>> And we should be checking on all those Kentucky families that work for the federal government.

>> Day two of the government shutdown.

How's Kentucky coping?

>> This is why we have the courts.

When people feel that their First Amendment rights have been violated, we may see the courts have say that some institutions have gone too far.

>> A brief explainer and history of campus free speech.

>> They can fall for scams and lose quite a bit of money in different ways.

>> And seniors are often scam targets and they can lose big, big money.

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

>> Good evening and welcome to Kentucky Edition for this Thursday, October the 2nd.

I'm Renee Shaw, and we thank you for spending some of your Thursday night with us.

Governor Andy Beshear says Kentucky is doing all it can to cope with the continuing federal government shutdown that started at midnight Wednesday.

The governor says some programs that help Kentuckians will continue.

That includes Snap, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, often called food stamps, and the Supplemental Nutrition Program for women, Infants and Children.

This afternoon, the governor urged Kentuckians to look out for one another.

>> So we are in day two of a federal government shutdown.

You never want to see a government shutdown.

And we are thinking about and we should be checking on all those Kentucky families that work for the federal government that are currently furloughed and not receiving their salaries.

It is going to be really difficult on them.

But what we're seeing in Washington, D.C.

is, is Democrats fighting to keep the cost of health care affordable.

What Republicans have, have done, and without intervention, what will happen is a loss of of help for those that get their insurance through the Affordable Care Act marketplace.

And that will cause on about 100,000 Kentuckians significant increases in premiums, but it impacts the entire market.

And so just about everyone's health care costs, which are already too high, will go up.

Pair that with the significant cuts in Medicaid, where 200,000 Kentuckians are going to lose their coverage and 20,000 Kentuckians are going to lose their job.

And what you see is people fighting so that the American, the American family, the average American family can actually pay their bills and see a doctor.

So it's it's it's complicated and it's tough.

But certainly we're thinking about each of those families.

Most programs that come through Kentucky will continue.

We've done it before.

We'll do it again, but we'll be monitoring it day to day.

>> The governor also said if President Donald Trump permanently fires government workers during this shutdown, he says that's on him.

The governor said that's not necessary and didn't happen during other government shutdowns.

Governor Beshear appeared on NPR, National Public Radio's Morning Edition this morning.

He talked about the federal government shutdown and was also asked about whether he will run for president in 2028.

He again said he would make that decision later.

Host Steve Inskeep asked the governor about the Democrats focus if they take the white House.

>> We ought to be talking about how to create a better life for Americans, how to make people's lives just a little bit easier.

Right now, the most concerning poll I've seen is the number of people who think the American dream is slipping away.

The American Dream is so fundamental to our country that if you play by the rules and you work hard, that you can get ahead.

So we need to be looking at all those areas that people are struggling, that lead them to believe that they're not going to be able to achieve.

And addressing them, you know, that young couple has to be able to buy a house in the same decade that their parents did.

If you work a full time job, you ought to be able to pay your bills and not have to be working an extra 1 or 2 at night.

>> Congressman Andy Barr, a Republican from the sixth district, wants legislation making government shutdowns impossible.

Barr says his End Government Shutdowns Act, if passed, would keep the government open.

If Congress can't reach a budget deal, the government would operate at 99% of the previous year's funding level for 30 days.

It would go down another 1% each 30 days until a deal is reached.

Barr wrote about this in an opinion piece in the Lexington Herald Leader.

He said, quote, the stakes are too high to continue lurching from crisis to crisis.

Our men and women in uniform should never be pawns in political fights.

Our families shouldn't wonder whether they'll receive their next paycheck to keep the lights on and food on the table.

Americans shouldn't wonder if the airport security line will be staffed.

End quote.

Tuesday, President Donald Trump and the Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth spoke to hundreds of generals and admirals in Virginia.

Hegseth said the days of a, quote, woke military are over.

President Trump talked about the, quote, enemy within and using the military for law enforcement.

That bothered Amy McGrath, the retired Marine Corps colonel who ran for U.S.

House and U.S.

Senate from Kentucky.

She appeared on CNN Tuesday night.

>> That, to me, was the most scary part of the entire speech.

I mean, there was a lot of rambling.

There was a ton of lies.

But the scariest part was when the president talked about using the military and using our cities as a training ground for the United States military.

Now, the military has done training in cities before, but that's not what I think he's talking about here.

He's talking about using the military in ways that we should not see in America.

And I'm very worried about this.

I think that that the whole part of bringing these generals and admirals back here was to discuss this type of thing.

And it should it should scare us all.

This is something that we just don't do in America.

>> McGrath was also critical of Secretary Hegseth for saying the military needs to return to a, quote, male standard.

McGrath says, has it has always been a standard for male and female service members.

