11.14.25

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good morning everybody, and happy Friday, and welcome to the
reading of the Lexington Herald Leader. Today is Friday, November fourteenth,
and your reader is Rod Brotherton. And as you know,
Radio I is a reading service intended for people who
are blind or have other disabilities. It made it difficult
to read printed material. We've had a pretty nice week.

(00:24):
Let's see what the next seven days hold for us.
Today it'll be partly Sunday and a wonderful high of
sixty six. Tonight partly cloudy, only going down to fifty five.
Saturday breezy in a high of sixty eight, low forty
six at night Sunday it will be a little cooler,
high fifty eight, low thirty seven. Monday's partly Sunday with

(00:47):
a high of fifty seven and low forty two. Tuesday
and Wednesday though periods of rain. Tuesday is fifty eight
is a high, forty seven is low, and Wednesday is
fifty nine is a high, fifty four is low, and
Thursday will come with some brightening high back to sixty two,
low fifty two. Looking at the almanac, Yesterday's high and

(01:09):
low sixty one and thirty nine. Normal is fifty seven
and thirty seven. Last year it was fifty six and
thirty nine. The record high back in nineteen forty five
was seventy five and the record low in nineteen eleven
was a chilly fourteen precipitation on Wednesday. Nothing month to

(01:30):
date two thirds of an inch normal one point twenty seven.
To date we've had fifty five point nine with a
normal of forty three point five four. Last year was
forty two point five to nine. The record for yesterday's
date was two point six six inches of rain in
twenty oh three. For the sun and the moon, the

(01:53):
sun rose this morning at seven eighteen. It will set
tonight at five twenty seven. The moon came up at
one fifty seven earlier this morning, and we'll set it
two forty one this afternoon. And our weather trivia kind
of an obvious one. Snow can be wet or dry,
which is the hardest to shovel. Well, yeah, wet snow

(02:14):
because it's got much more water in it, obviously.

Speaker 2 (02:17):
All right, let's look at the headlines for today.

Speaker 1 (02:20):
Partial snap benefits restart for nearly six hundred thousand Kentuckians
after a week of unknowns and conflicting court opinions. Kentucky
officials said Wednesday, nearly six hundred thousand residents who rely
on the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP to

(02:41):
buy groceries should see partial benefits restored this week. Partial
benefits are now flowing to eligible Kentuckians who receive SNAP benefits,
and due to the ruling by the US Supreme Court,
Kentucky has not processed full benefits, said Kindress Steel, a
spokesperson for the Cabinet of Health and Family Services, which

(03:04):
oversees the program in the Commonwealth. Steele did not say
how much these monthly benefits were cut or decreased. The
fate of the country's largest food assistance program, which an
amazing forty two million Americans rely on to help buy groceries,
has been up in the air since the federal government

(03:26):
shut down started on October first. In late October, President
Trump's administration toll states it would not fund the program,
increasing demand on Kentucky's food banks, which funds lapsed on
November first, But several states, including Kentucky, as well as
multiple cities and nonprofits sued the Trump administration, arguing there

(03:50):
was more than five billion dollars in a contingency fund
the government could use to fund the program today the benefits, however,
the Trump administration said it needed more than.

Speaker 2 (04:02):
Eight billion dollars.

Speaker 1 (04:05):
The cases were appealed by the Trump administration, resulting in
a US Supreme Court decision that state of Federal Rhode
Island's judges order.

Speaker 2 (04:15):
To fully fund SNAP benefits.

Speaker 1 (04:19):
That Supreme Court order is in effect until the Trump
Administration's case before a US Court of Appeals case on
an injunction is heard before the court. Some states, including Washington, Oregon,
New York, New Jersey, and Hawaii had already issued full
SNAP benefits for November before the U s Supreme Court's

(04:41):
decision on Friday. Kentucky did not steal, said it only
released partial SNAP benefits in the run up to November. First,
Democratic Governor Basheer ordered five million dollars in state money
to go to food banks to help with the domatic
surge and demand for feeding programs and free pantry items.

(05:05):
In a Saturday letter, the US Department of Agriculture told
states to immediately undo any steps taken to fund SNAP benefits. Meanwhile,
the House is expected to vote later Wednesday on several
measures to reopen the program the government, which includes full
funding for SNAP Benefits until September of twenty twenty six.

(05:28):
If approved, the longest ever federal government shutdown will be over.
Steele said it's not clear when full SNAP benefits will
resume if and when the federal government reopens. Timing of
full SNAP benefits depends on how quickly the federal government
sends the necessary information to states. Steele said, even with

(05:53):
full federal funding, many people in Kentucky will lose SNAP
benefits due to changes in acted in part of the
Big Beautiful Bill on July fourth, People between the ages
of eighteen and sixty four must show they are working, volunteering,
or in school to receive benefits as of November first.

(06:15):
Prior to November, one hundred and seventeen of Kentucky's one
hundred and twenty counties had a federal waiver that allowed
SNAP Benefits to get benefits to people without reporting how
many hours a week they worked. The waiver was based
on unemployment rates. That waiver has been dropped under provisions

(06:37):
of the new spending Bill. The new work requirement will
likely mean as many as one hundred and fourteen thousand
people in Kentucky will lose the benefit. According to the
analysis by the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy, SNAP reaches
five hundred and ninety five thousand, two hundred Kentucky residents,

(06:57):
which translate to thirteen percent of the state's population, or
as many as one in eight Kentuckians. According to data
from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Kentucky will
also have to find more money to fund the program.
Snap's administrative costs are split fifty to fifty between the

(07:20):
federal government and states. Next year, Kentucky and all states
will have to pay seventy five percent of those costs.
That will be an increase of about sixty million dollars
for Kentucky, according to a Center on Budget and Policy
Priorities analysis. The next story, Massy gets signatures to force

(07:44):
Epstein Dock's release. With the swearing in of a newly
elected Democrat in the US House on Wednesday, Representative Thomas
Massey got enough.

