November 10, 2025

Kentucky lawmakers react to a proposed deal that could end America’s longest government shutdown, UPS and FedEx ground their fleets of MD-11 planes following last week’s deadly UPS plane crash, and the U.S Supreme Court rejects former Rowan County Clerk request to revisit landmark decision on same-sex marriage. 

Episode Transcript

(00:09):
>> America's longest government
shutdown could soon be over.
Details on the proposed deal
and reaction from some Kentucky
lawmakers.
>> We can use data to drive it,
and we can use it to figure out
what programs work really,
really well and how can we
scale those programs.
>> How a Kentucky based group
is using data to make sure

(00:29):
older adults are staying
connected.
>> I go to work every day just
doing what I love.
>> Educators are recognized for
their passion teaching Kentucky
kids.
>> Production of Kentucky
Edition is made possible in
part by the KET Millennium Fund.

(00:58):
>> Good evening and welcome to
Kentucky Edition for this brand
new week. It is Monday,
November the 10th. I'm Renee
Shaw, and we thank you for
spending some of your Monday
evening with us. The longest
federal government shutdown in
U.S. history could soon be
coming to an end. After weeks
of gridlock, eight Senate
Democrats sided with
Republicans and agreed to

(01:18):
consider a bill to reopen the
government without a guaranteed
extension of health care
subsidies. Instead, Senate
Republicans are promising to
vote on those subsidies next
month. The deal also reinstates
federal workers and extends
most government funding, as is
through the end of January. The
end of the shutdown could still

(01:39):
be days away. One hurdle is an
amendment filed by Republican
Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky.
He wants to remove language
from the proposed bill that
would prevent the sale of some
hemp based products, putting
him at odds with his Kentucky
colleague, Senator Mitch
McConnell. Posting on social
media, Senator Paul said in
part, quote, just to be clear,

(02:00):
I am not delaying this bill,
but there is extraneous
language in this package that
has nothing to do with
reopening the government and
would harm Kentucky's hemp
farmers and small businesses,
end quote should the funding
bill pass the Senate, it would
then go to the House, which has
been out of session since
mid-September. Congressman

(02:20):
Brett Guthrie of Kentucky's
second district says he's
looking forward to working to
make health care affordable.
>> I'm absolutely happy with
the version of the bill. I
think that there are things we
need to negotiate, but we need
to negotiate with people who
are going to work, being
honored for their work and
being paid for their work. And
and there's some work we need

(02:41):
to do on health care
affordability. That's my
committee, actually. So I'm
looking forward to sitting down
with people and and working.
>> Congressman Guthrie was in
Bowling Green today for a
presentation on We the People,
a nationwide survey of
Americans in every
congressional district. It's a
partnership between the
Neapolitan Institute and
Google's Jigsaw division, and
will collect insights through

(03:03):
July of next year. Guthrie said
he's headed back to Washington
soon, and hopes to be voting on
the bill in the House by
Thursday. Meanwhile, the Trump
administration is asking the
U.S. Supreme Court to keep SNAP
payments on hold. The federally
funded food program helps about
42 million Americans, including

(03:23):
nearly 600,000 Kentuckians, buy
groceries. Lower courts have
ordered the government to keep
all the money flowing. The
justices are expected to decide
late Tuesday whether to halt
these orders, amid signs the
shutdown could soon come to an
end. Last week, Kentucky
Governor Andy Beshear said
Kentucky was already processing
Snap benefits for the month of

(03:46):
November in response to the
lapse in Snap benefits, the
Kentucky Democratic Party held
a statewide food drive on
Saturday. Democratic leaders,
local nonprofits and community
leaders throughout the state
participated in what was called
the Day of Action, collecting
food donations they say will go
to help almost 600,000
Kentuckians who rely on Snap or

(04:08):
food stamp benefits. KET was at
the kickoff in Lexington, where
Lieutenant Governor Jacqueline
Coleman was among the
volunteers taking donations.
>> There are 600,000
Kentuckians that depend on Snap
benefits, and they don't know
when or how, or if or how much
money is going to be made
available to them to be able to

