11.12.25

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good morning everybody, and welcome to the reading of the
Lexington Herald Leader. Today is Wednesday, November twelfth, and your
reader is Rod Brotherton. And as you know, Radio II
is a reading service intended for people who are blind
or have other disabilities that make it difficult to read
printed material. We're here at midweek. Let's see what our

(00:24):
seven day forecast looks like. Today, sunny and windy, high
fifty seven, low thirty five. Tonight, which is partly cloudy
after the big freeze, this is going to be nice.
Thursday partly sunny, high fifty seven, low forty. Friday a
shower in spots but a high of sixty two and
a low of fifty four. And then Friday clouds and sunshine,

(00:49):
high sixty eight, low fifty six. That might be the
highest we see for a while, so enjoy it. Sunday
cloudy and breezy, high sixty two, low forty two. Monday
partly sunny, high fifty three, low forty three, and.

Speaker 2 (01:05):
Tuesday there is morning rain.

Speaker 1 (01:07):
Otherwise cloudy and gray, high fifty three, low forty Looking
at the almanac, yesterday's high and low thirty one and
twenty three, while the normal is fifty eight and thirty eight,
and last year it was sixty six and fifty six.
The record high was in twenty twenty with a balmy

(01:28):
seventy seven degrees, and the record low was eighteen back
in nineteen thirty three. Precipitation on Monday four one hundreds
of an inch. Month to date we've had two thirds
of an inch, while the normal is one point oh seven.
But year to date fifty five point oh nine normal

(01:49):
forty three point three four, and last year we'd had
forty two point five nine. The record for yesterday's date
was two point four nine inches. In for the sun
and the moon, the sun rose this morning at seven sixteen,
it will set tonight at five twenty nine. There is

(02:10):
no moon rise, but it will set at one fifty
four this afternoon. And our weather trivia, what is a
Brocken specter? Well, that's a shadow cast upon fog or
low lying clouds beneath the observer. That's a new one
on me. All right, let's go look at the headlines

(02:31):
for this Wednesday. And after a record breaking government shut down,
the Senate passes a bill to reopen the government a
rid amid a democratic rift. The Senate passed legislation Monday
night to end the nation's longest government shut down, after

(02:52):
a critical splinter group of Democrats joined with the Republicans
and back to spending package that omitted the concession. Their
party has spent weeks demanding The sixty to forty vote
on day forty one of the shutdown signaled a break
in the gridlock that has shuddered the government for weeks,

(03:13):
leaving hundreds of thousands of federal workers furloughed and millions
of Americans at risk of losing food assistants and millions
more facing air travel disruptions. The measure goes next to
the House, which was expected to take it up no
sooner than Wednesday, and where the small Republican margin of

(03:36):
control an intense Democratic opposition could make for a close vote.
President Trump has indicated that he will sign it. The
breakthrough came after eight senators in the Democratic Caucus broke
their own parties blockade of spending legislation. Republicans have been

(03:57):
trying to pass for weeks to reopen the government, prompting
a bitter backlash in their ranks. They said they had
done so after concluding that Republicans were never going to accede.
The Democrats' central demand in the shutdown fight, the extension
of temporary federal health care subsidies, which were set to

(04:20):
expire at the end of the year while millions of
Americans continued to suffer amid the federal closure.

Speaker 2 (04:28):
We had no path forward on.

Speaker 1 (04:30):
Healthcare because the Republicans said, we will not talk about
health care with the government shutting down, said Senator Tim Caine,
the Democrat of Virginia. And we had snap beneficiaries and
those relying on other important services who were losing benefits
because of the shutdown. It will still take days to

(04:52):
reopen the government. Speaker Mike Johnson on the Monday urged
House members, who have not held a vote in nearly
two mo months as they took an extended recess during
the shutdown, to begin the process of returning to Washington
right now. At the White House, Trump said that he.

Speaker 2 (05:11):
Approved of the plan.

Speaker 1 (05:13):
We'll be opening up our country very quickly, he said,
calling the package very good. While the legislation omits any
mentioned of the tax credits. Democrats said they would accept
an offer by Senate Majority Leader John Thune, Republican of
South Dakota, to hold a vote on the issue later
this year, when the subsidies are set to expire, But

(05:37):
that measure, which would require sixty votes to pass, faces
long odds in the Republican control Senate, and even less
chance of advancing in the House, where Johnson would be
unlikely to bring it up amid widespread opposition in his party.
Many Democrats, including a flanks of senators across the ideological spectrum,

(06:02):
call that commitment woefully insufficient, and angrily denounced the spending
deal after holding his party together for forty days in
the shutdown fight. Minority leader Chuck Schumer, the Democrat of
New York, opposed the deal made by some of his
own members because, he said Monday, it fails to do

(06:24):
anything of substance to fix America's health care crisis. The
compromise measure, which was largely negotiated by leaders on the
Senate Appropriations Committee, includes a spending package that would fund
the government through January, as well as three separate spending
bills govern programs related to agriculture, military construction, and legislative

(06:49):
agencies for most of twenty twenty six. The package also
includes a provision that would reverse layoffs of federal workers
made during the shutdown, and retroactive pay for those who
have been furloughed. Trump, who has repeatedly defied Congress's dictates
on mint spending matters, said money that he would comply

(07:11):
with those provisions a l abide by the deal.

Speaker 2 (07:14):
He said.

