ACCV Editor

Senator Rand Paul will be providing a “Washington Update” public session on Tuesday, May 4,  at the Jim Blair Community Center. The event will start at 9 a.m.

FRANKFORT – The redbuds are blooming and the spring peepers can be heard across the Bluegrass, meaning springtime in Kentucky is upon us, and so is another highly anticipated season of wild turkey hunting.

Resident and non-resident turkey hunters in Kentucky will have their sights set on a healthy wild turkey population and abundant hunting opportunities statewide. The general statewide season begins April 17 and continues through May 9, 2021.

Hunters will want to start with scouting for birds before the season opens.

Zak Danks, wild turkey program coordinator for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, recommends taking advantage of online tools to virtually scout ahead of time and become familiar with preferred hunting grounds.

“Knowing where you’ll be hunting, such as private or public land, will inform your scouting,” Danks said. “Online topographic and satellite maps of the environment really help to lay out existing trails, open fields, water sources, wooded areas, elevation changes and boundaries such as fences or property lines.”

Virtual scouting comes in handy, though Danks also urges hunters to head afield to scout for bird sightings and droppings, as well as brood behavior.

“With all of our wildlife management areas (WMAs), there’s over a million acres of public land to hunt,” Danks said. “Get to know the woods and fields where you’ll be hunting. Look at the landscape for possible ambush sites. Learn how you should best conceal yourself given the environment and how you can move with the terrain to stay hidden. Knowing what you’re working with will make a huge difference when that big moment comes to take the shot.”

For first-time turkey hunters, Danks always recommends talking to veteran hunters and going afield with a mentor.

“Opening weekend is generally where most of our harvest numbers come from, but many people have a lot of success later in the season, too,” he said. “Watching someone else in action, learning from your time afield and honing the craft is what it’s all about.”

Wild turkey harvest numbers in Kentucky have stayed fairly consistent over the past decade. Last spring, hunters harvested more than 31,700 birds, with Logan County producing the highest harvest of all counties at 655 turkeys.

Kentucky’s spring hunting season is structured to give turkeys enough time to breed before subjecting the birds to hunting pressure. The department monitors turkey reproduction on a statewide scale through annual summer brood surveys.

“We did see a good hatch two years ago, so it’s likely there are more gobblers than usual out there this season,” Danks said. “With all of the public land available to hunt, don’t let the timing detract from going later in the season.”

Both an annual hunting license plus a spring turkey permit are required for hunting turkeys during the spring season. Resident sportsman’s type licenses are a great value and include both, in addition to permits for deer, fall turkey, migratory birds, along with fishing license and trout permit.

All spring turkey permits cover two male or bearded turkeys, the statewide bag limit for the spring season. Youth under age 12, and landowners/legal dependents hunting on their own lands, are license exempt. Licenses and permits are available at fw.ky.gov and at many sporting goods retailers.

All wild turkey harvests must be reported using the department’s “Telecheck” big game check-in system. This can be done online or via telephone at 800-245-4263 (800-CHK-GAME). Telecheck helps ensure lawful harvests and records important biological data for monitoring harvest trends.

T.J. Regional Health along with other national, state and community organizations, are leading a massive effort to highlight the importance of advance healthcare decision-making—an effort that has culminated in the formal designation of April 16 as National Healthcare Decision Day (NHDD).

As a participating organization, T.J. Regional Health is providing information and tools for the public to talk about their wishes with family, friends and healthcare providers, and execute written advance directives (healthcare power of attorney and living will) in accordance with Kentucky state laws. These resources are available at https://www.tjregionalhealth.org/patients-visitors/patient-information.

“In healthcare, there are situations when we can’t speak for ourselves,” stated Shelly Southworth, Palliative Care Team Coordinator with T.J. Regional Health. “This is a time to decide who you want to speak for you and what you want them to say when you can’t make decisions and speak for yourself. If you have a car wreck, if you have a stroke, if something happens and were suddenly incapacitated, do we want everything? Do we not?”

As a result of National Healthcare Decisions Day, many more people in our community can be expected to have thoughtful conversations about their healthcare decisions and complete reliable advance directives to make their wishes known.

For more information about National Healthcare Decision Day, please visit http://nhdd.org.

Kentucky Health News

About 30 percent of Kentucky adults said in late winter that they probably or definitely wouldn’t take the coronavirus vaccine, but half of those people said they would be open to changing their mind if given more time and information, according to a poll taken for the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky.

The poll, among Kentucky adults Feb. 11 to March 12, was taken to learn more about Kentuckians’ opinions on coronavirus vaccines and about their intentions to take one or not. At the time, Kentucky was only vaccinating people over 60 and some others such as health-care workers and first responders.

Now, anyone 16 and older can get a shot, and more than 1.6 million Kentuckians have received at least one dose of a vaccine. That’s about 50% of Kentucky adults, Foundation CEO Ben Chandler said.

The poll found that 19% said they would definitely not get a vaccination and 10% said they would probably not. Those groups were asked, “Once more people in the U.S. start receiving vaccines for the coronavirus and there is more information about it , would you say it is possible you would decide to get a vaccine, or you are pretty certain that you would decide not to get a vaccine?”

Just over half, 51%, said they would. In reporting the results of this question, the foundation and the Institute for Policy Research at the University of Cincinnati, which conducted the poll, combined the “probably not” and “definitely not” groups and did not provide results for each group.

