The state can and should make these key investments.

The governor announces plans for water, roads and the Internet.

Plus, if you're waiting for the flu to arrive in Kentucky, it's already here.

It's clear that, you know, folks want us to stay and we want to stay and find out where Apple Shop could be setting up shop in the future.

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 and welcome to Kentucky Edition for Tuesday, October 3rd.

I'm Casey Parker Bell filling in for Renee Sharp.

Thanks for joining us.

Governor Andy Beshear today announced an infrastructure proposal that includes proposed spending on clean water projects, Internet service and affordable housing.

But one leading Republican says it's the General Assembly, not the governor, who has the power to act.

More on that in a moment.

First, the plan includes money for cleaner drinking water.

Since 2021, the state has handed out $500 million in federal funds to improve water and wastewater systems in order to help underserved families and businesses.

The governor is proposing 500 million more in state funds.

The next two years.

The plan would expand high speed Internet with the goal of ensuring all Kentucky families and businesses have access.

He wants to spend $100 million for the state's career and technical centers.

10 million would go to providing affordable housing to qualifying Kentuckians.

And he wants more build ready sites that can attract big development projects.

These are key investments in our infrastructure plan that I know are needed to turn these years of great economic development into decades of prosperity.

The state can and should make these key investments.

When the General Assembly convenes in January 2024.

All of this will be in the budget we present to them.

We have some more highlights.

Governor Beshear also wants $200 million to speed up work on the Mountain Parkway to make it four lanes all the way and for work on Interstate 69.

He wants 50 million for city and county bridge work.

House Speaker David Osborne didn't seem impressed with the governor's proposal.

His statement says in part, Once again, he throws out policy that he hasn't talked to anyone about, will do nothing to try to pass it.

Only take credit for the work that we ultimately do.

Kentuckians can expect their legislature to continue passing the same responsible for Kentucky forward policies as we have since 2017.

Regardless of who is in the Governor's mansion.

Unquote.

The Kentucky opioid abatement Advisory Committee and Attorney General Daniel Cameron announced Monday that 34 community based organizations across the state have been awarded a total of nearly $14 million to help address the opioid epidemic.

A Richmond nonprofit in Rich received more than $595,000 from the grant.

Leaders say the money will make a big difference in the community.

Incredibly meaningful to us.

Andy and I, our board of directors, the city of Richmond, our community, Madison County.

This is huge.

Madison County needs this greatly.

Anybody who knows anything about the epidemic in Madison County knows that it's getting worse.

And we're ready to make a change.

And we know these funds will make a big difference in our community.

And Rich is a social enterprise nonprofit that lives in downtown, in the in the epicenter of Richmond.

And our goal with enrich is not only to lower recidivism and fatal opioid overdose deaths in our community, but also to offer people in long term recovery meaningful employment and the resources they need to get back on their feet for the grassroots is vitally important, I think, because it's somebody that knows their community the best, the needs of their community best and its best in its not somebody that just comes up and says, you know, they think this would be the best thing is statistic driven.

It's from people like me and people like me and people like our board that come and they see the need.

They quantify the need and then they present the need.

And that's where it gets married up with this grant.

And the the ward money is granted out.

Kentucky has been in the lead out of the entire country when it comes to having a grant based opioid fund distribution system that has been created, utilized and has had money hit the bank accounts of folks who are working in the trenches.

I think that we are either the first and no later than the second state in the United States to get this done.

So it's really important to us that it's not just some big corporation coming in asking for money to pad their budget.

100% of these funds will go right to the trenches.

In total, Hubbard said, the commission has distributed funds for prevention, treatment and recovery services to $32 million for this calendar year.

Also, an opioid support symposium is on the way.

Next week, we'll tell you more about that ahead on Kentucky Edition.

Jailers across Kentucky are meeting in western Kentucky this week and talking about the problems they face running the state's jails.

Attorney general and Republican candidate for governor, Daniel Cameron gave Monday's opening remarks.

Law and order initiatives.

Several Kentucky jailers and their staff are at the Owensboro convention Center this week, where the Kentucky Jailers Association fall conference.

It provides them training on legal issues, provides them training on daily issues that occur in their facilities.

It provides them the opportunity to talk with other jailers and talk with other professionals across the state so they can share ideas and share thoughts.

Jailer Dailey says the most pressing concern affecting corrections is addiction.

I would tell you 85% of the people that come into our facilities have a drug or alcohol problem.

And the resulting things that go with that, you know, the crimes that occur that they're involved with because of the drug abuse facility.

And show me this state of the art attorney general and Republican candidate for governor, Daniel Cameron, spoke at the conference the same day as announcing millions in funding to fight the opioid crisis.