Speaker 1 (07:16):
As many as a dozen Democrats, many Centrists hailing from
purple states, who had been uncomfortable with the idea of
backing a government shutdown, had been quietly huddling for weeks
in search of an off ramp. Several privately agreed to
hold the party line until at least November one, the
start date for the annual open enrollment period for people

(07:39):
who receive health coverage through the federal marketplace, according to
a person familiar with the negotiations, But as the impact
of the shutdown worsened and radiated across the nation, with
flight cancellations racking up ahead of Thanksgiving travel and rising
uncertainty around accessibility to food stamps, moderate Democrats were ready

(08:04):
to break from their party. In the end, the eight
who did were all senators who could afford to take
a political hit to our retiring, while the other six
are not up for reelection next year. The question was
does the shutdown further the goal of achieving some needed
support for the extension of tax credits, said Senator Angus King,

(08:28):
an independent of Maine who caucuses with Democrats and voted
for the deal. Our judgment was that it will not
produce that result, and the evidence for that is almost
seven weeks of fruitless attempts to make what that happen.
Would it change in a week or another week after

(08:48):
Thanksgiving her Christmas? And there's no evidence that it would.
What there is evidence of, King added, is the harm
that the shutdown is doing to the In a fifty
three to forty seven party line vote, Republicans defeated a
last ditch effort by Democrats on Monday night to try

(09:10):
to add a proposal to the spending package that would
extend the credits for one year, but the fight is
far from over. Having succeeded in elevating the health care
subsidies as a political issue during a shutdown, Democrats are
eager to keep the pressure on Republicans to extend them
or suffer the consequences from voters whose poll shows overwhelmingly

(09:34):
want to see them protected. Also rejected Monday on a
party line vote, was a Democratic effort to add a
provision to bar the White House from using a maneuver
known as the pocket recession, in which the administration seeks
to unilaterally cancel spending approved by Congress by making the

(09:54):
request so late in the fiscal year that lawmakers do
not have time to reject it before the funding expires.
The Trump administration used that maneuver this year to cancel
four point nine billion dollars Congress had approved for foreign
aid programs. And next, Kentuckians remember Governor Martha Lane Collins

(10:23):
At the Old State Capitol Kentucky, dignitaries lined up to
pay their respects to trail blazing Governor Martha Lane Collins,
the Commonwealth's first and only woman governor. Sunday afternoon, the
first family and hundreds of others arrived outside the Old
State Capitol in Frankfort to attend memorials for Collins, who

(10:45):
died on November first. She was eighty eight years old.
Collins public visitation ceremony was held Sunday at the Old
Capitol Building as hundreds crowded inside to pay their respects.
Known as lying in state, the tradition involves publicly displaying
the coffin in a prominent government building. Other Kentuckians to

(11:08):
lie in state included pioneer Daniel Boone, former Chief Justice
Robert Stevens, Colonel Harland Sanders, and numerous governors. Collins was
the first person to lie in the state at the
old Capitol Building. Governor Andy Basheer said the ceremony was
held there because the State Capitol Building is under renovation.

(11:30):
Her casket was shrouded in the state flag with white roses, lilies,
and orchids. Her official portrait hung above the coffin, decked
with a black cloth. People were let in the building
one by one with a line from the door to
the casket. Of the nearly two hundred seats, several were
saved for the first family, former Governor Steve Basheer, former

(11:53):
Governor Ernie Fletcher, Lieutenant Governor Jacqueline Bohlman, and members of
the Toyota Corps operation. Collins, who was a Democrat, was
the fifty sixth Governor of the Commonwealth, serving from December
of nineteen eighty three to December of nineteen eighty seven.
She is remembered for becoming Kentucky's first and so far

(12:14):
only woman governor. And recruiting the massive Toyota manufacturing plant
to central Kentucky. The governor's father, former Governor Steve Basheer,
was lieutenant governor under Collins. Governor Andy Basheer spoke first
during Collins's memorial service, highlighting her ground baking career dedicated
to teaching. Collins, he said, continued that work in the

(12:38):
governor's office, launching the Governor's School of the Arts in
nineteen eighty seven, which promotes students' artistic endeavors.

Speaker 2 (12:45):
In summer programs.

Speaker 1 (12:47):
Larry Hayes, the secretary of Collins's cabinet, said the former
governor demanded excellence from her staff as well. You've heard
about the accomplishments, but they didn't come by themselves. She
demanded a lot from people. She taught you that you
need to do it right and be of service to
other people. She had an amazing way to communicate to

(13:11):
others at the worst of times that impacted them in
a positive way. Beyond her recruitment of Toyota, Collins is
remembered for chairing the Democratic National Convention in nineteen eighty four,
which sped, which led to speculation that she could have
been a candidate for Vice president and her many electrical

(13:31):
electoral victories. Collins defeated giants of Kentucky Republican politics, winning
her lieutenant governor position against the current dean of the
US House of Representatives, Representative Hal Rogers, and defeating late
US Senator Jim Bunning.

Speaker 2 (13:49):
And the next story.

Speaker 1 (13:50):
Supreme Court declines to hear same sex marriage challenge. The
Supreme Court of the United States has again denied a
petition to over turned the right of gay people to mary,
which was filed by Kim Davis, the embattled former Kentucky
clerk who refused to issue marriage licenses to gay couples

(14:11):
and has spent the last decade petitioning courts to grant
her relief. The petition for a writ of sintorari is denied,
Justices wrote in their November tenth letter, dealing a blow
to Davis and conservative Christian allies nationally, including Liberty Council,
an Orlando based Christian legal firm that has defended her

(14:32):
since twenty fifteen. This is the second time the Supreme
Court has rejected a request from Davis to hear her case.
The High Court legalized gay marriage in twenty fifteen.

