Is Kentucky's top teacher bound for Baltimore.

I think Republicans are.

Eager to nominate.

Somebody who has the best chance of beating Andy Beshear this fall.

But who will Republican voters nominate?

The candidates make their case in the last days before the primary.

They get that job specific knowledge before they go.

On the job.

New industry means new jobs efforts to get the future workforce trained and ready.

Production of Kentucky Edition is made possible in.

Part by the KET Endowment for Kentucky Productions, the Leonard Press Endowment for Public Affairs, and the KET Millennium Fund.

Good evening and welcome to Kentucky Edition for Friday, May 12th.

I'm Laura Rogers, filling in for Renee Shaw.

Thanks for joining us tonight.

Kentucky's top teacher, a man who's been the target of criticism from many Republicans, is in the running for a job outside the commonwealth.

Education Commissioner Jason Glass is a finalist for a superintendent job in Maryland.

WB a l, a TV station in Baltimore, says Jason Glass is one of four finalists to become superintendent in the Baltimore County school system.

The current superintendent there is leaving June 30th.

Glass has been Kentucky's education commissioner since 2020.

He's being criticized by some of the Republican candidates for governor with some calling for him to resign or be fired.

They disagree with his stand on many social issues, including legislation dealing with transgender students.

Why is that a factor in Glass's decision to seek the Baltimore job?

A spokesperson for the Kentucky Department of Education put out a statement saying in part, Statements that have been made from various gubernatorial candidates in recent weeks and months had zero impact on the commissioner's decision to seek other opportunities as a seasoned education leader, he has seen and endured plenty of politically motivated attacks over the years.

Dr. Glass himself says, quote, I am proud of the work we have done to prioritize meaningful student learning, innovation and collaboration with communities.

I am also grateful to work with the incredible people we have at the Kentucky Department of Education and all of Kentucky's educators.

At this point in my career, I am seeking a place where our family can put down roots and where I can have a long term and meaningful impact on an educational system.

I look forward to the next steps and the process, unquote.

The time before primary Election Day is short, but candidates are trying to make their campaigning go a long way.

Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Corales is continuing is a big red truck tour as he tries to convince Kentuckians to make him the Republican nominee for governor.

Our Casey Parker Bell was at an event in Lexington yesterday.

As primary Election Day nears and voters begin casting ballots.

And I think that we have the best shot to beat Andy Beshear this fall.

Ryan Quarrels is trekking across Kentucky, making the case that he should be the Republican nominee for governor.

I'm so proud that we've run a positive race based off the issues.

I think Republicans are eager to nominate somebody who has the best chance of beating Andy Beshear this fall.

So we're asking them to consider electability.

And also.

Somebody who can unite the party after May 16th.

Quarrels appears to be playing catch up in the last days of the campaign.

The latest public polls put him in third place behind Daniel Cameron and Kelly Craft.

But with 12 people in the Republican primary for governor, Hurrell says he can cut a path to victory.

The one thing that I know that in a crowded primary is low turnout.

The candidate with the biggest base and the most discipline will win.

And so we're spending the next.

Six days or so, five days reminding our agricultural base to show up and vote.

With 16 stops planned for Friday and Saturday.

The current agriculture commissioner is making his final push to convince Kentuckians to give him a new job.

I think our performance.

In rural counties early in the night is going to be an indicator about how we're going to perform.

But I feel really good in eastern Kentucky.

I feel great in far West Kentucky.

For Kentucky Edition on KC Parker-Pope.

Calls will make nine more stops on the tour tomorrow, including one in Louisville.

And we also caught up with Attorney General Daniel Cameron as he campaigned at a restaurant in Frankfurt.

More from Mr. Cameron coming up Monday on Kentucky Edition.

Join Renee on Monday on Kentucky tonight as a group of Kentucky political experts previews the May 16 primary.

They'll review all the races, including the Republican campaign for governor.

And you can send us your questions and comments.

That's at eight Eastern, seven Central.

Also, watch our primary night election coverage starting at seven Eastern, six Central.

It's time for our end of the week wrap up of the biggest news in Kentucky politics with analysis from a couple of political pundits.

I'm K.C.

Parker Belle.

