music >> This type of of policy initiative really helps us, especially with all the changing circumstances within the state and federal government.

[MUSIC] >> A new clinic in Lexington is taking a unique approach to health care that could save the state money.

[MUSIC] >> There will be an additional $10 million of revenue that will flow through transmission.

[MUSIC] >> People powered utilities say data centers could lower costs.

>> I think the biggest reason that it resonated is because there was an example of an egregious abuse of this power.

[MUSIC] >> Kentuckians overwhelmingly passed an amendment limiting the governor's pardon powers.

Hear from the lawmaker who brought it before voters.

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

[MUSIC] >> Good evening and welcome to Kentucky edition for Friday, November 6th.

I'm Marvin Bartlett.

Thanks for joining us.

Fayette County is now home to a new clinic focused on changing patients daily habits.

As our Mackenzie Spink reports, Appalachian Regional Health Care says helping patients change their lifestyles will improve overall health and potentially lessen the burden on our state's health care systems.

>> Appalachian regional health care or RH, already has a primary care office in this location, but the new Lexington Lifestyle Medicine Clinic isn't your typical doctor's office.

>> Lifestyle medicine is focused on six pillars.

We focus on whole food, nutrition, physical activity, sleep, health, stress management, social connection, and reducing risky substances.

>> And it's really based on evidence.

And the goal is to try to reduce chronic disease, try to prevent chronic disease, or if you already have it, even maybe try to reverse.

>> It.

Providers at the clinic say patients will get a more focused, detailed approach on how to effectively make healthy habits stick.

>> We're able to provide longer visits, so we do a traditional visit in primary care can be anywhere from 1530 minutes.

At Max, we're able to spend more time with our patients.

We have an hour long visit for your initial visit, and then follow up visits are 30 minutes.

It gives us the time to go over all these six different pillars and provide counseling and work on behavior change.

>> Yeah.

So it really addresses not just what you should be doing, but how can you actually make that happen in your daily life?

>> According to the United Health Foundation, Kentucky ranks 45th in the country for overall health outcomes.

RH physicians say stress and time are often the biggest obstacles to prioritizing a healthier lifestyle.

>> I think stress is one of the hardest pillars that we have to focus on, because if we do not figure out how to manage our stress well, all these other pillars become more complicated and more challenging.

So that's one of the first things we try to dive in and work on with our patients.

>> I think people get really busy.

And so trying to figure out how can you include healthy meals?

How can you include exercise and really social connection is a big part of what we encourage people to do as well.

And so finding the time and figuring out how to do that in a reasonable way is something we work on.

>> Lawmakers in Frankfort say they're concerned with how to improve the state's health, especially considering that Medicaid is the largest expense in the state's budget.

Senate President Robert Stivers says clinics like this are a good start.

>> This type of of policy initiative really helps us, especially with all the changing circumstances within the state and federal government and what's going to be paid for, what's not going to be paid for the impacts on our budget.

It is the largest budget sector in, in what we do in Frankfort.

So if we can sit here and have people be less or using less health care facilities because they're having a more healthy lifestyle by having better food intake, then that's good policy from a budgetary perspective.

>> RH opened the first lifestyle medicine clinic in the state earlier this year in hazard for Kentucky Edition.

I'm McKenzie Spink.

>> According to the RH website, lifestyle medicine clinics can help patients see improvements in chronic conditions such as type two diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure.

Kentucky's customer owned nonprofit utilities say their mission is to deliver affordable energy, and that an influx of data centers won't change that.

In some cases, they say, a data center might reduce rates.

Our June Leffler has more.

>> Electric cooperatives serve many rural and suburban customers outside of Lexington and Louisville.

These cooperatives say they will make data centers pay their way into the local grid.

>> Kentucky co-ops have rules in place that require data centers not existing members, to pay for any upgrades, and studies needed to serve that electric demand.

>> So the fact that we're not going to pass on any costs associated with data centers to our own members, zero.

>> Any additional build out or requirement of transmission or infrastructure design, those are all borne by that data center.

>> In Owensboro, based cooperative will supply the Tera Wolf Data Center in Hancock County.

>> There will be an additional $10 million of revenue that will flow through transmission that actually will now benefit our members, because we did not have to build new transmission.

