12.5.25

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good morning everybody, and welcome to the reading of the
Lexington Herald Leader. Today is Friday, December fifth, and it's cold,
and your reader today is Rod Brotherton. As a reminder,
Radio I is reading service intended for people who are
blind or have other disabilities that made it difficult to
read printed material. Our seven day forecast is like this

(00:23):
Today mostly cloudy and as I said, cold, high will
be thirty seven and tonight though low clouds and a
low of twenty eight. Saturday mostly cloudy, high forty three,
low thirty. Sunday rain or snow. Forty one is a high.
Twenty five is low. Monday, low clouds and cold, high

(00:47):
thirty five, low twenty three. Tuesday breezy but it's still chilly.
High forty four, low thirty six. Wednesday mainly cloudy and
win Hi though is fifty two, low twenty nine. Thursday,
low clouds may break, but it's colder, low high forty

(01:11):
low twenty six. Looking at the almanac, yesterday's high and
low thirty and twenty five. Normal is forty nine and
thirty two. Last year it was thirty one and twenty two.
The record high was an unbelievable seventy five in nineteen
eighty two, and the record low now we're more like
it minus two nineteen twenty nine. Precipitation on Wednesday nothing

(01:35):
month to date thirty five hundred seven inch normal is
for tenthsm an inch, but year to date fifty seven
point one nine inches compared to forty six oh four
is a normal. Last year was forty five point seventy six.
The record for yesterday's date two point six inches in
nineteen seventy eight. And for snow Wednesday nothing month to

(01:59):
date one and a half inches normal is only a
tenth of an inch, and we've had one point eight
inches so far this season, and it's normal only to
get about a half an inch this far, and last
year we'd had three point one before the sun and
the moon. The sun came up just a few minutes
ago at seven thirty nine, and it we'll set tonight
at five nineteen. The moon will come up at five

(02:22):
point fifty this afternoon and set tomorrow morning at eight
forty two, and it's not going to be today. But
the trivia question is what is the record high temperature
for the US and December, Well, that was one hundred
degrees at La Mesa, California, on December eighth, nineteen thirty eight.

(02:44):
All right, let's look at the headlines. The first story.
Lexington Council approves contract for a new city hall After
forty years of searching, Lexington's government soon avenue home. The
Lexington Fayet Urban County Council voted eight to seven Tuesday

(03:06):
night to approve a whopping one hundred and fifty two
and a half million dollar contract with the Lexington Opportunity
Fund to develop a new city hall building at two
hundred West Vine Street. Council members James Brown, Chuck Ellinger,
Hannah Legris, Lisa Higgins Hoard, Joseph Hale, Whitney, Elliott Baxter,

(03:32):
Jennifer Reynolds, and He'll Boone voted to approve the contract,
while Vice Mayor Dan Wu and council members Tyler Morton,
Shayla Lynch, Emma Curtis, The Sheehan, Amy Beasley, and Dave
Savigny voted against the move. Lexington has been holding private

(03:53):
negotiations since April of this year to secure the downtown
property once home to BB and T now True. A
final proposal with financing details was not made public until
a November eighteenth work session meeting, where council took the
first procedural vote. The city will pay the Lexington Opportunity

(04:14):
Fund thirty million dollars up front as a down payment.
That money comes from a capital project fund created by
council several years ago with a new city Hall in mind.
The existing building will be renovated with a ten thousand
square foot edition to the front along Vine Street. All

(04:36):
construction work will be managed by the Opportunity Fund. Under
the terms approved Tuesday, the city will lease the building
with the three and a half million dollar annual payment
for thirty five years, after which the city assumes ownership
of the property. The Lexington Opportunity Fund is overseen by

(04:58):
the web and Companies, developers who built the long delayed
City Center project that are overseeing currently delayed High Street
development by Raperina. Several members of the public, many from
renter advocacy organization Kentucky Tenants, told the council during public

(05:20):
comment a vote to approve the contract would mean neglecting
the housing needs of Lexington residents. The current city Hall
is old, things probably league and the occasional mold probably
creeps in Blake Taylor with Team Kentucky Tenants told the
council many people in Lexington feel the same way about

(05:44):
their own homes. Reynolds, who represents the Lexington's eleventh district
instead approving a new city hall, was more than one.
We are not, in my opinion at all, saying we
want a fancy new house. That's not what this is.
Rental said, this is we need a new house. What

(06:04):
is the new house going to look like? Otherwise we're
going to be staying in a house that is falling
down around us. This city will continue to prioritize its
residence and what we want to look for ways are
to develop and solve the housing crisis, Rental said. Maintaining
the current city hall building, the former Lafayette Hotel at

(06:27):
two hundred East Main Street, cost millions. Baxter of the
ninth District noted that money could be freed up for
more community services under the new proposal. I cannot continue
to approve budgets to keep putting a band aid on
this building and keep funding repairs that complete with services

