I'm going to stay as long as I can because I feel like Kentucky is worth fighting for.

The transgender community isn't backing down when it comes to legislation concerning trans youth.

For the first time, millions of Americans are free to choose where they live and work because of remote work.

And we'll tell you how one Kentucky city is trying to attract those remote workers.

We call the museum.

It's not where you just look at machines.

At an active museum, you pay one price.

You get to stay all day.

Corbin's Pinball museum is about to get bigger.

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 for this Friday, June 9th.

I'm Laura Rogers in for Renee Shaw.

Thanks for joining us.

Kentucky Republicans aren't saying much so far about yesterday's federal indictment of former President Donald Trump.

A grand jury accuses Trump of 37 counts related to classified documents found at his Mar a Lago home in Florida.

Among members of Kentucky's Republican congressional delegation, only Congressman Thomas Massie of the Second Congressional District has offered a comment.

He tweeted this, quote, The sitting president arresting his political opponent is the ultimate weaponization of government.

Joe Biden's administration has shamefully crossed into waters charted only by banana republics.

Congressman Massie has endorsed Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for president in 2024.

Donald Trump endorsed Daniel Cameron's run for governor.

Here is reaction from Cameron.

Quote Somehow Donald Trump appears to always be treated differently than the Democrats.

Joe Biden has mishandled classified information and so did Hillary clinton.

Where are those indictments?

It appears there are two systems of justice, one for Republicans and one for Democrats.

The ACLU is holding town hall meetings across Kentucky to address Senate Bill 150 and what it means for the transgender community.

The legislation bans gender affirming medical care for trans youth.

We spoke with some presenters at last night's town hall in Bowling Green.

So that was when they really put on Serenity Johnson as a transgender activist who lives in Hardin County.

Well, we're trying to organize on the ground, make sure people have support, make sure that the different groups are connected.

Johnson spoke at a town hall in Bowling Green last night, updating the LGBTQ community and their supporters on Senate Bill 150, what some have called the worst anti-trans bill in the nation.

You can't legislate trans youth away.

Gender dysphoria doesn't go away just because you ignore it.

That just makes the trans kids feel unsafe and makes them feel unloved.

It makes them distressed.

A doctor who provides gender affirming care in Bowling Green says there are many misconceptions when it comes to transgender issues in society.

Unfortunately, there's a lot of othering where people feel like you know, if somebody acts and looks different, there's something disturbing or wrong with them and it's something unsettling to people.

Dr. Lowe's camp says some who oppose gender affirming care for young people have concerns they will later change their mind or that it will affect puberty development.

We don't do this kind of care just willy nilly.

A person has to be fully evaluated.

You need to check out their their medical status as well as their psychiatric status.

The Fairness Campaign hosted the town hall in partnership with the ACLU of Kentucky and Kentucky Health Justice Network.

It's a very encouraging to see people actually show up, wanting to know how they can help and wanting to know how they can support.

So the ACLU has filed a lawsuit against Senate Bill 150.

The group says banning gender affirming medical care for trans minors infringes on parents rights.

Kentucky State Police Commissioner Phillip BURNETT Jr says a recent pay increase for troopers is making a big difference.

Governor Andy Beshear in the Kentucky General Assembly backed a $15,000 a year raise for troopers.

BURNETT told lawmakers yesterday that it's, quote, truly been transformational for our agency and it means troopers don't need a second job to support their families.

He also says recruitment has picked up and he expects the state will have 950 troopers once the current class of troopers graduates.

Time now for an end of week.

Check in and analysis of some political developments in Kentucky this week.

I am joined by husband and wife Jared Smith and Abby Piper.

Piper Smith, government and public relations firm.

Good to see you both.

Thank you for joining us.

Thanks for having us.

And so we'll begin with the governor's race.

Both attorney General Daniel Cameron and Governor Andy Beshear both really touting being the public safety champion.

We know what the attorney general says.

He's the law and order candidate and he's been talking since the primary about having the support of law enforcement.

Now, a new group coming out this week publicly for Governor Beshear.

They call that group law enforcement for Bashir.

