MUSIC >> Trooper Hayden Phillips did not have his life taken from him.

[MUSIC] He gave his life.

[MUSIC] >> A funeral for the fallen.

[MUSIC] >> Our biggest worry is that this takes some of our most vulnerable citizens and puts them in an even more vulnerable position.

[MUSIC] >> Kentuckians are already feeling the impact as changes to Snap benefits go into effect.

>> This has been in the works for many, many years.

[MUSIC] >> And Murray State University welcomes a shiny new addition to campus.

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

>> Good evening and welcome to Kentucky Edition for Monday, October 5th.

I'm Kelsey Starks in our KET studios here in Louisville.

Thanks for joining us.

It was a week ago when Kentucky State Police Trooper Hayden Phillips was shot and killed during a traffic stop in Warren County.

Trooper Phillips funeral was yesterday in Bowling Green.

Our June Leffler has more from that service.

>> Trooper Hayden Phillips did not have his life taken from him.

He gave his life.

He gave his life representing everybody sitting in this room.

>> Thousands attended the funeral of Hayden Phillips, a trooper, husband and father of three who died just two days shy of his 29th birthday.

>> To everyone in this room who knew Hayden, please keep telling these stories.

Do it for Jordan, Cason, Connor and Knox.

This is how we honor Hayden.

The Bible says we never truly lose someone if we keep speaking their name.

And I think that means telling their story.

>> The public has learned more of his story since his death on September 28th.

A public servant, Phillips served as a state trooper for three years and as a firefighter and EMT.

Before that.

His wife carried their son to his casket during the ceremony.

She didn't speak, but the captain of Phillips unit read her letter.

>> He was a devoted husband.

He let me be completely and unapologetically myself.

He let me be his passenger.

Princess.

He tucked me in every single night.

Those are the little things that may seem insignificant to someone else, but they were everything to me.

He loved me exactly as I was, and Hayden was an incredible daddy.

>> The head of Kentucky State Police said Jordan was the woman who shined.

Phillips brass badge before he left for duty.

>> Some of you may not know this, but Hayden went to Kentucky State Police Training Academy twice.

The first time Jordan experienced a medical condition and Hayden made a decision to leave the academy so he could be by her side.

That decision says a lot about a man.

Family came first.

But Hayden wasn't finished.

He came back, started the Academy, and this time he saw it through.

Graduating with his brothers and sisters in cadet Class 103.

You know, I was humbled to be able to visit their home, the home that Hayden built with his own hands and to see the farm that they worked so hard to create together.

It's beautiful.

And Hayden was so proud of the brick that he laid on the fireplace inside that house.

>> Whether an art song or donations, others have been paying tribute to Phillips.

At the funeral, Billy Ray Cyrus, a Kentucky native, made a special appearance performing his song about a Vietnam.

[MUSIC] >> Vet.

>> Some gave all.

>> For Kentucky Edition.

I'm June Leffler.

>> A Tennessee man has been indicted for the murder of Phillips.

Emmy branch is in the Warren County Jail.

He's due back in court on October 12th.

Branch is facing the death penalty or life in prison.

On Friday.

Host of Bill Bryant recapped the week's news in the Commonwealth with a trio of working Kentucky journalists on comment on Kentucky.

The panel discussed the tragic shooting death of State Trooper Hayden Phillips and the tools law enforcement used to catch the suspect.

>> The suspect arrested in Louisville, Kelly LMPD, says they used flock technology and something called a grappler to stop the vehicle.

>> Yeah, so obviously this began in Bowling Green and then Amani Branch made his way up to Louisville.

He was stopped by Lmpd with the grappler, which is this bumper they put on the front of police cars that has almost like a net underneath that they can get under one of the tires of the car in front of them, it effectively locks it and keeps them from traveling any further.

They were also able to track him with flock cameras, which have come under a lot of heat due to private safety concerns and personal privacy.

But Lmpd says this is a way that they are used exactly as how they're supposed to be to find criminals and catch them and track them.

>> Amani branch, the suspect accused of killing Trooper Phillips, is charged with murder of a first responder, which means, according to state law, prosecutors can seek the death penalty.

Now, with a recent botched execution in Tennessee, the panel also discussed the state of the death penalty in Kentucky.

>> A couple of items from out of state got our attention this week.

Another failed execution in Tennessee has states including Kentucky, debating whether or not to move ahead with the death penalty and if so, how the situation obviously raised more questions about how states carry out a death sentence.

Kelly Attorney General, Russell Coleman, has pushed for Kentucky to resume executions because he says that is the state law.

>> Yeah, that is the law.

And it's been tied up in the legal world for about 16 years, I think, since 2010.

