>> We're generally was up for So people's lives being destroyed.

>> What one Graves County businessman did after the December tornadoes to help his neighbors put their lives back together.

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

The owner Preston down the public Affairs and the KETK Millennium Fund.

♪ ♪ Good evening and welcome to Kentucky EDITION.

Today is Wednesday, June 8th.

>> I'm Renee Shaw, your host.

Thank you for welcoming us in.

>> Kentucky will do more to help abused and neglected children.

Governor Andy Beshear joined lawmakers today in Louisville for the ceremonial signing of Senate Bill 8.

A bill passed by the Kentucky General Assembly.

That will mean more oversight of child abuse and neglect.

More rights for foster children and a greater effort to keep families intact.

The bill sponsor Sen Julie, Rocky Adams of Louisville discussed how Kentuckians will benefit.

>> I think that it expands the ability for family preservation services.

So we're able to connect with those families early before they end up in crisis, which is key to healing that family and keeping them Hall.

What Senate Bill 8 has accomplished that is fraught everybody together.

It's a great first step.

It's not the silver bullet.

So everybody in this room has to stay committed to the kids of Kentucky.

>> The Department of Health and Human Services says Kentucky was 5th among the states in 2020 for rates of child abuse and neglect.

College enrollment continues to drop.

Even with the pandemic.

Adding enrollment for undergraduates at post-secondary institutions dropped 4.7% in the spring semester.

According to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, our Casey Parker-bell asked Aaron Thompson, president of the Kentucky Council on Post-secondary education about Kentucky's enrollment and why young adults are turning away from continuing their education.

>> Doctor Thompson, thank you for doing this interview with us.

The reason we brought you here is because there's been a trend in the decline in post-secondary education enrollment.

Why are we having this trend?

Is this something we're seeing in Kentucky as well?

>> You know, there's a national trend and we're having a trend in Kentucky to proud to say it's not to speak or not.

It's the most.

It's a as what's happening nationally.

I mean, national were said about 4%.

The It looks like him and Kentucky over the last 2 years we've had about 3% decline in both are community technical colleges as well as or four-year institutions.

It is this.

>> Drop just pandemic-related or are there other factors that play into this?

>> Yeah, I was fit where I could just easily sales pandemic-related all the way it is partially pandemic related.

But I'm concerned that we also have this declining.

I national friends are telling us the same thing that people are saying maybe not as much you're going to college.

That's really problematic.

In the sense of the word.

Now, give you some latest in Kentucky has been steadily declining.

Not those that are in high school and graduating, but those are ever going to college or post a graduate.

I mean, in the last 5 years with the plan from like 57%.

All we discover there were about 47% of those graduating from high school going to college, which is very problematic.

As you all know, almost all jobs now require at least some post-secondary credential.

>> Thompson says getting the message out about the value of a post-secondary education is one way to combat falling enrollment rates.

And while undergraduate enrollment rates fell by almost 5% over the last year.

Graduate and professional school enrollment rates only fell by one Renee.

>> Thank you, Casey.

>> It's the largest proposed budget and University of Kentucky History.

UK is proposing to spend 5.6 billion dollars during the 2022.

23 academic year.

That's 537 Million.

More than this year, students would face a 2% tuition increase, meaning in-state students would pay an additional $124 per semester and UK employees would get raises totaling 17 million dollars.

The board of trustees will vote on the budget next week.

There are more supply shortages due to COVID this time in the healthcare industry.

Shortages of the dye needed to conduct a C T scans are forcing some hospitals to ration our Casey Parker-bell spoke to doctor Ashley Montgomery Yates when the University of Kentucky Hospital to see how they're responding to the shortage.

>> What is UK hospital doing to combat the shortage?

>> So, you know, initially I think we all were like, oh, we have enough, we'll be able to make it.

And then is that became very clearly not the case.

We begin to look at what are the things that we do that our emergent that are lifesaving that can't be done elsewhere.

That can't delayed it.