So how much weight will these endorsements carry?

I don't think because Cameron's attorney attorney general and the governor was a former attorney general, I don't think they really carry much weight at all.

Both of them can claim that they were a top law person in the state.

And so I just you know, I really don't think it really I don't think it is going to decide to vote based on those organizations endorsements.

I wouldn't say that.

I don't know that the OPI necessarily has endorsed either candidate, although the FOP did endorse Cameron in his attorney general's race in 2019 and dozens of law enforcement officers have also endorsed Daniel Cameron for governor.

And we know that to be the case.

I think the other thing to really consider here is that the claim that we are seeing from Bashir's camp is that he is solely responsible for the raises and the extra funding for the Kentucky State Police when really that is that's the legislature's doing.

So I think it will be interesting to see and lots of runway left to go on that.

But I do think that the hope does carry weight.

So we'll have to wait for their endorsement.

Do we know when they'll make a decision if they are going to endorse a candidate or not?

I mean, time will tell everything.

And I said making decisions a lot earlier.

Usually that's like an August thing that'll happen in a campaign cycle.

So it's really up to them.

And when they want to do it or if they've told Cameron they're going to endorse him and the Camp Cameron campaign can release it whenever it's best for them, that often happens as well.

But it is my understanding that they can decide not to publicly endorse either candidate, correct?

Correct.

And so something else this week, we've seen that group in Total Freedom come out and say that they are going to be opposing the attorney general's campaign for governor.

Breonna Taylor's mother, sort of leading that charge in Kentucky.

And the Cameron campaign is accusing this group of having some anti-Semitic beliefs.

Can you all elaborate on that?

Sure.

You know, any time you're running a statewide campaign, you will appreciate and welcome any volunteers that want to knock doors and organize for you and for Democrats, especially in minority communities, they're often underserved by political campaigns getting in there.

So you take any help you can get.

However, I would be a little cautious.

This is a national group.

Breonna Taylor's mother is doing the Kentucky chapters.

The co-founders of the national group have some troubling history with anti-Semitic remarks, comments, social media posts, giving platform to other anti-Semitic people.

So I don't know.

I don't that's a tough call for the Beshear campaign.

It's you know, it's a tough call.

You know, it certainly bruises is the perspective that this is a group that is leading the way on racial justice.

And so I think that obviously, you know, this is one of those where I don't see how it really doesn't benefit Cameron.

But obviously, we also know that Louisville has been very, very broken by the racial renaissance, if you will, and that is the civil rights renaissance that has been happening pre-pandemic and beyond.

So that I think that's a developing story.

I would keep watching to see what happens there.

So Governor Beshear so far has kind of stayed silent on that.

We don't.

Do you anticipate that he will respond to the allegations from the Cameron campaign about that group having those anti-Semitic beliefs?

I don't think he would.

What he'll probably do is ask Breonna Taylor's mother to say something about it, to address it.

Yeah, I wouldn't if I were him.

All right.

Well, we thank both of you so much, Jared and Abby, for joining us this week.

Always good to have your insight.

We appreciate it.

Thank you.

Thank you.

As we've reported here on Kentucky Edition, parts of the state are dealing with dry weather.

This is the latest map from the US drought monitor.

The brown stretching from northern Kentucky through central and southern Kentucky indicates moderate drought.

The yellow areas are considered abnormally dry.

The white areas are still normal.

This survey was completed Tuesday, so it doesn't reflect the rain that fell on Wednesday.

We continue our month long look at how Kentucky employers are attracting and keeping workers.

Labor experts say remote work is a trend that's here to stay.

The city of Frankfort hopes the trend will be a revenue generator.

It is partnered with an Indianapolis based company to recruit remote workers who are looking to set down roots.

We're living through a really exciting time where for the first time, millions of Americans are free to choose where they live and work because of remote work, and they're choosing places based off of their desired lifestyle.

It's really kind of an arms race, you know, that, you know, these folks are going to move somewhere and it's the the communities that are really going to make a point to actively recruit that I think are going to win those those talent wars.

