(music) >> There were open hostilities between the two of them, and in a matter of seconds, that disappeared.

[MUSIC] >> Daniel Cameron, responding to the campaign shakeup for U.S.

Senate.

>> We'll have actually not obstructed anything.

You can't point to a single piece of legislation that hasn't passed, because I was there and stopping it from getting passed.

[MUSIC] >> Congressman Thomas Massie talks to KET about his reputation as Mr.

No.

[MUSIC] >> So today I'm signing an executive order declaring a state of emergency related to gas prices.

>> What Governor Andy Beshear has in mind to ease your pain at the pump.

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

[MUSIC] >> Good evening, and welcome to Kentucky Edition for this Tuesday, May 5th, I'm Christy Dutton in our KET Studios in Louisville, filling in tonight for Renee Shaw.

Thank you so much for joining us.

Two weeks from today, Kentucky voters head to the polls.

Among the most talked about races.

Who will win the Republican nomination for Mitch McConnell's seat in the U.S.

Senate?

President Trump has endorsed Congressman Andy Barr, and Nate Morris has dropped out.

But Daniel Cameron says he's not going anywhere.

Laura Rogers brings us more from the former state attorney general, who held a press conference this morning.

>> So there's no dropping out.

There's only victory for Team Cameron.

On May 19th.

>> Surrounded by supporters at the Jefferson County GOP headquarters, Daniel Cameron responding today to developments in the Republican primary for U.S.

Senate.

>> Now, a few short days ago, the options in this race became clear.

This is a two man race between me and Andy Barr.

>> Cameron drawing a distinction between himself and Barr on background and record, and blasted Barr's decision not to take part in the two most recent debates.

>> In politics.

You can run ads, you can send emails, you can send mail, you can say anything you want to behind a camera.

But when it comes time to take the stage, look, the people of Kentucky in the eye and answer for your record.

That's when it counts.

>> On Friday, President Trump announced his endorsement of Congressman Barr and invitation to Nate Morris to serve as an ambassador in his administration.

>> For ten months, Nate Morris and Andy Barr were bickering with each other on television.

In fact, at the first Fox debate, I got a lot of kudos and applause because I didn't get in the middle of the scrum that they were having.

They were open hostilities between the two of them, and in a matter of seconds that disappeared.

>> Cameron calling it, quote, politics at its worst but says he's encouraged by messages of support from those who had planned to vote for Nate Morris.

>> There are a lot of a lot of folks that are upset with the process that was undertaken that got us to this spot.

>> He says.

This primary is all about who turns out to the polls on May 19th.

Cameron launching a statewide Kentucky first tour with 34 official campaign stops scheduled across the state over the next two weeks.

>> What I'm focused on is garnering as much support since that decision has been made for people to come to this camp because they know authenticity means something, and they know that if I say something, I'm going to stand firm by those things.

>> He's also standing firm and his candidacy, saying no one has asked him to drop out of the race and he doesn't plan to.

>> I am leading in the polls.

There's been only one poll that has shown that Andy Barr is ahead in this race.

Every other poll has shown that I am in the lead.

>> Cameron says his campaign has built a broad coalition of support and portrayed his opponent, Congressman Andy Barr, as a career politician.

>> If you want real change, you don't need someone who has spent the past 14 years of their life sucking up to the D.C.

swamp.

I'm not beholden to anyone in Washington.

I'm beholden to the people here of this commonwealth.

>> He says.

If elected to the U.S.

Senate, he pledges to only serve two terms for Kentucky Edition.

I'm Laura Rogers.

>> Cameron's Kentucky first tour begins this Friday in Western Kentucky, with stops planned in McCracken, Graves, Hopkins and Henderson counties.

It's one of the most visible and expensive House races in the country.

The Republican primary for Congress in Kentucky's fourth district, a sometimes Trump critic is taking on a Trump backed challenger.

And one of the candidates stopped by our studios last night.

Our Toby Gibbs has more.

As our election coverage continues.

>> Congressman Thomas Massie is running for another term in Kentucky's fourth Congressional district.

