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Local man turns passion for weather into community service

Jessica Paine
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Local man turns passion for weather into community service

MURRAY – Public service takes many forms. Commonly, public servants fulfill their roles through working in service-oriented fields and volunteering. Seldom do people choose self-imposed, voluntary second jobs as their public service path; but they do exist, and Justin Holland, the creator of the Facebook page Murray/Calloway County Weather, is one of them. 

Holland’s hyper-local weather page recently celebrated its 10th anniversary. The page boasts nearly 15,000 followers, most of whom live in Calloway County, but he has quite a few in west Tennessee and several who moved away but still have ties to the area.

“It definitely has been a lot of fun,” Holland said, “and it’s definitely been a lot of work because I have been doing this pretty much every single day for 10 straight years. There’s been times that I’ve been up all night, doing stuff, whenever severe weather comes in. I’ve done stuff on Thanksgiving Day, on Christmas Day. There’s never a dull moment around here. We have a lot of severe weather – we have a lot of winter weather, a lot of flash flooding – we get a bit of everything around here, locally.” 

Surprisingly, Holland’s passion for weather developed at a young age. When most children were watching cartoons, he was watching the Weather Channel. 

“I loved seeing all of the colorful maps on TV,” he said. “They would show pictures; they would show videos of snow, of tornados, and I thought that was really, really cool. Something about science, something about the atmosphere really fascinated me as a young child, and that has stuck with me throughout most of my life.” 

Holland is the Official Weather Observer of Calloway County for the Paducah National Weather Service (PNWS), a post he has held for the past 13 years. PNWS covers Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana and Missouri; and in each county, there is a co-op observer who reports weather conditions at the county’s official site back to PNWS daily. In Calloway County, the official site is just north of court square.

At 7 a.m. every day, Holland reports the temperature and precipitation reading along with high and low temperatures, total rainfall and total snowfall, if applicable, within the previous 24 hours to PNWS. That data is then sent to the National Climatic Data Center for entry in the national database used to determine county-level weather records – high and low temperatures and maximum daily precipitation. 

“I will often get people to say they live in Kirksey or Coldwater or they live in Lynn Grove, and their rainfall total was different from what mine was; that’s because rainfall totals vary all across the county,” Holland explained. “Some places have a bit more; some places may get a bit less; but all of Calloway’s official weather numbers come from two blocks north of the court square.”

Holland’s role with PNWS is voluntary; in his day job, he is the GIS and safety coordinator for Murray Electric System. He is responsible for mapping the utility’s grid, which includes poles and lights as well as underground and overhead lines. He also conducts safety training and ensures OSHA guidelines are met. 

A Murray native, Holland graduated from Calloway County High School in 2001 before attending Murray State University where he earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Earth science. While Earth science is a broader field of study than meteorology, there is crossover between the subjects.

“They offered some meteorology courses, but they don’t have a meteorology program; so, therefore, I don’t have a meteorology degree,” he said of Murray State. “Earth science was about as close (as I could get) out of what they did have. So, I don’t have a meteorology degree like people you see on TV or the people who work for the Paducah Weather Service.” 

But that does not mean Holland is not well-educated in the field. In addition to taking every meteorology class on offer at MSU, he has taken several storm spotting courses and regularly attends PNWS’ spring and winter weather conferences. 

“I’ve always loved weather, and I’ve always loved to help people,” Holland explained about his motivations behind starting his Facebook page. “I thought I would put my weather background and my weather expertise to good use. I wanted it to be local; I wanted people here in Murray and Calloway to be able to have a place to go to view current conditions, to have a place to go to see what the weather’s going to be like for the next couple of days. 

“It’s just something that everybody needs to be aware of; everybody needs to be aware of when the weather’s going to turn because it affects their life – it affects their family’s life – every single day. From things as simple as, ‘What should I wear to school?’ ‘What should I wear to work?’ Will their son’s soccer game get rained out? Will their kids have school because of snow? Every day isn’t sunny and 75 degrees. You have to plan your day, your week, based on what the weather’s going to do.” 

Every day of the year, followers can look to Holland’s page to find current conditions updates starting around 6:30 a.m., followed by mid-morning, afternoon and evening updates, yesterday’s weather almanac and tomorrow’s forecast along with six- to 10-day predictions. And when severe weather threatens, they have come to rely upon Holland’s frequent updates and his responsiveness to comments.

“One of the cool things with Facebook is that you can see how many times that a post gets shared and viewed,” Holland shared. “I had a post back a couple of years ago that was viewed 750,000 times; three-quarters of a million people saw that post. That was not the norm; that was a very big post that dealt with a winter storm. And when it’s shared over and over, it just gets viewed multiple times. Most of the posts, on a typical weekly basis, can be viewed anywhere from 15,000 up to 100,000 times.” 

Recognizing the popularity of the page, a local business approached Holland around four years ago about advertising. Until that point, the thought of monetizing Murray/Calloway County Weather had not occurred to him.

“They sponsored a weather update, and they loved it,” Holland said. “They got a lot of good feedback; they got a lot more business and a lot more customers because people were seeing their business logo on my weather page. So, that grew into another business doing it and then another one doing it. Now, on a typical basis, I’ll have anywhere from 12-16 businesses per day that will run an ad with me.” 

Holland also offers a texting service. For $1 a month, subscribers receive severe weather alerts via text message. It is similar to the CodeRED service offered by the County that sends phone calls or texts about severe weather warnings, but Holland’s service offers more. In addition to warnings, he sends a “heads-up” text two days before severe weather is expected, an update the day of and a text when the “all-clear” is given. 

“My weather texting service has become really, really huge,” he said. “There are hundreds and hundreds of people in this county that use that texting service. It’s only $1 a month. I’m not trying to get rich off of it; I want to provide a good service for the citizens of Calloway County. 

“I am constantly monitoring the weather situation, and if anything is threatening people here in Calloway, they will hear it from me first. My wife gets messages through service within 30 seconds of me hitting send. You don’t have to wait a minute or two minutes; because if a tornado’s coming, seconds matter.”

Regardless of the added features of his service, Holland said people should subscribe to CodeRED, too, which can be done by visiting www.onsolve.com/landing/sign-up-for-codered-emergency-alerts. Having multiple ways to receive alerts is important because you never know when “your cable may go out; your NOAA radio may not sound out for whatever reason; the one weather app that you have may not work; but if you have four or five ways, you are bound for one of those ways to work.” 

“My system has never failed me,” he added. “I’m not saying that it can’t, but in the three years that I’ve used it, it has always worked, it has always notified people when I send out messages.”

To sign up for the texting service or get information about advertising, contact Holland through the Murray/Calloway County Weather page on Facebook.

CCPL board discusses unattended child policy

Jessica Paine
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CCPL board discusses unattended child policy

By Jessica Jones Paine/For Murray Ledger & Times*

MURRAY – Times have changed. That was the overarching message behind an emotional discussion of the Calloway County Public Library’s unattended child policy during its Board of Trustees meeting last week as library staff defended the policy and explained their concerns to the board.

“It’s important for people to understand because this gets emotionally charged, and it reads – or it sounds like – the library’s against children,” Board President Lance Allison said. “The library’s not against children, but the library’s for everyone. So, everyone has to be taken into account with this, and that includes our older population, it includes the general public, it includes children.”

A local mother, Ashley Holliday, spoke against the CCPL’s unattended child policy during the public comment period at the beginning of the meeting. Her daughters Corinne and Lyla were present as well. Holliday, who was previously unfamiliar with the policy, explained that, after the library reopened in July, she allowed her daughters to go there alone. For one week, the girls visited the library by themselves before staff noticed and told them they could not come back without an adult.

“For the week that they were allowed to come up here by themselves, it was amazing. And all I heard about was how magical it was and how many books they picked out. They looked up the books on their own; they didn’t have to have my help. And it breaks my heart now that they’re not allowed to come up here unless I am coming up here with them because that takes away part of the magic of coming up here and being old enough and mature enough to come here. I feel – I have a fifth grader and a seventh grader – that they are old enough and mature enough.”

Holliday said the girls, who had previously asked to go to the library daily, had not mentioned going there since being told they had to have adult supervision and added, “That broke my heart because y’all spent so much money and time to build this beautiful library and now the audience – this is what you want; you want to instill this in them at an early age – aren’t allowed to come here unless they have a parent that wants to bring them up here.”

“I loved going to the library over the summer all by myself,” Lyla said. “… I loved the way I felt coming and looking for my own book, and I want everyone to feel like that, specifically kids under 18.”

A discussion of the policy was included on the agenda. Before the discussion began, the board allowed library staff to express their thoughts. Three employees prepared multi-page statements, which they read aloud during the meeting. 

Much of their testimony centered around problems with Murray Middle School students after school, which largely motivated CCPL to institute its unattended child policy several years ago. Before the policy was instituted, the library essentially became a child care center from 3 p.m. until around 6 p.m.

