Latest / Kentucky Business News / 6.4.26

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6.4.26 · Kentucky Business News

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  Speaker 1: Hello. Today, I'll be reading from business sources in Lexington
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  and Louisville, including The Lane Report and others from around
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  the Commonwealth. Your reader today is Julia Shane. As a reminder,
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  RADIOI is a reading service intended for people who are
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  blind or who have other disabilities that make it difficult
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  to reprinted material. Our first article comes from the May
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  twenty eighth to twenty twenty sixth edition of The Lane
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  Report and is titled Bluegrass Airport unveils its Future l
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  EX Approach to Tomorrow. Bluegrass Airport l EX today announced Future
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  l Ex, a multi phase development to position the airport
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  for decades of growth while preserving the convenience and charm
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  that define air travel in central Kentucky. In response to
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  increasing passenger volume, Bluegrass Airport is advancing a thoughtful, phased
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  approach to growing its terminal and facilities. Airlines are operating
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  larger aircraft, adding flights and serving more destinations than ever before,
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  requiring additional space inside the terminal and on the aircraft ramp.
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  Through a long range master planning process, the airport has
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  identified a path forward to expand capacity while preserving the
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  experienced travelers value most The first several phases of this
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  initiative represent an approximate five hundred million dollar investment over
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  the next five years, with total costs to be refined
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  as planning progresses. This is a part of a broader,
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  long term program that will unfold over the next decade.
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  Passenger volumes that LAX are expected to rise, with annual
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  emplainments projected to nearly double by twenty forty five, reinforcing
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  the need for terminal growth ahead of those projections. The
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  Future LAX program outlines a phase development approach designed to
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  meet this rising demand while minimizing disruption to travelers. Bluegrass
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  Airport has always been defined by its approach to service,
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  convenience and an easy travel experience, said Eric Frankel, President
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  and CEO of Bluegrass Airport. With Future LAX, we're building
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  on that foundation. This is an important investment that allows
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  us to grow thoughtfully while continuing to deliver the experience
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  our passengers know and love. Building the foundation before terminal
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  expansion can begin, several key projects will prepare the airport
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  and create this space needed for future development. These initial
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  efforts will focus on one adding eight hundred and fifteen
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  long term parking spaces, two relocating and expanding the rental
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  car facility to improve efficiency and capacity. Three expanding fuel
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  storage capacity and ramp space to support additional overnight aircraft
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  parking for early morning departures. Four relocating the US Customs
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  facility for international private aviation passengers. Preparing for a future
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  FAA air traffic control tower. Relocation, clearing the way for
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  future parking and ground transportation in front of the terminal,
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  a new concourse and expanded terminal. As part of the
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  first five years of development. Those initial projects will create
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  the foundation for a larger, expanded terminal. At the heart
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  of this stage is a new concourse designed for simplicity, ease,
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  and comfort, featuring one a new concourse with eight gates
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  to accommodate larger aircraft and additional flights, two expanded dining
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  and retail options, and three a modernized baggage claim area
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  designed to grow with future demand and funding opportunities. These
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  projects are supported in parts by twenty four point nine
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  million dollars in state funding to begin key facility construction,
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  along with five million dollars in federal supports secured through
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  US Senator Mitch McConnell for preparatory work related to the
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  FAA's air traffic control tower relocation. Additional project funding will
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  be provided on an interim basis via a line of credit,
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  with the intent to refinance this obligation into long term
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  debt through the issuance of airport revenue bonds. We're grateful
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  for the support of our state legislature, including leadership from
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  State Senator Amanda May's bledsoe, and for US Senator McConnell's support,
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  whose support for funding is helping move future Lex forward,
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  said Frankel. This funding allows us to take important early
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  steps and begin the infrastructure needed to support the airport's
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  future growth. These improvements mark the first step in a broader,
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  long term plan. Future phases have already been identified and
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  will begin as passenger demand grows, ensuring LAX remains competitive
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  while maintaining its well liked convenience a new visual identity.
