>> I'm a personal example of what it can do, how it can change.

A whole generation.

>> Should Kentucky adopt universal preschool?

This school superintendent says yes.

>> The next thing I remember is someone saying your daughter's gone.

>> How one state lawmaker wants to prevent distracted driving deaths in Kentucky.

>> There's a 1 in 4 chance that the cashier who is helping you purchase your groceries, or the cook who is making your food at a restaurant, is using SNAP to feed their own family.

>> Our Kentucky Tonight panel separates Food Stamp fact from food stamp fiction.

>> This is a symposium to honor doctor Will William Marksberry.

>> Plus, researchers gathered at the University of Kentucky to discuss dementia and aging.

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

>> Good evening and welcome to Kentucky edition for Tuesday, November the 4th.

I'm Renee Shaw.

We thank you for spending some of your Tuesday night with us.

Governor Andy Beshear pre-K for all initiative is drawing support from some leaders across the state.

The initiative would expand access to preschool education to all four year olds in Kentucky, according to Beshear.

More than 60,000 Kentuckians have written letters in support of universal pre-K.

Our Emily Sisk sat down with two Northern Kentucky leaders to hear why they support the initiative.

>> In my opinion, this would be a great equalizer in a sense.

>> Covington Independent Schools Superintendent Alvin Garrison is a staunch supporter of the pre-K for all initiative.

He believes it will set a firm foundation for all Kentucky children.

>> For us, we are a low income district.

I think we're about 90% free and reduced lunch.

Our kids are more than likely less prepared compared to their wealthier peers.

>> Garrison, who is a member of the pre-K for all advisory committee, pointed to the data of kids who attend preschool.

>> When you look at graduation rates, they improve with students that attend preschool and college.

The more successful in college are less likely by attending preschool, less likely to be incarcerated to be on special ed.

>> Currently in the Covington Independent School System, preschool is available for families who live up to 160% below the federal poverty line.

It's also available to any 3 or 4 year old with a disability.

>> We cannot serve all the kids out there that probably need it because of the requirements to be eligible.

>> Some critics of pre-K for all initiative wonder if the state has enough teachers to expand its preschool offering.

11% of Kentucky teachers left the profession at the end of the 2023 school year, and almost 50% of principals and superintendents said they regularly used long term substitute teachers to cover vacant positions.

I asked Superintendent Garrison about the teacher shortage, he said.

The pre-K advisory committee is recommending school districts expand their preschool offering when they are ready, which should allow them to prepare enough teachers.

>> It's not like it's a mandate next year, so that gives us plenty of time to develop more teachers.

I think changing some of the certifications.

So maybe teachers that are elementary certified or primary certified could now teach in the preschool.

>> And educators aren't the only ones showing their support for universal pre-K.

63 county judge executives signed a letter to the Kentucky General Assembly in support of the initiative.

One of those was Steve Pendrey of Campbell County.

The Republican leader said universal pre-K will allow more parents to return to work and boost the local economy.

>> Everybody that you can convince to be in the workforce needs to be there.

>> Judge Pendrey believes it may take time to secure a preschool program that delivers financial results for the state.

>> It's going to be difficult to come up with a program that meets needs is affordable enough to gain support out of the legislature.

>> But he believes it's something that can happen.

>> I do know that it's something that that we need.

If Kentucky could get ahead of the rest of the world in something like this, it would provide us an advantage.

>> And Superintendent Garrison, who grew up in Louisville, gave his own testimony on why he believes in preschool for all.

>> I was a student of poverty, inner city student of poverty, and I have preschool opportunities.

I'm a personal example of what it can do, how it can change a whole generation.

That was because I got a strong foundation early on from preschool.

>> It will be up to the Kentucky General Assembly to provide the funds needed to establish universal pre-K for Kentucky edition.

I'm Emily Sisk.

>> Thank you Emily.

The Campbell County judge executive said he hopes public preschools can work with private child care centers to ensure they stay in business.

Preschool education was also the topic of a legislative committee meeting and Frankfort today.

Kentucky Department of Education officials told lawmakers they've not yet fleshed out all the details for what universal pre-K might look like in the state.

State Senator Danny Carroll, a Republican from Paducah, says that's in part because of a disconnect in the governor's messaging.

>> The governor keeps touting pre-K for all universal pre-K, but he doesn't define what that means.

If it's public pre-K for all, there is a problem with that.

There are substantial costs for infrastructure, for teachers, for transportation, you name it.

Not to mention if it's full day pre-K.

The fact that center, private center, childcare centers all across the state would close their doors because it is the preschool and school age kids are the only ages that early childhood education providers generate any revenue with, and these people are jumping on board.

