WKU Public Radio has some changes coming to our weekend programming lineup, aimed at enhancing the quantity and quality of shows our listeners can expect to hear on Saturdays and Sundays!

The decision by American Public Media to halt production of Live From Here has led to some new additions to our weekends, and some changes to when a few current shows air.

Starting Saturday, Sept. 19, our regular Saturday lineup will include an hour of Lost River Sessions Radio, the radio companion to the WKYU PBS series Lost River Sessions; and the music program Mountain Stage.

Western Kentucky University is taking another step toward increasing access and affordability for low-income students. 

President Timothy Caboni announced a new initiative on Thursday called the Hilltopper Guarantee. Starting next fall, WKU will be tuition-free to any first-year students from Kentucky who receive Pell Grants and have at least a 3.0 high school GPA.  

“This is a tremendous promise to the young people of this state, that we can guarantee if you’re from a low-income family but you’re a high achiever, a four-year degree from WKU is in your future," Caboni said.

Hundreds of people gathered outside the state Capitol to protest Gov. Andy Beshear’s coronavirus-related executive orders as the state Supreme Court heard arguments over the restrictions inside on Thursday.

Demonstrators from across the state—most of them not wearing masks, some carrying guns—questioned the seriousness of the virus, or whether it exists at all. Some voiced theories that the virus was not real or part of a political conspiracy.

Charlotte Gagnon, a 64 year-old from Hopkinsville who attended the protest with the assistance of a walker, said she attended because she doesn’t want to wear a mask.

As people start requesting absentee ballots, some Tennessee voters have noticed something unusual: The bottom part of the form published by the Secretary of State has a notice saying voters could receive a reward if they report a case of voter fraud.

The notice is highlighted in yellow. It says, “You may be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000 if you make a report of voter fraud that leads to a conviction.” It also gives the number of the state’s voter fraud hotline.

Frosty Horton, a 69-year-old musician from Nashville, noticed it.

“It’s threatening,” Horton said. “And I don’t mean to sound paranoid about it. I just — my trust level is at a fairly low place.”

Health departments across the state have ramped up hiring, and have more than tripled the number of contact tracers Kentucky had since the pandemic began. But by some estimates, the state still has less than a third of what it needs to effectively combat the coronavirus.

The state is up to 1,240 staff members for contact tracing, Mark Carter from the Cabinet for Health and Family services said Wednesday during Gov. Andy Beshear’s briefing.

“We are not quite at our total capacity. We have roughly 130 additional spots that we could fill and we continue to do that,” he said. 

Before the pandemic, the state had 431 contact tracers.

Secretary of State Michael Adams says Kentucky election officials need more than $5 million in additional funding to run the upcoming General Election during the coronavirus pandemic.

During a legislative meeting on Wednesday, Adams provided a list of election-related expenses ranging from absentee ballot postage to 1.2 million pens needed for one-time voter use that will have to be paid for by state government.

“I know that’s a lot of money, especially right now, but I think that’s a bargain for a successful presidential election held during a pandemic,” Adams said.

Coal mining giant Murray Energy Corp. has emerged from bankruptcy with a new name and a commitment to rehire all of its former union employees, according to a news release from the United Mine Workers of America.

UMWA President Cecil Roberts said on Wednesday that a new collective bargaining agreement has been finalized between the coal miners union and American Consolidated Natural Resources Inc., which took over Murray Energy’s assets.

“There is much to be concerned about for those of us associated with and working in the coal industry during these troubling times, but it is good that this process has finally been completed and our members can put the uncertainty of the bankruptcy behind them,” he said.