And so the Remote Frankfort Initiative is something that we started talking about a couple of years ago, and it's a multifaceted approach to try to not only train our existing residents to work remotely and to stay in Frankfort, which they may want to do, but also to attract others who may be looking to relocate to another city.

As part of the Remote Frankfort Initiative, we've partnered with a national marketing firm.

My move, who has a database of people who are looking to move to new communities.

Within that database, there are many, many millions of people who are are looking for their next home because they want to be a part of a community.

There's a rigorous application process related to verifying that, that the that the worker will move with a remote job that they're bringing with them.

It's not tourism marketing, it's not economic development marketing.

It's it's really selling and marketing the the life style of the place.

With the cities, we we come in, we help them build their program.

We help them sort of position the program.

You know?

All right, what what incentives are you going to offer?

Were early in the process with with Frankfort, but are building a really strong pipeline of people that are interested in moving.

I think over 100 people have expressed interest in looking at Frankfort package and what make my move will help us there is they'll screen the applicants based on the criteria we've given them.

They have to prove that they have income because one of the benefits to the city in this is to increase our tax base, our occupational tax base, because we are trying to diversify our economy away from state government employees, which that.

So that's one part of this.

But then another part is how engaged will they be in the community.

We have the funds to move and incentivize five people at this point.

We're starting really small, but we also want those folks to be really integrated into the community.

Some of the stuff that I really love that that Frankfort has has pulled together.

They have part of their program to mingle with the mayor.

You know, it's one thing to say that you're welcoming.

It's another thing, you know, to actually get to meet the mayor and, you know, and hear that, you know, vision for for the community.

So they have a progressive dinner with with Frankfort residents.

So, you know, a way to kind of connect with locals and start to get your your network rolling.

We found out a little bit about what kinds of outside interests people have, what what attracts them to the area and what they enjoy doing.

We roll out the red carpet, you know, for them in a way that really integrates them.

Mayor Wilkerson says if the pilot program is successful, they plan to bring it back for a second year.

The city of Louisville is hoping to bring more workers back to downtown Kentucky.

Performing Arts is helping neighboring businesses do just that.

Kelsey Starks explains how What do Norton Health Care, Derby City Gaming, Junior Achievement and Louisville Metro Police all have in common.

While they're all looking to hire people and getting workers to move back to downtown Louisville, Christian Dahlberg is the VP with Kentucky Performing Arts and they are hosting a job fair this Monday.

You work in downtown Louisville.

I think it seems like more people are coming to downtown, but not quite pre-pandemic levels, right?

Yes, we are.

We are seeing an uptick in the number of people working downtown.

But compared to what it was before COVID, it's nowhere near that.

Interestingly, tourism is up downtown, but residents coming downtown and working downtown is down considerably interstate.

So it's important to get that mix, though.

Tell us why it's so important to get those workers back to downtown.

The more people that come downtown, the more cultural activity there is, the more activity there is with businesses downtown.

It's it's all part of all part of the ecosystem.

So that getting getting people to be able to visit and work downtown is so it's so it's so primary to being able to to bring downtown back to where it was.

So tell us how you all are getting involved with this hosting a job fair.

So we are going to be hosting that at the at the Center for the Arts Building, the Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts Building at 501 West Main Street.

We're working in partnership with Louisville, Downtown Partnership and Greater Louisville, Inc to to provide a place for people to come and learn about all of the wonderful opportunities there are working downtown.

You know, somebody I'm not smart enough to do this.

Somebody else said it said that said that the Center for the Arts is like it's like the community's living room.

And so we're happy to open the doors and invite everybody into the living room just to learn about the wonderful opportunities that there are downtown.

Yeah, there are some great things about working here.

What what should people know about the kinds of jobs they'll be interviewing for?

What to expect if they go?

Sure, it'll be it's a it's free, of course.

Open to the public.

501 West Main Street be happening between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m..

There will be free parking available at the at the Kentucky Center garage.

So if you're if you when you turn on to sixth Street from Maine, it's the first garage that you see on the right And what will be happening is there will be businesses there with their with their tables.

And you can go up and get applications.

You can interact with the with the hiring managers to learn more about the businesses.

