Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good morning and happy Friday everybody, and welcome to the
reading of the Lexington Herald Leader. Today is Friday, October third,
and your reader is Rod Brotherton. And as you know,
Radio I is a reading service intended for people who
are blind or have other disabilities that make it difficult
to read printed material. Well, here we are in the
(00:22):
last quarter of twenty twenty five, and we've still got
pretty nice weather. Our seven day forecast looks like this
Today sunny and very warm, high eighty two. Tonight, low
fifty eight and clear. Saturday sunny and warm again. High
eighty three, low fifty six. Sunday sunny and very warm again.
(00:42):
High eighty four, low sixty two. Money is Monday is
mostly sunny and high of eighty four, low sixty four.
Tuesday there will be an afternoon thunderstorm, but the high
is still seventy nine and the low sixty five. Wednesday
clearing and humid, but the high zone only sixty nine
in the low forty seven, and Thursday less humid with
(01:06):
plenty of sunshine. High seventy one, low fifty two. Looking
at the almanac, yesterday's high and low eighty four and
fifty seven. Normal is seventy five and fifty three. Last
year it was seventy eight and sixty four. The record
high was a whopping ninety seven degrees in twenty nineteen,
while the record low registered only thirty four degrees in
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nineteen forty seven. Wednesday's precipitation was none. Month to date
we've had none, but the normal is only twelve hundreds
of an inch. Year to date we've had forty six
point four to one, while the normal is thirty eight
point seven three. And last year we'd recorded forty one
point one two inches of rain, and the record for
(01:50):
yesterday's date was one point four inches in nineteen seventy seven.
For thus sun and the moon, the sun rose this
morning at seven thirty six, It will set tonight at
seven eighteen. The moon will come up at five point
thirty three and set at three po twenty one tomorrow morning.
And our weather trivia for the day. What are the
(02:12):
vertical wind currents in a thunderstorm called? Well, pretty logically
updrafts and down drafts. All right, let's see what the
headlines hold for us on this Friday morning. And our
first story, the University of Kentucky violated the Civil Rights
Act investigators say the University of Kentucky violated the Federal
(02:36):
Civil Rights Act by participating in a conference designed for
students of color. According to an investigation by the US
Department of Education earlier this year, UK was one of
more than fifty universities investigated by the Department of Education's
Office for Civil Rights for allegations of providing racial preferences
(03:00):
and stereotypes and education programs and activities. Several universities were
investigated for attending the conference. Others were investigated for awarding
race based scholarships. The investigation concluded and found UK and
violation because it has partnered with a program that endorsed, promoted,
(03:24):
and benefited from a program that limited participation based on race.
According to a letter from the Office of Civil Rights,
UK was under investigation for their participation in the PhD Project,
a networking organization that helps doctoral students complete their degrees.
(03:47):
We will, as always seek to comply with the law
and policy direction we are given by federal policymakers. That
is our responsibility, I believe it also is how we
can best protect our people, their work, and our mission
to advance the state. UK President Capelluto said in an
(04:09):
email sent Wednesday evening. Of those universities investigated, forty five
were found to be in violation of the Civil Rights Act.
UK's affiliation with the PhD Project was an annual conference
which UK paid five thousand dollars annually to attend, Capelluto said.
(04:31):
Shortly after the investigation began, UK announced it had cut
all ties with PhD Project. The Office of Civil Rights
said the PhD Project was blatantly discriminatory in programs designed
to benefit certain favored students based on their race or
national origin, to the clear detriment of other students who
(04:55):
did not have access to the program because.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
Of their race or national origin.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Capaluto has signed a resolution that will end the federal investigation,
he said, and UK will now submit a report within
sixty days to the Office for Civil Rights that identifies
any other organization that UK has a partnership or affiliation
with that may restrict participation based on race. The university
(05:27):
must also indicate plans to end membership or affiliation with
those groups, or, if not, provide a reason why.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
He said.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
We will move quickly but deliberately to gather this information
evaluate whether it meets the criteria outlined by the federal
government and determine whether we will terminate the relationship. Capluto
said this process will require a great deal of effort
from a large number of people in units will do
(06:00):
this work as efficiently as possible, seeking to minimize unnecessary
disruption and understandably lessen anxiety and concern. A team has
been assembled to look at relationships the university has with
other organizations that may fall into that category, including participants
(06:22):
from procurement and contracting, the Provosts Office, Student Success, UK Healthcare,
and the Treasurer's Office. The federal Government, in this letter
of finding and other policy directives, has made clearer that
it is closely scrutinizing what we and other institutions do
(06:44):
with respect to our financial support of identity based organizations,
both on campus and throughout external agreements. Capaluto said, we
must take that policy direction seriously time we also must
continue to take seriously our goal to be a community
(07:06):
where different people and different perspectives can belong. The next story,
Trump promises to cut Democrat agencies during the shutdown. The
federal government remained shut down Thursday, with no end in
sight and President Trump calling it an unprecedented opportunity to
(07:30):
enact cuts targeting agencies that provide services cherished by Democrats.
The threat came as his administration unleased an aggressive pressure
campaign using federal websites and workers themselves. Democrats showed little
sign of budgeting from their demand for Republican concessions on healthcare,
(07:52):
including extending Affordable Care Act subsidies and reversing cuts to
Medicaid and other health programs. Trump made it Trump's direction.
With the Senate off for yam Kapur holiday, no votes
were expected before Friday. GOP leaders said they would keep
scheduling votes to force Democrats to repeatedly block their stopgap
(08:15):
funding bill, and Trump redoubted redoubled his threat to use
the shutdown to make lasting changes in the federal bureaucracy.
He said in a truth social post that he would
meet Thursday with his budget director, Russell Vot to determine
which of the many Democrat agencies, most of which are
(08:37):
a political scam, he recommends to be cut. His comments
came a day after Vice President JD. Vance insisted that
the President was opened to negotiating with the Democrats. At
the same time, Vance laughed off a video that the
president had posted on social media mocking Democratic leaders with
(09:00):
crude and racially charged language and imagery. Here's what else
to know for disruptions. Services across the government are disrupted,
such as federal court operations, assistance for veterans, education grants,
clean up at superfund sites, and economic analysis for reports
(09:21):
like the Job's data that had been sent for release
on Friday. The growing effects. Hundreds of thousands of federal
employees have been furloughed, disrupting a wide variety of programs,
and many more employees are required to report to work
without pay until funding is restored. But the longer the
(09:42):
government is closed, the broader its effects. Childcare and grocery
vouchers for low income vouchers for low income mothers and
children could be affected. National parks may see overflowing toilets,
piles of trash, and echolo logical damage. Even the statue
(10:02):
of Liberty's torch could go dark. At the White House,
the Trump administration took steps to maximize the pain of
the government shutdown, halting billions of dollars in funds for
Democrat led states, while readying a plan to layoff potentially
droves of civil servants immediately and the last shutdown. The
(10:25):
last and longest government shutdown began in the late twenty
eighteen year during the first Trump administration. It ended on
the thirty fifth day, forcing some government workers to get
payday loans to cover routine expenses and the next story.
No raises for teachers in forty Kentucky districts.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
A report says Greta.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
Gilbert, a music teacher of twenty years, spent the end
of her summer break preparing her classroom at Adams Middle
School in Floyd County for the new year. She used
earnings from several side jobs technology coordinator and academic coach
at the school, as well as music director at a
local church to freshen her classroom with an electric Neon
(11:13):
treble clef, a fixed saxophone, new music stands, and a
wireless microphone so her voice can reach her forty student classes.
She paid for those expenses out of pocket, despite working
in one of the forty Kentucky school districts where teachers
received no pay raises this year, according to an August
(11:36):
report from the Kentucky Department of Education, She'd liked to
live up to the careers her mother and grandmother had.
His teachers in the same eastern Kentucky district, and she
doesn't mind spending some money to do it, but she
wishes the state would help more too. There needs to
be a state mandated raise for all school employees, like
(11:59):
Governor Bush has proposed a few times.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
Gilbert said.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
Basher has tried unsuccessfully in recent years to raise teachers pay.
During his first gubernatorial campaign in twenty nineteen, he promised
to raise salaries by two thousand dollars. In late twenty
twenty three, ahead of the twenty twenty four General Assembly
budgeting process, he proposed an eleven percent pay raise. The
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Republican dominated legislature is not backed the two term Democrats proposals.
The annual KDE report shows that teacher raises in Kentucky
this year were inconsistent by district and mostly below the
rate of inflation, which was two point nine percent for
the year ending in August, according to an analysis from
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the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy. A spokesperson for Basher's
office said he remains education first, but did not comment
on plans for this year's budget proposal. Fifty five of
Kentucky's one hundred and seventy one school districts gave teachers
raises smaller than two percent, according to the Kentucky Center
(13:12):
for Economic Policy Analysis, forty two gave raises between two
point one percent and three percent, and thirty four gave
raises of more than three percent. Teaching advocates or urging
the state to step in and increase funding for school districts, including.
Speaker 2 (13:31):
For teacher salaries.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
Matty Shepherd, president of the Jefferson County Teachers Association, pointed
to voters overwhelming twenty twenty four rejection Constitutional Amendment I,
which would have allowed state funds to go to nonpro
public schools, as proof of Kentucky residents support for public
schools and teachers. Voters all said that in twenty twenty four,
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we want our.
Speaker 2 (13:58):
School system to be great. Eight.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
Shepherd said, it is a shared responsibility. It absolutely is
the responsibility of the local county, and it is the
responsibility of the state. Sheppard joined a group of educators
in early September to ask the state for a seven
hundred and eighteen million dollars boost to the Kentucky education
(14:21):
budget next year. She said the funds could be applied
to adjust inflationary pressures on a wide range of needs,
including teacher salaries and equipment like buses and chrome books.
Jason Bailey, executive director of the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy,
said the state budget earned earmark raises for educators across
(14:44):
Kentucky in twenty oh eight. He also noted voter's rejection
of Amendment II. The voters spoke loud and clear on
the constitutional amendment last year. They want their public schools
to be the priority. Bailey's Education Committee chair, Senator Steve West,
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Republican of Paris, said he'd consider adjusting the state's funding
formula to give more money to poorer school districts next season,
but he cautioned that some money doesn't necessarily make for
better schools. You need a high quality teacher, you need
a smaller class size.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
If you do.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
Those two things, you get down the road a pretty
good distance, And just because you have more money doesn't
guarantee either one of those things.
