hits home as a soldier from Kentucky is killed.

President Trump visits Northern Kentucky as he calls for the defeat of Republican Congressman Thomas Massie.

The Kentucky legislature considers the state budget amid some push backs on proposed cuts.

Murray State University gets approval for the state's only veterinary medical school.

On a windy March weekend.

Comment is next on KET.

Good evening.

I'm Bill Bryant and we welcome you to comment on Kentucky.

A look back at and some analysis of the week's news in the Commonwealth and the guests on our panel of working Kentucky journalists tonight are Ella Alex Acquisto, politics and health reporter for the Lexington Herald-Leader.

McKenna Horsley politics reporter for the Kentucky Lantern.

And joining us remotely is Todd Faulkner, anchor for PTSD local six in Paducah also covers a lot of politics out there.

Also tonight, Governor Beshear returns from a trip to New Hampshire.

Well, let's begin with the tragic news that a Kentuckian was killed in the conflict with Iran.

26 year old Sergeant Benjamin Pennington of Glendale and Hardin County died after an attack on the base where he was assigned in Saudi Arabia.

He was described as a dedicated soldier who had earned two good conduct medals and other recognitions.

Governor Beshear said Sergeant Pennington is a hero who sacrificed everything serving our country.

Alex, the death of Sergeant Pennington literally brings this conflict to our doorstep.

>> And I think typically with no conflicts or any sort of War, particularly in the Middle East, it can seem nameless and faceless.

And we're early in this one, too.

He was from a small town in Hardin County.

He joined right after high school in 2017, and a lot of people in town know him.

He was injured, put in critical condition, and he died before he could be transported.

So it's it's definitely a highly personal thing, particularly when we're talking about people so young.

And I think it's very safe to say his community is shaken and so is the rest of Kentucky.

Seeing somebody from our home state killed.

>> Yeah.

A small town tragedy as well.

>> In a small town tragedy.

>> Todd.

That tragic death is obviously the most painful loss for Kentucky so far.

But there are other reminders that this military action on the other side of the globe is hitting home, including higher gasoline prices.

>> That's right.

Oil prices are rising more than $100 a barrel.

And that's despite the strategic release of 400 million barrels and Iran threatening to target the Strait of Hormuz, where those oil vessels go through.

But that's all translating to higher gas prices here nationwide, triple A just putting out the number today.

The national average for a gallon of regular is $3.63.

In West Kentucky, we're seeing a range from anywhere from 3.39 for regular gallon to 304307.

>> You know, as Alex was saying, it's hit all of us, certainly that there's a Kentuckian lost in this already.

Is it fair to say that many in Western Kentucky, though, are no strangers to dealing with war and casualties because of so many soldiers are attached to Fort Campbell?

>> That's right.

In western Kentucky and across the Commonwealth, 25,000 to 30,000 people call Fort Campbell home.

They're assigned there.

So those are 25 to 30,000 families that are affected.

And when it is a Kentuckian in, it's a tragedy in the way that it happened.

A lot of people feel that pain.

>> Yeah.

And I know we all do.

President Trump was in Northern Kentucky at midweek.

He also went across the river into Cincinnati.

But on the Kentucky side, he made the case for Republicans to replace Congressman Thomas Massie.

And he also took a sideswipe at Senator Rand Paul.

>> And now Massie.

He's the worst.

And I don't say that I never hit a guy like this.

The guy I suppose he just we call him Rand Paul Junior.

He votes against everything.

But at least I like Rand a little bit.

Can't love a guy that votes.

I got him elected twice.

If I didn't endorse him, he was not going to get elected.

Do you remember that?

I came and I did a little rally and ran votes against us all the time, too.

But at least he's okay.

>> Alex, the president is putting it on the line for editor Gallrein against Thomas Massie in that GOP primary.

>> He is.

I mean, it takes a lot for him to physically fly to Kentucky for this event, which was equal parts him endorsing this new candidate and equal parts him making it known yet again that he wants Thomas Massie out of Congress.

He called him disloyal to the Republican Party, disloyal to the people of Kentucky, disloyal to the United States.

And this, of course, is, you know, a long line of public friction between the two of them.

