>> we would basically force them into co-operative cops and teachers.

>> Priority piece of legislation is a step closer to final passage.

>> The child care Cliff before Kentucky this year.

It is totally preventable.

>> Kentucky mothers come out in support of expanded child care services.

>> It was a little surreal.

>> Find out how voices of hope plans to use its 2 million Dollar Award to KET supporting those in recovery.

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

♪ ♪ ♪ >> Good evening and welcome to Kentucky EDITION from Monday March, the 25th, I'm Renee Shaw at KET to Deo's in the Capitol Annex in Frankfort on day.

55 of the 60 Day 2024.

Kentucky General Assembly, thank you so much for joining us tonight.

A premier piece of legislation is one step closer to final passage.

Senate Bill one would create a pool of money for research at Kentucky's public universities to access the money universities would have to partner up and use the money in joint research ventures.

The sponsors.

Senate President Robert Stivers says the bill would foster cooperation and hopefully lead to cutting edge research.

His comments.

Big end.

Tonight's legislative update.

>> That they were working with the University of Louisville, the Stem cell research group to put various experiments up through more heads, aerospace on space station to see what weightless environment has to do with.

Tissue regeneration.

The impacts on Alzheimer's of all tops different scenarios.

But since this many groups have come to me.

So while this is an opportunity for us to do cutting edge research that you may see Eastern with their aviation program, Morehead with their aerospace and maybe the university, Kentucky with their engineer.

Do something in the way of 3 years.

5 years of study that they would use the proceeds off these various tranches of trust money it is something that would behoove the whole state commonwealth.

Each university instead of being competitors as they should be on the athletic field.

They would be collaborators and we wouldn't hear be sitting here a year trying to figure out who gets what we would basically force them into cooperatives Tops Avengers.

>> Senate Bill one passed out of committee unanimously with only 4 days left in the legislative session.

Its next stop is a full vote on the House floor.

2 members of the Kentucky General Assembly, new ones that is were sworn in today.

Both are replacing representatives that resigned in January.

Republican Courtney Gilbert will represent Green Heart LaRue counties.

She was sworn into Kentucky's House of Representatives today by her sister state Senator Adrienne Southworth, Republican Payton Griffey well represent parts of bullet and Hardin counties.

Gilbert and Griffey, special election held last week.

The U.S. Department of Energy has agreed to invest nearly a billion dollars in Kentucky today.

Governor Andy Beshear announced the money is intended for 5 companies that won approval by the federal funds.

That includes century aluminum company, which plans to build a green aluminum smelter at a to be determined site and northeast Kentucky.

The smelter could bring in 6500 jobs, including 1000 permanent ones.

While the company isn't ready to break ground this year said today's announcement could be the largest investment ever in eastern Kentucky.

>> And I want to make sure we say they're still a lot of steps that we need to take to make this a reality.

But this is the first important step that have to be a final choice on location.

You have to get the the energy prices right will need an incentive package.

But the first 500 million dollars towards the construction of this type of facility is something worth celebrating >> another project approved for federal funding is Vila and North America.

Recycling, which plans on expanding its scrap metal processing business in Shelbyville.

Also Ashlynn based ISP chemicals plans to invest 70 million dollars into a new project that it's Calvert City, Chemical Plant.

Governor Andy Beshear is hoping he said he's hoping state incentives package will help close the deal on many of these projects.

And he predicted lawmakers will deliver adding he's optimistic with how budget negotiations have been going.

I want to thank the House leadership for the originally sitting down with us and making some pretty significant changes to their budget for sending it to the Senate.

And then the Senate has sat down with us numerous called with any ways that we can help.

And while I very much want to see a teacher raises in any final budget in the heart and a good final budget with out them.

I do appreciate the level of communication we've especially from Senate leadership.

>> We expect action on the state budget this week as negotiators work to reconcile differences between the House and Senate plans.

And we'll talk about that tonight on Kentucky tonight, we're joined by members of the Kentucky General Assembly who are part of those budget negotiations.