Speaker 2 (15:34):
West said.
Speaker 1 (15:37):
Gilbert knows firsthand how economic investments could improve her teaching
and her life. Though she's worked in the district for years,
she's watched newer teachers shuffle in and out as the
state teacher shortage rises. According to a report from Kentucky
Legislature's Office of Education Accountability, ten point nine percent of
(16:00):
teachers who worked in Kentucky in twenty twenty two did
not return to teach in the commonwealth the following year,
marking an increase from a decade Prior. Factors cited in
the report included inadequate funding that led to low pay
and poor working conditions. Representative Lisa Wilner, Democrat of Louisville,
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who was on House committees for both K through twelve
and post secondary education, said handling educational control.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
Over the local school boards.
Speaker 1 (16:31):
Still has challenges. She pointed to the law passed in
twenty twenty one that made it easier to recall district
tax hikes, which are one of the few ways for
local districts to raise teacher salaries themselves. She said she
plans to push for boosting the state's education budget next session,
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and she pointed to several other industries like bourbon and
horse racing that faced no difficulties obtaining tax from the legislature.
We seem to have plenty of funding to give tax
breaks to extremely wealthy industries and corporations, and the fact
that we're not appropriately funding our schools providing enough funding
(17:15):
for teacher raises is to the detriment of our entire state.
Speaker 2 (17:19):
Wilner said.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
If Gilbert, the Floyd County music teacher, moved two hours
away to Fayette County, she'd make twenty thousand dollars more
according to the salary schedule for someone with her experience
in graduate school credentials. It's a nice idea, she said.
She wouldn't have to work extra jobs at the school
(17:43):
and in the community, fewer groceries would go on the
credit card, and she'd have more free time. But with
children and family roots tying her to the area, she
wishes the state would help other professions, she said, don't
have to buy their own supplies. We get more desperate
(18:06):
every year, Gilbert said. And finally, on the front page,
voters get a look at Kentucky Democratic candidates. Do Kentucky
Democrats want fighters or uniners? It might depend on what
office they're voting for. If candidate speeches to a packed
room in Mount Sterling were any indication, all three of
(18:30):
the declared Democratic candidates for US Senate, three candidates for
Kentucky's sixth congressional district, and two top Democrats considering runs
for governor in twenty twenty seven, spoke at the Montgomery
County Democratic Party's Wendell Ford Dinner on Tuesday night. The
candidates for Senate railed hard against Washington Republicans, while the
(18:54):
prospective gubernatorial candidates focused on staying positive about the state's trajectory.
Speaker 2 (19:01):
Those running for.
Speaker 1 (19:02):
The House in central Kentucky struck a balance between the
two approaches. The speech from Rocky Adkins, the governor's senior
advisor and one time political opponent, was the longest and
best received. He praised governorsheer emphasized his path from opponent
to ally, and sounded consistently like someone thinking about running
(19:26):
again for governor. The theme tying it all together was unity.
I'm supposed not to like you because you disagree with
me on an issue. I'm not supposed to like you
because you've got a D by your name and somebody
else may have an R by their name.
Speaker 2 (19:45):
Or an I.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
Adkins said, are you kidding me?
Speaker 2 (19:49):
We are better than that.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
Let me tell you my definition of public service. It's
not putting your foot on somebody's neck and trying to
break it. Public's a nervis is about getting up every
day and trying to help somebody's community to be better
place and somebody's life to be a better life. It's
not exactly a novel political message, but Adkins's speech stood
(20:12):
in contrast to the national Democratic discourse, where many have
said the party needs fighters to push back on the
GOP trifecta controlling Washington. He used the example of his
own twenty nineteen Democratic gubernatorial primary loss to be share
the governor and governor and I had had not one
(20:33):
bad word to say about each other. We didn't pick
at each other, we didn't spit on each other, and
we didn't hate each other, and we didn't say bad
things about each other. You know what that campaign was about.
That campaign was about our individual vision of how to
build a better Kentucky. And I think you deserve that,
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a campaign that actually talks about what you care about,
Adkins said. Tea, a teacher in Mount Sterling, said that's
what Kentucky Democrats want. In a place like Kentucky, people
want to hear about uniting. People want to hear about
how folks can come together to get things done, even
little things policy wise, things that affect people day to day.
(21:17):
Lowry said, Adkins stopped short of saying that campaign was
coming in twenty twenty seven, but many Democrats believe he
and Lieutenant Governor Jacqueline.
Speaker 2 (21:27):
Coleman will run.
Speaker 1 (21:29):
Both are barnstorming the state, speaking at events like the
one in Montgomery County. Coleman also spoke at the dinner,
like Adkins, leaning into her work with Bashir and speaking
as if another campaign similar to the one she ran
with Bashar was yet to come. We won our twenty
nineteen election by one and a half votes per precinct.
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If we can do it, we can replicate it again
and again and again across Kentucky, because of this economy
that we've built, because of the values that we share,
because of the way that we show up for each other,
Coleman said. Lowry said he and most of the Democrats
gathered at the event love Coleman and Adkins. He'd like
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to see both run for governor in twenty twenty seven.
I think I'd like both to run because I think
primaries are healthy. I think it's especially healthy if you
have two strong, well known candidates like they are, that
we can really talk about the issues and channel that
basher spirit, Lowry said. Robert Blanton, the lone Democratic member
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of the Clark County Fiscal Court. He thinks both will
run and would support either. He also longed for Democratic
candidates in the state to moderate. The most electable candidate
will be, in my opinion, the one who's a little
bit more towards the center. The citizens of Kentucky would
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benefit so much more from that candidate, Blanton said. Tuesday
offered the first glimpse of all three declared Democratic candidates
for US Senate on the same stage in a candidate forum,
not a debate where the candidates interact with each other,
but where they each answer the same question from a moderator.
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Pam Stevenson, Logan Forsyth, and Joel Willett all teed off
on what they see as mismanagent in Washington when it
comes to health care and gun violence. All three railed
against the GOP led One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which
extended an income tax cut and cut spending on Medicaid,
(23:38):
among other things. It is wrong that they would take
something that is a human right and make money from
it and then deny you that right because they want
more money. Stevenson, who heads the House Democrats as minority
floor leaders, said Forsyth, an attorney and former Secret Service
agent from Lexington, and Willett both to the harms of
(24:01):
Medicaid cuts the hospitals, particularly rural ones that serve as
a lifeline for patients and far flung parts of the state.
People are going to die. That's all there is to it.
If you will not survive, if you go into cardiac arrest,
you cannot have an episode like that and drive three
hours and be okay.
Speaker 2 (24:22):
For sight, said.
Speaker 1 (24:24):
Will It, a Louisville native and former CIA officer, when
asked about the influencing politics of the role of Senator
Equipped that you needed someone from a humble background like
him when dealing with the member's ultra wealthy part of
the Trump administration. They're not like the average Kentuckian, and
(24:45):
I'm convinced they don't even like the average Kentuckian. You've
got to send somebody there who knows what the struggles
are for families across the state, will It said when
ask about what to do to curb gun violence, a
subject top on mind given recent mass shooting incidents and
the assassination of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk, the candidates all
(25:07):
expressed anger Willet has mentioned two uniquely ways of dying.
First was via fentmanal overdose, which his father passed away
from in twenty nineteen. The other uniquely American way to
die is to get your face blown off and your
freaking elementary school. And that should enrage all responsible gun owners.
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There isn't mental health care, there aren't checks. Responsible gun
owners get lumped into the same groups of people who
have no business owning a firearm or carrying a firearm.
I also don't think we need weapons of war in
the streets of America, he said, to applause. Stevenson also
decried shootings and disagreed with conservatives reading of the Second Amendment,
(25:52):
which states a well regulated militia being necessary to the
security of a free state, the right of the people
to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. If
you think that you are not stable, you don't even
have a right to a gun until you are. The
Second Amendment, if you would read it, doesn't say you
(26:14):
can have a gun under all circumstances. It says you
can have a gun, Stevenson said. The three Democratic candidates
for Kentucky's sixth congressional district at the event, Zach Dimbo,
Aaron Petrie, and former state Representative Sherlyn Stevenson struck a
balance between the fight against Republicans and the need to
(26:37):
follow the sheer Atkins and Coleman's example. David Kloiber, a
former Lexington City councilman also running for the seat, did
not appear at the event. In answering a question on agriculture,
the candidates all went hard against the tariffs levied by
the Trump administration, which have led to drops in demands
and prices for Kentucky crops like soybeans. Dimbo spoke of
(26:59):
the increase prices on tractors at companies like John Deere
who have had to make up for dropping profits due
to tariffs.
Speaker 2 (27:07):
That's a double.
Speaker 1 (27:07):
Whammy for soybean farmers in Kentucky, said, what you have
now are farmers who aren't able to sell these soybeans.
And in the meantime, if they want to get equipment
because of these aluminum and steel tariffs, they're getting squeezed
and can't buy equipment. And you know why this is.
This is because Congress has laid down and given up
(27:28):
their power to an out of control White House, Dimbo said,
Stevenson used her answer to hammer home her focus on
the economy working for middle class Kentuckians as opposed to
the wealthy, an early hallmark of her campaign. We must
get back to having working families, farmers, small businesses at
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the center of our economy. Our economy doesn't work so
rich people can get richer, and needs to work for all.
Speaker 2 (27:55):
Of us, Stevenson said.
Speaker 1 (27:57):
Petree, who has written about the bourbon industry for sale
several years as a blogger and influencer, went straight to
the state's signature product, decrying the effects of the tariffs.
There's no room in a modern globalized economy for backwards
protectionist trade policy. So the number one thing I would
do is to eliminate these tariffs and move toward non
(28:17):
tariff trade barriers and things that incentivize other countries to
invest in the United States in these industries, Petrie said.