Congressman Thomas Massie recently criticized Trump for invading Iran without the approval of Congress.

And Trump wants him gone.

And so he's putting in face time to try and make that happen.

>> CBS news reported that conservative groups have spent about $5 million in the primary race against Massie.

Anybody who lives in that district knows the ads they're seeing.

Massie claims that he raised nearly $50,000 for his own campaign on the day the president was in his district.

>> Right.

And I think he's put out some posts on X that actually say that number is increasing as well as things come in.

But, you know, Massie's response to this rally.

When asked for comment, they referred to another post on X that the congressman sent, saying that they use people from outside the district to fill a small venue.

Woke, Eddie's voice cracked as he struggled to read from the teleprompter, and nobody fell for the sad attempt to breathe life into his stale campaign.

You know, that's quite a personal attack.

We've heard some personal attacks there in that clip from the president.

You know, I think that's kind of a sign of what's to come as pressure increases on this congressional primary.

We're about two months out until May 19th.

Absentee ballots will even start going out in mid-April.

So votes will be cast soon in this election.

And both candidates.

>> I know you covered that rally and Frankfort leaders did not alter the legislative schedule.

So most lawmakers remained in Frankfurt.

But you were a little surprised by who was and wasn't there.

>> Right.

It was definitely interesting to see who made the drive from Frankfurt to the to the place in northern Kentucky.

It's about an hour and a half drive, but some lawmakers did make the drive.

You know, I think one person that got a lot of attention for his appearance there was Secretary of State Michael Adams.

He spoke at the rally.

He said he was invited by the white House to do so.

And he touted how he aligns with Trump on various issues, particularly on voter ID, to vote.

That's something that he's been pushing here in Kentucky.

And the president, of course, supports as well, and education policies as well.

You know, I think that's interesting.

Even the governor said that that's interesting given that he was voted or that he's being sued by the Department of Justice over access to voter data sensitive voter data that Kentucky has.

So it's interesting to see that dynamic at play, but I think it will be an interesting one that will play out whether or not he decides to run for governor himself in the future.

>> And we'll talk a little bit more about that with Todd in a bit, because the Secretary of State talked with Saed this week, President Trump did not endorse a candidate in Kentucky's U.S.

Senate race.

He did name the three major Republican candidates who were there Congressman Andy Barr, former Attorney General Daniel Cameron and businessman Nate Morris, UK political science professor Stephen Voss said, there's probably a good reason for that.

>> Right now, Donald Trump is in this great position where no matter who receives the Republican nomination in Kentucky, he can claim credit.

Donald Trump can't lose because all of the main Republican candidates for the Senate have ties to him.

If he chooses to endorse one, then he has maybe a two thirds chance of losing.

>> Todd.

A Trump endorsement is seen as a game changer by all of these candidates, it appears.

But it also appears that may not happen before the primary.

At least.

>> It appears that it might not happen.

But never say never.

The candidates keep playing this endorsement game, but the president is sitting this one out.

I will say that there's still a month and a half here roughly before the May 19th primary, so there is time.

But what I found interesting was after the president's visit to Northern Kentucky, as expected, all the campaigns tripping over themselves, trying to get out their statements on social media as fast as possible, thanking the president for visiting and thanking and supporting the president's message.

>> The Herald leader's Austin Horn got access to an internal poll from Andy Barr's U.S.

Senate campaign.

It put a former attorney general, Cameron, ahead at 32%, Barr close behind at 29%, Nate Morris at 12%.

And yet the Barr camp keeps a lot of fire aimed at Morris.

You know, you wonder if those two continue to attack each other to the bitter end, if that is to Cameron's advantage.

And I know, Todd, you are planning on moderating a couple of forums out there in Western Kentucky later this month, and you just wonder, will they be as critical face to face as they are with these TV ads?

>> Well, I certainly look forward to seeing what unfolds on the stage during the Paducah Area Chamber of Commerce Forum coming up here in several weeks.

And you're right, there is there is a possibility that if Andy Barr and Nate Morris continue to battle with each other back and forth, that Daniel Cameron's star continues to rise.

And perhaps he's the one who walks away, the winner in the primary.

>> All right.

So we will be watching how that all plays out.