He's opposed in the Republican primary by Ed Gallrein, who's been endorsed by President Donald Trump.

Massie was our guest last night on Kentucky tonight as he discussed areas where he disagrees with the president and issues where they agree.

Renee Shaw asked Congressman Massie about the claim that he is an obstructionist in Congress.

>> Many have labeled that to you.

Do you take that as a badge of honor and courage for being the lone voice on many of these matters in bucking the Republican Party or the president himself?

>> Well, I've actually not obstructed anything.

You can't point to a single piece of legislation that hasn't passed because I was there and stopping it from getting passed.

The votes they're mad about are the ones that are 420 to 1, where I'm the only person who reads the bill and gets in there and says, hey, this is what's in the bill.

And the reality is the.

Mr.

No nomenclature is way overstated.

Look, I vote with the Republican Party and this president 90% of the time, and the 10% of the time that I'm not voting with the party or the president, I'm keeping the promises that the president and I campaigned on, and I'm voting consistently for the same things that I voted for, regardless of who the president is.

That's lower spending, no foreign entanglements.

That's warrants.

If you're going to spy on Americans, keeping the Constitution sacrosanct.

Those are and not bankrupting this country.

Those are the things where 10% of the time I have to deviate from the party because I'm keeping promises to people in Kentucky.

>> While Congressman Massie accepted our invitation to appear last night, his opponent Ed Gallrein, declined.

Massie had some thoughts on that.

>> I love this, I love this.

You've given me 20 things to talk about.

What I've noticed is my opponent, Ed Gallrein is not here.

He won't answer these questions.

He's not filled out one of those forms from the guns rights advocates.

He's not filled out a form from the pro-life advocates.

He's afraid to take a position because he knows that he doesn't have positions.

And the reason the other reason he's not here tonight, he doesn't want to have to answer for why are 85% of his Max donors also donors to Democrats?

He doesn't want to have to answer for questions like that.

Why did he leave the party?

Why did he leave the Republican Party not once, but twice.

And the second time he left the Republican Party was in 2016, two weeks after President Trump cinched the nomination for our party.

And he stayed out of the party for five years.

He waited for President Trump to lose his reelection before he came back to the party.

Those questions and the questions that you're asking, he should be answering here tonight, but he's afraid to do it.

>> Our Emily Sisk caught up with Ed Gallrein last week, and she asked him about participating in formal debates and other joint appearances with Congressman Massie.

>> I'm debating him every day.

I'm glad you asked that question.

He's had 15 years to make his case to these people, get this quote right.

15 years.

What's he got to say now?

What's he not said?

He's not said already.

He's had 15 years to make his case to the people.

What's he got to say now?

You know, some juncture, you know, you got to call balls and strikes.

He's gone to Washington, D.C.

he's burned every bridge, burned a bridge factory.

Run everybody else build a bridge.

That's a conservative Republican.

And that's why the mainstream media loves him, because he he advances their cause for the liberals and the Democrats.

Folks here we are Republican conservatives.

And that's why I'm here tonight.

I want to add another piece.

He's got a problem for every solution, full stop.

>> During that appearance in Northern Kentucky, Gallrein had a similar message for the crowd.

>> If not me, who?

If not now, when?

Isaiah six eight.

Because right now, our representative in Congress is one of the main obstacles to the agenda.

We overwhelmingly voted for, including in this county.

Never mind the fact he promised term limits the limit itself to two, maybe three.

He's asking for eight, but instead he served for 14 years and wants his eighth term.

He's also got a severe case of the Trump Derangement Syndrome, like the radical Democrats that he actively votes against our best interest, our nation, our party, and our families.

The fact is, Thomas Massie simply does not represent us.

He stands with the radical Democrats and liberal elites against us and our families time and time again.

President Trump knows this, our party knows this and you know this.

And that's why President Trump asked me to serve again and gave me his strongest endorsement, or I would not be here in front of you tonight.

>> For Kentucky Edition.

I'm Toby Gibbs.