And now, after a short pause, I hope you'll rejoin
us for a continuation of the reading of the Lexington
Harald Leader for today. Thank you again for listening, and
now please stay tuned for more news right here on
(28:38):
Radio I. And now we will continue reading from the
Lexington Herald Leader for today, Friday, October three. Your reader
is Rod Brotherton, and as always, 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 obituaries,
please see their website or call us during week day
(29:00):
at eight five nine four two two sixty three ninety
and we'll 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 starts with Carolyn Taylor ninety five
of Richmond, Donald Barber ninety four of Georgetown, and Edward
Smith seventy five of Lexington. And as I said, if
(29:24):
you'd like any further information about the listings, please visit
legacy dot com slash obituary slash Kentucky and you now
call us at Radio Studios at A five nine four
two two sixty three ninety and we'll try to read
them to you over the phone. Now continuing with the news,
UH Kentucky woman charged after deputies find human remains under
(29:48):
a tarp at her house. A woman in Rockcastle County
was arrested Sunday after human remains were found under a
tarp at her home. According to Kentucky State Police, the
remains were discovered after the rock Castle County Sheriff's Office
learned that Twasha Flores Mayea, forty, had a vehicle belonging
(30:11):
to a missing person. Court documents say deputies went to
Mahia's home on Disputania Road and found the remains in
the yard under a tarp with other objects placed on top.
The remains were sent to the state's Medical Examiner's office
for an autopsy, according to court documents. No cause of
(30:31):
death was or identity were provided in the court documents
or by state police. The vehicle belonged to the missing
person was also found at Mahiah's home, according to court documents.
The family of the missing person told investigators they never
heard of Mahia using the missing person's vehicle. Mahea was
(30:53):
interviewed by police and denied knowing about the remains, According
to court documents. She also said she last the missing
person four days earlier and thought the person had left
for Tennessee. A toxicology report is pending, according to state police.
Mahea's arrest citation says drug involvement is suspected. Maha is
(31:15):
charged with murder first degree robbery, first degree burglary, abuse
of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence, and receiving stolen property.
State police said more charges are pending. Mahia is being
held at the rock Castle County Detention Center on a
one million, twenty five thousand.
Speaker 2 (31:37):
Dollars bond, according to court records.
Speaker 1 (31:41):
And next. Former equine labhead sues UK employees horse racing
groups for defamation. A former head of the University of
Kentucky equine testing laboratory has sued several university employees and
horse racing organizations, alleging they collaborated to defame and illegally
(32:03):
fire him. Scott Stanley was removed as the director of
Equine Analytical Chemistry Lab at UK in March of twenty
twenty four after an investigation into his practices in the lab.
UK said Stanley had falsified and misrepresented test results and
(32:23):
demonstrated a lack of internal controls in the lab. The
university also accused him of having conflicts of interest and
improper hiring practices. Earlier this month, UK fired Stanley from
his role as a professor in the Martin Gatton College
of Agriculture, Food and Environment and revoked his tenure status,
(32:46):
a rare move in higher education now. Stanley alleges that
multiple groups, including UK employees, the Horse Racing Integrity and
Welfare Unity, and the Horse Racing Integrity, Integrity and Safety
Authority worked together to carry out the defamation and false
(33:07):
light injuries against him. The lawsuit said the investigation and
audit released by UK included findings that they knew were
either false or intentionally misleading. As a result, doctor Stanley
has suffered irreparable harm to his professional reputation, has lost
the esteem of his colleagues, and has had his personal
(33:30):
standing in the very close knit equine community diminished, and
has had his employment and tenure terminated, and is unemployable
due to the nature of the conclusions and findings contained
in the audit and the HIWU.
Speaker 2 (33:46):
Report, the lawsuit said.
Speaker 1 (33:49):
Included in the lawsuit, filed September sixteenth in Fayette County
Circuit Court are fifteen people and organizations, including Joseph Reid,
chief Ofccountability Officer and Audit Executive at UK, multiple employees
of UK's Internal Audit Office and Legal counsel, and Nancy Cox,
(34:10):
the former Dean of the College of Agriculture Food and Environment,
the Horse Racing Integrity and Welfare Unit, and several employees
of the Drug Free Sport and the Horse Racing Integrity
and Safety Authority. Stanley is requesting a jury trial, monetary
damages in connection to the alleged defamation and his attorney
(34:33):
fees and costs, and in order preventing all defendants from
further publishing or republishing the false and defamatory statements about him.
We are reviewing the contents of the lawsuit. UK SAT
in a statement Tuesday morning, the university terminated this individual
following serious policy violations, findings affirmed by his peers, the
(34:58):
equine industry and our Board of Trustees. Our investigation into
this matter and the process to terminate followed strict protocols
in accordance with the university's administrative regulations. As this is
pending litigation, we don't have further comment at this time.
(35:19):
Uk announced last September it had removed Stanley from his
position in the lab and was moving for his removal
from his role at the university after an investigation showed
he'd falsified test results for a banned blood doping agent
called erythroprotein and at least four other results from his
(35:40):
lab were called into question, according to an audit released
by UK last year. Stanley has repeatedly denied the allegations
against him, and statements made through his lawyer. Last year,
Lisa Lazarus, CEO of the Horse Racing Integrity and Safety Authority,
said federal law enforcement of his fares were investigating Stanley.
(36:02):
Under HISA, the private anti doping regulatory agency created in
twenty twenty by Congress, Racing has moved toward uniform standards
in drug testing across the country. UK's lab was one
of six in the US accredited by HISA to drug
(36:22):
test samples for horses. UK tested samples for HISA for
eight months from May twenty second, twenty twenty three, to
February of twenty twenty four. In all, HESA sent the
university eight to nine thousand samples from Kentucky and Florida.
But in March of twenty twenty four, the same month
(36:45):
Stanley was removed from his administrative role at the university,
the National Racing Authority dropped UK's testing lab from its
accredited list, meaning drug tests could no longer be performed.
Speaker 2 (36:58):
There for state regulators.
Speaker 1 (37:01):
Stanley was head of the Lab, which also performed drug
tests for the US Equestrian Federation beginning with the lab's
formation in twenty nineteen, and in twenty twenty two, the
lab began performing racing drug testing for the state of Kentucky.
The audit from UK found that in at least one case,
(37:22):
Stanley told HEISA that his lab had found no retropeatin
in a sample received in November ninth, twenty twenty three,
but the lab had not tested for the substance. His
UK lab wasn't even equipped to do that kind of work,
according to the audit. It is unclear what state or
(37:43):
horse was involved. According to UK, in four cases, all
of which were used in racing investigations, the samples lacked
results documentation, meaning no results were recorded in the university system,
even though in two of the cases Stanley email resorts
results to racing officials. The audit could not substantiate any
(38:08):
additional falsifications, but found that the lab's internal systems were
inadequately controlled, and that there were numerous opportunities in the
lab's standard workflow that could potentially allow for sample tampering
or records to be changed, including unfettered access by Stanley
to samples and to records. Earlier this year, UK announced
(38:32):
it had sold the Equine Analytical Chemistry Lab to Eagle
Diagnostics and renamed it Equine Integrity and Anti Doping Science Labs.
Travis Mays, who worked in a similar lab at Texas
A and M University, was appointed the new director. In
our next story, a group of Frankfurt leaders agreed to
(38:55):
move forward with a plan to build a public pool.
Students on Frankfort's Western Hills High School swim team weren't
at a public meeting taking place four miles from their
school on Monday. They were at practice fifteen miles away
in Versailles, when their school and city agreed to build
Franklin County's newest indoor pool and wellness center. The Franklin
(39:20):
County Fiscal Court, City of Frankfort, Franklin County Public Schools,
and the state formalized in agreement on September twenty ninth
to work together on the capital's next recreation amenity. Next,
the group of local leaders will issue a request for proposals,
seeking the right design firm to help them conceptualize the
(39:43):
center that will go on state owned land off Martin
Luther King Junior Boulevard behind the Kentucky Department for Public Health.
We think it's very important for our students to have
a pool where our swim teams can practice without having
to go to other county, said Franklin County Public Schools
Board member Natalie Lyle during the three minute special meeting,
(40:07):
and so I really hope that we can and that
the numbers add up. In a social media post following
the vote, Franklin County Judge Executive Michael Mueller said the state, county,
Fiscal Court, city, and school system have been working on
the project for nearly two years.
Speaker 2 (40:27):
I am so proud of.
Speaker 1 (40:28):
These entities working together for an important amenity which has
been a long knee for our community.
Speaker 2 (40:35):
He said.
Speaker 1 (40:36):
This is the first step and will require community support
and work, and we can do this. Franklin County has
gone without a year round aquatic facility since October of
twenty twenty one. That's when Kentucky State University's aquatic facilities,
which are open to the public, closed due to a
(40:57):
boiler failure. At the time, it was the only remaining
indoor swim facility in frankfort. The local nonprofit Swim with Purpose,
started in twenty twenty three to help fund a one
million dollar restoration project necessary to reopen the facility. At
the end of July, Swim with Purpose had raised four
(41:19):
hundred and twenty five thousand dollars, according to the State Journal.
The city operates the Juniper Hills Aquatic Center during the
summer months between Memorial and Labour Days. This year, in August,
the pool was only open on weekends. In twenty nine,
the city permanently closed its only public pool in East
(41:40):
Frankfort Park due to too many costly repairs. Access to
public pools, especially those offering swim lessons, decreases the risk
of accidental drowning, which kills approximately four thousand people a year.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is
(42:01):
the leading cause of death for children ages.
Speaker 2 (42:03):
One to four.
Speaker 1 (42:05):
Public pools provided a place for exercise and can foster
a sense of community. According to the National Drowning Prevention Alliance,
Public pools, especially with wellness centers attached, also stand as
a source of employment of all types and next. The
(42:26):
Pope calls for ecological conversion in climate speech. In his
first major climate speech, Pope Leo the fourteenth renewed the
Vatican's vow to remain at the forefront of the movement
to halt global warming. We must shift from collecting data
to caring, and from environmental discourses to an ecological conversion
(42:50):
that transforms both personal and communal lifestyles, Pope Leo the
fourteenth said on Tuesday, standing in front of a melting
block of at the Vatican. He spoke at the opening
of the Raising Hope for Climate Justice conference. The message
builds on his predecessor, Pope Francis's legacy of advocating for
(43:11):
climate action at a time when countries and companies have
retreated from their pledges to rein in planet warming greenhouse gases.
The US in particular, has taken a sharp turn away
from climate action under President Trump through governments, though governments
elsewhere are falling short on commitments to cut carbon emissions.
