>> The search continues for one worker after a building collapse that killed another in Martin County.

That's a worry a bird might have that we should all be worried that because it affects all of this.

>> As early voting gets underway, we have breakfast with Bowling Green voters.

What they tell losses influencing their vote.

>> A lot of people in these neighborhoods all had access to fresh food for the Just isn't there.

>> And check out how one program is getting groceries to those who really need them.

>> Production of Kentucky Edition is made possible in part by the KET Endowment for Kentucky Productions.

Leonard Press Endowment for Public Affairs and the KET Millennium Fund.

♪ ♪ Good evening and welcome to Kentucky EDITION on this Thursday, November.

The second, I'm Renee Shaw.

>> Thank you for spending some of your Thursday night with U.S. Election Day has turned into election days in Kentucky.

Today was the first of 3 early voting days in the commonwealth.

We caught up with some voters today in Lexington, as you see, you can also vote tomorrow and Saturday and of course, on Election Day itself next Tuesday, check with your county clerk's office to find out where you can vote.

You can also view a sample ballot online at go vote DOT K Y dot Gov.

Among the people voting early.

Governor Andy Beshear who cast his ballot today in Frankfort.

He was joined by his wife, first lady Britainy Beshear after voting Bashir continued his bus tour campaign with a stop at the University of Louisville.

There.

He was joined by rapper and Louisville native Jack Harlow, Bashir's boss later stopped at the University of Kentucky.

He's scheduled to make 4 stops around the state tomorrow.

Republican candidate for Governor Attorney General Daniel Cameron is hitting the campaign trail with some high-profile supporters as well.

Arkansas governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders join camera on a couple of campaign stops Wednesday.

Sanders also served as press secretary under former President Donald Trump.

The recall the 2 of them addressed voters and Glasgow where speakers also included NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines and Kelly Paul, the wife of U.S., Senator Rand Paul.

Sanders says she's campaigning for Cameron to fight back against the federal government.

Right now and no offense to our great senator from Kentucky.

But Washington is broken.

Washington is a total mess and all of the craziness coming out of Washington.

The only way we can stop it is by having strong conservative governors fighting back and that is exactly what you will have when you elect Daniel Cameron as the next governor of Kentucky.

>> I'm honored to have my good friend Sarah Huckabee Sanders with Mia.

Sarah was kind enough to come here in 2019 and help me in the attorney general's race.

She's been a fantastic in dynamic leader in Arkansas as governor there.

And I look forward to she said earlier to joining her ranks, working alongside her to push back against this far-left ideology that's trying to come into our states.

But whether it's Kelly, Paul or Riley, Gaines or the best campaigner.

I know my wife with me today.

This is a unified group.

>> Governor Sanders is the youngest governor in the country at 41 years old.

If General Cameron is elected governor in Kentucky, he would become the youngest governor being 38 when he takes office.

He would also be the first black Republican governor in the country.

As polls open for early voting.

We continue to ask Kentucky voters about the issues important to them.

This morning our Laura Rogers spoke with the breakfast crowd at a Bowling Green diner about the concerns weighing on their minds before they cast their votes.

>> It's midmorning and the coffee and conversation are flowing actually says 5th Street diner.

Prices at the grocery store got.

And that's the worry over.

Did not have that.

We should all be worried that because it affects all of to public education and teacher salaries is an extreme teacher shortage.

And I understand why it would be difficult to encourage teachers with the salary that they had.

>> As Election Day draws closer, the tall turns to politics to make my mind up early.

Voters say they have inflationary concerns.

>> Your friend in just a you can't you can't run a white van man They're also passionate about social issues.

I'm pro life.

I women's reproductive freedom rides and one of the candidates has taken a very narrow >> view of the Ed Rendell, Willoughby, who lives in downtown Bowling Green also has concerns about redistricting, the way that the legislative areas are gerrymandered.

Now, a lot of the lane toward one candidate or the other or at least one political party and the other.

>> She says she is fairly happy with efforts at bipartisanship in Frankfort.