That's tonight at 8 Eastern 7 central right here on KET is Kentucky tonight.

Parents and guardians from across the Commonwealth voiced their support for expanded childcare services during a Web conference last week.

It follows the release of 1300 person survey from the left-leaning Kentucky Center for Economic Policy that highlights a variety of challenges keeping Kentuckians from having access to affordable child care.

>> We the parents, we're all acutely aware that Kentucky is not only that care does or that the child care that we do find it is expensive and often and sustainable for us.

I was on more than a dozen waiting lists at one point a several before my babies were born in 2022 and the first real phone call.

I got I will win.

The babies are about 10 months old for a single slot not to.

I was going to drive up to an hour way to make it work.

And I'm still on at least 7 waiting list right now.

And I can personally say that without a shadow of a doubt in all of my past professional roles, I would have left the workforce by now this burden of childcare costs leading to significant changes for many families as well.

>> 45% reported that they had to change jobs flexibility related to child care.

39% said they had to alter their work hours.

>> 22% waited longer to have additional children than they would have otherwise.

>> And 20% delayed having children altogether.

Full 12% actually left the workforce at some point in order to stay home and care for their children.

>> I'm a mom of 3 kids and under are 3 kids 6 and under in Clark County, Kentucky.

It's not just important for families like mine are right now that are on the scene cat program because I am also.

Literally right at the very edge of facing the benefits.

Cliff.

I would opportunities to further my career and to pursue those opportunities with the reality is that a very small increase?

>> In my case would sent me into paying the full price of child care out of pocket.

Realistically, I at that point I would have to decide between turning down a raise or not being able to afford care.

>> My family and I are expecting twins in May.

And to be completely Frank did not realize how difficult the childcare system in Kentucky was until it became our opportunity to start looking for child care and quickly realized as that.

>> Of the handful that are available to us and mature in Pike County where we live.

One will only take them when they're 3 years old, which leaves the question of what do you do until they're 30?

>> And then the other is not have an availability until expected in April of 2025.

And my twins are do it may.

I am a grandmother who had custody of Hurts grandson.

I got custody when he was 3 years old.

I was working a full-time plus jobs.

Salary job if it hadn't been for the availability of head, start.

I truly don't know, but accident I lift so far out in the county and didn't know anybody around me.

I was 50 years old and I paid for my health care and a page from our retirement and now head to pay for raising a child again.

>> And that that only afford the D 2 of those selected putting into my retirement to raise another child.

It's 50 the childcare Cliff.

>> Before Kentucky this year, it is totally preventable.

It's a policy choice whether or not to invest in upstream interventions to support the whole h*** of a person.

>> Our children, the hard-working families who love them, the local economies to foster, then we all deserve more well, you know.

>> Numerous bills have been proposed to address the gaps and childcare.

This legislative session among them are Senate Bill 203, also known as the Horizons Act.

The bill would contribute 150 million dollars annually to the industry alongside the creation of grant stipends and employee retention problems for the industry.

The bill is currently awaiting a hearing in the Senate appropriations and Revenue Committee.

In other news, Kentucky's attorney general says a recent ruling by a Louisville judge puts the community's safety at risk.

Earlier this month, the Jefferson Circuit Court ruled convicted felons have a Second Amendment right to own guns in her ruling.

Judge Melissa Logan Bellows said it was unconstitutional for the state to prosecute to Corey Frazier who was convicted of felony drug trafficking.

Attorney General Russel Coleman and the Jefferson County Commonwealth's attorney are now appealing the decision in a statement to Coleman said, quote, We are appealing this order because it defies good, common sense and would give even the most violent felon abroad right to possess deadly weapons, end quote, the Attorney general's appeal will be heard by the Kentucky Court of Appeals.

Governor Andy Beshear's political Action Committee announced its first round of endorsements today Bashir launched the federal PAC called in this together back in January with a focus on helping more Democrats get elected and swing states and Republican stronghold.

