10.14.25

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the reading of the Courier Journal for Tuesday,
October fourteenth, two thousand, twenty five, which is brought to
our Louisville listeners via Louisville Public Media. As a reminder,
RADIOI is a reading service intended for people who are
blind or have other disabilities that make it difficult to

(00:20):
read printed material. Your reader for to day is Auntie Mems.
Will get started with the weather and the forecast through
Sunday from w h a s to day. High seventy eight,
warm with sunshine. Tonight, low fifty five, clear, Wednesday high

(00:43):
seventy four, low fifty six, clouds and sun pleasant. Thursday
high sixty nine, low fifty one, nice with plenty of sun.
Friday high seventy eight, low sixty four, warm with high clouds.

(01:03):
Saturday high eighty, low sixty three, partly sunny and warm,
with the chance of a shower. Sunday high sixty nine,
low fifty two, rain and a thunder storm. The local
forecast from staff meteorologist Matthew Willoughby, the nice faul weather

(01:25):
will continue with some nice sunshine. Slightly warmer conditions will
roll in this afternoon. Highs will be in the upper
seventies with plenty of sunshine throughout the week. The Almanac
for Louisville on Sunday temperature high seventy four, low fifty two,
normal high seventy two, normal low fifty two, record high

(01:50):
eighty seven in two thousand eight, record low thirty two
in nineteen seventeen. Precipitation Sunday zero inches month to date
four point eight eight inches normal month to date thirty
eight point five seven inches. Pollen count from allergyasc dot

(02:15):
com grass, low weeds, low trees, low molds. Moderate air
quality Monday moderate, Today, moderate sun and moon. Tuesday sunrise

(02:35):
seven fifty one a m. Sunset seven o six p m.
Moonrise twelve forty four a m. Moonset three fifty seven
p M. Wednesday sunrise seven fifty two a m. Sunset

(02:56):
seven o five p m. Moonrise one fifty four a m,
moonset four twenty nine pm moonfass New moon October twenty
first first quarter October twenty ninth, full moon November fifth,

(03:17):
and last quarter November twelfth. Weather history. On October fourteenth,
nineteen eighty four, forty two separate accidents occurred on I
ninety four around Milwaukee Wisconsin in dense fog. A cloak
of fog combined with impatiens on highways can be hazardous.

(03:40):
Now for today's front page headlines. Today's paper contains three
stories on the front page with the following headlines. One
Queer in Kentucky LGBTQ plus community finds unlikely home in
rural areas. Two Primary could sway Key Kentucky race, McConnell replacement,

(04:02):
Massy Challenge on tap, and three A day of profound
joy for Israelis Now for today's articles. Queer in Kentucky,
LGBTQ plus community finds unlikely home in rural areas by
Sarah Henry for The Courier Journal, Dateline, Cynthiana, Kentucky. A

(04:27):
crowd filed into the pews of a church chapel in
this small bluegrass farming community. Light poured through stained glass windows,
falling at Allegra Frasier Shawl Lanes bare feet. For good luck,
she pulled a pint bottle of bourbon out of her
purse and took a nervous swig. She broke her heel

(04:50):
at the last minute, so she abandoned them completely, walking
shoeless along the carpeted aisle in front of fifty eager
listeners gathered for the church's monthly LGBTQ plus Pride meeting
on a summer day in twenty twenty four. There she
told them a story when she hoped they would understand.

(05:12):
There's nothing wrong with me, she said to the crowd,
I am a woman. When Fraser shaw Lane moved to
town in the Rolling Hills of Kentucky, she didn't leave
the house for four years. As a trans woman in
the rural south, she was unsure how her new community
would receive her, so she focused on what she could control,

(05:35):
restoring her nineteenth century house to its antique glory hold
up in the old Victorian she shares with her husband,
their dogs, and their cat, Tuna Turner. She painted over
the hospital standard blue walls, shook out the Persian rugs
they brought, and hung huge family portraits on the walls.

(05:57):
After fleeing her life farther to the where she said
she faced harassment at both work and home, she finally
felt some relief. It was magical to have a place,
she said. Fraser shaw Lane found a home somewhere unlikely
in a largely conservative state and a town with a

(06:18):
population of around six thousand, five hundred people, walking down
its streets, it feels much smaller. It's a place where
family names carry historic weight, where churches outnumber gas stations,
and where anyone can spot a newcomer and she's not
the only one. About three point eight million LGBTQ plus

(06:39):
people live in rural America, according to a twenty nineteen
report by the Movement Advance Project MAP, a non profit
think tank. In Kentucky, a majority rural state with roughly
five million people, MAP estimates three point four percent of
adults identifi as part of the queer community, consistent with

(07:03):
the national average, Kentucky may seem like a peculiar place
for LGBTQ plus to live. The state has been locked
in a political tug of war over LGBTQ plus rights
that gives members of that community reason to hope and
reason to fear. A year ago, Governor Andy Basheer, a Democrat,

(07:24):
vetoed anti LGBTQ plus bills and banned conversion therapy, saying
the state can't reach its full potential if all its
residents don't feel supported discrimination against our LGBTQ brothers and sisters.
Is absolutely unacceptable in this commonwealth, Basher said on the

