>> The recent rains have really helped to boost the humidity's, which bring our fire activity again.

>> At last good news about Kentucky's recent wildfires.

>> It's going to be a very busy Thanksgiving travel season.

>> Holiday travel season is here and that roads and airports are going to be packed.

>> If you haven't created a budget yet, create one.

Now and ride it out.

>> What to watch out for when you brave the mall calls and the Web this holiday shopping season.

>> 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 for this Wednesday, November 22nd.

I'm Kelsey Starks filling in for Renee Shaw.

Thanks for joining us this evening.

Well, here's something we can all be thankful for tomorrow.

The Kentucky wildfires that prompted a state of emergency earlier this month are now under control.

Kentucky's Division of Forestry says recent rain helped firefighters tame the flames.

>> 3 weeks after wildfires began to ignite in eastern Kentucky.

Firefighters say there are no more threats on the ground.

>> The recent rains we were pretty significant and really help tamp down and the fires we had.

And then as well at relative humidities were exceptionally low.

We did have a pretty extended traveling period leading up to the beginning of November kind of regionally.

We're about 2 inches shy of rain for normal.

And so the recent rains have really helped to boost the humidity's, which when our fire activity Gal.

>> The Kentucky Division of Forestry has now contained or controlled more than 200 fires.

>> So we talk about containing fires.

Those are fires that are burning that we've established containment lines, fire lines around and then controlled fires to those that we establish fire lines around and they're just smoldering.

Al already gone out here in the east.

We have a lot of leaf litter forest fires and then also rest plans are.

And so we go through and we take away the fuel for the fire to burn.

So that fire line is us either physically scratching away with firings using leaf blowers, a bull dozers are essentially handy tools to create nice wide times.

And so we take all that stuff.

You pull away from the fire and then we'll use a back fire season fire to fight fire will burn the fuel in were towards the active fire to move additional fuel.

>> Still, this is what the Division of Forestry says.

34,000 acres of woodlands now look like due to the fire.

>> Those are important natural resources that we want to because they provide us with a world of So a lot of these areas have burned repeatedly in overtime, uncontrolled manner and that can lead to a degradation of The Woodlands.

And so we want to make sure that we're being very intentional in our management of the woods and our application of fire fire can be a good resource, but we want to make sure that it's done correctly.

>> Firefighters from around the country who helped out are on their way home for Thanksgiving.

>> So we had over 340 firefighters matter are high.

We pull firefighters in from states like Utah, Idaho, Oregon, Washington and State Florida, Arkansas, Minnesota, Pennsylvania.

Taxes.

>> Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear yesterday said, quote, It has been a long 3 weeks for Kentucky's firefighters and those across the nation who came to our aid Kentucky's fall forest fire season continues until December.

15th.

That means statewide.

No one should be burning anything near a forest or brush at least during daylight hours for Kentucky edition.

I'm John Leffler.

Law enforcement is still looking for anyone that may be behind some of these wildfires.

The Kentucky Division of Forestry says arson.

>> Are careless burning are to blame the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources is investigating.

Well, if you are about to hit the road or travel by plane, you'll have plenty of company.

Millions of Americans are traveling this holiday.

We talked to triple A and the bluegrass it about what you should expect.

>> It's going to be a very busy Thanksgiving travel season beginning with today and caring all the way through Sunday.

We're expecting that nationwide.

There will be about 55.4 million people traveling here in Kentucky.

It will be over 717,000 are expected to travel.

And that's actually about 60% of Kentucky's tiger populations, though.

A lot of people are traveling this Thanksgiving most of them nationwide.

We've got about 89% going by car here in Kentucky.

It's even higher with about 96% traveling by car and then the remainder of Kentuckians, a 3% will be flying and the rest will be taking a cruise or opting for a train or some other mode of transportation.

More people are flying a nationwide than what we're seeing on average here in Kentucky about a half cent nationwide on average are expected to take a flight for Thanksgiving and then, of course, the remainder of those folks will be taking a cruise or other mode of transportation.

So very Thanksgiving were up.

>> Nearly 2% from a year ago girl.

Trouble for it.

I eat nationwide.

I think it's a little bit over 3% up from a 2022, the travel.

Seniors are actually the 3rd highest that we've had since 2000 there.

A lot of people going to be on those roadways.

And first off, make sure that your vehicle that you're taking has been well maintained >> we wouldn't want anyone to >> Breakdown in the center wrote, you want to make sure that you have adequate?

I try and those tires.

And then also you have the proper tire pressure.

>> With the way that we've had these temperatures fluctuating this fall, tire pressure can go up and down.

So you want to make sure that that's a correct before you head out, even though we're seeing a gas price is about $0.30 less than we saw for those traveling by car last year.

We still want to get the most out of every gallon so well maintained car.

We'll help you do that.

You just heard some discussion about the price of gasoline.