So not a lot has happened on that front, obviously, the Kentucky Supreme Court has weighed in and not, you know, moved it in that direction.

But I think it's also a fiscal question.

We haven't had this for 16 years.

And Kentucky is going to have to budget some pretty serious money.

Our neighbor to the north, Indiana, has a $1.1 million just in the drug that's used in executions, 600,000 of which expired before they were able to use it.

So I think it also is, you know, if that comes back on the table, it's another thing that the state will have to budgetx for.

>> The panel also discussed the governor's newly established Office of Music and a forum at the State Capitol Annex, where people from across Kentucky voiced their opposition to data center projects in their communities.

You can watch the full episode and all those topics on our website at ket.org/comment.

And don't forget to tune in live each Friday night at 8:00 eastern, seven central, right here on KET.

The midterm election is four weeks from tomorrow, and tonight we kick off a month of candidate conversations on Kentucky.

Tonight.

We begin with the U.S.

Senate contest.

Join host Laura Rogers and send us your questions and comments.

You can see that tonight at 8:00 eastern, seven central.

Also here on KET.

Congressman Brett Guthrie of Kentucky's second district is leading a dozen members of Congress in filing a brief in support of a Kentucky lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency.

Guthrie is chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

Kentucky and other states are suing the EPA, claiming that a Biden era effort to revise air quality standards did not include a thorough review as required by the Clean Air Act.

Guthrie says the EPA's revised standards restrict the construction of new plants, handcuffing American industries.

Congressman Andy Barr is one of the congressmen joining in that brief new eligibility rules for Snap recipients took effect last week as part of President Donald Trump's domestic policy package.

HR one, also known as the One big, beautiful Bill act.

The law shifts more of the program's costs to states and Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services Secretary Doctor Steven Stack says the changes are already affecting thousands of Kentuckians.

>> HR one, which was passed into law last July.

In 2025, was the most substantial change to the Snap program in numerous decades.

It changed a variety of things.

It changed who's eligible.

It changed work requirements.

It changed waivers for unemployment statistics in the area.

It also changed benefits in certain ways.

And so in the way the states and the federal government fund the program, some of the most impactful things for individual Kentuckians as these changes take effect is we previously had a waiver in for unemployment data for 117 of our 120 counties that ended last fall, when that ended, more than 200,000 Kentuckians who previously didn't have to demonstrate compliance with the work requirement to be on the Snap program, now had to demonstrate that compliance.

Additionally, if you were an able bodied working adult with a dependent in the house, you previously could get Snap benefits if you had a dependent in the house under 18 years of age that was changed to be under 14 years of age.

So now people who have high school age kids who are dependents in the house no longer can be eligible if those are the only age children they have, they have to be under 14.

Additionally, they eliminated benefits for homeless individuals, for veterans, those were removed from eligibility.

There were a number of other changes where work requirements now apply to people who are from the age of over 55, up to 64.

We now have a situation where more than 29,000 households have been removed from Snap.

In Kentucky from January through the end of August this year, more than 58,000 individuals have been removed from Snap in Kentucky from the start of this year to the end of August.

That represents about a 10% decline in those first eight months of this calendar year.

So Snap is a really important program in the United States and in Kentucky, about 1 in 8 of our citizens require this support in order to meet their daily nutritional needs.

And so when they lose access to this support, they go hungry and they they send kids to school with growling bellies, parents at home have to make hard choices about putting gas in the car to get to a job, or to take the kids to school, or to get to medical appointments, or to put food on the table.

That's not good for them, and it's not good for Kentuckians or for society at large.

So our biggest worry is that this takes some of our most vulnerable citizens and puts them in an even more vulnerable position.

We've communicated with member recipients or beneficiaries of the Snap program about the changes we have D, C, B s Department for Community based services offices in all 120 counties.

And so those offices are available for individuals who are on Snap if they have questions or confusions, we will do the very best we can to support every Kentuckian who eligible through these programs and to try to provide whatever supports we're able to with the resources we've given.

>> Stack is encouraging any Kentuckian who has questions about their Snap benefits, or who wants to find out if they're eligible to enroll in the program.

You can go to the cabinet for health and Family Services website.

That's c h f s dot ky.gov.

[MUSIC] Nursing students at Murray State University will soon take classes in a modern new building.

A few hundred people gathered to cut the ribbon on Jackson Hall Thursday.

Our Laura Rogers has more now from Calloway County.

>> This new building is going to give us so many new opportunities.

>> That new building is Jackson Hall, named after alumni and former Murray State University president doctor Bob Jackson and his wife, Karen Miller.

Jackson.

>> We're extremely grateful.

We were students here.

We came here, we met here.

And so this has been our home for 45 years.

