>> Donald Trump says Republicans need a new Senate leader Mitch McConnell say about that.

>> Every community larger than what the pretty much has now to be T center and a lot of the smaller than normal, too.

And people find a lot of value in those center.

>> Kentucky's largest city gets an LGBTQ center and some say it's long overdue.

We're able to take.

>> We need said never in touch and we can turn it in to police sources after for years.

>> And you'll see a one of a kind school for police horses right here in Kentucky.

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

Leonard Preston Down for Public Affairs and the KET Millennium Fund.

♪ ♪ >> Good evening and welcome to Kentucky EDITION for this Wednesday.

October 12th, I'm Renee Shaw.

Thank you for spending part of your Wednesday night with us.

>> Today the Kentucky Supreme Court heard arguments in a case about a 2021 law that allows people and corporations to donate money to a scholarship fund in exchange.

>> For tax credit up to 97% of their donation.

House Bill 5.63 created the education opportunity accounts or E a program sometimes referred to as scholarship tax credits.

Families can apply for the scholarships and use them toward education expenses under the bill private school tuition is a qualifying expense only in Kentucky's 8th, largest county groups in favor of Iowa said the program will make private school more accessible for low and middle income families.

Others argue the program will take money away from public schools.

The question before the court today was whether the a program violates to parts of the state constitution.

Franklin County Circuit Court Judge Phillip Shepherd ruled the program violates section 59 of the Constitution by only allowing the scholarships to be used in 8 counties.

He also said the law violates Section one.

84 since the program raises money for education other than common schools meeting public schools without first putting the issue to the voters arguing before the Kentucky Supreme Court justices in Shelbyville this afternoon.

Lawyers for both sides laid out their cases.

>> I think the most important point here is a dispute really doesn't have to break any new ground.

Every single section one 84 case that the plaintiffs site even fan and their best case, every single one of those involved public money coming from the Kentucky being spent directly on a private school.

None of them have a situation like this where the taxpayer is simply giving private the nation.

If you accept their theory, not only endangers those tax credits, I don't see how they can salvage the fact the Kentucky regularly its money directly to private schools.

So, for instance, you have a you have this that you have the Kentucky craft Academy, Morehead State.

You have organic on the western Kentucky University.

Give the Kentucky school for the blind in the death.

All of which have been of help.

You also have care is one 57.0, 2, 8, 0 which are making a choice.

Kentucky pointed out that the situation where that could come up with direct least pay students who have special needs to go to private schools where their common schools can't provide those.

None of those programs could could be upheld.

And the plaintiffs steering that even the most indirect form and benefit to a private school is unconstitutional.

What I hear you saying section 2.

Statue, 5.63 House Bill.

>> I'm 6, 3, was designed to violate the spirit of the Constitution.

>> Well, and I believe that, but I also happen to believe that violates the letter of it.

I think it violates the letter of Section one.

84 and I don't think we should overlook this court's decision in the fan in case and more recently, this court's decision in Penny backer just 12 years ago when this court get to all of those education sections rose in the slightly different context.

But in the penny backer case.

>> The court, the court was very clear that public funds may not go to private education in that situation was going to a private religious school.

And so it implicated a different section of the Kentucky Constitution on on the education sections.

But the principle is ultimately the same public funds have to be committed to public education, which referred to in the car in the Constitution, of course, as common school.

>> It's unclear when the Kentucky Supreme Court will make its ruling until then an injunction remains in place.

Meaning education, opportunity accounts are not an option for Kentucky families.

Both candidates for the U.S. Senate are talking about veterans issues and new ads today.

Democrat Charles Booker released an ad featuring John Casey, a Marine veteran angry about Senator Rand Paul's.

No vote on the PACT Act.

A bill providing support for veterans who became sick because of exposure to toxins.

Here's part of that ad.

>> Honestly, I'm disgusted with Rand Paul.

>> Ed Casey says he has a type of leukemia as a result of drinking toxic water at Camp Lejeune.

And he doesn't like Senator Paul's vote against the legislation or Paul statement that there's no proof that it was the water that caused some veterans to become sick.

Within the last few days, Senator Paul released an ad also about veterans issues.