(04:29):
feed their families as we enter
the holiday season. So it's
never been more important to
show up for our neighbors. And
so I've traveled this state,
and I've worked with a lot of
our food banks to help get the
word out about supplies and
donations and monetary
donations and volunteering,
because they need our help. Now
more than ever.
>> We have seen an increased
need. Our phone is ringing off

(04:50):
the hook with families who are
looking for ways to access food.
We do a hot meal distribution
on Mondays and Wednesdays. We
are handing out 600 meals every
night. On Fridays we're doing
grocery boxes, we build 125 and
then continue building when
those run out to ensure that
nobody is going without food,
we're doing a food drive to

(05:10):
really supplement our
Thanksgiving boxes that also to
supplement the families who are
missing out and weren't
necessarily knowing that they
were going to miss out on some
food needs this holiday. And so
we are really working together
to make sure that our neighbors
are fed.
>> Working in recovery. A lot
of people we have come out of
treatment or, you know, they

(05:32):
have family or friends that
don't have nothing. Now, it's
to the point now where it's
strong and even food. We're
having people go to food
pantries constantly. There's
not a day that went by this
past week where I haven't had
somebody contact me needing
some kind of food.
>> You have nonprofits that are
operating on a shoestring
budget. You have public schools
who are collecting donations,
and they're doing more than the

(05:52):
most powerful government in the
world to make sure that people
don't go hungry. And there's
something seriously wrong with
that.
>> We're concerned about the
small markets. We're concerned
about our farmers who are
relying on a lot of this income
that does come from SNAP. And
so it it goes much further
beyond just the recipients
themselves. It is our local

(06:12):
food economy that is going to
suffer.
>> This is a this is a hard
time for a lot of people, a lot
of families, a lot of
households. But as always, when
we face disaster in Kentucky,
we show up for each other. And
that's what you're seeing here
today is neighbors coming in to
help a neighbor to help
neighbors, no questions asked.
The people who are preparing

(06:33):
this food have no idea where
it's going or what family it's
going to, what their zip code
is, what their religion is,
what their race is, what their
political party is. Because
that's not important. What's
important is that you do the
right thing for the right
reasons.
>> Now, food insecurity is our
topic tonight on Kentucky
Tonight, guests include state
lawmakers on agriculture
committees in Frankfort, a UK

(06:55):
researcher, a leader in the
state Department of Agriculture,
and heads of food assistance
programs. So we hope you'll
tune in tonight at 8 p.m.
eastern, seven central for
Kentucky tonight on KET. Now to
our ongoing coverage of the UPS
plane crash in Louisville.
Officials say the death toll
has now risen to 14. Everyone

(07:15):
thought to be missing has now
been accounted for over the
weekend. UPS and Fedex decided
to ground their fleets of 11
planes out of an abundance of
caution. That's the type of
plane that crashed last week,
moments after taking off from
the Louisville airport.
Investigators say the left wing
caught fire and one of the
engines fell off. Seconds

(07:37):
before the plane crashed and
erupted into flames. The
National Transportation Safety
Board is leading the
investigation. It's another
setback for former Rowan County
Clerk Kim Davis. Today, the
U.S. Supreme Court rejected her
request to consider overturning
its landmark decision that
legalized same sex marriage

(08:00):
nationwide. Davis hoped the
Supreme Court would overturn a
lower court ruling for her to
pay $360,000 in damages and
attorney's fees to a couple
denied a marriage license.
Justice Clarence Thomas has
repeatedly called for erasing
the same sex marriage ruling.
The Supreme Court did not
comment on today's decision.