Speaker 2 (07:55):
Signatures on his petition to force.

Speaker 1 (07:58):
A House vote on the release of documents related to
the late sex offender and financier Jeffrey Epstein, but the
effort still has a long way to go from petition
to document release. House Speaker Mike Johnson, Republican of Louisiana,
who has urged the GOP members of his delegation to

(08:19):
vote against the petition, said Wednesday Nied he plans to
call for a full vote next week. It would then
go to the Senate, where Republicans control fifty three of
the one hundred seats and sixty votes are required for passage.
That's where it gets trickiest, Massey told the Hair Leader
in an interview. There doesn't exist a parallel parliamentary method

(08:44):
in the Senate to force something to the floor, so
they could never bring it to the floor, and Senator
GOP leader John Thune himself could block it, Massy said,
with the added steps of getting Trump to sign the bill.
In BC News previously reported a GOP members yes vote

(09:05):
would be viewed as very hostile to Trump, and Massy
knows the odds are long. He guessed about twenty petitions
have ever made it to a floor vote, let alone
final passage. His pitch to fellow Republicans to support the
petition history and voters won't look kindly on a no vote.

(09:26):
The deal if you're a Republican is if you vote
against releasing the files. Trump will protect you in your primary,
but I would remind my colleagues that the record of
this vote will last longer than his presidency. If you
plan on being in politics in twenty twenty eight or

(09:48):
twenty thirty, this will always be a mark against your record.
In a debate, somebody can say, why should we trust you?
You voted to cover up for petophile, and you don't
have the president there to take up for you, Massy said.
Massey said he thinks the margin and the House floor

(10:08):
vote will be the biggest indicator of the ultimate success.
If somewhere around two thirds of the House members vote
for the petition, then he said, that's a pretty compelling
argument the Senate should bring it up, and also indicates
it's veto proof the push on the petition, co sponsored

(10:28):
by California Democratic Representative Rocana, has.

Speaker 2 (10:32):
Not been happening in a vacuum.

Speaker 1 (10:35):
New tranches of records have been released by both Democrats
and Republicans in the House, detailing Epstein's relationship with many
powerful people, including Trump. Epstein and Trump's friendship and later
fallout is well documented. The new emails shed light on
how Epstein saw Trump and some argue. They raise questions

(10:59):
about what Trump knew about Epstein's conduct and if he
was involved. Epstein was convicted of soliciting prostitution from a
minor and has been alleged to more crimes. I am
the one able to take him down, Epstein told an
acquaintance of Trump in a twenty eighteen text. Epstein took

(11:21):
his own life in prison, awaiting trial in August of
twenty nineteen. In a January twenty nineteen email to writer
Michael Wolfe, Epstein wrote that of course he Trump knew
about the girls and had asked Epstein's accomplist Giselaine Maxwell,
to stop. I want you to realize that that dog

(11:44):
that hasn't barked his Trump victim spent hours at my
house with him, Epstein wrote in a twenty seventeen email
to Maxwell. It was later revealed by House Republicans that
the victim referenced was now now the deceased Virginia Goofrey,
a former SPA attendant at Trump's Mar A Lago club

(12:05):
and resort. Trump had previously said that he had ended
his relationship with Epstein after Epstein stole missus Gouffrey, who
said in a deposition that Trump never had sex or.

Speaker 2 (12:19):
Flirted with her.

Speaker 1 (12:21):
When asked about the latest document release, Massy said he
thinks they were a wash for Trump. Yeah, it shows
that Trump knew Jeffrey Epstein, but we already knew that.
You could look at those emails and say, oh, Epstein
and Maxwell suspected he was going to inform on them
if he's talking about a dog that doesn't bark, So

(12:45):
I don't think it's a big revelation, Massy said. Massy
thinks the administrator's reluctance to move on the Epstein files
release is not so much about the president's involvement. I've
maintained all along, not about Trump. It's about his rich
and powerful friends.

Speaker 2 (13:04):
Some are donors to his cause, Massey said.

Speaker 1 (13:07):
What's in the public in the documents that the public
hadn't seen.

Speaker 2 (13:12):
Massy said he has.

Speaker 1 (13:13):
Some idea having consulted with some of the lawyers representing
Epstein's victims. I do know that the FBI is in
possession of at least twenty accused colleagues of Epstein who
sexually abused women. Massy said five of them are billionaires,
one of them is a Canadian billionaire, and one of

(13:34):
them is a movie producer, and one of them is
a politician. Trump has long voiced frustration with Massy and
is even supporting a primary challenger against him. Massy has
bucked party stood up to Trump on several issues, most
notably on the release of the Epstein files, but also

(13:54):
opposing the Trump backed budget bill in aspects of his
foreign policy. Afforded by several GOP billionaire donors, a political
action committee called MAGA Kentucky has spent more than one
million dollars on eds seeking to erode Massey's popularity in
northern Kentucky. Massy is also raising money into his own