Speaker 2 (14:45):
And the landmark.

Speaker 1 (14:46):
Oberg Fell Versus Hodge's decision, but Davis, a clerk in
Rowan County at the time, refused to issue licenses to
gay couples, citing her Christian conservative beliefs. For me the
this would be an act of disobedience to God.

Speaker 2 (15:02):
She told reporters at the time.

Speaker 1 (15:05):
Davis's defense before the Supreme Court, which conferenced November seven
to decide whether to formally hear the case, was her
First Amendment right to free speech, which includes the exercise
of religion right. Davis's attorneys have long said she was
denied and then punished for exercising. In the months after

(15:26):
oberg Fell was decided, and Davis remained staunch in her
refusal to follow the new law, she was sued by
a handful of gay couples, held in contempt by a
federal judge, and jailed for six days for refusing to
heed a judge's orders that she issued those marriage license.
A lawsuit filed by one of the gay couples, David

(15:48):
Moore and David Ermold, has dragged out for more than
a decade, characterizing her as the first victim of Obergfell.
Davis's attorneys have tried to use the punishment Davis endured
for not issuing gay marriage license as a way to challenge.

Speaker 2 (16:06):
The Obergfeld decision overall.

Speaker 1 (16:09):
Claiming it unconstitutionally infringed on her right of religious freedom
and exercise, and that religious exercise, along with qualified immunity,
should have lawfully protected her from penalty when she refused
to legitimize legal unions between gay couples, her attorneys argued.
But legal experts have said using Davis's case to overturn

(16:33):
the federal right for gay couples to marry was a
long shot. As a government employee, she was bound by
statute to issue those marriage licenses, a reality that trumps
her individual exercise of religion in this context, they've said.
Lawyers for Irmold and Moore echoed that logic, writing in

(16:54):
an October brief to the High Court that Davis's argument
boils down to a single issue whether government officials may
assert their private First Amendment rights as a defense to
liability for their official actions taken on behalf of the state.
Bill Powell, one of the attorneys for the couple, celebrated

(17:16):
the High Court's ruling on Monday. The Supreme Court's denial
of review confirms what we already knew. Same sex couples
have a constitutional right to marry, and Kim Davis's denial
of marriage licenses in defense of Obergfell plainly violated that right, Powell.

Speaker 2 (17:37):
Said in a statement.

Speaker 1 (17:39):
This is a win for same sex couples everywhere who
have built their families and lives around the right to marry.

Speaker 2 (17:44):
He added.

Speaker 1 (17:46):
Davis, who lost reelection in twenty eighteen, has been ordered
by a judge and jury over the years to pay
more than three hundred and sixty thousand dollars in damages
to Urmould and more. Her appeal of a judge's order
requiring her to pay those damages is the case the
Supreme Court rejected November tenth. Davis was jailed, hauled before

(18:11):
a jury and now faces crippling monetary damages based on
nothing more than purported hurt feelings. Liberty Council founder Matt
Staver said in a statement Monday, vowing to continue fighting
to overturn Obergfel. By denying this petition, the High Court

(18:33):
has let standard decision to strip a government defendant of
their immunity and any personal First Amendment defenses for their
religious expression. He added, Obergfell was egregiously wrong from the start.
This opinion has no basis in the Constitution. It is

(18:54):
not a matter of if, but when the Supreme Court.

Speaker 2 (18:59):
Will overturn oberg Fell.

Speaker 1 (19:02):
Finally, from the front page, facing Medicaid cuts, Kentucky hospitals
to scale back services. Medicaid cuts included in President Trump's
signature Big Beautiful Bill are already prompting Kentucky hospitals to
consider pausing expansions, scaling back services, layoffs, and even closing

(19:23):
all together. That's the takeaway from Kentucky Hospital Association President
and CEO Nancy Galvagni, who notes, while the officials cut
off in twenty twenty eight, the earliest effects will be
failed much sooner. A few hospitals are already putting some
reductions in place, but we think most of that will

(19:45):
happen next year, Galvagni told The Hero Leader recently. Hospitals
already operate on razor thin margins and rely on state
directed Medicaid payments to cover the cost of care. This
is particularly true for Kentucky's rural hospitals, which treat more
patients on Medicaid and medicare than those with commercial insurance.

(20:09):
Galvogny said, when these extra funds go away, they're going
to be severely harmed, she said.

Speaker 2 (20:17):
In a recent.

Speaker 1 (20:18):
Interview, Galvagni ticked off the types of cuts rural and
urban hospitals across the state or weighing. With the passage
of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act over the summer,
Kentucky is set to lose billions in federal dollars used
to prop up health care access and employment. When those
services are gone, more than just Medicaid patients will lose out.

