[music] >> Trump said no more wars and brought us into another war.

>> Some veterans are speaking out against the war in Iran and advocating for a certain congressional candidate.

[MUSIC] >> And Christopher Columbus wasn't the person that we were taught that that he was.

>> Backers of Indigenous Peoples Day say they want to set the record straight.

[MUSIC] >> I've put a lot of time, thought and stress into my financial situation while in college.

[MUSIC] >> Navigating the perils of paying for college.

[MUSIC] Production of Kentucky edition.

>> Is made possible in part by the KET Millennium Fund.

[MUSIC] >> Good evening and welcome to Kentucky edition for this Monday, October the 12th.

I'm Christy Dutton in our KET Studios in Louisville.

Thank you so much for joining us.

The 2026 general election is just three weeks from tomorrow in Kentucky, voters will elect a new U.S.

senator and all six of Kentucky's U.S.

House seats are on the ballot in November.

Today, the Democratic nominee in the sixth Congressional District is speaking out against the war in Iran that begins tonight's 2026 election coverage.

[MUSIC] Zach Dembo is a Navy veteran and former federal prosecutor.

He was in Lexington today with about a dozen veterans and supporters to address the Iran war, which started about seven months ago.

Dempo said while he believes Iran is, quote, no friend of the United States, he said Americans are paying the price without a valid reason for war.

>> If I'm in Congress, I'm going to demand accountability for this war.

I'm going to demand that the administration either explain its objectives or that we get out of there.

And I don't think Congress should keep writing a blank check for a war that no one asked for, and that the American people clearly don't support.

While we're all stuck footing the bill.

>> We also spoke with an Army veteran and Central Kentucky resident who said he's previously voted for Republican Andy Barr to represent Kentucky's sixth district.

Now, he says he's voting for Dembo.

>> Trump said no more wars and brought us into another war.

He is now saying that back to like he was saying, back to Russia and Ukraine.

It's none of our business.

Let it happen.

Do what they do, keep us away from that.

And it's just everything that Trump ran on, he went and did the exact opposite.

I've lived in Kentucky since 2014, and for the most part, I voted Republican.

And as a soldier, I mean, most soldiers do.

And my eyes are open and they're wide open.

And it's not been doing anything for us.

It's been hurting us more than it's been helping.

So why are we going to continuously vote for pain instead of prosperity?

>> Demo is running against Republican nominee Ralph Alvarado.

Alvarado is a doctor.

Former state senator and commissioner of Tennessee's Department of Health.

We reached out to his campaign for this story but did not hear back before the deadline for tonight's broadcast.

The sixth district race for Congress is our focus tonight on Kentucky.

Tonight.

Join host Laura Rogers, and be sure to send us your questions and comments.

That's tonight at eight eastern, seven central right here on KET.

Last week on Kentucky.

Tonight, Laura talked to Charles Booker, the Democratic nominee for the U.S.

Senate.

We also invited Republican Andy Barr, who declined our invitation.

Friday night on comment on Kentucky.

Our panel discussed Booker's appearance and where things stand in Kentucky's U.S.

Senate race.

>> Seeing the advantage that some Democrats have in polling around the country, Booker keeps trying to lay out a path to victory, as you heard him do.

There, but doesn't Barr just have a lot of built in advantages, including money and party registration?

I mean, Republicans outnumber Democrats in registration now by more than 250,000 in Kentucky.

>> I mean, the scales tip towards Barr favor Barr's favor.

This chance.

It definitely is an uphill battle for Booker.

I can tell you on the drive in from Louisville this evening, I saw a lot of bar signs, a lot of demo signs, and Alvarado ones.

Not seeing a lot of Charles Booker signs from here to there.

We did.

Spectrum spoke with Booker this week.

He tells us he's been to every county in the state.

He's knocking on doors.

But if we'll have to wait and see if that translates in enough votes to overcome a lot of advantages that Barr currently has.