(14:17):
campaign account and is being supported by another political action committee,
which has also spent one million dollars. Next on the
front page, Trump signs spending bill to win the longest
government shutdown. The longest partial government shutdown in history ended
late Wednesday night, when President Trump signed into law a

(14:41):
short term spending patch that funds federal agencies through January.
Flaked by House GOP leaders around his desk in the
Oval Office, Trump signed the bill as he repeated his
call for abolishing the Senate filibuster to avoid the risk
of another shutdown. This is no way to run a country,

(15:02):
Trump said, and his signing the bill ending the forty
three day partial shutdown. I hope we can all agree
the government should never be shut down again. The House
sent Trump the legislation just hours earlier, when it voted
to clear the measure on a two hundred and twenty
two to two hundred and nine vote that fell mostly
along party lines. Two Republicans opposed the measure, Thomas Massey

(15:27):
of Kentucky and Greg Stuby of Florida. Six Democrats joined
Republicans to push the bill to passage, Henry Queller of Texas,
Don Davis of North Carolina, Jared Golden of Maine, Adam
Gray of California, Marie Clusenkamp of Perez of Washington, and
Tom Suwozie of New York. The passage would fund the

(15:51):
government through January thirtieth and provide full year appropriations for
the Departments of Agriculture and Veterans Affairs, along with legislative operations.
It would also reverse thousands of layoffs of federal employees
that the White House sought to implement during the shutdown,
while preventing future mass layoffs at least through the end

(16:14):
of January. It also means that full benefits can resume
in coming days for nearly forty two million low income
people who rely on food stamps after a series of
court challenges allowed the Trump administration to block full payments
for November temporarily, and airports across the country that have

(16:36):
coped with thousands of flight delays and cancellations can begin
getting operations back on track as more air traffic controllers
resume their duties. House Republican Conference Chair Lisa McLain, Republican
of Michigan, said Democrats inflicted needless pain on hard working

(16:56):
Americans and got nothing in the end. Millions of Americans
whose lives were upended by the Democratic shutdown.

Speaker 2 (17:05):
Well remember this, she said.

Speaker 1 (17:07):
The package buys Congress eleven more weeks to ramp up
funding negotiations to complete work on the fiscal twenty twenty
six spending bills. Three of the dozen annual bills have
now been passed as a result of the measure headed
to Trump's desk Agriculture, Military, construction, VA and legislative branch.

(17:33):
Democrats overwhelmingly rejected the package, which notably does not include
what was their top priority, an extension of the temporary
funding for the Affordable Care Act enhanced insurance benefits and
subsidies set to expire at the year end, and while
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, Republican of South Dakota, promised

(17:56):
to hold a vote next month in his chamber on
the health subs, Speaker Mike Johnson, the Republican of Louisiana,
has made no such commitment. This bill fails to address
the fundamental needs of families across the country, said Representative
Susan Debinny, the Democrat of Washington, chair of the Democratic

(18:18):
Congressional Campaign Committee. Healthcare premiums are skyrocketing because Republicans refuse
to extend the temporary ACA tax credits, causing health care
costs to go up for everybody. Eager to continue their fight,
House Democrats announced plans on Wednesday to use the so

(18:38):
called discharge petition to force floor consideration of legislation that
would extend the temporary subsidies for three more years, but
that effort requires Democrats to muster two hundred and eighteen
signatures in support of the measure, and Republicans are unlikely
to back any plan to extend the subsidies without changes

(19:02):
Republican support for the spending package threatened to unravel.

Speaker 2 (19:06):
Over the last few days after.

Speaker 1 (19:08):
The discovery of a Senate provision that was slipped into
the bill without the knowledge of House leaders. The provision
would allow senators to sue for at least five hundred
thousand dollars each when federal investigators searched their phone records
in a judicially sanctioned probe without notifying them. It would

(19:30):
also apply retroactively, meaning at least ten senators whose records
were searched by former Special Council John L. Jack Smith
in his probe of the January sixth, twenty twenty one
attack on the Capitol would automatically be entitled to big payouts.
The move outraged House Republicans, who expressed doubts about supporting

(19:54):
a package that offered payouts to senators. To ease that concern,
Johnson announced on the social platform x that he would
pursue legislation next week to repeal the Senate provision, and, finally,
on the front page with the Kentucky delegation split, hemp

(20:15):
ban passes. The passage of a bill to fund the
federal government after a week's long shutdown is the biggest
story in America, but in Kentucky, a lot of political
energy has been spent on the relatively small provision in
the bill that will ban the sale of hemp derived

(20:35):
products that include more than zero point four milligrams of
THC per container. Those products are most commonly sold as
Delta eight and Delta nine. Many hemp farmers and cannabis
based product distributors across Kentucky say the language championed by

(20:55):
Senator Mitch McConnell will devastate their bottom line. Senator Ran
Paul has been the loudest opponent in the Senate, saying
it will kill jobs and crush farmers in Kentucky. Our
farmers have turned to hemp as a lifeline when fertilizer, fuel,
and equipment costs skyrocketed and crop prices fell. Instead of

(21:19):
working with us to crack down on bad actors and
synthetic cannabinoids, some in Congress choose prohibition. Kentucky jobs are
not collateral. Our farmers are not bargaining chips. Paul wrote
in a post to X. McConnell says the language is
necessary to protect children from consuming the intoxicating products and

(21:43):
adults from getting high without knowledge of what they're getting into. Unfortunately,
companies have exploited a loophole in the twenty eighteen legislation
by taking legal amounts of THHC from hemp and turning
them into intoxicating substance, and then marketing it to children
in the candy like packaging, and selling it in easily