Here's part of that.

>> We owe a debt to those who sacrificed to safeguard our freedoms ran home.

I made it my top priority to help our veterans.

>> In the ad, Paul discusses his support for a bill that allowed veterans to see their own doctors without having to drive long distances to veterans hospitals.

Lexington will be electing a mayor on November 8th and among other things that mayor will have to deal with an increase in crime, including 37 homicides this year, which ties a record yesterday, Mayor Linda Gorton announced the city and the Community Action Council would give $150,000 in grants to nonprofit organizations doing work to prevent gun violence.

Today we asked her election opponent Council member David Kloiber.

What do you think's of that approach?

>> This program we've been waiting for for a while.

Obviously it's going to help.

But it needs to be part of an overarching strategy right now.

We don't really have a proven policy that we're using in order to address the violence.

We're kind of reinventing the wheel and personally, I think that we need to do better.

We don't have the time.

It's it's human capital as human misery that we're dealing with.

We need to make sure we're using the best possible policies in order to address the problem.

>> And what is your prescription?

>> I've talked with many community leaders and talked with experts around the country and the GBI policy, which you can do, violence intervention.

And it's it's a variable framework that works with with any city.

As you see, dramatic decreases in violent crime within the first 2 years of implementing it.

They've seen it in Cincinnati and Louisville and all over the country.

>> Although Louisville is fresh to this experiment and guy, I think maybe some of the numbers are lower when it comes to homicide, but they still have a pretty significant violent crime right there.

>> That's right.

Because when Gvi gets involved, there's 2 phases.

There's the immediate trying to get a hold of these homicides in this gun violence and then the longer term plan of trying to implement services to make sure we're giving people an opportunity to get out of these kind of lifestyle, that jobs that's wrap around services, mental health in order to try to make sure that the whole city is safe.

>> So you're saying that if Lexington word implemented group violence, intervention strategy, that it could be 3 to 5 years before we saw a real results.

>> Actually, we would probably see immediate results in trying to reduce this retaliatory violence and then we would have a head start on those long-term results that we're looking for.

Violence is obviously a big, tricky thing.

It affects a lot of aspects of our entire city but being able to deal with it in multiple problems both immediately and long term is very important.

>> Anything else he would recommend that the city do.

>> Mostly just more work with our community partners.

City doesn't need to be taking on these things itself.

We need to be working with the people in our community who are already doing it.

And this program of getting these grants to people in the community.

It's a big first step, but we need to make sure we're doing more because we can do it more efficiently with the people on the ground.

>> Mister Korb or his opponent, Mayor Linda Gorton has said in the past that group violence intervention doesn't work.

She says that's based on conversations.

She's had with leaders and other communities.

She believes the program she announced yesterday will be more likely to get results.

>> This program provides small program grants for Lexington Hughes who have been affected by gun violence, stipends for volunteer street outreach workers.

Many grants to be distributed through schools and funds for nonprofit violence prevention programs.

Government's job isn't to reinvent the wheel, but to remove barriers and support grassroots people and organizations that are already involved doing this work of violence prevention.

Nonprofits, interested in this program can apply for grants for $7,000 apiece.

>> U.S.

Senator Mitch McConnell says he's confident he will be reelected as Republican U.S. Senate later next year does spied former President Donald Trump's call for him to be replaced.

McConnell told CNN he has the votes to win.

He had no comment on Trump's recent attacks on his wife, Elaine Chao, who served as Trump's secretary of transportation, the 80 year-old McConnell said he had not decided whether to seek reelection in 2026, but he said he would not resign before his current term ends.

It could be a year in prison for KET Cruz, a former Louisville officer blame for starting an incident that ended with a Louisville restaurant owners death.

Cruz pleaded guilty today to using excessive force and twenty-twenty during protests over Breonna Taylor's killing crews and other officers approached David Mack, a tease, barbecue restaurant and crews began firing pepper balls.

One of them hit Mac and cheese.

Nice, Matt, that he fired a shot from a pistol out the door.

Someone from the National Guard then shot and killed Michael t crews will be sentenced in January.

COVID is still a problem, especially in eastern Kentucky.

Wy MTN hasn't reports.