(20:42):
We even heard that some hospitals might not be able
to continue their cancer treatment because that's the subsidized service,
she said, adding those six patients would have to travel
hours out of their way to seek treatment. Galvagni said
the Kentucky Hospital Association has reach out to the commonwealth's
congressional delegation about the effects of the Medicaid cuts, but

(21:05):
so far a solution hasn't been reached. I think our
members of Congress don't want to see hospitals closed, and
I think they don't want to see services go away.
But we're early in those discussions to know what the
solution might be, she said. One early estimate laid out
by Senate Democrats and the letter to Trump and Republican

(21:26):
leaders in Congress, found thirty five rural hospitals in Kentucky,
more than any other state, are at risk of service cutbacks, restructuring,
or outright closures. It cites information provided by the schep's
Center for Health Service Research at the University of North
Carolina and includes the following Kentucky hospitals Whitesburg ARH, Highlands

(21:51):
Regional Medical Center, University of Louisville Health, Shelbyville, TJ Sampson
Community Hospital, Saint Clair Medical Center, Middlesborough ARH, Springview Hospital,
advent Health, Manchester, Bourbon Community Hospital, Harlan ARH, Deaconess, Henderson Hospital,

(22:17):
Saint Joseph, Mount Sterling, Tug Valley ARH, Owensboro Health, Twin
Lakes Medical, Baptist Health Corbin, Clark Regional Medical Center, Baptist
Health Madisonville, The Medical Center of Albany, Three Rivers Medical Center,

(22:38):
Kentucky River Medical Center, TJ Health, Columbia, Pineville Community Health Center,
Markham and Wallace Memorial Hospital, Our Lady of the Way,
Casey County Hospital, Carroll County Memorial Hospital, the Medical Center
at Caverna, Fort Logan Hospital, Mary Breckinridge Hospital, Jane Todd

(23:04):
Crawford Hospital, Barberville ARH Hospital, Saint Joseph Beurrea, Russell County Hospital,
McDowell ARH, and Fleming County Hospital.

Speaker 2 (23:19):
Speaking to The.

Speaker 1 (23:20):
Harrow Leader October thirty, first, Galvagny's stressed closure will always
be a hospital's last resort. Still, patients are likely to
feel the cost cutting measures hospitals implement to avoid taking
that drastic strip, and not just those who rely on
Medicaid for their care. First, hospitals will try to cut

(23:42):
costs by putting off capital projects, and Galvagny said many
hospitals around Kentucky you're already looking at that. That includes
hospitals delaying renovations and shelving plans for new outpatient centers
and other bids to expand their services. It also means
delaying new equipment purchases and upgrades. Kentuckians already face long

(24:05):
travel times to seek care given the states severe shortage
of health care workers. We're probably not going to see
expanded services, which benefits patience, because when hospitals expand, they're
probably going to make services more available closer to home,
Galvagni said. She added hospitals and urban centers will be

(24:27):
under greater pressure to pick up the slack. Hospitals will
then be forced to ask what services they can afford
to keep. Behavioral health is often the first to go
in these situations. Behavioral health probably is a service that's
going to be looked at strongly as to whether that
can continue. Because the reimbursement for behavioral health is very,

(24:52):
very low, Galvagni said, hospitals lose money on that service
and so that may be something they can no longer offer.
Similar services on the chopping block include maternity services and
community outreach, where hospital employees show up at local health
fares to conduct free screenings. It put hospitals on the

(25:14):
position of making hard choices, Galvadney said. To say that
we're not going to provide behavioral health anymore, well, that
doesn't just affect the Medicaid patients that use the service.
That affects the entire community.

Speaker 2 (25:29):
She said.

Speaker 1 (25:30):
When those services disappear, the ramifications can be widespread. When
services go away, then jobs are going to go away,
Galvagney said, adding about sixty percent of a hospital's costs
are on personnel. Across Kentucky, Hospitals employee ninety thousand people.

(25:53):
If nothing changes, job losses are likely, Galvagney said. In
Kentucky's rural communities, where hospitals are some of the biggest
employers and pay high wages that will likely be felt
across the local community, we do expect to start seeing
that next.

Speaker 2 (26:12):
Year, Alvagni said. Next.

Speaker 1 (26:16):
Trump admin returns to Supreme Court in food stamp fight.
The Trump administration returned to the Supreme Court on money
in another attempt to halt full federal funding for food stamps,
seeking to stemy the nation's largest anti hunger program. Even
as the government shut down neared its end. As Congress
moved toward the deal that would end the record long
stoppage and provide new funds for nutrition programs, the Trump

(26:39):
administration opted to escalate a legal crusade that has imperiled
the benefits of millions of low income families for weeks.
The administration urged the justices to stop an order issued
by a lower court this month, which had required the
government to finance benefits in full for the roughly one
in eight Americans who received monthly federal aid to buy
groceries having apple reserve funds. President Trump has refused to

(27:03):
supply that money, offering a stark contrast with the other ways.
He has rearranged the budget during the shutdown, including reprogramming
billions of dollars to pay the officers conducting the mass deportations.
At one point, d John Sower, the Solicitor General, described
the Court's instructions and its work to interpret the law
as massively inappropriate. He claimed that conflicting court orders had

(27:28):
sewed upheaval without acknowledging the administration's role in the chaos,
and he claimed that the orders and the courts could
affect the work to end the shutdown, despite the president's
continued absence from any talks. Yet, it remained unclear whether
the Supreme Court would even need to rule on the
government's request. The Trump administration acknowledged the possibility of the

(27:50):
very opening of its filing, which said the Nie Nascent
deal in Congress would end the shutdown and is moot
with this application.

Speaker 2 (27:58):
It's a moral imperative.

