10.8.25

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good morning everybody, and welcome to the reading of the
Lexington Herald Leader. Today is Wednesday, October eighth, and your
reader is Rod Brotherton. As a reminder, 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,

(00:20):
we got some rain finally yesterday and it was a bunch.
Our seven day weather forecast starts with today's forecast a
breezy in the morning and clear and cooler Tonight with
a high of seventy one, low forty five. Thursday plenty
of sunshine, high sixty six, but the low goes down

(00:40):
to forty three. We're getting toward the end of the
summer weather. Friday sunny and pleasant, high seventy one, low
forty six. Saturday mostly sunny, high seventy two, low forty seven.
Sunday mostly Sunday again with a high of seventy and
a low forty nine. Monday nothing but sunshine, high low

(01:00):
fifty two, and Tuesday warm with plenty of sunshine, high
seventy eight, low fifty six. Looking at the almanac, Yesterday's
high and low seventy nine and sixty four, normally seventy
three and fifty one. Last year it was a six
and sixty. The record high in nineteen forty one was
ninety three degrees and the record low in nineteen eighty

(01:23):
was a bone chilling thirty on. For the precipitation front Monday,
we had twenty nine hundreds of an inch and although
it's not reported yet, yesterday Lexington in different areas received
four inches or more. We really needed that, and month

(01:44):
to date eyes of Monday was twenty nine hundreds, the
normal seventy three year to date forty six point seven
excluding yesterday normal thirty nine point three four, and last
year we'd had forty one point one five. Record for
yesterday's date, which will be updated was two point one
eight back in twenty seventeen. For the sun and the moon,

(02:08):
the sun rose this morning at seven forty one, It
will set tonight at seven eleven. The moon will come
up at seven point fifty five this evening and set
at nine twenty seven tomorrow morning.

Speaker 2 (02:19):
And our weather.

Speaker 1 (02:20):
Trivia what type of cloud has been mistaken for UFOs?
A lenticular cloud which is saucer shaped. All right, let's
go look at the news. The first story McGrath launches
second US Senate bid, Heman McGrath is back. The former

(02:43):
Democratic candidate for Congress and Senate announced Monday she's running
for Senator Mitch McConnell's seat again in twenty twenty six.
Although Kentucky has voted reliably read in federal elections for
decades and President Trump earned sixty four point six percent

(03:04):
of the last vote to easily win the state, McGrath
said her anti Trump campaign can win. It was the
Trump administration's pushes on cuts to Medicaid, spending, tariff and
the economy that spurred her decision to run again. She
said in an interview with a Herald Leader. What we're

(03:25):
seeking from folks in power right now is not what
most Kentuckians voted for. I don't think any Kentuckians voted
for higher prices or less health care. They didn't vote
on more taxes in the form of tariffs and putting
rural hospitals at risk. That's what we're getting right now.

(03:47):
And these folks in office, these Republicans, they just didn't
fail to make things better, They intentionally made things worse,
the Grath said. The Grath has run hard on her
background in previous races, emphasizing her time breaking barriers as
the first woman to fly a combat mission for the

(04:07):
US Marine Corps. In various videos.

Speaker 2 (04:10):
She said she was one of many pretty ticked off
Kentuckians and called back to her resume as somebody that
has always stepped up.

Speaker 1 (04:22):
I feel more and more that we need to step
up right now. Kentucky deserves a senator that has the
courage to stand up for Kentucky. And I think this
open seat is an opportunity to have a US Senator
who is actually a voice for Kentuckians and not for
his own power, or for billionaires or a rubber stamp

(04:45):
for mar Lago. McGrath said this is not McGrath's first
run at replace McConnell to announced in February he won't
run again. She ran against him in twenty twenty, losing
by near nearly twenty points, despite bringing in a record
ninety four million dollars, mostly from out of state, to

(05:08):
her campaign. The amount of funds raised compared to candidates
and states seen as more likely to flip blue gave
some Democrats in Kentucky and across the country heartburn. Maybe
if those funds were raised from more competitive races, the
thinking goes, then Democrats might have flipped a few extra

(05:29):
House seats or another Senate seat like North Carolina. What
does McGrath have to say for those complaints? For one,
she points out that she outperformed the top of the ticket.
Former President Biden lost to Trump by about twenty six
points in Kentucky in twenty twenty oh and the circumstances

(05:53):
have also changed. She said, this is a different race.
It's a different year. Mid term, McGrath said, I ran
against a thirty year incumbent who is the Senate majority leader.
Come on, no one's going to promise me a rose
garden in Kentucky. But we have a democratic governor and

(06:15):
this is an open seat, and with so much going
on in our country and here in Kentucky, we absolutely
can make this race and we absolutely can win. Trout's
popularity has fallen since assuming office earlier this year, and
an aggregation of nationwide polling conducted by an analyst, Nate Silver,

(06:38):
chose that about fifty three percent of Americans disapprove of
the president, a more than ten point jump from January.
McGrath first became a star in the national democratic circles
with her twenty eighteen run against sixth Congressional District Representative
Andy Barr, who is now one of several Republicans seeking

(07:00):
to replace McConnell. She gave Barr the closest race he
faced in his fourteen years on the ballot since flipping
the Central Kentucky just to cred and then in twenty twenty,
McGrath's positioning on partisan issues took fire from the left
and right. Republicans cast her as too liberal for the state.

