He would fight the fight even if it was unpopular.

14.2 Friends and admirers remember former Governor Brereton Jones as a man of vision about how the University of Kentucky is using artificial intelligence to teach machines what to do on their own.

Native peoples had drawn in the mud on the floor of this cave and hear from an expert on archeology in Kentucky.

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 Tuesday, September the 26th.

I'm Renee Shaw.

Thank you for winding down your Tuesday.

With us, former Kentucky Governor Brereton Jones was laid to rest today following a private funeral service in Midway.

Jones, a Democrat, served as Kentucky's 58th governor from 1991 until 1995.

Yesterday, in the state Capitol Rotunda, Jones's family received visitors who traveled to Frankfurt to pay their respects.

They spoke of his character, his smile and his work ethic.

Kentucky governors, past and present, reflected on his legacy with admiration.

His efforts on health care reform or unique and really ahead of its time.

You know, it ended up not being successful in the long term.

But every effort like that at that point in time really moved that issue and helped push it to the forefront.

And then, of course, when I got to be governor and the Affordable Care Act passed, I was able to implement that in Kentucky and expand Medicaid and get about 450 to 500000 Kentuckians insured for the first time.

And so I always thought of him and his efforts as we did that, because, as I say, he was ahead of his time on that issue.

One of the real hallmarks of his administration was a commitment to integrity.

He actually created the Executive Branch Ethics Commission.

He he set a whole new level of standard for behavior under the new executive code of ethics.

And I today serve on that executive Branch Ethics Commission as an appointee of Governor Andy Beshear.

So it's sort of come full circle for me.

I'm now helping to enforce the rules that he set in place when he tried to really put down a marker for his administration of being a champion for ethical behavior in state government as horsemanship and as advice.

And at the farm, reading the mayor or at the sales and helping me get through whatever current crisis was going on with whatever current horse he was.

He always thought of others and quit the horse business.

You know what they would help promote.

And he absolutely loved the game and loved to see people be successful in it and love to see people to be successful in other part of life.

That if he could play something small part in that and he did it and it was we love him for that.

When I first filed for office, he's one of the very first people he called me.

And, you know, I can remember he said, Go get him.

And he was proud of me and said he'd help in any way he could.

And that was my very first, very first campaign, a very first time getting in politics.

But but he would he would fight the fight even if it was unpopular.

I mean, his push on on health care, on ethics reform wasn't popular with everybody at the time.

He did it because he thought it was right.

And that's something I greatly respect.

But what he would say is, do what you think is right.

You got to be able to put your head down on the pillow at night.

There's always going to be critics.

Don't listen to him know.

Listen to the people that you're close to that love you and they'll tell you the truth.

Governor Jones is the second former Kentucky governor to die in less than a year.

Governor john why?

Brown jr. Died in november of 2022 with kentucky's general election just six weeks away.

Education remains a key issue in the campaign.

Yesterday, republican gubernatorial candidate daniel Cameron outlined his education plan for the Kentucky Association of School Superintendents, who were gathered in Lexington today.

It was Governor Andy Beshear, his turn to address the crowd.

He said his plan includes an 11% pay raise for all school personnel, fully funding universal pre-K and making sure charter schools don't take away money from public schools, something he says his opponent's plan does not do.

Now, there's a big difference between somebody who has supported public education for too long to cater races the entire time that big government and someone who said things like they do when they start running for governor.

You have a track record of standing with, you know, the public school dollars should never go to private schools.

And just remember, you can call stuff against a plan that if one of the specific bullet points, it has vouchers in there and it does that, it would devastate each and every one of our public school systems.

Bashir also said that during his term as governor, he signed more than 600 pieces of bipartisan legislation refuting critics claims that his agenda, if he's reelected, will idle.

And the GOP dominated legislature.

The candidates for governor are also talking about Kentucky's economy, jobs and taxes.

And those were our topics last night on Kentucky tonight.

We asked our panel of two lawmakers and two economic experts how Kentucky's economy is looking.

A lot of signs of growth.

So we look at a couple of different government survey metrics that come out and kind of give us a good sense of where Kentucky's economy stands and especially compared to the national economy in terms of job growth.

Non-farm payrolls, we're still growing.

We're still seeing some good progress in that area.

And so that's a good sign that employers are still investing in creating jobs.

Unemployment is still low, 4%.

Comparatively, it's still a very low unemployment rate for Kentucky.

One metric that we're watching pretty closely is the number of open jobs.

That is a metric that has been running very, very high throughout the course of the pandemic.