All right.

So if you're in a car wreck, you want to know that when you come to the trauma center that we're going to able to figure out where you're bleeding, if you're having a stroke, if you're a pediatric patient in need of some specific surgeries and there are some patients that are just being asking providers.

Could this wait until after this?

The crisis is over.

We've been told around July 1st and many of the providers said, oh, yes, that pace and it had that cats can ordered for 2 months.

I'm sure we could push it out a month.

And that would be OK, but save the contrast for the emergence things that we would needs, that we can make sure we take care of them.

>> When patients here, messages like that, can we push this back?

What should they be thinking?

Is there anything that should be concerned about?

>> So I mean, I think the only thing that they should be thinking is that we are really trying to be there when they need us for lifesaving interventions.

>> Facility manufacturing, the dies in Shanghai.

China was recently shuttered due to COVID lockdowns.

GE Healthcare which operates the plant says it should be producing the die at almost 100% capacity by the end of this week.

Drug overdose deaths are up in Kentucky.

Preliminary numbers from the Centers for Disease Control Show almost 2400 overdose deaths in 21 up from 2120 20, an increase of 13 and a half percent.

But that's a smaller increase than the previous year.

The numbers also say overdose deaths among black Kentuckians went up 117% from 2016 to 2020.

We'll discuss Kentucky's opioid crisis and what to do about it.

This coming Monday night on Kentucky tonight at 8 o'clock Eastern 7 Central.

U.S.

Senator Mitch McConnell is again defending America spending and helping Ukraine and its war with Russia.

Congress passed a 40 billion dollar aid package for Ukraine almost 3 weeks ago on the Senate floor yesterday, Senator McConnell said the cost to the United States and the world would be higher if Russia takes Ukraine.

>> It would put America's closest allies and trading partners.

One border closure.

Good on the product.

Boley.

And have oil world half a world away.

It would tell other boys like to try his comments.

Part of that lull is calm question.

Their neighbors, it is unjust, possible.

It's actually it.

If America and our allies are willing to do everything we can to help Ukraine when before it's too late.

Will face costly out of consequences.

Quite set.

>> On another issue, CNN is reporting that Senator McConnell has privately expressed opening omit openness for raising the age for purchasing semiautomatic rifles.

Some have supported raising the age from 18 to 21.

But CNN also says that's unlikely to be a part of a final gun reform plan because most Republicans oppose it.

♪ ♪ All this week.

We are marking 6 months since deadly tornadoes struck Western Kentucky while the devastation was great.

So was the outpouring of support for those who lost everything and Graves County, one business owner sprung into action after the tornado hit providing food and shelter for those who were displaced.

Now, he says his mission has changed.

>> I would now there was a kid.

We've been through tornadoes saying I know the sounds of the filling.

The air pressure changes were gentleman was up from our families.

And Mike, what is that noise?

>> So that's some people's lives being destroyed.

And so the second we knew that it was clear the House will say for my kids were good.

We left our house.

We drove straight into my field.

Every was front.

>> And where the state rooms, which is Michael said.

>> What can you do?

What you need us today?

We've got a lot of people coming in.

We're really food.

We have a restaurant so that I can do.

So we came back to the restaurant paired food from U.S.. 500 tent there about 04:00AM.

We just kept up with it.

Feigning the people are in the shelters and then we did a few take care, saying propane to people's didn't have access to heat.

And we did that all through the whole winter.

That actually introduces to a lot of the problems.

Temporary housing is a necessity right now because these folks are stuck in hotel rooms.

You've got 18 people in the houses, you know, over square feet.

They're trying to do their best to see a need to take care of me and some 5 hours or so.

We start jumping in with immediate housing.

We live here in Graves County.

>> And we existing camp here that we do educational programs for kids.

We are 41 beds where we utilize it literally directly after the tornado hit within a week we opened up camp and we're able to open up rooms and the families of here with kids.

>> The we are just held on to each other.

