Kentucky

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear issued an executive order on Tuesday recommending that all school districts offer some type of in-person learning starting March 1 or within a week of vaccinations for school personnel. The order recommends that classes resume seven days after teachers and staff have received their second COVID-19 vaccinations, though the decision is being left to districts. 

The order also states that masks must be worn at all times in schools and during transportation to and from schools.  

“This is one of the number one ways that we can keep everybody in that school safe,” Beshear said. “And it’s going to be incredibly important, especially for districts that may go back for the first time, that this is strictly enforced as all of the studies that suggest there is low transmission are of districts that had and enforced a strong mask mandate.”

The Republican president of the Kentucky Senate filed a bill that would restrict “no-knock” search warrants, the type of warrant used in the Louisville police raid that killed Breonna Taylor last year.

Senate Bill 4 would still allow no-knock warrants to be issued in cases where someone allegedly committed a violent crime, or if giving prior notice would endanger someone’s life or result in the loss of evidence related to a violent crime.

Senate President Robert Stivers, a Republican from Manchester, said the Breonna Taylor raid wouldn’t have happened under his proposal.

“You’re not going to have a situation that occurred here that you’re going to create a no-knock search warrant to search for papers, stolen items, drugs, anything like that,” Stivers said.

More than a million Kentuckians will be eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine beginning March 1 when Gov. Andy Beshear says regional distribution centers will enter distribution phase 1C.

The state is expanding access to the vaccine following a sixth week of declining cases. Residents over the age of 60, those with high-risk health conditions and essential workers all fall under phase 1C — marking the single largest increase in access to date in the commonwealth.

Beshear said it’s an exciting moment, but with vaccine supplies still limited the state will first prioritize Kentuckians between the ages of 60 and 70.

“Understand there’s a lot of people in 1C,” Beshear said. “It means it may be challenging to get signed up in the beginning, but remember a lot of vaccine is on its way.”

A Republican-sponsored bill in the Kentucky legislature would require the governor to replace a departing U.S. senator with someone from the same political party.

The proposal is supported by Kentucky’s 78-year-old U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell and comes as state lawmakers continue to try and chip away at Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear’s powers.

Senate Bill 228 would be a big change from how Kentucky governors currently fill senate vacancies — picking whomever they want.

Instead, the governor would have to pick a replacement from a list of three nominees selected by the state party of the departing senator.

Republican state lawmakers and U.S. Sen. Rand Paul are rallying around a yet-to-be-revealed bill that would make changes to Kentucky’s election laws, though it’s unclear what exactly the bill would do.

Rep. Jennifer Decker, a Republican from Waddy and the bill’s sponsor, said Thursday she won’t unveil the contents of the bill to the public or Democratic lawmakers until the day before the bill receives its first vote.

Decker said she has received input from county clerks, the State Board of Elections and current and former GOP officials.

“We combined our list and we’re paring it down in an attempt to include only those ideas that would help advance the goal of enhancing the integrity and trust in our election system,” Decker said.

Gov. Andy Beshear is asking a legislative committee to dismiss an impeachment petition against him. Petitioners say Beshear violated the Kentucky Constitution when he imposed restrictions during the pandemic, including mandatory closures of non-essential businesses.

In a 45-page response to the petition, Beshear notes that the courts have upheld many of his restrictions, and describes the petitioners as “political activists ostensibly unhappy with the Governor’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and their lack of success in court.”

“The Petition cites no facts and little law in a last-ditch effort to upend our constitutional separation of powers, hoping the General Assembly will ignore the judgments of the judicial branch as well as the will of the people in electing their chief executive,” the response reads.

  Three grand jurors from the Breonna Taylor case have filed an impeachment petition against Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, alleging he misled the public about the case and misrepresented the grand jury’s actions.

Updated at 9:49 p.m. ET

Republican attorneys general from 10 states sued Google on Wednesday, accusing it of wielding its might in digital advertising to crush competitors, in the second major legal challenge to the tech giant's power this fall.

If flu vaccination rates are any predictor, not nearly enough Kentuckians will get the COVID-19 vaccine to achieve herd immunity. 

Herd immunity happens when a virus can't spread because it keeps encountering people who are protected against the infection. 

According to CDC data, Kentucky’s flu vaccination rates among counties ranged from 19 to 53 percent last year.  The statewide average, historically, is around 40 percent.  Dr. Dale Toney, president of the Kentucky Medical Association, says he hope that’s not a harbinger for COVID-19 immunizations. 

“Sixty to 70 percent is what’s estimated to achieve herd immunity for the COVID infection," said Toney in an interview with WKU Public Radio.

Kentucky is in the midst of a third, and by far the most deadly, wave of coronavirus infection since the outbreak of the pandemic. The state has averaged 25 COVID-deaths per day over the last week.

Since the first confirmed case on March 6th, Kentucky recorded 2,072 COVID-19 deaths as of Monday afternoon ahead of the state’s daily briefing.

A ceremony Monday included a prayer from Rev. Jack Brewer, a speech from Gov. Andy Beshear, and a performance from a hand bell ensemble from the First United Methodist Church in Frankfort.

“Today we honor those we’ve lost, and we recommit to protecting our fellow human beings in what will be the final months of this battle,” Beshear said.

Gov. Andy Beshear announced Thursday how the first shipments of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine will be dispersed throughout Kentucky.

At his briefing, Beshear said he expects the vaccine to be available as early as Dec. 15. The first shipment will include about 38,000 vaccinations.

Two-thirds of the shipment will go to long-term care facilities through a program operated by CVS and Walgreens. The rest will go to hospitals for frontline healthcare workers.

“We’re going to make sure that those most vulnerable in long-term care, that make up about 66% of all deaths, have first priority, along with our healthcare workers that are in there caring for COVID patients right now,” Beshear said.

Only 11 Kentucky hospitals will be included in the first shipment. They include The Medical Center in Bowling Green, multiple Baptist Health sites, including the hospital in Madisonville, Norton Healthcare, University of Louisville and University of Kentucky.

With the conclusion of the 2020 Census, Kentucky and states across the nation will soon begin the process of redistricting—redrawing the boundaries of congressional and legislative districts to account for shifts in population since the last census.

Even though it's been a difficult year with the coronavirus pandemic, a politically-divided country and social unrest, there is a bright spot in one Kentucky town.

Two young girls are encouraging people to come together — using two words "Be kind."