CCHD REPORTS 13 NEW COVID CASES
The Calloway County Health Department reported 13 new cases of COVID-19 from Thursday through Saturday, bringing the total number of cases during the pandemic to 3,309. Of that total, 3,242 have recovered, 17 are isolated at home, 2 are hospitalized, and there have been 48 deaths. On Friday, the Marshall County Health Department reported 7 new cases while the Graves County Health Department confirmed 6. The Purchase District Health Department reported 14 new cases in McCracken County, and 1 each in Fulton County and Ballard County.
CALLOWAY INCIDENCE RATE HOLDS STEADY
Calloway County’s Incidence Rate per 100,000 on Sunday was 6.2 % which is the same as Saturday’s rate. All 11 counties in far west Kentucky are now outside the red zone for COVID cases per 100,000. There were no new COVID cases reported by either local school system last week. Murray State University reported 1 faculty case last week.
STATE COVID RATES FALL FOR SIXTH STRAIGHT WEEK
At Sunday’s COVID-19 update for Kentucky, 979 new cases and 21 deaths were reported, raising the total to 4,447 Kentuckians who are listed as covid deaths. That is now six consecutive weeks of COVID case declines. As of Sunday, there have been over 4.36 million coronavirus tests performed in Kentucky with a positivity rate of 6.72%, which is slightly lower than last Sunday’s rate of 6.78%. There are 902 Kentuckians hospitalized which is 117 less than last Sunday, including 248 in ICU, which is 22 less than one week ago. At least 46,753 Kentuckians have recovered from the virus.
BENTON MAN CHARGED AFTER ATV THEFT PROBE
A Benton man was arrested Friday following an ATV theft investigation. The four-wheeler was reported stolen on Thursday at a home on Olive Creek Road. Marshall County Sheriff’s Department detectives arrested 41-year-old Clinton Borders after locating the ATV at a home on Thorn Road in Gilbertsville. Borders was charged with receiving stolen property under $10,000, tampering with physical evidence, possession of methamphetamine, and possession of drug paraphernalia. Borders also had three outstanding warrants in Calloway County at the time of his arrest.
TATER DAY CANCELED, AGAIN
In a post to its official Facebook page, the city of Benton says local government leaders and the Kiwanis Club have decided to cancel Tater Day for the second year in a row because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The event typically draws 30,000 people during the April event. Just like last year, it was determined that holding the event would not be safe for residents due the potential for negatively impacting COVID-19 numbers.
AGR ENDOWS HUGHES SCHOLARSHIP
The Alpha Omega Chapter of Alpha Gamma Rho has made a gift to the Murray State University Foundation to endow the Bradley Hughes Memorial Scholarship, which will assist students at Murray State in obtaining an education. Hughes was a senior at Murray State majoring in the field of agriculture business at the time of his death on August 14, 1992. The New Ulm, Minnesota native had been very active on campus, serving as house manager of the Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity as well as a mentor to his brothers and classmates. According to AGR, Bradley set such a positive example to others that his brothers established a scholarship to honor his memory several years ago and have been raising additional funds to reach the endowment level of $25,000. The Scholarship will support full-time students at Murray State with first preference given to applicants who are members in good standing of Alpha Gamma Rho Fraternity.
PJC BOARD APPROVES GIFT FRAMEWORK RESOLUTION
The Paducah Junior College Incorporated Board of Trustees approved a resolution last week supporting the framework for use of a $15 million gift received in December from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott. The Board also created a special committee to work with West Kentucky Community and Technical College President Anton Reece and the WKCTC cabinet on reviewing final details of the framework for gift utilization. In December, WKCTC was among more than 350 colleges, universities, and organizations to receive multi-million dollar grants from Scott to support diversity, equity, and inclusion, and creating national, state, and local excitement. Scott utilized a donor-advised fund at the National Philanthropic Trust to disburse the grant funding.
LBL HOSTING VIRTUAL BISON AUCTION
Land Between the Lakes is holding a virtual bison auction. Bidding is underway and ends at 6 pm on February 27. LBL has about 42 bison to auction, which the U.S. Forest Service says they’re doing to control the health of the herd. The animals are being tested for brucellosis and tuberculosis by a licensed veterinarian before the auction. Bidders are responsible for knowing their home state’s regulations for the import and vaccination of bison before buying them. Closed-topped trailers or vehicles are required to transport the animals.
IN AND AROUND KENTUCKY
FRANKFORT—Secretary of State Michael Adams announced last week that, for the second consecutive month, more voters were removed from Kentucky’s rolls than added. In January, 5,613 new voters registered, and 14,927 voters were removed. Of that total, 12,705 were deceased voters, 460 were nonresident voters, 65 voters voluntarily de-registered, 56 were mentally disabled voters, and 1,641 were felony convicts. There are 9,314 fewer voters on the rolls as of January 31 than on December 31.
