With these new strains being more infectious, it becomes even more important to get the vaccine.

The advice from pharmacists regarding an updated COVID 19 vaccine when it will be available and who should get it.

And in some cases they literally say children's lives.

Wearing a cape isn't just for fighting crime.

Why these people are running for a super cause.

When I was a kid, it looked pretty different.

There were no trees, just the intersection between two roads.

Her hometown looks quite different these days, thanks to revitalization efforts.

We explore another Kentucky town in this week's Mondays on Main.

Production of Kentucky Edition is made possible in part by the KET Endowment for Kentucky Productions, the Leonard Press Endowment for Public Affairs, and the KET Millennium Fund.

Good evening and welcome to Kentucky Edition for Monday, August 28th.

We thank you for joining us.

I'm your host, Christie Dutton, filling in for Renee Shaw.

COVID 19 cases are on the rise in Lexington.

The health department says there were 264 confirmed cases last week.

That's up from just 38 cases a week in early July.

And that doesn't include at home tests.

While the numbers are low compared to this time last year, it's clear that we're seeing a spike across the state.

That's why pharmaceutical doctors at the University of Kentucky are gearing up to administer an updated vaccine slated for the fall.

Although COVID 19 is no longer a public health emergency, doctors say it's important to get the shot.

More in today's medical news.

I can say that in Lexington, the cases are rising.

We're seeing a lot of patients coming into clinic that are testing positive.

This new vaccine that's being developed right now, it targets a specific strain that's more prevalent in the community right now.

That strain is x b .1.5.

That's the variant that is our this summer and late spring was the most prominent.

That is a monovalent vaccine.

So it's not going to have two different strains in it this time.

We're hoping the FDA will approve that in August.

So right around now and then we can have it available late September and October.

There are a few new strains going throughout the community As these new strains keep coming, they become more infectious.

So it's easier for people to get that.

So that's kind of how they are progressing so far.

There is the Delta variant.

I think a couple of years back now, that was a lot harder on individuals and a lot more hospitalizations and death.

And we're not seeing that, thankfully.

But it is more infectious with these new strains being more infectious.

It becomes even more important to get the vaccine because you want to have that the best chance of immunity going into that.

Similar to the flu vaccine, if you receive the COVID vaccine, it's not going to stop you from getting COVID.

But having that on board, make sure body more prepared if you were to get COVID so you won't get as sick.

There's mixed guidance if you should wait or if you should go ahead and get a booster.

I'd recommend patients that they keep receiving boosters as they're do the majority of people that are receiving boosters right now or elderly patients or patients that have an immuno compromising condition makes their immune system not as strong.

So it's it's recommended to continue receiving boosters, especially because you do receive some the Bivalent vaccine that's out right now.

The variant that's in the new vaccine is a derivative of what the Bivalent vaccine targeted.

So you still do receive immunity from those?

My initial assumption is that it's going to be similar to the flu.

We're going to have an annual vaccine.

It's going to rear its ugly head every fall and through the winter as everybody goes inside, school starts back and all that.

Doctors are advising everyone to get the COVID 19 vaccine and the flu vaccine this year.

They say both are safe and effective.

Police in Louisville are once again investigating a deadly mass shooting.

Officers say two people were killed and four others were shot around 3 a.m. Sunday near a restaurant and bar in the city's downtown area.

No arrests have been made.

Yesterday, Louisville Mayor Greg Greenburg held a news conference to discuss the issue.

He and police urge people to come forward with information at the time of this incident occurred.

There are approximately 2 to 300 people that were in the area when the shooting happened.

We are urging people who know what happened to speak up.

Let me reiterate that there were 2 to 300 people at that location when this shooting occurred.

This is our community.

We cannot do this alone.

That audio is courtesy WAV TV.

This is at least the second mass shooting in Louisville this year.

On April 10th, five people were killed in Old National Bank.

Kentuckians can begin pre-registering for an online account for sports wagering today.

It's the next step in the state's rollout of legal gambling that was approved and signed into law earlier this year.

The governor's office says Pre-registering will ease the strain on mobile apps.

Online betting begins September 28th.

The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission approved eight companies to operate mobile sports wagering sites in the state, including popular names such as Caesars, DraftKings and FanDuel.

In-person betting begins first on September 7th.

Now to the election 2023.

There is a new ad in the race for governor.

It's paid for by defending bluegrass values.

A group affiliated with the Democratic Governors Association.

The ad tries to link attorney general and Republican gubernatorial candidate Daniel Cameron to former Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin.

Daniel Cameron says it's one of the first things I will do as governor, bringing back former Governor Matt Bevin's ruthless Medicaid plan.