At times, seeing as many as two open jobs for every unemployed worker.

That's been slowly narrowing over time, and that's been something that we've been expecting to see.

All the pandemic stimulus that passed that sort of pulled us out of what could have been a depression, really did work to stimulate fast economic growth and drive the unemployment rate down and actually give workers a little bit of bargaining power that they haven't had in in decades.

And we're seeing that in some wage growth.

Now, there's also been inflation, which was caused by the supply chain issues during the pandemic.

So that's offset that to some extent.

But inflation is coming back, coming down as those issues work themselves out and workers are feeling a little more confident.

So the kind of full employment economy that we want to see.

Is is is coming to fruition to some degree.

And you're the two lawmakers on our panel felt that some parts of Kentucky are doing better than others here in Kentucky.

Certainly there there are definitely some good signs that we have begun to like.

But unfortunately, we kind of have a tale of two economies in this commonwealth.

We still continue to see very troubling difficulties over in Appalachia that they are not enjoying a lot of the same benefits that the balance of Kentucky has seen.

I was in part on Saturday, and of course, from there to the northeast to where I represent, you know, the coal industry, among other things, and all the incidentals that come with that, along with the supply chain issues and and some workforce issues that we have inherently.

You know, that's, you know, addiction and other workforce issues that we have.

There are pockets that are really suffering even with all the good things that are going on.

You can see the full one hour discussion about Kentucky's economy online on demand at Katie Dawg slash K-Y tonight.

Now our candidate conversations begin next Monday on Kentucky tonight as we talk to the nominees for state auditor and state treasurer.

You can hear from them and we want you to send us your questions and comments.

Again, that's next Monday at eight Eastern, seven Central on Katie's Kentucky tonight.

Our candidate shows continue the rest of October and you will see both candidates for governor on October 23rd.

So mark your calendar.

In other news, a Louisville police officer was seriously injured in a shooting, is now recovering at home.

The Louisville Metro Police Department says Officer Brandon Haley has been released from the hospital.

He and another officer were conducting a traffic stop earlier this month when someone fired shots at them from a nearby house.

Officer Haley was hit in the upper torso and was critically injured.

In a Facebook post, Lmpd said Officer Haley continues to show improved strength and determination as he works through the next phases of his recovery.

We wish him the best.

City leaders are getting more guidance on how to respond when disaster strikes.

The Kentucky League of Cities has released the Disaster Preparedness and Response Handbook borne out of lessons learned from recent disasters in the state.

Mayfield, Mayor Kathy Onan was among the leaders who worked on the guide.

She said it offers the information she wishes she had after a tornado devastated her city in 2021.

I call them helpful hints that you can have in place and be familiar with prior to any any disaster.

You've got this document in your hands.

That is a great reference for as many things that we think we could think of to possibly put in it.

What we learned going into this process over the last 21 months is there's so much help there for rebuilding.

Time is a it's so big, it's so overwhelming at that point.

What do we need?

They have everything you do need, but you have to know the questions to ask.

Say, what can we how can we help you?

I said, give me a manual.

Well, of course, the whole steam up process is so huge and so cumbersome that that's difficult.

They are there to help you, but there are there are strategies, not strategies.

The pathways in this preparedness document from KLC that will help navigate that, that that's more of a go to.

Okay, where can I find this with FEMA?

And so that's one of the big parts of this disaster plan.

Every county in Kentucky has an emergency manager that works.

You know, from every day and coordinates with the state game on that.

But what this is, too, also this this was so big that it kind of helped cities know, okay, what can I do in conjunction with the emergent the county emergency management is doing?

And although you work hand in hand with them, there are certain things that cities can do as well.

We learned from the ice storm of 2009.

We we learned from that.

We will learn from this tornado.

We already have.

We will continue to learn and then we will from the flooding.

We will learn as well.

And I think that was what's what Kelsey is done with this by keeping it a living document that is easy to add and supplement it that that is how it is exactly as it should be, because this is going to be something that is easily, readily obtained by anybody who needs it, any city governments who need it, and hopefully nobody ever will.

But that's a ridiculous thing to say because there's you know, there's you never get it.

You get up in the morning and you don't know what your city's going to be faced with.

But this is another tool to help the navigation of any type of crisis.

The handbook is available for free to cities and counties as Mayor O'Nan mentioned, it's a living document.

The Kentucky League of Cities says it will continue to work with federal, state and local leaders to regularly update the guide.

Kentucky mothers and their children will be negatively impacted by a government shutdown.