There's no cost to be able to be a part of it.

And appointments are not necessary.

It's just a free, open house.

Wonderful.

All right.

Well, thank you so much.

We appreciate it.

Yeah, thanks for having me.

Downtown Louisville Job Fair is at the Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts in partnership with Louisville, Downtown and Greater Louisville, Inc, Monday, June 12th, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.. Back to you.

And right now, downtown Louisville is home to more than 13% of all jobs in Jefferson County, employing more than 60,000 people.

Join Renee Shaw and her guest Monday for Kentucky.

Two nights.

The topic horse racing safety.

12 horses died at Churchill Downs and Louisville in a one month period.

The track moved its spring meet to Ellis Park in Henderson while it investigates the causes of those deaths.

The impact on one of Kentucky's signature industries Monday at eight Eastern, seven Central here on KCET.

School may be out for the summer, but that doesn't mean the fun of learning has to be.

Lexington Public Library has teamed up with Fayette County Public Schools to put together tons of fun and educational programing to keep kids busy and reading.

This summer.

So the summer programing at the library happens every year in June and July.

We are kicking it off this week, the first full week of June.

And it'll last for a full eight weeks.

Really designed to get kids out and about and and learning throughout their summer vacation.

It's been a lot of fun.

And the kids have been so excited to see the different book characters coming to life.

They've been able to play with some goats and some chickens and llamas.

And the animals are always fun.

Always a hit for all ages.

Everything from sidewalk chalk and bubbles to crafts and book characters.

And then we are hosting a scholastic book fair where all students up to age 18 can come in and pick out a free book to take home, and that's theirs to keep.

And of course, we have plenty of other books that they can keep for for a two week window.

This is our second year post pandemic.

We have had two of our kickoff parties so far.

We've had almost 1000 people already.

And the idea, again, is to get people to come out and together.

This is a program that's been going on for decades, and it changes a little bit every year, but also bring back some perennial favorite.

It can be everything from next week.

We'll have Kentucky down under in town and bringing some of their Australian zoo animals.

We are doing the science of weather.

We will have all kinds of different things, everything from movies to sewing and crafting really a little bit of everything for all ages.

All of these programs are offered completely for free.

It's really important to us that all children have access to these educational resources.

There's no cost to to attend some of the smaller programs.

You do have to register in advance just because we have spatial limitations.

For many families, the library is a resource for a lot of children.

During the summer months, they might go to summer camp or do different activities that are that can be really expensive, as most parents can tell you, for a lot of lower income families, that is cost prohibitive.

So last summer we had about 5500 in our of larger events alone.

As I mentioned, we've already seen about 1000 in the first day and a half of programing.

So I think it will hopefully beat that again this year.

But it's always a fun time.

And really what it's about for us is, is bringing people together.

Visit Lex Pub dot org to see the calendar of events.

You can filter by age group for children from birth to 18 as well as the library is regular adult programing.

Since 2021, the Pinball museum of Corbin has been bringing a dose of retro fun to the city's downtown area.

Earlier this week, I spoke to owner Jim Brousseau about the origins of the museum and what it brings to a city.

I've always been into video games and arcade machines and pinball.

I play a lot of pinball machines, and I grew up in the arcade.

I worked in the arcade and I just played, you know, semiprofessional video games and pinball machines all over the place.

It was great.

So when I moved down here to Kentucky and I opened up because I'm in the game business, I have a vintage video game store for any and all that cool stuff next door.

I got some pinball machines and put them in and it just kept getting more and more pinball machines.

And my workers were like, You need to do something with this because we have more pinball machines that we can put product out.

So when I finally found a location and it was right next door and we started all this, when we moved in, we put in about 100 pinball machines and some old 80 arcade game classics, Donkey Kong, Pac-Man and all that.

And the last machine we load in, we just scratched our head and going, We filled this place up already.

We have 40 more machines that go.

So that's how it started.

It was very natural and it's a lot of fun.

And actually the reason I opened it actually on the truth is like, I have no place.

I'm just going at my own private arcade.

We never thought this would work in Corbin, Kentucky.

First of all, we opened during COVID.