One librarian, Diane, outlined many of the disrespectful behaviors that were commonplace at the time, such as “arguing about the rules, ignoring instructions, giving staff the middle finger, hitting each other, sneaking up on staff in the stacks to startle them, throwing things at staff as they worked in the stacks, setting fires outside of the library, defacing library furniture and walls, threatening staff with parental retribution when asked to follow library rules and policies, fighting, climbing on landscaping and trees and leaving trash around the library.”

The second librarian to speak, Pam, did not work at CCPL prior to the policy in place. Instead, she told trustees about the behaviors she has observed from middle-school-aged children since the July reopening, many of whom had a parent present, such as “running throughout the library, loudly using obscene language, placing feet – both bare and shoed – on the furniture, being very disrespectful to staff and chasing and being chased by other children.”

Those kinds of behaviors are not only problematic for staff, but they are also disruptive and bothersome to other patrons. While both are unacceptable, librarians have a far greater concern when it comes to having children in the library without adult supervision, and that is safety.

“I’d like to open with a recent example,” Pam continued. “During our open house on Sunday, the 2nd of July, we had a patron – who is known to us as someone to ‘keep an eye on’ – was following the children around, frightening them and then threatening our staff and other patrons as well. Her behavior was such that she had to be asked to leave. These children were uncomfortable, and they were with their parents.

“If the parents are not here, there is not enough staff in this building to constantly watch every single inch of the place and be able to perform our duties as librarians. If a patron were to approach a child back here in this foyer (referring to the back entrance of the building), anywhere in any of the bathrooms, in the Quiet Reading Room, even places in the children’s area, we cannot see these areas from the front desk; and it is a safety concern. We want to make sure that these children are safe when they are at the library.”

Processing Assistant Madeah Daubert advised that, based on her 15 years working at CCPL, she would never let her seventh-grade stepdaughter visit the library alone.

“I have had individuals watch and know exactly what time of day I came into work and watch to see and make comments on the number of bags I carried in that day, like my purse, lunchbox, work bag,” she said. “I have been cornered in the shelves and at the desk by individuals asking me inappropriate questions and making comments that have made me feel uncomfortable. … I have been here when police come in, looking for individuals, and have been here when they have found who they were looking for and arrested them. I have also had individuals become agitated to the point of becoming hostile.

“Staff did not have eyes and ears on every nook and cranny in the old building; we definitely do not have eyes everywhere in this new building. As a mother, I don’t want to put her in a situation where her safety could be at risk because I am not there to watch out for her or get her to safety if need be. I’m also not going to send her somewhere to stay where there is little adult supervision or not enough supervision for the number of kids.”

“You shouldn’t have to babysit everyone’s kids,” Holliday said. “I’m just saying to take away a special opportunity for children to come in and actually be able to explore. I’ve never found Murray to be a dangerous spot. I moved back here because I lived in Virginia Beach and wanted to raise my kids here because this is a safe spot.”

With that, the board began its discussion of the policy. Secretary Debbie Bell noted receiving several complaints from parents on the subject and proposed a revised policy. In Bell’s proposal, the policy would be in full force and effect after school from 3-4 p.m. during the school year; however, students in sixth, seventh or eighth grade could be unsupervised in the library at other times for up to two hours, provided the child and their parent signed a contract stating they understand the rules and that if the child breaks the rules, they will not be allowed to come back without adult supervision.

“We don’t have to put up with bad behavior, but I don’t think a group of badly behaved children should penalize all the kids in the county that want to come to the library,” Bell said. “I’m not wanting to put a burden on librarians, but I think (about) my experience as a child, (Trustee Vonnie Hays-Adams’) experience as a child and many others… if we take away their joy of going to the library when they’re 12, 13 years old, they’ll never come back; and I don’t want that to happen.”

“I understand,” said CCPL Executive Director Mignon Rutledge. “I was allowed to come here, and my purpose was to come and read books; but I also had friends that that was not the purpose. You know, I felt like my children were good children, but you put them in a crowd or with a group – doesn’t even have to be a crowd – and they’re kissing on the couch.”

“You guys are not the problem,” Rutledge said directly to Holliday’s daughters. “You come in; you look for books; we barely even know you’re here.”

“On the same hand,” she continued, “I only have so many staff. They cannot watch (everyone). We’ve had people… Some guy trapped a little boy in the bathroom, and he just so happened to get away. They’re on the internet, meeting guys, meeting girls; we have that. We have two or three patrons that come that have mental illness, and we’re on alert if we see them come in. ‘If we see them come in’ is the issue. I don’t want to be a place where somebody’s child is molested, or this is the last place they’re seen.

“And I understand; I grew up like you (referring to Holliday); I ran all over Murray, on my bicycle, walking in groups and stuff like that. We’ve had so many incidents where the police are coming in saying ‘If you see this person on the computer, they are a child molester. They’ve had somebody chained under their sink.’ It’s here in Murray. It is here. Our concern is not your girls; it’s the safety of your girls.”

The discussion was redirected to Bell’s proposed revisions.

“I really think we need to find a middle ground instead of a sweeping policy that bans all students,” Bell said. “We need to make some exceptions. If a kid is willing to come in here and visit the librarian and bring their mom and sign a contract with both of them and know that if they don’t follow the rules, they’re out; I think that’s fair. One time and then they’re gone. … So, if there is any part of this we can adopt, I would be OK with that.”

“Our mission is to provide this opportunity for the community,” Allison said. “When people say, ‘I pay my taxes,’ yeah, you’re right; you do, and it gives you the right to enjoy a library. But it gives you the right to enjoy a safe library; it does not give you the right to impose harm on paid staff. So, our responsibility as the board is not just to the general public, it is to the staff. And the staff is not a daycare facility. … I do like the idea of the contract, that if you’ve signed a contract, you understand there’s consequences to the contract and that means you’re kicked out.”

Before concluding the discussion, Rutledge, again, turned to Holliday’s daughters and asked them what they thought policy should be. Lyla said she thought the contract was a good idea.

Then, upon motion from Trustee Riley Ramsey, the board voted to table the discussion until the next meeting to allow board members and library staff to review the proposed policy revision.

In other business, Rutledge advised that she and Business Manager Wyneth Herrington have been working with Sarah Fineman and Chasity Bryant with Safety Training and Environmental Protection, LLC (STEP), Fire Marshal Greg Molinar and Building Official Marisa Stewart to develop an emergency action plan, which includes an evacuation plan with maps and posting capacity signage for rooms.

In the construction update, 5352 Design Group President Chris Cottongim reported crews have approximately 10 items remaining on the punch list. The board approved Pay Application #25 in the amount of $7,972.40. He reminded the board that CCPL is withholding almost $376,000 in retainage until the punch list is complete.

There were no change orders for direct purchase orders. Cottongim called that “a good sign” and said, “When DPOs are gone that’s a good thing because you’ve paid for all your materials.”

In the financial report, Herrington reported around $355,000 remains in the construction account, $205,000 the emergency contingency fund, $815,000 in the building reserve fund, nearly $1.3 in the money market account and $77,000 in checking. A very generous donation to the Beyond the Bricks campaign brought the total amount raised to $27,962. At the end of August, CCPL held $2.7 million in cash and investments.

The Friends of the Library annual meeting was Sunday at 2 p.m. at the library. The group is organizing a book sale to take place on Oct. 21; times will be announced at a later date.

The next library board meeting will be at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 10, at the library. 

*This article was reprinted with permission from the Murray Ledger & Times.

Celebrating Pride MKY-style

Jessica Paine
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Celebrating Pride MKY-style

MURRAY – Murray Pridefest 2023 kicks off Friday night. Organizers with Murray KY Pride have planned an eclectic mix of events throughout the weekend that give people of all ages and persuasions an opportunity to celebrate Pride. 

Pride began as a celebration in commemoration of a series of gay rights protests that took place in New York City during the summer of 1969 known as the Stonewall uprising, which is cited as the beginning of the LGBT civil rights movement. 

“We’re all just showing our pride in who we are,” Murray KY Pride President Madison Leach said. “Sometimes, being an LGBTQ person, it can come with a lot of shame and bullying that happens and ostracization, so it’s a showing of our pride and who we are and that it’s OK to love ourselves and it’s okay to be who we are.” 

While June is known as LGBTQ+ Pride month, Murray Pridefest is held in September so that Murray State University students can participate.

“This is my first year as president, but I’ve been involved every year that we’ve had Pride in Murray. It’s grown every year, bigger and bigger,” Leach added. “I am so proud of everybody who has worked on it. We work on this for a whole year, this festival. A month after this event, we’ll start planning the next one.” 