(43:34):
Citizens need to take action an active role in political
decision making at national, regional and local levels. Only then
will it be possible to mitigate the damage done to
the environment, The pontiff said. The Catholic Church has played
a significant role in shaping climate conversations since Pope Francis's
(43:56):
publication of the Laudato Sea in cyclical in twenty fifteen.
The document, released shortly before the signing of the landmark
Paris Agreement, criticized consumerism and called on people to act
to protect the planet. A decade later, much remains to
be done, Pope Leo the fourteenth said. Last year, global
(44:20):
carbon emissions hit a record high. We are in a
very difficult time and desperately looking for leadership, said Chiara Martinelli,
director of Climate Action Network Europe. The Pope quoted Laudatte Dium,
a second document released by Pope Francis in twenty twenty
three that warned some have chosen to deride the increasingly
(44:43):
evident signs of climate change, to ridicule those who speak
of global warming, and even to blame the poor for
the very things that affect them the most. The most
effective solutions won't come from individuals, but from major political
decisions at a national and international level. Pope Leo said
(45:06):
upcoming international summits, including the United Nations sponsored COP thirty
climate gathering, need to listen to the cry of the
earth and the cry of the poor. Before he spoke,
Brazilian Minister for the Environment Marina Silva invited the Pope
to attend the summit, which will be held in the
(45:27):
Amazonian city of Bellem. He did not confirm if he
would attend next UK synagogue attack kills two prompting crisis meeting.
At least two people were killed in a vehicle and
knife attack on a synagogue in Manchester, causing the UK's
(45:48):
Prime Minister Keir Starmer to leave a European summit in Denmark.
Speaker 2 (45:52):
Early.
Speaker 1 (45:53):
Starmer planned to host a meeting of the government's emergency
committee known as COBRA, in response to the attack on
jam Kapur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar. On
his way back to Britain from Copenhagen, Starmer said that
additional officers were being deployed to synagogues across the country.
Police are treating the incident as terrorism. We will do
(46:18):
everything to keep our Jewish community safe, he said, describing
the attack as shocking. At least two of the victims
had died, while another three are in serious condition. The
Greater Manchester Police confirmed in a statement on social media
platform x the suspect attacker was also believed to be
(46:39):
dead after officers fired shots.
Speaker 2 (46:42):
They said.
Speaker 1 (46:44):
Police earlier said at least Four members of the public
were being treated by paramedics for stab wounds and injuries
inflicted by the vehicle. Officers were called to the incident
at Heaton Parks Hebrews Congregation Synagogue in the Crumsall area
of Manchester just after nine thirty am by a member
of the public who stated that he had witnessed a
(47:06):
car being driven toward members of the public. According to police,
the death of the suspected attacker cannot currently be confirmed
due to safety issues surrounding suspicious items on his person.
Police said a bomb disposal unit was called to the
scene and the sound of a controlled explosion could later
(47:26):
be heard on footage aired by broadcasters. Police said that
a large number of people were worshiping at the synagogue
at the time of the attack, adding that they had
been held inside the building while the area was made
safe before being evacuated. King Charles the Third issued a
statement saying he was deeply shocked and saddened by the attack,
(47:50):
and condemnation of the incident came from across the UK's
political spectrum. Kimmy Badenock, leader of the main opposition Concernedrivative Party,
called it vile and disgusting. While Reform UK leader Nigel
Ferrar said he was horrified. Liberal Democratic leader Ed Davey
(48:10):
said he was horrified and appalled. No details were immediately
disclosed about the suspected offender or as possible motives. Nevertheless,
Britain's Jewish community has been on alert for the past
two years after a rise in incidents of anti Semitism
following Hamas's murderous October seventh, twenty twenty three attack on
(48:34):
Israel and the subsequent Israeli response in Gaza. The Jewish
community have seen rising incidents of anti Semitism over recent
times and have been living with a higher state of
anxiety because of the times that we're living in. Greater
Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham told the BBC Radio the Community
(48:56):
Security Trust, a charity set up by to protect Jews
of Britain's origin, reported a surge in anti Semitic incidents
after the conflict in Gaza flared up, and while numbers
are lower this year than last, they remain at a
higher level than before the Hamas tack a man of
(49:16):
rising death toll in Gaza. Pro Palestinian protesters have held
regular demonstrations in London and other major UK cities, including
in Liverpool this week during the governing Labour Party's annual conference.
The main opposition Conservative Party is due to hold its
conviition in Manchester this weekend. Israel's escalation of military operations
(49:42):
in Gaza have resulted in increasing tensions within Stormer's administration, which,
while saying Israel has a right to self defense, has
increasingly questioned the proportionality of the Israeli response. The Hamas
run Health Ministry says more than sixty thousand Palestinians have
(50:02):
lost their lives during the Israeli campaign and next FCPS
budget director tells investigator about her claims against the superintendent.
Speaker 2 (50:14):
In a Tuesday letter.
Speaker 1 (50:16):
To an independent investigator, the attorney for Fayette County Budget
Director and Sampson Grimes claims the superintendent altered her budget
presentation script prior to a May school board meeting. Before
the May eighth school board meeting, Fayette Superintendent Demetrius Liggins
altered the wording of miss grimes script, substituting difference for deficit,
(50:42):
effectively obfuscating Miss Grime's message to the board that the
current budget proposal was in a deficit and weakening her
ability to address and advise on the situation. Attorney Brandon
Volker sent in a letter to Ashland Attorney Lee Lathrow.
Deputy Superintendent Houston Barber also stringently signaled not to describe
(51:06):
the budget as in a deficit, demonstrating a clear pattern
of intentionally concealing the financial situation of the district from
the board and the general public, said the letter. Vulker
shared the letter with The Herald Leader late Tuesday afternoon.
He also sent it to several lawmakers, including Republican Senate
(51:28):
President Robert Stivers and Speaker of the House David Osborne,
the Kentucky Education Commissioner Robbie Fletcher, and Kentucky Auditor Allison Ball,
who is conducting a special examination of FCPS. Lawmakers recently
summoned Liggins to Frankfort to explain the budget problems. Liggins
(51:49):
has said the eight hundred and twenty six point two
million dollar budget the board passed earlier in September is balanced,
but all summer long, the district has dealt with a
budget crisis that includes a prior sixteen million dollar deficit
and a severely declining carry forward balance from about forty
(52:10):
three million dollars to twenty six point three millions, which
Liggans has said is the true contingency. School board members
hired Lathro to investigate Grime's claims that Liggans discriminated and
retaliated against her. Samson Grimes filed a lawsuit against Ligans
(52:30):
and the school district on September tenth, saying he retaliated
against her after she repeatedly tried to make the district's
declining financial situation known. Samson Grimes was placed on administrative
leave from August fifteenth until September twenty fifth. Although Grimes
(52:51):
has been allowed to return to work, Vulker said she
has been stripped of her job duties and of her
access to some financial documents. MS Grimes did what every
employee and every public servant should do.
Speaker 2 (53:06):
She told the truth.
Speaker 1 (53:08):
She upheld the law, Vulgar said in the letter to
the investigator. On Tuesday night, District spokesperson Miranda Scully said,
at this is a pending legal matter, we are unable
to comment at this time. Liggins has said that he
did not delve deeply enough into the district's budget problems,
(53:30):
but is doing so now. Ligan's supporters point to the
district's academic achievements and insists Liggins has been accountable and
has led with integrity. Lathrow is asking to meet with
Samson Grimes, who wants to answer Lathro's questions in public
with the school board president, but neither has taken place.
(53:53):
Vulker made several claims in the letter to Lathro, including
that on May eighth, Samson Grimes shared a copy with
Liggins of her proposed script for the FY twenty six
tentative budget to present to the school board. In her
proposed presentation, Grimes detailed the district's financial position, citing a
sixteen million dollar deficit between expenditures and revenues. A deficit
(54:19):
is not permitted to be recommended or voted on, according
to school board policy, Vocal said in the letter. Volkler's
letter said that Samson Grimes was targeted, stripped of oversight,
passed over for promotion, and unlawfully placed on administrative leave
after she tried to make sure that financial mismanagement did
(54:39):
not occur, the letter said. On July twenty ninth, twenty
twenty five, at a budget Solutions work group meeting, Grimes
informed Barber that her projections for the fiscal year twenty
twenty five ending fund balance were not forty two million dollars,
as orisenally directed by Finance Director Rodney Jackson, but approximately
(55:01):
fifteen million dollars. The substantial difference indicates that a portion
of the contingency was spent without prior board notice or approval,
violating board policy, Grime said. The letter to Lathro said
on May second, Grimes advised Barbered the district could not
afford to provide a one percent raise to the staff.
(55:23):
She said it would be irresponsible to advise it, and
the board could do so given the States district deficit situation.
In response, the letter said, Barber discouraged miss Grimes from
sharing her advice. The letter said Liggins stated that he
did not probe deeply enough into the cause of the
sixteen million dollar shortfall, but Volker said she was informed
(55:45):
several times by Grimes that the district would lack sufficient
funds without extreme measures being taken. On April seventeenth, after
being asked to provide Ligans with suggested reductions, Grahams did so,
only to be met with perplexity and then have each
of her suggestions rejected.
Speaker 2 (56:05):
The letter said.
Speaker 1 (56:07):
It set On April twenty second, Grime sent Liggans a
spreadsheet of reductions and other detailed budget documentation. On May second,
ms Grimes alerted Ligans to the district required an additional
eighteen million dollars to balance the budget and cover projected shortfalls,
and that at one percent raise was not feasible. On
May eighth, Ligans represented to Grimes that he had reviewed
(56:29):
the financial document's Grimes furnished him and even made his
own calculations regarding the budget. According to the letter, Grime
said she met with Ligans August twenty ninth to twenty
twenty four to tell him that twenty million dollars in
budget cuts were necessary for the twenty twenty five budget
season and difficult financial decisions were impending. She also met
(56:50):
with him again on October twenty second of twenty twenty
four to inform Ligan's cuts needed to be made during
the fiscal year twenty twenty four working budget session. She
never once stated that the district was in a solid
financial position, Vulkar said.
Speaker 2 (57:04):
In the letter.
Speaker 1 (57:07):
And this concludes the reading of the Lexington Herald Leader
for today Friday, October three. Your reader has been Rod Brotherton.
