music >> This regime will soon learn that no one should challenge the strength and might of the United States Armed Forces in.

>> President Trump orders U.S.

airstrikes on Iran.

We have reaction from Kentucky's congressional delegation.

>> Not one city, not one municipality in the state of Kentucky wants this.

>> A bill in Frankfort would change how cities regulate short term rentals.

But some state leaders want to pump the brakes.

[MUSIC] >> It's a good way to share empathy with school districts and bring people into wanting to support students that are experiencing homelessness.

[MUSIC] >> The efforts to keep homeless students in school and on track to graduate.

[MUSIC] >> Louisville supports us so much, the entire state reaches out, and so we're getting shows fast.

[MUSIC] >> And find out which Broadway shows are coming to the bluegrass this season.

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

>> Good evening and welcome to Kentucky Edition for this Monday, March 2nd, the brand new week we're starting.

I'm Renee Shaw.

We thank you for spending some of your Monday night with us.

The United States is at war over the weekend.

The U.S.

and Israel began bombing Iran.

President Donald Trump announced the military operation on social media.

>> Our objective is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime.

A vicious group of very hard, terrible people.

It's menacing activities directly endanger the United States, our troops, our bases overseas, and our allies throughout the world.

>> Officials confirmed Iran's supreme leader was killed in the attacks.

The conflict is now widening.

Iran and its allies have launched missile missiles at Israel.

Arab states and U.S.

military targets in the Middle East.

As a result, at least four U.S.

service members have died.

Today, President Trump said the U.S.

military operation in Iran, nicknamed Operation Epic Fury, is likely to last for several more weeks.

>> We're already substantially ahead of our time projections, but whatever the time is, it's okay.

Whatever it takes, we will always.

And we have.

Right from the beginning, we projected 4 to 5 weeks, but we have capability to go far longer than that.

We'll do it.

Whatever.

Somebody said today, they said, oh, well, president wants to do it really quickly.

After that, he'll get bored.

I don't get bored.

There's nothing boring about this.

>> President Trump is urging Iranians to seize the moment and to overthrow their government.

Kentucky's congressional delegation is reacting to President Trump ordering a military strike against Iran.

Republican Representative Thomas Massie from Kentucky's fourth congressional district posted this on social media over the weekend.

Quote, I am opposed to this war.

This is not America First.

When Congress reconvenes, I will work with Representative Ro Khanna, who is a Democrat from California, to force a congressional vote on the war with Iran.

The Constitution requires a vote, and your representative needs to be on record as opposing or supporting this war.

End quote.

U.S.

Senator Rand Paul, Kentucky's junior U.S.

senator, also coming out in opposition, saying, quote, as with all war, my first and purest instinct is to wish American soldiers safety and success in their mission.

But my oath of office is to the Constitution.

So with studied care, I must oppose another presidential war.

End quote.

And Congressman Andy Barr of the sixth district of Kentucky, supporting President Trump's decision to attack Iran, posting on X quote, Iran can never have a nuclear weapon.

This regime puts all Americans and our allies at risk.

I applaud President Trump for his bold action that will give the people of Iran and the best opportunity for change in generations.

I pray for our military success and safety, end quote.

And Kentucky Democratic Congressman Morgan McGarvey of the third district released a statement after the attack that reads in part, quote, President Trump is starting yet another war in the Middle East without the approval of Congress or the American people putting our troops who are our neighbors, our family members, and our kids in harm's way and spending billions on regime change in another country, all while Americans can barely afford their expenses at home.

End quote.

McGarvey is calling on speaker Mike Johnson to reconvene the House immediately so Congress can vote on a war resolution.

In other news, it's another legal defeat for so-called gray machines, the Kentucky Supreme or the Kentucky Court of Appeals unanimously upheld a 2023 state law banning the slot style video gambling devices.

The machines became known as gray machines because of their questionable legal status.

Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman announced the ruling on Friday.

Kentucky's speaker of the House, Representative David Osborne, said the decision is good news for Kentuckians, adding that it, quote, upholds a duly enacted law passed to protect Kentuckians and strengthen our communities.

