New deaths by county: 93 F Anderson, 90 F Bath, 92 M Bath, 91 F Boyd, 76 F Boyle, 77 F Boyle, 79 M Boyle, 90 F Casey, 72 M Daviess, 80 M Daviess, 87 M Daviess, 91 M Daviess, 91 M Edmonson, 57 M Fayette, 80 M Fayette, 101 F Fleming, 73 M Fleming, 79 M Graves, 81 F Hardin, 83 F Hardin, 83 F Hardin, 53 M Hardin, 69 M Hardin, 73 M Hardin, 89 M Hardin, 61 F Harlan, 77 F Harlan, 77 M Hart, 83 F Henderson, 88 M Henry, 83 M Jackson, 75 F Jefferson, 81 F Jefferson, 85 F Jefferson, 62 M Jefferson, 74 M Jefferson, 77 M Jefferson, 86 M Jefferson, 88 M Jefferson, 90 M Jefferson, 94 M Jefferson, 83 F Knox, 92 F Lincoln, 77 F McCracken, 80 F McCracken, 67 M McCracken, 80 F Madison, 72 M Marshall, 80 F Mercer, 95 F Mercer, 83 F Oldham, 71 M Oldham, 87 M Oldham, 71 F Perry, 59 M Pike, 64 M Pulaski, 80 F Rowan, 84 F Shelby, 74 M Shelby, 77 M Taylor, 72 F Todd, 74 F Warren, 69 F Washington, 83 F Washington, 94 F Washington, 41 M Washington, 63 M Wayne, 89 F Webster, 71 M Webster
2.Today I signed a proclamation declaring January 28, 2021 as “Hunger Free Day” in Kentucky. Hunger is something that has been around for far far too long, but in a modern world, and in a state where we grow so much food, it's something that we ought to be able to finally solve. Too many of our Kentucky kids and Kentucky families don't know where their next meal is coming from. <...> I was also excited to announce a donation from the Beshear-Coleman Inaugural Fund of about $16,000 to Feeding Kentucky.
Vaccine:So today, we're announcing four new regional vaccination sites, and the first site as one of these four, operated by Kroger. The three sites that you will see in just a little bit when we unveil our http://vaccine.ky.gov website are two in Western Kentucky we'll show you those in a minute, Lourdes and Baptists in Paducah, as well as Ephraim McDowell .
As of today, all vaccination sites are asked to prioritize the 70 and older population, until further notice. Other persons from phase 1A and 1B remain eligible for vaccination. As vaccine quantities and available appointment times allow, persons in 1C may also be scheduled to ensure each site administers 90% or more of all their vaccine doses received in seven days.
Today we're also unveiling a new state website, http://vaccine.ky.gov, and a hotline, 855-598-2246 also 855-326-4654 (TTY), that helps Kentuckians determine if they're eligible to receive a vaccine, and then it helps them find the vaccine in their region. The “Find a Vaccine” website and hotline will both be live after this news conference.
Pheli Roberts/Kroger: <...> So, super excited about what we're able to offer, and just want to remind and engage all of our eligible phase 1A and 1B Kentuckians to visit our http://kroger.com/COVIDVaccine website to schedule, or call 1-866-211-5320.
There is a new program available that was put into place under the Continuing Assistance Act that was signed into law at the end of last year. It's called the Mixed Earners Unemployment Compensation Program. If you have regular W2 wages but also work some on the side and on a contract basis, then you may be eligible for this program.
I'm still getting a lot of questions about 1099. We know a little over 600,000 of those were mailed out over the last few weeks and there is also a new FAQ on the website to help you with questions about that. [...] Now, if you believe that you got a 1099 and that you did not actually draw benefits, either because your business, the place where you work, filed a mass claim and you never actually claimed benefits, or because of some kind of identity theft or fraud, you can email we discussed on Monday, the [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) email.
Are there any specific plans or maybe public transit services being recruited in making sure that Kentuckians who don't have access to a car, or aren't able to drive to the regional sites, that they do still have the opportunity to get vaccinated? -- Yes, this is when we talk about thinking big, and thinking small, there's this regional program that can get a lot of people through, and and I hope that family members will reach out and solve some of those transportation issues, but then there's our local health department, some of our hospitals that are embedded in each community, understand where folks are, that struggle with transportation needs, understanding that the equity needs in getting this vaccine out. They're going to play an absolutely essential role in getting that done.
Dr Stack, in his comments, mentioned about the possibility of once vaccinated you can still spread the disease. So after your initial shot and a booster should that person anticipate wearing a mask, say, into the fall? -- Right now we believe that vaccines protect you from getting sick and protect you from getting very sick with that 95% effectiveness. There isn't data at the moment on the transmissibility. And so we have to believe that you can transmit it, until we have the data showing that you don't.
Good afternoon everybody. Good afternoon Virginia. This is that time we come together, and the last time we'll come together this week, to remember that we will get through this, and we will get through this together. There is a big, bright light that will be the end of this pandemic. We’ve got to be careful, protect one another as we move towards it. But today, you're going to hear a lot more about our plan to make sure that we answer that critical anxiety of individuals of “when it's my time, where do I go to get my vaccine?”, and that we are also putting the infrastructure in place to where when we have, we pray for this, significantly more vaccine supply that comes that we can get it out pretty quickly.
Let's start with some good news. Today, I'm happy to announce a new project from a homegrown Kentucky company that’s creating 200 new jobs in the Bowling Green area and helping to create a better Kentucky for our residents. Material Handling Systems got its start right here in the Commonwealth, more than 20 years ago. Since its founding in 1999, the Mount Washington-based business has grown from a small one-room operation to a global company that employs more than 2,000 people, including more than 500 Kentuckians, and it helps distribute products all over the world. The $7.6M investment to locate in a 181,000 square foot facility in Warren County's Kentucky TransPark will support the global headquarters in Mount Washington with steel structures for conveyor, and sortation systems. This project is just the latest reminder that Kentucky is home to successful businesses that got their start right here in the Commonwealth. We talk a lot about businesses that we attract to Kentucky, but most of our jobs are created by Kentucky businesses that grow and thrive. MHS is among the nearly 60 material handling equipment manufacturers located in Kentucky that employ over 3,200 of our Kentucky families. A key part of this project is MHS is important to our distribution and logistics industry, which consists of more than 580 facilities, and nearly 78,000 employees. MHS supports major logistics companies in our state like UPS and FedEx Ground, that's just another reason this is a great project for Kentucky as we continue to build ourselves into the logistics capital, certainly, of this country. Thank you to the leadership and Material Handling Systems for selecting Kentucky for this next great expansion, and to everyone at the state and local level that helped make it happen, thank you. Our Kentucky families thank you. This new MHS location is a great addition to the Bowling Green business community, and to Kentucky, and I look forward to helping you make that next great expansion. With every one of our great Kentucky companies that adds jobs and expands, the first thing we tell them is: feel free to do more. And that's what we'll try to continue to foster.
Second, today I signed a proclamation declaring January 28, 2021 as “Hunger Free Day” in Kentucky. Hunger is something that has been around for far far too long, but in a modern world, and in a state where we grow so much food, it's something that we ought to be able to finally solve. Too many of our Kentucky kids and Kentucky families don't know where their next meal is coming from. I hope, as we come out of COVID, where we have taken care of each other in ways that we've never seen in our lifetimes, that this can be one of those other crises that has been around that we can truly start to address. I was also excited to announce a donation from the Beshear-Coleman Inaugural Fund of about $16,000 to Feeding Kentucky. I couldn't think of a better use of dollars from that time of celebration to help people through this time of need. The work of those and Feeding Kentucky has been nothing short of heroic during COVID, and we have been honored to have our National Guards- men and women working in their facilities to ensure they have the necessary personnel to give food to those that are in need. Their efforts deserve our full support. Thank you to Feeding Kentucky, to all of our food pantries, and to everybody out there who helped someone find that next meal.
