It's official.

You're on the ballot.

Thank you.

Welcome.

Thank you very much.

Governor Andy Beshear has his running mate.

So what's the news about Daniel Cameron?

How's eastern Kentucky doing?

One year after the big floods.

Leadership experience is fine.

It's safe.

And changing the world one kid at a time.

And campers in Berea are learning much more than just arts and crafts.

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 18th.

I'm Renee Shaw.

Thank you for winding down your Tuesday night with us.

We've known for a while who's at the top of the gubernatorial ticket.

Now the number two slots are taking shape.

Big news about the Republican race for governor and lieutenant governor in a moment.

But first, the Democrats Lieutenant Governor Jacqueline Coleman, officially filed for reelection today.

And this was not a surprise.

She's already joined Governor Andy Beshear on the campaign trail this year after a change in the law.

Candidates for lieutenant governor must file separate paperwork.

Coleman was joined in the state Capitol Rotunda by her husband and daughter, plus her father, who served in the Kentucky General Assembly and former teachers and other supporters.

She says teachers should get a pay raise and that Kentucky shouldn't be number two in economic development while ranked 44th in teacher pay.

She was asked about her potential role as a second term lieutenant governor.

I'm very grateful for a governor that trusts me and that shares and shares and supports this responsibility in this administration with me.

And so the governor's always trusted me to lead on education issues.

He has trusted me to lead on rural economic development issues.

And I don't see any of that changing.

One of the things that actually became a priority that I did not anticipate becoming a priority was student mental health, because of the pandemic, particularly as we made our way through that.

And so I think you'll continue to see us show up.

You continue to see us work on issues that matter for people like education, health care, jobs and and will continue to be a great team.

Coleman is a native of Mercer County and worked as a teacher, administrator and coach before being elected lieutenant governor in 2019.

And it sounds like we'll know tomorrow who's running against Jacqueline Coleman.

In a press release, Attorney General Daniel Cameron says he will name his running mate tomorrow.

And we don't know who it is, but there are indications it is not.

Ryan Quarrels, quarrels as Kentucky's two term agriculture commissioner.

He came in second in the Republican primary for governor in May and has been mentioned as a possible running mate for Attorney General Daniel Cameron.

On WUKY Tees, Kentucky Newsmakers recently, Quarrels was complimentary about Cameron but said he would not be joining the ticket.

I know Daniel.

It was a friend.

He's great, man.

I'm not going to be on the ballot with him this fall.

And he earned the nomination.

So he'll name a running mate at his time in preference.

Organizers of the Fancy farm political picnic that happens the first weekend in August say Cameron's choice for a running mate, whoever it is, will be invited to speak at the picnic on Saturday, August 5th.

You'll see the fancy farm speeches in their entirety live exclusively right here on KCET.

A Kentucky lawmaker who fought for an independent Kentucky General Assembly has died.

Joe Wright was a Democratic state senator from Breckinridge County from 1976 to 1992.

He was majority floor leader from 1981 to 92.

The Kentucky Lantern writes that in 1978, Wright was part of a coalition nicknamed the Black Sheep Squadron that pushed for the General Assembly to be more independent from the governor's office.

Wright died Saturday in Louisville at the age of 82.

Leaders from the state transportation cabinet updated lawmakers today on cleanup efforts in eastern Kentucky following last year's devastating floods.

Cabinet officials said crews have been focused on repairing and replacing roads and bridges and debris removal and disposal.

Since the disaster, debris cleanup has been done in three phases, concentrating first on public right of way clean up.

Officials said more than 160,000 tons of debris was removed from public roads and property.

Crews also cleared more than 330,000 tons of debris from waterways.

The third phase, which is still going on, is a final right of way clean up with most of the debris coming from private property.

Deputy state Highway Engineer John Moore was asked what was being done about debris and waterways that has led to recent flooding in some areas.

The nuance with all of Kentucky's streams is that every stream in Kentucky has some sort of vegetation, debris load and the goal of this effort was not to to remove all the vegetative load.

With every storm, there's additional vegetation that falls into the streams that causes additional issues with the in the coordination of the experts that we have.

I am a no means an expert as far as how much is too much or too little in the waterways.

But using the experts that we did have, they concluded that at some point we had to stop and it at the mechanisms that we were using, it was also causing damages to the streams.

And so it was a balancing act between collecting as much debris out of the waterways as we could versus continuing to cause further harm to the to the streams and that and those efforts.

Now, there are especially with additional events, there's opportunities with in RC.

Yes.

What's the lack of them?

It's part of the Department of Agriculture.

There's funding available through the NRC to help remove additional debris from the waterways.

That may be an avenue to pursue as well.

Okay.

Moore told the committee more than $200 million has been spent on debris cleanup and removal from the flood.

Now we have more flooding news.