>> His wife, Karen, earned her bachelor's degree in nursing from Murray State.

>> The 18 year old collegiate nursing student.

From Linn County still inside me, can hardly believe this moment.

>> Bob Jackson is also a former state senator and says he's grateful to the General Assembly for appropriating $45.5 million for the building's construction.

>> We have a record enrollment in nursing.

This particular year.

We did last year as well.

And so that's what new equipment, new facilities, new buildings do for universities.

>> We're excited for the new space.

>> Doctor Dena Byers is dean of the College of Nursing and Health Sciences and says there is a persisting health care worker shortage.

>> We continue to see that.

And no matter if it's nursing registered dietitians, we have folks reaching out to us about radiography.

There is a need.

>> This university locks in and focuses on educating our students to be able to get jobs in our community and to be able to stay home.

A lot of them go other places, but they're educated to be able to stay in our community and meet the needs of our community and our area.

>> Murray State hopes to continue that work, especially in rural areas where students like Josie Hale from nearby Mayfield hope to one day practice.

>> It's very hard to pass up such a good program that is so close to home.

It's kind of a 2 in 1, just a very great place to be, but also kind of fit the best of both worlds.

>> She's working toward her Bachelor of Science in nursing, following in the footsteps of many in her family.

>> Being a nurse, just being able to help people and then seeing that in my family, that how they can help people and how they're able to help the community in those ways.

That's just something that I've always kind of wanted.

>> To do.

>> The construction of Jackson Hall will complement Mason Hall, built in the 1960s.

>> We've just run out of space.

>> It will be renovated for a new dental hygiene program.

>> We are here in Western Kentucky in a dental desert, so I'm excited about that.

That will be my next project.

>> In the meantime, students and faculty will get settled in Jackson Hall, learning amid new tools and resources.

>> We're going to be getting new exam rooms, new a new simulation room, a new occupational therapy room.

>> That will be a place for students to be able to practice safe skills before they go into the hospital setting.

We can determine competency there.

>> As the Jacksons are lauded for their service to the university.

>> It's a tremendous honor and we're humbled by it.

>> Students say they're excited to get to work.

>> You just see the impact that they've had on the campus, on the people here, and it's just amazing to see that.

I'm also going to be a graduate of Murray State.

Like they have been.

>> Classes begin at Jackson Hall on October 12th for Kentucky Edition.

I'm Laura Rogers.

>> Murray State offers a Bachelor of Science in Nursing along with graduate and doctoral degrees in the field.

Well, about 20% of Kentucky college students are parents, and a report released last month during National student Parent Month showed more than 300,000 Kentucky parents don't have a degree.

The Kentucky Council on Post-Secondary education is hoping to address barriers that may keep parents from enrolling and graduating.

>> So one of the findings is that 375,000 Kentucky parents don't have a post-secondary credential.

What that tells us is that there's an extreme opportunity for our state to help, not just our parenting students, but also their families.

And then ultimately, our communities with economic mobility.

If we can design the right supports for, for folks that are interested in returning.

And so the report highlights some key recommendations around that.

One is financial assistance, how and that's not just for tuition assistance, but also for daycare assistance.

What we know in the state is that 39% of the median income is necessary for one infant in full time daycare.

So those financial supports are critical.

The report also highlighted that we as as many across states across the nation have child care deserts where the the demand for child care is greater than the supply.

And then finally, basic supports at the campus level.

So student basic needs mental health supports typical parenting student is in her 30s.

Female typically head of household.

First generation college student working and going to school part time.

So when we think about the challenges, anyx anything such as a closed daycare, a snow day, a sick child, an unexpected bill can really disrupt a student's ability to persist in post-secondary education.

We know that post-secondary credential supports economic and health and wellness indicators for families.

And so we also know that when we are supporting that parenting student, we are actually supporting multi generational change because key research continues to tell us that the educational attainment of the parent is one of the single biggest predictors of the educational attainment of the child.

So we're supporting that parenting student, but we're really supporting that that family for generations to come.

That makes our community stronger and that it makes our state economy stronger and our workforce stronger.

So I think I think we want to create on our campuses a sense of belonging for student parents.

Some of the early things that we're hearing from our student parent research, voice research, is that parents don't always feel they belong there.

And so parent groups, warm handoffs on campus so that parents aren't navigating multiple offices can go a long way.

Also, do parents see themselves even in the marketing materials of campuses, having a way for campuses to share that, yes, you belong here as your identity as a parent, along with your identity as a student.

For parents, you can't really separate those two things.

>> Part two of this story is tomorrow.

We'll hear from a parent studying at Eastern Kentucky University and an official with the school's center for Student Parents about how they're helping students make it across that graduation stage.

