October 31, 2025

Two federal judges order the Trump administration to fund SNAP, Gov. Beshear on SNAP and ACA concerns, a former Republican state lawmaker calls on his party to  stop defending 'garbage,' and a Kentucky author talks about ways to get parents more involved in reading.

Episode Transcript

(00:08):
>> During every other shutdown
in my lifetime, SNAP has been
funded.
>> As Kentucky Governor Andy
Beshear asked for food stamps
to continue. There's now
uncertainty about what happens
to the program after midnight.
How and where you can give a
state backed food drive.

(00:30):
>> They learned that stories
are fun and that reading is not
a chore.
>> And a local children's book
author on how he's trying to
get kids and their parents to
enjoy reading.
>> Production of Kentucky
edition is made possible in
part by the KET Millennium Fund.

(01:00):
>> Happy Halloween, good
evening and welcome to Kentucky
edition for this Friday,
October the 31st, I'm Renee
Shaw, and we thank you for
joining us, which is a treat.
Two federal judges today
ordered the Trump
administration to fund the SNAP
program, better known as food
stamps, just hours before the
administration was set to cut

(01:21):
funding for the program. It's
not clear how quickly SNAP
debit cards that are used to
buy groceries could be reloaded
after the ruling. 40 million
Americans, including about
600,000 Kentuckians, may still
not have access. Starting
tomorrow, as the federal
government shutdown enters its
second month, Governor Andy

(01:41):
Beshear joined two other
Democratic governors today for
a zoom meeting, talking about
SNAP and about the concerns
over the end of some Affordable
Care Act subsidies. One of the
issues at the center of the
shutdown, Governor Beshear,
talked about some of the people
affected.
>> I recently did one of these
virtual press briefings with

(02:01):
Congressman Morgan McGarvey,
and we welcomed an pipes from
Louisville and is a
professional, and her husband
is a general contractor and
works two jobs. Her husband
works one. Those are three
separate jobs, but now they are
terrified of not being able to
afford health care. Her premium
is expected to jump from $350 a

(02:21):
month to more than 1200 per
month. She says there's no way
they'll be able to make those
payments. Even scarier, her son
has some needs and is therefore
covered by Medicaid, which she
also believes is at risk. These
are worries keeping our
American families up at night,
and they are entirely

(02:42):
unavoidable. They are entirely
avoidable during every other
shutdown in my lifetime, SNAP
has been funded. The USDA had
on their website up until, what,
a couple of weeks ago that they
could continue to fund SNAP.
This is the decision of one
person, Donald Trump, that he
is willing to put the lives and
the food assistance to millions

(03:02):
of Americans on the line simply
as leverage the American people,
and having enough to eat should
never be a prop or a tool or
leverage for negotiating. We
always ought to put them first.
So we're calling on
congressional Republicans to
come together to extend the ACA

(03:23):
credits. And all you're saying
is we care enough about the
American people, where we don't
want your health care costs to
go up. Certainly they voted.
They didn't want taxes to
potentially revert back to
previous levels. Well, how
about we care the same for
struggling families and their
health care. And then the Trump
administration should agree

(03:44):
that they will fund SNAP.
>> The state has organized a
food drive to help people
affected by the loss of federal
help. The drive runs through
November the 21st. People can
drop off nonperishable food
items at one of several state
office buildings in Frankfort,
as well as the L and N building
in Louisville. The food will go

(04:04):
to organizations such as Dare
to Care, God's Pantry, and the
Christian Appalachian Project.
People can also donate money
rather than food by giving to
the Kentucky Employees
Charitable Campaign or the Team
Kentucky Storm Relief Fund,
another victim of the federal
government shutdown. Kentucky's
Head Start programs. These

(04:26):
offer low income families child
care free of charge, but the
yearly federal grants these
programs rely on aren't coming.
Our June Leffler visited one
center that is going into debt
just to keep its doors open
until the shutdown ends.
>> It's a happy Halloween at
this head start in Lebanon,
Kentucky.
>> And then what we're going to

(04:46):
do search. We search for the
wand.
>> It's story time for these
three, four and five year olds.
>> Head start is a federally
funded preschool program that
is all across the country. It
is an amazing opportunity to
help families in need. Access
free preschool high quality
preschool education. They get
all nutrition taken care of.