Last month, a professor at the University of Kentucky hosted a forum on the protections and limitations of free speech on campus.

The talk was one week after the shooting death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

After the murder, some universities, including UK, started investigating their employees social media posts.

We talked to that professor yesterday about what a history of case ruling suggests about this moment in higher education.

>> Free speech cases for students, and this would be for K-12 and college students.

We can look to the 1960s.

There was a very famous case, the the Tinker case, and it involved students wanting to wear armbands and silent protest of the Vietnam War.

And Mary Beth Tinker, who was a high school student.

And if you see pictures of Mary Beth, is really quite young to be taking this stand.

She did it with her brothers and other students, and the Supreme Court ruled that students don't forfeit their rights to speech and expression just because they're in an educational environment.

For employees who work for public agencies, such as public colleges and universities, the Supreme Court, and you have lower court decisions that that carry the standard out.

The the general rule is that just because you're a public employee, you don't forfeit all your First Amendment speech rights.

There's a balancing component where courts have said, well, even if your speech is protected, there can be reasons to limit this speech.

So, for instance, if it's interfering with the operations of the institution, or in this case, we certainly see some institutions around the country that believe that their employees have engaged in speech.

I've seen terms like vile and that because these individuals are representative of the representatives of the institution, it should subject them to sanction or even firing.

In some ways, the more senior you are in a position, in your position, higher level you are.

It might be at an institution, maybe a provost or a dean or a department chair.

You may be viewed as more of a representative, and an institution might be able to argue, well, we really you are a symbol of the institution, someone who maybe doesn't have a higher seniority in in the institution.

Maybe I'll say, well, people aren't going to get so confused that I'm speaking for the institution.

But what we may see is that some courts, and this is why we have the courts, when people feel that their First Amendment rights have been violated, we may see the courts have say that some institutions have gone too far.

And while the the speech may be something that is not palatable or pleasant, or other people may find it distasteful, a court may say that that still should be protected speech.

And this this balancing component isn't enough to knock it out of the box for First Amendment protection.

And that's traditionally been a role of courts.

When we have moments like this that are very tense, actions are taken, institutions and leaders are under lots of pressure, is that the courts are supposed to be that safety valve for the First Amendment.

>> Last month, the University of Kentucky opened an investigation into an employee's online post about Charlie Kirk.

In a statement, UK says it values free speech but also recognizes its employees need to be civil and treat people with respect.

Now turning to some medical news now.

Jefferson County now has nine confirmed cases of the West Nile virus in 2025.

There was just one case in 2024.

This is the biggest total in the last ten years.

The Louisville Metro Department of Public Health and Wellness urges people to be aware of mosquitoes and try to avoid being bitten.

All nine cases this year involve people between the ages of 40 and 70.

Kentucky as a whole has had 19 cases this year with one death.

Four of those cases are in Fayette County.

Northern Kentucky has a new addition to its health care network, which will serve the growing population in Boone County.

More as we continue with tonight's medical news.

Saint Elizabeth cut the ribbon earlier this week on its newest Ridgewood location.

The 33,000 square foot center will offer urgent care, primary care, women's health and specialty services.

You may remember earlier this summer, Saint Elizabeth Health Care, which is primarily located in northern Kentucky and Greater Cincinnati, was recognized as the number one hospital in Kentucky.

Leaders of the health care organization say the newest location will bring that same high quality care to everyday services.

>> Our vision is to lead our communities to be among the healthiest in the nation.

We are absolutely dedicated to taking care of patients not just for acute needs, but for preventative care and overall health maintenance and improvement.

>> Saint Elizabeth actually purchased this property probably 25 years ago, with the idea that someday there would be a need for a facility of some kind here.

Unincorporated Boone County now consists of nearly 100,000 people.

We talk about building infrastructure.

Well, the infrastructure of health care is just as important.

>> The new facility is expected to see up to 400 patients per day and employ nearly 60 workers.

Doctor Merly said it's her hope that the new primary care and women's health services will allow Saint Elizabeth to treat patients throughout their lifespan.

The CEO also said the office was designed with several thousand square feet of shelf space, so they can expand their services if needed.

The lead physician said Saint Elizabeth is looking to increase its presence in other growing parts of the region, but she couldn't disclose where just yet.

The Ridgewood office will officially be open to patients on October the 22nd.

Is your electric bill about to go up?

And some Winchester businesses hurt by construction work are getting some relief.

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

>> Help is on the way to downtown Winchester.

Businesses hurt by the Main Street High Side construction project, the Winchester Sun reports.

The Winchester Board of Commissioners approved relief funds for businesses affected by the work.

Businesses in the Downtown Development Investment Fund District are eligible for $3,000.

Businesses in the construction zone itself are eligible for 10,000.