(06:50):
that we would provide to our community when we have
been presented with a feasible solution, Baxter said, the current
building has more than fifty five million dollars in deferred
maintenance costs, according to the Commissioner of the General Services,
Chris Ford. In twenty twenty three, the city spent more

(07:10):
than two million dollars to repair its elevators. City officials
also used the Phoenix Building on Vine Street for office
space and would continue to do so after the new
government center is complete. The city has not said what
they will do with the current city Hall after the
move to the West Vine Street. Council members who voted

(07:32):
against the final contract Tuesday echoed many of the same
concerns residents shared. Curtis, the council member representing the fourth district,
said changes to federal funding for safety net programs means
Lexington needs to focus more on providing services. With recent

(07:52):
moves by the Trump administration and by Congress slash funding
for many of the projects that I believe were what
makes our government here works so well for so many people.
I'm not comfortable committing this amount of taxpayer money right
now without having tangible commitments to filling those gaps for
to sit. After the city Hall vote, Baxter brought a

(08:15):
motion to reserve more than two point eight million dollars
from the city's unallocated fund balance to implement future recommendations
from a new task force focused on addressing Lexington's growing
population of homeless residents. Mayor Lynn Gordon formed this task
force this summer, following study recommendations that the city built

(08:39):
a new emergency homeless shelter. It held its first meeting
on November thirteenth, and will draft policy recommendations to be
presented to the council next year. The Council unanimously approved
Baxter's motion to reserve the funds, but she Had of
the Fifth District, said two point eight million wasn't enough

(09:00):
if we are saying that housing and homelessness is the
top priority, but then spending dramatically more on something else
that indicates what the true priority of the city is.
She hand said. This doesn't erase or meet the concerns
raised by the public about what we should be prioritizing now.

(09:24):
The capital fund will have around ten million dollars left
after the thirty million down payment for the new City
Government Complex. The remainder can be used for any future
capital projects, including a new shelter. The city is required
to set aside three tenths of one percent of its
general fund budget each year to support Lexington's Office of

(09:48):
Homelessness Prevention and Intervention that typically comes out to about
one point four to seven million dollars a year. The
three and a half million dollar annual lease payment for
the new City Hall represents roughly six tenths of one
percent of the general fund. The next story Federal immigration

(10:13):
operations starts in New Orleans. Federal authorities announced the start
of an immigration enforcement operations in New Orleans on Wednesday,
the latest front in the Trump Administration's crackdown. The Department
of Homeland Security said in a statement that its targets
would include violent criminals who were released after being arrested

(10:35):
four weeks. New Orleans, a city led by Democrats, and
a conservative state, have been nervously bracing for the agent's arrival.
Immigrant advocates have been warning residents to reduce their time
outdoors as much as possible, given the outcomes of past
operations in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Charlotte, North Carolina. It

(10:56):
was unclear Wednesday morning what specific federal agencies were involved
in the operation, but previous efforts in those cities were
led by the Border Patrol and a senior official Gregory Bovino,
who have been criticized for their aggressive tactics with agency
and flooding grocery stores, parking lots frequented by Latinos, and

(11:18):
hanging around home depots to pick up people in the
country illegally who were looking for work and sometimes roughly
detained American citizens. In announcing the New Orleans operation, the
Trump administration said it was pursuing the worst of the
worst criminals who were in the country illegally, and included
a list of ten people it said had been released

(11:40):
from local jails because of sanctuary city policies. Most of
the people detained in past operations, however, have not had
criminal histories. In Charlotte, for example, where more than three
hundred and seventy people were arrested, only about forty four
had criminal records. According to federal officials, the full scope

(12:02):
of the arrested people's crimes remain unclear still. Bovino, who
often engages with his critics and admires on social platform x,
has posted on social media about a handful of the
immigrations and immigrants who he says have serious criminal records.

(12:22):
Data shows that immigrants are less likely to commit crimes
than native born Americans, but some argue that any crime
committed by someone in the country illegally could have been
prevented by stricter immigration enforcement. Governor Jeff Landry of Louisiana,
a Republican, has welcomed the agents with open arms, telling
Fox News last month that he hoped that they could

(12:44):
start taking some of these dangerous criminal illegal aliens off
our streets. Helena Marino, new Orleans Democratic mayor elect, who
was born in Mexico, expressed wariness about what might come next.
Did parts of DUP process violations and potential abuses in
other cities are concerning, Marino said in a statement before

(13:06):
the operation began. I want our community to be aware
and informed of the protections available under law, as it
has in its other deployments around the country. The Homeland
Security Department gave its New Orleans operations a nickname Catahula Crunch.