(05:07):
They get all therapy services
taken care of. The social
emotional learning all happens
in this space.
>> This is just one of many
classrooms now operating
without federal funding.
>> Now Gretna, which.
>> Since the office of Head
Start is furloughed due to the
federal shutdown, they're not
processing grant applications,
not administering funds. And so

(05:27):
as of October 31st, we will no
longer have access to federal
funds to to operate our
programs here for Central
Kentucky Community Action
Council.
>> The council, which serves
400 Head Start kids across six
central Kentucky counties,
expected $8 million on November
1st. But now.
>> On Monday, our board of
directors and our Head Start

(05:49):
Policy Council voted
unanimously to allow us to
pursue a line of credit alone
to maintain operations. We are
very fortunate that people's
Bank here in Lebanon was
willing to provide us this loan,
because it doesn't come without
risk.
>> The $1 million loan would
likely be reimbursed at the end
of the federal shutdown, but
all interest falls on this
regional nonprofit.
>> Give us about three weeks of

(06:11):
operating time. And so we are
planning to be able to open and
operate until November 21st, at
which point, if the government
has not reopened or if we
haven't gotten funding letter
or some other source of funding,
we would probably have to cease
operations right before the
Thanksgiving holiday.
>> Not every program is in this
kind of bind yet. The federal
government staggers Head Start

(06:31):
grants throughout the year for
regional programs that serve
2500 kids now have lapsed
funding, but all have found
contingency funds to operate a
little while longer.
>> Local school boards are
partnering. We're seeing local
governments to get involved. I
think folks are trying to find

(06:51):
out what's the right recipe
just to keep taking care of our
kids.
>> But if the shutdown lingers,
it could eventually impact the
more than 16,000 Head Start
kids across Kentucky.
>> Our Head Start programs
throughout the state are
typically our highest quality.
We have a 1 to 5 star rating
system in the state of Kentucky
for child care programs, and
our head starts are

(07:12):
consistently four and five star
programs.
>> Head start is both pervasive
and all inclusive, says this
child care expert.
>> Unlike a private child care
facility that may just serve
children and focus on early
education and care while
parents are away, Head Start
has extensive wraparound
services, and there's a huge

(07:32):
effort on making sure that
families get the medical care
that they need. So if a child
has not had all of their
immunizations or medical care
up well checks up to a certain
point, Head Start will partner
with local community agencies
to make sure that children get
those supports. Dental busses
may come to the area, and

(07:53):
they'll make sure that children
get teeth cleanings and even
get cavities filled at a young
age. So when we talk about a
potential loss of head Start,
we're talking about early care
and education. We're talking
about food and basic needs.
We're talking about health care,
mental health care, and

(08:14):
disability supports.
>> Sara Vanover says in half of
Kentucky counties, there aren't
enough child care slots for
kids that need it. Any
disruption to Head Start would
only exacerbate Kentucky's
childcare deserts. For Kentucky
Edition. I'm June Leffler.
>> Thank you so much. June Head
Start celebrated its 60th

(08:35):
anniversary with festivities at
the state Capitol earlier this
month. In other news, earlier
this week we told you about the
Hardin County Republican Party
chair posting a video showing
former President Barack Obama
and former First Lady Michelle
Obama as apes. The Republican
Party of Kentucky was quick to
condemn the post. Well, today I

(08:56):
spoke with Whitney Westerfield,
a former three term Republican
state senator and attorney from
Christian County who was
calling on his party to do
better. Tell us why you feel
now is the time for you to
speak out in the manner in
which you have.
>> Well, there's no time like
the present to speak out, and
we've been trending this way

(09:17):
for a long time, I'm afraid.
And and it just keeps getting
worse. And I, I highlighted
three examples in the piece,
and you mentioned the one from
Hardin County where the the
chair of the Hardin County
Republican Party shared an AI
generated video with, among
other things, showing President
Trump's face superimposed over
the body of a lion. But
disturbingly, President Obama
and First Lady Obama's faces

(09:38):
imposed on apes. And it's
disgusting and foul. It's
racist. It has no place in our
our government. It has no place
in our politics. It has no
place in everyday talking with
fellow human beings. And it's
it's disturbing that that
didn't register before that
post went up. She has since
taken the post down and she's

(10:00):
apologized and and I mentioned
this in the piece. I'm so
thankful for Chairman Robert
Benvenuti, the state party
chairman, for quickly and
unequivocally condemning it for
the racist, vile nonsense that
it was. But we continue to see
more of this encroaching. We we
have that example. We have the
candidate for former Senator

(10:21):
David Yates seat, who has
written derogatory things and
demeaning things about women
and has defended himself. And
in fact, in the coverage. I saw
the county party chair over in
Jefferson County didn't condemn
it really at all. The
commentary I saw, I didn't see
a full quote, perhaps, but the
commentary I saw was him saying,
well, you know, we didn't

