10.15.25

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good morning everybody, and welcome to the reading of the
Lexington Herald Leader. Today is Wednesday, October fifteenth, and your
reader is Rod Brotherton. And as you know, RADIOI is
a reading service intended for people who are blind or
have other disabilities that make it difficult to read printed material.
We're having a great fall so far, and let's take

(00:22):
a look at our next seven days. It's going to
be nice today, partly sunny, high seventy two. Tonight clear,
low fifty one. Thursday plenty of sun high sixty nine,
low forty eight. Friday partly sunny and nice. There will
be clouds moving in high seventy four, low fifty eight.
Saturday mostly cloudy but warm, back to a high of

(00:45):
eighty one and a low sixty three. Sunday there will
be a rain and a big thunderstorm hopefully so the
high is sixty seven, low forty six. But Monday they
clear out and there's plenty of sunshine from Monday and
Tuesday with a high of sixty three in a low
forty seven, and Tuesday is high sixty nine, low fifty
three for the sun and the moon. The sun rose

(01:08):
this morning at seven forty seven. It will set tonight
at seven oh one. The moon came up at one
forty nine this morning. It will set today at four
twenty four this afternoon. And looking at the almanac, yesterday's
high and low seventy five and forty six normally is
seventy and forty eight. Last year it was eighty one
and fifty eight. The record high in nineteen thirty five

(01:31):
was eighty eight. The record low in nineteen ninety eight
was twenty six. Precipitation on Monday nothing month to date though,
we've had five point oh three inches compared to a
normal one point five three. Year to date fifty one
point four to four normal forty point one four, and
last year we'd had forty one point one five. The

(01:53):
record for yesterday's date was one point eight seven in
nineteen eighty three. And our wheather trivia, what is fresh
water fury?

Speaker 2 (02:04):
M a lot.

Speaker 1 (02:05):
That's a destructive windstorm of the Great Lakes. Okay, let's
go look at the headlines and the top story this morning.
Vance says Trump has not ruled out invoking the Insurrection Act.
Vice President JD. Vance sat on Sunday that President Trump
was looking at all of his options to deploy the

(02:27):
National Guard in major cities, including invoking the Insurrection Act
of eighteen o seven, which grants the president emergency powers
to deploy troops on US soil during major unrest. In
an interview on NBC News's Meet the Press, Vance said
Trump has not felt he needed to invoke the Insurrection

(02:49):
Act right now, but he's not ruled it out. Last week,
Trump said he saw the Insurrection Act as a way
to get around the recent federal court rulings, cking his
efforts to deploy the Guard to fight crime and put
down protests against the government's crackdown on immigrants in the
country illegally. Generally speaking, the Insurrection Act gives the president

(03:13):
the power to send military forces to states to quell
widespread public unrest and to support civilian law enforcement agencies. Vance,
echoing the president's arguments, claimed on NBC News that crime
was out of control in major cities, pointing to violence
attacks against immigration officers. In the interview, Vance also addressed

(03:38):
the ceasefire and hostage deal between Israel and hamas broker
by Trump, who was traveling to Israel on Sunday to
celebrate the breakthrough. Vance refuted reports that two hundred US
troops would be sent to the Middle East to monitor
the implementation of the ceasefire deal itself in the Gaza strip,

(04:00):
He said that US Central Command, which has US troops
stationed in that part of the world, would monitor the
terms of the ceasefire and ensure that the humanitarian aid
is flowing. But the administration had no plans to deploy
additional ground troops in Israel or Gaza, he said. We're
not planning to have boots on the ground, he said.

(04:23):
As the ceasefire held for a third day Sunday, Israel
and Palestinians were preparing for an exchange of all living
hostages still held in Gaza for about two thousand Palestinians
imprisoned in Israel. Of the forty eight hostages that Israel
still lists in Gaza, the government believes that twenty are alive.

(04:48):
Vance said the living hostages should be released any moment now,
but casts some doubt as to whether the remains of
all the dead hostages would be able to be returned.
I think the reaction that some of the hostages we
may never get back, he said, referring to the remains.
In an interview on Fox News Sunday morning, futures, but

(05:09):
I do think that most of them, with some efforts,
will be able to give them to their family, so
at least they have some closure. In the NBC News interview,
Vance also denied that Trump was conducting a reptribution campaign
against his perceived political enemies, including James Comey, the former

(05:30):
FBI Director, and New York Attorney General Letitia James, who
were both recently indicted by the Trump installed US Attorney
for the Eastern District of Virginia, Lindsay Halligan. Trump having
options doesn't mean that we prosecute people unless we do
have the legal justification to do so, Vance added, and

(05:52):
the next story, six men indicted for conspiracy to kill
a federal witness Lexington men have been indicted for orchestrating
what prosecutors called a targeted assassination of a federal witness
two years ago. William Q John Dixon twenty eight, Raleigh

(06:13):
DeShawn Lamar thirty two, da Quis Damar Sharp twenty seven,
Desmond Elijah Bellamy twenty six, and Jattisse Alvin Parkins twenty
one and DeAngelo Montavious Boone twenty six were indicted in
several charges related to the September twenty twenty three krilling

(06:35):
killing of Christopher Lewis. They were indicted October second, but
the indictments were unsealed on October tenth. Federal prosecutors laid
out much of their investigation in court documents for a
separate case in June. The six men, prosecutors say are
part of a West End street gang called the Hot Boys,