With me are Morgan Eaves, former legislative advisor for Governor Andy Beshear and a current education consultant, and Terry Watson, former spokesperson for the Republican Party of Kentucky and founder of Capital Gains PR.

Trey Morgan, thanks for being here.

Thank you.

Morgan, I'll start with you.

Candidates are crisscrossing the state.

They're driving a big red trucks sitting down at kitchen tables.

But what can a candidate do over the next four days to swing something come primary Election Day?

At this point, I'm not sure you can swing anything.

They're focused on getting out the vote.

They're focused on driving up turnout and getting those folks that pledged their support actually out there to the ballot.

Not sure that that will change anything other than voter turnout.

Obviously, the candidate with the highest voter turnout, highest level sports, one that's going to win.

So that's what they're driving up at this point.

Is there anything people should look out for on these last four days?

You know, the candidates are out and about.

There's a lot of events.

But early voting started yesterday.

So people are already going to the polls.

Morrissey And a lot of people post on Facebook, Twitter, that they voted.

So I think Morgan's right.

You know, campaign you spend most of the year building the car and then the last couple of weeks you just got to drive it and hope it runs.

So I think we're at that point now.

It's been a month since our last public poll that showed Daniel Cameron in the lead, Kelly Craft and second round Coral's in third.

But there was 20% of the vote that was undecided.

So what has changed over the course of the month?

Trey, do we have a sense whether things are the same?

I think the biggest change is the calls finally went up on TV right after that poll came out.

So now you have all three of the major candidates on air.

And remember, corals that if you there are different different polls, different methods.

But he he went up eight points and cracked one at nine points versus the previous polling that we had seen.

Spent $7 million.

He had spent 90,000.

So the question is, you know, once he starts spending, can he make up ground, make up that name I.D.

gap and catch up?

I think that's the one that's the most interesting thing from the last poll to today to see now that causes on air.

Can you catch the other two?

MORGAN There are a lot of undecided voters.

And with Secretary of State Michael Adam saying turnout might be around 10%, do those voters mean more than they might in an election with a higher turnout?

They absolutely mean more than they would in an election with higher turnout.

Typically, you get voters who are more motivated and low turnout elections.

So that could mean that Eric Datas is going to take some votes from one of the other two major candidates simply because he's a little bit of a more radical candidate.

Maybe would appeal to a different type of voter, but certainly a voter that could be more motivated than a moderate voter.

Also say in an election, the people most likely to turn out are voters who have been locked in earlier, who had who had made a decision.

And I think it really favors Cameron and Coral's because they have a larger can kind of natural constituency bases.

Came up with the name I.D., as has a broader appeal to rank and file Republicans.

And Cruz has that kind of rural base to draw from.

I think craft.

For her to succeed, she really would have needed to have higher turnout.

People who were seeing the ads in mass volume and didn't necessarily have that previous relationship.

That previous relationship is going to lock voters in a lot, a lot more effectively.

Yeah, this Republican primary for governor, it's been going on for months and there've been a lot of moments as we go on.

MORGAN What moments stick out to you?

Oh, gosh, quite frankly, the arguments over the Donald Trump endorsement, it's that is an issue that's been happening since Kelly Craft got into the got into the race.

She's been trying to recover from it ever since.

And I don't think Daniel Cameron is wrong when he says she's been trying to recover from that and has been unable to.

So the continued fighting over the allegiance to one person is particularly interesting and I think will really inform the messaging that we see going into November.

Trey, what moment stick out for you and do these big moments to us seem to actually be a big moment to a voter.

I would say definitely not on the second question.

I think we get trapped in this in this political bubble where we think everything that happens is a big deal.

And fact the matter is the majority of Kentuckians, they wait for the Kentucky Derby.

As soon as the horses cross the finish line, they say, okay, that's done.

What about this primary?

So, you know, I think that we are going to find stuff to talk about and fill shows like this podcast for four, six, eight months before the election.

I think the biggest moments of the campaign, I think, were early on.

I think if Kelly Craft and started off running the ads she's running now talking about an outside leader and renegotiating NAFTA and USMCA and in portraying herself as a strong leader, if she had started with that ad, rather than trying to make herself seem like a woman of the people, which, let's face it, she's not.

Kelly's a friend.

I like her a lot.

