9.26.25

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good morning everybody, and happy Friday, and welcome to the
reading of the Lexington Herald Leader. Today's Friday, September twenty
sixth and your reader is Rod Brotherton. As a reminder,
Radio HI is a reading service intended for people who
are blind or have other disabilities that may g it

(00:20):
difficult to read printed material. All right, big weekend and
week coming up as we mosey into October, our seven
day forecast looks like this Today, cloudy and sun high
seventy eight. Tonight mostly cloudy, high sixty two. Saturday, sunshine
and nice high seventy nine, low fifty seven. Sunday mostly

(00:45):
sunny and warm, high eighty one, low sixty Monday, there
are some clouds hanging around, but it's still eighty as
a high sixty one is low. Tuesday, low clouds that
are breaking up. High seventy six, one fifty eight. Wednesday
nothing but sunshine, high seventy three, low fifty one, and

(01:07):
Thursday partial sunshine, high seventy three, low fifty four. Looking
at the almanac, yesterday's high and low seventy five and
sixty six normalist seventy seven and fifty five. Last year
was seventy six and sixty eight. The record high was

(01:27):
ninety three and twenty oh seven and the record low
thirty six and twenty twelve. Precipitation on Wednesday was seventy
three hundreds of an inch. Month to date, we've had
two point eight four normal two point seven one. Year
to date we've had forty five point nine eight inches,

(01:49):
while normal is thirty seven point nine and last year
we'd logged thirty six point four to six. The record
for yesterday's date was one on a quarter inches in
twenty eighteen. For the sun and the moon, the sun
rose today at seven point thirty. It will set tonight
at seven twenty one. We finally each reached equinoxid. It's

(02:13):
going the other way till December. The moon came up
at twelve fourteen this afternoon, it will set tonight at
nine forty one. And our weather trivius is who said
some people are weather wise, some are otherwise. Oh that

(02:36):
was old Ben Franklin. All right, let's take a look
at the news. The first story, five Democrats say FCPS
leaders lost communities confidence. Five Democratic state lawmakers from Lexington
said Tuesday, the community has lost confidence and the leadership

(03:00):
of the Fayed County Public Schools Representative Ariel Camule, a
Fayted County School employee, as well as Representative and gay
Donworth Representative Chad All, Representative Adam Moore, and Minority Whip
Representative Lindsey Burke signed a joint statement outlining what they

(03:23):
said was the public's lack of faith, as well as
calling for a forensic audit of the district. The school
board meeting on Monday, September twenty second, twenty twenty five,
made it clear the community no longer trusts the current administration.

(03:44):
A controversial new tax proposal, conflicting financial reports, questionable spending,
and use of eminent domain to take property from homeowners.
All of these actions under mine of public trust. We
want to be clear. Fayed County families and taxpayers deserve better,

(04:09):
the lawmakers said in a statement. FCPS leadership has lost
the confidence of the community they are in trusted to serve.
The statement continued, we call for an independent forensic audit,
which has been met with hesitancy from district administration. We

(04:30):
demand transparency from FCPS leaderships in both words and actions.
So far, the efforts of the leadership have been inadequate.
Fay Had School board member Monica Monday is also calling
for a forensic audit that would dig into financial documents

(04:53):
and more thoroughly answer questions than a typical audit. The
Democrats statement was the latest turn in a tumultuous year
for the district. School officials have scrambled to erase a
projected budget shortfall and addressing a dwindling contingency or rainy

(05:13):
day fund as taxpayers have questioned Fayette Superintendent Demetrius Liggans
and board chair Tyler Murphy, but a sixth Lexington lawmaker
George Brown Junior, also a Democrat, on Tuesday rejected calls
one day earlier from three Republican state legislatures for Ligans

(05:36):
and Murphy to resign, calling it political theater. This week,
we have seen public statements from some of my colleagues
demanding leadership changes in Fayette County public schools. Brown said,
while accountability is important, these calls are premature, politically convenient,

(06:00):
ultimately harmful to the very students and families we are
all trying and charged to serve. Representative Matt Lockley, Republican
of Nicholasville. Senator Charles McDaniel, Republican, of Ryland Heights and
Senator Donald Douglas, another Republican of Nicholasville, called for the resignations.

(06:20):
McDaniel is the chairman of the Senator Appropriations and Revenue Committee.
Douglas and Lockett both represent parts of Fayette County. Instead
of schools defined by learning and achievement, the district has
become a case study in dysfunction, controversy, and collapsing confidence. Parents, teachers,

(06:44):
and taxpayers face the system where those entrusted with responsibility
have squandered trust and undermine the very mission of public education.
Lockett said, Instead of pushvoting children first, the superintendent and
board chair have allowed controversy to consume the district, eroding

(07:09):
confidence at every level. Liggins responded Monday evening, saying he
had no time for bullies. My commitment is to Fayette
Counties children, families, and educators, and I will keep showing
up every date to deliver on the promise of a