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  As part of today's n announcement, Bluegrass Airport also unveiled
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  a new brand identity. The new logo draws inspiration from
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  Kentucky's iconic rolling hills, incorporating the LAX Airport identifier and
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  an aircraft in motion to symbolize forward momentum. This is
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  just the beginning, added Frankel, we are excited to keep
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  the momentum moving forward as we shape an airport that
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  reflects who we are and what's ahead at l EX.
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  LAX serves central and southeastern Kentucky with NonStop access to
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  nineteen major hubs and vacation destinations nationwide. The airport serves
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  approximately one point six million travelers annually and is known
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  for a travel experience that is simple, welcoming, and efficient.
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  The same approach guides future l EX the airport's capital
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  infrastructure program to expand and modernize facilities over the next
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  decade while preserving what travelers value most. The next article
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  from the LANE report is titled new u of L
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  High Performance system will accelerate proft's AI assisted research. University
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  of Louisville mechanical engineering researcher Battery Neron is investigating the
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  chemical properties of new materials combinations for improved energy storage
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  and conversion. His discoveries have the potential to play a
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  pivotal role in advancing energy storage and conversion technology and
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  lead to cheap, sustainable and efficient batteries for electric vehicles
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  and the power grid. Nearian's research to decode how atoms
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  move and interact within these materials requires hundreds of computer simulations,
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  but the work can now progress much faster thanks to
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  a new high performance computing system at UFL. This system
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  allows teams to develop machine learning tools that will perform
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  these simulations much more rapidly. The Zerata High Performance Computing
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  System HPC, launched in late twenty twenty five, enables the
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  team and researchers across the university to conduct more advanced
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  research and materials development, personalized medicine, AI, and many other fields.
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  The blazing fast and versatile system yields rapid solutions to
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  a wide variety of complex computational problems, and once programmed,
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  can even perform and analyze a sequence of computer models autonomously.
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  The researchers then assess the final results to move forward
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  with physical experiments. The system represents a three point seven
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  million dollar computing investment that significantly enhances the university's capabilities
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  and will help u of L achieve its strategic research goals.
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  This new HPC system represents a monumental leap forward for
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  u of l's research and development initiatives, said John Klein,
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  Executive Vice President for Research and Innovation, its processing power,
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  combined with dedicated AI acceleration and ultra fast networking, will
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  empower our students, faculty, and researchers to achieve breakthroughs faster
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  and explore new frontiers previously beyond our reach. The materials
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  Neion is testing have the potential to significantly improve the
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  next generation of storage batteries over current lithium ion technology. Narian,
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  Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering in the JB Speed School
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  of Engineering, is modeling batteries that use iron and aluminum,
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  inexpensive and abundant elements, and sustainable electrolytes containing simple salts
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  and water. With Zerota HPC, he can run the models
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  much more rapidly than with previous systems. He also believes
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  the system has excellent potential to accelerate research in autonomous experimentation.
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  We can develop AI model that decide what experiments to run,
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  how to run them, and how to analyze the results
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  of those experiments. Most of the heavy lifting is done
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  by AI, and human scientists can come in once every
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  so often and supervise. This platform can get results much
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  faster using existing approaches. Narion said it would take ten
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  to fifteen years to bring a commercial battery product, such
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  as the ones he is working on, to the market.
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  He estimated that autonomous experiments and testing capabilities with Zerota
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  HPC could shorten that time to three to four years.
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  Narion also uses the HPC system in his research on
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  metal insulator transitions and complex oxides, which can be used
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  for preparing the building blocks called memristers for brain like
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  computing platforms. We are trying to understand the atomic processes
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  that dictate how the same material can switch from being
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  an insulator to a metal when a voltage is applied. Interestingly,
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  when the direction of voltage is flipped, they turn back
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  to insulators again. These materials hold a lot of potential
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  in mimicking the neurons of the human brain. The Zerata
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  HPC system also empowers U of L researchers to advance
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  cutting edge artificial intelligence research inspired by its namesake, Jasik Zerata,
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  a professor of electrical and computer engineering at u of L.
