10.6.25

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the reading of the Courier Journal for Monday,
August sixth, two thousand, twenty five, which is brought to
our Louisble listeners via Leuible Public Media as a reminder
RADIOI as a reading service intended for people who are
blind or have other disabilities that make it difficult to
read printed material. Your reader for to day is Rick Christman.

(00:24):
We will start with the five day forecast brought to
you by w h A S. To day, the high
will be eighty two, partly sunny and warm. Tonight, a
low of sixty eight, a shower and a thunder storm.
Tuesday a high of seventy four, a shower in a
thunder storm and a low of fifty nine. Wednesday a

(00:46):
high of seventy three, less humid with sunshine and a
low of fifty eight. Thursday a high of seventy two,
nice and plenty of sun with a low of fifty eight.
Friday a high of seventy warm, clouds and sun and
a low of sixty four, and Saturday a high of
seventy two with brilliant sunshine and a low of fifty seven.

(01:12):
For our pollen count grass is moderate, weeds high trees
low and molds moderate. For the Almanac, the record high
of eighty excuse me, of seventy five was set in

(01:35):
nineteen fifty five. The record low, excuse me, The record
high of ninety two, was set in nineteen fifty nine.
The record low of thirty five was set in nineteen
eighty seven. Precipitation in the last twenty four hours through
fourth four o'clock Saturday was zero months today zero, normal

(01:56):
today point five to two inches. Year to date four
twenty three point one inches, and normal today thirty seven
point five nine inches. The full moon will be August
October six, the last moon October thirteen, the new moon
October twenty one, and the first moon October twenty nine.

(02:18):
Ford to expand Louisville plant. Wrecking permits filed near heavy
truck site and this is written by Olivia Evans of
the Louisville Courier Journal. The site of the Ford Kentucky
truck plant on Chamberlaine Lane will soon begin expanding. Just Enoch,

(02:39):
a communications director for Ford, confirmed the expansion in an
October three email to the Courier Journal. Quote this expansion
of the Kentucky truck plant site is another example of
Ford's commitment to American manufacturing. Enoch said it follows our
announcement in August of a two billion dollar investment in

(03:03):
the future of manufacturing at the Louisville Assembly Plant. Property
and building records have signaled Ford's new move. A project
called Ford Expansion appeared in the Louisville Metro Business Portal
on September fifteen, sixteen and seventeen, attached to twenty three

(03:24):
wrecking permits filed for single family residential property addresses along
Collins Lane, North Winchester Acres Road, and Chamberlaine Lane. The
addresses listed in the wrecking permits border the east of
the truck plant, where Ford makes its iconic super duty trucks,

(03:44):
expedition SUVs and luxury Lincoln navigators. The area between Chamberlain Lane,
Collins Lane, and North Winchester Acres Road is the only
land mass bordering the truck plant that is not currently
developed as part of the automaker's facility or the nearby railroads.

(04:04):
At least a dozen of the property addresses with wrecking
permits filed for them were consolidated into a single land
parcel in August by owner nine to five LLLC, a
Cincinnati base company. According to property deed records maintained by
the Jefferson County Clerk's Office, these properties, which run along

(04:25):
north central North Winchester Acres in Collins Lane, were subsequently
sold by nine to five LLLC as a single parcel
to Ford Motor Company on September fifteen for forty one
point three million. Property deeds show it was not immediately
clear whether homes on the parcel remain occupied. According to

(04:49):
records from Jefferson County's Property Valuation Administration, Ford last purchased
property in the county in twenty twenty three. At least
one property address with a wrecking permit thirty three zero
eight Collins Lane is still owned by nine to five LLC,
according to deed records accessed October three by The Courier Journal.

(05:13):
Ford opened the Kentucky Truck plant in nineteen sixty nine.
In nineteen ninety seven, the plant underwent an expansion, and
in twenty sixteen the facility saw the completion of one
point one million square foot expansion. In August, Ford announced
it was pumping a two billion dollar investment into its

(05:36):
smaller Louisville assembly plant off Fern Valley Road, where it
plans to produce future electric vehicles, including an EV truck.
Group urges troops to follow their conscience. VET organization objects
to recent Trump orders and this is written by Michael
Laurier of USA Today Chicago. In the desert, he realized,

(06:01):
humvis don't hold uphold the constitution. People do. Twenty years later,
Iraq War veteran Aaron Hughes continues spreading his realization that
soldiers can better champion American ideals by following their conscience
over orders. This forty two year old is sharing the
message more vociferously than ever as President Donald Trump moves

(06:26):
to deploy troops to cities around the United States and
what he has said is an effort to fight crime
and support immigration enforcement. Quote. When people withdraw themselves from
the gears of the machine, that's power, and service members
need to know they have power to withdraw their consent,
said the Chicago area native. Hughes is an Illinois based

(06:51):
member of about Face Veterans Against the War, an organization
formed to stop quote militarism and endless war that has
been slamming the White House efforts to use soldiers to
police Americans and is urging troops to resist being deployed.

