The participants in the forum were Randy Bridges (R), and Martha Emmons (D), candidates in the 3rd District State Representative race, and also incumbent Danny Carroll (R), and Julie Tennyson (D), candidates for the 2nd District State Senator position.
The subjects discussed were Kentucky infrastructure problems, coal and alternative energy sources, school safety, charter schools, Paducah area high unemployment, and how to support public education.
Issues that resulted in the most debate were mental health professionals in school, as part of school safety, in the District 2 Senate race, and in the District 3 State Representative race, it was coal and alternative energy sources.
Julie Tennyson said that her opponent, Senator Danny Carroll, allowed Representative Will Coursey's bill, dealing with mental health counselors in schools, to die in the Senate Education Committee. Senator Carroll stated that this was attacking his integrity because he was working on a bill to address this situation a week after the Marshall County school shooting. He stressed he does not control what the committee does, and that being a graduate of Marshall County High School, he would never turn his back on the students of Marshall County. He said he takes great offense to this being said, because it is not true.
Randy Bridges said that he is most concerned with the coal industry, because of the extreme importance it has in the state's economy. Martha Emmons explained that a Department of Energy study says that most needed electricity can be produced by solar and wind sources. She added that this new technology should start with coal miners in the eastern part of Kentucky, where jobs have been decimated, and families can barely make a living.
Even with the disagreements on the above issues, there was agreement by the candidates on several of the other subjects discussed.
The forum was organized and run entirely by the Paducah Tilghman speech team, and was broadcast live on News Talk 94.3 WKYX. The entire forum can be heard in the news section of the West Kentucky Star podcast page.
On the Net:
PTHS Candidate Forum WKYX Podcast
