88.9 WEKU

07/25/2025

Thank you for your patience and support while WEKU worked through a double-whammy of federal funding recission and major equipment failure due to a lightning surge this past week. Your emails, messages and gifts of support have buoyed us during this time!

If you have not yet supported WEKU's 1850 campaign for the future, you can become a monthly supporter today. We now need just 1165 $10/monthly supporters to make up the federal funding that was rescinded.

Make your gift, or encourage fellow listeners to support at weku.org/1850.

07/25/2025

You can support WEKU's 1850 campaign today!

07/24/2025

WEKU is back to our normal broadcast schedule!

Thank you so so much for your calls, messages and gifts of support!

07/24/2025

Station Update 7.23.25 -

Station management and engineering have been working around the clock to identify and attempt to repair the equipment damaged in last weekends storms.
This week we made progress and replaced some parts that were damaged. Unfortunately, we have identified additional computer software and hardware issues that have further complicated repairs. We are working diligently to get these repairs done quickly so that we can return to our normal schedule.

We are incredibly grateful for your e-mails and calls of support during this difficult time.

Our current broadcast disruption is not a result of financial hardship. Thanks to careful management and donor support, we are able to replace the parts that were damaged. We are currently working to identify and install the equipment needed to bring us back to normal broadcast.

As we work to restore service, we thank you for your continued patience and support. Thanks to your unwavering dedication and support, we will persevere, and hope to be back to normal soon.

Send a message to learn more

07/22/2025

FEMA assistance deadlines for April storm, May tornado victims approaching this week...

The deadlines for victims of both April’s severe storms and May’s tornadoes to apply for FEMA assistance are this week.

FEMA’s assistance deadline for victims of May’s tornadoes is July 23. Six counties in southern Kentucky were affected.

That includes Caldwell, Laurel, Pulaski, Russell, Trigg and Union.

FEMA’s assistance deadline for April’s floods, which hit much of central and western Kentucky is two days later, on July 25.

That includes Anderson, Breckinridge, Bullitt, Butler, Calloway, Carroll, Christian, Clark, Daviess, Franklin, Garrard, Grayson, Hancock, Hardin, Hart, Henderson, Henry, Hopkins, Jefferson, Jessamine, Larue, Lincoln, McCracken, McLean, Meade, Mercer, Muhlenberg, Nelson, Ohio, Oldham, Owen, Pendleton, Powell, Trimble, Warren, Webster and Woodford.

Local officials say recovery is going smoothly. Franklin County Judge Executive Michael Mueller says the county is offering a home buyout program for their residents who were hit by floods.

“I think there's a lot of tough decisions. You know, there's a lot of homes, some historic, so people are really torn. You know, it might have been a generational home for them, and they just can't stomach the idea of having that destroyed,” he said.

Mueller says 514 structures in the county were damaged by the floods, including some apartment complexes that were destroyed. He says around 500 people have applied for assistance.

Laurel County Judge Executive David Westerfield, whose county was affected by the tornadoes, says they’ve cleaned up around 95% of the debris.

“All these volunteers coming in from – especially out of town, and local people as well – you move the home debris to the curbside, you know, then at that point, it goes to be put on county property,” Westerfield said. “Then that allows us to come through and pick it up and remove it and take it to the landfill.”

Westerfield says 480 homes in the county were damaged by the tornadoes, and 290 homes were completely destroyed. Westerfield says a drop off point for donations is still running at 1812 North Main Street.

weku.org

07/22/2025

Mark your calendar: WEKU’s annual Social at Jacobson Park is coming up on Saturday, August 2nd! We'll be at shelter #7 from 11 am until 1 pm.

Come cool off with a free frozen treat from our friends at Spotz Gelato and connect with fellow public radio listeners, supporters, and members of the WEKU team.

We'd love to see you there!

07/22/2025

Ex-officer who violated Breonna Taylor’s civil rights gets 33 months in prison...

Former Louisville police detective Brett Hankison was sentenced in federal court Monday for his actions during the fatal raid on Breonna Taylor’s apartment.

Read the full article online at weku.org.

07/22/2025

Kentucky Attorney General announces additional settlement funds with opioid manufacturers...

An extra $14.4 million in settlement dollars from opioid manufacturers is coming to Kentucky. Attorney General Russel Coleman says his office secured the additional money.

Seven of the companies are now prohibited from promoting or marketing opioids and opioid products and making or selling any product that contains more than 40 mg of oxycodone per pill.

Those companies are also required to create a monitoring and reporting system that would flag suspicious orders. An eighth company has agreed not to manufacture or sell opioid products for the next 10 years.

However, it will be able to continue marketing and selling medications to treat addiction. Attorney General Coleman announced last month that the Commonwealth has surpassed more than $1 billion in settlement dollars. That includes a $73.1 million settlement with Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family.

Earlier this year, Coleman also reached a $110 million settlement with Kroger.

weku.org.

07/21/2025

Hazard high school says Governor’s entrepreneurs’ school was a great program...

A Hazard High School student said her three weeks at the recently-concluded Governor’s School for Entrepreneurs Summer Startup Program was a very moving experience. Ali Caldwell, who’ll be a senior this fall, was one of 160 high schoolers from around the state selected for the program. Her five-girl team won first place in their division with a proposal designed to minimize the risks of violence and exploitation against teenage girls.

“Our product was a permanent jewelry bracelet that had a charm attached to it, and this charm, it had a button on it, and if you hold it for three seconds, it would send your location to local police departments using FirstNet.”

Caldwell said the three weeks at UK were the longest she’d spent away from home, but after a bout of homesickness the first day, she loved it. She said she plans to pass along the business and other skills she gained to others in her community.

“I'm really passionate about my small town, like I love it here. I love the people. It's amazing. And so I think any information that is outside of Hazard that can help us in the long run, I think that's really what I strive that's what I strive to do at GSE.”

Caldwell said she plans to attend law school and return to Hazard to practice.

07/21/2025

UPDATE: July 20, 2025 - 9pm.
We are working to replace the equipment that was damaged during Saturday's storm. For now, We will be broadcasting Morning Edition from 5am-9am, BBC News from 9am-4pm, All Things Considered from 4pm-7pm, and BBC News from 7pm-5am.
We will continue to keep you updated through email, social media and weku.org.
Thank you for your patience, understanding and support!
Again, questions and concerns about this temporary change can be directed to the station e-mail at [email protected].

A power surge damaged a key piece of equipment central to WEKU broadcast and programming

07/20/2025

A power surge damaged a key piece of equipment central to WEKU broadcast and programming

07/20/2025

Due to a power surge last evening in Richmond, which affected our equipment, WEKU is currently unable to broadcast local content to our network of stations. We are broadcasting national NPR and BBC feed until the problem is resolved. So if you don’t hear our regular programming, this is the reason. We are working to resolve the issue.