>> She's in the race.

Kelly Kraft makes it official.

She's joining the race for Governor.

The abuses through the roof and it's starting to get out of control.

>> We have unfortunately people who are targeting our county clerks, some state Board of elections.

>> Kentucky's Republican secretary of state says the vote fraud claims aren't just wrong.

They're dangerous.

>> We've been very fortunate to be able to feed students throughout the pandemic.

So it's just very important that we can continue to do that.

>> And why schools and students are paying more for meals.

>> Production of Kentucky Edition is made possible in part by the KTM down that for Kentucky Productions.

Leonard Press Endowment for Public Affairs and the KET Millennium Fund.

♪ ♪ Good evening and welcome to Kentucky EDITION for this Wednesday, September, the 7th, I'm Renee Shaw.

>> Thank you for spending some of your Wednesday night with us.

Kelly Knight Craft is running for governor.

She announced her plans on a campaign website.

Kraft is a Republican.

She served as U.S. ambassador to Canada and ambassador to the United Nations under President Donald Trump.

Kraft is married to coal billionaire Joe Craft.

It is her first run for public office.

She joins a Republican field that includes Attorney General Daniel Cameron, Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles State Auditor Mike Harmon and State Representative Savannah, Maddox.

We'll talk more about crafts campaign with public radio journalist Rylan Barton.

And just a few minutes.

Last week, Kentucky secretary of state Michael Adams criticized some Republicans for their constant claims of vote fraud.

Today Secretary Adams told our Casey Parker Bell about a problem he says is now out of control.

>> This is a transparent effort to disrupt our process and undermine confidence in democracy and open up with it.

Kentucky secretary of State Michael Adams says 5 Kentucky county clerks have resigned in the last month.

>> And that the state is struggling to attract poll workers and he recently received a death threat that he passed on to the FBI, the abuses through the roof and it's starting to get out of control as he seeks to attract more poll workers.

Adams recalled his time working as one as a teenager change my life.

Seen democracy up close and personal, seeing all the checks and balances that we follow to make sure the elections fair.

They gave me a lot of confidence in our system.

So are we still in generation and bring them into this process?

One way the secretary of state is looking to attract new poll workers is through the S O S from your S O S campaign, local, breweries and wineries hang tags on their bottles so people can easily scan a QR code and register to become a poll worker.

But Secretary Adams says polarization is hurting the ability to attract poll workers and burning out election officials and people are geographically sorting in socially sorting into one community or the other based on their lifestyle, the religious beliefs and so forth.

You can have one very liberal side won very conservative side.

Well, the problem is those people just talk to each other.

Adams recently told the Lexington Herald-Leader, quote, one of the biggest problems I've got as what happens if Andy Bashir is reelected, if he wins, it won't be because of fraud.

If he does win, I will have some explaining to do with a certain sector of the GOP population.

Adams told KET that as the 2 parties don't court the center make selections closer.

And then if people against but their tickets and a real like me but also relate the governor, I think there will be people that alleged fraud just because they can't fathom but Democrat could win where they where they can have a Republican can win.

As Adams traveled the state the last week he railed against what he calls conspiracy theories.

He says speaking out could have an impact on his own reelection campaign next But there's also an darkest wing of the that doesn't really believe in government at all.

And if you're a government official, even though you're a Republican.

They're against you because you're the government, they have a high degree of paranoia about the government and they think the government is out to get them in some way or take things from them in some way.

And the worst thing you could be right Now-and commit Republican Secretary Adams says he met with Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear this afternoon.

>> Discuss how the 2 can help people affected by the flooding in eastern Kentucky during this November's general election for Kentucky edition.

I'm Casey Parker Bell.

>> Thank you, Casey, for that report.

The Kentucky General Assembly passed a bill earlier this year that says voting machines can be connected to the Internet.

A longstanding practice and it made it a felony to intimidate an election official.

Jewel, an electronic cigarette maker has agreed to pay 438 million dollars to 33 states including Kentucky.

Those states accused Juul of marketing e-cigarettes to young people and misleading people about the nicotine content.

Attorney General Daniel Cameron says Kentucky share of that money is at least 14 million dollars.

New numbers suggest COVID hurt student learning a report from the National Assessment of Educational Progress known as the nation's report card shows average scores for 9 year-old declined 5 points and reading the biggest drop since 1990.