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  Zerata is known for his pioneering research in neural networks,
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  a core technology of today's AI, since the nineteen nineties,
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  and has since become one of the world's most highly
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  cited researchers in computer engineering. According to data compiled by
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  the global academic publishing and information analytics company elsephere, Adam Gewada,
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  professor in the School of Medicine and former pace HD
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  student of Professor Zerata, is using Zerota HPC for AI
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  research and personalized medicine. A lot of my work involves
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  time consuming and computationally heavy AI model training, fine tuning,
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  and simulation, Gowada said. With the Zerota HPC, I will
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  be able to run multiple search jobs in parallel, thereby
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  accelerating the generation of new results. For one project, Gowada
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  is collaborating with Sherry Levinson in the Department of Psychological
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  and Brain Sciences to develop tools for individualized treatment of
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  eating disorders. He also relies on Zerota HPC in his
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  project on AI powered discovery of treatments and interventions to
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  slow progression of chronic kidney disease. Technical specifications. The various
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  servers that comprise the Zerota HPC system have different personalities,
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  each suited for specific kinds of computation projects. According to
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  re two Aura, Associate Vice provos of Research Computing, the
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  system consists of one hundred nineteen servers and features a
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  powerful blend of blazing fast CPUs, forty three Navidia GPUs
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  very large memory servers, ultra fast two hundred gigabytes per
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  second networking, and five petabytes of high performance storage. The
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  system is capable of more than one point six petaflops
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  of double precision performance. PETA in petaflops refers to a
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  quadrillion flops are floating point operations per second, or the
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  number of math problems like four point five times one
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  point two the system can solve every second. In other words,
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  Xerrata HPC can perform more than one point six quadrillion
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  calculations every second. To understand the magnitude of this capability,
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  imagine if each of the approximately eight bills million people
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  on Earth performed one calculation every second, it would take
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  them more than fifty five hours to do what this
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  machine can do in one second. This kind of speed
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  is necessary to solve complex problems with billions of interacting variables,
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  such as research in drug discovery, cybersecurity, AI, and high
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  performance materials development. The next article from the Lane report
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  is titled Real Gross Domestic Product GDP increased one point
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  six percent in the first quarter of twenty twenty six.
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  Real gross domestic product GDP increased at an annual rate
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  of one point six percent in the first quarter of
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  twenty twenty six January February March, According to the second
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  estimate released today by the US Bureau of Economic Analysis,
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  in the fourth quarter of twenty twenty five, real GDP
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  increased by zero point five percent. The contributors to the
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  increase in real GDP in the first quarter where exports, investment,
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  consumer spending, and government spending. Imports, which are a subtraction
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  in the calculation of GDP increased. Real GDP was revised
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  down zero point four percentage points from the advanced estimate,
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  primarily reflecting downward revisions to investment and consumer spending compared
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  to the fourth quarter of twenty twenty five. The acceleration
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  in real GDP in the first quarter of twenty twenty
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  six reflected upturns in government spending and exports and an
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  acceleration in investment that were partly offset by a deceleration
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  in consumer spending. Imports turned up real final sales to
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  private domestic purchasers. The sum of consumer spending and gross
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  private fixed investment increased two point four percent in the
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  first quarter. Revised down zero point one percentage point from
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  the previous estimate. The price index for gross domestic purchases
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  increased three point five percent in the first quarter, revised
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  down zero point one percentage point from the previous estimate.
