Speaker 1: All right, we are up and running here in the
Speaker 1: eight o'clock hour. It is Kentucky and it's Morning News
Speaker 1: with Coffee and company here on News Radio eight forty
Speaker 1: whas Nick coffee with you. If you are just now
Speaker 1: joining us, Welcome aboard. Been a busy morning thus far.
Speaker 1: There was a explosion last night in Jeffersonville at a
Speaker 1: home that led to five people being injured, and as
Speaker 1: of right now, what we know is that of those
Speaker 1: five people, two were taken to an nearby hospital via helicopter,
Speaker 1: while three of them were taken via ambulance. At this point,
Speaker 1: there's no sign as to what caused that just yet.
Speaker 1: Obviously they're going to do an investigation. But a neighbor
Speaker 1: talked to the reporters on site after the explosion and
Speaker 1: said that they did see at least two of those
Speaker 1: individuals that were leaving had some serious burns on their bodies.
Speaker 1: So scary situation, of course, and obviously we'll find that
Speaker 1: eventually what they discover led to this explosion. But it
Speaker 1: has impacted some traffic out there in Jeffersonville as Greater
Speaker 1: Clark Ketty schools or back to school today. So at
Speaker 1: eight o'clock I feel like you're probably already there, but
Speaker 1: I don't know. Maybe the school schedule is different for
Speaker 1: in fact, it is different for a lot of different schools.
Speaker 1: But regardless, it has caused some delays in getting to
Speaker 1: jeffersonvill High School. And I think it also may have
Speaker 1: actually led to some people needing to be rerouted, so
Speaker 1: just to just be advised of that. Also something else
Speaker 1: we talked about earlier. We have another big corporation here
Speaker 1: in Louisville that employees many people that is offering an
Speaker 1: early retirement. And this news can be met in a
Speaker 1: variety of ways based on the employer's situation. So I
Speaker 1: don't want to act like this is the worst thing ever,
Speaker 1: but Humana is now is now offering it looks like
Speaker 1: I don't know how many are qualified, meaning how many
Speaker 1: fit this criteria, but the qualifications are you must be
Speaker 1: fifty years and older and have worked at human If
Speaker 1: for at least three years. They say this is part
Speaker 1: of their broader transformation agenda. They're trying and reduce costs
Speaker 1: and modernize operations. And again I can see this being
Speaker 1: a real worry for those who maybe realize that they
Speaker 1: have a job that they are comfortable in and being
Speaker 1: able to obtain a very similar job with a similar
Speaker 1: setup as far as salary, insurance and all that. It
Speaker 1: might be difficult, or there could be some that have
Speaker 1: maybe they're nearing retirement and this gives them an early
Speaker 1: exit and they can maybe find something to do to
Speaker 1: help to help sustain the same type of salary they
Speaker 1: were making with, you know, a job that doesn't pay
Speaker 1: quite as much, but they can get by with whatever
Speaker 1: the offering is within with this early retirement. But over
Speaker 1: the years in Louisville, there have been many employers that
Speaker 1: have that have offered this. In fact, recently there were
Speaker 1: voluntary buyouts for ups drivers full time drivers nationally. But
Speaker 1: the first time ever were offered an early buyout, you
Speaker 1: had also, this wasn't much, This wasn't really This was
Speaker 1: a little bit of a different situation. But Brown Foreman
Speaker 1: they had a big reduction in their in their workforce
Speaker 1: and that was layoffs with severance included. It's a little
Speaker 1: bit different there because sometimes you'll see you'll see employers
Speaker 1: like Humana, ups Ford, Brown form and they'll roll out
Speaker 1: early retirement packages or voluntary buyouts, and it's not just
Speaker 1: to cut cost it's really strategic. I mean, these companies
Speaker 1: aren't always collapsing. When that happens, it's I think, at
Speaker 1: times more of a recalibration. So when you look at
Speaker 1: the early retirement incentives, it will quietly give you the
Speaker 1: ability to trim the head count without bad optics of
Speaker 1: a mass layoff. And they target clearly people who make
Speaker 1: a lot of money and people that have been there
Speaker 1: a long time, because again you're getting rid of a
Speaker 1: big salary potentially, and if you're a long tenured worker,
Speaker 1: you may be itching to get that offer to retire early.