Alright, today's COVID report. Good news, and tough news, and it seems like it's the trend we're seeing every day. Let's start with the good news.
Positive cases today: 2,947 - Doesn't sound like good news, and it's far too high, but this is the lowest Thursday we've had in four weeks.
Total tests conducted: 3,985,343 (PCR: 3,560,903, Serology: 107,732)
Positivity Rate: 9.04% - Our current positivity rate is 9.04% the fourth straight day under 10% and I believe we've had almost a week if not more of that number going down and down. Folks, our trends are going in the right way, and that's a good thing and it's because of your work, wearing a mask, social distancing, cutting down on your contacts, thank you for that.
Our numbers of Kentuckians hospitalized currently in the ICU, and currently on a ventilator are all down compared to yesterday.
Total hospitalized: 16,404
Currently hospitalized: 1,561
Total in ICU: 3,520
Currently in ICU: 370
On a ventilator: 205
Total recovered: 42,684
New deaths today: 69 - But the result of so many cases, and of our exponential growth, and times when we were having 5,000 cases in a day, is we're seeing significant loss that that creates. Today is our highest day of announced deaths with 69 new deaths we're announcing in Kentucky to bring our total lost to 3,611.
Total Deaths: 3,611
New deaths by county: 93 F Anderson, 90 F Bath, 92 M Bath, 91 F Boyd, 76 F Boyle, 77 F Boyle, 79 M Boyle, 90 F Casey, 72 M Daviess, 80 M Daviess, 87 M Daviess, 91 M Daviess, 91 M Edmonson, 57 M Fayette, 80 M Fayette, 101 F Fleming, 73 M Fleming, 79 M Graves, 81 F Hardin, 83 F Hardin, 83 F Hardin, 53 M Hardin, 69 M Hardin, 73 M Hardin, 89 M Hardin, 61 F Harlan, 77 F Harlan, 77 M Hart, 83 F Henderson, 88 M Henry, 83 M Jackson, 75 F Jefferson, 81 F Jefferson, 85 F Jefferson, 62 M Jefferson, 74 M Jefferson, 77 M Jefferson, 86 M Jefferson, 88 M Jefferson, 90 M Jefferson, 94 M Jefferson, 83 F Knox, 92 F Lincoln, 77 F McCracken, 80 F McCracken, 67 M McCracken, 80 F Madison, 72 M Marshall, 80 F Mercer, 95 F Mercer, 83 F Oldham, 71 M Oldham, 87 M Oldham, 71 F Perry, 59 M Pike, 64 M Pulaski, 80 F Rowan, 84 F Shelby, 74 M Shelby, 77 M Taylor, 72 F Todd, 74 F Warren, 69 F Washington, 83 F Washington, 94 F Washington, 41 M Washington, 63 M Wayne, 89 F Webster, 71 M Webster
Now, not all of these deaths are from the last couple weeks. We have the committee that meets to ensure that each individual that we list as a loss that COVID was a real contributing factor. And some of that made that list larger, but these are all people we've lost, at least in part because of COVID. So let's remember how dangerous it is, even if our cases are headed, our trends are headed, in the right direction.
Racial breakdown of all cases: 85% White, 8.5% Black, 5% Multiracial, 1.2% Asian, 0.2% American Indian, 0.1% Pacific Islander
Ethnicity breakdown of all cases: 94.2% Non-Hispanic, 5.8% Hispanic
Racial breakdown of all deaths: 87.6% White, 8.9% Black, 2.7% Multiracial, 0.6% Asian, 0.1% American Indian
Ethnicity breakdown of all deaths: 98.1% Non-Hispanic, 1.9% Hispanic
Today's memorial is a man we lost again, a state employee who's my age. Today we honor another one of our own on Team Kentucky, as we share the story of Jonathan Alexander, a team member of the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet Office of Information Technology. He was 43, far too young to be taken from us. He passed away on January 23rd at the University of Kentucky Hospital after complications from surgery and COVID-19. Jonathan was known by all for his kindness. He always went out of the way to help those in need, not only in his personal life but through his work. An example of this was through organizing the “Big Tip Challenge”, a fundraiser for restaurant workers whose jobs had been impacted by the COVID pandemic. He also organized the annual Salvation Army's Angel Tree Drive for OIT, making sure every Kentucky family had something under the tree at Christmas. Jonathan always said if you're fortunate enough to be able to help somebody-- do it, it's an amazing experience. Jonathan's passing is such a loss for Kentucky. I hope we can learn from his words and do right by our people. Our prayers are with Jonathan's mother, Brenda Whitaker, his brother, Jason, and his many great friends, and co-workers. We're also thinking of his beloved dogs who are family to him. That's Reesy, Roxy, Riley, Rosie, and Rowdy. This is one of ours that works with us here in state government. We mourn his passing. We think about, and pray for, his family which I know is grieving. I think about his work family around him that feels this loss. And we know we've got to continue to mask up to protect one another, to make sure other families don't have to feel this loss and go through what Jason's family has gone through. So let's mask up in honor of him, let’s light our homes up green, so his family and friends know they're not alone, and we're holding them close in prayer. 43. To think we have through the course of this had at different times people try to argue that this only impacts our seniors-- 43...
Alright. Let's move to the exciting news. So today, we have some very exciting news about how we're building out the infrastructure here in Kentucky to efficiently vaccinate our people, so that everybody knows where the place, when it's their turn, that they should go to get vaccinated is. Today, we'll be announcing some new regional facilities. Next Thursday, we'll be announcing more, and the Thursday after that, we will have some additional. So we will have announcements today, and each Thursday of the next two weeks, as we build out this infrastructure so that everybody has a high speed throughput vaccination operation in their region, and they know exactly when it's their time, where they can go.
So today, we're announcing four new regional vaccination sites, and the first site as one of these four, operated by Kroger. The three sites that you will see in just a little bit when we unveil our http://vaccine.ky.gov website are two in Western Kentucky we'll show you those in a minute, Lourdes and Baptists in Paducah, as well as Ephraim McDowell.
But our first Kroger site will be operated at the Kentucky Horse park, and it's going to begin February 2 at 10am. It's going to be done in the Alltech Arena site which is in-person indoors, but we're going to look at expanding to drive-thru as the weather warms and supply increases. Signups for this site, again, at 5pm today. You can see http://kroger.com/COVIDVaccine is the website to go to. It's going to schedule out for the next three weeks, one week at a time. They're going to be 3,000 appointments in week one. Each day it's going to open for, after today, for that one next day a week ahead of time. Now this is important, these appointments, which are currently limited due to supplies are for Kentuckians in phase 1B, particularly those 70 and older. There should be 3000 appointments at the horse park and others across the state, aimed at getting our Seniors 70 and up vaccinated. So, today at five o'clock, please know 70 and up you ought to be getting on this. If you don't fall into that category or 1A we need you to wait, we'll be able to expand soon. And we've already told all of our regional providers that if they have extra doses, they can and should reach into 1C, to make sure absolutely nothing goes to waste.
As of today, all vaccination sites are asked to prioritize the 70 and older population, until further notice. Other persons from phase 1A and 1B remain eligible for vaccination. As vaccine quantities and available appointment times allow, persons in 1C may also be scheduled to ensure each site administers 90% or more of all their vaccine doses received in seven days.
