[music] Our pessimistic model still has this increasing revenues by 5.7.

You know, that's like my daughter getting a pony instead of a horse.

[MUSIC] >> Kentucky state government will have more money than expected.

What should lawmakers do with it?

>> It seems to me the net result of this has been he has less reach.

[MUSIC] >> What does the Kentucky conservative say about a white House press ban?

>> We really have been trying to push more awareness that it is way more than just red meat.

[MUSIC] >> Alpha gal syndrome is becoming more common.

A new nutrition guide is helping patients navigate the complicated food allergy.

>> It's an honor for us to do it, and it's an honor to have these men to be down there where they're not forgotten.

>> And some American heroes are finally laid to rest years after their passing.

>> Production of Kentucky edition is made possible in part by the KET Millennium Fund.

>> Good evening and welcome to Kentucky Edition for Wednesday, September 23rd.

I'm Marvin Bartlett.

Thanks for joining us.

Kentucky State government will have more money than expected in 2027 and 2028, according to the consensus forecasting group.

It's the group of economists responsible for forecasting tax revenue dollars.

It met yesterday, and while it opted for a more conservative or pessimistic projection, the economists say things still look better than the last fiscal year.

>> I would probably go with the pessimistic model because our pessimistic model still has this increasing revenues by 5.7.

I, you know, that's like my daughter getting a pony instead of a horse.

I don't really call this pessimistic at all.

So if I went with pessimistic, it would be more on the numbers as opposed to like, I think we're going to crash and burn, which is what you usually hear.

I think when I hear pessimistic, so I would probably prefer to go with pessimistic because the numbers.

>> How quickly could we do.

Another revision?

So if if it turns out that things do start declining more than we have predicted or not, not growing as much as we have predicted, how quickly would you know that and call us back.

>> The next logical waiting with bated breath moment is October 15th.

I'm.

Yeah.

That's right.

October 15th, which is the declaration payment month for the for for fiscal filers that match the July fiscal filers.

That'll be the first major moment where we can point our finger to say, hey.

Here's a, here's a major hurdle that we either got over or didn't get over.

>> State budgets are crafted based off these economic expectations.

This year, lawmakers passed what some call a conservative two year budget.

State Senator Chris McDaniel, who leads budget talks in the Senate, wrote that this economic uncertainty is.

Why, quote, Kentucky has benefited from disciplined biennial budgeting.

Governor Andy Beshear wrote yesterday that the forecast projected an extra $1.7 billion than what the Republican controlled legislature allocated.

He suggested those dollars should go toward Medicaid and prekindergarten.

A judge has struck down a new state law that would have kept the current chair of the Fayette County School Board from seeking reelection.

The Republican led Senate passed Senate Bill four during the last session.

It bars any school board employee who works more than 100 days a year from serving on the Board of Education of a school district with more than 300,000 residents.

The only districts that meet that threshold are Fayette County Public Schools and Jefferson County Public Schools.

Fayette County School Board Chair Tyler Murphy and the Kentucky Education Association sued.

They say the new law unfairly targeted Murphy, since he would be the only school board employee running in the November election who would be affected.

On Tuesday, the Franklin Circuit Court ruled in their favor.

>> The reason they decided to get involved in this lawsuit is because it was an flagrant violation of the state constitution.

And and on on our members rights.

Kentucky's constitution prohibits special legislation against a person or a particular group of people, and this was targeted at public school educators and no one else.

So that was a violation of the Constitution.

And you could go even further, saying that it was aimed at one man because it was, in fact, we've been calling this bill Murphy's Law because Tyler Murphy was the only person in the Commonwealth that it would have affected.

>> One of the things I said in the spring when this came up is it just doesn't make sense to say that educators should be disqualified from serving on boards of education in any community, let alone the largest communities in the Commonwealth.

One of the the points that we raised is that this this went far beyond me.

But if the message was sent that the legislature could target an individual based upon a disagreement, or that type of approach, then.

Then they could target anybody, anywhere in the Commonwealth.

And that's just not a standard of law that any of us should accept.

You know, I teach civics, and we know that that's just not how the rule of law works in any part of our country, or certainly shouldn't be how the rule of law works.

Local school boards are elected by local people to make decisions that reflect the needs and interests of those communities.

The people in my district elected me knowing that I was an educator precisely because they believe that having an educators voice at the table was valuable and was meaningful.

And when all of these conversations were happening last spring, over and over again, I invited dialog.

I invited discourse, I said, look, let's sit down and talk about how we can work together to strengthen the challenges that that public schools in Fayette County and all across the Commonwealth face.

And I would still say that that's that's my stance on this as we navigate these these issues.

