MUSIC >> We don't talk to too much about firearms.

We focus a little bit more on some of the root causes.

[MUSIC] >> What one Kentucky city is doing to address youth gun violence and what people say needs to change.

[MUSIC] >> They're about to take a shellacking here in the general election.

[MUSIC] >> One of Kentucky's Republican congressmen says his party is about to have a bad November 3rd.

>> It's real big shoes to try to feel, to be Dolly.

[MUSIC] >> A Kentucky native, works 9 to 5, paying tribute to a country music icon.

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

[MUSIC] >> Good evening and welcome to Kentucky Edition for Friday, September 25th.

I'm Marvin Bartlett.

Thanks for beginning your weekend with us.

In 2025, the City of Lexington saw its lowest number of homicides in almost a decade with incidents of gun violence dropping 60% since 2021.

That downward trend is present in youth and young adult gun violence, too.

Leaders of one Lexington, the city's initiative to reduce youth gun violence, testified to state lawmakers in Frankfort about what's working and areas they see room for improvement.

Here's more from Kentucky Edition's Clayton Dalton in tonight's legislative update.

>> Divine Karama is the director of One Lexington and the organization's mission is to make Lexington safer by reducing gun violence among youth and young adults.

But Karama told lawmakers it's not just about focusing on firearms.

>> You'll also notice during this presentation, we don't talk to too much about firearms.

We focus a little bit more on some of the root causes that lead young people to pick up a firearm, and that is the way that they solve issues.

>> A big part of one Lexington's work happens in schools connecting with vulnerable youth for prevention and intervention efforts.

But the group does face some barriers with who is allowed on school property.

>> The background checks to be able to be a volunteer at a school or even a community center has enabled and disenfranchized some of those credible messengers that are needed for this specific work.

And here what I'm saying.

I have some experience in the streets, but in order to reach our most vulnerable young person, there's even more lived experience beyond what I experienced and endured.

Right?

In order to reach our most vulnerable young people, maybe those young people who are already in that cycle of gun violence in order to reach them, they need somebody who can directly identify with where they've been and what they are doing.

And currently we have a system to where those individuals with that lived experience that can reach our most vulnerable young people are not allowed into certain spaces because of their background.

And what I have proposed, and not just for the school system, but also city government, because our community centers operate under the same process is how can we create a pathway for some individuals who were formerly system involved with that lived experience to earn their way, to be able to be a volunteer and come into the school to provide these services that can help mitigate violence and that can help our most vulnerable young people.

>> Karama acknowledged that violence prevention work isn't just beneficial for youth, but for people with a history of inciting gun violence who have turned their lives around.

>> When you hear the stories of a lot of these individuals who have been through the system and have rehabilitated and come out something that drives them and keeps them on a straight path, is actually the opportunity to prevent other young people from following in their footsteps, from making the same mistakes that they make.

So I think it's good for them.

It's good for the young people.

It's good for the community.

And so clearly, you see, I'm passionate about it, but I think that that's something that we could all work together to see happen.

>> Karama said that the school system and local government officials in Lexington are open to having a conversation about background checks and the barriers they can present for this work.

He also said state support on this issue would be great for Kentucky Edition.

I'm Clayton Dalton.

>> Earlier this year, Lexington went 190 days without a homicide, but that streak ended with a mass shooting at the East End day gathering in August.

A Republican congressman from Kentucky says his party is headed for a November 3rd disaster.

Thomas Massie of Kentucky's fourth district, was on CNN last night.

He says Republicans are now scrambling to distance themselves from President Donald Trump.

He was asked why Republicans are even starting to criticize Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, or Ice.

>> Because they have to find some way to get away from this president.

He's not out there campaigning for them.

They don't want him in their districts.

They've got to put space between them and him.

And this is the price they're paying.

Look, I was the Republican who was speaking out for so long, and they were all, whatever Trump wants, they were all for it in their primaries.

And now it's they're about to take a shellacking here in the general election.

So they're running from him on on this and other issues like the war.

>> I mean, yeah, you are someone who knows what it's like to incur the president's wrath when you break with him.