(22:07):
accessible places like gas stations and convenience stores across the country.
Children are unknowingly consuming these poisonous products and being sent
to the hospital at an alarming rate, McConnell said in
a floor speech this week. All of mcconnald's GOP colleagues
minus Paul, appeared to agree, or at least for not

(22:28):
bothered enough to vote against bill funding the government. Paul
was the only member of the GOP conference to vote
against the package. McConnell won the fight for now. The
language was included in the deal doing the shutdown and
will take effect in one year. The minimum number of
Senators needed sixty voted to pass the deal. It is

(22:50):
currently legal at the federal level to sell HMP derived
THHC products containing no more than three tenths of one
percent thchc, the active ingredient in marijuana by dry weight.
The new language institutes a THHC limit of four tenths
of one percent milligrams, would effectively ban products like Delta

(23:12):
eight until to nine, but the regulation is not set
to take effect until November of twenty twenty six. CBD
and hemp products advocates like Jonathan Miller, partner in charge
at the Lexington office of Frost Brown Todd, say a
path to a compromise before that time comes. Miller called

(23:35):
the inclusion of the language and the bill of body blow,
but not one the industry can't recover from. He says
that statements from opponents to CBD and lo doos THC
products are overblown, but there are plenty of issues the
industry is willing to work on in a deal next year.
The focus has been on synthetics and targeting the kids,

(23:57):
and those are issues that we agree with them, and
we're very hopeful that we can demonstrate in the next
several months that we can come up with a robust
regulatory plan that cracks down on these bad actors but
allows CBD products and hemp beverages and other lo doos
THC products to continue to be sold across the country.

(24:18):
Miller said the support for the McConnell backed language in
the national GOP is pretty unanimous. Most Republicans have voted
for or signaled support for the overall funding package, and
that includes Trump, despite many in the industry previously thinking
he would side with them. A White House official told

(24:41):
NBC News he supports the current language and the bill
on HIMP. The divide in Kentucky includes members of the
US House as well as conservative figures in the state.
Republican representatives James Comer, Thomas Massey, and Andy Barr, as
well as Democrat Representative Morgan McGarvey signed on to a

(25:03):
letter opposing the language. Barr and Comber ended up voting
for the bill, while Massey was one of only two
Republicans to vote no, and McGarvey joined most of his
Democratic colleagues and voting against it. Andrew Cooper, Writer, a
former GOP candidate and influencer, opposed the language and opposed

(25:23):
to X. You may not like him, but it doesn't
change the fact that small business owners have risked everything
to build a legal business that with a stroke of
a pen the government might close. It isn't right, and
it is in America first that's why McConnell is behind it.

Speaker 2 (25:44):
Cooper writer said.

Speaker 1 (25:46):
Some in Kentucky see second Congressional District Representative Brett Guthrie
as the path to getting a deal. Guthrie chairs the
powerful US House Committee on Energy and Commerce and could
have the oomph to get a regulatory bill through Congress.
Brett Guthrie is now the most important person to save

(26:08):
hemp in America, and we have to run a bill
through his committee to prevent Mitch McConnell's plan to eradicate
the CBD industry through government Cornbread. Hemp founder Jim Higden
told Louisville Public Media Bud Guthrie, along with Representative Hal Rodgers,
was one of two members of the Kentucky delegation that

(26:30):
did not sign on to the letter, and Guthrie's office
did not return her request.

Speaker 2 (26:37):
For comment on his stance.

Speaker 1 (26:40):
And Next, a man charged with lighting fire inside his
home and swinging a sword at police. A man from
Bourbon County is accused of swinging a sword at police
officers after barricading himself in a basement he ultimately lit
on fire, according to court documents. Justin Wade, thirty nine
of Paris, is charged with first degree wanton engagement, first

(27:03):
degree arson, first degree terroristic threatening and menacing. The incident
happened Tuesday afternoon at a home on Mentoview Drive in Paris.
Police were called to the home after Wade threatened to
kill his mother with a knife. According to court documents,
when officers arrived, Wade barricaded himself inside the basement of

(27:26):
the home and threatened to kill officers with a sword
and blow up the house. Police obtained a search warrant
for the home, but before officers went inside, they saw
flames coming out of the basement door.

Speaker 2 (27:40):
Documents of the court.

Speaker 1 (27:41):
Say Wade then came out of the home with the
sword and swung it at the officers. Police used a
taser to subdue Wade and take him into custody. He
was taken to Bourbon County Hospital for treatment. According to
court documents, officers of the fire was set intentionally and

(28:02):
Wade was the only person in the basement when it started.
Court documents say, and now, after a short pause, I
hope you'll rejoin us for a continuation of the reading
of the Lexington Herald Leader for today. Thank you for
listening as always, and now please stay tuned for more
news right here on Radio I and now we will

(28:27):
continue reading from the Lexington Herald for this Friday, November fourteenth.
Your reader is Rod Brotherton, and as always we start
with the obituaries and read only the name, age and
location if given. If you would like further information on
any of the obituaries, please see the website or call
us during the week days at eight five nine four

(28:48):
two two sixty three ninety and we will be glad
to read the entire obituary for you.

Speaker 2 (28:53):
I repeat the number.