>> They've been able to do a pretty good job of working together, even though they do not always.

A lot.

>> A common refrain, economic concerns and choosing the candidate they think will be best for their pocket book.

You have one bad guy, groceries, make host the What you've got and not really have not worry about families, you know, station with small children, kids how they for bad Sandy May's wants to see more being done to tackle drug addiction and the opioid epidemic.

It just seems like everywhere I go now talking to people and free and everybody has somebody even in their family or they can remember free and that is lost someone to all.

>> The views are very.

But one thing everyone does seem to agree on.

They want elected officials who are honest.

>> And the upfront don't while trying to with people and to stand by their campaign promises.

>> I'd like to see it.

You know, things carry actually liked or stand behind their word for Kentucky edition.

>> I'm Laura Rogers.

>> Thank you, Laura.

And there are 5 early voting locations in Warren County.

Now as the campaign winds down on Election Day draws near, many are anxious to see the political ads disappear.

It's not just television cable that candidates and supporting groups used to broadcast their messages but digital platforms, social media and YouTube are growing in use as advertising vehicles.

Dan, by and says a political media consultant connected to the company Medium buying that does add planning buying and tracking.

He breaks down the numbers on how this is the most expensive governor's race in Kentucky.

History.

The first tells us what medium buying is, but they do.

>> We're up a little political media buying company.

We do media planning media buying and competitive tracking for political campaigns.

And we started sharing a lot of information on Twitter, which is now acts.

All right, right.

When we founded the company 2015, 2016 and there was a huge for some insight into how political campaigns were spending their money on television and radio and streaming.

And it's been a great resource for to just provide some transparency in terms of political media buying in to share a little bit about what we do every day.

>> Right.

So is a look at this.

Kentucky governor's race because it's not just Kentucky journalism, folks who are looking.

I mean, nationwide people are saying what's medium buying saying and every posting on X as it is now.

Talk to us about the Kentucky governor's where these candidates stand and where the money is coming from.

>> We've seen in the general election, almost 50 million dollars spent on television and radio by the 2 sides by the Democratic side by the Republican side.

It's the most expensive gubernatorial race in Kentucky now by a long shot.

I think it's important to kind of take a step back.

Citizens United, which was decided in 2010.

So we're 13 years into that decision that has flooded the political marketplace in the U.S. with tons of money.

And that's one of the reasons.

You're seeing so much money spent on this race in Kentucky.

And the other reason is the fragmentation of the media.

People are consuming media in different ways.

You don't just watch broadcast TV like you did 20 or 30 years ago.

You're watching all multiple different mediums, multiple different platforms.

And so instead of spending less money to reach more people, you're spending more money to reach less people.

And that's a big change for campaigns.

And there's a huge investment still and broadcast TV in rival TV.

But you have to spend on streaming.

You have to spend on digital you have to spend.

The attacks to reach voters.

You have to find the voters wherever they are.

And it's a really, really difficult thing.

>> So break down for us how it looks from the Bashir campaign and from Daniel Cameron's campaign, the campaigns, out that's being raised and spent.

>> Yeah, sure campaign has has out raised the Cameron campaign head-to-head by quite a significant margin.

I mean, at the end of the day, you might see this year raised 20 million dollars for this general election.

That's a lot of money.

He was able to get up on television right after the primary, which was a, you know, a big advantage.

He's been able to do a lot of things.

The VA, his media campaign, he's running multiple ads in any given time.

He's been able to run positive messaging response, messaging.

Contrast, messaging, negative messaging, all kinds of different And, you know, I think it's made a difference in the race.

>> Right.

And he was like you said, was able to do that right after the primary and he stayed up the entire time.

So talk about the consistency of once you actually go on air to stay there, not to dip in and dip out.

Right?

Voters have really short You know, the effectiveness of a TV ad doesn't last a very long time.

So what you have to do is you have to be in front of people constantly investor campaign's been able to do that.

Cameron got up in the late summer.