(07:29):
world class education for every student. Murphy said Monday evening
he would leave the politics to Frankfort and Washington. In
response to the lawmaker's calling for a forensic audit, Murphy
said Tuesday, doing the special called meeting On September sixteenth,

(07:51):
the Fayette County Board of Education voted unanimously to refer
the matter of an internal audit review or investigation to
the Audit Committee for consideration and report back. The Audit
Committee is made up of members of our community who
are professionals in finance, accounting, and auditing. The Board is

(08:13):
committed to getting answers, which could include a forensic audit.
We all are committed to a thorough and fair process
and any and all independent external reviews that will equip
us with the information we need to move forward to
support our students and serve our community. We will respect

(08:37):
the independence of those processes and avoid reaching any conclusions
until they're complete, he said. The five Democratic lawmakers stop
short of calling for Ligands and Murphy's resignation. We believe
in public education and command the academic success of the

(08:57):
students in Fayette County Public schools, the legislature said. We
thank the educators and frontline staff who make these achievements possible.
When trust is broken, it is the responsibility of leaders
to listen to the public, reflect on their concerns, and

(09:19):
work towards a path that rebuilds confidence and helps our
community move forward. Brown, in his rebuttal, said Liggins brought
stability to the district when he arrived in twenty twenty one.
Under his leadership, the district has seen growth in ACT scores,

(09:39):
dual credit enrollment, and industry certifications. Brown said, Advanced coursework
opportunities have expanded, curriculum has become more inclusive, and community
partnerships have deepened to prepare students for college and careers.
These are signs of steady progress in the face of

(10:01):
challenges and deserves celebration. The superintendent has acknowledged where improvements
are needed. Rather than avoiding accountability, he has welcomed independent
audits and investigations while taking corrective actions with transparency. To
twist this humility into grounds for resignation ignores the broader context,

(10:28):
distorts the facts, and ultimately undermines public trust. Next ice
office shooting investigated as targeted violence. A sniper perched on
a nearby rooftop fired at a US Immigration and Customs

(10:49):
Enforcement field office in Dallas on Wednesday morning, killing one
detainee and critically injuring two others. The Department of Homeland
Security sin it was the latest act of violence to
raise fears that politically motivated attacks are increasing in the
United States. Authorities said that the gunman killed himself and

(11:12):
that no law enforcement officers were injured in the attack.
R Joseph Rothrock, the Special Agent in charge of the
FBI's Dallas Field Office, said that rounds found near the
shooter were marked with messages that were anti ICE in nature.
Cash Pttel, the FBI director, posted a photo on social

(11:35):
media showing a rifle ammunition clip with one bullet inscribed
with the words anti ICE. The New York Times has
not independently verified details about the writing on the ammunition.
Rothrock said that the FBI was investigating the shooting as

(11:55):
an act of targeted violence. Three people familiar with the
investigation identified the shooter was Joshua John. John was twenty nine.
One of the people said. The Department of Homeland Security
did not identify any of the victims as of Wednesday afternoon.

(12:16):
It initially said two people had been killed, before revising
that figure to one. One of the detainees in critical
condition was a Mexican national. Mexican's Foreign Ministry said. Homeland Security,
which ICE is a part of, said in a statement
that the gunman fired indiscriminately at the ICE office, including

(12:39):
at a van in the Sally Port where the detainees
were shot. Officials noted that it was the third shooting
at a federal immigration facility in Texas in recent months.
On July fourth, two shooters opened fire from a wooded
area next to an ICE detention facility in Alvarado, injuring

(12:59):
a upon police officer who was hit in the neck,
according to prosecutors. Three days later, a gunman fired dozens
of shots at a US Customs and Border Protection building
in McAllen, injuring three people, including two officers, before he
was fatally shot by law enforcement authorities. On August twenty fifth,

(13:23):
a man was arrested after making a bomb thread against
ICE office in Dallas. Federal officials linked the shooting on
Wednesday to heated political rhetoric denouncing ICE agents who have
been carrying out President Trump's aggressive crackdown on illegal immigration.
Beyond the message on the bullets, authorities did not release

(13:46):
any information about the shooter's possible motivations or his background,
but Trump on his social media site attacked deranged radical
left list and Vice president JD. Van said the administration
was confident the gunman was a violent left wing extremist.

(14:06):
There's some evidence that we have that's not yet public,
but we know this person was politically motivated, he said
in a speech in North Carolina, without elaborating on the evidence.
They were politically motivated to go after law enforcement. They
were politically motivated to go after people who are enforcing

(14:31):
our border, and I think that as the most disgusting thing.
The very people who keep us safe are to be
honored and protected and praised by Democrats and Republicans alike.
John's online profile appeared to show little obvious interest in politics.

(14:51):
On at least two Reddit accounts, he discussed video games, cars,
television show South Park, and mayord Iwana. In twenty fifteen,
he was charged with selling marijuana. He was released from
court supervision a few years later and the case was dismissed.