This is about addressing an issue that has plagued our people for far too long.

And we talked a lot about the opioid epidemic, but we are now bringing in real money into the state in awarding organizations and, you know, making sure that they have the resources to help stem the tide of this epidemic.

Jailer Dailey says mental health is also a major challenge for Kentucky correctional facilities, where the mental health facilities of the past, since the federal government closed them down in the late seventies, early eighties.

They now come to jail and we're required to deal with them and we're not set up for it, Daily says his jail.

And Campbell County is among those in Kentucky that do have full time mental health staff onsite.

Jails may be different size and maybe different location, but the problem is that we have pretty much run the same gamut.

This week, a chance for Kentucky jails to identify those problems and learn ways and resources that help them continue to better serve their communities.

For Kentucky Edition, I'm Laura Rogers.

The Kentucky Jailers Association holds two conferences a year.

The fall session runs through Thursday.

Jailers must complete 40 hours of training a year.

We heard from the candidates for state auditor and state treasurer last night on Kentucky tonight.

Renee Shaw asked the candidates for state auditor about their past experiences.

Republican Alison Ball, who is now serving as state treasurer, says she has already been a watchdog of the public's money.

The auditor does just like what it sounds like it does the auditor audits and the auditor is that watchdog in the back.

And once money has been paid in Kentucky, the auditor make sure that money is used correctly.

The processes are correct, and if not, then the auditor makes sure there's accountability for that.

So I've been your watchdog and I ask you, please send me back.

Allow me to be a watchdog again.

I was a prosecutor for four years, so I know how to investigate.

I know how to do deep dives and to be fair, across the board.

I also was a bankruptcy attorney for two years in addition to that.

So I've got a background that has me ready to go to serve you as auditor.

The Democratic candidate, Kimberly Reeder, says she would bring skills proven in the private sector.

I built a successful tax practice over 20 years.

I multibillion dollar corporations consulted with me to help solve difficult problems, and I was named a top ten tax lawyer in the country.

What I bring to the table are a set of professional skills that have been they've been looked over by some in some of the harshest competitive environments and deemed to be worthy of the at the highest levels.

And now I just want to put those skills to use for Kentuckians for All Kentuckians.

The candidates for state Treasurer touched on many topics, including ESG, environmental, social governance.

Should government bodies, including the Commonwealth of Kentucky, make decisions about where to invest money based on companies, environmental and social policies?

Kentucky lawmakers have been critical of investments in companies that favor green technology over fossil fuels like coal.

Republican Mark Metcalf agreed with that criticism.

Green technology has in many respects been a failure.

What I intend to do is champion the the interests of our of our miners and our our mine operators to see that we are delivering to Kentucky Kentuckians the most affordable energy at the most affordable prices.

That's what we should be doing.

We should be looking.

We should be.

Republicans have advocated a cafeteria plan when it comes to energy, selecting those sources which are most beneficial and least an expensive to our homeowners and business owners.

It's the smart thing to do.

And coal fits in to that mindset or that point of view that says we should be looking at all forms of energy.

The Treasurer is the Chief Financial Officer of the Commonwealth and that means you have a fiduciary responsibility.

Anyone who and who does investment has worked in banking knows and understands that as a fiduciary you have to look at the whole picture, not just a piece of it.

And I think when we we don't use things like ESG, which the vast majority of people don't realize is is is meant to ensure that we're doing business with people that don't pollute our environment, that are socially responsible and that they have leadership within their companies that are willing to hold themselves accountable.

And people who are anti ESG are effectively telling you they're okay with polluting and being socially irresponsible and having CEOs that bail on their company with a golden parachute.

And that's what's that's what's wrong here.

And I think it's a it's a piece of a greater puzzle.

It's not simply to enforce a green energy agenda.

It is something that we look at.

There are plenty of fossil fuel companies that actually do the right things that would qualify highly on ESG scores because they mitigate their impacts and they have leadership that is holding their company accountable for what they're doing.

You can see the full conversations with the candidates for state auditor and state treasurer from last night online on demand at Dawg slash K-Y.

Tonight and next week on Kentucky Tonight, Renee will sit down with the two candidates for Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams and Buddy Wheatley, as well as the candidates for Commissioner of Agriculture, Sierra Enlow and Jonathan Schell.

And you can send in your questions and comments.

That's next Monday at eight Eastern, seven Central right here on Katie.

The US House has ousted Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy.

The vote came late this afternoon.

It was a move being pushed by Congressman Matt Gaetz of Florida.

Some conservatives are unhappy about the 45 day spending bill passed last weekend.

The delayed a government shutdown.

The vote today was 216 to 210 to oust McCarthy.

Eight conservative Republicans joined forces with Democrats to vote against McCarthy.