Here are some of the specifics.

>> Triple A says gas is averaging $3.2 in Kentucky this time of year ago it was $3.

And $0.33.

America and the world are observing a somber anniversary today.

It's been 60 years since the assassination of President John F Kennedy on November.

22nd 1963 in Dallas, Texas.

The president was gunned down while riding in a motorcade.

He was just 46 years old and was the 4th American president assassinated.

There is a Kentucky connection to President Kennedy's assassination.

The president's deputy press Secretary Mac Kilduff is the man who announced the president's desk.

Kilduff would later moved to baby Ville, Kentucky.

That's in Lee County.

He would become the longtime editor of the Baby Ville Enterprise.

Kilduff died in 2003.

>> The man accused in the old National Bank shooting in Louisville, April 10th wanted to draw attention to America's gun laws.

That's according to a new police report.

5 people died in that mass shooting.

8 were hurt.

The man accused Connor Sturgeon worked at the bank, according to the police report, Sturgeon wrote about his plans 6 days before the shooting.

He wrote that it was too easy for him to get an AR 15.

He called it ridiculous.

He also criticized politicians and gun advocates and said he hoped his actions would lead to political action on guns.

Sturgeon also described being depressed and feeling inadequate.

Another member of the Kentucky General Assembly will retire after the upcoming session.

Representative Danny Bentley says he will not seek another term in 2024.

Bentley is a Republican from the 90th House district, which includes all of Greene County and part of Boyd.

He was first elected in 2016.

Bentley is a pharmacist and has been an advocate for increased access to health care.

In a statement, House Speaker David Osborne said, quote, Representative Bentley will be missed tremendously.

He has been on the front lines of our efforts to improve public health, expand substance abuse recovery and spur economic development and jobs.

Danny's dedicated his entire life to helping others and he will leave an incredible legacy.

This news comes after the announced retirement of state Senator John Republican from Boone County.

♪ ♪ ♪ Time now for midweek check and of some major political news so far this week on this.

We're taping this on Tuesday.

Full disclosure.

>> Are there good friend Ryland Barton.

He's the managing editor of Kentucky Public Radio.

Good to see you.

You see today.

So we do want to just make it known that we take this a little earlier than usual because of the holiday.

We hope everyone has a great holiday.

Let's talk about the Department of Juvenile Justice.

We still continue to read about kids and mistreatment and the troubles that the juvenile detention centers are having.

And now there are looking at what being without a commissioner has their commission of Djj is stepping down.

Tell us about this.

>> You know, last week during governors weekly team Kentucky He kind of slipped under the he read the Department to juvenile Justice commissioner would be resigning at the end of the year.

There were calls for her to resign earlier this year from some Republican legislators because there's been a series of crises going in the Department of Juvenile justice.

Some really high-profile issues adjust staffing issues of riots and even a temporary a stadium pattern over the last year or 2.

But some of issues go go back farther than that.

The Legislature implemented some this year.

The station's implemented some reforms.

But these some of these issues continue to start happening.

They they have said that they're doing a little bit better on staffing, but there's always room to do more.

I'm so this this was it, I think a moment that everybody has been waiting for.

Now, it's important to point out that at the beginning of a new term, it's a common time for a state officials to kind of a reshuffle.

The between gubernatorial administrations.

So I think that's what they did.

But this year is saying this is an issue that he really thanked her for her time.

it's important to point out that this is she's the 6, a commissioner of the department since 2018.

So there's just been a lot of turnover in this department for a long time.

And and will they think everybody still waiting on on somebody who's really going to able to get a handle on these issues implemented some changes that are going to make things Not only for the EU's who are incarcerated you know, in T J, J facilities across the state.

But also, you know, the workers and just trying to make a a safer and healthier institution.

>> Yeah, it could be a pretty tough job to fill considering all that weights, that person when they arrive.

And as you said, we don't know about other positions.

Department heads even commissioners and even Cabinet secretaries who is going to stay around and who will leave another perennial problems with Kentucky State University.

Their financial woes continue to mount and we got some news this week about their financial aid services and the staff there.

What's going on?

>> Yeah, that's supposed to happen is some time within the first 6 weeks of this year's school years, the entire of financial aid staff that had moved on to different positions leading the entire university without the financially team.

Since then alarms were sounded on this, the the the university has had to partner with an outside consultant to kind of fill in some of these jobs.

They have found one full-time employees so far.

But this is a just one in a long line of problems with it's you and recent there's an There's been a few different audits in recent years.

A showing of financial mismanagement of some university leaders, leadership.

There has been a reshuffling, a new leadership just within this last Department of Justice to a kind of a single out a case you and the state are underfunding over the last over the last decades.

So this is there's there's a lot of thinking a lot of worry about the health of this of this state and and I think you know, lawmakers and officials have expressed that they want to KET this also healthy.