(15:11):
He was raised with a brother and a sister in
a far north suburb of Dallas. Record show he voted
in a Democratic primary in Texas in March of twenty twenty.
He was registered as an independent in Oklahoma, where his
parents owned property in Durant, one hundred miles north of

(15:32):
Dallas and next Massey Paul talked Epstein files, Kirk autism
during Kentucky tour. In a sprawling road trip Wednesday around
Kentucky's fourth Congressional district, US Representative Thomas Massey and Senator

(15:54):
Rand Paul provided updates on what's happening in Washington and
answered myriad questions from constituents. There was no rhetoric in here.
There was somebody screaming, Massy said outside the Robertson County
Community Center, the pair's third of six stops of the day.

(16:14):
We really want to show that you can still go
out and mix with people and be safe. It's still
a world worth interacting with, and we have two in
our jobs. We can't stay in the office and do
this remote. The fourth district crosses much of northern Kentucky,
where many counties lie in the Ohio River. Massey, a

(16:39):
member of the US House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure,
spent much of his time during Wednesday's visits to Maysville
and Mount Olivet talking about the importance of the role
of waterways to interstate commerce. I hate spending money, but
if there's one place that government should be spending money

(16:59):
on infrastructure, Massey said. The tour also included stops in Wortland, Cynthiana,
dry Ridge, and Burlington. The pair will make two more
stops Thursday, in Lagrange and Shelbyville. Massey, who also sits
on the US House Judiciary Committee, has, alongside House Oversight

(17:24):
Committee Chair Kentucky Representative James Comer, push for the release
of files related to the federal investigation of convicted sex
offender and accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. The files may
include a list of Epsigin's connections with politicians, bankers, and

(17:44):
other powerful people. Following a special election in Arizona on Tuesday,
where both candidates said they would support Massey's discharge petition
to release the files, Massey said he has all two
hundred and eighteen votes he needs for the petition to pass.
A discharged position is a procedure often followed in the

(18:07):
House of Representatives to bring something directly to the floor
for a vote instead of weaving through committee. Democrat Aliedlita
Gravlajak won a special election in Arizona for her late
father's seat. The vote could happen as soon as mid October,

(18:27):
and at the point the speaker has a choice mass
he said, the Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, so
far has been trying to keep people from supporting my
discharged position. But now that it's a vote, he has
a choice between releasing the conference to vote their conscience
and the will of the constituents, which would be for

(18:49):
transparency and justice, or he can try to hold them
all captive, all the Republicans in the House and make
them walk the plan to do the wrong thing politically,
but also to do the wrong thing for the victims
and the survivors. Last week, Massey said he thinks he

(19:10):
could win the race for retiring US Senator Mitch McConnell's seat,
especially if former Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron drops out
of the race in favor of running for Massy's seat
in the House. Cameron's campaign and President Trump have repeatedly
denied the possibility of Cameron switching races, and Massey noted

(19:32):
that he thinks Cameron is the favorite to win the
Senate race. What my polling shows is that Daniel Cameron
is winning the Senate race, Massey said, so that was
probably wishful thinking on the part of his opponents, and
maybe they were trying to get that started. But Daniel
Cameron and and his wife are constituents of mine, and

(19:55):
I'm proud to represent them in Congress. I kind of,
iheartedly said, if he Cameron gets in the House race,
I can get in the Senate race. Massey continued, My
polling actually shows that I would be the front runner
in that Senate race with two other candidates. They may
have more resources, and that may not be how it ends.

(20:20):
But I am going to keep all of my degrees
of freedom open until January. But I am signing up
to run for the House of Representatives. And while he
said he was encouraged by nationwide polling that showed voters
saw Massy favorably, he said he likely won't see higher office. No,

(20:41):
I would not run for president, Massey said. I was
there with Rand in twenty sixteen, and I was there
with Ron DeSantis in twenty twenty four. I think some
people think they do it for fun. Rand did it
for the right principles. But there's no fun in that race.
At the White House on Monday, Trump promoted unproven ties

(21:04):
between tailand all vaccines and autism. He told pregnant women
more than a dozen times during the news conference not
to take tylanol during their pregnancy, and then falsely said
ingredients and infant vaccines and the timing of when their
administrators are causing an increase in autism diagnosis. Trump in

(21:27):
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. Provided no
new medical evidence showing direct links between drugs, vaccines and
the brain disorder. Paul, a graduate of the Duke University
School of Medicine and a practicing eye doctor in Bowling
Green before taking office, said if there is a study

(21:48):
that showed a direct cause and effect, that would be
reasonable for a pause. He said some studies showed there
might be a possible link, but the science isn't certain.
I think there is some evidence, Paul said. I'm not
sure I would express it exactly in the same way, though,

(22:10):
But I'm also worried about people who hate Donald Trump
so much that they're all over TikTok pregnant women going
watch me. I'm taking tailand all, and I'm not listening
to the president. Usually, the best advice when you're pregnant
is to try to avoid all drugs, both illegal and legal.

