>> This is an issue that they face head on every day.

And they they do it anyway.

Knowing this risk.

>> Firefighters face more than flames.

How a career of service can lead to a deadly diagnosis.

>> I do want people to understand that this is not a choice.

This is a disease, just like anything else.

>> How health experts in Kentucky are working to reduce the stigma around substance use disorders.

>> A lot of that.

>> Increase is actually with people taking these other means of transportation.

Interestingly enough.

>> More Kentuckians are expected to cruise through Thanksgiving.

What that means for holiday travel.

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

>> Good evening and welcome to Kentucky Edition for this Monday, November 24th.

A brand new week.

I'm Renee Shaw, and we thank you for joining us this evening.

Being a firefighter is a dangerous job.

That's why a Kentucky group is asking state lawmakers to expand benefits for their children and spouses in the event they die in the line of duty.

As our June Leffler reports, cancer is now the leading cause of death for these first responders.

>> For generations, the public associated a firefighter's death with a tragic fireground event a collapse, an explosion, a rescue gone wrong.

But today, the numbers tell a different story.

Over 65% of firefighters who die in the line of duty today die from occupational cancer.

>> Kentucky law recognizes that when a firefighter is diagnosed with cancer before the age of 65, it's because of their job.

>> Under Kentucky law.

Certain cancers are recognized as presumptively caused by occupational exposure in the fire service.

This includes cancers such as brain, bladder, colon, and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

>> With help from a Northern Kentucky Republican, firefighters are lobbying the state to expand the list of qualified cancers.

>> We respectfully urge the committee to amend Kentucky's current presumptive cancer law to include prostate, pancreatic, thyroid, breast cancer, both for men and women, esophageal multiple melanoma, and other cancers identified by NIOSH and occupational as occupationally linked to firefighting.

>> The surviving spouse and children of a firefighter who dies from job hazards are entitled to a lump sum, partial wage and pension payments, and free in-state tuition.

>> Sometimes I hate coming up here with these bills to expand the cancer diagnoses for firefighters, because I'm really terrified that people will stop going into the profession.

But what I'm hoping is by showing the support and the camaraderie and how much we care about them, that it will keep populations in the firefighting thing.

>> From when I hear from firemen all across the state, especially in Louisville, is they just want to be seen and recognized that this is an issue that they face head on every day.

And they they do it anyway, knowing this risk.

>> Last Thursday, Frankfort lawmakers also heard from a survivor of sexual assault whose case was resolved using a DNA database.

>> I am so fortunate to have justice, but all victims deserve justice and sadly, due to outdated collection policies and DNA technologies, victims and their families will continue to have justice withheld.

So the truth is, if this had happened in Kentucky, you would not have swabbed his cheek in.

My perpetrator would still be free right now to rape, harm and terrorize his next victims.

>> Kentucky and all other states collect DNA from convicted felony offenders.

The DNA Justice Project lobbies for DNA collection upon a felony arrest to help solve crimes and exonerate those wrongly accused.

The chair of the House Local Government Committee has proposed such a change in the past for Kentucky edition.

I'm June Leffler.

>> Thank you.

June.

Kentucky's fallen firefighters are honored at a monument in Frankfort's Juniper Hill Park.

Seven names were added to the monument last year.

Well, in medical news, a third Kentucky infant has now died from pertussis, or whooping cough, within the last year.

That's according to the state's cabinet for Health and Family Services.

There have been more than 560 cases of the highly contagious respiratory infection in Kentucky this year.

That's the largest spike the state has seen since 2012.

Health officials say one reason for the increase is a decline in vaccination rates.

The cabinet confirms all three infants to die from the virus in Kentucky this year were not vaccinated, and neither were their mothers.

Whooping cough vaccinations are required for Kentucky school children.

Callaway County has rejected a plan to let students spend school time on religious instruction, Todd reports.

The Callaway County Board of Education unanimously rejected the proposal last week.