(07:44):
steps of the state capitol in twenty twenty, Those moves
helped Kentucky rise five spots, the most of any state
in Out Leadership's twenty twenty five State Climate Index, which
ranks states acording to their equality measures, attitudes, and policies

(08:04):
towards LGBTQ plus. But Republican leaders in Frankfort have been
fighting back. The legislature voted in March to reverse Bashir's
ban on conversion therapy, a controversial practice designed to change
a person's sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression to

(08:25):
become heterosexual. The legislature also passed a law outlawing the
use of Medicaid for gender affirming care. That's why Kentucky
remains among the fifteen least welcoming states in the country
for LGBTQ plus in the State Climate Index. Despite that

(08:45):
political battle, queer people across the state are making homes
and making themselves known, and for many, living in rural
areas is just as important to their identity as is
being queer. To me, it's about loving a place enough
to stay. Sir. Jessica Stevens, a queer small business owner
living in Estell County, where hump backed mountains give way

(09:09):
to dollar generals and Baptist churches in grassy valleys. They
came here to find each other. At deer run stables
in Madison County in the early nineteen nineties, Bill Chandler
and his husband Terry Mullins camped with friends in an
old log cabin at the base of a hill. They
cooked dinner over a smoking grill, sharing cigarettes and PBRs.

(09:34):
It was summer, the last quarter of the twentieth century
and the days of the queer cowboy. Mullins and Chandler
were organizers of the Tri State Gay Rodeo Association, a
group from Kentucky, Ohio, and Indiana that raised money for
people with AIDS. An offshoot of the International Gay Rodeo Association,

(09:56):
which formed in nineteen eighty five, THEIRS was part of
a growing network of a new rural meets urban queer community.
They met at bars and cookouts, wearing stetsons and snake
print boots, to line dance, ride horses, and performed drag.
In twenty twenty, Mullins and Chandler donated hundreds of pictures

(10:18):
from their time in the Rodeo to the Faulkner Morgan
Archive in Lexington, which houses exclusively Kentucky LGBTQ plus materials
dating back to the eighteen hundreds. Much of the archive
documents the lives of queer people in Lexington and Louisville,
where the LGBTQ plus scene flourished in the nineteen seventies

(10:41):
after white flight emptied city centers, said Josh Porter, the
archives assistant executive director. They came here to find each other,
he said. Mullins moved to Lexington from the farthest reaches
of the state's border with West Virginia, which fits a pattern.
Most stories in the archive are about queer people leaving

(11:04):
rural areas in Kentucky for the safety and community of
its bigger cities, but sometimes they held on to their
rural identity. The rural aspect of the Rodeo Association was
a draw to gay people from eastern Kentucky, he said.
Most of our members were born and raised there. The
gay rodeo movement pushed back at the conventions that pressured

(11:26):
them to leave their communities and leaned into traditions from
which they might otherwise be excluded. There is a duality
of hating where you come from and yearning for it,
Porter said, yearning for the land you grew up in,
but knowing that environment isn't loving you. Back pre Internet,

(11:47):
the only way for queer people to connect with each
other was to move to common species, the same cities,
sometimes the same farms. In the nineteen eighties, Kentucky artist
William Petree offered a rural oasis to other gay men
and artists and his tobacco farm in Grant County, where
he lived for most of his life. Now, with a

(12:10):
world of online resources and social media platforms, things have changed,
Porter said. You can live out in the country and
still have a community, but there are more and more
opportunities for in person community too. This year, at least
sixteen pride festivals have happened or will happen in rural

(12:31):
Kentucky communities. A get the hell out moment. Fraser shaw
Lane grew up in Covington, a suburb of Cincinnati across
the Ohio River, where her childhood was idyllic fruit trees
in the back yard, a fountain ful of fish, she said.
As she got older, she started performing and working at

(12:53):
night clubs in Cincinnati's LGBTQ plus scene Drag was her
only outlet at the time. I didn't know or understand
what trans was or that I had that option, she said.
In twenty twenty four, after she met her husband, Dane Lane,
the pair started working at a warehouse in Cincinnati to

(13:15):
make a little extra money. When co workers discovered she
was transgender, she said, her life in the city became
unbearable because of harassment. It was adre get the hell
out moment, she said. The couple took a chance and
headed south. I came down here still dressing like I
lived in the city, she said, arriving in a long

(13:37):
velvet and fox fur coat with knee high boots. In
her first days, she was alone in the house. Lane
stayed up north, packing and taking care of the pets.
One afternoon, there was a knock at the door. Two
people were standing on the other side, worried they would
think she had broken in or didn't belong there. She
opened the door. Did you buy this house, asked looking

(14:01):
her up and down. Yes, I did, Alegra said my
husband and I. Well, welcome to Cynthiana, they said, handing
her a welcome wagon and introducing themselves as Holly and
Mark Burden from the Spall nearby. Now the trio are friends.
As she grew more comfortable, she started leaving her house

(14:24):
more often, even getting a job in an antique store
downtown where she uses her expertise in historical interiors to
charm its patrons. I've never lived anywhere else besides here
in Covington, she said, and after six years, she can't
imagine leaving. I can't describe it as anything but surreal.