(07:11):
Quote We're trying to rebuild the g I resistance movement,
Hughes said, referring to the sweeping efforts veterans and service
members made to end the Vietnam War. We don't want
our brothers and sisters participating in this authoritarian adventurism. Efforts
to build a new resistance movement came as Trump deploys

(07:34):
troops to Los Angeles, the District of Columbia, and Memphis, Tennessee.
Most recently, troops have been deployed to Portland, Oregon. The
Trump administration has already signaled an unwillingness to allow dissent
in the ranks. At a recent gathering of generals, Secretary
of War Pete Hegseth, formerly known as Secretary of Defense,

(07:58):
lambasted quote decades of the clay decay at the Pentagon
and said new measures would weed out so called woke
influence among the world's most powerful armed forces. If quote,
if the words I'm speaking today are making your heart sink,
then you should do the honorable thing and resign, Hegsith

(08:19):
told hundreds of generals, Hughes and other Chicago area veterans
are just one chapter in about Faith's national efforts to
rally troops to refuse what they view as Trump's unlawful
orders to deploy to deploy to US cities. In Washington,

(08:39):
the group members were arrested protesting the deployment of soldiers
to Los Angeles outside military bases including Fort Bragg and
Camp le June. They've set up billboards questioning if supporting
immigration agents is what soldiers signed up to do, and
as Trump threatened to send groups to Baltimore, members rallied

(09:02):
against the potential development excuse me, deployment. Quote. A lot
of vets out there are feeling really devastated right now
to see everything they have felt they had signed up
to protect. Crumble set about Face organizing director Brittany Ramos Borrows.
But there's still an opportunity for us to stand up

(09:23):
for the values we signed up for, the Barrows said.
The local chapter organizations are staging protests around the country,
trying to spread information about what options troops facing deployment
have and eventually develop more legal avenues for Trump troops
to claim conscientious objection. Quote. I know there are thousands

(09:48):
and thousands of vets out there who would agree with us,
but haven't heard of us, said De Barros, a veteran
of the war in Afghanistan. I want people to know
the doors open and their's a community here that will
have your back. Soldiers do have at least one path
to resisting orders to deploy. Conscientious objection the process refers

(10:11):
to soldiers who won't fight on the basis of moral
or religious grounds, but conscientious objection is a narrowly defined
status that can be difficult to claim because a soldier
might must object to all conflicts in order to qualify,
not just a single deployment. Several experts said, if you

(10:33):
are willing to be part of an armed force but
just don't like this moment, then you don't qualify, said
Steve Wolford, a GI Rights Hotline worker. For those people,
the military considers that a political objection. Wolford, who has
been taking calls at the GI Rights Hotline since before
September eleven attacks, said in recent months he's seen about

(10:58):
a fifty percent uptick in from soldiers interested in conscientious
objection or in exploring options to register orders to deploy
to US cities. There's people asking a lot of different questions.
They weren't asking before because they're seeing themselves in roles
they didn't expect to see themselves in. Wilfrid said, we're

(11:21):
not talking about things in a political way. They're not shirkers.
We're people who are dedicated to serving the country, willing
to risk their lives, and they don't want to feel
like they're doing something wrong. The US military is a
volunteer fighting force, but while in the service, soldiers can't
pick and choose which orders to follow. That could lead

(11:43):
to serious consequences, including years in prison, said Steve Levin,
a University of Maryland Carey School of Law professor. Quote.
In the military, disobating all awful order threatens the entire
chain of command. Levin said this system depends on discipline,
and the military runs on instant obedience for the simple

(12:05):
reason that defiance can cause lives. The only exception, according
to Levin and other legal experts, is for unlawful orders.
Through meeting that standard can be though a meeting that
standard can be exceedingly difficult. Even as Trump's opponents call
deployments illegal quote, under the present deployments, the legality of

(12:30):
the orders is dubious, but historically it is not within
the keen of any individual service members to make a decision,
said John W. Hall, a professor of military history at
the University of Wisconsin Madison. A lack of legal options
hasn't stopped U S soldiers from resisting orders in the

(12:52):
pastuote the US has had a democratic tradition when it
comes to military service, where though you pay a price
for descent, when that occurs, it's a warning to the
political leadership that even the troops who are ordered to
do things will speak out, said David Kortwright, a professor
at the Notebur Dame Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies.

(13:18):
Courtwright participated in the kind of resistance himself after being
drafted to serve in Vietnam. Stationed in New York, he
participated in protests in Manhattan, where he was an off
duty and signed a petition against the war. His efforts
to resist him got him reassigned to a base in Texas,

(13:38):
where all we did was clean the barracks floor continuously
for months. Courtwright said, if you join in protest, you
have to know or expect you could face punishment. He said,
the thinking soldier is a real thing. Thank goodness for
our society were not just robuts unforgettable legacy. Story of

(14:00):
the miracle Kentucky colt with ties to the Beatles rise
to fame and this is written by Stephanie Kudzium of
the Louisville Courier Journal. This is a story of how
a Kentucky born colt helped launch the career of one
of the most iconic rock and roll bands of all time,
as well as an award winning bourbon that follows in

(14:22):
the hoof prints of its namesake from Beryl to bottle
to understand the almost unbelievable connections the American Whiskey trans
America journey and one of the greatest horse rading stories
barely told outside the industry insiders. Pat Madden thinks you
should have a seat top Brittan. He is sitting on

