MES RANKED BEST KY PUBLIC ELEMENTARY SCHOOL BY NICHE.COM
According to Niche.com, Murray Elementary School is ranked as the number one public elementary school in Kentucky. For best public middle schools, Murray Middle School is ranked second, with Murray High School recognized as one of the top high schools in the Commonwealth with a rating of ninth. Also, Niche.com ranks the Murray Independent School District as the third best public school district out of Kentucky’s 167 K-12 public school districts. MISD teachers also received a number two ranking as best teachers in Kentucky public school districts. Niche.com awarded Murray Independent with A+ overall grade. According to national data provided by Niche.com, the Murray Independent School District is in the Top 2% of best public school districts and also identifies MISD teachers as in the Top 1% of teaching staffs in the country.
CCHD REPORTS 20 NEW COVID-19 CASES
The Calloway County Health Department reported 20 new cases of COVID-19 yesterday with only 4 of those cases over 60 years of age and all of the new cases unvaccinated. The county currently has 132 cases isolated at home and 12 are hospitalized. Calloway County’s latest reported positivity rate is 9.76% which is lower than the state rate of 11.95%. Monday, the state reported 1,863 confirmed new cases and 26 confirmed new deaths. There were 2,287 hospitalized as of Monday, which is 227 less than last Monday, including 664 in ICU, which is 2 less than a week ago.
MSU BSN PROGRAM ACHIEVES 100% NCLEX PASS RATE
Murray State University’s Bachelor of Science in Nursing program’s May 2021 graduating class has unofficially achieved a 100% NCLEX pass rate. The Kentucky Board of Nursing votes annually to approve of the pass rates, with this vote expected to take place in 2022. According to the dean of the School of Nursing and Health Professions, Dr. Dina Byers, the achievement demonstrates the preparation of the students and comes at a time of academic, clinical, and possible personal challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic
PAVING WORK BEGINS THURSDAY IN CALLOWAY COUNTY
A contractor for the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet plans asphalt paving along sections of Coldwater Road and Industrial Drive in Calloway County starting Thursday. The Coldwater Road paving will run from the KY 121 intersection at mile point 0 extending southeast to the intersection at Five Points. Industrial Drive and Chestnut paving will begin at mile point 0 of KY 94, extending to U.S. 641-Business for about .7 miles. Motorists should be alert for one lane traffic with alternating flow controlled by flaggers in these work zones. Some delays are possible during the movement and placement of equipment to accommodate the work.
VIRTUAL PLAN IN PLACE IN PADUCAH SCHOOL DISTRICT
A temporary virtual learning plan is being put in place in the Paducah School District. The Board of Education approved the plan last night which will be used if there is a large outbreak of COVID-19. The district has returned to in-person learning this year. Superintendent Donald Shively says the plan would be used for a classroom or perhaps a specific school but not necessarily district-wide.
IN AND AROUND KENTUCKY
LEXINGTON—The all clear is being given after bomb threats were made against four Fayette County Public Schools. FCPS says the threats were called into the tip line yesterday, along with a ransom demand of 500-thousand in Bitcoin. The ten-thousand students in the affected schools were quickly evacuated as authorities searched the buildings. Police are investigating who was behind the threats.
WASHINGTON DC—The Senate’s top Republican is putting the task of raising the nation’s debt ceiling squarely on Democrats’ shoulders. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell noted Democrats are in control of the House and Senate in addition to the White House. The Kentucky Republican said the nation must never default, and the debt ceiling will be raised. However, he said that’ll only happen thanks to Democrats.
OWENSBORO—Natcher Bridge is back open after Kentucky State Police took a man with a gun into custody. Troopers engaged in a lengthy negotiation yesterday with the man who had a gun pointed to his head. The man had tried to evade police after a traffic stop early in the morning and had multiple warrants out against him. The bridge was closed while negotiations continued and was reopened after troopers had processed the scene.
SHEPHARDSVILLE—A north central Kentucky sheriff’s office is taking steps to attract and retain deputies. Bullitt County Sheriff’s Office is raising starting pay for new recruits and officers who transfer from other law enforcement agencies. BCSO officials say it’s been a “stepping stone agency” for many years and they want to stop that cycle. Starting pay for officers with a year of experience who transfer from other agencies is going up by over five-dollars an hour with other pay increases varying depending on experience.
LOUISVILLE—Medical history is being made in Kentucky. Surgeons at University of Louisville Health’s Jewish Hospital performed the first total artificial heart implant on a woman last week. The Aeson [[ Ace-en ]] device is meant to be a bridge while patients wait for a heart transplant. The surgeons say size limitations can make it hard to implant artificial hearts in women, but the Aeson artificial heart is compact enough to fit into their smaller chest cavities.
FORT CAMPBELL—The on-post hospital at Fort Campbell says it’s swamped with COVID-19 patients. That’s despite a mandate that U.S. Army soldiers get vaccinated. Last week, the Department of Defense said all active-duty soldiers have until December 15th to get fully vaccinated. Blanchfield Army Community Hospital says it’s seeing critically ill patients who require intubation and prolonged respiratory support despite not having critical care physicians there.
TENNESSEE—Tennessee is wasting hundreds of thousands of COVID-19 vaccines. The Tennessee Department of Health says since the vaccine was rolled out to September 13th nearly 188-thousand-400 doses were tossed out. That’s nearly four percent of the doses the state has received. TDH says most of the doses were thrown out after expiring.
TENNESSEE—The state’s largest county is reporting a rise in COVID-19-related deaths. The Shelby County Health Department reported 15 additional deaths yesterday. There have been one-thousand-988 COVID-19-related deaths in the county since the outbreak began. SCHD also reported 212 new cases, bringing the total in Shelby County since the outbreak began to nearly 138-thousand-800.
TENNESSEE—A member of the Memphis City Council is outraged that only half of the city’s four-thousand employees are vaccinated against COVID-19. Funeral home director and Memphis City Councilman Edmund Ford said yesterday he’s tired of burying the unvaccinated. Ford said if Memphis employees aren’t going to get vaccinated, the city should be shut down or they should be laid off. Only 37 percent of Solid Waste employees are vaccinated, while the number of vaccinated police and fire department employees is around 50 percent.
TENNESSEE—A teen has pleaded guilty to the murder of the great niece of UT football legend Johnny Majors. Tessa Majors was stabbed to death in New York City. Luciano Lewis pleaded guilty to robbery and murder yesterday. Majors was an 18-year-old freshman at Barnard College when she was killed by the 16-year-old Lewis while she was walking in a Manhattan park on December 11th, 2019.
