[MUSIC] Two Republicans and four Democrats make their arguments about why they should represent Central Kentucky and the halls of Congress.

[MUSIC] >> And what do they want?

They want get out of court free cards.

[MUSIC] >> A Kentucky congressman says a pesticide maker is spending millions to avoid being held accountable in court.

[MUSIC] >> We believe that addiction is best beat when it comes out of the shadows and into the light.

[MUSIC] >> And Chao.

A program is opening more doors for pregnant women and mothers struggling with addiction.

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

>> Good evening and welcome to Kentucky Edition for Tuesday, April 28th.

I'm Laura Rogers and our KET Louisville Studios filling in tonight for Renee Shaw.

Thanks for joining us.

Kentucky voters, you'll pick nominees for the U.S.

Senate, U.S.

House and other races three weeks from today.

There's an open seat for Congress in Central Kentucky's sixth district, as incumbent Andy Barr runs for the Senate.

And we heard from several of those sixth district House candidates last night on Kentucky.

Tonight, more as we begin tonight's look at election news.

Our Renee Shaw spoke to Ryan Dotson and Greg Plucinski, both Republicans.

A third candidate, Ralph Alvarado, declined our invitation.

During the conversation, Renee asked the candidates about the shooting incident at the white House Correspondents Dinner last Saturday and the tone of the political rhetoric in America today.

>> Many are renewing calls to lower the temperature and political speech and rhetoric.

How do you respond to the idea that heightened political rhetoric on both sides, Democrats and Republicans, is directly contributing to the rise and mass shooting events targeting public officials?

Mr.

Dodson.

>> I think being a great leader, you can stand your ground, have backbone, have convention, a conviction, but also still lead from the front and be a person who brings healing and restoration.

And I feel like I have the ability to do that as my background in pastoral ministry, I've been able to bridge a lot of gaps, bring a lot of people together.

I've done that in the political world, in the business world, and I think that's true.

Leadership is to be able to bring people together and quieten a lot of this noise, a lot of this that has brought a lot of angst, a lot of division in our country right now that we really need healing and we need leadership that will help bring that.

>> Do you think that President Trump offers that leadership that you're talking about?

>> I think he can, yes.

>> Do you think he's currently doing it?

>> I have been so busy on the campaign trail.

I have really been working so hard.

Yes, I think he is.

And I think there are times that we can all, you know, watch what we say and how we say it.

And I believe that going forward, we're going to see a better America.

I hate these instances happen, but they do happen, and sometimes even for no reason at all.

>> I want to go to you, Mr.

Kaczynski.

How do you feel about the political rhetoric as is it leading to attempts of political violence?

Where do you stand on this?

>> Yeah, I think it is.

I think that there's way too much rhetoric.

You're not going to see me fomenting violence.

You're not going to see or hear me do that.

My wife will attest to that.

She'll make sure of that.

But I think that there's way too much violence in the streets that is caused by fomenting this rhetoric that people are espousing on TV.

You know, that's why that's that led to the death of Charlie Kirk.

People are are talking about, you know, taking care of people.

There's a lot of people that are they want to take care of people that that's not a good term.

That's, that means taking them out and, and taking care of them.

So we should avoid that kind of rhetoric.

>> On other issues, both Dotson and Plucinski said they fully support President Trump's actions in Iran.

Neither would call it a war.

They said nothing that has happened so far requires congressional approval.

They both said they do not think President Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election fairly.

On to the Democrats running in the sixth Congressional District.

They were also in KET studio last night.

Our June Leffler has more from them.

>> These four Democrats want to flip their district and the U.S.

House from red to blue.

>> I spent my whole career in public service, whether teaching, whether in the Navy, on active duty or, most recently as a federal prosecutor.

However, when this administration came in, it became clear I couldn't in good conscience continue to serve.

And so I resigned as a matter of principle.

>> And I've served on the City Council in Lexington all the way through Covid, trying to make sure that we rebuilt stronger than we were before.

We can't keep talking about the same old things, sounding like we're coming out of Washington.

If we're going to be able to get people who voted overwhelmingly for Trump to vote for a Democrat.

>> I am the only candidate in this race that has flipped a district from red to blue and then held that district.

I am the only one that has successfully navigated the nasty and divisive politics that unfortunately dominate our elections today.

And I'm the only one that has already stood on a House floor and fought back against Maga Republicans.

>> And yes, I am a proud, progressive Democrat.

I'm an unapologetic progressive Democrat.

And what that means is that I believe in Medicare for all.

I believe in abolishing Ice.

I believe in making sure that we actually are moving forward.

Because I'm tired of Democrats just negotiating against ourselves before we even come to the negotiating table with Republicans.

>> On to health care.

>> Do you totally disregard a public option and want to go for Medicare for all?