Kentucky's legislative session is heading into its last month.

Today, Governor Andy Beshear vetoed House Bill one that would opt Kentucky into a federal education tax credit program.

And McKenna supporters that bill say it would give more choice to Kentucky parents.

The opponents say it would hurt the public schools.

>> Right.

So on the Republican side, those who support the bill, they argue that by opting into this tax credit, Kentucky donors can divert money from what they would pay to the federal government in taxes, to scholarship organizations that would benefit Kentucky students, whether they go to public, private or charter schools.

But on the other side of the aisle, Democrats most, for the most part, are arguing that this would divert money away from the federal government that they could use on public education themselves.

So it's kind of a bit of back and forth that we've seen.

But today, Beshear did veto that bill.

He said that he was hoping to stick with public schools in this way, and he encouraged in his veto message legislators to think about instead of funding other sources like private or charter schools, to put more money into education.

And instead of giving them another competitor to work with.

>> And yet it looks very likely the General Assembly will override the governor's veto.

>> Yes, lawmakers even said that they would do that.

>> And it's easy to override the governor with 51 votes in Kentucky.

And you override.

>> Wright with the Republican supermajority.

You can do it really, without even batting an eye.

>> And we made glancing reference to education and the budget.

And lawmakers are trying to carve out that state budget right now.

Doctor Aaron Thompson, who oversees Kentucky's colleges and universities, is wondering aloud why higher education has been targeted for cuts.

>> These cuts will not.

It will set us back, as a matter of fact, not getting new investment will keep us from moving forward.

So our argument is that we've shown you that we can produce keep investing in us.

Surely the cuts isn't the way you want to go while we're actually accelerating, and we argue that we're the most direct line to a good economy.

So the highly educated workforce is what they need.

>> Todd Thompson says that we're at a time of increased college enrollment, and most who graduate have no debt right now.

But he fears cuts from the legislature could stall the progress.

>> And he seems, like many others, just kind of bewildered why this is a target all of a sudden, especially when people in communities all across the state say, we want our kids educated and we want them to stay here, we don't want them to leave.

Well, we're seeing in real time what happens when lawmakers want to make cuts and the fallout that happens in this case in our colleges and universities.

>> McKenna.

The House passed the budget containing those higher ed cuts.

It's now in the hands of the Senate.

Are they likely to restore that money?

Are you hearing anything?

Apparently, it's just over $70 million.

Would hold higher ed harmless from cuts, right?

>> I definitely think a lot of education advocates in general are talking to a lot of senators and hoping to get their ear on this money.

We've even seen university presidents.

University of Kentucky President Eli Capilouto put out a similar message about how cuts would affect that university in particular.

But these bills have not gotten a hearing in the Senate yet.

But as the time runs out toward the end of the month, I'm sure we'll see movement.

>> There is a determined attempt in the legislature to protect those under 16 from issues with social media.

Representative Matt Lockett is sponsor of House Bill 227.

>> I know that we all can see social media's harm to children.

That is well documented.

First, they all have an addictive design and a brain exposed frequently to social media.

It closely resembles a brain hooked on the highly addictive drugs.

Don't want to.

>> Overstate things, but this may be the most impactful legislation we passed this session.

I mean, behavioral scientists have looked at this.

I mean, they say that these social media platforms are like slot machines.

I mean, they are meant to keep our kids scrolling and returning there.

>> You heard from a Republican and a Democrat on the same side on this issue.

House Bill 227 passed 96 to 0.

That was the vote in the House.

It attempts to ban social media, essentially for for children.

>> It does, especially from larger social media platforms.

You would either have to have parental consent to join.

And even if you had that, it would heavily restrict predatory data collection.

Certain of addictive features like like automatic online videos that play push alerts.

And again, it's, it's very bipartisan, it's consequential.

And the whole goal is to protect children from these predatory platforms that just want to keep attention and kids want to pay attention.

So the legislature is trying to do something about it.

>> And Todd other issues involving children.

Senator Danny Carroll sponsored a bill related to juvenile justice.

He wants mental health facilities and policies to deal with psychiatric issues among our young offenders.

>> That's right.

He's been leading the call on this for several years, dating back, I believe, to 2023.