Speaker 1 (28:54):
At the end of the listings, and today's obituary index
has one name. It is Billy Pack who was ninety
five and lived in Ashland. If you would like any
further information, please visit the website Legacy dot com slash
obituary slash Kentucky, and as I said, you can call
us at Radio I at eight five nine four two

(29:14):
two sixty three ninety. We'll try to read it to
you over the phone. Now let's return to today's news.
Had a bit of history. Now, after two hundred and
thirty two years, the last penny is minted. The American
penny died Wednesday in Philadelphia. It was two hundred and

(29:35):
thirty two years old. The cause was irrelevance and expensiveness.
The Treasury Department said nothing could be bought anymore with
a penny, not even penny candy. Moreover, the cost mint
the penny had risen to more than three sins, a
financial absurdity that doomed the coin. The final pennies were

(29:58):
minted Wednesday afternoon in Philadelphi. Top treasury officials were on
hand for its final journey, but no last words were recorded.
In its heyday, the penny had immense cultural impact. It
was the going rate for thoughts. It was a symbol
of frugality saved and or earned. It could sometimes be

(30:20):
pretty and other times arrived from heaven. And how many
ideas would never have come to light without a penny
dropping When picked up, it was said to bring good
luck for a twenty four hour period, an assertion commonly made,
but one that was never proven by any scientific double
blind studies. On the darker side, a penny could undoubtedly

(30:45):
be bad, especially when turning up. It found its way
into films, the Penny Serenade and songs. Penny Lover, a
foray into footwear, specifically loafers, was a huge success for
many decades aid, and the shoe remains readily available today.
In comparison, about the best the nickel could do was

(31:08):
be wooden. The American penny was preceded in death by
its smaller sibling, the half sent from seventeen ninety three
to eighteen fifty seven, and its cousin, the Canadian penny
from eighteen fifty eight to twenty twelve. The British one
pence coin, born in the seventeenth century, somewhat incredibly survives it.

(31:31):
The American penny was born in seventeen ninety three in Philadelphia.
Its parent was Alexander Hamilton, the first Secretary of the Treasury,
was the chief author of the Coinage Act, which birthed
the penny and its siblings. The penny went through several reinventions.
At birth, it depicted Lady Liberty, and in nineteen oh

(31:53):
nine Abraham Lincoln.

Speaker 2 (31:55):
Took over the front.

Speaker 1 (31:56):
For the rest of its life, the reverse of the coin,
where it showed more variety, with a fifteen link chain,
a wreath, wheat stalks, and the Lincoln Memorial all getting moments.
But in twenty oh nine the variation increased, with the
log cabin and other designs. Most recently it depicted a

(32:16):
Union shield. The penny was at first strictly a copper
coin in nineteen forty three because of hunger for copper
for the war effort, it changed for a year into
a zinc coated steel starting in nineteen eighty two and
until its death, the penny so associated with its copper color,

(32:38):
was in fact ninety seven and a half percent zinc
and merely two and a half percent copper plating. As
the penny entered its long decline, it found more and
more frequency around itself, casually tossed into a jar in
someone's home or ignominiously dropped in a take a penny
tray at the retailer's. Golds grew for it to be

(33:01):
euthanized citing its obsolescence, and in the end, President Trump
signed its death warrant in February. Even after death, the
penny will not vanish for a while longer. There are
some two hundred and fifty billion pennies in circulation, and
they will be out there gathering dust or maybe very

(33:24):
very rarely, being used to help pay for something. As
the last pennies slowly disappear, businesses will have no choice
but to round transactions to the nearest nickel when dealing
with cash. With the penny's demise, coins enthusiasts worry eyes
now turned toward its longtime associate, the nickel. Its purchasing

(33:47):
power has also shrunk to nearly nothing, and it costs
more than a dime to make. And now back to politics,
how much money to Kentucky's candidates have? Many millions In
one case, Kentucky's leading candidates for the US Senate have

(34:08):
a lot of money. In Nate Morris's case, the Lexington
Tuck entrepreneur and his wife have combined assets worth as
much as one hundred and fourteen million dollars, according to
his recently filed financial disclosure to the US Senate. Candidates
for federal office in twenty twenty six are required to

(34:30):
file financial disclosures and the lead up to their races.
Morris's filing comes alongside one from former Kentucky Attorney General
Daniel Cameron and another from last year filed by Representative
Andy Barr. Morris, who has put more than three million
dollars into his campaign as of September thirtieth, is the

(34:52):
wealthiest of the three leading GOP candidates.

Speaker 2 (34:55):
By far.

Speaker 1 (34:57):
His report filed October twenty ninth, his and his wife's
assets as worth at least forty four point four million
dollars and as much as one hundred and fourteen point
four million, reflective of their finances as of the data filing.
According to a campaign spokesperson, the wide range in possible
wealth is due to reporting requirements.

Speaker 2 (35:20):
For instance, Morris.

Speaker 1 (35:22):
Only had to report his stock in Republic Financial and
Insurance company, his eponymous Morris Industries bought as worth between
twenty five and fifty million dollars, but not the exact amount.
Barr's disclosure, which covered the year twenty twenty four but
was filed in August of twenty twenty five, showed that

(35:44):
he and his wife, Davis's assets total between nine hundred
and fifty seven thousand dollars and two point seven million dollars.
Cameron's report, filed in August as well, had his wife
Mackenzie's assets ranging from one hundred and eighty one thousand
dollars to six hundred and sixty four thousand dollars. Candidates

(36:05):
are not required to report their homes as an asset,
which are for many American homeowners the most expensive asset
they own. The filings are considered a representation of the
candidate's assets, but not should be seen as an accurate
neth worse statement. According to the US House Ethics Committee,

(36:27):
bar Morris and Cameron are the only candidates in the
crowded race to replace Senator Mitch McConnell, who's not running
for re election in twenty twenty six, who have filed
their financial disclosures. As of early November, no Democratic candidate
has filed their financial disclosure, although Joel Willett, a former
CIA official from Louisville, requested an extension to report by

(36:51):
January fifteenth, twenty twenty six, None of the three Republican
candidates who filed reports offered more specific estimates.

