♪ >> And slay shun is off.

So why is the price of gas down?

>> These kids are on the case.

We'll check out a police academy for some very young rookies.

>> As soon as I sat in the airplane first, I was like, yeah, I can get used to this.

>> And one Kentucky school is training pilots and helping to fight a labor shortage.

>> Production of Kentucky Edition is made possible in part by the Kaye E T and Aument for Kentucky Productions.

Leonard Press Endowment for Public Affairs and the Kaye E Team Millennium Fund.

♪ ♪ Good evening and welcome to Kentucky EDITION for this Wednesday, July.

The 13th, I'm Renee Shaw.

Thank you.

>> For spending some of your evening with U.S.. Inflation just set another record.

It was 9.1% in June, the highest monthly number since 1981.

That means the things you buy on average cost more than 9% more than they did a year ago.

The inflation rate was up from 8.6% in May yesterday on the U.S. Senate floor, a minority Leader, Mitch McConnell blamed the inflation rate on President Biden, congressional Democrats and the early 2021 COVID stimulus payments.

>> Monmouth University released some data its mining why Americans?

Our feeling so sour?

42% of Americans are struggling to stay afloat financially.

That's the highest rate ever.

And those polls and to our history.

Even higher than the darkest day.

The days of the COVID pandemic.

63% of Americans name economic issues as the chief concern.

And they know who to blame for their misfortune.

President Biden.

And congressional Democrats.

Who plowed 2 trillion dollars into our economy last year and created the highest inflation.

And for decades.

>> President Biden says this is a global problem caused by COVID related supply chain problems and complicated by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Although inflation is off, the price of gas is down.

It's dropped from almost $5 a gallon in parts of Kentucky to below 4.50, in some places and below for 20 and others.

It's rare for the price of gas to drop in the summer.

We spoke to Laurie Weaver, Hawkins of Triple E of the Bluegrass about what you're paying at the pump.

>> We have gas prices start to tick downward, which is welcome news that before the 4th of July holiday.

Even it continues.

Right now or at right around before.

32 mark for Kentucky's average a little bit higher nationally, even though we had an increase in demand over the 4th of July weekend as we expected.

>> We still have seen those gas prices continue to decline.

The biggest factor has been that we've seen crude oil prices come down.

So they're hovering right around that $100 mark.

And that's actually about $20 less than we were seeing when we were seeing those peak prices and around Mid-June.

And so those crude oil prices really do have it.

>> A huge impact on what we pay at the pump.

What they're going to do next.

Hard to say.

Crude oil prices are >> impacted by geopolitical actions.

And so with the Russia-Ukraine war, we don't know what type of events going on in conjunction with that could affect crude oil prices.

Another factor to keep in mind is that we're in hurricane season in and we've seen how those hurricanes can wipe out refineries.

That can also impact crude oil prices.

And so that's another factor that we can't really have a crystal ball on.

>> You know, we're in the peak of summer travel.

We actually saw 4th of July travel come very >> near.

What we were seeing say in 2019 before the pandemic impacted travel in Kentucky >> there were U.S. light decrease in the number that we're taking one or more trips.

>> But not very significantly.

So those early in the spring pretty close.

I think there are about a 50% earlier in the spring said that they plan to take a summer a trip.

And when we report it was 46%.

So that's a big difference.

As far as people summer travel plans.

>> A group of Kentuckians want to Louisville, gas and Electric and Kentucky utilities to do more to fight climate change.

W FPL Public Radio in Louisville reports yesterday's Public Service Commission meeting included everyone from students to retirees calling for the utility companies to alter their 15 year plan.

The plan calls for less reliance on coal.

But coal would still represent half of the company's energy mix by 2020 2036, the group of about 2 dozen people said that plan is not adequate to meet the challenges the world faces.

The Kentucky Supreme Court removed a judge from presiding over cases involving Breonna Taylor shooting protests in Louisville in 2020 police shot and killed Taylor in her apartment as you'll recall, that prompted protests throughout Louisville leading to arrests.

