[MUSIC] There's bipartisan criticism for a new fund created by the Department of Justice.

Now, Kentucky's senior U.S.

senator weighs in.

[MUSIC] >> It's just been so amazing to see the growth within not only the leadership team, but within student outcomes.

>> The shining example a Kentucky school district is making and why it's become a case study for the rest of the state.

[MUSIC] >> Nobody legitimate is going to do that.

>> Summertime scammers are gearing up for their busy season.

See what you can do to safeguard yourself.

[MUSIC] >> I think it's really exciting for them, and hopefully we'll inspire a lot of young women to get into Stem industry.

>> And the sky's the limit for a new exhibit.

Hoping to inspire the next generation of fliers.

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

>> Good evening and welcome to Kentucky Edition for this Friday, May 22nd.

We have made it to the weekend.

I'm Renee Shaw.

We thank you for kicking off your weekend with us.

U.S.

Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky is slamming a new fund set up by the U.S.

Department of Justice.

The nearly $2 billion fund would be used to pay people who think they were targeted by the DOJ for their politics, acting Attorney General Todd Blanch testified about the fund on Capitol Hill on Tuesday.

He refused to say whether people convicted of attacking police officers during the January 6th riot at the U.S.

Capitol would be prohibited from receiving a payment.

>> Simple question Will will individuals who assaulted Capitol Hill police officers be eligible for this fund?

>> Well, as it makes plain anybody.

>> Is just let me know if they're eligible for the fund.

>> As as as was made plain yesterday, anybody in this country is eligible to apply if they believe they were victim of.

>> Mr.

Let me ask you this.

Are there going to be rules that say that if you've assaulted a Capitol Hill police officer or committed a violent crime, you will not be eligible?

Why not make that a rule?

>> I expect that, well, because I'm not one of the commissioners setting up the rules.

>> Senator McConnell responded to the news.

According to The Hill, he sent a statement that read in part, quote, so the nation's top law enforcement official is asking for a slush fund to pay people who assault cops.

Utterly stupid, morally wrong.

Take your pick.

End quote.

The former Senate Republican leader is finishing out his final term in office this week.

U.S.

Representative Andy Barr of Kentucky's sixth congressional District won the GOP primary for a chance to succeed McConnell in the U.S.

Senate.

Barr will face Charles Booker, the Democratic nominee, in November's general election.

Congressman Thomas Massie says there is no need for the votes to be counted again in his primary election loss, the Republican in Kentucky's fourth congressional district lost by more than 10,000 votes to former Navy Seal Ed Gallrein in Tuesday's GOP primary.

Posting to social media today, Massie said, quote, there's a quite all out war for the future of our country, so let us not misdirect our precious resources.

I do not believe I lost due to fraudulent votes, mail in ballots, hacking or mis tabulated results.

I respect those who want to make sure, but I won't be requesting a recount, end quote.

Massie has served in Congress since 2012.

His current term ends in January.

The race in Kentucky's fourth congressional district turned into the most expensive U.S.

House primary race in the nation's history.

Republican nominee Ed Gallrein now faces Democrat Melissa Strange in November's general election.

[MUSIC] Time now to go inside Kentucky politics, and we're going to rehash the primary election results from Tuesday.

And we've got two of our faves with us, Trey Watson and Jared Smith.

And you've seen them around quite a bit.

They were just with us Tuesday night.

And heck, you've been here Trey, more than I have this week.

>> Triple Crown KET this week.

I mean, I'm gonna put you on the payroll.

>> All right, so let's start at the top of the ticket.

You know, we got a few minutes here.

What's your main takeaway from the U.S.

Senate GOP?

>> Not much of a surprise.

Once Donald Trump weighed in with his endorsement.

Nate Morris got out.

I think it was always trending this direction.

I think President Trump smart politics on his part, came in right at a point where whether Andy Barr was pulling away or President Trump was the one who got him, got him to pull away, you'll never be able to distinguish between the two.

But I do think Barr was going to win regardless.

Trump certainly made the night night earlier.

>> A wider victory for Andy Barr, perhaps because it was pretty wide there.

So talk about the Democrats and the nominee.

Charles Booker.

>> Well, it was interesting to see because you wanted to see if anybody else but the Booker McGrath could break through.

Booker McGrath, though, started that race with 100% name ID voters very familiar with them.

Unfortunately, with the way the current federal government is trending, you're going to see this, especially in the Democratic Party, the swing back to the left.

And I think that's what eight had Charles come through Charles didn't have much money to run ads on TV.

I know McGrath and Romans were up at least.

So.

So to me, it was like the Kentucky Democrats had a choice to maybe stay in a moderate lane with McGrath or even choosing a newcomer or something like that.