But again, there there seems to be more that needs to change here state university officials, post-secondary education officials have said that they do still feel like the university is going in the right direction here.

But this is just a little another little blemishes.

Just what's what exactly is going on in the administration in case you're right now.

>> And I do have a new president, we should note and that the Kentucky General Assembly did allocate 23 million dollars to help them kind of get out of some of those financial troubles.

It is a land grant University and it's the only publicly funded HBCU historically black College University last item for discussion as we get to the session, we're hearing more and more about what could be considered when lawmakers convene on January.

2nd, a bill that Senator Whitney Westerfield, who was the current chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has been working with a mass shooting survivor in Louisville, Whitney Austin, who is very familiar to people who watch KET Turkey tonight, Kentucky Edition.

What are they wanting to push when it comes to gun safety?

>> The Courier Journal did a story on this.

It's it's been a periodic issue that's been a race to the legislation but hasn't really gotten a lot of traction in recent years.

But every tragic shooting that happens, whether in Kentucky around the around the country of brings this discussion back up.

And it's important to remember the old National Bank shooting earlier this year.

So this one policy, a so-called red flag law, although supporters of this are not calling it that anymore, they're trying to use crisis diversion.

And Ed writes, Retention Act, is this a little bit more palatable, says some people that otherwise oppose this kind of policy.

But what it's intended for us to allow family friends or other people in the community to petition to a law enforcement officer saying that somebody is going through something and should have shouldn't.

It is a threat to themselves or others and should have their firearms temporarily taken away from them so that they would go through a law enforcement officer who then petitioned to a court at this time.

And there are really what they're trying to do for this bill does is create a pretty straightforward are due process system for that person who is allegedly going through crisis.

Touche, too, to be able to test themselves and able to get their farms back or at the right to return to do again, this comes out over and over again after these types of mass shootings.

And then earlier this year that the that shooting at Old National Bank in Louisville is is just another example of somebody who is that is as reporting has shown there was going through some pretty obvious crises and was able to very easily buy a shortly before this terrible incident took place.

there's been a lot of thinking a lot about the kids have been pushing for creating some way some other way in which people who are seeing these problems to intervene in trying to prevent such a terrible tragedy from taking it right.

>> And we should say that Whitney Austin, who was working with Senator Westerfield, she survived a mass shooting a few years ago of a bank in Cincinnati, which she was the vice president at the time.

So she has been a really, really pushing for this for a long time.

Even when Senator Morgan McGarvey was a state senator before he went to Congress.

And also what Senator Paul Harbach of Shelby County.

So this has been around for awhile.

Different versions, of course.

But we'll see where it gets this time around.

24, thank you as always, Roland Martin for joining us.

Have a happy and safe Thanksgiving >> you too.

Thanks to an end.

♪ ♪ >> Governor Andy Beshear is getting more national attention since his election victory, November 7th.

He appeared on MSNBC this week and discussed the role transgender issues played in the Kentucky governor's race.

The governor said he thought the Republican message went too far.

>> And turned off many voters.

Think about what some people are doing trying to.

>> De humanized other human beings trying to turn people against each other to to even foster hate and anger towards another American here.

Another Kentucky N Y.

So you can like one more person that has a certain letter behind their name.

So this can't be right and left.

Some things have to be basic right and wrong.

And we've got to get our politics back to where we asked the basic question of right and wrong.

There's got to it's got to be limits.

I mean, this can't be a rule is type of game because it's so much more than a game.

Ask any of these kids.

>> Governor Beshear called the anti-trans tone of the campaign.

Quote, I mean.

The Salvation Army's red kettle season began.

Yesterday.

Governor Beshear was on hand for the campaign kickoff at the state Capitol.

He signed a proclamation declaring Salvation Army Red Kettle Month and he posted this statement, quote.

The Salvation Army's red Kettles and bells are a sign that Christmas is around the corner.

It was great kicking off the season with the Salvation Army reminding everyone we can all donate and volunteer to help our fellow Kentuckians together, we can make a difference.

Well, the biggest shopping day of the year is just on the horizon.

Kentucky Edition reached out to an expert to see just how Black Friday has changed and what consumers should look out for while Christmas shopping this year.

>> The Holiday Creek, as I think we kind of experience it it seems like the sales and the promotion for those sales is happening sooner and sooner every year.

This how it could have a couple from the consumer standpoint, it can be a good thing because you have.

A little bit more time to plan now.

What are you going to buy?

What are you going to prioritize it?

Can the inside of that could be you feel like, oh, I've got all the shopping opportunities and I'm going to be buying all the time.

So you completely blow your budget because it's this big sale month determining whether something is really a deal is really tough.

And it requires the consumer to do not just comparison across other websites, but using something like a price tracker or going to websites that where you can enter in the product.

And I can tell you, hey, this is the prices.