(14:48):
a blue and gold settee next to one of his
business partners on the second floor of a nondescript Lexington
office building on what used to be part of an
eighteen hundred acres of horse farm. The Kentucky developer now
raises buildings where his family once raised horses. This is
the great son of John E. Madden, who sold a

(15:10):
hard working horse called Hamburg in eighteen ninety eight for
the then record forty thousand and one dollars. John Madden
took that money and bought a field of bluegrass near
downtown Lexington, naming it Hamburg Place after the horse who
made it possible. Pat Madden is also the son of Preston,

(15:32):
a horse breeder, and Anita, a socialite who earned fame
for her extravagant Kentucky Derby parties from the fifties to
the nineties in Lexington at the family farm. Every step
he takes in the city, Pat Madden is surrounded by
his family's history, but especially in this office. On the

(15:53):
wall behind him are framed portraits of horses trained, owned,
or bred by his great grandfather, of which went to
win the Kentucky Derby Old Rosebud in nineteen fourteen, Sir
Barton nineteen nineteen, Paul Jones nineteen twenty, Zev nineteen twenty three,
and Flying Ebony nineteen twenty five. To his left hangs

(16:17):
a painting of a nineteen eighty seven Kentucky Derby finished
by Alishiba, the sixth Derby winner. Fold at Hamburg Place,
then under Preston Madden's watchful Eye long after John Madden's
death in nineteen twenty nine. But there's one horse missing
from the wall. An underdog fold in nineteen fifty one

(16:40):
on the Madden's land where it was leased to celebrated
horsemen John A. Bell, called Joanna Farm, called Jonah Bell Farm.
For decades that lore was missing from horse racing history.
The horse was never Say Die. A mash bill for
the state of Kentucky would like consists of at least

(17:01):
fifty one percent bourbon enjoyed while watching horse racing and
aged in the Commonwealth's into history. But a bourbon named
after a race horse woven with influence in the world.
That may just be the most Kentucky thing in history. Quote,
there's been no other horse in the world that's done
more to change history than never Say Die, Madden said

(17:25):
from atop the settee. But to understand why, we'll have
to go back to March twenty sixth, nineteen fifty one.
It's a stormy night, Madden says, recounting the tale. John
Bell and his wife attended a dinner at the University
of Kentucky. In returning home, the barn workers said, Boss,
we've had a foal. He's having troubled breathing. He won't

(17:46):
stand up. We don't think he's going to make it
through the night, Madden said. John Bell goes to buy
the tack room and sees a bottle of bourbon left
as a gift by the feed man. He grabs a bourbon,
walks into the store. The horse is lying there struggling
to breathe. He continues, horses are supposed to stand up
relatively quickly, so the fact that he couldn't stand up

(18:09):
was a big sign that something was wrong. John walks up,
takes the horse's head force, feeds a big shot down
the throat. He steps back, and within thirty seconds the
horse makes a big noise and jumps up, clears his throat.
He is relieved by a shot of bourbon, so the
legend goes, it was in fact a move horseman used

(18:32):
in the nineteen fifties to try to shock a horse's system.
Because the barn workers weren't sure the colt would make
it through the night, they named him Never Say Die.
He lived fast. Forward three years. It's June two, a cold,
damp day in surly, England. A quarter million people are
there to witness the one hundred and seventy fifth running

(18:54):
of the Epsom Derby, the race after which the Kentucky
Derby was modeled, which was by far the biggest race
in the world at the time. Madden says, his tale
not yet finished. Queen Elizabeth rests in peace. It's her
first Derby as the Queen. She's got two races favorites.

(19:14):
In the race, she's escorted by Winston Churchill, but slet's
pause on all that for a second, because over in Liverpool, England,
there was a woman and times are hard in Liverpool
in nineteen fifty four. Madden says she's struggling. She sees
the name Never Say Die, and she says, even though
my life is hard right now, that name embodies what

(19:37):
I want my people to adopt as a theme. I
want you to never give up hope. Not only are
we going to adopt this, but this horse is going
to win. The woman mona best pause her family hairloom
Jewelry to bet on an Kentucky born chestnut pawns her
family Harelum Jewey to bet On a Kentucky horse born

(20:01):
chestnut with a thirty three to one odds and written
by an eighteen year old jockey named Lester Piggott. Best
Bet pays off Never Say Die wins the race by
two lengths. He's the first American bread to do so
in the modern era. Madden says, huge deal in the
horse business. Lester Piggott would go on to become one

(20:25):
of the greatest jockeys of all time, winning the Epsom
Derby eight more times and mona Best. She calls her
son Pete and said, now we can build the place
where you and your friends can start playing. Madden recounts
his friends were Paul McCartney and John Lennon. Madden pauses,
a glowing smile crossing his face. He cannot get enough

(20:48):
of telling this story. At eight Hayman's Green and Liverpool,
the Bests built the world's famous Calabash Coffee Club, the
spring board for the Beatles, where they play before taking
off to tour in Hamburg, Germany. Pete Best is eventually
replaced by some guy named Ringo. There's been no other

