MURRAY MAN ARRESTED AFTER FOOT PURSUIT
At approximately 12:32 Wednesday afternoon, officers with the Murray Police Department were on the south side of Murray and attempted to serve an arrest warrant on 23-year old Dakota Davenport of Hazel. As officers made contact with Davenport, he fled on foot, but was apprehended after a short foot pursuit. Davenport was charged with Fleeing or Evading Police, Tampering with Physical Evidence, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, and Trafficking in Methamphetamine. Davenport was also charged with Non-Payment of Court Costs, Fees, or Fines in relation to an active arrest warrant. He was lodged in the Calloway County Jail.
CCHD REPORST 37 NEW COVID-19 CASES
The Calloway County Health Department reported 37 new cases of COVID-19 yesterday with 34 of those cases under 60 years of age. Also, 33 of the 37 cases were unvaccinated. The county currently has 212 cases isolated at home and 7 are hospitalized. Calloway County’s latest reported positivity rate is 9.51% which is lower than the state rate of 13.24%. Thursday, the state reported 3,872 confirmed new cases and 22 confirmed COVID related deaths. There were 2,115 hospitalized as of Thursday, which is 407 more than last Thursday, including 590 in ICU, which is 109 higher than a week ago.
A PORTION OF MARTIN CHAPEL ROAD WILL CLOSE MONDAY
The Calloway County Fiscal Court will be closing a section of Martin Chapel Road to through traffic from the bridge, south to the paved portion of the road, north of Tom Taylor intersection beginning at 7 am Monday. This portion of the roadway will be closed until further notice. Updates will be provided as appropriate. For more information call the Calloway County Judge/Executive’s office.
JOBLESS RATES FALL IN 116 COUNTIES
Unemployment rates fell in 116 Kentucky counties between July 2020 and July 2021, rose in two, and stayed the same in two counties, according to the Kentucky Center for Statistics. Cumberland and Woodford counties recorded the lowest jobless rates in the commonwealth at 3.5% each. Magoffin County recorded the state’s highest unemployment rate at 12.1%. The Purchase Area jobless rate was 4.8% with Carlisle County boasting the lowest in the Purchase Area at 3.9% and Fulton County the highest at 6.6%. Calloway County’s jobless Rate last month was 4.8%.
FLAGS AT HALF STAFF
In accordance with a proclamation from the White House, Governor Andy Beshear has directed that flags at all state office buildings be lowered to half-staff until sunset on Monday in honor of the U.S. service members and others killed in the terrorist attacks in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Thursday. The Governor encourages individuals, businesses and organizations throughout the commonwealth to join in this tribute.
LOVETT FUNDING DRIVE IS UNDERWAY
In collaboration with the College of Humanities and Fine Arts, Murray State University has launched the new “Show Us How You Lovett” fundraising campaign to benefit historic Lovett Auditorium. The campaign is the culmination of over a decade of private support from donors and friends of the University, as well as investments Murray State has made toward Lovett Auditorium. A gift to the newly-established fund for Lovett Auditorium includes a commemorative nameplate to be installed on the new seats, whose location can be chosen by the donor in one of five available sections. Seats will be named on a first-come, first-served basis through an online campaign platform and seating map available at murraystate.edu/lovett.
MPD JOINS DRIVE SOBER OR GET PULLED OVER
The Murray Police Department is joining the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for the “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” campaign through September 6. During the Labor Day holiday weekend in Kentucky in 2020, there were 103 crashes involving an impaired driver, resulting in 64 injuries and two deaths. According to NHTSA, on average, there is one alcohol impaired driving-related fatality every 50 minutes across America. Also, according to NHTSA, high-visibility enforcement reduces alcohol-impaired driving fatalities by as much as 20 percent. The Murray Police Department reminds everyone that if you have been drinking, please do not drive and find another way home.