We just listen to the house get ripped apart.

I was in there for like a month before I had my daughter.

That's the house with broader home to that's the house that she parked right.

Their first steps in first crawl, you know, says the first word if it wasn't for Micah and his Jane, I don't know what I would have done because Mike is the one that put us in.

The camp.

But he never even knew my neighbor nothing.

He was like, yeah, you come on out.

He wanted me to feel like I was at home.

He didn't want me to feel like I was just at a campground, you know, but >> it it didn't feel like how's that campground?

It didn't feel like I was in a little room or not.

And it did so h****, you know, because I didn't have a home anymore.

Sounds like, you know, this is my home one point in time.

I think we had.

>> 36 people here staying everybody and they're all space and, you know, and shared common dreams is a K a I think the tornado brought out.

A lot of these people didn't realize were there are both of people's eyes to things that they didn't see before the poverty and the actual homelessness and the desperation that there are certain groups, certain areas.

So we found a camp as a nonprofit.

And the goal of that is too not just how some people.

For the temporary until we get an actual houses.

But to help them go beyond that.

>> We'll break that cycle that you s*** so often where people feel like I come from this, I can't go beyond that.

Were put in tiny homes were put in care for spots.

We've got a couple groups have been helping us in back of us otherwise reason personal You know, sometimes you just cry a lot and hope it all works out.

We've been blessed with people.

Always nice taste of coming here.

We've had volunteers coming to help build houses.

Had volunteers come and repair their houses.

We've been able to find little around the county and we will fix them up and offer year's free rent.

Perry haven't is 12 to 18 months.

Is the idea because in that amount time our goal is to have them wear.

They can move around.

I would feel like of that amount time.

We have pushed people to do great things and we were show people that they can do better.

They can find jobs.

They really want they can pursue goals.

I've always want to see people do better.

That's our goals.

Say folks, just to better.

That's a great story.

>> Students with the University of Kentucky could also end up sheltering those displaced by the tornadoes prototypes they built for a class project may be going up around Western Kentucky.

>> is a noble profession.

We serve humanity.

We serve public and sometimes we serve ourselves.

But but I think its highest level architecture >> should be used to meet a human needs.

>> It was a lesson and meeting human needs that had some University of Kentucky College of Design students moving out of the comfort of the classroom and into the field to design and build shelters for those experiencing homelessness.

>> We started off dealing a different state of homelessness.

Had the students analyze those.

>> We really just started off running.

We immediately research homeless shelter prototypes that exists already and use that research to our benefit, too.

In-form ideas.

>> Students and professor Bruce Wetlands Design build studio class were divided up into groups with one group developing larger, more modular shelters.

>> And we had initial designs of everything from a little bit bigger than shopping cart up to the one that you see here, which is 8 by 24 unit that has a full kitchen bathroom washing machine dryer, that sort of thing living space in the bedroom.

>> Another group created a smaller shelter that can be easily moved and placed where needed.

>> So one of our first steps actually was reaching out to homeless shelter communities and just asking what were the main things that these residents were looking for in their own personal prototype in their own personal shelter and we found that's shelters, security and privacy were things that the homeless community really appreciated in was lacking.

>> But it was about more than just putting a roof over someone's head.

>> You know, we could have probably met the need in a very basic way.

But we want to create good space as well.

And I think that's part of human dignity.

>> Even though this is a homeless shelter prototype.

We knew that we wanted this to be a very humane housing solution for them.

I think it's just really special because of the amount of detail thought that we put into the design how it would be experienced by the person who isn't happening.

Every time we step in here, we're just like, whoa, it feels so cozy just because of the way that we did the windows.

So at night it lights up.

Then it just kind of glows and feels like a really special place.

>> As the semester was coming to an end, devastating tornadoes struck Western Kentucky.

That's when Swett among his students discovered another potential use for the shelters.

>> And so thought about trying to use our skills to serve humanity.

And so we use that will immediately.