(06:57):
who orchestrated Lewis's killing because he was cooperating with the police.
A year before his death, Lewis twenty eight, was indicted
alongside a man named Raleigh Lamar on charges of conspiracy
to distribute marijuana and money laundering. Lewis was going to

(07:17):
testify at Lamar's trial, court document show, but he was
gunned down first. At the time of his arrest, Lamar
had more than two million dollars in assets, including luxury cars,
high end jewelry, and guns, the prosecutors say, and in
twenty twenty three, police alleged he used one thousand dollars

(07:39):
of those funds to order a hit on Lewis. Lamar
was convicted in February of twenty twenty four and sentenced
to eighteen years in prison. According to online court records.
The details of Lewis's killing were included in court documents
for a federal detention hearing in the case of twenty
four year old Quincy Lamont Wade Junior. Wade pleaded guilty

(08:04):
to a federal misdemeanor charge a possession of a firearm
and ammunition by a person convicted of a misdemeanor and
domestic violence. He has not been charged in Lewis's death,
but prosecutors alleged in court documents that he facilitated the
getaway car that day. The six men indicted this month

(08:25):
are the first people charged in Lewis's death. Five of
the six men were charged with witness tampering via killing,
conspiracy to witness tampering via killing, using of interstate commerce
to facilitate murder for hire, conspiracy to use interstate commerce
to facilitate murder for hire, and conspiracy to use a

(08:47):
firearm for violent crime. Boone faces only three of the
five charges, use of interstate commerce to facilitate murder for hire,
conspiracy to use interstate commerce to facilitate murder for hire,
and conspiracy to use a firearm for a violent crime.
The next hearing for the men has been scheduled. If

(09:09):
convicted on all charges, they could face the death penalty
or life in prison. A new hearing has not been
scheduled for the six men. They all could face the
death penalty or life in prison. The last time the
federal government carried out an execution was in January of
twenty twenty one, when Dustin Higgs was executed. This was

(09:33):
the thirteenth and final federal execution in the series. It
resumed under the Trump administration. There are more than twenty
death row prisoners in Kentucky, but no one has been
executed in the state since twenty eight However, several state
officials have called on Governor Vasher to sign a death
warrant for Ralph Bays and the next story. Without a deal,

(09:58):
US troops likely to miss show down paycheck. The financial
impacts of the government shut down are set to escalate
this week, even as Senate Republicans and Democrats show no
sign of breaking the stalemate over health care policies at
the heart of the fight. Without a deal, military troops

(10:19):
would miss their first paychecks since the shutdown started, But
the administration, urged on by Congressional Republicans, was working on
a plan to pay troops on Wednesday despite the impass. Meanwhile,
Americans who use Obamacare are starting to feel the consequences
of expiring subsidies at the center of democrats demands, as

(10:42):
insurance companies began to send notices of rising premiums. The
Trump administration said the government would pay the military this
week using tariff and tax revenues, but without action by Congress,
it's unclear how the administration can do so. Representative Jim Himes,

(11:02):
a Democrat from Connecticut, highlighted the impact the shutdown we'll
have on troops on CBS's Face the nation on Sunday.
None of them are wealthy, none of them are going
to get paid. On October fifteenth, time said to pay
the military during a shutdown would require legislation. The Speaker
of the House has taken that off the table. Speaker

(11:25):
Mike Johnson has refused to bring the House back to Washington,
which prevents any votes from being scheduled to ensure military
members are paid for the duration.

Speaker 2 (11:34):
Of the shutdown.

Speaker 1 (11:36):
He is insisting that the stop gap spending bill passed
by his chamber is the only path forward. On Monday,
Johnson back to the administration's plan to make an end
run around Congress and pay the military this week. We
are so very grateful that President Trump, again showing strong leadership,

(11:57):
has stepped up to ensure that our troops are going
to be paid on October fifteenth while we wait for
Democrats to stop holding the country hostage, Johnson told reporters
at the Capitol. The Louisiana Republicans signaled he'd continue to
keep House lawmakers home as the shutdown extends into its
third work week. His plan, Johnson said, has the support

(12:21):
of all but three House Republicans. Separately, Republicans are under
increased pressure to negotiate with Democrats on extending expiring tax
credits that lower healthcare premiums for more than twenty two
million people enrolled on Obamacare changes. Insurance companies are sending
out notices to customers this month reflecting large increases in

(12:44):
premiums for next year without open enrollment or with an
open enrollment starting on November one. Democrats insist a deal
to reopen the government must include an extension of the subsidies.
Republicanly have said they will negotiate with Democrats on the
issue after the government reopens, but notices of rising premiums

(13:09):
have caused the smallest of cracks and GOP unity on
the issue. Representative Marjorie Taylor Green, a conservative Georgia Republican,
broke from the ranks, criticizing her party for lacking a
plan to keep premiums from rising, saying her own offspring
would be affected by tax credit sunset. Democrats see Green's

(13:31):
defection as a hopeful sign that more Republicans may be
opened to striking a deal to extend the subsidies as
their constituents are hit with higher premiums. The health insurance
subsidies at the center of the shutdown fight disproportionately benefit
areas of the countries represented by Republican lawmakers. As every

(13:54):
day goes on, there are more Republicans that are breaking
with the JD. E. Vans and President Trump on healthcare.
Democratic Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut set on CBS on Sunday,
Hopefully at some point there will be enough Republicans to
join us and try to protect people's pocketbooks. But Johnson