But she she is she's married to a billionaire.

She's not she's not a woman of the people.

That's they should have started off with this strong outsider leader.

And the decision to start off with trying to to bring her down to the people level, I think it was a critical mistake and I think will probably cost to the race in the end.

Right now, Governor Andy Beshear is up for reelection.

We assume he will be the Democratic nominee, but who does he want to see?

You know, my position is that regardless, whoever comes up in November, the governor will win because of his strong showing throughout his first term.

He's the most relatable person on both sides of the aisle that's in this race.

So I am not personally concerned.

I think most of my Democratic colleagues are not personally concerned.

He will be ready and able to beat whoever is presented on the ticket in November.

Try to someone have a better chance against the governor.

I think all three of the main Republican contenders have pluses and minuses.

Cameron obviously has some celebrity and some national gravitas with him.

Craft obviously can self-fund, which is a huge advantage when the other candidates are going to be kind of depleted coming out of the primary.

And Cruz has again, has this rural base and especially Beshear, He doesn't have that.

We hate Matt Bevin constituency that he kind of played upon to win in 1980 and have to build a new path to victory.

I think part of that is his handling of the disasters, at least in the West, and that's what causes the strongest.

So I think that's Ryan's strength, is that he can really make a play for some of the votes that the governor needs if he's going to get if he's got to win reelection.

Try what some organize.

Thanks both for coming in.

John, great to be here.

All right.

Kentucky now has a better credit rating.

Governor Beshear says Fitch Ratings has upgraded Kentucky from double a minus to double A That's based on Kentucky's overall economic health and its ability to pay its debts.

It's the first time ever that Fitch has upgraded Kentucky's credit rating.

The governor says this will mean lower costs for projects like roads, bridges and schools.

Lexington is the fourth Kentucky city to pass a Crown Act to ban race based discrimination in the workplace based on hairstyles and types.

The Lexington Herald-Leader reports Last night's Urban County Council vote was 14 to nothing.

Crown stands for Create a Respectful and Open World for natural Hair.

Lexington Council member Shayla Lynch helped draft the ordinance.

We recently asked her why it's needed and if the state should consider adopting similar legislation.

So whether it's in the workplace setting or any kind of public accommodations setting in the community that you face or you're treated differently if you are touched without your consent, because oftentimes people just come up and touch your hair without even asking, or they'll come and touch it while they're asking.

It will be deemed in violation of the city ordinance.

So we are providing protections for everyone that choose to wear their natural hair.

However, they choose to wear, whether it be an Afro or straight out, straight and long, or in a protective style or braids.

Just making sure there is protections there for individuals while they're going through the daily lives.

On the state level, we've been unsuccessful to get that overall statewide protection.

Discriminatory penalties have decided to enact their own to provide that coverage.

So I'm hoping that with seven municipalities here in Kentucky passing a chronic that will give even more motivation to our legislators in Frankfort to do the right thing and do the same thing.

So we're going to continue that city by city, town by town to get it done until the state decides to move in the right direction.

The Kentucky General Assembly has considered statewide legislation, but it has never passed.

Covington, Louisville and Frankfort have similar laws.

This week, the Jefferson County Board of Education approved a plan for installing a weapon detection system in middle and high schools.

Jefferson County Public Schools plans to spend over $17 million on the system that uses artificial intelligence to detect weapons.

One of the companies that makes the systems was at a Jefferson County High school.

One day after the vote to demonstrate how it works.

Same thing here.

I walk through flags go Red is an audible.

My image shows up.

I'm actually going to be directed to resolution.

This is a little bit video moving help sometimes to identify where on the person the item might be.

The other thing that that you can see is that because it allows the matching, there's less opportunity for bias to be introduced into the screening process.

The other thing it allows is for understanding what what doors or entrances are being used, because you can look at statistical information of arrival when people are getting in for schools.

You can tell the where the kids are coming in.

So the system is designed to allow multiple people to go through.

At the same time.

You can go through sort of shoulder to shoulder if are two adults.

We typically do not see lines, right.

That's one of the design principles for the system.

We want to sort of mitigate that soft target that actually gets created when you actually have lines out in front of the system.

So it's very minimal and it's very the weapons detector is not as intrusive as a metal detector allowing for free flow.