Roughly $40 million has been spent on ads in Kentucky's governor's race this fall, according to ad Impact.

The same group says that at this point in 2019, the last gubernatorial election, less than $4 million had been spent.

There are 71 days left until the race for Kentucky governor and other statewide offices will be decided by voters.

County clerk's offices around the Commonwealth are making preparations for Kentuckians to cast their ballots in the general election on November 7th.

And there are options for voters who want to get a jumpstart.

The county's election plan to expand early voting was recently approved by the State Board of Elections.

Last Friday, Renee spoke with Fayette County Clerk Susan LAMB about that and the need for more poll workers.

At the time we talked, we've got 70 some odd days until the November 7th election.

It creeps up on us quickly, doesn't it?

That's correct.

And you all are already as clerks are around county clerks are around the commonwealth, getting ready for this election.

There's not a whole lot on the ballot, but there are some expanded opportunities to vote yes.

Tell us about that.

Yes.

And we just recently, two weeks ago received approval of our election plan here in Fayette County, which I was really pleased about.

I will just start out with saying that for anybody that is interested in participating as an election officer, there is a go vote a.k.a dot gov that is going to be your gold mine of a website.

You can register to vote there until October 10th.

You can register to become an election officer there.

You can check your voting location on election day for for where you need to go vote.

You can sign up for to request an absentee ballot from September 23rd to October 24th.

And then you can after 20th of September, you can view your ballot online.

Those are some of the things that we've got up, you know, working that are working in progress right now.

Right.

The glorious thing is our early voting plan this year is going to expand from one voting location to four.

Now, I have to say, at the beginning of this, because I know that we have we we could not find a location to vote on the west side of the Fayette County.

And I hate that.

But there are so many parameters that have to be in place for us to be able to host a early voting location because it's a Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 830 to 430 for those three days.

Right.

And it has to have it has to have we have to have secure space.

We have to have Ada access.

We have to have preferred, you know, parking.

And so we've been very fortunate this year that we're having a collaborative partnership with the Lexington Library.

And so our four locations this year are going to be this early voting is going to be north Side Library, East Side Library, Tates Creek Library, and then we're going to use the senior center again.

How we're we're not going to have to shut down those businesses.

They are going to be able to function.

We're going to be using the large meeting rooms of the library, and then we're going to be able to use the meeting rooms within the senior center so that we don't have to close their daily functions.

Right.

So what was the decision and what was the rationale for the decision to expand from 1 to 4 location?

Were there reports of long lines or what was the driving factors?

Right.

As I was informed in November of last year, we used the senior center because that was the viable solution at the time that was chosen.

And there was a very long line, even though those that stood in that line said it really moved fast.

I can attest to that.

Oh, wonderful.

Yeah, I can attest to that.

So you have experience a vote center concept, which is really wonderful.

But, you know, we did hear I heard it even before I became county clerk that we want to expand early voting.

And so it was it was a very it was a significant deal for me to be able to partner with the libraries and to be able to start supporting what the community is talking about.

I want to go back to something you mentioned about election workers.

Yes.

That you need are so and we think of the term poll workers.

Is that what you're talking about, that you all need?

Or are there other capacities that need to be filled?

Now, we have approximately 1100 election poll workers, whatever you want to add for each voting station, and I'll refer to that.

It's the same thing as a precinct.

But for each station we require a ballot clerk, a clerk, and then within a voting location.

So we have some that are consolidated locations where there are more precincts.

You have judges and sheriff.

So, you know, we Fayette County requires approximately 1100 election officers.

And if you can imagine and it's party parity, which is very important because we want it to be party parity, we want it to be equal, we want it we want fair representation from both sides.

That's very important to us.

And so just like prior to the primary, we were having trouble finding Republican election officers.

We're looking for them again.

We would accept anybody that is interested in we have to vet the persons, you know, to make sure.

But we would love for more election officers to sign on because in the primary and I think that we're probably going to see this more frequently is that, you know, it's it's kind of scary sometimes.

Now.

So we want them to be safe.

We want them to feel safe.

The sheriff's office, they help us out all day long on Election Day.

And it's amazing to watch the way that it operates behind the scenes right now that I've had this experience.

I know now what to expect, and I'm really proud of what we do in Fayette County and how we work together to make sure that our election process in our democracy is safe and secure and is a good experience right?

Tonight on Katie, an important forum on early literacy.

More than half of Kentucky students are not proficient readers.

Now Kentucky is joining dozens of other states to implement new curriculum based on what's called the science of reading.

We gathered a panel of educators and experts to discuss the new approach with a live audience who had their own questions.

