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Hazard Herald - 8.9.26 · Eastern Kentucky Newspapers

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Now we turn to the reading of the Hazard Herald
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: for news of Hazard and Perry County. I'm Lee Townshend.
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: We be in with the online edition dated August fifth,
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: twenty twenty six as a reminder. Radioizer reading service intended
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: for people who are blind or have other disabilities that
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: make it difficult to read printed material. Protests by residents
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  Speaker 1: over a water issue in Saw community. Residents with supporters
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  Speaker 1: gathered along Main Street on July twenty first to call
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  Speaker 1: for the faster action to provide clean drinking water to
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: families in the Saul community. The protest was organized by
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  Speaker 1: Rosa Couch and others who contend that runoff from a
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  Speaker 1: former mining site has contaminated well water approximately twenty five families.
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: Couch said residents have relied on bottled water deliveries while
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: waiting for proposed Saw water line extension projects to move forward.
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  Speaker 1: Organized this protest because the people of Saul and Hazard
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  Speaker 1: are exhausted, ignored, and being treated like second class citizens
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  Speaker 1: in our own country, said Couch. I'm disabled senior citizen.
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  Speaker 1: My dream of a peaceful retirement has been completely shattered
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  Speaker 1: by the daily physical and emotional burden of just trying
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  Speaker 1: to survive without tapwater. The county tells the media we
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  Speaker 1: have to wait another twelve to eighteen months and that
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  Speaker 1: they are at the mercy of funding agencies, Couch said,
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  Speaker 1: but these records show otherwise. Over two years ago, on
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  Speaker 1: March twenty six, twenty twenty four, the Perry County Physical
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  Speaker 1: Court approved a resolution for up to three hundred and
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  Speaker 1: seventy five thousand dollars for the Salt Water Line Extension project.
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  Speaker 1: During that exact meeting, they rapidly pushed through millions of
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  Speaker 1: dollars for the Skyview Development and tourist campgrounds. They have
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  Speaker 1: the money and they know how to move quickly when
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  Speaker 1: it benefits tourists. But to disabled and the poor in
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  Speaker 1: saul or left haul in plastic jugs, Couch said, Pirie
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  Speaker 1: County is wasting money on band aid solutions. It costs
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  Speaker 1: the county roughly two hundred and forty dollars in salary
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  Speaker 1: and twenty dollars in fuel just to drive out and
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  Speaker 1: dump thirty five dollars worth of water cases in the
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  Speaker 1: dirt at a gate, leaving elderly citizens to figure out
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  Speaker 1: how to haul at the rest of the way to
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  Speaker 1: their home. She said, to make matters. Worse, this crisis
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  Speaker 1: is being inappropriately weaponized against us. Couch said, residents are
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  Speaker 1: not asking for special treatment, but for a permanent water
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  Speaker 1: system that provides safe and reliable service in the community.
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  Speaker 1: Let me be clear, emergency water delivery during an infrastructure
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  Speaker 1: failure is a fundamental municipal responsibility, not just a favor,
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  Speaker 1: she said. We don't want personal favors, and we don't
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  Speaker 1: want water dumped in the dirt. We want basic infrastructure
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  Speaker 1: and clean drinking water that was promised and funded years ago.
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  Speaker 1: It's time to put water for salt on the agenda
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  Speaker 1: and put it in our taps. We have been beyond
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  Speaker 1: patient and trusted that we had not been forgotten about. However,
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  Speaker 1: a few years have passed, it's become abundantly clear that
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  Speaker 1: if we don't step up and speak up, Saul will
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  Speaker 1: never have water. Perry County Judge Executive Scott Alexander said
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  Speaker 1: county officials began pursuing the water line project before the
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  Speaker 1: protest and have continued working with engineering and funding agencies
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  Speaker 1: to advance it. We've been working on this project for years,
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  Speaker 1: said Alexander, well before the protests started, well before people
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  Speaker 1: even knew we were working on this project. We've been
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  Speaker 1: working with Abandoned mind Lands and Nesbit Engineering and we
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  Speaker 1: believe as well as her As we agree we want
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  Speaker 1: the residents to have access to clean water. Alexander said.
