Massey, Jordan, still no speaker of the House after Jim Jordan falls short again.

How did the Kentucky delegation vote?

It's very important that the students have the opportunity to bond with the children and talk to them and create a trust.

Future dentists are already at work helping young Kentuckians brush up on their oral health.

And so when you saw that quick response, that eager response and desire for training, it's because their hearts are in the right place and they they love that the kids have takes great.

How a Fayette County high school is working to better care for its students.

When I started doing more abstract work, I realized that I tried to create art that I at one time could not see, plus see why this art has more to it than meets the eye.

Production of Kentucky Edition is made possible in part by the KET Endowment for Kentucky Productions, the Leonard Press, Endowment for Public Affairs and the KET Millennium Fund.

Good evening to you and welcome to Kentucky Edition on this Wednesday, October the 18th.

We're midway through the work week.

I'm Renee Shaw.

Thank you so much for spending some of your Wednesday night with us.

Still no Speaker of the U.S. House as of late Wednesday afternoon.

The U.S. House voted again today on Congressman Jim Jordan of Ohio.

He fell short again after losing a first vote yesterday.

Yesterday, 20 Republicans voted against him today.

He lost 22 of them.

Once again, all five of Kentucky's House Republicans supported Jordan and one of them, Congressman Thomas Massie of Kentucky's fourth District, has been a vocal supporter of Jim Jordan.

Massie posted this before today's vote.

It says, quote, Today we vote again for speaker of the House.

The GOP conference nominated Jim Jordan, the American people who elected us overwhelmingly support Jordan.

Yesterday, he received 200 of 221 Republican votes he needs to 17.

I will keep casting my vote for Jim Jordan for speaker, end quote.

As president Joe Biden visits Israel.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky was on the Senate floor criticizing some American universities for what he sees as their attempts to criticize Israel and Hamas equally.

After fighting started October the seventh.

This is a time for moral clarity, not a time for anti-Semitic hate dress.

In faculty lounge jargon, leaders cannot afford to be silent.

Terrorism is evil.

Anti Semitism is despicable.

And Israel has a right to exist.

It shouldn't take a Ph.D. to understand that.

But it's also shouldn't be so hard for a Ph.D. to acknowledge it.

Senator McConnell cited Harvard's Dartmouth, Columbia and Notre Dame as schools that condemned both sides equally.

Now turning to Kentucky politics, you can see the candidates for governor next Monday night on Kentucky.

Tonight, Governor Andy Beshear and Attorney General Daniel Cameron will join us.

And we'll take your questions by phone, email and formally Twitter.

Join us for that discussion Monday, October the 23rd at eight Eastern, seven Central right here on KCET.

Now more on the governor's race and the search for a U.S. speaker of the House, later with Kentucky Public Radio's Ryland Barton.

How often do Kentucky students miss school?

Well, we also know the Kentucky Department of Education will release numbers for the 2022 23 academic year by the end of this month.

During an interim joint Committee on Education yesterday in Frankfort, Joey Kilburn of Simpson County schools told Kentucky lawmakers the pandemic had a big impact on attendance.

I think the biggest things are attitudes and habits around good attendance have changed.

People established their habit of, Oh gosh, I don't feel as well as maybe I have on the best day of my life.

So I want to stay home today and it creates that habit.

And then that that attitude of, okay, well, you know, where you're sitting next to somebody last week who got sick, so you got to go home for ten days and then you come back for two days and then we do it to you again and you create an attitude about, well, being here must not really be important because they'll send me home pretty willy nilly, Like it's like it's not a big deal.

Now we've got to change those attitudes and change those habits.

Kilburn says students have to want to come to school.

Nobody wants to be somewhere where they don't feel safe, all right.

Nobody wants to be somewhere where they're getting picked on.

I think the power of bullying comes in isolation.

And so, again, it comes back to empowering your student leaders to say that doesn't happen here.

Now, here are Kentucky's truancy numbers the last four school years.

