♪ >> Students on Kentucky College campuses rally for Dei.

>> We are having the worst influenza season.

The United States and 15 or 16 years, at least.

>> But why the state's top doctor says one reason is because of what many Kentuckians art doing.

>> Some of the businesses lost as much as a 3rd of their business.

>> And cities in northern Kentucky are looking to build back business after the reopening of a state adjoining bridge.

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

♪ ♪ Good Evening and welcome to Kentucky EDITION on this Monday.

March 3rd, I'm Renee Shaw and we thank you so much for spending some of your Monday night with us.

>> Some Republican state lawmakers have proposed a state office of government efficiency.

Now that might sound like Kentucky is taken G and E from.

Elon Musk is dozed.

>> But Kentucky senator say that's not the case.

Our dew Leffler is tracking that bill, but advance by a legislative panel today.

More as we began tonight's Legislative update.

>> A Republican state senator says since her party took majorities in the state legislature, Kentucky has been able to cut taxes, make investments and KET state government going since 2016.

The General Assembly has implemented fiscally conservative principles and policies that have led to the largest surplus in state history.

Senate bill 257, would continue that work by taking a closer look under the hood of state agencies.

Senate bill to 57 is really an effort to ensure accountability and transparency of the use of taxpayer dollars.

It will create the Office of government efficiency within the office of the auditor of public accounts and the Office of Government Efficiency shall conduct performance audits and fiscal operational reviews of state agencies.

It will develop and recommend practices for streamlining government operations and it will monitor the implementation of efficiency related recommendations and report its findings annually to the governor and the Legislative Research Commission.

The federal government is slashing spending and programs in an unprecedented manner.

But Kentucky would take a different approach.

Kentucky's lawmakers will be voting on the efficiency proposal which would be carried out by an elected state auditor and the budget cuts would still be left to the Legislature.

This is not a new power, but what this will do is it will will.

>> Allow for the ability to be able to do this work that that we believe will increase our ability to root out waste, fraud and abuse so they can support understand that it's not new, but it will make sure this is an ongoing continual part of the office.

>> State Auditor Allison Ball says this work will take more manpower.

Senate bill 257, earmarks, 4.8 million dollars unrestricted funds coming from state agency revenues.

>> We're always limited by the amount of resources we have.

That's true.

I know for for many offices, but it's definitely very true for us.

There are many projects we want to take on many things we we hear about.

We think our problems.

It's just a matter of us.

Do we have the staff or >> the Senate state and local government committee advanced the bill without opposition.

>> I'm casting my vote to KET this moving.

It's it's a good concept and something we explore.

But we need to understand the totality of what we're setting up before.

This thing continues on that path so that we can really make sure that we get it right.

This one of those situations where if we get it right, will do wonderful things that we get it wrong will embarrass ourselves and we have to be right.

So thank you very much.

>> The committee also advanced Senate Bill 9 to limit how many sick days the state will pay out to retiring teachers.

That cap would be 12 sick days of crude per year of service.

School districts would be on the hook to pay out the rest of their employees.

Sick leave the statewide in Jefferson County teachers.

Unions are neutral on this bill, but we'll KET tabs as it moves through the session.

Senate Bill 9 now heads to the full Senate for Kentucky edition.

I'm John Leffler.

Thank you.

June Kentucky's auditor is busy.

Her office is currently auditing among other things.

Kentucky's Department of Education and Jefferson County Public Schools.

>> And the Federal Dozier has set its sights on 19 Kentucky federal offices for possible cuts.

According to reporting from Wave 3 news in Louisville.

The response has been quick.

Buck the road to recovery will be long.

That's what state lawmakers heard from emergency and transportation officials today during a discussion on last month's deadly flood disaster.

They told lawmakers the heaviest lift financially will be cleaning up the flood debris.

>> This is very much an ongoing disaster.

And you'll see that, you know, takes time to get out to every one of the communities and measure every one of the homes and and businesses and bridges and roads that have been been damaged.

>> We all know that there were not in the business of comparing disasters.

It's worth noting that.

In 2022.

We inspected more than 1000.

Bridges.

155 were us were damaged.

And that rough value and a cost of about 55 million dollars.

Over 1000 roadway damages occurred across 9 counties.

This time.

Of course, we've had impacts and 39 counties at this time.

We're opening up.

The number of disaster recovery centers.

We have teams going door to door through those impacted counties that are listed there.

>> And you can see the kind of the force lay down those those dots.

All county indicate different things that are going on to get the assistance into the individuals that live in those counties.

I think we've had a tremendous impact.

7 days less than 7 days ago.

We set the you know, President Trump signed this declaration into law for us to start activating the individual assistance.

And this morning's update at 11 o'clock.

We had dispersed 5.5 million dollars to individuals in eastern Kentucky.

