For children with disabilities like autism, going to a movie can be alarming, even frightening. But now, theaters across America are showing movies in ways that accommodate how these kids sense the outside world. One of them is in Murray, and we’ll find out what makes these screenings “sensory friendly,” today on Front Page Sunday from WKMS News.
(1.) KY LT. GOV. JERRY ABRAMSON 2-WAY - Lieutenant Governor Jerry Abramson and Kentucky’s Blue Ribbon Tax Commission are seeking public comment to help develop recommendations on overhauling the state tax code.
(2.) DOUBT @ PTP -- Murray’s Playhouse in the Park continues their summer season with Doubt: A Parable. The play explores themes of suspicion, intuition, gossip, and their effect on a Catholic church in 1960s Bronx. Father Brendan Flynn is suspected of inappropriate relations with an altar boy and, without proof that he did it, leaves the church after threats to his reputation. Rose Krzton-Presson sat down with Stacey Smith- who plays the stern Sister Aloysius and director Don Fleming to talk about this culturally loaded play.
(3.) SAFER TRACKS, SLOWER RACES -- There's a debate brewing in the US horse industry over whether or not to adopt synthetic tracks. Experts say they’re safer for horses and riders. Others want to stick with traditional racetracks that have been with the industry for generations. But with grandstands emptying out, critics say track owners are putting profits over safety in order to attract a new generation of race fans. From Public Broadcasting’s Innovation Trail Project on Track Tech, Kentucky Public Radio’s Matt Laslo reports from Maryland.
(4.) BIRD’S PT LEVEE -- Three companies, including one from Kentucky, have landed contracts totaling up to $20 million to repair the Bird’s Point Levee in Missouri. The Mississippi River levee was blown up last year to avert the flooding of Cairo, Illinois and Fulton County, Kentucky. The Army Corps of Engineers is overseeing the project, which will restore the levee to its former strength. Drew Adams speaks with Corps Project Director Dennis Abernathy about the impact of the levee on Kentucky residents.
(5.) SENSORY THEATER -- Going to the movies is one those experiences that everyone should be able to enjoy. You settle into your seat with some popcorn, maybe a little candy, and when the lights dim, you’re in another world. But for some with disabilities, like autism, going to the movies can be almost impossible. Now, however, movie theaters all over the country are taking steps to change that. Here in Murray, the Cheri Theaters have started playing movies that are sensory friendly for children. Gary Pitts looks into what that entails, and what it means for families with children who have disabilities.
(6.) MIGNON PITTMAN 2-WAY -- Internet service problems plagued our region for much of this past week, and as inconvenient as it is for most of us, imagine heading up one of our area’s libraries just as the Commonwealth’s new e-book lending program, Kentucky Unbound rolls out. That very thing is the signal challenge for Calloway County Public Library’s new director Mignon Pittman. But, more than two decades with the library means Pittman is more than up to that challenge. Todd Hatton traveled to the library to speak with Mignon Pittman about her career there, begun in her early teens, and the debut of Kentucky Unbound.
(7.) NUMBERS -- If you’ve ever taken a math test or balanced a checkbook, you’re likely aware that dealing with numbers, and how they’re put together, can be a painful process. But, as commentator Celia Brewer points out, whether we like it or not, the concept of counting is a fact of life.
(8.) ROMP WORKSHOP -- Owensboro welcomes thousands of bluegrass and folk music enthusiasts later this month for the River of Music Party, or ROMP. Artists like Vince Gill, Old Crow Medicine Show and The Carolina Chocolate Drops headline the three day event. While it is entertaining, the event is also a bit educational for the budding artists who will attend. It includes workshops with professional musicians. Rose Krzton-Presson spoke with the ROMP workshop coordinator John Laswell about how the workshops come together, what to expect, and some of this year’s highlights.
(9.) HATFIELDS & MCCOYS -- This past week the History Channel aired a three part mini-series on the deadly Hatfield McCoy dispute that took place over almost thirty years of the nineteenth century in Eastern Kentucky in Pike County. It even spilled across the Tug Fork of the Big Sand River into West Virginia. The mini-series boasted more than 14 million viewers. The University Press of Kentucky reports that the original 1982 book on the clans is now among Amazon’s and Barnes and Nobles best-selling ebooks. So, with the increased attention to this feud we’re joined by Pike County Tourism Board Member Reed Potter. Mr. Potter thanks for joining us.