(14:45):
Just the amount of people here that I would never
expect to accept me or respect me. Defiance. It was
the early two thousands and Britney Spears was releasing Oops,
I did it again and Babe one more Time. When
Will Dawson wasn't practicing for church band or attending service,

(15:06):
he was dancing around his best friend's room with a
cardboard cutout of the pop idol. Growing up in rural
northwest Ohio, he spent much of his childhood thinking he
was different. He struggled with his identity and searched for
an elusive answer through intensive prayer and Bible study. I
would pray to God and say this is who I am.

(15:29):
Do I need to change myself? Dawson said, he didn't
have the language for it until he was thirteen years old.
I started to break out of the term homosexuality, he said,
which always carried the stigma of sin to him. I'm
just gay. I've always been gay. At Dawson's Church in Defiance,

(15:51):
they kept pamphlets at the entryway for parishioners that read
things like are you unhappy in your marriage? And I'm
having homosexual thoughts. One afternoon, he took home a stack,
hiding the pamphlet on homosexuality in the middle and shoving
it in his pocket. When he got home and read
through it, he broke down because he felt so alone.

(16:15):
He couldn't understand why God had no answers for him. Afterward,
he went downstairs to his parents. I thought I had
the guts to tell them, but I couldn't say it,
he said, unsure of what he was going through. His
parents prayed for him, blanketing him and the religious beliefs
he was already struggling with. Over the next few years,

(16:37):
he pulled back from the church and started coming out
to close friends. Still, he worried it would get back
to his parents. Eventually it did. One evening after school,
they told him to get in the car and drove
him to church, where the pastor tried his hand at
conversion therapy. Soon after, Dawson went away to college, and

(16:59):
since he moved around after graduating, even buying a house
in his hometown in an effort to reconnect with his family,
but nothing ever felt quite right looking for home in Appalachia.
On any given day, Dawson and his partner Ryan Joseph
Allen putter around the warmly lit cabin of their bed

(17:21):
and Breakfast, checking in guests, and brewing iced tea. Last year,
the couple bought Snug Hollow, a wooded inn up a
rocky one lane road in the foothills of red Lick
Valley in Estell County. Together they run the B and B,
cook the meals, and take care of their half husky,

(17:41):
half coyote coy dog, Caspar. In their sitting room, Dawson
and Alan have coffee tables covered in books on bird
watching and poetry. One of Allan's favorites as Gay Poems
for Red States by Willie Edward Taylor Carver, about growing
up and Appalachia and moving away as an adult. In

(18:03):
the preface, he wrote, I was angry because I believed
I should be free to exist anywhere in the United States,
even in Kentucky. Initially, Dawson and Allan were wary about
moving back to a rural place. I was nervous because
of my past where I didn't feel accepted, Dawson said.
But after their first meeting with the previous owner of

(18:26):
the B and B, they were driving back through town
and saw a sign that they were in the right place,
a literal sign. There on the side of the road
was a billboard reading no Hate in Our Holler. Jessica Stevens,
a queer business owner in Estell County, said the billboard
went up in twenty twenty two. That year, a teacher

(18:49):
at West Irvine Intermediary School resigned in the controversial fallout
after writing you are free to be yourself with me
beside pride flag on the classroom marker board. The community
rallied around him, hosting a fundraiser and posting that same billboard.
Dawson and Allan drove past in twenty twenty three when

(19:12):
the billboard came down, one that took its place read
Jesus as the Lord of these hills. Sometimes in the
back of my mind, I wonder if we are being
judged for who we are, if we are going to
face repercussions for being ourselves, Dawson said, But it's almost
the opposite. What they've noticed most is the willingness of

(19:34):
neighbors to help each other. In May, a tree fell,
knocking out the B and b's power. They called the
woman next door and she brought them her generator and
five gallon buckets in case they needed water too. There's
a sense of care that's a component of the Appalachian spirit,
Dawson said. It erases those boundaries that I think were

(19:56):
set up to divide us. But it's not a to
political rhetoric. What worries Stephens's most is the fallout from
decisions and narratives propagated in Frankfort and Washington, d C.
It's the national stage conversation sort of trickling down and
undoing the work of being a good neighbor. She said.

(20:17):
She recognizes the real ways that small towns can be
dangerous for LGBTQ plus, but she thinks the notion that
queer people can't belong in a small town is harmful too.
Everyone wants to default to thinking that if you're queer
you'll leave, But as time goes on, we find that's

(20:37):
not true, she said. More people are feeling empowered to
stay on the back porch. The rolling green of the
hollow holds the B and B as if in the
palm of its meadowy hand. Small creeks meet and diverge
the blue feathered flashes of indigo. Bunting's zip from tree

(20:59):
to tree. Since moving to Irvine, it feels like the
best of my childhood, Dawson said. I felt like I
was always looking for that, looking for my home. LGBTQ
plus history in the Bluegrass Kentucky has played an unexpectedly
influential part in the nation's LGBTQ plus history. Long before

(21:25):
OBErs Fell versus Hodge's legalized gay marriage, a Jefferson County
lesbian couple became the first in the country to request
a marriage license. It was the summer of nineteen seventy
and there was no state law banning same sex marriages.
But when the pair walked down to the county clerk's
office to become a legal couple, they were denied. They

(21:48):
tried to sue in court, but were unsuccessful. Forty five
years later, two more Queer Kentucky couples tried again, this
time becoming part of the landmark the US Supreme Court
case that secured the right to marriage equality in twenty fifteen.
Even Kentucky's most rural communities have played their part. In

(22:10):
twenty thirteen, the tiny city of Vico became the smallest
in the nation to pass a fairness ordinance protecting LGBTQ
plus people from unemployment, housing, and public accommodations discrimination. The
state has no laws shielding people from being fired because
of their sexual or gender identity. Instead, since nineteen ninety nine,

(22:35):
the Fairness Campaign, a Louisville advocacy organization, has been campaigning
for protections at both the state and local level. Twenty
four Kentucky municipalities have put in place a fairness ordinance,
many of them in rural areas covering a third of
the population, including Cynthiana, which passed an ordinance in twenty twenty.