(21:11):
horse in the world that's done more to change history,
Madden said. There are other horse heroes, but no other
horse has ever changed the course of history like Never
Say Die. This is where Brian Luffman, Madden's bourbon business partner,
picks up the story. It's Kentucky Derby Day in twenty fifteen,

(21:32):
the American pharaoh wins a couple of mint julips in Madden,
who studied for a year in Cambridge University, tells the
Never Say Die Beatles story to his English college roommate
David Wilde. Wild loves it. They call him Luffman, an
entertainer in the bourbon world, and I'm in hooked line

(21:54):
and Sinker. Luffman says, we thought about maybe even building
a distillery over England to try to pay homage to
the fact that the horse rose to greatness there. But
the horse was born in Kentucky, so the whiskey had
to be born in Kentucky too, and homage to the horse,
they named the bourbon brand Never Say Die. Luffman reached

(22:18):
out to Shane Baker and Pat Heist, owners of Wilderness
Trail Distillery and Danville, to create a custom recipe aged
barrels with number four char Luffman said, we use a
sweet mash process that made a custom recipe with all
these heirloom brains, and when we store it, this perfect

(22:39):
climate here in Kentucky. The bourbon is distilled in Age
for six years in the Commonwealth, but where its bottle
sets it apart, it changes the way our whiskey is
compared to everything else in the world. Luffman said. It
goes over to England and the barrel sloshes around at sea,
and it takes about three months of a journey. The

(23:00):
state's famed brown water ends up in Derbyshire, a small
town on the North Peak district of England, where it
stays at White Peak Distillery another year before being bottled.
So appropriately it follows the horse's journey. Born and bred
in Kentucky, Luffman said, then, just like the horse, it
finishes in England. That voyage makes Never Say Die, the

(23:25):
only bourbon in the world not bottled in America. Luffman, Madden,
and five co founders, including Wild Wild Baker, Heist, Martha Dalton,
and fran O'Leary, intended to launch the bourbon on Black
Friday in nineteen In twenty twenty three, in just fifty

(23:48):
retail locations stateside. Twelve days after it launched, Forbes magazine
noticed the Global Spirit Masters, a category specific blind tasting
competition by some of the best palates in the industry
had given only one medal to the bourbon that year.
Never Say Die so Forms deemed it to be deemed

(24:09):
it to be the world's best bourbon. The co founders
had no idea the story was coming. We're like, Holy moly,
Luffman said. Our distributor called me that Monday morning and
it was like, hey, can we launch this early? Everyone
is calling us about it. The whiskey sold out immediately.

(24:31):
They couldn't restock it for more than six weeks. Now
the bourbon is distributed in twelve states and available for
sale in most others. It won double gold medals in
at the twenty twenty four and twenty twenty five San
Francisco World Spirits Competition. Never Say Die Bourbon, although it's

(24:51):
almost never made, was almost never made because this story
was almost lost to time. You can think Joe Brown
Nicholson for skipping church one Sunday. He was instead on
his way to his office in Lexington, where he heard
Pete Best being interviewed on NPR. Best mentioned, almost as

(25:13):
a throwaway line, how his mom got the money to
start to live up Pool Music Club from a big
bet on American bred Colt with a name that became
a mantra. The story struck a chord with Nicholson. His
father in law has none other than John Bell, the
one who gave the shot of bourbon to Never Say Die.
Back in nineteen fifty one, Nicholson told his son about

(25:36):
Best's interview. Then his son, James C. Nicholson, a history
professor at Bluegrass Technical and Community College, immortalized a long
shots ride and a well placed BET's impact on history
in the book Never Say Die. The foreword is written
by Pete Best. Madden drives down Sir Barton Way toward

(25:57):
the gates of his old family farm. He is on
call with Joe Brown Nicholson, who begins to cry over
the s u v S speaker as he recounts hearing
the n p R interview. For years, Madden worked to
get Pete Best to visit from the Hayman's Green in
Liverpool to Barn eight in Lexington. And it was all

(26:19):
because of a horse fold at Hamburg Place, winning a
race that influenced a rock band to change history, beginning
with their first tour in Hamburg, Germany. There wasn't a
dry eye in the barn that day. Nicholson remembers without
Never Say Die, there is no Beatles Madden says, without
Joe Brown of Nicholson, Never Say Die's story would have

(26:40):
been lost. Never Say Die's line up of spirits now
includes a small batched Bourbon, a rye, and barrel Strength whiskey,
the latter of which is only available in England. The
Bourbon is already involved in horse racing, sponsoring stakes race
in Kentucky Downs, the only European style turf course in

(27:01):
North America. The Never Say Die Bourbon Ladies Turf Sprint
is for phillies and mares three years old and up.
The six and a half furlong purse is two million
for Kentucky bred horses a majority in the field, and
one million for all others. That makes it America's richest
turf sprint for female horses. The leaves are starting to

(27:26):
fall off trees as the Bourbon co founders pull up
to Hamburg Place. From the back of his truck, Luffman
grabs a bottle of Never Say Dye. Its red, gray
and black label were designed after Lester Piggott's silks in
the nineteen fifty four epsom Derby standing outside the barn