Thank you as always for listening and now please stay
tuned for sports news right here on Radio I
Good morning and happy Friday everybody, and welcome to the
reading of the Lexington Herald Leader. Today is Friday, October third,
and your reader is Rod Brotherton. And as you know,
Radio I is a reading service intended for people who
are blind or have other disabilities that make it difficult
to read printed material. Well, here we are in the
(00:22):
last quarter of twenty twenty five, and we've still got
pretty nice weather. Our seven day forecast looks like this
Today sunny and very warm, high eighty two. Tonight, low
fifty eight and clear. Saturday sunny and warm again. High
eighty three, low fifty six. Sunday sunny and very warm again.
(00:42):
High eighty four, low sixty two. Money is Monday is
mostly sunny and high of eighty four, low sixty four.
Tuesday there will be an afternoon thunderstorm, but the high
is still seventy nine and the low sixty five. Wednesday
clearing and humid, but the high zone only sixty nine
in the low forty seven, and Thursday less humid with
(01:06):
plenty of sunshine. High seventy one, low fifty two. Looking
at the almanac, yesterday's high and low eighty four and
fifty seven. Normal is seventy five and fifty three. Last
year it was seventy eight and sixty four. The record
high was a whopping ninety seven degrees in twenty nineteen,
while the record low registered only thirty four degrees in
(01:29):
nineteen forty seven. Wednesday's precipitation was none. Month to date
we've had none, but the normal is only twelve hundreds
of an inch. Year to date we've had forty six
point four to one, while the normal is thirty eight
point seven three. And last year we'd recorded forty one
point one two inches of rain, and the record for
(01:50):
yesterday's date was one point four inches in nineteen seventy seven.
For thus sun and the moon, the sun rose this
morning at seven thirty six, It will set tonight at
seven eighteen. The moon will come up at five point
thirty three and set at three po twenty one tomorrow morning.
And our weather trivia for the day. What are the
(02:12):
vertical wind currents in a thunderstorm called? Well, pretty logically
updrafts and down drafts. All right, let's see what the
headlines hold for us on this Friday morning. And our
first story, the University of Kentucky violated the Civil Rights
Act investigators say the University of Kentucky violated the Federal
(02:36):
Civil Rights Act by participating in a conference designed for
students of color. According to an investigation by the US
Department of Education earlier this year, UK was one of
more than fifty universities investigated by the Department of Education's
Office for Civil Rights for allegations of providing racial preferences
(03:00):
and stereotypes and education programs and activities. Several universities were
investigated for attending the conference. Others were investigated for awarding
race based scholarships. The investigation concluded and found UK and
violation because it has partnered with a program that endorsed, promoted,
(03:24):
and benefited from a program that limited participation based on race.
According to a letter from the Office of Civil Rights,
UK was under investigation for their participation in the PhD Project,
a networking organization that helps doctoral students complete their degrees.
(03:47):
We will, as always seek to comply with the law
and policy direction we are given by federal policymakers. That
is our responsibility, I believe it also is how we
can best protect our people, their work, and our mission
to advance the state. UK President Capelluto said in an
(04:09):
email sent Wednesday evening. Of those universities investigated, forty five
were found to be in violation of the Civil Rights Act.
UK's affiliation with the PhD Project was an annual conference
which UK paid five thousand dollars annually to attend, Capelluto said.
(04:31):
Shortly after the investigation began, UK announced it had cut
all ties with PhD Project. The Office of Civil Rights
said the PhD Project was blatantly discriminatory in programs designed
to benefit certain favored students based on their race or
national origin, to the clear detriment of other students who
(04:55):
did not have access to the program because.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
Of their race or national origin.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Capaluto has signed a resolution that will end the federal investigation,
he said, and UK will now submit a report within
sixty days to the Office for Civil Rights that identifies
any other organization that UK has a partnership or affiliation
with that may restrict participation based on race. The university
(05:27):
must also indicate plans to end membership or affiliation with
those groups, or, if not, provide a reason why.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
He said.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
We will move quickly but deliberately to gather this information
evaluate whether it meets the criteria outlined by the federal
government and determine whether we will terminate the relationship. Capluto
said this process will require a great deal of effort
from a large number of people in units will do
(06:00):
this work as efficiently as possible, seeking to minimize unnecessary
disruption and understandably lessen anxiety and concern. A team has
been assembled to look at relationships the university has with
other organizations that may fall into that category, including participants
(06:22):
from procurement and contracting, the Provosts Office, Student Success, UK Healthcare,
and the Treasurer's Office. The federal Government, in this letter
of finding and other policy directives, has made clearer that
it is closely scrutinizing what we and other institutions do
(06:44):
with respect to our financial support of identity based organizations,
both on campus and throughout external agreements. Capaluto said, we
must take that policy direction seriously time we also must
continue to take seriously our goal to be a community
(07:06):
where different people and different perspectives can belong. The next story,
Trump promises to cut Democrat agencies during the shutdown. The
federal government remained shut down Thursday, with no end in
sight and President Trump calling it an unprecedented opportunity to
(07:30):
enact cuts targeting agencies that provide services cherished by Democrats.
The threat came as his administration unleased an aggressive pressure
campaign using federal websites and workers themselves. Democrats showed little
sign of budgeting from their demand for Republican concessions on healthcare,
(07:52):
including extending Affordable Care Act subsidies and reversing cuts to
Medicaid and other health programs. Trump made it Trump's direction.
With the Senate off for yam Kapur holiday, no votes
were expected before Friday. GOP leaders said they would keep
scheduling votes to force Democrats to repeatedly block their stopgap
(08:15):
funding bill, and Trump redoubted redoubled his threat to use
the shutdown to make lasting changes in the federal bureaucracy.
He said in a truth social post that he would
meet Thursday with his budget director, Russell Vot to determine
which of the many Democrat agencies, most of which are
(08:37):
a political scam, he recommends to be cut. His comments
came a day after Vice President JD. Vance insisted that
the President was opened to negotiating with the Democrats. At
the same time, Vance laughed off a video that the
president had posted on social media mocking Democratic leaders with
(09:00):
crude and racially charged language and imagery. Here's what else
to know for disruptions. Services across the government are disrupted,
such as federal court operations, assistance for veterans, education grants,
clean up at superfund sites, and economic analysis for reports
(09:21):
like the Job's data that had been sent for release
on Friday. The growing effects. Hundreds of thousands of federal
employees have been furloughed, disrupting a wide variety of programs,
and many more employees are required to report to work
without pay until funding is restored. But the longer the
(09:42):
government is closed, the broader its effects. Childcare and grocery
vouchers for low income vouchers for low income mothers and
children could be affected. National parks may see overflowing toilets,
piles of trash, and echolo logical damage. Even the statue
(10:02):
of Liberty's torch could go dark. At the White House,
the Trump administration took steps to maximize the pain of
the government shutdown, halting billions of dollars in funds for
Democrat led states, while readying a plan to layoff potentially
droves of civil servants immediately and the last shutdown. The
(10:25):
last and longest government shutdown began in the late twenty
eighteen year during the first Trump administration. It ended on
the thirty fifth day, forcing some government workers to get
payday loans to cover routine expenses and the next story.
No raises for teachers in forty Kentucky districts.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
A report says Greta.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
Gilbert, a music teacher of twenty years, spent the end
of her summer break preparing her classroom at Adams Middle
School in Floyd County for the new year. She used
earnings from several side jobs technology coordinator and academic coach
at the school, as well as music director at a
local church to freshen her classroom with an electric Neon
(11:13):
treble clef, a fixed saxophone, new music stands, and a
wireless microphone so her voice can reach her forty student classes.
She paid for those expenses out of pocket, despite working
in one of the forty Kentucky school districts where teachers
received no pay raises this year, according to an August
(11:36):
report from the Kentucky Department of Education, She'd liked to
live up to the careers her mother and grandmother had.
His teachers in the same eastern Kentucky district, and she
doesn't mind spending some money to do it, but she
wishes the state would help more too. There needs to
be a state mandated raise for all school employees, like
(11:59):
Governor Bush has proposed a few times.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
Gilbert said.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
Basher has tried unsuccessfully in recent years to raise teachers pay.
During his first gubernatorial campaign in twenty nineteen, he promised
to raise salaries by two thousand dollars. In late twenty
twenty three, ahead of the twenty twenty four General Assembly
budgeting process, he proposed an eleven percent pay raise. The
(12:28):
Republican dominated legislature is not backed the two term Democrats proposals.
The annual KDE report shows that teacher raises in Kentucky
this year were inconsistent by district and mostly below the
rate of inflation, which was two point nine percent for
the year ending in August, according to an analysis from
(12:49):
the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy. A spokesperson for Basher's
office said he remains education first, but did not comment
on plans for this year's budget proposal. Fifty five of
Kentucky's one hundred and seventy one school districts gave teachers
raises smaller than two percent, according to the Kentucky Center
(13:12):
for Economic Policy Analysis, forty two gave raises between two
point one percent and three percent, and thirty four gave
raises of more than three percent. Teaching advocates or urging
the state to step in and increase funding for school districts, including.
Speaker 2 (13:31):
For teacher salaries.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
Matty Shepherd, president of the Jefferson County Teachers Association, pointed
to voters overwhelming twenty twenty four rejection Constitutional Amendment I,
which would have allowed state funds to go to nonpro
public schools, as proof of Kentucky residents support for public
schools and teachers. Voters all said that in twenty twenty four,
(13:57):
we want our.
Speaker 2 (13:58):
School system to be great. Eight.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
Shepherd said, it is a shared responsibility. It absolutely is
the responsibility of the local county, and it is the
responsibility of the state. Sheppard joined a group of educators
in early September to ask the state for a seven
hundred and eighteen million dollars boost to the Kentucky education
(14:21):
budget next year. She said the funds could be applied
to adjust inflationary pressures on a wide range of needs,
including teacher salaries and equipment like buses and chrome books.
Jason Bailey, executive director of the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy,
said the state budget earned earmark raises for educators across
(14:44):
Kentucky in twenty oh eight. He also noted voter's rejection
of Amendment II. The voters spoke loud and clear on
the constitutional amendment last year. They want their public schools
to be the priority. Bailey's Education Committee chair, Senator Steve West,
(15:04):
Republican of Paris, said he'd consider adjusting the state's funding
formula to give more money to poorer school districts next season,
but he cautioned that some money doesn't necessarily make for
better schools. You need a high quality teacher, you need
a smaller class size.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
If you do.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
Those two things, you get down the road a pretty
good distance, And just because you have more money doesn't
guarantee either one of those things.