(22:59):
While state protections might be lacking, awareness is growing. In May,
Cynthiana held its first ever drag show. Residents and visitors
from nearby counties pack to downtown bar in support of
the performer Twinkling and Sequins under neon lights. Helena Handbasket,
a self proclaimed diva and comedian, headlined the show. She's

(23:24):
performed in big cities like New York and Fort Lauderdale,
but also in places like Cynthiana. Frasier shaw Lane didn't perform. Instead,
she sat with the crowd in the purple glow of
the stage under plastic palm fronds, beside her friend. Claire Barnes,
also known as Lexi Love. Barnes is another drag performer

(23:46):
who rose to prominence after starring in Rue Paul's Drag
Race earlier this year. Together, they shared in the novelty
of the moment, a country town, a bar full of beer,
sipping chains, churchgoers, Republicans, Democrats, first timers and old timers.
It was lovely. Fraser Shawlane said of the show, she

(24:09):
hopes it won't be the last. About three point eight
million how many LGBTQ plus people live in rural America,
according to a twenty nineteen report by the Movement Advance
Project or MAP. Three point four percent how many adults

(24:30):
out of Kentucky's five million POP people who identify as
part of the queer community. According to MAP. Editor's note,
this article is part of a collaboration between the Curer
of Journal and Boyd's Station, a Kentucky nonprofit that provides
emerging artists and student journalists a rural place to hone

(24:53):
their craft. Sarah Henry received the twenty twenty five Mary
Withers Rural Writing Fellowship g at Boyd's Station. Next primary
could sway key Kentucky races. McConnell replacement, Massey challenge on
tap by Hannapinsky Courier Journal, USA Today Network. The twenty

(25:17):
twenty six mid term elections kicked off early in Kentucky.
Several US Senate candidates launched bids more than a year
before the May primary. Millions of dollars are already pouring
into campaigns, and national outlets are keeping an eye on
the race, along with other congressional races in the Commonwealth.

(25:38):
But at the end of the day, these campaigns could
reach only a small number of voters who will show
up in the spring primary. Voter turnout in Kentucky is
consistently low, mirroring a national trend. Almost four and five
registered voters nationwide did not cast ballots in the twenty
twenty four primaries, According to the National Vote at Home Institute.

(26:02):
Republican Secretary of State Michael Adams said low turnout comes
from voters thinking the real US versus them is in November,
an idea he sees as problematic. That is not the
right way to look at it, because as the state
gets more blue and blue areas and red and red areas,

(26:23):
the primary becomes the general election, Adams said, And so
I think it's really problematic if you have ten or
fifteen percent of the electorate choose leadership for the whole county.
When the general election becomes an afterthought and almost irrelevant
because there's no Democrats on the ballot or no Republicans

(26:43):
on the ballot, then that makes the primary all that
much more important. Kentucky will be in a unique position
in twenty twenty six with two highly watched races, the
US Senate race to replace outgoing Senator Mitch McConnell can
Kentucky's fourth congressional district race, where incumbent Representative Thomas Massey

(27:05):
is expected to face a challenger handpicked by President Donald Trump.
But those competitive races still aren't expected to draw masses
to the ballot box, and in a deep red state
where much of the general election is decided in the
May primaries. Counties with higher turnout could end up deciding
who represents the entire Bluegrass state. Who turns out in

(27:31):
primary elections in Kentucky, people who cast their ballots in
primary elections aren't your average voter. In fact, Jeffrey Budziak,
a politics professor at Western Kentucky University, said people who
vote in primary elections aren't representative of people who vote
in general elections. People who turn out for the primaries

(27:55):
are hardcore political people. Budsyak said. If you are turning
out in every primary election, you are more politically engaged
than the average voter in America. Stephen Voss, a political
scientist at the University of Kentucky, agreed, primary voters are
going to tend to be more educated, wealthier, and older

(28:17):
than the electorate that votes in a general election, which
could affect which issues interest them and what priorities they
bring to the contest, he said. Adams said turnout during
a non presidential primary election is typically around fifteen percent statewide,
and statistics from twenty twenty two and twenty twenty three

(28:40):
are indicators on what to expect in twenty twenty six.
In twenty twenty three, the top ten counties with the
highest Republican voter turnout ranged from twenty five point six
percent to forty point eight percent. On the Democratic side,
that range was between sixteen point eight percent in twenty

(29:01):
nine point three percent. That means neither party had a
county where at least half of registered voters participated in
the primary elections. In twenty twenty two, another mid term
election year, turnout was higher, with the top ten counties
for Republican turnout ranging from forty three point five percent