Governor judges, mayors without knowing what they're jumping on board for and what the cost might be associated with that.

And if if we're really going to get serious about this, we need to all get on the same page.

>> Senator Carroll said he's a strong proponent of early childhood education.

In 2024, he introduced a bill dubbed the Horizons Act.

The ambitious $300 million plan was intended to support Kentucky's child care industry.

Today, he said he's discussed the possibility of reintroducing the bill during the next legislative session.

The 2026 Kentucky General Assembly begins January 6th.

Now, the heartbreaking story of a young child, the victim of a crash caused by distracted driving, is the motivation behind a policy idea of an outgoing state lawmaker.

Senator Jimmy Higdon presented his draft of legislation requiring hands free technology for cell phones while driving.

Our June Leffler has more in this legislative update.

>> Alyssa Byrne's daughter was killed on the highway in 2022.

A truck ran into her vehicle during standstill traffic.

>> I look back at her and she is definitely on her way to sleep.

She's got her binky in her mouth, her cover up to her face and her eyes are slow and steady, and I turn back around and black eye the.

The next thing I remember is someone saying, your daughter's gone.

I'm sorry.

And I remember nothing else for the next few days or even a week.

I don't remember anything else from a brain injury.

So for 1086 days I had an angel on earth.

And that seems like a long time.

But it's not.

It's nowhere near long enough.

>> In 2024, there were 5000 car accidents involving distracted driving.

Someone was injured, and more than 1300 of those accidents and 26 people died.

>> Every time I hear a traffic fatality, either a head on collision, road departure, motorcycle hit by a vehicle, pedestrian hit by a vehicle, or bicyclist hit by a vehicle, I ask myself the question, could this been caused by distracted driver?

And I believe a majority of the times that's what caused the accident is the driver was distracted.

>> A Republican from Lebanon proposed an update to Kentucky's ban on texting while driving, which state lawmakers approved in 2010.

>> Basically, what it does it it makes it unlawful to have a handheld, handheld communication device in your hand.

It does not include a citizen band radio and while operating a, a a vehicle on a public highway in the Commonwealth, that person shall not hold or support with any part of his body.

A mobile electronic device.

He should not read, compose or transmit any text messages.

They can't watch.

Moving images, including, but not limited to, limited to videos, movies and games.

The fines for this violation are $100.

>> The state senator presented the draft legislation to colleagues on a transportation committee Tuesday.

>> But I'm very happy to lend my support to this bill in honor of all the the children and young people and families and mothers and fathers and aunts that we've lost over something so silly.

So God bless you.

And thank you.

>> Senator Jimmy Higdon is approaching his final legislative session in January.

He announced he will not run for reelection next year for Kentucky edition.

I'm June Leffler.

>> Thank you.

Joan.

There is some research that bans on texting while driving do make roads safer.

A 2015 study from the American Journal of Public Health found states had a 7% reduction in crash related hospitalizations after passing such laws.

Dick Cheney, vice president of the United States under President George W Bush, is dead at the age of 84.

Cheney was from Wyoming, but he was no stranger to Kentucky.

He debated Senator Joseph Lieberman and a vice presidential debate held at Center College in Danville in the fall of 2000.

Cheney was a strong but controversial vice president from playing an important role in the U.S.

policy in the post 911 War on Terrorism and the U.S.

war in Iraq.

Governor Andy Beshear has ordered flags lowered to half staff, though they've already been lowered after the death of former Kentucky Governor Martha Layne Collins.

U.S.

Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky commented on Vice President Cheney's passing, saying, quote, America's 46th vice president and president of the Senate will be remembered for decades of deeply patriotic and highly capable service to our Republic from the highest reaches of power in Washington, Dick Cheney served with a profound and humble appreciation for the rules, principles, and institutions that sustain America's experiment in self-governance.

End quote.

We are on the verge of the longest federal government shutdown ever.

The government shut down on October 1st, and today is the 35th day that ties the record set during the first Trump administration, when the government was shut down for part of December 2018 and January of 2019.

If the government is still closed tomorrow, which seems very likely, it would be day 36 and that will break the record.

The Associated Press reports increased talks behind the scenes involving senators in both parties about resolving the dispute about health insurance subsidies at the heart of the deadlock.

Last Friday, Governor Andy Beshear declared a state of emergency as the federal government stopped funding for the SNAP program, better known as food stamps.

It's a program that helps about 600,000 Kentuckians put food on the table.

Last Friday, two judges ordered President Donald Trump to fund the program.

First, he said his administration would partially fund SNAP in November.

Today, he posted something to social media saying he would only release Snap funds when quoting radical left Democrats reopen the government, end quote.