The Republicans are distancing themselves not just on ice, but on the war.

When it comes to the cost of diesel, on tariffs.

We've seen a lot more of that lately than we've ever seen.

What do you think the president's response to that is going to be?

Do you think he'll understand tough elections are coming up or what do you say?

>> No, I if you look at his social media accounts, just in the last few hours, he's unrepentant.

He's in denial.

Somebody in the white House needs to get through to him.

I think he's his comeuppance will happen on Election Day and the day after.

I think there's going to be a reckoning.

And.

And what we need to see is what he does after the day after this election.

Does he send a message like George Bush did firing his secretary of defense the day after the 2006 midterms, where Republicans took a shellacking?

We'll see if he does something like that.

And and other measures to show that he got the message.

>> Massie won't be on the ballot November 3rd.

He lost in the Republican primary to Ed Gallrein, who was backed by President Trump.

Gallrein is running against Democrat Melissa Strange and libertarian Jeremy Todd.

The U.S.

Senate yesterday rejected a House backed resolution calling for an end to continued U.S.

military action in Iran.

The vote failed by just one vote, 50 to 49.

Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky was one of four Republicans to vote yes.

Kentucky's other U.S.

Senator, Mitch McConnell, was there and voted against the resolution.

Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania was the only Democrat to vote no.

Attorney General Russell Coleman is joining all other state attorneys general, pushing the FCC to strengthen its efforts to stop robocalls.

Last year, Americans received more than 29 billion scam robo calls and texts.

Kentuckians have received 380 million this year.

So far, and Americans lost about $2 billion to scams.

Coleman said this in a statement, quote, robocalls aren't just annoying.

They disrupt our daily lives, invade our privacy, and can put our most vulnerable people at risk of scams and fraud.

He's the toast of Hollywood this week.

State Senate President Robert Stivers received the Motion Picture Association Industry Champion Award.

The award recognizes Senator Stivers role in creating legislation, making Kentucky a more attractive place to film, movies and TV shows.

The ceremony included a short video praising Stivers efforts.

>> For Kentucky Senate President Robert Stivers, film and television are about more than stunning images on screen.

[MUSIC] It's about the workforce that makes those images possible.

It's about the impact of production on Kentucky's economic strength.

[MUSIC] That recognition has made him a true champion, a champion of measures to make his state a destination for filmmaking and bring more projects to Lexington and Louisville and beyond.

[MUSIC] A champion of what arts and entertainment can mean in the lives of local communities.

In his words, film creates a different way for people to experience your state.

And he's leading the charge to bring Kentucky to life for audiences everywhere.

We are honored to present the 2026 MPA Industry Champion Award to Kentucky Senate President Robert Stivers.

>> According to the state film and TV producers have spent nearly $800 million in Kentucky since 2022.

315 productions have received tax incentives, and the state's film industry has produced an estimated 27,000 jobs.

We talked about the Kentucky film industry and its economic impact last Monday on Kentucky tonight.

See that full hour long program at ket.org/ky.

Tonight, we're getting close to this year's Medicare enrollment period.

If you have questions, we have answers.

Join us Monday night for Medicare Enrollment 2026.

Call in a next chapter forum.

A panel of experts will answer your questions about how Medicare works.

The enrollment process, coverage options, supplemental plans, and more.

So join us Monday at 8:00 seven central here on KET.

[MUSIC] In Louisville.

Substitute teachers protested their pay today by refusing to work.

According to the Courier Journal.

Long term substitutes fill in when a teacher takes medical or parental leave.

More in today's.

Look at education.

>> News.

[MUSIC] >> Under the old policy, a substitute gets a 50% boost in pay on their 20th day.

As a long term sub.

But this year that was scaled back to a 25% raise.

Some substitutes plan to black out today, refusing assignments.

A Jefferson County public School spokesperson says JCPS plans to reevaluate the policy as the district's financial situation improves.

The leaders who run Kentucky cities convened in Covington this week to swap ideas and talk about the challenges facing our cities.