(29:24):
to sixty point one percent, in the top ten counties
for Democratic turnout ranging from thirty four point eight percent
to forty eight point seven percent. While Democrats did not
have a county where turnout reached at least fifty percent,
Republicans had four counties above that threshold, Cumberland, Clinton, Monroe,

(29:49):
and Owsley. Three of those counties are located on the
Tennessee border, though counties with higher Republican turnout in the
twenty twenty two primary were scattered through the date. We're
going to pause here because now it's time to read
the obituaries. We read only the name, age, and location.
If you would like further information on any of the obituaries,

(30:12):
please call us during the weekdays at eight five nine
four two two sixty three nine zero, and we will
be glad to read the entire obituary for you. I
will repeat that number at the end of the listings.
Today's paper contains one obituary, Danny Lee Down, seventy nine, Louisville.

(30:36):
If you would like further information about today's listing, call
us on weekdays at eight five nine four two two
six three nine zero, and we will be glad to
read the entire item for you. Now we'll return to
the previous article counties with the highest democratic turnout that year. Meanwhile,

(30:59):
we're mostly located in eastern Kentucky. I think twenty twenty
six will look a lot more like twenty twenty two
or twenty twenty three. Adams said, You've got a lot
of people who come out of the woodwork only once
every four years to vote for president, but then they
sit out the rest of the cycles. Will an open

(31:21):
Senate seat draw more voters in the twenty twenty six
primary elections, Adams said, if there's a candidate who catches
fire during the campaign season, that could lead to higher turnout,
but right now he doesn't see any candidate who is
going to draw in new people. It's early, but for

(31:41):
the moment, they're all running fairly traditional campaigns and aimed
at getting people who already vote versus bringing in new constituents,
Adam said. Budzyak varied slightly, saying he thinks turn out
in May will be higher than the average Senate primary,
but it will still be lower than the general election.

(32:03):
There is a lot of media coverage, and the candidates
are fundraising and spending lots of money, which draws attention
to it, he said. Voss said when voters have more
information about their choices, they're more likely to show up
to the ballot box. One of the things we don't
know yet but that will determine turnout for a Senate

(32:24):
primary is whether voters think the contest is close, he said.
How do primary turnout numbers influence campaigns? Budsiak said how
candidates react to past primary turnout depends on their campaigns.
Republican candidate US Representative Andy Barr, for example, has significant

(32:48):
name recognition in the sixth congressional district that he represents
and already has a geographically defined constituency. The question Budziak
and bar will have to ask is whether he will
focus on the people in his district or try to
drum up support in counties with higher turnout. In Republican

(33:11):
candidate Daniel Cameron's case, Budzyak said that question is less
important because he has already run statewide campaigns for attorney
General and governor. Budzyak also pointed out that Nate Morris,
the third high profile Republican candidate, is a less known

(33:31):
political actor because he's never run for office, so geography
is something he will need to consider along with Barr.
Adams said it will be important to pay attention to Fayette, Franklin,
and Woodford Counties because they often have significant voter turnout.
You want to pay attention where the races are going

(33:52):
to have competitive primaries for down ticket offices, he added,
giving Jefferson County as an example where there will be
a significant mayoral race in twenty twenty six. People who
may or may not have a lot of interest in
the Senate race or a lot of information about it,
they're still going to vote because they care who their

(34:15):
mayor is going to be. Adam said, so you look
at where votes typically come in, and also which counties
have competitive races in primary offices, especially local ones. Next
a Day of Profound Joy for Israelis by Katherine Palmer,
Zach Anderson, Michael Collins, and Bart Jansen USA. Today, Israel

(34:40):
celebrated the release of the remaining hostages taken by Hamas
militants in the October seventh, twenty twenty three attacks as
the first phase and the US broker ceasefire plan was
met with joy around the world. On October thirteenth, twenty
Israeli hostages in God's Za were transferred to the International

(35:02):
Committee of the Red Cross and returned home. According to
the Israeli military, almost two thousand Palestinian prisoners were released
by Israel as part of the ceasefire deal. Cheers, cries,
and Hebrew songs rang out in Tel Aviv's Hostage Square,
where thousands of Israelis had gathered to celebrate the homecoming.

(35:26):
President Donald Trump traveled to the Middle East to greet
the hostages as part of a whirlwind visit to Israel
in Egypt, while back home, the US government entered its
thirteenth day in a shutdown. This is the historic dawn
of a new Middle East, Trump said in his remarks
to the Knesset, Israel's legislature, declaring it at the start

(35:50):
of a sixty five minute speech a day of profound joy.
The release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza began at
one a m d Eastern time on October thirteenth from
the net Zerim corridor and continued in Gaza's Khan Yunice.
HAMAS also announced that on October thirteenth it would release

(36:13):
the bodies of four of the twenty eight dead Israeli
hostages held in Gaza. No other details were immediately available.
Some of the deceased hostages were killed on October seventh,
twenty twenty three attack. Others are believed to have died
well in captivity. Following hamasa's release of all twenty living

(36:34):
Israeli hostages, Israel released two hundred and fifty Palestinian prisoners
and more than one thousand, seven hundred detainees. Images and
broadcast feeds showed Palestinian prisoners on buses exiting a prison
in southern Israel and families reuniting in Ramallah in the
West Bank. Most were detainees taken by israel forces and