Lifewise Academy is a national nonprofit that offers Bible based instruction to public school students during the school day.

The instruction is privately funded, occurs off school property, and requires a parent's permission.

It's allowed in Kentucky after the passage of Senate Bill 19, but Callaway County board members say they were concerned about lost instructional time, student safety, and added responsibility for the district.

Some school districts have approved this program, others have rejected it.

A Southern Kentucky school district, the fourth largest in the state, officially opened its first designated preschool center this semester.

Dozens of community leaders and supporters gathered today in Bowling Green for the official ribbon cutting.

Our Laura Rogers tells us more about how the school district is helping kids grow from preschool to profession.

>> Research tells us that the basis of learning occurs from the time a child is born, until they're five years old.

>> More than 475 children ages three and four are getting kindergarten ready at Warren County Public Schools New Early Learning Academy.

>> They're going to enter school ready, ready to learn, ready to be a success.

>> The Academy provides full day preschool for students who qualify.

>> At three years old.

Our students can come based on a suspected disability and then at four years old, our preschoolers are eligible based on income or disability.

>> In addition to typical preschool classrooms, the academy also has learning spaces devoted to fine arts, Stem subjects, and a culinary lab.

>> The children are building and they're talking with one another, and they're creating that.

>> Collaboration is a pivotal part of the learning environment.

Building social skills along with academics.

>> We are working not just with our ABCs and our one two threes, but we are teaching our students the love of learning and how to build friendships, how to do school, how to make it enjoyable and fun.

>> Also focused on fun.

A new playground called the Amy and David Chandler Preschool to Profession Hub.

>> I am so proud to be a Warren County public school kid.

>> It absolutely is a model for the world.

Their preschools that are embedding the leadership culture into their curriculum, but none like what Warren County is doing.

>> The Early Learning Academy plans to soon add more classroom space, enrolling more than 500 students by the end of the school year.

For Kentucky Edition, I'm Laura Rogers.

>> Thank you so much, Laura.

The school district also cut the ribbon for its new Little Learners mobile classroom bus that takes preschool learning on the road to locations across the county, moving to a different part of the state.

Eastern Kentucky tourism is a big part of that region's economy, with attractions ranging from music to history to gorges and waterfalls.

Our Toby Gibbs takes a look at what's bringing in tourists and their money.

>> Eastern Kentucky is home to more than a dozen of Kentucky's 44 state parks and one national park, the Cumberland Gap National Historical Park, where Kentucky, Virginia and Tennessee meet.

Hikers and bikers can meander through 85 miles of trails.

It's believed 300,000 people crossed the Appalachians there to settle what was then called the West.

See the Niagara of the South at Cumberland Falls State Resort Park, where Whitley County meets McCreary County.

And there's the Grand Canyon of the South Breaks Interstate Park five miles east of Elkhorn City, with hiking, biking, boating, and fishing.

Kingdom Come State Park in Harlan County is known for Raven Rock and log Rock, which looks like a fallen tree.

The Red River Gorge Canyon System in the Daniel Boone National Forest includes sandstone cliffs, rock shelters, and waterfalls.

Nearby natural bridge spans 78ft and stands 65ft high.

There's canoeing and kayaking along Pike County's Hatfield and McCoy trail, named for the famous feud waged from 1863 to 1891, with death numbers estimated at everything from 12 to 20 to 60.

Named for a pioneer woman who escaped after 11 months of captivity by a group of indigenous tribes living in the area.

The Jenny Wiley State Park in Prestonsburg has trails, cottages, and campgrounds.

Cruise down country music.

Highway 23 near the birthplace of music legends old and new, on your way to the US.

23 Country Music Highway Museum in Paintsville.

Some of country music's brightest stars hail from the hollers, and their sounds and stories are often shaped by their experiences.

In eastern Kentucky.

Loretta Lynn, often called the queen of country music, hailed from Butcher Holler in Johnson County.

The late Keith Whitley was from Ashland.