(27:46):
where the horse was folled of nearly seventy four years ago.
Luffman can hardly believe what he's seeing. He lifts the
half empty bottle, holding it up to the light, and
peers through the glass toward the old building. He thought
the whiskey had been lost to demolition years ago. But
there barred eight stands, weathered blackboards, fading to the gray,

(28:07):
and trimmed in red, the living echo of the label,
which itself echoes the silks. It's a tapestry woven to
its final poor right back in Kentucky. A shot of
bourbon that saved a horse held who led a bold
belt that built a band that's honored by all small
batch bourbon Stephanie. This concludes readings for the first section

(28:33):
of the Courier Journal for Monday, October sixth, nineteen twenty five.
Stay tuned for more news to follow immediately. Your reader
has been Rick Christman. Now to continue reading from the
Courier Journal for Monday, October six, twenty twenty five, Your
reader is Rick Chrisman. Though we normally begin with the obituaries,

(28:56):
there are no obituaries found in today's paper. From the
Metro section CRUSE reconfigure Main Street. Traffic patterns changed for
months long project, and this is written by Leo Burttuski Tucci,

(29:18):
Louisville's Courier Journal USA Today Network traffic changes to Louisville's
Main Street are already underway as crews continue to reconfigure
the roadway through the spring of twenty twenty six. CREWSE
recently repaved and converted a section of Main Street between

(29:39):
tenth and twenty second Streets into two way traffic. Kentucky
Transportation spokesperson Morgan Woodrum said in an October one news
release the roadway will have two way connectivity from twenty
second Street to Wenso Street east of downtown, a key

(30:00):
opponent of the main remake plan officials have touted since
twenty twenty four. The roadwork downtown also impacts commuters crossing
the George Rogers Clark Memorial Bridge from Jeffersonville, Indiana. Drivers
turning right onto Main Street have long had two lanes

(30:20):
to turn from, but those lanes were removed and replaced
by a single right turn on October two to erase
pedestrian travel. To ease pedestrian travel at the intersection of
Maine and second Streets. Woodrum said tourists and pedestrians should
adhere to the new traffic pattern and use caution when

(30:41):
traveling through the area. Woodrum said signage will be placed
in the area to notify road users of the upcoming changes.
Here's what else to know about the Main Remade Main
Remade project while work continues. What is the Main Remake?
Maine Remade is essentially a remaking of Main Street in

(31:07):
downtown Louisville, which is home to office towers, restaurants, the
KFC Yum Center, and the bourbon bars and distilleries making
up Whiskey Row. The project is split three phases, Eastern
Winzol to second Streets, Central second to tenth Streets, and
Western tenth to twenty second Streets. Ongoing lane closures in

(31:31):
those areas come while crews work on two way conversions,
update traffic signals, build a protected bike lane, and revised
pedestrian crossings. Woodrum said new signals, crossroads, and bike infrastructure
could be completed by twenty twenty six. What are Louisville
and Kentucky leaders trying to achieve with all the road work?

(31:55):
Downtown officials with KYTC and Louisville Metro public works are
remaking the major corridors of Louisville's longtime networks of one
way streets. Government leaders and local experts on transit agree
that one way streets, which were intended to make travel
faster for commuters heading in and out of downtown, present

(32:18):
safety concerns. The two way streets tend to incentivize drivers
to slow down, and accidents occur occur less frequently on them.
A Louisville based study concluded improving walkability on Main Street
and elsewhere downtown is another broad goal promoted by city leaders.
Renowned urban planner Jeff Speck is a consultant for the

(32:42):
Louisville Metro funded Downtown and Full Assembly Plant, where it
produces its Marquee Super duty trucks. Ford Exposition, Escape, Lincoln Navigator,
and corsair Ford had a challenging first half of twenty
twenty five, with eighty six vehicle recalls with the National

(33:05):
Highway Safety Traffic Safety Administration, according to NHTSA data, which
now surpasses the record set by General Motors of seventy
seven recalls for all of twenty fourteen. The Detroit Free
Press previously reported in April Ford launched the all new

(33:26):
twenty twenty five Ford Expedition from the Kentucky Truck Plant.
Then in April, Ford was back. Then in August, Ford
was back in Louisville, announcing a two billion dollar investment
bringing a new electric vehicle assembly platform to LAP and
teased a future EV truck the plant will make. Here's

(33:50):
what we know about the newest Ford recalls hitting vehicles
manufactured in Kentucky. Is a vehicle models impacted certain twenty
twenty four expedition and leak link in Navigator vehicles. Numbers
of vehicles potentially affected four thousand, six hundred and thirty

(34:12):
two vehicles, including in its recall may be an increased
risk for fire, which could result in injuries. The fire
risk comes from a short circuit in the battery junction box,
which can cause an engine fire when the vehicle is
parked or in drive. Vehicle owners are advised to park
the vehicle outside and away from any structures and any

(34:36):
other vehicles until the recall is fixed. To remedy this recall,
dealers will inspect and replace the battery junction box as necessary.
Repairs will be performed for free. Owner notification letters were
mailed September twenty five. Loss of steering control from steering

