The News for 1/24/26
The content you hear on this program has not been reviewed by WRFL prior to broadcast and is produced under the discretion of its host DJs, and does not reflect the views of the University of Kentucky, WRFL, or its underwriters.
We’ll get back to the music on 120 Minutes in just a moment, but first, it’s 12:30 and it’s time to check the news, for this week, January 24th.
The Minnesota Star-Tribune reported Friday that thousands of protesters marched through the streets of Minneapolis and shut down large parts of the Twin Cities as hundreds of businesses there closed their doors, and workers and students took the day off as part of a general strike to demand an end to what residents there have referred to as government terrorism and a paramilitary occupation of their state by federal agents in ICE and Border Patrol. Tensions have been rising and coming to a boiling point in Minneapolis ever since ICE agent Jonathan Ross shot and killed 37-year-old mother and citizen Renee Good on January 7th. The “ICE Out! Statewide Shutdown” event was put together by labor and faith leaders in Minnesota, the Star-Tribune reported, and culminated Friday afternoon with a large-scale anti-ICE rally held in a downtown arena in Minneapolis. The New York Times reported that the demonstration, which unfolded in bitter cold subzero temperatures, may in fact be the largest, most widespread and organized worker action in the entire history of Minnesota. A New York Times/Siena poll released on Friday found that now 63% of registered voters nationwide disapprove of ICE, saying that the federal agency has gone too far and should be reined in or abolished.
In other news, the World Economic Forum was held in Davos, Switzerland, all week long, and it marked a turning point that historians say marks the crumbling of the world order that has been in place for 80 years since the end of World War II. Donald Trump spoke at Davos on Wednesday in a rambling and largely incoherent address, according to news analysis from the Times. Their reporting summed it up as follows: “For days, Trump insisted that he would accept nothing less than full ownership of Greenland. He dismissed concerns that his demands were risking the disintegration of the primary Western military alliance, and he threatened economic war on anyone who tried to stop him. And then he took it all back.” The chancellor of Germany said at Davos that “the United States’ global pole position is being challenged”, and the prime minister of Canada said Tuesday that the world’s dependence on the United States and its status as a superpower was coming to an end, saying that the Trump administration has caused a “rupture” in the world order.
Meanwhile, The Verge reported Thursday that TikTok and its parent company ByteDance have formed a joint venture with 3 major investors so the app can remain available in the United States. Taking over TikTok operations in the U.S. will be tech giant Oracle, the private equity firm Silver Lake, and Emirati MGX, an AI investment company based in the UAE. Oracle’s executive chairman is Larry Ellison, whose son David Ellison took over Paramount last year and reshaped the historic media studio to be friendly to the Trump administration. The move raises questions about TikTok’s proprietary and opaque algorithm. The 2024 law requiring TikTok to have U.S.-based operations was originally passed due to concerns about China’s influence over the algorithm and user data, but The Verge reported that users are now voicing similar concerns about possible U.S. influence over TikTok.
Finally tonight, WKYT meteorologist Chris Bailey reported Friday that a major snowstorm is headed for Lexington. He said that the storm “will shut down the state, bringing significant amounts of snow, sleet and freezing rain with bitterly cold air slamming in as well,” and the new call for snowfall that he issued Friday night now predicts upwards of a foot of snow for Lexington by the time the storm is over Sunday night. Lexington mayor Linda Gorton said people should move their cars off of main roads by 5 p.m. Saturday and that the city will be offering free parking in 4 downtown garages from Saturday morning through Tuesday morning. Governor Andy Beshear declared a state of emergency on Friday and said, “This is a serious storm that will likely cause dangerous conditions on our roads and potential power outages, which is why we ask that everyone does what they can to prepare now.” Snow is expected to start falling late Saturday afternoon.
And that’s… the news.
The News for 1/17/26
The content you hear on this program has not been reviewed by WRFL prior to broadcast and is produced under the discretion of its host DJs, and does not reflect the views of the University of Kentucky, WRFL, or its underwriters.
We’ll get back to the music on 120 Minutes in just a moment, but first, it’s 12:30 and it’s time to check the news, for this week, January 17th.
The Minnesota Star-Tribune published an editorial Thursday titled “Minnesota is under siege. This cannot stand.” In it, the paper’s board said, “The fatal shooting of 37-year-old Renee Good, an American citizen and Minneapolis resident, by ICE agent Jonathan Ross on January 7th brought into brutal focus an enforcement strategy that erodes trust and often puts innocent people and lawful protesters in extreme danger.” It also said that the heavy presence of ICE in Minneapolis and the “willful provocation” of residents and protesters there by ICE “feels like a military occupation”: “What we are witnessing is the storming of a state by the federal government. If battalions of militarized federal agents can occupy American cities, targeting any American seemingly at will without transparency or accountability, then no state is immune. It’s wrong, and it must be stopped,” the editorial said.