Hasn't been able to spend as much money as this year has because he has a raise as much money.

I think he's done a really good job with the resources that he's had.

>> And he's running more ads down here.

Late 02:00AM, the you know, the difference has been made up by outside groups by super PACs.

And so the Democrats have outspent.

The Republicans overall.

If you include outside groups, which you should because they're effective and they matter in the campaign.

But the you know, difference is an extreme the Republican outside groups have been able to largely make up the difference right?

>> And that's the reporting Joe Soco was able unveiled during this week as well for Kentucky public radio show that those super PACs are making a difference.

Not necessarily an equalizer, but certainly can help a candidate.

He may have a deficit from their own campaign.

There's been a constellation of outside groups on the Republican side.

On the Democratic side.

You've just had the DGA, the Democratic Governors Association has been the only outside group that's played a significant role in the campaign to on the Republican side.

You've had the RGA, which is spent.

>> They're fully invested in the campaign.

They spent over 10 million dollars on television and they've helped camera a lot.

But you've had club for growth.

You've had school Freedom Fund.

You've had Protect Freedom PAC.

So you've had a constellation of outside groups on the Republican side that help make up the difference.

>> So let's talk about the media markets because I find this really fascinating about how and buying an ad in Lexington may cost more or less.

I would think probably less than maybe northern Kentucky, Cincinnati because northern Kentucky doesn't have its own television conglomerate, Cincinnati market that you're dealing with right?

There are 10 media markets in Kentucky.

Plus hazard.

Why empty which most campaigns like like to get up on because they have a different >> different focus for an outside group right now to to fully deliver one message 1000 points of television, which means the average person sees your ad 10 times.

It's over a million dollars just to live or one message you mentioned, you know, the northern Kentucky market, which is a significant a player in this campaign ad this year.

One Kenton and Campbell counties in 2019 and came close in Boone.

He'd like to duplicate that performance this time.

They were able to get up in the Cincinnati media market, which is about 10% of turnout.

Give or take they were able to get up in the Cincinnati media market before anyone else was.

And they had the airwaves up there to themselves for a long time outside groups.

Cameron's.

Up in northern Kentucky, the Cincinnati me the market now.

We'll see how that all shakes out.

But if Bashir's able to hold on to Canyon Campbell, you might look at that.

Look at that as a big reason.

Why.

>> Well, we'll have more from buyers tomorrow as he talks more about ad placement as pivotal to election campaign strategy.

And the lesson the governor's race in Kentucky could provide for a future races.

That's tomorrow night on Kentucky edition.

The night before the election.

Be sure to join us for Kentucky tonight, a panel of veteran political operatives will be here to assess the campaigns and tell what to look for on election night and you can send us your questions as always.

That's Monday night at 8 Eastern 7 central right here on KET Turkey tonight.

And then another programming note on election night.

Join us at 7 Eastern 6 Central right here after Kentucky.

Addition to our live coverage of the 2023 election.

We'll have the numbers.

The candidates speeches and of course, good best analysis from Al Cross.

Trey Grayson, Bob Babbage and others.

That's all right here on election night November, the 7th Tuesday on KET.

♪ ♪ The search continues for worker trapped after a building collapse in Martin County.

Another worker was killed in the collapse of a coal preparation plant around 06:30PM, Tuesday night.

The Lexington Herald-Leader reports that 2 workers were removing mining equipment from the building when it collapsed.

Now, this is aerial video of the site near Middle Fork.

Wolf.

Creek Road.

This is courtesy of WLKY TV, the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet said the facility had been closed for years.

Several state agencies have begun investigations into the collapse and possible causes including Kentucky State Police.

The investigation is expected to take several months to complete.

A Kentucky man will spend 45 days in prison for his role in the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

66 year-old Kurt Petersen of Hodgenville pleaded guilty to engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds while using a dangerous or deadly weapon.

Peterson was caught on video using a stick to smash out a Capitol window during his sentencing today.

CBS News reports Peterson admitted he acted out of anger in addition to time behind bars.