So I think over the quick response that we established from the time the declaration was signed until we actually were able to get people registered for assistance was just a little over 2 and a half hours.

We had a disaster.

Survivor teams going into the shelters, getting people's information.

So we were very, very quickly to be on the front side leaning forward unprepared.

We have seeing a tremendous support from FEMA during this event during the night that the rain began.

FEMA head.

Had their federal coordinating officer drive in from North Carolina and be here in the state with us by the early hours of Sunday morning up, not seeing any break-in function of the work that we're doing.

FEMA has several 100 employees in the state going out the letter, the declaration declared that that assistance would become available.

And and at this point, I would have no alarm to the fact that it that I don't believe that they'll that those promises will be kept.

And you have to let me add, we've monitored daily now.

>> What federal reimbursement drawdowns the Commonwealth is done that aren't that are not happening.

I think we have a few issues that are important to know and that's the debris and the number of damages that we've seen to public infrastructure with county roads and bridges begin.

>> A severely impacted.

The debris mission is many of your all's judges and mayors radar for sure.

They are all seeing this debris.

Is it starting to come from the homes of mucking out their damaged property starting to pile up along the street and up visited Eastern Kentucky twice since the Savannah.

And it's it's growing every single time we go over there.

And and that estimate we have a team of Corps of Engineers and staff from Kentucky emergency management out doing debris estimates every day and we're trying to to understand just how much debris there is and how big of a mission it's going to be to actually get it all cleaned up and into the proper landfield be a hazard.

It waste or vegetative debris or whatever it may be.

We've allocated the just prior to and during the be the beginning of this this disaster.

21.5 million of that 50 million leaving a little 28.5 million for of the cap available.

We're still as a director and secretary saying we're still assessing the damage, but we feel pretty certain just because of the debris removal exercise itself that we're going to hit that 50 million captain.

So one of the things we ask the General Assembly to consider is to us, in essence, to provide for a more funding than the 50 million so that we can continuously respond to this disaster as we move down the line.

And as director said, the debris removal is going to be a bigger.

The biggest number and it when it was when we did eastern Kentucky flood, for example, in the East, Kentucky flood disaster in 22, we spent 338 million dollars of state general fund dollars on that one.

Now, that was a much larger, more more damaging disaster.

But give you a sense of and that was a record.

Now we recognize that come July one, another 50 million kicks in in in terms of the budget bill.

But we feel pretty good that before we get there, we're you know, we're going to hit that cap.

And so so we ask your indulgence in terms of lifting the cap or appropriating more funds.

Emergency officials also told lawmakers at the height of the disaster there were 355 road closures.

>> Now 49 remain closed.

State lawmakers are working to plan for future will future natural disasters in the Commonwealth.

Today, a Senate committee passed a resolution establishing the disaster prevention and resiliency Task Force Senate concurrent resolution.

67 is sponsored by state Senator Robin Webb, a Democrat.

The resolution acknowledges that Kentucky has experienced more frequent and more destructive natural disasters, quote, as a result of shifting weather patterns.

Senator Webb explained the goal of the task force while speaking to the Senate Committee on Veterans, Military Affairs and public Protection this morning.

>> This is kind of novel approach.

A couple other states are trying medicine and their concerns and issues a little different than ours.

Kentucky's weather patterns have been precedent from a historical standpoint from the west of the east.

Recently we had the all 120 counties under a flash flood warning and that was president.

This task force will bring individuals together to identify real sc's.

Resilience factors how the state can best prepare.

and then mitigation and remediation and and hopefully those other issues such as you know, insurance we withering insurance market for individuals, homes and property and the federal response.

Federal, state, local interaction, agencies and technologies that municipalities and states can use to lessen the impact of these weather events along with response and communication notifications.

We've got to address these historical floods and when the different patterns it's affecting us on standpoint for agriculture.

And business in every aspect of our lives is public safety.

>> The resolution unanimously passed out of committee.

Should it pass both the Senate and House the disaster prevention and resiliency Task force would begin meeting over the interim report.

A report would also be due by December.

Students gathered at public universities across Kentucky on Friday to rally in favor of dei or diversity, equity and inclusion on their campuses.

The rallies were organized by Kentucky Students for dei groups gathered to protest House Bill 4 which seeks to eliminate dei programs, policies and offices at all of Kentucky's public universities.

>> Well, I'm a disabled veteran.

So dei directly impacts initiatives that cater to me.

A lot of people have this misconception that it's just generated to help get 3 people are people of color and unfair advantage.

But that's simply not the case.

The AI includes a wide variety of people.

It does include people of color.

It does include where people it includes disabled people and includes veterans.

It includes low income individuals.

It includes rule communities.

It includes people like all of us.

