Auto workers go on strike, but not everywhere.

How are Louisville's two Ford plants affected?

A 20 minute walk of about 10,000 people.

It really is.

It is a game changer.

Check out a Louisville Park getting nation wide praise.

Walking into the classroom knowing that they look good, it makes them feel good.

Ahead, some free haircuts that are making the grade.

Engineering programs give people the essentials to design and invent whatever neat things come to their mind and also solutions to problems we might have in the world.

And when you want to boost excitement about learning, call in the Marines.

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 on this Friday.

We made it.

It's September the 15th.

I'm Renee Shaw.

Thank you for starting off your weekend with us.

As expected, the United Auto Workers went on strike at midnight when the union couldn't reach an agreement with the big three American automakers.

But Ford workers in Louisville are still on the job.

The UAW says workers at three plants stopped working.

Those plants are in Missouri, Ohio and Michigan.

About 12,000 Ford workers work at two assembly plants in Louisville.

The Courier Journal reports the UAW is not asking those workers to strike right now.

The union stresses, though, that could change.

The Louisville workers are on the job even though their contracts have expired.

They will work under the terms of the expired contracts.

So what is this strike all about?

The UAW wants a pay increase for workers.

It wants some of those raises to be as high as 40%.

The union is also not happy with the system of lower pay and fewer benefits for newer workers and the use of temporary workers.

President Joe Biden said today that the auto industry should share more of its record profits with its workers.

He is sending two of his advisers to Detroit to help with negotiations.

Jefferson Town held its Gaslight Festival parade yesterday with a special grand marshal, as you can see in this Courier-Journal picture.

Officer Nicholas Wilt did the honors.

Wilt is the Louisville Metro Police officer shot during the old National Bank mass shooting last April, where five people died.

Officer Wilt was in the hospital for more than three months, then rehab before going home in late July.

The Gaslight Festival is considered the unofficial kickoff of the fall in Louisville.

The festival began in 1970.

Here's proof that Kentucky is home to a nationally respected cancer center.

The National Cancer Institute has given the University of Kentucky Marquee Cancer Center in Lexington and the designation Comprehensive.

There are only 72 NCI designated cancer centers in the country.

56 of those are comprehend cancer centers.

And Marquee is the only one in Kentucky.

The closest one is 200 miles away.

Now, to get that designation, a cancer center has to show extraordinary quality and it's laboratory work and research.

You've heard a lot about comprehensive status.

But in the most basic, broad terms, here's what it means.

It means better care.

It means the best care.

Patients who receive treatment at NCI designated comprehensive cancer centers have better outcomes than patients who seek treatment elsewhere.

And now no Kentuckian has to leave the state to find outstanding clinical care and access to the latest clinical trials.

You know too much who is given?

Look.

1248.

Much as expected.

We have given because we've been given so much, we've returned and this institution and this is what I do not apologize to coach either.

Coaches, Stoops or Calipari.

This is not a football school.

This is not a basketball school.

This is a school that will be known as a center of excellence for cancer research and giving hope for a cure to those who fight this with their family and friends and a longer life.

With the designation, the U.K.

Marquee Cancer Center will get 13 and a half million dollars to support research and equipment.

Much more on this designation and its impact Monday evening on Kentucky Edition.

Time now for an end of week review of some major political news this week in Kentucky and perhaps beyond, with two of our favorite political commentators.

Of course, we got the Kentucky secretaries of state.

Duo with us are election night commentators Trey Grayson, who you see on screen left, and Bob Babich, who you see on screen.

Right.

Good to have you, gentlemen.

Thank you.

So let's talk about President Donald Trump, who was going to be in Kentucky and Lexington a week from today on September 22nd for his own president, all aspirations for his campaign.

A lot of people are questioning will Attorney General Daniel Cameron be there and is there a connection to the gubernatorial campaign in any way?

The very fact that we're talking about it says there's a connection.

Yes.

Right.

Emphasizes the Trump endorsement for Cameron, which has been present for a long time.

It will definitely draw a lot of attention for Trump to come in the middle of the governor's race.