(13:27):
Critics have derided these seemingly whimsical names as discordant and offensive,
given the seriousness of the operations and the harshness of
the Department's tactics. The Louisiana State Police and the New
Orleans Field Office of the FBI announced Wednesday that they
would be collaborating to deter salts on federal officers and

(13:49):
attempts to obstruct law enforcement actions during the immigration enforcement operations.
The operation comes at the end of a remarkably challenging
year for New Orleans. It began with a deadly terrorist
attack in January, and over the summer, the city's mayor,
LaToya Cantrell, was indicted on charges of using public funds

(14:12):
to carry otural manic relationship with her bodyguard, a city
police officer only in New Orleans. New Orleans is also
grappling with a budget crisis. Residents have criticized the city
for becoming too economically dependent on tourism, which mostly provides
low wage jobs. Many of the jobs in that industry

(14:35):
are filled by immigrants and next, the University of Kentucky
will use a one hundred and fifty million dollar donation
to build on campus arts district. The largest donation in
the University of Kentucky's history, will be used to create

(14:57):
a new arts district on campus. Officials and ounce Tuesday
a one hundred and fifty million dollar donation from the
Bill Gatton Foundation will be used to build a state
of the arts art district for the College of Fine
Arts UK President Eli Cappoluto announced that a Board of
Trustees meeting included in the area will be a will

(15:20):
be theaters, recital halls, practice venues, and outdoor pavilion and more.
It will bring music, theater and dance programs under one
roof for the first time in the university's history. This
is going to be a place to gather and a
place to inspire. Cappeluto said, this creates a vibrant district

(15:42):
of connection that we know is going to further foster creativity.
The Arts district will be located near the Gray Design Building,
which was renovated in twenty twenty four, at the intersection
of Broadway and Boulevard Street, near the former location of
tally Ho. According to materials from the board meeting, it

(16:06):
will include a one hundred and seventy thousand square foot
arts and innovation complex for the College of Fine Arts,
as well as outdoor space. The donation tops the university's
previously largest, which was also from the Gatten Foundation of
one hundred million dollars to the College of Agriculture, Food
and Environment in twenty twenty three. This gift will realize

(16:31):
a vision to create an arts district on the western
edge of our campus. Capaluto said, there we can integrate
art into an area of Lexington that is an increasingly
vibrant and vital intersection of the campus and city, town
and gown. Gatton, who was a nineteen fifty four UK
graduate and former trustee of the university, died in April

(16:54):
of twenty twenty two. It was a long time donor
to UK, the largest single donor to the university, giving
two hundred million dollars in his lifetime and through his foundation.
The gat And Student Center, Gaton College of Business and Economics,
and the Martin Gatten College of Agriculture, Food and Environment

(17:15):
are all named in his and his family's honor. Construction
will require legislative authority to issue bonds, Capaludo sid and
He also said the university has begun discussions with state
leaders leaders about the project. This one hundred and fifty
million dollar gift, the largest in UK's history, will help

(17:37):
not only the university but also Lexington and Kentucky as
it creates a vibrant and welcoming arts district for students,
Kentuckians and visitors to enjoy. Governor Sheer said in a
news release. Education and the arts fuel our economy and
our workforce, and investments like these are how we can

(18:00):
working to build a bright future for generations. College of
Fine Arts Dean Mark Shanda said the new facilities and
technology will be key for educating and recruiting students and
what the university can officer offer the community. This facility
will just rocket us toward forward in terms of attraction

(18:22):
for students and the commonwealth and ties into the work
development efforts of the Commonwealth and in terms of the
film on film industry and the audio industry. He said.
The university has undergone a slate of renovations and new
buildings in recent years, including updates to Kroger Field, a
new basketball practice facility, and a new health education building.

(18:47):
There's also been an expansion of student housing options as
enrollment continues to grow on campus. An eighty one million
dollar project is in the works which would add a
new dorm on South Campus behind Ingalls, Baldwin and Smith Halls,
but demand for housing is so great developers are planning

(19:08):
multiple off campus privately owned apartment buildings in Lexington for students.
The most recent proposal, which would have created an eight
story student apartment building on East Maxwell Street was denied
by the Lexington Fayed Urban County Council in November. Residents
in the area, which contained several older multi apartment buildings

(19:31):
and homes that would have been demolished, said they have
been overrun with privately owned student housing in recent years.
Two other student housing complexes were approved in the East
Maxwell area earlier this year, and finally on the front page,
Charles Booker to run again for the US Senate. Charles

(19:56):
Booker is going forward again. The former state representative staffer
under Governor Basheer launched his third run for the US
Senate in Kentucky Wednesday morning, joining a crowded field of
Democrats and Republicans seeking to replace Senator Mitch McConnell in
twenty twenty six. His early campaign strategy leans in on

(20:18):
economic inequality, labor and programs meant to help low income Kentuckians.
We deserve an economy that works for working families where
we just don't survive, but thrive. We deserve to live
a life of dignity, and we deserve a government that

(20:38):
works for the people, Booker said in a news release
announcing his run. In that release, in a launch video,
Booker also introduced a suite of policies, some familiar and
some new, Medicare for all universal childcare. We're both highlighted
as stalwart progressive federal proposals. Novel to the launch, however,

(21:03):
was booker forty for forty plan, guaranteeing people at least
forty thousand dollars a year for a forty hour weekly job,
and his call for a general strike among workers to
fight for higher wages. If these crooked politicians and big
money corporations are so committed to screwing us over, if

(21:28):
they are so determined to take away your health care,
to take away your benefits, I think we should lock arms,
shut it all down. Booker said in his launch video,
I'm ready to organize for a general strike because I
know the power is in the people and we deserve better.