(14:15):
made some of his most critical remarks Monday on Obamacare,
calling the twenty ten inception of the healthcare program sinister
and intended to lead to government control of health care.
I believe Obamacare was created to implode upon itself, to
collapse upon itself, Johnson said, I think the people who

(14:37):
drafted that, the architects of it, knew that it would
not be sustainable. President Barack Obama's namesake program, however, has
become more popular since Republicans first tried to repeat it
during Trump's first term. A September polled on by KFF,
a non partisan health research foundation, found but the program

(15:00):
was viewed favorably by sixty four percent of US adults
and finally on the front page. FCPS board faces external
audit of budget oversight. Did the superintendent, Demetrius Liggins, and
the five member Fayette County School Board do their jobs

(15:23):
in tracking the district's expenses and overseeing its budget. That's
a question a Fayette County Public School District Audit Committee
wants to know, and on Monday, it recommended an external auditor,
set to be hired by the school board, verified that
the superintendent and other leaders are providing adequate oversight of

(15:44):
the budget. Nick Clark, the district's internal auditor and a
non voting member of the audit committee that helps the
school board oversee financial reporting, presented wide ranging recommendations at
Monday school board planning meeting. School Board members had asked
the Audit Committee to develop a request for proposals for

(16:07):
an external auditor. The district, with an eight hundred and
twenty seven point two million.

Speaker 2 (16:14):
Dollar budget for the fiscal year that began.

Speaker 1 (16:16):
July first, is under scrutiny for budget problems, and the
school board is pursuing an external audit. The audit Committee
is recommending an external auditor look at the budget process
and travel and event expenses and conduct a data driven
risk analysis. Kentucky State Auditor Allison Ball is also conducting

(16:41):
a special examination separate from the school board's external audit.

Speaker 2 (16:46):
School Board chair Tyler.

Speaker 1 (16:48):
Murphy said he thought the community has an interest in
us moving forward, and the board could call a special
meeting to vote on the recommendations. The board's regular monthly
meeting is October twenty second. Clark said at the meeting
the external audit would cost between fifty and one hundred
thousand dollars, but exact costs won't be immediately known. The

(17:11):
recommendations from the outside committee include a review and evaluation
of the design and execution of the current year's budget process,
analyze and confirm the previous sixteen million dollars shortfall, and
confirm whether significant variances are identified early and corrective actions

(17:31):
are considered. And an audit of the drivers and rationale
underlying the dramatic change observed in the balance or use
of the contingency fund, examining specific transactions and approvals that
contributed to the shift. Then verifying that the board ligands

(17:53):
and senior leadership provided adequate oversight during the budget development
and approval process. Also, it would also.

Speaker 2 (18:03):
Review whether the board fulfill its.

Speaker 1 (18:05):
Accountability obligations by actively reviewing, questioning, and approving budget proposals
and by monitoring financial performance throughout the year. Then confirming
compliance with FCPS and state policies and regulations relative to

(18:26):
the budget process. Also assessing whether the district provided clear,
timely and transparent communication to the board, staff and public
about the budget process and shortfall. Three other things were
scrutinizing the district's travel and of inexpenses from the past

(18:47):
three fiscal years to make sure travel and expenses were
properly approved in advance, whether there was inappropriate or excess
travel costs, and determine if there is a sufficient monitoring
and reporting process in place to detect issues, then reviewing
whether reporting of leadership travel and expenses to the board

(19:11):
and public is complete, accurate, and timely, and finally executing
a data analysis to determine the need for and potential
detection of a forensic budget examination that community members and
at least one school board member has asked for. And

(19:33):
moving on in the news, Greg Plusinski announces GOP run
for Representative bars open seat. The race for Kentucky's sixth
congressional district is getting a new face. Greg Plusinski, a
retired pharmaceutically executive from Nicholasville, has entered the GOP primary
race to replace Representative Andy Barr in the Central Kentucky

(19:57):
centric district. His campaign announce.

Speaker 2 (20:00):
Tuesday in a press release.

Speaker 1 (20:02):
Plasinski was president and chief operating officer of Summit Biosciences,
which specialized in nasal sprays. It was acquired by a
larger pharmaceutical group last year. Plasinsky has never held elective
office or run for any office before throwing his hat
in the ring for this congressional seat up for grabs

(20:24):
in twenty twenty six. In the release, Plasinsky framed himself
as a supporter of both President Trump and Barr and
not beholden to special interests. I am running for Congress
to work for the people of central Kentucky, not for
the Washington d C special interests. Kentucky needs a congressman

(20:45):
who will work with President Trump to improve the lives
of Kentuckian's, Plasinski wrote. He is a Wisconsin native who
moved to the Lexington area in twenty o two. In
twenty oh six, Plasinsky earned his master's in business administration
at the University of Kentucky. The first time candidate is
joining an already vigorous primary for the sixth congressional district seat.

(21:10):
Representatives Ryan Dotson of Winchester and Deanna Gordon of Richmond,
as well as former state Senator Ralph Alvarado, are all
running and have been making the rounds at party events.

Speaker 2 (21:21):
Across the district.