And especially if a but once the kid takes out that Chromebook and does the wrap around mess that you see at this table right here, it's pretty free flowing, you know, with bags.

So people can have bags in the back, they can have it on the side and just walk through.

If the light stay green, they go right on in because it is an AI based system.

We're continuing to train and teach the system all the time.

Right.

So gathering more data and the more data that we have, the more we can actually go and train and teach the system.

And so because of that, it allows us to continue to improve the system over time.

If Apple comes out with a new iPhone, we want to learn to ignore it.

Right.

And if it comes out with a new weapon, we want to learn to catch it.

And so we have to keep updating the system and getting it smarter as time goes on.

Absolutely.

Anecdotally, we're hearing from schools across the nation that they're seeing fewer guns being found because of the deterrent value.

I will say we caught 176,000 weapons last year and, you know, not only in schools but across all the different venues that we try to protect.

Obviously, the key to implementation is going to be staffing.

And I think you heard that if you observe the board meeting.

And so for us, we know it's going to take about three individuals per unit in order to staff it appropriately.

After visiting multiple districts, we feel that it is a best practice.

So we are still going to do the safety measures that we've been doing for the for the years.

This is just another layer that we're going to offer to our to our community.

Jefferson County Public Schools will now begin looking for a vendor to install the systems in schools.

It is a major project in central Kentucky.

The construction of an electric vehicle battery plant in Hardin County.

Blue Oval S.K.

will employ 5000 people.

We take a look at how nearby a community college is getting its students prepared to fill those jobs.

As work continues on blue oval ASC in Glendale.

Attention is already shifting to its future workforce.

Manufacturing is such a growing field and exciting field really, when you think about the advancements in technologies, the advancements in these jobs.

I mean, they truly are great jobs.

A 42,000 square foot training facility is being built on Blue Oval's campus.

A partnership with Elizabethtown Community and Technical College.

The thing that we do with our programs is make sure that they align with community and regional needs.

The first few years, the center will focus on onboard training for new hires.

Eventually, the facility will turn into more of a traditional program where folks can come in and receive maybe six months, two years of training to prepare them for a job.

Dr. Justin Pate says these advanced manufacturing courses have among their highest enrollment numbers.

He calls the Kentucky Community and Technical College System the state's largest provider of workforce training.

So what we do at Elizabethtown Community College is really look at the local regional job base, in this case new manufacturing, and really work with those employers to learn what skills, what traits they need in their employees or what upskilling they need in current employees.

They then customize training programs to teach the skills needed to perform those jobs.

Our graduates, they go right to work.

Professor Timothy Cordova teaches classes in electrical technology.

He has observed firsthand the growing interest in manufacturing careers.

I've been working here for about 21 years, and I can tell you that the advanced manufacturing program, when you put the three of those programs together, the growth of those three progra That's thanks in part to the abundance of jobs in the region.

We've got, of course, the distilleries is really popular here in this local area.

And now, of course, with blue oval forward, we're going to start to see a lot of the automotive manufacturing.

We already have a lot of that, but we're going to really start to see that take off.

As technology advances.

So as the course work.

One of the biggest programs that we've seen growth in is our robotics.

These manufacturing plants that are coming in, they're going to need technicians that know how to fix the robots.

You can't go to an automotive plant or really any manufacturing plant not see robots.

As we're learning the needs of the companies that are coming in, including blue oval.

We'll tailor existing programs if need be.

We'll customize and build new programs.

But for a large part, it's just taking existing programs like mechatronics or industrial maintenance, electricity, and infusing some specific examples into that curriculum.

Cordova says the perspective is changing when it comes to vocational education and learning a skill trade.

Bonnie Those kids that are really good at gaming because though they're hand-eye coordination, their ability to use those controllers, it's the same thing that they do when they use these.

Train these robots and program those robots to function.

So we really need all of those different levels of students here at this college.

This, as the next two years, will bring thousands more manufacturing jobs to Kentucky and they'll need the workforce to get the job done.

The 1500 acre blue Oval Ask Battery Park will make batteries for Ford and Lincoln vehicles beginning in 2025.

The number of workers fatally overdosing on the job in Kentucky has tripled.

That's according to a report from the Kentucky Occupational Safety and Health Surveillance Program.