Martin County had to close its sheriff's office when 3 of the 6 employees tested positive.

Sheriff John Kirk says his office is still responding to calls.

Only 2 people are doing office work.

He's one of them.

He's urging people and Martin County to be patient.

The Fayette County Detention Center is under new management and the new boss has been there before.

Rodney Ballard was jail director from 2012 to 2016.

The Lexington Herald-Leader reports Ballard has been named interim director to replace Lisa Farmer.

Bauer will have to deal with staff and excessive overtime problems.

Kentucky flood victims have an extra 2 million dollars in help on the way.

That's after last night's Kentucky Rising benefit concert at Rupp Arena in Lexington.

According to the Lexington Herald-Leader, about 14,000 fans, her Dwight Yoakam, Chris Stapleton and Tyler Childers.

The money will go for both short-term relief and long-term recovery efforts in the area hit by floods in late July.

Parts of Kentucky are getting rain.

We're expecting some today and we needed, as you know, 5 more counties have joined the state's burn ban list.

Burn bans are now in effect in Butler, Logan Lion Todd and Trig counties.

They join the 15 counties.

They're already on the list under most burn bans.

People are prevented from doing any outdoor burning, including campfires and grilling.

It's another banner year for bourbon of the Kentucky Distillers Association says Kentucky distillers failed more than 2 million bourbon barrels and 2021 according to the Lexington Herald-Leader, it's the 4th consecutive year.

The industry hit that milestone.

It was 2.6 million to be precise.

And right now Kentucky has more than 11.4 million barrels of bourbon.

Now aging.

Time now for our midweek, check-in of some political news of the week with dry Lynn Barton, the journalist is managing editor of Kentucky Public Radio and Ohio Valley Resource.

Good to see your island.

>> It's a 2 So we got a couple things we want to get.

I let's talk first about this new conservative political Action Committee PAC.

>> That plans to spend like a million and a half dollars on 3 non-partisan judicial races here in Kentucky.

So first of all, who is this group who's the mastermind behind it and why they targeted 2 Kentucky Supreme Court races and the Franklin Circuit Court contest.

>> Yes, so this group is called Fair Courts, America.

And it's a it's a packets focus on a judicial elections across the It's founded by an individual from Illinois, a Republican named Doug Truax and gather they're turning 3 particular races in Kentucky.

So the northern Kentucky Supreme Court race between a sitting Supreme Court justice, Michelle color and a Republican state legislator Joe Fisher, Ben of the Franklin a Dutch, the judicial bound Franklin County that is Judge Phillip Shepherd and Joe Bilby Publicans.

Attorney and staff are and then also the Bowling Green Supreme Court district between the current appeals court Judge Kelly Thompson and a Bowling Green lawyer, Sean Murray Alcott.

This is so according to this is reporting from the Courier Journal du discovering that this this pact was getting involved in these judicial elections here.

And there they say that their targets are the the organization says the targets include Democrat controlled or to invent law out of thin air.

So they're they're saying that there's some races that they want to get involved in there, bringing money into races that have already raised a whole lot of money, which don't normally do.

But this year, there's a lot of attention for some of these judicial.

It.

>> And so they're looking to spend like what?

22 and a half million dollars in 7 states.

But I want to go back to something that you said and how they characterize these Democratic controlled courts.

But as you just said a moment ago, these are nonpartisan races allegedly.

So what is the potential impact when you have all of this outside money, more political ads?

What does that do constitutionally prescribed non-partisan judicial contest?

>> Yeah, I mean, apparently these are, you know, this is fundraising and spending that is allowed under under the the nations and states a U.S. you know, campaign finance system at the So, yeah, even though you have a nonpartisan race, it can get very political and people a lot of political interests are going to spend a lot of money trying to get the candidates that they want a into power.

You know, there's this is an ongoing conversation.

I hope it's an ongoing conversation, our country because there's a lot of there's a lot of spending in these races and there's a lot and there's really a patchwork of how these races work across the country and especially the abuse is non-partisan.

And they're still interesting questions to be answered here, especially in the northern Kentucky Supreme Court race where Republican state legislator Joe Fisher is running for this non just a ship on the Supreme Court.