Speaker 1 (21:23):
All three have tied themselves closely to Trump, but they
recently presented their own unique visions for conservatism and how
they would approach governing at a college Republican's forum. In
the release, Blesinski mentioned a few specific policy areas he'd
focus on if elected to Congress, he said fighting inflation

(21:44):
would be a priority alongside using a pharmaceutical knowhow to
increase American manufacturing in the space. With the Trump administration
levying massive tariffs on certain pharmaceutical imports, investment in businesssinesses
that manufactured drugs, like some At Biosciences, has increased. The

(22:05):
lack of pharmaceutical manufacturing in America is a national security
and affordability issue. My unique life experience will help bring
back manufacturing of all types back where it belongs in
the United States, Plasinsky wrote in the release. Some At
Biosciences was based at the University of Kentucky Coldstream's research

(22:29):
campus on the north side of town. It grew quickly
during the COVID nineteen pandemic. In twenty twenty, it announced
a nineteen million dollar expansion that was created to expect
it to create seventy eight full time jobs, a move
that was lauded by a Democratic governor Basher at the time.
Plasensky added that if elected, he would continue Bar's work

(22:53):
in the horse and bourbon industries. Since his election in
twenty twelve, Bar has maintained a particular interest in both sectors,
even co authoring the bill that created a regulator overseeing
safety and anti doping efforts. Plusinski's team did not grant
the hair leader an interview with the candidate as of

(23:13):
Tuesday morning. Democrats running for the sixth Congressional district include
former federal prosecutor Zach Dembo, former Lexington City councilman David Klobert,
businesswoman and bourbon influencer Aaron Petree, and former state Representative
Eryl Lynn Stevenson. And next, atmospheric river storm slams into

(23:39):
southern California. An atmospheric river hit Los Angeles in early
hours of Tuesday morning, bringing with its scattered downpours, powerful winds,
and fears of flooding. Evacuation warnings were issued in areas
ravaged by January's firestorm, including the burns cars from the
Palisades Fire, the Eaton Fire and out to Dina, the

(24:01):
Hearst Fire and sly Mar and the Sunset Fire, and
the Hollywood Hills, which are all at high risk of
debris flows. A flash flood watch was an effect for
most of Los Angeles County from eight pm Monday through
Tuesday afternoon, with the heaviest rain forecast for Tuesday morning.
The National Weather Service warned that the rare and very

(24:22):
potent storm system could fuel mud slides, thunderstorms, hail, and
gusty winds capable of knocking down trees and power lines.
Before arriving in southern California, the wintery storm swept through
northern in Central California, where it dusted the Sierras with
the season's first major accumulation of snow, causing flight delays

(24:43):
at San Francisco's airport and generating a whirling column of
air and misted over Monterey Bay. By Monday evening, rainfall
totals in the Bay area range from around half an
inch to two inches, according to the Weather Service. The
storm brought road flooding across the Bay area. In La County,

(25:03):
the Weather Service predicted total rainfall of three quarters to
one and a half inches in coastal and valley areas,
and from two to four inches in foothills and mountain areas.
The storm system was also expected to cause regional temperatures
to plunge several degrees below normal. Flash flood warnings were
in effect for much of Ventura County, parts of northern
Santa Barbara County and Inland Orange County with residents and

(25:28):
burned scars also warned to be prepared.

Speaker 2 (25:30):
For debris flows. Peak rainfall rates.

Speaker 1 (25:33):
Of a third to two thirds inches per hour will
be common, which should be enough to cause plenty of
minor road issues and heavy traffic for the Tuesday morning commute.
The Weather Service stated in its Los Angeles area forecast
rock slides in canyon roads and are nearly certain to
pang A. Canyon boulevard between Pacific Coast Highway and Grand

(25:54):
View Drive was closed from ten pm Monday until five
am Tuesday due to the predicted storm. The three point
six mile stretch of highway is an ongoing work zone
due to damage from the Palisades Fire and previous winter storms.
City and county authorities worked to prepare vulnerable areas with
sandbags on Monday, while law enforcement went door to door

(26:16):
warning residents and burn scars about the risk of debris flows.
The Los Angeles Fire Department and coordination with the State
Office of Emergency Services pre deployed a twenty two members
strike team, a twenty seven member hand crew, and six
member Urban Search and Rescue Team, A sixteen members swift

(26:36):
water Rescue team to respond to potential debris flows. Leaders
urged residents to sign up for emergency alerts at notify
la dot org and to pay close attention to evacuation
warnings as today's storm intensifies. I cannot emphasize strongly enough
the importance of heating evacuation warnings and orders, said La

(27:00):
County Board of Supervisor's chair Catherine Barger.

Speaker 2 (27:03):
In a statement on Monday.

Speaker 1 (27:05):
These alerts are issued to protect lives. Conditions can change quickly,
and once debrief flows begin, it may be too late
for emergency crews to reach you. Lingering showers are expected
to peter out by Wednesday evening, with drying and warming
winds sweeping across the country that night. Southern California's characteristically

(27:29):
moderate climate should return by Thursday, with pleasant highs and
the seventies common across Los Angeles County and next. Harlan
County coal operator pleads guilty in a twenty two million
dollar federal tax evasion case. A Harlan Coal County operator
pleaded guilty to tax evasion after he said it to

(27:50):
have withheld twenty two million dollars worth in federal taxes.
John Thomas Quintreill pleaded guilty on October eighth to six
federal counts of wilful failure to elect or payover tax.
According to online records from September twenty eighteen through April
twenty five, Quintreil owned Civic LLC, a mining business in