That's according to the White House, which says funding could expire within days of a shutdown for the nutrition program for women, infants and children, also known as work.

It provides nutritional aid to nearly 7 million low income pregnant women and children up to age five.

Nearly 120,000 Kentuckians receive work, and most of them are infants and children.

The U.S. government appears headed toward a shutdown as Congress struggles to agree on a spending plan for the new federal fiscal year that starts Sunday.

U.S.

Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky says as the U.S. braces for a government shutdown, U.S. money is still headed to Ukraine, something he continues to criticize.

Here's Senator Paul last night on the Fox News Channel to add insult to injury.

If there's a shutdown, U.S. government workers will not be paid, but Ukrainian workers will be paid by the U.S. taxpayer.

There's nothing in the constitution that allows for spending like this to another country.

The spending clause in our Constitution says that Congress can spend according to its enumerated powers, the powers given to it by the Constitution and also for the general welfare.

So it's illegal for the U.S. government if they want to give $100 billion to my state of Kentucky.

They can't do it.

That would violate the general welfare clause.

What do you think it violates to send it to another country?

Our framers never imagined in their worst nightmare that we would send that much money overseas.

Senator Paul's position puts him at odds with his Kentucky colleague and fellow Republican Senator Mitch McConnell, who says the money the U.S. is spending in Ukraine is helping to destroy one of America's global enemies.

Without putting any American lives at risk, a Western Kentucky judge has been temporarily replaced.

Details on that.

And a celebration of bourbon workers as our Toby Gibbs looks at headlines around Kentucky.

Kentucky Supreme Court Chief Justice Lawrence VanMeter selected a special judge to temporarily replace a district court judge in McCracken County.

Murray State Public Media reports Van Meter's Order States Division Judge Chris Hollowell is, quote, unable to perform the duties of his office and quote, The order did not specify why Hollowell is being temporarily replaced or when he will return.

Emergency responders from ten counties across Kentucky participated in an annual disaster training exercise in Lexington.

WQ reports the chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Programs event included a simulation of a mass chemical decontamination of victims.

This comes as the Bluegrass Army Depot in Richmond continues to destroy secondary chemical waste from warheads.

Kentucky distillery workers competed Saturday in the bourbon barrel relay at the State Bourbon Festival.

The Kentucky Standard set Derrick Miles from Maker's Mark won first place in the men's individual barrel relay and broke his own world record from last year by half a second.

The relay is a celebration of the workers who are behind the scenes of the bourbon industry with headlines around Kentucky.

I'm Toby Gibbs.

One of Louisville's oldest businesses and nonprofits celebrates 140 years in the community this month.

Founded in 1883, Family and Children's Place has undergone several name and location changes.

But their mission to end child abuse and neglect remains the same.

Our Kristi Dalton sat down with CEO and President Pam Darnell to discuss the organization's accomplishments over the years.

Family and Children's Place has been a staple in the Louisville community.

How did it all start back 140 years ago?

So all the way back in 1883, there were a group of just concerned citizens in the community who became very concerned about all the families back then who were living in poverty, even some of them living on the streets with nowhere to go.

And so a group of citizens, mostly the wives of some businessmen, and the community became so concerned, they just were compelled to do something.

So they started collecting things that families needed food, clothing, coal for heat, and making sure that families had what they needed, including finding safe, loving homes for children who basically had been abandoned and were living on the street.

So you have been with family and Children's Place for what is now known as family until this place for almost 30 years.

What changes have you seen in that time?

You know, there have been a lot of changes, changes in our community changes and what kids and families need.

But really, the amazing thing really is, is that over that entire history, this entity, no matter what has been called, has always been here to help kids and families who have lacked resources, who maybe lived with violence and really just to help them have what they need so that they can be happy, healthy and safe.

Our mission is to protect and heal children and families.

If you think about it, that's really been an underlying core for 140 years.

So protecting and healing children and families, that comes with various services that you all offer.

And I hate for you to pick favorites, but is there one service or one accomplishment that you are extra proud of from this organization?

That is really hard.

I love all of our services.

One of those services that really is directly connected to preventing abuse and neglect of kids is the HANDS program just like your hand, because every parent could use a helping hand.

And that service is a statewide service that actually started right here at what is now Family and Children's Place back in the late 1980s, early 1990s.

The agency back then partnered with the local lawful Metro Health Department because the agency really wanted to prevent child abuse, especially those youngest children, because unfortunately, the younger the child, the more vulnerable they are.