We have these units and if there's a need for shelter, we could try to get the support the trailer and moved to Western We also see these is a prototype.

So someone would like to start a mass produce.

These to needs.

We could do that as well.

We're thinking about how to build back sustainably, how to use the wood that was blown down the trees.

So there have been conversations about how to take a different species would stop how that.

And so mills rather than just send these trees off to be ground up for most actually use them to rebuild.

>> Sustainability also played a large part of the design and construction of the students projects trees removed from the UK campus because of disease or construction were processed by a sawmill purchased by the university.

The students use the wood to build the shelters.

Another group from Sweat of his class was tasked with designing and building a pavilion to house the sawmill.

>> We actually saw this project through all the way Bear grass to this product that you see today.

This is I think one of the most grand things that I've had, the pleasure of being a part of.

>> You know, architecture takes a lot of effort.

I hope through this process.

They understand that it's not about a concept.

It's about designed design development and thinking a problem all the way through to the end.

>> We're going to see more great stories about the Western Kentucky recovery process.

Join us this Friday for a special Kentucky addition as we mark the 6 month anniversary of the western Kentucky tornado outbreak.

We talk with those living in the areas impacted by the tornadoes to see where they are now on the road to recovery.

Watch Western Kentucky hope rising at 6.30, Eastern 5.30, central right here on Kentucky EDITION.

♪ ♪ >> Every Wednesday on Kentucky addition we check in with Rylan Barton, managing editor of Kentucky Public Radio and Ohio Valley Resource.

>> Today we talked about everything from Education.

Commissioner Jason Glass is push to recruit and retain teachers to Savannah.

Maddox is run for governor and other possible contenders.

Raleigh Barton's, good to see you.

Thank you so much for joining us.

>> They see Renee.

>> So a big political week in Raleigh, midway through it.

The Republican field for governor just keeps getting larger and larger.

And as we talked about last week, Savannah Maddox was expected to officially toss her hat in the ring and she did so on Monday.

>> Yes, State Representative Savannah, first elected in 2018 and she's really trying to run to the right of the other Republicans that have gotten into the race so far.

She had a big splashy event in Burlington, Northern Kentucky, and she specifically says the, you know, some of the liberty candidates that she saw in some of the primary elections for the state Kind put the wind between beneath her her candidacy.

She feels like there's going to a lot of support for that more conservative version of Republican and she specifically lashed out at some of for a opponents, not not by name saying you know, they should they should be running in the Democratic primary because they're not conservative enough.

>> Interesting.

So we'll keep our eyes on We expecting any announcements next week.

All I'm sure this field is going to widen out even further right?

>> Haven't heard of any announcements happening next week.

But there you have some other people have been hinting at noisily hinting is a former UN Ambassador Kelly Knight Craft.

She, of appeared at this fundraiser with former President Donald Trump at the Kentucky Derby.

She's been strongly hinting at that for a while.

And that would really shake up that increasingly crowded Republican field.

And the thing to remember is that the the more people who get into a race like this, the more unpredictable, the results can become people end up having their own factions of supporters that undermine each others in pain.

So it could end up being a pretty crazy May 2023.

>> And we can end up having an 83 vote split like we did back in 2015, right?

That's how I'm brother Edwin and Matt Bevin is still hunting or if you're really seeing here might be running.

He's been showing up to a lot of different events lately.

Yeah, a couple of minutes left.

Another attorney general candidate whose tossed his hat in the ring for Governor Daniel Cameron.

>> Announced this commission, the Commission for opioids resulting from a multimillion dollar settlement.

Tell us about this commission and what more you can do to help stop the scourge.

>> Right.

So this is one of one of the lawsuits against several opioid manufacturers.

This was against a AmerisourceBergen and a handful of of of other AmerisourceBergen McKesson, Cardinal Health.

And this is a total the 480 million dollars that will be coming to the commonwealth.

The money will end up being used for addiction treatment and recovery, which is actually part of a bill that passed the Legislature last year.