The Supreme Court decided to Judge Joseph AME Buckner should not handle those cases.

WDRB in Louisville says it's because Buckner worked for an attorney who represented Taylor's family in a wrongful death suit.

The Jefferson County Attorney's Office also argued that Buckner had posted about the Taylor case on Facebook before becoming a judge.

More than 200 laws were passed by the state legislature earlier this year.

And most of them go on the books tomorrow in Kentucky.

Most new laws take effect 90 days after a general assembly session ends.

And that day is tomorrow.

Among the bigger laws, new requirements for people on Medicaid or food assistance programs.

They'll have to prove they're working, volunteering or performing community service.

Transgender girls from 6th grade to college will be banned from competing in girls and women's sports.

School districts will have to have a school resource officer on every campus by August.

But lawmakers didn't set aside money to help pay for it.

A new law will create a funding mechanism for charter schools and curriculum and personnel.

Decisions will shift from school based decision-making councils to superintendents.

That law also requires the teaching of 24 historically important documents.

Many of these changes are controversial and we'll discuss some of the new Kentucky laws with Rylan Barton of Kentucky Public Radio and Ohio Valley Resource.

Coming up.

And just a few minutes.

Frankfurt, you're getting a new transit center and parking garage.

Governor Andy Beshear and state and local leaders were there today to present the 6.75 million dollar check.

The transit center and garage are part of the redevelopment of the Capital Plaza Area.

5 and a half million is from the federal Transit administration.

1.2, 5 million us from the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet.

It will be a 300 space parking garage and a 5,000 square-foot transit center.

Governor Andy Beshear and first Lady Britainy Beshear were in Mayfield yesterday for another Christmas in July event.

As we told you last Friday, the shares were in Bowling Green to visit with children affected by the tornadoes last December.

Well, Santa was there to handing out toys.

There was a similar event today in Mayfield.

The toys given out are left over from a toy drive conducted just after the tornadoes.

>> I think what I want to do is just tell you what a little girl named Lily great.

And I know that she said with this point that she donated that maybe one is you all got.

What she said.

It's your people of Kentucky.

I know this month.

It's been rough for you all.

But I well miss you all things looking better.

If we all stick together and get through it.

I promise you that God will always be with you and never leaves your side.

Douglas, everyone and Merry Christmas.

Find Lily.

Well, I think that Lilly had no idea what that little bit of hope and sunshine is meant to so many people.

>> Indeed.

>> The toy drive netted more than 200,000 donations.

>> It was a record-breaking year for the Kentucky Lottery.

The Lexington Herald-Leader reports the lottery took in more than a billion and a half dollars from July of 21 to May of 2022, that's almost 86 million dollars more than the same time period a year earlier.

That's a 6% increase.

The final numbers for the year will be released Friday, July 22nd.

A Kentucky chef is still in the running on the Great American recipe and National cooking competition.

That airs right here on KITV.

>> We've got to go slower and we're going to have an explosion of flour.

So today, my number of food in white chocolate cranberry oatmeal creme pies.

Last week.

The judges are saying that I tried to do too much.

So going into this week, really something a little >> That's Brian Lee of Bowling Green looks good creator of some prize winning barbecue sauces.

The show started with 10 chefs, 7 are still left.

And Brian is one of them.

You can see the Great American recipe Fridays at 9 eastern and central right here on KATC.

♪ Time now for us to check in midweek, political check in with dry Lynn Barton, who is the managing editor of Kentucky Public Radio and Ohio Valley Resource.

Good to see your island.

Thank you for being with us again.

>> Its seat here So let's talk about the hundreds of laws that will go into effect on Thursday, a July 14th.

This happens 90 days after the session concludes many bills had an emergency clause on them, which meant they went into effect immediately upon passage.

But there are some significant ones that go into effect on Thursday.

Tell us about a few.

>> Yes, so about 234 laws passed during this legislative session.

And now we're ready for the rest of those to take effect.