LG and E and COO want to raise utility rates.

COO wants an 11.5% hike, LG and EE wants to up electric rates by 8.3% and natural gas by 14%.

These are the first proposed rate hikes since 2020.

The companies say the money will pay for infrastructure upgrades and rising costs related to severe weather and tariffs.

The Grayson County News says the Public Service Commission plans public comment hearings at locations throughout Kentucky.

The next is October 13th in Madisonville.

Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy praised Kentucky and Indiana for their teamwork working on an Interstate 69 overpass.

Duffy visited the site in September.

The Andersonian quotes Duffy is saying it's an important project, not just for the two states, but for all of America.

Country music star Dierks Bentley stopped off at the green River Distilling Company in Owensboro to celebrate the release of his ro 94 fool proof bourbon.

The Owensboro Messenger-inquirer says his interest in his own Bourbon line began when he opened a bar in Arizona in 2012.

With headlines around Kentucky.

I'm Toby Gibbs.

>> From annoying calls during dinner or strange texts from unfamiliar numbers.

Scammers have likely had you in their sights.

If you're not careful, you could be tricked out of hundreds or even thousands of dollars and have your identity compromised.

Fraudsters use clever, sometimes overly friendly, or at times downright aggressive and even threatening approaches, and being trapped by their schemes can come at a hefty cost.

Heather Clary, with the Better Business Bureau of Greater Kentucky and Southern Indiana, tells us what to look out for and says that seniors are less gullible than you might think, but still wind up doling out more when they're victimized.

This is part of our ongoing aging series, The Next Chapter, that explores the rewards and challenges of growing older.

>> The Better Business Bureau Scam Tracker report from 2024 indicates that of all the scams that were reported and fallen for, unfortunately, across the nation, fewer of the seniors actually fell for scams.

However, when they did, they lost more money than other age groups.

So you could chalk that up to been alive for a long time and know what to look for or any number of things.

So that was an interesting point.

And that happens from year to year.

But it's still a problem.

They can fall for scams and lose quite a bit of money in different ways.

And that's why we do want to reach out, help them help their caretakers, their family members, whoever that can.

Help them keep their money in their pockets and continue into their senior years without worrying.

>> And to your point, and we're going to put this on the screen that ages 65 and up, 41.9% susceptibility for falling for these scams, but ages 55 to 64, a little bit more, 45.1%.

So but to your point, if you're 65 and older and you have fallen for one of these scams, you lose $160 on average as opposed to someone younger by five, six, ten years, $125.

>> So if you lose it, you lose it hard.

Yeah, but and we want to keep that from happening.

And that's why again, the Better Business Bureau can be such a proactive step for folks to take to avoid those types of scams.

And if someone has fallen for one of these, it's also an opportunity to reach out for resources and possibilities to mitigate it, keep it from happening further so that it doesn't get worse.

And our services are free, and we want to make people aware of that.

And we don't want anyone to hesitate to call us to be ashamed or embarrassed.

I mean, that's why we're here.

And we'll often hear from family members of an older person stating, you know, my grandmother or my dad or whoever it is is getting some suspicious phone calls.

They're receiving weird things in the mail.

They're writing an awful lot of checks for sweepstakes prize.

They say they want any number of things like that.

And we've learned to recognize those, and we're happy to talk to those folks and see if we can help them help their family member.

>> Let's talk about some of the common scams that tend to target the elderly.

Are they different than younger populations?

>> They can vary.

For instance, one of the most reported scams, believe it or not, in 2024, was a cryptocurrency investment scams.

And there are seniors out there who might have a nice retirement nest egg, and those con artists want to get their hands on it.

And cryptocurrency is still very mysterious to a lot of folks and complicated even though it's been out there for some time.

And they can be led down the primrose path, as they say, to invest your money.

It's a sure thing.

Would I lie to you?

You know, that kind of thing.

And so they can tend to lose money to any of those investment scams and not be able to recover that, especially if those people just ghost them and disappear.

>> Well, and we've heard and in fact, a program we did, we profiled someone who lost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Yes.

Right.

And and actually, you know, when you hear the story that the person had kind of they kind of met each other.

I mean, it was like this, you know, there were all kinds of signs that pointed to this being a nefarious scheme.

But yet, you know, the senior now in the back end realizes it, but at the time really thought it was legitimate.

I mean, these are really good con artists.

>> They are very good at it.

And any more even AI and artificial intelligence and those types of technologies can make it even easier to make someone fall for something.

For instance, another scam, the grandparent scam or emergency call scam.

It can happen in different ways, but it does hit seniors a lot.

Where the person poses as a grandchild in some sort of trouble or distress.

We've heard the tales of I'm on spring break with a bunch of folks, and we were in a car accident, and now we're in a jail in Florida somewhere, and they think they want to arrest us.