Hi, my name is Sarah Lim here.

I'm the director of education and Community Partnerships with the Louisville Orchestra, and we actually work very closely to CPS, early childhood ED and the proven research of music on literacy.

And my question to both of you that you were talking about expanding this bill to higher grades when we keep talking about that third grade marker, why are you not looking to expand lower to the five and unders to the early childhood centers?

I know there's over 400 and G. CPS alone that forces is working with them to try and get some commonality across curriculum right and training.

But that five below is such a critical age.

Right.

And these early childhood centers, we have such an opportunity.

Are you looking on expanding into that age group?

Thank you.

Great question.

I can state that we are trying to walk before we run.

So we got this bill across the finish line and that was hard enough.

So I'm not saying we're not looking at it, but but we it's in the mix.

But but that's maybe step three or four for us.

I think I can state this as a member of the legislature kind of overall feeling because we've had the same discussion on early childhood development, expanding the budget to that.

I think a lot of the feeling is, hey, let's let's take care of what we're already responsible for first and then we can talk about that.

Because if you talk about funding and you go into early childhood, it's an extra three or $400 million to the budget.

Now, I don't think you were talking about a full scale expansion.

You were talking about just pushing some of this down to the lower levels.

We're open.

I think I can speak for co-chair Tip and we're open to new ideas in any way possible that we can get get kids started early.

He spoke earlier.

Well, we've been in discussions with with book companies, too, where, you know, let's say you're not getting what you need from the parents.

Maybe the state does a contract where that kid receives a new book each month.

So it's powerful.

Just that idea of this book is mine.

I own this book and it opens up the door for them to start reading and get interested in reading.

So I would be 100% on board for something like that.

And that that is something that you could definitely go down to three, four or five years old if the state want to do that.

So so we don't have any concrete things, but we're definitely not opposed to mine.

One of the issues with this component in early childhood is what we're talking about starting with K through fifth and maybe on up the eighth is are public schools where we just talked about where the superintendent will select a common curriculum like Jefferson County just did in your early childhood, in your preschool, you've got Head Start, you've got the local county, the local district preschool program.

You have private, you have parochial, you have daycare.

There's no commonality there.

I'm not saying we can't get to there, but but that's just the essence of where we are right now.

But you are right.

When a child of a child's vocabulary, when they enter school, is so critical and the key to improving a child's vocabulary is having parents, adults who are reading to those children.

So we've got a lot of work to do in this space.

And well, I had that our not our office at the Katy, but the Office of Special Education and Early Learning is offering our preschool early learning the letters training for early childhood so that that was offered.

They started with their first cohort and then I think their registration is open for their second cohort.

So that common language of that common training is happening now because they learn more about the science of reading and how Kentucky teachers are implementing it in the classroom.

In a panel discussion tonight, it's all on early literacy.

Katie Forum hosted by Kelsey Starks tonight at eight Eastern, seven Central right here on KCET CASA of Lexington is a nonprofit organization that helps children involved in the court system.

This weekend, it hosted its annual race day with a super fun theme.

Three, two, one oh.

So we're out here at Winstar Farm for the classic superhero run.

All kids need heroes.

Abused kids need superheroes.

All the funds raised go to provide CASA volunteers.

Our court appointed special advocate to abused, neglected children in the family court system.

And this program serves seven counties Fayette, Bourbon, Woodford, Scot We have a1k for kids ten years and under.

They all get capes and medals and books and crumble, cookies and more.

And then on the five K, it is chip time, but it is a walk and run.

The CASA superhero run has been going, I believe, for over 14 years.

And this year we're going to raise enough funds to serve about 70 new children for a whole year.

Cash $1,000 to give a child a CASA volunteer for a whole year.

So we're very thankful to our sponsor.

For supporters that showed up and just having a good time and celebrating what we're doing out here.

The neat thing about being a CASA volunteer, you don't need any special education or skill set.

You just need to be 21 years of age.

Reach out to us.

You go through a 30 hour training and then you advocate for a child or a sibling set in the family court system for what's in their best interest.

I think if somebody has a heart for children and wants to make a real difference in our community and our world.

CASA is the place we chose to do the superhero thing because our CASA volunteers are true superheroes every day in the lives of the children that we serve, and in some cases, they literally save children's lives.

And to do that with 5 to 10 hours a month volunteer time, why wouldn't you?

So reach out.

We're calling all superheroes.

We need you.

Kentucky has a real challenge with child abuse and neglect that if we band together and form our own League of Superheroes, we can change that.

Last year, CASA of Lexington helped more than 600 children navigate the court system, and they expect a similar number this year.

