Tagged: western kentucky

The Kentucky Public Service Commission will hold a series of public meetings across the 270 area code to discuss creating a new one for all or part of western Kentucky. The commission has scheduled six meetings throughout October. Area code 270 is expected to run out of available numbers by the beginning of 2014. The PSC is considering an overlay of a second area code as well as a split assigning the area code 364 to part of the 270 territory. Meetings will be held in Hopkinsville on Oct. 17, Paducah on Oct. 18, Henderson on Oct. 22, Owensboro on Oct. 24, Bowling Green on Oct.

A Benton optometrist says he wants to make health insurance plans more accessible and more understandable for small businesses.  Dr. Joe Ellis of EyeCare Associates of Kentucky is among 19 appointees to the state’s new Health Exchange Board. Governor Steve Beshear established the board to review policies and make recommendations for Kentucky’s state-run health insurance exchange.

Six county-wide burn bans remain in western Kentucky after Marshall and McCracken county officials lifted their bans today. The river counties of Ballard, Hickman, Fulton and Carlisle still have burn ban notices in effect. Christian and Graves counties also have burn bans.

A study of more than 800 western Kentucky children shows 25 percent are obese, and another 18 percent are overweight. The national average of obese children is 17 percent. Murray State University nursing professor Dr. Dana Manley was part of a team of researchers who compiled the data, based on 2008 and 2009 cardiovascular fitness tests.

The summer drought is expected to have an impact on many of the Kentucky State Fair’s agricultural entries. Kentucky’s suffered a hot, dry summer, and farmers in the western half of the state are bearing the brunt of the disaster. The stress has already shown up on fair entries in other drought-stricken areas of the country, with smaller ears of corn and other vegetables and fewer head of livestock on display.

More than half of western Kentucky counties remain under burn bans this week. Out of 22 counties, 15 have reported burn bans to the Kentucky Division of Forestry. Some cities, including Madisonville have issued their own bans on outdoor burning and fireworks.

The drought in western Kentucky and northwestern Tennessee will continue through the end of the year. That’s the latest outlook from the National Weather Service’s Jim Noel.