The Appalachian Regional Commission is giving Letcher and Perry counties $5.3 million to help with flood recovery efforts.

The money will go to water and sewer service and housing developments and, quote, high ground sites, areas that are supposed to be safe from future flooding.

More than 4 million of that is going to the Skyview Estates housing development and Perry County.

And that money will be matched with money from Eastern Kentucky Safe Funds.

What are Kentucky's energy needs now and in the future?

It's an important topic that affects your wallet.

And we talked about it last night on Kentucky tonight.

We began with a conversation about coal.

There is disagreement about why coal is on the decline in Kentucky.

And the president of the Kentucky Coal Association told us that coal is still vital to Kentucky's energy needs and that right now there is no practical substitute for it.

We understand that there's going to be a transition at some point in time for more energy sources.

But these are pretty complex issues and, you know, they can't be done overnight and can't be done just to score political points with anti-coal activists.

Simply put, green energy just isn't ready to power Kentucky's economy.

And that's what the activists are promising.

And it's just not possible.

Right now, there's a three year backlog of renewable energy projects with federal regulators before they can even begin construction on these renewable energy projects.

So frankly, we need policy, not platitudes, to solve our country's energy needs.

Market forces are why coal is no longer being turned to for new generation in Kentucky and why so much coal is being retired in Kentucky.

So with the market forces, with the cheap costs, the renewable energy, with all the benefits that renewable energy provides to the environment, to people's health.

It's really a no brainer to start bringing that more online.

Coal is going to be with us for some time.

Still.

We have some of our energy still being generated by coal in Kentucky, but we need to make plans to deal with this problem we're going to have with coal being more expensive and bringing more renewables online because they are cheaper.

You have to know that policy is huge right now and it is driving a lot of the decisions that are being made.

And if you look at the federal government, we have a variety of regulations.

You hear about greenhouse gases and climate change.

And there's a new proposed rule from the Biden administration that we will be commenting on in the next month or so.

There's all sorts of rules, mercury and air toxics, that transport rule.

There's that fluid limitation guidelines not going to go into any of those in detail, but they all impact how utilities operate their power plants.

And a lot of these regulations are creating increased costs on coal.

And at the same time, you have things like the Inflation Reduction Act that was passed by Congress that has significant incentives for renewables.

So that's driving down some of the cost of renewables.

And so you do have a marketplace, a market that is heavily influenced by policy at the federal level.

And I think that that's important to point out.

State Senator Danny Carroll of Benton and Western Kentucky is a strong advocate for increased use of nuclear power.

He says nuclear energy is much safer than it used to be, and he says it would be a benefit to areas of the state where coal is in decline.

It's important to remember that with nuclear, many of our coal plants in Kentucky that have been shut down these 11 since 2014, some of those are going to be eligible for conversion to nuclear.

And what that means is you can train the workforce that is in those facilities because basically to use the same facility, it's just instead of the coal being the the source or supplier of heat, it can be converted to nuclear.

The new reactor that's going in Wyoming, Bill Gates company, TerraPower, that's what they're doing there.

That will take the place of a coal plant and they will use the all of the other equipment that's there at facilities.

But it will just substitute the nuclear reactor for the coal burning furnace.

We have to be acting sooner rather than later on clean energy because of climate change.

We can't we wait as long as it might take to build a nuclear power plant.

We could take that money we invest in nuclear and invest it in efficiency and renewable energy technologies that we know work today just to move things along faster.

And I think one of the things that hasn't been discussed is efficiency and the potential to, you know, reduce the amount of electricity we need to produce in the state because we just are using less of it.

If we make robust investments in commercial residential industrial efficiency, that is a huge opportunity that exists in the state.

That doesn't get discussed very much, probably because that's not nearly as exciting as nuclear or solar or battery storage.

But, you know, leaving that opportunity on the table is, you know, taking money out of people's pockets and is something that could really benefit the workforce and every ratepayer in the state.

It was a broad discussion about everything from coal to nuclear to solar, wind power, hydro, electric and more.

You can see it online On-Demand, the full show at Katie Dawgs.

Okay y tonight.

Coffee lovers.

There's a barista strike in Louisville.

Spectrum News Wine reports baristas walked off the job yesterday at Sun Argus Coffee and a new Starbucks in the Louisville area.

The strike is part of a push for better working conditions, better pay and benefits.

Workers at both companies have complained about unfair labor practices, saying the companies are trying to stop them from joining a union.

Discussions continue about whether Kentucky should explore an illegal psychedelic as a possible treatment for opioid use disorder.

Last month, the Kentucky Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission announced it was considering setting aside more than $40 million to develop a treatment using a drug called Ibogaine.

The naturally occurring substance come from the comes from the root of an African plant.

During a public hearing yesterday, several doctors testified about their research into ibogaine and including Dr. Deborah Marsh, a neurologist at the University of Miami.