It was existing.

So you add more revenues over the same infrastructure and you can lower your rates.

As a result, our transmission rate will go down by 30% with the addition of this Tera Wolf project.

>> The data center will be built on the site of a former aluminum smelter, which had its own power source.

That's very different from the Department of Energy's plans for data centers in Paducah.

>> We are not putting any of the generation on our balance sheet.

We're not sure what the risk is yet.

We don't know what the data centers are going to look like five years from now, ten years from now, is there going to be a bubble?

We don't know.

So we are not building generation to specifically support this particular project.

But we will have an option because the generation that is being built will exceed the load requirements of the data center.

We will have the option to take advantage of that if we choose to do so.

>> These cooperative leaders say coal, as the saying goes, keeps the lights on.

>> Coal is still going to be a prominent piece of our future at East Kentucky Power.

Coal is our baseload resource.

Coal.

Coal anchors the state of Kentucky.

>> As far as coal, we need it.

No retirements.

We looked at the application of the retirement, and the model says, no, do not retire your coal plant.

>> Glad to hear my co ops are saying the dependency and the need for coal.

I know a lot of people talk about renewables and things and they have their place.

Okay.

They have their place.

But the fact is society as a whole are moving more and more towards things that require more and more electricity.

>> Operating a coal plant has become more expensive than generating energy through natural gas and renewables.

But coal proponents say other sources alone cannot supply America's energy needs.

For Kentucky Edition, I'm June Leffler.

>> An update on Kentucky's energy affordability is coming.

The energy planning and Inventory Commission, or epic, will release its first report on December 1st.

There will be a new restriction on the governor's pardon power after Kentuckians voted in favor of a constitutional amendment during the midterm election.

Amendment one prohibits the governor from issuing pardons in the 60 days before an election, through the date when a governor is sworn in.

Republican Senator Chris McDaniel pushed for the amendment following controversial pardons made by former Governor Matt Bevin as he left office in 2019.

The pardons included people who had been convicted of murder and child sex abuse.

Constitutional amendments put before Kentucky voters have not fared well in recent years.

However, this amendment passed with 71% of the vote.

We asked McDaniel why he thought this amendment received such overwhelming support.

>> There's nothing more fundamental to government than the concept of justice.

That is the number one thing that government exists for is to provide justice to its citizens.

And so this was to me, a tremendous miscarriage of justice.

Justice that had been enshrined in the Constitution for over a century.

And so I felt that it was very important to get out on the road, to go see voters and to let them know why it was important that we change the Constitution.

I couldn't be happier that this passed and the way that it did.

You know, obviously we all saw the problems with the justice system, with the power to pardon several years ago.

It's been a long and arduous process to bring it to the ballot.

And then in front of the voters.

But it was it was gratifying to see it pass with such overwhelming support around the Commonwealth.

I think the biggest reason that it resonated is because there was an example of an egregious abuse of this power in recent memory, and also when people think about the power to pardon, they don't just have to think about one side of the aisle.

And, and when they stop and think about the fact that this exists at the state level and the federal level, they've seen abuses by Republicans.

They've seen abuses by Democrats.

But at the end of the day, it's an extreme, extreme amount of power concentrated in a single individual.

And people don't like that.

And they particularly don't like that when the power is exercised at the end of a very lengthy and fair process, not a perfect process, but a fair process.

And by and large, what they realized is this amendment, it it puts a check and a balance on the most powerful tool in the justice system.

And fundamentally, they wanted to see it be there.

Ultimately, the Constitution governs all of us, but all of us get input into the Constitution.

So to me, to any time we take something and put it in front of the voters, it doesn't make me nervous, because I think that's how our system is supposed to work.

And if they choose to vote an amendment up or down, that's the way it's supposed to be.

That is the ultimate expression of democracy and of our way of life.

And so I was just happy to take part in the process.

>> We also asked Senator McDaniel for his reaction to the midterm election results that saw Democrats unseat two Republican state senators and nine state representatives, including House Majority Whip Jason Nemes.

>> It breaks my heart to see some of the people that aren't coming back.

We have some outstanding members, Julie Raque Adams, Jason, Nemes, who won't be returning, not through any particular fault of their own, but just the nature of of electoral politics.