The first candidates to receive support from the pack include federal statewide and Kentucky offices.

They are U.S..

Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio, U.S.

Senator Jacky Rosen of Nevada, U.S.

Senator Jon Tester of Montana, Josh Stein, North Carolina's attorney general and gubernatorial candidate and Judge Pamela Goodwine who is a candidate for the Kentucky Supreme Court.

According to the PAC, more endorsements are expected and the coming months.

♪ Almost 11 million Americans are providing care to a loved one with Alzheimer's disease.

That's according to a new report by the Alzheimer's Association who surveyed caregivers to find out the difficulties they faced.

What topped the list of stressors getting their loved one, the care they needed for caregivers in Kentucky.

It is an even greater hardship.

We explain why and our first segment and what our new initiative next chapter.

It's okay.

UT initiative focused on the issues facing Kentucky's aging population.

>> We hear a lot of people say once you've met one person with Alzheimer's, you've met one person with Alzheimer's.

It is an incredibly complex disease.

>> And it's one is putting more Kentuckians in a difficult and stressful role.

According to the Alzheimer's Association, close to 160,000, people are providing millions of hours in unpaid care to the more than 80,000 Kentuckians living with Alzheimer's disease.

Many of those caregivers are experiencing their own health issues more than 65% caregivers to Kentucky report having a chronic health condition and almost 40% say they are dealing with depression.

21% say they are important physical health.

It's just >> wearing that every day is like Groundhog Day that they are taking care of their loved one in home in their home and their socially isolated.

But I do think a lot of people don't talk about the physical stress that it takes.

You might be cooking all of the time in cleaning all the time and helping with bathing and showering.

You might be helping them get dressed and picking them up.

And there's a lot of physical work that goes with that as well being a caregiver.

If you're thinking about how much it's taking, how much it cost for you to stay home and KET your loved ones safe in the home.

But also if you are working, you might have to leave the workforce.

Leave work early, going late so that there's a financial costs with that as well.

One more gap that I see frequently has people wait too long to put their loved one and a high level of care because they they feel like they are abandoning their loved one.

Taking them to a nursing home or assisted living place and they will be with them.

>> And a national survey of caregivers by the Alzheimer's Association, more than half said coordinating care and navigating the healthcare system to get their loved one diagnosed.

And in Crete, Munn was the most stressful part caregiving.

>> So a lot of caregivers, even if they don't have the skills are learning all about the health care system by the fall that they're making extra phone calls and traveling all over the state to get to the right doctor.

So they're finding a primary care physician that will listen to them.

They're saying, oh, no, you're just getting all.

That's a normal sign of aging.

You don't need a cognitive test yet.

And so then you might wait a whole nother year to go back in for annual visit and say to your primary care physician, I really think I'm having a cognitive issue.

And if it takes a whole nother year by the time you get down the road to Nala just additional testing, etcetera, it could be too late for some of these early treatments.

The Alzheimer's Association report also says Kentucky is one of 20 states with a severe shortage of dementia and Alzheimer's care specialist.

>> Making it more difficult to get a diagnosis.

It is a crisis here.

And one of the biggest reasons that we're seeing such an impact of Alzheimer's and dementia in Kentucky is because we're a gerontology desert.

It's called.

And so there are not enough medical professionals that are trained in serving the aging population.

We were really hoping for national and federal legislation that would help.

I find that so that our caregivers could be either pay themselves or have additional support come in to help them because the unpaid caregivers not only affects them, but it affects the person that they're living with because if that person is living with the disease is living with a very stressed out, isolated anxious caregiver.

They're not going to have the high quality of care that they need to live a quality life.

>> The Kentucky chapter of the Alzheimer's Association provides free resources and support to caregivers and those living with Alzheimer's.

It's where Barbara Stats and her husband ow turn for support after his Alzheimer's diagnosis in 20 0, 8, Barber says her role as a caregiver during her husband's a 9 year battle.