But instead, you know, Booker pulled away pretty handily at the end.

>> Is he going to get that Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee money like Amy McGrath might have?

I mean, if they're pulling to the left.

>> I mean.

>> That's not going to Texas.

>> Yeah, yeah.

All all Democratic money is going to Texas for Talarico.

>> Okay.

Right.

Yeah.

That's an interesting race.

Yes.

Gosh, yes.

Kind of wish I was in Texas.

>> I might move to Texas.

Just to do that.

Yeah.

>> I mean Ken.

>> Paxton yeah, yeah.

>> He's a thief.

>> Yeah.

Okay.

So the big race for the ballot in November in Kentucky is the sixth.

Yeah.

Right.

So let's talk about how that shaped up and Ralph Alvarado the nominee there.

>> Again, a pretty, pretty sizable win, especially after the Trump endorsement.

Although again, I think he was always going to have a pretty large win in that district, well known in the district, used to represent Clark County and a chunk of Fayette, and also ran statewide with Matt Bevin on that ticket.

So he's got he was well known in the party.

But, you know, Ralph's a tough a tough candidate because he can speak very knowledgeable on health care issues, immigration, obviously, being a Latino Republican, when immigration is going to be a big issue on the ballot at the federal level, didn't wasn't as big when he was a state senator.

A lot more important issue running for Congress.

And this district is just going to be tough for Democrats.

If Amy McGrath couldn't win it with $8 million in 2018, and they've made it more Republican since then, taking Franklin County out, I just I think it's a hard district for Democrats, but it looks like something that national Democrats think they should be able to win.

>> They still think that.

Jared.

>> Yeah, they still think.

>> That Zach Dembo who's the Democratic nominee?

>> They do still think that.

And but that's because of the national climate.

And the federal races are national races.

>> It's a liberal college.

>> I'll let you talk.

I'll let.

>> You talk.

I'm trying to back up your point.

It's a liberal college town.

>> It's got liberal colleges around it.

UK being the big one.

Transy midway it's got has some others.

But also it's real though.

It's rural because they brought in what were then at the time, Democratic leaning coal counties, which are now, you know, suffering like other coal counties.

And then they took away Franklin, which was like the second best bluest county in the district.

The reason I think that there's a play here is, once again, the left did decide this outcome as well, but it was to a different extent.

Aaron Petrie significantly overperformed, getting almost 16% of the vote, thus eating away Cherlynn Stevenson who would have been a great female general candidate.

But she has a long track record of voting record that they could shoot at.

She has had some troubles fundraising in the past.

Great ground game.

Jimbo had no problems fundraising.

He's a fresh face, looks the part.

>> Got a lot of heavy hitter endorsements.

John Ferre the governor.

I mean you know Ben Chandler, the former congressman.

>> So and so I think can attract a crowd if Jimbo Denbo will run a good campaign.

Alvarado has some baggage in his past.

So interesting to see a fresh face and just the discontent at the national level.

Will that be enough?

And what was a swing district now is kind of a leans are because of the way they redistricted.

But is that enough to put it back completely and toss up and get the Pearce.

>> And Ron War could be a big thing in that race and.

>> Well.

>> I'll say this or any of the races.

>> TV stations should be very excited.

Because commercial.

Yeah, commercial.

But this, you know, this is a very this is stuff that like we think about as political operatives, but the normal people don't.

And then they're like, well, why are there so many ads?

This is a very cost efficient spin in this race.

There's very few congressional districts in America where when you buy an ad at a Lexington TV market, it's like a 95, 98% overlap with the sixth district.

There's nothing outside the sixth district, nothing outside Lexington in the sixth, and there's only a little small pockets of other congressional districts.

So you're overlay the amount of money that you're spending that might be going to other districts is minimal.

It's a very cost efficient spend.

And so for national groups, for them to go to their donors and say, hey, we need to put some money in here, it's going to be a lot easier ask than it would be.

Like, you know, the fourth district is not going to be competitive, but there's three media markets there.

This is a this is a good, cheap, efficient spin.

And so I do think you'll see national groups in here spending a lot of money.

>> And to be honest, I think this will be the first time, like when McGrath ran back in 18, that I think this will be the kind of race will get people energized in this race thinking he's got a real shot at it, especially with the way the national trends are trending.

We could have $6 gas.

I think Trey said this earlier in the week, $6 gas and boots on the ground in Iran.

And that changes every national federal election, you know.

>> So, absolutely, let's talk about some state legislative races, because we had some incumbents who did not rise to the challenge and they got defeated this time around.