As you can see, there was a sharp increase during the height of the COVID pandemic.

It was at 36% during the 20 2021 school year.

Kentucky's Department of Education considers students chronically absent if they miss more than 10% of school days, and that's about 17 days in the school year.

Speaking of school, first year dental school students from the University of Kentucky traveled to the Eliot County Primary School earlier this week.

Through the Sale Kentucky program, the soon to be dentists brought a variety of dental health care treatments to their younger counterparts.

The this program has been around for probably close to 40 years.

Every year we take dental students, first year dental students, and give them the opportunity to experience different communities, underserved populations, and provide some preventive care.

And today is kind of the first day that we can showcase our new skills that we've learned from our professors.

We are here today cleaning kids teeth and putting little sealants on them, which are just plastic coatings on those molars to help prevent them from getting decay back there.

So we're here.

There was a group yesterday and a group today, and we're just here cleaning their teeth and just helping them keep them nice and healthy.

But really just here for prevention and education to show them that going to the dentist can be really fun and it doesn't need to be scary.

It's an incredible experience.

Number one is the skill set to be able to talk to the child and interact with them and be able to provide some type of dental care.

But it's very important that the students have the opportunity to bond with the children and talk to them and create a trust.

And if they can create the trust, the children will be more receptive to sit in the dental chair and have a preventive appointment.

Kids are a little squamous.

They're always moving.

They bring higher energy, they're more fun to work on, I think.

And they're just overall good patients.

Unfortunately, there is there's a lot of need for health care, medical and dental, and the parents might be sincere or these children live with their grandparents and they just don't have the opportunity to travel to a dentist.

So I think the opportunity for some type of mobile service coming to the elementary schools or coming to community centers is is a very strong opportunity for health care.

I'm from Ashland, Kentucky.

Forcett and Ashland.

We do have a lot of dentist, but not nearly enough.

But in more rural areas like here, there aren't very many at all.

So just by coming today, we can kind of close that gap a little bit and help out.

And the younger population, they can see the need, especially in our dental school classes.

A large percentage of our students are from Kentucky, so they are from these rural areas and the goal is that they come back to these communities and then become a dentist and provide the care to adults and children.

This is a memory that they will always have, and I know a lot of them will come back to these communities because this is such a great feeling to give back.

Indeed, 93 elementary school students were treated over the course of the UK Dental School's visit to Elliot County.

Governor Andy Beshear calls it the biggest economic development project in Louisville's West End in 20 years.

Yesterday, stellar snacks, a pretzel maker announced a new bakery that will mean a $137 million investment and 350 new jobs over the next ten years.

The bakery will go into an existing 434,000 square foot building.

Hiring is expected to begin in March of next year after a job fair in December.

Stellar Snacks is a woman owned company based in Nevada, founded by a mother daughter duo in 2019.

If you love the outdoors, some controlled burns could affect your plans.

The Kentucky Lantern reports that Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Live is planning controlled burns on nearly 2100 acres of Kentucky public land in order to improve forest and grassland health.

The barn affects the Clay Grayson Lake and Paul Van Buren wildlife areas in eastern Kentucky and Taylorsville Lake and Green River Lake in central Kentucky.

And while those burns are underway, parts of those wildlife areas will be closed to the public.

They'll reopen once the fires are out.

The burns will occur on weekends between now and January, depending, of course, on the weather.

Time now for a midweek check in of some major political news so far this week with Rylan Barton, managing editor of Kentucky Public Radio.

Always good to see you.

Good to see you, too, Renee.

So we're just, what, 20 days away or so from the November 7th election?

And the candidates in the governor's race are really making their rounds with these joint appearances, forums and debates.

And the one they had Monday night got intense, shall we say, at times.

What did you take away from that appearance?

Yeah, a few takeaways.

One, Cameron continues to lean into the you know, trying to nationalize the race, tying Governor Beshear to President Joe Biden, who's very unpopular in Kentucky.

I think there was a poll that came out recently last week that showed Biden something like a 28% approval rating here.