Our Mackenzie Spink visited the Kentucky League of Cities Convention and Expo to learn more.

Here's more from McKenzie and our Emily Prince.

>> The Kentucky League of Cities, or KLC, has been around for nearly 100 years.

It serves as a kind of trade association for municipal governments, providing training, legal information and financial services to 388 out of Kentucky's 408 cities.

>> We've got people from Louisa to La center, from Covington to Corbin here at this organization, and this provides an opportunity for city officials to network and see what's going on in other communities and share ideas and exchange ideas.

And I think that's helped strengthen and build the organization here over the past 100 years.

>> The KLC convention encourages table talk between city leaders, and Chaney says the big topics this year are the issues you've probably seen.

>> In.

>> The news recently.

>> A a a a that's a that's a big topic for our city officials.

So artificial intelligence not only not only how how that's impacting in terms of some of the data center discussions going around the state, but in particular, how cities are incorporating AI into their work.

Internal work, what efficiencies can they create internally and running the municipal offices, but also how can they use AI to help serve their constituents better, better?

And then, of course, there's a lot of discussion here about flock cameras and the utilization of that.

And what's the appropriate space between police, what the police can use that for to serve the citizens and where privacy interests and and that's a vigorous topic of discussion here.

Lots of questions and dialog about those issues.

>> Kelsey also represents cities interests on legislative matters.

It favors legislation that keeps local decisions local.

>> You know, our organization stands for the principle that local decisions are best made at the local level and legislation that runs counter to that.

That kind of takes away the constituents voice and displaces it in a centralized government like Frankfort or Washington.

Those are the kinds of pieces of legislation we're going to want to preserve.

The ability for the people closest, closest to the people they serve to make the decisions about housing, to make their decisions about short term rental policies, to make their decisions on any number of of topics.

>> Road funding is one of the legislative priorities.

Kelsey would like to see movement on in the 2027 session.

>> We've got to get some modernization in Kentucky's road funding.

Absolutely.

That absolutely needs to occur.

If we don't have a streets and highways and roads that take people to places where people want to go, our cities, then we're going to continue to fall, fall behind.

We won't continue the advancement that we've been making.

>> For Kentucky.

Edition.

I'm Emily Prince with reporting by McKinsey Spink.

>> Kentucky Commissioner of Agriculture Jonathan Schell was at this year's KLC convention.

He announced the Kentucky Proud certified Cities program, a new partnership between Kentucky Proud and the League of Cities to connect rural food producers with city services and vice versa.

>> We're really trying to highlight how our urban partners in our cities and our rural partners, our farmers and our rural communities can come together for something really special.

And so when you think about it, even most of our cities that are in the state of Kentucky are still in rural areas.

And so what this program is going to allow to do is to tap into resources at the Department of AG for Kentucky.

Proud.

It's going to allow farmers to tap into resources that our cities across the state of Kentucky for a singular purpose of trying to promote local, fresh, healthy food through our Kentucky Proud program.

Getting inside of our schools, getting inside of our hospitals, getting inside of our retailers like Walmart, Kroger, etc.

even small retailers, and working toward convenience stores and others to get as much locally grown and sourced material from our farms as possible.

Inside of those opportunities.

>> Those.

>> Kentucky proud Certified cities will launch as a pilot program with six cities on October 1st.

Those cities are Winchester, Beaver Dam, Paducah, Monticello, Newport and Middlesboro.

[MUSIC] Today is September 25th or 925.

And in a play on her popular song, 9 to 5 communities worldwide have declared it Dolly Parton Day.

The Queen of country passed away from cancer last month.

To celebrate her legacy in entertainment and philanthropy.

Laura Rogers spent time with the Dolly fan who understands imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

>> Here you come again.

Hello.

>> She's got the look.

>> The sound, and even that signature.

Dolly Parton sense of humor.

>> I will tell you, it does take a lot of money to look this cheap.

Y'all.

>> Many colors.

>> Davis County native Natasha Neely has been doing Dolly for 13 years.

>> It's just such a rewarding career to be able to impersonate Dolly and try to pay tribute to her.