Speaker 2 (15:34):
West said.
Speaker 1 (15:37):
Gilbert knows firsthand how economic investments could improve her teaching
and her life. Though she's worked in the district for years,
she's watched newer teachers shuffle in and out as the
state teacher shortage rises. According to a report from Kentucky
Legislature's Office of Education Accountability, ten point nine percent of
(16:00):
teachers who worked in Kentucky in twenty twenty two did
not return to teach in the commonwealth the following year,
marking an increase from a decade Prior. Factors cited in
the report included inadequate funding that led to low pay
and poor working conditions. Representative Lisa Wilner, Democrat of Louisville,
(16:22):
who was on House committees for both K through twelve
and post secondary education, said handling educational control.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
Over the local school boards.
Speaker 1 (16:31):
Still has challenges. She pointed to the law passed in
twenty twenty one that made it easier to recall district
tax hikes, which are one of the few ways for
local districts to raise teacher salaries themselves. She said she
plans to push for boosting the state's education budget next session,
(16:52):
and she pointed to several other industries like bourbon and
horse racing that faced no difficulties obtaining tax from the legislature.
We seem to have plenty of funding to give tax
breaks to extremely wealthy industries and corporations, and the fact
that we're not appropriately funding our schools providing enough funding
(17:15):
for teacher raises is to the detriment of our entire state.
Speaker 2 (17:19):
Wilner said.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
If Gilbert, the Floyd County music teacher, moved two hours
away to Fayette County, she'd make twenty thousand dollars more
according to the salary schedule for someone with her experience
in graduate school credentials. It's a nice idea, she said.
She wouldn't have to work extra jobs at the school
(17:43):
and in the community, fewer groceries would go on the
credit card, and she'd have more free time. But with
children and family roots tying her to the area, she
wishes the state would help other professions, she said, don't
have to buy their own supplies. We get more desperate
(18:06):
every year, Gilbert said. And finally, on the front page,
voters get a look at Kentucky Democratic candidates. Do Kentucky
Democrats want fighters or uniners? It might depend on what
office they're voting for. If candidate speeches to a packed
room in Mount Sterling were any indication, all three of
(18:30):
the declared Democratic candidates for US Senate, three candidates for
Kentucky's sixth congressional district, and two top Democrats considering runs
for governor in twenty twenty seven, spoke at the Montgomery
County Democratic Party's Wendell Ford Dinner on Tuesday night. The
candidates for Senate railed hard against Washington Republicans, while the
(18:54):
prospective gubernatorial candidates focused on staying positive about the state's trajectory.
Speaker 2 (19:01):
Those running for.
Speaker 1 (19:02):
The House in central Kentucky struck a balance between the
two approaches. The speech from Rocky Adkins, the governor's senior
advisor and one time political opponent, was the longest and
best received. He praised governorsheer emphasized his path from opponent
to ally, and sounded consistently like someone thinking about running
(19:26):
again for governor. The theme tying it all together was unity.
I'm supposed not to like you because you disagree with
me on an issue. I'm not supposed to like you
because you've got a D by your name and somebody
else may have an R by their name.
Speaker 2 (19:45):
Or an I.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
Adkins said, are you kidding me?
Speaker 2 (19:49):
We are better than that.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
Let me tell you my definition of public service. It's
not putting your foot on somebody's neck and trying to
break it. Public's a nervis is about getting up every
day and trying to help somebody's community to be better
place and somebody's life to be a better life. It's
not exactly a novel political message, but Adkins's speech stood
(20:12):
in contrast to the national Democratic discourse, where many have
said the party needs fighters to push back on the
GOP trifecta controlling Washington. He used the example of his
own twenty nineteen Democratic gubernatorial primary loss to be share
the governor and governor and I had had not one
(20:33):
bad word to say about each other. We didn't pick
at each other, we didn't spit on each other, and
we didn't hate each other, and we didn't say bad
things about each other. You know what that campaign was about.
That campaign was about our individual vision of how to
build a better Kentucky. And I think you deserve that,
(20:54):
a campaign that actually talks about what you care about,
Adkins said. Tea, a teacher in Mount Sterling, said that's
what Kentucky Democrats want. In a place like Kentucky, people
want to hear about uniting. People want to hear about
how folks can come together to get things done, even
little things policy wise, things that affect people day to day.
(21:17):
Lowry said, Adkins stopped short of saying that campaign was
coming in twenty twenty seven, but many Democrats believe he
and Lieutenant Governor Jacqueline.
Speaker 2 (21:27):
Coleman will run.
Speaker 1 (21:29):
Both are barnstorming the state, speaking at events like the
one in Montgomery County. Coleman also spoke at the dinner,
like Adkins, leaning into her work with Bashir and speaking
as if another campaign similar to the one she ran
with Bashar was yet to come. We won our twenty
nineteen election by one and a half votes per precinct.
(21:52):
If we can do it, we can replicate it again
and again and again across Kentucky, because of this economy
that we've built, because of the values that we share,
because of the way that we show up for each other,
Coleman said. Lowry said he and most of the Democrats
gathered at the event love Coleman and Adkins. He'd like
(22:13):
to see both run for governor in twenty twenty seven.
I think I'd like both to run because I think
primaries are healthy. I think it's especially healthy if you
have two strong, well known candidates like they are, that
we can really talk about the issues and channel that
basher spirit, Lowry said. Robert Blanton, the lone Democratic member
(22:36):
of the Clark County Fiscal Court. He thinks both will
run and would support either. He also longed for Democratic
candidates in the state to moderate. The most electable candidate
will be, in my opinion, the one who's a little
bit more towards the center. The citizens of Kentucky would
(22:56):
benefit so much more from that candidate, Blanton said. Tuesday
offered the first glimpse of all three declared Democratic candidates
for US Senate on the same stage in a candidate forum,
not a debate where the candidates interact with each other,
but where they each answer the same question from a moderator.
(23:17):
Pam Stevenson, Logan Forsyth, and Joel Willett all teed off
on what they see as mismanagent in Washington when it
comes to health care and gun violence. All three railed
against the GOP led One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which
extended an income tax cut and cut spending on Medicaid,
(23:38):
among other things. It is wrong that they would take
something that is a human right and make money from
it and then deny you that right because they want
more money. Stevenson, who heads the House Democrats as minority
floor leaders, said Forsyth, an attorney and former Secret Service
agent from Lexington, and Willett both to the harms of
(24:01):
Medicaid cuts the hospitals, particularly rural ones that serve as
a lifeline for patients and far flung parts of the state.
People are going to die. That's all there is to it.
If you will not survive, if you go into cardiac arrest,
you cannot have an episode like that and drive three
hours and be okay.
Speaker 2 (24:22):
For sight, said.
Speaker 1 (24:24):
Will It, a Louisville native and former CIA officer, when
asked about the influencing politics of the role of Senator
Equipped that you needed someone from a humble background like
him when dealing with the member's ultra wealthy part of
the Trump administration. They're not like the average Kentuckian, and
(24:45):
I'm convinced they don't even like the average Kentuckian. You've
got to send somebody there who knows what the struggles
are for families across the state, will It said when
ask about what to do to curb gun violence, a
subject top on mind given recent mass shooting incidents and
the assassination of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk, the candidates all
(25:07):
expressed anger Willet has mentioned two uniquely ways of dying.
First was via fentmanal overdose, which his father passed away
from in twenty nineteen. The other uniquely American way to
die is to get your face blown off and your
freaking elementary school. And that should enrage all responsible gun owners.
(25:29):
There isn't mental health care, there aren't checks. Responsible gun
owners get lumped into the same groups of people who
have no business owning a firearm or carrying a firearm.
I also don't think we need weapons of war in
the streets of America, he said, to applause. Stevenson also
decried shootings and disagreed with conservatives reading of the Second Amendment,
(25:52):
which states a well regulated militia being necessary to the
security of a free state, the right of the people
to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. If
you think that you are not stable, you don't even
have a right to a gun until you are. The
Second Amendment, if you would read it, doesn't say you
(26:14):
can have a gun under all circumstances. It says you
can have a gun, Stevenson said. The three Democratic candidates
for Kentucky's sixth congressional district at the event, Zach Dimbo,
Aaron Petrie, and former state Representative Sherlyn Stevenson struck a
balance between the fight against Republicans and the need to
(26:37):
follow the sheer Atkins and Coleman's example. David Kloiber, a
former Lexington City councilman also running for the seat, did
not appear at the event. In answering a question on agriculture,
the candidates all went hard against the tariffs levied by
the Trump administration, which have led to drops in demands
and prices for Kentucky crops like soybeans. Dimbo spoke of
(26:59):
the increase prices on tractors at companies like John Deere
who have had to make up for dropping profits due
to tariffs.
Speaker 2 (27:07):
That's a double.
Speaker 1 (27:07):
Whammy for soybean farmers in Kentucky, said, what you have
now are farmers who aren't able to sell these soybeans.
And in the meantime, if they want to get equipment
because of these aluminum and steel tariffs, they're getting squeezed
and can't buy equipment. And you know why this is.
This is because Congress has laid down and given up
(27:28):
their power to an out of control White House, Dimbo said,
Stevenson used her answer to hammer home her focus on
the economy working for middle class Kentuckians as opposed to
the wealthy, an early hallmark of her campaign. We must
get back to having working families, farmers, small businesses at
(27:48):
the center of our economy. Our economy doesn't work so
rich people can get richer, and needs to work for all.
Speaker 2 (27:55):
Of us, Stevenson said.
Speaker 1 (27:57):
Petree, who has written about the bourbon industry for sale
several years as a blogger and influencer, went straight to
the state's signature product, decrying the effects of the tariffs.
There's no room in a modern globalized economy for backwards
protectionist trade policy. So the number one thing I would
do is to eliminate these tariffs and move toward non
(28:17):
tariff trade barriers and things that incentivize other countries to
invest in the United States in these industries, Petrie said.