So, we're pretty excited. Next week, we got four new regional vaccination sites coming online and our first Kroger site. Again, these are for 70 and up, at least for the next several weeks. But here's the other exciting part. Today we're also unveiling a new state website, http://vaccine.ky.gov, and a hotline, 855-598-2246 also 855-326-4654 (TTY), that helps Kentuckians determine if they're eligible to receive a vaccine, and then it helps them find the vaccine in their region. The “Find a Vaccine” website and hotline will both be live after this news conference. Dr Stack and Secretary Gray will offer more details in a minute but I want to first share a video that walks through what Kentuckians can expect when they get on this website. How it's going to show them when they're eligible, and where they should sign up to get their back and let's show the video.
<VIDEO PLAYS IN BACKGROUND> You've probably heard a lot about the new COVID-19 vaccine in Kentucky. If you think you're currently eligible for the vaccine, you can use Kentucky's online screening tool to check your status and find vaccination sites near you. As vaccine supply is limited, Kentucky is following a phased distribution system of eligible groups. The Commonwealth is committed to making the vaccine available to all willing Kentuckians as quickly and as efficiently as vaccine supply allows. Meet John. John is 72 years old and believes he's eligible for the vaccine. John heads to the Find a Vaccine website to begin the quick and simple screening survey. The Find a Vaccine website is powered by Google Translate and the website is available for translation. This will take just a few minutes.
John clicks, “Get Started” to begin.
After answering a few quick questions, John sees he is eligible for the vaccine.
By entering basic information, Jon can select a location on the map to see different locations in his community where he can schedule a COVID-19 vaccine appointment and get his “Shot of Hope.”
Now John wants to see if his granddaughter Sarah, a college student, is also eligible.
John clicks, “start over” to start the survey again.
The screening survey asks some quick demographic questions to determine Sarah's eligibility status, such as age, occupation, and whether she has certain health issues that put her at high risk if she gets COVID-19. Any basic information entered in the Find a Vaccine website is secure.
Once John answers all the questions, John learns that Sarah is included in phase 3 of Kentucky's vaccine distribution plan, and is not currently eligible for the vaccine.
In the meantime, John can sign Sarah up to receive an automatic email or text message notification when her eligibility status changes. Signing up for notifications is fast, secure, and only requires your name, county of residence, and email address or mobile phone number.
New deaths by county: 59 F Adair, 63 F Ballard, 85 F Bell, 29 F Boone, 79 M Boone, 82 F Boyle, 93 M Boyle, 93 M Breathitt, 72 M Calloway, 72 M Calloway, 51 M Campbell, 82 M Campbell, 87 F Carter, 60 M Casey, 75 F Fayette, 53 M Fayette, 86 M Fayette, 90 F Fleming, 68 M Franklin, 94 M Franklin, 53 M Gallatin, 62 M Gallatin, 85 F Hardin, 88 F Hardin, 81 M Hardin, 89 M Hart, 69 F Hopkins, 86 F Hopkins, 80 F Jefferson, 81 F Jefferson, 80 M Jefferson, 96 M Jefferson, 100 M Jefferson, 79 F Kenton, 77 F Laurel, 54 F McCracken, 65 M McCracken, 69 M McCracken, 63 F Marshall, 77 F Marshall, 71 M Meade, 80 M Meade, 64 F Mercer, 53 M Montgomery, 75 M Nicholas, 90 F Ohio, 88 M Trigg, 93 M Washington, 88 M Wayne, 87 F Whitley, 89 M Whitley
Good News.
1. The agency just reported today that the state's recordable non-fatal occupational injury and illness rate has fallen to the lowest point on record. The total recordable incident rate for all industries has fallen to the lowest level since the US Bureau of Labor Statistics began recording the data in 1996, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Program Fiscal Year 2020 Annual Report. So for 2020, based on 2019 BLS data, we were at 3.2 cases per 100 full time equivalent workers, for comparison that was 8.4 in 1996. What this means is this was the safest year, even in the midst of a pandemic, to be a worker in Kentucky.
3. Today we've announced the reopening of all Kentucky State Police post locations to the public to assist in the fight against the drug epidemic, through the Angel Initiative. KSP’s Angel Initiative is a proactive program designed to help people battle addiction, and it's available throughout the state. Anyone suffering from substance use disorder can visit a KSP post to be paired with a local officer who will assist them locating an appropriate treatment program. <...> KSP posts are open to the public Monday through Friday, 8am to 4:30pm and COVID-19 guidelines must be followed. In addition to seeking treatment, individuals may go to any KSP post to safely dispose of any drugs or contraband they may have in their possession without threat of arrest.
Vaccines: So what you see here is we will begin reporting, and updating on a daily basis, how many unique people have been vaccinated in Kentucky. That, we will show next to the total number of doses, first doses, of vaccine allocated to the state, and then you'll see a utilization percentage there. So the goal here is to show you for all the vaccine we receive, what percentage has been administered as a first dose to Kentuckians.<...> So, in this top chart you can see we've broken down the state program, those are all the allocations that came to us at the state level, and then we distributed out, or allocated out, to hospitals and local health departments predominantly to administer to Kentuckians. <...> Please remember, even though you hear that the quantities have been increased and the federal government said 16% last week, and an additional 5% this week, those are wonderful developments to have more vaccine. However, the doses we're getting are still 68,000 or so doses a week, it's gonna take a while to reach everyone who wants to be immunized. <...> So please, I know when you go to these sites, you make the phone calls, it feels like you're not able to get through. It's probably accurate for many of you, it's because we're only getting so much vaccine and the demand is so great. So please know they are vaccinating, they're using everything they're getting as quickly as they can. It's a matter of needing more vaccine to fulfill the demand right now, which is very large.
What made the state change the requirements to make sure only Kentucky residents are receiving the vaccine? -- We had people who lived and worked in other states coming over and trying to get in priority groups in our state that they didn't qualify for in their state.
Senator Robbie Mills today spoke to the very frustrations that you have mentioned that his constituents in Hopkins and Daviess county saying there's just no vaccines available, but he also said that they have a perception that Indiana is doing better than Kentucky, and that they're very frustrated by that. He also spoke to the need, what he perceived the need to be, more and better communication about vaccine availability from your administration. So I just would like for you to sort of speak to that perception that other states are doing better than us and also to his call for better communication. -- Well, we're a top 10 state for vaccinations, the last four weeks we vaccinated more people than we've received doses. If you go over 100% I think that's pretty good. I think in most statistics, we're ahead of Indiana, but I want Indiana to do well too. [...] And we've been communicating about supply, supply, and supply every day, you all have seen it. On our website we show exactly how many doses we get in and how many go out. Their providers have their amount, which is a public when they receive it, and they put it out. So we're getting it out as fast as we can. It's gone out, we believe, equitably across the state. In fact, in the beginning, rural Kentucky got more than urban Kentucky as we were directing it out towards healthcare workers. I think that there are multiple providers in the area that would say that they think that they are being treated fairly. But listen unfortunately a speech on the senate or house floor right now is in the silly season. I don't think they're going to get up and say anything positive. It's unfortunate but that's where we are but you know this is also a body that I hope will be more thoughtful, moving forward, on what they pass. You know, we had to go to court today to challenge three bills, one I'll give you an example was House Bill 1. It basically said no more the Governor's executive orders, “CDC guidance” is now the law. They didn't say which guidance, there are 174 CDC guidance documents. <brings up a stack of documents to the podium> Now, I guess every business would have to look through all 174 of these, which multiple ones will apply to them and try to figure out what they do or do not have to do. I mean we can't defeat a vaccine with this . What should you do to keep people safe? This . We’ve got to have clear consistent rules, and that's what the Supreme Court said, you know, just a couple months ago. So, whether or not people want to pull authority for me, let's be smart and how we address the virus and not say to our businesses “It's on you now here's all the paperwork”
Good afternoon everybody, good afternoon Rachel. It's four o'clock, on Wednesday, that time we come together to remember that we're gonna get through this, and we're gonna get through it together. I'll start by thanking everybody for allowing me to move yesterday to today, we all struggle at times through this pandemic, and admittedly I just needed a day. But I am back at it, I’m ready, and we are going to defeat this thing together. We have a light at the end of the tunnel, it's a big, bright light, it's going to take us time to get there so continue to mask up, continue to do all those things that protect people and as you'll see, our numbers continue to look better and better with the exception of those that we are losing, which are result of that dramatic increase we experienced.