In late-breaking news, the Star-Tribune also reported Friday night that a federal judge in Minnesota has now ordered federal agents not to retaliate against peaceful protesters and not to stop drivers in the state, but as of yet it’s unclear what effect this temporary injunction might have on the situation on the ground in Minneapolis. This news comes after a new Economist poll out Tuesday shows that more Americans now want to abolish ICE than to keep it.
Meanwhile, MS NOW reported Friday night that the Trump administration’s Justice Department is escalating its attack on Minnesota Democrats, launching a criminal investigation and issuing subpoenas for governor Tim Walz and mayor Jacob Frey, apparently on the theory that their objections to ICE amount to obstruction. The New York Times previously reported Tuesday that six federal prosecutors in Minnesota resigned this week over Trump’s push to also investigate the widow of the woman killed by the ICE agent, which the Times said the prosecutors found “outrageous”. Governor Walz responded Friday night, “Weaponizing the justice system against your opponents is an authoritarian tactic. The only person not being investigated for the shooting of Renee Good is the federal agent who shot her.” Mother Jones magazine editor-in-chief Clara Jeffery said Friday night, “The DOJ is no longer legitimate on any level. It’s just a goon squad.”
In other news, here at home, the Kentucky Kernel reported this week that Brad Van hook, the UK employee who was suspended from his job after a Facebook comment about Charlie Kirk’s death in September, has now returned to work after a six-week internal review. Also this week, the Kernel reported that a U.S. district judge denied a request by suspended UK professor Ramsi Woodcock to return to the classroom. Instead, the court granted UK’s motion to put the lawsuit on hold while the university continues investigating Woodcock’s comments advocating for the dismantling of Israel as a nation-state. The professor had filed a federal lawsuit against UK in November, saying its investigation was unconstitutional.
In an op-ed for the New York Times on Monday, Greg Lukianoff, the president of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, wrote about universities’ ongoing crackdowns against speech, with university systems in Texas and Florida taking the most heavy-handed approach so far in limiting academic freedom in the classroom. Lukianoff said, “First Amendment advocates often warn about a slippery slope. Once censorship starts at the margins, core freedoms are next. University administrators and state commissars are skipping the slope and going straight for the trap door.”
Finally tonight, Martin Luther King Day is this coming Monday, January 19th, with Lexington’s Freedom March happening downtown at 1 p.m. Lexington Herald-Leader columnist Linda Blackford noted on Thursday that UK, which founded Lexington’s MLK Day observance in 1973, remains a sponsor of this year’s events, and “is apparently still on board, despite federal and state pressure that’s leading it to censor faculty, staff, students, and associated groups”. Blackford asked UK why it pulled its support for the Pride Festival last year if it could still support MLK Day, and a spokesperson told her it’s because Martin Luther King Day is a national holiday. Blackford concluded, “So, small steps, I guess.”
And that’s… the news.
The News for 1/10/26
The content you hear on this program has not been reviewed by WRFL prior to broadcast and is produced under the discretion of its host DJs, and does not reflect the views of the University of Kentucky, WRFL, or its underwriters.
We’ll get back to the music on 120 Minutes in just a moment, but first, it’s 1:00 and it’s time to check the news, for this week, January 10th.
The Kentucky Kernel reported Monday that faculty members at UK have expressed concern about “censorship on campus” after UK changed the titles of several of their campus events to remove any “identity-based” terminology. The Kernel cites examples such as an event about women farmers being edited by UK to remove the words “invisible, empowered, and erased”, and an event about economic disparities in D.C. edited to remove the words “gentrification” and “racial wealth gap” from its title. The Kernel said it did not receive a response from UK as to who redacted the titles and whether a list of prohibited words exists. Sociology professor Pat Mooney told the Kernel that UK’s actions are a “slippery slope”, saying that UK “can’t admit that there’s a list, because then it’s clearly censorship and a violation of free speech, so it’s up to us to guess”. The Kernel also reported that department chair Ed Morris emailed faculty back in November to warn them that there are “too many risks to discussing these issues in the current environment” and that speaking to the media could “potentially lead to unforeseen consequences”. Lexington Herald-Leader columnist Linda Blackford wrote on Wednesday about UK’s latest actions, “A university of open inquiry has been turned into an Orwellian swamp where middling bureaucrats play whack-a-mole with words and ideas, using their highlighters to change ‘dangerous’ words as determined by the brain trust leading Frankfort and the federal government. It would be truly hilarious if it weren’t so sad.”