Tree requires something like that, which is hard to do because yes, a product may be advertised as 30% off right now.

And that seems like a great deal.

But guess what?

It's 30% off every other month.

And so maybe it's not as good a deal as the retailer would like you to think.

And retailers definitely benefit from us thinking that a deal is not going to last very long.

It requires some seeking out of good resources.

So there are websites that provide price-tracking in prices tree for many Web browsers.

There are plug-ins that can be installed.

That might you know, when you're on the website, give you more information about that prices tree or what might be available at other retailers.

So technology can really be your friend in terms of price comparison and then prices tree analysis were already neck deep in the sales.

So if you haven't created a budget yet, create one now and write it out.

You know, not just your phone, not just on a computer, but write it out on paper and pencil.

You know, right now who you're going to be purchasing for what you're wanting to purchase and really stick to that list.

Stick to that budget and use.

That is the commitment device in order to to help you say, OK, I'm just going to purchase teams these things and not what it Cree Bowden, you know, a result in lots of unplanned purchases.

Easier said than done.

>> According to a survey from YouGov, a 52% of American shoppers plan on skipping Black Friday sales altogether this year.

♪ ♪ In downtown Lexington, you can hear the sounds of traffic pedestrians and a typewriter.

Curtis Kaiser's sets up with an old typewriter and types out pollen and spore.

Anyone who walks by join us for this week's tapestry.

As we learn about the art of impromptu poetry.

>> I'm out here, typewriter, poetry for anybody that walks 5 for free.

Absolutely.

For free.

So.

They'll give me a prompt.

Respond with a home and I don't make them ahead of time either.

So every single home for somebody is immediate and whatever learn from them is what they get.

There is no, hey, already got this.

Here you go.

There was no catalyst, really other than the city going on.

Typewriters I can think and I can write.

We'll see if I get why pushing for free and see if that makes people have.

You're not to think about this one.

I didn't see it somewhere.

First.

But I know it can't be that original idea, because like I was a very easy thought to have somebody has to do that.

But I won't let that stop me from doing it on my own.

I have 0 coaching background.

Absolutely 0.

And I haven't read too much poetry there.

My day job as a mechanical engineer.

So the structural installations on helicopters and working with structural installers doing very hard to find physical.

Things is far different than this, which is a very open.

And it prompted based just think of something.

What kind of role so that very analytical day job.

Can sometimes help do this because it's a very linear thought think the staff make this right.

This is a subject cool.

>> But then this is also very do what you want.

I just think it's something where his work as a very constrained environment, the lack of constraints here is somewhat of a relief where you can just do what you want.

I found, but it's surprisingly appeals to people that I would not have thought would have liked poetry or like a thought that I would have done it.

You know, hearing the engineer does not think that's for me now.

>> At first glance, like dude, how do you do souls noise of random shuffle that it's not as bad as you may think?

There's quite a few distractions.

The work of people heading up on me like I'm a computer.

>> And also saying, hey, we've got this problem over here site.

This is actually not that attractive environment because it's there's one person here.

They only want one thing and it's a very won't want to change.

Will subject.

Here's the poll and other people, Sarah traffic that it doesn't.

It's OK, I can shut that out and kind of do this.

I can.

I will.

I know that for sure.

My spirit remains a light and above all, staying here.

What I hope to give out is some sense of positive outlook on life like a while.

This just happened for free.

And I got in there was nothing expected of it.

Hoping to get out.

Hope we get a positive outlook on things.

Also open the show.

Hey, you can prove you can be creative.

It's allowed.

It's all right.

You can do it.

Nobody can make out here.

It's it's are people receptive and that anybody can do it, too.

Because if I'm out here so speeds and your guy, we must be able to do this.

But here I am just trying.

You can try to.

So it's trying to get some kind of searching out a stray out there for want to get on track stuff.

You can do it.

>> Kaiser says he's currently in talks with several indoor locations around Lexington to KET the spontaneous poetry going even through the winter months.

>> Well, a special Kentucky edition is on the way on Thanksgiving.

There was a time when the future often looked bleak for retired race horses.

But that has changed when the old friends farm opened 20 years ago, you'll hear from the man who made it all possible right here tomorrow on Kentucky EDITION.

We do hope you'll join us again tomorrow night at 6.30, east earned 5.30, central for Kentucky Edition where we inform connect and inspire.

You can subscribe to our weekly Kentucky Edition email newsletter and watch full episodes and clips a KET Dot Org.

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

Send us a story idea at public affairs at KET Dot Org.

You can follow KET on Facebook X, formerly known as Twitter and Instagram to stay in the latest.

We do.

Thank you for joining us this evening.

Have a great Thanksgiving.

♪ ♪ ♪ >> Thank you, guys.

You know, make it Super Easy.

I will.

Thank you for saying, Max.

I did not have time to rush it.