>> We are all in the same boat throughout the whole country.

Everybody is feeling the effects of this.

>> A lifelong farmer in western Kentucky on his concerns amid the trade dispute with China.

>> You're here for all different reasons, all of them for good, all of them to try to save lives.

>> Kentuckians working on the front lines of drug treatment, harm reduction and prevention convene in Louisville.

>> It can be intimidating, and asking for help is intimidating, and we need to take every obstacle away.

>> And we take you to a Kentucky classroom where high school students are getting a course on how to cover the cost of college.

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

>> Good evening and welcome to Kentucky Edition for this Monday, October the 13th.

A brand new week.

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

President Donald Trump is urging world leaders to put old feuds to rest, calling the Gaza ceasefire deal the first steps to peace.

The president is in Egypt for a global summit on Gaza's future, marking a fragile moment of hope for Middle East peace.

This follows President Trump's visit to Israel, where he celebrated a U.S.

ceasefire with Hamas.

20 Israeli hostages and nearly 2000 Palestinian prisoners were released today as part of the deal.

On social media, U.S.

Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said, quote, today millions of Americans join in celebrating the homecoming of surviving hostages and holding the victims of Hamas's savagery and grieving families in our prayers.

Israel's resolve with the president of the United States support have delivered from tragedy a great measure of justice, unquote.

U.S.

stocks are recovering after sell offs on Friday, following President Trump's new threat of 100% tariffs on all Chinese imports.

That's concerning for Kentucky farmers, who are hoping for a new trade deal with the world's second largest economy.

China is boycotting American soybeans in retaliation for tariffs.

Our Laura Rogers takes us to western Kentucky for a farm focused segment we call rooted.

>> My number one concern with the tariffs right now is we have lost our biggest importer of our soybeans, which is China.

>> David Winkle is a corn and soybean farmer and Hancock County's Hallsville community.

>> China buys more than the rest of the countries in the world combined.

>> But they're not buying any soybeans right now from the United States.

And that's one reason for falling prices.

>> In the past three years, our market has probably been cut $3 a bushel anyway.

It's very risky right now.

>> Winkle says the soybean is such a valuable commodity because it has so many uses for cooking, animal feed and manufacturing, to name a few.

>> We need help.

And the biggest help that you could give us would be to try to get our foreign market back.

>> As a member of the U.S.

Soybean Export Council, he's traveled as far as Egypt to advocate for U.S.

grown soy.

And he says something needs to be done to offset rising production costs.

>> The American farmer can't continue the way it is now, with the lower commodity prices and the extreme high input prices.

>> No matter how big of a yield we grow on soybeans, I'm not sure that there's any way we can be profitable in the soybean market or corn market today.

>> Jesse Hubler is an Indiana farmer and division agronomist for Superior AG Resources.

>> We try to help them make better decisions and then how to grow the biggest possible crop on the inputs that we're putting out there today.

>> He says the biggest concern he's hearing from farmers right now is cash flow and the increasing cost of leasing farmland.

>> Cash rents are still high.

That's been a real issue for a lot of them.

You know, the value of land is high.

>> He says.

Tariffs have also made fertilizer more expensive, adding to higher input costs.

>> I'm seeing a lot of friends, neighbors that are struggling financially that may not make it through the next couple of years.

If we don't have some sort of a turnaround in this market.

>> You would like the U.S.

to explore more domestic uses for soybeans and corn through biodiesel and ethanol.

>> That would help use more of the product that we grow in this country.

>> Who's going to do this down the road?

20 years.

>> That's a big concern for Winchell in his late 50s.

He's the average age of a Kentucky farmer.

>> There is nothing out here that incentivizes young people to come back to the farm, because, you know, with what's going on here, with the tariffs, the low commodity prices.

>> And he's hoping both parties in Washington will work together to help find solutions for Kentucky Edition.

I'm Laura Rogers.

>> Thank you so much, Laura.

As for any possible aid package from the federal government, David Winchell says it would offer relief but only be a band aid and not a long term solution.