Let's start with good news, we need good news in our world and let's remember we can, rightfully so, we get caught up thinking all day long about the pandemic but there's still lots of good things going on.
First is worker safety. So I speak often about the importance of Kentucky's workforce, which is the backbone of the middle class, the glue that binds most of our communities together. It's also so many of you, our families, how you put food on the table. My administration is committed to providing well paying opportunities for growth and retirements marked by dignity and security. Above all, we treat all honest work as worthwhile, and we treat our workers with respect. The hard working folks at the Kentucky Labor Cabinet have played a major role in ensuring we're living these values during the pandemic. Most often, I talk about unemployment insurance or those who play a role in keeping us safe by investigating reports of non-compliance to the Kentucky safer hotline. But the cabinet is also responsible for enforcing Occupational Safety and Health Standards (OSHA) at workplaces throughout the Commonwealth. Those are the standards that are supposed to keep us safe, that identify unsafe hazardous or unhealthy environments, that stops practices that pose dangers. And when companies don't live up to those standards, cite them, and help them, and provide them the incentive to ultimately get things right, to make sure all of our Kentuckians are safe on the job. So today we’ve got some really good news to share on that front. The agency just reported today that the state's recordable non-fatal occupational injury and illness rate has fallen to the lowest point on record. The total recordable incident rate for all industries has fallen to the lowest level since the US Bureau of Labor Statistics began recording the data in 1996, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Program fiscal year 2020 annual report. So for 2020, based on 2019 BLS data, we were at 3.2 cases per 100 full time equivalent workers, for comparison that was 8.4 in 1996. What this means is this was the safest year, even in the midst of a pandemic, to be a worker in Kentucky. It means that our labor cabinet is doing it right but it means so many of you all are doing it right too. This is what happens when we enforce standards. when we create the right framework to ensure that our folks show up and they're productive, they're enthusiastic, and that they are also safe. So, 2020, having the lowest injury rate since it's been recorded, in 1996, is some pretty good news. It means a lot more people made it home at night to their families, and a lot more people made it home happy and healthy, and that's what we want every day here in the Commonwealth. We have seen a steady decline over time and let's keep it up. Let's get to the point where our workplaces are so safe that no one is ever injured. That sounds like it may be a tough task but I believe both our people and our employers are up for that challenge.
Second piece of good news. The Justice and Public Safety Cabinet today is awarding more than $2M in grant funding from the Federal Violence Against Women Act STOP Formula Grant Program to 28 agencies across our state. This federal funding allows our state to better support the insurmountable work provided by victim advocacy services, law enforcement agencies, and local units of government to victims of violent crime. Funds are received from the Office on Violence Against Women, a component of the United States Department of Justice. The Office on Violence Against Women require state administrative agencies allocate 25% for law enforcement, 25% for prosecutors, 30% for victim services, 5% for state and local courts, and 15% for discretionary distribution. The funding should be used for projects that serve or focus on adults and youth who are victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking. Some of the programs funded by the grant include, and these are a bunch of great organizations that I had a chance to work with as attorney general, and the work they do is so appreciated and here supported. Chrysalis House has been awarded $51,830 to continue funding a domestic violence therapist to ensure physical and emotional safety is established, prior to treatment for women who have experienced intimate partner violence. Merryman House Domestic Crisis Centers has been awarded $56,264 to increase safety of domestic violence survivors in the Purchase Area Development District by sustaining and improving collaboration efforts with local law enforcement and prosecution. The Nest Center for Women, Children, and Families has been awarded $116,780 which will allow it to continue to hire contract attorneys who will provide legal services at no charge to families, obtaining an order of protection against their perpetrator in 18 different counties. We’ve got to work together to stop the scourge that is domestic violence, to make sure that our people are safe. The long term ramifications go far beyond just the partner, the physical and emotional scars that it leaves on our children is something we all ought to be committed to stopping. I believe in a world without domestic violence, without sexual abuse, without child abuse, and it should be attainable, just takes all of us continuing to work every day. And these $2 million to organizations that earn the money are going to help us to get there.
Alright, one other piece of good news, which is our Kentucky State Police Angel Initiative. Today we've announced the reopening of all Kentucky State Police post locations to the public to assist in the fight against the drug epidemic, through the Angel Initiative. KSP’s Angel Initiative is a proactive program designed to help people battle addiction, and it's available throughout the state. Anyone suffering from substance use disorder can visit a KSP post to be paired with a local officer who will assist them locating an appropriate treatment program. KSP launched the Angel Initiative in 2016, this was done by the previous administration, through funding from the Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy. I committed that when I became governor we do the right things, and the right programs we build on. We wouldn't simply eliminate things or take action out of spite and we've lived up to that promise. The Angel Initiative was a good initiative created by our last commissioner of the state police and by our last governor. Reopening it to the public is the right thing to do and it's going to help people. KSP posts are open to the public Monday through Friday, 8am to 4:30pm and COVID-19 guidelines must be followed. In addition to seeking treatment, individuals may go to any KSP post to safely dispose of any drugs or contraband they may have in their possession without threat of arrest. One more program we can use to help those who are suffering.
So that's all good news. Aside from what we deal with every day in the pandemic there are lots of beacons of light out there, lots of people continuing to do good work even in challenging circumstances, and there's lots of people doing good work in working to defeat this virus. Our vaccination efforts right now are exciting to see. You walk into one of our vaccination centers and you see a workforce that is inspired and is moving. You see people clearly walking around with purpose. You see faith in action, and protecting other people. And you see people who've worked long shifts who are still smiling when that next person sits down because they're going to get their vaccine. We’ve got a short video here that recaps yesterday's opening of our first regional vaccination site at the Kentucky horse park, outside of Lexington and Scott County. Take a look, it's pretty special.
<VIDEO> This is an exciting day for Kentucky. Through this new and growing partnership with Kroger health, we will be able to vaccinate more Kentuckians as we received more supply from the federal government. We are here inside the Kentucky Horse Park’s Alltech Arena in Lexington, where Kroger health is launching the first regional vaccination site in the state. Across the Commonwealth we are seeing efficiency pick up and pick up every single week. We are getting better and better at vaccinating people, which means for every Kentucky in your time is coming sooner rather than later. The last four weeks we've vaccinated more people than we've received doses from the federal government, meaning our only limitation at this point is supply supply and supply. But we can't simply sit back, we have to continue to grow our capacity so when we have those additional vaccines, when the manufacturing picks up, when we have a flood of these life saving shots of hope, that we are ready to get them out there and get them in people's arms as quickly as humanly possible. So let's continue to mask up, let's continue to engage in social distancing, and when it's your turn and your time, let's roll up our sleeves and get this shot of hope.