(21:48):
They thought we were done. We ain't quitting. Booker first
ran for office in twenty twenty, nearly pulling off a
come from behind when in the prime Mary against eventual
nominee Amy McGrath, who lost to McConnell in the general election.
McGrath is also running again this year. In twenty twenty two,

(22:12):
he got a clear path to the nomination, but was
defeated by Senator Rand Paul by twenty four percentage points.
This time, Booker's early message hit some similar notes, referencing
a new deal for Kentuckians, but focused more squarely on
the economy. McConnell, who is eighty three, decided not to

(22:32):
run for re election this year. Earlier, after forty years
in office, Booker enters a crowded Democratic field. He joins
McGrath and several other legitimate Democratic candidates, including horse trainer
Dale Romans, Lexington attorney Logan Forsyth, State House Minority floor
leader Pam Stevenson, and louisvill entrepreneur Joel Willett. The Republican

(22:55):
field is led by US Representative Andy Barr, former Kentucky
Attorney General Daniel Cameron, and Lexington tech entrepreneur Nate Morris.
Michael Ferris of Hardin County is also running a vigorous campaign.
Booker's run in twenty twenty six was long rumored, particularly
after he left his position leading Basher's Office of Faith

(23:18):
Based Initiatives and Community Involvement in September. Booker has recently
headlined popular no King's protests across the state, rallying railing
against the actions of GOP President Trump, and grown more
active on social media, even teasing last week that he
was talking a strong look at running. According to the

(23:42):
only publicly available polling on the race, Booker starts out
in good shape. A poll shared with the national outlet
Salon and conducted October seventeenth and eighteenth, Democratic firm Public
Policy Polling found that thirty three percent six hundred and
ninety likely prime voters said they'd vote for Booker in
the field if the field was McGrath, Booker, Forsyth, Stevenson

(24:06):
and Willett. Booker's favorability among those voters was fifty sixty
percent to McGrath's fifty seven percent. His unfavorable rating was
twelve to her twenty three. The majority of voters had
not heard of Willett, Forsyth or Stevenson, though the number
is higher for Stevenson, who was the Democratic nominee for

(24:27):
Attorney General in twenty twenty three. The Louisville Needives political
career has been distinguished by his unabashed progressive message. In
twenty twenty, he campaigned hard against police violence and the
wake of the police killing of Breona Taylor in Louisville.
In twenty twenty two, he ran on a Kentucky New Deal,

(24:50):
harkening back to FDR's New Deal and the more recent
Green New Deal pushed by Washington progressives like Representative Alley
xandri occat Cortez, Democrat of New York, and Senator Ed Markey,
a Democrat of Massachusetts. In both of those runs, he

(25:11):
focused on racial justice and income inequality, making connections between
poor urban centers like his native West Louisville and poor
rural places like parts of eastern Kentucky with his hood
to the Holler slogan and brand. In his launch video,
Booker made brief allusions to his opponents. Barr flashed on

(25:34):
the screen when he mentioned greedy politician. He also showed
a jet flying out when he said he was tired
of politicians flying into our communities. McGrath has made her
background as the first female marine to fly in an
F eighteen fighter jet and combat a key part of
her previous campaigns. One early challenge for Booker will be

(25:58):
the manner of his finance from the twenty twenty two run.
As of June thirtieth, His campaign from three years ago
was still carrying nearly one hundred and thirty thousand dollars
in debt. Despite efforts to continue the fundraising after losing

(26:18):
to Paul. That total has not moved an inch as
of the last publicly available report. The former campaign is
also behind in its reporting. An official with the Federal
Elections Commission wrote November twenty fourth to the previous campaign's treasurer,

(26:40):
Beyond Kakeaton, to warn of potential penalties if they did
not file their quarterly report covering finances from July through September.
The failure to timely file a complete report may result
in civil money penalties and audit or lead enforcement action,

(27:01):
FBC Assistant staff director Deborah Chacona wrote. A person affiliated
with the campaign told the Hair of Leader that they're
working to fill on working on the filing and anticipate
it being resolved promptly and next. In sign of slowdown,
private employers cut jobs in November. Private employment fell last month,

(27:23):
according to the payroll processing company ADP, the latest sign
of weakness in the US labor markets. Companies cut thirty
two thousand jobs in November, the third decline in four months,
ADP said Wednesday, losses were concentrated among small businesses, which
cut one hundred and twenty thousand jobs, even as larger
firms added employees. It is those mom and pop main

(27:46):
street companies, firms and small businesses and establishments that are
really weathering what is an uncertain macro environment and a
cautious consumer. Neili Richardson, the chief economist at ADP, sid
in a call with report. I see them as the
canary in the coal mine. And now, after a short pause,