>> A spokesperson for Kentucky Senate Majority sent out a statement in response to the ruling saying, quote, while disappointing, we are reviewing the Franklin Circuit Court's recent decision regarding Senate Bill four, SB four was enacted as part of a broader effort to strengthen leadership, governance and accountability in Kentucky's public schools.

The General Assembly has a constitutional responsibility to provide for the Commonwealth's system of common schools, and we will carefully review the court's reasoning and any appropriate next steps.

A state senator wants the Beshear administration to delay a policy that could leave retired state workers and school employees without health coverage.

The request is from Senator Jimmy Higdon of Lebanon, who is co-chair of the Public Pension Oversight Board.

He says under the new policy, if participants fail to enroll for coverage between October 5th and the 26th, they won't have coverage starting January 1st.

He says.

Current state employees receive updates and notifications while at work, but he says retired workers don't get those regular updates.

And it's a mistake to classify them the same way as current state workers.

So Higdon is urging a delay in the policy.

Here's a quote from Senator Higdon.

I am asking Governor Beshear and the personnel cabinet to reconsider this policy and delay implementation for one year.

That is a reasonable alternative that will ensure our retirees will not lose their health insurance.

Robert.

Stivers, Kentucky Senate President is winning praise from Hollywood.

Stivers is one of the winners of the 2026 Motion Picture Association's Industry Champion Award, being presented in Washington, DC.

Why Senator Stivers it's because of his work on legislation that provides tax incentives for movie and TV makers to bring their shoots to Kentucky.

Our Emily Prince sat down with Senator Stivers to talk about the importance of the movie industry in Kentucky and his role in making it happen.

>> President Stivers, thank you for sitting down with us, and let's talk a little bit about the film industry.

>> It's a fun thing to talk about.

>> All right.

So why did you push so hard for wanting to see this industry really come to fruition?

And what's your assessment of how it's progressed along so far?

>> Well, first of all, a lot of people don't realize we had it here.

There just was no structure around it.

We had tax codes, tax incentives to bring film to Kentucky.

And when you think about our economy, we're heavy on agriculture.

We're heavy on manufacturing.

You generally like to diversify.

And so this was another way to create an industry that would bring and attract or keep people here.

And that's one of the biggest reasons.

Plus get the opportunity to create a narrative, shed a light, create an image for Kentucky through the film industry.

>> And you mentioned incentives, and there are some tax incentives available to folks in the film industry.

What is your argument as far as why that is deserved for the film industry?

>> Well, like any other industry, we've had some other conversations.

We're in a competitive society that people are wanting to try to attract these jobs, and we have certain things that make us attractive, like our tax rate.

But then we have other states that have very attractive tax codes.

So you've seen Georgia has really taken off and it's become one of the top film areas in the world.

A lot of things are moving out of Los Angeles because they have a terrible type of scenario.

The Marvel movies are all now being done in London, England, and so they want that ecosystem that is most conducive to them to bring the jobs and opportunity to that area.

And that's why virtually everybody does some type of incentive package for whatever industry you're looking at.

>> So there may be other impacts too, beyond just, you know, the money that comes from this.

Talk about that too.

>> Well, when you do a film, people see places the films are done for my generation, everybody wants to go see where Rocky ran up the steps in Philadelphia, just got back from Scotland.

The Outlander series.

They're saying they're seeing increased.

People come there because they want to see where these places that Outlander was filmed.

So if you can create that image and we talked about that a little bit earlier, you create that image.

People want to see where these places are, that certain items are being filmed and they want to visit.

So they see an uptick, which helps your hotel, motel, restaurant industry, airports, all that.

So it has a secondary impact of creating a positive image that people want to come visit.

>> And you have received some recognition for your role in this industry.

The Motion Picture Association industry's champion award.

Tell us a little bit about how that came about, and what did it mean to receive that?

>> Well, it's really a great honor because as I understand it, I'm the first person at the state level in any state to receive this recognition.

So I'm going to Washington next week, and I will be recognized along with the producer of The Hunger Games.

There is a creative award.

He is getting that myself and United States Senator Raphael Warnock out of Georgia will be in the same vein as a promoter of the industry.

And then the Egyptian government, because they busted up a pirating group in the Middle East, which protects those creative rights.

They are going to be recognized in Washington for their contribution of protecting the industry.

Promotion, production, creativity and protection.

And so it's quite an honor to be recognized like that.

>> It sounds like quite an array of people that are going to be there.

>> Wow.

It is, it is.

And it's and, and I'll say, I just got back to, to be with those people and think about how they've gone into other areas and how they're promoting their states and regions.

It's really great.

>> Well, congratulations to you for that award.

And thank you for discussing this with us.

>> Glad to.

>> Kentucky's film industry was our topic last Monday on Kentucky.

Tonight.

See that full discussion about Kentucky's tax incentive program and the economic impact of the movie industry?