Madison Leach speaks during this year’s Pride in the Park event. (JESSICA PAINE/Murray Sentinel)

The festival kicks off Friday evening with Family Art Night at the Murray Art Guild. The family-friendly event is from 5-7 p.m. and features arts and crafts activities, including making posters for the March to Pride Saturday morning. Participants can start gathering in front of the MSU gates at the corner of 15th and Olive Streets at 9 a.m. The march to Central Park begins at 10 a.m. 

A girl shows the poster she painted to her mother at Pridefest 2023 Family Night. (JESSICA PAINE/The Murray Sentinel)

The Murray Police Department (MPD) will escort the marchers to the park and provide traffic control along the route to ensure all participants are safe. 

“We have people who are out looking for anything suspicious or anybody with guns. All of the board members have direct contact with the Murray Police, and we can divert the route if we need to at any time,” Leach said. While last year’s march proceeded as planned, two years ago, the route was diverted to avoid an individual armed with an assault weapon standing along 12th Street.

Pridefest organizers worked with MPD Captain Andrew Wiggins to develop the route along with alternate routes and contingencies should they be needed. 

Demonstrators march down Olive Boulevard for the main event of Pridefest 2023 – March to Pride. (JESSICA PAINE/The Murray Sentinel)

“They’re working to keep us safe for the event,” Leach said. “They’ve been really helpful; they were last year, too. We’re glad to work with them, and we’re thankful for their support in having this event. I think it shows where we’ve come. You know, pride started as a protest against police brutality in New York City in gay bars, and Kentucky is not absent from that history as well. It wasn’t too long ago that Lexington gay bars were raided by law enforcement and people were arrested for not dressing in the gender they were born in.

“Even if you don’t agree with transitioning or cross-dressing or any of those things, I like living in a country where we get to decide how we live. I love the fact that we honor pride and honor where we came from and our ancestors and their struggle, but at the same time, we’re thankful that we don’t have that anymore. We are, for the most part, I believe that law enforcement is supportive of our movement or they’re at least supportive of the idea that this is America and people get to live their lives the way they want to.” 

Pride in the Park runs from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. Attendees are encouraged to bring chairs and/or blankets. A shuttle will be available to transport people from the event in the park back to 15th and Olive. 

The event will feature speakers, including Chris Hartman from the Fairness Campaign, and music from the Murray State Music Ensemble, Keisha and Melanie Davis. At least 37 vendors are expected. In addition to those selling products, several organizations will be represented to share information about resources in the community. HIV/AIDS testing will also be available on site. 

Chris Hartman with the Fairness Campaign speaks at Pride in the Park. (JESSICA PAINE/The Murray Sentinel)

“It’s so important that people know their status,” Leach said. “That will be there for the general public. You don’t have to be part of the LGBTQ community to be tested, and really you should be tested if you’ve been sexually active. They’ll also be giving away condoms and lube for free and dental dams for free and other safe sex products for people.”

There is also a raffle for a bundle of gift cards – a $200 card from Gallery X Art Collective; $50 cards from Buff City Soap Company and Shogun; $25 cards from Big Apple Grill and Bar, Corvette Lanes, Starbucks and Cracker Barrel; and a $20 card from Dunkin’. Tickets are $5 each and can be purchased at Pride in the Park and at the Drag Extravaganza. The winner will be drawn during the drag show Saturday night. 

Dida Ritz holds nothing back in her performance at the Drag Extravaganza. (JESSICA PAINE/The Murray Sentinel)

The Drag Extravaganza is limited to those 18 and older. It starts at 8 p.m. at The Grove. Tickets are $20. Sunshine Cabs is offering discounted rates on rides within city limits to anyone going to or coming from The Grove Saturday night.

The headliners are Dida Ritz, who competed on season four of Ru Paul’s Drag Race, and Coco Sho-nell. They will be joined by several local drag queens: Leimomi, Diana Tunnel, Gemma Devil, Ken Sucky, Leiyana Santana, Cierra Devil, Alexandra LeBlanc Leight and Anhedonia Delight. 

Pridefest culminates Sunday evening with a spiritual service, “Love Casts Out Fear.” The service starts at 6 p.m. at the Arborteum and represents a collaborative effort between First Presbyterian Church, St. John’s Episcopal Church, Q Faith and Murray Pride. 

“I just hope everybody comes out and has a good time, and they celebrate who they are,” Leach said. “I’ve heard people say, ‘When are we going to have a straight pride?’ Come one down, we’ll celebrate you, too. We’re going to celebrate everybody for who they are. We welcome allies. We welcome straight, cis people; we welcome gay, lesbian, transgender, intersex, asexual people; all of those people are welcome at Pride because we should all take pride in who we are.” 

Family Fun Night

March to Pride

Pride in the Park

Drag Extravaganza

COVID cases are on the rise, but how do they know?

Jessica Paine
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COVID cases are on the rise, but how do they know?

MURRAY – Media outlets have been documenting the slow proliferation of COVID-19 across the country for weeks. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) COVID Data Tracker shows a 21.6% increase in hospital admissions for the week ending Aug. 19 over the previous week; likewise, COVID-related deaths were up 21.4%.

Zooming in locally, even without any knowledge of the current metrics, much of the citizenry of Calloway County is aware, at least anecdotally, of the current surge in cases.

CDC’s county-level reporting shows 117 counties in the country where new hospital admission rates in their health service areas (HSA) are beginning to warrant attention, among them are the Purchase Area counties of Graves, Marshall, McCracken, Carlisle, Hickman and Ballard, which are all in the HSA serviced by Paducah hospitals Mercy Health-Lourdes and Baptist Health Paducah that, notably, does not include Calloway.

Murray-Calloway County Hospital’s Chief Nursing Officer Jeff Eye said that a surge in cases four to six weeks before the start of the school year has been typical for the past three years. This year is no exception.

Murray Medical Associates, who usually sees about 750 patients a week, saw closer to 900 patients last week, more than 350 of those were walk-ins; and they had 40 positive COVID patients. In addition, Murray Pediatrics reported around 20 cases. Eye also noted the clinics are receiving calls from patients who tested positive at home and are calling to report their results and receive guidance, adding those with mild symptoms can be managed at home.

But how is that impacting our local hospital? According to Eye, it isn’t. As of Tuesday morning, there was one patient hospitalized for COVID. “It will be like every other year; we’ll have to watch and see where we see impacts. We have had some staff out sick, and the clinics are very, very busy; but as of right now, the hospital is operating under normal conditions.”

The real question is: will it stay that way? Nationally, daily hospital admissions for COVID are expected to increase from 1,100 per day, as of Aug. 21, to 7,500 by Sept 18, according to an ensemble forecast – a combination of forecasts from independent teams – released by the CDC early last week.

The CDC characterizes the ensemble forecasting method as “among the most reliable forecasts in performance over time” but notes the forecasts “have not reliably predicted rapid changes in trends of reported cases, hospitalizations and deaths” and, therefore, should not be used as a decision-making tool.

For years, decision-making tools were based on case rates. Terms like incidence rate (the number of cases in a given period adjusted for population size), positivity rate (the percentage of positive results out of all tests administered) and seven-day rolling average (the average number of cases per day over a seven-day period) became part of the vernacular for many as they monitored conditions to make informed choices.

Over the course of the pandemic, the metrics used to monitor the impact of the virus on communities have changed. The CDC made clear when it released the Community Levels map in spring 2022 that its primary concern was to avoid stressing healthcare systems. That guidance was in stark contrast to the two years prior when minimizing community spread of the disease through monitoring case rates was the priority.

“When we were coming out of the emergency phase,” Eye explained, “the CDC said, ‘We’re not really worried about the prevalence of the disease in the community – we know it’s high – what we’re concerned about is the capacity of the hospitals to care for their communities, so we’re going to adjust our recommendations based on how well the hospital’s able to deal with the current disease burden and take care of the community. As long as the hospital’s fine, then we’re fine.’ Back up prior to that and they were doing positivity rate and prevalence rates to track how fast the disease was spreading in the community, anticipating that it would cause hospitalizations.”

Perhaps the most dramatic changes occurred after the federally-declared COVID Public Health Emergency (PHE) expired on May 11.

“The CDC and the Kentucky Department for Public Health (KDPH) data reports are going to change because much of the data that is needed to generate them will no longer be gathered or collected at the CDC,” Kentucky Public Health Commissioner Dr. Steven Stack explained during a press conference on May 11. “The COVID-19 community level map … will be removed from the website and be retired at the end of the business day today because we won’t be getting that data. The CDC won’t be able to generate that anymore.”

Since that time, CDC has, again, adjusted the primary surveillance indicators it uses to monitor COVID trends. Weekly COVID hospital admissions continue to be used along with the percentage of deaths from COVID out of all deaths in the United States. Hospitalization data remain the main metric for determining which mitigation strategies to employ, if any, on both personal and community levels, while mortality data provide insight on severity of illness.