In follow-up on previous news, the Kentucky Kernel also reported over winter break that several local organizations said they were unaware until informed by the media that they were among the over 1,200 UK partnerships at risk of termination. As part of a federal civil rights investigation, UK was ordered to eliminate partnerships with organizations that “may limit participation based on race”, but as previously reported by the Herald-Leader, UK went far beyond those requirements. So far, UK has declined to publicly release any specific reasons for who they targeted. An attorney told the Kernel, “It’s not clear how the university thinks it can withhold this information from the public”. Community partners said rebuilding trust with UK would be difficult and accused UK of acting without empathy or professional courtesy, the Kernel reported.
In other local news, the website Queer Kentucky has launched their 2026 bill tracker. Every year, Queer Kentucky helps keep track of the bills introduced during Kentucky’s legislative session that may impact marginalized people here in Kentucky. This is an important process to follow, especially considering that last year’s legislative session brought us HB4, the anti-DEI bill for higher education that’s led to a chilling effect felt by minorities here at UK, as previously reported by the Kentucky Kernel. As yet more bills inevitably come up this year that threaten marginalized people, Queer Kentucky’s bill tracker helps people stay informed about what’s likely to become law. You can find that bill tracker at queerkentucky.org.
Finally tonight, in national news, the Minnesota Star-Tribune reported Wednesday that federal ICE agent Jonathan Ross shot and killed a U.S. citizen, 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good, while she was driving in her car on the streets of Minneapolis. ICE shot and killed her following her attempt to exercise her First Amendment rights as a legal observer of their activities. Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey addressed the public shortly after the killing, saying that “people are being hurt”, “long-term residents are being terrorized,” and telling ICE to “get the fuck out of Minneapolis”. Following the killing of Renee Good by ICE, Minnesota Public Radio reported that Border Patrol officers arrived at a Minneapolis high school on Wednesday while students were leaving and tackled and pepper-sprayed them and handcuffed parents and teachers, prompting Minneapolis to cancel school for the rest of the week, citing safety concerns. This week’s developments intensified widespread outrage against the deployment of ICE and Border Patrol in American cities by the Trump administration, with thousands taking to the streets in Minneapolis and other cities across the country to protest a federal government that Minnesota governor Tim Walz said is “at war” with its own states and that California governor Gavin Newsom said is targeting its own citizens with “state-sponsored terrorism”.
And that’s… the news.
The News for 12/27/25
The content you hear on this program has not been reviewed by WRFL prior to broadcast and is produced under the discretion of its host DJs, and does not reflect the views of the University of Kentucky, WRFL, or its underwriters.
We’ll get back to the music on 120 Minutes in just a moment, but first, it’s 12:30 and it’s time to check the news, for this week, December 27th.
The Kentucky Kernel reported this week that trans and nonbinary students at UK are feeling “unsafe, unwelcome, and uncomfortable” after the university quietly eliminated gender-inclusive housing. Trans students living on campus who had not yet updated their gender marker with UK to match their identity before the registrar abruptly stopped allowing updates in October, as well as all new students, will be placed in dorms based only on their assigned sex at birth. The Kernel reported that UK’s PR office said the reason for these actions is to comply with “state, federal, and university policies,” listing Kentucky House Bill 4, the U.S. Civil Rights investigation, and a Department of Justice memo as reasons for the removal of gender-inclusive housing. However, the Kernel reports that none of the directives that UK cited actually mention the words “gender,” “trans,” or “nonbinary.” One trans student told the Kernel, “The lack of fight makes me think less of them. Not standing up for what is factually correct doesn’t look good for an educational institution.” A faculty advisor in the Engineering department told the Kernel, “It feels like things have gotten worse and there’s nothing I can do to protect my students from the fallout.”
The Kernel also spoke this week with Emma Curtis, Lexington’s first trans city council member, who said that UK is acting with what she called “preemptive compliance.” Curtis told the Kernel, “They went above and beyond the minimum that was required by law. The idea that it’s somehow illegal to put an optional checkmark on a form to help pair roommates with similar lived experiences is just false.” She went on to say, “The fact that UK didn’t even communicate this beforehand shows what little regard they have for trans and nonbinary students.” Emma Curtis also told the Kernel that the stakes are higher than UK acknowledges. She said, “It’s a real safety hazard for trans students if they’re not able to be housed with others who are going to respect their basic humanity.” She continued, “I want to reassure LGBTQ* students that they have rights and protections under Lexington’s local fairness ordinance. They have a place and a future in our city, and we will cherish them, even if UK won’t.”
In follow-up on other news, the New York Times reported Tuesday that the University of Oklahoma has now fired an instructor over her decision to fail a student’s paper on gender that cited the Bible as its only source and called the existence of multiple genders “demonic.” Oklahoma did not respond to the Times’ questions about how it arrived at the decision to fire her. The Times also reported Wednesday that Texas A&M University decided not to reinstate an instructor who it fired after she taught students about gender identity and expression, even after an appeals panel found that her dismissal was not justified. The decision is expected to set off a court battle over academic freedom, as Trump continues his assault on higher education, trying to force universities to embrace his vision of the world, the Times reported.