Speaker 1: So again, these things can help reduce expenses and it
Speaker 1: can help you, I guess, avoid any kind of legal
Speaker 1: pitfall or maybe even like a union pushback if we're
Speaker 1: talking about an employer like Ford. So it's not always
Speaker 1: just a complete blum and doom situation, but you know,
Speaker 1: sometimes it is, and it can be a scary thing
Speaker 1: for many. I'm sure. I go back to when Ford
Speaker 1: offered their Way Forward restructuring plan back in two thousand
Speaker 1: and six. I have a lot of friends who had
Speaker 1: parents that worked at Ford, which some of them even
Speaker 1: moved to this area because of the opportunities you had
Speaker 1: at a place like Ford working at the plants, and
Speaker 1: I just remember it being a talking thing. It was
Speaker 1: just talked about in our community where I grew up,
Speaker 1: just because it was a scary sign for the future
Speaker 1: of Ford at that time. And also there were some
Speaker 1: that just took it because they were giving you I
Speaker 1: think it was up to one hundred thousand dollars and
Speaker 1: a seven spuyout for workers that were going to relinquish
Speaker 1: their future benefits and I think they could keep their pension.
Speaker 1: So they've also done another one not that long ago
Speaker 1: at Ford where in twenty twenty four, in the beginning
Speaker 1: of the year, they offered I think it was a
Speaker 1: fifty thousand dollar lump summer retirement buy out, and it
Speaker 1: was a program that was for those that were you know,
Speaker 1: that were eligible. You had to be at least thirty
Speaker 1: years of service, which again that's a long stretch and
Speaker 1: you could you know, or you could be yeah, here
Speaker 1: it is thirty years of service at any age, or
Speaker 1: you could be fifty five years old with ten plus
Speaker 1: years of service, sixty five with one plus year of service.
Speaker 1: So again, some of these things are more so strategic
Speaker 1: and you're recalibrating than it is about, you know, an
Speaker 1: epic downfall. But again, I'm sure if you get that
Speaker 1: email that Humana employees got yesterday, those that are eligible,
Speaker 1: I'm sure it puts some fear into you, and I
Speaker 1: totally get it. A lot of uncertainty right now with
Speaker 1: the economy for a variety of reasons, and certainly the
Speaker 1: tariffs play a role in that as well, which by
Speaker 1: the way, we'll talk about that coming up here at
Speaker 1: eight thirty with Roy O'Neil of NBC News. All right,
Speaker 1: let's get an update on traffic and weather, not Royalis.
Speaker 1: That's I just combined two humans. I combined Royalis, Rory.
Speaker 1: I combined Rory O'Neill and Bobby. They are two different
Speaker 1: people and we appreciate both of them. And it'll be
Speaker 1: Bobby that gives us the update on traffic right here,
Speaker 1: right now, And there's Radio eight forty whas are you
Speaker 1: calling me out? John Alden? This is one you did
Speaker 1: not I know, And I feel bad because I love
Speaker 1: I love Montgomery Gentry. I mean this was so early
Speaker 1: two thousands. Country music is now like old to classic
Speaker 1: country music. Yeah, there's a new format that is growing
Speaker 1: in markets, meaning they're just it's now becoming a bigger thing.
Speaker 1: And it is nineties in two thousands country, which again,
Speaker 1: this to me doesn't seem old old, but it is.
Speaker 1: This song is probably twenty every bit of twenty years old,
Speaker 1: and uh, it takes me back to I mean, I
Speaker 1: know they're not from I know the Lexington Eddie Montgomery's
Speaker 1: from Danville, Bowl County. Oh yeah, it's actually Boyle County. Change.