(07:22):
Some progressives took issues with her early campaign comment that
McConnell was blocking Trump from getting things done. In her
statement that she would have voted for Supreme Court of
the United States Justice Brett Kavanaugh, of Trump nominee, she
reversed her stance on shortly after making the comment. This

(07:42):
time around, the Grath is avoiding a particular brand within
the Democratic Party. When I asked if it was fair
to call her a moderate Democrat, McGrath responded that she
was a common sense Democrat. Nobody can put me in
a box common sense Democrat. I can think for myself.

(08:03):
Nobody tells me from the party what to do, or
what to think or how to act. I listened to
my fellow Kentuckians. I'm a mom of three kids, I'm
a United States Marine, and you can look through all
the things that I've said, and I've said a lot.
Now I haven't been quite the last five six years.
You can see where I stand on the issues of
the day, McGrath said. McGrath has indeed remained involved in

(08:26):
politics since her twenty twenty huge loss. She's been a
regular on progressive media like cable TV station MSNBC, using
her military bonafides to push back on Trump administration foreign
policy decisions. She's also spoken out against US Secretary of
Defense Pete Hegseth, a former Fox News host who has

(08:48):
said that women were not mentally suited combat roles. On
Israel's campaign in Gaza, which began with Homas's surprise murderous
attack killing twelve one hundred people in Israel and has
reported resulted in the deaths of more than sixty six
thousand Palestinians, McGrath expressed disapproval at is Israeli's tactics, and

(09:11):
the issue has been a hot one in democratic politics
party orthodoxy on criticism of the long time US ally
in the Middle East starting to break leading with her
desire for the Israeli hostages held in Gaza to be returned.
McGrath said she'd push for a surge and humanitarian aid
to the region. The tactics that have been used in

(09:35):
Gaza using starvation as a weapon are wrong. We absolutely
need to have leaders that are talked to our longtime
ally and make it known that this is wrong and
we should not be using American weapons in an inhumane
way anywhere, McGrath said. Other issues McGrath said she would

(09:57):
home in on, including fighting for paid family leave at
the federal level, rolling back Trump's tariffs, lowering drug prizes,
and investing more in education. She has also stayed involved
in politics via multiple political action committees. Those packs raised
millions in support, primarily Democratic candidates across the country and

(10:20):
had more than six hundred thousand dollars collectively as of
this summer. Ask which Democrats in the country she admired,
McGrath pointed to Basher as well as former service members
running in politically purple states. She mentioned Congresswoman Abigail Spangerer,

(10:41):
who's running for governor in Virginia. Senator Mark Kelly, Democrat
of Arizona, has good examples those. She said she appreciates
the Democratic Party's big tent inclusion of all stripes. McGrath
joins a crowded number of Democrats for McConnell's seat. One

(11:02):
commonality between them all government service backgrounds. A former US
Navy judge, Advocate general, State House Minority leader Pam Stevenson,
the Democrat of Louisville, has been running for half a year.
Two newer candidates, attorney and former US Secret Service Logan

(11:22):
Forsyth and former CIA officer Joel Willett, announced their bids
last month. McGrath noted a huge contrast in their backgrounds
with those of the GOP front runners, all of whom
started their political careers as McConnell interns. All of the

(11:43):
Democrats have a background in protecting our country and serving
our country, and all of the candidates on the other
side are either in business for themselves or lifelong politicians.
I think that's a huge distinction right there. Kentuckians will
have a choice, and a prime is good, McGrath said.

(12:03):
Another potential candidate whose name is circulating among Kentucky Democrats,
Dale Romans, one of the most successful horse trainers in
Churchill down's history, Romans has not denied interest in the race,
despite the markedly high interest in the race for Democrats,
Most outsider observers think the seat is a lock for

(12:25):
the GOP. The Cook Political Report, Sabato's Crystal Ball, and
Inside Elections all rate the race is either safe or
solid Republican. Joining Barr on the GOP side are former
Attorney General Daniel Cameron and Lexington tech entrepreneur Nate Morris.

(12:46):
While Morris, Cameron, and Barr are the three running professional campaigns,
Michael Ferris, a veteran and small business owner, is also
making appearances at events across the state. A spokesperson for Varr,
Alex Blizi, said in a statement his candidate would relish
the opportunity to face McGrath, Andy Barr and President Trump.

(13:11):
Beat Amy McGrath once, and they'll do it again, Malizi wrote,
together they defeated her in what was once a battleground
district despite her millions of dollars from coastal elites and
an endless airtime from the liberal media. We can't wait
for another big, beautiful Maga rally when Andy's the GOP nominee.