(10:41):
really put our shoulder into
this. I'm paraphrasing. We
didn't we didn't really put a
lot of effort into this the
last time around. It's always
been a Democratic held seat for
a number of years, but maybe
this year we can put a little
bit more effort into it. Where
was the where was the call to
action to stop this? We're
better than this. Frankly. It
doesn't matter what party we
are, we should all be better

(11:02):
than this.
>> And you wrote in your piece
that appeared this week that
the president, President Donald
Trump, is modeling what you
call offensive and racist
behavior. So you believe this
is coming from the very top of
the Republican Party?
>> I think you'd have to be
intentionally burying your head
in the sand not to believe that
that's a source from where a
lot of this comes from. A week

(11:22):
ago, Renee, the president of
the United States, gleefully
shared an AI generated video of
himself in response to these no
Kings protests, which I think
were relatively harmless First
Amendment protected speech
affairs. But in response to
that, showed this video and
shared it of himself flying in

(11:43):
a jet with King Trump written
on the side, flying over
protesters and dumping dumping
feces all over the protesters,
including a specific one who's
a liberal activist, I believe
down in front, I when you have
this, the the party leader,
which I'm ashamed to say is the

(12:04):
party leader and the sitting
president of the United States,
setting that sort of example
and normalizing that sort of
rhetoric and tone, that
approach to to just policy and
politics. Of course, other
people are going to take his
lead for ten, 12 years now,
we've been doing nothing but
seeing people take his lead and
and move into the places that

(12:26):
he has broken the envelope on.
And it's all to the worse. It's
all to the, the, the detriment
of our society and our civil
discourse.
>> We should remind folks that
you are a Republican, a
conservative, Republican. Even
your description at the in your.
>> Signature line or of who you

(12:46):
are. When you wrote for the
Courier Journal, you say, you
know, you're an evangelical
Christian, right? And you
served in the Kentucky General
Assembly as a proud Republican
chair of the Senate Judiciary
Committee. So are you being
held? Are you being called on
the carpet for calling out
Republicans when some people
would say that liberal
Democrats have some similar

(13:07):
offenses?
>> And if you were to go
through. I have no doubt that
you can find a ton of, of this
same sort of garbage on both
sides of the aisle. But as I
mentioned in the piece, I'm a
staunch conservative, you know
that. And the viewers that pay
any attention to Kentucky
politics know that that you
can't challenge my conservative

(13:28):
bonafides. But in the in the
piece, I mentioned the fact
that both offline and online,
I'm occasionally criticized.
Why don't you always get on
Trump? You always complain
about the Republicans. Why? Why
aren't you complaining about
this? Well, first of all, I do
complain about those things
when I see them and when I when
I'm aware of those instances

(13:49):
when they cross what I believe
is a line. But more to the
point, I want my side to do
better than this because it is
better than this. We we should
rise above this because that's
where we belong. The policies
that we believe in should be
the things that we stand up and
support when the other side
gets it wrong. Absolutely call
it out. But I'm going to make
sure my side's doing it right
so that when we do call it out,

(14:11):
when we do say that this is
wrong and this is right, that
we're more credible when we do
well.
>> Whitney Westerfield, we
thank you for sharing your
thoughts with us, and we hope
that maybe, perhaps we can
engage with you again in the
future. Thank you for your time
today.
>> Glad to give it. Good to see
you, Renee.

(14:40):
>> In business news, one of
Louisville's largest companies
is moving its headquarters
downtown. More in tonight's
Business Beat. Yum! Brands says
it signed a ten year lease at
PNC tower. Mayor Craig
Greenberg says about 550
employees will be relocating
next year. Louisville Business

(15:01):
First says the company will
occupy four and a half floors
of the 40 story building back
in June. Yum! Brand said it
would donate its current
headquarters to Jefferson
County Public Schools. On
Thursday, we told you about a
new study showing the number of
parents reading to their
children is at an all time low,

(15:21):
particularly among Gen Z
parents. And we heard from Bill
Goodman, the executive director
of Kentucky Humanities, who
wrote an op ed piece about the
study. Well, today. More from
him on how an event like the
Kentucky Book Festival coming
up this weekend, presented by
Kentucky Humanities, helps
encourage literacy and reading
in children.
>> The book festival has been