But McCarthy had the support of Kentucky's Republican delegation.

Congressman Thomas Massie of Kentucky's fourth Congressional District had been critical of efforts to remove McCarthy.

Massie says with McCarthy out, the outcome could be even worse for conservatives.

Follow us here.

And so is flu season.

Details in tonight's look at medical news.

Lexington has its first lab confirmed cases of the flu for the 2023 24 flu season.

That's according to the Lexington Fayette County Health Department.

Kentucky's second largest city had almost 3500 flu cases last year with 16 deaths.

Doctors recommended flu shots for anyone six months old and up.

The shots are especially important for infants and young children, pregnant women.

Anyone with underlying medical conditions and adults 50 years old and older.

An event next week will gather together those on the front lines of the opioid battle.

But the experts are not the only ones directing the conversation at the first ever Kentucky Opioid Symposium.

Bryan Hubbard with the Kentucky Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission, the group that organized the event, said they traveled the state for more than a year talking to people who are dealing with this crisis and that feedback helped the symposium take shape.

The symposium is a gathering of everybody across the Commonwealth of Kentucky who wishes to engage in the fight against the ongoing opioid epidemic, an epidemic that has been playing out in the state since 1996.

The symposium is going to be aimed at treatment providers, people who are in recovery, the family members of people who are in recovery, the family members of folks who are trying to attain recovery, and anybody else who wants to be able to engage in the fight against the epidemic.

We're going to be talking about not just how it began, but where we're at now and what we've got to do to create generational change over the next decade plus in order to whip this thing, in order to combat the opioid epidemic.

What the commission has learned and what many have known for some time is that you have got to have a full frontal assault against all of its dynamics.

That means that you have to prevent its occurrence, beginning with youth, that you have to treat the problem once it takes hold of an individual, and then it's that individual comes out from the cloud of active use.

You have to be able to support them over the course of a long term recovery process that will take them through a battle that they will engage for the rest of their lives by virtue of the way in which opioid dependance impacts the biology of the body.

We've got to be able to prevent it.

We've got to treat it.

And then when individuals who have been affected by it start getting on their feet, we've got to help them in any way that we can reclaim ownership of their lives.

We have a generational garden growing right in front of us that we have got to tend if we we're going to prevent the next 26 years from being as deadly as the prior 26.

This has to be our priority and it's got to be a matter of focus in a way that it has not heretofore being.

Likewise, with the advent of Senate Bill 90, which is a criminal justice reform project that is aimed at police and people in treatment before they face incarceration.

The creation of the Recovery Ready Communities Task Force and the priorities that they have set forth for the individual counties and cities that have their own pot of money to work with.

And the Commission's focus on providing individuals in recovery with the resources that they need to rebuild their lives, whether that is housing, access to transportation, vocational training and meaningful educational opportunity that will credential them to be able to work in a way that will make them self-sufficient.

Both of those sets of priorities have got to receive sustained, long term attention, and those priorities have been formed in direct response to the feedback received over 11 town halls from Pikeville to Paducah, where those needs were articulated in every locality.

As devastating as the opioid epidemic has been.

There is a tremendous amount of light in this state that is being emanated from a beautiful grassroots immune system that has responded with all the very best virtues that make Kentucky such an exceptional place.

And we look forward to being able to highlight that reality and a hopeful and celebratory way making news across the Commonwealth.

An arrest eight years after a woman's disappearance.

New homes for tornado victims.

And good news for once, endangered fish in western Kentucky.

Our Toby Gibbs has details in this.

Look at headlines around Kentucky.

A break in a Nelson County murder case that's received attention worldwide.

The former boyfriend of Crystal Rogers, a mother of five who disappeared in 2015, has been charged with murder.

The Kentucky Standard reports Brooks Houck also faces a tampering with evidence charge in connection with Rogers death.

Houck is being held on a $10 million cash bond.

Another man, Joseph Lawson, has been arrested on conspiracy to commit murder and tampering with physical evidence.

Charges.

16 Mayfield families were given new homes after they lost theirs in the devastating 2021 tornado.

The Paducah Sun reports the families are the first of 60 to move into New Hope Acres Mayfield subdivision for tornado survivors nonprofit Samaritan's Purse paid for the furnished houses.

The Louisville Metro Council voted to ban pet stores and vendors in public and outdoor spaces from selling dogs and cats.

Louisville Public Media reports the law won't take effect for another year.

As of now, the ordinance requires pet stores to display the contact information of their breeders, who will still be able to sell animals directly to customers.

The ordinance does not keep pet stores from selling online or partnering with adoption or rescue agencies.

Louisville is the third city in the state to adopt this ordinance.