Some of the big ones include House Bill 7, which tightens up or will eventually tighten up some Kentucky takes charge over.

so the food and the food assistance and also Medicaid benefits.

It directs the state's health cabinet to come up with rules to set up work requirements for a lot of these 2 different benefits.

A lot of this hearkens back to former Governor Matt Bevin's administration when he was really pushing to have up apply some of these work requirements and the legislature really want him poses some of that immediately towards the end of the session.

They soften a lot of this will be delayed over the course of the next months or years as long it because it's up to Governor Beshear's health cabinet to set a lot of the rules for this.

Another one is a charter schools funding bill.

A charter schools have been legal in Kentucky for the last couple years, but they've never been funded.

So now that this has happened, it directs local school districts to fund them local authorize or approve them in their It also requires the creation of charter schools in Louisville and in northern Kentucky.

So this will definitely be happening happening.

It will be interesting to see those roll out of Senate Bill.

One, another education related Bill.

This one, there's a lot of different elements to It started out as a bill that shifts power away from local school based decision-making councils to local superintendents.

This is also the bill that added on the charter so-called critical race theory elements requiring a setting requirements for how teachers talk about race and U.S. history in the classroom.

And then at the end of the legislative session, they also added this element basically makes Louisville the Jefferson County Public Schools, superintendent right now, Marty Pollio, much more powerful and making decisions for the district.

A COVID judge actually struck down that portion just yesterday.

Republican leaders of the legislature say that they will appeal live.

That judge struck down.

It struck that part down saying that have special legislation because it singles out just a little school district.

>> And we also know speaking of education issues, school resource officer.

So back in 2019, when that school safety and Resiliency Act was passed, there wasn't a lot of funding.

Wasn't any funding attached to it.

But now this school resource officer provisions are really been beefed up requiring schools to have a resource officer on every campus or in every building and did not make funding provisions for that correct?

>> Right there.

it's still lacking some of It's still a little bit of an unfunded So it does mandate school districts to do it.

If they can afford it over, there's going to be a lot of school districts who can't the backstop for legislators pass where it says that, OK, if you can't, then come to us, come to the It's a school safety Marshall, cool.

Look at those and then come up with a plan to try to fund this.

I talked to some lawmakers earlier this summer and they'd say that they're they want to find some funding for this.

They do want to strengthen this that supposed to start in August.

So this is really coming up.

This is something that would be happening for the upcoming school year.

And a lot of school districts are going to be thinking about those of funding provisions.

>> Speaking of funding, some good budget numbers, budget surplus numbers were reported this week.

So tell us about where we stand.

>> Right.

This is the supposed to be the largest growth of a year-over-year for revenue of for the state.

14.6% of the largest growth in 31 The state that will have a budget once they finally close the books in a couple weeks, it's looking like it's going to be around 900 million dollars.

This is something that lawmakers were planning on.

They knew that something like this was going to happen around a billion dollar surplus.

So they've already made some budgetary decisions around this to of by cutting the income tax and laying a plan to cut even further in the This but this is definitely a big financial when of now there's a little bit of this battle between a Republican lawmakers who you have been sending a lot of this fiscal policy over the last year 2 years.

And Governor Andy Beshear, who's been the executive of the state for the last couple years and over who gets to make first over these winds?

>> Yes, and we reported on that.

They both are trying to lay claim to those winds.

Let's talk real quickly about a minute and a half about one law, but a judge has blocked and it pertains to the governors executive authority making appointments to the fix.

A commission.

>> Yeah, this is the latest attempt to kind of ship some power away from Governor Andy Beshear and towards Republican officials are leased offices that are currently held by Republicans in Kentucky.

The governor would no longer have a control, a majority of appointees to that Executive Branch Ethics Commission under this law.

However, that has been blocked by a judge like a lot of laws that deal with the power and then that between the branches of government, it will likely be appealed all the way up to the state Supreme Court.

And that's when we will get final resolution over it.