He says that there needs to be a focus on treating the mental health issues of kids and teenagers.

He calls them mentally ill, severely mentally ill kids that we need, that we're talking about, and they need that specialized treatment.

And it's also important to note that Danny Carroll, before he stepped into politics, he was a longtime member of law enforcement here with the Paducah Police Department.

So fair to say he's had interactions with individuals like that, that if they don't get the treatment, then they only continue to worsen instead of get better.

>> Yeah.

So it's certainly a in his wheelhouse, there is a Medicaid reform act that's making its way through the legislative process.

Some worry about copays, but some supporters don't think that would be a barrier.

>> When it comes to individuals utilizing a emergency room for non-emergency services in order to redirect folks out of that situation into the primary care, where there is no cost sharing pay at all in order to provide that services.

Trying to change the mentality to get people out of the emergency room, to free up those immediate services into a primary care, where they take a holistic approach.

>> Medicaid is the only way I can stay healthy enough to keep working.

We are already facing skyrocketing electric bills and inflated food prices.

So for someone with my list of specialists, $20 co-pays can add up fast cost shifting co-pays beyond the federal minimum for low income Kentuckians would not encourage personal responsibility.

It will force us to choose between the needs of our family over our own health.

>> And Alex, a lot of this Medicaid discussion in Frankfurt during this session has to do with federal cuts and some of the changes made in recent legislation out of Washington.

>> Certainly.

And those cuts trickled down and will have an impact on the share that Kentucky Kentucky makes up for Medicaid.

Kentucky is a heavily reliant state on Medicaid, its second largest expense.

Our state has.

Representative Fleming is trying to explain how you know, his view of his bill with the Medicaid reform is trying to.

One, make the delivery of health care more economical and.

Two, save waste, fraud and abuse.

Cut it out.

The converse argument is that it'll make it more expensive for people who need Medicaid, and it'll create more barriers to that health care.

So it's sort of a perennial discussion.

Republicans seem poised to pass it, but Democrats are trying to push back, and so are people who are Medicaid recipients.

Like we heard that woman giving testimony.

>> Abortion continues to be a topic of discussion, although more behind the scenes than actually in the legislative chambers.

This week, State Representative Vanessa Grassle became the first Republican to address a Planned Parenthood rally in Frankfort.

And McKenna.

That was interesting.

Grosso said she felt she was holding to Republican principles of individual freedom and liberty.

>> Right.

You know, I think after she spoke, Russell did receive some criticism for doing that from far right groups or groups that are particularly against abortion procedures in Kentucky.

But she also explained herself from a very conservative standpoint, saying that big government should not have a say in personal decisions of people in their everyday lives.

So it's an interesting discussion there.

>> And, you know, Representative Grassle, this is she's fairly new and she's been pretty up front from the get go about her stance on abortion.

She's advocated for smaller government when it comes to social issues.

She tends to be moderate.

And of course, you know, she spoke at this Planned Parenthood rally this week, but also this week in Frankfurt, there was a Kentucky Right to Life rally, which is the organization that does advocate and has wanted these strict abortion restrictions that Kentucky has, including a near-total ban, with no exceptions.

But it's interesting because sort of where both groups meet in the middle, there's a bill right now that Representative Tate has proposed that would limit sort of abortion medication by mail, and also classify abortion medication, misoprostol and mifepristone as a controlled substance.

Kentucky right to life wants that, but they also don't want women who get abortions to be prosecuted.

And there's a faction of Kentucky Republicans that do.

And so you have these different avenues, but still, largely the appetite of the Republican supermajority is to keep abortion restricted.

And that likely will not change in the foreseeable future.

>> A report this week from the Kentucky auditor focused on why some hard to place foster children have been housed in places including state office buildings.

Alex Ball's report took a couple of years.

It says children have been left in unsafe settings.

The Beshear administration complained that it didn't get to see the report until it was released to the media.

>> Right.

There's a couple of things at play here.

Auditor ball has been working on this report for a while, as you said, and it is a real problem with Dcbs, which is our state social services agency, one lacking staff to properly care for children in our foster care system.

And there are a lot or two them not being able to find a placement.

So sleeping in office buildings.

Beshear has recognized publicly that this is a problem.