Now, we heard from all sides on this on last night's Kentucky Tonight program, among our guests, there seemed to be a consensus that Snap was a necessary program to help people who need it.

One of our guests, economist Eric Schansberg, questioned whether it needs to be a federal program, though.

>> We're really talking bigger picture about the role of government, and if the government is going to be involved in these kind of things, why is it the federal government?

That's really a bigger question.

Why is this not something that state and local governments handle along with nonprofits?

Federal government has got its own problems and it's already sending the money here.

Why don't we divorce the federal government from that and let state and locals handle that?

And we don't have these problems going forward.

>> So that's very interesting perspective.

You say the state should just handle this money altogether.

Get the federal government out of it entirely.

>> Yeah.

What's the philosophical, ethical, practical reason of the federal government providing it?

I mean, it's an artifact of what we did 60 years ago and the origins of the federal efforts here are to keep USDA bureaucrats with jobs.

That was the main reason we did this federal back in the day.

But what's the reason today to have it a federal program?

Maybe you do block grants and send us the money and let us run it.

But we I think the ideal thing would be for each state to run 50 different Democratic experiments, to see how best to handle poverty, and having the federal government just sending money to states risks the sort of problems we're seeing today.

>> Some of the other panelists questioned whether Kentucky state government could take on a program of that scope.

Another guest, Dustin Pugel of the progressive leaning Kentucky Center for Economic Policy, discussed the myths about the Snap program.

He says despite what many people may think, illegal immigrants do not get Snap benefits.

And he talked about some other myths.

>> The other, I think common misconception is that adults who participate in the Snap program are not working.

You know, you hear this a lot when there's debate around, you know, who should a work reporting requirement applied to, you know, who is using these programs?

The fact of the matter is, you know, there are about 190,000 workers in Snap participating households.

There's a 1 in 4 chance that the cashier who is helping you purchase your groceries, or the cook who is making your food at a restaurant, is using snap to feed their own families while they're helping feed yours.

So, you know, I think it's really important to recognize the role that snap plays among working Kentuckians.

The remainder are are folks who are disabled.

They're seniors who need help with their groceries or their children in those households.

So, you know, Snap really is an important program that supports working Kentuckians.

I think the other thing to recognize is that Snap, besides being the most powerful anti-hunger tool we have, it's a pretty powerful economic tool.

So we spent about $1.1 billion through federal dollars in Kentucky at 4700 retailers across the state.

That money is generated right in their broader economy.

So, you know, grocery store workers and truck drivers and farmers then use those dollars to pay their own bills.

And so it really ends up being an important economic engine, particularly during downturns.

>> You can see more of last night's informative snap discussion online on demand at ket.org.

Tonight, a program designed to get fresh food to more people in Lexington is celebrating a milestone.

The city's mobile market just turned two years old.

It's a collaboration between the city of Lexington, Kroger and God's Pantry Food Bank to get food to people in areas with very few grocery stores.

Leaders say EBT and Snap benefits account for more than 36% of the transactions at the mobile market.

>> Over a third of all transactions used to purchase groceries here.

Are you paid for using EBT and Snap benefits?

As you know, the government is still in shutdown.

Nearly 600,000 Kentuckians receive Snap benefits and rely on Snap benefits to purchase groceries.

That is especially true here with the mobile market.

For many, Snap benefits are a lifeline to be able to afford groceries and provide for their families.

We're hopeful that the disruption of Snap benefits is temporary and can be fully restored.

>> And it is more than just a single aisle grocery store on wheels, really.

For people, it offers hope.

It offers opportunity, and I am so thankful to our partners for helping us address food insecurity in areas where there may not be much in the way of access to fresh food.

>> The mobile market is stocked with 300 different items.

You can find out where it will be next at God's pantry.org.

A sheriff says his deputies are underpaid and leaving as a result.

Our Toby Gibbs tells us more in this look at headlines around Kentucky.

>> The McCracken County sheriff says he's losing deputies over pay.

Sheriff Ryan Norman is urging the fiscal court to support higher wages.

According to The Sun, Norman made a case for raises at Monday's fiscal court meeting.

He says two deputies just left the department for higher paying jobs in other counties.

Norman says a deputy starting pay in McCracken County is $48,000 a year, while it's 49,000 in Graves County and higher on some city police departments.

Nine Head Start centers will stay open past November 1st, despite the federal government shutdown.

The nine are run by the Central Kentucky Community Action Council.

Some are in Radcliff and Elizabethtown.

The News Enterprise says the board of directors is using $1 million line of credit from people's Bank to keep the centers open.

The Bowling Green Daily News reports.

Western Kentucky University is eliminating some so-called living learning communities on campus in order to comply with the Kentucky General Assembly's House bill for.