The individual you saw getting vaccinated there is one of our veterans. He has several health conditions, but wanted to step up and to be an example. We were all excited, we were all moved to see him get that vaccine. On vaccines, today we've got Dr Stack, he's going to talk through how we're gonna change our reporting, what you see online, each and every day to be a better indicator of how quickly we are getting the vaccine to new people, because that's really what we want to focus on. Some look at doses out there but when you get a second dose it's got to go to a specific person. What we are focused on is how quickly we can get people that first part of their vaccination as efficiency. Now, I will remind you that we get these doses primarily on Tuesday-ish, late Monday, early Tuesday. So, Tuesday, Wednesday, there's always going to be the biggest difference between our supply and how many people were vaccinated. But what you'll see from the reporting is by the time we get through that next Monday, seven days after it, we're vaccinating more people every week of the past four weeks, then we get supply. We're not gonna be able to do that much longer, it's from extra from the first couple of weeks as we were ramping up and that is very quickly being used up. Thankfully, we're gonna receive, or we're now receiving, about 21-22% more vaccine. This next week will be the first week we reached that full increase since the new administration took over in Washington. Dr Stack?
You can all relate to this, this is a video conference world-- I had three screens open and I couldn't get to it. So Governor, thank you very much. I have two topics that the governor would like me to speak about tonight. And then I'll walk us through that.
So, on our website we're going to change, and this should be updated tonight, we're going to change how we report the vaccines that are administered. Remember the single most important metric is how many people have been vaccinated, how many unique people have been vaccinated, because those are the persons who are on the road to protection from the vaccine. So what you see here is we will begin reporting, and updating on a daily basis, how many unique people have been vaccinated in Kentucky. That, we will show next to the total number of doses, first doses, of vaccine allocated to the state, and then you'll see a utilization percentage there. So the goal here is to show you for all the vaccine we receive, what percentage has been administered as a first dose to Kentuckians. Now, the other way to do this is to show all the doses, which include first dose and second dose, but we're committed to giving the second dose to everyone who gets the first dose-- that should happen as a matter of routine course. So the most important metric is who has started this journey, and received a first dose, which means they will be part of a two-dose immunization program and when they complete that they'll have the full benefit of the protection from the vaccine. And remember, if the third vaccine gets approved, if the Johnson and Johnson vaccine gets approved, and we're all cautiously hopeful that will happen later this month, that is only a one-dose vaccine. So again, in this paradigm that will be the metric that matters the most, is how many people have received their first dose, and therefore are on the path towards protective immunity from this disease. So, in this top chart you can see we've broken down the state program, those are all the allocations that came to us at the state level, and then we distributed out, or allocated out, to hospitals and local health departments predominantly to administer to Kentuckians. There's also the federal Long Term Care program, and so that's listed here is the LTCF Program, that was the partnership between the federal government and CVS and Walgreens to vaccinate licensed long term care facilities and assisted living facilities. Now, in this, you'll see 80,925 first doses, we had recaptured 13 trays of Pfizer, about 12,675 doses, back to the state program and reallocated it. And you’ll see the remaining doses in that program, they are working to do their second doses, and we'll go back for a third visit to finish up all of those nursing homes, and then they will use the remaining inventory to reach other populations and use up all of that. So, eventually, that will reach 100%, and then it will all be the state program going forward. You can also see in the lower table there that we will report to you on a week by week basis how many new vaccines we were allocated and how many unique persons were immunized that week. And the governor has already drawn attention to this, if you look down there at the week of January 12th, you can see we immunized 143% relative to the first doses. What that means is that backlog, that inventory that we did not use the first few weeks of the program in December, we used up very quickly once we swung into increased productivity in the month of January. Remember, I've said for a while, December was always going to be a challenge for a number of reasons. January was about bringing order to disorder. And now February is moving solidly into consistent, effective production and administration of vaccine and building a system that gives you confidence that you can sign up and get some clarity about when you may be able to be vaccinated, and then have certainty you will be vaccinated in a phased manner, which is what is necessary because of the quantities of vaccines we receive.
Please remember, even though you hear that the quantities have been increased and the federal government said 16% last week, and an additional 5% this week, those are wonderful developments to have more vaccine. However, the doses we're getting are still 68,000 or so doses a week, it's gonna take a while to reach everyone who wants to be immunized. And we have plenty of stories now, when health departments or vaccine sites turn on their scheduling, we find that, for example in one of the regions in the first hour that their phone lines were open they had 51,000 phone calls trying to schedule for the 700 doses they were given. In the first two and a half hours their phone lines were open 110,000 phone calls came in to try to access that 700 vaccines. So please, I know when you go to these sites, you make the phone calls, it feels like you're not able to get through. It's probably accurate for many of you, it's because we're only getting so much vaccine and the demand is so great. So please know they are vaccinating, they're using everything they're getting as quickly as they can. It's a matter of needing more vaccine to fulfill the demand right now, which is very large. And then I hope those who are maybe hesitant to receive the vaccine see how effective it is and how the others tolerate the vaccine so well, that other people will also want to follow along in the months ahead.
Last topic I want to talk about, . There's a small sporting event happening this weekend, the Chiefs and the Bucks should be playing with each other on the football field. Well you enjoy that game, for those of you who will enjoy, I need to ask you, please, please, please this is just like any other holiday or social event. You have to practice social distancing, you have to wear your masks, please. When people get together in private residences, in close proximity, that is one of the single most effective ways to spread this disease. We can't afford to have the disease spread now. With these mutations and these variants, every time we allow it to infect more people, it gives the virus the opportunity to mutate. It gives the virus the opportunity to learn how to defeat the antibodies that our bodies are forming based on the vaccines, or the natural infection. We just can't afford to have that. It dangers us all and could undermine the success we're also optimistic we're going to see in the months ahead as more people get vaccinated. So please don't hold any large gatherings.
Remember the current guideline was two households max and eight people or less. That was the current recommendation for the recent holidays and that still holds true now. It's good advice and I'd ask you to please follow it.
Six feet of distance or more between people.
Wear your masks at all times. It's difficult when you have parties because people eat and drink and you take your mask off and that's exactly what makes the infection easily spread. Please don't do that.
Have virtual Super Bowl parties. Enjoy the Super Bowl in the privacy of your own home. We're hopefully getting to the light at the end of the tunnel for this pandemic but if we take our eye off the ball, we can have more super spreader events and have more problems with more of these mutations and more spread of the disease.
So enjoy the Super Bowl this weekend. I'm not going to tell you who I would prefer to win, you can have your own favorites in that, but enjoy the game and do it safely. And please, there's a lot of wonderful stories out there. What I hear from folks go into these vaccine sites, there are smiles, there is clear, just unbridled happiness, in a way, perhaps, people haven't seen in a while because I think people feel empowered. They feel like they're able to take action, rather than feel like they're a passive victim of this disease, and that they're taking a positive step to bring it to an end. That's what we want to celebrate on and focus on-- is the optimism, the hope, the caring, and the kindness to all the good things about humanity. We could focus on all the negative sides too but ultimately, it doesn't help advance our cause and it doesn't help us rally together as a state, and as a community. So please, be good to each other, be kind, and we're working as hard as we can to get you vaccinated, and we'll do so as quickly as the vaccine qualities allow us. Governor, back to you. Thank you.
Thanks to Dr Stack, and everybody tune in tomorrow where we'll be announcing additional regional centers across Kentucky, building out our map as we go. We'll also be talking about local health departments, all of which are going to be getting a consistent supply for at least the next three weeks. Though that supply, remember, is limited and it's going to be dwarfed by the amount of calls, and interest. Again, that is a good thing. It means that we don't have the level of vaccine hesitancy we were worried about. We do have it in certain populations and we're going to work on that as we go in real time.
Positive cases today: 2,592 - That was about 100 cases more than this time last week, but significantly less than the two weeks before. Again, that is positive, in that we have significantly less virus than three weeks ago and we hope that this will be the first time by the end of this week that we have had four straight weeks, one month, of declining cases. Right now it looks possible at the very worst we think it will be close to what we had last week.