As tariffs continue to impact Kentucky and the federal government is on the verge of entering its third week.

We'll look at national and international events and their impact on the Kentucky economy.

Join us for that discussion on Kentucky Tonight.

This evening at eight eastern, seven central right here on KET.

A data center could be coming to Meade County.

The Courier Journal says a landowner is in the process of selling more than 130 acres of farmland.

The owner told the paper the buyers plans involve artificial intelligence.

There are also rezoning documents that suggest a new IT infrastructure facility would operate 24 hours a day and employ up to 100 people.

The news comes after neighboring Oldham County voted to scrap a data center plan because of community pushback.

Some seniors across the state are missing meals because of a lack in funding.

Now, state lawmakers are calling on Governor Andy Beshear to fix the problem.

Federal dollars to expand the senior meals program expired earlier this year.

Some area development district leaders who administer the program say the state didn't advocate for adequate funding from the General Assembly.

Some lawmakers agree.

Speaking during committee during a committee hearing in Frankfort last week, State Senator Greg Elkins said he was frustrated that the Beshear administration has allowed this issue to drag on for more than a month.

>> I'm going to implore the governor and you and Doctor Stike to find a solution to this immediately.

I'm talking today.

This this is a 24 hour a day problem, and it's going to require 24 hour a day work until there's an answer.

Either find a solution or call us into special session I. This is not a Partizan issue.

I don't care if we're Democrat, Republicans or independents.

I think we would all forgo our compensation to come here and fix this.

It has to be fixed.

>> Chopping block across the Commonwealth.

>> Asked about the need for additional money for the Senior Mills program last month, here's how Governor Beshear responded.

>> At least until the General Assembly comes into session, we're all going to have to tighten our belts.

We need to take a really hard look at cost per meals, at costs of delivery, on whether we can do more of a carryout model.

Are the meals just going to the senior citizens?

Do we also offer them to to certain families at a time when we've got a budget deficit of $300 million, we're going to have to address in this budget, we're going to have significantly less usable dollars for a number of reasons.

In the next budget, we're going to have to be really cost conscious, and that's going to hit a lot of great programs.

>> The 2026 Kentucky General Assembly convenes in Frankfort January the 6th.

We now have a date for a special election in the Kentucky General Assembly.

Secretary of State Michael Adams says his office has received notice from Governor Andy Beshear.

The election for Senate District 37 will be held on December the 16th.

Louisville Democrat David Yates resigned from the seat last week after being named interim Jefferson County clerk.

He takes over as clerk following the death of Bobbie Holsclaw.

Meanwhile, another state lawmaker is retiring.

State Representative Ken Upchurch says he won't seek reelection.

His current term runs through the end of 2026.

The Republican from Monticello represents the 52nd district of Kentucky, which covers McCreary and Wayne counties and part of Pulaski County.

Representative Upchurch served in the House from 1999 through 2010 and returned in 2013.

In a statement, he said, quote, leaving is never easy, but part of public service is recognizing when the time has come to step aside and allow new voices to lead.

End quote.

Kentucky's annual opioid symposium kicked off today.

It brings together community organizers, medical professionals and law enforcement from across the state.

It's sponsored by the State Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission, which awards settlement money from cases against prescription drug makers and pharmacies.

Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman spoke at today's opening event.

>> You can't say it's Louisville's problem or it's Lexington's problem.

It's a city problem.

You can't say that's happening in the mountains or way down in the purchase.

You can't even say it's that family, right?

If they had done something different, if that family, or maybe it's that part of town because it's not because it's us.

And so I stand here grateful that this room is filled with people who deeply care about trying to mitigate this harm.

I mean, some of you are here to show off some of the creative ways that you're mitigating in your communities.

Some of y'all are here to to garner ideas what will work well in your county that might be working well in the other end of the state?

Some of you are here just to to interact and meet some of those leaders in this space.

You're here for all different reasons, all of them for good.

All of them to try to save lives.

