Amy McGrath reenters the ring.

More on her second bid to capture U.S.

Senator Mitch McConnell's seat in Washington.

>> You have to put food on the table and you don't really get paid much for it.

And most of the time you're losing money.

So how do you how do you figure out how to do that?

I guess that's the hard part.

>> The growing crisis for Kentucky soybean farmers and what's giving them some hope, >> I literally did not feel good at all whenever I was eating the way I did.

I was always tired.

>> How this Kentucky teen and her family got on the path to good health.

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

>> Good evening and welcome to Kentucky Edition on this brand new week.

It is Monday, October the 6th.

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

The field of candidates vying for U.S.

Senator Mitch McConnell's Senate seat is widening.

The latest candidate, someone who has run for the seat before, Amy McGrath, the retired marine fighter pilot, announced this morning she's making a second Senate run.

McGrath, who is a Democrat, lost to McConnell in 2020.

She also ran unsuccessfully for the U.S.

House in the sixth district back in 2018.

McConnell announced earlier this year he was retiring, leaving his seat open in a video for her campaign launch, McGrath says the stakes are too high for the seat to be filled by someone who will align themselves with President Donald Trump.

>> I know what courage looks like right now.

Way too many politicians don't, and Americans are being thrown under the bus by cowards in Washington.

Without the moral backbone to serve our nation with honor.

>> Three other Democrats and three Republicans are also running for Senator McConnell's seat.

Senator McConnell wants Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to keep the Friday night lights on at some Kentucky high schools.

In a letter sent to Hegseth last week, McConnell asked that athletic and extracurricular activities be allowed to continue during the federal government shutdown at high schools located on Fort Campbell and Fort Knox Army bases.

McConnell says the cancellation of football games at the schools could risk the student athletes ability to compete at the college level.

No word on whether Hegseth has responded to McConnell's letter.

A criminal case in Kentucky has caught the attention of the white House.

It involves the release of Ronald Exantus, sentenced for the fatal stabbing of a six year old boy in Woodford County back in 2015.

He was found not guilty of murder by reason of insanity.

He was found guilty of assault and sentenced to 20 years.

According to the Lexington Herald leader, Exantus started supervised parole earlier this month and is scheduled to be released from supervision next year, the Herald Leader reports.

The white House press secretary, Caroline Leavitt, reshared a post by a conservative media personality who expressed outrage over the release.

Leavitt commented on the post, saying the administration was, quote, looking into this end quote, the former Louisville Metro police officer convicted in the Breonna Taylor case is asking to have the date he scheduled to report to prison delayed.

That's according to the Courier-Journal newspaper.

Brett Hankison was convicted of violating Taylor's civil rights.

He's scheduled to report to prison October the 9th to begin serving a 33 month sentence.

Hankison has appealed the conviction and, sentencing his lawyer, say a 60 to 90 day extension is needed to allow the court to rule on the appeal and for them to appeal to a higher court if the ruling doesn't go in their favor.

Turning now to some big news it's harvest time for Kentucky's grain farmers, but they'll be hard pressed to turn a profit because China is not buying American soybeans.

It's gotten so bad.

President Donald Trump says a government bailout for farmers could be announced as early as tomorrow.

Our June Lefler reports that some farmers say they need help now.

>> It's warm and dusty in the soybean fields for two months round the clock, Matt Gieseke will run the combine.

It cuts the stalks and separates the beans from the pods.

His farmhand collects the beans and carries them over rolling fields towards the road.

>> Put it on a truck and send it to Jeffersonville, Indiana to consolidate grain and barge.

They put it on a barge and ship it down to the Gulf.

>> But the going price for soybeans is low and likely won't rebound soon.

>> It's a free market, and so the price is decided by trading.

And, you know, it's just like anything else.

You've got too much supply and not enough demand.

The price is going to be low.

>> Why the low demand?

China isn't buying.

>> So 25% of our soybeans in general from the United States are exported to China.

And basically this entire year, China has not bought a single soybean.

>> President Donald Trump's trade policy has meant reciprocal tariffs between China.