“The CDC, regularly, will go back, look at old data and apply their new reporting model,” Eye said. “’If we had used this back then, would we have gotten the information that we needed?’ They’ll go back and rerun some of those reports, using the metrics they’re going to use moving forward, and say, ‘Does that line up with what we would have expected and how we would’ve issued guidance through that time period?’”

Through evaluating surveillance data sources and indicators from Oct. 1, 2020, to March 22, 2023, the CDC found that COVID hospital admission levels alone were still consistent with the Community Levels, which incorporated case rates. To that end, hospital admission rates only lagged one day behind case rates. 

Mortality data are now sourced from the National Vital Statistics System. The CDC found those data strongly correlated with the aggregate death data previously used for tracking purposes and were 13 days timelier.

“They’re going to use provisional death certificates from the state, instead of a hospital saying, ‘We had a death of a patient who had COVID today’ because that’s what was happening,” Eye explained. “Some states would just report that number – this many people died, and on the day of their death, they had a positive COVID diagnosis. Our state, Kentucky, would go back and scrub those and say, ‘Did COVID appear to be contributable to their death?’”

“I’m proud of this,” Stack said of KDPH’s scrutiny of deaths deemed COVID-related. “It was very difficult along the way, but we have been very, very diligent in making sure that we reviewed all the cases that were outliers, that weren’t clear, to make sure we had folks who felt confident that we were including only people who died from COVID and not others. That process will now be mainstreamed into the normal process that we do for all death/mortality reporting. So, it won’t be quite the same in that we won’t have weekly data being reported, but (it will be reported) at least monthly and it will become more normal.”

But we learned over the course of the pandemic that hospitalizations and deaths are not leading indicators; in other words, hospitalizations and deaths only increase after a surge in cases is already underway. So, how do we know when cases are starting to climb now?

The CDC uses data collected through emergency rooms to detect early trends, specifically, the percentages of positive SARS-CoV-2 lab tests and emergency department visits related to COVID. In its evaluation of surveillance data, the CDC also found these ER metrics can identify trends four days earlier than hospital admissions.

“If you’re not going to do widespread testing, then the three places you would watch would be doctor’s offices, urgent care (clinics) and emergency departments,” Eye said. “That’s where you would look for the early indicators that you’re seeing an increase in COVID activity in a community. It would show up in one of those three places because that’s where people go, right? You’ll catch people with a little sniffle; you’ll catch people who are more short of breath; you’re going to catch people that have more severe illness and get admitted.

“You need all of those to paint a full picture, but if you’re trying to limit the amount that you’re having to track and report, and you’re out of that acute emergency phase, the approach makes sense. That is similar to what they have done historically for the flu. Emergency departments report the number of influenza-like illnesses and their total volume of ER visits.”

In addition to monitoring those four primary indicators, CDC will continue to use national genomic surveillance and wastewater surveillance to identify and monitor emerging variants.

Given the evolution of surveillance methods throughout the course of the pandemic, one pertinent question remains: are we better off now than we were three and a half years ago?

“Pre-COVID, we did not have a very robust surveillance system for monitoring infectious diseases across the country,” Eye explained. “When COVID started, at one point, we were reporting to four different agencies on four different platforms, and they all wanted different things. There was just a laundry list of things we had to report, 62 data elements every day.

“In December 2022, everything went back to NHSN (National Healthcare Safety Network), which is the data platform that we reported things on prior to COVID. There’s a list of things – MRSA, c-diff, central line infections, post-op surgical site infections, any reportable disease – that, any time we diagnose somebody with, we have to report it to the health department and the CDC. But it was still every day, as opposed to everything else, which is reported monthly. 

“I wonder, in retrospect, if they think, ‘Why didn’t we just expand the NHSN reporting as opposed to three different government agencies developing three different platforms to report all of this stuff?’ And part of it was just that the system wasn’t well-coordinated.”

Since the PHE ended, the reporting burden on hospitals has dropped to 44 metrics that are reported weekly. Eye noted that, still, several of the data elements reported are not COVID-specific, such as supply levels and available beds. 

“They may keep that up until they find a better way to keep tabs on hospital capacity,” he added. “They may be viewing that as ‘we needed to be doing that anyway, so we’ll just keep it.’ Because prior to COVID, they didn’t track any of that.”

In May, Stack told reporters that, while the country’s disease surveillance systems have improved over the course of the pandemic, there is still more that needs to be done.

“We need to build a strong nationwide system where information flows freely so that we can provide real time updates to the public on our websites so that you can be informed and you have confidence in that,” he said. “There’s a lot of work underway, but it’s complicated – there’s 50 states, nine territories, the District of Columbia and national government – and things are all politicized, as we’ve all seen. So, it’s difficult, but yeah, we’ve made progress.

“Wastewater testing holds promise to be able to find diseases earlier than we otherwise would have. Opportunities to maintain some form of hospital data reporting so that we have a sense of health care capacity, that’s important. I think we learned that that was valuable. … I think we’ve learned a lot, and I think we’ll make some meaningful progress on that (in the future).”

He also noted his hope to replace the state’s COVID website (kycovid19.ky.gov) with one focused more broadly on fall and winter respiratory illnesses, such as RSV and influenza, in addition to COVID. For now, KDPH still provides COVID-related data through two interactive dashboards – one for cases and deaths and one for vaccinations.

“For most of us, life already returned to our new normal a long time ago,” Stack said as he closed his prepared remarks. “For those of us later in life or with substantial medical conditions, ready access to high quality masks, tests, immunizations, treatments and adequate hospital care ensures that you can reduce your risk and more safely get treated and cared for, if you have COVID-19, to avoid bad complications.

“Even so, we would be wise to be mindful that COVID-19 has not gone and will not disappear. Remaining vigilant and supportive of each other is really important. And though it will be done less prominently, the Kentucky Department for Public Health will continue to monitor trends, keep the governor informed and make sure we share with you important updates as they occur.” 

Calloway County Board of Health sets 2023 tax rate

Jessica Paine
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Calloway County Board of Health sets 2023 tax rate

MURRAY – The last time the Calloway County Board of Health changed its tax rate was 1987, and at its regular quarterly meeting Tuesday (Aug. 22), the board unanimously agreed to stay the course this year.

As such, the 2023 tax rate for the Calloway County Public Health Taxing District remains 2.8 cents per $100 assessed value of both real and personal property and 3.1 cents per $100 assessed value of motor vehicles.

The decision came on the heels of Calloway County Health Department Director of Administrative Services Joe Crawford’s presentation of the financial reconciliation for fiscal year (FY) ’23. He reported CCHD’s total revenue for the year was $863,483, and it had $676,240 in expenditures. At the end of June, the health department had more than $4.6 million in holdings.

Calloway County Judge Executive Kenny Imes, who serves as board chair, asked Crawford if it was feasible to move some funds to a CD or money market account. A discussion ensued during which Crawford advised that he would need to check the terms of the agreement with First Financial Bank, who provides CCHD’s banking services, to be able to fully answer that question. 

 Dr. Charles Tucker, noting it is audit season, suggested getting an opinion from the accountants on how much money could be moved without creating any financial problems for the health department. Discussion continued briefly and ended with Imes asking Crawford to investigate and report back to the board at the next meeting.  

The meeting also included an unexpected discussion after Public Health Director Jamie Hughes advised of an uptick in possible rabies cases. He said rabies infections were ruled out for all of the individuals in questions; regardless, it prompted CCHD to try to remind the public of the dangers of animal bites and the importance of staying away from wild animals, mainly bats, raccoons and skunks.

“If it’s an animal that’s wild, leave it alone. Don’t pick up raccoons,” Hughes said. “We’re just trying to remind people to stay away from them and also reminding people that if your dog bites someone and they actually have to have (a vaccine after being bitten), that they could be responsible for paying for that. It’s just important to make sure they have their animals vaccinated.”

Hughes also noted increased interest in pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) vaccines for rabies from individuals who work directly with animals, and he anticipates that will grow as Murray State University will be requiring veterinary and pre-veterinary students to be immunized next year.

CCHD does not carry the vaccine because it is very expensive – around $350 per shot. At least two shots are required to complete the series; after the second dose, a titer test is performed to determine if a third shot is needed. Not all insurance companies cover the vaccine. For example, Hughes noted that he contacted CCHD’s health insurance provider and was told that it is not covered on their plans.

Hughes advised he contacted all of the local pharmacies; Walgreens is the only one who carries it, but it will cost around $440 per vaccine. The closest health department that carries it is the Pennyrile District Health Department.

Dr. Damon Eastwood, a veterinarian at Westside Veterinary Service, said that it is not required in his practice, but they do recommend it. In response to a question about how long immunity from the vaccine lasts, he shared that he received the vaccine when he was in vet school and got a booster around 15 years ago. He added that he had a titer test three or four years ago, which showed his immunity level was sufficient.