Second of all, we're in a tiny town we call the museum.

It's not where you just look at machines.

It's an active museum.

You pay one price, you get to stay all day.

So, you know, that's why we named it a museum.

Plus, we have classic everything.

If you look at the machines, we have the years it was built, how many things like that.

We give you a whole bunch of information from on the wall.

We go through pinball throughout the years.

A lot of people don't know.

For years, pinball was illegal.

It was gambling.

You couldn't.

You couldn't do it.

So they used to take machines, bust them up and things like that.

We have two of the really big tourist attractions here.

AFC Huge with the new museum they just did the $4 million they put in it.

They now get 1.3 million people visitors a year and then you have the Cumberland Falls with the moon.

BO We get almost 2 million people a year that come visit that.

And I go over there and see the moon, Bo and the falls.

So and they all rather come right downtown.

I think our our community needs things like this for the kids to do.

We don't have a lot of things for many years.

They close both of the bowling alleys and London and Corbin, you know, we have a great, you know, Main Street now, the bathtub bars and restaurants.

But what do we have that people can do?

What's our entertainment?

I thought I love entertaining people.

I thought this would be great to bring this down.

The museum is currently in the process of moving into a much larger building just across the street in downtown Corbin.

According to Brousseau, it will hold 289 pinball machines and more than 50 arcade games, parades, movies, fossils and the only beer cheese festival in the world.

Our Toby Gibbs has options galore for you and this look at what's happening around the Commonwealth.

Tumble on down to the Trimble County Fair in Bedford starting this Saturday with a parade.

Miss and Mr. Pageants, a truck and tractor pull and even pig wrestling.

This is the perfect way to kick off your summer celebration.

You got to go fast down to Madisonville this Saturday for the outdoor screening of Sonic to grab your favorite blanket and a box of popcorn and come enjoy an evening under the stars watching your favorite hedgehog go head to head against Dr. Eggman.

Have you ever heard of bear cheese?

No matter if you have or haven't, you should head over to the birthplace of Bear Cheese Winchester this Saturday for the only bear cheese festival in the world.

Enjoy a day of music, games, food, fun and, of course, plenty of Kentucky's delicious beer cheese samples.

You can find live music, food trucks, a bounce house and chainsaw carving demonstrations in downtown Trenton this weekend at the Trenton Main Street Festival.

Enjoy the festivity is checking out local shops and hand-crafted vendors for a weekend for the whole family, bringing you the best up and coming talent from Appalachia and beyond.

The Laurel Cobb Music Festival is this weekend in Pine Bluff with artists like John Miller, the local Honeys, Girl Towns and many others.

This is one weekend you don't want to miss.

Explore a world of unique handmade products while you learn the beautiful stories behind them.

In Central City this weekend, the Lou Ray Arts Festival with a side of music as one of a kind pieces of art from a number of local vendors that will make the perfect summer gift for you and your loved ones.

Childhood Rebellion meets the Power of Imagination and Matilda, The musical happening in Berea this weekend.

Join your favorite courageous revolutionary as she uses her extraordinary wit, intelligence and special powers to create a better life for herself and her classmates.

Enjoy a day of discovery at Big Bone Lake State Historic site in Union this Saturday.

Unleash your inner paleontologists while you uncover Ice Age fossils.

Take on the life of a pioneer or see birds of prey in action up close during this family friendly event.

Head on over to Shelbyville next week for the Shelby County Fair, featuring a dog show, tractor pulls livestock, shows countless art exhibits, a talent show, and even a pageant.

There is something for everyone, and that's what's happening around the Commonwealth.

I'm Toby Gibbs.

A Lexington ice cream shop is honoring a beloved Kentuckian.

We decided, okay, well, let's do something fun and honor Miss Virginia.

Presale orders for this new small batch ice cream go on sale this weekend.

Hear more about that story Monday on Kentucky Edition.

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

Subscribe to our weekly Kentucky Edition email newsletter and watch full episodes and clips at KET.org.

You can also find Kentucky edition on the PBS video app on your mobile device and Smart TV.

Have a wonderful weekend.