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  Speaker 1: The documentation on the project is transparent. There is a process,
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  Speaker 1: there's always open records that people can look at. He said.
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  Speaker 1: People can look at the funding to see where the
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  Speaker 1: projects are. They don't have to take the word of
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  Speaker 1: the Physical Court. They're welcome to reach out to as
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  Speaker 1: many of the funding agencies to see where these projects stand.
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  Speaker 1: They're welcome to come to us, and we have offered
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  Speaker 1: community members such as MSUs Crouch to come to us,
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  Speaker 1: but they don't. A lot of this has been turned
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  Speaker 1: into a political scene, Alexander said. The county's focus remains
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  Speaker 1: on securing resources necessary to extend clean water service to Saulve.
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  Speaker 1: He said he's willing to meet with the residents individually
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  Speaker 1: to discuss the project and other concerns. That's not what
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  Speaker 1: this is about, said Alexander. This is about getting clean
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  Speaker 1: water to the residence of Saul and that's what we're
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  Speaker 1: going to keep it about. We're willing to sit down
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  Speaker 1: and talk to anyone about any project that we have.
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  Speaker 1: We are in an election cycle right now, though, and
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  Speaker 1: we do not want to turn the Fiscal Court into
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  Speaker 1: a circus. It's a place to conduct business of the county.
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  Speaker 1: Alexander continued, But I will sit down and discuss with
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  Speaker 1: anyone the projects or problems are having. It takes time,
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  Speaker 1: and it takes funding if there's available funding to do
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  Speaker 1: the project. As I've said in many court in court
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  Speaker 1: many times, though this Bhiscal Court can't solve every problem
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: that every citizen faces, but we will seek solutions and
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  Speaker 1: will seek funding if it is a project that we
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: can do. A Little Flour Clinic opens a new soup
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  Speaker 1: kitchen on Main Street. A new soup kitchen in downtown
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  Speaker 1: Hazard will expand efforts to provide free meals to residents
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  Speaker 1: experience in homelessness and food insecurity Throughoutry County. Community leaders
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: and representatives of Kentucky Mountain Health Alliance Incorporated, which operates
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  Speaker 1: a Little Flower Clinic, gathered on July twenty ninth for
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  Speaker 1: a ribbon cutting ceremony at the new facility located at
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  Speaker 1: two seventy nine Main Street. Alan Vance of Kentucky Mountain
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  Speaker 1: Health A. Lots said the organization has provided meals since
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  Speaker 1: the clinic's earliest days, initially preparing food in employees' homes
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  Speaker 1: and at the clinic. Thank you all so much advance.
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  Speaker 1: We've been feeding the homeless and those at risk of
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  Speaker 1: food insecurity ever since this clinic began. We fed them
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  Speaker 1: out of our homes and fed them out of our clinic.
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  Speaker 1: Now it's grown from a few to feeding over a
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  Speaker 1: thousand people in one sitty. We're so thankful to now
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  Speaker 1: be able to open this kitchen up once a week
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  Speaker 1: instead of just once a month. We have so much
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  Speaker 1: food insecurity in this county. It's phenomenal how many many
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: people stay hungry even with as many resources that are available.
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  Speaker 1: The Soup Kitchen will offer free meals each Tuesday beginning
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  Speaker 1: in September. V Had said volunteers will be needed to
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  Speaker 1: help prepare food and distribute food to families throughout the community.
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  Speaker 1: Will have plenty of opportunities for volunteers, she said, We're
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  Speaker 1: going to need plenty of help to share the love
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  Speaker 1: for the families who need it most. We're very thankful
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  Speaker 1: to our city and county leaders for their help. This
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  Speaker 1: is a free community feeding that will take place every
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  Speaker 1: Thursday from eleven am until we run out of food,
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  Speaker 1: starting in September. Christina Stalins, who will oversee the soup kitchen,
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  Speaker 1: said the organization was able to begin using the building
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  Speaker 1: after the most recent flooding when Appalachian Wireless occupied the space.