End quote.

Companies like Airbnb or Vrbo allow property owners to turn homes into Short-Term rentals, a popular alternative to hotels.

A bill in Frankfort would change how cities can regulate these Short-Term rentals, making it easier for the properties to exist.

But some Kentucky leaders are against the legislation, arguing that Short-Term rentals take away from the community's housing supply.

And they question if companies like Airbnb are paying enough taxes.

Our Emily Sisk explains their opposition.

>> Every town, every city in Kentucky is different, is unique, and so too is the effect that short term rentals have on those communities.

>> But a bill in Frankfort looks to stifle the regulations cities can put on Short-Term rentals, and some Kentucky leaders aren't pleased.

>> Senate Bill 112 dictates a permanent, one size fits all approach.

>> Under the legislation, cities would no longer be able to impose some common Short-Term rental restrictions, like regulating how many Short-Term rentals can be in a neighborhood, how many properties one person can own, or requiring a conditional use permit.

Bill sponsor.

Republican Senator Craig Richardson of Hopkinsville says Senate Bill 112 is about protecting property owners rights.

But Bellevue Mayor Charlie Cleaves says the bill is stepping on his city's toes.

>> It's like using people from out of the area to make a decision for us.

That's not good.

>> Mayor cleaves is part of the Kentucky League of Cities, a group that he says strongly opposes the bill.

>> Out of all those people, we know for a fact that not one city, not one municipality in the state of Kentucky wants this.

>> In Bellevue, a city with about 5500 residents, the community currently requires that Short-Term rental owners must live in the home for at least six months and a day every year.

Cleaves says that curbs many out of towners from buying up properties to turn into Airbnbs.

>> We're trying to market Bellevue to all these families and that, and they need the lower end houses to start out in.

They don't want to buy the best house in Bellevue.

Neither do the Airbnbs.

The ones they're buying are the ones we're trying to market to get all these nice families moved to Bellevue.

>> And Hank Phillips, president of the Kentucky Travel Industry Association, has another problem with the company that's backing SB 112.

>> This bill is clearly being pushed by Airbnb and Airbnb since January of 2023, has refused to pay all but six local governments what's called transient room taxes, and these are lodging taxes that support local tourism efforts.

>> Phillips said.

Besides, enlarged municipalities like Louisville, Lexington, Northern, Kentucky and others, Airbnb does not pay this tax.

The company's main competitor, Vrbo, however, fully complies with the lodging tax.

>> We don't think Airbnb should be rewarded for disobeying one law on the one hand, and then over here on the other hand, asking to be shielded from local regulation.

>> Cleaves said Bellevue has had a problem with Airbnb properties flying under the radar without the city's approval.

He said recently, Bellevue leaders identified 24 Airbnbs that weren't paying any taxes to the city.

>> We did not know they existed.

We did not.

They weren't paying any kind of tax.

There was there was nothing they were doing because they're coached by Airbnbs not to tell anybody you're there and they don't even put the front of their buildings in their marketing anymore, because they don't want us coming and finding them and closing them down.

>> And Phillip said, at the end of the day, the Kentucky Travel Industry Association isn't opposed to the existence of Short-Term rentals.

In fact, he said, they can be a good resource for some rural areas.

But he believes each community should have their own say in how to regulate them.

For Kentucky Edition, I'm Emily Sisk.

>> Thank you Emily.

As we told you last week, Senate Bill 112 has not yet been assigned to a committee.

We'll continue following this issue in the coming days as we sit down with an Airbnb representative.

So stay stay tuned for that.

A programing note tonight.

Child care legislation is our topic tonight on Kentucky.

Tonight you'll hear from different stakeholders as we get the perspective of the Kentucky Youth Advocates, the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce and three Kentucky lawmakers.

And we certainly want your questions and comments.

So we invite you to join us at eight eastern seven central for Kentucky tonight.

Tonight, some Kentucky communities are struggling to maintain their ambulance services.

The problem could be on the verge of getting worse in three counties.

In particular, our Toby Gibbs has that story and more in tonight's look at headlines around Kentucky.

