[MUSIC] As the war with Iran enters its second month, funeral arrangements are announced for a second Kentucky service member killed while serving the U.S.

[MUSIC] >> We've been to all three of them, and each time it has just gotten bigger and bigger.

>> Several cities in Kentucky held a no Kings rally over the weekend.

While organizers in one city say the protest isn't losing steam.

[MUSIC] >> When there's conflicts that arise internationally, our folks here in Kentucky are subject to that risk.

[MUSIC] >> Why?

The Iran war means higher costs and less profits for Kentucky farmers.

[MUSIC] >> We just want everyone to feel confident getting back into the workforce.

[MUSIC] >> Plus how a local initiative is connecting people to resources as they try to find a job.

[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 Monday, March the 30th.

I'm Renee Shaw, and we thank you for spending some of your Monday night with us.

Funeral arrangements are now set for the second Kentucky soldier killed in the war with Iran.

Tech Sergeant Ashley Pruitt of Bardstown died earlier this month.

She was one of six Air Force airmen in a refueling aircraft that went down in Iraq.

The 34 year old joined the Air Force back in 2017.

Pruitt's obituary says she leaves behind a legacy of service and a family who will carry her spirit forward with pride.

A funeral procession is set for April the 9th.

The Nelson County Sheriff's Office will escort the tech sergeant to Holland Greenup Greenwell Funeral Home in Bardstown.

They're asking the community to line the streets to recognize Pruitt's sacrifice.

Her visitation will take place the following day, and her funeral will be on Saturday, April the 11th.

Over the weekend, so-called no Kings rallies were held across the country that included several cities right here in Kentucky.

Protesters expressed opposition with the war in Iran, frustrations with Ice agents and what some are calling a rise of authoritarianism in America.

Our Mackenzie Spink brings us more from Lexington's Third no Kings rally, which was one of the biggest yet.

>> Oh, God.

[MUSIC] Turn around, turn me round, turn me round.

>> Organizers say roughly 10,000 people showed up at Lexington's Courthouse Square to voice their opposition to the Trump administration and what protesters say is governmental overreach that borders on dictatorship.

>> There's so much going wrong in Washington today, thanks to our dear president, not my president.

You mean, it's just so much.

I mean, now the files, Epstein files, all the corruption, stealing money, these raising prices on everything.

>> One of the top concerns at the rally was the presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or Ice agents in Kentucky.

>> Ice agents turning round.

>> Teachers from across.

Lexington shared that students and parents no longer feel safe coming to school.

>> Recently, I made a mistake when taking morning attendance.

I marked a student absent who was in the room sitting right in front of me.

Later that morning, I got a call from our Spanish speaking community liaison.

A mother was on the phone, frantic, asking if her daughter was safe.

Not late, not skipping safe.

And I think we all know why.

>> Voting rights were another big topic among protesters.

As the Save act works its way through Congress.

If passed, voters would need to provide documents such as a passport or birth certificate in order to vote.

>> In Kentucky.

Your real ID does not show where you were born, so even though you may have had to show your birth certificate or your passport to get that real ID, that would not count as documentary proof of citizenship under the Safe act.

>> Protesters also expressed opposition to the U.S.

war in Iran.

>> The U.S.

has bombed more than 600 schools in Iran, killing more than 298 students and teachers.

>> Kendra Stenzel says she wanted to bring her son to the rally to show him the importance of exercising your First Amendment rights, even if it takes time for things to change.

>> We've been to all three of them, and each time it has just gotten bigger and bigger, even just across the the state.

And so I think it's important to continue to show up because there is more power in numbers.

>> It's important that young people know what's happening because in certain situations like this, if you grow up just knowing one side of the family thinks you can't explore and you can't do it.

But especially with like what Trump's been doing and stuff, young kids should know this so that they're not like, so that they don't like, think this is okay.

>> Lexington's rally was part of a larger nationwide, no Kings movement.

National organizers say there were over 3100 events across all 50 states for Kentucky edition.

