

Check us out Monday at eight Eastern, seven Central.

Now on to more jobs news, Hitachi, a demo is expanding its operation in Berea, spending $153 million and creating a 167 new jobs.

The company supplies parts to car makers all over the world.

Hitachi says it will add 752,000 square feet to its operation and comes in response to increased demand for electric vehicles when the expansion is complete.

Hitachi will have more than 2100 workers at plants in Berea and Harrodsburg.

Here's a story with a big impact on Louisville.

The UPS union chief tells CBS News negotiations to prevent a U.P.S.

strike are at a standstill without an agreement on a proposed four year contract.

Workers would walk off the job at the end of July.

UPS employs about 10,000 workers in Louisville.

Even if an agreement is reached soon.

There are fears a Teamsters Union vote couldn't occur quickly enough to avoid the strike.

There are 350,000 UPS workers across the U.S. and there are fears a strike could cause delivery delays and disrupt the supply chain community.

And Oldham County is dealing with the loss of a high school teacher.

And more than eight decades later, a Kentucky sailor who died in the attack on Pearl Harbor is finally coming home.

Toby Gibbs has those stories and our look at headlines around Kentucky.

Police in Washington, D.C. are investigating the shooting death of a high school teacher from Kentucky.

Maxwell Emerson, a 25 year old teacher and wrestling coach at Oldham County High School, died after being shot on the Catholic University campus last week.

According to the Oldham era newspaper, D.C. police said two men got into a fight on campus which led to the shooting.

The suspect then ran off.

A Go Fund Me page has been set up to help Emerson's family with funeral expenses.

More than half of the counties in Kentucky have syringe service programs.

Also known as needle exchanges for intravenous drug users.

The Kentucky Lantern reports that with the addition of a new program in Clark County and another in Asheville County, there are now programs in 65 of the state's 120 counties.

Needle exchanges are among the harm reduction programs that are used to minimize the negative, physical and social impacts of drug use.

The county Health Department's program is now in a mobile clinic that goes to multiple locations in the east central Kentucky County.

One health educator who is part of the program and Hart County, tells the Kentucky Lantern it's important to keep educating people about what needle exchanges are and why they're important.

More than 80 years after his death, a Kentucky sailor is coming home.

Elmer P Lawrence of Red Cross died in the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941, while serving on the USS Oklahoma.

His remains were recently identified.

One of Lawrence's cousins tells the Bowling Green Daily News the family still has reunions at Alma's place each year.

He said those who knew Elmer consider him a, quote, everyday Joe, unquote.

Elmhurst Funeral service will be held in Smith's Grove on July 22nd.

The city of Richmond has received artifacts dating back to the Civil War battle of Richmond in 1862.

WQ said a madison County man is loaning his personal collection of artifacts to the Battle of Richmond Association Visitor Center, where they will eventually be displayed.

The curator of the center tells W EKU.

The artifacts tell the story about how one of the major battles during the war's Kentucky campaign was fought.

The collection includes a rare Confederate D Guard Bowie knife, ammunition, union breast plates, a bayonet and three rifles with headlines around Kentucky.

I'm Toby gives with help from a Department of Defense system called Skill Bridge.

The Kentucky Law Enforcement Council has created the military to law enforcement or into l e program.

It's a goal to transition members of the military into Kentucky's law enforcement agencies.

We have great candidates in our military that have excellent training.

They have got skills, they've got great ability.

And why not capitalize on that and bring them back into our local communities?

I think it's a great resource for us.

The military to law enforcement programs had a huge impact on our organization and allowed us to identify a very qualified candidate from the military who has had stable employment, has made the commitment to his country, and he wanted to get back into serving his community when he got out of the military.

So that program has been hugely beneficial to us in the regards that we were able to find a candidate quickly.

The first thing to do is begin the application process, which I began all the way back in June of 2022.

That was actually military police in the United States Army.

So my day to day activity was your standard patrolling investigations, you know, car accidents, domestic violence, things of that nature.

So I kind of fit the role.

Training was everything that we have done thus far in the U.S.. JT I've done something similar, if not the same in the military as well.

So when that military person, they decide that they want to be a law enforcement entity, they find an agency.

The agency agrees.

They sign a contract and that individual.

Once approved by the military, will start a basic academy at the Department of Criminal Justice Training.

That individual would attend the 20 weeks and while attending, is actually still a military active duty military personnel and paid by the Department of Defense.

We were able to save some money while he was at the academy because he was still in the military while he was there as he was preparing to depart the military.

And then it also allowed us the ability to get him into the academy much faster than typically would have happened.

So he was basically fast tracked because of that program.