Let's talk about Kim Banta first in the Northern Kentucky District 63.

I think that is.

>> Yeah.

Kim Banta, she worked hard.

Boone County, Boone County, you know, they they also threw out Gary Moore a long time.

And it's just.

Judge-executive kind of the the continuation of the of the liberty kind of libertarian wing of the party taking over that county.

And I think with the high turnout up there, I don't know that there's anything that could have been done to save Kim Banta.

In retrospect, just because you.

It's always thinking has always been, well, the higher the turnout, the more likely it will be that you can beat back the liberty candidates up there because more normal Republicans show up.

And with Banta losing, even with with the turnout numbers doubling, I don't know that anything could have been done to save her in this election.

>> Well, I think that I had somebody up there talk to me about it saying an elected official in Boone County saying that he didn't think Kenton County people would vote for Boone County candidate, and apparently they did in Vance's opponent.

So I'm wondering if some of that what's in the water in Boone County is starting to creep over across the border into Kenton.

>> Ken Moser held on Wright with a bigger margin than she did.

>> She had a floor.

She had a flawed candidate against her, but good for Kim Moser pulling through Beverly.

Chester Burton was on.

>> Jefferson County.

>> Jefferson County, now the biggest unseat in Jefferson County was something that we thought might not happen just the way the dynamics of the race were playing.

But scandal Adnan Daniel Grossberg went down to a Third finished third to Sabeti.

And so so you know that, you know, he had a lot of money, but he had just had too much baggage.

Yeah.

>> Well, we should say, because I think it is noteworthy that there will be a mother, not mother, father daughter duo in the state legislature.

Nima Kulkarni and her father, whose first name.

>> Well, he's running.

He's running, and he has Ken Fleming, which is always kind of a swing seat of the Fleming really works his butt off, and he's been able to hold on to that seat with increasing margins.

>> That'll be the district anybody's looking at.

>> That's exactly right, because that has gone back and forth.

>> And we call that the Nemes.

By the way.

>> You call that.

>> The what?

The Nemes.

The Nemes Jason.

Yeah, yeah.

We'll get we'll get Papa Kulkarni to run for Senate soon.

Right.

>> So yes.

So Senator Mike Nemes is in the Senate and Jason Nemes is in the House.

So that's why, just in case you were falling behind on that.

Okay.

So anything else noteworthy about this particular election cycle?

Oh, the county judge executive's.

Let's talk about that because this is, I think, the big story of the night.

18 County judge executive I've been.

>> Looking at the numbers.

Huge loss of magistrates to.

Now, the Magistrates Commissioner Association assures me that this is on the high end of normal, that it's definitely a lot, but it's not because they're.

And they're looking at turnover, which includes retirements, but it feels like it's a lot.

And part of the reason I feel like it's a lot is the notable names.

You have three of the four longest serving county judges in the state lost.

That's Gary Moore and Boone County Steve Henry and Campbell and Abby Brock and Bell Reagan.

Taylor has been there about 20 years.

>> Madison County.

>> Yeah, Kenny Imes has been county judge legislature back and forth, right.

Maurice Lucas has been there, I think over 20 years in in Breckinridge County.

>> And it was all over the state too.

It wasn't just like in a clustered area.

>> And there's not a single thread.

Some of them were personal issues, scandal type stuff.

I think some of them were property tax issues.

Some of them were land use issues.

>> And not just around data centers.

>> Yeah.

And not just around data centers.

Northern.

Kentucky, for example, Campbell County, that was like a north, the county north of the county, south of the county, because the mayor of Alexandria, who beat Stephen Hendry and Brad Schneider was a wind power issue.

There's some solar issues.

So I don't know if there's a single thread you can draw through it.

But what I will say is if I'm an incumbent, I got to work like I'm ten points behind because I don't I don't want to get to Election Day in the general and figure out, oh, there was something behind.

>> All that.

If I'm a sitting county judge, regardless of party, you're an endangered species.

Yeah, yeah.

You need to work hard.

Yeah, yeah.

Especially since we can't find the thread.

>> And that's right.

>> Assume there's a problem and be happy when you win.

>> And so I got asked because somebody said, did Amy Wickliffe on Tuesday night say that Andy Barr always runs his race like he's ten points behind.

And that is true.

So it's the Andy Barr kind of way that you got.

>> Absolutely.

>> Oh, that's an old saying.

I'm not giving that to Barr.

Ten points down and out of money is the only way to run a campaign.

That's right.

That's an old saying.

>> You heard it here, folks.

Thank you so much.

Trey Watson.

Jared Smith always good to have you.

Good to be here.

[MUSIC] A new state law designed to restructure Kentucky State University is now facing a second lawsuit, the Lexington Herald leader reports.