(28:10):
Harlan County. Prosecutors and defense attorneys agreed for Quintriill to
be sentenced to four years in prison. He will owe
more than twenty two million dollars in restitution to the irs.
A judge will assigne the final punishment for quintrail and
a sentencing hearing has not been scheduled. And now, after
a short pause, I hope you'll rejoin us for a

(28:31):
continuation of the reading of the Lexington hair Leader for today.
Thank you for listening, and now please stay tuned for
more news right here on Radio I. Now we will
continue reading from the Lexington Herald Leader for this Wednesday,
October fifteenth. Your reader is Rod Brotherton, and as always

(28:52):
we start with the obituaries and read only the name, age,
and location if given. If you would like further information
on any of the dibituaries, pleaseee their website or call
us during the weekdays at eight five nine four two
two sixty three ninety and we will be glad to
read the entire obituary for you. I'll repeat the number
at the end of the listings, and today's obituary index

(29:15):
starts with Aura Arnold, who was ninety and lived in Lexington,
Guilford Hatton seventy five, also of Lexington, and Daniel Richard
Hoague fifty four, who also lived in Lexington. If you
would like any further information about any of the listings today,

(29:36):
please visit legacy dot com slash obituary, slash Kentucky and
you can call us at our Radio Wise studios at
eight five nine four two two sixty three ninety and
we will try to read them to you over the phone.
Now let's return to the news. The next story, Lexington
council rejects a three day suspension of a police officer.

(30:00):
The Lexington Fayett Urban County Council voted narrowly to reject
the suspension of a police officer after he was found
accessing body camera footage of a shooting involving police. The
council voted seven to seven on the recommendation from Police
Chief Lawrence Weathers to give officer John McFall a three

(30:22):
day unpaid suspension under council rules, tie votes fail. It's
not clear wh shooting footage McFall accessed. Interim Law Commissioner
David Barbary said mcafall's disciplinary case will now return to
Weathers and the Police Department for further review.

Speaker 2 (30:43):
The police department could.

Speaker 1 (30:45):
Come back to the Council and make a different recommendation.
The Fraternal Order of Police, the Police union, can also weigh.

Speaker 2 (30:53):
In on the next steps.

Speaker 1 (30:56):
Officials with the FOP were not immediately available for comment.
It's rare for the Council to reject the recommendation of
Lexington Police on disciplinary matters. The Council approves all major
disciplinary actions of police and firefighters. However, the Council has
disagreed with police and fire departments on disciplinary actions in

(31:19):
the past. The Council rejected a forty eight hour suspension
of a Lexington firefighter in twenty nineteen who was arrested
for driving under the influence. The fire department later returned
to the Council with recommendation of a one hundred and
twenty hour suspension, which the Council then approved. Police monitor

(31:40):
who accesses body camera footage, weather says. Weathers said it
was fullly discovered that McFall had access body worn camera
footage on July thirteenth of a shooting. McFall was not
working that day and was not part of the shooting
and did not have.

Speaker 2 (31:57):
Authority to access the videos. Weather said.

Speaker 1 (32:01):
Police released limited information about disciplinary cases prior to council's
final approval per state law and union contracts. Because mcfall's
disciplinary case is not finalized, the records are not subject
to the state's Open Records Act. Whether said Mcfall's viewing

(32:21):
of the video was not nefarious, and the departments has
many policies and procedures, and people sometimes run a foul
of those procedures without realizing it. He said he didn't
mean anything malicious by it. Weather said, but we still
are going to address it. Some council members voice concerns
about how the department monitors who has access to body

(32:43):
camera videos. Weather's said the department does monitor access, which
is how McFall was caught and faced suspension. Councilman James
Hale said he was concerned someone would want to watch
footage of a shooting involving police.

Speaker 2 (33:00):
It just concerns me.

Speaker 1 (33:02):
We have officers with a psyche like that, Hale said.
McFall has been an officer since twenty nineteen. He received
a two week unpaid suspension in twenty twenty three for
engaging in a vehicle pursuit where the subjects were not
wanted for a violent felony. According to disciplinary records, McFall

(33:22):
was told by supervisors not to pursue the vehicle and
continued to do so. Disciplinary record show council members who
voted for the three day suspension include Lisa Higgins Hoard,
Hannah Legree, Jennifer Reynolds, Hill Boone, James Brown, Chuck Ellinger,
and Whitney Elliott Baxter. Those who voted against it were Hale,

(33:47):
David Savigny, Liz Sheehn, Amy Beasley, Tyler Morton, Shila Lynch,
and Emma Curtis. And the next story is Lexington councilman
announces he won't seek reelection in twenty twenty six, A

(34:07):
Lexington councilman who has helped shepherd and make changes to
the city's energy and say Street's policies, has announced.

Speaker 2 (34:14):
He won't seek re election.

Speaker 1 (34:16):
David Savigny, who was first elected to represent the tenth
council district in twenty twenty two, announced Friday he would
not run for a third term in twenty twenty six.
The tenth council district includes neighborhoods around the University of
Kentucky south to the Beaumont area. Savigny, an engineer who
later started an information technology company, said the decision not

(34:40):
to return to city Hall came after he recently hiked
the Camino del Santiago in Spain, a popular hike and
pilgrimage in Europe. There is a stretch on the Camino
where the road winds between golden fields and the only
certainty is the horizon ahead. Savigny said, on that walk,

(35:02):
I learned to listen to the rhythm of my own
steps and the quiet encouragement of family, friends and other pilgrims,
to the subtle voice within that knows when it's time
to move forward and when it's time to pause. In
his time on council, Savigny did a lot of heavy

(35:23):
policy lifting off and behind the scenes. The small business
owner and councilwoman Liz Sheehan of co chaired task forces
and groups working on solar policy and improving street safety.
Savigny said he will continue that work until the end
of his current term in December of twenty twenty six.