(22:32):
You want to put as little into that system of
the baby as you can. Paul continued to express dissatisfaction
with the country spending bills since this summer, when the
Trump backed Big Beautiful Bill passed, Paul has said that it,
as well as other pieces of legislation, contain excessive amounts

(22:53):
of spending that worse than the national debt. Almost every
problem you can conceive of already done something for it,
Paul said, we should look back and see whether it
works or not. We have programs that were authorized twenty
years ago and have never been reauthorized. I have a

(23:14):
bill that says if it hasn't been reauthorized, it ends.
Massy is of the same fiscal conservatism mindset and wears
an electronic ticker on his suit jacket lapel that displays
the national debt in real time. He took it off
Wednesday in Mount Olivet and passed it around the room.

(23:35):
One of the things I'm most passionate about, because this
affects every aspect of your lives, is spending and overspending
and the debt and the deficit. Massy said, That's why
I designated this, he said, pointing to the debt counter.
I built it to try to induce a sense of

(23:57):
anxiety or urgency among my colleagues about the deficit spending.
While speaking September tenth at a Utah College campus, Charlie Kirk,
a conservative advocate who founded Turning Point USA, was fatally
shot while conducting one of his signature events. Proved me wrong. Kirk,

(24:18):
who was thirty one, was mourned across the country as
condemnations of political violence rang out. Conservative commentators also combed
through social media for posts that were critical of Kirk
and reported the post to their respective employers. The fallout
reached a fever pitch last week when Jimmy Kim Alive

(24:41):
was taken off the air amid pressure from Brendan Carr,
Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. Carr suggested his agency
could take action against ABC and its parent company, Disney,
prompting some pushback from lawmakers, including Paul. I think there
there's a difference between policy directives coming from the government

(25:04):
and policy directives coming from a private corporation, Paul said.
If I'm friends with someone and they thought it was
funny that Charlie Kirk was assassinated, I would shun them.
I have the right as an individual to no longer
associate with them. If they worked for me, I would

(25:25):
fire them because I think that tolerating or advocating for
someone's death is just reprehensible. But you do have the
right to say represent reprehensible things under the First Amendment,
and the government can't dictate that. The show returned to
the airwaves Tuesday night. Next longtime Lexington Running Store to

(25:50):
open a third location near Hamburg this fall. A Staple
Lexington Shoe stor is on track to open his third
and largest location later this fall. John's Run and Walk
Shop is opening a storefront in the Hamburg area in
mid November at thirty ninety Helmsdale Place in the Brighton
Place Shops open to nineteen seventy eight. At Lexington, the

(26:11):
store sells running and walking shoes fit customers by train staff.
The store also sells several types of insoles to support
a variety of foot health needs. In tandem with athletic footwear,
the store also sells life line shoes like boots and sandals,
and a variety of socks and other apparel. The new
Johns will take the spot of the former kid the

(26:32):
Kid's Children's consignment clothing store in Brighton. The single story
shopping center is also home to Ramsay's Diner, Peuccini's Pizza Pasta,
five Guys, Domino's Pizza, nail salon, and barber. John's owner
Melody Marshall said the store will be the biggest of
the brand's three locations, at about five thousand square feet,

(26:53):
slightly larger than a standard professional basketball court. The late
fall opening is due to Marshall her staff needing to
build out the interior of the store to conclude a
back wall, stock closet, storage space, fitting rooms, and appropriate
registers that make sense for the layout. It will have
the same merchandise and carry the same apparel as the

(27:14):
existing two John's locations on Ashland Avenue in Chevy Chase
and on Paulamar Center Drive. What makes the new location different,
Marshall cent is the proximity to the Brighton Rail Trail,
the beginning of which is in the parking lot of
the Hamburg Liquor Barn, just down the street from where
the new Johns will be. John's already hosts Saturday morning

(27:35):
runs on the trail. Marshall said the goal with the
new location is to create a new community partnership with
other local businesses to host more runs in a variety
of times and locations that attract runners and walkers from
across central Kentucky. That includes adding morning and evening runs
on the Brighton rail Trail that will start an end
at New John's. We really want to utilize what Lexington

(27:58):
has to offer, Marshall said. The Hamburg location, Marshall said,
is closer to I sixty four and seventy five junction
at Mani War Boulevard, which will help the store serve
more customers. Runners from the region, including as far as Cincinnati,
drive to Lexington to participate in John's second Saturday free
Community five k runs that are just over three miles.

