Government

Harmon was likely exposed to the virus before or shortly after receiving the coronavirus vaccine on Monday. In a statement, he said he still has faith in the vaccine and the need for people to receive it as quickly as possible.

Less than a month after he moved from running a hospital emergency department to leading the state Department for Public Health, Kentucky's first case of COVID-19 was reported.

Based on the state’s calculation of the total amount available for direct payments to households, an estimated 85% of Kentuckians are eligible for the payments.

The new council's first regular meeting is scheduled for Jan. 5

Rep. Myron Dossett is sponsoring the bill that aims to waive state income taxes and fees for utility and communication businesses and employees while they respond to natural, out-of-state disasters. He said it’s important because unlike other states, Kentucky utility employees are still required to pay Kentucky rates, even when working out of state.

The clerk's office is slated to reopen for business Dec. 28, but the courthouse will not be open to the public. Business is being conducted remotely.

Four doctors on the White House Coronavirus Task Force "sounded new alarms, cautioning of a dark winter to come without dramatic action to slow community spread."

Dr. Steven Stack also asked Kentuckians not to attend gatherings outside their households during the holidays, and to order carry-out instead of dining indoors if at all possible.

On Saturday, carry-out customers dined on boxed meals inside The Village Restaurant's parking lot tent at Canton Street and Navajo Trail. Two sides of the tent were still open only partially — the main point of dispute between the owners and health officials.

The governor's comments were in response to problems the Christian County Health Department is having with a local restaurant that refused to stop serving customers after its permit was suspended.

The dispute is apparently over the size of side openings on the tent following Gov. Andy Beshear’s executive order that halted inside restaurant dining Nov. 20 through Dec. 13 because of an escalation of COVID-19 cases.

Based on the state population of 4.47 million, each district in the 100-member state House of Representatives should have about 44,700 people, each district in the 38-member state Senate should have about 117,000 people and each of Kentucky’s six Congressional districts should have 745,000 people.