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  Speaker 1: So after the flood the last time Appalachian Wireless was
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  Speaker 1: in this building and we were able to use this space,
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  Speaker 1: said Stalins. It's taken a long time to put this together,
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  Speaker 1: but it's been a huge blessing. We started these feeling
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  Speaker 1: feedings in twenty fourteen and now we're here. It's very overwhelming,
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  Speaker 1: and a year from now, who knows what this could
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  Speaker 1: turn into. Also, all donations are appreciated and always welcome.
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  Speaker 1: The kitchen is equipped with undated appliances that will allow
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  Speaker 1: volunteers to prepare meals on site. Because the facility does
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  Speaker 1: not include a dining area, all meals will be packaged
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  Speaker 1: for carry out. Seven officers sworn in for Perry County
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  Speaker 1: School Police Department. Seven officers were sworn in on July
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  Speaker 1: twenty eighth as members of the newly established Perry County
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  Speaker 1: School District Police Department, creating a law enforcement agency dedicated
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  Speaker 1: exclusively to the safety of the district, students, employees, and campuses.
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  Speaker 1: The officers took their oaths in the courtroom of Judge
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  Speaker 1: Allison Wells. Harvey Colewell, Perry County Schools Safe Schools Coordinator,
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  Speaker 1: said the department will operate under the same standards as
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  Speaker 1: other law enforcement agencies, but will remain under the direct
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  Speaker 1: employment of the school district. Coll said the department currently
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  Speaker 1: has seven School Resource officers, including Chief Iron Napier, who
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  Speaker 1: will initially serve as one of the district's schools. In
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: addition to Napier, the officers are Shannon Woods, James East,
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  Speaker 1: Brandon Jones, Jeff Ritchie, Terry Brewer, and Joel Abner. We
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  Speaker 1: have seven officers now, and even our Chief, Iron Napier,
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  Speaker 1: will serve as an SRO at one of our schools
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  Speaker 1: as well as to start off with. So we have
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  Speaker 1: seven SROs currently, said cole Well. I think right now
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  Speaker 1: the there's a solid number for us. I'm not going
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  Speaker 1: to speak for the district down the road, but I
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  Speaker 1: think for the just getting started out, seven is a
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  Speaker 1: good number for us. Establishing an independent department will allow
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  Speaker 1: the district to schedule its officers according to the needs
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  Speaker 1: of its school without relying on outside personnel on law
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  Speaker 1: enforcement agencies. Colwell said this will have so many benefits.
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  Speaker 1: He said, scheduling, for instance, is going to be so
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  Speaker 1: much easier for us to schedule our own people instead
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  Speaker 1: of having to schedule officers from other departments, potentially interfering
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  Speaker 1: with other duties they have. This allows us to have
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  Speaker 1: our own department, which gives us ability to make our
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  Speaker 1: own schedules, so the officers can totally be dedicated and
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  Speaker 1: focused on schools. Colwell said donations of equipment helped the
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  Speaker 1: district to reduce the department's startup expenses. He added that
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  Speaker 1: operating its own police force will give the district greater
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: control over officer assignments and responsibilities. We were able to
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  Speaker 1: save a lot of startup money for this, Colwell said,
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  Speaker 1: We've had a lot of donations for equipment and stuff
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  Speaker 1: like that. Having our own department allows us to have
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  Speaker 1: more control over our and delegation of duties for the officers.
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  Speaker 1: A lot of school districts are moving forward with having
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  Speaker 1: their own police department, so I think it's a win
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  Speaker 1: win for the district. Although the officers are employed by
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  Speaker 1: the school district, Colwell said they're required to complete the
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  Speaker 1: same training and meet the same qualifications as officers serving
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  Speaker 1: in other police departments. I think this should also reassure
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  Speaker 1: families that their kids are in a safe place when
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  Speaker 1: they're at school, he said. We have some great soros.