(08:20):
Davis drew national attention
when she turned away same sex
couples in 2015, saying her
faith prevented her from
complying with the Supreme
Court's ruling. She defied
court orders and was briefly
jailed for contempt of court.
Davis was released after her
staff issued the licenses on
her behalf, but removed her
name from the form. The

(08:41):
Kentucky legislature passed a
bill removing the names of all
county clerks from state
marriage licenses. Former
Kentucky Governor Martha Layne
Collins was laid to rest today.
She was buried at the Frankfort
Cemetery. Collins died earlier
this month at the age of 88.
Her funeral followed a memorial
at the Old State Capitol

(09:02):
yesterday. Here are some of the
moments from the service that
were captured on KET.
>> After shattering the glass
ceiling with her win as
governor in 1983, Governor

(09:23):
Collins shepherded a massive
education reform package that
brought widespread improvements
to our kids. Maybe the biggest
legacy of Governor's College
tenure is perhaps landing the
Toyota motor manufacturing
plant in Georgetown. Few
partnerships can claim more
widespread or impactful results
for our Commonwealth and our

(09:44):
people. Governor Collins led a
groundbreaking life and career.
She was dedicated to building a
better Kentucky for our people.
>> You know, I had no idea. I
never really thought about the
difficulties that a woman as
governor would have. Men had a
difficult time dealing with,

(10:04):
and in some women had a
difficult time dealing with a
woman sitting on the other side
of the desk, making decisions
and so forth. And I watched how
gracefully she handled that.
You know, she was a she was a
team builder. My wife said
today, she said, you know,
Governor Collins, there was no
I in that. You know, and that's

(10:26):
rather unusual for many
politicians. There was no I
that was in that. It was we
what she would want to say if
she was here is, you know, we
need to stay engaged. She
stayed engaged all the way to
the end because she truly cared
about making things better for

(10:46):
people.
>> The emotional health of
older adults is an often
overlooked component to aging
well. Louisville based Humana

(11:08):
Foundation hopes to change that,
with $12 million in grants for
programs that address
loneliness, chronic illness and
other factors affecting seniors
emotional health. Our Christie
Dutton talks with the CEO of
Humana Foundation to find out
how these grants will help
seniors right here in Kentucky.
This is part of our ongoing
aging series, The Next Chapter,

(11:29):
that explores the rewards and
challenges of growing older.
>> Joining us is Tiffany
Benjamin, the CEO of the Humana
Foundation. Okay, Miss Benjamin.
$12 million is a lot of money.
So how did the Humana
Foundation zero in as seniors
emotional health as the key
initiative?
>> Yeah. So we have been

(11:50):
focused on seniors for a really
long time. What we know is 1 in
4 seniors are socially isolated,
and being socially isolated
leads to increased risk of
self-harm and dementia. And so
we know that mental health is
tied to physical health. The
more connected you are to other
people, the physically
healthier you are. And so we
decided that we want to be a

(12:12):
leader in senior emotional
health, really leaning into
social isolation and creating
spaces for social connection
for seniors.
>> Because emotional health is
often overlooked, especially
when you're talking about the
older population, where a lot
of physical health problems
start popping up. Why is the
emotional health often bypassed
for the physical health in this
population?

(12:32):
>> It's a great question. We
don't talk about it enough. In
Louisville alone, 40,000
seniors live alone. We know
that when you're alone,
sometimes you can fall into
depression. Sometimes you get
even less physically active.
Right? Like, we've all felt
that thing where you're like,
oh, I'm by myself and I don't
quite know what to do. So if we
want people to be more

(12:53):
physically active, we want them
to be more connected. We have
to get people up and find
communities for them and give
people positive opportunities
to connect with other people.
>> Okay. So how is how are
these grants going to address
that? What programs, especially
locally or in Kentucky, are
going to receive some of these
funds and what are they going
to do with it?