I'm Mackenzie Spink.

>> Thank you, Mackenzie, for that.

An estimated 9 million people showed up to no Kings rallies across the U.S.

The war in Iran is affecting Kentucky farmers.

Fertilizer and fuel costs are on the rise, just in time for the spring planting season.

As our Laura Rogers explains, it will likely cut into profit margins.

>> Brent Hines farms hundreds of acres near the Hart LaRue County line.

>> I just like being out on the farm and growing things.

We're always planting something.

>> That planting will cost him a lot more this spring.

>> A lot of talk about the grain prices, but really what's hurting us is the fertilizer prices.

>> That's due to the Iran war and the country's near closure of the Strait of Hormuz, and retaliation for U.S.

and Israeli bombing.

>> Flows out of that region for a key input like fertilizer has just really dropped off.

>> Taylor Thompson is a commodity marketing specialist, and he says farmers are feeling the squeeze from the market disruption.

>> It's just been really challenging.

Margins are tight and with those increasing inputs more so the case.

>> Hines will soon plant his 21st soybean crop.

>> And I don't remember being this drastic.

It's jumped $150 a ton here lately.

And 8 or 10 years ago, we could get it for $150 a ton.

>> That multiplies quickly.

He raises 1500 acres of soybeans and 800 acres of corn, along with other crops like alfalfa, wheat, oats, and canola.

>> We're going to spend over $900 an acre.

We have to be real careful what ground we plant, because we have to make sure we get a good yield.

>> Nitrogen fertilizers are so fundamental to what we do here in the state of Kentucky, and the crops that we grow.

>> That green color is from the nitrogen that's been applied.

>> Iran is a major global producer of nitrogen based fertilizers critical to grass crops and corn.

>> For a key fertilizer like urea, that region plays a significant role internationally.

>> It also plays a big role in other energy supplies, including diesel, a necessity for farm machinery and vehicles.

>> A loaded truck you know, a farm truck is costing a dollar a mile just for the fuel.

And we were about half that last year.

>> Hines has to drive 100 miles one way to the Owensboro River port to pick up his fertilizer supplies.

He says he's also observed fewer companies selling the product, meaning less competition and sometimes shortages.

>> Actually went down one day and they were out of it and we wasted a trip.

We've added these tanks, we can store a few loads, but in the future we're going to have to add more just to keep fertilizer on hand.

Because of everything going on.

>> The increased prices of fertilizer and fuel could cost them an extra $100 an acre this planting season.

>> That's a big jump for us.

We was already, you know, kind of worried about showing a profit.

>> Some farmers just hoping not to be in the red.

>> Where's the price at now?

Where's my break?

Even at come harvest time, how do I balance those two?

>> A delicate balance of long term planning and complex decision making for Kentucky edition.

I'm Laura Rogers.

>> Thank you.

Laura.

Brad Hines says he may switch more acreage to soybeans and grow less corn, which would help save on fertilizer.

He's also reducing fertilizer rates because of the cost.

A frequent critic of the war in Iran is U.S.

Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky.

Now, the Republican says he's considering another run for the white House.

Senator Paul was asked about his intentions during an interview for CBS Sunday Morning.

>> There was recently a headline in the Washington Examiner, Rand Paul sounds like he's running for president.

>> Yeah, I don't know yet.

So maybe they know something I don't know.

We're thinking about it.

And I would say 5050, we'll make a decision after the election, but I'm not going to do it just to do it.

It would be one, because we need to have a free market wing.

We need to have a free trade wing of the party who's not eager for war and tries to at least explore diplomacy as an option to War.

>> Senator Paul was a presidential candidate in the 2016 race.

He ended his campaign shortly after the Iowa caucus, where he finished fifth among Republicans.

That same year, the Republican Party of Kentucky opted for a caucus instead of a primary, which allowed Paul to run for president and U.S.

Senate at the same time.

Now, state lawmakers are considering making their own change.

House Bill 534 would allow for a candidate's name to appear on a ballot more than once in federal races.