BOYD COUNTY—Boyd County Coroner Mark Hammond says two elderly women in Boyd County were without power and heat for too long and died from hypothermia. The deaths happened over the weekend, as outages continued in the area. Power crews say service isn’t expected to be fully restored for another week. Hammond says he is worried more will die from the cold because they don’t want to leave their homes, believing power will return soon or that their homes will get broken into if they leave.
MOUNT STERLING—The Kentucky High School Athletic Association is facing a possible emergency injunction against their “return to play” policy. Mount Sterling parent Dr. John Kelly Johnson filed for the injunction late last week, saying the KHSAA policy requiring players who test positive to sit out for 22 days is extreme. Johnson says the association should align with the 14-day guidelines set for the SEC regarding a return to play. KHSAA officials haven’t commented on the case.
UNDATED—Some Kentucky long-term care facilities are allowing indoor visitation again. Governor Andy Beshear announced new guidelines last week that would enable non-certified facilities to resume indoor visitation over the weekend as long as residents have been fully vaccinated for the virus. Visits must be scheduled ahead of time to avoid mass gatherings and are limited to one visitor or two individuals from the same household.
HAZARD—State Representative Adam Bowling is reporting that his father, former state Representative Mike Bowling, has died. Mike Bowling was an attorney in Middlesboro and resigned from the Kentucky Board of Education Friday. He had represented the 87th District in the Kentucky House from 1991 to 1998. Governor Andy Beshear called his death a “loss for the Commonwealth.” Representative Adam Bowling said his father’s legacy is that he showed “kindness, compassion, empathy, and understanding” to all people. He died yesterday morning surrounded by his family.
WASHINGTON DC—Kidnapping survivor and victims advocate Sister Dianna Ortiz has died. Ortiz spent her senior year in Daviess County schools in the 1980s before going on to become a candidate with the Ursuline Sisters on graduation. She was abducted by government forces in Guatemala in 1989 because of her work with indigenous people. She escaped and made her way back to the U.S., but not before being raped and tortured during her captivity. She later became a grassroots organizer for the Guatemalan Human Rights Commission in Washington, DC and founded the Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition in 1998. She was serving as deputy director of Pax Christi USA when she died Friday from cancer.
LOUISVILLE—The mother of missing Bardstown woman Crystal Rogers is being denied the right to visit her grandson. A Nelson County Circuit judge made the ruling on Saturday in a long-fought custody battle by Sherry Ballard. Her daughter shared custody with her former boyfriend Brooks Houck when Rogers disappeared on July 3rd of 2015. Houck is the boy’s father and primary guardian, as well as the only person to ever be named a suspect in the disappearance of Rogers.
LOUISVILLE—Ford’s Louisville Assembly Plant is closed again this week due to weather-related parts shortages. Ford says unseasonably cold weather throughout much of North America continues to affect operations at some of its plants. The closure is unrelated to the semiconductor shortage that closed LAP for three weeks earlier this year. Ford’s Kentucky Truck Plant in eastern Jefferson County is unaffected.
TENNESSEE—There are over eleven-hundred new coronavirus cases in Tennessee. The Tennessee Department of Health reported one-thousand-129 new COVID-19 cases yesterday, bringing the total since the outbreak began to over 765-thousand. Nearly 20 additional COVID-19-related deaths were reported, bringing the total number of coronavirus-attributed deaths statewide to over eleven-thousand. Over one-thousand COVID-19 patients are hospitalized statewide.
TENNESSEE—An increase in weather-related deaths is being reported by the Tennessee Department of Health. On Saturday, TDH reported as many as ten Tennesseans died as a result of last week’s winter storms. Most of the deaths happened in Middle Tennessee and West Tennessee, including in Williamson, Dickson and Shelby counties. Weather-related deaths were also reported in Sumner, Maury and Overton counties.
TENNESSEE—The TBI is investigating an officer-involved shooting in Ripley, Tennessee. The TBI says the shooting involving a Ripley Police Department officer injured two people who were taken to the hospital. Authorities are also looking for a third person. No officers were injured in the shooting.
TENNESSEE—A former Nazi concentration camp guard is no longer in Tennessee. Friedrich [[ Free-drick ]] Karl Berger was deported back to Germany late last week. The U.S. Justice Department said the 95-year-old admitted to willingly guarding prisoners to keep them from escaping during forced outdoor labor in the winter of 1945. Berger was living in Oak Ridge when his Nazi service was discovered after moving to the States in 1959.
ILLINOIS—A man is dead and six people are injured after a mass shooting at a Springfield party. The shooting happened early Saturday morning at a building in the eleven-hundred block of South Grand Avenue. Officials say the hosts of the post-Valentine’s Day party were from out-of-town and rented the building for the event. Witnesses say five people were shot, including 22-year-old Carlos Dozier who died from multiple gunshot wounds. Two other people were injured while trying to escape the building when the shooting started. Police are continuing to investigate.