He was considered a pioneer of the late 1980s neo traditional country music before his death at the age of 34.

11 time Grammy winner Chris Stapleton is a singer songwriter born in Lexington and raised in Staffordsville, near Paintsville.

Tyler Childers, who combines Neotraditional, country, bluegrass, folk and honky tonk, was born in Lawrence County, then moved to Paintsville, and Sturgill Simpson, often referred to as a disciple of outlaw country, grew up in Jackson.

For Kentucky edition.

I'm Toby Gibbs.

>> Thank you much, Toby.

And economic development and tourism are topics on Kentucky tonight, and we will take you to Pike, Boyd and Bell counties, where we talk to tourism and economic development officials about how tourism can bolster the Eastern Kentucky economy.

Hear from them, plus our panel of tourism experts, and send us your questions and comments tonight at eight eastern, seven central, right here on Ket's Kentucky tonight.

Health experts and counselors from around the state came together last week for a substance use symposium hosted by the University of Louisville.

Hospital attendees learned about the most recent research on substance use, as well as how to reduce the stigma surrounding the disorders.

>> We're bringing both clinicians in the hospitals and clinicians outside of the hospital together so they can have conversations, dialog, and try to work on reducing stigma for this patient population.

Not only do we have reclaimed recovery seven counties, Healing Place, we also have the Kentucky Board of Nursing here.

We have representatives from all over UofL health, including peace, Mary Elizabeth and such.

So we just have really a lot of different people from the community came together to be able to talk and network, just meeting other people that do this work, the same work that we do, those relationships are so valuable.

>> Whereas possibly there's someone I cannot help.

There's another community partner at the can.

So between the collaborative group of us, we're able to help more people.

So that's the main benefit to being here today.

But also hearing from the front line with UofL health and, you know, just different knowledge that they're sharing in terms of the medical side of this, in addition to, you know, the mental health side of this.

>> Some of these places that only have 4 or 5 people working at it, they don't have a way to do this type of platform.

So we thought, what a wonderful way to get them together, as well as the clinicians that are actually taking care of the patients when they're in the hospital.

And hopefully that way we build bridges and are able to provide more support when these patients leave our walls to go somewhere else where they can get help as well.

I do want people to understand that this is not a choice.

This is a disease just like anything else.

And without getting too deep into the clinical aspects of it, there's almost no difference between this and say, diabetes or any other chronic problem.

It hits those receptors.

You have that craving and there's nothing you can do but meet that craving.

And it takes a lot of work to get out of that cycle.

And we see the same thing with our our diabetic patients, our patients with high cholesterol, any sort of chronic illness.

This is just another one of them.

And the biggest goal of this is to teach the community this is an illness.

>> It can touch anyone at any time.

It doesn't matter the demographic, it doesn't matter the age.

Your previous life experience.

Everyone is susceptible to this.

>> When we started this in 2017, when I was a risk manager, we just knew there was a need, but we didn't know what it was and what to do, and we worked on that for almost ten years now and we've learned a lot of lessons.

We wouldn't want others to have to go through it.

So if we could teach our partners in the community, these are some of the resources you have in order to get better patient outcomes.

That's the biggest goal that we have today, is just to be able to share our knowledge as UVA health.

That's what we do every day.

>> According to the state's Drug overdose Fatality report, more than 1400 Kentuckians died from an overdose last year.

Last year was also the third year in a row that deadly overdoses dropped.

It's a fourth consecutive win for Kentucky in the annual blood drive competition with Tennessee.

It was a back and forth race last week, as you might recall.

In the end, though, Kentucky won by 125 donations.

But the biggest winners are patients who will require the life saving blood in the coming days and weeks.

The Kentucky Blood Center's Big Blue Crush Blood Drive helps blood centers in both states restock their blood supplies ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday.

Go big blue.

As millions of Americans pack their bags for Thanksgiving, travel experts say this year is shaping up to be one of the busiest holiday weekends in recent memories.