(34:56):
column detachment. Vehicle models impacted certain twenty twenty to twenty
twenty one, F two fifties, F three fifties, and F
four to fifty vehicles. Number of vehicles potentially affected one
hundred and fifteen thousand, five hundred and thirty nine Vehicles
included in this recall may loose steering control, which can

(35:19):
lead to an increased risk of crashing. The steering column
upper shaft may detach, which can result in lost control.
To remedy this recall, dealers must inspect the steering columns
in repair or replace its upper shaft free of charge.
Notification letters are expected to be mailed to vehicles owners
on October six, and an additional letter will be mailed

(35:42):
once the final remedy is available. A final remedy is
expected to be available by December. What can I do
if my Ford vehicle has a recall? Vehicle owners impacted
by the recent Ford recalls should expect to receive commit
communications from the automaker directing next steps. If owners need

(36:05):
extra support navigating the recall process, you can contact the
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at one
eight eight eight three two seven four two three six,
or visit NHTSA dot gov. Additionally, owners may contact Ford

(36:30):
Customer service at one eight sixty six four three six
seven three three two. Crawford in charge. New director hopes
to improve gun violence program and This is written by
Monroe Trumbley of the Louisville Courier Journal. Josh Crawford is

(36:55):
well versed in the fight against gun violence. A former prosecutor,
Crawford has dedicated years of studying the impact of violent
crime on communities through think tank research, podcast appearances, and
his role as a board member of a Lewisville based
anti violence nonprofit. The thirty five year old has been

(37:17):
a consistent advocate for focused deterrent strategies programs that direct
resources toward a small number of individuals believe to be
responsible for a disproportionate amount of violence. Still, measuring the
direct impact of these programs has proved difficult. To address
that challenge, Crawford, recently named director was recently named director

(37:41):
to the city's Group Violence Intervention program is working to
strengthen the program's data collection efforts. His goal is to
better assess its effectiveness, understand who benefits most, and identify
ways to improve it. The big thing for us will
always be driving down of shootings and homicides. That's the

(38:06):
ultimate metric for the work that we do, Crawford said
in a recent morning at the program's offices inside the
NEA Center at West Broadway. Crawford took over the role
from Michael begone Began, who led the program for two
years before becoming director of Louisville's Metro's Police Activities League.

(38:26):
In a news release, Mayor Craig Greenberg said Crawfer's appointment
reflects the city's ongoing commitment to holistically addressing the root
causes of violence and providing alternatives out of harm early
setbacks in hurles. Group violence intervention, often abbreviated gv I,

(38:49):
is a crime reduction strategy developed in the nineteen nineties
by criminologist David Kennedy. It aims to reduce gun violence
by focusing directly on them and the small number of
people at the highest risk of shooting or being shot.
The model has been adopted in dozens of cities across
the United States. Louisville implemented the strategy in twenty twenty

(39:12):
under then Mayor Greg Fischer. But the program's early years
were not without complications. It faced early criticism for a
slow rollout, which Crawford, then serving as the programs on
the program's Governor's Committee, particularly attributed to disruptions caused by
COVID nineteen pandemic. Later, the program encountered a major obstacle

(39:35):
when the Kentucky Department of Corrections, interpreting a state Supreme
Court ruling, determined that only people on probation or parole
who had been convicted of a gain related crime could
be mandated to attend GVII meetings. As a result, fewer
adults and expected attended the program's key intervention events, known

(39:57):
as call ins. During these meetings, the family member of
a shooting victim would often delivers a personal plea from
the violence to stop. At the same time, attendees are
offered social services, including job training, mental health therapy, and
in some cases, relocation assistance. Law enforcement also delivers a

(40:18):
clear message if the violence continues, prosecution will follow. We
don't want to do that. That's not the preferred mechanism,
if you will, Crawford said, but it is the proverbial
stick and carrot approach. Crawford says he believes House Bill five,
also known as the Safer Kentucky Act, which became law

(40:39):
in July twenty twenty four after lawmakers overrode Governor Andybasheer's
veto helped clarify confusion over who could be required to
attend a call in as conditions of their release. Still,
he added, the real test will come when the city
hosts its first call in under his leader. According to

(41:02):
Greenberg's news release, Crawford's appointment is part of a broader
reorganization of the program's leadership. While Crawford will focus on
coordinating strategy, particularly with Just Justice Symptom System Partners, a
new deputy director, Shane Simmons, will lead engagement efforts with
other government agencies, community organization, and residence. Simmons will mark

(41:27):
two years with the office in November, which received just
under five hundred and fifty thousand dollars the current fiscal year.
In addition to Collins, GVII conducts a custom notifications targeting
outreach efforts aimed at people or small groups identified as
high risk. Since twenty twenty one, Louisville officials have issued

(41:51):
seven hundred and three custom notifications, including sixty five as
of this year. Fourteen call ins have been through September one,
with a total of one hundred and twenty two attendees.
None have taken place in twenty twenty five. Crawford said
he is unsure why no callings have been held this year.