It's challenging and heartbreaking, but that they both made the most with the time they had left.

>> I kept telling him for 2 years it was something wrong.

And he kept telling me, no, there wasn't.

And then he began to forget.

So finally, we were at a family reunion and my son said, you know, Dad told me that story 3 times already.

Well, it took our son to get him to pay attention.

I think that there's 2 reasons that people don't talk about or don't acknowledge it.

One the Nile.

There's a lot of the Nile that goes on and the second one is they to flee.

Don't see it.

I don't think they, you know, to the extent that other people do many times, you're not going to get that person Alzheimer's and other dementia.

To realize it or to accept it or acknowledge it.

So you, you know, you might have to be the one that just does the little pushing.

We went to our regular doctor, family doctor, and he didn't he just to put it.

He didn't think there was anything wrong.

And but I did ask for a referral and we went Rolla just and she did some testing.

And then she did the pet scan of his brain and show that he had Alzheimer's.

We cried for, but 3 days.

And then once we got over the initial shock, we both wanted to do everything we could to inform people educate people about this disease.

El even had a sweatshirt or T-shirt made up.

That said, I have Alzheimer's questions.

Ask me.

And he was very outspoken about talking about the disease.

But it did obviously change our lives immensely.

I enrolled.

All in a trial study at Sanders Brown in Lexington and we went every month and that examined if you're not in the trial study, regular neurologist, maybe we'll see once a year you might get an MRI maybe once every 3 years.

So I felt he was getting really excellent care.

we were kept up to date on what was going on with him.

The hardest part for him was the first stage, the initial miles stage because he KET that he didn't know and he KET he was going continue to progress and new eventually that would be a death sentence.

For me.

It was the second sticks age or the middle stage that was hardest because that's when he really big and not be able to do things.

I tried way too hard to do everything by myself.

And we've got to a point where it was just so stressful to me.

I was a sleep deprived.

I wasn't able to relax.

I wasn't able to do things with my friends and I ended up having a stroke.

I made a full recover from its recovery from that stroke.

But I KET that I had to make some changes but placed him in a facility.

My first reaction is, of course, nobody can care like I can.

And the mayor to 40 years, you know, they can't care for him like I can.

But after a place I found out, they could he was safer with them.

They were able to give an activities all day long, which I wasn't able to do.

I realized that it was a good the move, but even in a facility is still a caregiver.

You know, you go every day and you still have to make sure that they're doing everything.

That's the best for him.

The grief process is interesting.

If you have somebody that passes away, you have a grief process or to a point in time that you're grieving with Alzheimer's or other dementia, you grieve every time there's a progression.

Every 10, they can't do something.

You grieve.

So that really by the time they pass away many times.

It's just another great in my case.

It was actually a bit of a relief.

Just because stress was over.

He wasn't suffering anymore as devastating as Alzheimer's dementia is.

There is that can be life after that.

I've got wonderful memories.

You know, even right up until the day l past when he was in his bed, I would put on classical music iPhone and I could just see him relax it just brings it makes my heart.

So it's off because I can see him relaxing in responding to that.

yeah, I've got great memories with him.

You've got to hold on to memories.

>> Barbara story is one of many that we're sharing as part of KU T's next chapter initiative which focuses on aging issues and offers a curated collection of programs and resources related to the challenges and rewards of navigating one's golden years.

>> You can find out more online and on demand at KET DOT Org.

Slash next chapter.

♪ ♪ >> Last week, Mackenzie Scott to be billionaire ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos announced she's giving away 640 million dollars to more than 350 organizations across the country.

Only one group in Kentucky was chosen voices of Hope whose mission it is to increase access to recovery programs and decrease overdose deaths in Kentucky.

>> We help people in recovery stay in recovery from a variety of substance use disorders.

We have our recovery community center in Lexington, on North Broadway, where people can walk in and receive direct services recovery.

Coaching goal setting.