Probable cases: 861
Total confirmed cases: 369,519
Children Under 18: 416
We only have 106 red counties. Right now that's the fewest we've had in a while. We obviously need to decrease that.
Total tests conducted: 4,111,126 (PCR: 3,635,689, Serology: 108,611)
Positivity Rate: 8.53% - Shows you that this is real, it's not just a result of how many tests there are, we're seeing a decrease in the virus
Our hospitalization, ICU, and ventilator numbers are all really stable too. One’s up five, one’s down five, but again, we were able to take the steps we needed to, at a time when our healthcare capacity could have been overrun, like happened in so many other states-- we avoided that and now we've seen decrease.
Total hospitalized: 17,010
Currently hospitalized: 1,340
Total in ICU: 3,618
Currently in ICU: 368
On a ventilator: 171
Total recovered: 44,073
New deaths today: 51 - But the tough part about our days right now is the number of deaths. January was rough, it was our worst month, and February is going to be tough too. Today we're announcing 51 new deaths related to COVID-19, seven, or individuals 60 years or younger.
Total Deaths: 3,863
New deaths by county: 59 F Adair, 63 F Ballard, 85 F Bell, 29 F Boone, 79 M Boone, 82 F Boyle, 93 M Boyle, 93 M Breathitt, 72 M Calloway, 72 M Calloway, 51 M Campbell, 82 M Campbell, 87 F Carter, 60 M Casey, 75 F Fayette, 53 M Fayette, 86 M Fayette, 90 F Fleming, 68 M Franklin, 94 M Franklin, 53 M Gallatin, 62 M Gallatin, 85 F Hardin, 88 F Hardin, 81 M Hardin, 89 M Hart, 69 F Hopkins, 86 F Hopkins, 80 F Jefferson, 81 F Jefferson, 80 M Jefferson, 96 M Jefferson, 100 M Jefferson, 79 F Kenton, 77 F Laurel, 54 F McCracken, 65 M McCracken, 69 M McCracken, 63 F Marshall, 77 F Marshall, 71 M Meade, 80 M Meade, 64 F Mercer, 53 M Montgomery, 75 M Nicholas, 90 F Ohio, 88 M Trigg, 93 M Washington, 88 M Wayne, 87 F Whitley, 89 M Whitley
All losses are a loss for Kentucky. Let’s light those houses up green and let’s ring those bells at 10am. This is a reminder that we are thinking of the Kentuckians we’ve lost, their families, and their communities. It’s the color of compassion and renewal as their souls move from their bodies to a better place.
Racial breakdown of all cases: 85% White, 8.5% Black, 5% Multiracial, 1.2% Asian, 0.3% American Indian, 0.1% Pacific Islander
Ethnicity breakdown of all cases: 94.3% Non-Hispanic, 5.7% Hispanic
Racial breakdown of all deaths: 87.9% White, 8.7% Black, 2.7% Multiracial, 0.6% Asian, 0.1% American Indian
Ethnicity breakdown of all deaths: 98.1% Non-Hispanic, 1.9% Hispanic
Hey everybody, this is the first of a weekly segment I'd like to start covering this year's Spring college football season. If you're interested in helping coordinate this, please contact me at [email protected], or if you have any updates or changes to my list, please give me an update via this Google form. This post will be a bit longer than the future ones will be while I introduce things, so bear with me a bit. If there's one silver lining to Covid-19, it's that we get more college football. Just over two-and-a-half-weeks after the close of the 2020 Fall Football season, the colleges and conferences who elected to defer their season to the Spring of 2021 are kicking off their games, with DIII's American Southwest Conference (ASC), Southern Athletic Association (SAA), and Northwest Conference (NWC) planning to play a total of eight games. I recently finished going through the posted schedule of every single NCAA football team and creating a document which organizes those schedules into a single source and organized two different ways: You can see the entire schedule broken up day by day or you can look at the schedule of each individual program playing an NCAA team. I could have also looked through the NAIA and NCFA, but the NCAA schedules proved volatile enough that I decided not to in the end. I think the format of the sheet is fairly self-explanatory, but just in case it's not, here's a basic guide:
For games played by Independents (regardless of level), the "conference" box is colored yellow; additionally, the team who is independent has "(IND)" next to their name. Note that Barton College, who has a scheduling alliance with the SAC for the season, is still counted as an independent
Inter-conference games are colored orange in the "conference" column.
Inter-division games are denoted with an asterisk (*) in the "Division" column
There are a few schedules with "TBA" games listed. Those have red colored words in the team name row and have their "conference" box colored red.
A few games are listed as "scrimmage games" or "neutral site games" -- see the "comments" column for those games.
Any time there was a scheduling conflict, or any time only one of the two competing schools had a schedule posted, the row was colored pink and an explanation was put in the "comments" box. If the row is colored pink but the box is empty that means it conflicts with another scheduled game and an explanation is elsewhere, generally close by.
The sheet also has a few other useful tabs: first is a list of teams who played last Fall who are also planning on playing this Spring, or at the least have not officially ruled out playing this Spring. Colleges who played (or attempted to play) in the Fall are listed alphabetically, along with a simple display of their schedule. If it's not currently clear whether the team plans to play or not, their name is highlighted yellow and there's a note indicating as much beside them. There are currently 28 teams who played in the fall and either plan to play this spring or have not formally ruled out playing in the Spring. Most of them played 3-or-fewer games against either Fall opt-ins who needed to round out their schedule, or schools who attempted to start competition in the Fall before postponing to the Spring. The fourth tab is a list of teams who are confirmed to not be playing this Spring. This list does not include teams who obviously played a full Fall slate of games unless the team played independently of their conference whose other members are playing this Spring. I tried to be pretty conservative with inclusions on this list. The fifth tab is a list of schools who are officially unannounced on the topic of whether they will play this Spring or not. Many of them may be assumed to be not playing, however several conferences have put out statements to the effect that they are still evaluating current options and that a Spring schedule is not out of the question. Finally, the sixth tab is a sortable "standings" list of each school who has played so far. It's nothing super fancy and only includes cumulative records, but is a good visual aid.
Notes of Interest
While none of the teams are playing yet, look forward to next week when we get our first Division I level games. New Mexico State is the only D-I FBS team playing this Spring; several FCS teams are also playing. Though all members of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC, D-II) are allowed to independently schedule games, currently the only member who has chosen to publicly do so is Saginaw Valley State, who plans to play one game on March 6th. Despite most conferences being conference only and home/away only, there are a few neutral site games, most of which will be played by HBCUs. The first will be Grambling State vs Prairie View A&M on February 27th in the Cotton Bowl, and the second between Mt. Union and Muskingum on March 12th (I believe the schedules both count this as a home game for Muskingum but I chose not to since it's played in Zanesville and not a town either team is based in). The third game will be Savannah State vs West Alabama in Mobile, AL, and the fourth in Shreveport's Independence Stadium will be played by Grambling State and Southern on April 17th. The final scheduled neutral site game of the season will be the Magic City Classic between Alabama A&M and Alabama State. Scheduled to also be played on the 17th, this game will be played in Birmingham's Legion Field (home of the former Birmingham Iron -- Forge On!). There are a few games which are tentatively scheduled, but probably the most interesting is the 4/17 matchup between Erskine and Limestone, which will only be played if Limestone fails to make the South Atlantic Conference (SAC) championship.