(28:09):
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 readio LI. Now we will
continue reading from the Lexington Herald Leader for this Friday,

(28:29):
December fifth. 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 you can call us during the weekdays at eight
five nine four two sixty three ninety and we'll be

(28:50):
glad to read the entire obituary for you now repeat
the number at the end of the listings. And we
only have one Nay name today on our obituary index,
and it is Sue Iveno Skis who was eighty and
lived in Lexington. And if you would like any further
information about the listing, please visit legacy dot com slash obituary,

(29:10):
slash Kentucky or as I said, you can call us
at Radio I at eight five nine four two two
sixty three ninety and we'll try to read them to
you over the phone. Now let's return to the news.
Our next story is Joint Kentucky Virginia Park on the
Grand Canyon of the South acquires more land and a

(29:30):
seven hundred thousand dollars deal from Elkhorn City, a state
park jointly owned and operated by Kentucky and Virginia, has
inked a major land purchase that will add thirty five acres,
expand opportunities for viewing a budding elk herd, and secure
the entrance to a popular motorized off road trail system.

(29:53):
Officials with breaks Interstate Park signed an agreement Monday to
immediately a choir and begin operations at Southern Gap Outdoor
Adventure campground and trailhead. The campus boasts a seventy five
hundred square foot visitor center, an event space, five cabins,
thirty three r V sites, and space for primitive tent camping.

(30:19):
It is one of the largest land purchases Breaks inter
State Park has made in seventy five years, and will
extend its holdings deeper and southward into Virginia. The original
property straddles the state border in circling a valley where
the Russell Fork carves a one thousand foot canyon through

(30:40):
the Pine Mountain ridgeline near the easternmost tip of Kentucky
and southwestern Virginia. The gorge, one of only two joint
state park ventures in the United States, is nicknamed the
Grand Canyon of the South, attracting visitors to enjoy a
geological spectacle to the Appalachian Mountains. Breaks Interstate Park is

(31:04):
maintained by a commission with equal representation from Kentucky and
Virginia appointed by their respected governors. Although not directly maintained
by either state's state park system, both agencies are close
partners of the Interstate Compact. The seven hundred thousand dollars
purchase adds a second campus to the break system, separated

(31:28):
by eighteen thousand acres of forested land owned by the
Nature Conservancy and leased by the Virginia Department of Wildlife
Resources for public use. That swath of the Cumberland forest
Land linking the two campuses puts the Interstate Park at
the center of a massive outdoor recreation refuge that hence

(31:50):
back to the region century old vision for a Central
Appalachian National Park. We've never stopped aspiring to the idea
of an ant national park, if not officially, at least
in the size, quality, and diversity of activities we offer breaks,
Interstate Park Superintendent Austin Bradley said, we feel like this

(32:13):
is a step in the right direction. Southern Gap Outdoor
Adventure sets on a reclaimed surface mining site purchased and
opened in twenty nineteen by two co founders of a
civil and environmental engineering firm in Grundy, Virginia. Billy Campbell
and Patrick Owens built the adventure center on the entrance

(32:36):
to the Coal Canyon off Road Trail System, a network
of one hundred and twenty seven miles of ATV trails
owned by the Southwest Virginia Recreational Authority. Breake's central campus
near Elkhorn City, Kentucky and Hasey, Virginia, serves as the
trailhead to another SVR site called the Ridgeview Trail. The

(33:01):
Southern Gap purchase, which was funded entirely by a grant
from the Charlottesville based Anne and Jean Warrel Foundation, makes
Break Interstate Park the gateway to more than two hundred
miles of off road vehicle trails. A significant user group,
Bradley said, Southern Gap was intended to serve as an

(33:22):
incubator for outdoor recreation to stimulate the local economy. Said Campbell,
president and principal engineer at Tara Tech Engineering, nine years ago,
we took a leap of faith on a reclaimed mind side.
He said today that leap has become a legacy. Breakes

(33:44):
has maintained a long term agreement with Southern Gap to
ferry visitors to and from another natural feature unique to
the region. The largest elk herd east of the Mississippi River.
The Centre Rel appellation, heard of more than thirteen thousand animals,
is centered in Kentucky's coalfield region, but extends southward into

(34:09):
Virginia and Tennessee through the nature Conservancy and US Forest
Service protected land. The park operates paid bus tours to
give tours and glimpse of Elk and the restoration zone.
We've already had a bunch of synergy built up with
that site because of the Elk viewing tours, Bradley said.

(34:32):
And the next story, the FBI reportedly arrests the suspect
and the January sixth pipe bomb case. The FBI has
arrested the suspect in the January sixth, twenty twenty one
pipe bombing attempts at the Democratic and Republican National Committee headquarters.