I need some bail money.

And please don't tell Mom and Dad.

That kind of.

>> Sounds legit.

>> Yeah, and, you know, the grandparent wants to help out once in a while.

I mean, we'll have these folks tell us.

Well, it didn't sound like him too much.

And they'll give you a reason.

Like, well, we were in a car accident, and I hit my nose on the dashboard.

And so that's why I don't sound the same.

Or they make up all the reasons or I've been crying and.

But they're quick to hand that phone over to an attorney, so to speak.

If you can just give some financial information to this guy, he'll get me out of this and I'll be fine, you know?

And then that's when they want the untraceable payment methods, the PayPal or Venmo, the Cash App.

They want gift cards that you buy loaded with money.

Those are all big red flags.

Call the parents if they say, don't call mom and dad, do it, or whoever else you can.

Or if you have a cell number for the child or whoever it is, call them directly.

See if it's true.

You're going to find out it isn't.

>> Some really good advice there.

And here's some more.

Be leery of free, low cost or buy one get one deals.

Request for unusual payment types like prepaid debit or credit cards and wired funds, and hang up on solicitors who pressure you to act now for more information on how to protect you and your loved ones from these scams, check out scams dot k y.gov and I'll have more with Heather Clary next week.

When we talk about Medicare scams, especially during this time of open enrollment that starts soon.

Bellarmine University celebrates 75 years in Louisville this year.

Originally founded as an independent Catholic college for men, Bellarmine University is now a nationally recognized coed university.

This week on Inside Louisville, Kelsie Starks sits down with university president Doctor Susan Donovan to talk about how it's changed in 75 years.

>> What have been your biggest challenges since being here?

I would assume Covid was one of the big.

>> Covid was Covid was tough.

I think, you know, we are we're a small college.

So it was those those times were very tough.

You're you fluctuate when students and we're such a high impact residential campus.

So when people are afraid to come to campus, that's tough.

However, I was really proud of our staff.

We did a lot of outside programing and that, you know, having also seeing what we do to impact health care and business and as we mentioned, education in the community.

You know, those were challenging times as well for for nurses going back.

And that dropped off a little bit.

But now coming back, I think we have something like 750 that are from from one point either at the undergraduate second degree or our graduate programs, 750 that are going into some part of the nursing profession.

Wow.

>> Yeah.

That's incredible.

>> Yeah.

And you know, that's servicing a great demand.

And they're to have really caring, compassionate a lot of people say to me in town you can recognize a Bellarmine alum, whether that's in a hospital or whether that's in a business.

And I do think they move into leadership in their roles and are just very proud of our outcomes.

>> That's got to be a great compliment.

When you hear that.

>> It is, you know, one of the other things is just we were just named this isn't something you apply for, but Opportunity Campus.

And that was really for those highest access and highest yield or highest earnings really.

And so we're seeing those accolades come in daily.

You don't do things for the ratings.

But it's nice when you when you see it coming in multiple areas then you know you're doing right.

>> Sure.

What do you foresee as being some of the biggest challenges that still lie ahead for Bellarmine University?

I know a lot of higher education is worried about federal funding cuts, budgets.

What do you think is the biggest challenge for you?

>> Well, federal aid is incredibly important to all of our students.

It's not just our undergraduate students, but our second degree students, our graduate students.

So that's that's really important to this.

If if that aid is is taken away, we're we're very strong advocates for that because this is how you transform lives and transform cities and states for that matter.

So hopefully that will stay.

But if also the Kentucky aid is incredibly important to us and just the partnerships we have in the city, I mean, we have wonderful partnerships with Norton Healthcare, with our accounting firms, with JC.

So all of those are important.

I don't think those will change, but we may have to rely more on them.

>> You can see the entire conversation when we explore Bellarmine University this Sunday on Inside Louisville with Kelsey starts at 12 noon 11 central right here on KET.

Parkinson's disease often leads to a host of problems, including trouble with speech and swallowing.

>> It's really important for people to have access to these programs so that they can ward off the progression of the illness.

>> I'm just hoping and praying that this works because I'm trying to stay, at least even with Parkinson's, because they say there's no cure for it.

>> Friday on Kentucky Edition, a therapy program helping those with Parkinson's regain their voice.

That, and we go inside Kentucky politics to break down what's happened in Kentucky on the scene of politics this week.

You don't want to miss that.

Tomorrow night on Kentucky Edition 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, Facebook and Instagram.

To stay in the loop, we encourage you to send us an email, a story idea at Public Affairs at ket.org and look for us on the PBS and KET video apps that you can download on your mobile device and smart TV.

Thanks so very much for watching.

I'm Renee Shaw, and I'll see you right back here again on Friday night.

Take good care.