>> See more of our half hour conversation with Congressman Thomas Massie online on demand at ket.org/ky.

Tonight, after the primary, political pundits will turn their eyes to Fancy Farm, this year's MC will be Dave Baker.

Baker has been with KET TV in Lexington for more than 40 years, serving as a sports anchor, reporter and account executive.

This is the 146th year for Fancy Farm.

The Fancy Farm Picnic, which always includes several political speakers and also serves as a fundraiser for the Saint Jerome Catholic Church.

It is set for Saturday, August the 1st.

Governor Andy Beshear says the cost of living is out of control and he's taking steps to help.

The governor says he's taking executive action to prevent a gas tax increase from kicking in on July the 1st.

But he says Kentucky should do more.

>> So today I'm signing an executive order declaring a state of emergency related to gas prices.

This order will reduce the gas tax by $0.10 per gallon, and it should reduce gas prices by $0.10 per gallon for Kentuckians.

I'm asking it to take effect as soon as possible.

It would be a week from today, May 11th, for both regular and diesel.

It has the potential to save Kentuckians $26.8 million every month.

It's in effect.

It would be huge for our families, but.

>> That emergency order to cut the gas tax by $0.10 would require the signature of Kentucky's attorney general, Russell Coleman.

Coleman says he will approve that, but in a statement, he blasts the governor for opposing tax cuts in the past.

Also, Governor Beshear says he has written a letter to Congress asking for the federal gas tax to be suspended for the time being.

That would cut the price of gas by more than $0.18 a gallon.

And the governor has signed an order freezing the motor vehicle assessment rate.

That's due to change next January 1st.

A legal battle over the 2024 law, designed to help some Kentucky families, continues.

Republican Allison Ball is asking the Kentucky Court of Appeals to reverse a lower court ruling and force the Beshear administration to comply with her investigation into Senate Bill.

151, the so-called Kinship Care bill is meant to help remove barriers for people wanting to care for relatives child and allow them to access financial aid.

Governor Beshear signed the bill into law, but said it couldn't be implemented because the General Assembly didn't set aside money for it last year.

FFA Franklin County Circuit Court judge dismissed a lawsuit by Auditor Ball claiming she lacked standing in the case.

In the appeal filed yesterday, Auditor Ball's office argues, quote, court intervention is needed to vindicate Auditor Ball's investigatory investigatory authority.

The court should not let Governor Beshear off the hook for his actions and inaction.

Well, the Kentucky Department of Education is getting more involved with Fayette County Public Schools, the state's second largest public school district, recently announced it's laying off staff and cutting employees hours as it works to address an increasingly complicated financial crisis.

The district hasn't said how many jobs will be cut, just that the changes would save the district nearly $2 million.

The decision follows last month's announcement from Superintendent Demetrius Liggins that the district's financial situation has been misrepresented since at least 2008.

In a statement to KET, a spokesperson for the Kentucky Department of Education said, it's SFPS for information, quote.

Beyond that, routinely submitted by school districts.

Meanwhile, education groups are calling for more transparency from the district.

>> Unfortunately, it seems like rank and file staff are having to pay for the mistakes by leadership.

And I think there's a sense, again, that in terms of addressing this right sizing as a term that's been used frequently for some months now, unfortunately, it appears that that is too often happening on the backs of our students and staff.

I think people can have empathy when dealing with a large budget when realizing that this has occurred for years, and when realizing that the district or any district in the state have not been adequately funded at the state, at the state level, however, locally the community have been raising the red flag for months or even years at this point.

And too often it seems like the response from administration has been to to silence those who have been trying to speak up.

>> We reached out to FCPS for comment, but did not receive a statement in time for tonight's broadcast.

KY t TV reports superintendent Liggins has agreed to take a 10% pay cut to his base salary, which is $275,000.

He's also said the staff reduction plan is expected to be finalized by May 15th.

Now to a major traffic project in just a few weeks.

A stretch of Interstate 65 here in Louisville will be shut down for two months beginning June 1st.

I-65 will be closed between Jefferson Street and downtown Louisville and the Watterson Expressway.