(28:21):
John's hosts him already in the Hamburg area. John is
the second running outfitters to open this summer in Lexington.
In June, j and H Outdoor, another famed outdoor recreation retailer,
opened the storefront exclusively for footwear, running clothes, and other gear.
And now, after a short pause, I hope you'll rejoin
us for a continuation of the reading of the Lexington

(28:42):
Harold Leader for today. Thank you for listening, and now
please stay tuned for more news right here on radio.
I will now continue reading from the Lexington Herald Leader
for this Friday, September twenty sixth. Your reader is Rod
Brotherton and as always we start with obituaries. We don't
need the name, agent, location if given, and if you

(29:04):
would like further information, please see the website or call
us during the weekdays at eight five nine four two
two sixty three ninety and we will be glad to
read the entire obituary for you, and I'll repeat the
number at the end of the listing. And today, fortunately
we only have one name on the obituary index, and
that is Emmanuel Dwayne Shanks, who was forty eight and

(29:28):
lived here in Lexington. And as I said, if you
were like any further information, please visit legacy dot com,
slash obituary, slash Kentucky or you can call us at
Radio I at eight five nine four to two two
sixty three ninety and we will try to read them
to you over the phone. Now, let's return to today's

(29:49):
news and the headline is shut down crisis test Trump's
go at a loone approach. President Trump's decision this week
to abruptly counsel a meeting with top Democrats aimed at
averting a government shutdown within days highlighted the toxic relationships

(30:09):
helping drive Congress and the White House toward a crisis.
With the Republican governing trifecta, Trump has opted a gord
alone approach at the dawn of his second term, freezing
out Democrats and never once inviting their leaders to the
White House for negotiations or anything else. With Democrats opposing

(30:30):
him at every turn, the President has been able to
rely exclusively on Republicans to push through his big priorities,
including acting a major tax cut and domestic policy bill,
clawing back billions and congressionally approved spending, and winning confirmation
of his nominees. That will not be the case when

(30:54):
it comes to funding the government, which Congress must do
by Tuesday to avoid a shutdown. Because Republicans have only
a narrow majority in the Senate, passing a government spending
bill that can win the necessary sixty votes depends on
attracting at least a small amount of Democratic support that

(31:17):
will require bipartisan negotiation and art that has been fading
steadily on Capitol Hill and has so far been lost
altogether during Trump's second term. Even talks around whether and
when to meet have prompted a round of recriminations and
finger pointing. Trump said earlier this month that Republicans should

(31:42):
not even bother negotiating with Democrats, and suggested his party
could fund the government solely with Republican votes. The characterization
infuriated Democrats, who have demanded that any measure to extend
spending will also more than one trillion dollars to continue

(32:03):
Obamacare subsidies and reverse cuts to Medicaid and other health
programs that Republicans made over the summer. The way this
country works, you've got to set down with people you
may not agree with and come to an agreement, come
to a negotiation. Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the
Democratic leader, said Tuesday after Trump canceled their meeting, Donald

(32:28):
Trump is not a king. He's the president, and he
has the responsibility to work to avoid the Trump shut down,
and time is of the essence. Trump canceled the meeting
after a call with Speaker Mike Johnson, the Republican of Louisiana,
and Senator John Thune, the Senate Majority leader, the Republican

(32:50):
of South Dakota, who urged the president not to meet
with Democratic leaders. Johnson had told reporters before the meeting
was canceled that he was not certain it was necessary.
Republicans who believe Democrats will be blamed for any shutdown
have noted that they are simply offering what has become
the routine move on Capitol Hill for avoiding shutdowns, a

(33:14):
temporary funding bill known as a continuing resolution or c
R that keeps federal spendings at levels flat under President Biden.
Thune told reporters last week Republicans repeatedly agree to such bills.
They have also relished digging up old quotes from Democrats

(33:37):
arguing that debates around health care should be separate from
funding discussions. That is suggestion by the Democrats that they
ought to be able to hijack a continuing resolution to
attach a trillion dollars of policy is completely out of
any sort of historical context of what crs have been

(33:59):
used for past. Stun said GOP leaders have good reason
to fear a meeting between the President and Democrats. Trump
has a track record of complicating his own party's position
in high stakes negotiation when he sets down with Democrats.
In twenty eighteen, before another government funding deadline, Trump declared

(34:24):
in a televised negotiating session with Schumer and Representative Nancy
Pelosi of California, then the Democratic leader that he would
be proud to shut down the government for border security.
In doing so, he violated an unwritten rule that has
governed both party's approach to shut down messaging for decades.

(34:46):
Always make sure the other party's shoulders the blame. I
will take the mantle, Trump said, then I will be
the one to shut it down. I'm not going to
blame you. You for it and next. Kentucky incarcerates women

(35:06):
at one of the highest rates in the world. Data
says if Kentucky were its own country, the Commonwealth would
incarcerate women at a higher rate than every nation in
the world except El Salvador, according to a new report
from the Prison Policy Initiative. The report, which was released Tuesday,

(35:27):
says Kentucky has an incarceration rate of two hundred and
thirty eight women per one hundred thousand residents. The US
accounts for four percent of the world's population of women,
but holds one quarter of the women who are incarcerated worldwide.
According to a report, as of the eighteenth of September,

(35:48):
Kentucky had thirty three thousand, nine hundred and seventy six
people in custody throughout the state, federal and county facilities,
according to state data. While El Salvador is the country
with the highest incarceration rate of women two hundred and
forty five per one hundred thousand, three states have even

(36:09):
higher rates. Kentucky ranks fifth on the global list, trailing
behind South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, and El Salvador. The Commonwealth
incarcerates women at a rate higher than a US as
a whole. Women's mass incarceration is a global concern. The