Under the program, students with similar interests could live on the same floor of a residence hall.

But after the passage of the law, LGBTQ plus students will no longer be able to live in an area known as Stonewall.

Suites and Western will also remove its Intercultural Student Engagement Center.

A one man show Coming to Pikeville will tell the story of one of Eastern Kentucky's best known public advocates, stumbling Stones.

The John Rosenberg Story is an 80 minute play that describes the Floyd County native's escape from Nazi Germany and his support for civil rights workers in Mississippi, the News Express reports.

The play is written by and stars Jeff Sher.

With headlines around Kentucky.

I'm Toby Gibbs.

>> Some of the top minds in dementia and Alzheimer's research gathered in Lexington recently for the 15th annual Markesbery Symposium on Aging and Dementia.

We caught up with some of the speakers to find out more about their work and the findings they shared with other researchers.

More on that in our next chapter series that explores the rewards and challenges of growing older.

>> This is a symposium to honor doctor Will William Markesbery, who was the founder of the Sanders Brown Center on Aging.

And it's a scientific symposium to discuss Alzheimer's disease and related dementias.

Sanders Brown center really is this positioned center who enables us to get information and give information to the surrounding world.

So the world of experts out there, they give us so much, they give us expertise, they give us diagnostic tests, they give us therapies, and we can give that to the community.

>> A lot of the risk factors for Alzheimer's disease are known.

There is a genetic component.

So it runs in families.

There's specific genes that we know of that can be predictive.

History of concussion and head injury may be contributory.

Basically anything that's bad for the brain enhances risk of cognitive decline of aging.

That may be due to Alzheimer's pathology, or it may be due to other age related risk factors and disorders.

>> What it was previously thought of is it was one disease caused all that dementia, but it turns out that it's actually much more complicated than that.

There's differences between individuals and there's differences, even in individual, for how many different pathologies can be going on.

>> So we've learned a lot since Alois Alzheimer described it over 100 years ago, where all he saw were the plaques and tangles.

We see more proteins now, we see more vascular disease.

So we know a lot more about what's happening in the brains of older people and their different trajectories of either stability or decline.

>> So there's a lot of work going on in prevention right now.

What there's two tracks here.

One is lifestyle modifications.

So that's a healthy diet like the mind diet or other diets that have been optimized for healthy aging.

Another is exercise, which is incredibly beneficial for just about everything.

Healthy sleep hygiene and also social and cognitive stimulation.

Right now, we don't have therapies that are approved for preclinical stages of disease before people have symptoms, but that may be coming in the future.

>> There's a lot of work going on in the field in multiple different realms.

So in prevention and therapy, in mechanism, in the biology underlying this impairment.

And there's still research being done in how to care for people.

What's great about today really covered the full spectrum of what can we do to prevent, what can we do to diagnose, what can we do to treat.

>> The Marksbury Symposium on Aging and Dementia was a two day event.

Saturday was the community event where speakers shared current findings, trends, and the latest updates on dementia and healthy brain aging with the public.

The Los Angeles Dodgers are once again World Series champs, and there's a cool Kentucky connection you just might not know about.

More in tonight's sports news.

The Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5 to 4 in game seven last Saturday night, making them the first team in 25 years to win back to back World Series titles.

The winning run, an 11th inning homer by Kentucky native Will Smith.

Smith is from Louisville and played college ball for the Cardinals.

Go, Cardinals!

The champ gets a stamp.

The U.S.

Postal Service will honor heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali, a Louisville native with two different forever postage stamps to be released next year.

Both of them are based on Associated Press photos of Ali from 1974.

In a statement, Ali's wife, Lonnie Ali, who is also the co-founder and interim CEO of the Muhammad Ali Center, said, quote, these stamps are a beautiful reminder of his courage, his compassion and the values that continue to guide our work at the Muhammad Ali Center.

End quote.

We have talked a lot about SNAP, better known as the Food Stamp Program, in recent weeks.

Well, tomorrow on Kentucky edition, we'll take an in-depth look at what SNAP is, how it works, who is eligible, and who uses the program.

A closer look at SNAP that's coming up tomorrow, Wednesday on Kentucky edition, which we hope you'll tune in again for at 630 eastern, 530 central, where we inform, connect and inspire.

We hope that you'll connect with us all the ways you see on your screen, on the social media channels Facebook, Instagram and X. 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 mobile phone and other smart devices.

And of course, you can stream a lot of our programs online on demand at ket.org.

I'll be joining you tomorrow from the Louisville studio, and I sure hope I will see you right back here again tomorrow night.

In the meantime, take really good care.

Have a good night.