We have recovery coaches that are highly trained placed it over 20 different counties throughout the state.

So that could be like county jails, syringe service programs, hospital settings, opioid treatment programs.

Everyone who works here is in recovery themselves.

So it could even hold a special place because we've been there and been there.

What are participants have 2 voices applied for a an award?

Actually, it's not even a grandson With the yield giving open.

Call.

So as a national call for submissions and we were among the top scoring organizations of 6300 So we applied for a a 1 million dollar reward.

We're actually awarded 2 million dollars because ours are of submissions It was a little A few of our grant writing team that worked on the submission.

We pretty like emotional and excited.

So many possibilities.

You know that you can accomplish with the with the free 2 million dollars dollars that can support organization.

We we we really believe in the work we're doing.

It's really going to bring up bring up the moral of the recovery coaches that work They know that the organization has the means to support them even further.

It may even be able to let us expand services.

So we're more visible in the community.

We really take pride in like having highly trained staff.

They provide the best recovery services in Kentucky.

So we don't think it gets better, but it, but they might get better with, you know, having more available funding.

1, 1, major goal that we've identified that we really want to accomplish is to expand our fundraising programs.

So obviously being a nonprofit and being, you know, locally ran, we need more funding to be able to to maximize our delivery of services.

So the better fund raising efforts we have and we can bolster that with this award.

The better I'm just really grateful to, you know, lever for change.

And Mackenzie Scott for the opportunity.

We really think this is going to strengthen organization even more than it already is.

So just just really appreciative.

>> Congrats to them.

Voices of hope started in 2014 distributing Narcan and providing overdose response training.

It will be celebrating its 10th anniversary later this year.

♪ ♪ >> 2 weeks from today, total solar eclipse will be visible from the United States.

>> Western Kentucky is in the path of totality.

The city of Paducah is preparing to welcome thousands of people who want to see the eclipse in person.

What do you got?

Lied for and received a grant from the Simons Foundation which encourages research in math and science.

The city will use the funds to host a street festival of the downtown district called X Marks the spot on April, the 7th in 8, the total solar eclipse will be visible around 2 o'clock central time on Monday.

April, the 8th we'll bring you complete coverage of the events and festivities in Paducah right here on KET next Monday night.

Thomas Edison, Charles Lindbergh and Duncan Hines are among the interesting people with Kentucky connections.

>> Our to be gives has more.

And this look at this week in Kentucky history.

♪ >> America's best known inventor Thomas Edison lived in Kentucky for a time.

The 19 year-old Addison moved to Louisville on March, 25th 18, 66.

He was a telegraph operator for The Associated Press that was fired.

First going sulfuric acid on his boss's desk and returned to New Jersey.

And appropriate.

Happy birthday to Patty Smith Hill.

Born in Anchorage in Jefferson County on March 27th 18.

68 Addie and her sister Mildred wrote a song called Good Morning to all that would eventually morph into the song.

Happy Birthday to you.

Duncan Hines was Born March.

26 18, 80 in Bowling.

Green eyes became a food critic and newspaper columnist who lent his name to a line of popular food products.

Most notably cake mixes.

One last birthday, legendary racehorse man, a war on March.

29 1917, at nursery stat near Lexington.

Aviator Charles Lindbergh landed in Lexington on March 28th 1928.

10 months after his fame solo flight across the Atlantic, 3,000 people gathered to watch him take off the next day.

WHA Stv unlovable signed on the air on March 27th 1950.

The Kentucky Wildcats won their second NCAA Tournament title on March.

26 1949.

Their 3rd on March 27th 1951. and their 5th on March 27th of 1978.

And that's a look back at this week in Kentucky history.

I'm told he gives.

>> Thank you so much.

Dough begins and that'll do it for us tonight.

We hope to see you right back here tomorrow night for Kentucky.

Addition in the meantime, to the 10's of channel to Kentucky tonight at 8 Eastern 7 Central.

We're talk about the state budget will see you then.

Good night.

♪