Speaker 2 (37:00):
Of their assets worth.

Speaker 1 (37:03):
It is no secret that Morris is the wealthiest candidate
in the race. He led a company he founded, waste
technology firm Rubicon, to a public offering in twenty twenty two,
and made forty point nine million dollars in compensation when
he exited the company later that year. Morris's largest single

(37:24):
asset is his holding company, Morris Industries, Morris Industry's stake
and Republic Financial, a Kentucky based insurance and financial planning company,
is the largest in its portfolio. After that, Morris Industries
hold stock between five hundred thousand, one million dollars in
eight VC, a venture capital firm founded by Joe Longsdale

(37:50):
of Planeteer Technologies. Planeteer is an increasingly influential software and
military surveillance firm most closely associated with Peter Thiel, an
early Trump backer and Silicon Valley and mentor to Vice
President J. D.

Speaker 2 (38:06):
Vance.

Speaker 1 (38:08):
The third and final stock held by Morris Industries is
between two hundred and fifty to five hundred thousand dollars
in Strive, an asset management company co founded by Vivek Ravaswamy,
a twenty twenty four GOP presidential candidate and current front
runner for the Ohio Republican gubernatorial nomination. Ravaswamy was featured

(38:33):
speaker at Morris's fundraiser held in the Lexington residence of
Zack Whitcoff, son of Trump's Special Envoy to the Middle East,
Steve Whitcoff. A joint stock held by Morris and his
wife in tow the market Survivor Made Goods, a company
founded by Jane Mossbacker. Morris is devoted to helping companies

(38:54):
vet their supply chains for ethics, sustainability and transparency, is
worth somewhere between five and twenty five million dollars. The
Morris family also holds between five and twenty five million
dollars in Mossbacker Energy, an oil and gas company run
by Jane Mossbacker, Morris's father, a long time Texas Fossil

(39:18):
Fuels executive and former member of President George W.

Speaker 2 (39:22):
Bush's cabinet.

Speaker 1 (39:24):
Also listed as an asset value between five and twenty
five million dollars is Morris's life insurance policy. Morris's most
liquid assets on the report are two brokerage accounts comprised
of US Treasury bills. One is worth one to five
million dollars and the other is worth five hundred thousand

(39:44):
to one million. Though candidates are not required to report
their own residential properties as an asset of their filings,
Morris and his wife Jane own a fourteen acre horse
farm on the outskirts of Lexington that they bought for
two and a half million dollars in twenty twenty one.
The report includes unimproved land worth between.

Speaker 2 (40:05):
One and five million dollars.

Speaker 1 (40:08):
Beyond his roles at Morris Industries, Republic Financial, and an
advisor to eight VC. Morris reported a position as an
entrepreneur in Residence at the University of Kentucky, a role
he left in April of this year before launching his
run in June. He is also listed as a director
of two ex Game Changers, a nonprofit led by Louisville

(40:32):
activist Christopher two X. The group focuses on education and
support for victims of gun violence in the Louisville area. Barr,
a stalwart of the US House Committee on Financial Services,
had his money spread across several different accounts, but the
bulk of it is in accounts for his three children,

(40:55):
retirement accounts, or exchange traded funds. Disclosure filed in August
to twenty twenty five is reflective of his finances as
the end of twenty twenty four and ETF is a
bundle of stocks and bonds that trades like a single stock.
It is considered a safer investment than individual stocks, which

(41:17):
fluctuate more. Somewhere between one hundred and sixty six thousand
dollars and four hundred and fifteen thousand dollars of Bar's
assets were in five to twenty nine plans dedicated to
educational expenses for his children. About one hundred to two
hundred thousand dollars of his assets were listed as trusts

(41:38):
for his children. Barr's retirement accounts told at least two
hundred eleven thousand and up to five hundred and sixteen
thousand in accounts with Wells Fargo and Northwestern Mutual, which
primarily consists of ETFs, Bar had as much as six
hundred and forty five thousand dollars and at least two

(41:59):
hundred thirty two thousand. Barr's wife, Davis, held most of
her money as the late twenty twenty four in a
Golden Socks account and Vanguard money market account totaling at
least two hundred thousand dollars combined and as much as
five hundred thousand. The couple reported a mortgage between five

(42:20):
hundred thousand and one million. They closed on a house
in suburban Lexington for one point one million in December
of twenty twenty four. At the time, Barr held only
two stocks outright, both worth between one and fifteen thousand dollars.
Key Bank, a Cleveland, Ohio based financial company, and Pfizer

(42:42):
the pharmaceutical giant best known for producing a vaccine against
COVID nineteen. Barr reported one sponsored trip in November twenty
twenty four, paid for by the Rypond Society, a story
GOP think tank that has previously featured Bar's writings. The
cost of the trip is not closed, but the group

(43:03):
paid for members of his family and their food and
lodging over a sixty eight period. Cameron reported is the
simplest of the three. He and his wife's biggest single
asset is an American Express savings account worth between one
hundred and two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Cameron's own
retirement accounts, which include his pension from his time as