Tucker asked if the county’s animal control officers have received the PrEP vaccine, and several board members noted they should be. Calloway County Judge Executive Kenny Imes, who is also the chairman of the board, advised that he will find out if that could be covered under the state’s insurance plan.

CCHD has a new breastfeeding peer counselor, Caitlyn Williams, Hughes said during his clinic update. She is currently going through training, and it is anticipated that she will start seeing clients in October. Breastfeeding peer counselors work with women in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC), providing support to those considering or are currently breastfeeding.

Hughes further advised there are currently 896 county residents participating in the WIC program, and the breastfeeding rate among eligible participants is 34.18%.

The Health Access Nurturing Development Series (HANDS) program has 21 families enrolled, and Hughes noted CCHD is receiving new referrals to the program daily. The 2023 Birthday Bash, an annual HANDS event, will be held at the Calloway County Public Library on Sept. 16 from 2-4 p.m. There will be cake, birthday presents, story time and a tour of the new library facility.

In other business, the board voted to create a grievance committee. Murray attorney William C. (Chip) Adams, III, was present at the meeting and advised that it would be prudent for the board to create the committee to address issues that arise between meetings without having to hold a special-called meeting. The board agreed, and Tucker, Eastwood, Robert Deitz and Ricky Stewart volunteered to be on the committee.

The board approved revisions to CCHD’s open records request policy. The revisions were not substantive, largely amounting to formatting changes and the name of a former public health director was replaced with Hughes’ name.

During the last meeting in May, the board elected to begin paying employees’ portions of health insurance premiums through the end of FY ’24. Tuesday, Hughes requested that it be extended through December 20, 2024; the board approved.

Hughes advised that Dr. Richard L. Vonnahme, a dentist at Taylor Family Dental, accepted the request to fill the open dentist position on the board, and the board approved the appointment. Hughes further advised that there is still an open seat for an optometrist. That seat can only be filled by a practicing doctor who is also a resident of Calloway County.

The next regularly-scheduled meeting will be at noon on Tuesday, Nov. 28, at the health department and via Zoom. 

The ‘Best Thing’ to do this weekend

Jessica Paine
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The ‘Best Thing’ to do this weekend

MURRAY – We all have stories to tell, but how many of us actually write them down? For Murray State University flute professor Dr. Stephanie Rea, writing her life story ended up being life-changing.

What started as a simple story ultimately morphed into a one-person show called “The Next Best Thing: A Flute Professor’s Tragicomic Origin Story,” which Rea will perform at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 26, in the Performing Arts Hall on the second floor of the Old Fine Arts Building on campus. Fellow music professor Dr. Meeyoun Park will accompany Rea on the piano. 

The event is a fundraiser for WKMS, MSU’s public radio station. While admission to the show is free, donations are encouraged. The last time Rea held a fundraiser for the radio station was 20 years ago; she characterized that concert as “straight flute and piano with some talking in between” – the complete opposite of the autobiographical, semi-theatrical performance that bounces from “hilarity to poignancy” the audience will see Saturday night.     

“I don’t even know what to call it,” Rea admitted. “Is it a one-woman show? Is it a lecture? A recital? What is it? It’s all these things. It’s not stand-up comedy, but it has those elements. I’m performing on flute. It’s about 80-90 minutes, maybe 15 or so is flute playing. It’s a lot of talking, but a lot of slide show and the flute playing is peppered in between things so that it doesn’t feel like you’re in a lecture.” 

As for the musical components of the show, Rea said all of the pieces tie into the stories. “It’s not just random palate cleansers, but more like perfectly curated pieces of music,” she explained. “But there’s nothing avant garde or super modern. It’s all kind of pleasing, cute, happy, fun, beautiful types of sounds. Whereas at some recitals that I give, I might incorporate more pieces that also are much more modern or challenging or dissonant, but this does not include any of that. … And some of them are really dazzling, technically dazzling. Two of them are really, really super technically challenging.” 

Rea just started her 24th year as a professor of music at MSU. This semester, she is teaching an honors course called “Music and Society” and one on American musical theatre. Of the latter course, Rea said, “I love it. I’m not a real ‘theatre person,’ but I love it and watch it; and I love teaching it.”

Like all professors at MSU, Rea is expected to make creative and/or scholarly contributions to her field. While she has presented at conferences and writes the occasional article, writing is not her go-to for fulfilling that requirement. Rather, performing has always been her preferred outlet. 

“I’ve tried to do different themes over the years,” Rea said of her annual recitals. “I’ve done winter-themed music with poetry, winter poetry in between. There has been some visual art where I’ve incorporated pieces of music that were in response to a piece of art and I project the art. So, I’ve done lots of different, creative things – different from just classical music on stage – but this one is different. It’s all about the stories. The stories are the real star of this particular show.” 

Born in Pennsylvania, she moved with her family to east Tennessee at the age of 10. She received her bachelor’s degree from East Tennessee State University before moving to Florida where she completed her graduate work at Florida State University. In 2000, Rea moved to Murray to be the music department’s resident flute expert. 

“The show answers the question ‘How did you become a flute professor?’” she said. “And where do you begin to answer the question of ‘How did you become what you are today?’ Like, where do you begin that story? You could start it anywhere, but mine, I think, really specifically, does have a surprising starting point that I reveal in the show.” 

Rea said that writing “the story” had been in the back of her mind for years, but she never had the time or brain space to focus energy on a superfluous creative writing endeavor. That changed last semester when she took a sabbatical to write a flute book. She finished the book but has yet to submit it for publication; rather, she is using it this year in her classes to refine it first. 

“It was a neat thing to get back to, but now I had a daunting task – to write a book,” she said, noting that she had not taken on a writing project of that scale since her dissertation. “Even though it wasn’t terribly creative per se, there are lots of philosophical parts of it and my thoughts on it all. And it made me use a dictionary and a thesaurus every day. I was really trying to hone the meaning of each word and really thinking about exactly how I wanted to say things. So, I think that definitely led me into more of – even though these two things are totally different types of writing – but certainly one got the juices flowing for the other. And then, I had enough brain space because I wasn’t teaching all day. I had enough extended time in a room when there’s not a knock on the door or you have to go to class now. 

“So, I had time to just write this story about this thing that happened to me that was really life-changing and that, sort of, led to my career path. I had thought about writing it down many times, but I’m not a writer, not a creative writer, and so I’ve never written it down. But I had time. So, that inspired me. And then, partly, I was inspired just to send it in… the idea. I was just going to send in the idea to a public radio show that I love.” 

She wrote a pitch to send to said “public radio show” but thought it was no good. She wrote a second pitch, but she did not like that one either. Frustrated with the process, Rea decided a better approach was to write the story before attempting to write another pitch.

Writing the story took longer than Rea had anticipated. It turned out to be a days-long project that temporarily “hijacked” her life. “I was like, ‘I’ve got to finish this. I’ve got to get on with other things. I need to send this thing in so I can just be done.’ But I still wasn’t done even after sending it in.”

She decided that she wanted to be the one to tell her story, but she had no idea how to do that. 

“It’s so unlike anything I’ve ever done,” she said. “Usually, I have an idea, and then I go down my list of how to make that idea happen and put it into place. Whereas, with this, I didn’t have any idea where any of it was going, I just wrote a story. I didn’t know what I’d do with the story.” 

Trying to conceptualize how she could tell the story, Rea thought about the occasions when she talks to groups – in class and during recitals. 

“I thought maybe I could do flute playing and storytelling,” she explained. “If I’m going to tell a 15-minute story in between flute pieces – I mean, that’s a long story – I’m going to have to give some context. So, as I’m writing this story about sending in my story, all these other parts, kind of, emerged. So, then that story becomes its own story. It still didn’t totally make sense why I was telling stories, but because there was this public radio tie-in, I was like, ‘Oh! I can do this as a fundraiser for WKMS!’

By the end of May, Rea was “mostly done” writing the show, but she continued to tweak it throughout the summer. She also explored other creative endeavors, such as traveling to Chicago to take an improv class at Second City. She explained that she was watching an interview with Second City alumnus Stephen Colbert, and as he talked about improv and the influence it had on him, the wheels started turning. 

“Maybe I should do some improv,” she thought. “Then the next thing I knew, I was like, ‘Yes, I really need to do this.’ Even though I knew almost nothing about it really, I felt like it could just kind of be this thing that opens me up a little bit more or something. I turned 50 this summer, and I wanted to do something that was big and just my own thing – I didn’t know what exactly – and that ended up being the thing. It was the week before my classes started, so I didn’t love the timing; but I thought, ‘I can make this happen.’”

The class was four hours a day for five days. There were 15 in the classes, ranging in age from 18 to 55 years. The students’ range of experience also varied widely – while some were seasoned improvisational actors, there were equally as many who had no improv experience whatsoever.