Finally tonight, some personal commentary from me as we wrap up this frankly terrible year of 2025. I want to commend the students at the Kentucky Kernel, in particular their news editor Laurel Swanz, for their fearless reporting about the anti-speech and anti-diversity compliance actions taken by UK this year that have hurt minority students, faculty, and staff here on campus. Much of the leadership of this institution has disappointed me with their unwillingness to use their platforms to bring attention to these ongoing and important issues. Even this station no longer allows anyone to write about issues like these in its publications, citing HB4’s “viewpoint neutrality” restrictions. However, as we’ve seen in the Kernel’s excellent and thorough reporting this year, addressing the reality of what’s happening to marginalized people on this campus and publishing what they have to say about it is not against the law. At a time when it feels like everyone is running scared from the truth, I thank the Kentucky Kernel for having the courage to report it. Luckily, this station does still allow its members to use their First Amendment rights on the airwaves. As a result, I introduced these weekly news reports on our program this year. I hope you’ve found them informative, enlightening, and that you’ve learned something that you might not have heard about otherwise. I hope you join us as I bring you more news stories in 2026, every Friday night at 12:30, starting January 9th.
And that’s… the news.
The News for 12/20/25
The content you hear on this program has not been reviewed by WRFL prior to broadcast and is produced under the discretion of its host DJs, and does not reflect the views of the University of Kentucky, WRFL, or its underwriters.
We’ll get back to the music on 120 Minutes in just a moment, but first, it’s 12:30 and it’s time to check the news, for this week, December 20th.
Tech news website The Verge reported Thursday that FCC chairman Brendan Carr faced lawmakers on Capitol Hill this week in his first Senate hearing since he threatened ABC and local TV stations in September over airing Jimmy Kimmel Live!, remarks that even some Republicans say crossed a line. Carr spent nearly three hours before the Senate Commerce Committee, clashing repeatedly with Democrats over comments he made after Kimmel joked about the political ideology of the killer of right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk. At the time, Carr had told broadcasters they could deal with the FCC “the easy way or the hard way.” However, Carr now insists that was not a threat, calling criticism from Democrats “projection and distortion.”
The Verge says Carr refused to express regret for his statements, saying his job is to enforce the FCC’s “public interest” standard, and that broadcast television is different from other media. But Democratic senators said Carr is weaponizing the agency to silence speech. One FCC commissioner, Democrat Anna Gomez, warned that the public interest standard is being used as cover for censorship, calling it “contrary to the First Amendment.” Even Republican committee chair Ted Cruz compared Carr’s language to “mafia talk.”
During the Senate hearing on Wednesday, The Verge further reports that Brendan Carr said under oath that the FCC is no longer an independent government agency, directly contradicting how the FCC has long described itself. During a tense exchange, Carr refused to say that the commission operates separately from the White House, and when asked whether the FCC’s own website was wrong to call it an independent agency, he said “possibly.” Shortly after, the word “independent” was removed from the FCC’s website, which The Verge warned is a clear signal that the FCC is operating directly under the control of Trump and his administration. So far, The Verge says that Carr has rejected calls to resign as FCC chairman, and there’s little sign that Congress will act, as concerns continue to fester over the future of free speech on these public airwaves.
Meanwhile, in higher education news, the New York Times reported last week that “a conservative overhaul of the University of Texas is underway.” UT Austin had historically been a liberal stronghold in the conservative state, but now the campus is “no longer led by an academic, but instead by a Republican lawyer,” the Times said. The University of Texas has promised curriculum changes that favor conservative ideas, restricted academic speech around race and gender, gutted faculty control, and gave the state power to approve its academic leaders. Students at UT Austin told the Times they were considering transferring out of Texas as a result. It’s all part of an ongoing “aggressive attack against higher education” by the Trump administration, the Times reported.
Finally tonight, the Times also reported on Monday that beloved film director and actor Rob Reiner and his wife Michele were killed at their own home on Sunday, allegedly by their own 32-year-old son, Nick. Reiner directed a string of legendary films in the ’80s and ’90s, including This Is Spinal Tap, The Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally, and A Few Good Men. In recent years, he was highly visible as a vocal advocate for progressive political causes, including LGBTQ* equality.
The Times further reported that Donald Trump seized on Reiner’s death to make a series of baseless attacks against him, drawing widespread outrage across the political spectrum. Representative Thomas Massie, Republican of Kentucky, said on Monday, “This is inappropriate and disrespectful discourse about a man who was just brutally murdered. I guess my elected GOP colleagues will just ignore it because they’re afraid? I challenge anyone to defend it.” Senator Chris Murphy, Democrat of Connecticut, said, “He’s just lost it,” and added on Wednesday that Trump’s constant and relentless attacks on American people and institutions show that he’s “such a sad, damaged person.”
And that’s… the news.