Uncovered by WDRB News

Ashli Watts, the new president and CEO of the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, sits down with Chris Otts to discuss politics and partisanship (including whether the chamber is too close to the Republican Party) and to preview the 2020 Kentucky legislative session. At 37, Watts is the first woman and the youngest person to lead what is perhaps the state’s most influential interest group, representing some 68,000 employers, including the biggest ones like UPS, Toyota and Humana.

Other topics:
Raising the state’s gasoline tax (12:30)

Tax reform and pushing Kentucky away from income taxes and toward sales taxes (14:30)

Gambling (casinos, sports betting, historical horse racing) (22:20)

The state’s pension debts (26:50)

Raising Kentucky’s $7.25 per hour minimum wage (31:00)

The business lobby’s view of policy on climate change (32:30)

Background:

SUNDAY EDITION | New Kentucky Chamber CEO: Time to 'hit the reset button' on partisanship in Frankfort

WDRB's Valerie Chinn discusses her recent story on how Kentucky and Indiana hold hundreds of millions of dollars in unpaid wages and other "missing money." Some of it could be yours. Valerie lays out how to check your name, how to claim your money and what it's like inside the Kentucky state treasurer's high-security vault where unclaimed items -- from jewelry to baseball cards to teeth -- are stored. 

Background:

More than $400 million in cash and treasures are unclaimed in Kentucky, and some could be yours

The Louisville-area gambling landscape is more competitive than ever with the opening of the $90 million Caesars Southern Indiana casino earlier this month and the continued growth of slot-like historical horse racing at Churchill Downs. WDRB business reporters Chris Otts and Jessica Bard discuss the evolution of the gaming business and what's next on the horizon. Will Kentucky embrace sports betting? Will Gov. Andy Beshear realize his campaign promise of casino legalization? This episode includes a half-dozen interviews with executives, lawmakers and ordinary folks on the casino floor.

Background:

SUNDAY EDITION | Southern Indiana casino raises stakes for Louisville-area gambling scene

Was is a 'Rumspringa' slaying or a coerced confession? WDRB first highlighted the case of Amish man Daniel Hostetler last summer. He was convicted of manslaughter related to a 2012 death once ruled to be a suicide. But now Hostetler is a free man -- one of hundreds to receive a pardon from former Gov. Matt Bevin in his final days in office. Travis Ragsdale and Jason Riley, the reporters who first brought Hostetler's case to light, discuss the story's wild twists and turns. 

Background:

SUNDAY EDITION | Suicide or ‘rumspringa’ slaying? Kentucky Amish man fights his conviction

Amish man at center of 'sickening' manslaughter case released from prison

The Sherman Minton Bridge is the Louisville area's oldest interstate bridge, but it is getting more use than ever because it remains free, while the $2 billion I-65 bridges started collecting tolls in 2016. Officials are eyeing a rehab project to add decades of life to the Minton, but the work will mean closing or restricting access to the popular bridge for months and probably years. WDRB.com reporter Marcus Green discusses the options to manage traffic during the project and how we might avoid another "Shermageddon."

Marcus' recent Sunday story:

SUNDAY EDITION | ‘Shermageddon’ 2? New Albany waits for Sherman Minton Bridge plan

As he prepares to leave office next week, Kentucky Gov. Bevin sat down with WDRB's Lawrence Smith for a final interview. To hear him tell it, Bevin lost his re-election bid last month in part because "the left" mobilized and "harvested" votes on college campuses, public housing complexes and other urban centers.  The governor who tried to nationalize the race and piggyback on Kentuckians' affinity for President Trump now says he regrets how "polarized" the country is becoming based on geography, and suggests that some voters don't have "as much information and thoughtfulness as we would hope and want them to."

Bevin also discusses:

- What he considers his most significant accomplishment (and it's not about the economy and jobs)

- Why the state shouldn't promise pensions to future government workers

- Whether Braidy Industries, in which Bevin invested $15 million of state money, will build its aluminum plant in Ashland.

- Why his administration denied Louisville's Passport Health Plan a new, five-year Medicaid contract

- What he plans to do next

We play the full interview.

Smith's story: Touting the positives of his term, Gov. Bevin offers few regrets of 4 combative years in Frankfort

Papa John's founder John Schnatter recently sat down with WDRB News' Stephan Johnson. Schnatter has rarely granted in-depth interviews since being ousted from the pizza company in July 2018 following his admitted use of racial language. In this week's show, Chris Otts of WDRB.com plays extended clips of the Schnatter interview and adds background and context. The multi-millionaire talks about why he is downbeat on the company's prospects and claims he was 'set up' last year as part of a corporate coups.

Link: As Papa John's moves on without its founder, John Schnatter vows for a 'day of reckoning'

Three Louisville police officers were convicted last month of faking overtime hours to boost their pay and pensions. The convictions followed investigative reports by WDRB's Travis Ragsdale and Jason Riley. On this week's show, Ragsdale and Riley discuss how they unraveled the story.

Background: 21-hour days and $320,000 of overtime highlight 'shocking' extra pay to 7 LMPD officers

WDRB.com education reporter Kevin Wheatley and anchor/reporter Valerie Chinn discuss their Sunday story on the school reform group paying for top Kentucky education officials to go to its conferences. Plus, Kevin discusses teachers' role in electing Andy Beshear and what his governorship means for education, teacher pensions and JCPS.

Background:

SUNDAY EDITION | Kentucky education officials get free perks from reform foundation closely tied to lobbying group

His mission isn't just to make aluminum; it's to "rebuild Appalachia." But people in northeast Kentucky are still waiting. Braidy Industries CEO Craig Bouhcard grants a rare interview to WDRB News. Hear him in his own words, as well as analysis by reporters Chris Otts and Travis Ragsdale.

Story: 'Don't give up. There is going to be a bright future here.'