PENNER MARKS 10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY AT MCCH
CEO Jerry Penner reaches his 10 year milestone with Murray-Calloway County Hospital today. During his tenure at MCCH, Penner has led many initiatives and overseen the addition of new providers, new service lines, the acquisition of new physician practices and led the construction and fundraising efforts of the Anna Mae Owen Residential Hospice House. Most recently, he piloted the Hospital Incident Command System team through the COVID-19 global pandemic all while establishing a new, highly successful Interventional Cardiology program that completed 300 procedures in 2020. Penner previously served as the CEO of the U.S. Army’s Madigan Healthcare System in Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington.
PORTION OF NORTH 5TH STREET IN MURRAY CLOSED TODAY
According to Murray Public Works, the Murray Water System will have North 5th Street between Main Street and City Hall parking lot, closed all day today for water construction. Once again, that is North 5th Street between Main Street and City Hall parking lot, closed today for water construction.
CCHD REPORTS 1 NEW COVID CASE; MSU REPORTS 4 OVER THE WEEK
The Calloway County Health Department reported 1 new case of COVID-19 yesterday, bringing the total number of cases in the county to 3,410 during the pandemic. Of that total, 3,353 cases have recovered, 8 are isolated at home, none are hospitalized, and there have been 49 deaths reported. Calloway County’s COVID-19 Incidence Rate per 100,000 on Wednesday was 2.6%, which was up slightly from Tuesday’s rate of 2.2%. Murray State University has reported 3 new student cases and 1 faculty and staff case over the past week. Neither local school system has reported any cases or quarantines.
STATE POSITIVITY RATE UP SLIGHTLY
At Wednesday’s COVID-19 update for Kentucky, 815 new cases and 22 new deaths were reported, raising the total to 6,090 Kentuckians who are listed as covid deaths. As of Wednesday, there have been over 4.91 million coronavirus tests performed in Kentucky with a positivity rate of 2.96%, which is higher than last Wednesday’s rate of 2.85%. There are 413 Kentuckians hospitalized which is 25 less than last Wednesday, including 110 in ICU, which is 7 more than one week ago. At least 49,698 Kentuckians have recovered from the virus.
VACCINES AVAILABLE MONDAY FOR THOSE 16 AND OLDER
All Kentuckians 16 and older will be eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine beginning Monday. Only the Pfizer vaccine is approved for 16 and 17-year-olds. Also yesterday, it was announced that the largest vaccination site in Kentucky will open on April 12 at Cardinal Stadium in Louisville where UofL Health professionals will be able to vaccinate up to 4,000 Kentuckians per day. Over its seven-week run, the site will have the capacity to vaccinate nearly 200,000 Kentuckians from across the commonwealth. The Cardinal Stadium vaccination site will be open to all Kentuckians ages 16 and up.
MCCRACKEN COUNTY MAN CHARGED WTIH SEXUAL ABUSE
The Mayfield Police Department said detectives received a report on February 5 that 23-year-old Andrew McClure of McCracken County had possibly sexually abused a juvenile approximately three years ago. During the investigation, detectives were able to substantiate the claims and also said McClure admitted sending an obscene photo to the victim around the same time as the abuse. Kentucky State Police arrested McClure and charged him with sexual abuse of a victim under 12 years of age and distributing obscene matter to a minor. He was lodged in the Graves County Jail.
MAYFIELD WOMAN STRUCK BY VEHICLE
Mayfield Police responded Monday morning to a report of a woman who was struck by a vehicle at the intersection of Broadway and North 6th Street. According to police, 60-year-old Tina Wilson of Mayfield had stopped her van at the intersection to make a right hand turn from Broadway onto North 6th Street and did not see 68-year-old Christina Thompson of Mayfield beginning to cross the crosswalk. Thompson was struck by the front of Wilson’s van and fell to the ground, striking her head. She was originally transported by ambulance to Mercy Health-Lourdes Hospital in Paducah but was later transferred to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville.
MSU STUDENT AWARDED CLS SCHOLARSHIP
Cameron Garcia has been awarded a prestigious Critical Languages Scholarship to study at the University of Santa Catarina in Brazil. Garcia is a graduate of the online Portuguese Language and Culture certification program in Murray State University’s Department of Global Languages and Theatre Arts. The CLS Program is a summer study abroad opportunity for American college and university students to learn languages essential to America’s engagement with the world. Upon the completion of his graduate studies, Garcia aspires to work for the Department of State as a foreign service officer representing the USA in embassies and consulates abroad.