It's a problem that predates him.

But Auditor Ball, of course, and Beshear separately have a somewhat public political feud with one another.

So her report confirmed a lot of that.

And yes, Beshear's administration claims they didn't see it until it was publicly released.

>> Independent voter registration continues to surge in Kentucky.

In February, nearly two thirds of new voters decided to be nonpartisan or independent rather than join a political party.

Todd.

They're making that decision fully knowing that they cannot vote in primaries.

>> And that's something that Secretary of State Michael Adams wants to change.

He's gone on record again this week saying that independence should be able to vote in primaries.

He said that independents help fund these these elections, and they're not able to vote in them.

And they quote, it's absurd.

So we need to, again, recognize that independence, it's a growing part of the electorate.

They do exist.

I call them swing voters.

They're going for Democrats and they're going for Republicans.

So something needs to change.

>> Adams was in Paducah this week.

He spoke with PTSD about the DOJ lawsuit.

We talked about earlier, asking Kentucky to release the personal data of >> So the legislature has given me marching orders, and I've got to follow the law aside how this works, what you have is a very broad, vague federal law, and you have numerous very specific state laws.

Usually a federal law trumps a state law, but sometimes that the federal law is broad and the state law is specific.

The state law will control Todd.

>> He does not apparently intend to release that unless he's given a court order.

Is that where he stands?

>> That is where he stands.

And he's pretty, pretty confident on on where he stands moving forward.

He's very adamant about that.

And he knows that that might be to the ire of of the president.

But he refuses to budge until a court decides otherwise.

>> I know you talked to some other topics with him, including whether he might be interested in running for governor.

>> We did, because, of course, he's term limited, and he says he is considering seriously a run for governor, but he won't make that decision or announce a decision until after the primaries.

But he said that he is getting strong encouragement from people every single day.

>> You take that as a very interested, don't you?

All right.

Todd Murray State University, moving right along with its plan to create Kentucky's only school of veterinary medicine, they seem to have jumped through most of the hurdles to that at this point.

>> Right.

So the Murray State University Board of Regents voted to actually create the college.

And what that does is that puts them on the accreditation process track.

And that takes a while, a lot of red tape.

So there are on site visits and then there are studies.

It'll be a while before the institution is even built, and it will be years after the first cohort of students actually enrolls before they'll even get full accreditation.

But the process has started.

>> A lot of excitement about that, I think, you know, because some may not realize we do not have a veterinary program in Kentucky.

So that's interesting.

Governor Beshear, back from a whirlwind trip to the early presidential primary state of New Hampshire.

He talked to several groups up there, including union leaders and some students at Dartmouth College.

The reporting is that Beshear made the point at every stop.

He's a Democrat who has won three statewide races in a hard trending Republican state.

He also then makes the case that he's there to talk to local people, and he doesn't say he's running for president.

So.

Todd McKenna, is that a tough needle to thread?

>> Well, it's a needle he's trying to thread, but he appears to be doing okay at it.

You know, the question now is not if he's going to run, but when he's going to announce and the 10,000 foot view, I will say that he has become even more polished over the last year.

And as an attorney friend of mine said, even if he doesn't win the nomination, you got to run for president.

If you want to be VP, if you want a cabinet position, so forth and so on.

>> Yeah.

You know, I think one thing that we might see his focus on whether he decides to run for president or not with this speculation, but how Kentucky Democrat's do in elections to come down ballot other Democrat's who may hypothetically go against him might want to see that record on the national stage, too.

>> It's still obviously a possibility that Senator Rand Paul runs as well, so it could be Kentucky in the mix in the 2028.

This week marked 50 years since the Scotia mine disaster.

Two blasts, two days apart, killed 26 miners in the Oven Fork community of Letcher County.

In March of 1976.

The mine was sealed for 243 agonizing days before the bodies were retrieved.

Many lessons were learned.

Regulations were changed after the tragedy.

The Mine Act of 1977 was signed into law.

The first major mine safety law.

Some who lost loved ones gathered this week to remember that's.

Comment on Kentucky.

Have a good week ahead.

Okay.

What do you think?

>> Good job.

>> We did all right, didn't we?

We're kind of.