>> Earlier this year, Coleman's office announced a social media campaign called Better Without It.

The program has enlisted college athletes to tell their stories of determination and the benefits of a life free from addiction.

Leaders of the Florida based program also conducted youth focus groups in Kentucky, with help from the Kentucky Youth Advocates.

>> Our number one goal is to engage Kentucky youth directly and digitally on the platforms that are most familiar to them.

We want to demonstrate positive choices via influencer storytelling, and we want to build relationships with programs that reinforce these positive prevention principles.

>> We we conducted a survey for mind, body, relationships, future, and the fifth survey was about substances.

What we found through that is our key takeaway.

Number one was stresses the universal challenge and trust is the universal barrier.

>> Yeah.

The top stressors for Kentucky youth according to both the surveys and focus groups, which very much overlapped family relationships, mostly parents financial situations at home of which they are very, very conscious.

School academics, of course, and decisions about the future.

>> This year, the Opioid Abatement Commission awarded nearly $20 million to 75 organizations.

Since the commission was created in 2021.

It has doled out $85 million to local programs.

Today is Columbus Day, but in a number of states and cities around the country, the second Monday in October is also recognized as Indigenous Peoples Day.

It's a celebration recognizing the resilience and contributions of Native Americans.

The Kentucky General Assembly passed resolutions in 2021, recognizing today Kentucky was the fourth state to do so.

Angela Arnett Garner is one of the people most responsible for pushing the General Assembly to take action.

This morning we talked to her about the significance of today.

>> For the state of Kentucky.

We have a lot to be proud of.

We've signed, adopted 36 city, county and state wide proclamations, which is more than any other state since the movement began in the United States in 1992.

Regrettably, it's a persistent myth that Kentucky was a mere hunting ground, and that's just not the case.

There's a lot of evidence presented by scientists, archeologists, someone that proves that Native Americans lived here for at least 12,000 years, that we know of, and they lived and thrived.

They had trade.

They provided trade routes near and far.

They.

They achieved amazing architectural and engineering feats.

They raised families.

They had impressive agricultural practices.

They raised a lot of crops that were unknown to Europeans at the time before contact, such as corn and beans and squash and and even tomatoes were a North American crop.

And Cherokee, Shawnees, Chickasaw.

Choctaw, sage, and many, many other tribes lived here over the years.

I think it will eventually become a federal holiday because it's a growing American tradition.

Every year it appeals to a broad spectrum of people from all walks of life.

You know, people, you know, historians, genealogists, cultural enthusiasts who attend powwows and festivals who want to educate their families about Native American history and culture.

>> When it comes to paying for college, parents are usually shouldering the burden of doing the research and learning the process.

But students can be involved in the process, too.

At the Jay Brown School in Jefferson County, a class called Senior Seminar is helping high schoolers learn how to take the wheel when it comes to navigating their path after high school.

Our Christie Dutton paid them a visit to learn more.

>> If you have applied and have a transcript.

>> Transcripts, scholarships, SATs and GPAs for many high school seniors, the road to college can be a complicated one.

But at Jay Graham Brown School, there's a class that turns the chaos into clarity.

>> But then that last link you have to link 500 to to your Fafsa.

>> A senior seminar class taught by Nora Wakefield that guides students through the college application process and helps them find scholarships.

>> Also lock in your tuition rate at a lower level.

>> To bring down the cost of higher learning.

>> They will pick their school and hopefully have it paid for.

>> The process starts in their junior year, optimizing Act and SAT scores and exploring colleges in junior seminar.

>> We'll do quite a few college visits and we bring in college reps, because I really think that if you start looking senior year, it's too late.

>> And once senior year begins, Nora Wakefield's class concentrates on applying to colleges.

>> She's always on college applications.

Always.

It's our main focus.

As soon as we come in and sit down.

>> Honestly, the process to application, I thought it was a lot easier than it was, but like, it's a lot more.

And but it's like, I think the class, if I wasn't in that class, I think I'd be struggling very hard.