“When you’re doing improv, there’s no time to worry about or plan what you’re doing; you just do it.” Rea said. “That’s so unlike anything in my life; everything is so planned. I think that was really freeing, and I wondered if it would help me with the show, but I knew it wasn’t going to hurt. So, I didn’t do it for that reason, but it’s totally related. Because I was planning this show, I think that’s kind of what led me to that as well.”

The classes consisted mostly of improvisational games and exercises. In the beginning, many of the “games” were focused on learning about their fellow classmates, not only to learn each other’s names but also to create a safe space where a group of strangers were comfortable enough to be vulnerable. 

“You need to know nobody’s going to make fun of you, that we’re all in it together, to build that collaborative, supportive environment,” she said. “A lot of times, I think in so many parts of life where those sorts of ‘ice-breaker’ type things are introduced, it just sounds so corny; but none of it was like that. It just felt so genuine. I’m not super silly by nature, and I don’t have a very high tolerance for bullshit – so, I’m the first one to roll my eyes at this kind of stuff. I didn’t feel that way with any of it.”

“All of the things with improv, for me, were total life lessons almost instantly,” she continued. “Within 15-30 minutes on the first day, I was like, ‘Oh, we’re learning how to be better people.’ ‘Oh, this is a class on communication.’ ‘Oh, I’m learning how to be a better parent and professor and friend.’ We already know the importance of eye contact and listening, but surrendering and acceptance and give-and-take and the idea of maintaining a positive attitude with ‘Yes, and…,’ (which is a common saying in the improv world that refers to) taking the idea that somebody gives you and building on it rather than being a Negative Nelly and throwing other people’s ideas away. I was amazed at how much there is in improv to apply to larger life relationships.” 

Through the internal exploration of the events that led her to where she is today, Rea learned a greater lesson about connecting with others.

Those curious to know more about what to expect can find a short series of promotional videos describing the show on Rea’s YouTube page (@drstephanierea). 

“There is some adult language; it is not intended for kids,” Rea advised in one video. “I’m just talking the way that I talk when I am talking with friends in an impassioned way and not censoring myself. If you know me, then you know; but if you’re not my friend, you may not realize what a total potty mouth I can be. So, use your discretion. It’s not intended to be offensive, but I don’t think I could tell these stories without swearing.” 

Spike in births prompts expansion of hospital’s OB unit

Jessica Paine
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Spike in births prompts expansion of hospital’s OB unit

MURRAY – Murray-Calloway County Hospital (MCCH) is in the midst of a baby boom. Administrators, who worked feverishly throughout the summer to be ready for a record number of deliveries expected over the next three weeks, were able to breathe a sigh of relief Monday as the hospital opened a new postpartum unit before the next anticipated wave.

Murray-Calloway County Hospital CEO Jerry Penner

“We’ve prepared for it just like we prepare for natural disasters,” CEO Jerry Penner said as he praised his staff for all their hard work during an interview last month. “We’re trying to do the right thing and thinking ahead, based on projections of what we think is going to happen. I just want to reassure the community that we’re prepared for this.”

MCCH administrators were able to forecast the exceptionally high number of deliveries through monitoring appointments in the obstetrics (OB) clinic. Preparations were underway long before Henry County Medical Center (HCMC) in Paris, Tennessee, announced plans at the end of May to close its OB unit in September. In fact, at the time of that announcement, deliveries at MCCH were already up 6.5% year-to-date. 

In June, Chief Nursing Officer Jeff Eye told the MCCH Board of Trustees that the number of deliveries forecast in July and August was unprecedented. “With these types of numbers, if we would sustain them, that is a lot more babies than we have delivered… ever,” he said. “Even going back to when (the Murray Women’s Clinic) was still there, we’re going to far surpass our monthly number of deliveries that we typically do.”

Numbers started surging the first week of July when MCCH’s labor and delivery unit welcomed 16 babies to the world, nearly half the unit’s monthly average of 35-40 deliveries. In total, 47 babies were born last month. To accommodate that increase in volume, an additional labor nurse was hired and the hospital’s float pool nurses were trained to work in the postpartum unit. 

Although delivery rates slowed to normal in the first two weeks of August – as of Monday morning, there had only been 16 deliveries – the end of this week marks the start of a two-week period during which the number of expected deliveries exceeds the hospital’s monthly average. To prepare for the impending surge, administrators not only had to ensure there will be enough staff, but also enough room. Simply put, the eight-room postpartum unit was not big enough for that kind of patient load. 

Fortunately, space in the vicinity of the unit opened up when the radiation/oncology clinic moved into the new Regional Cancer Center last month. Interestingly, that area of the hospital, known as 2 West, was historically ward space – in fact, it previously housed the postpartum unit – but the floor was closed in 2013 due to low patient volumes. 

“We closed 2 West down because the census had dropped and I didn’t want to have a minimal nursing staff for two patients; it wasn’t worth it for us,” Penner explained. “Then the idea came along in 2016 to take that and turn it into the oncology practice. Now, we’re taking it from clinic space back to ward space, so it’s come full-circle.” 

Much work was needed to convert the clinic back into patient rooms, such as installing a new nurse call system and infant security electronics as well as re-routing the hospital’s medication dispensing system. Due to time constraints, aesthetic updates were not a priority, but the new 13-room unit has all of the necessary infrastructure to keep patients and their babies safe. 

“I think it will give us some additional help on the back side of this,” Penner said. “We need to get back into the rooms that are currently postpartum and spruce those up a little bit because it’s probably been 14 years since they’ve been touched. We’re going to take advantage of the situation to continue to upgrade the hospital.”

Penner said there has also been talk about overhauling the entire labor and delivery deck. One idea is to equip rooms so that patients can labor, deliver and receive postpartum care in the same space, eliminating the need to transfer patients to a different room during their stay. “So, that is a concept to look into at some point in time,” he added. 

The timing as well as the scope of any major renovation projects could depend on a few factors, but it is really a numbers game. OB units are typically not lucrative for hospitals, largely because regulatory requirements prescribe high minimum staffing levels be maintained regardless of the number of patients in the unit. Penner said that MCCH has to have 600 deliveries a year in order for the unit to break even; however, for several years, MCCH has delivered around 450-500 babies annually. Last year, there were 466. 

“The balancing act has been that if the numbers are gonna continue to decline where they have been, is it cost effective for us to do that? Do we want to invest that much money?” Penner asked. “Whereas the cancer center is an example where we’ve just been exploding with the prevalence of cancer in this area. I’m seeing 1600 cancer patients a year. Does it make sense to make that investment for the cancer center? The answer is yes. 

“But now we’re going the opposite direction with OB – where, here I was back in 2011, 2012 with 660 deliveries, now we’re down to 460 – does it make sense to go that direction and make that sort of investment there if that’s going to continue to be the trend?”

One factor is whether the baby boom is indicative of an upward trend in birthing rates in Calloway County or just an anomaly. Penner cited census trends showing modest growth in population and pointed to continuing growth in the industrial sector and for both local school districts as possible indicators that this baby boom could be more than just a blip.

Another factor, one that stands to have a more considerable impact on OB services at MCCH, is the closure of HCMC’s OB unit, which averages 25-30 deliveries per month. When it closes, patients will have three options from which to choose: West Tennessee Healthcare Volunteer Hospital in Martin, Tennessee, which is 45 minutes from Paris; Jackson-Madison County General Hospital in Jackson, Tennessee, which is an hour and 20 minutes away; or MCCH, which is less than 30 minutes away. 

That may seem like an easy choice – go to the closest. But around 75% of HCMC’s OB patients are insured through TennCare, the Tennessee Medicaid program; for them, crossing the state line is not an option. They will have to travel to Martin or Jackson. For those with private insurance or who are self-paying (which translates to five or six deliveries a month, according to Penner) there are no barriers to receiving services at MCCH.

“Do the math,” Penner said. “If you get five, or six, more times 12, that’s another 60-72 babies we’re adding; now we’re up from 460 to 530. Alright, we’ve got to start thinking about how we would be able to maintain that.” 

The setup is good in theory; the reality, however, is fraught with problems. An uptick in unexpected, non-emergency deliveries from Henry County is anticipated. Penner said that is a problem because, as a Kentucky hospital, MCCH cannot get paid for providing services to TennCare patients; however, if a TennCare patient arrives in active labor, the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act requires MCCH to provide care. 

“The problem with that one is that the doctors have never seen them,” Penner said. “They have no prenatal history on this woman, just not a clue. The safety on that is ridiculously bad. They have no idea if they’re preeclamptic, if they’ve got gestational diabetes; you just don’t know all those things that (could put that mother at risk) that you should know before they walk in the door. That’s a problem.” 