And sometimes in this line of work, you can get swept up in a wave that has nothing to do with you.

And they were both great members and there's many, many others.

Those are just the two that jump out in my mind because I've been in a lot of negotiating rooms with the both of them.

But the the beauty of a democracy is people get a say and, you know, now it's, it's on to working with those people who have been elected to replace them and doing the best for the citizens of Kentucky.

So I hate to see them go on a very personal level.

But as it relates to our system of government, that's the way it works.

And we'll work with the people that the citizens choose to send to Frankfort.

>> As we told you last night, Congressman Thomas Massie of Kentucky says he will reintroduce a resolution to impeach Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth over his conduct of the Iran war and other matters.

Massie's Republican colleague, Congressman James Comer, declined to defend Hegseth during an interview on News Nation.

Here's comer talking about Hegseth's future.

>> Well, that's going to be a decision that President Trump's going to have to make.

But I can tell you with a high level of confidence that there are a lot of questions about headsets.

We have no idea what the strategy is moving forward in Iran.

No one's happy about Iran.

And I think the Republican voters are more upset about what's going on in Iran than the Democrat voters.

23 me as a record.

>> Comer, is chair of the House Oversight Committee.

But even before the election, he said he would give up that leadership position starting in January.

A Democrat will lead the committee as Democrats take control of the U.S.

House.

Here are more election notes.

A woman elected to a school board seat in Shelby County was killed in a plane crash in Missouri the same day.

Michelle Peterson and her husband, John, died in a crash in Miller County, Missouri.

According to the Herald-Leader, Lex News reports, a recanvass is planned in Moorhead's mayor's race, as Jim Todd Trent leads write in candidate Edna Shack by one vote.

574 to 573 and Spectrum News one says Kentucky.

Young people shifted to the Democrats in Tuesday's election after leaning Republican in 2020 four.

Voters 18 to 29 favored Democratic Senate candidate Charles Booker by four percentage points.

>> It's time now to go inside Kentucky politics.

I'm Emily Prince, and I am joined by Sherman Brown and Amy Wickliffe with McCarthy Strategic Solutions.

Thank you all for being here.

I know you were just here on election night, but thank you for your return today.

So let's jump into first what we saw nationally and how that trickles down and impacts Kentucky.

So now that both the U.S.

Senate and Congress have flipped, Democrats, what does that mean?

So now Kentucky, as far as federal delegates, we only have two of eight total who will be in the majority?

Sherman, I want to start with you there first.

What does that mean for Kentucky?

You know, we're losing seniority in Mitch McConnell.

But now we also have less who are in the majority.

So what does that mean?

>> Ultimately, it means a lot that we've got to put on.

Congressman McGarvey Morgan McGarvey you know, this will be day one.

I guess January 2nd will be day one of his.

Any time ever served in the majority.

He was in the state Senate in 2012.

And then has always been in the minority.

It's always, ever served.

So it's going to be a lot put on him to come in and to be there as our our kind of majority representation.

And then I think you look to Zach Dembo, who ran, you know, and Zach ran on being an independent voice, being a he is a moderate.

I mean, he is the things he talked about, he'll be.

That'll be put to test.

I mean, he's going to be in the Blue Dog Caucus, which is a smaller caucus, not in the progressive wing of the of the party.

Maybe that left of center.

And that will be interesting just to see where that fits.

That's where that's where Ben Chandler was.

So, you know, what does he bring and what's he able to do as a freshman member for Kentucky?

>> Amy, what do you think?

And for the Republican now delegates, how can they work with the Democratic majority?

>> Well, I think that now that we have the majorities have flipped.

That doesn't mean that the experience that our Republican members of the federal delegation bring to the table and will continue to bring to the table.

When you look at Congressman Hal Rogers, dean of the House, he will always be dean of the House as long as he is there.

And he is a member who's been through many majority changes, right.

So he knows what that feels like to go back and forth and is still found a way to deliver for the fifth Congressional District.

When you look at Congressman Brett Guthrie, same there.

Right.

He's known to be able to work across the aisle.

And so I think we'll continue to see a lot of their experience, including with our newest U.S.

senator and Congressman Andy Barr.

But his years serving as congressman.