And I'm just really tired of the misinformation kind of taking the forefront for this.

Nothing non issue to be blown out of proportion.

>> An EKG, we have a giant first generation college student community and we have so many scholarships for people who may not have been able to come to college otherwise and Rd E D I in college courses is imperative simply because we need to.

We'll learn those things to use them in the professional world.

We graduate.

>> Black women only make up 2% of lawyers and America and in a black woman and wanted to be a lawyer.

I think it's very important that I show up today to get a better understanding of what's at risk whenever it comes to my future career.

I want to be a lawyer.

Yes, but it is scary to try to go to the job market, be a black man, whatever this is it and remove that as well, especially in the legal profession.

>> We are not.

>> I think the terminology in hospital for is very dangerous because it opened it up to a lot of censorship of it.

There's not specifics on what you can't say.

You can't say anything at all.

And that's the most alarming part about it.

>> As somebody who has lost a parent in my life who has a single mother who has been trying to support me all my life and has a first generation college student.

I'm the youngest of my siblings.

Been the face too, go through with going to college and who is willing to complete my education.

My higher education here and had it not been for so many of the initiatives that dei brought to the University of Louisville into little in general.

I would not be standing here today.

>> We have a black male initiative on campus and that is that is supposed to help black boys who have like a who specifically have a very low graduation rate in college.

That's to help them build community but have mentor ships and graduate from college with success and without initiatives like the Black Male initiative at University of Louisville, people will graduate less graduation rates will fall for like black students.

>> I am a psychology major, so I'm doing my best to work with LGBTQ people because I am LGBTQ ion trans.

So this means a lot to me and the fact that we're losing these initiatives is so detrimental to everyone all any down.

What has been for the past.

>> Because unfortunately, our ministers will be forced to have to follow these hateful policies which ultimately gets rid of all my communities here on campus.

As far as my diversity scholarships and pretty much all the curriculum now that are open to all students to learn if you are lawmakers, you know, the history of this country and minorities and the LGBTQ community have never any marginalized group has never had a light up in this country.

I feel like why are you trying to move backwards?

Only made all this progression so far.

>> House Bill 4 is waiting to be heard by a House committee.

There are 9 days left in the 2025.

Kentucky General Assembly, regular session.

♪ ♪ >> Flu cases are up and the number of people getting flu vaccines is down.

Last week we spoke to Doctor Steven Stack, Kentucky's commissioner for public health about the flu.

More in tonight's look at medical news >> we are having the worst influenza season.

The United States and 15 or 16 years, at least.

So this means are far more people with influenza United States that we've had in a very long time.

With that comes more people end up in the hospital with that comes more deaths.

A lot of these things are hard to speculate exactly what has caused this year to be worse than another year, sometimes because the flu mutates frequently.

So this year, the strains that are in circulation for whatever reason are either more easily transmitted.

>> Or more.

>> Able to cause harm because there's been an increase in the number of individuals who have had serious brain related injury related to this particular influenza.

In addition to the fact that this particular year just may be able to spread better.

We also have a very, very low uptake for the flu vaccine this year.

Now, let's be clear, though, the influenza vaccine effectiveness does vary from year to year.

That's long been known.

It is unclear if you will always benefit is fully issue would like from the influenza vaccine.

But what is absolutely not unclear what is absolutely proven over time is when we immunize hit scale across the large population, we profoundly decrease the number of people who get serious illness or end up in the hospital were who die from the disease.

So winter immunization rates are very low.

We end up having more people in the hospital and more people who died.

That is proven.

So even though the vaccine varies in its overall effectiveness from one year to the next its overall effectiveness is really.

Positive.

An impact over the whole population.

And you never know whether you're going to be that patient who luckily benefited or luckily did not.

Unfortunately, Kentucky, we've already announced at least 2 pediatric deaths, 2 children who have died from influenza.

And so it's just it's a real sadness to me.

That misinformation and confusion.

His cause people to make decisions that they believe is in the best interest of their child.

But which medical science has clearly shown.

It's not.

>> During our interview, Doctor Stock also urged people to get a measles vaccine if they need one.

There's been one confirmed measles case in Kentucky involving an adult and Franklin County.

You can see doctor stocks, Dr Stacks thoughts on the measles by watching Friday's Kentucky.

Addition online on demand at K E T Dot Org.

Slash Kentucky edition.

♪ ♪ In northern Kentucky.

Cities along the river are taking part in an initiative to quote, bridge back business.

This comes after the reopening of the Daniel Carter Baird Bridge, which connects Cincinnati and northern Kentucky.

The fire started underneath the bridge back in November and closed the southbound interstate for 100 days.

Kentucky Edition spoke with leaders in the region about their plan to rebuild business.

More about this in tonight's Business Peaks.