Do you see a need to stair step?

>> No, Renee.

Again, I don't know why we are negotiating against ourselves and being apologists for these corporations.

I know someone who I was speaking to at the University of Kentucky, who's a student there earlier this week, and they said that they had an issue with their gynecologist.

They could not get in for three months.

So we're already seeing these challenges, and it's because our system is irrevocably broken and we must start over.

Other countries have done it.

Why can't we?

>> So my big concern with Medicare for all, Renee, is what we're seeing right now in the federal government, which would be if we allowed the federal government to require everyone to be in a government sponsored health care plan.

Robert F Kennedy Jr would be in charge of that plan right now.

I'm not in favor of that.

>> If you are only holding one cabinet member between us and doing the right thing for our people, I don't really see as someone being able to actually hold the administration in general accountable.

>> And on immigration.

>> Are all of you against Ice and when it abolished?

>> Yes.

>> Anybody else want Ice abolished?

>> I would like to dismantle the Department of Homeland Security, which is overseeing Ice, and get back to what we were doing long before.

>> Do you believe there is a need for illegal immigration reform?

>> I absolutely believe we need immigration reform top to bottom.

>> And what should it look like?

>> So I have friends that have gone through the process not to not to pretty recently.

And it took them almost ten years and tens of thousands of dollars.

If you have to wait a decade just to see a judge to put a stamp on a paper that you should have been processed earlier, that's a problem.

So it requires making sure that we don't hold these people hostage in our judiciary system, and make sure that the process allows people to move through, especially those who are doing it the right way.

>> All of the things that I sought to enforce as a federal prosecutor when it came to accountability.

And folks, constitutional rights have been trampled on by this current version of Ice.

>> If folks are coming here escaping terrible, terrible situations at home, they're here seeking asylum, and they want to be productive members of society and just give their family a better chance.

We absolutely want and welcome those people, but there is no way that we should be having violent criminals that are here illegally on our on, on our streets at all.

And so we absolutely need to still be getting rid of those folks.

>> Candidates agree.

Big tech companies and artificial intelligence need guardrails, and that tax policies should favor the working class, not the wealthy, onto foreign affairs and the war in Iran.

>> The president has said multiple times, as has his lackeys in Congress, that we've won the war militarily and the war should be over.

If that's true, why are we still there?

Why are folks like Benjamin Pennington and Ashley Pruitt dying?

There is no clear national interest in us being there.

>> The Strait of Hormuz was open before this war, and our poor farmers are stuck in the middle.

They had already been ravaged by tariffs.

Now they are struggling to get diesel.

They're struggling to get fertilizer, and they are just kind of left holding the bag.

>> Much of this war was also at the behest of Israel.

We need to remove the United States chokehold in regards to Israeli money and Israeli influence.

>> If we're not focusing on what we're doing at home, we need to create stability and we need to be helping people.

>> Central Kentucky Democrats will choose their candidate next month.

So far, donors Viper Zach Dembo, who has raised more dollars than his competitors this year for Kentucky Edition.

I'm June Leffler.

>> See the full two hour edition of Kentucky tonight.

With six candidates for Congress in the sixth district, online on demand at ket.org/ky.

Tonight, Congress is now working to pass a farm bill, and that farm bill includes provisions that would shield pesticide companies from lawsuits.

Congressman Thomas Massie of Kentucky is joining a coalition of Republicans and Democrats to introduce an amendment stripping the bill of those provisions.

Speaking yesterday, Massie was especially critical of a German company, Bayer, that uses a chemical called glyphosate.

Critics say glyphosate can cause cancer.

Massie says Bayer is spending big money on lobbyists to influence lawmakers, hurting the public in the process.

>> Americans are under attack.

There are four fronts to this war with the German company.

They're attacking our executive branch, our legislative branch at the state level, our legislative branch here in Washington, D.C.

and the courts.

And what do they want?

They want get out of court free cards.

We are not going to give it to them.

No.

Was the EPA established to protect the environment and the people, or was it established to protect foreign corporations when they harm the environment and the people?

No, we haven't repealed the 10th amendment.

We haven't repealed the Seventh Amendment.

Your right to a jury trial.

We haven't repealed the First Amendment, the right of people to say what's in a product.

These things have not been repealed, but we're in jeopardy today.

Those amendments to the Constitution, those three elements of the Bill of rights are in jeopardy here.

>> Massie's position on this issue puts him at odds with President Trump, who signed an executive order earlier this year, increasing U.S.

production of glyphosate.

[MUSIC] The University of Louisville reestablishes ties with a pizza company.

Founder and Kentucky's attorney general is appalled by child sex abuse.

Our Toby Gibbs has more.

And this look at headlines around Kentucky.