(15:41):
around for 44 years now.
Kentucky Humanities took it
over from a volunteer group in
Frankfort ten years ago. It was
part of our mission of literacy
and books and of reading, and
it's even grown and been so
more, so much more since 2015.
We have there's so many great

(16:01):
Kentucky children's authors. I
would say so many great
Kentucky authors, period. But
so many wonderful children's
authors that are so dedicated
to writing books that children
are interested in. And we're so
rich in that part of our
literacy outreach and what we
do and what we try to do at the

(16:23):
Kentucky Book Festival. In some
ways these days, with the
competition out there for
movies and technology and video
games and all of that, we have
to think a little bit out of
the box, if you will. That's
sort of an old fashioned saying,
but we have to look at what
other book festivals have done,
what authors have done well

(16:44):
there, what ideas and gimmicks,
if you will. We have just
recently done some work. We're
going to have some costume
characters there. We've had a
magician in the past, and I'm
talking a lot about the
children and the the family
part of it. We've really grown
that part of our of our

(17:05):
outreach and our book festival.
In the last, I would say, five
years, more than anything that
we did for the first five years,
we always had children's
authors there, but we didn't go
out of the way to do face
painting. Last year we did some
pumpkin carving. We have to
kind of think that other than
just getting a book and meeting
an author and and maybe having

(17:26):
a story time, which we've
always had the authors take
turns on a storytime stage
inside Joseph Beth Booksellers
to read to the children. And
that's like going to the
library on Saturday morning
with your child. So this is
happening all at the book
festival, so we've had to look
at new ways of of doing the

(17:47):
same old thing, but maybe
dressing it up a little bit.
>> So good to see Bill Goodman,
who as you know, was here for
20 years hosting many of our
public affairs programs while
also appearing at the festival
this weekend. Sean Pryor, a
Lexington based author who has
written dozens of children's
books. Pryor also participates
in another program to promote

(18:07):
literacy, Kentucky Humanities,
at the schools. He tells us
while he writes mainly for
children, he looks for ways to
get parents involved in reading
as well.
>> I have participated.
>> In the Kentucky Book
Festival for over a decade, and
it's just it's a labor of love
for me. To be able to talk with
parents and children and, you

(18:28):
know, just to get kids into
reading or if they are readers.
If it's a subject of mine that
interests them, like to be able
to have those little
conversations and autograph
books. Kids get so excited when
like, can you sign my book? I'm
like, yeah, sure. They're like,
wow. So like, that's really,
really fun for me. It's it's
the positive energy. It's the

(18:48):
joy. And everybody's there for
the same reason. For the love
of reading, literacy is
something that's so important,
especially for the current
generation of kids in
elementary schools, middle
schools and high schools. I do
about 30 author talks a year
across the tri state area. And
what I've noticed is, is that

(19:09):
I'll have teachers and
librarians say, hey, it's been
difficult to get our boys to
read. I'll come in and I'll do
a talk and I'll explain some,
like some how some of our books
are made, how they're created,
what's the process behind it,
and what inspires us to be
creative and like something
clicks with some of those kids
and then they want to read,

(19:30):
read my books, and then that
gets them to read other books.
So it becomes a catalyst. So
like, I just want to be a
catalyst for kids because I
want them to understand that
everything that we enjoy, a
story is told, whether it be
the book or whether it be a
book, a comic book, a, you know,
a novella, children's book,
video game, movie, music.

(19:52):
Somebody had to write that. And
once they get that, it changes.
It changes things a bit. It no
longer becomes a chore when if
I talk to parents and they'll
say, well, you know, I don't
really read to my kids. And so,
like my kids, I want to get
them into reading. But like,
reading feels like a chore for
me. And if they're younger kids,

(20:12):
I'll say, well, you know,
reading to your kids is
actually something that's very
important, especially at a
young at a young age. And also
it's just fun. They learn that
stories are fun and that
reading is not a chore. So like,
I'll point to the fact that
like most Gen Z parents are
video, you know, they play
video games and I'm like, your
kids play video games, whether
it be on a phone or on a tablet
or on a console. And like for

(20:34):
an example, I'll say, okay,
well, I have I have a book
series, superhero series called
The Gamer. And so that
incorporates video games and
superheroes. And so like in
that generation, loves Gen Z
parents love those Marvel
movies, those DC movies, and so
do the kids. So let's all use
that as a bridge. So it's
something that they both enjoy.