(36:33):
number of imprisoned women has grown nearly sixty percent since
the year two thousand, said report author Emily Widrap. With
this country's war on drugs, our treatment of mental illness
as a problem for police to deal with, and our
criminalization of poverty, it is no wonder that the US

(36:53):
continues to drive this problem and to account for a
quarter of the world's incarcerated women. America had a rate
of eight hundred and ninety eight people per one hundred
thousand in state prisons, local jails, and other systems of confinement,
according to a July twenty fourth report. Another report found

(37:13):
in the United States has the second highest rates of
total incarceration behind El Salvador. Kentucky women see almost the
same incarceration rate as women in El Salvador, a country
that has been described as an authoritarian police state. The
report said. The Prison Policy Initiative is a nonprofit, nonpartisan

(37:38):
group that produces research to show the broader harm of
mass criminalization. Kentucky also ranks as one of the top
states in the nation of children with incarcerated parents in
the US, with an estimated twelve percent of children affected.
According to the Anti E. Casey Foundation, the impact of

(38:00):
parental incarceration has long lasting consequences on children's health, education,
and future involvement in the justice system. Data shows children
with an incarcerated parent are more likely to be removed
from their home and have higher risks of poverty, behavioral issues,

(38:20):
and trouble in school. Nationally, nearly half of all incarcerated
people are parents to minor children, but in Kentucky, sixty
four percent of women and fifty five percent of men
incarcerated are parents, according to the Kentucky Department of Corrections.
Data from twenty nineteen and next Amy McGrath comeback former

(38:47):
Kentucky Senate candidate said to be considering a twenty twenty
six run. Amy McGrath, a former Democratic candidate for both
the US House and Senate in Kentucky, may jump in
the Senate race in twenty twenty six. A source close
to McGrath and familiar with her thinking confirmed to The

(39:08):
Herald Leader that McGrath is seriously considering running for US
Senate again, which would mark her second time vying for
Senator Mitch McConnell's seat. In twenty twenty, McGrath lost to
McConnell by almost twenty percentage points, despite out raising the incumbent,
McGrath brought in more than ninety four million dollars into

(39:31):
her campaign coffers, while McConnell raised about sixty three million.
The fundraising total was a historic mark in Kentucky and
US politics, setting a benchmark that no Kentucky campaign has
approached since. At the time, Along with other twenty twenty campaigns,

(39:53):
it broke the record for the most combined funds raised
in the US Senate race ever. But next year, McConnell
won't be back on the ballot, since the eighty three
year old senator announced this February that he would not
seek re election, ending his forty plus year tenure. A

(40:13):
handful of Republicans and Democrats have stepped up to try
and replace him. McGrath herself has not responded to multiple
requests for comment this month, but in March she told
The Hair of Leader it was too early to know
if she'd run or not. It's way too early right now,
McGrath said at the time, I'm doing what I can

(40:36):
help to do other for candidates right now, and I'm
focused on that. McGrath would join a growing field of Democrats.
Former State House Minority floor leader Pam Stevenson, Democrat of Louisville,
has been running for half a year, and two new candidates,
attorney Logan Forsyth and former CIA officer Joel wille, just

(41:01):
announced their bids last week. All three are running professional campaigns.
If McGrath enters the race, all four candidates would have
government service backgrounds, as Forsyth is a former US Secret
Service agent and Stevenson is a former US Navy judge
advocate general. Another Democrat with the ability to self fund

(41:25):
and raise serious cash is Dale Romans, one of the
most successful horse trainers in Churchill Down's history. Romans has
not denied interest in the race. On the Republican side,
four candidates have been barnstorming the state for months. Lexington
tech entrepreneur Nate Morris, former Attorney General Daniel Cameron, and

(41:50):
US Representative Andy Barr are all raising at least hundreds
of thousands of dollars in their efforts to win the
GOP nomination. Ferris, a veteran and helicopter repairman, is also running.
In previous campaigns, McGrath leaned on her background with the
Marine Corps, where she was the first woman to fly

(42:13):
a combat mission for the branch. She announced her twenty
eighteen campaign against Barr in a video filmed on a
landing strip, speaking about her experience as a boundary baked
boundary breaking fighter pilot. The video went viral, spurred donations,
as well as discussions about the type of Democratic candidates

(42:35):
that could break through in the era of President Trump.
That twenty eighteen race was much closer than the twenty
twenty one. McGrath gave Barr the closest challenge she's ever
had as an incumbent, losing to him by about three
percentage points, though her fundraising eclipsed what any Kentucky Democrat

(42:55):
has seen since, including Governor Basheer, drew some criticism within
progressive circles for her campaign. An article in The New
Republic entitled the Losing Democrats who gobbled Up Money criticized
the mass fundraising efforts for long shot seats at the