Speaker 1 (28:00):
No one should go hungry because their own government is
refusing to feed them. They were joined by other state
attorney generals, including Matthew Platkin of New Jersey, who described
the federal government's attempt to slash food stamps as the
most heinous thing he had seen in office. Now, after
a short pause, I hope you'll rejoin us for a

(28:20):
continuation of the reading of the Lexington hair Leader for today.
Thank you for listening, and now please stay tuned for
more news right here.

Speaker 2 (28:30):
On Radio I.

Speaker 1 (28:32):
And now we will continue reading from the Lexington hair
Leader for this Wednesday, November twelfth. Your reader is Rod
Brotherton and as always we start with the obituaries, where
we read only the name, age, and location if given.
If you would like further information on any of the obituaries,
please see the website or call us during the weekdays
at eight five, nine, four, two two sixty three.

Speaker 2 (28:54):
Ninety and we will be glad to read the entire
obituary for you.

Speaker 1 (28:59):
I'll the number at the end of the listings in
today's obituary index starts with Wilma Jenkins Pointer eighty two
of Richmond, Dorothy Gibbs ninety nine Lexington, Carl Clifford Howard
Gray seventy six of Lexington, and Minerva gene Genie Ransdell

(29:22):
eighty six, also of Lexington. If you would like any
further information about the listings, please visit legacy dot com,
slash obituary, slash Kentucky, or you can call us at
RADIOI 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 today's news. Now,

(29:46):
picking back up on the troubles with the school system,
the Kentucky auditor says the SEPs audit of itself doesn't
help claims of wasteful spending. Kentucky Auditor Allison Ball on
Monday chided Fayette County School Superintendent Demetrius Liggoln's and school

(30:06):
board Chairman Tyler Murphy for seeking an audit of the
district that mirrors Ball's special examination. Ball asked district leaders
to reconsider their current request for proposals for an audit
and instead collaborate with her office to ensure responsible use.

Speaker 2 (30:25):
Of taxpayer funds.

Speaker 1 (30:27):
It appears that the scope of work sought encompasses areas
of most that focus are almost identical to the work
that my office informed you has been planning to perform
in our examination of the district.

Speaker 2 (30:42):
Ball wrote in a.

Speaker 1 (30:43):
Letter to the district provided to the hair leader. Although
the district is entirely within its prerogative to obtain an
additional audit of whose name areas, this decision lends credence
to the public's perception that the district has and will
continue you to engage in wasteful spending. Fayette County Public

(31:05):
School's spokesperson, Miranda Scully, said the decision to issue a
request for proposals or an external audit was determined and
voted on by the Board of Education. The potential dueling
audits come as the district faces intense scrutiny over spending
and budgetary problems. The district approved an eight hundred and

(31:28):
twenty seven point two million dollar budget for the fiscal
year that began July first, but its contingency or rainy
day fund has dwindled, and the district previously said it
was facing a sense resolved budget deficit of several million dollars.

(31:49):
Ball's letter criticized the district for failing to coordinate with
her office. I would have expected that someone from the
district would have consulted this about the district's final decision
to formally proceed with a request for proposals. If that
had happened, we could have worked through all concerns expressed
for the request for proposals to determine the best path

(32:12):
forward for the district while preventing anyone from doing duplicative
and wasteful work. Ball wrote, school board members had asked
the district Audit Committee to develop a request for proposals
for an external examination. Community members are pushing for a
forensic audit that would dig deeply into financial questions. The

(32:37):
Audit Committee is recommending an external auditor look at the
budget process and travel and event expenses and conduct a
data driven risk analysis. Ball, a Republican, said in the
letter that on September twenty three, her staff met with
FCPS leaders to discuss her office's special examination. She said

(33:01):
her staff explained that the goal of the examination was
to work collaboratively with the district to get its financial
situation back in order. We further explained that the examination
would require, at the very least, an in depth look
at the district's finances, financial management, and district executive staff operations.

(33:25):
In short, our examination could cover essentially the same matters
that a forensic utic.

Speaker 2 (33:31):
Would, Ball wrote.

Speaker 1 (33:33):
Ball continued that district staff had questions if other investigations, examinations,
or audits would be appropriate. My staff relayed that while
the District ultimately has the discretion to obtain any other investigation, examination,
or audit at once, any such work would be duplicative

(33:56):
and wasteful if it involved a similar scope of work,
Ball said.

Speaker 2 (34:01):
My staff also.

Speaker 1 (34:02):
Explained that again, the district could always work collaboratively with
my office to identify areas needing particular attention and our
consideration for inclusion in the examination. Ball previously said that
given the widely reported budget shortfall of the district, she
would attempt to advocate for an appropriation from the General

(34:25):
Assembly to offset the cost of her office's examination. But
if the district is willing to spend money on an
audit that is already encompassed by and therefore duplicative of
the work from my office will perform, then I cannot
in good conscience go and ask the legislature for money,

(34:48):
she wrote in Monday's letter. Ball's spoke person, Joy Markland,
said Ball's office had already requested an appropriation from the
General Assembly to cover the FCPS exam because the district
appeared not to be able to afford it.

Speaker 2 (35:06):
However, after learning.

Speaker 1 (35:08):
That FCPS has issued a request for proposals and plans
to pay for an audit that will duplicate the work
we are completing, we feel it's only appropriate to withdraw
our appropriation request if they proceed with the RFP Board
chair Tyler Murphy said Bundy, the board approved an external

(35:30):
audit of the district's budget and response to the community's
call for answers, at the recommendation of community professionals serving
on the district's audit committee. We firmly believe that multiple
points of review will promote accountability and transparency, reinforcing public
trust in the district's financial decision making. Murphy said, our

(35:53):
expectation is that these reviews will vary in their scope
and examinations, leading to a fuller and more comprehensive picture
for the public the sooner our community has answers and recommendations,
the sooner we can move forward with any needed enhancements
to processes and keep our attention where it belongs our students.