The judge also ordered Peterson to pay $4700 in restitution.

U.S.

Senator Mitch McConnell continues to argue for continued U.S. support for Ukraine in its war against Russia.

He says it's not just charity.

McConnell says the U.S. would benefit if Ukraine defeats Russia and he says American help for Ukraine is good for business in the U.S.. >> So there's the plain truth.

The overwhelming of the resources approved on the as security assistance for Ukraine.

That is, in fact going that direction.

Directly to American 95 corruption supporting American jobs.

The expanding the American and go through and producing new weapon.

We're Americans know Almost 70 billion dollars in investments, Schroder crossing least 38 different states.

>> McConnell opposes House Speaker Mike Johnson and Sen Rand Paul of Kentucky who won an aid package for Israel.

That does not include money for Ukraine.

In other news, Kentucky is getting more money to help with cleanup operations in eastern Kentucky.

According to WTKR public radio, more than 25 million dollars is going to the Kentucky Division of management.

Most of that money, 18 million is from FEMA.

The rest comes from state funds.

The money is used to reimburse contract workers who hauled off more than 140,000 tons of debris following the flooding in 2022, this is the 3rd large payment made by FEMA for cleanup work in eastern Kentucky.

On Wednesday, we brought you some of the findings of the 2023 Kentucky School report Card.

Kentucky's interim commissioner of Education.

So a lot of work needs to be done to bring students scores back up to PRE-PANDEMIC levels.

But she says there were signs of progress among the areas of improvement.

The number of schools exiting what's called comprehensive support and improvement status.

Now, those are schools that have state assessment scores ranked in the bottom 5% statewide.

A graduation rate below 80% or needed additional targets.

Support for at least 3 years.

Once the school receives a CSI identification, it is audited and in turn around, team has put together to develop and implement a plan to improve learning conditions.

According to the report, 2 new schools were identified for comprehensive support and improvement close to 2 dozen schools accident that status during the 2022.

23 school year, including some schools in Jefferson County.

>> This year we had 9 schools, exit CSI status, meaning they went out of the past other schools and went out of the bottom 5% along with our data from last year.

We've now had 22 schools exit CSI status in the past 2 years.

>> Furthermore, 23 schools previously to identified as CSI that comprehensive school improvement have executed this status and 185 schools previously identified as T S I that targeted school improvement have exited as well.

These schools, the staff and students are to be congratulated and commended for this work.

>> Another positive, the results of student surveys measuring how they felt about their school environment.

The report found most elementary middle and high schools ranked in the middle or higher when it came to school, climate and safety.

Kentucky educates its future pilots, scientists and entrepreneurs at universities and community colleges across the commonwealth.

But higher education leaders say they need building renovations or new facilities to get that job done.

Representatives from the University of Louisville and Kentucky State University as state lawmakers today for capital funding necessary to train nurses.

Right?

As you can see from the slide.

There are more than 6,000 open nursing positions in Kentucky.

>> And that number is expected to continue to grow.

It is a national issue.

So we're not going to be able to attract nurses from other states because they're having shortages that they're facing.

So that means that we have to increase the production of nurses within the commonwealth itself.

Fortunately, we're well positioned to be able to do that.

U of L currently produces more bachelor's degree prepared nurses than any other university in Kentucky.

And 82% of them remain in the state.

But we are out of room in our nursing school.

And this new building will enable us to grow our nursing program by more than 50% of the fastest growing program.

Use nursing.

It's going to be housed.

You not want infirmary.

The dogs can not a lot.

That condition.

The system does not work.

Currently, we have 170 plus student in the program and the incoming Cosby's fall is 200.

You all will agree with me that I KET from the cannot.

They all want to know these people.

So by next fall, I'm afraid we would not have a place for them.

The state.

Public universities and colleges asked for billions of dollars in building and renovation funding.

>> The University of Kentucky alone is asking for 2 billion dollars for new research facilities and to add 700 beds to UK Chandler Hospital and the last budget cycle.