>> Not too far.

>> I just love sharing the good dolly vibes.

>> Today in Nashville based performer Neely's love for country music dates back to her childhood in Western Kentucky.

>> I grew up on country music.

I grew up singing from the age of three years old in Owensboro, Kentucky, on a little Opry.

As a little girl, I listened to Barbara Mandrell, Loretta Lynn, Conway Twitty, Johnny Cash, and of course, Dolly Parton.

>> Years later, it would all lead to a career as a Dolly Parton tribute artist.

>> It's real big shoes to try to feel, to be Dolly.

>> That's certainly the case for this larger than life show business icon that Neely had the chance to meet at a Nashville recording studio.

>> She walks in the door and I see her little blond hair bopping through the window, and I'm like, is this really happening?

She was everything that you'd hoped she would be.

She was so kind and and just so nice to talk to.

So gracious.

>> So how does one become a Dolly Parton tribute artist?

Well, she did work at Dollywood back in 2007.

Perhaps a foreshadowing of a phone call.

Neely would one day receive from a booking agent who said this.

>> We need a dolly to pitch for events in town.

Would you be interested?

We feel like you would be a good fit.

And I was like, sure, why not?

>> The rest, as they say, is history.

>> And then it just kind of took off on its own, just naturally.

And now I'm doing anywhere from 2 to 6 dolly related events a week.

>> Most of those events are with her tribute band doing a full production of Dolly Parton hits.

>> Getting in a dolly mode is easy for me because I just relate to her so much, and I've really studied her a lot, and I feel like we're kindred spirits.

>> They also have the same petite stature made even more convenient when we tell you Neely has friends on Dolly's wardrobe team.

>> And so I got to go over to her costume shop one day and do a fitting and see all of her costumes that were in the works at the time, and see her, her rhinestone wall.

Y'all, I'm telling you, she had floor to ceiling, tiny little drawers of rhinestones and beads, and that was just incredible to see.

>> News of Dolly's passing one month ago today saddened people all over the world.

>> I have been listening to her songs and I will say that some of them just have even more meaning now than they even did before, which is going to make me cry.

But you know, some of her songs like light of a Clear Blue Morning and Eagle When She Flies and when I Get Where I'm Going, or one of my other favorites.

You can't Make Old Friends, that she recorded with Kenny Rogers.

>> Such a prolific music catalog.

And then, of course, all the other things Dolly was known for, including her kindness and generosity.

>> It's really important to me to continue to share her songs and to continue to share her legacy in the best way that I know how.

>> That was Laura Rogers reporting.

Natasha performs in Bowling Green every June at the Duncan Hines Day Festival.

She also portrays Marilyn Monroe, Faith Hill and Elsa from frozen.

But says Dolly is her most requested performance.

Well, you may think of local children's theater is a great way for students to develop life skills, but they are also creating new works of art every day.

On the next, Inside Louisville, Kelsey Starks takes us inside stage one family theater to find out what's next for two iconic organizations.

>> You know, over the years, stage one has contributed, you know, 40 to 50 new plays to the professional theater for young audiences.

World.

And so we've actually got two of those in the works right now.

One of them is a very early stage, is probably a few years away, tentatively entitled Turn the Page, which is a new musical focused on the first African American public library in the country, which was right here in Louisville.

That's right.

Which was right here in Louisville.

And kind of telling and telling the story of that through music and everything, because it's such an important part of our community and such an important story for young people to know, because so many people don't realize that.

>> Yeah, yeah.

>> And so, you know, looking at developing that, and then we also have a piece that will be coming out in October of 27 called Batcat, which is that's a great title.

It's not a bad he's not a cat.

He's a bat cat.

>> I love it.

>> But it's based on a children's graphic novel that really deals with identity and accepting who you are.

And it's, you know, incredibly clever and wonderful.

And so we have a couple of playwrights.

A man named John Maclay, who himself is a Spalding grad.

And his composing partner, Brett Ryback, who we've done several shows with them.