We will be able to prove in effective and well-designed clinical trials that this drug is transformative.

And the commission also heard from Jessica Blackburn, the Floyd County native, described her experience with opioids, her numerous failed attempts at rehab, and then her experience with ibogaine at a clinic in Mexico.

When the events of our beginning were off.

I got up from bed at a time that I should have been puking, covered in cold sweats and having intense cravings.

And for the first time in so many years, that thought did not enter my.

All I wanted was a banana and seeing how I move or in progress today, I did not have a single withdrawal symptom.

I didn't see it looking at myself in the mirror.

I also didn't want a cigaret.

I felt for me.

I felt gratitude and I felt thankful to God for the first time in years.

That suggests Brian Hubbard, who's executive director of the Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission, says he hopes Kentucky's research will lead to the FDA approving ibogaine as a treatment by 2029.

The commission's next public hearing is scheduled for September the 15th.

Now, this coming Monday night, Kate presents a town hall style program on the state's response to the drug crisis.

We hope you'll join us for disrupting addiction, a form that's going to air live Monday night at eight Eastern, seven Central.

You'll hear from drug recovery advocates, those in recovery providers and policy makers, including Brian Hubbard, who you just saw.

They're going to talk all about how Kentucky is battling the opioid epidemic.

That's Monday, July 24th at eight Eastern, seven Central.

We hope you'll join us for that very important discussion.

Now, also in Louisville, we have new details about the recent deaths of two horses at Churchill Downs.

Dale Yes, reports that Kimberley Dream did not have any prohibited drugs in her system.

She was euthanized after an injury to her left front leg on May 27.

Lost in limbo was euthanized a day earlier, also because of a leg injury.

The report says there were no illegal drugs in his system either.

Nine reports have been released on the 12 horses who died recently at Churchill Downs.

Business is booming.

At a Kentucky airport, police hold a successful fundraiser to benefit a wounded police officer and a Kentucky school system looks for ways to keep vaping under control.

Our Toby Gibbs has more.

And our Tuesday look at headlines around Kentucky.

A western Kentucky school system is cracking down on vaping by making it a criminal offense.

WQ Public Radio reports Under a new policy adopted last week by Christian County Public Schools, any student caught in possession of a vape on school grounds will be cited by law enforcement for drug paraphernalia.

If the vape contains a controlled substance, the student will also be charged with drug use, possession or distribution.

WQ said 255 students were caught with vaping products and 101 were caught with vapes containing a controlled substance at Christian County public schools last year.

The zero tolerance policy will take effect at the start of the new school year.

Hundreds gathered in Bowling Green last week for a fundraiser to benefit a police officer shot in the line of duty.

The Bowling Green Daily News said the Kentucky Fraternal Order of Police, along with vendors, organized the fundraiser for Officer Matt Davis, who suffered life threatening injuries in the shooting on July six.

The newspaper reports the fundraiser broke its goal of $50,000 hours before the event ended.

Sports teams may soon need a permit to practice or compete at parks in a northern Kentucky city link and why media reports the Erlanger City Council is considering an ordinance that would require any athletic team to obtain a permit from the city clerk, but only if the sport they play has an established field at the park, like a soccer field or a basketball court.

The proposed ordinance stems from a conflict involving residents living near a park where a cross-country running team practices, according to Link, and why the council is expected to hold a special meeting tonight on the ordinance.

Operations at the Madisonville Regional Airport have really taken off.

The Dawson Springs progress reports the airport has seen a 200% increase in takeoffs and landings since last year.

The airport underwent a $3 million rehabilitation project in 2022, with headlines around Kentucky.

I'm Toby Gibbs.

You know, a lot of us enjoy being outside during the summertime, but experts believe that Kentucky will continue to see an increase in tick bites and tick borne diseases.

Preventing tick bites is the first place is always the best line of defense.

But if you find one on you, our Kristie Dutton tells us what to do next.

Ticks are tricky, little suckers.

And try as we may, to avoid them.

If you live in Kentucky, that can be really hard to do, especially in the summer.

Joining us is Dr. Jonathan Larson, UK's Department of Entomology.

Jonathan, it seems like we're seeing a lot more ticks these days.

What's going on?

It sure does.

It feels like a part of the result of climate change, upticks in populations of deer and mice and more hosts for the ticks and all of that combined means that they're encroaching on urban and suburban areas and more people are getting bit.

So where do we need to protect ourselves from ticks?

Where where are we going and how do we and how do we do that?

I would encourage everybody to do a tick check whenever they come in from doing anything outside, even if it was just a short visit to the garden or if you were on a hike for the entire weekend.

Check some of the sort of tick spots on your body, behind your knees, your armpits, your groin around your waist and your hair, and just make sure that nobody is attached to themselves.

You can also wear DEET and other insect repellents.

It does help to keep the ticks and mosquitoes away from you.

