♪ >> My wife and I were watching the news watching the speeches this unfold and we're horrified by.

We still are.

>> We're hearing from Kentucky's junior senator as the nation reels from an assassination attempt on the former president.

>> Well, life just went on.

And I said this struggling community needs this type of service.

>> To KET the lights on in the coal fields.

Some are going green.

We want to start.

Thirdly, we want to focus on prevention and we want expand access.

And we're talking breaking down barriers when it comes to mental health treatment.

As we take you on the road to Owensboro.

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

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

The 15th, I'm Kelsey Starks in for Renee Shaw.

Republicans meeting today in Milwaukee have nominated former President Donald Trump to be the party's nominee for president.

And Trump has picked U.S..

Senator JD Vance of Ohio as his running mate.

All of this comes as Kentucky lawmakers react to Saturday's assassination attempt on former President Trump in Pennsylvania today.

U.S.

Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky made several scheduled stops across Southcentral Kentucky.

His first this morning was at the VFW Post in Colombia.

The seat of Adair County Paul says while spirited discussion is necessary in politics, there should be a rejection of violence.

He says President Joe Biden needs to change his rhetoric.

>> I think it's great that he's calling for unity and calling last pitcher all but calling former President Trump's threat to democracy is in itself inciting people to commit violent.

Think about it.

If you're a threat to democracy, are a threat to the free world.

That's where we're going.

We just dropped.

Harris, what do we do with that threat?

They're taken down So every time they go on television and say that President Trump for President Trump is a threat to democracy, that is them suddenly stirring the pot.

>> Now Trump has also said President Biden is a threat to democracy.

Senator Paul says he's not attending the RNC but will be traveling around Kentucky instead.

Governor Andy Beshear said this on social media, quote, britainy and I are praying for the safety and health of the former president violence is never the answer.

Never, unquote.

As we mentioned earlier, Republicans are meeting in Milwaukee nominating former President Trump this afternoon.

U.S.

Senator Mitch McConnell spoke for the Kentucky delegation and there was a mixture of applause, but also some boos as he spoke.

Take a look.

♪ ♪ >> The proudly down 42 votes and the next president.

♪ >> President Trump and Senator McConnell have had a strained relationship at times.

McConnell has said Trump was responsible for the January 6th 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

McConnell did endorse Trump for president earlier this year.

>> Well, today, July 15th, many new laws passed by the Kentucky General Assembly.

Take effect our Toby Kemp's looks at what's now on the books.

>> Lawmakers filed more than 1000 bills during the 2024 regular session of the Kentucky General Assembly.

More than 200 became law and are now in effect, including House Bill 5, a sweeping Republican backed anti-crime bill.

Among the changes it makes to Kentucky criminal law.

It puts in place a new 3 strikes rule for repeat offenders makes carjacking a Class B felony and classify selling are providing fentanyl to a person who dies from an overdose as manslaughter.

The most controversial piece of the bill, a provision allowing police to charge people for camping on streets, sidewalks and other public grounds.

Democratic lawmakers called the bill too costly.

It said it would worsen jail overcrowding and criminalize the poor and homeless supporters of the bill said it was time to take a tougher approach to crime.

>> We really don't know what makes us safe, but we do know what justices and when someone carjacks a car and there's no consequences for some, it's camping out in your front yard and there's no consequences are people are ruing your neighborhood open drug use and things like that.

That causes a community to spiral down fewer than half of Kentucky's counties even have a homeless shelter.

We are requiring the enforcement of the law that essentially criminalizes the act of being homeless.

>> The solution is not criminalization.

The solution is more housing.

Another tough on crime bill that is now law Senate bill 20.

>> Allowing children 15 or older to be tried as adults if they're charged with a felony.

That involves the use of a firearm.

The white horse racing and gaming are regulated in Kentucky changes with Senate bill 299.

It moves the regulatory functions of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission to the independent Kentucky Horse Racing and Gaming Commission is now oversees horse racing and breeding and all gaming in the state.

The General Assembly and not the governor gets final say about artwork and statues that go in the state capitol as House Bill.

513 takes effect.

You now need to provide identification to prove your 18 or older to access websites with adult content rather than comply with the new law.

The adult website Pornhub took itself offline and Kentucky House Bill 278.

Also increases the penalties for human trafficking offenses.

And for those in a position of authority convicted of a sex crime Senate Bill, 74 known as the Momnibus bill aims to improve maternal health care and Kentucky which has the 6th highest maternal death rate in the country.