(13:14):
>> Yeah, we're really excited.
We committed $1.45 million to
programs here in Kentucky.
Examples include the Louisville
Orchestra. And what we're
really funding there is the
orchestra going across the
state, across the Commonwealth,
and really holding programs in
senior centers and community
centers to get people connected
through music and art and
really just energized. There's

(13:35):
something really powerful about
the way that art connects us,
and that is an example of that
sort of powerful work. We've
also partnered with the Ali
Center to support their
Compassion Index, where they
are getting people to talk more
and more about how we can treat
others with compassion, find
commonality amongst differences,
and and really look at the
world in a positive way, and

(13:56):
we're funding them, adding a
senior counsel to that. So
we're talking about compassion
for seniors with seniors
towards seniors. Super
important work partnering with
other organizations like Dare
to Care to focus on nutrition.
Partnering with the University
of Kentucky on really exciting
work to look at senior food
insecurity. Really to be sort

(14:17):
of best in class in the nation,
in tracking food insecurity for
seniors. Be amazing for that to
be here in Kentucky, where
people go to find the source of
data for how do we connect with
seniors and understand what
they're going through and how
do we support them?
>> Yeah. And dare to care. And
tracking county level data on
senior food insecurity that has
to do with just nutrition for

(14:38):
seniors. So how does that
impact emotional health? How
might that improve?
>> Yeah it's a great question.
You think about it this way. If
you're hungry, if you're
isolated, if you're alone, all
of these things connect
together, right? Your
well-being is really many
different pieces, and you need

(14:59):
to make sure that you are well
nourished so that you can
actually think about your
mental health, and that you can
get active and physical and be
out in community and get the
help you need and find the
people who you can connect with.
And so we have to look at the
whole person. And so our work
around senior emotional health
is making sure people have the
resources they need to be
mentally healthy. And then

(15:19):
utilizing the connections and
resources they get to be
physically healthy, too.
>> How are you going to know if
these grants to these programs
are working?
>> Yeah, it's a great question.
And we are actually really
unique in the fact that we
track impact in our work. So
the Humana Foundation, unlike a
lot of foundations, has a chief
impact officer. We make long

(15:39):
term commitments to
organizations. Often our grants
are 3 to 5 years long. We give
time for programs to grow. And
then we ask questions like, are
you really connecting with
seniors? And can we track that
with data? So for example, when
we think about social isolation,
there's this thing called the
UCLA Loneliness Index. And a
lot of our grants track. Do
people feel less lonely on that

(16:01):
index after they have gone to a
performance, after they have
connected with Dare to Care and
had somebody maybe deliver
their food? Do they feel more
connected? We can track that.
We can use data to drive it,
and we can use it to figure out
what programs work really,
really well and how can we
scale those programs?
>> Okay. Tiffany Benjamin from

(16:21):
the Humana Foundation, thank
you so much for your time, and
thank you for your work in this
area.
>> Yeah. Thanks for having me,
Kristy. It's a joy to talk
about the work, and it's a joy
to serve community in this way.
>> Three new educators are now
members of the Kentucky Teacher
Hall of Fame. The induction

(16:42):
ceremony was held Friday at
Western Kentucky University.
Our Laura Rogers brings us the
story from Bowling Green that
in our Education Matters report.
>> It was a big surprise.
>> After 33 years in education,
it's likely not easy to
surprise Julie Cowan.
>> I've always believed that

(17:02):
their kindergarten year is the
most important ever. It sets
the foundation.
>> She's helped young learners
in Adair County have a strong
foundation with activities like
her kindergarten bucket list,
where they get to choose how
they spend some of their
classroom time.
>> They wanted to bring their
fish to school day. Just one
example. And I'm like boys and
girls, you know, not everybody
has a fish. So we ended up

(17:24):
being goldfish. You could bring
goldfish crackers. You could
bring your fish. You could
bring your stuffed fish.
>> It is that creativity and
compassion that helped earn
Cowan a spot in the governor.
Louie B Nunn, Kentucky Teacher
Hall of Fame.
>> It brought tears to my eyes
because once my kid, always my
kid.
>> To get an award where I'm
actually just being me and
doing what I love. It is very

(17:46):
humbling.
>> Jennifer Miller Fritch is
also a new inductee. She
teaches art at Glasgow Middle
School.
>> Having them in art, they get
to see themselves in a
different way. One of the first
things I tell them is like,
look, there are 30 of you all.
Every one of you came from a
different background. You have
different experiences.
>> Yet, she says each of them

(18:07):
has the potential for artistic
talent and expression, which
she aims to encourage inviting
visiting artists to come speak
and inspire.
>> I love that they feel like
my room is safe. I love that
they know that they can come in
there and be themselves, and
I'm not comparing them to
anybody.
>> Teachers, in my opinion, are
the backbone of our great state.