>> One of the big things that we're hearing is that there is a an enthusiasm gap for a lot of Republicans.

But even with that, I mean, the numbers that you cited are a huge uphill battle.

Are people willing to vote for a Democrat or Republicans in the state willing to vote for a Democratic senator?

They haven't for a long time.

So I it's interesting to watch.

>> Ken Booker get enough attention to have a good show.

>> Be tough.

I mean, as Mason said, this is a conservative Republican state.

It's considered almost miraculous when a Democrat breaks through.

That's why Andy Beshear gets so much attention.

Because he did it twice.

And it's why demo is getting attention now, because even in the Central Kentucky sixth district, which is more Democratic than the statewide total, he's looking pretty strong.

But otherwise, it's just it's such an uphill climb.

And Booker's got the wind in his face, not at his back.

>> See, last Friday's comment on Kentucky as Bill Bryant and the panel discussed other races, including the Lexington Mayor's race, legislative races and more.

That's online, on demand at ket.org/comment.

Last week, groups from all across Eastern Kentucky convened in Corbin for the 2026 saw Summit.

The three day conference centered on building eastern Kentucky together and brought together people in health care, addiction recovery, economic development, tourism, and more.

To talk about strengthening the region.

Here's more from Kentucky Edition's Clayton Dalton.

>> At the Corbin Arena.

Eastern Kentuckians came together to discuss how they can strengthen their communities, whether it be better jobs, more accessible health care or new tourism attractions.

Reed Adkins is the executive director of Shaping Our Appalachian Region, or Saw, and he said the organization was created at a difficult time.

>> After the downturn of coal.

Several of our communities were devastated.

Coal was the driving force for economic development in our area.

Congressman Hal Rogers and then Governor Steve Beshear came together in a nonpartisan effort to try to help the counties that were affected.

>> The topics of discussion were tailored specifically to the needs of the region.

The summit hosted topical breakout sessions ranging from addiction recovery to child care.

One of the sessions, centered on broadband internet expansion, one of sores, long standing initiatives.

>> Broadband used to be a luxury, you know, whether you had internet at home, if you didn't have internet at home.

It was nice to have it.

If you could have it now becomes almost like a utility, you know, it's as important as water and electricity.

We're getting to a point now where broadband is becoming more and more common.

We still have outliers.

We still have those hard to reach places.

But now this this breakout session today really focused on what comes next.

How do we take an existing broadband infrastructure and what do we build around that?

How do we build our communities?

How do we build population growth to come back?

Instead of outmigration?

How do we attract talent?

How do we attract new businesses?

How do we attract people to our downtowns?

And what role does broadband really play in that?

>> Saws Central focus is to transform lives through meaningful employment.

Senate President Robert Stivers said the recent announcement of a new UTV manufacturing facility in Owsley County does just that.

>> It is 60 jobs and they're going to be good paying jobs that $20 an hour range.

And so that's very good.

And we've already had a lot of people say, hey, you know, if I can come back to Owsley County, live and work for that type of a wage.

We call them the boomerangs.

They'll come back.

So for being one of the poorest counties in the nation to have this type of event and establish that in Booneville, it's just makes all the difference in the world.

And it plays right in with probably one of our strongest assets.

And that's the the adventure tourism.

And they're going to build vehicles that fit right in with the adventure tourism.

We're seeing opportunities created here.

And a lot of people staying here that we want to stay here and people returning.

So there's a lot of excitement Moore that I'm seen in quite a while that that over the last 6 or 8 years, we have created some real progress.

>> For Kentucky Edition.

I'm Clayton Dalton.

>> Nearly 1200 people attended this year's Saw Summit.

Today is a federal holiday.

Columbus Day.

But that holiday is taking a back seat to a state holiday.

Indigenous Peoples Day.

Now, the woman responsible for getting that day recognized in Kentucky talked to us about the history and myths surrounding indigenous people.