Speaker 1: It gets your old change in Bowl County. But uh,
Speaker 1: and then I believe his partner, who of course tragically
Speaker 1: passed away in a helicopter crash. I believe he was
Speaker 1: from Nicholasville, which is which is right around Lexington. So yeah,
Speaker 1: they're Kentucky boys and they I mean, I love Montgomery gentry,
Speaker 1: and they I feel like had their peak. And maybe
Speaker 1: that's insulting to say, because I don't know this for certain,
Speaker 1: but I feel like when they were having consistent radio
Speaker 1: hits in rotation, it was around the time like when
Speaker 1: I got my license and I was driving for the
Speaker 1: first time. And I mean, was that song. I mean,
Speaker 1: it's phenomenal And the reason I asked if John called
Speaker 1: me out. We played a clip earlier of Luke Comb's
Speaker 1: on a podcast with Barstool Sports where they asked him
Speaker 1: which state produces the best country music, and sure enough,
Speaker 1: he said Kentucky, which I thought that he would go
Speaker 1: with Carolina because that's where he's from, and clearly there's
Speaker 1: a lot of talent from there as well, Luke Colmb's
Speaker 1: of certainly Eric Church and others, but he said Kentucky
Speaker 1: and just talked about how indeniable the talent is with
Speaker 1: Keith Whitley, Tyler Childers, Sergel Simpson, and obviously Chris staple To,
Speaker 1: and then there's many more. We talked about many of those,
Speaker 1: and I did leave out Montgomery Gentry and I feel
Speaker 1: bad now because I I mean, I could literally there's
Speaker 1: probably I don't even I'm sure they have the greatest
Speaker 1: hits album that was released. It they don't. There's probably
Speaker 1: a playlist created on Spotify and whatnot, and I could
Speaker 1: go start to finish and and it'll take me back
Speaker 1: to a to a you know, a time that was
Speaker 1: a lot of fun. And they when I think of them,
Speaker 1: I do think Kentucky. Like when I hear them and
Speaker 1: I'm enjoying one of the many hits they've had, It's
Speaker 1: pretty common for me to just at some point in
Speaker 1: the song, you know, have the realization, Yeah, these guys
Speaker 1: are from Kentucky and that's and that's pretty awesome. You you
Speaker 1: guy could pull off one of those hats, Toady Montgomery wears,
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, you got to do it. I like how
Speaker 1: he would like twist the mic stand too. Whatever. Oh yeah,
Speaker 1: he was a performer, man, he's a showman. Yeah. And
Speaker 1: he's also got a he's got it. He's got a
Speaker 1: sound that's just you know, I don't know what I
Speaker 1: would compare it to, but maybe maybe it's rare because
Speaker 1: there's not real anybody to compare it to him. It
Speaker 1: sounds good. He's a great singer, but I feel like
Speaker 1: he is. His image and the sound it is very
Speaker 1: relatable to the common working man, if that makes sense.
Speaker 1: Like he's got just enough of the modern country that
Speaker 1: was big at that time, but a little blue collar
Speaker 1: in him as well. They were kind of the transition
Speaker 1: almost between the two and man, they're great. So thank
Speaker 1: you for thank you for playing to Montgomery gentry, and
Speaker 1: I deserve to be called out even if you weren't
Speaker 1: intending to do that. I'll do it to myself. All right.
Speaker 1: We got another update of tracking the weather coming your way.
Speaker 1: And also we will have another sports update with Scott Fitzgerald.
Speaker 1: Rory O'Neil set to join us at eight thirty. We'll
Speaker 1: talk about the latest onn What we're looking at with
Speaker 1: the interest rates is the light at the end of
Speaker 1: the tunnel. Rory can tell us that. And also what
Speaker 1: else are we going to chat about with Rory? I
Speaker 1: forget you know what to expect with Roory O'Neal, and
Speaker 1: it's nothing but the best, and he'll be with us
Speaker 1: here before too long right here on news RADI waate
Speaker 1: forty whas look with the cat drug in it's mister
Speaker 1: Tony Venetti, what up joining me here in studio news
Speaker 1: radioaight forty wa h as we were wrapping things up
Speaker 1: here before too long and then we'll hand it off
Speaker 1: to Tony and Dwight so Brooks, how of course, is
Speaker 1: awaiting sentencing, likely going to get life in prison. And
Speaker 1: the woman that he is has been found guilty of
Speaker 1: murdering is Crystal Rogers and they have a child together
Speaker 1: and the custody battle for this child is one as
Speaker 1: a parent myself and you also are a parent. I
Speaker 1: just I this is tricky although I think it would
Speaker 1: be a no. I don't think there'd be any discussion.