>> Well, thank you, Ron Barton, for of course, breaking it down for us midweek here on Kentucky addition, it's good to see you.

Take good care.

♪ >> The United States is facing a pilot shortage of the major airlines like Delta and United need more than 1500 new pilots a year to meet demand.

One of Kentucky's college is helping to address that shortage.

Eastern Kentucky University's aviation program is teaching students how to fly.

And our Casey Parker-bell took to the skies to see how.

>> It's not a view.

Every college student gets to see Eastern Kentucky University from above.

You can use aviation program is ground control for teaching new pilots and they're helping address a nationwide shortage.

There's demand for the airlines to have pilots.

>> But the pool of eligible people is starting to draw down.

Commercial airline pilots are forced into retirement at 65 years.

Old.

This is causing an exodus from the profession and a need for replacements.

Major airlines, the adult, those United's.

Etcetera, are are going to need between 1500 to 1000 pilots every year for the foreseeable future.

>> So, you know, I'm just saying, where are they coming from?

And we're fortunate to hopefully be able to fill that void.

>> You can use aviation program has been around for 40 years.

It's expanded in the last 5 and demand is growing.

The program now has more than 300 students and they expect their largest freshman class ever this spring.

♪ But the entire aviation industry is facing staffing issues.

>> Not just for pilots.

What you have to think is.

>> For every set of flight crew members.

There are dozens of people that support that one single flight.

>> As far as anybody getting a job in aviation, I don't think that there is a better time right now to find a job.

>> BK use aviation school has 4 concentrations professional flight management, aerospace technology, and unmanned aerial systems or drones.

Make sure your flaps or a pure mixtures full rich in your frontal full.

But the fight program draws the most attention UK, you help students learn with computer-based flight simulators.

Instead of wasting it a day where you couldn't fly, you can come in here and do the exact same things.

They're set up exactly like the plane's students learn when you reach for handle.

It's exactly like a cockpit.

It's just like the real down to the measurements.

They even named the simulators.

It's like a computer-based top gun and for students, it's less expensive than getting a real plane.

I was my first flight.

You know, the plane shaking like this, the whole entire white knuckling it.

And so.

>> I figured out about this place.

And I came in here and I I spent 4 hours in here my first day.

And I just got down my sight picture landing.

And then the next day I came 5 structure.

She was like she's like, have you flown a plane before?

She's like you're completely different student.

And it was because I'd spent so much time in here.

It's free for the students.

So, you know, when a plane you're spending $200 an hour to fly it at the Central Kentucky Regional Airport just outside of Richmond.

>> Students get to put their new skills to work.

They learned with instructors before flying on the ground.

Luke Besler had just completed his first solo flight.

A big deal for new pilots by name.

>> Literally knowing nothing in the fact that I'm doing this year today.

>> It's pretty obvious after their first solo flight, pilots have the back of their shirt removed.

It symbolizes the trust and instructor has a new pilot.

>> by 1, 8, >> We take people who may have never been in an airplane before in their life.

And by the time we get done with them, they're flying multi engine airplanes and teaching other people how to fly.

>> The program's director says new pilots leave the program with job offers of more than $70,000 a year.

>> But even with the solid job prospects, one he k you graduate says flying is about something more.

When you get up there and every day and find a different place every single day.

>> It's just it's Really is for Kentucky edition.

I'm Casey Parker-bell.

That's pretty cool.

>> They can't yet driver vote.

But this week, some kids in Bowling Green are solving crimes and they're attending the junior police Academy learning what it takes to work in law enforcement.

And as one current officer proves going to this academy mainly to wearing a badge some years later.

>> All we know is dads.

He read from the crime scene past college and main streets and the sergeants I get to like asked the witness the question, do I and that'll that.

>> Others like suspicious people around.

>> They are going to learn almost every position we have here from patrol officer, the bike Officer Motor Detective crime Friday.

They're going to meet with a judge.

They actually had a mock They're going to go explore the jail.