Some parts of it are scheduled to go into effect next year and some now, including requiring state Medicaid coverage for lactation consultation, breastfeeding equipment and digital health services related to pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period.

Kentucky currently requires drivers to slow down and move over for first responders.

Highway crews tow truck operators and other roadside workers, Senate bill 107, expands that to include any disabled vehicles displaying emergency signals, according to Kentucky State Police over the past 5 years.

>> 32 people were killed while either leaving or approaching their vehicles.

And 16 people were killed in crashes.

Well, changing tires or performing other work on their vehicles.

>> Other laws now in effect, House Bill 100 allowing homeless people to get a copy of their birth certificate without having to pay fees.

Craft distillers can cut out the middleman and sell up to 5,000 gallons annually of spirits.

They distilled directly to retailers and called gets caught as the official state mineral and becomes the official state rock, which is geologically, correct.

Cao site now takes over as the state's official mineral for Kentucky edition.

I'm Toby Gibbs.

>> Could the state's biggest school system be up for an overhaul?

A legislative task force is looking into it and that task force met for the first time today.

We hear from some of the members in tonight's Legislative update.

>> We want to look at the facts.

Data, knowledgeable opinions in solutions.

We're here to help.

And I know, you know, that's like Ronald Reagan say that said that's the worst thing you want to hear yours or from the government and we're here to help.

But we seriously, that's what we're here far first and foremost, as you know, I sat here at this table several months ago and was not necessarily.

>> A fan are in favor of this commission.

For a variety of reasons.

However, in the end, just like all the other audits we've had during my time and we will take this is that type of thing.

We take positives out of every single audit.

>> No action was taken today.

That can only happen when lawmakers are in session.

That's early next year.

The task force includes lawmakers JCPS educators and parents, teacher Union representative at Louisville City Council member state Auditor, Allison Ball and a school choice advocate who runs a private Christian school in Shively legislative staff chose these members last week.

Louisville public media reports lawmakers weren't informed of who applied.

The Kentucky Center for Economic Policy delivered a report on the potential impact of amendment 2.

That's the school choice ballot measures that Kentucky voters will decide on this fall if passed.

Amendment 2 would allow state funding to be used for charter schools and other non public educational centers.

>> Amendment 2 would dramatically overturned Kentucky's constitutional commitment to public education.

It would suspend 7 sections of the Constitution.

>> And it would undermine the requirement that adequate and equitable state funding of public education by allowing that mandate to be met by also funding private education.

We're in education outside of the system.

The common schools.

Hearing Kentucky, while 90% of kids go to public schools, there are 15,000 children currently rolling private school and nearly 40,000 their home school.

Providing vouchers to those families based on the typical costs about trees and other states would cost hundreds of millions dollars annually.

Nearly half of Kentucky counties have no problem.

Schools at all.

And the majority of existing private schools are clustered in just 3 counties.

Jefferson it in Canton.

80% of Kentucky private schools are in just 8% of the state's zip codes.

>> The majority of our funding comes from state sources.

And as you get into the more were all the more level socio economic, the lower to a more land poor districts rely more heavily on these state revenue for schools.

>> as it's been, >> you know, described here, the vast majority of these vouchers would then be allocated to students and would be with a move that money from these rural communities into the more urban areas of Lexington will.

And in northern Kentucky, the average household income of a private school failing Kentucky's $148,000 a year far exceeding the income of the typical public school household.

>> There's no regulation to both the private and to the home schools.

Anybody can just there's educational requirements.

There's there's there's no background.

There's no accountability to these the schools, but that if a system is creating where vouchers could not only get the state is going to private schools, but they also got home school.

Imagine you take a low-income family with Reese, Theresa checked, you school-age children and you offer them $5,000 a year to homeschool their children.

That could be $15,000 a year.

In cash money.

>> The family to not educate their children are not that those children into school.

>> However, some school choice advocates say that the amendment wouldn't officially set any policy regarding charter school funding.

It would just give the General Assembly that ability.

We talked about it with 2 guests on our Kentucky tonight program on June 10th.

>> All this does it takes the handcuffs off and it says the legislation that gets to make these decisions, the people get to make these decisions.

If this amendment passes and a one, nothing changes of that means is that the legislators, it things change in the since the legislators get to make decisions but nothing changes in terms of public policy.

That's up for the legislators to the side.

I think that some of the jurisprudence in Kentucky history has kind of strayed from the original understanding of sections.

1, 2, 3, 1, 4, 86.

What this what this amendment does is it says no matter what the section say, no matter what the sections might restrict.