(13:35):
To make sure Amy McGrath is never a US senator.
One Republican group in Washington also waxed confident. A National
Republican Senatorial Committee, which is dedicated to electing Republicans to
the US Senate, said McGrath would light Democratic donor dollars

(13:57):
on fire. President Trump won Kentucky by over thirty points,
and we're confident voters will elect a Republican to continue
fighting for them and the America First agenda in the
US Senate. Amy McGrath will never be a US Senator,

(14:18):
but we look forward to watching her light Democratic donors
dollars on fire. Trying in RSC, Regional Press Secretary Nick
Puligia wrote, next release of Ronald Exstanis draws attention of
the White House. The White House says it looked into

(14:40):
the release of a man who stabbed a six year
old boy to death in Woodford County ten years ago.
Ronald Extantis was released from prison Wednesday after serving ten
years of a twenty year sentence. In twenty eighteen, Extantis
was found not gilly by recent of insanity and the

(15:01):
death of Logan Tipton. He was found guilty but mentally
ill on charges that he assaulted Logan's father and siblings. Extantus,
a nurse who did not know the Tipton family, drove
from Indiana to Versailles, and in the early hours of
December seventh, twenty fifteen, came to the family's unlocked Douglas

(15:23):
Avenue home and assaulted them. Logan died after being stabbed
in the head with a butcher knife as he lay
in bed. Extantus forty two will be on supervised release
until June eighteenth, according to the Kentucky Department of Correction's website.
I can confirm the White House is looking into this.

(15:46):
It's wholly unacceptable for a child killer to walk free
after just several years in prison, White House Press Secretary
Caroline Levitt said in a post on the social media
platform x Saturday morning. Along with the statement he was
reposted by the White House, Levitt shared a post by

(16:09):
Matt Walsh in which Walt said this case should be
getting a lot more attention, should be massively viral. We
need the White House on it. A man who broke
into a house and stabbed a child to death is
now walking free. One of the most heinous miscarriages of

(16:33):
justice in American history. The family expressed its dissatisfaction with
Extantis' release in an interview with WLX eighteen earlier this week.
Your life should be at least life in prison without
the possibility of parole, Logan's father, Dean Tipton told the

(16:56):
television station. The Tipton family and its supporters all so
protested the jury's verdict when it was handed down. In
twenty eighteen, a judge ordered mental health treatment for Extantis
during his incarceration. A psychologist for Extantas' defense had testified
during the trial that he suffers from psychosis because of

(17:19):
mental illness. In twenty twenty, the Kentucky Supreme Court upheld
the verdict in Extantas's case after his attorneys argue that
the split verdict handed down by a jury in Fayette
County was inconsistent and now some good news. Three physicists

(17:39):
in the US share Nobel for the work in quantum mechanics.
John Clark, Michael H. Devonert, and John M. Martinez were
awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics Tuesday in Sweden for
showing that properties of quantum mechanics, the physical law that

(18:00):
rule the subatomic realm, could be observed on a system
large enough to see with the naked eye. They will
share a prize of eleven million Swedish kroner about one
point one seven million dollars. There is no advanced technology
today that does not rely on quantum mechanics, Olly Erickson,

(18:21):
chair of the NOBIL Committee for Physics, said during the
announcement of the award. The Laureate's discoveries, he added, paved
the way for technology such as the cell phone, cameras
and fiber optic cables. It also helped lay the groundwork
for current attempts to build a quantum computer, a device

(18:43):
that could compute process information at speeds that would not
be possible with classical digital computers. All three are professors
at American universities. Clark, who studied at Cambridge University, has
been a professor of physics at the University of California,
Berkeley since nineteen sixty nine. He is now Professor Emeritus

(19:07):
at the university's graduate school. Deverett, who was born in
Paris and received his doctorate there, as Professor Emeritus and
Applied Physics at the Yale School of Engineering and Applied Science.
Martinez holds a doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley.
After teaching at the university, he most recently worked with

(19:29):
Google's quantum artificial intelligence team. He is also Professor emeritus
of physics at the University of California, Santa Barbara. The
three scientists were recognized for a series of experiments conducted
in nineteen eighty four. In nineteen eighty five, they proved
the existence of too quantum phenomena on a system visible

(19:52):
to the human eye. The principles of quantum mechanics described
the strange properties behaviors of single or small collections of
elementary particles. In one such behavior, a particle can move
through a barrier even if it does not have enough
energy to do so. This is called quantum tunneling, and

(20:16):
it had only been confirmed at a very small scale.
Another property of subatomic particles is that they can emit
and absorb energy only in fixed, discrete amounts. This is
known as the quantization of energy. With large numbers of particles, however,
these tiny quantum effects generally become insignificant, and it is

(20:41):
why humans made of trillions of atoms cannot tunnel through walls.
The laureates of this year's Physics Price showed for the
first time that quantum tunneling is observable in a system
may call macroscopic because it was big enough to get
one's grubby fingers on. According to their paper describing the discovery,

(21:05):
they also showed that energy of this system was quantized
or existed at fixed levels. The work of Devereret and
Martinez has not remained entirely academic. In twenty fourteen, Google
hired Martinez and many of the researchers who worked alongside
him at the University of California, Santa Barbara. At Google,