Travelers this Thanksgiving may still feel on edge after the historic government shutdown that caused widespread flight cancellations and delays.

And it's not just highways and byways seeing an uptick in travelers, triple A bluegrass tells us a rising interest in cruise vacations is adding a new wave of travelers to an already crowded holiday rush.

>> To be a busy Thanksgiving.

And that's not a surprise, because Thanksgiving is always the busiest travel holiday, as we call them.

When people like to get away, see family and friends.

So here in Kentucky, we're expecting over a million people to travel this Thanksgiving.

And really, the wide majority of those will be going by car.

So a lot of people are planning that road trip.

And we looked at the the forecast covers travel from Tuesday ahead of Thanksgiving through that following Monday.

So with over a million people traveling as far as Kentuckians go, as I said, Kentuckians love their road trip.

We expect about 96% of those to go by car, and then about 2.6% or so will are expected to fly, and then the remainder.

That's just over 1%.

Those folks have decided to take a train, or they are a bus, or they may have booked a cruise.

By far the overwhelming majority will be going by their personal vehicle.

Now, those one 1 million plus Kentuckians expected to travel, they will be a part of almost 82 million people traveling nationwide.

We did see a slight increase in travel this year.

For Kentucky.

We're about 1.6% higher than what we saw in 2020 for for the same number of days over the Thanksgiving travel period.

And nationwide, that's pretty close.

Nationwide, we're seeing about 2% higher.

A lot of that increase is actually with people taking these other means of transportation.

Interestingly enough, when you look at flights and you look at people planning road trips, there are those slight bumps, but more of a bump when you start to look at people that are going by train or bus or a cruise.

And it could be, you know, even though it's not broken out, it could be that the cruise bookings are really kind of pushing that upward compared to even a year ago.

Cruises continue to be very popular with travelers.

That's both in Kentucky as well as across the country.

So as far as Kentuckians who are opting for some of those other modes of transportation, including cruises, we're up about 6%.

So that's pretty significant.

If you look at the national forecast, it's expected to be higher by about 8.6% compared to a year ago.

If you're flying in.

And this is good advice, whether it's the holiday or not, but probably doubly so during the holidays when airports are extra busy because it's a holiday.

Leave the air, leave for the airport earlier than you might on any other given day.

Give yourself another even 30 minutes to get there.

The other big tip that I have, and I say this often if you're flying, download the airline's app.

That way, even before you head out to the airport, you can start to see whether your flight is expected to be on time.

Especially important if you're not flying out early in the morning first thing in the morning, because then you have to also be dependent on that plane coming in from whatever other flight that it was just on.

And so download that airline app and sign up for the alerts.

And that way if there's a gate change, if there's a delay, you'll know right away.

>> Weaver Hawkins says despite the federal government shutdown that caused widespread flight cancellations and delays, there has not been a significant increase overall this year in the number of flight cancellations and delays.

Lights under Louisville is one of the top five holiday light shows in the country, and it's all underground, but that's just one way the Louisville Mega Cavern is being used.

Our Kelsey Starks explores the 100 acre site on inside Louisville.

>> I would say that we use them in different manners and different methods and different seasonalities.

And when you go through lights under Louisville, you drive through a good portion of the cavern.

You don't drive through all of the cavern.

So lights under Louisville is a 1.3 mile track from light to light that does not include your entrance and your egress.

And so.

So when you incorporate that, that's closer to 1.6 miles and things to that effect.

And so I think we use them for different aspects and different seasons, different components.

So one of the things that we have in what we call the raw side of the cavern is we have the reserve salt for both the city and state and the reserve road salt.

So during big winter events, they come and they replenish their their salt domes at our facility.

>> What are some of the you mentioned, some of the things that are in storage there?

What are some of the most interesting things that are down there that people may not know?

>> I think the things that I have to that I can say is that we do have sports memorabilia for local legends.

We do have original film, we do have art, but we also do boat, car and RV storage.

I think that people don't realize that.