(34:52):
Source to c the arrest was made Thursday morning. CNN,
CBS News, and NBC News boarded. No details, though, were
immediately released from the FBI. The case has baffled law
enforcement for nearly five years, as the grainy surveillance video

(35:13):
didn't leave many clues. The suspect allegedly placed pipe bombs
outside the RNC and DNC headquarters on the evening of
January fifth, twenty twenty one, one day before the January
sixth Capitol riot. The pipe bombs were made of one
inch galvanized pipes eight inch long with end caps, homemade

(35:35):
black powder wires, metal clips and a kitchen timer. The
FBI has said that the bombs were viable and could
have seriously hurt people nearby if they had exploded. It
had offered a five hundred thousand dollars reward for information
on the suspects. The bombs set for fifteen hours before

(35:57):
being discovered. The FBI described a suspect as a person
about five to seven, carrying a backpack and wearing a
face mask, glasses, gloves, a gray hooded sweatshirt, and black
and light gray Nike airmac Speed turf shoes with a
yellow logo. The discovery of the bombs pulled police from

(36:20):
the crowd at the Capitol before the riders broke through
police barriers at the Capitol building. That timing has fuel
conspiracy theories that the suspect was connected to the riot.
Deputy Director of the FBI, Dan Borgono, has been a
purveyor of the conspiracy theory that the lack of an

(36:43):
harassment that the January sixth riots were an inside job.
Before he took the FBI job, he said on his podcast,
I believe the FBI knows the identity of this pipe bomber.
On January six, four years ago, and just doesn't want
want to tell us because it was an inside job.

(37:05):
He also suggested that if the allegation were shown to
be true, the FBI would say the bombs were a
training exercise, CNN reported. Sources told CNN that Bongino has
focused on the case since he began working at the
FBI last month. He set on x that the FBI

(37:28):
had increased resources and flown in police officers and detectives
to review the FBI's previous investigative work and conducted internal interviews.
The next story, Trump administration may yank federal funding from
a Lexington civil rights commission. A Lexington organization that investigates

(37:54):
discrimination in housing and employment has been warned by the
Trump administration it could lose its federal funding because of
a city ordinance prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation. The
board of the Lexington Fayed Urban County Civil Rights Commission,
which investigates fair housing acts and other discrimination cases, sent

(38:17):
a letter to Mayor Lynda Gordon and the Lexington Fayed
Urban County Council on Wednesday notifying the city and the
Lexington Faed Urban County Council it had been warned by
federal officials that the cities nineteen ninety nine Fairness Ordinance
may be in conflict with Trump's goals and beliefs. In

(38:40):
a September virtual meeting, the Commission staff were told by
the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD officials,
Trump had signed and invests an executive order that removed
sexual orientation and gender identity from protected classes. Mean cities

(39:00):
with local ordinances protecting LGBTQ people from discrimination could be
at risk of losing federal funding as a result. Federal
funding is being utilized as leverage to compel authorities like
ours to revise establish civil protections that have been in
place for many years which do not align with the

(39:23):
administration's priorities. The letter to the city official set. The
letter was signed by Janice Wyatt Ross, chair of the
Lexington Fed Human Rights Commission. The group depends on HUD,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and city funds to investigate allegations

(39:44):
of discrimination. If we lose this contract, it would be
financially devastating for our organization, not to mention losing our
ability to charge housing providers with discrimination under the Fair
Housing Act, said Ray Secston, Executive director of the Commission.

(40:06):
Lexington was one of the first cities in Kentucky to
enact the Fairness Ordinance in nineteen ninety nine, which prohibited
discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity in housing, employment,
and public accommodations. The federal government's attack on the Fairness

(40:27):
Ordinance will also put at risk our vulnerable citizens, low
income residents, and those experiencing discrimination wyat Ross Route. The
Commission also warned city officials in its December third letter,
if federal funds are withheld, it may need more money
from city coffers to continue to do its job. Given

(40:52):
these circumstances, it is important to underscore that the funding
issues we may soon face could directly increase our financial
and operational needs from LFUCG, the letter said. The city
allocated four hundred and fifty one thousand, seven hundred and
ten dollars to the Human Rights Commission this fiscal year,

(41:13):
which began July first. Sexton said the amount the group
receives to investigate and prosecute Fair Housing Act violations from
HUD fluctuates spending on the number of cases. Currently, the
Commission is waiting on seventy thousand dollars in reimbursements from
HUD for investigations conducted in twenty twenty four. Sexton sent

(41:37):
the Commission's overall budget is more than six hundred thousand dollars.
The Commission is still processing sexual orientation and gender identity
discrimination cases. Since Trump was elected, it is not charging
those cases to the HUD contract. Those investigations are funded

(41:59):
by the city allocation, but the Commission's entire contract with
HUD could be withheld because of the local ordinance prohibiting
discrimination in sexual orientation and gender identity, Sexton said. Sexton
said he and other Human Rights Commissioned directors across the
country have been trying to work out what to do

(42:21):
with the HUT ultimatum. The Lexington Commission has started an
ad hoc board committee to address the situation, as the
issue appears to be in flux. There are also concerns
Lexington could lose millions and other federal HUD money if
the Trump administration acts on its threat to strip federal