(21:30):
he and his team built a machine that achieved what
was called quantum supremacy, which was seen as a key
milestone in the decades long effort to build a viable
quantum computer. Martinez left Google in twenty twenty and in
twenty twenty two became a co founder of qolob, a

(21:52):
quantum computing startup. Devererett is now the chief scientist in
Google's quantum Computing division. As the tech giant races other
labs across industry in academia to fulfill the promise of
this strange and powerful technology, a true quantum computer could

(22:12):
accelerate the progress of drug discovery or other scientific research.
It could also break the encryption that protects computers vital
to national security and next. Lacking a quorum, London City
Council meeting is canceled. A London City Council meeting was

(22:34):
canceled Monday night after several council members opted not to
show up. London Mayor Randall Weddell began the meeting at
five point thirty one pm and only council members Jim
Baker and Donegale Wilson House were in attendance. Council members
jud Weaver, Kelly Green, Anthony Ortega and Justin Young were

(22:54):
not present. The meeting was then canceled because of a
lack of a quorum. Oh action related to city business
was taken. Wettle still allowed members of the public to
speak despite the meeting being adjourned. Items on the meeting's
agenda including improving minutes from previous meetings, appointing Housing Authority

(23:15):
Board members, and reading an ordinance about levying the property
tax rate. Weddell said he expected council members not to
show up. The public needs to be heard, whether it's
from me or against me, or for council or against them,
Wettle said We're elected to be here to hear the
voices of those that vote us in or don't vote

(23:38):
us in. We need to take accountability and that's for
both branches of this government.

Speaker 2 (23:45):
The move is the latest.

Speaker 1 (23:46):
Chapter in an intense few between the Council and Weddell.
On September fifth, the Council impeached Wettle after they unanimously
agreed he committed misconduct or will will neglect on five
of the eleven charges he faced. Of those, the Council
voted unanimously that three of the counts warranted removing him

(24:09):
from office. Immediately after the hearing, the Council appointed Tracy Handley,
a London resident and retired trial science consultant, as acting mayor.
Wedt'll appealed the impeachment ruling September eleventh and Laurel County
Circuit Court, and on September twenty ninth, Judge David Williams

(24:30):
ruled that the Council failed to present sufficient grounds for
impeaching Weddel and thus reinstated him as mayor, effective immediately.
The Council has appealed William's ruling and next National Guard
troops expected soon in Chicago. Hundreds of National Guard troops
were expected soon in the Chicago area. After a night

(24:52):
when rainy skies dampened protests, immigrant neighborhoods hunkered down and
tensions rose between President Trump up and Illinois Governor J. B. Prisker.
The deployment, which includes some two hundred Guard troops from Texas,
is the latest in an extraordinary series of military incursions
in American cities that has intensified over the past week.

(25:14):
Particularly and Democratic strongholds. The state of Illinois and the
City of Chicago contest the deployment in court. A judge
declined to immediately block it and schedule a hearing for Thursday.
The Trump administration also tried to deploy troops from Texas
and California to Portland, Oregon, but a judge in Oregon
blocked those moves from now. Late Monday, a coalition of

(25:37):
cities from across the country filed a Friend of the
Court briefing supporting Oregon's attempt to block National Guard soldiers
from being used in US cities and claiming that Trump
had plans to send them to nineteen more states. In
their brief, the city leaders said they were gravely concerned
that any protest, real or perceived within their borders will

(25:59):
result in another their unnecessary deployment of the military. Federal
law generally prohibits the military from conducting domestic law enforcement,
but Trump said Monday he was considering invoking the Insurrection
Act if necessary to try to justify sending troops. The law,
enacted in eighteen o seven, authorizes the president to use

(26:21):
the military to suppress an insurrection if a state government
requests it. Invoking the law may allow Trump to bypass
court rulings that have blocked the deployment on other legal grounds.
A military official who spoke on the condition of anonymity
to discuss operational matters, said that the Texas National Guard troops
were expected to begin operations in Illinois no sooner than Wednesday.

(26:44):
And here's what else to know. Tensions in Chicago of
warning networks moved into high gear. His neighborhoods braced for
another escalation of immigrant enforcement. Construction businesses kept warehouse doors
open to the better spot any approaching federal aid, restaurants
cut back their hours, and business owners made their own deliveries.