IN AND AROUND KENTUCKY
WASHINGTON DC—Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is calling the attacks on the Kabul airport “sickening” and “enraging.” The Kentucky Republican wrote yesterday that “terrible things happen when terrorists are allowed to operate freely.” He said terrorists will not stop fighting the United States just because our politicians grow tired of fighting them. McConnell added that he is worried terrorists worldwide will be “emboldened by our retreat.”
OWENSBORO—Owensboro Health says it is seeing a sharp rise in hospitalizations in the system for COVID-19, with cases nearing peak numbers. Health system leaders say they have 70 people hospitalized for COVID-19-related illnesses, with 55 of them unvaccinated. Officials say out of those patients, 20 are in critical care, with eight on ventilators. Health system leaders say 16 of those in critical care and six of those on ventilators are unvaccinated.
LEXINGTON—The University of Kentucky is including unvaccinated faculty and staff in its weekly COVID-19 testing mandate. Everyone on campus who is unvaccinated is being required to begin a regimen of weekly COVID-19 testing beginning September 1st. Workers will not be required to take leave time to complete the tests, which will be made available to employees at two separate on-campus sites. Unvaccinated students will continue testing in the Blue Box Theatre at the Gatton Student Center.
LOUISVILLE—State business owners Joe and Kelly Craft and Central Bank are each contributing half to the four-point-eight-million-dollar winning bid for the prize ham at the Annual Kentucky Country Ham Breakfast and Auction. The event is sponsored by the Farm Bureau. Kelly Craft is “seriously considering” a run for governor in 2023 and says she and her husband will donate their bid to “economic and community opportunities” in Louisville’s West End and other parts of the state. Central Bank has pledged its donation to a mix of organizations, including several initiatives at the University of Kentucky and Transylvania University.
FRANKFORT—The final “Shot at a Million” winners will be announced today. The final drawing in the state’s COVID-19 vaccine incentive program was held yesterday. Today, a one-million-dollar winner and five more full-scholarship winners will be announced. It’s the last of three drawings.
LOUISVILLE—This is the final weekend of the 2021 Kentucky State Fair. White Reaper with special guest The Tommys headline tonight’s music acts. Other bands playing tonight include Soul Circus and the Tayler Lynch Band. Kentucky’s annual summertime celebration wraps up at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville on Sunday.
TENNESSEE—A terrorist attack that killed at least a dozen members of the U.S. military is bringing a strong reaction from Tennessee’s senior U.S. senator. Following yesterday’s attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, Marsha Blackburn said President Biden should resign or face impeachment, along with Vice President Kamala [[ COMMA – la ]] Harris and other members of the administration. The Republican said Biden is to blame for failing to listen to the advice of top military leaders not to abandon Bagram Airbase in Afghanistan. The President says the U.S. will stick to its August 31st deadline for pulling out of the Asian nation.
TENNESSEE—There are over 66-hundred new coronavirus cases in Tennessee. The Tennessee Department of Health reported the new cases yesterday, bringing the total since the outbreak began to nearly one-million-14-thousand. Nearly 50 additional COVID-19-related deaths were also reported, with the total number standing at over 13-thousand-300. There are close to three-thousand COVID-19 hospitalizations in Tennessee.
TENNESSEE—The state’s largest county is suing Governor Bill Lee over his executive order allowing parents to opt their children out of mask mandates. The suit filed by Shelby County yesterday says both Governor Lee and the commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Health have said masks are “the best tool available to protect unvaccinated students from COVID-19.” However, it also says Lee’s executive order prevents the county from enforcing mask requirements. Shelby County says students who go to school with opted-out students face a heightened risk of exposure to COVID-19.
TENNESSEE—The funerals of all 20 people who died in historic flooding in Middle Tennessee will be paid for by an anonymous donor. The manager of the Humphreys County Funeral Home told The Tennessean a man who wishes to remain unidentified walked into the funeral home yesterday and paid for all nine of the services the funeral home is organizing. William Brown told the paper the man also went to other funeral homes in the area to pay for the other services. Hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations have come in from the region and across the country to help the victims of Saturday’s flooding.