>> And the demands of applying for college can be stressful.

>> There's a lot more than just applying.

It's being personable in your essay.

It's ensuring that you get the proper amount of scholarships and just ensuring that you keep your life balanced while you're going through the college process.

>> The Senior Seminar class serves as a guide to make this process as smooth as possible.

>> Of all 502.

You go to their link and you fill out the application.

It's very quick.

Then we help them apply, but we help them meet those deadlines for things like Fafsa, early applications versus early decision.

>> If you are eligible and you complete these three steps, you will get the scholarship.

It's a guarantee.

>> It can be intimidating, and asking for help is intimidating, and we need to take every obstacle away.

>> But there's one more big obstacle left paying for college.

Senior seminar helps students with that too, with lots and lots of.

>> Scholarships.

>> Scholarship programs, grants.

>> A ton of scholarships.

>> We help kids with their questbridge applications.

We help them with their Jack Kent Cooke applications, coach scholars, doctor Pepper.

Nowhere else are students going to have somebody that's hand feeding them.

These lists of scholarships to apply for.

>> Nora is always on it.

>> She always has a scholarship for us to apply to.

>> Every little bit of scholarship money you get helps.

>> And a little bit can add up to a lot.

>> We have a whole row of million dollar scholars.

Students apply for scholarships and they apply to different institutions.

And that total amount is $1 million.

But that's not $1 million to one institution.

>> More than scholarships or even college.

Nora Wakefield wants her students to author their own destinies and live lives that are authentically and joyfully their own.

>> My success is my students success, and I cannot express to you how much I love them.

And having known some of them, you know, for 13 years, almost all their life, it is so important to me that they are number one happy with when they leave.

I want them to be happy individuals and successful individuals, however they define that.

>> For KET I'm Christy Dutton.

>> Thank you Christy.

You can learn more about all the resources available to help pay for college and our panel discussion.

Paying for College 2026 Education Matters.

That airs tonight at nine eight central right here on KET.

An alert for older Americans open enrollment season for Medicare, the health insurance program for people age 65 and older, starts Wednesday.

Eligible seniors have until December 7th to shop around and make changes to their Medicare, health and part D prescription drug plans.

It's also the time of year when crooks get creative, posing as Medicare insurance providers, trying to trap folks with fake promises of free gifts and limited time offers.

And if you fall for it, it could suck more than money from your wallet.

It could compromise your identity.

Recently, I spoke with a spokesperson from the Better Business Bureau to learn what to look out for.

Let's talk about Medicare enrollment and some of the scams associated with that.

Tell us about this.

And it's a complicated process anyway, so it's probably easy to get confused over what's legitimate and what's not.

>> It is.

And for many years the B-b-b has heard from seniors reporting any number of scams involving Medicare.

Back to we're issuing new Medicare cards.

So we need you to give us your Medicare number so that we can send that to you or to you, or going to get a free insert piece of equipment here, a knee brace, a back brace, a wireless blood sugar reader, those types of things.

And all we need is your Medicare number.

And they're going to try and bill Medicare for that.

And of course you can't.

You're not going to get that information.

You're not going to get that kind of thing paid for unless your doctor has prescribed it.

Right.

And anyone calling on the phone saying, I'm with Medicare and we want to update your information and you have not reached out to them.

That's the red flag, right?

>> They don't initiate a call.

You have to initiate.

>> Exactly.

And they warn about that all over their website at medicare.gov.

I mean, they are there for people to reach out to.

We have heard people complain of receiving numerous calls claiming, I'm with Medicare, I'm with Medicare.

And then you've got the supplemental plans.

Open enrollment is going on, and there are numerous ones out there, and there are rules and laws.

Some of these companies are not allowed to reach out to you unsolicited to try and sell you their product.

It is up to you to choose and it can be daunting.

But if you call, if you go to the Medicare.gov website, that can be an excellent way to start.

>> Yeah.

What do those typically look like?

I mean, is it about prescriptions or what is it?