(42:43):
housing funding from local governments with prohibitions against discrimination against
people based on sexual orientation or local governments that don't
crack down on homeless encampments. In November, HUT announced it
was shifting its homeless funding from permanent to transitional housing,

(43:04):
causing a backlash and prompting several lawsuits. Governor Basher and
Kentucky joined nineteen other states in a lawsuit challenging the
new rules in late November. The federal homeless funding would
also be open to more groups outside of local and
state governments, which means cities that have traditionally relied on

(43:27):
and received that money may not receive it going forward.
It's not clear how much federal HUD funding Lexington receives
that could be at risk. The new funding formula also
favors cities and states that have banned outdoor camping. Kentucky
has a statewide outdoor camping ban. Susan Straw, a spokeswoman

(43:50):
for the city, said Wednesday the city has not seen
the letter from the Commission or similar communications from HUD
over the city's fairness ordinance. I have not been able
to confirm that we have even received the letter from
the Human Rights Commission or any communication from HUD. We

(44:10):
will need time to gather more information before I can comment.
As a matter of local interest, Lexington to review the
city charter for the first time in twenty seven years.
Here's how to get involved. About ten thousand Lexington residents
will receive a postcard this week urging them to apply

(44:34):
for the city's first ever Civic Assembly to decide if
changes should be made to the Lexington Fayed Urban County
Government's Charter, which dictates everything from council term limits to redistricting.
The application process will be open until December thirty first,
said Kit Anderson, deputed director of Civic lex which is

(44:58):
organizing and overseeing Lexington's first ever civic Assembly. The ten
thousand residents who receive the postcard were randomly selected. Those
who apply to be part of the March Civic Assembly
will be selected through a lottery process. The thirty six
people selected from will be a cross section or representation

(45:19):
of Lexington, said Richard Young, the executive director of Civic LECs.
Civic Legs, a nonprofit with a focus on civic engagement,
wants a broad cross section of people to participate, not
just people who routinely show up at city Hall to
weigh in on various issues. We wanted to make sure

(45:41):
we included people who sometimes are not always included, Anderson said.
The Civic Assembly will meet in March at Transylvania University.
There will be multiple weeknight sessions and some weekend sessions.
Transportation and childcare vouchers will also be available for people
who need them. Participants will also receive twelve hundred dollars stipends.

(46:05):
Anderson said Civic Lex estimates it will take about thirty
hours of participant's time. Transportation and childcare are common barriers
for people who may want to participate in government but can't.
Young said that's why the organization is offering a childcare

(46:25):
and transportation vouchers as well as the twelve hundred dollars stipend.
Civic Les convened the trial civic assembly of sixteen people
in July. Not only did the civic assembly work, the
participants reported other benefits beyond developing policy. They got to
meet people who they would not have had the opportunity

(46:47):
to meet and learn things about the community they didn't know.
Anderson said they bonded very quickly. Civic assemblies, who bring
representative but random groups of people together to tackle a
policy issue, had been used in Europe and Canada. There's
a growing push to use them in the United States.

(47:08):
Civic assemblies have been used more than seven hundred times
around the world to help communities navigate varied and complex
public issues, said Young. This is the first time Lexington
will host one and we are eager to see how
this model can deepen trust between residents and local government
and inspire a culture of civic engagement by giving Lexingtonians

(47:33):
the opportunity to directly shape how our local government works.
The Lexington Charter Review Civic Assembly is believed to be
the first of its kind in the country run by
a local nonprofit, Young said. The last time, the merged
government Charter, which was approved by voters in nineteen seventy

(47:55):
two and took effect on January first, nineteen seventy four,
was reviewed. In nineteen eighty eight, a charter review group
convened by Commerce Lexington recommended the city council moved to
eight year terms. The change was put to the voters
and was defeated. Young said. Civic Lects is also asking

(48:18):
all residents to participate in an online survey to determine
which topics in the Charter the Civic Assembly should tackle.
The seven topics in the survey covers include one the
number of council districts. There are currently twelve council districts
and three at large or citywide council seats. Two The

(48:42):
term years council district seats are every two years. At
large council seats are four year terms. Three term limits.
The city currently limits council members to twenty continuous years
public engagement. The charter currently does not require public input

(49:06):
on council decisions. Five Council pay. Council pays for part
time work. Most council members make about forty thousand dollars
a year. Six Charter review. The current charter is silent
when the charter should be reviewed. Seven redistricting. Council currently

(49:31):
appoints a committee to oversee redistricting every ten years. The
survey will narrow the topics to two. The deadline to
participate in the survey is December thirty, first after the
March Civic Assembly. The recommendations of the Assembly will be
forwarded to the Council. Young sid the council has agreed

(49:54):
to review the group's recommendations. The group could decide not
to recommend any changes, Young said, and civic les will
provide the education sessions about the two topics that are picked.
It will also likely bring in experts to help the
Assembly make its decisions. Civic les will not advocate for

(50:18):
a position. Anderson said it will be up to the
vote of the Assembly. If the Council agrees to changes
in the charter, it must go to voters for approval
or disapproval. The Council will likely make that decision by
August of twenty twenty six, so the local referendum can
make it on the ballot in twenty twenty seven. Anderson said.

