2023 was a dry year in many parts of Kentucky, and that's affecting water use in places.

And the state continues to battle the flu, COVID and RSV.

Our Toby Gibbs has these stories and more in the Tuesday.

Look at headlines around Kentucky.

A recent state respiratory illness report showed a rise in flu cases.

While COVID 19 and RSV cases declined, the State Journal reports the State Department for Public Health's latest update ended on December 23rd.

Flu cases increased 30%, with more than 2700 cases reported.

All three illnesses accounted for more than 4400 emergency department visits in the state, an increase of 10% from the previous week.

A lack of rainfall at Stanford City officials to declare a state of emergency last week.

The Advocate messenger reports the declaration was made during an emergency city council meeting on December 27.

Mayor Dalton Miller tells the newspaper the area has received only 13 inches of rain since July, leaving water reservoirs low.

Local emergency management officials are asking people to reduce water use by at least 20%.

A conservation easement in eastern Kentucky will provide permanent protection from development in the Cumberland Forests Wildlife Management Area in Belle Knox and Leslie counties.

WKYC reports that nearly 55,000 acres will be protected and open to the public.

This is part of the Nature Conservancy's Cumberland Forest Project, which encompasses more than 250,000 acres in three states.

The nature Conservancy of Kentucky and the State Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources worked with the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation to make it happen.

The conservation easement is also significant to protecting numerous animals, including foxes, black bears and bobcats that migrate through Kentucky.

More than £6 million of invasive carp have been removed from Kentucky waters every year since 2019.

WKYC reports that state wildlife officials have credited this to harvest programs where they partnered with commercial fishing organizations to physically remove the carp.

In Kentucky, Lake Lake Barkley and the Ohio River and its tributaries.

Less aggressive approach they use to combat the invasive species is the use of a bio acoustic fish fence which steers fish away from certain areas.

Faculty at Michigan's Lake Superior State University has selected ten words to include on their banished word list for 2024.

WKMG reports the university received more than 2000 nominations from around the globe.

Some of the words that made the list include iconic sleigh impact and obsessed.

A university official says the list mentions words that are often misused, overused or have lost their meaning with headlines around Kentucky.

I'm Toby Gibbons.