So the soybeans China needs to feed its pigs are coming from Brazil and other South American countries.

Instead.

>> Running quick calculations on Soybean Acre this year, I estimate losses for each producer to be somewhere between 100 and $200 per acre.

>> With that math, Isaac could be missing out on more than $100,000.

>> So that's causing a lot of stress in farm country across the US, because the prices are just depressed right now, to a point where a lot of people aren't making any money.

>> Prominent Kentucky Republicans do not support Trump's trade war.

U.S.

Senator Mitch McConnell says it's hurting customers and businesses, including farmers.

But Kentucky's top agriculture official supports Trump's moves.

Commissioner Jonathan Schell says, quote, for decades, our trade deals left America at the mercy of countries that didn't always have our best interests at heart.

When you look at China, for example, it's not just about buying soybeans, it's about intellectual property theft, buying up farmland and creating instability around the globe.

The president's approach is about protecting our sovereignty while still working to expand markets for our farmers.

This farmer says he can't wait for a trade war to become a trade deal.

>> Whether you support him or not, there's things that you can agree with and disagree with.

And I'll say that that, you know, a lot of his trade policies right now because it's hurting the farm country so bad.

I'm kind of I'm at a point where I'm, you know, I'd say disagree with them.

I know President Trump had put out a tweet or whatever you call it, that he's going to meet with China in four weeks.

Four weeks is a long time away.

>> The strains of farming are here and now.

Inflation is high and so are loan interest rates.

>> Because we buy things and our input costs are up 60% since 2017.

And our and then we're receiving prices for the crop that, you know, are back in the 70s, 70s and 80s kind of prices.

>> Farming associations are looking for more soybean markets at home.

That means expanding biofuel consumption, something that's in progress.

>> But every other country that bought beans in 2022 only made up 61% of China's demand.

So China is the large player.

If we're trying to piece a bunch of exports from different countries, I don't think we ever get to the demand we saw from China, or at least not this year.

It would have to be the long term gain.

We'd have to see demand from those countries increase over time.

>> The future of agriculture weighs on the farmers of today and tomorrow.

>> You know, people want to be a doctor and I want to be a farmer.

And they're like, oh, that's easy.

It's a lot harder than it looks.

I that's exactly what I want to do.

That's the only thing I want to do.

>> Sebastian Giglio is a high school senior debating taking up a trade, going to college or farming.

>> You have to put food on the table and you don't really get paid much for it.

And most of the time you're losing money.

So how do you how do you figure out how to do that?

I guess that's the hard part.

>> Farmers in Trump went through a trade war before in his first term as president, the government bailed out farmers then, and Trump has suggested doing that again.

>> Well, we don't want government payments.

We need some help at this point.

>> U.S.

Secretary of Commerce Scott Bassett told farmers to expect an announcement Tuesday for Kentucky Edition.

I'm June Loeffler.

>> Thank you, Jen, for that report.

Last year, Kentucky farmers sold more than $1 billion worth of soybeans, just below the revenue made from corn.

Blue Oval SK is facing another class action lawsuit over worker pay, the Courier-Journal newspaper reports.

The second lawsuit alleges workers were not paid for Pre-shift and post-shift activities, or for work performed during their meal breaks.

The first lawsuit against the electric vehicle battery maker was filed last month by workers at its Michigan plant.

The Courier-Journal also reports the plant has faced numerous health and safety complaints from workers, including chemical exposure and blocked emergency exits.

Some major companies in Louisville are being led by out of state CEOs.

The Derby city is not alone, as other mid-sized cities are struggling to recruit leaders who want to put down their roots in their hometowns.

That was the conclusion from an examination by Louisville Business First senior reporter Joel Stennett, who spoke with me last week about his enterprising piece, more in tonight's Business Beat segment.

Joel Stennett, who is a senior reporter for the Louisville Business First publication.

Thank you so much for a few minutes of your time.

>> Thanks for having me, Renee.

>> I do want to talk to you about a piece that you penned a few weeks ago that talked about Louisville's largest companies have CEOs that live elsewhere.

