>> Well, the cleanup is mostly done in eastern Kentucky, but we just awarded 20 million dollars to reimburse them for the debris removal.

>> Times of downed trees and building scraps have been removed from the stern, Kentucky after the massive flooding.

But does more remain.

Just try to make the next right decision.

What Kentucky's re elected Lieutenant Governor is saying about her own political future.

>> Well, I think that's part of the bravery of the whole thing.

Is them being vulnerable and brave?

>> And music can help students learn many things, including confidence.

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

The only entered Press Endowment for Public Affairs and the KET Millennium Fund.

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

The 28th I'm Renee Shaw.

Good to be back with you and thank you for spending some of your Tuesday night with us.

The 2023 election is behind us.

But we have plenty of political news tonight.

As we look ahead to 2024 Kentucky's Republican Party chair is stepping down.

Mack Brown led the state GOP for the last 8 years.

According to the Lexington Herald-Leader Brown emailed his resignation to the Republican State Central Committee last night.

He wrote, quote, Now is the time for me to step down from the chairman position to allow new and fresh leadership to the party.

Brown's announcement comes just weeks after Democratic Governor Andy Beshear won reelection and a statement executive director for the Republican Party of Kentucky said Brown was influential in Kentucky politics helping to flip control of the statehouse for the first time in nearly a century, unquote.

And we told you yesterday that State Representative Josie Raymond of Louisville, a Democrat, will not seek another term 2024, she will run instead for the Louisville Metro Council.

The Courier Journal reports that former state representative Mary Lou Marzian will now Ron for Raymond seat Mars.

And he's also a Democrat.

Redistricting.

Put both Raman and Marzian and House district.

41 so Mars and bowed out of the race in 2022. and a statement to Mars and said, quote, It's been hard watching the attacks on public education, the LGBTQ+ community abortion, access labor and our city.

I have the experience, legislative knowledge and passion to once again be a strong voice for our community and quote.

When Governor Andy Beshear is inaugurated in 2 weeks, he'll be the 3rd governor to serve 2 consecutive terms.

But his Lieutenant Governor is also making history.

Jacqueline Coleman will be the first woman to serve 2 terms.

Does she want the top spot?

I posed that question to her when she stopped by our studios earlier today.

What's going to be for you after these 4 years because you have to already decided some time.

>> Given the fact that there was almost a 60 million dollar race and 2023 in order to build up a war chest in order to build up your profile even more than you have now.

When will you decide when will you announce that you run for governor of Kentucky?

I've never been one to plan.

So far ahead.

I really do.

Just try to make the next right decision.

And that has led me to where I am today.

And so I'd like to say that that's working so far.

So I really do try to take that next step like the next right decision in and see where it takes me.

And so that's what I'll KET And and to me, that is that's what leads me where I'm supposed to be.

And, you know, at and daddy say you never want to get to out to farmers.

Keys, And so that's what I'll KET doing.

And when the time comes, I think the decision will be clear, but that time is not right now.

We've got so many things that we have to accomplish to finish up all of this.

All of the progress we've made in this first term.

And to me, that's what's going to shape the second term as the legacy of the Bashir coma administration and making sure that we we submit that and that build off of this economic success that we make sure that we KET prioritizing public education.

Those are the things that have made us successful.

And those are the things that we're going to KET focusing on and all that other stuff will come.

Some of that.

I just recall on election night being another side of the studio and saying the victory hold between you and the governor and there were conversations about not just these 4 years, but the next 4 years for both of you, possibly national stage for the governor and possibly a bigger stage for you.

Lieutenant Governor, all due respect.

Have you not thought about being the state CEO?

So this seat offers me a unique opportunity.

It offers me a window into that that world it offers me a state aside.

The CEO, And of pay attention.

Of course, I think about strategizing.

I think about how I can help and assist and advise and that's my job.

But again, at the end of the day, you know, these are decisions that really shouldn't be made right now, in my opinion, because the landscape of Kentucky is going to change the landscape of the country is going to change.

You never know what issue is going to creep up that you never saw coming.

If anyone knows that it's us.

And so again, it's really truly about making that next right decision thinking about being mindful about it, but also keeping an open mind to opportunities out there.

We also talked about how her history-making win could inspire other women to pursue elected office.

>> And she was open about dealing with what's called Imposter Syndrome.

Feelings of self-doubt about her political success.

You don't doubt that you could be a governor.

A good governor to you.

>> I would say I doubt myself just in the day to day-to-day ways that are pretty common for But have loved this this opportunity.

I have loved this role.