(35:44):
I'll continue to work hard on items that I'm passionate
about and that advocate for constituent issues. Thank you for
allowing me to walk this part of the path.

Speaker 2 (35:55):
With you, all, Savigny said.

Speaker 1 (35:58):
The filing deadline to run for council offices is this
coming January ninth. All twelve council districts and three at
large seats are up for reelection in twenty twenty six.
Chris Woodhall, a former long term planner for the city,
has filed paperwork with the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance

(36:20):
to start raising money for the seat, according to the
KRIF records, In addition to working for the city's planning department,
Woodall has also worked for Jesmine County and Wilmore's planning departments.
He also serves as chairperson of the Moondance Foundation, which
oversees the Moondance ampithe in Beaumont. Woodall said his experience

(36:44):
as a planner make him an ideal candidate for the council.
He already understands some of the city's most pressing issues,
and he has experienced gathering and soliciting public input. He said,
Lexington is at a pivotal moment. Choices we make today
will determine the kind of city we become tomorrow, said Wall.

(37:06):
I'm running for city Council to offer forward thinking leadership,
a commitment to collaborative problem solving, and a deep understanding
of what it takes to build a thriving and sustainable
community for all residents of District ten. And Now Trump

(37:26):
offers all colleges preferential funding plans. The Trump administration is
inviting all US colleges to participate in a compact initially
rejected by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that would grant
preferential federal funding in return for commitments to specific policy

(37:48):
changes like DEI bands. According to a person familiar with
the matter, the White House and its Compact for Academic
Excellence and Higher Education, designed in part by Apollo Global
Management Inc. Co Founder Mark Rowan, to nine colleges early
this month, asking for feedback. A few days after MIT

(38:09):
rebuffed the proposal, the administration extended the offer to all
higher education institutions. According to the person who asked not
to be identified, discussing internal policies. The move expand President
Trump's latest pressure tactic behind the relatively small circle of
elite colleges and research universities that have so far been

(38:33):
his administration's targets. The person familiar said that a number
of schools had reached out to express interest in the agreement.

Speaker 2 (38:42):
Though they declined to name them.

Speaker 1 (38:45):
Higher education has lost its way and is now corrupting
our youth in society with woke socialist and anti American ideology,
Trump posted Sunday on Truth social My administration is fixing
this and fast with our great reform agenda in higher education.

(39:06):
So far, interest in the compact appears relatively muted. The
first group of universities invited to give feedback and sign
on were MIT, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Virginia,
the University of Arizona, the University of Texas, Austin, the
University of Southern California, Vanderbilt, Dartmouth, and Brown. MIT rejected

(39:32):
the deal on Friday, calling it inconsistent with our core
belief that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone.
Readers at the remaining eight college are still mulling their responses.
According to officials at the schools. While those colleges have
yet to formally reject or accept the compact, the presidents

(39:54):
at Penn and UVA have signaled that they be unlikely
to agree to the proposal in its current form. Trump
has said that colleges that reject the deal will face
investigations into compliance with federal laws, but the extent to
which federal research grants or student aid eligibility will be

(40:17):
predicated on acceptance of the accordance remains murky. Kevin Marcus,
who served as Assistant Secretary to Civil Rights in the
Education Department during Trump's first.

Speaker 2 (40:29):
Term, said refusal would almost.

Speaker 1 (40:31):
Certainly be signed as a sign of defiance by administration officials,
and colleges should expect heightened federal scrutiny. Any university that
refuses this once in a lifetime opportunity to transform higher
education isn't serving its students.

Speaker 2 (40:50):
Or their parents.

Speaker 1 (40:52):
They're bowing to radical left wing bureaucrats, Liz Houston, a
White House spokeswoman, said in an email. After MIT rejected
the compact and next, Lexington prison guard pleads guilty to
smuggling eighteen thousand dollars of contraband for inmates. A former

(41:15):
guard at a Lexington prison has pled guilty to charges
related to smuggling cigarettes and synthetic marijuana to prisoners for
thousands of dollars. A Jade Howard, a former guard at
the Federal Medical Center, pleaded guilty to account of bribery
and federal court on October sixth.

Speaker 2 (41:34):
According to court records.

Speaker 1 (41:36):
Howard is also listed in court documents under the names
Ashley Howard or Ashley Amber Howard. Between twenty twenty one
and October sixteenth and twenty four, Howard worked at the
Lexington Prison, also known as FMC, as a corrections officer
and later a material handler. According to court documents, in

(41:59):
the spring of twi twenty three, an unidentified inmate approached
Howard and asked her to buy tobacco cigarettes into the facility,
despite knowing was against the prison's policy. Howard began to
smuggle the contraband and receive payments through accounts on mobile
banking applications. In December of twenty three, in total, Howard

(42:22):
received eighteen thousand, six hundred and two dollars. Court document state.
In August of twenty twenty four, the same inmate approached
Howard and asked her to smuggle in synthetic marijuana. According
to court records, she agreed to smuggle in fifty sheets
of paper laced with what she believed was synthetic marijuana.