(50:40):
To learn more about the Civic Assembly or to access
the online survey, go to www dot civiclex dot orga
and the next story. Trump returns to gasoline as the
fuel of choice for cars. President Trump up on Wednesday,
through the weight of the federal government behind vehicles that

(51:03):
burned gasoline rather than electric cars, gutting one of the
country's most significant efforts to address climate change and thrusting
the automobile industry into greater uncertainty. Flanked by executives from
major automakers in the Oval Office, Trump said the Transportation
Department would significantly weaken fuel efficient requirements for tens of

(51:25):
millions of new cars and light trucks. The administration claimed
the changes would save Americans one hundred and nine billion
dollars over five years and shaved one thousand dollars off
the average cost of a new car. The Biden administration
stricter efficiency standards were designed to get more Americans to
go electric, but Trump said they forced automakers to build

(51:49):
cars using expensive technologies that drove up costs, drove up prices,
and made the car much worse. This is a green
new scam, and people were paying too much for a
car that didn't work as well. For the past half century,
the efficiency standards have compelled automakers to increase the distance

(52:10):
their vehicles can travel on a gallon of gas, reducing
fuel consumption and leading to innovations like electric and hybrid cars.
The announcement Wednesday was the second part of a one
to two punch against policies promoting electric cars, a central
pillar for President Biden's strategy of fighting climate change. Transportation

(52:34):
is the largest source of greenhouse gases in the United States,
and Biden had adopted a carrot and stick approach to
reducing these emissions. He offered tax credits to encourage motorists
to buy electric cars, while requiring that automakers meet stringent
fuel efficiency standards to pressure them to sell more non

(52:56):
polluting models. Trump and the Republican Congress got rid of
the tax credits earlier this year. They also eliminated fines
for automakers who violate the fuel efficiency standards, and now
the standards themselves will be watered down. While auto executives

(53:16):
publicly praised the announcement, they have privately freded that they
are being buffeted by conflicting federal policies. During the Miiden administration,
they invested billions of dollars and reoriented their manufacturing to
produce electric vehicles and batteries. Now, the Trump administration's tariffs
on steel and imported car parks have lopped billions of

(53:39):
dollars from car makers bottom lines, while disrupting supply chains
and inflation has also made it difficult for many people
to afford new cars. The plan announced Wednesday would require
automakers to achieve an average of thirty four and a
half miles a gallon for cars and light trucks in
the model year twenty thirty one, down from the standard
of fifty point four the Biden administration. The Biden administration

(54:03):
rule finalized in twenty twenty four assumed that car manufacturers
would comply by increasing their sales of electric vehicles, which
used no gasoline and would help boost the average fuel
efficiency across their product lines. The Biden administration officials estimated
that the rule would lower fuel costs by twenty three
billion while preventing more than seven hundred and ten million

(54:24):
metric tons of carbon dioxide fromenting the atmosphere by twenty fifty,
the equivalent of taking one hundred and sixty five million
cars off the roads for one year. Trump, who refers
to climate chains as a hoax, initially promised to repeal
the rules to end what he falsely called an evy mandate,

(54:45):
but on Wednesday, Trump said he was motivated to weaken
the rules in order to lower the price of new cars.
The cost of living as emerged as a major concern
for voters in a politically vulnerability for the president and
his party, perhaps grow dingly. The president is increasing the
realization that inflation, affordability, and the economy are real concerns

(55:06):
across the partisan spectrum, said Barry Rabe, a professor emeritus
at the University of Michigan. Environmentalists said repealing mileage standards
would debilitate efforts in the United States to fight climate change.
They also challenged the president's claim that the proposer would
lower costs, noting that the efficiency standards have spurred automakers

(55:26):
to produce cars that use less gas, saving people money
at the pump, gutting the program would make cars burn
more gas and American families burn more cash. Catherine Garcia,
the director of the Clean Transportation for All program at
the Sierra Club, said in a statement. Several Republican officials
applauded the move. President Trump won the argument over EV

(55:51):
mandates on election day, said Russell Coleman, the Attorney General
of Kentucky. We got a lawsuit against the Biden administration.
As a result, Kentuckians can continue to rely on our
gasoline powered trucks, cars, and vans. Automakers were more circumspect.

(56:13):
John Bazilua, the CEO of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation,
a lobbying group for most major car makers, said the
organization was still reviewing the Trump plan, but he said
the Biden era standards were extremely challenging for automakers to
achieve given the current market place for EV's and this

(56:37):
story concludes the reading of the Lexington Herald Leader for today, Friday,
December fifth, Your reader has been Rod Brotherton. As always,
thank you for listening and now please stay tuned for
sports news right here on Radio I