We're now going to allow the legislators to make policy has been public money on on whatever school they won't let common schools, public charter schools, whatever educational programs they want.

This brings us more into line with other states as well that have wide ranging educational freedom opportunities.

I think what we can do is really doing outstanding job with the policy, the creation of school choice policy by looking at whether states what's worked and what hasn't worked there.

This will this will allow a full debate to take place.

>> With legislators knowing that whatever they pass, it's not necessarily going to get stopped in court because of constitutional issues.

It's really like a it's like a Bush hog.

I wrote this in a column recently talked to Bush hog kind of clearing the way for that debate to take place.

>> You can see that full program online on-demand, akt Dot org Slash K white tonight.

You know the sad news tonight from Lexington, the Catholic diocese says father Norman Fisher died while on sabbatical in Delaware.

Either died the night of July 14th or the Morning of July 15th.

A special mass is planned for tonight at 7 o'clock at Saint Peter Claver Church.

With that look.

♪ It was 2 years ago this month when Eastern Kentucky experienced historic flooding.

Some homeowners in the coal fields are rebuilding with clean and affordable energy in mind as Kentucky additions June Leffler reports in this weather and climate report, a nonprofit out of Whitesburg is helping residents KET up with rising electricity costs by fitting their homes with solar panels.

>> This shallow creek rose to new heights in the flooding of 2022, which devastated more than a dozen eastern Kentucky counties.

The collateral damage included, lowest Thompson's home.

>> The floors start popping up worse.

>> And it just.

>> But the home they're long and I looked up and it looks like my ceiling to work.

>> Stated crop and now.

So I mean, the wind and the long haul.

I want to be able to live in.

>> The non-profit homes is building a new house on the same site as her old house.

>> I never want to live anywhere, but here.

I was born here.

Like my fast, too, used to that year.

>> Holmes gets people into houses of their own for affordable prices and with affordable energy bills.

>> But the utility costs can alone make a house not affordable.

>> Lows Thompson doesn't complain about her previous like bills.

Those rigs cheap enough because she's conservative in her usage.

She knows how to make do this summer.

>> I he fall, but in one I didn't read he found out that couldn't afford that out of so I would allow my front room from the rest of the half and that's the West.

A little.

>> Now she won't have to go without her new home construction in HVAC system are energy efficient and on the roof are solar panels to supply the power she needs.

>> That energy bill should be $21.50 a month.

And when you're on a fixed income and having a new home built, that's a big deal that helps make that home affordable from this loss.

>> I worry about that.

and >> Because with the solo families, then I can do that.

>> Holmes is sold on solar, but it wasn't always that way.

>> In the coal fields we have enjoyed for many generations.

Very, very low rates of energy.

Why is that?

It's because a call the Coles mind here are electric was made by coal and our prices were low.

>> Not so much anymore as the coal industry has declined.

Power companies have struggled and pass the buck to their customers.

The state report shows eastern Kentuckyian served by Kentucky Power Pay the highest electricity costs in the state averaging $188 a month.

That company has sought rate hikes to KET itself profitable while customers have pushed back.

>> With the increased price of electricity.

We have people who who their electric bills are going through the roof and at the same time there, they don't have much money to work with their poor people and poor In as a whole pay a disproportionate amount of their income for their heat.

and cooling.

>> In 2019 homes got its own solar system.

It was so cost-saving that Seth Long KET his neighbors in Letcher County could use solar too.

>> The light just went on.

And I said this struggling community.

I'm trying to pull out you know, the collapse of the coal industry needs this type of service here.

And we've we've we build things we put together.

Things were construction company.

We can figure this out.

>> Holmes install solar for businesses and homeowners in its region, including 5 net 0 energy homes like Lois Thompson's home, but hundreds more homes in Kentucky's Eastern and Western disaster.

Regions could be fit for solar.

Thanks to the federal solar for all grant.

>> So we will work with our disaster housing partners.

To grant them funds where they can then go back and add solar.

Plus storage and was storage.

Because we don't want these homes to ever be in a situation where they're without power again.

So it's their own backup power system.

And adds resilience to those disaster homes.

>> The state is set to receive 62 million dollars from the Environmental Protection Agency this fall for Kentucky edition.

I'm John Leffler.

>> The solar for all grant isn't just going to disaster homes.

It will also help low-income folks in urban areas get solar panels to and it will prop up community solar programs.

That's something we'll show you later this week right here on Kentucky EDITION.

♪ Continuing our coverage from Owensboro.