And Christopher Columbus.

>> It's really important to discuss the the true history of Native Americans and their rich, you know, rich history and culture and but also the, the true history of European exploration.

So Indigenous Peoples Day is another way of celebrating this day.

But many people celebrate Christopher Columbus Day and Christopher Columbus wasn't the person that we were taught that that he was.

He was told by explorers and scientists of his time that actually the earth was larger than was thought.

And he didn't listen.

And he thought the finding of the, you know, passage to India would be rather easy.

And he thought that he had landed in India.

He was actually lost.

He never set foot on the mainland of North America ever.

He landed in on the island of what is now known as Hispaniola, and he murdered them.

And, you know, burned their villages.

And so we really need to remember Native Americans at this time.

And and the, the, the issues that they faced before that are now further complicated by the political climate, indigenous Peoples Day is both a celebration of indigenous culture and history.

And it's also an opportunity to discuss the problems and issues facing the indigenous community.

You know, not only throughout this country, but throughout the Americas.

And that's issues such as poverty and access to clean water, access to health care, you know, missing and murdered indigenous peoples, particularly missing and murdered women who are subjected to higher rates of domestic violence and domestic abuse and human trafficking and that sort of thing, are concerns.

And so we celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day to also bring attention to the various contributions to our shared society.

The list goes on and on.

We don't have the population say that New Mexico, you know, other states have, but but we do have people here who are involved in the community and there's also festivals, you know, powwows that bring in Native Americans from other states that participate in the various festivals.

So there's been, to my understanding, about 34 indigenous people State proclamations past and Kentucky since that time, since 2017.

And city, county and state governments and that constitutes more Indigenous Peoples Day proclamation passages than any other state in the United States since 1992.

>> Indigenous Peoples Day is not a federal holiday, but it has been recognized with presidential declarations in 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024.

Well, now in health news, measles cases top 4000 nationwide for the first time in decades, the Kentucky Lantern reports 4080 cases across the U.S.

with five confirmed deaths in Pennsylvania.

Kentucky has 105 cases as of this morning, according to the state.

Measles dashboard.

That's compared to 13 in all of 2025.

A majority of Kentucky's cases are in just two counties.

Christian and Trigg.

Together, they have 70 Kentucky Baptist Disaster Relief is headed to the Deep South to help victims of Hurricane Isaias.

WYMt and hazard says a feeding team will go to Panama City, Florida, with plans to serve up 10,000 meals.

The group also plans to stop in Alabama on the way.

Isaias made landfall Friday near Destin, Florida, as a category two hurricane with winds of up to 105 miles an hour.

It caused flooding and power outages and at least four deaths.

Well, fans stormed Kroger Field after Kentucky beat LSU in overtime, 35 to 34 Saturday night, but that celebration comes with a hefty price tag.

The Southeastern Conference has fined the UK Athletics.

Athletics department $500,000 for violating the SEC's competition area.

Access policy.

According to the Lexington Herald-Leader, the policy requires UK to pay that money directly to LSU.

With the upset win over LSU, Kentucky jumps back into the Associated Press Top 25.

The cats are now 15th.

Louisville won last Friday, beating Florida State 44 to 20.

But the cards are still outside the top 25.

[MUSIC] It's October, the month of all things spooky, and one thing can be certainly scary the cost of college.

A larger conversation on that topic.

Still to come this evening.

But first, a preview as our Laura Rogers talks support for students at Western Kentucky University.

>> This is my hardest class.

>> Jamison McPherson is a graduate student in his fifth year at Western Kentucky University, studying applied economics.

>> I really do feel like I have a leg up.

I mean, I'm getting noticed in job interviews and getting callbacks.

>> He plans to work in public policy or corporate finance, but there was a time McPherson was unsure he'd be able to attend college at all.

>> My dad, he didn't graduate high school, so growing up, when your mom's at home and your dad is working like in a factory job, it is kind of tough.