The latest lawsuit was filed by a group of anonymous KSU students.

They argue the passage of Senate Bill 185 didn't follow the proper constitutional processes, and that the bill will cause, quote, immediate and irreparable harm.

Senate Bill 185 passed the Kentucky General Assembly earlier this year.

It was presented as a way to rescue or save Kentucky's only publicly funded historically black college and university.

The bill outlines fiscal procedures, sets expenditure limits and academic admission standards and transitions K state to a polytechnic institution.

Another lawsuit, filed earlier this month by a group of current and former students is still pending.

State Senate leaders are responding to a new report on students reading and math growth.

As we first told you yesterday, the Education Scorecard report ranked Kentucky fifth nationally in reading growth and eighth in mathematics growth.

That's based on data between 2022 and 2025.

The report linked the improvements to comprehensive science of reading reforms and evidence based literacy and math instruction initiatives like the Read to Succeed Act, passed by the Kentucky General Assembly back in 2022, and the Numeracy Counts Act that was passed back in 2024.

Senate Education Chair Stephen West, who co-sponsored the Read to Succeed Act, says the ranking reflects years of focused work by educators, school leaders and lawmakers.

Quote, the goal has never been a quick fix or a political talking point.

The goal has been to help more Kentucky students learn to read proficiently, build strong math skills, and graduate prepared for future success.

This recognition shows Kentucky is making meaningful progress, end quote.

He also recognized Marion County Schools, which was highlighted as the in the report as a case study for evidence based instruction, literacy training and student teacher engagement in the classroom.

The Kentucky Department of Education's chief academic officer says Marion County success can be copied throughout the state.

>> So Marion County had a beautiful sort of spotlight as a part of this report, and Marion County has been a part of our Kentucky Early Literacy Leadership Network.

It's just been so amazing to see the growth within not only the leadership team, but within student outcomes.

And so they they should be celebrated.

And much of what they're doing can truly be replicated across other districts.

And so I think that's the exciting thing.

You know, what they're doing is possible and navigable for, for any district.

>> The report also recognized five other districts for improvements in both reading and math.

[MUSIC] The Aviation Museum of Kentucky that's located in Lexington, just opened a new exhibit honoring Kentucky women.

Several pilots featured in the exhibit attended the ribbon cutting.

So did State Senator Amanda Mays Bledsoe, who highlighted ways the state legislature is investing in the aviation industry.

Right here in Kentucky.

>> We're celebrating a very unique and wonderful display of Kentucky women in aviation.

>> It's very, very special.

I, I had not seen this until today.

My first flight was with my dad was taking flying lessons over in Cumberland, Kentucky on a grass strip after World War Two.

He used his G.I.

Bill.

So I went over one time to fly with his instructor before I was nine years old.

I loved to see places from there.

So I've flown to Alaska from here.

IPhone Munich, Germany to the castle.

I have flown in Hawaii.

>> The Sustainable Aviation Fuel is a new program that we're working through to have sustainable fuel through corn, to have accessibility so that more we won't have to use jet fuel diesel.

We use it differently.

So that's an area that's very exciting for the future of the state.

And we've actually added some money for new routes in Louisville and Cincinnati.

We've added tens of millions to Lexington Airport to develop some new areas of runway space and new places to hold airplanes.

And so there's additional 4 million for the Aviation Museum.

The aviation space is massive for our economy.

We are a distributed distributive state.

So we do a lot of moving of product, if you will.

We do a lot of moving of people too.

So having more routes, more access throughout the state is really critical.

I think it's important for young women to get a vision of what they could be in the future, and to see the history of where women have come and what they're doing today, I think, is the vision of saying they can do it too, and they can do more than what we've done.

And so having something they can see in person and relate to those stories, I think is really exciting for them and hopefully will inspire a lot of young women to get into Stem industry and aviation in particular.

>> I try to go around and meet the different ones, different camps, and we, the 99, Amelia's group, we sponsor little girls to take the aviation camp.

And I get to instill some of my love into them.

>> So that's wonderful.

Alongside outstanding female pilots, female engineers, educators and air traffic managers are also featured in the exhibit.

The Aviation Museum of Kentucky is located next to the Lexington Blue Grass Airport.

[MUSIC] Memorial day weekend is the unofficial kickoff for summer.

We're all looking forward to a three day weekend, but unfortunately, scams are also a hot topic during this time of year.

Tonight, we continue our conversation with Heather Clary and the Better Business Bureau of Greater Kentucky Region to talk about how you can protect your money and personal information.

>> You may have received text messages from scammers posing as businesses or government agencies that don't typically communicate with you that way, Clary says.