And yet he's campaigning with this campaign material as a conservative love.

So there's there's still some questions as to whether that's allowed under >> And there's a lot of money already going into those races.

As you just alluded to.

I think Justice Keller has raised $200,000 according to the CJ Report official Representative Fisher.

He still is a state representative 5 $54,000.

If you look Judge Shepherds race, he's raised 460,000 to Joe Bill Baeza 172,000.

So how expensive could these races get?

>> Yeah, I mean, they could get a little more expensive.

You only got about a month to go before Election Day, but now is the big spending time.

So now you can really expect to start seeing ads on the radio on in your newspaper, you know, kind advocating for against and probably canvassing operations, folks just going door to door and trying to trying to get out the vote.

Now.

>> And just a quick mention, the fact is second district, Kentucky Supreme Court seat that's being vacated by the chief justice currently John Mitten.

And that's why you have 2 candidates there.

Sean Murray Alcott and Kelly Thompson.

So let's talk about a couple other things right now as we speak and we record our interview, the Kentucky Supreme Court.

They're hearing arguments about, well, we call them vouchers, but there are scholarship tax credits.

It was House bill.

>> For 63 that was passed over a year ago and this would allow tax credits for those who give money for private school tuition and supplies to help kids out.

>> Right.

And this is kind of a back door to the school voucher system.

What this does is it allows some companies or individuals too donate money to a scholarship program that would then go to like, you know, individual students so they can afford to go to private school.

But he would give those companies and individuals in 97% a tax rebate on that money that they donate to them.

Kentucky's constitution has some provisions against $8 going towards funding private school.

So that's why it's kind of this backdoor creative financing in an endeavor like this.

This is drawing a lot opposition from traditional public school advocates who say that this is going to stop.

I'm really students but also ultimately funding away from a traditional public schools to private schools.

But also there's some interesting urban-rural issues with this.

So when this bill was constructed, it only allows tax credits, the scholarships to be used in the 8 largest counties in the state.

So rural areas are exempted from it.

And that's actually part of how they got this bill passes because Rhule legislators KET that it wasn't really going to disrupt any a pup traditional public schools in their areas.

for the 8 largest counties.

And, you know, the 3rd most populous places, possibly the play areas with the most need.

They will be kind of impacted by this.

So there's there.

There are some concerns that this is a mounted to special legislation as So that's being argued today that the state Supreme Court and, you know, we never really know exactly where we're going to get a ruling, but maybe in the next month.

>> Yeah, yeah.

We'll see education opportunity accounts, I think is what they call them in the legislation, which was 5.63, I believe real quickly.

And just a few seconds, Governor Beshear seems to have some high favorable is right now.

He is polling better according to the latest morning consult poll.

Now the just a few months ago.

>> I think they they rated him as the 9th.

Most popular governor in America is approval rating was about about 59% under that.

And we've seen pulling over the showing similar numbers.

And it's just an unusual thing for a pretty Republican led state to have this popular Democratic governor.

A lot of that seems to be due to his handling of the Coronavirus pandemic and also of these disasters in recent years that weighs in Western Kentucky in the flooding in eastern Kentucky.

He's his face has been out there and he's been pretty well you know, but people in from both parties.

>> We'll KET our eye on it.

Thank you, Ryland Barton, for doing the same.

We appreciate connecting with you.

See you next week.

Next month.

♪ Yesterday was national coming out day in honor of that.

The Louisville Pride Foundation opened its new LGBTQ.

>> Tq Community Center.

The city's first KET attended the celebration and talk to some of the board members about their goals for the center.

>> My name is Mike Slight.

Now the executive director of the Local Pride Foundation.

And It's my pleasure to welcome everybody here today for our ribbon cutting for the Louisville Pride Center.

The Louisville Pride Foundation is a 5, 1, C 3 organization.

And our mission is to celebrate the LGBTQ community and to advance equity and representation for all people.

>> Every community larger than the local pretty much has an LGBT center and a lot of the smaller the Louisville do and people find a lot of value in those centers.

>> So this is Little's first late community Pride Center.

And it's such a huge deal for the simple fact that, well, we do have more resources.