And there there is actually a cost benefit with storing with us because they don't have to winterize their boats.

But then we we store all types of stuff from equipment to concrete to, you know, just doing distribution just altogether.

>> Yeah, yeah.

Are there any myths about the cavern, things that you've heard that you can say?

That's not really true.

>> From myths standpoint?

You know, some people think that the cavern is haunted.

Okay.

I can't confirm or deny that.

>> Okay.

No experience.

>> No experiences in that.

>> Okay.

>> But I think that in terms of myths and legends that I know of, I can't.

I can't think of anything.

>> Yeah, yeah.

What are some of the things that people would be surprised to know about the Mega Cavern?

>> I think how large we are.

Right.

And people don't.

People always think it's just a small cave.

People don't realize the magnitude of the cavern and the magnitude of being 100 acres underground.

People, I think, don't realize that we're underneath the Watterson Expressway to Trevilian to Poplar level.

People don't realize that if you're going to the new Severn Bridge that opened up on Poplar level or the Planet Fitness, that you're literally driving over the cavern.

>> Over the mega cavern.

>> And so, so I think there's opportunities there.

>> Lights under Louisville runs through January 3rd, but you can explore the cavern on zip lines, ropes courses, and more all year long.

Learn more about what else is underground Louisville on a future episode of Inside Louisville with Kelsey Starks that airs Sundays at 12 noon 11:00 central right here on KET.

Abraham Lincoln isn't the only president with Kentucky ties.

And when did Kentucky's first TV station go on the air?

Our Toby Gibbs has all that and more.

As we look back at this week in Kentucky history.

>> We don't usually think of President Zachary Taylor as a Kentuckian.

Taylor was born November 24th, 1784, in Virginia, but his family moved to Louisville when he was a baby, and Taylor considered Kentucky his official residence throughout his Army years.

America's 12th president died in office in 1850.

His remains are in a mausoleum in Louisville.

And happy birthday to Governor Ned Breathitt.

Born in Hopkinsville on November 26th, 1924.

As governor from 1963 to 1967, Breathitt signed the Kentucky Civil Rights Act of 1966, the first civil rights act in a southern state.

Fire destroyed Kentucky's first permanent capitol building in Frankfort on November 25th, 1813.

Hatchet wielding Anti-liquor crusader Carrie Nation was born November 25th, 1846, in Kentucky, but she did most of her saloon busting in Kansas.

The Louisville Daily Journal, founded by Henry Clay to promote his candidacy for president, started on November 24th, 1830.

In 1868, it merged with the Louisville Daily Courier and became the Courier Journal.

Kentucky's first TV station, wave TV of Louisville, signed on as an NBC affiliate on November 24th, 1948.

Northern Kentucky's Brant Spence Bridge opened November 25th, 1963.

The bridge is named after a longtime Kentucky congressman.

The University of Kentucky played its first basketball game at Rupp Arena November 27th, 1976.

The Wildcats beat Wisconsin 72 to 64.

Rupp arena ran out of hot dogs by half time, and that's what was going on this week in Kentucky history.

I'm Toby Gibbs.

>> Thank you as always.

Toby Gibbs a special task force focused on finding solutions to Kentucky's housing crisis, just wrapped up its final meeting of the year.

So what changes are they asking state lawmakers to consider in the next legislative session?

We'll find out tomorrow on Kentucky Edition at 630 eastern, 530 central, where we inform, connect and inspire.

We hope that you will connect with us all the ways you see on your screen, Facebook, Instagram and X and other social media channels.

And we encourage you to send us a story idea by email to Public Affairs at ket.org, and look for us on the PBS app that you can download on your smart devices.

And of course, you can stream content online on demand at ket.org.

Make sure you come back at eight or just don't leave us at all.

But at 8:00 we talk about Eastern Kentucky tourism.

We have some great visuals and make you perhaps want to take a trip to Eastern Kentucky in the future.

Stay with us and we'll be back at 8:00 for Kentucky