Morning News – 02/18/15

CYNTHIANA / HARRISON

CLOSINGS:

• Harrison County Schools – Closed
• MCTC Licking Valley Campus – Closed
• Harrison County Senior Citizens – Closed

…additional offices and businesses are closed and/or delayed; please check with broadcast media, your business/organization facebook page, etc.

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Harrison County Emergency Weather Shelter on Oddville Ave. (the old offices of the Harrison County Clerk) will be open this week for those who need it. Anyone wishing to volunteer their services  to assist in operations should call Re’Jeana Craft at 859.588.1359

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=901958756491195&id=139332626087149

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KENTUCKY

Governor Steve Beshear issued two executive orders yesterday to protect consumers from price gouging and to ensure families have access to needed prescription medicines.

“Both of these orders will help Kentuckians manage the effects of the storm, knowing that they will pay fair prices for goods like gasoline and won’t have to worry about skipping doses of maintenance medications,” said Gov. Beshear.

Price Gouging Executive Order
At the request of Attorney General Jack Conway, the Governor activated the state’s prohibitions on price gouging.  The emergency declaration triggers several consumer protection measures that will remain in place for 30 days, but may be extended past that time as needed. The order empowers the Attorney General to investigate and prosecute, where appropriate, those who sell gasoline, generators, building supplies, chain saws, hotel rooms and other necessary goods and services at an exorbitant price in a time of disaster.

Anyone with specific information regarding possible price gouging should contact the Office of the Attorney General at 1-888-432-9257 or email: consumerprotection@ky.gov.

Prescription Drug Executive Order
The Governor also issued an order which allows pharmacists to refill up to a 30-day supply of needed prescriptions without a physician’s refill order, excluding controlled substances.  This order is effective in every county in Kentucky.

This executive order will be in effect through Tuesday, Feb. 24.

“We recommend that patients contact their providers first to renew a prescription,” said Dr. Stephanie Mayfield, Commissioner of Public Health. “In the event patients and pharmacists are unable to reach the providers due to severe weather, this executive order enables pharmacists to appropriately assist patients for emergency refills.”

https://web.archive.org/web/20170211084042/http://migration.kentucky.gov/Newsroom/governor/20150217orders.htm

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The State Emergency Operations Center (SEOC) remains activated as another winter weather system is expected to bring additional snow to the Commonwealth. National Weather Service offices in Kentucky have issued Winter Weather Advisories for snow in effect for 5:00 p.m. EST Tuesday to 7:00 p.m. EST Wednesday. The advisories call for an additional one to three inches of new snow and snow squalls with wind gusts up to 45 mph. Bitter Arctic air is also in the forecast and temperatures are expected to dip well below zero Wednesday and Thursday nights. Complete weather forecasts by region can be found at www.weather.gov.

New snow accumulations will hamper the ongoing efforts to clear roadways of yesterday’s snowfall and will continue to create hazardous driving conditions.

Governor Beshear declared a statewide emergency Monday afternoon. As a result of yesterday’s snow event, KYEM has received 66 county emergency declarations and 16 city emergency declarations. For the complete list of declarations, please see our website at www.kyem.ky.gov.

There are no reported injuries or deaths associated with this event. There have been no major power outages during this event

Officials encourage citizens to refrain from unnecessary travel; allowing roads crews unimpeded ability to continue clearing roads. Road conditions throughout the state can be found on the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet’s website at www.511.ky.gov, by calling 511 in Kentucky or 1-866-737-3767 for out-of-state callers

Those using auxiliary heating devices should be familiar with the manufacturer’s warnings, the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning and how to safely operate their units. A Center for Disease Control carbon monoxide poison fact sheet is available at http://www.cdc.gov/co/factsheets.htm .

Additional winter safety tips, including winter driving tips, can also be found on the KYEM website at www.kyem.ky.gov. Kentuckians can also follow KYEMPIO on Twitter and ‘like’ on Facebook.

https://web.archive.org/web/20170211084101/http://migration.kentucky.gov/Newsroom/dma_kyem/stateEOCremainsactivated.htm

THIS DAY IN HISTORY

• 1478 – George, Duke of Clarence, convicted of treason against his older brother Edward IV of England, is executed in private at the Tower of London.
• 1791 – Congress passes a law admitting the state of Vermont to the Union, effective 4 March 1791, after that state had existed for 14 years as a de-facto independent largely unrecognized state.
• 1861 – In Montgomery, Alabama, Jefferson Davis is inaugurated as the provisional President of the Confederate States of America.
• 1865 – American Civil War: Union forces under Major General William T. Sherman set the South Carolina State House on fire during the burning of Columbia.
• 1885 – The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain is published in the United States.
• 1911 – The first official flight with air mail takes place from Allahabad, United Provinces, British India (now India), when Henri Pequet, a 23-year-old pilot, delivers 6,500 letters to Naini, about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) away.
• 1930 – While studying photographs taken in January, Clyde Tombaugh discovers Pluto.
• 1930 – Elm Farm Ollie becomes the first cow to fly in a fixed-wing aircraft and also the first cow to be milked in an aircraft.
• 1943 – Joseph Goebbels delivers his Sportpalast speech.
• 1954 – The first Church of Scientology is established in Los Angeles, California.
• 1955 – Operation Teapot: Teapot test shot “Wasp” is successfully detonated at the Nevada Test Site with a yield of 1.2 kilotons. Wasp is the first of fourteen shots in the Teapot series.
• 1970 – The Chicago Seven are found not guilty of conspiring to incite riots at the 1968 Democratic National Convention.
• 1972 – The California Supreme Court in the case of People v. Anderson, (6 Cal.3d 628) invalidates the state’s death penalty and commutes the sentences of all death row inmates to life imprisonment.
• 1977 – The Space Shuttle Enterprise test vehicle is carried on its maiden “flight” on top of a Boeing 747.
• 1979 – Snow falls in the Sahara Desert in southern Algeria for the only time in recorded history.
• 1983 – Thirteen people die and one is seriously injured in the Wah Mee massacre in Seattle, Washington. It is said to be the largest robbery-motivated mass-murder in U.S. history.
• 2001 – FBI agent Robert Hanssen is arrested for spying for the Soviet Union. He is ultimately convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment.
• 2001 – Seven-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Dale Earnhardt dies in an accident during the Daytona 500.