Speaker 1: But the sister of Brooks how let me get her
Speaker 1: name here, she's She's to be clear, she's not. She
Speaker 1: was not accused of conspiring to to to kill Crystal
Speaker 1: Rodgers or cover it up. But what she was brought
Speaker 1: up in the in the in the case for during
Speaker 1: the during the trial, I should say, is because she
Speaker 1: was she brought a digital recorder into the grand jury
Speaker 1: because she claims she felt paranoid and there was no
Speaker 1: conspiracy to have everybody consistently have the same story. But
Speaker 1: that's why she got brought up that she was. I
Speaker 1: guess apparently part of you know, helping everybody maintain consistency
Speaker 1: in their story. But nonetheless, she's the sister of Brooks Howck,
Speaker 1: and she has filed for permanent custody of this child.
Speaker 1: And I think the scenario where a family member of
Speaker 1: Brooks Howck has full time custody of this kid is
Speaker 1: not insane, but I do think it is. It would
Speaker 1: really depend upon their how close they are to the family.
Speaker 1: That again, there's only been one family member that's going
Speaker 1: to prison as a child. It's a miner. I'm gonna
Speaker 1: imagine it's probably ten ten years old, So John Shannon's
Speaker 1: with us in here. So again, like the thought of
Speaker 1: the custody of this child, if I look put it
Speaker 1: this way, if I am Crystal Roger's mother who has
Speaker 1: had has been in previous custody battles with Rosemary hawk
Speaker 1: for this child, that's what that was Brooks as well. Yes,
Speaker 1: so the custody battle in recent years has been between
Speaker 1: Sherry Ballard, Crystal's mother, and Rosemary Hawk, Brook's mother, and
Speaker 1: then in twenty twenty three his sister, Rhonda micklvoy. She
Speaker 1: ended up getting temporary custody and now she wants full
Speaker 1: time custody, claiming that this is because of some permanency
Speaker 1: and stability is why she claims this child should be
Speaker 1: with her permanently. But if you are Crystal Rogers's mother,
Speaker 1: Sherry Ballad or the Rogers family, I just I feel
Speaker 1: a level of just discussed knowing that this child currently
Speaker 1: and could potentially full time be in the custody of
Speaker 1: someone who most people would have a hard time believing
Speaker 1: that they were not aware that they put together a
Speaker 1: plan to murder the mom.
Speaker 2: From what I've read the howks did a lot of
Speaker 2: worked really hard to try to keep Sherry a Ballad
Speaker 2: from even having like visitation with this child.
Speaker 3: Time out, time out of it. Right, Look, this child
Speaker 3: is the piece that has been lost in every conversation
Speaker 3: about this case.
Speaker 1: Yes, most people probably didn't know they had of kid together.
Speaker 3: Bartstown needs to wrap their arms around this child.
Speaker 2: His name is Eli.
Speaker 3: I'm not even mentioning names. It is going to need
Speaker 3: all the help he can get because his mother's dead
Speaker 3: and his dad killed her. Yeah, so let's all take
Speaker 3: a step back. And I know it's a cliche, but
Speaker 3: this will take a village and Bargetown, I think, is
Speaker 3: a place that will step up to wrap their arms
Speaker 3: around this child. Yes, because he's going to need all
Speaker 3: of us to help him. And we know these Look
Speaker 3: and this happens more. This is a Salacia's crazy story
Speaker 3: that made national news, but it happens all the time
Speaker 3: in Louisville. Dad killed mom. I grew up that way,
Speaker 3: and it happens. It happens all the time. I mean
Speaker 3: players at U of L. How many times does a
Speaker 3: player come in from Florida that were raised by an
Speaker 3: aunt or uncle or foster Holmes that my mom killed
Speaker 3: my dad or my dad killed my mom, and this
Speaker 3: is how I grew up. And now they're running back
Speaker 3: at Louisville. So again, refocus. I don't know who should
Speaker 3: get the child, but I'm with you. I know that
Speaker 3: my sister should, yeah, probably get I don't know how
Speaker 3: this system works, but that doesn't sound right just from
Speaker 3: the onset, well, because it doesn't sound right because it just.