IN AND AROUND KENTUCKY
LEXINGTON—White House officials say President Biden has approved Kentucky’s disaster declaration. Biden has released federal assistance to help with recovery efforts from severe winter storms, mudslides, and landslides in the commonwealth between February 8th and 19th. Local governments in 44 Kentucky counties will be eligible for federal funding to assist with emergency work and the repair of facilities. The entire commonwealth is eligible for federal funding for hazard mitigation measures. All monies are being made available on a cost-sharing basis.
FRANKFORT—COVID-19 vaccinations will soon be available for all adults in the commonwealth. Governor Andy Beshear announced yesterday that vaccinations will be available starting Monday for everyone over 16 for Pfizer and 18 for Moderna and Johnson and Johnson. The governor also announced a new vaccination site at Cardinal Stadium in Louisville, which plans to inoculate four-thousand people a day starting April 12th.
ERLANGER—Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell says President Biden called him this week to talk about his sweeping new infrastructure plan. McConnell recently said he and the new President had not talked much since the Inauguration. McConnell talked with reporters in his home state of Kentucky and suggested he’s skeptical about the President’s infrastructure plan. He argued the proposal could be a “Trojan horse” that’s filled with big tax hikes and spending that would boost the deficit.
OWENSBORO—The Providence Police Department says their officers picked up Owensboro City Attorney Stephen Lynn on a drunk driving charge just days before his official retirement. PPD officers say they responded March 20th to a call that a man at Big Dog’s Gym was reportedly under the influence and sitting in a vehicle in the parking lot. They found Lynn sitting in the driver’s seat of an SUV with the engine running and said that his speech was slow and slurred. Officers say Lynn failed sobriety tests and was arrested. Lynn announced his retirement earlier this year, and the city manager confirmed that Lynn’s last day was yesterday.
FRANKFORT—Kentucky public schools are no longer required to take temperature screenings for students. The Kentucky Department of Education said yesterday schools are no longer required to take a student’s temperature before they enter a building or get on the school bus. KDE said it updated its Healthy at School guidance after consulting with the Kentucky Department for Public Health and made the decision based on the latest information from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The updated policy says only symptomatic students need to be screened for a fever and those with a temperature over 100-point-four will be expected to isolate.
GEORGETOWN-–Old Friends Farm is reopening to visitors. Officials say the farm that houses thoroughbreds in Georgetown is reopening today. Old Friends Farm canceled tours for months due to the coronavirus outbreak. Visitors will be required to get their temperature checked, wear masks and social distance.
FORT KNOX-–A regional tourist attraction is reopening. The General George Patton Museum of Leadership in Fort Knox is reopening today. The museum closed to the public in December because of COVID-19. Museum officials say there are new exhibits dedicated to other military leaders. However, they say the museum will remain dedicated to the life and leadership principles of its legendary namesake.
TENNESSEE—There are over 13-hundred new coronavirus cases in Tennessee. The Tennessee Department of Health reported one-thousand-313 new COVID-19 cases yesterday, bringing the total since the outbreak began to over 811-thousand-840. Additional COVID-19-related deaths were reported, with the total number of coronavirus-attributed deaths statewide standing at over eleven-thousand-900. There are over 840 COVID-19 patients hospitalized statewide.
TENNESSEE—When all the data is finalized, 2020 is expected to be Tennessee’s deadliest year for drug overdoses. A new report from the Office of Informatics and Analytics says 2020’s deadly overdoses are expected to greatly exceed those of 2019. Estimates from January-to-September 2020 had already surpassed the total number for all of 2019. Over two-thousand Tennesseans were lost to drug overdoses in 2019.
TENNESSEE—The director of the Memphis Police Department is reacting to the state’s passage of a bill allowing for permitless carry of handguns. Mike Rallings said yesterday he’s almost speechless to think that the state’s elected officials chose special interest over the safety of children, men and women. Rallings said he doesn’t see how Governor Bill Lee can say permitless carry will make Tennessee safer. He said officers have no way of knowing if someone meets the requirements for carrying a gun and can only assume officers would be challenged to confront them.
TENNESSEE–-Some East Tennessee counties are allowing their mask mandates to expire. The mayors of Hamblen, Roane and Claiborne counties all chose not to extend their mandates. They expired yesterday. Leaders said they followed the data on new COVID-19 cases in making their decisions not to extend the mandates.