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  The Personal Consumption Expenditures price index increased four point five
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  percent the same is previously estimated, and the PCE price
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  index excluding food and energy increased four point four percent,
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  revised up zero point one percentage point. Real gross domestic
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  income GDI increased zero point nine percent in the first
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  quarter of twenty twenty six, compared with an increase of
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  one point six percent in the fourth quarter of twenty
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  twenty five. The average of real GDP and real GDI
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  increased one point three percent, compared with an increase of
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  one point one percent. Profits from current production corporate profits
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  with inventory valuation and capital consumption adjustments increased forty point
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  four billion dollars in the first quarter, compared with an
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  increase of two hundred forty six point nine billion dollars
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  in the fourth quarter of twenty twenty five. The next
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  article from the Lane Report is titled Kentucky Kingdom Park
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  adds a sixth roller coaster at Louisville Theme Park Kentucky
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  Kingdom Theme Park in Louisville has added Flying Fox, an
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  all new roller coaster that expands the park's line up
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  to six roller coasters, the most in the state of
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  Kentucky and representing the next chapter of a three year,
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  thirty three million dollar investment in the park. The journey
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  began with the introduction of Pumpkins at Kentucky Kingdom in
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  twenty twenty two and continued with the eight million dollar
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  debut in twenty twenty four of Christmas at Kentucky Kingdom,
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  turning the park into a sparkling holiday season destination complete
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  with more than one point five million lights, three hundred
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  plus Christmas trees, and the state's largest snow tubing hill.
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  Blending immersive storytelling, Kentucky inspired theming, and family friendly thrills,
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  Flying Fox represents the latest edition in a period of
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  significant growth for Kentucky Kingdom as Hershan continues investing in
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  new rides, seasonal events, entertainment, and guest experiences across the park.
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  Flying Fox invites writers to join the daring adventure of
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  Jeb Fox, a local legend and crop dusting pilot, as
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  they soar over a vibrant Kentucky farmland setting before diving
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  underground and back again. Every detail of the attraction was
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  designed by Hershend Creative Studios, the company's in house creative team,
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  with theming that celebrates Kentucky's agricultural heritage through a red
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  barn inspired queue, hand painted murals, and playful audio featuring
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  Jeb himself. The Facoma manufactured Flying Fox stands at one
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  three hundred eighty feet of track, a top speed of
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  thirty seven miles per hour in a max height of
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  sixty five feet, creating family friendly thrills accessible to writers
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  thirty eight inches and taller. Today is another exciting milestone
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  in Kentucky Kingdom's story and a reflection of what we
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  believe at Hershland, said Andrew Wexler, CEO of Hirschland. When
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  we became stewards of this park in twenty twenty one,
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  we made a promise to invest in Kentucky Kingdom and
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  in Louisville. Flying Fox is the latest example of that
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  promise in action as we continue to create new experiences
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  that bring families from Louisville, Northern Kentucky, Southern Indiana and
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  beyond together. In twenty twenty five, the park opened Discovery Meadow,
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  an eleven million dollar fully reimagined land featuring new rides, attractions,
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  and dining that set a new standard for immersive, family
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  friendly experiences. Now, the fourteen million dollar investment in Flying
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  Fox cements Kentucky Kingdom's place as the region's premier family
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  entertainment destination. Flying Fox is everything we hoped it would be,
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  bold and uniquely Kentucky, said Sarah Whirl, General manager of
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  Kentucky Kingdom. We are so grateful for our guests, our hosts,
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  and the community for the enthusiasm and support that made
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  today possible. With Discovery Meadow, Pumpkins at Kentucky Kingdom, Christmas
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  at Kentucky Kingdom, and now Flying Fox, We've built something
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  this city can be proud of and where families can
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  create memories worth repeating. The first writer's auction gave fans
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  the opportunity to bid for a chance to be among
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  the very first to ride Flying Fox, raising one six
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  hundred and seventy five dollars for the Kentucky four H Foundation.