Just go to ket.org/ky.

Tonight.

Last Friday, President Donald Trump banned CNNMS now and Politico from the white House.

Those three media organizations are challenging the ban as a violation of the First Amendment.

Kentuckian Scott Jennings is a CNN commentator who often backs President Trump.

Jennings was asked about the president's press ban.

>> So do you support the president's ban on the press?

>> I think he's unlikely to prevail in court.

A b it seems to me the net result of this has been.

He has less reach and his his message is not going to get out as much.

If this is sort of becomes the way it is, he will be seen and heard by fewer people, which I think is actually a net negative since he's his own best spokesperson and his own best press secretary.

Number three, I actually think sparring with some of these folks in the Oval works to his advantage.

And so if you take them out, you lose that a little bit.

So my view is this is unlikely to stick.

Based on what I'm not a lawyer either, but based on what I've heard, it's unlikely to stick.

And it may be a little self-defeating if you consider that you want the president to be heard and seen more like I do, that seems to be working against that.

>> Jennings has been mentioned as a possible replacement for Caroline Leavitt as White House press secretary.

She left that job August 27th.

President Trump has not appointed a replacement.

Governor Andy Beshear continues his national book tour with personal appearances and TV interviews.

The governor's book is called Go and Do Likewise How We Heal a Broken Country.

He talked about it and other political matters on an appearance last night on M. S now, Chris Hayes asked Governor Beshear about why governors are often popular when other politicians are not.

>> Why do you think governors have higher approval ratings across the ideological spectrum?

It's really funny when you look at if you look at the approval ratings, state by state, there'll be a few outliers that are really bad.

The Rhode Island governor that just lost his his primary.

Reynolds in Iowa is really bad, but generally you're looking and you're talking wide range of geographies, politics, you're looking at governors at like plus ten, plus 15, plus 18.

What's that about at a time when everyone seems to hate our politics?

Well, if you're doing this, if you're doing this job right, you're not governing in an ideological way every day because you got to get results every day.

You're trying to make life a little bit better for your people.

You're trying to build that new four lane, interstate like road through the heart of Appalachia.

So you can finally bring more manufacturing there.

You're building the first hospital in our largest African American community, West Louisville, in 150 years.

What governors do, people can see and feel and touch and know that their lives are better.

>> The governor said.

He continues to watch Senator Mitch McConnell's performance in office after his three month absence due to a fall in June.

Governor Beshear said he's concerned about the lack of transparency from McConnell's office, about his health and the lack of action from Senate Republican leaders.

Some fallen heroes were laid to rest today in southern Kentucky, six veterans who were cremated but never claimed by family were given a special sendoff this morning to their final resting place near Fort Campbell.

Jake Kirby and Son Funeral Home in Bowling Green has said these remain has had these remains in its care from 4 to 16 years.

A seventh veteran from an Owensboro funeral home was also included in the service and burial.

Brigadier General Dan Cherry, a career fighter pilot who served in Vietnam, was among the special escorts.

The funeral homes collaborated with the Missing in America project to give these service members a formal funeral procession, followed by a memorial service with full military honors.

The veterans who've been in Jack Kirby's care served in the United States Air Force, Army and Marine Corps, respectively.

>> And what an honor for us to be able to do this for these gentlemen that have served our country and have been forgotten.

And they're not today, though, we're Americans and we're proud of America, and we're proud to serve our veterans that serve us.

And we want to make sure they're taken care of.

>> This is to honor those that have allowed us to be free today.

Without these individuals that have given their all, we would not have the freedoms that we do.

These individuals had no one to claim their bodies.

So the community is actually representing these individuals as part of their family.

>> I'm a torch a torch youth ambassador.

So I came out today.

It's a really cool experience.

It's the pay respects for people that risked their lives for ours.

>> The procession included students from Legacy Christian Academy, as well as police agencies and the Rolling Thunder motorcycle organization.

The Missing in America project is a nonprofit that works to find, identify and enter the unclaimed remains of American veterans.

Their efforts began back in 2007.

To date, they've laid to rest the remains of more than 8300 veterans.

[MUSIC] Dietitians at the University of Kentucky have published one of the first nutrition guides for those with Alpha Gal syndrome.

AGS is a unique food allergy spread most commonly by Lone Star ticks, a highly prevalent tick species in Kentucky.

In fact, Muhlenberg County in western Kentucky has the second highest number of cases of AGS in the nation, according to UK.

In tonight's look at medical news, our Mackenzie Spink tells us more about the new resource available to people navigating nutrition with Alpha Gal Syndrome.

[MUSIC] >> Alpha-gal is shorthand for galactose, alpha one three galactose, a carbohydrate present in the meat of most mammals when bitten by a tick.