Meanwhile, Beshear continues to have a very high approval rating among likely voters in the state.

But, you know, Cameron's really trying to tie those two together and try to bring down Beshear's approval.

Meanwhile, she was trying to make some preemptive comments about this.

He started out in his opening statement, making a bet about how many times Cameron would mention the president.

And in during the debate or during the discussion.

So he's trying to head this off past.

But, you know, we'll see to what extent that works.

But I think if anything, it shows that, you know, this year watching what's going on there, there was there was kind of the longest discussion about education policy issues during that debate so far.

They discussed charter schools at length.

That's something that Daniel Cameron has not been willing to talk about so much.

Charter schools and so-called school choice policies.

It's something that a lot of Republicans, the legislature support and have been trying to pass or kind of make sure that that gets enacted in Kentucky.

But there has been a pretty bipartisan coalition of folks trying to keep that from happening in Kentucky.

And they've been stymied so far by lawsuits and other things along public.

A lot of public safety discussion as well.

During that debate, I thought it was actually pretty interesting.

One of the questions was about this sweeping public safety plan that came out of the legislature about a month ago.

Some Republicans have proposed, including an expansion of the death penalty to a few different crimes, including a carjacking that leads to a death of fentanyl, drug trafficking that leads to an over a deadly overdose.

And Beshear said he would be in favor of expand, possibly expanding the death penalty to two new crimes, although he didn't say specifically for any of those ones proposed.

I just thought was interesting.

He really went out of his way to say that.

Meanwhile, there's been kind of a bipartisan movement of legislators trying to outlaw the death penalty in more cases in Kentucky, although that certainly changes a lot.

So it was an interesting, interesting discussion of the pretty policy focus.

But there are a whole lot of debates that are that are going to be coming up in Kentucky over the next couple of weeks.

Well, and they did discuss the United Auto Workers strike.

Right.

And the Kentucky Ford plant in Louisville and Beshear, many say artfully handled that question about how do you balance the business interests with what workers want.

And I think both of those candidates seemed to have some eloquent responses.

Whether or not they answered the question might be up for debate.

Yeah, they're really trying to have the best of both worlds.

They were showing support for the union strikers and in law who've recently taken up the strike, but also showing support for the border automakers as well, who are a large employer in Kentucky.

So there's a delicate balance there.

And they're they're trying to, you know, show political support for both.

Meanwhile, when we look at the coffers of the candidates, Beshear keeps raking it in.

Right.

I mean, he reported in the last month or so a pretty good sizable amount and really outpacing his Republican challenger, Daniel Cameron.

Yeah.

Over the over the 30 days before this reporting period last week, Beshear had raised $1.5 million over that period.

And Cameron raised about a little over $500,000.

This reflects what's been going on pretty much throughout the campaign this year has really been outraising of Cameron.

This a lot of this has to do with being the incumbent governor, the there's a lot of, you know, fundraising goes along with that and really being able to use the office not necessarily openly for campaign fundraising purposes, but certainly have a much higher higher profile position when you're asking would be campaign donors.

I thought that one interesting thing about this is really how much more Cameron's PAC has become reliant on on PAC spending on outside groups supporting his campaign in this tail end of it.

Meanwhile, you know, they do have a kind of, you know, similar ish amounts of of cash on hand.

And and Republicans say that they they, you know, have enough money to to show support for Cameron from here out until the election.

But, yeah, there's a lot of money flowing through this.

This is definitely the most expensive race that's taken place in Kentucky history.

And certainly this year it's the most expensive race that's going on in the country right now.

Right.

And with Louisiana's outcome already determined, I mean, all eyes are really on Kentucky right now to see if Governor Beshear in a red Republican state can secure a second term and the path that he took to get there.

So a lot to talk about on the other side of November.

The seventh.

Finally, in the minute we have remaining.

There's a lot happening in Washington right now or not happening, however you want to characterize it, as they try to get another speaker of the House.

