From Brenna Angel, Kentucky Public RadioU.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis and Second Lady Dr. Jill Biden were in Kentucky today as part of a three-day tour of community colleges. They toured Bluegrass Community & Technical College in Lexington and advocated a new Obama administration initiative aimed at training more people for the workforce. The issue is important to Dr. Biden, who teaches English a community college in Virginia. “I’ve seen moms juggling jobs and child care launch themselves into new careers. I’ve seen workers who’ve gone as far as they can in their jobs get the skills they need to reach the next level in their fields. And I’ve seen recent high school graduates take another step on the road to a four-year degree," Biden said. The $8 billion Community College to Career Fund in President Obama’s budget proposal would help schools establish new partnerships with business to train two million workers for jobs in high-demand industries. It would be jointly administered by the Labor and Education departments.
Rick Howlett was midday host and the host of LPM's weekly talk show, "In Conversation." He was with LPM from 2001-2023 and held many different titles, including Morning Edition host, Assignment Editor and Interim News Director. He died in August 2023. Read a remembrance of Rick here.