(36:59):
the group of two hundred and fifty prisoners were convicted
of involvement in deadly attacks or were held under suspicion
of such security offenses. According to Reuters, the United States,
along with Egypt, catar and Turkey, mediated the agreement between
Israel and Hamas following Trump's September twenty ninth unveiling of

(37:23):
a peace proposal alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Nettnyahu. Negotiators
for Israel and Hamas agreed to the deal last week.
Trump greeted Israeli dignitaries and signed a guest book as
he made his way into the kinnest to deliver remarks,
flanked by his daughter Avonka, son in law Jared Kushner,

(37:47):
and Netanyahu. This is my great honor, a great and
beautiful day, Trump wrote in the guest book. Aid to Gaza,
increasing fighting was paused in the Gaza Strip for a
third day on October twelfth, and for the first time
since March, cooking gas entered Gaza, according to a statement

(38:08):
from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
The agencies said the United Nations and its partners have
also been able to distribute hundreds of thousands of hot
meals and bread bundles in southern and northern Gaza as
the ceasefire continued to hold. We also secured Israeli approval

(38:29):
for more aid to move forward, bringing the amount in
our cleared pipeline to one hundred and ninety thousand metric tons.
The agency said. Aid shipments also included tents for displaced families,
frozen meat, fresh fruit, flour, and medicine. The World Food
Program and the Egyptian Red Crescent have also begun scaling

(38:52):
up their operations. Netan Yahoo says Israel has paid a
high price. Yah who told the Kennessette that Israel has
paid a high price for the war in Gaza, but
sent a message to the nation's enemies in the process.
They understand that Israel is strong and Israel is here

(39:14):
to stay, he said. During his speech, Netti Naho told
Trump that he has done more for Israel than any
other president and thanked him for advancing the peace plan
that resulted in the ceasefire in return of hostages. I
am committed to this peace and together, mister President, we
will achieve this piece, Nettunaho said in his remarks. Nettunaho

(39:40):
talked about learning that all twenty living hostages had been
returned from Gaza to Israel. What excitement, he said, adding
how long we've waited for this moment. Net Naho also
told Trump that he would be inscribed in the history
of our nation and that he could be the first
non Israeli to receive the nation's highest award, the Israel Prize.

(40:02):
Netnyahu told the kinnest he nominated Trump for the award
and alluded to the Nobel Peace Prize and saying there's
another award he believes the president eventually will receive. Trump
discusses next phase. Later on October thirteenth, Trump traveled to
the Egyptian Red Sea resort city of Sharm el Sheikh

(40:24):
in Egypt for what the White House described as a
Middle East peace ceremony. Netunyahu's office confirmed in a statement
that he would not attend the summit, citing the proximity
of the Simchat Torah holiday, which began on the evening
of October thirteenth. Trump, joined by Kushner, Secretary of State

(40:47):
Marco Rubio, and Middle East Special Envoy Steve Whitkoff, discussed
the next steps in his peace plan as he began
the summit with world leaders, saying he's already on to
the second phase of the plan. The bodies of some
deceased hostages still need to be returned, Trump noted as
he took questions from reporters while meeting with Egyptian President

(41:11):
Abdel Fatah Elcisi. Trump also discussed rebuilding Gaza after two
years of war. Rubio said Egypt will play a key
role in the peace plan's implementation, which Whitkoff said has
been the focus since Israel and Hamas agreed to the deal.
Rubio described October thirteenth as one of the most important

(41:33):
days for world peace in fifty years. Editor's note contributing
Reuters Next Bar Tout's Senate campaign fundraising by Lucas Albach
Courier Journal, USA Today Network. While filings for all candidates
are not yet public, US Representative Andy Barr's Senate campaign

(41:57):
team is already touting the congressman's fundraising over the past
three months and the race to replace retiring US Senator
Mitch McConnell. In an October eighth press release, Bar's campaign
said the candidate has reported raising nearly one point eight
million dollars during the third quarter of twenty twenty five,

(42:19):
leaving the campaign with more than six point six million
dollars cash on hand. The other notable Republicans in the race,
former Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron and Lexington businessman Nate Morris,
have not yet released their totals. Campaign representatives for the
pair did not respond to requests for comment sin October seventh.

(42:43):
At the end of June, Barr's campaign reported raising just
over one point four million dollars in the second quarter
of the year, with more than six point one million
dollars cash on hand. An incumbent congressman who took office
in twenty thirteen, Bar previously transferred funds from his House
campaign to a Senate campaign. His team has since launched

(43:06):
its first major TV ad buying touting his ties to
President Donald Trump, and has pushed back against two conservative
packs that have paid for TV ads attacking him. At
the end of the second quarter, Cameron reported just over
five hundred and thirty thousand dollars in cash on hand
after raising about three hundred and eighty six thousand dollars

(43:29):
in the quarter. Morris has not yet filed a public
financial report as he entered the race after the second
quarter filing deadline. Alex Belizi, Barr's campaign spokesperson, said the
new filing shows Barr is the only candidate with the resources,
grassroots support, and momentum to put this Senate race away