But it's not specifically for Attorney General Daniel Cameron, Right.

And it doesn't seem to be that the General Cameron's campaign is making any kind of hay about it or mention of it, probably exercising some care of their to give Trump his place.

He's coming for his own campaign.

Right.

But also to make the talk where it might be helpful.

Trey, how do you see this?

Is this what is is there a connection and is it worth touting if there is?

Well, I mean, you know, Trump is in the middle of his own campaign.

He's running for president.

He's raising money.

And that's what this is, is a fundraising event.

Obviously, there'll be news coverage and in that news coverage will be discussion of the governor's race.

And so, you know, I think that the Trump and we talked about this in the past, the Trump endorsement was important to camera in the primary.

It may have some importance with some voters in the general election, but that importance might be negative depending upon some of the audiences that Cameron is trying to pull out.

For example, urban voters might not find the Trump tone to be the most compelling argument to vote for Cameron, but other voters might as a reminder that, you know, they like Trump.

He's won the state by a lot the two times he's been on the ballot.

But it is clear that the Cameron campaign is not embracing this, and it's primarily a fundraising event for Trump and affiliated entities.

So has nothing to do with the fact that the president, former president, has been four times indicted.

Is there wanting some distance to be there because of all of that happening?

Well, yeah, that's kind of what I was getting out without saying directly, Renee.

I got to make it plain for the folks there, Tara.

You know, that's my job.

All right, so now let's.

Yeah.

Trying to be something.

That's what he said.

Yeah.

That's always not my forte.

Let's talk about the governor's race and the funding in that.

So we had that.

What is it called?

The pre the 60 day pre general election report that is has to be filed with the registry of election finance in Kentucky.

There is a significant outspending and outraising by the incumbent governor Andy Beshear over the Republican challenger, Daniel Cameron.

I'll let you weigh in on this first.

None of us are surprised by that.

Incumbents always outraised the governor had raised a lot of money in the primary that he was able to roll over to his general, but he continued with his fundraising prowess, came into force.

And then I think we talk a little bit later about some of the third party money, some independent money that's coming into the even it out.

But this was always going to be the case.

And it's one of the advantages if an incumbent, you you pulled the office, you have more time to raise money, you have more time to get organized.

You got people you've got one of the boards and people who didn't have gotten contracts.

I'm not talking about illegal activity.

I'm just talking about people who appreciated that and they gave money.

And so Cameron, it looks like between his campaign and some of the other money, that he's got enough to make his message, get it out there.

Beshear is clearly going to dominate.

His message is going to have more opportunities to be heard by voters.

It's a just a big advantage of incumbency.

And we know, Bob Savage, that having more money doesn't always translate into a victory.

Right.

We look at the campaign with Amy McGrath and Mitch McConnell back a few years ago for U.S. Senate, where she raised and spent, what, 90 million compared to his 30 or 40.

And he decidedly, I'll say, one that won reelection then right in the primary to his past favor in the Kentucky Republican primary did not win the race.

So incumbents frequently have the advantage that Trey has just described.

And often in America, if you look back even over 20, 30 years, whoever spends the most who wins the most, assuming that nothing else goes wrong.

But that's not always the case.

And Cameron didn't spend the most in the primary, but won by a far greater margin than anybody thought he could.

Still, we're always hungry to find out how much is being spent.

There was a number thrown out early that this is going to be a $50 million race and they're already there according to the reservations they are.

And some of us said, no, we'll never get there.

Right.

But we did get there.

And now there's talk that next year's races combined will be $10 billion in the nation.

So as soon as we finish this one right, the November of 24 races are going to look like they're two weeks away when in fact, they're 12 months away.

Right?

Right.

They already feel that way, don't they?

What does it get to your point, Trey, about the political action committees, these outside parties?

It seems to be that they're spending about the same amount.

Give or take a few million or 100,000 here and there, whether it's for Beshear or for Daniel Cameron.

Yeah, there's those campaigns.

You know, that money helps because it puts messages out.