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  Speaker 1: They are no different than any other police department. They
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  Speaker 1: go through the same training and meet the same qualifications.
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  Speaker 1: All of that stays the same. The only thing that's
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  Speaker 1: different is this department is under the employment of the
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  Speaker 1: school district. Calwell said officers will maintain a visible presence
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  Speaker 1: at school buildings, particularly as students arrive and leave by
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  Speaker 1: bus or through parent pick up and drop off areas.
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  Speaker 1: He said department leaders have already met with officers to
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  Speaker 1: review their duties and expectations. We want our guys to
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  Speaker 1: be visible at our buildings when students are coming and
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  Speaker 1: going from the buses or being picked up and dropped off.
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  Speaker 1: He said. We've already had our first department meeting and
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  Speaker 1: reiterated the expectations and responsibilities to those officers within the department.
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  Speaker 1: This will allow SROs to be more involved within all
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  Speaker 1: of our schools. That will play a huge benefit. Thompson
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  Speaker 1: performs one hundredth on pro it costs to be at
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  Speaker 1: Hazard a RH. Hazard ARH Regional Medical Center announced in
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: the statement of July thirty first, that doctor Ashley Thompson,
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  Speaker 1: a Triples Board certified pullmonologist, has performed her one hundredth
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: on robotic assisted broncoscopy procedure, a milestone that reflects arh's
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: ongoing commitment to bringing advanced, minimally invasive lung cancer diagnoses
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: and diagnostics to patients across the region. Hazard Independent Schools
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: hosted its inaugural five K glow run in downtown Hazard
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  Speaker 1: on August second. The event featured awards in several categories,
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  Speaker 1: free t shirts for pre registered participants, and an after
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: party at the Grand with music, games, and plenty of
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: glow tickets to go around. All proceeds from the event
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: went to Roy G. Eversol and Hazard Middle School Family
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: Resources and Youth Services Center. SORE Summit invites Eastern Kentuckians
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  Speaker 1: to bring their voice to the conversation. The twenty twenty
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  Speaker 1: six SORE Summit, presented by Appalachian Wireless in the Appalachian
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  Speaker 1: Regional Commission, is inviting individuals from across the region to
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  Speaker 1: help shape the future of Eastern Kentucky by participating in
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: this year's summit October seventh through ninth in Corbin. According
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: to a statement from Shaping our Appalachian Region, centered around
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: the theme building Eastern Kentucky Together, this year's summit will
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: place a greater emphasis on local voices, practical solutions, meaningful connections,
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  Speaker 1: and opportunities for participation. The statement said, Across Eastern Kentucky,
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  Speaker 1: people are creating opportunities, solving problems, and making a difference
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  Speaker 1: in their communities every day, said doctor Reid Atkins, executive
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  Speaker 1: director of so ON. The summit is an opportunity to
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  Speaker 1: bring those voices together, learn from one another, and build
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: partnerships that help move our region forward. From the Opinion page,
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  Speaker 1: New School Year Safer Journeys Ahead by Brandon Smith, State
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: Senator in the thirtieth District, The first day of school
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  Speaker 1: does not arrive on the same morning across the Mountains.
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  Speaker 1: Students in Lee, Brethett, and Magoffin Counties all head back
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: to school this week. Wolf Powells, Estell, Morgan and Perry
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  Speaker 1: Counties all begin next week. Leslie County is scheduled to
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: begin August twenty sixth. That is the span of more
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: than three weeks across the thirtieth district. Yet, whenever the
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  Speaker 1: first bell rings, students throughout our region will be agin
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  Speaker 1: moving toward the same goal, discovering what they are capable
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: of and how they can contribute to the place they
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: call home. Our mountain communities need that talent. Eastern Kentucky's
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: future will be shaped by people who understand both the
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: traditions of this region and the opportunities ahead. We will
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: need teachers, nurses, engineers, equipment operators, electricians, technicians, entrepreneurs, and
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: public servants. We will need people prepared to work in energy,
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: natural resources, manufacturing, health care, and emerging technologies. The economy
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: will change, as it always has. Our students should not
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: fear that change. They should prepare to lead through it.