[MUSIC] For more than 40 years, Josette Miles has worked in the costume shop of the Kentucky Opera Center in Louisville.

Now 90 years old, this French native still creates elaborate costumes for every show, many of them from scratch.

Our Mackenzie Spink visited the shop to learn more from Josette about the art of costume making.

As part of its ongoing series, The Next Chapter focused on the rewards and challenges of growing older.

>> When Josette Miles moved to the United States from France, she expected to use her college degrees in banking and bookkeeping to support her family.

>> I was looking for a job and I go to the bank and I could not work in a bank because my degree was in French.

And I have to go back for a year in college, and.

No.

>> Her son Eric, was performing with the Louisville Ballet at the time, and he encouraged her to find work there as a seamstress.

As a former ballet dancer herself, Miles had experience making tutus.

>> And I said, well, tell you what, he's here for four hours dancing.

I'm waiting for him.

And so for you, for our free, you can see what I'm doing.

And David Walker, a designer from England, was there.

And he looked at me.

He said, you willing to do for free?

And said, yes, like that.

They know I can show what I can do.

So I started, so you look at me and say, you are.

Where are you?

You say you find the money somewhere.

She can sew.

>> Miles worked at both the ballet and the Kentucky Opera until accepting a full time position with the opera in 1983.

Every costume she's made is stored in a climate controlled room.

They're often reused or rented to other theaters across the country.

>> I made that from scratch.

That was Otello.

I can tell you.

>> All a show I did over the years, you know, and like I said, he was no computer.

So everything is there and they are.

What are they in trouble?

I'm old fashioned.

I like traditional opera.

I know we need new ones.

We need to attract new people, things like that.

But it's something good in a traditional costume.

Big ball gowns, you know, men on a uniform, you know, it's.

I think it's something special by that.

>> Miles says there's more to a good costume than just how it looks.

>> It's not just a costume.

They have to move in.

It, and they cannot fall apart like a dancer.

You know, when they jump in the air.

The costume got to go with them.

You cannot stay on the floor.

>> Over her career, she's gotten creative with finding materials.

Once she bought a wedding dress from goodwill for $5 and used the yards of lace for years.

>> If you see all that lace, that's when.

When I buy an old wedding dress, I can use it in a place like that because there's so much of it.

And it didn't cost me much.

She used the time to take it apart while it and whatever, but you know, when you love something, you just do it.

It's very rewarding.

Leather work.

But she gets so much pleasure out of it.

I mean, you make a costume and you see it onx stage and, you know, just you see it in maybe a thousand people.

They look at it and you can rent them out to other parts of the country.

So it starts on a thousand people enjoy something and you feel like I create that.

And look what you do.

So to me, it's rewarding.

I love it.

>> The Kentucky Opera Center recently threw a party for her 90th birthday, where she was designated a Kentucky colonel, the state's highest civilian honor for Kentucky edition.

I'm McKenzie Spink.

>> Josette is currently working on the costumes for The Barber of Seville.

The opera's season kickoff, which begins October 9th.

You can see more of our next chapter initiative at our website, ket.org.

[MUSIC] Tonight, we look back at Kentucky's biggest civil War battle and a war of 1812 battle that included a Kentucky governor.

Our Toby Gibbs has more in this.

Look at this week in Kentucky history.

>> Governor Isaac Shelby personally led Kentucky militia troops against the British during the so-called battle of the Thames in the Canadian province of Ontario on October 5th, 1813.

[MUSIC] It was an American victory.

[MUSIC] Kentucky's largest Civil War battle.

[MUSIC] The Battle of Perryville began October 8th, 1862.

55,000 Union troops clashed with about 16,000 Confederates.

After the battle, Confederate forces retreated into Tennessee.

[MUSIC] Presidential candidate John F Kennedy campaigned in Lexington.

On October 8th, 1960, along with Governor Burke T Combs.

Kennedy won the presidential election a month later, but he did not carry Kentucky.

[MUSIC] October 7th, 1984 President Ronald Reagan debated former Vice President Walter Mondale in Louisville in the first of their two presidential debates.

Queen Elizabeth the second arrived for her first Kentucky visit on October 8th, 1984.

[MUSIC] She was a guest of the Will Farish family.

Of her sails and stayed six days.

The so-called Peekskill meteor was visible in several states, including Kentucky.

On October 9th, 1992.

[MUSIC] It's called the Peekskill Meteor because it hit a 1980 Chevy Malibu as it landed in Peekskill, New York.

And that's what was happening this week in Kentucky.

History.

[MUSIC] I'm Toby Gibbs.

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

You can follow us on all your social media platforms.

Thanks so much for joining us.

Have a great evening.