>> He sought guidance and support through trio programs at KU, including educational Opportunity Centers, where he connected with Bethany Smith.

>> She really does just go above and beyond for her students.

It inspired my thesis, actually, the effectiveness of the program.

>> I want students to.

>> Smith has helped students afford college.

For more than two decades.

>> I wanted to be able to help students like myself who were first gen, low income.

>> A W KU alumnus from Eastern Kentucky.

She first attended community college.

>> I had a great mentor at the community college that knew how to like, get scholarships.

What to do?

>> Today, she's that mentor for students like Jamison McPherson, helping them get free money for college and offering advice on options like student loans.

>> And I'm a firm believer that student loan debt is okay as long as you don't maximize it and only use what you have to use.

>> She says the thought of borrowing money may deter some students from pursuing college at all, but that shouldn't be the case if you're really committed to getting that degree.

>> I would rather you borrow a little bit and be able to complete than borrow nothing and not go at all.

My goal when I work with students is that if we're going to borrow a penny, we're going to finish this degree.

>> But much of her focus is on the money.

Students don't have to pay back like scholarships and grants.

>> There's big scholarships.

There's local scholarships.

It's just about applying and applying and applying and applying.

>> Smith suggests students apply for one scholarship a week, making a spreadsheet with due dates to stay organized.

>> Where else are you going to get $2,500 for one hour a week?

You got a $2,500 scholarship that's renewable for four years.

That's a lot of money that didn't take them that much time to get.

>> Her advice for parents communication take time to talk with your teenager.

>> You really need to have conversations with your children about what are your plans?

Where do you plan to go?

>> And for students, write your own scholarship essay instead of having a parent or artificial intelligence do it.

>> It needs to be your words and it needs to be your story.

And it needs to tug at the heartstrings of that person.

Reading.

Why do you need this money or what?

What are you going to do to impact the world when you graduate?

>> She also suggests filling out the Fafsa, the application for Federal Student Aid.

Even if you don't think you'll qualify.

>> You don't know what's going to happen tomorrow.

Every summer, I help somebody whose parent has passed away over the summer.

It's not what you think is going to happen.

Nobody expects that to happen, but it could happen.

>> When obstacles do arise, already having the Fafsa completed saves time and stress down the road.

>> What a lot of people don't get is if you can't pay for it, you can't pay for it.

You can't go to school.

If that bill isn't covered.

>> McPherson has weathered setbacks and challenges with his financial aid.

>> I've put a lot of time, thought and stress into my financial situation while in college.

>> But is now set to graduate in December with a master's degree.

For Kentucky edition, I'm Laura Rogers.

>> Much more to come tonight on paying for College 2027 Education Matters join host Kelsey Starks and a panel of experts as they discuss financial aid and how to cut costs early.

That's at nine eight central right here on KET.

[MUSIC] Supporting.

Educating.

Advocating.

That's how the Women's Business Center of Kentucky says it's been building up the number of women entrepreneurs across the state.

This year, the nonprofit is celebrating 15 years of helping women get access to the resources they need to become business owners.

>> The Women's Business Center of Kentucky is a hub for entrepreneurs to essentially get resources.

They may not realize they have access to so many entrepreneurs that are starting have barriers of entry, whether that be to funding capital.

Sometimes just networking and meeting the next right person.

And the WBC is here to solve that problem for entrepreneurs.

>> So we serve all 120 counties in Kentucky.

We're headquartered in Lexington.

We have a Louisville footprint, but we're really intentional about getting into the corners of Southeast Kentucky, parts of Western Kentucky, eastern Kentucky, and so bringing our programing to communities that sometimes don't have programs such as ours, that is something that we're really proud of.

And our one on one coaching being virtual, truly meeting people where they are is something that motivates us every day.

>> So a lot of times when you're in the beginning stages of your business, you don't have access to an accountant, a lawyer, you may not know best practices in your industry, strong women, strong coffee is a way that new entrepreneurs can get that information.