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  Kentucky four H supports more than two hundred thousand young
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  Kentuckians through hands on programming and agriculture science leadership and
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  community service, a fitting partner for a coast rooted in
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  Kentucky's agricultural story. The twenty twenty sixth season also features
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  five new live entertainment shows running throughout the summer. New
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  dining menu options, cash list payments, park wide, and mobile
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  ordering at select dining locations. Season passes are on sale
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  now until June fourteenth, with options as low as eighty
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  nine dollars and ninety nine cents and include access to
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  signature seasonal events including Pumpkins at Kentucky Kingdom and Christmas
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  at Kentucky Kingdom later this year. The next article comes
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  from the May twenty ninth to twenty twenty sixth edition
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  of Business Lexington and is titled Railbird's Economic Impact, written
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  by Matt Wickstrom. According to visit Le's president Mary Quinn Raymer,
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  the initial vision for Railbird was to lean into what
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  makes Kentucky unique, attracting out of staters while also appealing
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  to locals. We noticed an abundance of nearby festivals that
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  were successful with mostly hyper local audiences. Raymer said. The
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  goal with Railbird was to build on that interest by
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  tapping into Kentucky music and culture in a way that
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  would draw people in from around the country to see
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  what the city has to offer. This aim has been successful,
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  with the economic impact felt everywhere, from nearby hotels to restaurants,
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  bourbon distilleries and more. In twenty twenty four, Railbird Festival
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  contributed one hundred thirty point three million dollars to the economy,
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  according to C three per cents, including more than eight
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  point eight million dollars in tax revenue. Its activities supported
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  the equivalent of one thousand, ninety seven full time jobs
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  per ramer. Hotel room occupancy across the city's ninety five
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  hundred hotel rooms averaged ninety one percent during Railbird weekend
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  in twenty twenty four, compared to about sixty one percent
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  average occupancy the rest of the year. Similarly, room rates
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  during festival weekend balloon to an average of two hundred
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  eighteen dollars and sixty cents per night from one hundred
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  twenty five dollars, with most stays lasting three nights. Those
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  numbers dip slightly in twenty twenty five to eighty six
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  percent occupancy and one hundred seventy eight dollars per room.
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  Railbird twenty twenty six, however, is on track to be
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  the biggest year yet. In addition to ticket sales already
• 22:28
  well over forty thousand per day and approaching capacity, Raymer
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  says Lexington's hotel capacity is already filling up. One of
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  those is the Marriotte City Center, which had ninety five
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  percent occupancy in twenty twenty five and an average room
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  rate of three hundred eighty dollars per night. General manager
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  Rich Bird says this year's rate has increased to four
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  hundred and fifty dollars per night, partly due to the
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  strong draw of a top Kentucky born headlining artist. Last year,
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  we were fighting to the very end Phil Rooms, Bird said,
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  but with Tyler Childers returning this year, the demand has
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  been high, so much so that all of our three
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  hundred and thirty seven rooms were booked for Railbird weekend
• 23:12
  more than two months ago. Another hotel feeling the Railbird
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  bump is spring Hill Suites, which sits directly across from
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  the festival host site, The Red Mile. Although she couldn't
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  provide specific numbers, general manager Kathy Artiles said the establishments
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  one hundred eight rooms typically go fast, with most visitors
• 23:32
  staying three nights and in some cases longer arriving early
• 23:36
  in the week or staying later to experience other things
• 23:39
  to do nearby. We see a lot of our guests
• 23:42
  going on distillery tours and exploring the restaurant scene. We've
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  also crafted a list of local favorites that includes everything
• 23:49
  from coffee shops to historic homes. Our Tiles said, the
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  economic impact Railbird has on Lexington is huge, and we
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  want to make sure as many businesses nearby I can
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  benefit from it as possible. One of those eateries receiving
• 24:04
  more business and exposure from the festival is DV eight Kitchen,
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  opened in August of twenty seventeen by Rob and Diane
• 24:11
  Perez as a second chance employer. The kitchen has seen
• 24:15
  an eighty three percent uptick in business during Railbird weekend
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  across both its Broadway and Third Street locations. Rail Bird
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  performers have also visited and shouted out DV eight in
• 24:27
  the past, including Tyler Childers, who ate at the restaurant
• 24:30
  prior to his previous festival appearance in twenty nineteen. In
• 24:34
  twenty twenty three, Jelly Roll, last year's headliner, also stopped
• 24:39
  in at DV eight. Formerly incarcerated himself. The singer, first
• 24:43
  known as Jason DeFord, found out about the business's altruistic
• 24:48
  mission and sent the staff a heap of merch as
• 24:51
  a way of saying thanks. Its moments like this, Perez
• 24:54
  says that stick with him the most, even more than
• 24:57
  the revenue the weekend brings in. As a business owner,
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  we love it. Rob Perez said, it's not only good
• 25:03
  for business, but it's also good for our souls. The
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  next article comes from the May twenty ninth to twenty
• 25:09
  twenty sixth edition of Louisville Business First and is titled
• 25:13
  new glasses target brain injury symptoms. Doctor Mark Lynn and
• 25:17
  Jimmy Roth prepared to take eyewear brand nationwide, written by
• 25:21
  Stephen Schmidt. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act HIPPA
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  prevents doctor Mark Lynn from mentioning the names of his
• 25:30
  patients and their conditions. He can, however, share general overviews
• 25:34
  of patient experiences, such as when they first tried on
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  a pair of specialized tinted glasses that he and his
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  team have been working on for close to three years.