The research director for the program says workplace overdoses in Kentucky have tripled from 2019 to 2021.

It's definitely more prevalent than it was in the past.

We've been monitoring workplace deaths since 1994 here at work.

And, you know, we didn't really see any drug overdose fatalities in the data until later in the 2000.

And they sort of steadily increased a little bit over time.

And then we saw that spike in 2020 and 2021.

So I would say it's occurring more frequently.

How much of that is due to more awareness of the issue?

I don't know.

Because sometimes if someone dies from a drug overdose, maybe you will always that might not always be clear of the drugs are not on them.

A majority of workplace overdose deaths are happening in key industries in the state.

We will take a look at that Monday on Kentucky Edition.

Sunday is Mother's Day.

Officially, the holiday began in West Virginia in 1910 and became a national holiday in 1914.

But there are signs it was observed in Kentucky before that.

Take a look at this marker.

Mary tolls Sassine was a schoolteacher in Henderson.

Earlier today, we spoke to Donna Spencer, a genealogist from Henderson, about how Sassine started and promoted Mother's Day.

She had her class celebrate the first Mother's Day celebration as.

We know it in 1887.

She had parents come to the school and the students would recite poems and sing songs honoring the mothers.

She thought mothers were a very important part of keeping the.

I would say the the whole nation together.

She thought that the core of the home was the responsibility of the mothers to provide shelter and support and security.

And from that.

Security.

Came a strong nation.

Now, Mary tells us she wanted to make that a national holiday and honor mothers throughout the nation.

She traveled within the school systems and seminars and in educational circles.

She got a lot of school systems to start celebrating Mother's Day.

And so that's how she worked.

She was working through the school systems and the educational system to promote this idea of Mother's Day and how to teach it to children.

Mother's Day became a reality, but only after Saint-Saens death in 1908.

Derby weekend is behind us, but there are plenty of things to do around Kentucky this weekend and beyond.

Our Toby Gibbs has some of them.

And this look at what's up around the Commonwealth.

Enjoy A weekend full of musical, culinary and artistic talent from Western Kentucky during the Lower Town Arts and Music Festival in Paducah this weekend.

With over 40 arts and crafts vendors, food ranging from fresh, smoked, barbecued ice cream and musical favorites like the Wheelhouse Roosters and the sensational Barnes Brothers.

This is one event you won't want to miss.

Grab your friends and family and head to Bowling Green this Saturday for some canine comedy.

Puppy Pals Live is an action packed show featuring spectacular stunts, breathtaking feats, comical tricks and countless surprises with the cutest stars in town.

Preserve, educate and interpret nature during Spring Fest this Saturday in Perryville.

Join with several organizations to learn how to set up your own wildflower garden.

What's needed to make your own Monarch Butterfly Weigh station?

The importance of protecting the birds, bees and butterflies and so much more.

Celebrate all moms, including Mother Earth with the Earth Mothers hike in Henderson this Saturday.

The whole family can enjoy a one mile stroll through the park.

Hands on demonstrations and fun facts about nature's animal mothers and their children.

The 52nd annual Do the Neck Art Show is in Covington this Saturday.

Over 40 regional artists will be showing off their work.

So come on down to the George Rogers Park Park for a day of art, music, food, trucks and a great view.

Celebrate the good old days with the sixth annual Summer Shade Founder's Day this Saturday.

There's something for everyone with a parade, a car show, historical tours, local artisans and vendors, and so much more.

May is National Water Safety Month, and the City of Louisa has a fun way to celebrate with the first ever Yates Vail Lake Water Safety five Fun run this Saturday.

Grab pictures with Bobber watch Rangers, run in lifejackets and learn about the importance of water safety in this family friendly event.

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

I'm Toby Gibbs.

We hope that you'll join us again Monday night at 630 Eastern, 530 Central for Kentucky Edition, where we inform, Connect and Inspire.

Subscribe to our weekly Kentucky Edition email newsletter and watch full episodes and clips at KET dot org.

You can also find Kentucky edition on the PBS video app on your mobile device and smart TV and send us a story idea at Public Affairs at KET dot org.

I'm Laura Rogers.

Have a nice Mother's Day weekend.

We'll see her Monday.