If one of the races is decided by the Electoral College.

The bill passed the House and is now waiting to be assigned to a committee in the Senate.

In more election news, a candidate in Kentucky's U.S.

Senate race picked up a new endorsement the Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, is throwing its support behind Lexington businessman Nate Morris.

CPAC hosts what's considered the most prominent conservative conference in the country.

Morris took the stage at CPAC over the weekend.

>> I'm not a career politician.

I've never run for office before.

I'm proud that I'm a ninth generation Kentucky.

19 of my family members worked in an auto plant building cars and trucks in Kentucky.

I built one of the largest garbage companies in the United States.

And you all know this is a tough industry, the Tony Soprano industry, we need fighters.

We need people that are willing to hit the swamp with everything they got.

And that's why I'm in this race.

>> Morris is running against Congressman Andy Barr and former Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron in the GOP primary.

That's in May.

They're looking to replace Senator Mitch McConnell, who isn't running for reelection.

Kentucky's primary election is Tuesday, May the 19th.

Turning now to state politics.

Kentucky House and Senate budget negotiators have reached a compromise on the more than $30 billion, two year state budget that funds government agencies, programs and services within the executive branch.

The deal is likely to be voted on when lawmakers return to Frankfort Tuesday for two work days left before the governor's ten day veto period begins.

In announcing the agreement this afternoon, Senate Appropriations and Revenue Committee Chair Chris McDaniel said the final product of House Bill 500 reflects a disciplined approach to government spending that he says is true to the supermajority fiscal philosophy.

Over the last decade.

>> By and large, most of the schools and higher education will find themselves held at their base level of funding.

Those with capital projects will see that base reduced by the amount of the debt service in the capital project, with the exception of Morehead State and Kentucky State University, who both received capital projects and will not see their base reduced at all.

The SEEK formula based per pupil will be, per the House's recommendation in this budget.

>> I said a number of times going into this budget session that I thought this would be the most difficult budget that we would construct.

Post that first, that first crack.

And normally you hear that in terms of that means we don't have any money.

And you know, that's that's not specifically the case this time around.

But what we do have is we have an abundance of uncertainty.

And I think that you will see that reflected in this document.

I think the fact that we will continue to be very cautious about how we we approach future challenges, how we approach that uncertainty.

>> So tonight at 8:00 eastern, seven central right here on KET, we're going to break down exactly what's in the two year spending plan tonight on Kentucky.

Tonight Chairman McDaniel will be here along with Democratic leaders.

That's coming your way.

And about 75 minutes or so right here on Ket's Kentucky tonight.

Do not miss it.

A federal judge has dismissed charges against two former Louisville police officers accused of falsifying the warrant used to enter Breonna Taylor's apartment earlier this month.

We told you that federal prosecutors asked a judge to throw out the charges against Joshua Jaynes and Kyle Meany, quote, in the interest of justice.

Former U.S.

Attorney General Merrick Garland announced charges against the two officers or former officers in 2022.

During a high profile news conference in Louisville.

Taylor was shot to death in March of 2020 by officers who used the warrant to enter her apartment.

Kentucky's attorney general is asking a judge to dismiss a case that's prevented executions in Kentucky.

For the past 16 years.

Our June Leffler has more in this report.

>> Capital punishment was paused in 2010, with the Franklin Circuit Court injunction if a judge dismisses that case, Attorney General Russell Coleman says it would jump start executions for a dozen Kentucky inmates on death row.

>> It's time for justice to come for Kaoru White, who killed three elderly Kentuckians in a small town grocery store in the mountains of eastern Kentucky.

It's time for Benny Hodge, who murdered a young UK sorority student by stabbing her so hard that the blade dug into the floor underneath her body.

>> Coleman has called on the governor to issue a death warrant for Ralph Bayh's.

>> Governor Beshear needs no new law.

He needs no new regulation.

He needs nothing passed by the General Assembly to sign the execution warrant.

In fact, he can do it today.

>> Baz killed a Powell County sheriff and a deputy sheriff in 1992.