>> Children's advocacy centers in Kentucky screened more than 7700 cases of child sexual abuse between July of 2024 and July of 2025, according to the Kentucky Lantern.

Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman says that's a 29% increase over the previous year.

He says that level of abuse is unacceptable.

[MUSIC] He also released a new protocol to handle child sex abuse cases, the first update since 2021.

[MUSIC] The new protocol lays out when a child needs to receive a medical exam, and it instructs teams on what to do to make sure survivors don't have to repeat their stories over and over.

[MUSIC] The Courier-Journal reports.

The University of Louisville is renewing its relationship with Papa John's Pizza founder John Schnatter.

[MUSIC] U of L severed ties after Schneider used a racial slur in 2018.

[MUSIC] The university also renamed its football stadium, which had Papa John's in the name UofL.

President Jerry Bradley says new details have emerged about the 2018 incident, leading to the reconciliation.

[MUSIC] Work is underway on a $78 million redevelopment of the Livingston Hospital in Salem in Livingston County.

The West Kentucky star reports.

The funding is from the Department of Agriculture's rural development arm.

Board member Steve Williams praised the Livingston Hospital for keeping up with 21st century medical care.

[MUSIC] From The Courier Journal.

The center for Biological Diversity is suing the U.S.

Fish and Wildlife Service, saying it's failing to protect the salamander mussel, a freshwater creature in Kentucky and other states threatened by pollution and the loss of its habitat.

[MUSIC] The lawsuit says the Fish and Wildlife Service is delaying plans to designate more than 2000 miles of waterways as a critical habitat that includes about 400 miles of waterways in Kentucky, including a long stretch of the licking River.

The Fish and Wildlife Service did not respond to the Courier Journal's request for comment.

And those are tonight's headlines around Kentucky.

I'm Toby Gibbs.

>> The Kentucky community and technical college system has seen record high enrollment over the last year, with nearly 120,000 students currently enrolled.

Kctcs announced a new partnership today with Northern Kentucky University to make it easier for community college students to continue their education.

Our Emily Sisk has more.

>> The Presidents of Kentucky Community and Technical College System and Northern Kentucky University came together today to sign a partnership agreement between the two institutions.

The partnership is designed to provide community college students with a clear pathway to NKU, maximizing transferable credit hours and maintaining financial aid.

>> The message is simple it doesn't matter which community college you may start at.

If you want to transfer to Northern Kentucky University to get that baccalaureate degree or beyond, that seamless pathway is now available across the entire Commonwealth of Kentucky.

>> Gateway Community and Technical College is located in Northern Kentucky with locations in Florence, Edgewood and Covington.

Kctcs President Ryan Quarles said of its 120,000 students, around 15,000 transfer to a partner institution each year.

NKU President Katie Shaw Thompson said with this new partnership agreement, the university will provide special advising and priority registration for Kctcs students.

>> This dual admission program supports participating students by maximizing the acceptance of their Kctcs course credits to NKU and counting toward their degree.

>> This was the case for 22 year old Addison Donk, who graduated high school in northern Kentucky and was undecided on what to do next.

>> At that time, I had quite literally no idea what I wanted to do.

I went through all the phases.

I said I was going to join the military.

I wanted to be a marine biologist.

We live in Kentucky, and so ultimately my parents were like, Addison, it never hurts to have a trade under your belt.

Look into gateway.

>> Donk attended Gateway Community and Technical College, where she earned her associates in welding.

She started a job in the trades but had a spark to continue her education.

She transferred to NKU, where she's now finishing her bachelor's degree in mechanical and manufacturing engineering, Donk said more than half of her credits came from her community college classes.

>> This transition for me was incredibly seamless.

I had so much support from my people at gateway, and even after I became an NKU student, that support followed me.

>> Christopher Cannon also shared his student experience and why he chose to begin his college career through Kctcs.

>> Coming from a family that has faced financial hardship, homelessness, I've faced chronic illnesses.

Higher education did not seem possible.

>> Cannon was able to receive a scholarship to attend Gateway Community College and is now completing his master's in athletic training from NKU.

Today's signing agreement marks the seventh partnership between Kctcs and Kentucky's public four year institutions.

Kentucky State University is the only institution to not have a current partnership for Kentucky Edition.

I'm Emily Sisk.

>> And Casey TCS President Ryan Corral said they're working to renew their partnership with Kentucky State.

More doors are opening for those recovering from addiction in Eastern Kentucky.

Volunteers of America has expanded its freedom House program in Clay County.

The program provides treatment for pregnant and parenting women while allowing them to remain with their children.

It now has more on site housing to help with that mission.

Jennifer Hancock, the president of Volunteers of America Mid-states, spoke with us about the program and efforts to expand it across the state.

>> We know that access is critically important for women who are parenting and who are pregnant.