(36:18):
We welcome conversations with the Kentucky State Auditor to clarify
the scopes of these audits and address any questions she
may have next warning on hormone replacement therapy for menopause
is removed. The Food and Drug Administration said Monday that
it will reverse two decades a precedent by removing black

(36:42):
box warnings on hormone replacement therapy products for menopause, with
the intent of increasing access to products to relieve common symptoms.
The warnings of negative long term health effects from such therapy.

Speaker 2 (36:56):
Will be removed, but.

Speaker 1 (36:57):
Not the warnings of indrometrial cancer for systemic estrogen alone products.
At an announcement at the Department of Health and Human
Services headquarters in Washington, d C, officials touted long term
health benefits of taking the treatment within ten years of
the onset of menopause. The warning stemmed from a government

(37:20):
run clinical trial in twenty three that concluded hormone replacement
therapy for menopause increased the risk of heart disease and
breast cancer. Since then, doctors have cautioned patients to use
the treatment sparingly. The FDA black box warning is the
strictest one the agency issues. Trump Administration health officials said

(37:44):
that twenty three data have long been misinterpreted and the
therapy could actually improve health outcomes. Menopausal women produce less
estrogen and progesterone than hormone. Theory treatment can restore relieving
symptoms like bone loss, hut flashes, and night sweats. Hormone

(38:06):
replacement therapy may improve the health outcomes of women at
the population level more than any other intervention, arguably with
the exception of say, antibiotics or vaccines. FDA Commissioner Martycarey
set on Monday, the FDA convened in expert panel over
the summer to discuss removing the warnings from low dose

(38:28):
vaginal estrogen. The agency received thousands of comments. Official cited
research that demonstrates estrogen therapy is generally safe for healthy,
newly menopausal women, but the risk profile varies depending on
whether the therapy is taken vaginally via pials, patches, gels.

Speaker 2 (38:50):
Or sprays.

Speaker 1 (38:52):
Macerry and other experts warned that it is important for
doctors and patients to have nuanced conversations about starting the therapy.
The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologists applauded the administration
for making the estrogen products available to more women, saying
the modification of the warning labels was years in the making.

(39:14):
The Women's Health organization has long advocated for the use
of low dose vaginal estrogen for people who suffer from
vaginal and urinary symptoms of menopause. Next, state watchdog agency
sues the Kentucky Juvenile Justice to uncover incidents reports. A

(39:35):
state agency that protects the rights of Kentuckians with disabilities
is suing the Kentucky Department of Juvenile Justice for access
to records about recent incidents of alleged abuse in one
of its juvenile detention centers. The Kentucky Protection and Advocacy
Series Division filed a lawsuit November fourth and U. S.

(39:56):
District Court in Frankfort against Juvenile Justice Commissioner Andy White
to gain access to incidents reports.

Speaker 2 (40:04):
These are vulnerable children.

Speaker 1 (40:06):
It's as simple as that these are vulnerable children that
are in the state's care, and our access authority allows
us to have these records. Jeff Edwards, director of Protection
and Advocacy, told The Herald Leader on Friday. You know,
a less trusting person would assume that they're having some
that they're trying to.

Speaker 2 (40:26):
Avoid disclosing to us.

Speaker 1 (40:28):
Edwards added in the suit, Protection and Advocacy said two
of its staff members visited the Adair Regional Juvenile Detention
Center in Columbia. On October first, youths housed at the
facility told the Protection and Advocacy staff about incidents in
recent days, when one of them was pepper sprayed in

(40:49):
the back of the head by guards while walking away
from a fight, and others was forced to wait two
days for medical treatment after a fight left him with
broken bones and his arm and arrest. According to the suit,
a state social worker assigned to monitor the care of
the boy with broken bones said she was not notified

(41:10):
of his injuries by.

Speaker 2 (41:11):
The Department of Juvenile Justice.

Speaker 1 (41:12):
According to the suit, both of the youths are sixteen
years old and have mental health disabilities and are jointly
committed to the joint custody of the Department of Juvenile
Health Justice and the Cabinet for Health and Family Services.
According to the lawsuit, however, when Protection and Advocacy repeatedly

(41:34):
asked for incident reports about the incidents described by the youths,
the Department of Juvenile Justice refused. Lawyers for the Department
of Juvenile Justice questioned the right of the Protection and
Advocacy to see the records, saying only the youths themselves
can give permission to hand over any documents involving them,

(41:56):
but that's not possible. Protection and Advocacy said here both
young men are miners and thus unable to authorize P
and A to receive the incident reports. Protection and Advocacy
replied in its court filing the state is their legal guardian,
and P and A has received complaints where there is

(42:19):
probable cause to believe each of them was subject to
abuse or neglect. The suit asks US District Judge Gregory
van Titetenhoff to order the Department of Juvenile Justice to
provide the incidant reports intuition injunction, preventing the department from
interfering with Protection and Advocacy's watchdog duties in the future.