The federal protection status for a small fish native to western Kentucky has changed from endangered to threatened thanks to conservation efforts.

The Kentucky led heard reports of water pollution and the channel ization of waterways by farmers has harmed the relay darter.

The fish was listed as endangered in 1993 with headlines around Kentucky.

I'm told, begins.

Brace yourself for a TV, radio and cell phone alert tomorrow afternoon.

It's a drill from FEMA and the FCC.

It's a nationwide test of the emergency alert system and wireless emergency alerts.

Around 220 Eastern time, 120 Central Time.

The test is to make sure Americans can be properly notified in the event of a national emergency.

Your phone will tell you this is a test.

If you're watching TV or listening to the radio, you will be told it's only a test.

When Eastern Kentucky was hit with catastrophic flooding in 2022, one of the major casualties was Apple Shop.

The Apple Shop building in Whitesburg, the center of Appalachian culture and history in Letcher County for decades was heavily damaged in the flood.

Now the nonprofit organization has announced it has purchased an 11,500 square foot building above the floodplain in Jenkins.

But Apple Shops operation director Roger May said that doesn't mean they're saying goodbye to their Whitesburg home.

On Friday, we closed on a piece of property in Jenkins, which is the former Jenkins hospital, and it passed hands a few times since it opened in 1915.

But we we secured the property and our board will determine whether or not we'll actually move to Jenkins or stay in Whitesburg.

Right now, we have some temporary offices in in Jenkins, but that is yet to be determined whether or not, you know, we'll we'll actually renovate the hospital and move in or if we'll try to renovate the Apple Shop building in Whitesburg and try to try to move in.

You know, it's it's certainly a conversation and discussion that we're paying close attention to.

You know, that it's really important for our staff that we stay Alachua County.

That was clear from from the jump.

And so we've made a concerted effort to to do just that.

And but as you know, anybody in eastern Kentucky or southern West Virginia knows, you know, it's it's few and far between to be able to find property that's out of the floodplain or well out of the flood plain.

And so when this opportunity presented itself, our board thought that it was a smart move to try to acquire the property and and, you know, see see what makes the most sense for us long term.

Of course, like so many other families and businesses and organizations that were impacted by the flood, we're partnering with FEMA to, you know, figure out what that could possibly look like.

But that's a it's not a fast process.

And because of that, we had to be thinking, you know, strategically about what it what it might mean to to be able to stay in Letcher County and be out of the floodplain.

But I think, you know, overall, it's clear that, you know, folks want us to stay and we want to stay.

We just have to think about how we can do that safely and how we can do that for the for the long term preservation of the organization.

May said Apple Shop plans to hold public listening sessions in Jenkins and Whitesburg before deciding on a permanent location.

He estimates it will take at least three years before Apple Shop moves into a new home.

Louisville saw a record crowd get loud last week.

Organizer of Louder than Life said 180,000 people attended the four day music festival that featured 100 acts, including the Foo Fighters and Green Day.

The festival draws in music fans from all over the country, ready to bang their heads and open their wallets.

Talk about louder than Life is not only America's biggest rock festival, it's North America's biggest rock festival.

We're going to break the records that we set last year, this year.

And have you know, over 180,000 fans come out.

A lot of our team has been here for a month.

They start coming in in August to build up this festival site.

It's a small city that we're that we have here over 40, 40,000 people a day specifically for our lives, Like we'll see hotel occupancies in the city at 90% or higher, which typically we only see that a handful of times throughout the year.

And you're talking things like Derby, other major events we have for a lot of nights.

We see over 60% of all the folks that travel in our life come from over 100 miles away.

So to us, those are automatic overnight visitors, which means more economic impact and more experiences throughout the city.

I think I think the festival shine a light on the level and show folks how unique we are as a destination.

You know, you can visit here and come to school here.

You might bring a business here or you might move here on your own.

So getting folks to come here and visit is a great first step in getting them to live here.

Start a business here, grow the economy.

We have a lot of pride in and creating these, you know, experiences for fans where, you know, there's a community where they can feel for themselves.

They feel safe, they feel connected.

You know, there's something really special about that.

Tickets are already on sale for next year's Louder Than Life Festival.

What started as a bird in a library has now become a beautiful masterpiece, more commonly known as see how one organization is helping women voices take flight in the arts.

That's tomorrow on Kentucky Edition.

We hope you'll join us again tomorrow night at 630 Eastern, 530 Central for Kentucky Edition, where we inform, Connect and Inspire.

Subscribe to our weekly Kentucky Edition email newsletter and watch full episodes and clips at KET dot org.

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Thank you for joining us.

We hope you take good care.

I'm Cassie Parker Bell.

Have a great night.