They're really pushing.

>> Any number of things.

A lot of times they're just trying to get your Medicare number so that if they're with a company that's trying to sell durable equipment, for instance, and then they end up getting paid, they may not end up getting paid, but they also just may want to end up with your personal information, which can lead to ID theft, which is another quickly growing crime.

Every year it goes on, and that can be tied in with any number of scams.

A long time ago, your Medicare number used to be your Social Security number.

>> Wow.

So that would be really dangerous.

>> Hated that because they would carry that card around with them in their wallet.

Well, and that's the key to stealing your identity.

That your date of birth.

So they've changed that, which is an excellent step forward.

But if something just doesn't sound quite right, I don't care what they're saying to you, whether they're plying you with, we're going to send you all this wonderful stuff for free to frightening you into someone has stolen your Medicare account.

You better give us your information.

None of it's true.

And if you're not sure, do contact Medicare yourself.

>> Yeah, or the B-b-b.

>> Yes, we would love people to report any of these scams to the B-b-b.

Scam tracker site.

You can find that on our site at b-b-b.

Dot.

There's a place to click.

It asks for your information, your age group and so forth.

Because we do categorize that for our B-b-b Scam Tracker report annually.

And the type of scam, whether you fell for it or not, we're not going to publish your personal information, but it can help warn others to not fall for these scams.

So we invite people to go to that website.

>> So as you compare your Medicare coverage options, remember, don't give personal information to someone who contacts you unexpectedly and claims to be from Medicare.

Don't be fooled by your caller ID.

Callers can spoof or fake a government number that looks official, and also avoid clicking on suspicious links.

And also, don't let scammers talk you into choosing a specific plan.

Medicare legitimately does not endorse a specific plan.

Get more out of your visits to Kentucky's 44 state parks with a new mobile app.

The app from the Kentucky Department of Parks gives you access to accurate digital maps.

It will guide you to more than 1000 outdoor points of interest.

It also provides up to date information on recreational activities.

And the best part?

It's all free.

Tonight, we look back at the death of a Kentucky governor to musical milestones with Kentucky connections and the debut of professional basketball in Kentucky.

Our Toby Gibbs has more.

And this week in Kentucky history.

>> Governor George Madison, Kentucky's sixth governor, died in office October 14th 1816, 40 days after becoming governor.

He was the first Kentucky governor to die in office.

Gabriel Slaughter succeeded him as governor the same day.

Richard Johnson was born October 17th, 1780, near Louisville.

He would serve in the Kentucky General Assembly and Congress, and eventually become Vice President of the United States under President Martin Van Buren.

And happy birthday to Mary Barr Clay, born in Lexington, October 13th, 1839, the daughter of famed abolitionist Cassius Clay.

She's believed to be the first Kentucky woman to publicly advocate for women's suffrage.

Legend has it Jesse James was eating dinner at a roadhouse in Bardstown on October 18th, 1881, when a newspaper reported he just robbed a bank in Kansas.

James carved his name and the date into a windowpane to prove he was in Kentucky, not Kansas, when the robbery took place.

Lawrence Welk and his orchestra became the first performers at the new Rupp Arena on October 17th, 1976, with former UK basketball coach Adolph Rupp looking on.

The crowd was so big, Rupp Arena ran out of popcorn.

Kentucky native Loretta Lynn made her first appearance on the Grand Ole Opry on October 15th, 1960.

The Kentucky Colonels of the American Basketball Association played their first game on October 14th, 1967, losing to the Indiana Pacers.

And that's what was going on this week in Kentucky history.

I'm Toby Gibbs.

>> Thank you, Toby Gibbs, and that'll do it for us tonight.

We hope to see you at 8:00 for Kentucky tonight.

When we talk about tariffs and the federal government shut down and come back again and join us tomorrow night at 630 eastern, 530 central for Kentucky Edition, where we inform, connect and inspire.

Thanks for joining us.

I'm Renee Shaw, and I'll see you in a bit.

Take good care.