(43:52):
for Republicans. Barr has been open about his efforts to
introduce himself to more voters across the state. Resented the
Lexington area on Capitol Hill for a dozen years, but
has never held statewide office, and polls have shown he
still trails Cameron in name recognition across the state. Cameron

(44:13):
was Kentucky's Attorney general for four years and was the
Republican nominee for governor in twenty twenty three. The Democratic
field for the twenty twenty six Senate race, meanwhile, has
expanded in recent weeks. While State House Minority Leader Pamela
Stevenson was the only candidate raising money during the second quarter,

(44:33):
the Louisville Democrat reported about one hundred and fifty five
thousand dollars in second quarter fundraising at the end of June,
with nearly fifty thousand dollars in cash on hand. She's
since been joined in the race by Lexington attorney Logan Forsyth,
former House and Senate candidate Amy McGrath, and ex CIA

(44:55):
officer Joel Willett. Third quarter fundraising totals will be made
public by the Federal Election Commission later this month. Next
man dies after a crash on I sixty four by
Leo Bertucci Courier Journal, USA Today. A man is dead
October eleventh after a single vehicle collision on westbound Interstate

(45:19):
sixty four just off Blankenbaker Parkway. Jeffersontown Police Detective Mike
Louder said in a statement. Preliminary findings from an investigation
showed the collision, which was reported around at nine twenty
one p m, occurred when the vehicle left the roadway
and crashed. Louder said. The sole occupant of the vehicle,

(45:43):
a fifty four year old man, was pronounced dead at
the scene. No other information about the man was immediately available.
Jeffersontown police officers continued to investigate the crash. October twelfth,
Louder said. Next Trump US may provide tomahawks to Ukraine.

(46:03):
By Bart Janssen, USA Today. President Donald Trump said he
is considering providing Tomahawk missiles for Ukraine to defend itself
against Russia in its ongoing war of three years, a
move the Kremlin has warned would increase tensions with the West.
Trump said he had a good conversation on October twelfth

(46:26):
with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, who asked for additional weapons.
They need patriots very badly. Trump told reporters aboard Air
Force One, they'd like to have tomahawks. That's a step up.
The latest threat reflects another way Trump is losing patience
with Russia over settling the war, which has seen the

(46:47):
deaths of five thousand to seven thousand troops every week.
Trump has warned that additional sanctions against Russia are possible
and that Ukraine could retake the territory it has lost.
Vice President j d Vance has said Russia should wake
up and accept reality with serious negotiations. Supplying Tomahawk missiles,

(47:10):
which can travel one thousand, five hundred miles, could enable
Ukraine to hit targets deep inside Russian territory, but Russia
has said that if the United States provides Tomahawks to Ukraine,
it would trigger a new round of dangerous escalation between
Russia and the West. Trump said he would first call

(47:32):
Russian President Vladimir Putin to warn him that if the
war didn't end, he might provide the cruise missiles to NATO,
which would pass them along to Ukraine. Trump called tomahawks
a new step of aggression. I might have to speak
to Russia to be honest with you about tomahawks. Trump said,

(47:52):
do they want to have tomahawks going in their direction?
I don't think so. Putin said supplying Ukraine with tomahawks
would disy relations between the United States and Russia. According
to Reuters, Trump said the threat of tomahawks would impress
upon Putin that he wanted the war to end. I
might say, look, if this war is not going to

(48:13):
get settled, I might send them tomahawks. Trump reiterated, I
may say that we may not, but we may do it.
In response, former Russian president Dmitri Medvedev wrote, one can
only hope that this is another empty threat, like sending
nuclear submarines closer to Russia. He was alluding to Trump's

(48:35):
statement in August that he had ordered two nuclear subs
to move closer to Russia in response to what he
called highly provocative comments from Medvedev about the risk of war.
On October thirteenth, Medvedev, an arch hawk who has repeatedly
goaded Trump on social media, said that supplying US Tomahawk

(48:56):
missiles to Ukraine could end badly for everyone, especially Trump.
Zelensky said October twelfth that he saw Russia's concerns as
a reason to press forward. We see and hear that
Russia is afraid that the Americans may give us tomahawks.
That this kind of pressure may work for peace, Zelensky said.

(49:19):
Zelensky also said Ukraine would only use Tomahawk missiles for
military purposes and not attack civilians in Russia should the
US provide them. Editor's note contributing Ruters Next Economists' forecast
stronger US growth, weak job gains, inflation are likely to

(49:43):
mar outlook by Howard Schneider, Ruters Dateline, Washington, Searching. Business
investment is expected to offset weaker growth in consumption and
global trade and keep the US economy growing near trend,
according to a National Association for Business Economic survey, though

(50:05):
slow job growth, higher unemployment, and stickier inflation will mar
the outlook. The Trump administration's new import taxes remain a
drag on the economy's performance. The survey concluded, with more
than sixty percent of the forty economists in the poll

(50:26):
estimating tariffs would knock up to a half a percentage
point from economic growth, with both imports and exports falling
in consumer prices rising as a result of the levies.
None saw tariffs boosting growth, but the latest version of
nape's quarterly survey, released October thirteenth as part of the

(50:47):
group's annual meeting, upgraded the more pessimistic views about the
US outlook offered earlier in the year, when concerns about
the economic blow from tariffs and the risks of a
broader trade war were at their peak. The median projection
was for the economy to grow one point eight percent