>> Three Kentucky counties are on the verge of losing some or all of their ambulance services.

The Mountain Citizen reports Patriot EMS is cutting about half of its workforce due to reimbursement rates and delayed insurance payments.

Patriot EMS is the sole ambulance provider in Martin County, and the company says it will close its stations in Magoffin and Floyd counties.

[MUSIC] Weku reports.

The debate over a possible data center drew hundreds of people to a Mercer County meeting, many wearing blue T-shirts with the words No data center.

People are concerned that a data center will gobble up electricity and water.

[MUSIC] Right now, it's not clear what company is proposing the data center or where it would be built.

Leaders in McCracken County in Paducah are urging the public to comment on a new federal rule change that could mean new nuclear projects with fewer environmental reviews.

[MUSIC] The NPR affiliate at Murray State University reports that a Trump administration order allows the Department of Energy to speed up or eliminate some environmental reviews for proposed nuclear reactors.

[MUSIC] Paducah Mayor George Bray says as nuclear projects move forward, community input is vital to guarantee safety and accountability.

[MUSIC] Also in Paducah, a new golf cart ordinance takes effect April 1st.

Carts will need headlights, tail lights, stop lights, turn signals, a red reflector, a parking brake, seat belts and a horn, the Paducah Sun reports.

Paducah only has one golf cart vendor, Mid American Customs, and it's getting calls from people wanting help getting their golf carts up to speed.

Owner Mike Johnson says getting the new parts could cost between 350 and $400.

[MUSIC] The News Enterprise reports.

The city of Radcliff has a new city seal, which emphasizes the community's history and heritage, but also growth and innovation.

[MUSIC] The seal shows the Saunders Spring Nature Preserve and the creek that used to provide the city's water.

With headlines around Kentucky.

I'm Toby Gibbs.

[MUSIC] >> Whoa!

>> That's the sight and sound of fourth Street Bridge in Northern Kentucky being blown up this morning.

The controlled demolition was a long time coming.

The bridge spanned the licking River and connected Covington and Newport.

Kentucky transportation cabinet deemed it, quote, functionally obsolete.

Now that it's down, a new version will soon take its place.

The new bridge is expected to open in the fall of 2028.

[MUSIC] Kentucky lawmakers have made education a top priority this legislative session and one of the areas of focus chronic absenteeism, with three bills aimed at making sure students show up for class one group vulnerable to high rates of truancy.

Students experiencing homelessness.

But numbers from the National Center for Homeless Education show Kentucky has been making strides when it comes to homeless students and truancy.

In 2024, Kentucky had almost 88% graduation rate for students experiencing homelessness, compared to the national average of 69%.

The state also saw chronic absenteeism among homeless students drop by 8%.

We spoke to the Kentucky Department of Education's homeless Coordinator, Zach Stumbo, about the efforts to provide targeted, supportive interventions that help keep students in school and on track to graduate.

>> Housing instability is a big issue.

The lack of affordable housing a lot of times will.

When families are forced out of their home, they struggle to find somewhere that they could afford or that could hold a family of their size.

So any of the students who are missing the fixed, regular or nighttime residence, that could be students that are in hotels, motels, we have students that are living in shelters that weren't designed to be lived in.

We have students and families living in houses that maybe have suffered damage, substandard.

One of the most surprising, though, I would say, is the doubled up feature.

And it's not everyone that's living with another family.

It's not multigenerational housing.

It really is people who have lost their housing and had to move in with another friend or relative because of an economic issue.

They were evicted or their house burned down, something along that lines.

And when those families are pushed out, they become they become eligible students under the Mckinney-vento act.

And what we tend to see is that the students are struggling academically.

They do miss a lot of school.

That's a big subgroup in are chronically absent student count at KDE.

We also know that they on hold tend to graduate a little bit less often than their non-homeless counterparts.

So often when students are experiencing homelessness, so much is changing in their personal life.

And sometimes there are issues of domestic violence going on at home.

Having the one person in the school district, the school liaison, having that one contact, really working to number one, maintain their school stability, make sure that they have everything they need to participate fully in school, participate fully in extracurricular, extracurricular activities.