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  One example a woman in her seventies who tried them
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  on at one of his Lynn Family vision locations. She
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  puts them on, she looks up and she goes, well,
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  there's no effing way you're getting these off my face.
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  Lynn said in her daughter going mom, you can't talk
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  like that, because it was that overwhelming to her, and
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  then it cleared things up. The glasses are designed to
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  reduce the visual confusion the brain experiences after a condition
• 26:13
  such as traumatic brain injury TBI, stroke, or migraines. They
• 26:19
  are manufactured under the brand Calm and Clear, as well
• 26:22
  as a new company called Calm and Clear Operations that
• 26:26
  is being run by Len's business partner, Jimmy Roth. The
• 26:29
  company has a headcount of nine full time employees. The
• 26:33
  glasses are scheduled to be sold nationwide in a matter
• 26:36
  of weeks after the company received FDA approval as a
• 26:40
  listed medical device about six weeks ago. Roth, who is
• 26:44
  known for starting the Louisville based Roth Reality Group, has
• 26:48
  suffered with TBIs for decades. He first met Lynn as
• 26:51
  a patient in twenty twenty two. He has since had
• 26:54
  several tweaks done to the lenses that were initially given
• 26:58
  to him. The neat thing about them, it's not like
• 27:01
  they are therapy or medication where you try these for
• 27:05
  a period of time and see if they work. Roth said,
• 27:08
  with brain injury patients, you will know if they work
• 27:11
  within thirty seconds. As Lynn explained it, the glasses are
• 27:15
  designed to realign what is known as the Vestibul looker system,
• 27:20
  which is in charge of keeping vision focused and clear.
• 27:23
  The prescription lens have a specific tent profile that is
• 27:26
  designed to control how white enters the eyes, allowing the
• 27:30
  brain to process it in the correct pattern. There are
• 27:33
  two types, a traditional pair of glasses and a wrap style,
• 27:36
  both of which can come with transition lenses. The manufacturers
• 27:40
  suggested retail price for the traditional glasses is three hundred
• 27:43
  and fifty nine dollars and four hundred forty nine dollars
• 27:46
  for the transition lenses. The glasses will be available online
• 27:50
  on the company's site. Exact date is unknown at this time.
• 27:54
  Calm and Clear is also working on deals with distributors
• 27:57
  in the United States and Europe to stock Brick and
• 27:59
  More stores. This concludes the reading of the most recent
• 28:03
  business news in Lexington, Louisville and around the state. Your
• 28:06
  reader today has been Julia Shane. If you have any
• 28:09
  questions or comments about this program, please give our Lexington
• 28:13
  Studios a call at eight five nine four two two
• 28:17
  six three nine zero. Thanks for listening, and now please
• 28:20
  stay tuned for readings from the Kentucky series here on
• 28:23
  RADIOI