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: That begins with the fundamentals. Learn to read closely, communicate clearly,
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  Speaker 1: solve problems, and work with people who see things differently.
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: Technology will continue to evolve, but judgment, reliability and a
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: strong work ethic will never become obsolete. I also hope
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: students will recognize that building a successful life does not
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: require turning their bikes on the mountains. Education can open
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: doors without closing the doors to home. The knowledge and
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: experience you gain can help strengthen the communities that raised you.
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: As the school calendars roll over several weeks, I want
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: to encourage the drivers to stay alert. Bill seven and
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: acted from this year's legislative session, strengthen school bus safety
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: by requiring vehicles traveling in both directions to stop when
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: a bus has its lights on flash and its stop
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: arm extended, unless an elevated barrier or an unpaved median
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: separates the roadway. A center turning lane does not create
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: an exception. The law also allows school districts to use
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: stop arm cameras to identify motorists who illegally pass buses.
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: That accountability matters, but all the best protection remains a
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: driver who slows down, pays attention, and understands that children
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: may be crossing the road. To the teachers, bus drivers, aides, custodians,
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: cafeteria workers, coaches and administrators across breathet Estell, Lee, Leslie, Macgofflin, Morgan, Pirie,
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  Speaker 1: Powell and Wolf Counties, thank you. Our schools remain anchors
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: in our community because of you. In this year's legislative session,
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: I want all school personnel to be aware that we
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: enacted Senate Build one oh one. The new law requires
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: a minimum of twelve month expulsion for students in grades
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: six through twelve who intentionally or recklessly calls or attempt
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: to cause physical injury to other school personnel. It also
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: ensures that expels students continue receiving educational services, though through
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: alternative or virtual programs developed with input from educators, administrators,
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: law enforcement, and youth advocates. The legislation reflects more than
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: a year dialogue aiming to balance accountability with student support.
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: Students across the district may begin on different days, but
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  Speaker 1: you share a future in the mountains that made us.
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  Speaker 1: I encourage you to respect yours, teachers and the entire
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: school staff who make you the focus and priority of
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: their day, so that your future may be brighter. Learn
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: all you can from them, then use what you learn
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: to build something worthy here at home. The guest column
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  Speaker 1: is by Roger Ford of the Rural Renewal Institute. The
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: local bargain Frankfort opened the door, but communities must protect themselves.
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: The first install women in this series pulled artificial intelligence
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: out of the cloud and placed it where it belongs
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: on land water systems, substations, transmission lines and electric bills.
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: The second explained why AI data centers are not ordinarily
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: real estate projects but major industrial loads. Now comes the
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: political question who protects the public before the deal is signed?
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: That question is no longer theoretical. Kentucky's recent legislative sequence
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: should be read as a cautionary tale. In twenty twenty five,
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: the General Assembly opened an incentive door. House Bill seven
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: seventy five, an omibus bill, extended the state's qualified data
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: center sales and use tax exemption, tying minimum investment thresholds
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: to county populations. In counties under fifty thousand people, a
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: project may qualify for twenty five million dollars. In communities
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: between fifty thousand and one hundred thousand, including Pike County,
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: the threshold is one hundred million. Larger projects may receive
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: exemptions for decades. That was the easy half of the
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: bargain made Kentucky attractive to developers. Then came the harder
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: half protect the public. In twenty twenty six, House Bill
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: five ninety three would have required data center electric service
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: to be governed by contracts, tariffs, studies, and cost allocation
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: rules designed to prevent infrastructured costs from being shifted onto
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: non data center customers. It passed the House ninety to eight,
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: then installed in the Senate. Public reporting later said the
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: language was stripped away from Senate Bill one ninety seven
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: on the final day after opposition for major utility interests
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: including LGE and Kentucky Utilities and public power representatives, House
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: Bill five forty four stalled. The Kentucky Ratepayer Protection Act
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: would have required Public Service Commission approval before a retail
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: electric supplier could serve a data center customer over one
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: hundred megawatts, and it would have assigned new infrastructure costs
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: to the data center. It did not pass. House Bill
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: eight fifty six would have required water feasibility studies and
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: water annual usage reports. It did not pass. House Bill
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: eight sixty nine did become law, but its data center
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: provisions merely direct the Cabinet for Economic Development to study
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: data center incentives and report recommendations by August first, twenty
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: twenty seven. That sequence says everything incentives became law, ratepayer protecttion,
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: cost allocation, water transparency, and public accountability became unfinished business.