You know, a lot of these lawsuits that these are multi state lawsuits, attorney generals across the country have been I have been filing these and of we were expecting this windfall to be coming in and of soon.

And it will be decided it will be kind of split up by this commission.

>> So Jason Glass yesterday now shifting to education.

He testified before the interim Joint Committee on Education and talked about teacher recruitment and retention.

3 quarters of the teaching workforce could be able to leave.

Whether that's retirement or their newbies, who have less than 5 years on the job.

What did you take away from that presentation yesterday?

>> Yeah, there's a there's a really shocking number to hear that so many teachers are kind of at risk or or possibly a considering leaving the profession.

This is something teachers and others have been rallying around for a long time to try and boost teacher pay to try and make it more attractive.

For teachers to either stay or or the track to the industry in the first place.

So I think that you know, the board of Education and also of the State Department of Education.

Also, the sheer administration is really trying push on this issue, especially looking into the 2023 gubernatorial race.

This is something that you know, below to this year's campaign back in 2019.

But I mean, it's also a very real issue.

I'm not only for teachers but other state There's there have been lots of warnings over the years that a lack of benefits, a lack of of of good pay has been thinning.

The ranks of of teachers and us as teachers slowly retire that were not backfilling with new recruits.

>> We'll have to leave.

Their Ron Barton is good to see you.

A managing editor of Kentucky Public Radio and also Ohio Valley Resource.

We appreciate you so much.

Take care.

♪ Each week here on Kentucky EDITION will bring you arts and culture stories from around the state.

In a segment we call tapestry.

>> Today we'll show you why the sign used for decades as the backdrop for would songs old Time Radio Hour.

>> Is now getting its moment in the spotlight.

♪ >> This is folks in the Michael ♪ >> lose know what songs is a very popular broadcast specially on YouTube, millions and millions and millions literally of views.

And that sounds very mercenary.

We'd intended to be that way.

>> But every artist that takes their photo on the wood song states, the sign is behind them.

And every time a newspaper print something about what songs the signs behind every time.

There's a video clip for an artist takes a it's a segment of the show.

They were performing on the sign is behind them.

So would songs as a as a brand for lack of a better word has has become New director of the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame called Me Up and said they wanted to do something dedicated to would songs.

There's very impressed with the show.

They know it's a part of Kentucky legacy.

>> You know, it's a part of Kentucky music history and they welcomed it.

And now you go to the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame and Renfro Valley.

There's the sign that was used up to the 1000 broadcast.

It's signed by the entire crew.

It's signed by the audience.

It's signed by riders in the sky.

That sign was used through 1000.

>> Completed a live audience broadcasts is a is a quite a journey.

>> See, an audience member came to me and said it's.

>> We would like to replace the windsong sign.

We called the original one Franken sign because it had been falling apart and cracked and split and repaired and glue together.

So many times, Kentucky Music Hall of Fame hasn't permanently affixed to the wall and it's permanently there.

So nothing's going to happen to it all.

The repairs will stay good.

Franken sign lives forever.

>> To me, the sign represents the motion and heart over 3,000 artists that have performed on the Wood song stage for Free.

♪ We've had perform on what song sign from Roger McGlynn from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame to Judy Collins.

>> Christie, Lee and Nickel Creek's all the way wide array of wood songs, kids.

>> Used >> if the Wood song sign could speak, I think it would be a joyful song.

I have beautiful music can be and how important it is to people, especially now in a world that is constantly looking like it's in crisis.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> With that story, we hope you'll join us again tomorrow night.

We're going to have more about Western Kentucky.

Hope rising with an interview with Steve and Jayne Beshear, the former governor and first lady of Kentucky about Dawson Springs and the rebuilding going on there.

Hope you'll tune in again tomorrow night at 6.30, Eastern 5.30, central for Kentucky edition where we strive every day to inform connect and inspire.

Until I see you again tomorrow night.

Take really good care.

♪ ♪