(18:28):
>> Cowan and Fritch, along with
the late Lois Chandler of
Ballard County, were honored
Friday, November 7th, at
Western Kentucky University.
>> We know that teachers don't
choose their profession for
recognition, but instead to be
a part of something larger than
themselves, to mold young minds
and to make the world a better
place.
>> That is certainly the case

(18:48):
for these three teachers. Lois
Chandler, who passed away in
2020 at the age of 92, spent 56
years in education.
>> I can't think of a more
noble profession than being a
teacher.
>> State Representative Kevin
Jackson pointing out that
teachers wear a lot of hats.
Over the past three decades,
Julie Cowan has seen a lot of

(19:10):
changes.
>> Now you have kids that are
addicted to technology, coming
to school at the age of five,
and and their communication
skills are really, really low.
Their hands on skills are
really, really low.
>> While that is a challenge
now, a reading interventionist
at Adair County Primary Center,
Cowan loves working with young
children.
>> They're just so eager to
learn when they're little. I
just think that we can learn a

(19:31):
lot from them. They've taught
me much more than I've taught
them.
>> For Fritch, it was teaching
art at a summer camp that
inspired her future career and
eventual spot in the Hall of
Fame.
>> The joy that they had while
they were creating, I'm like,
oh, this is it. This is, you
know, this is what I'm supposed
to do.
>> For Kentucky edition. I'm
Laura Rogers.

(19:52):
>> Thank you, Laura, and our
thanks to those fantastic
teachers. This is the Hall of
Fame 17th class. It was
established in the year 2000
through a gift from Louie B
Nunn, who served as Kentucky
governor from 1967 to 1971.
It's forest fire season in
Kentucky. Some firefighters on
the front lines are actually

(20:13):
forestry students at the
University of Kentucky. Through
a partnership with the Kentucky
Department of Forestry, the UK
Firecats are, as they are
called, are paid emergency
firefighters getting hands on
experience while protecting our
state's forests.
>> The Firecats program started
back in 2014, and I think it
started just because we wanted

(20:34):
to get our students with more
hands on experience with
dealing with fire suppression
here in Kentucky. So students
are paid through Kentucky
Division of Forestry, and
generally they work on the
weekends.
>> Whenever the conditions are
right for fire, like low
humidity and low precipitation.
And things are dry enough for
there to be a chance of fire.
We'll go down to the Division

(20:54):
of Forestry office down in
London, Kentucky, and we'll be
on call in case there is a fire
on the weekends. And we also
have other opportunities. Like
a couple weeks ago, we were on
a prescribed fire out at
Robinson Forest, which is owned
by UK. And that was a great
experience. I learned a lot
about how fire works. It's one
thing to learn it in the
classroom and another to see it

(21:15):
in person. How fire moves, how
it reacts to wind, how it's
it's like its own living thing,
you know, it's like a it's like
a creature. And it it's just so
mesmerizing to see how it works
out in the woods. We'll get
sent out either with leaf
blowers or rakes, or a
combination of the two or
various other tools that are
needed. And the name of the
game is clearing away things

(21:35):
that could burn to stop the
fire from progressing any
further. And so oftentimes
we'll go usually not directly
up against the fire's edge.
Oftentimes we'll just call this
indirect attack. And so we'll
just make a big box around it
and head it off there. Leather
gloves are crucial. Anything
that's polyester or any kind of