And now, after a short pause, I hope you'll rejoin
us for a continuation of the reading of the Lexington
Harald Leader for today. Thank you again for listening, and
now please stay tuned for more news right here on
(28:38):
Radio I. And now we will continue reading from the
Lexington Herald Leader for today, Friday, October three. Your reader
is Rod Brotherton, and as always, 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 obituaries,
please see their website or call us during week day
(29:00):
at eight five nine four two two sixty three ninety
and we'll 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 starts with Carolyn Taylor ninety five
of Richmond, Donald Barber ninety four of Georgetown, and Edward
Smith seventy five of Lexington. And as I said, if
(29:24):
you'd like any further information about the listings, please visit
legacy dot com slash obituary slash Kentucky and you now
call us at Radio Studios at A five nine four
two two sixty three ninety and we'll try to read
them to you over the phone. Now continuing with the news,
UH Kentucky woman charged after deputies find human remains under
(29:48):
a tarp at her house. A woman in Rockcastle County
was arrested Sunday after human remains were found under a
tarp at her home. According to Kentucky State Police, the
remains were discovered after the rock Castle County Sheriff's Office
learned that Twasha Flores Mayea, forty, had a vehicle belonging
(30:11):
to a missing person. Court documents say deputies went to
Mahia's home on Disputania Road and found the remains in
the yard under a tarp with other objects placed on top.
The remains were sent to the state's Medical Examiner's office
for an autopsy, according to court documents. No cause of
(30:31):
death was or identity were provided in the court documents
or by state police. The vehicle belonged to the missing
person was also found at Mahiah's home, according to court documents.
The family of the missing person told investigators they never
heard of Mahia using the missing person's vehicle. Mahea was
(30:53):
interviewed by police and denied knowing about the remains, According
to court documents. She also said she last the missing
person four days earlier and thought the person had left
for Tennessee. A toxicology report is pending, according to state police.
Mahea's arrest citation says drug involvement is suspected. Maha is
(31:15):
charged with murder first degree robbery, first degree burglary, abuse
of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence, and receiving stolen property.
State police said more charges are pending. Mahia is being
held at the rock Castle County Detention Center on a
one million, twenty five thousand.
Speaker 2 (31:37):
Dollars bond, according to court records.
Speaker 1 (31:41):
And next. Former equine labhead sues UK employees horse racing
groups for defamation. A former head of the University of
Kentucky equine testing laboratory has sued several university employees and
horse racing organizations, alleging they collaborated to defame and illegally
(32:03):
fire him. Scott Stanley was removed as the director of
Equine Analytical Chemistry Lab at UK in March of twenty
twenty four after an investigation into his practices in the lab.
UK said Stanley had falsified and misrepresented test results and
(32:23):
demonstrated a lack of internal controls in the lab. The
university also accused him of having conflicts of interest and
improper hiring practices. Earlier this month, UK fired Stanley from
his role as a professor in the Martin Gatton College
of Agriculture, Food and Environment and revoked his tenure status,
(32:46):
a rare move in higher education now. Stanley alleges that
multiple groups, including UK employees, the Horse Racing Integrity and
Welfare Unity, and the Horse Racing Integrity, Integrity and Safety
Authority worked together to carry out the defamation and false
(33:07):
light injuries against him. The lawsuit said the investigation and
audit released by UK included findings that they knew were
either false or intentionally misleading. As a result, doctor Stanley
has suffered irreparable harm to his professional reputation, has lost
the esteem of his colleagues, and has had his personal
(33:30):
standing in the very close knit equine community diminished, and
has had his employment and tenure terminated, and is unemployable
due to the nature of the conclusions and findings contained
in the audit and the HIWU.
Speaker 2 (33:46):
Report, the lawsuit said.
Speaker 1 (33:49):
Included in the lawsuit, filed September sixteenth in Fayette County
Circuit Court are fifteen people and organizations, including Joseph Reid,
chief Ofccountability Officer and Audit Executive at UK, multiple employees
of UK's Internal Audit Office and Legal counsel, and Nancy Cox,
(34:10):
the former Dean of the College of Agriculture Food and Environment,
the Horse Racing Integrity and Welfare Unit, and several employees
of the Drug Free Sport and the Horse Racing Integrity
and Safety Authority. Stanley is requesting a jury trial, monetary
damages in connection to the alleged defamation and his attorney
(34:33):
fees and costs, and in order preventing all defendants from
further publishing or republishing the false and defamatory statements about him.
We are reviewing the contents of the lawsuit. UK SAT
in a statement Tuesday morning, the university terminated this individual
following serious policy violations, findings affirmed by his peers, the
(34:58):
equine industry and our Board of Trustees. Our investigation into
this matter and the process to terminate followed strict protocols
in accordance with the university's administrative regulations. As this is
pending litigation, we don't have further comment at this time.
(35:19):
Uk announced last September it had removed Stanley from his
position in the lab and was moving for his removal
from his role at the university after an investigation showed
he'd falsified test results for a banned blood doping agent
called erythroprotein and at least four other results from his
(35:40):
lab were called into question, according to an audit released
by UK last year. Stanley has repeatedly denied the allegations
against him, and statements made through his lawyer. Last year,
Lisa Lazarus, CEO of the Horse Racing Integrity and Safety Authority,
said federal law enforcement of his fares were investigating Stanley.
(36:02):
Under HISA, the private anti doping regulatory agency created in
twenty twenty by Congress, Racing has moved toward uniform standards
in drug testing across the country. UK's lab was one
of six in the US accredited by HISA to drug
(36:22):
test samples for horses. UK tested samples for HISA for
eight months from May twenty second, twenty twenty three, to
February of twenty twenty four. In all, HESA sent the
university eight to nine thousand samples from Kentucky and Florida.
But in March of twenty twenty four, the same month
(36:45):
Stanley was removed from his administrative role at the university,
the National Racing Authority dropped UK's testing lab from its
accredited list, meaning drug tests could no longer be performed.
Speaker 2 (36:58):
There for state regulators.
Speaker 1 (37:01):
Stanley was head of the Lab, which also performed drug
tests for the US Equestrian Federation beginning with the lab's
formation in twenty nineteen, and in twenty twenty two, the
lab began performing racing drug testing for the state of Kentucky.
The audit from UK found that in at least one case,
(37:22):
Stanley told HEISA that his lab had found no retropeatin
in a sample received in November ninth, twenty twenty three,
but the lab had not tested for the substance. His
UK lab wasn't even equipped to do that kind of work,
according to the audit. It is unclear what state or
(37:43):
horse was involved. According to UK, in four cases, all
of which were used in racing investigations, the samples lacked
results documentation, meaning no results were recorded in the university system,
even though in two of the cases Stanley email resorts
results to racing officials. The audit could not substantiate any
(38:08):
additional falsifications, but found that the lab's internal systems were
inadequately controlled, and that there were numerous opportunities in the
lab's standard workflow that could potentially allow for sample tampering
or records to be changed, including unfettered access by Stanley
to samples and to records. Earlier this year, UK announced
(38:32):
it had sold the Equine Analytical Chemistry Lab to Eagle
Diagnostics and renamed it Equine Integrity and Anti Doping Science Labs.
Travis Mays, who worked in a similar lab at Texas
A and M University, was appointed the new director. In
our next story, a group of Frankfurt leaders agreed to
(38:55):
move forward with a plan to build a public pool.
Students on Frankfort's Western Hills High School swim team weren't
at a public meeting taking place four miles from their
school on Monday. They were at practice fifteen miles away
in Versailles, when their school and city agreed to build
Franklin County's newest indoor pool and wellness center. The Franklin
(39:20):
County Fiscal Court, City of Frankfort, Franklin County Public Schools,
and the state formalized in agreement on September twenty ninth
to work together on the capital's next recreation amenity. Next,
the group of local leaders will issue a request for proposals,
seeking the right design firm to help them conceptualize the
(39:43):
center that will go on state owned land off Martin
Luther King Junior Boulevard behind the Kentucky Department for Public Health.
We think it's very important for our students to have
a pool where our swim teams can practice without having
to go to other county, said Franklin County Public Schools
Board member Natalie Lyle during the three minute special meeting,
(40:07):
and so I really hope that we can and that
the numbers add up. In a social media post following
the vote, Franklin County Judge Executive Michael Mueller said the state, county,
Fiscal Court, city, and school system have been working on
the project for nearly two years.
Speaker 2 (40:27):
I am so proud of.
Speaker 1 (40:28):
These entities working together for an important amenity which has
been a long knee for our community.
Speaker 2 (40:35):
He said.
Speaker 1 (40:36):
This is the first step and will require community support
and work, and we can do this. Franklin County has
gone without a year round aquatic facility since October of
twenty twenty one. That's when Kentucky State University's aquatic facilities,
which are open to the public, closed due to a
(40:57):
boiler failure. At the time, it was the only remaining
indoor swim facility in frankfort. The local nonprofit Swim with Purpose,
started in twenty twenty three to help fund a one
million dollar restoration project necessary to reopen the facility. At
the end of July, Swim with Purpose had raised four
(41:19):
hundred and twenty five thousand dollars, according to the State Journal.
The city operates the Juniper Hills Aquatic Center during the
summer months between Memorial and Labour Days. This year, in August,
the pool was only open on weekends. In twenty nine,
the city permanently closed its only public pool in East
(41:40):
Frankfort Park due to too many costly repairs. Access to
public pools, especially those offering swim lessons, decreases the risk
of accidental drowning, which kills approximately four thousand people a year.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is
(42:01):
the leading cause of death for children ages.
Speaker 2 (42:03):
One to four.
Speaker 1 (42:05):
Public pools provided a place for exercise and can foster
a sense of community. According to the National Drowning Prevention Alliance,
Public pools, especially with wellness centers attached, also stand as
a source of employment of all types and next. The
(42:26):
Pope calls for ecological conversion in climate speech. In his
first major climate speech, Pope Leo the fourteenth renewed the
Vatican's vow to remain at the forefront of the movement
to halt global warming. We must shift from collecting data
to caring, and from environmental discourses to an ecological conversion
(42:50):
that transforms both personal and communal lifestyles, Pope Leo the
fourteenth said on Tuesday, standing in front of a melting
block of at the Vatican. He spoke at the opening
of the Raising Hope for Climate Justice conference. The message
builds on his predecessor, Pope Francis's legacy of advocating for
(43:11):
climate action at a time when countries and companies have
retreated from their pledges to rein in planet warming greenhouse gases.
The US in particular, has taken a sharp turn away
from climate action under President Trump through governments, though governments
elsewhere are falling short on commitments to cut carbon emissions.