It's so important to the students.

It's one of the best parts of the job.

When I hear about a student who was able to join an extracurricular that they wanted to do, or attend an educational program in the summer that you want that they wanted to do, I hear about those, and that's some of the most fulfilling stuff.

I understand the different facets of, you know, living in someone else's home or living in a home that isn't up to code, things that aren't that aren't great at home.

And then I've also been responsible for myself at an early age while in school.

We call those unaccompanied homeless youths, and they are particularly disadvantaged and at risk.

There's no adult guardian in their life.

They're physically separated.

And so I found that it it's a good way to share empathy with school districts and bring people into wanting to support students that are experiencing homelessness.

The number one thing that I want everyone to understand is that students experiencing homelessness are a great investment for our time, our energy and our resources, and that this really is a program that benefits everyone.

Anyone could be at risk of a natural disaster or a fire, and this program will help ensure that your child also has school stability.

This isn't just for families that may be chronically homeless that we might think of typically, but really is a program that benefits everyone.

>> Stumbo was honored in November by the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth for his commitment to improving the educational outcomes for youth experiencing homelessness.

[MUSIC] New Broadway shows are hitting the stage in Louisville.

PNC Broadway in Louisville announced its newest season, and it includes five premieres of shows that have never visited Louisville before.

Our Christie Dutton has more in this arts and culture segment we call tapestry.

[MUSIC] >> Leslie broker.

The president of PNC Broadway in Louisville is here, and you all just had a big season announcement.

What are the shows coming in this upcoming season?

>> We are so excited.

You know, Louisville supports us so much.

The entire state reaches out and so we're getting shows fast.

We'll kick off the season with two that have been here before, Jersey boys, which it's been about 15 years, and The Lion King will be here for three weeks.

Everybody's all time fun family favorite.

Then we launch into all of the new shows coming direct from Broadway.

We have Boop, based on the Betty Boop comic strip.

Betty Boop lives in a black and white world, and she wants to leap to color and fun.

And that's what she does.

Huge tap dancing show fun for the whole family.

We do a little bit of a throwback with a beautiful noise, which is the Neil Diamond musical tells his life.

And I always think when you see these shows that are based on musicians or performers or artists, it if you enjoy them, you enjoy it more because you get more depth out of that.

We have maybe Happy Ending, which was the Tony Award winning Best Musical last season, still playing to sellout houses on Broadway along with its main competitor, which will be coming, which is Death Becomes Her and Death Becomes Her.

Based on the 92 movie If you drink the Potion to Live Forever, what are the consequences?

And it's it's, you know, a hilarious lots of physical comedy show.

And then we've got Hell's Kitchen, which was from the season before.

It's Alicia Keys new musical loosely based on her life growing up in Hell's Kitchen, and how music sort of found her and saved her and and gave her purpose and whatnot.

So it's all the big hits from Broadway.

We're so very lucky.

>> Yeah.

What an exciting lineup.

Okay, you mentioned the Tony winner.

So this is the second year that you've been able to get the Tony winner here in Louisville.

Why is that important?

>> Well, it's important because I think our audiences are smart.

They want current.

This year we'll have The outsiders in the current season which won the year prior.

Then with maybe happy endings.

So I think it demonstrates Louisville's love for the arts, love for Broadway, and the producers like to bring their shows here.

>> Okay.

And you know what?

You also have The Lion King and Jersey boys.

Now, these are favorites, fan favorites here, especially in Louisville.

Why is it important to keep bringing them back?

>> Well, I think that when you've got a show that strikes a chord and is fun, Jersey boys, I always say, is a great girls night out.

People like to, I mean, people sing along.

And then when you've got The Lion King, that's a cross-generational shared experience and an adult enjoys it as much as a child.

The artistry of the puppetry and all of the magic that the show brings.

So I think bringing those shows back really enhances the opportunity to share the experience.

>> And Lion King is staying.

It has an extended stay.

What's the thought behind that?

Why is that important?

>> Well, we know how many people want to see it and also we remove many seats in the orchestra.

So there's a lower capacity each night that we have have tickets for.