(21:56):
plastic will just melt right
away. Pretty much because we're
dealing with a lot of hot logs,
hot sticks, hot dirt, hot rocks.
Everything's hot. The most
important thing is situational
awareness, knowing what's going
on and where. Because if you
don't know that, then it's
really easy to get yourself
into a bad situation. Even a
low consequence situation can

(22:17):
turn bad pretty quickly if you
don't know what's going on. I
join the Firecats because I
came into forestry wanting to
go into a career in fire. I was
really drawn to the wildland
firefighting thing, but I
didn't want to go in kind of
just as an entry level. I
wanted to really learn a lot
about the way forests work and
the way fire works within our
forest, and how we can use it

(22:37):
to better our forests. It's the
kind of work where everybody
wants to do the really hard
jobs. And so it's a work
environment like I've never
seen before, where everybody is
really engaged and really wants
to be there. And I just love
that.
>> It's tremendously beneficial.
Fire suppression and using fire
as a management tool to manage

(22:58):
our forests is critically
important, right? And so having
this type of hands on
experience for our students not
only helps them manage our
forests and prevent fires here
in Kentucky, but also gives
them the experience in case
they wanted to go out to the
Western United States and fight
fires, they'll have this, this,

(23:18):
this coursework and this and
this training that can really
help them find find good
employment.
>> The program continues to
gain interest. This year, 18
students are on the Firecats
team.

(23:39):
>> Kentucky Pikeville.
>> Founded Florida 38 to 7 on
Saturday. Go, cats. Tonight
we're looking back at
Kentucky's first ever game and
it had a memorable final score.
Our Toby Gibbs tells us more
about what happened this week
in Kentucky history.

(24:01):
>> Happy birthday to Joshua
Speed, a close friend of
President Abraham Lincoln, born
November 14th, 1814, in
Louisville. He became an
advisor to President Lincoln.
Lincoln wanted to appoint him
as Secretary of the Treasury,
but speed declined. On November
10th, 1899, the Carnegie
Corporation of New York gave

(24:22):
the City of Louisville $450,000
so the city could begin
building nine libraries. That's
more than $17 million in $2,025.
After factoring in inflation.
The University of Kentucky
played its first football game
ever on November 12th, 1881. UK

(24:42):
was then known as A&M College
or Kentucky State College. The
future UK played Kentucky
University, later known as
Transylvania UK one, seven and
one fourths to one, obviously
using a different scoring
system than the one we know
today. UK. S final football
game at Stoll Field was

(25:04):
November 11th, 1972. The
Wildcats beat Vanderbilt 14 to
13. UK would move to the new
Commonwealth Stadium the
following season. Both
Roosevelts were in the news
this week. An editorial cartoon
showing President Teddy
Roosevelt refusing to shoot a
bear cub inspired the teddy
bear toy, and that cartoon from

(25:25):
Clifford Berryman of Woodford
County appeared in The
Washington Post on November
16th, 1902. Teddy's distant
cousin, Franklin, was in
Harrodsburg on November 16th,
1934, to dedicate a George
Rogers Clark Memorial
commemorating the first
permanent settlement west of
the Allegheny Mountains. And

(25:46):
that's what was happening this
week in Kentucky history. I'm
Toby Gibbs.
>> We always learn from Toby
Gibbs. Thank you. Toby. That'll
do it for us tonight, but we
sure hope you'll join us again
tomorrow night at 630 eastern,
530 Central on Kentucky Edition,
where we inform, connect and
inspire. We do hope you'll
connect with us all the ways
you see on your screen.

(26:07):
Facebook, Instagram and X on
the social media channels to
keep you in the loop on all
that's happening here at KET.
And we don't mind if you send
us a story idea by email to
Public Affairs at ket.org and
look for us on the PBS app that
you can download on your smart
devices. Thanks so very much
for watching. I'm Renee Shaw,
and I hope to see you tonight
at 8:00 eastern for Kentucky

(26:29):
tonight when we talk about food