>> I'm for 71 is basically a commuter interstate route that connects I-71 in Cincinnati, Ohio, to I-275 in northern Kentucky.

So it fairly short commuter interstate, but it's a significant commuter state interstate route because, again, it serves the communities of downtown Cincinnati through Newport, Bellevue, already Alexander in Kentuckyian it carries about 100,000 member asked every day.

So it has significant amount of trash.

>> And we're like 2 minutes from downtown Cincinnati because it's less than 2 miles to the stadiums and everywhere down there.

And they all come over here for lunch and they are came over here for like, happy hours and different things like that.

And so once the bridge was gone and said it had taken 2 minutes to get about you from downtown.

Now it's taken.

25 to 55 minutes.

>> We got a lot of extra heavy traffic that would have normally come across for 71 or would have gone through Newport and as a result, you had a lot of frustrated drivers that they were not thinking about patronizing the restaurants and bars here, even though they were driving by them very slowly.

Some of the businesses lost as much as a 3rd of their business unit during that three-month period or so.

Well, the bridge was closed.

>> Especially during the holiday season.

We always look for a tear those visitors that are coming in outside of our scope.

And we could we definitely noticed, especially like after Black Friday into December there, there was definitely a decline in traffic from visitors.

>> We were expecting the bridge to take 100 to do.

And so we had that up our whole time schedule on everything for for all the different groups involved because fortunately the bridge opened early, which was a really good thing to stop the bleeding.

If we had 24 hour operations going on at different times, even in extreme cold.

>> Our contractors and they're all of their crews are out there working during.

>> The daytime of the overnight hours, we put together this program for Bellevue, which then went on to expand to the other all 5 cities along the river because they like their program.

Bridging back business.

The first week.

>> I was Bellevue and Dayton.

And then next week is a Covington Newport and for Thomas.

And then the 3rd week, we're actually all coming back together and offering the specials again.

I can tell you in Bellevue, the day we had $10 lunches, we do a ton of people from Cincinnati back over here.

>> It's just that turned out to be a really good thing to do because it was so successful.

I mean, even without some of the challenges over the last several months with the the bridge closing and all the other challenge is running a restaurant and a bar is not for the faint of heart.

>> And so we need to do all we can to help them to be successful.

Ahead, getting as many customers in the door as possible when the bridge was closed.

We didn't really have much of a way that people are busy on the weekends, but like not like.

>> Super busy.

But now since it's been open, we've had.

>> Our way.

It's hour and a half way.

It's a sign of a great be a great way to join in with the different communities and work with the river cities to try to remind people that were here and bring business back to us.

Promotions that retailers are taking place this week in Covington Newport ad for Thomas.

>> The initiative will conclude with a cocktail showdown at the New Rift.

Distillery in Newport on March.

16th.

More information can be found on the city's Web sites.

♪ ♪ Trains, boats and the Great Kentucky meet shower.

Our Toby Gibbs as all of that and an explanation and this look back at this week in Kentucky history.

♪ >> March 4th was an important day for Kentucky Statesman Henry Clay on March 4th, 18 11.

He began serving in the U.S. House of Representatives.

He was elected speaker the same day he became secretary of state on March 4th 18.

25 and became a U.S. senator for the last time.

>> On March 4th, 18, 49.

Era to transportation milestones the first commercial steamboat round from Louisville to New Orleans Open on March.

3rd, 18, 17 and the Louisville and Nashville Railroad known as the Falun Man was first chartered March 5th, 18, 50.

And 1000.

Civil rights advocates marched on Frankfort on 3/5/1964, Dr. Martin Luther King Junior and baseball great.

Jackie Robinson led the group calling for an end to legal segregation and unequal access to businesses and public places.

It's a key used to have in the state of Hawaii at the end of its name that ended on March 7th, 17 89 when the Virginia General Assembly voted to start using the why spelling we still have today.

Kentucky was a territory of Virginia at the time.

We still don't know what caused the great Kentucky made shower of March.

3rd, 18?

76 today would flake some 8 fell over part of math.

Downey.

And those are a few of the big events this week in Kentucky history, I'm told, begins.

>> Thank you, as always.

Toby Gibbs.

Tomorrow is day.

21 of the Kentucky General Assembly session less than 10 days left in the 30 day session.

And our team is in Frankfort, bringing you all the day's developments.

The latest from the state Capitol tomorrow on Kentucky edition, which we hope to see you for again at 6.30, Eastern 5.30, central, we inform connect and inspire.

You can connect with us all the ways you see on your screen, Facebook, X and Instagram to stay in the loop.

And we are welcome to send us a story idea by email to public affairs at KET Dot Org.

>> Thank you so much for watching.

I'm Renee Shaw.

We'll see you again tomorrow night.

Take good care.

♪ ♪