(42:44):
When other FMC staff learned Howard of smuggling contraband in
September of twenty four, they took the remaining sheets of paper.
At that time, the staff thought the papers were laced
with fentanyl based on how inmates were acting after taking it.
Laboratory testing confirmed a synthetic cannabinoid was on the paper's

(43:05):
Court record state Howard faces a maximum sentence of fifteen
years and a fine of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars.
A sentencing hearing has not been scheduled. FMC Lexington is
a men's and women's federal facility on Leestown Road. According

(43:26):
to its website, the prison houses a total of twelve
hundred and fifty two inmates and next. Long time Lexington
WKYT reporter Jerry Sander dies at seventy nine. Jerry Sander,
a former Lexington reporter who worked for television stations WKYT

(43:48):
and WTVQ, died Saturday. According to his obituary, Sander was
seventy nine. He was married to his wife, Karen for
fifty four years, and they had a son and daughter.
According to his obituary, Sander was best known for his
work with CBS affiliate WKYT, where he spent twenty six
years of his career. He started with the news station

(44:10):
in nineteen eighty one and worked as a general assignment
reporter before departing in twenty eight in February after he
claimed he was improperly fired because of his age. Sander
also worked for WSAZ in West Virginia and served as
a news director at Lexington's ABC affiliate WTVQ thirty six

(44:31):
for a year. He earned bachelor's and master's degrees from
the American University in Washington, d C. Before beginning his
journalism career. According to his obituary, Sander ended up suing WKYT.
The lawsuits stem from a meeting between Sander and his
news director, Robert Thomas, during which Thomas told Sander to

(44:53):
produce stories for WKYT's website and help manage Snowgo, which
notified viewers of schools in businesses closing because of snow.
Sanders said he was not trained to do the task
and would not know where to start. After an exchange
with Thomas, Sanders said he felt sick and would go home.

(45:14):
Before leaving, Sander told multiple employees that he was either
going to quit or I'm quitting. Sanders met with Thomas
and WKYTT general manager Wayne Martin four days after the
meeting and was told that the station decided to accept
his resignation and would offer him a severance with a
signed statement of release. Sander declined the severance officer and

(45:38):
sued the station. Later that fall, a federal judge ruled
in favor of WKYT's parent company on all of Sanator's claims,
saying the reporter voluntarily quit. Sander appealed the ruling, but
the sixth District US Court of Appeals ruled two to
one in favor of WKYT. He served in the Army

(46:01):
National Guard for six years. According to his obituary. He
also enjoyed music and took classes at the University of
Kentucky as a Donovan Scholar, a program that pays tuition
and mandatory course fees for adults sixty five and older
and next Gurney Norman Chronicler of Appalachia and the member

(46:23):
of k wise Fabulous Five, dies.

Speaker 2 (46:25):
At eighty eight.

Speaker 1 (46:27):
Gurney Norman, an Appalachian writer who documented his native region
with humor and love and became a beloved creative writing
professor credited with mentoring numerous Kentucky authors, died October twelfth
at the age of eighty eight. He died peacefully of
natural causes, to his wife, Naoka Hawkins. Norman was one

(46:48):
of Kentucky's Fab Five, a group of writers that included
his friends Wendell Berry, Bobby Ann Mason, and the late
James Baker Hall and Ed mcclenahan. Like several of them,
Norman traveled to California after receiving a Wallace Stegner Fellowship
in Creative Writing at Sandford University in nineteen sixties. Norman

(47:10):
was born in Grundy, Virginia, but spent most of his
formative years near Hazzard in Perry County. He attended the
University of Kentucky with degrees in journalism and English. After Stanford,
Norman served in the US Army before returning to eastern
Kentucky to work at the Hazard Herald. In nineteen sixty
six and sixty seven, he went back out west to

(47:33):
be a fire lookout in the Cascade Mountain while working
on his fiction writing. In nineteen seventy one, he published
the novel Divine Rights Trip in the Last Whole Earth Catalog.
In nineteen seventy seven, his book of short stories, Kenfolk,
was published and later received Berea College's Wutherford Award. In

(47:54):
nineteen seventy nine, he was hired in English professor at
the University of Kentucky and later served as the director
of the Creative Writing Department from two thousand to twenty fourteen.
In November of twenty twenty three, the University of Kentucky
held a two day celebration in Norman's honor called Gurney Fist,

(48:15):
which featured musical performances, panel discussions, film showings, and readings
of his work. Gurney's spirit was so vast, so powerful
and affirming. He will never leave us, Hawkins wrote in
a Facebook post on Monday. We have his words, his stories,
and his books the gift of his brilliant and graceful writing,

(48:40):
but his presence in the world, his essence, his being
was so much larger than books. He was a force
of generous, irresistible love that a hundred books could never contain.
He was the Poet Laureate of Kentucky from twenty nine
to twenty ten, and in twenty nine nineteen, Norman was

(49:01):
inducted into the Kentucky Writers Hall of Fame alongside his
dear friend Ed McLanahan, who died in twenty twenty one.
Gurney Norman was not only a great Kentucky writer, he
was a cherished teacher, mentor, and friend to so many
other great Kentucky writers, said Tom Eblin, who manages the

(49:21):
Hall of Fame for the Carnegie Center for Literature and Learning.
His short stories were generally gems that captured Apeletch's unique characters, language,
and humor.