(42:12):
He noted that many past participants were juveniles due to
the Department of Corrections previous interpretation of state law. Strong
community ties benefit Despite its hurtles, Crawford said Louisville's GVII
program stands out from others because of its strong partnerships
with community organizations. He pointed to a group groups like

(42:36):
Goodwill and Joshua Community Connections, a local nonprofit led by
Kimberly Moore, which focuses on reducing barriers to mental health,
counseling and employment for teenagers. I think there's been a
deep commitment in principle from a lot of our partners,
and there hasn't necessarily been then the strategy to say

(42:58):
we're going to go, We're going to do go in
this direction, this is how we're going to do this,
Crawford said, quote and my hope is that with the
bifurcation of the roles, and myself in this role, we
can be more effective in some of those ways. Between
twenty twenty and twenty twenty four, Louisville recorded seven hundred

(43:19):
and eighty seven homicides and two thousand, four hundred and
fifty non fatal shooting victims, according to the city's public
gun Violence Dashboard. As of September seventeen, a six people
have been killed and two hundred and seventy nine wounded
this year, declines of about twenty percent and thirty percent, respectively,

(43:41):
from the same period in twenty twenty four. Despite its hurdles,
Crawford said Louisville's a GBI program stands out from others
because of its strong partnerships with community organizations. He pointed
to groups like Goodwill and Joshua Community Connections, a local
nonprofit led by Kimberly Moore, which focuses on reducing barriers

(44:04):
to mental health, housing, and employment for teenagers. Louisville's GVII program,
he said, uses a regular review process to verify intelligence
about gang involvement, which is not illegal on its own,
to ensure the right people are being identified for outreach

(44:24):
and intervention. The other component of that, of course, is
individuals who desist from gang behavior, who either make us
up once services or who take us up on services
age out somehow choose to leave the lifestyle behind, are
sort of removed from our radar, Crawford said. The Commonwealth

(44:46):
also works closely with the Jefferson County Commonwealth's Office. In
the Kentucky Attorney General's Office. In late twenty twenty four,
Attorney General Russell Coleman created the Violent Crime Reduction Team
to focus on Louisville. So far, the unit has secured
ten convictions, half of which were for possession of a

(45:06):
handgun by a convicted felon. In a statement, Coleman said
Crawford brings quote the needed sense of urgency to tackling
violent crime in Louisville and has praised his refusal to
accept the status quo. Though the Attorney General's Violent Crime
Reduction Team and other partnerships were going to continue zealously

(45:29):
collaborating with everyone who is willing to tackle this problem
and protect families in our Commonwealth's largest city, Coleman added,
not everyone is on board. Crawford said he is ready
to hit the ground running in his new role, but
not all city leaders are convinced he is the right
choice for the program. In a statement, council member Tammy Hawkins,

(45:53):
who represents District one covering the Chickasaw, Rubbertown and Lake
Daydream Neighborhoo Woods and serves as vice chair of metro's
Councils on Public Safety Committee, voice concerned about Crawford's appointment.
She said Louisville needs programmed directors who reflect and understand
the lived realities of those most impacted, not just people

(46:17):
with polished resumes or policy backgrounds. The recent appointment of
Josh Crawford raises concerns because it continues a pattern of
valuing credentials over community connection, Hawkins said, Without culturally rooted
leaders at the table, our violence intervention efforts risk mixed

(46:37):
missing the mark. Crawford most recently worked as the Director
of Criminal Justice Initiatives at the Georgia Center for Opportunity
as the executive director of the Pegasus Institute, both right
leaning think tanks. The latter closed in twenty twenty two.
Before that, Crawford worked as a prosecutor in San Francisco

(46:59):
after graduating from Suffolk University Law school. He declined to
comment on Hawkins's remarks, but referred the Courier Journal to
Christopher two X, founder of the anti violence nonprofit two
Ex Game Changers, where Crawford has served on the board
since twenty eighteen. In an interview, two X praised Crawford's

(47:21):
attention to data and said he had a long standing
commitment to helping families impacted by gun violence. A Louisville
resident since twenty sixteen, Crawford worked for years quietly supported families,
particularly mothers whose children had been hurt or lost to violence,
by purchasing holiday gifts and other essentials. To X said,

(47:44):
we never asked him to do stuff like that. Two
X said he always wanted to do that. He would
always ask, could you guys put me in contact with
a couple more families so myself and my family can
help them out for the holidays. Dan sam Siam, who
chairs Metro County's Public Safety Committee and whose district includes
Fairdale and parts of Auburndale, said in a statement that

(48:07):
he looks forward to sitting down with Crawford. He also
said he hopes Crawford will provide committee members with a
better understanding on how he intends to improve a department
that has left many members questioning its effectiveness. We have
such hope that Crawford has the background and knowledge to
make a difference, Sims added, but know that he faces

(48:29):
many challenges in achieving our shared goals. Two people dead,
twelve injured in mass shooting events. This is written by
Brad Harper and Christopher can. At least twelve people were
injured and two were dead after a weekend shooting in
downtown Montgomery, Alabama. Police confirmed the gunfire erupted around eleven

(48:53):
thirty pm local time on October fourth, in what Montgomery
Police Chief James Boys described as a mass shooting event.
He told a local news outlet that multiple gunmen fired
at each other in the middle of a large crowd
in the city's tourism district. L p D Lieutenant Tina

(49:16):
McGriff said an adult woman was killed and at least
two miners were wounded, one of them suffered life threatening injuries.
In total, three victims remain in life threatening condition and
nine sustained non life threatening industries. Mcgigriff said police do
not provide identities of those who were shot. Detectives are

(49:40):
actively pursuing leads in reviewing evidence, including witness statements and
surveillance footage. McGriff said, we are urging anyone with information
related to this incident to come forward. Even the smallest
detail could be critical to helping investigators identify those responsible.