But Baz lawyers have successfully argued that the protocols for lethal injection and dealing with inmates with intellectual disabilities are not up to snuff.

Coleman says those arguments made sense in the past, but that the Kentucky Department of Corrections has new protocols in place.

>> Supreme court needed to determine whether regulations should control changes in the protocol.

There were big issues, weighty protocol issues to be worked through today.

Behind me, we were talking about issues such as does execution really mean death?

It's sophistry.

Now we're we're beyond the big issues.

>> A state lawmaker and some law enforcement officers agree with the attorney general.

>> Rafa's never disputed his guilt, his involvement, nor showed remorse.

There have been two death warrants signed over the years, and now it's time for the third.

It's not fun.

We didn't sign up for this, but it's something that the people of the Commonwealth elected us to do.

Just like these men had to go on that day, and we go so that nobody else has to come and do this behind us.

Hopefully, this is the last time that two people have to come in order to get a family.

For my area justice.

>> The cost is that people in this Commonwealth question the rule of law question when decades later, with an admission of guilt and no question, no gray as to guilt, why the jury's decision can't be effectuated that's the cost.

>> The Kentucky Department of Corrections says updated execution protocols should be finalized next week.

Franklin Circuit Court Judge Philip Sheppard will rule on the Commonwealth's motion to dismiss.

He was the judge to issue the initial injunction in 2010 for Kentucky edition.

I'm June Leffler.

>> Thank you.

June Senate Bill 251.

That's before the Kentucky General Assembly now deals with capital punishment.

It would allow execution protocols from the Kentucky Department of Corrections to sidestep oversight.

Republican State Senator Stephen West says this could expedite the next execution.

Other lawmakers, like Republican State Representative James Tipton, have filed bills to abolish the death penalty altogether.

[MUSIC] A northern Kentucky city is breaking records for its economic success.

Covington just announced the city brought in over $1 billion in payroll income last year.

The city's economic development director said this puts them right on par with other metropolitan areas like Lexington.

We spoke with city leaders to learn why 2025 was such a banner year.

>> More and more people want to come to our city and they want to do business.

We are the Mecca for small businesses.

We're meeting them where they're at.

We're offering incentives.

We help with rent subsidies, facade improvements.

We're doing all of that.

And now we're showing in numbers that this is paying off for our city.

We appeal to large businesses.

We appeal to small businesses, we appeal to entrepreneurs.

We don't really go in for chains.

Part of our manifesto is that we're all character, no chains.

So we really support those mom and pop type businesses, those smaller entrepreneurial businesses.

What we have found over and over is that first year is the tough year for any small business.

So what our economic development team came up with was a plan.

And that plan is to help those mom and pop businesses.

That plan was to help people succeed.

So what we'll do is we'll give you up to $500 a month on rent subsidy for up to a year.

We'll do that.

So that not only helps that business, but more importantly, that helps the community.

And it shows that Covington is $1 billion story that is just happening.

>> 14 small businesses throughout the city have taken advantage of the rent subsidy program.

Covington is the largest city in northern Kentucky with a population of about 41,000.

The city saw many new developments come up in 2025, including construction on the Covington Central River port, a riverfront which will be the new home for Northern Kentucky University, Chase College of Law and a UK medical school.

We'll have much more about the River city's record breaking year on Kentucky edition tomorrow night.

Confidence is key element to reentering the workforce.

A program in Lexington is focused on giving job seekers the resources they need to put their best foot forward while looking for a job.

>> It started off as a project with leadership Lexington, so I wanted to give free haircuts for the community, and my partner wanted to give out free clothing and we came up with, you know, look good, feel good.

So we put it together and we give out free clothing, free haircuts, free work boots.

Then we have about 30 to 35 vendors on site giving out career opportunities.

We have big vendors like UPS, Walmart, gals, and the VA.

>> At this event, we have three people that we were able to interview on the spot, so we were able to connect with three straight off the bat.

Being able to come to an event like this, be interviewed on the spot, know that your name is like in the hands of multiple employers.