Although Bob and I both have run for office before, the candidates would rather have that money inside their campaign.

And that's where Beshear has a nice advantage over Cameron, because he can he can directly spend on the way he wants to spend it.

But having that third party, the independent money come in, especially, you know, I think for Cameron, it's easier because they can go more negative with their money because it doesn't it's not paid for by Daniel Cameron's campaign.

And oftentimes that's the role that those outside groups play, is they they do the dirty work and Cameron needs to knock down the approval ratings of this year or knock down the folks who want to vote for Beshear.

In either case, that extra money is helpful.

It's what gets him a chance probably in this race.

Is is that outside money?

Yeah.

The equalizer is the outside money, Bob.

It is.

And we've had a tremendous amount of it.

Astronomic amount, really, when you add it up, probably more outside than inside.

That's the trend in America.

And the trend that's not likely to change.

Right.

Well, we always could use more time, but we'll let you all get to your weekend.

We appreciate you so very much.

Enjoy bourbon and beyond for all of us.

Trey.

Have fun.

Good to see you.

Thank you, gentlemen.

Thank you.

Thanks.

The Marines landed on the University of Kentucky campus on Thursday.

Their mission helped get the word out about the new aerospace program the university is offering.

The people we talked to on campus say the tactic worked.

In Kentucky itself, there wasn't really an actual aerospace space program.

So we were losing a lot of students to go to other states to join aerospace programs in the other states is an opportunity there to keep Kentucky students within Kentucky, teach them about aerospace engineering, and have a chance for some of our faculty to highlight their research and their abilities.

It's a it's a really great new program that we just started, or I think on our second year of having students go through the program.

We had a lot of interest from faculty in our mechanical engineering department who have aerospace engineering backgrounds and research backgrounds.

We had a lot of internal capability.

We really wanted to expand our horizons and bring in students that were also as excited about aerospace engineering as we were.

Engineering programs give people the essentials to design and invent whatever neat things come to their mind and also solutions to problems we might have in the world.

Because of that, engineers and most of the infrastructure we have wouldn't exist.

You know, some people have never seen this like aircraft before, so it's awesome to have people come and see.

It gets a walk around it, walk inside, and then hopefully, you know, get the next generation of pilots out here or not even just pilots.

You know, we have a lot of other people have done roles on the aircraft or in the Marine Corps as well.

The Marines offer a great show.

So we can see the real aircraft, the kind of the final product of what aerospace engineering is all about.

And producing gives students a chance to see a lot of the opportunities that they might have while they're working in the aerospace engineering.

So watching this land, pretty neat experience of itself.

Just everything that you get to see and hear and people you get to talk to, this is pretty cool, like a feat of engineering.

So I think maybe inspires people to want to get into it in some form facet, keep developing, you know, aviation to go forward for this event.

I hope that they take away one kind of a passion for designing things that are neat and kind of different from anything else you might see.

This is certainly one of a few of its type.

And then also just getting to not only see the helicopter itself and talk to the Marines here, but also talk to other students getting to kind of see what projects and stuff there is you can do and basically just kind of how to follow that passion you have.

But if you like working with things in the medical field by medical good, if you like mixing chemicals together or seeing what goes on, um, chemistry and chemical engineering is good for you.

How are even aircraft like this?

Aerospace is good for you.

The University of Kentucky offers the only undergraduate degree in aerospace engineering in the state.

We'll discuss the state of higher education in Kentucky, including both public and private universities.

Monday night on Katie's Kentucky.

Tonight, you'll hear from educators and lawmakers.

And we want to hear from you.

Give us your questions and comments.

Join us for that Monday night at eight Eastern, seven Central right here on KCET.

Since 2019, students in Fayette County have been able to get a free haircut.

At the beginning of the school year at the Cuts and Curls event.

But this year, the program expanded and it's now giving students the confidence that comes with a good haircut all year round.

Well, like any of us, a haircut just makes you feel good about yourself.

And who doesn't like that?

You know, who doesn't like starting a new sometimes a new school, but a new school year.

Walking into the classroom knowing that they look good.