There was a 7 point drop in math.

That's the biggest decline ever.

KET.

Brandon Roberts has more.

>> The nation's report card use is a specific model to determine how the country's 9 year-olds are performing in reading and math after the COVID-19 pandemic.

The students were grouped into one of 3% house based on how they perform in the classroom, whether they attend a city, suburban or rural school.

Where they live and their race.

But regardless of these factors from the winter of 2022, the winter of 2022, the pandemic took its toll on students, progress.

Kentucky students are likely aligned with the National data.

>> The drops are significant nationally and while we won't have Kentucky results until later this year, the results are going to be significant in Kentucky as they are and all other states.

The important thing to note here is that educators and families did everything they KET to do through an incredibly difficult time.

And so what we need now is for schools and communities to come together.

>> The national report card shows the scores of students that were already low performing in reading and math decrease.

The most.

While reading scores.

Stay the same in the 3rd and highest performing percentile among students of all races.

Those same students had an across the board decrease in math scores compared to 2020.

>> In night in the 1990's, Kentucky led the nation improvements in reading and mathematics.

And as early as there is recent as 2015, Kentucky was 8th in the nation in reading.

And so we can get to get back there again in recovery from this pandemic.

If schools and communities come together, districts are transparent with their recovery plans and invite the community, community leaders and families into those plans, evaluate the progress and ensure that our students are not only recovering from the pandemic, but that we're accelerating learning.

>> Another telling result of the study is one that was a concern in many parts of Kentucky when the pandemic for schools to implement remote learning.

Students that had greater access to resources, perform better.

Of the 70% of 9 year-old the learn remotely during the 2021 school year.

Those performing at or above the 75th percentile had access to a desktop computer, laptop or tablet all the time.

A quiet place to work available some of the time and a teacher available to help them with reading or math every day or almost every day.

Blom said decades in the future I ever the pandemic can be used as an excuse.

>> 20 years from now, nobody is going to give the kids who went to COVID a pass when it comes to their education outcomes in Kentucky's economy is not going to give in the past.

So it's important that we meet this moment as a call to action for everyone to roll up their sleeves and be part of the recovery process when it comes to education.

>> A more in-depth the nation's report card will be released in the spring of 2023.

For Kentucky edition.

I'm Brandon Roberts.

♪ >> Good news tonight about COVID in Kentucky.

The state's COVID positivity rate dropped from last week to this week.

The state says the current COVID positivity rate is 18.4% a week ago.

The rate was more than 20 as of late last week, 70 of Kentucky's 120 counties were in the red zone, meaning high COVID activity.

Recent news reports are raising concerns about the severity of the flu season this year, Australia had its worst flu season in 5 years.

And many are wondering what that could spell for the U.S. Kentucky's public health Commissioner Steven Stack talked with us about what we could be in for this flu season.

>> There's a possibility it could be a bad one because we've had multiple mild flu years.

And so when that happens, you know, the community is not as exposed to flu.

Our immune systems have become a little bit more naive to it.

And so it's very possible that if we flu actively circulating more people get infected and we're have more significant illness because our immune systems haven't been exposed to.

It is frequently the last few years.

So it very well could happen here like perhaps in other parts of the world that we have a really prominent flu season.

So to avoid that, please get your flu shot.

Get a COVID shot.

And if you're vulnerable, if you're definitely a major medical problems here, you know, over 50, you're certainly you're 60 or older.

You should consider wearing a mask when you go indoors around crowded folks, just crowded environments just to make sure you lower your risk little further.

>> I was going to ask those mitigation measures that we've been practicing for COVID.

Do they have some kind bad byproduct when it comes to the flu?

The social distancing, the masking are we saying perhaps that were since we're not doing those things that can contribute to the higher than usual flu incidents?

>> Well, if there's an irony to write, the masks are what eliminated influenza in our population.

We had 2021.

We had virtually no flow been in 2020, the winter of 2020 going into the 2021, there was virtually no influence at all.

And that was all because of masks and social distancing and probably improve hand hygiene and then we started to lift recommendations are when people just continue following.

And what we noticed was the flu cases started to go up.

Thank goodness.