Why we do have, you know, places to There's never been a hope.

There's never been like that one singular space that exists for a clear people and has to be to KET people to or that one building to facilitate all the programs that are for our community are their intended for community.

So to finally have that is it's The loop right center is going to have kind of a three-part mission.

>> So the first part is to be a safe and affirming gathering place for LGBTQ people and our friends and family.

The second part is to be a backbone organization for an empowered community.

So any time 70's coming up with an idea that they want to do that will help the community, whether it's a business or organization or club or something like that.

We want to be here to support them.

And then the 3rd part is to be a point of entry for services.

We want to be either a referral hug or a remote location for a lot of those places.

So that people develop trust they come here, they feel safe here and then they feel safe accessing those services through our center or through our partners.

>> It's designed to be a safe space, a space where people feel heard and a knowledge, a space that is able to change and grow as the needs of the communities changes and grows.

It's not that we want to only >> uplift the LGBTQ community.

You know, we think that's going to help everybody.

And the more that we can create those spaces where we can have those conversations about the things that make us different from the things we have in common.

You know, those are sometimes difficult conversation to have.

But they're so meaningful.

And I think that's the only way we really make change in the world is by creating personal relationships across lines of difference.

>> And we invite everybody check out your Louisville Pride Center.

So thank you, everybody.

>> October is LGBTQ History Month and the Louisville Pride Center hopes to host commemorative artistic and cultural events and the future.

♪ >> Asbury University isn't just graduating.

Students are also graduating.

Police mounts students of Asbury Universities.

Equine Studies program are training horses for police work and a hands on experience.

That's unlike any other.

>> The experience of just came to learn how to work with horses that no nothing and game to watch them and see how they progress and seeing them click as soon as you asked him to do something, just makes it really exciting.

What you see before you is a product of my work.

We're able to take.

We make said never in touch and we can turn them in to police sources after for years.

>> Police first is really a public relations tool for the officer.

>> What we hear a lot from the unit is people will not come up to them when they're in their cruisers, but they will come up to them when they're on their horse.

The others job that they serve is for crowd control are doing right situations.

A lot of times horses are able to de-escalate the situation where people are more likely to be violent towards officers or their police cars.

They're not as likely to throw bricks or >> When they come in.

>> They're weaned wings and they are here for their year laying 2 year-old 3 year-old and into their 4 year-old year.

>> A lot of times they come to us without being held to broke.

We have to teach them how to be caught.

>> Had a lead.

We get all the way up to where we're riding and saddling them and doing different maneuvers.

We teach them everything they know.

>> Kind of hand in hand with their training is what we call desensitizing, which is getting the news to unfamiliar up schools and >> stimulus when they get out on the city streets, they have to be used to strollers and and dump trucks and, you know, trash trucks and ups trucks and >> everything that would be in the cities.

>> We take things like balloons, pool noodles weed.

We use cars.

At times we had smoke the homes and we just get used to really loud sounds.

>> Just to kind of get the news, a new environment so that when they are on the streets, they're familiar with emotional control.

>> We're selling them all over the United States and actually all over Canada as well.

The money goes back into our program so that we can buy more forces and equipment and feed the horses.

It's difficult for the students because they do get attached to the horses.

>> It is a really sad because they become a part of every single day life.

But I've worked really, really hard to prepare him.

This one will November 8.

Because they have a need for him.

All of my hard work over the past 3, 4, years has led to this.

So there's a lot of pride.

My hope is that he gets along really well with his officer and just kind of fits into the unit.

And I hope that my training has prepared him.

Well.

>> It's a great story.

Asbury University is the only university in America with a police horse training program conducted by the students.

That program began in 2001 great job as Barry.

We sure hope you join us again tomorrow night at 6.30, Eastern 5.30, central for Kentucky edition and more great stories that inform connect and inspire.

>> Subscribe to our weekly Kentucky Edition, e-mail news letter and watch full episodes of KET KET Dot Org.

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

And we welcome you to follow KET on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to stay in the loop.

And you're more than welcome to follow me on Twitter at Renee K E T. Thank you so very much for watching tonight.

Hope to see you again tomorrow night.

Take good care.

Have a great.

♪ ♪