It makes them feel good.

It just gets them started on the right foot.

Cuts and Curls is a program that we have offered since, I guess, 2019 for students in Fayette County who may not be able to afford to get a haircut.

And so we have partnered with organizations around the community to offer that service.

This year, we decided it would be much more convenient for both the families and the professionals involved if we went to where the professionals were.

And that way, we we wanted to have families be able to have access to a shop that was close to where they live.

So really, it's more about convenience for both the families and the professionals.

Now, put your hand on here.

See how it feels.

Well, you know, there's a lot of families out there that struggle financially, and this gives them the opportunity to be able to get the kids cleaned up for school without having to pay for anything.

But then there's the educational part of it.

Again, you know, being able to educate the parents and the children, if they need it on how to best take care of their hair and skin.

I take care of children with special needs.

I try to watch the kids cues, you know, and see what they might need.

Sometimes I'll ask them, hey, you know, do we need to take a break for a minute?

There's not a lot of places that they go where they have success.

Not a lot of the time.

Places will be as accommodating.

So I can give them an environment where they can have more success to be able to get haircuts and whatnot.

All right, I'm a cleaning up around your ears.

Okay.

The amazing thing about going to this model is that when we did the one day event, that was, of course, very limiting.

We did about 200 appointments in that one day.

Now we're doing that every month, all year round.

So it really increases the reach.

We currently have around 220 vouchers available each month.

But like I said, we would love more shops around the community to participate and we can offer more each month.

And that's another reason we went to this model.

The beautiful thing about that is that each shop and each shop owner, each stylist, they get to set the amount that they offer, whatever is feasible for them as as much or as little as they want to offer will take it that okay, is looking pretty good.

Fayette County families can get a voucher by going online to the Fayette County Public Schools website.

Louisville's Waterfront Park is the most visited destination and Louisville welcoming more than 2 million visitors each year.

But it wasn't always that way.

What was once a riverfront littered with scrap yards and abandoned buildings has become one of the best waterfronts in America, according to USA Today.

On the next inside Louisville, our Kelsey Starts explores the past, the present and the exciting future.

Still ahead for Louisville's waterfront Park.

The park that, you know, Waterfront Park is is 85 acres that was developed in three phases.

And the first phase that was developed was over on the western side of the park where the great lawn is and the children's playground and over the course of many years, that land had to be acquired.

The plans had to be developed, the funds had to be raised.

But over the course of about 25 or 30 years, the park was developed in three phases.

Phase one was the on the western edge.

Phase two was actually on the far eastern edge where we are now.

And then phase three was the final piece of that first area of Waterfront Park that was, you know, final when the Big Four bridge was opened in 2013.

And now phase four.

Yes.

Is very ambitious.

And coming out of a time when you all were struggling for funding, how are you making this work?

Yeah, that is a great question that I've I've actually asked myself many times, but it is it's unquestionable that this project is important.

So Waterfront Park Phase four is the 22 acre expansion of Waterfront Park between 10th and 14th Street along the river.

It is our first expansion or presence in the community west of ninth Street, making it obviously a very important project in an area that has been plagued for decades thanks to just misguided urban renewal initiatives, redlining, just underinvestment.

And so putting an amenity like this, like waterfront park, which is enjoyed by the entire community, which will bring the park within a 20 minute walk of about 10,000 people, really is it is a game changer.

It's a quality of life enhancement.

It is really fostering and promoting economic prosperity for the people in the surrounding area and the businesses in the surrounding area.

And it will bring just new and exciting, unique amenities unlike anything else we have in the park to another area of our waterfront.

For everyone to enjoy having a park which is within walking distance for 10,000 people.

Access for those in Russell in Portland and Shawnee in California to me is critical and and not only is it access to a park on the river, it's going to be a park that I think is going to really engage the mind.

My background is in engineering.

I was all about STEM and numbers, and so there's a huge component of that.

We worked with the Science Center to develop Play Port, which is going to engage people in diggers and booey tenders and things that are on the river and you're going to have a great, you know, as you do West ninth Street in that area, you know, a great diverse crowd who can all enjoy the park.