Chandler called the result good news and said it is key to Kentucky’s chances of reaching herd immunity, which will provide some protection for people unwilling or unable to get a coronavirus vaccine. “We need these folks in order to get there,” he said in a teleconference.

The foundation’s poll is consistent with national polls that have also found Republicans, men and rural residents are more reluctant than other groups to take a coronavirus vaccine.

The combined “probably not” and “definitely not” group in the Kentucky poll was more likely to be male, Republican, and to live in suburban or rural communities.

Among those who said they were willing to change their minds, 47% were Republicans, 50% were suburban, 53% were rural, and 53% were high-school graduates.

The less formal education a person had, the more likely they were to say that they would definitely or probably not get a vaccination.

On the other side of the coin, 76% of women, 87% of Democrats, 70% of independents, 80% of those living in urban areas and 81% of college graduates said they had already taken a vaccine or intended to.

The poll found that 71% of Kentucky adults had already been vaccinated or planned on getting a vaccine. Chandler said if all of them follows through, would get us “right at the edge of what we need to achieve herd immunity here in Kentucky,” with 70% to 85% of the population vaccinated.

Chandler also spoke about the importance of reaching herd immunity before the virus mutates to the point that the vaccine is no longer effective.

“If this virus mutates and is allowed to continue to produce these variants, at some point, there’s a tremendous concern that the variants may outpace the vaccine and inhibit the efficacy of the vaccine,” he said

Looking at motivation, the survey found Kentucky adults were evenly split on whether getting a coronavirus vaccine is a personal choice or is part of everyone’s responsibility to protect the health of the community.

Kentucky Health News

Gov. Andy Beshear warned Monday that Kentuckians need to do what it takes to ward off a likely rise in cases, as has happened every other time the state has been in a plateau, as it is now.

The way to do that, he said, is to get vaccinated. That advice became a bit complicated on Tuesday after federal experts asked states to pause the use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine after reports of blood clots in six of the 6.8 million people who have received it. Kentucky did that.

“Everyone should still get one of the other two Covid-19 vaccines during this pause,” Beshear said in a news release. “We cannot let this slow us down. The United States is going to get about 1.85 million more doses of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines this week. We should be able to make up any loss of appointments. Stay calm – it looks like the risk here from the J&J vaccine is very, very small versus the really significant risk of being harmed by Covid.”

FRANKFORT – Today, Gov. Andy Beshear and Dr. Steven Stack, commissioner of the Kentucky Department for Public Health, advised all Kentucky vaccine providers to temporarily pause the use of the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) vaccine.

Early this morning, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended the pause after extremely rare blood clotting conditions developed in six Americans who received the J&J COVID-19 vaccine, out of 6.8 million total Americans who have received it.

“Everyone should still get one of the other two COVID-19 vaccines during this pause. We cannot let this slow us down. The United States is going to get about 1.85 million more doses of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines this week. We should be able to make up any loss of appointments,” Gov. Beshear said. “Stay calm – it looks like the risk here from the J&J vaccine is very, very small versus the really significant risk of being harmed by COVID.”

During a media briefing Tuesday morning, Gov. Beshear said the president’s chief medical adviser, Dr. Anthony Fauci, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky indicated the chance of developing blood clots after the J&J vaccine was less than 1 in 1 million. In contrast, 1 in 558 Americans has died of COVID-19 in just over 13 months.

The Governor reported 1,586,411 Kentuckians have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose so far. Yesterday, the Governor reported that vaccination data would update over the next two to three days after the state’s reporting system completed a security upgrade.

Two women and a man were injured April 12 in a two-vehicle collision on Highway 55 South, near Columbia.

Adair County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a call of an accident at approximately 5:10 p.m., four miles south of Columbia.

The accident occurred when a vehicle driven southbound by Joann Shaw, 42, of Columbia, dropped off the right shoulder of the road. She over corrected and crossed into the northbound lane of Highway 55.

She was struck by a 2013 Fiat driven by Ruth Ware, 58, of Columbia. The passenger in the car was William Ware, 59, also of Columbia.

Adair County EMS responded and transported all parties to T.J. Health of Columbia for suspected injuries.

Deputy Brandon Hitch was assisted on the scene by the Adair County Fire Department.

The Adair County Sheriff’s Office would like to remind everyone Thursday, April 15, at 4 p.m. will be the last day the sheriff’s office will collect property taxes for 2020.

Outstanding tax bills will be transferred to the Adair County Clerk’s Office .

Chris Cundiff of Dunnville was arrested April 9 after a search of a residence yielded a firearm and numerous drugs.

Adair County Sheriff Josh Brockman and Casey County Sheriff Chad Weddle were continuing an investigation around 9:15 a.m. on Dunnville Road near the Adair County/Casey County line.

During the investigation, they found methamphetamine, marijuana, pills, drug paraphernalia and a firearm.

Cundiff, 30, was arrested by Brockman on charges of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon; possession of a controlled substance, methamphetamine, first degree; possession of drug paraphernalia; possession of marijuana; and possession of a controlled substance, third degree

Adair County Sheriff’s deputies Brandon Hitch, Derek Padgett, and probation and parole officers assisted on scene.