They don't live in the Derby city many times.

They don't even live in the state of Kentucky.

And this is creating a leadership vacuum, as was described in the Derby City.

In today's global business environment, why does this matter and what companies are we talking about?

Who are have CEOs who live elsewhere?

>> Yeah, for Louisville, it's some of our largest and really most exciting companies you think of and companies that you think of when you think of Louisville.

We're talking about Humana, whose executive team lives mostly in Washington, D.C.

we're talking about yum brands, whose CEO and executives mostly live in the Dallas area.

We're talking even smaller companies like Waystar and Confluent Health.

The reason this matters is just that oftentimes, wherever CEOs or executives live kind of creates a center of gravity in a company.

So that can cause talent to want to move closer to where the CEO is.

But it also creates a vacuum in leadership at home.

For example, leaders, nonprofit boards, having leaders to be able to join their board.

It also creates an economic vacuum.

Usually, CEOs are the largest earners inside of a company.

And so that kind of disposable income to be able to have here in Derby City is really important.

>> Did your work uncover why CEOs are deciding to live outside of the city and state in which they're they're leading?

>> Well, part of this is a larger trend.

There is a Boston College and Arizona State study that found that even before the pandemic, about 18% of public companies had their CEO living somewhere else than their headquarters.

So it's not just a Louisville problem.

And of course, that number has increased post-pandemic as companies have gotten more comfortable with remote work.

But this really kind of started even before then.

For Louisville, executives have lived outside of Louisville for several years, and there's several reasons why executives might choose not to live here.

I think the number one reason is probably the reason I've heard most when I was doing this story was a state income tax.

Kentucky state income tax right now is at 4%, goes down to 3.5% next year.

But you look at states like Texas where executives live, and they have a 0% state income tax in Nashville, Tennessee, where I used to be a reporter, they also have a 0% income tax.

And you see, while I was there, there were hundreds of companies and executives that were moving from states like California.

And it always came down to when I asked them why they came, it was because the state income tax, because even 3% is a lot when you're earning as much money as a CEO does.

But there's also other, other obstacles Louisville has to overcome, you know, the ease of air travel and then just certain amenities that other cities larger than Louisville have, such as professional sports teams and some luxury shopping.

>> Yeah.

Interesting.

I want to go back to those latter points there, Joel, and talk about the air travel and the fact that Louisville may not have as many or accessible daily flights to really important business hubs in the nation.

So that really is a factor.

We've heard it anecdotally for a while, but is that really a big driver for why these CEOs live out of outside of Louisville?

>> I think for some companies and executives it is if you look at em, Dallas is one of the largest airports in the country, and yum has restaurants literally all over the world.

And so when you're trying to get out to Asia or to Europe and you have to have a connecting flight, since Muhammad Ali International Airport doesn't have any direct commercial international flights, that adds adds to your travel time.

So our airport has grown a lot in recent years.

It's definitely not, you know, entirely because of that that executives aren't living here.

But I think it is a factor for some companies.

>> Yeah.

You mentioned too, about the state income tax that even though Kentucky has made strides with recent laws to gradually lower the state income tax, with the with the optimism to get to a flat 0% over time, that's still not good enough that we're working our way down, but just not quite there yet.

>> It's I don't think, for some of the top executives, it is.

I think eventually it will be, especially if we get to the flat zero.

But, you know, if you're making millions and millions of dollars, like a lot of these CEOs are, I mean, some top of my head what yum CEO earned last year.

But it was, you know, north of $20 million, 3% of that is a lot or 3.5% or 4%.

And if you can save that, that amount of cash, most executives are going to take that chance if they if they have the opportunity.

>> Joel, you just said a number that many of us can't really imagine or put our hands our head around $20 million executive level salary for a CEO.

Is that the average?

>> Well, usually the, you know, not speaking about a specific company, but usually most CEOs that I see on SEC, at least public companies, when I look at SEC filings, the CEOs usually get a base salary of somewhere around $1 million or so, say, where they really get a lot of executive compensation is is in stock options and perks and benefits and things like that, and bonuses.