And you can also tuck your pants down into your socks.

I know it looks a little nerdy, but it does cut off one of the main access points that they use.

Okay.

So checking patterns in the socks and wearing long pants probably right now.

Correct.

When I say tick season, you know, we think of spring and summer, but ticks that you can be bit by a tick year round, right?

Absolutely.

Kentucky is truly never free of ticks.

We can find ticks on any day above freezing in the winter months.

The black legged deer tick, which is the vector for Lyme disease, they're active through those winter months feeding on deer and people can encounter them as well.

The high tech season is kind of May, June or early July here in Kentucky.

That's when most people are going to be bit.

But yes, we're never truly free of these little bloodsucking parasites.

Okay.

So let's say you get home and you have a tick on you.

It's a test.

What do you do?

How do you get it off?

I would encourage people to get a pair of fine point tweezers and then grip the tick by its head, which will be closest to your skin, and then steadily pull straight out.

It'll be tough.

They have a specialized mouth that kind of anchors them in place, but you will be able to pull it out.

And then I would encourage you to save it, to put it in a little cup with alcohol and modify yourself for any symptoms if you feel feverish or like you have a flu.

If you develop a rash at the bite site, if you can go to the doctor and take the tick with you, they'll be able to identify the tick or send it to somebody like me.

And then we'll be able to figure out what pathogens you may have possibly been exposed to.

Okay.

When I was little growing up, sometimes we would pour alcohol on the tick when it before we pulled it out or put Vaseline over it.

Is that.

Do we need to do that or.

No, No, We don't want people doing that.

We I've heard I've heard lots of those kinds of remedies.

I've met people that for bourbon on their essential oils, I met one gentleman who used peanut butter instead of Vaseline.

We would encourage people to avoid doing that If the tick as plugged into you and you agitate it with those kinds of substances or fire, you can actually cause it to kind of vomit into you, which increases the possibility of disease transmission.

So pull it out, then dunk it and alcohol or smear it with Vaseline or whatever you want to do.

Curse its name down to Hades, but don't do it while it's plugged into your skin.

Some great information there for certain.

So tune in tomorrow for the second part of this discussion about the most common tick and Kentucky and the red meat allergy.

Its bite can cause a week long summer camp serving 48 kids between the ages of six through 13 is back in business after a three year hiatus due to COVID 19.

The Berea leadership experience is teaching campers and a less traditional way.

Conflict is a part of everyday life, and a lot of times we just like to avoid conflict as a way as our go to rather than actually trying to work through it.

And so we just feel like kids, especially if we can get them to make the commitment to try to work through their conflict and give them the tools they need to do that, then they can make a huge difference now.

And even as adults, if they have those skills under their belt.

Camp was inspired by a former professor at Berea College who passed away.

She had a vision.

She was a peace and social justice professor.

And when she passed, some folks got together and in her honor, created this camp focused on peace and conflict resolution.

He really tried to reach folks who traditionally maybe wouldn't go to a summer camp, but might benefit from one like this.

We're very neurodiverse and neurodiverse affirming.

So we have a high amount of students on the spectrum and we create an environment that hopefully they feel safe and supported.

The campers move through four different stations.

Mindful Movement is one of those.

They learn meditation, they do some yoga, they learn positive affirmations.

We have connecting with nature outside, where they're literally connecting with the earth.

Journaling about how to take better care of the world and themselves in the world.

And then we have conflict resolution where they're given real skills and scenarios to problem solve their own conflicts as they arise in their life.

And then we have media literacy.

So everybody knows the impact of social media learning how to navigate news, right?

Discerning.

Learning to discern how they want to present themselves.

I came to this camp for three years and now I'm back at a junior counselor, and I couldn't be happier to be here.

I started going to this camp and it was amazing.

I got to do yoga.

I got to learn how to solve conflicts, and I've taken those skills and implanted those into my school.

And now I get to help these kids and take them to their classes, learn with them as they're learning.

Braille Leadership experience is fun, it's safe and changing the world one kid at a time.

Oh, what a great idea.

The camp also has a mediation zone which gives kids the opportunity to work through their issues with the support of a camp leader.

Tomorrow is Wednesday, which means we'll catch up on the week in politics from Kentucky Public Radio's Ryland Barton.

And the Golden Age of Radio is alive and well in Berea.

There has failed and they are.

Golly, I can't believe this is like a museum in there.

But these aren't just museum pieces.

Meet the man who brings these radios back to life.

So don't touch that dial.

This is a story you'll want to see and hear tomorrow on Kentucky edition, which we hope to see you for at 630 Eastern, 530 Central on Kentucky Edition, where we inform, Connect and Inspire.

Thank you so much for joining us tonight.

Connect with us with all the ways you see on your screen, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram.

We're there.

Thank you so much again for joining us.

And I will see you right back here again tomorrow night.