And to know that if you have child care, you need to navigate.

If you need a bus pass, if you need anything like that, let me point you to tables over and you can get more information about that as well.

And if you're worried about having non-slip shoes, let me point you to the line right over here, where they will hand you a pair of non-slip shoes.

Because realistically, a lot of jobs that are available to people require an investment from the get go.

These events are important because they meet every need that people who are seeking employment but are either underemployed or unemployed have that are preventing them from being able to do that.

>> So like the name look good.

It came from a quote, you know, you look good, you feel good, feel good, you play good.

So that's pretty much how I incorporated it.

So, you know, seeing those people come out and get their haircuts and get to see the smiles on their face, and then being able to get that clothing, I just feel like it gives them that notch up and, you know, a little bit more readiness to go into those interviews and possibly get back into the workforce.

>> If you're already being vulnerable enough to like, walk up and ask somebody for employment and you don't feel confident when you're walking up in the first place, that's something that a lot of places, realistically, whether they should or not, will immediately write applicants off for because that insecurity, they're reading as not actually being interested or not actually being committed to the search, when in reality, the financial investment we already talked about is a barrier.

And so being able to walk into a job interview or even walk through a job fair like this and know that you look the part, like you feel good about the haircut that you just received, like you feel good about the pants that you're wearing.

You feel good about how you look in a situation that automatically is taking the insecurity or the discomfort that comes from feeling like you don't belong off the table.

>> During last week's event, participants were also able to sit in on sessions about interviewing, financial literacy and resume writing.

[MUSIC] Some Civil War facts.

Basketball and a railroad bridge to Cincinnati.

Our Toby Gibbs has all three, and he explains it.

And this.

Look back at this week in Kentucky history.

>> Delegates gathered in Danville for a statehood convention on April 2nd, 1792.

They hammered out a state constitution with a 26 point bill of rights.

Kentucky would join the union on June 1st of that year.

Samuel Freeman Miller was born on April 5th, 1816, in Richmond.

[MUSIC] He became a doctor and a lawyer.

He was an abolitionist, and President Abraham Lincoln appointed him to the U.S.

Supreme Court in 1862.

[MUSIC] He would serve 28 years until his death in 1890.

Union and Confederate forces clashed during the Battle of Somerset on March 30th, 1863.

[MUSIC] It was a union victory, with General Quincy Gilmore defeating Confederate cavalry forces led by General John Pegram.

[MUSIC] The Newport Southbank Bridge opened on April 1st, 1872.

[MUSIC] It was the first railroad bridge linking northern Kentucky to Cincinnati.

On March 30th, 1949, a federal judge ordered the University of Kentucky Graduate School to admit black students.

Lyman T Johnson brought the lawsuit.

After winning, he enrolled in UK, the first black student to do so.

The Kentucky Colonels, a professional basketball team, joined the New American Basketball Association on March 31st, 1967.

The team would last until 1976, and that's what was going on this week in Kentucky history.

I'm Toby Gibbs.

>> Thank you so much.

Toby Gibbs now coming up on Kentucky tonight.

Tonight, in about an hour or so, we're going to talk more about the state budget negotiations, that compromise deal that was announced today around 3:00 Eastern time.

We're going to break down exactly what's in that compromise and perhaps talk about the judicial branch budget as well.

You don't want to miss that.

And of course we take your questions and comments.

That's coming up at 8:00 eastern, 7:00 central right here on KET, and then come back and see us again tomorrow night on Kentucky edition at 630 eastern, 530 central, where we inform, connect and inspire.

You can connect with us all the ways you see on your screen, the social media channels, Facebook, X and Instagram.

We invite you to send us a story idea by email at Public Affairs at ket.org.

And always, you can find us on the PBS app that's available on all your smart devices.

And of course, you can stream our content anytime, anywhere, online on demand at ket.org.

I'm Renee Shaw, thank you so much for watching, and I'll see you in a little bit on Kentucky tonight.

Have a good evening.