That's where they really see their their average salary raise.

So yeah, some of these larger companies like Humana or Yum or Papa John's, their CEOs are making multi-million dollars a year.

>> Yeah.

Well, I want to also go back to a point you made about the community impacts of CEOs that don't live in Louisville, where they're running these large companies, the philanthropic endeavors, how are they hampered, or even just community engagement efforts that we know really do drive a level of philanthropy and community engagement and charity in a city, if the leaders are there to kind of push that along.

>> Some of the sources I spoke to for the story even spoke about when they talked to nonprofits.

Now they're not able to get the executive level leadership to join their board like they used to be able to.

Some of some people told me that's not really a Louisville problem or a new problem.

It's kind of something that's been going on for a while now, just because of the demands that executives of these large companies have on their time already.

And so a lot of times, they'll try to send someone from maybe middle management to go join a board in lieu of them doing it themselves.

But yeah, I mean, corporate giving and individual giving to these nonprofits definitely takes a hit when the CEO is not in town.

But, you know, you look at some of these other companies like Humana, I mean, they're still they just had their their day of service here in Louisville that they started last year.

You know, they still have the Humana Foundation, which does give a lot of money to nonprofits and organizations here in Louisville.

One of the people we did speak to for the story was John Schnatter, the former founder and CEO of Papa John's.

And he talked a lot about him and David Jones, the founder and former CEO of Humana.

You know, maybe 20 or 30 years ago when things needed to get done, like, say, the Floyds Fork Parks or say Papa John's Cardinal Stadium, now Elon Stadium, you know, they were able to to to singlehandedly get a lot of these projects done because they were here, they were based here and those kind of projects.

We don't really have that type of leadership right here now in Louisville that lives here at least to be able to get some of those projects done.

In his opinion, which is partly leading to that leadership void.

>> Yeah.

Well, Joe, thank you for your work.

It's a fascinating piece and I encourage people to read it.

Louisville Business first online, and we can keep track of all your great work for the community there.

So we just appreciate you sharing some of it with us today.

>> Thanks, Renee.

>> Some health news.

Almost 38% of Kentuckians are considered obese, according to the American Diabetes Association.

That rate is projected to increase to 54% by the year 2030.

The struggle to maintain a healthy weight often starts in childhood.

A Bowling Green pediatrician was able to help one family adopt healthier habits that led to weight loss and other positive health outcomes.

Our Laura Rogers shared their story as part of our special program, The Wellness Shift, a KET forum.

>> Five six.

In many ways, Karly Ingram is your typical teenager.

>> I just want to lay in my bed with my cats and watch YouTube.

>> And like millions of other kids, Karly has struggled with childhood obesity.

>> I used to stress eat a lot.

School was kind of difficult.

I had a lot of bullies in school.

>> That stress eating led Karly, now 17, to a concerning diagnosis.

>> I literally did not feel good at all whenever I was eating the way I did.

I was always tired.

>> At a well-child checkup, we did some labs that came back and Karly was pre-diabetic and she was a little on the heavier side.

>> Karly and her aunt, Leslie Basham, discussed those labs with pediatrician Doctor Casey Miles.

>> Doctor Miles recommended some diet changes, small changes that we could do at home, dietary changes, some exercise.

>> They heeded that advice.

Karly lost 20 pounds and reversed her pre-diabetic diagnosis.

>> By the time we got to that doctor, we didn't even need the doctor, so that was really awesome.

>> Over the last 20 years, we've seen obesity rates in pediatrics rise significantly.

>> And that's a big concern for pediatricians who say healthy habits should begin early in life.

>> Children's brains are developing and they are very adaptable, and they can form habits a lot easier than we can as adults.

>> Those habits include reaching for healthy foods that provide good nutrition.

>> We've stopped buying so much processed foods, and I've traded it out for just apples, oranges, that kind of thing.

>> Many kids have their taste and texture palettes set by about nine months of age, so it's important for parents to model good eating behaviors before that and expose their children to different tastes and textures.