Last year was still relatively mild, but it was clearly an uptick from the year before.

>> Our thanks to Doctor Stack yesterday, we told you about the passing of former UK head football coach Guy Morris.

He was 71.

Morris was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2016 when he and his family decided to make the diagnosis public.

They called Kentucky sports broadcaster D*** Gabriel.

>> It decided that they needed to go public with it.

It become apparent their friends and fans.

>> Who would bump into them?

A Kroger or a church or anywhere that he just wasn't the same.

And guy was afraid that people thought he didn't want to talk to them or was dismissing him or being rude when at times he just couldn't remember who they were.

Gabriel KET Morris.

Well, he interviewed the coach regularly during the 2 seasons.

Morris coached UK.

But it was a different kind of interview that Gabriel was asked to do in 2017.

>> He says it was clear Morris KET what was in his future.

>> He was.

Scared.

He was frustrated.

He was.

I don't know that I could say he was angry.

But I know that he was clearly upset and he was trying to fight it.

But he KET it was not going to be.

>> A winning battle.

The Texas native and Pro Bowler played 15 seasons in the NFL starting at center for the Eagles in Super Bowl 15.

He ended his pro career in New England before turning to coaching in 1987 by then taken a toll on Morris.

His body and his brain.

Looking back on his interview from 2017, Gabriel says there was one comment that surprised him most.

When I ask him.

>> Would you do it all over again?

And other words, all the football, all the hits, not just the 15 years in the NFL.

The college high school practices and he said yes, he do it all again.

You know, this is a guy was a Super Bowl caliber player.

and some corners, a successful college coach and was facing a death sentence.

But he said he do it all over again.

>> Morris took charge of the Wildcats football program during a scandal.

Gabriel says righting the ship is something UK fans will remember about him.

>> I think guys legacy is a person who took over the program when it was it one of its darkest periods you and say was on campus.

Stay one, only 2 games for a couple years running and then all of a sudden they won 7 games and might have won more and sent this fan base into a frenzy that can go to a ballgame.

But they started going to games thinking, hey, we've got a shot of winning this thing where and winning here on Saturday and and partying later.

>> You can't ask for much more than that.

A juror Kentucky fan back then.

>> Time now for our midweek, check-in of some major political developments here in Kentucky with Rylan Barton, who is the managing editor of Kentucky Public Radio in Ohio Valley Resource.

Good to see your island.

>> I run a good to see you, too.

So finally midweek, we get some news from former UN Ambassador Kelly Craft who is officially tossed her hat into the ring to run for governor in 2023.

>> She unveiled a Web site and this ad this campaign isn't about me.

>> It's about all of us who still believe police believe the timing Rylan Barton.

What do you think about the timing and the whip be dipping website and all of that.

>> Yeah, the timing is really Main part is that there's already been so many other Republicans to get into the race, but also that we've been talking about this for a little more than a year now.

before Fancy Farm last year, Kelly Knight Craft is making the making the in western Kentucky.

They're doing You know what looked a whole lot like campaigning.

And everybody was wondering if she was going to make a run for governor.

There are a lot of rumors about it.

And lo and behold, we finally get the the announcement today.

>> This is interesting because there are so many other Republicans in the race.

>> She is the she's one of the most prolific of Republican fundraisers in Kentucky.

She and her husband, Joe Craft, who's the CEO of Alliance Cole, the second largest coal company in the Eastern U.S..

So there's going to be a lot of they already have a lot of the connections already there.

They've already got a lot of the money of I think we can see already from that of very polished ad of that.

There will be there's going to be this ad blitz.

That's the kind of starts to begin that we see.

And up until this primary in May.

And because we have so many Republicans vying to get a little bit of that attention, a little bit of that They're they're going trying to get their names out there.

And so many of them, too.

And although Kelly Knight Craft is former ambassador to the United Nations, she isn't exactly a household name for a lot of Kentuckians.

And I would argue that a lot of the other candidates on the on the Republican side at this point are either Daniel Cameron is probably the one with the with the most name ID at this point.

So there's going to be a lot introducing that these candidates have to do over the next few months.

>> And of course, she's got the funds to do a lot of that through national media.

And to just make those appearances on cable news network, to cetera.

So maybe a lot of her game is going to really be centered on that.