During that time, three bridges will be replaced.

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet says the bridges were built in the late 50s and have exceeded their lifespan.

Officials say closing I-65 for the bridge replacement project saves at least a year of added closures and delays.

The first of two public meetings about the closure was tonight.

Another meeting is scheduled next Tuesday at Spalding University.

You can learn more about the project, including maps showing detour routes and online at I-65.

Central corridor corridor.com.

[MUSIC] A judge just struck down part of Kentucky's anti abortion law, but that impact of that ruling is still unclear.

Our Toby Gibbs tells us more in this look at headlines around Kentucky.

>> According to EKU radio, Judge Brian Edwards threw out the law's definition of when human life begins.

Judge Edwards is a Jefferson Circuit judge.

He said the law is █too vague on the topic and includes conflicting definitions of a human being.

A Jewish woman brought the lawsuit, saying the law used Christian doctrines and violated her religious freedoms.

It's not clear what the ruling means for Kentucky's abortion ban.

Kentucky's law, passed in 2022, only allows abortion in order to protect the life of the mother.

[MUSIC] From the Kentucky Lantern.

The state is looking at reports of an unusually high number of brain tumors found in eastern Kentucky children.

The Department for Public Health is investigating 4 to 5 recent cases of diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma, or Dipg, a rare cancer found in children ages 6 to 7.

There are typically 200 to 300 cases in the entire United States in a given year, according to Saint Jude Children's Research Hospital.

Laura Knox and Whitley County are working with the state to evaluate recent cases of Dipg.

People in Paducah received a firsthand look at plans to develop a commercial uranium enrichment facility.

Wkms reports global Laser Enrichment hosted an open house last week.

[MUSIC] That's after G. L e received a $99 million incentive package from the state and McCracken County.

[MUSIC] It's the question racing fans ask every year will we have another Triple Crown winner?

Kentucky Derby winner Golden tempo is one of the horses who could run in the Preakness on May 16th.

The Courier-Journal reports 15 horses are possibilities.

[MUSIC] The Preakness draw is May 11th.

[MUSIC] With headlines around Kentucky.

I'm Toby Gibbs.

>> And Twilight Money have spent more than a half century as husband and wife.

Well, they are also some of our state's best known folk artists.

Our Chip Polston looks at how these two produce works of art side by side in this Kentucky Life extra.

>> Thanks so much and it's good to be with you again.

Tucked away in their small workshop in East Bernstadt.

Lonnie and Twila Money have celebrated more than 50 years of creating art together.

Now I got to spend some time with them, learning how they create and how they can be.

Both husband and wife and artistic collaborators.

For more than half a century.

[MUSIC] For Lonnie Money, wood carving was literally in his blood.

His great grandfather came to Kentucky in the 1880s from Switzerland, where he was a master carver.

The realities of life led Lonnie to a variety of jobs, including running a dairy farm.

[MUSIC] After exhibiting at some art shows in the 1970s, he slowly began to build the business as the artwork he and Twila were creating started to take off.

>> I was taking money from this and and keeping the farm up.

And I think I thought, well, you know, it's kind of crazy.

I'm doing all this work out here, running these cattle around.

Why don't I just sell the cattle and go in and just do this?

And that's what we did.

>> Where some would say Lonnie was born an artist, Twila was not.

But she reached a point where she knew she needed something, anything in her life to fill what she saw as a void.

>> We didn't have children, couldn't have children.

And I, like I said, I love children.

I needed something to occupy my mind.

And I was making a bed one morning and I said, Lord, you've got to give me something or I'm going to go crazy.

And this is when it started.

>> When Lonnie first asked her to paint some pieces, she didn't think she had the skills for it.

>> My mom, I had helped her.

She would go around, paint to older folks houses and things, and I helped her some.

And that.

That's all the painting I had ever done.

I had no interest in art in school when he said that I'll try anything.

So I got the paintbrush and the paint on the kitchen table and started painting.

>> And that started a collaboration celebrated in a new book, Lonnie and Twila Money 50 Years of Kentucky Appalachian Folk Art.