(43:26):
an Attorney General, told at least sixty eight thousand dollars
and as much as one hundred and ninety five thousand.
Mackenzie Cameron's rare retirement accounts totaled between eleven thousand and
one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Cameron reported more than
two hundred and fifty thousand dollars in income from the
previous year his position as CEO of the seventeen ninety

(43:50):
two Exchange, a nonprofit focused on fighting the influence of environmental,
social and governance, and diversity, equity and inclusion. Conscer Earns
in Businesses paid him one hundred and seventy thousand dollars.
Cameron reported seventy thousand dollars in income from Oberheiden PC,

(44:10):
a national law and consulting firm where he was employed
for six months. He also reported his final paycheck from
his role as Attorney General. The former Attorney General reported
making three thousand dollars total from speaking engagements to private
Christian post secondary institutions Judson University and Hillsdale College, as

(44:34):
well as the Commonwealth Policy Center, a conservative advocacy group
in Kentucky. And next of local notice, historic church near
downtown Lexington to close after one hundred and ten years.
After one hundred and ten years, a historic church in
downtown Lexington is closing its doors. Kramer and Hanover Church

(44:59):
of Christ will hold its last regular worship service at
eleven a m Sunday, and a final service and reception
will be held at three pm that day. Tim Smith,
the church's treasurer, said attendants had dwindled in recent years
to about fifteen on a typical Sunday morning and the
church ultimately decided to sell its large graystone building on

(45:22):
North Hanover Avenue. We've just been struggling to keep going,
Smith said. The church, like many others, struggled to regain
its previous attendance numbers after pausing in persons worship services
during the COVID nineteen.

Speaker 2 (45:36):
Pandemic, Smith said. Andy said, just.

Speaker 1 (45:40):
One week after the shutdown for the pandemic, the church's
minister of forty five years, Benny Hill, died unexpectedly.

Speaker 2 (45:49):
We had a hard time getting through that, Smith said.

Speaker 1 (45:53):
In the years since then, Smith said the church has
been without a full time preacher. Men from the Congregation
of step up to fill the pulpit, and guest preachers
have filled in as well. Kramer and Hanover is believed
to be the oldest Church of Christ in Lexington based
on census data. It is an independent, non denominational congregation

(46:16):
known for its a cappella singing. The congregation was formed
in nineteen fifteen when a young couple couldn't find a
Church of Christ to worship in at Lexington, and they
initially met in the members' homes. Historical documents indicate that
work on the building at the corner of Kramer and
Hanover Avenues began in nineteen thirty two on property that

(46:39):
had once been owned by John W. McGarvey. McGarvey was
a professor at what is now the Lexington Theological Seminary,
a Lexington minister, and a leader in the restoration movement,
which traces its roots to the early eighteen hundreds in
central Kentucky and gave rise to three distinct religious groups,

(47:00):
Disciples of Christ, Independent Christian Churches, and the Churches of
Christ a Cappella. Smith said he did not know for
sure how the property would be used after it was sold.
While Kramer and Hanover Church of Christ no longer meet,
Smith said the church's mission office, the Church of Christ Worldwide,

(47:22):
will continue to support mission work around the world. We
plan to continue that program even though the building's being
solely said Adele. Hill grew up attending church at Kramer
and Hanover, where her grandfather, Homer Rutherford, was minister from
nineteen thirty two to nineteen seventy. Hill's husband, Benny Hill,

(47:43):
served as minister from nineteen seventy five to twenty twenty.
It's bittersweet, she said, of the church's closing. I don't
know where the Lord's going to lead me, but I
know I'll have peace when he does.

Speaker 2 (47:56):
She said.

Speaker 1 (47:57):
The final service on Sunday is not something you want
to celebrate, but the memories nothing can take them away
and next. Names of victims released in the Louisville UPS
cargo plane crash. More names of victims and the fatal
UPS cargo plane crash in Louisville were released Wednesday by

(48:17):
the Jefferson County Coroner's Office. At least fourteen people have
been confirmed dead after a UPS cargo plane crash November
fourth during takeoff from Louisville's Muhammad Ali International Airport. Three
of the victims were members of the crew of the
flight twenty nine seventy six, which was leaving Louisville bound

(48:37):
for Honolulu. At about five point fifteen pm. During takeoff,
the left engine of the MD eleven McDonnell Douglas aircraft detached,
sending the plane plummeting to the ground and hitting the
roof of a UPS supply chain warehouse and other structures
in the vicinity. Jefferson County Corner Joanne Follar said during

(49:01):
a Wednesday news conference. The victims were identified using DNA,
medical and dental records. UPS has announced it would pay
funeral expenses for the fourteen victims, said Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg.
Members of the UPS crew were previously identified as Captain
Richard Whartenberg fifty seven, First Officer Lee Truitt forty five,

(49:25):
and International Relief Officer Captain Dana Daniel Diamond sixty two.
Another victim, Matt Sweets, thirty seven, a father of two
young children, died November sixth, and his sister, Michelle Sweet
sent in a Facebook post. Sweets suffered severe burns after
the crash, according to a GoFundMe account set up to

(49:47):
support his children and girlfriend. According to his obituary, Sweets
was an electrician with Warren Electric Company. He was the
father of two children, a graduate of Trinity High School
in Louisville, and earned a degree in marketing from the
University of Louisville, louis Nis. Leu Ferdon forty seven, and