And that experience will translate immediately over to serving as the Senate.

So we know that Congressman Barr and Congressman McGarvey have worked well together in the House and would also continue to see that going forward.

>> And I think I think Congressman McGarvey also works very well with Robert Stivers Senate President Stivers.

So I think you're going to see a lot of conversation and a lot of hopefully a lot of work going together.

Those communication of how this benefits Kentucky and that they they do pull together and do that.

>> So speaking of Senate President Robert Stivers, let's shift now to state politics.

There were a handful of GOP incumbents who lost their seat to Democrats.

Most of that, I think all of that was kind of focused in urban areas where you had Jefferson County, parts of Fayette, Northern Kentucky, that that flipped.

When we think about these Republican lawmakers who lost their seat, Amy, I'll start with you on this.

Do we attribute that to voters?

Didn't agree with the incumbent, or do we attribute that to the national shift in that trickling down?

>> That was all national environment.

When you look specifically at those Republicans who lost their seats, especially in the Louisville area, those were not votes cast against a Julie Raque Adams or a Jason Nemes because they did something wrong or they didn't agree with their policies.

That was because time and time again, those Louisville Republicans have delivered for Louisville.

And so they got caught up in kind of that blue wave that hit Louisville a little bit.

And unfortunately, with this blue wave, sometimes you have really good members and really good lawmakers who get swept up in that.

So that is going to be a big loss for Louisville.

And there's going to be a big hole sitting at the decision making table for the supermajorities of where Who advocates for Louisville and who can deliver for Louisville going forward remains to be a question now.

>> Well, and that is the question, right.

But, I mean, Sherman, I want to ask you about this because yesterday Senate President Stivers was talking about that.

He said Louisville just lost two of their biggest advocates for funding.

But for Kentucky to succeed, Louisville needs to still succeed.

Right?

And when we think about funding and the tax revenue and tourism that comes in there.

So what does those what do those changes look like?

What does it mean for Louisville and who's going to step up?

>> I can't imagine a time where, where the Republicans just ignore Louisville.

Let's be clear.

But who's advocating for them?

And I think Mayor Greenburg, I mean, we talked about this a little bit on on election night.

Mayor Greenburg, who won his race, won reelection, has a working relationship with, you know, with the Republicans in Frankfort.

I think you're also going to see an opportunity, though, for some folks to step up from the Democrat side who have have been working, but maybe a little bit more behind the scenes.

>> Who do you see, Gerald?

>> Well, Gerald Neal is our is our leader in the in the Senate.

I think you're going to see couture Heron.

I mean, I think that is somebody who very much works behind the scenes and across party aisle to get things done and to be effective.

And then on the House side, you've got, I mean, the Louisville representation there with with Representative Watkins, these new members have an opportunity now they're new, and I get that they're in purple districts and they're going to be targeted two years from now.

They know that.

They all know that.

But stepping in and figuring out, is there a place for them to, to really shine and, and to be effective, realizing your name is not going to be on the bill, but can you get something done to, to make that happen and to work with somebody?

Can you find a friend across the aisle.

>> On that kind of similar topic?

A seat that flipped from blue to red was in House district 95.

Rep Ashley Tackett Lafferty decided not to run, and Tanner Hesterberg ended up winning that seat.

Now he's a pretty young Republican.

So now you really have.

I mean, plain and simple, you have no more state legislative Democrats in the East or the West.

So I'm going to go back to you, Sherman.

I mean, how do Democrats expand even when we look to the future?

How can they expand out?

And what do we do to bridge this urban rural divide in Frankfort?

>> I think this is more of a question at the national level.

Democrats have to figure out how to talk to rural voters.

We as of right now, if you look at it, Republicans not, you know, looking at this election, this is a rebuke of Trump and kind of not holding his campaign promises.

But the other side is that Democrats aren't popular right now.

It's not it's not like it's an overwhelming we voted for Democrats because we want Democrats nationally.

I think reality is you wanted something different.

This isn't our opportunity.

This is our opportunity to step in and be that, you know, mainstream voice and to have that that you have an you have an opportunity.

What will you do for the next six months?

Is your conversation and how that goes.

And I think that plays to Kentucky politics of how we are able to define ourselves within those two, those two bodies.