You can see the full story of Louisville's waterfront park on the next inside Louisville.

That coming up this Sunday at 12 noon Eastern, 11 a.m. Central, right here on KCET.

If you like music, fried chicken, spoon, bread or scraping deer hides.

Boy, do we have some ideas for you.

Our Toby Gibbs explains in this look at what's happening around the Commonwealth happening this weekend in Lexington's historic Mitchell's Green House is the largest bonsai exhibit in the region.

Stroll among the beautiful bonsai trees, enjoy refreshments from Kentucky Native Cafe and enjoy demonstrations from Central Kentucky.

Bonsai artists.

The Living Archeology weekend in the Red River Gorge is an immersive experience designed to give you a hands on education, native and pioneer ways of living.

Today, the program was reserved for school visits, but tomorrow the public is invited to come scrape deer, hides, weed baskets, throw spears and more.

Tomorrow in Walton, the Benton Farm fall craft show and festival kicks off.

Come, enjoy pony rides, live music and food trucks.

And don't miss your chance to snuggle a baby goat.

This event promises the perfect fall day for your family.

Be sure to check it out.

BOP on over to bed in tomorrow for autumn leaves and fall crafts.

Please take a hayride down to the pumpkin patch and pick out the perfect gourd.

Also enjoy inflatables, food trucks, local vendors and lots more.

There's a unique music festival happening tomorrow in Dunmore.

Motor on down to Lake Malone for Doc Trot.

Board your watercraft or walk from dock to dock to enjoy a great lineup of musicians at the end of the night.

Bask in the fireworks show and then bust out the glow sticks for their first ever glow party.

The 2023 Spoon Bread Festival in Berea starts tomorrow.

There will be carnival rides, street performers and a huge variety of entertainment happening all weekend.

Plus, of course, all the spoon bread your heart could desire.

Check out the Spoon bread eating contest at 1 p.m. tomorrow, followed by the spoon bread lineup at two.

Already underway in Pikeville is the Appalachian Moonshine Music and Makers Festival.

This event is a celebration of the Appalachian community featuring visual arts, local food and beverages and live performances.

Make your way to the mountains for this Can't Miss Festival currently happening in Louisville as the Bourbon and Beyond Music Festival still ahead.

And the lineup for the weekend are Bruno Mars, Blondie, Jon Batiste and much more.

You don't want to miss hearing these great artists or tasting some amazing bourbon.

The festival runs through Sunday, just starting at Berks follows the Cumberland River Bluegrass Festival today and Saturday.

Bring out your lawn chairs and enjoy great bluegrass tunes.

Plus, don't forget to enter the Ducky Derby and check out the festival quilt starting next Thursday as one exciting event, the World Chicken Festival in London, home of the world's largest stainless steel skillet.

The celebration of the chicken benefits Over 50 nonprofits can enjoy delicious food, carnival rides, Colonel Sanders costume contest and much more at the world Chicken Festival.

And that's what's happening around the Commonwealth.

I'm Toby Gibbs.

Thank you, Toby Gibbs.

Got to love those fall festivals.

Well, technology is making it easier to trace guns to crimes.

Being able to trace guns now and trace their casings and tie them to multiple offenses, really helps.

And it ties the case together in Kentucky.

Law enforcement agencies recently took part in training that covered crime, gun trends investigation and strategies.

How police are working to keep communities safe from gun violence and what the public can do to help.

Monday on Kentucky Edition, which we hope you'll join us for Monday night at 630 Eastern, 530 Central, where we inform, Connect and Inspire.

Subscribe to our Kentucky Edition email newsletter and watch full episodes and clips at KET dot org Follow us all the way as you see on your screen, Facebook, X and Instagram and send us a story idea to public affairs at KKET dot or Join us, of course, for Kentucky Edition Monday night but then again at 8 p.m. Eastern time for Kentucky tonight where we talk about higher education issues in Kentucky.

Until I see you again, have a great weekend.

Take good care.