It is a scary situation, Penner said, not only because it is not safe for the patient but also because it puts both the hospital and the provider at significant risk. 

Another concern is that, by virtue of proximity, OB emergencies from Henry County will be transferred to MCCH. That brings an entirely different level of planning. Perinatal Services Director Leanna Jackson said that she and MCCH obstetrician Dr. Karla Turley worked with the emergency department to ensure it has all of the resources necessary for OB emergencies and to streamline internal processes regarding transferring patients between units. 

“An OB emergency is an all-hands-on-deck (emergency); you’ve got two people that you’re worried about,” Jackson said. “So, we’re just trying to make sure we have everybody prepared. It doesn’t happen a lot in our community, but there are times when we have an emergency like that, and we all have to work together and pull together.”

Jackson also acknowledged that it is possible that the added burden of having to travel outside of Henry County for OB services could prevent some patients from receiving adequate prenatal care, increasing the likelihood of an OB emergency occurring. 

To mitigate these concerns, Penner reached out to the Kentucky Hospital Association (KHA) for assistance in securing a waiver that would allow MCCH to be paid for providing OB services to TennCare patients. While such a waiver is unprecedented, Penner is hopeful that KHA can negotiate an agreement that will accommodate this unique situation that has the potential to be a financial drain for MCCH.

“If we can get the deal,” Penner said, “if all of a sudden, TennCare says, ‘OK, we’re going to create a waiver, a carve-out, and Henry County patients can go to Murray-Calloway, since (it is) the closest, and we’ll pay you for those;’ that’s fine. But if they’re not going to pay us for them, once again, it just digs a hole deeper for me.”

If an agreement with TennCare can be reached, Penner anticipates most OB patients in Henry County will come to MCCH instead of traveling to Martin or Jackson. That would push the hospital’s annual delivery rate over 700. At that level, MCCH would be forced to expand its OB service.

“That puts me from the 460 (we’re) at now to over 600 (the break-even threshold); that’s great,” Penner said. “We need more staff; we need more rooms; we need more nursery space; we need to think about waiting space. There’s a gamut of things that are going to precipitate us being into a different realm than we’ve been in the last now, probably 7, 8, 9 years – in that 450-460 range.” 

The bottom line is changes are in store for the OB unit at MCCH. Whether that will be a mere sprucing up or a complete overhaul, only time will tell.

“So, we’ve just got to look at the numbers to see where we’re going,” Penner said. “But this whole Henry County dynamic could change the balance of what our responsibilities are because we are the closest.”

Not in my backyard: Residents oppose group home relocation

Jessica Paine
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Not in my backyard: Residents oppose group home relocation

MURRAY – Southwest Villa is a subdivision off Gibbs Store Road in the southwest quadrant of Calloway County. A drive through the idyllic neighborhood reveals a family-friendly culture with trampolines, basketball goals and bicycles dotting yards and driveways throughout.

On July 16, Southwest Villa residents learned, by way of a legal notice printed in the Murray Ledger & Times, that StepStone Family and Youth Services planned to open a group home for boys right around the corner, at 287 Enix Drive.

StepStone is a for-profit company that provides residential services for youth in nine states, including four group homes in the Purchase Area for children ages ten to 17 – one in Paducah, one in Mayfield and two in Murray. Of the Murray facilities, there is a boys’ home on Back Street* and a girls’ home on Robertson Road South*.

At the request of residents, StepStone held a public meeting Friday at its regional office in Benton. The 27-mile drive was no deterrent for approximately 70 people, several with children in tow, who showed up to voice their opposition to StepStone relocating the Back Street facility to their neighborhood.

Chris Hempfling, vice president of service excellence and stakeholder relations for BrightSpring Health Services, which is StepStone’s parent company, ran the meeting flanked by StepStone Vice President Jennifer Parks, all four site supervisors, the regional supervisor, the regional clinical treatment director and the regional HR manager/office coordinator in addition to the Regional Administrator for the Department of Community Based Services for the Lakes Region Renee Buckingham, who is not affiliated with StepStone.

Emotions were high as roughly 100 people, including StepStone staff, government officials and one deputy with the Calloway County Sheriff’s Office crammed into a small, poorly-ventilated conference room.

“You all have come out in full force,” Hempfling began, noting he anticipated a crowd closer to 50. “This is what community is all about. Absolutely. I am in children’s services; that is my job: to raise children. And we can’t do that without strong, committed communities.”

“This is not how we wanted to be introduced to each other; I’ll just say that out front,” he continued. “We truly believe that the communities that we’re in make the children that we serve successful, and we can’t serve children if we don’t have the support of the community. Absolutely not. Our children that we serve in this community, they go to public schools; they ride the school buses; they’ve got jobs in the community; and making sure that those children in the community have everybody’s support for their success is really extremely important to us.”

Calloway County Judge-Executive Kenny Imes spoke for the crowd when he voiced his frustration with the location of the meeting. “We offered you our courtroom, which is much larger and seats a lot more people than this,” he said. “We did that in writing and faxed to you, but you’d already set this down here. That is absurd, and it’s insulting.”

Imes said that the crowd probably represented one-third of the people who have called his office with concerns about the relocation. Citing the distance residents had to drive, the fact that the meeting was scheduled at 2 p.m. on a Friday and that the legal notice was just printed the previous week, he said, “It sounds like something’s getting crammed down their throat, and I don’t appreciate it!”

Early on, Hempfling acknowledged that several residents have collectively retained Murray attorney Jeremy Pruitt to represent their interests in the matter. They argue that establishing any group home on the Enix Drive property would violate the covenants and restrictions of record on the Southwest Villa subdivision plat.

“Now, that Mr. Pruitt has made us aware of some possible covenants on this property, we are evaluating that extremely quickly,” Hempfling explained, “because (a) we need to make sure our kids have a good, safe home; and (b) I don’t want to waste everybody’s time. So, if there are covenants on that house… We, as an organization strive to abide by all of the laws within the state, county and city in all of the regs out there; and with those covenants, if we can’t do it, we can’t do it. … Mr. Pruitt is representing you well, and he has made us known of those potential covenants on that property.”

When asked what he meant by “potential,” Hempflinger said “The only reason I say ‘potential’ is just because we haven’t evaluated that. Like Mr. Pruitt would do – Jeremy, I don’t want to speak for you – when somebody brings us information, any attorney is then gonna verify that information is accurate before they tell their client, ‘Oh, yeah, that’s an accurate piece of information, and you all better buy it.’”

“Why wouldn’t it be accurate?” one man asked. Hempfling replied, “Because your deed is different than the deed on that property. … I need to make sure that the covenant’s on that piece of property.”

A review of the current deed to the Enix Drive property shows it is comprised of two tracts. Notably, tract two is clearly identified as a lot in Southwest Villa, but tract one is not. If tract one is, in fact, not in the subdivision, it would not be subject to the same covenants. Without having the land professionally surveyed, it is impossible to know on which tract the house sits; however, it should also be noted that tract one is only 0.0456 acres and likely too small to accommodate the 4,263 square foot home.

“This morning – I just want everybody to know – that I had a conversation with corporate and their corporate counsel,” Pruitt said during the meeting. “They’re well aware of the restriction of the single-family dwelling. Legally, they are aware of all of this, OK? This (public hearing) is for you guys to voice all your concerns. I’m here taking notes. You continue voicing your concerns, and I’ll take care of (the legal work).”

And voice their concerns they did. Many at the meeting expressed apprehension about property values going down, but the dominant concern among the residents was safety.

Imes noted that there have been issues with residents of the girls’ home wandering around the neighborhood at night since he became judge. “I think that’s part of what we’re talking about,” he said. “These girls (are) just out running lose. I know you’ve got people supposed to be living there, but I don’t know where they are.”

Hempfling and StepStone staff explained that no adults “live” in the group homes, but there are always two staff members present at any given time. That knowledge, however, did not alleviate concerns that children in the home would receive adequate supervision.

On more than one occasion, attendees demanded promises that their children would not be victimized or traumatized by StepStone residents. Each time, Hempfling responded that he cannot make that promise of any child, whether they are in foster care or not.

One resident suggested that juveniles in StepStone’s facilities are more likely to sexually abuse other children by virtue of the trauma they have experienced, prompting a StepStone employee to note that, statistically, children are more likely to be molested by family members than strangers.

“I think there’s a lot of misconceptions – you keep saying ‘these kids’ – there’s a lot of labels being thrown on them,” Parks said after being asked if she would be comfortable with her family living next door one of StepStone’s group homes. She said she would and added, “I really understand the population we work with. We don’t work with kids that are active drug users or in treatment or need rehabilitation. … I know the services (we provide), and I know these kids.”

One resident prepared for the case he made by submitting open records requests to the Murray Police Department and the Calloway County Sheriff’s Office, asking for reports on service calls to the boys’ home on Back Street and the girls’ home on Robertson Road since Jan. 1.