(42:43):
The Department of Juvenile Justice told the hair Leader on
Friday that it stood by its refusal. Protection and Advocacy
must provide releases signed by the respective juveniles authorizing production
of youth records, Department spokeswoman Morgan Hall said in a
prepared statement, protecting juvenile's confidential information is a top priority

(43:09):
for the Department of Juvenile Justice. Edwards, the Director of
Protection and Advocacy, said his agency has kept a monitoring
presence at the state's juvenile detention facilities for the last
several years. The US Department of Justice also is investigating
the juvenile detention facilities for possible civil rights violations, following

(43:34):
years of critical news stories, a scathing state audit, and
multiple lawsuits filed by former residents and employees alleging mistreatment
of those held in state custody Moore Street. Most recently,
The Herald Leader reported in October that staff at the
juvenile detention centers routinely skipped the mandatory every fifteen minutes

(43:59):
visual safety check of youths locked alone in cells, and
they falsify paperwork afterward to make it appear they perform
those checks. State officials acknowledged the problem with staff dishonesty
and told the newspaper that reforms are coming next. Can

(44:20):
I bag my leaves for collection? And Lexington here's what
the city will pick up. Lexington's trees are putting on
a vivid and spectacular display, but their leaves are starting
to fall. For those looking and clear them away. Lexington
has multiple options to dispose of leaves this year for

(44:42):
those on city waste collection, officials said yard waste will
be picked up on a regular garbage collection days. You
should feel gray yard waste cards first, then use paper
yard waste bags for additional leaf collection.

Speaker 2 (44:57):
City official sit.

Speaker 1 (45:00):
Bridge crews will collect yard waste carts, while private contractors
will collect paper yard waste bags. Yard waste should never
be placed in plastic bags. City official sid Residents who
need a gray yard cart or who have a broken
cart should call lex Call at three to one one

(45:23):
or submit a request online at Lexington, ky dot gov
slash lex Call. Leaves raked to the curb and not
put in bags will not be collected, and the city
ask residents to never put leaves or yard waste in
the street that clog's storm drains, leading to flooding and

(45:46):
traffic hazards. Yard waste and leaves can also be taken
to Haley Pike West Management Facility at forty two sixteen
hedge Or Lane. The facility is open Monday, two Thursday
and Friday from eight am to five thirty pm throughout
the year. Fat County residents can take up to two

(46:08):
pickup truck loads of yard waste to Haley Pike for
free each month from October twenty seventh to the end
of twenty twenty five. The city will waive fees for
additional drop offs beyond the two per month. For Fayette
County residents, proof of residency is required. Don't like raking,

(46:29):
Keeping your leaves where they fall is an easy, Earth
friendly option. Leaves can be mulched using lawnmowers and are
also great for backyard composting. City official set free leaf
shoots are available to help funnel leaves into carts or
yard bags. There is a limit of one shoot per
household while supplies last. You can pick up leaf shoots

(46:54):
from Lexington's Electronic Recycling Center and thirteen for sales road
open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday from eight am to
four pm, and Wednesday from noon to four pm, and
Saturday from eight am to noon, and they may be
picked up at the Lexington Senior Center at one ninety

(47:16):
five Life Lane, open Monday through Friday from eight am
to four thirty pm. And more information about leaf disposal
can be found online at Lexington, Ky dot gov, slash
leaves and our next story. Attorney General asks Kentucky court

(47:39):
to overrule governor on the death penalty. Kentucky's attorney general
has asked a court to overrule the governor and sign
a death warrant for an inmate convicted of killing a
sheriff and a deputy in Powell County more than.

Speaker 2 (47:53):
Thirty years ago.

Speaker 1 (47:56):
The inmate in question is Ralph Bays, now as seventy
year old man who was sentenced to death by a
jury in nineteen ninety four. In June, Attorney General Russell
Coleman asked Governor Basher to sign a death warrant for Bays,
but the governor cited legal reasons and.

Speaker 2 (48:15):
Has not signed the warrant.

Speaker 1 (48:17):
Basher has said the state has not gone through the
full regulatory process and lacks the drugs necessary to carry
out an execution. But on Friday, Coleman announced that he
filed a motion at Franklin's Circuit Court asking the court
to overrule Bashir, saying there is no impediment to the

(48:40):
governor's signing of a death warrant. Respectfully, the governor is wrong,
Coleman wrote in his filing, but because he has rejected
the attorney General's legal advice, only the judicial branch can
settle this dispute. Kentucky has has had a pause on

(49:02):
lethal injection since twenty ten, when Franklin's Circuit Court Judge
Philip Sheppard ruled that executions should be prohibited for several reasons,
including the state's lack of an automatic stay for intellectually
disabled death row inmates and changes to legal injection protocols.

(49:22):
Coleman has sought to bring back the death penalty in
Kentucky since the early days of his tenure. Last year,
he filed a motion to supersede Shepherd's decision, arguing that
new changes by the Kentucky Department of Corrections have addressed
the court's previous concerns about legality of the death penalty.