And I think outside the Golden Triangle.

>> Amy, I want to get your thoughts on that.

I mean, was there any surprise on House district 95 because Tanner Hesterberg was up against a pretty seasoned politician on the Democratic side?

>> He was this was not a surprise pickup for Republicans.

I think what we've seen in the East and the West is the traditional Democrat who has been voting there for decades.

They have seen the Democrat Party leave them, and they have seen the Democrat Party become more progressive.

That does not represent their more moderate conservative values.

And so this was not, you know, Republicans knew we had to work to pick up that seat in 95 because Senator Johnny Ray Turner, you know, had a record.

There's a lot of people who like him, but I think this Tanner ran a really great campaign.

He had the resources.

He already had some name I.D.

and from previous work that he's done to get his name out there.

And I think, you know, Republicans in that area and some Democrats alike voted to send a fresh face to Frankfort to be part of that supermajority.

>> Yeah.

All right.

Well, new faces, but we can't understate that.

The GOP certainly still has a sweeping supermajority in Frankfort.

That's right.

20s how I mean, how much bipartisan effort will we see now in Frankfort?

Does this change the the energy there at all?

>> I don't think it changes the path that you're going to see.

Supermajorities and working across the aisle continues.

I think we're going to continue to see bipartisan issues like housing reforms be top of the ticket.

When we come back in January.

And there's a lot more bipartisan bills that pass in the General Assembly than not.

So keep an eye on those.

>> I think Democrats are in the same spot.

I think they were obviously trying to get things done and want to move across housing affordability.

Those are the issues that I think you're going to you're going to see, hopefully through the session.

>> All right.

We will stay tuned to see what happens when we go back to Frankfort.

Thank you all so much for coming here to break down this post-election analysis.

Thank you.

>> Don't let the cooler weather stop you from enjoying all Kentucky has to offer this weekend.

Our Toby Gibbs has a look at what's going on around the Commonwealth.

>> Madisonville is marching into Veterans Day with a tradition more than six decades old.

The city's Veterans Day parade is the largest Veterans Day parade in Kentucky.

Now in its 63rd year, the annual parade recognizes the men and women who have served in the United States Armed Forces.

The parade takes place on Sunday.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas in Lancaster.

Even if Thanksgiving is still a few weeks away.

The Holly Jolly Market is open Saturday and features an indoor collection of vendors showcasing handmade crafts, holiday decorations, artwork, books, jewelry and baked goods.

The event also includes visits with Santa Claus and food trucks.

Admission is free.

Somerset is taking its Veterans Day tribute to new heights this weekend.

The Lake Cumberland Air Show returns to Lake Cumberland Regional Airport with a lineup of vintage military aircraft.

World War Two warbirds and professional aerobatic pilots.

The event includes aerial demonstrations, aircraft displays, aviation exhibits and food vendors.

Veterans with valid military identification receive free admission.

There's a novel way to explore local bookstores in the bluegrass this weekend, the Bluegrass Bookstore Crawl features eight participating bookstores over two days, visitors can pick up a passport at any participating location and collect stickers as they visit the different stores.

The event kicks off today.

Mother nature is showing off her fall colors, and Bernheim Forest is joining the celebration.

Colorfest returns to Bernheim Forest and Arboretum in Claremont on Saturday and Sunday.

The event includes giant slides, a mud pie kitchen, pumpkin rolling and other hands on activities, local food and beverages will also be available.

Marshall County is harvesting a little fall fun before the season slips away.

Lake Kim Harvest Fest brings a variety of fall activities to Benton.

Organized by local small businesses, the event includes a petting zoo, pony rides, llama encounters, pumpkin painting, live music and games.

Food trucks will also be on hand, and admission is free.

And that's what's happening around the Commonwealth.

I'm Toby Gibbs.

>> After a busy political week here from Bill Bryant and his panel of Kentucky reporters on comment on Kentucky.

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

Join us again Monday at 630 eastern, 530 central for Kentucky Edition, where we inform, connect and inspire.

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

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

And send us a story idea at Public affairs@ket.org.

You can also follow us on social media.

I'm Marvin Bartlett.

Thanks for joining us.

Make the rest of your evening a good one.

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