Week 1 in Spring CFB
Here, I'll give a quick introduction to the currently-planned slate of games for each coming week. A week runs from Thursday to Wednesday, much like the NFL, so this week starts today (2/4) and ends 2/10; this isn't really an issue this week but will be in later weeks. Later I'll try to make a table of the previous week's games, but since this is the first week we don't have any of those yet. I'll also try to include (legal) links to where you can stream the games online, if the team offers such a service. Times are not guaranteed to be accurate; as a general rule they should follow the time-zone of the home state, but I didn't always check. Also, sometimes, two schedules would list two different times for the same game. I'd generally just stick with whichever one I saw first. Week 1
For a while I wrestled over whether I wanted to include the records of teams who competed in the Fall in this section. What I think I've decided to do is present them here by record and include their Spring and Overall record later on but rate teams by Spring record only, but I'll still present the overall record just for edification. This won't ever be anything super scientific, just a look at each team's winning percentage ordered by whoever's played the most games to help remove the noise of a new week of conference play as each conference starts up. For this pre-season ranking, I'll only be looking at teams who are currently confirmed to be playing this Spring. 1. Trine (IN) (2-0) - 1
The only competing team with multiple wins and no losses in the Fall, Trine leads the pack for the pre-Spring season after wins over Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) foe Adrian (44-27) and a shutout against Manchester University (37-0). They look to return with a conference-only slate.
2. Bluffton (1-0) - 1
Bluffton beat Arian College (MI) in a close 28-21 game on October 24th; they had a second game scheduled against Trine which they were forced to cancel due to new travel restrictions in Ohio.
3. North Dakota State (1-0) - 1
The Bison won their sole scheduled game of the Fall 2020 season against Central Arkansas 39-28, defeating the vagrant A-SUN team in a game played primarily to get highly-touted QB Trey Lance some publicity before the NFL draft.
4. Southern Illinois (1-0) - 1
Southern Illinois defeated Southeast Missouri 20-17 in the only game either team played this Fall.
5. Jacksonville State (3-1) - 0.75
Though technically the team on this list with the most wins, Jacksonville State is held back by their loss to Florida State (24-41). Otherwise, the Gamecocks made a strong showing this Fall, taking down Mercer (34-28), North Alabama (24-17), and Florida International (19-10).
T-6. UT Chattanooga & Southeast Missouri (0-1) - 0
Both Chattanooga and Southeast Missouri lost their only games of the Fall season by narrow margins, with the Mocs losing 10-13 to Western Kentucky and the Redhawks losing 17-20 to Southern Illinois.
8. Manchester (IN) (0-2) - 0
Manchester lost both the games they played this Fall, getting blown out by both Trine (0-37) and Adrian (10-41).
T-9. Mercer, Missouri State, & Western Carolina (0-3) - 0
Mercer's three losses are mostly fairly respectable, falling to Jacksonville State (28-34) and Abilene Christian (17-20) by close scores, however, the Bears' third loss to Army (3-49) is a little harder to stomach. Missouri State had a similar fate, falling to Oklahoma (0-48) but doing respectably against Central Arkansas (20-27 and 24-33). Western Carolina, on the other hand, played tough games against the strong Flames of Liberty (14-58) and Tar Heels of North Carolina (9-49). Their loss to Eastern Kentucky (17-49) was a bit more humbling.
12. The Citadel (0-4) - 0
The Citadel's closest game was a 9-14 loss to Army, and from there things got worse for the Bulldogs quickly. 20+ point losses to South Florida (6-27) and Eastern Kentucky (14-37) sandwiched a 0-49 shutout at the hands of Clemson.
13. University of the Incarnate Word (0-0)
The Cardinals attempted to play Arkansas State this Fall but had the game canceled due to Covid. It feels unfair to rank them 13th for not playing a game, but it would feel more wrong to rank them ahead of teams who actually played.
Closing
I hope y'all enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed putting it together. Like I mentioned in the introduction, any and all help is appreciated! Looking forward to hearing what everyone thinks or is looking forward to for this Spring's football season!
In the aftermath of the Super Bowl, the American Association has been busy, announcing their 2021 lineup and schedule, and continuing to fill rosters for the upcoming season, which will start on May 18. Here's a look at what teams have been up to the last couple days: Chicago Dogs The Dogs re-signed RHP Justin Goossen-Brown, who will return for his third season with the Dogs. The 24-year-old righty is 1-2 with a 3.45 ERA in 22 games (four starts) over the 2019-20 seasons with Chicago, but he posted a 5.14 ERA in his eight appearances in 2020. Next, they signed infielder Grant Kay. The 27-year-old previous reached as high as Triple-A with Tampa Bay, before signing with Sioux Falls in 2020, where he hit .262 with 3 homers and 18 RBI in 39 games. Lastly, they re-signed 31-year-old reliever Paul Schwendel. Pitching professionally for the first time since 2015, Schwendel went 0-1 with a 5.81 ERA in 23 games, but struck out 33 batters in just 26.2 innings. Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks Fargo-Moorhead re-signed outfielder Alex Boxwell, a 24-year-old who suited up 34 times in 2020, batting .246 with 4 homers and 10 RBI. A Minnesota alum, Boxwell also has had cups of coffee with the St. Paul Saints and Gary SouthShore Railcats in 2018 and '19, before finishing the 2019 campaign in Fargo. The RedHawks also inked right-hander Michael Hope, who they re-acquired in a trade with the Sussex County Miners of the Frontier League on January 25. The 24-year-old was a RedHawk in 2019, going 8-0 in 31 games out of the bullpen with a 3.46 ERA, striking out 46 over 59.2 innings, and even going 3-for-7 with a homer at the plate. Lastly, the 'Hawks acquired another pitcher from Sussex County, trading for 29-year-old lefty Cam Hatch. Most recently, Hatch pitched in the pop-up league Yinzer Baseball Confederacy in 2020, going 0-2, but posting a 0.87 ERA with two saves over nine outings and 10.1 innings. Hatch has also pitched in the Pacific Association (2018-19) and the United Shore Professional Baseball League (2016). Milwaukee Milkmen The Milkmen re-signed three members of their championship squad, starting with set-up man AJ Schugel. The 31-year-old righty, who posted a 3.19 ERA in 73 MLB games from 2015-17, excelled for Milwaukee in 2020 after missing all of 2019, posting a 1.03 ERA in 28 games and allowing just ten hits in 26.1 innings, good for a microscopic .112 opponent's batting average. Another righty reliever, 29-year-old Zach Hartman, re-upped as well. Hartman, Milwaukee's all-time pitching appearances leader with 60, returns for his third year with the Milkmen, having gone 4-4 with a 3.72 ERA over 87.0 innings. A former Dodgers and Angels prospect, Hartman was 1-1 with a 3.89 ERA in 18 games (four starts) in 2020, striking out 25 over 34.2 innings. A man who caught both hurlers, catcher Christian Correa, returns for his second year in Milwaukee and fourth in the AA. Correa batted just .211 with four homers (one of them a walk-off) and 20 RBI, but was known for his defensive acumen behind the dish. The 27-year-old also has played in the AA for Kansas City (2017,19) and Sussex County (2018) in the now-defunct Can-Am League. Winnipeg Goldeyes Not content to watch two division rivals shore up their bullpen, the Goldeyes re-signed right-hander Nate Antone (who's not from San Antone). With the Goldeyes in 2020, the 29-year-old went 1-0 with a 3.55 ERA in 22 games, striking out 29 and allowing just 17 hits over 25.1 innings. An Indy-ball lifer, Antone had previously pitched for Quebec and Sussex County (both 2019) in the Can-Am League, Gary (2017) and Joliet (2017-18) of the Frontier League. Also, the Goldeyes shored up the left side with southpaw Ken Frosch, who pitched for St. Paul from 2017-19. Frosch has appeared in 133 AA games (plus seven more in the postseason), going 9-6 with a 2,76 ERA in 124.0 innings with the Saints, striking out 129 and being the key lefty reliever on the 2019 AA Champs and the 2018 runner-ups. Including his 2016 stint in the Frontier League (with Evansville), Frosch has a career 2.47 ERA over 180 games, all in Indy ball. Looking Ahead So far, several teams already have quite a few signings, while others have remained rather silent on that front, though perhaps they are merely waiting out uncertainty in the MLB/MiLB umbrella to see what kind of players fall out and wind up in the Indy ranks. What also will be interesting to see is the development of Kane County's roster. With Opening Day now barely three months away, the Cougars are in, but they have no manager and no players, so there will be a lot of scrambling done in the coming weeks. On the other side, the traveling Houston Apollos will be run as a by-product of the Pecos League, meaning that their players will be supplied from the Pecos League, with the roster likely being assembled much later than other teams.