So it's just it's about letting the younger generation learn about law enforcement trying to get your act in it that are they?

>> The 64, I like that by early and there's the throw.

And then they have all the canine either my bag, the bikers >> the trolls.

>> Like for the you don't realize how much like cars go out and hi every second.

They're getting calls and that kind of stuff >> I myself was actually an junior police academy in 2007 when I was these the children's aid right now.

So if you get a young age, they get to learn about law enforcement.

So it's.

>> I'm very immersive for them.

So they don't just get to watch the TV crime shows on stuff like that on TV.

They actually learn what law enforcement does on a real base is not just a fun and running gun that they see on the TV.

>> Stick that in person.

>> was pretty and kept it and lying about it.

All the crimes and theft that happened.

>> We have more I like to bring >> So yeah, coming this way.

>> I want to be a CSI just like on TV and then a lot about junior police academy.

And I did that when I was younger.

And when I did that and allow me to see what law enforcement action was.

So 3 jpa actually come explore and then a cadet.

And now an officer so that it helped me tremendously doing the junior police Academy.

♪ >> As a child, Kentucky native David Farmer was always drawing.

He would eventually go on to attend our school and honed his skills as an artist.

But he put his passion on hold to serve his country during the Korean War.

Now in his 80's farmer is an artist in residence at the Arts Centre of the Bluegrass Nature and old buildings are his subjects and he is the subject of this week's Tapestry.

Our weekly look at arts and culture around the state.

>> Now that way to dry.

Back when I grew up in the 50's and 40's.

That's been a lot of time just copying and they're going haven't had a copy magazine.

Illustrations know.

Popular magazines used feature some good art on their Norman Rockwell and the people of that period.

And they were beautiful.

I spent my formative years.

In fact, the stricken tech Corbin premiered.

>> So I believe that terrain is character.

Where you grow at it infuses 7 contests clear the way.

I've always been drown to that.

Well, with mysterious.

Pat beauty that even if they're so different and that the play should and joining the army, which was really not that dramatic move with the Times.

Its most are drafted, mentioned.

>> It was a few months later that and on a troop ship for Curry being in the military for 3 years, you're not at take.

Many are courses and especially in a country that fact that abandoned are now to get it in that period of time had been introduced open an art school.

So I knew it the fundamental for and then to give him an F one and really do this thing and what I like about the painting them.

There was bigger and movement could.

time.

If it's all up to me.

I knew a lot of the building that grew up around.

And over the years.

Uh, then.

Not above you watching BK.

Haha.

And what month with a cheerful.

When batting play, you see now in Kremmling at a fit things.

Well, almost organic as if it's coming right out of their faith being developed.

These trees, the hand of human create a narrative percent that make.

Also the contract is good.

We're breath were pictures.

You have this.

Then we learned of building.

And the color of some of contrast against the family.

If you were to do that Neymar at our rain, I think in fact that different yeah.

Want to be alone.

If they had a very busy.

One thing.

You have an atomic work at that.

You really got to why you can't be displays.

I read that someone if you never be said of Fat.

But I quote Robert can re he was then 20th Century.

Thank Richard.

If you said our does not really a way to make a living, that it's a great way to live a lie.

And I think >> well, David Farmer certainly is a life well lived and we're glad he returned to his passion of our history.

>> Young children in Kentucky are reading thanks to Dolly Parton, the Dolly Parton Imagination Library mails books to children, helping them learn to read before they start school tomorrow on Kentucky addition see how the program is taking off in one Kentucky County and why it's now gone statewide.

We hope you'll join us again tomorrow night at 6.30, Eastern 5.30, central for Kentucky edition where we inform connect and inspire subscribe to our weekly Kentucky addition email newsletter and watch full clips at KITV Dot Org.

You can also find Kentucky addition on the PBS video app on your mobile device and smart TV and follow Kto on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to stay in the loop.

Thank you so much for joining us tonight.

We'll see you right back here again tomorrow night to take your chair.

♪ ♪