And think about how I might be able to find myself in service throughout the second term and in the future, I probably will still doubt what I will always always remember to do.

I would tell my younger self today.

Yeah.

Just do it.

Afraid, right?

Right.

>> Now you can see my full interview with the Lieutenant Governor a week from Sunday.

That's December.

The 10th on connections at 11:30AM, Eastern Time.

10:30AM, Central.

>> And other political news, Eric Deters who ran in the Republican primary for governor last spring says he has really registered as an independent and a Facebook video.

He suggests he'll run against Republican Congressman Thomas Massie next year in the 4th Congressional district.

And that video Dieter says he's been a Democrat or Republican and an independent in the past.

He says it's not about parties.

>> You know, just changing your party registration doesn't change anything about the individual, what they are and who they board when they do I'm no different today than I was yesterday.

Who am I?

I am a very independent minded conservative libertarian.

America.

First.

Fighting for the little guy.

Can it?

I'm very unique in that the Republican establishment is not for the little guy.

The Democratic establishment is not for the little guy.

>> Now Deters finished 4th in the Republican primary for governor winning about 6% of the vote.

Before Thanksgiving.

The U.S. House and Senate voted to fund the government into the new year.

But that spending plan did not include more money for Ukraine or Israel.

U.S.

Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky says Congress needs to show the political will to do what's right and what's in America's best interests.

>> brutal conquest.

But the Race.

Trump started the sponsor of terrorism has continued to underwrite an alarming surge in a time or newest version old in Iraq and Syria.

Who was the barbaric and time a lot of Hamas is not deterred.

Even during a temporary pause in fighting.

There is clearly determined with the Rams film the wide Israel off the map, quote, to the river to the sea.

>> Senator McConnell says America has to work on these international conflicts.

All it wants with stakes being too high to deal with one crisis at a time.

A new morning consult poll of voters in each of the 50 states shows Senator Mitch McConnell is the least popular U.S.

Senator in America.

According to the poll, Senator McConnell's approval rating in Kentucky.

It's 29% with 65% of Kentuckians disapproving.

The remaining 6% are undecided.

Now by comparison, Senator Rand Paul has an approval rating of 47% with 40% disapproving.

The chairman of the U.S. House Oversight Committee says an offer from Hunter Biden to testify publicly before Congress doesn't satisfy a subpoena.

They sent him amid an impeachment inquiry into his father.

President Joe Biden, Representative James Comer of Kentucky says he expects the president's on to fully cooperate with the demand for a closed door interview.

Hunter Biden has offered to testify publicly as Republicans pursue an impeachment inquiry into his father.

He says closed door.

Sessions can be manipulated into a one-sided release of information according to him, the high stakes faceoff comes during an impeachment inquiry that has so far failed to uncover evidence directly implicating President Joe Biden in any wrongdoing.

Now back to Kentucky.

The 2020 flights throughout the Stern, Kentucky left behind hundreds of thousands of tons of troublesome debris that blocked roads and clogged waterways.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency or FEMA announced last week that it's getting the state nearly 21 million dollars to pay for some of that debris removal.

But as Kentucky additions, June Leffler reports the money can only pay for what's already been cleaned up, not for what's still left behind.

>> Well, the cleanup is mostly done in eastern Kentucky, but we just awarded 20 million dollars just over 20 million dollars to Kentucky emergency management to reimburse them for the debris removal.

>> The funds will pay for some of the work done in the first 4 months of the disaster.

>> So they were dates that it would be completed at.

And so it was months ago.

But the paperwork, usually it's the thing that takes the longest.

>> State agencies and their hired contractors did that work?

Kentucky emergency Management said it is, quote, grateful for the hard work of the transportation Cabinet.

And FEMA's dedication to the debris mission from catastrophic floods in eastern Kentucky.

This award will reimburse existing costs incurred during response and recovery efforts.

The transportation cabinet was charged in deployed to remove debris from the roadways and waterways.

The mission that spanned for one year at this time.

Local officials are responsible for managing any remaining debris.

Eastern Kentucky officials say cleanups are coming to a close but not everyone had their scraps picked up.

Jerry Stacy is Perry County's emergency management director.

>> That they are some.

properties that so.

You know, I think the people that have opportunity to speak to.

Because of the impact of the displacement, was it, you know, able to you know, maybe everything there, but it.

But once utilize the, you know, it made a huge difference.

There's no question.

>> Floyd County Judge executive Robbie Williams said, quote, We really did a good job of removing debris, but many of our neighboring counties still have a lot of issues.