(27:05):
In Broadview, Illinois, a Chicago suburb home to ice processing facilities,
officials imposed a curfew, the limiting protest to daylight hours,
saying it was to protect demonstrators from federal attacks by
agents state rights. On Pritzker's and Governor Gavin Newsom of
California threatened to withdraw their states from the National Governor's Association,

(27:27):
a bipartisan group, if it does not denounce the deployment
of National Guard troops across state lines against the will
of the states involved. In a letter to all fellow governors,
Knewsom wrote that the association had lost its voice and
its way in the face of the Trump administration's onslaught
against democratic norms, and called on them to tell the
federal government not to infringe on state sovereignty. Immigration arrests

(27:52):
and the rate of arrest in Portland and Chicago was
relatively low before the Trump administration ramped up enforcement operation.
Rates of violent crimes I have been declining across the
country for decades, and in many cities, including Chicago, they
are at or near record lows. And now, after a
short pause, I hope you'll rejoin us for a continuation

(28:14):
of the reading of the Lexington Herald Leader for today.
Thank you, as always for listening and now please stay
tuned for more news right here on Radio I. Now
we will continue reading from the Lexington Herald Leader for today, Wednesday,
October eighth. Your reader is Rod Brotherton, and as always

(28:36):
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 ee their website
or call us during the week days at eight five
nine four two two sixty three ninety and we will
be glad to read the entire obituary for you. And
I'll repeat the number after the listings. And today's obituary

(28:59):
day has two names. They are Stanley Bruce Jefferson, Sr.
Sixty eight of Lexington and Roger cart seventy eight of Lexington.
And if you would like any further information, please visit
legacy dot com slash obituary slash Kentucky or you can

(29:21):
call us at our Radio I studios at eight five
nine four two two sixty three ninety and we will
try to read them to you over the phone. Now
let's return to the news. A quiet day in Israel
marks two years since the October seventh attack from Tel Aviv, Israel,

(29:43):
marked the second anniversary of the Hamas led attack that
begun its longest war in subdued fashion on Tuesday, with
new hopes of ending the conflict, but with hostages still
in captivity and its exhausted military adding to the death
toll of Palestinians and to the destruction in the Gaza strip.

(30:06):
The arrival of the Jewish harvest festival Sukkut, a national
and religious holiday, shut down most businesses across Israel for
the day. The government delayed official remembrances of the war's
traumatic first day until October sixteenth, after the end of
the high holiday season, but Tuesday's milestone was inescapable. There

(30:32):
were quiet gatherings that some of the kibbutzm near Gaza
that suffered the most in the massacres of October seventh,
twenty twenty three, and informal events drew participants throughout the country.
In the city of Rehovot, south of Tel Aviv, about
twenty runners with t shirts with messages advocating the return

(30:54):
of the hostages made their way early in the morning
along a popular route surrounding the town, which is home
to Nimrod Cohen, a soldier held hostage, passing cars hanked
in solidarity, Hundreds of israel Ays came to the Hostages
Square in the center of Tel Aviv, silently meditating over

(31:16):
art installations and memorials to those still captive and citizens
murdered on October seventh, on or while in captivity. Israel
believes that about twenty living hostages are still being held
in Gaza, along with the remains of twenty eight others
who died in captivity. Elana Jahav sixty nine, a therapist,

(31:41):
said October seventh had opened so many wounds that it
was impossible to care for everyone who was suffering. If
you were there, or someone in your family was there,
or you only saw a video, it will be a
lot of years of treatment, she said. Tislil Sessson, thirty eight,

(32:04):
and her husband had driven from Lehaven, east of Gaza
with their three young children. It was important for us
as parents to bring them here to remember and to pray.
She said. Maybe in a couple of days the hostages
will be free. We hope. In far Azah, a tiny

(32:27):
kibbutz less than two miles from Gaza, where at least
sixty two neighbors were murdered and nineteen taken hostage. Several
dozen residents held a memorial that began with a moment
of silence at six point twenty nine a m That
was the moment on a Saturday morning when Hamas began

(32:50):
launching thousands of rockets, overwhelming Israel's air defense system. Under
cover of that aerial onslaught was the main Hamas offensive,
an invasion by thousands of assailants who swarmed across the
fence separating Gaza from border towns and dozens of tiny

(33:11):
agricultural communities. They murdered residents in their homes, gunned young
people down at a music festival, and overran Israeli military basis.
All told, Hamas murdered some twelve hundred people, most of
them civilians, and took about two hundred and fifty captives

(33:33):
back into Gaza. It was the bloodiest day in Israel's history,
and the deadliest for Jews anywhere since the Holocaust. A
shocked Israel mobilized to unleash a devastating military response that
has killed more than sixty seven thousand Palestinians in the

(33:54):
past two years, including both civilians and combatants, which is
according to the Health Ministry. It has wounded tens of
thousands more, flattened thousands of buildings, and reduced much of
the territory's infrastructure and its landscape to rubble, shrapnel, and sand.

(34:15):
On both sides of the Israeli Gaza border, the war
seemed far from over on Tuesday, though Hamas is weakened
and its arsenal depleted. After seven am, rocket sirens sounded
a nativ ha Asara in Israeli community on Gaza's northern border,
and the Israeli military se a projectile had fallen in

(34:38):
the area. In Deir al Ballah. In Gaza, Israeli warplanes
could be heard overhead at one am and again at
five thirty am as the sun rose, gunfire could be
heard in the eastern part of the town, along with
the blasts of occasional artillery rounds. Ahmed Ladad fifty one,

(35:02):
a Gaza resident who said he his wife, and their
four children have been displaced five times, said their suffering
had surpassed what his grandparents had told him about the
Nakba or catastrophe, when Palestinians were displaced in Israel's war
for independence. This war is the harshest, most merciless, he said.