Speaker 1: The scenario where this sister clearly considering that the Hawks,
Speaker 1: they're a strong and powerful family, that that clearly had
Speaker 1: they took out. I mean, I guess at this point
Speaker 1: it's only Brooks that has been convicted of this, but
Speaker 1: obviously the unindicted co conspirators are his brother and his mother,
Speaker 1: and again his sister's not accused of anything other than
Speaker 1: just recording their conversations leading up to the grand jury.
Speaker 1: But I get I just think if you're in Bargetown
Speaker 1: and you are of the belief that this this woman
Speaker 1: had no clue and did not know any way that
Speaker 1: the family was involved in her murder and disappearance, or
Speaker 1: maybe even the plan to take it out, I just
Speaker 1: think you're probably in the minority.
Speaker 3: I think, yeah, you would think that the how family again,
Speaker 3: in a perfect world, would just say, we just want
Speaker 3: what's best for the child. If it's just financial means,
Speaker 3: that's fine with us. We want to have a uh,
Speaker 3: we want to have an experience. It's with him in
Speaker 3: his life some way, And it really I wish in
Speaker 3: the perfect world there was a mediator that they both
Speaker 3: trusted that would sit down and go, let's not do
Speaker 3: this in the court, Let's look each other in the eye.
Speaker 3: Let's move past this. For Eli's sake. Sure this again,
Speaker 3: I'm lollipops and rainbow in this, which is.
Speaker 2: That's unusual.
Speaker 3: But I wish for him because I'm sitting here thinking
Speaker 3: it's going to be so tough for him because he's
Speaker 3: always going to be that story will always be attached
Speaker 3: to him in Kentucky. And you know, in a perfect world,
Speaker 3: I'd love for if he had a relative that lives
Speaker 3: somewhere else, he's going to start over and not be
Speaker 3: that kid.
Speaker 2: When he was. To your point, when he becomes a
Speaker 2: teenager and goes back and reads about all of this
Speaker 2: and finds out what is in his face.
Speaker 3: He's ten, he knows he knows some.
Speaker 2: Of them, but he'll get older and read the details.
Speaker 3: You know, I'm pretty sure he probably knows a lot,
Speaker 3: but he I wish he could start over somewhere else.
Speaker 3: But that's a perfect world. But I wish someone would
Speaker 3: that they both trusted, could sit down with the mediator
Speaker 3: that they both trusted and said, all right, let's move
Speaker 3: pat this, we get it now, let's let's let's figure
Speaker 3: out what's saying.
Speaker 1: Take away, just the huge part of this whole story
Speaker 1: is that the mother was murdered and the dad is
Speaker 1: now in waiting life sentence. There are people who have
Speaker 1: a real nastiness about child custody in general. You throw
Speaker 1: this element to where the child could end up with
Speaker 1: the family, where again two undicted co conspirators and the
Speaker 1: actual convicted murderer they still have. I mean that just
Speaker 1: I could see that being just a crazy thing.
Speaker 3: Yeah, there are family judges that live in our neighborhood.
Speaker 3: Maybe we get one of them on the air because
Speaker 3: they deal with this stuff every single day, and they
Speaker 3: could tell you stories are maybe not similar, because this
Speaker 3: is crazy, but but yeah, it might be a good thing.
Speaker 3: It's a great question to ask. The aftermath and collateral
Speaker 3: damage of Eli and his last name's Hawk.
Speaker 1: That sounds like a book. Huh, that sounds like a book.
Speaker 1: It does. Well, let's get let's get to it. Well.
Speaker 1: I think when it comes to those questions that you
Speaker 1: would ask somebody who does this every day and deals
Speaker 1: with those kinds of things, you just know you're making
Speaker 1: one of two decisions, and both are potentially dangerous and.
Speaker 3: Book you're right, Eli Howe collateral A yeah, there we go,
Speaker 3: There we go.
Speaker 1: We're out of town. Tony Dwaiter coming next right here
Speaker 1: on news radio waight forty whas