>> Everything that FEMA will pay for has already been picked up and Now we're in the stage where if there's some kind of unmet need, then the long-term recovery groups in each of the communities work with nonprofits to clean up things that some people might have just started, for instance, cleaning up their houses.

So they obviously missed the cut off for debris removal.

But there are other ways that we can make sure that that where the debris gets picked up.

>> Now FEMA is moving forward with permanent housing solutions in the region.

>> So we're actually selling some of the manufactured housing that people are living in that word.

Disaster survivors were giving them the opportunity to purchase the unit they're living in.

So some people have done that.

There's also 10 people that are eligible to move into Whitesburg.

It's called the cottages at Thompson Branch and they're eligible purchase those units and those hopefully will announced in the next a month or so.

that's going to be community right at the top of the mountain in Whitesburg.

>> The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet official told lawmakers earlier this year that total debris removal has cost 200 million dollars which came from the state's rainy day fund for Kentucky edition.

I'm John Leffler.

>> Thank you, June.

Now we're nearing the two-year anniversary of another natural disaster in the state.

The 2021 tornadoes that devastated Western Kentucky, the most still working on that disaster.

It announced last week that its reimbursing the state 1.9 million dollars that it spent to restore Mayfield, electrical and water systems.

Last month.

Governor Andy Beshear's office said nearly 150 home building projects are underway or completed to house those displaced by the tornadoes.

♪ >> And what the numbers say about Kentucky hospitals, worker shortage.

And how is the flu looking in Kentucky so far this flu season?

Our Toby gives has some answers to those questions.

And this look at headlines around Kentucky.

♪ ♪ >> Kentucky Department for Public Health's weekly Respiratory Illness report shows emergency department visits for respiratory illnesses in the state increased for the 6 week in a row.

According to the Commonwealth Journal, the report shows those visits increased to 3,160 for the week that ended November.

12th.

There were 1336 flu cases and 669 RSP cases reported COVID-19 cases decreased to 1155 from 1209.

The report said in that same week, Kentucky reported 3,053 laboratory confirmed tests for COVID-19 and 424 laboratory confirmed tests.

Poor the flu.

The Kentucky Hospital Association's annual Workforce survey report says Kentucky had about 13,000 job vacancies and hospitals at the end of 2022, the Kentucky Lantern reports that Kha President Nancy Galvagni said in a news release.

The shortage has hit Kentucky, quote, Especially hard.

The report also found that the non physician hospital workforce at a 15% vacancy rate in 2022, it said the level of vacancies means a longer wait times for patients.

2 environmental advocacy groups have raised concerns about Kentucky's carbon footprint from crypto mines, which use large amounts of electricity to compute math equations for validating crypto a digital currency.

Wk MS reports a nonprofit that letter Gates, environmental issues released a report that found Kentucky to be the top producer of carbon dioxide from Crypto minds in the country.

Earthjustice S today, the state's carbon production totals.

3.3 mega tons per year.

A report from the Kentucky Conservation Committee found the Kentucky produce 20% of the nation's crypto mining computing power in 2022, some crypto minds draw most of their energy from coal mines, which contributes to greenhouse gases.

12 Kentucky counties have been selected for post-election audits following the general election to ensure proper protocols were followed.

The Richmond Register reports the attorney general's office drew the names last week.

Deputy Attorney General Vick Matic says this is the first time previously selected counties were included in the drawing following a law passed last year.

The county selected were Fayette Webster Perry.

Fleming, Me Greenup Mercer Hancock, Johnson, Martin Oldham and Grayson.

It's not clear when the audits will be completed.

With headlines around Kentucky, I'm told to get this.

♪ >> Leslie County has close school for the rest of the week.

According to a Facebook post from the school system, it's because of illness and the school system and the community.

The post did not mention any specific illness.

What's your risk of heart failure?

It turns out it may be out of your control.

There's a shift in the way doctors used to think about heart disease on the most recent episode of Kentucky Health host doctor when talks and talks with a cardiologist who says medical professionals are now analyzing genes to determine who may be at risk.

>> Tell me about this family history.

I was not aware to the degree that family history was important.

Any particular mechanism that's going on here.

>> Well, back in the day when I started doing all this, we used to say you ran into a virus.

It's idiopathic meaning we're not sure why you have heart failure rather than a diabetes, hypertension, coronary artery disease.

If your arteries were clean, you didn't have diabetes or hypertension, yet you had heart failure, meaning that you are the pumping function of your heart was less than 50%.

We said you probably had a virus at some point or it's capek.