And Jim Jordan of Ohio is really making a run for this.

And at the time we talked, didn't look good.

What are the Kentucky implications for this?

The thing that we've been watching is how the how the Kentucky representatives in Congress are voting.

And they've stayed in lockstep so far.

They all voted in favor of keeping former Speaker McCarthy in place last week, and now they're all voting in favor of Jim Jordan.

Thomas Massie has been the most outspoken supporter of Jim Jordan in this in this round of the speakership election.

It doesn't look like things are heading in the right direction for for Jordan to ultimately win that.

I think it's also pretty interesting just, you know, what this means for a you know, a Republican Party that's trying to cast a bit of a big tent and in carrying both a wide part of that wing of Republican Party, of Republicans.

You know, Jim Jordan's one of the central figures in the January six fiasco, the insurrection that took place.

He forwarded messages to then chief of staff, Mark Meadows, that were, you know, kind of had some some interesting legal arguments for how Vice President Pence could help change the outcome of the election.

Instead.

I just think it's pretty interesting for, you know, some moderate Republicans to be voting for for this, that you're great.

Again, it doesn't look like this nomination is is heading in the right direction, though, for him to to be successful.

Yeah.

Something to keep our eyes on as is all of it, actually.

Good to see you, Rylan.

Thank you so very much, as always.

Thanks, Renee.

Norton's Children's Hospital in Louisville is celebrating a big milestone as doctors there perform their 100th pediatric heart transplant.

Details in today's medical news.

Norton Children's Heart Institute said doctors performed the transplant on a nine year old patient Monday.

He had been on the transplant waiting list for almost a year.

Norton Children's Heart Institute began performing Heart transplants on pediatric patients almost 40 years ago and is the only pediatric program in the state capable of doing the procedure.

We have seen a steady growth in the number of patients that are receiving transplant and the number of patients who are followed by heart failure service.

So it's always exciting to reach this milestone.

Obviously, we are taking care of some sick patients and we we see them going through all the stages of the treatment and getting better.

And it's definitely very gratifying.

I bet it is.

In 2020, Norton Children's Hospital opened the Jennifer Lawrence Cardiac intensive care unit.

The famous actress and Louisville native donated $2 million to the hospital to build the unit.

The 17 bed unit features private rooms dedicated to children recovering from heart procedures and other conditions requiring intensive care.

Earlier this year, the legislature passed a bill requiring middle and high schools to have automated external defibrillators.

House Bill 331 also requires schools to have a plan in place to use the lifesaving machine, which is often called an IED.

Tait's Creek High School in Lexington has eight of them.

It's also the first school to receive the heart safe designation in Kentucky.

This means that the staff is trained to respond to a cardiac arrest event in case of an emergency.

On Tuesday, staff participated in a drill conducted by Kentucky Children's Hospital to see if they were prepared to use them in case of a cardiac event.

Statistics have shown that if a school has a plan and they are able to get the aid placed in the school as opposed to an empty chair, there is a drastic difference in when a chance of survival.

So it's really important that they know exactly what they're doing and can do it as fast as possible.

Or the district has provided us with aides inside the building, which is wonderful too.

Outside the building, the trainer has one, so we have them in place throughout the building so you don't have to go too far.

That's very important.

Wherever there is a situation, you don't want it to travel too far to get the aid.

We have an alert system that every teacher has in their classrooms that can alert the front office to an emergency.

A horn sounds.

It lets everyone in the front office know something's up.

Then a radio call goes out to all administration and law enforcement.

They can grab the aid on their way to the situation.

The CPR trained cardiac response team is notified through text message.

They come.

And so you have everybody you need hopefully within a matter of a minute and a half.

Our goal is to have the aid to the victim in a shot delivered within 3 minutes because with every minute that passes, the chance of survival decreases by 10%.

So it's critical that the aid get to the side and shock is administered as soon as possible.

And so when you saw that quick response, that eager response and desire for training, it's because their hearts are in the right place and they they love that the kids have taken care.