In order to do the animal parade down the aisles, we'll remove about 200 seats so that everybody is up close and personal to those animals.

So to extend the run just means more people get to see it.

It also is a huge show to build, so I hate to build it on a Tuesday and take it out on a Sunday.

>> That's right.

You were telling me how you got to remove seats.

And all that.

So it's a big lift.

>> It is a big lift.

>> Okay, so it might as well stay for a while.

And what is the show that you are most looking forward to?

>> Well, I'm looking forward to maybe happy ending.

I think it was a sleeper show on Broadway.

It started slow and now it's a huge hit.

It's magical.

It's brand new, new music, and it's about an interesting couple of robots in Korea.

They don't look like robots, they look like people and they're service robots.

And I just think the relationship that they build is an amazing thing.

And it's warm and fun, and I think it will be the sleeper of the season.

>> That's awesome.

Okay.

How do people get tickets?

Are tickets on sale yet?

>> Tickets will go on sale in early April to brand new subscribers.

Just give us a call or go to the website.

Right now we're doing all of our season ticket holders, and once that's finished, then we release all of those seats and open them up to the general public.

>> Okay, great.

Leslie broker from PNC Louisville in PNC Broadway in Louisville.

Thank you so much for your time.

>> Thank you.

>> Thank you Christy.

Lots to do.

Those tickets are available beginning April 3rd, and you can also join a waitlist for some of the most popular shows at Broadway in louisville.com.

[MUSIC] Here are some names for you Abraham Lincoln, Henry Clay, Doctor Martin Luther King Junior, and of course, the Bath County Meade shower.

Our Toby Gibbs has an eclectic blend of noteworthy items in tonight's look at This Week in Kentucky history.

>> Henry Clay began his first day serving in the U.S.

House of Representatives.

On March 4th, 1811.

He was elected speaker of the House that day.

The first commercial steamboat from Louisville to New Orleans began service on March 3rd, 1817.

On March 2nd, 1862, Union forces under General Ulysses S Grant took Columbus, Kentucky, in Hickman County from the Confederates.

It was an important strategic location because of the Mississippi River and the Mobile and Ohio Railroad.

[MUSIC] One year later, on March 2nd, 1863, the Kentucky General Assembly passed a resolution condemning President Abraham Lincoln for his Emancipation Proclamation, freeing enslaved people in areas in a state of rebellion.

President Lincoln, the only Kentucky born president, was sworn in for his first term on March 4th, 1861, and for his second term on March 4th, 1865.

Doctor Martin Luther King Jr and baseball great Jackie Robinson were among 10,000 people taking part in a civil rights march on Frankfort on March 5th, 1964.

March 3rd, 1876 is the day flakes of meat fell from the sky in Bath County.

Their theories about why it happened, but still no definite proof.

Those are some of the highlights this week in Kentucky history.

I'm Toby Gibbs.

[MUSIC] >> Thank you.

Toby Gibbs an there's an interesting story behind that meat shower.

We'll spare you the details since it's dinnertime, mixing culture and cuisine.

That's the idea behind the food school.

>> She said.

I wish somebody would teach international cooking classes here.

Well, hello, here I am.

Let's try.

>> But it's about more than just culinary skills.

Tomorrow on Kentucky edition, how food can help us learn more about other countries and our neighbors.

Sounds like a good dish to serve up, and we'll serve it up tomorrow night at 630 eastern, 530 central on Kentucky edition, where we inform, connect, and inspire.

We hope that you'll connect with us all the way.

As you see on your screen, the social media channels, Facebook and Instagram, we invite you to send us a story idea by email or just a shout out at Public Affairs at Keturah.

Just look for us on the PBS app that you can download on all your smart devices.

And of course, you can stream great content anytime, anywhere online at Keturah.

Stay tuned.

NewsHour is up next.

And after that, on Kentucky.

Tonight, we're talking about child care in Kentucky and some policy proposals being considered in Frankfort.

We'll hope you'll stay tuned.

Thanks for watching Kentucky Edition.

I'm Renee Shaw and I will see you in just a little bit.

[MUSIC] So long.