(43:16):
time in democratic politics, with McGrath being the primary example.
No Kentucky Democrat has won a US Senate race since
the late Wendell Ford's reelection in nineteen ninety two. No
Democrat has come close to winning since Daniel Moorengiardo in

(43:37):
twenty four when he lost to late Senator Jim Bunning
by one point four percentage points. Since losing the twenty
twenty race, McGrath has stayed involved in the political discussion.
In twenty twenty one, she released a book, Honor Bound,
about her time in the military and politics. With more

(44:00):
than three million dollars left over from her US Senate race,
McGrath also created a political action for the same name,
Honor Bound Pac. In all, she's launched four different political
fundraising groups, the biggest of them being Democratic Majority Action PAC,

(44:20):
which has raised and spent hundreds of thousands on some
of the highest profile elections each cycle. In twenty twenty two,
Democratic Majority Action spent well over a half million dollars
supporting US Senate Democrats. Most of that money went to
Georgia's Senator Raphael Warnox reelection, which proved one of the

(44:43):
most pivotal for Democrats keeping control. In twenty twenty four,
the pack spent eight hundred and sixty seven thousand dollars
on former Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris's ill fated presidential
campaign against Trump. She also started a political action committee,

(45:03):
the American SOS Project, focus on defeating Trump anti democracy
candidates for Secretary of State offices across the country. During
the twenty twenty four cycle, McGrath also launched Operations Saving
Democracy and Anti Trump super Pack that raised nearly one

(45:24):
million dollars in the lead up to Trump's recent victory.
As of the latest reporting period ending June thirtieth, Honor
Bound Pack had spent almost all of its money. Operation
Saving Democracy had been terminated. American SOS Project had one
hundred and eighty four thousand dollars on hand, and Democratic

(45:48):
Majority Action Pack had about four hundred and thirty two thousand.
Through this period, McGrath has maintained a regular presence in
progressive media, appearing often on the cable television network ms NBC. Next,
Kentucky man accused of shooting his mother and striking two

(46:11):
others with a pistol. A Laurel County man's facing several
charges after police say he shot his mother and struck
two others with a pistol. Beave Begley, thirty nine, is
accused of shooting his mother in the arm around nine
to fifteen am Wednesday on guy Green Road, about three

(46:32):
miles south of London. He also struck two others, a
family member and friend, with a pistol, and then fled
the scene. According to the Laurel County Sheriff's Office, when
deputies arrived at the home, Begley had returned and was
sitting near the whapon they say used to shoot his mother.
He was charged with attempted murder, two accounts of first

(46:55):
degree assault, and five counts of first degree wanton endangerment
discharge of a firearm. All three victims were taken to
a hospital in London and transferred to Lexington. Their conditions
were not available Thursday morning, but the Sheriff's office described
the injuries to the people struck by the gun as severe.

(47:17):
The mother was unresponsive when she was taken to a
hospital in Lexington. A four year old child was asleep
in a back bedroom of the home when the shooting curred,
according to the Sheriff's office. Two other family members were
also in the home. Begley refused to speak with investigators

(47:38):
after his arrest, According to court documents, he was booked
into the Laurel County Detention Center. Begley is scheduled to
be arraigned in Laurel District Court Thursday, according to court records,
and now internationally Gaza aid flotilla targeted by attax, activists

(47:59):
say Activists aboard the International aid flotilla bound for Gaza
have accused Israel of carrying out repeated attacks on their
boats overnight, saying they were targeted with flash bombs, explosive flares,
and suspected chemicals. The US based group Code Pink, which

(48:21):
as members on the vessel, said there were at least
eleven incidents. One activist reported on Wednesday counting fifteen or
sixteen drones during the night. The roughly fifty boats are
currently near the Greek island of Crete and aimed to
break Israel's naval blockade of the Gaza Strip to deliver
humanitarian supplies. Israel's Foreign Ministry said it would take the

(48:46):
necessary measures to prevent the flotilla's entry into the combat
zone and to stop any violation of a lawful naval blockade,
while making every possible effort to ensure the safety of
its The ministry, which has called the boats a Hamas flotilla,
said it has produced that the aid unloaded at Ashkelon,

(49:11):
in Israeli city that sits a few kilometers north of
the Gaza Strip. A spokeswoman for the flotilla said at
least two boats were damaged but no one was injured,
calling Israel's measures completely illegal in international waters. The Greek
news agency ANA, citing the coast Guard, reported that no

(49:32):
damage to any of the fleet's boats was found and
the investigation is ongoing. Two lawmakers from Italy's left wing
opposition are board. Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani urged Israel
to ensure any military action comply with international law and
the utmost caution. The flotilla, known as the Global Sumud Flotilla,

(49:58):
posted videos showing so several nighttime explosions, which said it
were stunt grenades designed to disorient targets with loud bangs
and bright flashes. We are witnessing these psychological operations firsthand
right now, but we will not be intimidated, the flotilla

(50:18):
said in a telegram post. Some activists also reported radio interference.
One said their radio channel was hijacked with songs by
Swedish pop group Abba, speculating it was the Israeli forces
weird obsession with Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, who is on