(43:34):
Citizens need to take action an active role in political
decision making at national, regional and local levels. Only then
will it be possible to mitigate the damage done to
the environment, The pontiff said. The Catholic Church has played
a significant role in shaping climate conversations since Pope Francis's
(43:56):
publication of the Laudato Sea in cyclical in twenty fifteen.
The document, released shortly before the signing of the landmark
Paris Agreement, criticized consumerism and called on people to act
to protect the planet. A decade later, much remains to
be done, Pope Leo the fourteenth said. Last year, global
(44:20):
carbon emissions hit a record high. We are in a
very difficult time and desperately looking for leadership, said Chiara Martinelli,
director of Climate Action Network Europe. The Pope quoted Laudatte Dium,
a second document released by Pope Francis in twenty twenty
three that warned some have chosen to deride the increasingly
(44:43):
evident signs of climate change, to ridicule those who speak
of global warming, and even to blame the poor for
the very things that affect them the most. The most
effective solutions won't come from individuals, but from major political
decisions at a national and international level. Pope Leo said
(45:06):
upcoming international summits, including the United Nations sponsored COP thirty
climate gathering, need to listen to the cry of the
earth and the cry of the poor. Before he spoke,
Brazilian Minister for the Environment Marina Silva invited the Pope
to attend the summit, which will be held in the
(45:27):
Amazonian city of Bellem. He did not confirm if he
would attend next UK synagogue attack kills two prompting crisis meeting.
At least two people were killed in a vehicle and
knife attack on a synagogue in Manchester, causing the UK's
(45:48):
Prime Minister Keir Starmer to leave a European summit in Denmark.
Speaker 2 (45:52):
Early.
Speaker 1 (45:53):
Starmer planned to host a meeting of the government's emergency
committee known as COBRA, in response to the attack on
jam Kapur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar. On
his way back to Britain from Copenhagen, Starmer said that
additional officers were being deployed to synagogues across the country.
Police are treating the incident as terrorism. We will do
(46:18):
everything to keep our Jewish community safe, he said, describing
the attack as shocking. At least two of the victims
had died, while another three are in serious condition. The
Greater Manchester Police confirmed in a statement on social media
platform x the suspect attacker was also believed to be
(46:39):
dead after officers fired shots.
Speaker 2 (46:42):
They said.
Speaker 1 (46:44):
Police earlier said at least Four members of the public
were being treated by paramedics for stab wounds and injuries
inflicted by the vehicle. Officers were called to the incident
at Heaton Parks Hebrews Congregation Synagogue in the Crumsall area
of Manchester just after nine thirty am by a member
of the public who stated that he had witnessed a
(47:06):
car being driven toward members of the public. According to police,
the death of the suspected attacker cannot currently be confirmed
due to safety issues surrounding suspicious items on his person.
Police said a bomb disposal unit was called to the
scene and the sound of a controlled explosion could later
(47:26):
be heard on footage aired by broadcasters. Police said that
a large number of people were worshiping at the synagogue
at the time of the attack, adding that they had
been held inside the building while the area was made
safe before being evacuated. King Charles the Third issued a
statement saying he was deeply shocked and saddened by the attack,
(47:50):
and condemnation of the incident came from across the UK's
political spectrum. Kimmy Badenock, leader of the main opposition Concernedrivative Party,
called it vile and disgusting. While Reform UK leader Nigel
Ferrar said he was horrified. Liberal Democratic leader Ed Davey
(48:10):
said he was horrified and appalled. No details were immediately
disclosed about the suspected offender or as possible motives. Nevertheless,
Britain's Jewish community has been on alert for the past
two years after a rise in incidents of anti Semitism
following Hamas's murderous October seventh, twenty twenty three attack on
(48:34):
Israel and the subsequent Israeli response in Gaza. The Jewish
community have seen rising incidents of anti Semitism over recent
times and have been living with a higher state of
anxiety because of the times that we're living in. Greater
Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham told the BBC Radio the Community
(48:56):
Security Trust, a charity set up by to protect Jews
of Britain's origin, reported a surge in anti Semitic incidents
after the conflict in Gaza flared up, and while numbers
are lower this year than last, they remain at a
higher level than before the Hamas tack a man of
(49:16):
rising death toll in Gaza. Pro Palestinian protesters have held
regular demonstrations in London and other major UK cities, including
in Liverpool this week during the governing Labour Party's annual conference.
The main opposition Conservative Party is due to hold its
conviition in Manchester this weekend. Israel's escalation of military operations
(49:42):
in Gaza have resulted in increasing tensions within Stormer's administration, which,
while saying Israel has a right to self defense, has
increasingly questioned the proportionality of the Israeli response. The Hamas
run Health Ministry says more than sixty thousand Palestinians have
(50:02):
lost their lives during the Israeli campaign and next FCPS
budget director tells investigator about her claims against the superintendent.
Speaker 2 (50:14):
In a Tuesday letter.
Speaker 1 (50:16):
To an independent investigator, the attorney for Fayette County Budget
Director and Sampson Grimes claims the superintendent altered her budget
presentation script prior to a May school board meeting. Before
the May eighth school board meeting, Fayette Superintendent Demetrius Liggins
altered the wording of miss grimes script, substituting difference for deficit,
(50:42):
effectively obfuscating Miss Grime's message to the board that the
current budget proposal was in a deficit and weakening her
ability to address and advise on the situation. Attorney Brandon
Volker sent in a letter to Ashland Attorney Lee Lathrow.
Deputy Superintendent Houston Barber also stringently signaled not to describe
(51:06):
the budget as in a deficit, demonstrating a clear pattern
of intentionally concealing the financial situation of the district from
the board and the general public, said the letter. Vulker
shared the letter with The Herald Leader late Tuesday afternoon.
He also sent it to several lawmakers, including Republican Senate
(51:28):
President Robert Stivers and Speaker of the House David Osborne,
the Kentucky Education Commissioner Robbie Fletcher, and Kentucky Auditor Allison Ball,
who is conducting a special examination of FCPS. Lawmakers recently
summoned Liggins to Frankfort to explain the budget problems. Liggins
(51:49):
has said the eight hundred and twenty six point two
million dollar budget the board passed earlier in September is balanced,
but all summer long, the district has dealt with a
budget crisis that includes a prior sixteen million dollar deficit
and a severely declining carry forward balance from about forty
(52:10):
three million dollars to twenty six point three millions, which
Liggans has said is the true contingency. School board members
hired Lathro to investigate Grime's claims that Liggans discriminated and
retaliated against her. Samson Grimes filed a lawsuit against Ligans
(52:30):
and the school district on September tenth, saying he retaliated
against her after she repeatedly tried to make the district's
declining financial situation known. Samson Grimes was placed on administrative
leave from August fifteenth until September twenty fifth. Although Grimes
(52:51):
has been allowed to return to work, Vulker said she
has been stripped of her job duties and of her
access to some financial documents. MS Grimes did what every
employee and every public servant should do.
Speaker 2 (53:06):
She told the truth.
Speaker 1 (53:08):
She upheld the law, Vulgar said in the letter to
the investigator. On Tuesday night, District spokesperson Miranda Scully said,
at this is a pending legal matter, we are unable
to comment at this time. Liggins has said that he
did not delve deeply enough into the district's budget problems,
(53:30):
but is doing so now. Ligan's supporters point to the
district's academic achievements and insists Liggins has been accountable and
has led with integrity. Lathrow is asking to meet with
Samson Grimes, who wants to answer Lathro's questions in public
with the school board president, but neither has taken place.
(53:53):
Vulker made several claims in the letter to Lathro, including
that on May eighth, Samson Grimes shared a copy with
Liggins of her proposed script for the FY twenty six
tentative budget to present to the school board. In her
proposed presentation, Grimes detailed the district's financial position, citing a
sixteen million dollar deficit between expenditures and revenues. A deficit
(54:19):
is not permitted to be recommended or voted on, according
to school board policy, Vocal said in the letter. Volkler's
letter said that Samson Grimes was targeted, stripped of oversight,
passed over for promotion, and unlawfully placed on administrative leave
after she tried to make sure that financial mismanagement did
(54:39):
not occur, the letter said. On July twenty ninth, twenty
twenty five, at a budget Solutions work group meeting, Grimes
informed Barber that her projections for the fiscal year twenty
twenty five ending fund balance were not forty two million dollars,
as orisenally directed by Finance Director Rodney Jackson, but approximately
(55:01):
fifteen million dollars. The substantial difference indicates that a portion
of the contingency was spent without prior board notice or approval,
violating board policy, Grime said. The letter to Lathro said
on May second, Grimes advised Barbered the district could not
afford to provide a one percent raise to the staff.
(55:23):
She said it would be irresponsible to advise it, and
the board could do so given the States district deficit situation.
In response, the letter said, Barber discouraged miss Grimes from
sharing her advice. The letter said Liggins stated that he
did not probe deeply enough into the cause of the
sixteen million dollar shortfall, but Volker said she was informed
(55:45):
several times by Grimes that the district would lack sufficient
funds without extreme measures being taken. On April seventeenth, after
being asked to provide Ligans with suggested reductions, Grahams did so,
only to be met with perplexity and then have each
of her suggestions rejected.
Speaker 2 (56:05):
The letter said.
Speaker 1 (56:07):
It set On April twenty second, Grime sent Liggans a
spreadsheet of reductions and other detailed budget documentation. On May second,
ms Grimes alerted Ligans to the district required an additional
eighteen million dollars to balance the budget and cover projected shortfalls,
and that at one percent raise was not feasible. On
May eighth, Ligans represented to Grimes that he had reviewed
(56:29):
the financial document's Grimes furnished him and even made his
own calculations regarding the budget. According to the letter, Grime
said she met with Ligans August twenty ninth to twenty
twenty four to tell him that twenty million dollars in
budget cuts were necessary for the twenty twenty five budget
season and difficult financial decisions were impending. She also met
(56:50):
with him again on October twenty second of twenty twenty
four to inform Ligan's cuts needed to be made during
the fiscal year twenty twenty four working budget session. She
never once stated that the district was in a solid
financial position, Vulkar said.
Speaker 2 (57:04):
In the letter.
Speaker 1 (57:07):
And this concludes the reading of the Lexington Herald Leader
for today Friday, October three. Your reader has been Rod Brotherton.
Thank you as always for listening and now please stay
tuned for sports news right here on Radio I
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