And so we partnered with the Health department, decided after doing some data and some research and data review and research, high quality home visiting was found across the country to help parents to have safe, loving, nurturing homes, which of course, prevents child abuse.

By 2000, three hands had been developed and it was in every county of Kentucky.

We'll bring you more of this interview with Family and Children's Place CEO and president Pam Darnell, and a future broadcast of Kentucky Edition.

Get used to the name Wah Wah.

It's a convenience store and gas station chain with more than 1000 locations in several states, The Courier Journal reports Wah!

Wah plans to open to 40 stores in the next 8 to 10 years in Kentucky, with the first ten opening in mid 2025.

The rise of artificial intelligence, or A.I., has people questioning the future of everything from education and jobs to cybersecurity and robots.

Now, researchers at the University of Kentucky are figuring out how I can be used in manufacturing.

The group is focused on machine learning instead of telling a machine specifically what to do.

Hey, AI helps machines figure it out on their own.

We try to apply machine learning to manufacturing fields, but we try to make it in a much more explainable and deployable manner than just simply having all these complex equations, these really complicated models.

We want to actually see these things out in the world deployed.

And the only way to really do that is to make the models trustworthy or make them understandable to a normal person.

This is a pilot project related to robotic assembly.

As you can see here, we try to apply robot to a sample module all together.

The goal would be try to reduce and minimize the dimension with the assembly and we have our own computer vision system.

So through the cameras, define the cameras.

According to cameras, we can take a better picture of what's happening on the table continuously.

And if you like, the monster image processing and the machine learning algorithm, we can identify how many objects are on the table, where all the objects and the shapes and dimensions and that information we all pass down to the robot.

So the robot can apply this motion accordingly and pick the objects one by one and assemble them together.

If the robot cannot accurately understand that information or only utilize that information, it will also lead to a failure that the robot cannot to pick up the object or pick up that, but not successfully.

And we will design serious failure detection mechanisms and try to help the robot reliably and robustly to finish the work.

So the Google integrating idea and the machine learning solution scheme to manufacturing is to help humans make better decisions or to fully automate manufacturing process or systems.

The whole point of manufacturing is high output, high quality redundancy, and there's still a ton of things that are manually done, either quality control or in or performance or assembly operation, so and so forth.

Well, the more manual labor you need that, the less and less consistency you get.

That's just the factor of humanity.

And so by incorporating machine learning, we get this more concurrent workflow and more stability.

So that's kind of what we're looking at as these novel ways of producing email to traditionally where humans are involved.

So if we can kind of cut out some of those those human aspects, we can, you know, get our process planning better and overall more stable.

Dr. Wong and his students are collaborating with companies like General Motors and General Electric Electric to access manufacturing plant data to bridge the gap between their laboratory simulation and real world application.

Katie is airing a new three part PBS series called Southern Storytellers, which looks at how Place informs the work of creators across the South.

As part of the project, Katie reached out to some Kentucky storytellers for a collection of short digital videos.

One of those features, Gwen Henderson, educational director for the Kentucky Archeological Survey.

Follow along as Henderson describes the magic of archeology in Kentucky and the deep age old ties to storytelling the field has.

We wanted to tell the story of mud glyphs cave a cave in western Kentucky.

Native peoples had drawn in the mud on the floor of this cave.

Well, the mud has been there for so long, and when somebody draws in the mud, it shows up a very bright orange color.

The native peoples drawings show up very well.

So there's this silence.

It's just our voices and the lights playing across these ancient drawings.

It is powerful.

It is humbling.

The only difference between me being here and those native peoples being here is time.

It's the immediacy, a place that power, a place.

It takes my breath away as I think of it now.

We're looking at the things they left behind.

Those things tell a story.

As archeologist, we have a serious responsibility in ensuring that those stories see the light of day, because those archeological sites, in many cases, are the only documents available to see into the deep, deep past and Kentucky history.

So much of my time spent translating what archeologists have found, translating that to tell those stories and do right by the people whose stories we're trying to tell.

We have other videos that show how storytelling happens through a variety of endeavors.

So look for Southern storytellers on KET and check out extended versions of those videos at KET dot org slash Southern Storytellers.

It's worth the time.

We hope you'll join us again tomorrow night at 630 Eastern, 530 Central for Kentucky Edition, which is also worth your time.

It's where we inform, connect and Inspire.

We hope 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.

I'm Renee Shaw.

Thank you for watching tonight.

And I'll see you right back here again tomorrow night.

Tickets here.