We need to be right there available to them at the moment.

They need us.

We know that this is a debilitating disease that, if left untreated, can be fatal.

And so as soon as someone reaches out for help, we don't want to deliver a message that there's a waiting list that she must sit on for a period of time.

So by expanding our services and expanding our capacity in Manchester, we're going to be able to essentially meet the need not just in Clay County but in the region at large.

One of the the real gems of our program is that we provide recovery housing, and that enables families to stay with us even longer after they leave treatment.

They're still part of a recovery community.

They're still able to access case management and other peer supports.

We know that that additional time to stay connected to us while they're living in housing.

Returning to the community is often the difference between success and maybe having some harder struggles after they leave us.

That is really allowing us to see more people returning to the workforce and appropriate consumption of public benefits that really meets the needs of that particular family and overall community health and wellness, which is truly what this is all about.

It's really what's in it for every member of the Commonwealth that by producing these positive results and having families stabilize, that our communities do better and thrive.

We did receive generous funding from the General Assembly in the 2024 budget session, and we are forever grateful for that investment.

We also have gone to foundations and corporations and asked them to join with the General Assembly and investing in these families in Southeast Kentucky.

So for every government dollar we receive, we are committed to going out and doing private fundraising so that this can be a true public private partnership.

You know, as our community came together last week to celebrate the grand opening, I saw the women we are serving crying both during the grand opening celebration and afterwards.

And what I know about those tears is that they were a response to the outpouring of community support.

We know that for women pregnant, they experience shame and guilt around using during their pregnancy.

They also experience the challenges of being pregnant and detoxing from drugs and and knowing that there is a physical element to that.

There is a psychological and spiritual element to that.

And so the complexity of their needs are very different than someone who's not experiencing pregnancy or parenting.

By offering these services, we're also destigmatizing this issue in a way that can be very powerful and disruptive of some community norms and familiar norms, which sometimes is about keeping it quiet and keeping it hidden.

We believe that addiction is best beat when it comes out of the shadows and into the light, and we do that as a community when we offer these services and make it okay to come forward and acknowledge that women need us, and to do that in a way that offers a judgment free zone, a lot of compassion, a lot of love and support, not just from our staff, but from the community at large.

>> And Koch says with this expansion, Volunteers of America will be able to serve an additional 300 women and their children annually, not just in Clay County but across the region.

She also says there are plans to open a freedom House in Lincoln County and Davis County.

[MUSIC] Kentucky is among the least healthiest states in the country.

The state is 43rd on the 2025 annual America's Health Rankings.

The report is based on multiple factors, including the quality and availability of care to environmental and socioeconomic indicators.

Efforts to improve health outcomes is one of the goals of the Kentucky Medical Association.

The president of the KMA sat down with Doctor Wayne Tuckson, host of KET Kentucky health, to talk about a new initiative that encourages us to take small steps that could have big impacts on our health.

>> One of the programs, though, that Kentucky Medical Association and under your leadership this year you've been pushing is called step.

Now, this is an acronym.

So tell me, what does Step stand for?

>> Thank you.

So Step stands for five key areas that we believe can really transform the health of Kentucky.

The first S is screening.

So you want to screen for cancer.

You want to screen for any other diseases.

And the T is stand for tobacco cessation.

You want to stop smoking and E is for exercise and nutrition.

P is for physicians.

We want you to develop a relationship with your doctors so they can take care of you.

And the last S stands for stress management.

We offer stress every single day.

Manage stress as a part of the key area that we can improve our health.

>> So when this program was developed, was this something that was done just here in Kentucky, or is this something that is done throughout the country?

>> Thank you.

So this program is designed by the Kentucky Physicians for Kentucky patients.

And it's really specifically for our state.

Kentucky has a unique patient population and we have unique challenges.

So this KMA initiative was designed as a two year program, 2024 to 2026.

Really focus on the small steps, small things, not big things, not your lifestyle overhaul, but small things that can improve your health and the states certainly have a public.

Other states have public health initiatives.

This one is particular for Kentucky and other states.

We hope to set this example so.

Other medical State State Medical Association can learn from us, potentially use a template to improve their health.

>> So once again, Kentucky is leading the way in something here.

>> You can learn more about steps and to see other episodes of Kentucky Health online@ket.org.

[MUSIC] We've all seen the jump at the pump as gas prices now top $4 a gallon, a new report says Kentuckians electric bills went up in 2025, but who suffering the most and what does the future hold?

We'll talk energy prices and how it could affect the rest of the economy.

Tomorrow night on Kentucky edition.

[MUSIC] We hope you'll 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.

Watch full episodes and clips@ket.org.

Send us a story idea at public affairs@ket.org and follow KET on Facebook, X and Instagram to stay in the loop.

Thanks for watching.