Now, like many in the genre, the money's created things they knew, namely animals.

Many of the whimsical pieces they produce come from real life experiences they've had on their farm, including one time when a neighbor told Lonnie that his chickens were suddenly disappearing.

[MUSIC] >> I seen this fox go up through there, and it had this big chicken by the neck and throat over its shoulder, and I went back there in the back, and these white feathers all over that place where the fox had go get a chicken every day, I guess.

And they run out chickens.

You know how the foxes are.

So I put the chicken in the fox's mouth.

>> The Kentucky Folk Art Center at Morehead State University is one of many museums that have the money's work as part of their folk art collections.

Staff there say younger people are now collecting folk art.

Like what?

The money's due, in large part due to the fact that it's, well, fun.

>> I really think a lot of it is just the whimsy that they have with their work.

I mean, you take a look at the works that they do with the gourds and things.

It's just it's really quite fun.

The monies are known really throughout the United States.

I mean, if you were to tap into any of the museums around the country that have any kind of folk art collection, the monies are probably going to be part of that collection.

>> While the end result is fun, getting there takes work.

Lonnie is not only a brilliant woodworker, he's a good businessman.

He knew he and Twila would have to produce large numbers of items to make ends meet if they were going to be full time artists.

>> Some people say, I don't see anywhere you could stand to do all them Christmas ornaments.

You do, but see each one of them.

To me, that's the.

That's what I get out of is making it.

It's not really that I've got a piece.

You know, when I get it done, it's in the making of it.

The creative part is what I love.

>> I used to count how many pieces we did a year.

I would count how many Christmas ornaments.

One year I counted, we'd done 2400 and I said, forget it.

I'm not counting no more.

>> We first met Lonnie and Twila some 20 years ago here on Kentucky Life.

They said then that they had a hard time keeping up with demand for their work, and that demand has definitely not slowed down.

Twila studio is in a converted building.

They're in East Bernstadt that also serves as their gallery, while Lonnie works next door in a barn.

He's converted into a three story workshop.

The barn is a testament to his ability to make and create things.

It's filled with tools he's modified and pieces waiting to become art.

Twigs he finds are hung on a long string so he can look at them until, as he said, one speaks to me.

Sirup bottles from many meals they shared at their favorite breakfast spot decorate a staircase and hundreds, if not thousands, of patterns are stored in an organized system that Lonnie built, where he converted pants bought at a flea market into big bags with wooden handles.

Now, I got to ask you, Lonnie.

[MUSIC] Most people would probably just go get some bags.

>> Well, you know, I'm, you know, we are people that I guess grew up hard.

I don't like to say poor.

[MUSIC] You know, we're not poor.

We just don't have any money.

So I mean, we're that type of people.

I was and you know, we bags cost a whole lot more than paints.

>> The money's ability to work together is so refreshing in this day and age.

But beyond that, Lonnie and Twila's love for one another is evident and has resulted in a marriage filled with laughter, creativity, and some amazing art.

>> He's a special person.

I'll just tell you.

Don't tell him I said that though.

But he's very special.

>> I have a pretty good feeling he'd say the same thing about you, Twila.

>> Well, probably.

Maybe, but we have a lot of fun together.

>> How in the world do you stay together for half a century and be able to do an artistic thing like this together?

>> I mean, I couldn't do this without her.

I mean, I could do the work, make the pieces, but I couldn't paint it and be like, you know, it wouldn't be like her.

So it makes both of us make a whole.

[MUSIC] And that's kind of what a marriage is.

You know.

>> Great stories like this one come your way on our show each Saturday night at 8:00 eastern, seven central, right here on KET.

As we continue to cherish this great Kentucky Life.

Back to you.

>> We will do just that.

Thank you.

Chip.

Well, we hope that you'll join us again tomorrow night at 630 eastern, 530 central for Kentucky Edition where we inform, connect and inspire.

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

[MUSIC] That's all the time we have for tonight.

Have a great evening.

[MUSIC]