Well, as that turns out, we've done gene studies throughout the past 2030, years and now we're able to identify certain amount of genes that are pathological for heart failure and now we can identify them.

We can actually say that it's actually not a virus.

It's not a Vo Catholic.

It's some of it is genetic and actually a 3rd of the patients who do not have hypertension, diabetes, you know, typical risk factors.

You just show up with heart failure.

We find a gene that is the problem.

>> This is gene caused other cardiac problems or is it specifically just leads to pump failed?

>> Specifically palm failure, sometimes associated problems, but usually just pump failure.

Now, just because you have the gene doesn't mean you're going to get heart fire.

That's the other thing you can have the gene.

But the G needs to turn on.

So folks who show up who have decreased pumping function, I say did your mom, dad and Uncle Brother, sister, anybody in your family die young on what you know with no cars.

If they say yes, we just swab the inside of her mouth.

Send it off.

We get their gene profile back in 3 weeks away.

Yes, and we can say you either don't have the gene or you do have these teams that are associate with heart failure.

Now, the next trick is to say, well, how does that gene turn on or off if they have heart fires obviously been turned on him and you alluded to some of the things that helped turn genes on.

But health, clean, healthy, clean lifestyle can help KET it off.

>> So when that sentence is.

>> But we don't have it back in the day.

Used to say it was a virus.

It was Catholic.

And now we do know that there are some genetic proclivity to heart failure.

So >> go over again for since the other.

Risk factors in that way.

Before we do, how common is the gene?

Is it the most common cause of heart failure?

Is it in the mix?

What do we really know where you have people with heart failure have traditional risk factors.

Okay.

>> But it still have half of people without heart failure.

Don't have traditional risk factors.

>> that maybe the genetic component.

That's huge.

>> Well, you can learn more on doctor talks and show with Doctor Stephanie.

More online at KET Dot Org.

And you can watch new episodes of Kentucky Health Sundays at one 30 east earned 12, 30 central right here on KET.

♪ A popular musician is helping students learn confidence through music.

Students from the young authors Greenhouse a nonprofit organization for Young writers, got the opportunity to work with Jim James, the lead singer of the Grammy-nominated band.

My Morning jacket along with other musicians, the collaboration turned the students poetry and to a musical celebration.

>> This is a program where we work with students who write poetry they work on the palms for a couple weeks together.

And then we all get together with them and take the words they've written and help them try melted into a song try and help them understand a little bit about that.

>> The meter and the rhyming.

And you know, how do you make a verse?

How do you make a >> His music is so universal and all the students come in loving the music that they all love already in their lives.

So it's cool to kind of watch them take their feelings and their emotions and kind of shape it into the kind of music that they like.

♪ >> We had the culminating performance for our songwriting project with young office greenhouse.

It was my job to help.

The kids catalyze their poems into a song.

I'm actually a really great group this year.

They were really opinionated and how a lot of feedback about the music itself.

So I just pulled all the pieces together for >> helping us so quick.

He's just a week.

You know, I KET we have for it.

For little half-hour sessions and then we have a show on Friday.

So it's pretty light.

>> For the like crazy.

But that's part of the fun of it.

>> Watching from day one to the end of it, just the >> Belief in themselves.

This so beautiful to see them like we did it.

We did because of the beginning like, well, OK, we do this on a and then by the end like this, what did it?

I was really nervous at first, >> because like there's so many people year for me, I do grade.

I just got like a lot of time Take the and maybe some very good summer like 2 and we make >> I kind of putting it in our own ways.

>> It was a hard process because it we had to do all to get ready for it.

And then as we were ready is super easy.

it's a fun we writing what we needed to do in the process of people.

When was this is came here, it was really easier because they helped us to make go will be you want to stay in.

>> This is important because they can see what's possible for them.

>> And they can see just how capable they are.

I think there's so much when you're young, you're like afraid to be embarrassed and to and to give yourself to a cause.

It's a nerve wracking to emote in front of people.

You it's we're all professional musicians and we're nervous to liked to feel the students that's got to be really nerve-racking.

I think that's part of the bravery of the whole thing.

Is them being vulnerable and brave performing and showing that they can do >> The young authors greenhouse has worked with more than 2500 students over the last 6 years.

What a great program.

We have more great stories for you tomorrow night when you join us at 6.30, Eastern 5.30, central for Kentucky Edition, Re inform connect and inspire.

You can check us out with our newsletters and watch full episodes and clips at KET KET Dot Org and follow along with us on Facebook, X and Instagram to stay in the loop.

We thank you so much for watching tonight.

We hope to see you right back here again tomorrow night.

Take good care.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