To think twice before clicking any links in Phishy texts or emails.

>> If you're not sure if something is a scam and a link is included in the text or the email, rather than click on that link, log in to the site independently yourself, and then go in and see if you have any kind of a notification or anything, because that way you don't open your device to being infiltrated by a virus or whatever the scam artist wants you to do, or the information they might want to steal from you.

If you follow the fake link that looks oh so real.

>> Scams centered on cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin have also been on the rise in recent years.

>> Investment scams have been very big in the Scam Tracker Risk report for the past couple of years, linked to cyber coins, bitcoins, you know, all that kind of thing.

And a lot of people aren't really familiar with how all of that works.

Cryptocurrency.

And, you know, it still seems very mysterious to some people.

It's out there and the con artists will love to have you just follow their directions and do what they say.

And, oh, you can't lose.

And that's another big sign of a scam, especially when it comes to investment scams, guaranteeing you excellent return.

Those kinds of things.

Nobody legitimate is going to do that.

>> There are steps you can take to help yourself, your community and the Better Business Bureau fight these scams.

>> One way the public can help not only the B, B, B and other authorities who look to our website, but their fellow consumers and businesses, is to use our b b, b scam tracker site.

That is where the public can report whatever scam someone either attempted to pull.

Or maybe you did fall for it.

Describe the scam, what category it falls into.

We're not going to share your personal information with the world, but we will collect it for our demographic purposes.

However, it's going to ask you what happened.

Did you lose money or not?

It's fascinating reading.

I mean, if you log on there, you can even just pick a category.

You want to look up and see what people have reported.

It can be very telling and it'll show you even what state.

If you want to look at what state, something might have happened in excellent way to keep track of what the newest scams are out there.

And quite frankly, sometimes you're going to see the same ones pop up over and over again.

And if these are the same kinds of scams that keep rolling around, it means they're working.

Or else the con artists wouldn't keep trying to pull them.

So it's good to educate yourself in that manner.

And we invite you to report them as well so that we can help warn other people.

>> Stay alert this summer.

And remember, if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

Think twice before clicking on links in your inbox and only share your financial information with trusted, Verified professionals for Kentucky Edition.

I'm Clayton Dalton.

>> Lastly, as we head into the Memorial Day three day weekend, there are plenty of ways to honor those who served our Toby Gibbs shows us what's happening all around the Commonwealth.

[MUSIC] >> The City of Litchfield is honoring those who made the ultimate sacrifice with its annual Memorial Day procession and ceremony.

On Saturday, there will be a special remembrance for Grayson County service members.

Following the event, there will be a ceremony at the center on main that will include speakers, music and a community lunch.

Liberty is turning up the volume for Memorial Day weekend with the fifth annual Live in Liberty Music Festival.

There will be five bands performing throughout the day in downtown liberty.

The event also marks America's 250th anniversary celebration and includes food vendors and community activities.

They're springing forward with one eye already on summer at Oak Grove's Spring Into Summer festival in its 19th year.

This year's festival is a salute to Fort Campbell and a nod to America's 250th anniversary.

[MUSIC] The two day event includes concerts, rides, a drone show, parachute demonstrations, a petting zoo and other family activities.

[MUSIC] Corbin's getting ready for nights with a little extra glow, with the return of Moonbow nights kicking off next Thursday.

The series will feature live music, food trucks, local vendors and community activities, all in honor of the famous Moonbow phenomenon, a rare lunar rainbow found at nearby Cumberland Falls State Resort Park.

They're turning up the engines and the amps in Paducah as the city hosts cars and guitars.

Stroll through downtown Paducah and view unique vehicles while listening to live musical performances.

Food, along with other activities, are also part of the family friendly event.

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

I'm Toby Gibbs.

>> Well, we hope you have a great holiday weekend.

You might have to dodge some raindrops out there, but then we hope you'll join us again Monday night at 630 eastern, 530 central on Kentucky edition, where we inform, connect and inspire.

We hope that you'll subscribe to our Kentucky Edition email newsletter and watch full episodes and clips@wkyt.org.

You can also find Kentucky Edition on the PBS video app that you can download on your mobile device and smart TV.

And we encourage you to send us a story idea or just a shout out by email to Public Affairs at KET dot ORG.

And of course, we're on the social media channels.

Facebook X, formerly known as Twitter and Instagram, where you can stay in the loop of all the great things that are happening here at KET in the community and on air.

I'm Renee Shaw, thank you for being with us this week during this big primary election.

We hope you enjoyed that coverage on Tuesday.

Have a great weekend to come and we will see you right back here Monday night.

Take good care.