(50:40):
one of the ships. Earlier, Francesca Albinize, the UN Special
rapperteur of the Occupied Palestinian Territories, reposted one of the
flotilla's videos on her ex page. Ninth attack reported on
humanitarian boats and international waters in south west of Crete

(51:01):
in the middle of the night. A voila genosider on
land maritime outlaw at sea, she wrote in the social
media thread. The Global Samud flotilla, which set off from
Barcelona in late August with hundreds of activists on board,
is aiming to breach the Israeli sea blockade of the

(51:24):
Gaza coast to deliver humanitarian aid to the population of
the war torn territory. Simud means steadfastness in Arabic. Israel
has in the past thwarted a number of attempts to
breach its sea blockade. Most recently, activists said two Global

(51:45):
SIMUD flotilla vessels were attacked while in Tunisian waters over
the twenty four hours earlier in September, Tunisia's Interior Ministry
denied the account. Next Door, amid hunger increases in Kentucky
and beyond, the USDA cancels its annual survey in spite

(52:09):
of finding an increase in hunger in Kentucky and beyond,
the US Department of Agriculture, under the administration of President Trump,
announced it will end its annual Household Food Security report.
For three decades, the federal government has published an annual
breakdown of household hunger to understand who it is experiencing it.

(52:31):
The findings have helped policy advocates develop programs to combat
the problems, such as SNAP. The latest survey showed that
Kentucky was among seven states with the food insecurity rate
higher than that of the national average. It found out
that nearly one million, eight hundred thousand Kentucky households three

(52:54):
hundred and seventy five thousand, two hundred and seventy struggled
to access a healthy diet or food at all. The
office said the twenty twenty four report would be released
on October twenty second, would be its last. These redundant,
costly politicized, and extraneous studies do nothing more than fearmonger,

(53:18):
the USDA wrote in a press release. The annual survey
was created during Bill Clinton's presidency thirty years ago to
identify the scope of hunger throughout the country, pinpointing key
demographics such as age and ethnic groups. Now under Trump,

(53:38):
the USDA calls the survey findings subjective liberal fodder. Trends
in the prevalence of food insecurity have remained virtually unchanged,
regardless over an eighty seven percent increase in SNAP spending
between twenty nineteen and twenty twenty three, the USDA wrote.
Last year's Household Foods Security Report, however, reveal that between

(54:02):
twenty one and twenty twenty three, hunger has grown. Jessica Klein,
a policy associated at the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy,
is concerned about Kentucky's ability to measure hunger. Without the
study going forward, it is unfortunate that the survey will
no longer be put out, client said. It is really

(54:25):
one of the core national resources for measuring the prevalence
of hunger and states, and it really gets to household
demographics which a lot of other surveys don't get to.
The study has been able to isolate key patterns around
those experiencing hunger, like family size. Knowing those, clients said,

(54:46):
helps measure the Commonwealth's hunger against national statistics. Hunger's getting
worse in Kentucky, especially since COVID nineteen, when we had
a lot of flexibility and additional support for peace people
through public assistance programs, Clein said, And what those were
proven to do is reduce food insecurity, meaning people had

(55:10):
more consistent access to be able to pay for the groceries.
In addition to COVID nineteen assistance programs, inflation has contributed
to the hunger increases in Kentucky and the country at large.
Trump's Big Beautiful Bill has been estimated to cut SNAP
funding by almost one hundred and eighty six billion dollars

(55:33):
over the next decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
The decision to eliminate the study came two days after
a judge blocked the USDA from requesting SNAP beneficiary's personal data.
That request was made in light of the Big Beautiful
Bill's changes to snap's eligibility and the president's stated crackdown

(55:56):
on waste, fraud, and abuse within public programs. And finally,
the UN responds to Trump's escalator and teleprompter complaints. The
United Nations that said it was President Trump's own team
that caused escalator issues. About the president's complaints, all I
got from the United Nations was an escalator that on

(56:19):
the way up, stopped right in the middle, and if
the first lady wasn't in great shape, she would have fallen.
But she's in great shape. We're both in good shape.
We both stood. And then a teleprompter that didn't work.
Trump said, these are two things I got from the
United Nations, a bad escalator and a bad teleprompter. White

(56:40):
House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt posted on x An article
in the Times of London stated that UN staffers joked
about shutting down the escalator and telling Trump that they
ran out of money, reference to Trump's funding cuts. Some
one night at the UN intentionally stopped the escalator as
the president first lady, we're stepping on and they needed

(57:02):
to be fired investigated immediately, Levitt said in her post.
The United Nations, Stephanie du Rajacques, spokesperson for the Secretary General,
responded in a statement to the elevator complaint, we have
no comment since the teleprompter for the US President is
operated by the White House, she said. And this concludes

(57:23):
the reading of the lexingon Herald Leader for today, Friday,
September twenty sixth. Your reader has been Rod Brotherton. Thank
you for listening, and now please stay tuned for sports
news right here on Radio I