WKU Public Radio | The Public Radio Service of Western Kentucky University

Time 2021-09-17 07:27:26

Web Name: WKU Public Radio | The Public Radio Service of Western Kentucky University

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U.S. Sen. Rand Paul says law enforcement groups are being unfairly criticized in the media and in public debate over police violence.   Paul spoke on Thursday at the Kentucky Sheriff’s Association meeting in Bowling Green where he denounced the idea of defunding police. “Of the killings that are going on in Louisville, they have more murders per capita than Chicago. You would think by what you read, it’s the police killing people in Louisville. No, it’s people killing people in Louisville," stated Paul. It’s not an easy problem to fix. I’m not here to say I know how to fix the murder problem in Louisville, but I know it’s not getting rid of the police.” Listen Listening... 1:26 Advocates are urging Kentucky to develop solar energy projects on farms and abandoned coal mines as the state considers expanding its renewable energy portfolio. Developers have been planning and building large-scale solar projects around the state—some more successfully than others—as the technology becomes more affordable and pressure increases to develop renewable energy. During a joint hearing of the legislature’s Natural Resources and Agriculture committees on Wednesday, Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet Secretary Rebecca Goodman said the state has the land and energy markets necessary for solar. “There’s a corporate demand for renewable electricity. Economic development and that corporate demand will continue to be primary movers toward encouraging solar development in Kentucky,” Goodman said. Louisville Metro workers repainted the parallel yellow lines outside the doors to the downtown EMW Women’s Surgical Center to be more narrow Wednesday afternoon, a day after they initially marked out a new buffer zone where anti-abortion protesters will not be allowed to stand.  Hours after the first installation, the lines were covered by gray paint, raising concerns of vandalism. However, city officials said they covered up the zone because it was improperly measured on Tuesday.  The 10-foot buffer zone outside of the surgical center, one of only two abortion clinics in Kentucky, became possible after Metro Council approved a measure in late May. The work of marking out the buffer zone was put on hold when anti-abortion advocates and self-described sidewalk ministers sued the city in June. Then a federal judge ruled last week that the city could move forward with implementation while the lawsuit advances. New research suggests side-effects from the COVID-19 vaccine among south central Kentucky residents mirror the results of clinical trials conducted last year.  A project by Bowling Green-based Med Center Health, Western Kentucky University, and the University of Kentucky College of Medicine - Bowling Green Campus was conducted through the Western Kentucky Heart and Lung/Med Center Health Research Foundation.  Researchers wanted to see if the response to the vaccine in regional vaccine clinics matched the responses seen in patients during the clinical trials of the vaccinations last year. The results of the study found that side-effects from the vaccine seen in ambulatory clinics did in fact mirror the side-effects seen in those trials.  Listen Listening... 1:19 Listen here. Masking requirements are staying in place for many Kentucky school districts, despite the General Assembly revoking a statewide mask mandate for school systems during a special legislative session last week. Warren County Public Schools implemented a mask policy on Aug. 11 before Gov. Andy Beshear’s executive order or the Kentucky Department of Education’s emergency regulation. The decision was legal under the school district’s authority, and is not affected by the General Assembly’s passage of SB 1, which returned the authrority to make masking decisions to local school boards. In a special meeting Tuesday night, the Warren County Board of Education approved a recommendation from Superintendent Rob Clayton to extend the school system's univeral mask requirement through at least October. “This will allow us the opportunity to monitor exposures related to fall break activities as our historical data reflects the increase in exposures and quarantines after extended breaks from school," Clayton said. Listen Listening... 1:19 A Democratic state lawmaker has filed a bill to require public middle and high schools to teach the history of racism in the country. Louisville Rep. Attica Scott’s bill would require schools to teach about a list of subjects including the slave trade, the Civil War, Jim Crow laws, residential segregation and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Scott says a group of students asked her to carry the bill. “I definitely feel like schools are addressing some of these issues differently than other schools. But this is a more robust dig and dive into the history of racism of the combination of racial prejudice plus power and how it impacts people’s lives,” Scott said. Scott’s proposal comes after a handful of Republican lawmakers proposed measures that would purportedly ban critical race theory in Kentucky schools. Bennett Quillen walks through a late August downpour check on his fall crop, and sees that his greasy beans are coming ripe. He learned how to farm from his father, and he’s determined to model environmental stewardship for his community. “I believe in taking care of the land,” Quillen says. “I want to leave the land better than I found it.” Quillen’s story is pretty common in  this part of Eastern Kentucky.  His grandfather was a coal miner, his father was a coal miner, and he was too.  Now, Quillen is retired.  He lives with his wife in a house in Deane, Kentucky that his years underground paid for. He grows vegetable and fruit crops on his acres of land. But hidden beneath his pastoral life are constant reminders of the legacy costs of the coal industry — both in his lungs and in the land around him. Kentucky hospitals and nursing homes have been struggling with staffing shortages as COVID-19 continues to surge through the state. Health care leaders hoped state lawmakers would set aside funds to attract and retain workers during last week’s special legislative session dealing with the pandemic, but legislators said the initiative didn’t fit within Gov. Andy Beshear’s agenda for the session. Instead, lawmakers passed a measure allowing paramedics to work in hospitals and setting aside $69.2 million in federal relief money for testing supplies, vaccination campaigns and monoclonal antibody treatment. Jim Musser, vice president for policy and government relations with the Kentucky Hospital Association, said the special session produced some helpful policies, but they didn’t go far enough. Kentucky’s COVID-19 situation continues to worsen and that’s putting a strain on hospitals and medical resources.  On Monday, Kentucky’s top health official, Dr. Steven Stack, said new cases are higher than ever and that’s leading to a serious problem for hospitals. “And though you may not be in a hospital right now, our hospitals are at the brink of collapse in many communities,” Stack said.  “It’s causing consequences to people not just with COVID, but also to people without COVID who can’t get some of their procedures, or hospitalizations, taken care of, or have a heart attack or a stroke addressed in a timely manner, because there simply are no places for these patients to get their care.” Kentucky manufacturers that produce parts for electric vehicles are expanding their range of components, and space, to meet the growing demand for their products. Demand is sure to increase as a result of President Joe Biden’s executive order last month that sets a goal of having half of new car sales be zero-emission vehicles by 2030. “They’re a vision of the future that is now beginning to happen," Biden said. "A future of the automobile industry that is electric. Battery electric, plug-in hybrid electric, fuel cell electric. It’s electric and there’s no turning back." Listen Listening... 4:53 LRS Live Replay: Kyshona & Dax Evans February's Lost River Sessions LIVE show at the Captiol Arts Center in Bowling Green was a special one. Fans saw local singer and songwriter Dax Evans take the stage, performing some heartfelt original songs. Meanwhile, Nashville artist, and former music therapist Kyshona, blessed the venue on the eve of her album release with new music. Read More

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