(20:54):
In the hopes of that, the
parent will read the book to
the child, or the child would
then just take the initiative
and say, I want to read more of
these. But it is something that
like, gets asked a lot about
how do we get, you know, how do
we get these kids to read? And
it's just you can't force it on
them, but you have to show them.
There's so much there's so many

(21:15):
things to read about. And it's
all not just like, you know,
static history. There's so much
creativity out there. They just
have to see it and like. And if
there's something that they
have like a certain niche,
there's a book for it.
>> Shawn and other authors will
be at the Kentucky Book
Festival that is happening this
Saturday. Tomorrow at Joseph
Beth Booksellers in Lexington,

(21:36):
Kentucky. You can get more
information, including the
author lineup and the schedule,
by going online to KET Book
Festival Dot. We fall back this

(21:59):
Saturday night. Put that extra
hour to good use, enjoying the
many activities planned around
Kentucky. Our Toby Gibbs has a
long list and this week's look
at around the Commonwealth.
>> Spring into the fall season
this weekend at Colorfest,

(22:20):
Bernheim Forest's longest
running festival, making a
return this year. The mud pie
kitchen, giant slides and
pumpkin rolling, plus new hands
on activities that show the
science of color in nature.
There will also be live music
and food. They're skipping fall
and heading right to winter at

(22:41):
the Harvesting the Holidays
event in Cynthiana this
Saturday. This family friendly
event includes an ice rink,
train rides, bumper cars and
games. There will be vendor
booths to get a start on
holiday shopping. Plus the
highlight an appearance by
Santa. Celebrate indigenous
food cultures from Guatemala to
the holler at the third annual

(23:03):
Heritage Food Festival taking
place in Harrodsburg. Learn
about growing, gathering,
processing, preparing and
preserving food through
workshops and hands on
experiences. The event kicks
off next Friday. It's a party
where the music's loud, but the
crowd isn't. Slip on your
wireless headphones and dance

(23:23):
like nobody's listening because,
well, they aren't at the silent
disco. Hosted by Tradewater
Brewing in Madisonville.
Whether you're into pop, rock,
or hip hop, you can tune in to
your own vibe and groove under
the stars with friends. The
party takes place Saturday.
Wrong. Where the Buffalo Call
home is big Bone Lick State

(23:44):
Historic Site celebrates
National Bison Day experience
America's great prairie icon up
close at the bison viewing area.
Hear stories and get questions
answered about the herd, and
watch as the Black Wolf Singers
and Ochanda honor the bison
with hand drumming, singing,
and dancing. The celebration
happens on Saturday. Harlan

(24:05):
County is opening a new chapter
in its history on Tuesday with
the opening of the historic
Harlan Museum. Among the
exhibits, the county's myths
and legend, its natural wonders,
early frontier life stories
from the coal fields and its
military and sports history.
Get ready to rock out in
symphonic style in Bowling
Green with the rock orchestra.

(24:27):
Hear rock and metal reimagined
as classical musicians perform
the music of some of the
world's most iconic bands, all
by candlelight. The show goes
on Wednesday. The historic
Virginia Theater plays host to
the inaugural Black Mountain
Film Festival in Somerset,
kicking off next Friday. The
three day celebration of

(24:48):
storytelling, creativity and
community features a curated
selection of independent films
from emerging and established
filmmakers. The festival also
includes live performances,
filmmaker Q&A, panel
discussions and special events
throughout the weekend. And
that's what's happening around
the Commonwealth. I'm Toby
Gibbs.

(25:09):
>> A lot of treats and
hopefully very few tricks. This
weekend was we told you about
at the top of our program.
There's uncertainty about what
happens to the SNAP program or
food stamps after today. While
the Trump administration wants
to stop funding, two judges
have blocked that move. We will
continue to follow this story
Monday, and we'll look at how

(25:29):
people in the Maysville
community are helping people
affected. Full coverage this of
this issue next week on
Kentucky edition and SNAP and
Wik and TANF and other food
assistance programs by the
government. That's our topic on
Kentucky tonight. Coming up on
Monday night at 8:00 eastern,
7:00 central on KET. So lock it

(25:51):
in on Monday from 630 on. We
thank you for joining us
tonight. And we will see you
back here Monday at 630 eastern,
530 Central on Kentucky Edition,
where we inform, connect and
inspire. We hope that you'll
connect with us all the ways
you see on your screen. We've
got some newsletters and some
full episodes and clips that
you can view online on demand
at ket.org. You can find us on

(26:13):
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We want you to send us a story
idea by email at the address
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look for us on the social media
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and X, formerly known as
Twitter. Happy Halloween!
Hopefully you get a bucket full