So that saves the money that an agency would have to spend to send somebody to the academy.

And that's equivalent to anywhere from ten, 15, $20,000 depending what agency they're with currently there.

With the number of academies that that are being run.

It takes about at least three or 4 to 5 months to get somebody through the process.

If you're in into early, we can do it in in no more than 45 days.

So it's a very, very quick turnaround.

Well, I think that it's a great solution to some of our recruiting challenges that we have, not just here in Kentucky or in Taylor Mill, but across the country.

They clearly have a desire to serve.

They've been in the military.

They leave the military in great standing, and they want to continue that service to their communities to their state, to their county, wherever they may end up.

And it's a great opportunity for them to bridge over into back into civilian life and continue to be in that service capacity.

It's definitely very cool and it provided me a super good opportunity because I was able to get the steady foundation of a career immediately following getting out of the military, which a lot of soldiers have a hard time doing with that transition window.

I've been doing law enforcement for the past five years, so I'm kind of staying in my niche, so to say.

But it provided me the opportunity to make sure that not only am I not going to be unemployed getting out, but my family is going to have a steady income.

Logan Herzog is one of the first veterans to be recruited through the program.

He said that working in the tailor mill police department is a lifelong dream.

Bourbon County Schools is participating in a new statewide program that encourages students to read and study math during the summer break.

Summer Boost is derived from Kentucky's summer feeding program, which provides free meals to students at various location sites.

Which do you read?

Any time somebody doesn't do something for a while.

You know, you just get rusty at it.

And school is no different.

When there is an absence of practice and repetition.

You just get a little bit rusty.

One of the things that elementary teachers do, especially those that are focused on reading, they have to assess where the kids are after a summer.

And so any teacher can tell you that students that haven't had access to reading or supports academic supports over the summer are further behind.

What's really been interesting to see develop is in addition to the summer feeding programs that schools are often offering, they've also thought about ways that they can offset some of the loss and literacy that happens during the summer.

So they're using these opportunities for people to students to come into schools, get free lunches and get connected with books and literacy programs.

So kids are going home with books.

They're taking the opportunity to read books while they're here.

They have the support of teachers and other resource specialists that are here at the school to help them gain more literacy over the summer and stop that summer slide that we typically see.

Katie.

They.

They provided over a thousand books that could be taken home with our children that belong to the children, not to school.

These books are to be put in the hands of the children, read here and then encouraged to read at home.

Katie We're looking at what books are appropriate grade level for different students.

We're dealing with a lot of elementary kids here, so we think about what's the sort of like style range or what's the reading level that that student is at.

And then how do we provide a variety of books where students can progress from whatever reading level they're at and then also start working the more complicated books, start getting fewer pictures, more words and more complicated words in in the reading that they're doing.

We hope that this program that involves math and reading does is maybe alleviate or eliminate some of that summer slide so that when the children come back between grade levels, maybe from second to third grade, that that transition is not as much catch up as it is ready to go ahead and challenge them and move forward.

So the more those students come in to school on grade level, on track, it's less of that catching up work that teachers and reading specialists have to do.

And we can accelerate kids forward from that point.

So the more we can mitigate that summer reading loss, when kids come back in August, the better off in the trash.

Okay.

And how many people?

Commissioner Glass says that students lack support for access to books, but this program reaches students from all backgrounds.

We end tonight with a nice honor for a former University of Kentucky football coach and his wife.

The playing surface inside the Nutter Field house is now named after Rich and Karen Brooks.

It's an indoor practice facility used by UK athletes.

Rich Brooks was UConn's coach from 2003 to 2009.

He took over a program on probation and turned it into a program that went to four consecutive bowl games.

He calls the new name a wonderful honor and says he's very grateful.

This is not the first honor like this for Coach Brooks.

He also has a field named after him at the University of Oregon, where he also wants coach to.

Congrats to him.

Join us again tomorrow as we check in with public radio journalist Ryland Barton about the week's developments in Kentucky.

Politics and the fine arts can sometimes feel both exclusive and inaccessible to those outside of the field.

And sometimes it's confusing and sometimes you don't get it.

But that's like a lot of things.

And the more you engage, the more you get coming up tomorrow, an exhibit at the University of Kentucky has found a way to bridge the gap between artist and audience.

We hope you'll join us for that story and more on Kentucky Edition tomorrow night at 630 Eastern, 530 Central, where we inform, Connect and Inspire.

We hope you'll subscribe to our email edition newsletter each week and watch full episodes and clips there.

And you can also find us on the PBS video app on your mobile device and smart TV.

I'm Renee Shaw, and I will see you right back here again tomorrow night.