Can she went through that alone or does she still mid engage in the shoe leather type campaigning.

>> Is definitely going to be a lot of both of that of the candidates have been co laying down the gauntlet of how far how many counties they're going to reach a in Kentucky.

Ryan Coral said that he's going go to every county twice and every dollar general wants of which there's over $600 general to Kentucky.

So there's going to be a lot of which are also I mean, the opportunities to get your name out there.

But you know, just kind of opportunities to to learn the issues and kind of test the waters for what what Republicans are really caring about going into this election, which as always is the weirdest of elections.

It's an off off year.

There's no other races on the ballot in 2023 besides these Kentucky specific elections is not as high voter turnout generally.

So things can get a little strange, especially when you have such a crowded race.

>> And that race could get even more crowded because we've talked about such names as Alan CAC, who is the mayor of Somerset, former governor Matt Bevin.

I mean, there could be others who have yet to really get into the race.

Daniel Cameron, who you mentioned earlier, who's the current attorney general who is running for governor, he had a very quick as the kids say, clapped back to the announcement of a basket or craft today.

And it says this only one candidate in this race for governor is endorsed by President Trump.

Kentucky deserves a governor who respects our laws and fights for our freedoms.

And that's exactly the kind of governor I will be plan.

The Trump card.

Hey.

>> It?

Yes.

He he nabbed that early endorsement from former President Donald Trump back in June.

I believe.

And this also came right after telling Knight Craft had this stuff pretty public appearance where she helped the former president hold a fundraiser at Churchill Downs of the Derby.

And Everybody was kind of she's kind of lining up that endorsement.

Cameron swooped in and got it first.

So he's just reminding all the voters and it's really apparent that this commercial is already lined up if and when a Kelly Tennessee ever came to fruition, that they would have this already out there on the airwaves to try and would-be voters that that he's the one who got the endorsement from the former president.

>> Right.

Real quickly, let's talk about the U.S. Senate race and before we had a chance to speak about in the last week.

The governor had finally endorsed Charles Booker for they the Democratic nominee in the U.S. Senate race.

And I ask one Democratic operative what took the governor so long?

They gave an answer.

What's yours?

>> I think there's a lot of things that happened this year will of I think most recently being that the floods, I think that there's a lot you know, August may have been the opportunity for the former go for the governor to to kind of get that as the as the fall campaign season starts heating But I think that that's also just important to mention that this is a race that has not generated a whole lot of of bizarre, kind of head to head action between the candidates.

There are there doesn't seem to be a lot of focus on it this There seem to be so much more of it going on in Twenty-twenty.

But I think a lot of it is Rand Paul is really managed to lay low focus on what's going on in Washington.

Charles Booker is looking for his entry point into this like to try and get get away in 2 point where everybody is talking about this race and nobody's really kind of gotten there yet.

There are a couple months to go until Election Day and they're going to be continuing to try to do that.

I think that this year was, you know, trying to just get get that before the But it was also it's a little unusual and there wasn't really a personal You know, it was something that the governor did right out of the gate after the primary of Morgan McGarvey in the 3rd congressional district.

So, yeah, a little interesting.

A little.

I'm a little late in the game.

Yeah.

>> Well, thank you, Ryland Barton for playing along our game today.

Thanks so much for your time.

♪ >> We're turning back now to education, eating breakfast or lunch at school.

It's costing some Kentucky students more this school year last month.

The Fayette County Board of Education voted 3 to 2 in favor of increasing milk prices.

Breakfast increase from a $1.35.

to $2 for all grades, launch prices increased a quarter at all levels.

The cost increase comes after the end of an emergency waiver program through the USDA that allowed all children to eat school meals at no cost during the pandemic.

We spoke to the Kentucky Department of Ed and the Fayette County Board of Ed to find out more about school meal programs.

Why costs are going up and what's available to those who don't qualify for free or reduced meals.

>> There are 2 different avenues that the school could potentially participate.

And under the school meal program, the community eligibility provision or C E P allow schools to provide meals to all students in the school at no cost.

And that is if they are eligible, those requirements are set by the USDA for school side to qualify.

>> 40% of those students at that school site or more have to be directly certified.

So that means those students and those households are tied to another federal program.

If they're in a processing site, meaning that they don't participate.