Some people develop a sensitivity to alpha-gal, often resulting in hives and swelling in the throat.

>> After being bitten.

There are some people who become sensitized to alpha-gal so that carbohydrate and those individuals may end up having an allergic response once they eat foods that contain that carbohydrate.

And what that ends up being are things that come from mammals.

So beef, pork, deer, even to some extent dairy.

So your cheese, your sour cream, your milk.

>> While many people know alpha-gal syndrome as a red meat allergy, alpha-gal can be present in less obvious food groups as well, making nutrition complicated for those with AGS.

>> There is a type of seaweed called carrageenan that can cause a reaction, and unfortunately, carrageenan is used as a food additive in a lot of different foods.

So someone may not be able to consume dairy.

So they go to something like almond milk or soy milk.

But unfortunately, depending on the brand, it can have that carrageenan in it.

So they may actually react to that.

>> The nutrition focused guide, published by the University of Kentucky's College of Agriculture, Food and Environment, is aimed towards dietitians treating patients with AGS.

>> We are one of the professions that's on the front lines of Alpha-gal syndrome, and so we wanted those dietitians to have a general protocol or a general idea of how to treat someone who may have alpha-gal syndrome.

>> AGS can affect individuals differently, less sensitive patients may be able to eat dairy products or other additives.

Doctor pace says.

AGS patients should have a tailored nutrition plan, and the guide includes a tiered approach to food elimination.

>> We were hoping to educate dietitians that we don't have to eliminate everything with Alpha-gal, and so then they can take that information and pass it along to their patients and make it personalized.

So that's really important.

Alpha-gal syndrome treatment needs to be personalized to an individual, and dietitians have the capacity and have the knowledge and education to do that.

>> Doctor pace highly encourages AGS patients to work with a dietitian, not only to partner on a nutrition plan, but also for guidance on non-food factors that can affect Alpha-gal syndrome.

>> They also have knowledge of things like cofactors, such as exercise or insects, which is medication like ibuprofen and alcohol that can actually increase the severity or the timing of a reaction.

They can also help with navigating label reading on foods.

So like I said, there are some food additives with that contain alpha gal and that can get quite complicated.

>> Kentucky's tick season is currently at its peak, according to UK farmers, forestry workers, landscapers and other individuals who spend a lot of time outdoors are at an increased risk of alpha-gal syndrome for Kentucky edition, I'm Mackenzie Spink.

>> For more information on tick prevention, you can visit the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife website at ky.gov.

[MUSIC] It's music festival season in Kentucky.

The louder Than Life and Bourbon and beyond.

Music festivals bring in about a half million people to Louisville over these two weeks.

And the creator of these festivals has doubled down on Louisville, recently, signing a ten year deal to keep them coming.

Kelsey Starks takes a closer look on the next inside Louisville.

[MUSIC] >> You guys do festivals like this all over the country, and so what is it about Louisville specifically that you've noticed or your teams noticed that has made you all really want to double down here?

>> Yeah, I mean, I think it's the relationships we don't have an office in any of our other host cities.

This is where we really have sort of set our, our, our home away from home.

And we have an amazing relationship that started with Mayor Fischer back at the development of these festivals and has continued on through Mayor Greenburg and his staff, and they are just wonderful.

The city services, emergency services, KEC you know, the governor, all of the commissioners and the council, they have all just been so wonderful to us in terms of recognizing the value and what these festivals do for the city and the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

And, and not only tourism, but also in local jobs.

And I think and also that local pride of, of something to be really proud of that happens in your hometown.

And, you know, we from day one, Louisville tourism has been such a big partner of ours.

It's just that that doesn't happen everywhere.

And we've been so lucky that it happened to us in Louisville that has made us really want to invest back in this city and keep figuring out how we can bring more awareness, more eyeballs, more people to discover this great city.

>> Well, it really has helped, you know, Louisville is has always been known for the Derby and more recently, Bourbon.

But now it is starting to be known as a live music destination.

And I think a lot of that is because of these festivals.

>> Yeah.

I mean, if you think about it, it's the eight biggest days of music in the United States.

It is 300 bands that will be performing and bands from all over the world, and fans from all over the world.

And so it really is a great showcase.

All genres are represented.

I mean, there's so much discovery that can happen.

And then that really helps feed the the ecosystem of music year round.

You were able to see an artist at Louder that then performing at another venue in six months that maybe you hadn't heard of before you saw their set.

So it really helps add to the, the next 2 or 3 years of music that happens in the market coming off of that one festival play.

>> Bourbon and Beyond begins tomorrow and runs through Sunday.

Hear the full story on Inside Louisville streaming now on ket.org.

[MUSIC] We hope you join us again tomorrow night at 630 eastern, 530 central for Kentucky Edition, where we inform, connect and inspire.

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

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