Matter of fact, our most recent world premiere, Lily and the Pirates, they wrote and we did the world premiere of.

And John and I were talking afterwards and he says, I want to write something just for you guys.

Is there something you want?

And I said, actually, there is.

I've got this story and it's so great.

And it deals with identity and accepting who you are.

But in a really fun, playful way.

And we think this would be great.

And he's like, I love it.

We got in contact with the author, Maggie Hamm, who was like, this is great.

Yes, I want to do it.

And so I'll actually have have the playwright, the composer and the author all here in November.

As we as we continue to workshop and develop that.

So really continuing to add to not only, you, our local community, but to the national conversation around theater for young audiences.

And that's something that, you know, we're going to continue to really lean into heavily and something we're really excited about.

>> Hear the full story.

When Kelsey Starks takes us inside the merger of Walden Conservatory and stage one Family Theater on the next inside Louisville.

That's this Sunday at noon.

11 Central only on KET.

[MUSIC] The last weekend of September includes pigs, paw paws and hot air balloons.

Our Toby Gibbs has the rundown in this week's Around the Commonwealth.

>> At this event, pigging out is a priority.

[MUSIC] Pig out in Maysville features a barbecue competition among 16 cooking teams.

The two day event also includes vendors, live bands, children's activities, a five K race and a pageant.

The event starts Saturday.

It's Apple season in Casey County, and liberty is ready to take a bite.

The Casey County Apple Festival marks its 52nd year with activities in downtown liberty.

The festival includes live music pageants, contests, a parade, carnival rides, arts and crafts, flea market booths, and plenty of Apple based foods.

A piece of Carroll County agricultural past takes center stage in downtown Carrollton this weekend.

The Carroll County Tobacco Festival returns with a parade, live music, food vendors, inflatables and other community activities.

The two day festival begins Saturday.

Vanceburg is putting a little history behind the music this weekend at the Larkin Lyles Festival.

The event honors the legacy of Larkin Lyles, a man remembered for his integrity, grit and strong sense of justice.

In early Kentucky history.

The festival brings that legacy to life through a weekend of live music and storytelling from regional and touring artists in a scenic Appalachian setting.

The two day event also includes camping and food trucks.

Circle the globe without leaving Bowling Green this Saturday at the Bowling Green International Festival with music, dance and cultural demonstrations representing countries and communities from around the world.

[MUSIC] The event also includes international Foods, Cultural bazaar and educational activities including dance lessons.

For sales is going wild for a Kentucky Fruit at the Central Kentucky Pawpaw Festival.

The event focuses on Kentucky's largest native fruit and its Appalachian history.

Activities include demonstrations on identifying, harvesting and preparing pawpaws, fruit and seed tastings, and native plant education.

The weekend also includes artists, vendors, food trucks and live music.

The evening sky over Glasgow is getting a colorful upgrade, with groove and glow.

The event features hot air balloons illuminated around sunset, along with tethered balloon rides, and includes live music, food trucks, face painting and inflatable activities for children.

The family friendly event happens Saturday.

Madisonville Oktoberfest is a free outdoor festival featuring regional craft brews from Kentucky breweries.

Traditional German foods like bratwurst and giant pretzels, live music and local art vendors.

Admission is free.

The festival takes place Saturday, and with this look at around the Commonwealth.

[MUSIC] I'm Toby Gibbs.

>> Thank you.

Toby, stick around for comment on Kentucky coming up in about one hour.

Bill Bryant and a panel of working Kentucky journalists will talk about the sixth district race for Congress and much more.

That's coming up at 8:00 eastern, 7:00 central here on KET.

We hope you'll join us again Monday night at this same time for Kentucky Edition, where we inform, connect and inspire.

Subscribe to our Kentucky Edition email newsletters, and watch full episodes and clips@ket.org.

[MUSIC] You can also find Kentucky Edition on the PBS video app on your mobile device, and smart TV.

Send us a story idea.

Public affairs@ket.org and follow KET on Facebook and Instagram.

Thank you for joining us.

I'm Marvin Bartlett.

Make the rest of your evening a good one.