Society

A watermelon weighing 273.3 lbs. has won the blue ribbon at the Kentucky State Fair. Fair spokeswoman Amanda Storment says the watermelon is one of the five largest ever grown and the largest on record in the U.S.

KentuckyOne Health says it is terminating contracts at all its facilities with Medicaid provider Coventry Cares. KentuckyOne Health says the terminations will be effective November 1st at former Jewish Hospital & St. Mary's Healthcare facilities and on December 1st at former Saint Joseph Health System facilities. Today’s announcement comes after Coventry gave notice that it would not participate at two hospitals owned by the health system — Our Lady of Peace in Louisville and Taylor Regional Hospital in Campbellsville.

The website SleepBetter.org has ranked Paducah third among the nation’s sleepiest cities. The site got the rankings by analyzing data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Behavioral Risk Factors Surveillance System. Paducahans averaged 9.6 days of lost sleep each month, and nearly 26 percent reported not getting enough sleep more than half the time. 

A new Illinois law requires whooping cough vaccinations for students entering 6th and 9th grades this school year. The law requires those students to show proof they received the Tdap vaccine. Tdap is a booster shot against tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis, commonly known as whooping cough. Illinois has seen about 1,200 cases of whooping cough this year, compared to 468 cases reported as of August 1st last year.

Officials with the Jackson County, Ill., Coroner's Office, say two Hopkinsville, Ky., boys drowned in a swimming pool at a friend’s Carbondale home over the weekend.  Sheriff’s deputies went to the home Saturday evening where they found 12-year-old Alick Monson and 14-year-old Lewis Monson unresponsive.  An adult had pulled the boys from the bottom of the pool.  Paramedics took the brothers to a nearby hospital, where a doctor pronounced them dead. Jackson County Sheriff’s deputies say they view the case as an accidental drowning.

The Roman Catholic missionary who founded the Christian Appalachian Project passed away early this past Thursday.  Since World War Two, Monsignor Ralph Beiting served the people of eastern Kentucky through a series of social service programs.  Kentucky Public Radio’s Charles Compton knew Monsignor Beiting, and brings us this appreciation.