(35:26):
It feels like history repeating itself, only harder. Back in Israel,
a moment of silence in Kibut's Kafar Azah at six
point twenty nine was anything but, as drones whined, helicopters
flew overhead, and explosions frequently ripped through the air. Zionriguev,

(35:49):
a municipal leader, read out an adapted version of the
traditional Jewish prayer of mourning. His voice dropped as he
noted that our Galli and Zeev, two brothers from Kazara Zi,
still had hostage held hostage, and Gaza had yet to
return home. Some say what happened is receding into the distance,

(36:14):
but for me, it's stronger than ever, said Nison Kaner,
thirty seven. She said she was trapped for about thirty
hours when the militants attacked on Tuesday morning. She said
she had experienced a sleepless night. I couldn't stop thinking
about what we went through. A few minutes later and away.

(36:36):
Hundreds of Israelis visited the site of the Nova Music festival,
where more than three hundred people were murdered. Signs bearing
the faces of the victims or arranged in rows like
dancers at a rave annat Magnoze held a poster with
a photo of her son Amit, who was killed over

(37:00):
her own face and now back in London, the mayor
and residents called for the a London council member to
resign after using a racial slur. Several local and state
leaders are calling for a London City Council member to
resign after he admitted to using a racial slur. Council

(37:22):
member Justin Young was the primary topic of discussion for
speakers at Monday's council meeting, which was eventually canceled after
four of the six council members failed to show up.
Young was arrested on September fifteenth on charges of fourth
degree assault, which is dating violence, and second degree criminal mischief.

(37:43):
Court documents say he assaulted a woman during an argument
in May and damaged her phone during another argument in July.
The woman, Crystal Hoskins, is also charged with fourth degree
assault of dating violence and second degree criminal mischief. Court
documents say she hit Young in the face, bit him

(38:04):
on the arm, and threatened to kill him during an
argument in August. During a court appearance last month, Young
admitted to using a racial slur in the May altercation,
and he repeated the slur during the hearing. According to
WLX eighteen, Young later acknowledged in the incident in a

(38:26):
Facebook post. At the time, I was dealing with overwhelming
emotions of anger and betrayal, Young said in the statement,
and in that moment, I sudden said something I never
should have said, and there is no excuse. My words
were wrong and I deeply regret them. Young was one
of the four council members who did not attend Monday's

(38:48):
meeting amid a heated feud with Mayor Randall Weddle. The
council impeached Weddle and removed him from office last month,
but a judge later ruled that the council had not
presented sufficient evidence for removal, and Whittell was reinstated on
September twenty ninth. The council, though, has appealed that decision.
Although Monday night's council meeting was canceled soon after its

(39:11):
scheduled start time for a lack of a quorum after
four council members, including Young, did not attend, several residents
still spoke. Conrad Cessna, an attorney representing the meeting and
council members Jim Baker and Donegal Wilson House attended the meeting,
but they left once it was canceled. Weddell stayed as

(39:32):
attendees called for Young's resignation, and he spoke too. A
man should never raise his hands to a woman at
no point, and according to the photos I've seen on Facebook,
she had multiple bruises across her body, Weddell said, and
there's no reason for it. Tracy Handley, who was acting
mayor when Young admitted to using the racial slur, shed

(39:55):
she had zero tolerance for domestic violence and was troubled
by young language and allegations. However, Young has kept his
seat on the council, and other council members have not
publicly commented on the case. When a public official admits
to using racial slurs and still hold's office, it sends

(40:15):
a very bad message. With Whittaker, president of the Lexington
Fayette County chapter of the NAACP, set at Monday's council meeting,
it sends a message that racism and violence can exist
with leadership, and that simply cannot happen. Charles Booker, former
Kentucky state representative and US Senate candidate, also condemned Young's

(40:38):
conduct and call for his resignation. I do not believe
anyone who is comfortable using hate to communicate a point
is fit to be elected to office. Booker said. The
calls for Young's resignation were echoed by several London residents
at Monday's meeting. Tina Cobb Morgan said London citizens le

(41:00):
demand higher standards from its elected officials. Racism has no
place in the halls of power, not now, not ever.
Cob Morgan said, Will our history reflect the impaling silence
of good people? Or will you remove Justin Young from office?
Weddell said he was encouraged by the turnout and community response.

(41:21):
We're no longer going to let old London manipulate the
old situation and silence the voice of the people that's
been silent for a long time, Weddell said. And next
a report emails indicate why the FCPS budget director was suspended.

(41:42):
Days before Fayette County's public school's budget director was suspended
in August, her supervisor expressed concern that she had not
told district leaders about a major part of the district's
looming financial problems. According to TV station WKYT and August eleventh,
email obtained by WKYT, FCPS budget specialist Jessica Williams told

(42:09):
Finance Director Rodney Jackson that budget director and Samson Grimes
had not responded after she told Samson Grimes the district's
contingency or fund balance also known as a rainy day fund,
was dwindling. Why did she not communicate this to district leaders?
Jackson responded. Four days later, Sampson Grimes was placed on leave.