(50:00):
Grab Boys said, State and federal law enforcement agencies are
working with the MPD on the case. This was two
parties involved and were basically shooting at each other in
the middle of a crowd. Gray Boys to a local
outlet w SFA. People who opened fire on each other

(50:21):
like that did not care about people around them. They
just did it. The shooting happened on a busy night
in part of the city that attracts many tourists, shortly
after a football game between Tuskegee University and Moorhouse College.
The city debuted a ferris wheel and other downtown attractions
in conjunction with the game. Montgomery Mayor Stephen Reid said

(50:46):
those involved involved opened fire in a crowd while police
were patrolling, quote within fifty feet of both sides of
the scene. Were praying for the victims of this atrocity,
were praying for their families, their friends, ends were praying
for our city retold w SFA, thousands of people have

(51:06):
been in the city this weekend and it only took
two one or two to change the entire outcome. Cities
see tensions flare over federal enforcement and this is written
by Swapana Ramaswami and Christopher Khan. Federal tensions flared in

(51:28):
two cities over the weekend as a Trump employted judge
blocked the National Guard's deployment to Portland, Oregon, halting efforts
to reinforce immigration enforcement there. In Chicago, border controlled agent
shot a woman accused of ramming her car into vehicles
belonging to Immigration and Custom Enforcement agents. In Chicago, the

(51:52):
confrontation turned violent when Border patrol agents shot Merimar Martinez,
a u so A citizen accused of ramming vehicles into
those used by ICE agents during an October four protest.
Authoritius said Martinez was armed with a semi automatic weapon
and drove himself to the hospital after being shot. She

(52:16):
was later discharged and taken into custody by the FBI.
Tricia McLoughlin, Assistant Homeland Security Secretary, said in a statement
the woman was named in an intelligence bulletin late last
week for allegedly doxing agents. Another person accused of ramming

(52:37):
into ice vehicles, Anthony I Am Santos Ruiz, has been
taken into custody in Chicago. The incident broke out in Broadview,
a suburb west of the city that has become a
flashpoint for protests against heightened immigration enforcement. Several protests were

(52:57):
Protesters were arrested over the weekend, and multiple Border Patrol
agents were sent to the hospital after clashes outside the
Broadview Ice facility. According to DHS, after DHS agents fired
at Martinez, Homeland Security Secretary Christy nome fowed to send

(53:18):
enforced reinforcements and special operations to the scene. Chicago has
seen large scale raids involving helicopters massed agents since last month,
when the Trump administration ordered an immigration crackdown known as
Operation Midway Blitz. Over eight hundred have been arrested, according
to federal tallies. On October fourth, Illinois Governor J. B. Pritzler.

(53:44):
Pritzker warned against President Donald Trump's plans to federalize three
hundred workers members of the Illinois National Guard. Quote Trump's
administration Department of War gave me an ultimatum call up
the troops or we will. Pritzker wrote on x it's
absolutely outrageous and Unamerican to demand a governor send military

(54:07):
troops within its own borders and against our will. Portland
deployment blocked. A Trump appointed federal judge over the weekend
temporary blocked the Trump's administration from deploying two hundred Oregon
National Guard troops to Portland, lacking citing lack of evidence
that recent protests have escalated into rebellion or seriously disrupted

(54:31):
law enforcement. US District Judge Karen Immcgirt issued the ruling
in response to an October four lawsuit, pausing the deployment
of at least deployment and at least until October eighteen.
According to repots reports from rut Reuters and CNN, the

(54:53):
president's determination was simply untethered to the facts, Immagut wrote.
The White House said it would democratic. Oregon Attorney General
Dan Raphaeld's office filed the lawsuit September twenty eight, a
day after Trump said he would send troops to Portland.
Lawyers from the Oregon Attorney General's office had told federal

(55:15):
officials that the Portland protests were small and sedate, resulting
in only twenty five arrests in mid June and no
arrests in the three and a half months since June.
Citizen twice detained by ICE files lawsuit Alabama man pulled
from work site each time. An Alabama man isssuing the

(55:39):
Trump administration after immigration agents arrested him twice in three
weeks despite having a valid real ID and U S citizenship.
The new law new lawsuit alleges that massed immigration agents
are targeting people based on their race, ethnicity, or occupation
and terrorizing U. S citizens who fit a certain profile.

(56:04):
Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Trishia McLoughlin said in
an email statement to USA Today that allegations at DSH
law enforcement officers engage in racial profiling are disgusting, reckless,
and categorically false. This concludes excerpts from The Courier Journal

(56:27):
for Monday, October six, twenty twenty five. Your reader has
been Rick Christman