(50:08):
his granddaughter, Kimberly Asa, three were simply in the wrong
place at the wrong time, becoming victims of this catastrophic
and unforeseen accident. According to a go Fundme account set
up to support Fieden's teenage children. The other victims identified
Wednesday were Angela Anderson forty five. Anderson's boyfriend, Donald Henderson,

(50:31):
told TV station WDRB she was at the metal scrapping
center Grade A Recycling when the plane crashed. Carlos Fernandez
fifty two, Trinidad Trina Chavez thirty seven, Tony Crane sixty five,
John Lows fifty two. Lows operated heavy equipment for Grade

(50:53):
A Recycling, John Spray Junior forty five, and he go
fund Me Paige Tiffany Torah said she and Spray share
a daughter. Although we don't know when or if we
will retrieve any of remains, we want to come together
to celebrate his life. Torrok said, such John had such

(51:13):
a big personality, so funny, carefree, someone who never took
life too seriously. He had a good heart and would
literally give you the shirt off his back or last
dollar if you needed it. He loved his family, especially
his brothers and two daughters, Heaven Spray and Kaylee Christopher,
She said. Then there was Ella Petty Wharton thirty one

(51:36):
and Meghan Washburn thirty five. Sean Garber, owner and CEO
of Great A Recycling, said Megan Washburn was a wonderful
young lady who worked in customer service, according to w
H A. S. Greenberg reminded Louiell Residence to continue to
honor the victims of the ups plane crash and support

(51:57):
their families during Thursday's press conference. Our city feels the
full weight of this unimaginable tragedy, Greenberg said, I've heard
it said that everyone dies twice, once when you take
your last breath, and again when your name is spoken
for the last time. So as we hear these names today,

(52:17):
let's never forget their lives, their laughter, their love, and
all that they meant to those around them. Each of
these victims represents a life full of purpose, interrupted far
too soon, and we also a life that will never
fade and next collision. Course to zero. GOP starts early

(52:41):
back and forth on income tax cut. Kentucky didn't hit
the mark to trigger another half point decrease in the
state's income tax. Some GOP legislatures already seem to disagree
about whether to continue on the path to zero and
how to get there. The state bill just seven and
a half million dollars in revenue short of the market

(53:04):
set for itself to move forward with an income tax
cut from three and a half percent to three for
twenty twenty seven. The money is just a part of
last year's total General Fund revenues of fifteen and a
half billion dollars. At the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce's legislative
Preview conference in Lexington on Monday, state Representative Jason Names,

(53:27):
Republican of Middletown, said revenues were calculated too soon, since
the state tax deadline to extend to November three due
to severe weather events that happened across the state in
the spring. I do not accept that we didn't hit
the trigger, said Names, who was the majority whip in
the House of Representatives. I did think we hit the

(53:48):
triggers in Kentucky. And even if we didn't, but we did,
we should. We need to reduce the taxes anyway. Eliminating
income taxes in Kentucky has been a prior already of
the Chamber and the GOP led legislature, and a way
to entice businesses to locate in the Bluegrass State, increasing
the state's economic competitiveness and giving Kentuckians.

Speaker 2 (54:10):
More individual financial freedom. We're on a collision course to zero.

Speaker 1 (54:15):
NIM said that's going to happen.

Speaker 2 (54:17):
The only variable is time.

Speaker 1 (54:20):
The Kentucky Center for Economic Policy, a progressive think tank,
has long appose cuts to the state's income tax, warning
that a shortfall and eventually cuts to services would become inevitable.
While the triggers weren't hit this year, they were met
one year ago, allowing the General Assembly to pass a
tax cut from four to three and a half percent

(54:41):
on this January first. The state's personnel income tax was
five percent before the twenty twenty two bill put Kentucky
on its path to zero. The triggers factor in the
state's size of the budget reserved trust fund and the
pace of revenue streams going in into the general fund,
especially from sales and revenue. Income tax revenues for the

(55:06):
current fiscal year, which runs from July one, twenty twenty
five June thirtieth, twenty twenty six, are set to drop
three hundred and fifty nine million dollars due to the
previous income tax cuts. If revenue remains the same a
year from now, the state may hit a different trigger
to cut income tax by a smaller percentage. Earlier this spring,

(55:28):
the legislature passed a law tweaking the formula to allow
itself to cut income tax by increments of one quarter
of percent starting in twenty twenty seven. Legislatures also previously
change its own rules to lower the income tax rate
by exempting nearly three billion dollars in one time spending
from the formula. Senator's Chris McDaniel, Republican of Ryland Heights,

(55:52):
who chairs the Senator Appropriations and Revenue Committee, sat next
to Names on Monday. When Nimes said he wouldn't accept
the states that he didn't hit the trigger, McDaniel said,
the formula has worked in the past, and it's set
up to say the course of budgeting discipline, we had
a particular process in place, and under the process that
was in place, which involves the certification.

Speaker 2 (56:13):
At the end of the year, we were off.

Speaker 1 (56:15):
By about seven million dollars, McDaniel said. In January, legislators
will reconvene to craft the state's budget for the next
two years. On Monday, House Speaker David Osborne, Republican of Prospect,
said though the state missed the trigger, the legislature can
make policy. However, we want to make it so it

(56:37):
doesn't really ultimately matter, and this concludes the reading of
the Lexington Herald Leader for today, Friday, November fourteenth. Your
reader has been Rod Brotherton. As always, thank you for
listening and now please stay tuned for sports news right
here on Radio LI