>> Leslie says their family used to resort to fast food out of convenience, especially with a busy schedule revolving around cheerleading, but now they opt for home cooked meals.

>> Alfredo noodles that she really likes.

That's something that we cook a lot at our house now.

We cook those very often in the oven and then we'll put vegetables with it.

That's been one of the biggest changes that we've made as a family.

That's really helped us.

>> It's a lot easier and it's a lot more fun if everybody in the family is motivated and participating in these healthy habits.

>> I think it was really helpful that she wanted to join in with me, and I think it helped me a lot to make better decisions.

>> Cheerleading is also a family affair.

Leslie is the coach and Carly loves the physical activity.

>> Cheerleading is definitely her passion.

I've got to say.

That's definitely her passion.

That's her, her thing that she loves the most.

>> I feel a lot better.

I feel a lot more energetic.

>> She attributes that to her more active lifestyle and smaller portion sizes at the dinner table.

>> Not coming back for seconds, just eating what I already had and drinking a bunch of water also helped because it makes you like more full doctor.

>> Miles says these changes are beneficial for kids in many areas of their life.

>> These kids are much better at concentrating at school performance, at having physical endurance, being self confident in their better at regulating their emotions.

>> They can also be shared with the next generation.

>> Whenever I become an adult, if I ever choose to have kids, that would help me know what they should be eating so they can also have a healthier life.

>> For KET.

I'm Laura Rogers.

>> Thank you Laura, and you can watch the Wellness Shift at KET forum Online on demand at the address you see on your screen.

And speaking of health, there is a program note for tonight.

Vaccines and medications are the topics on Kentucky Tonight.

This evening, as a panel of four doctors discuss the Trump administration's vaccine policies and the recent debate over Tylenol use and autism, join us for that discussion, which should be interesting.

Send us your questions and your comments.

That's tonight at 8:00 eastern, seven central, right here on KET.

We look back at one of Kentucky's biggest civil war battles.

Man o war's last race, and a meteorite seen in Kentucky.

Our Toby Gibbs has it all in this Week in Kentucky history.

>> 58,000 Union troops clashed with 16,000 Confederates at the Battle of Perryville on October 8th, 1862.

Casualties were high on both sides, but the battle was considered a tactical victory for the Union since Confederate forces left the state.

Kentucky State University opened on October 11th, 1887, in Frankfort.

At first, it had three teachers and 55 students.

Man O'war ran his last race on October 12th, 1920, defeating Sir Barton, the first Triple Crown winner, at Kenilworth Park in Canada.

Man O'war retired and eventually ended up at Faraway Farm outside Lexington, where he died in 1947.

Queen Elizabeth the Second started her first visit to Kentucky on October 7th, 1984.

She arrived at Bluegrass Airport and stayed six days.

That same day, October 7th, 1984, presidential candidates Ronald Reagan and Walter Mondale debated at the Kentucky Center for the Arts in Louisville.

The Peekskill meteorite was seen over Kentucky and other states on October 9th, 1992.

It's called the Peekskill meteorite because it finally landed on a 1980 red Chevy Malibu in Peekskill, New York.

And that's a look back at This Week in Kentucky history.

I'm Toby Gibbs.

>> Thank you.

Toby.

Primary care providers can be the first line of defense when it comes to detecting serious health issues.

But less than half of all Americans have one.

Coming up tomorrow on Kentucky Edition, some of the health problems primary care providers often find in their patients.

Plus, what to look for when you're choosing a provider.

That story and so much more coming your way tomorrow night at 630 eastern, 530 Central on Kentucky Edition, where we inform, connect, and inspire.

We hope that you'll connect with us all the ways you see on your screen.

Facebook X formerly known as Twitter and Instagram to stay in the loop.

You can also send us a story idea by email at PublicAffairs at ket.org.

And look for us on the KET and PBS app that you can download to get all the great content and public affairs and everywhere else.

We have great programing on KET.

Thanks so very much for watching.

Hope you'll tune in tonight at 8:00 for Kentucky tonight as we talk about vaccines and Tylenol.

That's coming your way in a bit.

Until