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: This is not representation worthy of the people who will
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: live with the consequences in monopoly utility environments, household churches, schools,
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: small businesses, and manufacturers cannot choose another electric provider. If
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: bad decisions raid raise costs, they depend on elected officials
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: to act as their counterweight. When Frankfort subsidizes the invitation
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: but fails to adict guardrails, it leaves the public exposed.
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: So the path forward cannot depend on a blind trust.
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: In general Assembly, county cities, fiscal courts, school boards, school districts,
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: and local authorities must build standards before projects arise. No
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: data center agreements should move forward without bridden terms on
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: power supply, cost allocation, water usage, emergency services, road impacts,
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: local hiring, tax revenue drawbacks, and exit obligations. Utility impact
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: studies should be public. Large load contracts should include collateral
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: and stranded cost protection. The standard rumins new power for
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: new load, but in this installment that phase becomes a
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: governing test. If private AI infrastructure wants public cooperation, it
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: must bring dedicated generation, transparent planning, and enforceable protection and
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: lasting community value. Appalachia has been through this before. To often,
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: outsiders arrive with promises, politicians celebrate, and local people inherit
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: the bill. The next industrial chapter can be different, but
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: only if the public bargain comes first. The real measure
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: of any data center project is not how loudly it's announced,
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: but what remains when the ribbon cuting crowd goes home.
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: Here aregue obituary. Ricky Kraft sixty five died Monday July
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: twenty seventh. Leen Eversoul seventy four of VIPRA died Wednesday
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: July twenty ninth. Mary lou Pollard Messer seventy sixth of
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: DWARF died Sunday, July twenty sixth. Clifford Grigsby, seventy five
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: of Hazard died Thursday July twenty eighth. Raymond Martin seventy
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: nine died Monday July twenty seventh. Sophia Rene Lois fifty
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: died Monday July twenty seventh. National Immunization Awareness Month reminds
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: us to make sure student vaccines are up to date.
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: By Melissa Patrick. As students prepare to go back to school,
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: there's no better time than National Immunization Awareness Month to
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: remind folks that it's time to make sure their children
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: are caught up on their immunizations. Despite federal revisions to
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: the childhood immunization schedule. Kentucky has not changed its school
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: vaccine requirements. Kentucky requires every student to be current on
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: immunizations as they enter kindergarten and the sixth grade, and
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: a Frequently Asked Questions document about the state's immunization schedule
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: for students. The Kentucky Department for Public Health notes that
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: the federal government recommendations are only advisory and do not
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: follow the long established steps that are critical to setting
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: vaccine policy. Students entering kindergarten are required to have the
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: combined DTAB vaccine for diphtheria, TENNIS and protesses, A measles,
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: Mump's REBELLA vaccine, and vaccines for hepatitis A, hepatitis B, polio,
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: and chicken pox. Students centering sixth grade are required to
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: have all of the immunizations that were required to enter kindergarten,
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: as well as a TDAP booster A meningitis vaccine, and
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: a second chicken pox vaccine. Kentucky law does allow for
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: certain religious and medical exemptions. This concludes the reading of
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: the Hazard Herald. Please stay tuned for continuing programming. Thank
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: you for joining me and on behalf of everyone here
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: at Radio High this is Lee Townshend, wishing you a
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: good day.