I had the chance to sit down with Doctor Wanda Figaro, upper all to the CEO of River Valley, Behavioral Health River Valley is a regional mental health center that offers more than 35 treatment programs across 7 counties.

In fact, it's the only mental health center in the region that also operates a hospital for children with mental health needs.

We talk about the need that access and some of the solutions as we go on the road to Owensboro.

I know that that access has been a real a goal of yours since coming on in 2018.

>> And you all have made some great strides to improve that Tell us about some of those things that you're doing to remove the barriers to this type of health care act first, I have to recognize the prevalence of mental needs in our community.

>> And have of the individuals that need mental health services to not get them.

I and I we want to change one.

If cook with type individuals in the United States have a mental health issue, I haven't meant health it.

And in this and 50% of chronic take or or money faced before someone is 14 years old.

So we want to start early.

We want to focus on prevention and we want expand access.

So some of the initiatives that we developing the as 6 years is that we have implemented the Rio more live mental health crisis team.

24 with access to clinicians and psychiatry is a peer support specialist that will go whatever the person is needed.

And so instead of 3 line in law enforcement to attend mental health needs and mental health of any family member.

We're doing mental illness by providing immediate care and at the same time we are supporting the work of a first responder.

This is one of many initiatives that we have implemented in the last 6 years.

Is in the last 12 months.

We have opened a at clinics or sober, naming housing programs.

So we want to make sure that we offer mental health at throughout the spent a lifespan in and focusing on special populations like moms, a pregnant that have such a difficult time accessing services.

And another thing I just told you, I drove by.

>> I the Crown care unity resource enter.

This is brand-new.

Tell us about what what that is and what it's all about.

We open services at the crown last October at the Crown is an the Senate building in Owensboro.

>> So we know that everyone, if we say we're offering services that the crown, they're not going to be asking.

Where is that?

Everybody knows where the crown is.

And and this is a testament both our desire to provide access to services with no so people knowing where to go, it's across the judicial center and people when they go to the Jersey Shore center there either and looking for some type of because they're being the victim of a crime or they have been the perpetrator as we take an adjustment, but rather enhance safety in the community and wellness.

So having that is improving access to services.

We have a oneness library at the Crown.

and wonderful library for shoulder in teachers can come in and check out books and materials and curriculums.

They could any person that is walking shopping that can stop by is in and ask questions to therapies about the resources that have been that it I know there important things that we're doing at the crown is that we have connectors navigators that help individuals get services in the community, not just for mental health services for things that support they're well, NASA such as housing employment and older services that are available not only through 35 programs by the community, at the partnerships that we have with other providers, leverage those resources are for individuals.

>> River Valley also recently opened a treatment program specifically for pregnant or new mothers dealing with substance abuse.

It provides assistance and housing for these families for up to 2 years.

Thanks for a 2.5 million dollar federal Grant River Valley is one of 19 providers in the country that received grant money for a program of this kind.

♪ >> Kentucky's oldest radio stations signed on.

>> 102 years ago this week, it was also the week.

Kentucky's pro basketball team heard the final buzzer.

Our Toby gives has all of that and much more in this week in Kentucky history.

♪ >> Former first lady and Lexington native Mary Todd Lincoln, 9 in Springfield, Illinois, on July, 16th, 18, 18 to 17 years after her husband's assassination.

Just like it was 63 years Blue Moon of Kentucky, a song from the father rest Bill Monroe became the official bluegrass on July 15, 1980, when Rohit first performed the song on the Grand Ole Opry in the first recorded >> on 7/15/1994.

The state chose the tulip poplar to be the state tree.

Placing the Kentucky coffee tree State Rita previous 18 years.

The Kentucky colonels of the American Basketball Association.

All that on July 17, 1976.

As the league itself collapsed, although it had the best record of any ABA team during its 9 seasons and colonels were not masked to join the NBA has some other.

Maybe 8 teams global Slugger Museum opened on July 17, 1996.

It's on the world's largest bat and 120 feet long.

And 68,000 pounds, the museum had more than 300,000 visitors in Kentucky's first commercial radio station, said Mobile signed on the air on July 18, 1920, to some point.

If all understand more, we have a signal that there are also reports that was just a random choice based on the radio station call letters available at the time with this week in Kentucky history.

>> I'm told begins.

>> We do hope you'll join us again tomorrow night at 6.30, Eastern 5.30, central for Kentucky Edition where we inform connect and inspire.

You can subscribe to our Kentucky Edition, e-mail newsletters and watch full episodes and clips.

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Have a great night.

♪ ♪