Good program.

Indeed.

U.K. officials said their short term goal is that all schools in Fayette County will have the heart safe designation.

Their long term goal is that every school in the state will receive the heart safe designation.

The dangers of sleep apnea are not a new phenomenon for millions of Americans, but advances in treatment options may change the way we think about the disease.

Dr. Kevin Potts is an ear, nose and throat specialist at the University of Louisville and describes the underlying cause for sleep apnea and some lesser known treatment options.

So during the deep stages of sleep, the tongue, the soft palate, the voice box or larynx become very relaxed.

And when that happens and you're breathing over and over it, not during sleep.

This negative pressure pulls those soft tissues backwards, sideways, whatever the collapse pattern might be.

And these tissues collapse the airway and you stop breathing or slow down your respiration significantly.

And that's obstruction.

We have surgical options.

We have dental appliance options, like you talked about earlier, not just the breathing machine.

Everyone kind of, you know, thinks CPAP when they think of sleep apnea.

But there are other options.

Just you can learn all about those options and more when you check out the entire interview with Dr. Wayne Tuckson this weekend, Kentucky Health airs Sunday afternoon at 130 Eastern, 1230 Central right here on KCET.

Finally tonight, Ronald Garcés was unable to see the world in three dimensions for decades due to a childhood injury.

But at the age of 50, he gained the ability to see depth again.

That and a vibrant family history inspired his paintings that can be viewed in 3-D and an exhibit called Fighting Injustice.

More in our weekly Arts and culture segment we call Tapestry.

I've been painting all my life and I've been in art all my life.

Early on, I did very representational and from representational I went to abstract.

And when I started doing more abstract work, I realized that I tried to create art that I at one time could not see because of the entry in my eye.

And when I was about 60 years old, I lost complete sight in my left eye.

But I wanted to create something that I at one time could see.

And so that's why I created the 3D using glasses where it separates color.

This is my studio and this is where I do a lot of art.

I don't use just acrylics.

I also use oils.

I also use lacquers and I also use found objects.

In fact, I was walking down the street one day and somebody left, threw out a bunch of stuff and it was style furniture.

So I picked up all the dull furniture and used some of it and those paintings and and a lot of these even abstracts I use cloth.

I can use glitter or just any type of, you know, things I find and I just arrange it.

So it's my imagination, I guess, is what you would say in reference to the fighting injustice justice exhibit.

I realized that a lot of my forefathers were constantly fighting injustice on both sides.

Going way back.

They all stood up against fascism.

Just, you know, injustice on the on the way we treat people.

And to give you an example, I had I was working in a department store and this woman came in and she says, by your name sounds so familiar.

And I said, Well, she's.

She says, What is it?

I says, It's Dutch.

And she says, Oh.

And tears came rolling down her eyes, and she rolled up her sleeve to show me from being in a concentration camp.

And she exited.

I had a uncle and a great grandfather who were in the Netherlands, and they were part of the underground system there.

Of course, we both became very emotional that what a small world we live in that my grandparents and uncle actually helped save her.

These are a pair of glasses that we used to see in 3D.

Now I can't see it because it doesn't work for me because I am blind in one eye.

But I know how to create that look with certain colors and paints.

And that's what I tried to do.

And even with any mentor, a lot of young people, I always tell them, you know, don't be restricted by what you see.

Good advice.

The three dimensional effect can't be captured on video, so you'll just have to visit in person to see the true effect.

Fighting injustice runs until October the 20th at the Richmond Area Arts Council.

Check it out and we hope you'll check us out tomorrow at 630 Eastern, 530 Central on Kentucky Edition, where we inform, Connect and inspire so many ways to keep in touch with us and send us a story idea.

They're all there on your screen.

Facebook and Instagram are also some ways to get to us as well.

And stay in the loop.

We got some more great stories tomorrow, including how the UAW strike is going in Louisville.

We'll have that and so much more tomorrow night.

Until then, take good care.

Have a great.