And C E p a household with complete an application include their income, their household size and some information to determine if the individual student is eligible for a free reduced or if they would pay for their meal.

>> With pricing sites, there's a federal regulation that you have to increase.

Your student paid much price just to KET up with inflation.

>> And prepandemic school boards would offset so they would contribute funds, non-federal funds to ensure that that price did not increase.

>> We try to KET our student pricing as stagnant as possible.

And we used to go 3 to 4 years before a race that we did increase the millage is for the paying student's by quarter.

We've been 4 years since we did raise it last time.

So that's why we increase it this year.

>> We do have parents that are concerned parents who may not qualify.

You are reaching out to us.

So we're working with individual families to help and resources.

We've been very fortunate to be able to feed students throughout the pandemic.

So it's just very important that we can continue to do that.

States and individual school districts are trying to find ways to assist those students who may pay the reduced out or have to pay the full.

>> Paid lunch price.

We want any student to go hungry.

We know the hardships are still continuing with with households and parents and families.

>> So it's highly encourage them to contact us.

We'll be >> Coming up tomorrow night on Kentucky EDITION.

We look at a program that is making sure students stay fed even when they're not in school.

♪ For a pager, choosing a color palette is an important part of the creative process.

But what if you don't see colors the same way others do.

And today's tapestry, our weekly look at arts and culture.

We'll meet a painter for more head.

Who's color blindness isn't stopping him from putting brush to canvas.

>> I think things that make me feel good.

I don't have any deep meaning a painting you anything you know from artist through that he always could draw.

And many started up in pain to it.

And I KET a slight Keeney says KET doing this.

I found out it was cooler in school.

They give you a tissue to a whole bunch of little COVID Dotson.

>> And if you could see this, you are OK if you couldn't see that you are out.

And about had a written a tear in one of just a sneeze.

And then the year after that, the next written a torrent of started that attach.

I kind of got depressed a little bit.

>> redness in 19, very depressed because he can do a lot of stuff like he'll ask me what color the shirt is, sir, does shun all that that sit in the seat, Neverland?

You mama lose lose my career as a police officer and >> after retire before really wanted to.

That's when I decided I was going to start painting.

And with your drought, something to work around the Columbus.

>> Seth, thank the it really encourage to you because it was something that he wanted to do.

He does it well.

>> So I started buying paint the 3rd watching videos.

Travelers could learn as much theory.

You know, he's a very determined person.

>> And he got it in his mind that he want to do it.

And he stuck with us.

>> If I'm just going to play the painting, something has.

>> Or follow about a year or something.

>> And then what I'll do is all this gives a piece of paper at all or just get something an idea and see what would look good.

I would then take that idea and try to compose something that most time it's just free hand drawn on the campus.

>> Sometimes he brings the stuff.

That's not the right color.

And I have to see me back to the drawing board now say no, you need that more blue.

It don't need to be so green greens.

He puts lots of green in there and I have to tone it down.

>> Oftentimes I'll consult with the balls.

That's what I call my wife.

make sure that I got throughout colors going on.

You know, to me still is and always has been my life.

Moss looks orange.

One time a painted a I had a lot these.

These are optional in the creek took up arms.

He goes.

Well, that's that's all right.

Stu, worst Moss said all right there.

She said that a mall that's orange.

Also green to see.

>> What he.

Can make him to laugh.

>> It's amazing to watch him paint.

>> Knowing that he don't really know what color that is.

But when he gets it all done, just to see how amazing stuff is.

>> It's real frustrating.

And sometimes when I'm I'm I'm painting eyes can't get it right.

You know, and let the watches that are all so have patience with some persons that you can see all the colors, maybe.

>> That's picture perfect artwork there.

Mister Adams, we sure hope you'll join us again tomorrow night at 6.30, Eastern 5.30, central for Kentucky Edition where we inform connect and inspire.

We hope you subscribe to our weekly Kentucky Edition email newsletter and watch full episodes at K E T Dot Org.

You can also find Kentucky Edition on the PBS video app on your mobile smart TV and follow KET on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Stay in the loop.

And you're more than welcome to follow me on Twitter at Renee UT, thanks very much for watching.

We sure hope to see you again tomorrow night.

In the meantime, take really good care.

♪