(42:34):
Samson Grimes lawyer Brandon Volker maintains that she repeatedly told
district officials about financial problems in the district, including the
dwindling contingency fund. He has claimed his client is being
used as a scapegoat for the district's woes. We look
forward to presenting the extensive amount of warnings that we

(42:58):
were told to that Superintendent Houston Barber Jackson, Superintendent Demetrius Liggins,
and in some cases certain school board members. Volker si
The Harold Leader also obtained emails last month showing Sampson
Grimes warned her bosses of at least some of the
budget problems in the district. The emails published by WKYT,

(43:23):
obtained under the Kentucky Open Records Act are the first
indication why Sampson Grimes was on administrative leave from August
fifteenth to September twenty fifth, and they stand in contrast
to several claims made in Sampson grimes September tenth lawsuit
against Liggins and the district. They also marked the latest

(43:45):
chapter in a month's long saga of severe budget problems
in the district. The district revealed in May it had
a projected sixteen million dollar budget shortfall, and the budget
has since been balanced, and in August Liggans warned the
district's contingency fund was much smaller than expected, according to

(44:07):
the emails obtained by WKYT. In August, Williams forwarded Jackson
an email she had sent to Sampson Grimes in January
that said, without significant reductions, the available funds of contingency
will be less than both the state requirements and fcps's

(44:28):
internal policy. Williams said she thought the amount would be
two million dollars. Williams told Jackson that Sampson Grimes did
not respond to the email and had cut Williams out
of the information about daily operations. On August fourteenth, Jackson
wrote to Barber, the deputy superintendent, that the information from

(44:52):
Williams was disturbing, to say the least. The following day,
Barber told human resources officials in the district to place
Samson Grimes on leave, effective immediately, pending an investigation based
on new information received yesterday. The district officials reason for

(45:13):
placing Samson Grimes on administrative leave was alleged inappropriate conduct
of a non sexual nature, according to a letter sent
from Ligands to Samson Grimes and obtained by the Hara
of Leader. Samson Grimes lawyer remained steadfast that his client
did not fail to alert district officials of the budget problem.

(45:38):
That is the story they are seeking to create. Yet
there are emails and countless meetings advising the contingency issue.
Vulker said Samson Grimes was prevented from telling board members
about her concerns. Vulker also said that all fell on Ligans, Barber,

(46:01):
and Jackson to present to the board. He said on
September twenty nine, Vulkar wrote a letter to an investigator
hired by the school board to investigate Sampson Grimes claims.
Liggans retaliated against her Vulkar provided several examples of Sampson's

(46:22):
Grimes trying to warn district officials the contingency fund was
dwindling and cuts needed to be made. He also said
Liggins revised the script she used to prevent the budget
to present the budget to the school board to remove
the words deficit. The emails obtained by the hair leader

(46:43):
confirmed Sampson Grimes tried to warn at least some problems
in the district additional reductions need to be made. Sampson's
Grimes wrote in one email expenditures for the current fiscal
year will require significant reduction, she wrote in another. In
a May eighth email, Sampson Grimes wrote to Barber, Liggins

(47:07):
and Jackson, I think we should add back on slide
number fourteen the sixteen million dollars in red by the
general fund because the general fund is not actually six
hundred and ninety nine million dollars, because additional reductions needed
to be made to balance it. That email was referenced

(47:31):
by sampson grimes lawsuit claiming she was placed on leave
in retaliation for warning of budget problems in the district.
A budget solution work group formed to address the district's
projected sixteen million dollars shortfall. Made several recommendations on July
twenty ninth, including reducing the district contingency fund from six

(47:55):
percent to four percent of the total general fund budget,
or taking the full sixteen million dollars projected shortfall out
of the contingency fund. The work group members were under
the impression the contingency was about forty two million dollars.
A July thirty first email from Jackson to Samson, Grimes

(48:18):
and Barber said, we need to be mindful that we
may already be into the contingency amount as expenses outpace revenues,
and we will not know the extent of it until
mid to late August. Barber replied, agree, please work to
include all of those factors, and on August first, Samson

(48:41):
Grimes sent Jackson and Barber an email saying that in
order for the budget in fiscal year twenty twenty six,
which began July first, to be balanced, significant reductions were needed.
Days later, on August tenth, Liggins wrote to board members
that the carryover balance, or true contingency would be much lower,

(49:05):
possibly fifteen million dollars to twenty two million dollars, district's
officials leader said it was twenty six point three million.
At a September eighth school board meeting, community advocate mattved
and board member Amanda Ferguson questioned whether the amount was
even lower than twenty six point three million. District leaders

(49:29):
were adamant that it was not the case. The Herald
Leader obtained emails under the Kentucky Open Records Act, showed Williams,
the budget specialist, told Kentucky Department of Education Division Director
Chay Ritter on September nineteenth that she submitted a test
submission of the budget and came back with no errors

(49:52):
from one. I can assume that the contingency threshold of
a minimum of two percent was met, She asked, set
tight will take a look. Render responded. After that there
were no other emails in the thread, and the two
spoke by telephone. A KDE official told the hair leader.