The state allocated nearly 1.5 billion dollars to public higher education institutions.

Capital needs.

Kentucky basketball fans, all remembering coach Bobby Knight, the longtime Indiana Hoosiers coach died in Bloomington, Indiana, at the age of 83.

His family says he had been in poor health for some time.

He won 3 titles at Indiana, but he was also known for his temper, wants throwing a chair across a basketball court.

UK coach John Calipari offered these thoughts on ex quote, Bobby Knight, one of the greatest coaches of all time has passed away.

I know his family and the Indiana family are hurting all of us who love the game of basketball are hurting with them.

Rest in Peace.

Coach Knight end quote.

Buying groceries is a routine part of life.

For most of us.

But imagine how complicated and expensive that process becomes.

If you don't have a car feet.

The West is a free grocery program.

That recently changed its strategy to help get nutritious food to those facing transportation barriers and the west end of Louisville.

>> Thanks, AJ.

Tomorrow is a black woman lead nonprofit.

>> Here in Louisville and our biggest mission is to create dairy-free resources are provide greater resources.

We're having pop-up said our office Tuesday through Thursday.

>> we realize that a lot of our Wesson residents of face them, area, so to combat that, we decided that we wanted to a pop up in our neighborhoods instead of having people come to us.

So we decided do question he asked we had sheds place in 3 neighborhoods right now.

But the goal is to have them in on that unless the neighborhood.

>> Some people who came, you know, 40 want to get to right now at the moment look and take home.

You know >> Having food and nutrition is a human right.

>> I believe that.

>> It shouldn't be profits.

And author and a lot of people in these neighborhoods all have access to fresh foods or the just isn't there to like and the West than we have over 60,000 residents.

And we have to grocery stores to Kroger's and there's one on 28th and then the one on importantly and each of those stories, a saving over 30,000 people.

So it's it's impossible to KET the shelves stocked.

It's impossible for you to feed all those people in policy but have quality food to a lot of people are not getting what they need from the places you are supposed to be providing in.

I'm it's been really good.

We a lot of our consistent residents who've been with us for a while common show up.

And we also had a lot of new faces uncertain, a new neighborhood.

And we pretty almost was out of food by 12, 30.

So is a pretty good turnout.

Starting at 12, 30 minutes to get rid of most of our food.

So we our donation from Trader Joe's.

So if you ever been to a Trader Joe's, you know, they produce.

We get meat and dairy and eggs.

We also get flowers from them to get out.

I residents.

>> And today we actually had a pretty good.

I have never heard miss miss him.

You would you call that for let's say for the time and place him in a resentment.

I've been telling everybody like this is has nearly sleet come back and tell me what it is next week.

Like to me, if you like it, our goal is to have on our community kiosk to community ran and operated we want to have them a seller has so we can actually get refrigeration and KET food in there.

And we instead of us coming to the neighborhood once a week like our neighborhood would be hosting these pop ups for themselves.

So the community will be coming together to organize donations in rerouting them to their neighbors.

We are really trying to create a family here in.

>> Grow our families that are less than they were in a ♪ ♪ >> Well, that'll do it for us tonight.

Now tomorrow you want to see inside Kentucky politics on Kentucky edition with political pundits, Abby Piper in Jarrett Smith.

It's the last one before next Tuesday's election.

And we're following more than just the governor's race.

You are voting on several other important down ballot races and we'll take a closer look at some of those contests when you join us tomorrow on Kentucky edition at 6.30, Eastern 5.30, central where we inform connect and inspire.

We hope that you connect with us all the ways you see on your screen.

You can send us a story idea and public affairs at KET DOT or download us on the PBS video app on your smart device.

>> To watch us any time you so choose and connect with us on Facebook, X and Instagram to stay in the loop.

A lot of good things happening this week on Kentuckyian you've been a part of it all.

We've been privileged to bring it to.

You will see you right back here again tomorrow night for Kentucky.

Addition until then, take really good care.

Have ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