Now to southern Kentucky and our Mondays on main series, where we feature downtown revitalization efforts happening across Kentucky.

Today, we go to the seat of Allen County.

Scottsville is home to a team of creatives who are transforming their community.

Laura Rogers introduces us to two young professionals who are helping to lead the way.

Ada Oliver has a graphic design degree from Georgetown College.

She returned home to Scottsville to open a boutique branding and design studio in 2019.

My first handful of clients were Scot Fall people and people I knew, and so it was a way for me to invest back in my community.

That same year, 10th grades opened at Magnolia and Steele on West Main Street.

It's always been a dream of mine to own my own business.

As Allen County natives, both wanted to use their time and talents to better their community.

I was born and raised here.

Scotts has always been home, so I knew that I wanted to stay local to my hometown.

Really, the dream was to just have a space that I could beautify for my hometown.

Kind of set an expectation of what things could look like or be.

Oliver signed the lease on that space, her current office and a studio on the Scottsville Square and March of 2020 when the world was going home, I was leaving home.

Scott's was full of great talent.

Much of that talent makes up the Heart of Scottsville, a group that promotes the development and success of the downtown area in the last ten years.

It's been a significant change in the way it looks.

Part of that is due to the group's beautification efforts and a streetscape project that began about 25 years ago.

The facades of the buildings are gorgeous.

When I was a kid, it was just like a concrete jungle.

There was nothing pretty there.

And so to see all of the trees and the plants and the flowers that bloom with every season, it's been a really neat process to watch happen.

The Heart of Scottsville meets Monthly to discuss their goals and vision and to plan events that draw people downtown.

First, Friday is a huge thing that the heart puts on first Friday of every month we close down the square.

It's a huge vendor event.

Food trucks, tons of people come out and support.

It's just a really, really awesome night.

Oliver and Graves say the group's involvement with Kentucky Main Street and Main Street America has been helpful and it's grown.

The foundation is already there, so it's not like we're starting with nothing.

We're able to utilize those resources, use processes that have worked and been successful in other small towns and implement those things here.

The Scottsville Square is also home to the Allen County Farmers Market, open twice a week to support growers and producers and to give more opportunities for residents to shop local.

The Scottsville community is a very tight knit community.

When you come here you are going to see a community that supports one another well.

The heart of Scottsville extends that supports encouraging a healthy economy and the success of entrepreneurs.

Scott has always been a place for small businesses to thrive.

There are lots of generationally owned businesses here, and both business owners say they hope Scottsville continue to thrive for generations to come.

Building on the work they're doing now is just a dream, and I'm extremely thankful to be where I'm at.

For Kentucky Edition, I'm Laura Rogers.

Heart of Scottsville recently won the Reader's Choice Award for best nonprofit organization from the Citizen Times newspaper in Allen County.

The Battle of Richmond, a showdown on the gridiron and a presidential trip to the Commonwealth.

Toby Gibbs has a look at what made the news this week in Kentucky history.

The Civil War Battle of Richmond began on August 29th, 1862.

It was a decisive Confederate victory with big implications for Kentucky.

With the Confederate Army so close, the General Assembly had to leave Frankfort for Louisville on August 31st, and it opened the door to the Confederate occupation of Lexington starting September 2nd.

Kentucky native Nancy Green died in a car crash August 30th, 1923.

She was born in slavery in Montgomery County in 1834 and is widely believed to be the inspiration for Aunt Jemima.

President Franklin D Roosevelt visited several Kentucky towns September 2nd and third in 1940.

His trip included brief stops in Corbin Winchester, Olive Hill, Mountain Top and Ashland, the University of Kentucky and the University of Louisville squared off on the gridiron on September 3rd, 1994.

The first football game between the two in 70 years.

UK one 2214.

Ormsby McKnight isn't exactly a household name.

The Union County native was born on August 28th, 1810.

He fought for the Union during the Civil War and as an astronomer, he published the first magazine in the U.S. devoted to astronomy.

And that's a look back at This Week in Kentucky History.

I'm Toby Gibbs.

Coming up tomorrow, a Kentucky police Department will undergo diversity training after a video on social media sparked some debate.

Plus, he served as director of the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues for nearly 20 years.

Now he's stepping down.

More of Renee's conversation with Al Cross tomorrow on Kentucky Edition.

We hope you'll join us again tomorrow night at 630 Eastern, 530 Central for Kentucky Edition, where we inform, Connect and Inspire.

Subscribe to our weekly Kentucky Edition email newsletter and watch full episodes and clips.

KET dot org Thank you so much for joining us.

Have a wonderful evening.