So we have a topic, speaker, each month they speak for 25 to 30 minutes, giving, you know, kind of the, the top of the line information or like forest view instead of tree view.

And it's also an extra way that they can connect with the person giving the information.

So we have banking next month and banking can be a very scary thing.

We, most people don't want to talk about money, especially when it comes to our businesses.

But being able to have a banker in the room, whether that be for commercial lending or maybe even personal finances, they get to build that relationship during strong women, strong coffee.

>> The strong women, strong coffee events are the most diverse rooms that I go into.

There's a diversity in age.

There's a diversity in ethnicity, in languages spoken.

And it and also businesses being offered.

I started attending the Strong Women Strong Coffee events in Louisville in, I guess, 2023.

We were a small group at that time, 6 or 8 of us at a table.

And I found it to be so energizing to learn about other businesses that were in my community.

>> When you are an entrepreneur and you don't have necessarily employees or people that you're working with, the people that you meet with regularly become your, you know, colleagues.

So that has been really good.

I think with any getting out there into any network.

So total encouragement connecting me with other people in the community, getting speak opportunities.

I love to get to teach and present things.

>> I'm most proud of for the Women's Business Center is not just the growth for the center, but the growth that the entrepreneurs are experiencing.

So many times we measure success in this way that might make us feel small.

And I feel as though our community really celebrates every milestone.

So not just the 15 years, but a new business opening a door, someone understanding their numbers better.

Obviously, expansion is great, but someone being able to feed their family through entrepreneurship is also great.

>> So over the past 15 years, we've seen economic differences.

The pandemic.

But we've really seen the resiliency of women in business getting started, finding funding and scaling.

And so for us, this milestone is worth not just letting it pass by, but truly standing firm, celebrating and honoring those that came before us, those that are a part of the journey and what's to come.

>> See, we'll be hosting five events in Lexington.

Corbin and Louisville to celebrate their 15th anniversary.

[MUSIC] The Kentucky Derby Museum just set an attendance record.

The museum's fiscal year ran from October 1st, 2025 to September 30th, 2026, and during that time, it welcomed more than 266,000 guests, the most ever.

That's up 11,000 from the previous year.

The museum has two floors of interactive exhibits, including a 360 degree movie, a cafe and bourbon bar, and the Derby Museum store.

Man O Wars Last race, Loretta Lynn's first Grand Ole Opry performance and a vice president from Kentucky.

Our Toby Gibbs has all three and more in this.

Look at this week in Kentucky history.

>> Richard M Johnson was born October 17th, 1780, near present day Louisville.

He would go on to become vice president of the United States from 1837 to 1841 under President Martin Van Buren, Governor George Madison died on October 14th, 1816.

He was the first Kentucky governor to die in office.

Lieutenant Governor Gabriel Slaughter took the oath later that day.

[MUSIC] Happy birthday to Mary Barr Clay, born October 13th, 1839, the daughter of Cassius Clay, she became one of Kentucky's first advocates for women's suffrage.

[MUSIC] >> As they come around the first turn, it's man of war, leading Sir Barton by a.

>> Man o war ran his last race on October 12th, 1920.

He beat Sir Barton at Kenilworth Park in Canada.

The race was filmed in its entirety and shown in movie theaters throughout the country.

[MUSIC] Johnson County, Kentucky native Loretta Lynn performed at the Grand Ole Opry for the first time on October 15th, 1960.

Lawrence Welk and his orchestra became the first performers at the new Rupp Arena.

On October 17th, 1976.

The crowd was so big, Rupp Arena ran out of popcorn.

[MUSIC] Those are some of the highlights of This Week in Kentucky history.

[MUSIC] I'm Toby Gibbs.

>> Thank you so much for sharing part of your Monday with us.

We hope to see you right back here tomorrow night for Kentucky Edition.

Take care.