(51:08):
in twenty twenty five, around most estimates of underlying potential,
compared with one point three percent projected in the June survey. Inflation,
as measured by the Federal Reserve's Preferred Personnel Consumption Expenditures
price Index, was seen ending the year at three percent,

(51:29):
down slightly from the three point one percent projected as
of June, but it was also seen declining only to
two point five percent in twenty twenty six. Compared with
two point three percent in the June survey, a slower
return toward the Fed's two percent target. The unemployment rate, meanwhile,

(51:51):
was seen rising through next year, though less than feared
in June, to four point five percent versus four point
seven percent in US the previous survey. The Fed is
seen cutting interest rates, though at a slightly slower pace
than anticipated by investors, with only one more rate cut
anticipated this year versus the two quarter point cuts currently

(52:15):
priced into contracts tied to the Central Bank's Betchmark interest rate.
The survey highlighted one of the ongoing puzzles that Fed
officials in particular, are trying to understand GDP growth that
has begun surprising to the upside, while job growth remains tippied.

(52:35):
Economists surveyed by NABE, for example, see job growth averaging
just twenty nine thousand per month for the rest of
this year, with a limited gradual recovery two around seventy
five thousand next year, lower than the ninety seven thousand
forecasts as of June. Business investment, driven by the search

(52:56):
of capital toward computing capacity and artificial intelligence, may explain
part of the disconnect anticipated investment improved sharply. The latest
survey found now expected to grow three point eight percent
this year versus one point six percent as of June,
and continue expanding at a one point seven percent rate

(53:20):
next year versus zero point nine percent anticipated in June.
Housing remains in the doldrums, however, with residential investment now
projected to contract one point six percent this year compared
with the modest zero point five percent growth seen in

(53:40):
the June survey and less than one percent growth seen
next year. Next JCPS plans attendance zone changes. New middle
school is dealing with overcrowding by Krista Johnson Courier Journal,
USA Today Network. In an effort to alleviate overcrowding at

(54:02):
one of Jefferson County's newest schools, leaders are planning to
change the attendance zones for some middle schoolers in East Louisville,
opened in August twenty twenty three, Echo Trail Middle School
enrolled more students this school year than the building technically
has room for. While the school's capacity is one thousand,

(54:23):
forty four students, Jefferson County Public Schools data shows one thousand,
one hundred and eighty eight enrolled at Echo Trail this year.
The issue is expected to get worse if not addressed,
According to district leaders. JCPS projections, which factor in an
area's growth, show Echo Trail will likely enroll close to

(54:46):
one thousand, four hundred students by the twenty twenty seven
twenty eight school year if the school's boundary lines aren't adjusted.
According to JCPS, that would put enrollment at one hundred
and thirty three percent of the building's capacity. Meanwhile, Crosby Middle,
which is located about a fifteen minute drive away, enrolled

(55:08):
fewer than eight hundred students this year, representing just seventy
five percent of its building's capacity. Board members were initially
set to vote on the changes during their next meeting
on October fourteenth, but the vote has been postponed following
a request by board member James Craig, who asked for
the district to hold community listening sessions before a vote

(55:32):
to get meaningful input on the change. He wrote on
social media, if the change is approved, it will go
into effect ahead of the twenty twenty six twenty seven
school year. The suggested change would mean students living in
an area close to the Gene Snyder Freeway will be
zoned to attend Crosby rather than Echo Trail. JCPS leaders

(55:55):
predict this will create a situation in which Echo Trail
will operate at one hundred and six percent of its
optimal capacity, while Crosby will operate at one hundred and
three percent. The change will only impact incoming sixth graders
and students who are new to the area. Current students

(56:17):
owned for Echo Trail that are attending the school will
not be impacted by the change, and every effort will
be made to address siblings that are separated by the
proposed boundary change when possible. The district's original presentation stated,
next visit our Next mobile newsroom at the South Central

(56:39):
Regional Library by Kristin Gentry. Courier Journal, USA Today Network
Okolona has it all shopping industry that includes general electric suppliance,
park and affordable living in a number of subdivisions. Groundbreaking
of another neighborhood offering, Okolona Elementary, began on October ninth.

(57:02):
Despite jcps' financial woes, Courier Journal reporters and editors want
to know what is on the minds of the people
who live, work, and leisure in Okolona. Our mobile Newsroom
is headed your way. We will work from the South
Central Regional Library from ten am to four pm October

(57:22):
twentieth through twenty fourth. We created the mobile newsroom so
we could be more accessible to people in the communities
we cover. We want to learn more about your neighborhood
and hear what issues are important to you and what
you think we ought to be writing about. This year,
the mobile newsroom has visited four different public libraries. We

(57:43):
are grateful for the dozens of people who have stopped
by and talked with us, and for the opportunity to
work from such wonderful libraries. The South Central Regional Library
is our fifth and final stop for this season. We'll
listen to what you have to say and hopefully will
produce stories that shine a light on issues in your

(58:04):
neighborhood and beyond. This concludes readings for the first sections
of the Courier Journal for Tuesday, October fourteenth, two thousand
twenty five. Stay tuned for more news to follow immediately.
Your reader has been Angie memes