(50:13):
KDE has not told the hair Leader how Ritter ultimately responded,
but district officials have said the fund balance is above
the state required two percent of the general fun budget.
The school board September twenty second approved an eight hundred
and twenty seven point two million dollar budget for the
fiscal year that began July first, Liggins said it was balanced,

(50:41):
and in another story, FCPS paid tens of thousands to
lobbyists to promote tax increase defend Liggins. Over the summer,
the beleaguered Fayette County Public Schools paid tens of thousands
of dollars to a Lexington Marketing and lobbying that worked
behind the scenes to promote a controversial tax hike and

(51:05):
defend the reputation of Superintendent Demetrius Ligans amid a school
district budget crisis. Under a three year contract signed by
Liggins in August of twenty twenty three, Piper Smith LLC
gets sixty thousand dollars annually to lobby Kentucky state government
on behalf of the Fayette County Public Schools, according to

(51:27):
the documents obtained by The Herald Leader this week using
the Kentucky Open Records Act. In early May, with Liggins's approval,
Piper Smith won thirty eight thousand dollars more under a
second contract for a public awareness campaign to push a
proposed fifty percent hike in the school's district occupational license tax.

(51:52):
More tax revenue was needed to cover a multi million
dollar shortfall in the district budget. Ligan said because the
firm's second contract was for less than forty thousand dollars,
it wasn't necessary for the five member school board to
approve it. Board chairman Tyler Murphy told The Herald Leader

(52:12):
on Friday, Liggins was authorized to award that deal on
his own. Murphy said piper Smith was paid eighteen thousand
dollars June tenth and twenty thousand dollars on July eleven,
on top of its usual lobbying fees, according to school
district financial records. In a seven page proposal it submitted

(52:35):
in May to win the new contract, the firm said
it could try to rally general public support behind the
tax increase over the summer using social media, opinion pieces,
letters to the editor, yard signs, and bumper stickers, all
while blocking threats proactively. The campaign is expected to run

(52:57):
from the day of approval through September one, twenty twenty five.
Initial efforts will be front loaded to establish strategy and
develop messaging and materials Piper Smith Route communications. Post efforts
in July and August will be aimed at thanking the
public or re establishing trust and support for the district

(53:19):
in the event the tax effort is not successful. However,
on June fourth, Attorney General Russell Coleman rule the school
district's attempt tax increase was illegal due to inadequate public
notice before the school board voted for it. Liggins took
the idea off the table, lacking their original mission. Piper

(53:43):
Smith partners Abbey Piper and Jared Smith appear to have
pivoted and refocused their attention over the summer on reputation
damage control for Liggins. Lexington residents and their elected representatives
were angered not just by the attempt to tax increase,
but also by a suddenly revealed school district budget deficit

(54:06):
that has yet to be fully quantified or explained. A
state aughtit is underway. The legislators have issued calls for
Ligans and Murphy to resign. As the weeks went on,
Piper forded critical press releases and news stories to Ligans
and Murphy. On August eighteenth, for example, Piper sent Liggan's

(54:29):
a statement she said State matt Representative Matt Lockett, Republican
of Nicklecil, was preparing to release. Lockett wrote, in part,
the superintendent seems to be playing the role of nero.
As Rome burns, this is no way to conduct public business.
Ninety minutes later, Liggans fired back to Piper. Here's my rebuttal.

(54:52):
In his reply, Lincolns wrote, while the concerns expressed are passionate,
they miss repri sent both the facts and direction of
Fayette County Public Schools calls for new leadership. They make
for a dramatic headlines, but they do nothing to advance
the hard, necessary work of educating children. The next dayent

(55:16):
Liggan's a statement from State Senator Amanda bays Bledsoe, Republican
of Lexington, that's set in part though this level of
dysfunction feels like a rejected script from a political satire.
How does one respond to that, Leggins asked Piper, Well,
I think you can do it publicly if you like,

(55:38):
through a statement, although that probably makes it worse. Piper advised.
On Friday, School district spokesman Miranda Scully said the thirty
eight thousand dollars contract to Piper Smith was for work
that extended beyond the immediate outcome of the Attorney's general
rulings on the tax increase. The firm was contracted to

(56:01):
conduct community outreach, stakeholder engagement and informational services throughout the
summer to ensure all options related to the budget were
fully explored and understood by the public. Scully said in
a prepared statement, at a time of significant budget discussion,
any communication advising the Superintendent and Board on public perception

(56:24):
of the district's financial challenges, including the need to find
a budget solution, falls within the necessary scope of stakeholder
and legislation of communications. She said. We will continue to
utilize the lobbyist firm support so our staff can maintain
a focus on supporting the daily needs of our students

(56:45):
and school staff. And this concludes the reading of the
Lexington Herald Leader for today, Wednesday, October eighth. 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