(49:42):
For months, Coleman has insisted that Basher's reasons for not
signing Bayes' death warrant are invalid and he is obligated
to uphold the law. In Kentucky, a death warrant is
an executive order signed by the governor that authorizes the
Department of Corrections to execute a prisoner. The warrant sets

(50:06):
an eight and time for the execution, and it's required
for the state to put a prisoner to death after
they've been convicted and exhausted their appeals. Governor Basher can
and is legally required to uphold the law and deliver
justice for the families of Sheriff Bennett and Deputy Briscoe

(50:28):
by signing a death warrant. Coleman wrote in the filing,
instead of fulfilling his duty, the governor is hiding behind
legal fictions and make believe obstacles. We're asking the court
to clarify the governor's legal responsibility and end the decade's
long wait for these families that they have endured. Bayes's

(50:52):
case went before the US Supreme Court in twenty seven
as lawyers questioned the constance tutionality of lethal injection. The
case prompted a seven month pause on executions nationwide while
the High Court considered the ruling. Lethal injections briefly resumed

(51:13):
in many states, including Kentucky, but not for Bays. The
state's most recent execution was in twenty eight butsher has
expressed some support for the death penalty in recent years,
including when asked about it at a debate during his
re election campaign. On the debate stage, he said, sometimes

(51:35):
crimes are so terrible and some people so dangerous, that
I do believe this law, the death penalty needs to
continue to.

Speaker 2 (51:45):
Be on the books and next.

Speaker 1 (51:48):
Schumer pressure to step aside as the Senate Democratic leader.
Senator Chuck Schumer of New York is facing mounting pressure
to step aside a leader of the Democratic Caucus in
the Senate, after eight members voted against his wish as Sunday,
joining Republicans and the bid then the longest government shut

(52:09):
down in US history. The vote was just the latest
development in a troubled week for the seventy four year
old Schumer, who, after eight years as the top Senate Democrat,
has faced growing calls from within the party to make
way for a new generation of leadership. Elections last week
revealed the emergence of a growing progressive movement in Schumer's hometown,

(52:32):
where the longtime senator declined to endorse a Zohran Mandami
and his successful bid for New York City mayor. National
progressive organizations on Monday urged him to step down and
have encouraged a popular congresswoman in the state representative of
Alexandria O Casio Cortes, a run for his Senate seat

(52:56):
in twenty twenty nine polls. So faces the lowest approval
numbers of any national leader in Washington. His leadership troubles
come on the heels of Representative Nancy Pelosi, the Democrat
of San Francisco, who was the first female Speaker of
the House, announcing her retirement, a decision that generated praise

(53:20):
across the political isle last week. Reflecting on her shrewd
ability to control the sprawling House Democratic caucus during high
stakes votes, Schumer is no longer effective and should be replaced.
Representative Roe Khanna, the Democrat of Fremont, wrote on x
after the Sunday night vote, if you can't lead the

(53:43):
fight to stop healthcare premiums from skyrocketing for Americans, what
will you fight for? Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the
top Democrat in the House, told reporters Monday that he
strongly disapproved of the emerging deal. In the Senate, seven
Democrats and one independent who caucuses with the party, voted

(54:04):
to proceed with government funding for seven weeks. House and
Senate Democrats said they would not vote for legislation to
reopen the government unless they were able to secure an
extension of temporary health insurance subsidies set to expire in December,
but the deal reached in the Senate indicated how some

(54:26):
Democrats gave in on that bottom line negotiation. Schumer reiterated
his disapproval of the spending deal on a speech from
the floor on Monday. He criticized the compromise as a
Republican bell even though members of his party helped broker
the deal. Republicans now own this healthcare crisis, Schumer said,

(54:49):
they knew.

Speaker 2 (54:50):
It was coming.

Speaker 1 (54:51):
We wanted to fix it, and they said no, and
now it's on them. As Schumer delivered his speech, Jeffries
spoke to reporters in a news conference on the other
side of the Capitol. Asked whether he thought Schumer remained
an effective leader and should remain in his post, Jeffrey
replied yes and yes. When pressed to elaborate, Jeffrey said,

(55:16):
the overwhelming majority of Senate Democrats, led by Chuck Schumer,
waged a valiant fight and turned his disapproval to the
Democrats who voted with Republicans on the bill. I am
not going to explain what a handful of Senate Democrats
have decided to do, Jeffrey said. That's their explanation to

(55:37):
offer to the American people. Now that the effort turns
to the House Jeffrey said Democrats in the Chamber will
try to block a deal that does not address health
care costs. Finally, families of Texas flood victims sue over
late evacuation. The families of nine Camp Mystic campers and
counselors who died in severe flooding of the summer in

(55:59):
Texas have filed three separate lawsuits against the camp and
its owners, alleging gross negligence and waiting until it was
too late. The fourth of July flood along the Guadalupe
River killed twenty five campers, two councilors, and the camp's director.
According to the lawsuit filed Monday in Texas State Court,
the families accused the all girls Christian camp of waiting

(56:20):
until it was too late to evacuate the cabins as
the nearby river overflowed its banks where they slept. The
one fourteen am flash flood warning was the time to
begin saving lives, the lawsuit states, and the families called
the deaths entirely preventable. According to the lawsuit, the camp
and it's director, Richard Dick Eastland, who died in the flood,

(56:41):
did not begin evacuating campers until more than an hour
after the National Weather Service issued its flash flood warning.
It simply ignored the unmistakable safety threat to its campers
and counselors until this tragedy was unavoidable, according to the families,
and twenty seven young girls lost their lives. Our clients

(57:01):
have filed this lawsuit to seek accountability and truth. One
of the family's attorneys, Peter Yetter, said in a statement,
Camp Mystic failed at its primary job to keep the
campers and counselors safe, and young girls died as a result.
This action is about transparency, responsibility, and ensuring no other
family experiences what these parents will now suffer for the

(57:23):
rest of their lives. And this concludes the reading today.
Your reader has been Rod Brotherton. Thank you for listening,
and please stay tuned for sports news right here on
Radio I