Speaker 2 (49:34):
Norman also wrote.

Speaker 1 (49:35):
The novel Ancient Creek and Allegiance and autobiographical series of
short stories, and in the late nineteen eighties he also
narrated series for k E T exploring the history and
culture of different regions of Kentucky. In her post, Hawkins
said that Wendell Berry once said of Norman, when he writes,

(49:56):
the page just falls away. Norman is survived by his wife,
Naoka Hawkins, and his sister, Gwynn Griffith of Berea a
celebration of his life will be held later in the
year and.

Speaker 2 (50:12):
Our next story.

Speaker 1 (50:13):
The Supreme Court rejects jones appeal of Sandy Hook judgment.
The US Supreme Court Tuesday refused to hear the appeal
of right wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, who wanted his
judgment of one point four four billion dollars overturned in
his libel case brought on by the families of the
victims of the Sandy Hook, Connecticut elementary school shooting. Jones,

(50:37):
who owns info Wars, had repeatedly claimed that the Sandy
Hook shooting wasn't real and the events were staged by
crisis actors. In reality, twenty first graders, six teachers, the shooter,
Adam Lanza, and his mother died in the twenty twelve
school shooting. A Connecticut court in twenty twenty two ordered

(50:59):
Jones to pay one point four to four billion dollars
to the families of the victims. The families sued Jones
for defamation and are preparing to take control of infull Wars,
which they planned to turn over to the satirical news
site The Onion. Jones then asked the court to review
the judgment in September, Jones has yet to pay any

(51:22):
money owed to the victim's family. Seeingn reported in a
separate emergency filing on Thursday, Jones said he needed to
pause in payments to prevent his site from being acquired
by its ideological nemesis and destroyed. NBC News reported he
said in Thursdays appealed that his info Wars platform has

(51:44):
an average of thirty million daily listeners, and unless the
court intervened, these viewers and listeners will not have just
been deprived of a valued source of information. The risk
is they will have been greatly deceived and damaged by
operation of media source info Wars by their ideological oppressors

(52:05):
and opponents. The result is a financial death penalty by
FIAT imposed on a major media defendant whose broadcast reached millions,
Jones told the Supreme Court in an appeal, he argued
that he should have had a trial before a judge
found him liable for defamation and emotional distress, but the

(52:28):
judge ruled that he was liable by default because he
wouldn't follow court rulings or turnover evidence. A jury decided
the damages and next Fayette judge assets of Lexington Blue
owner and wife will remain frozen. The financial assets of

(52:49):
Brad Pagel, the owner of the failed roofing company Lexington Blue,
and his wife, will remain frozen. A Fat Circuit Court
judge rule Thirsty. Judge Diane Minifield, on October ninth, converted
a temporary restraining order into a temporary injunction that keeps
in place a freeze on assets and bank accounts and elsewhere.

(53:11):
At the request of the Kentucky Attorney General's Office, the
state is investigating Lexington Blue and Brad Pagel under the
Kentucky Consumer Protection Act after receiving multiple complaints about the company.
Lexington Blue closed abruptly in April with more than two
million dollars in roof repairs either not completed properly or

(53:34):
never begun, four hundreds of clients who prepaid deposits. The
company has filed for bankruptcy protection, and according to testimony
and court records, the Pagels and their company received nearly
four hundred thousand dollars in the year before Lexington Blue closed.
The Pagels have disputed that they have attempted to conceal

(53:56):
ill gotten funds. The judge noted they sought lift the
ascid freeze. The injunction also prohibits the pages from engaging
in the construction or roofing business in Kentucky and the
next story. The World Health Organization warns of rapid rise
in global antibiotic resistance. Bacteria are rapidly developing resistance to antibiotics,

(54:23):
the World Health Organization warned on Monday, with one in
six laboratory confirmed bacterial infections now caused by antibiotic resistant pathogens.
The organization has quantified the problem for the first time
in relation to twenty two antibiotics that are commonly used

(54:43):
to treat infections of the urinary tract, the gastro intestinal tract,
or the bloodstream, or sexually transmitted gonorrhea. The latest figures
are from twenty twenty three. The WHO also looked at
various combinations of bacteria and antibiotics. It found that resistance

(55:05):
increased in more than forty percent of cases between twenty
eighteen and twenty twenty three, by five to fifteen percent
per year, depending on the combination of bacteria and antibiotic.
The study included around twenty three million data points for
more than one hundred county countries. Anti microbal resistance is

(55:29):
widespread and threatening the future of modern medicine, said Ivon Hutten,
director of the Relevant WHO Department. There are significant regional differences,
with the problem particularly prevalent in the countries with weak
health systems. In Southeast Asia and Eastern Mediterranean. One in

(55:52):
three reported infections is already resistant to the antibiotic studied.
According to WI data, seven point seven million people worldwide
died from bacterial infections in twenty twenty one, with a
good one point one million of these deaths directly attributable

(56:14):
to antibiotic resistance. The WHO is urgently calling for more
research and development of new antibiotics. Well, what can patients do?
Patients can help to get the problem under control, Hooton said.
They can reduce the risk of infection through frequent hand washing,

(56:38):
using disinfectant GEIL and vaccines. And this concludes the reading
of the Lexington Hill Leader for today, Wednesday, October fifteenth.
Your reader has been Rod Brotherton. As always, thank you
for listening and now please stay tuned for sports news

(57:01):
right here on Radio I