“When we talk about ‘these kids,’ we’re referring to (Back Street and Robertson Road*),” the resident said. “From Jan. 1 this year until this past week, law enforcement’s been called to (Back Street) about 15-20 times. For walkaways, I think it’s (been) four times in the month of July we’ve had walkaways from that? That’s what they’re worried about. … Just last week, PD is investigating a robbery at Friendly Liquors at the corner of (Sycamore) and Fourth Street, and it’s suspected that the gentleman from (Back Street*) is the one that vandalized that facility. That’s what we’re talking about here today. Maybe we’re pissing you off using the wrong words, and I apologize for that.”

A review of the open records request reveals 17 calls to the Murray Police Department from the Back Street facility* this year, including seven calls for missing or runaway juveniles, six categorized as “out of control subject” and two fights. Three of the missing/runaway calls reported two missing juveniles.

“When was it on Back Street they had a fight and it was two of your clients that got into a fight over a Nutty Buddy?” the resident continued. “Your ‘client’ at (the Back Street location*) started punching holes in the wall, ran outside to make a knife and saying, ‘I’m going to kill everyone.’ This is what we’re talking about. When we say ‘these kids,’ (we’re referring to) this small number of kids – I think we would agree – that are in these two homes because that’s our evidence.”

A few residents spoke of their direct experiences with kids in StepStone’s care. One was an officer with the Murray Police Department. He said, “With the calls for service that I’ve had to deal with at Back Street, if it was right down the neighborhood, there’s no way in hell I’d let my kids out the door.”

Another resident who works at a school in the Murray Independent School District, which is the district all StepStone residents attend, shared how her experiences over the last 20 years have colored her opinion.

“I see the group home kids,” the woman said. “I don’t have a problem with the group home kids, but I see it all the time. Adam (a StepStone employee) will tell you, I’m a good person. I have never mistreated those children ever. … I treat everybody just like I would like to be treated. But I’m gonna tell you right now, I can’t live, I don’t want to live with them. I love them, and I send them home. I will do anything for them at school, but will I be a nervous wreck living in the same neighborhood with them? Yes, I will.

“Back a long time ago, you just toilet papered your teachers’ houses when you found out where they lived. Well, we have stepped up a notch from toilet paper. We have break-ins; we have people getting hurt. I know. I know about it. … I cannot live in the neighborhood when I know what these kids do.”

But the majority of opinions voiced were not backed by factual evidence or personal experiences with the children in question.

Before suggesting the company find a more rural location, one woman said, “We don’t want our children exposed to that. I’m sorry; I know you work with them; you think they’re great. We don’t. We don’t know them. We don’t want to know them. We don’t want them living around our children.”

Shortly thereafter, another woman weighed in, saying she had a problem with StepStone relocating the facility to a “luxury home.”

“That home lists for $550,000,” she said. “That’s more than a lot of us have or have ever had, and you buying a luxury home for these kids, that’s setting false expectations for their future because they’re going to think that they can live in these luxury homes because that’s what they grew up in.”

A StepStone employee tried to interject, but Hempfling told her to not say anything. Then he thanked the woman for her comment and called on the next person to speak.

A man of retirement age said that he and his wife looked for a home in Murray for two and a half years before moving to the community, adding had they known that a residential treatment facility for adolescent boys would move within three blocks of it, they would not have bought a home in Southwest Villa.

Later in the meeting, another resident expressed concern that many people of advanced age call Southwest Villa home and said, “They could take out me and my husband easily.”

At one point, the crowd turned their questions to homeowners Terry and Angela Bogard, who were present at the meeting. Angela, who is also one of the realtors involved in the transaction, declined to answer questions related to the closing, noting her attorney advised against it.

“I think we need to start wrapping this up,” one resident said after 55 minutes. “It’s extremely hot in here, and we have vulnerable people in here; so, I do think we need to move this forward. I just want to say just a couple of things. First of all, you all knew what you were walking into today, and thank you because you came in knowing that everyone would have guns drawn, figuratively speaking. And you knew that. And it’s not easy to be in that position to hear those things, so I just want to acknowledge that and respect each of you for the position that you’re in and being present today.

“I don’t want to presume to speak for anybody else; I will speak for my family. But I will tell you all there’s nothing you all can say that will make me want you to move to that house. There is NOTHING you can say that will change my mind.”

With that, the room erupted in applause.

Earlier in the meeting, Imes suggested that the company extend the community the courtesy of scheduling another meeting to be held in Murray and, again, offered the use of the fiscal courtroom. When pressed by audience members at the end of the meeting, Hempfling would not commit to scheduling a follow-up meeting in Calloway County.

After the meeting, Pruitt texted the following statement, “I can’t comment because of possible litigation. However, I can say Southwest Villa residents opposing the for profit corporate facility had a strong turnout. I think the turnout will be a positive influence on pre-litigation negotiations.”

*Out of concern for the safety of the children living in the homes, the street numbers of the Back Street and Robertson Road facilities were removed from this article on Aug. 2, 2023, at the request of BrightSpring Health Services.

New filing sheds light on JCC’s case against Jameson

Jessica Paine
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New filing sheds light on JCC’s case against Jameson

FRANKFORT, KY – The Judicial Conduct Commission submitted supplemental findings of fact, conclusions of law and final order to the Kentucky Supreme Court regarding its proceedings against a former circuit court judge for the 42nd Judicial Circuit, which covers Marshall and Calloway counties, on Tuesday. Ultimately, the supplemental filing reaches the same conclusion as the original; however, it provides significantly more details about the Commission’s justification for removing James (Jamie) Jameson from office.

The JCC brought formal charges against Jameson last June. Following a temporary suspension hearing in August and a final hearing in October, which lasted four days, the Commission entered its final order on Nov. 4. By a 5-0 vote, the judge was found guilty on seven counts of misconduct. Ten days later, Jameson appealed the decision to the Supreme Court.

In June, the Supreme Court ruled that the findings of fact and conclusions of law the JCC issued with its final order were deficient, lacking the specificity necessary for an adequate review, and ordered the Commission to supplement the document. 

Noting the high court’s request for supplemental findings of fact and conclusions of law is unprecedented, Tuesday’s filing doubles-down on the Commission’s initial finding that Jameson is unfit for office, reaffirming its decision to remove the judge from his seat and unequivocally stating that Jameson should be barred from serving in a judicial capacity “in the indefinite future.”

At two-times the length of the initial findings, conclusions of law and final order entered by the JCC, the 91-page document filed this week offers a detailed accounting of the JCC’s interactions with Jameson going back to 2016, well in advance of the complaint filed in the summer of 2021 that, eventually, launched the formal proceedings against him.

Between 2016 and 2021, Jameson appeared before the Commission three times. He did not receive formal disciplinary action; however, he was “admonished” (warned) for two of the complaints.

The JCC noted that the 2016 complaint was reminiscent of the formal proceedings against Jameson initiated in June of last year because “it raised strikingly similar issues involving an out-patient substance use treatment program” as well as Jameson ordering defendants to participate in the program.

“His prior appearances before the Commission are relevant,” the document states, “because they show Judge Jameson, more than once, has been cautioned or admonished to maintain his constitutional role of being judge or, phrased colloquially, to ‘stay in his lane’ and not engage in activities reserved to the other branches of government.”

“Judge Jameson did not heed these multiple warnings,” the document continues. “The substantial evidence presented at the Final Hearing clearly and convincingly persuaded the Commission members that Judge Jameson was unable or unwilling to conform his conduct to the constitutional office he held as a judge. He did not turn to the Canons as his guide but was driven instead by personal desires to bring to reality his vision of an in-patient substance use disorder (SUD) center. Those desires, or his “dreams” as he described them, were the catalyst for some of his decisions to violate the Canons. Judge Jameson’s altruistic intentions, however sincerely held and true, do not justify or excuse his serious violations of the Canons, violations established by substantial evidence.”

The November order suggested that factual evidence presented during the proceedings revealed potential criminal activity, particularly evidence around Jameson’s role in developing a request for proposals for the fiscal courts of Calloway and Marshall counties for ankle monitor services and that pursuing criminal charges is beyond the scope of its authority. In the new filing, the JCC used stronger language.

“It is the Commission’s conclusion that there are other, deep-seated issues to be addressed with Judge Jameson, but these are well beyond the jurisdiction of the Commission,” the supplemental findings state. “… The Commission is not tasked with investigating or charging any others who may have been involved in Judge Jameson’s activities or what has been uncovered by this Hearing on the bid rigging ‘issues’ within the counties and among the participants. However, those issues do not, and should not, go unnoticed.”

Now that the supplemental document has been submitted, the case before the Supreme Court may now proceed. Both Jameson and the JCC have requested oral arguments. The court has yet to determine whether it will grant that request.

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