Notes and Highlights of Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear’s Live Update November 17, 2020
Notes and Highlights of Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear’s Live Update November 17, 2020 Notes bymr_tyler_durdenand Daily Update Team Note: Thank you to the people who have given awards to these posts but I do want to say: Please don’t spend money to give these posts an award or if you want to give thendonate it here instead. These people need your help more than I need awards. I guess if you are just spending reddit coins that you already have then that’s fine but don’t spend new money, donate it instead. Thank you all! Watch here:
New deaths by county: 85 M Barren, 69 M Breathitt, 60 M Calloway, 36 F Christian, 83 F Daviess, 91 F Daviess, 91 F Daviess, 90 F Daviess, 89 M Floyd, 51 M Grayson, 78 F Green, 85 M Hancock, 93 F Henderson, 49 M Jefferson, 87 M Jefferson, 79 M Jefferson, 88 M Jefferson, 93 F Jefferson, 75 F Jefferson, 78 F Jefferson, 94 M Jefferson, 68 M Jessamine, 72 M Jessamine, 89 M Madison, 94 F Madison, 92 F McLean, 94 F McLean, 86 F Monroe, 74 M Ohio, 68 F Ohio, 65 M Oldham, 99 F Rockcastle, 58 F Trigg
: At this point, it is becoming impossible for our local health departments to call each and every one of these contacts in a timely fashion, which is necessary for contact tracing to be effective. We are all truly in this together as Team Kentucky, and we are asking for your help to prevent the spread of this virus. Therefore local health departments, along with the Kentucky Department for Public Health, will be identifying positive cases, and then listing positive cases to notify their contacts themselves. So your friend, family member, or employer may be the one to notify you that you were a contact to them as a positive case. As a reminder, a close contact is someone who was within six feet of an individual with COVID-19 for at least 15 minutes. This contact could have occurred anytime during the 48 hour period before the person's symptoms began, or before they received a positive COVID-19 test, whichever one was first. Whether you are notified by your local health department or a positive case themselves, then as a contact, you should stay home for 14 days from the date of your last exposure to the positive case. This means not going to work, school, the store, etc. You should also check your symptoms, stay away from even household members, using your own restroom if possible, and having family or friends drop off food or needed supplies. You can always contact your local health department if you do have any needs or questions.
Dr. Stack had a full presentation below: here are a few snippets:
Despite our overall poor health profile, we have done a very good job in Kentucky, minimizing death related to COVID-19. And so there may be some out there who feel that they haven't known someone who's died from this, and I'm happy for you. I'm happy that you've not had to go through that experience of loss, that so many have had to go through. But that's not accidental. This is because we've taken a lot of very decided measures in Kentucky to try to keep people safe. This is not accidental, this is active and careful attention to trying to use the best tools we have available and to adjust them over time.
This is CDC data from 2017 and 2018. It's the top 10 causes of death in the United States of America. It shows the typical ones that you're familiar with, like heart disease and cancer at number one and number two. I want to draw your attention that this new disease that did not exist until this last year, COVID-19, is now number three. Number three, of all caused deaths in the United States of America.
This is the stair stepper graph and I'm going to show you three of these in a row, and I'm going to make a very focused point here. We've had three escalations in this disease in this pandemic and Kentucky. The first escalation was the one when we had the most unknowns. This was in March and you can see we started to have the beginning of an exponential growth. <...>In the beginning, on the left, when we intervened rapidly, when we stayed Healthy At Home, when we took aggressive and brisk action at the start, we stopped the growth. And so that red line that's flat shows, I think about 13 or 14 weeks of essentially a plateau.
So here you see our second escalation. If you could put these side by side you'd see the slope of that curve or how quickly it's rising is a little bit brisker. When you have more disease, the numbers double. When they double they get bigger much faster. And so what did we do? We took other steps, one of the biggest of which, was to put in a statewide mask mandate. <...> So about three weeks or so after the statewide mask mandate, we entered a new plateau. And now we've got what you see there in hindsight was a roughly 11 week plateau. That is an enormous accomplishment.
This is where we find ourselves now, this is terrifying. This is now growth from a much higher starting place, the numbers show no signs of relenting. This week is on track to set a new record, already, with just two days worth of data. There has to be a third intervention. To stand by and not take some sort of action, to try to interrupt this progression would be to leave ourselves open to substantial harm that we have reason to believe we can help to prevent.
I've made this point, folks. I'm trying to be the scientist here and just lay out the evidence that we're using to reach the conclusions. If people choose not to believe these things- I don't know, I don't know what else to say. I have to appeal to the leaders in your local communities: If you want businesses open, you want schools open, you want people safe, we want the economy working, and we don't want to pay a price in terms of disability and lives lost? We've got a pull together. It's not political, this mask that I have and I wish I could remember who gave this to me says “all I'm spreading is love”. That’s all we're trying to do folks, we're trying to keep people safe from a once-in-a-century pandemic. Like the governor said, “if your house is burning down. Are you-” Well, this is not what he said it’s what I'll say “Are you going to roast marshmallows over your burning down house, or are you going to run for buckets of water and try to put it out?” “If your neighbor's house is burning down are you going to stand idly by, or are you going to try to rescue them from the fire and try to help?” Folks, fundamentally, this is about our care and concern for each other. I sincerely hope and I am confident that if we come together we can interrupt this third climb, and we can do so before we have a cataclysmic result. But folks it's got to be Team Kentucky pulling together. And Governor I realized they take a lot of time with these presentations and I thank you for that. I really appreciate your commitment to giving the Kentuckians all the information we can so you can make an informed decision and they have confidence that what we're doing is our best effort to try to keep people safe.
As you know, Congress has yet to pass more Coronavirus relief, and I was wondering, is there ever a scenario in which, you know, the lack of further federal funding for the coronavirus will affect Kentucky's testing plans? You know, for example, whether it be a scenario where surge testing centers will have to close, or that there will be limited opportunities for that sort of testing, because resources are limited and there's no more funding? -- Our funding runs out on testing December 31st. And at that point, we will be able to use whatever tests we've pre-purchased, but no state who will be able to do the level of testing they will need for the period of time from December 31st or January 1st through when enough people get vaccinated and we don't have to be doing testing. No state has that. If Congress doesn't pass another CARES Act. we're driving, they're basically pushing us off a cliff in our efforts to combat COVID. It would be no money for testing for the first half of next year, when we'll need it. It'll be no money for contact tracing and we can't afford that in the Commonwealth unless we can find some new avenue otherwise. It'd be no money for vaccine distribution.
[...] Is that still an issue there because it's, you know, people are still not taking it as seriously as they could because they haven't directly been affected, or their family, necessarily? -- I think that there are folks out there that maybe aren't taking it as seriously because they don't believe they know anyone who has had COVID, or they don't know anyone who has died because of COVID. But at this level now? Everybody does. I mean you gotta, you gotta open your eyes and open your ears and open your heart because it's happened in every community. [...] So, we all know people out there, the question is: do we stick our head in the sand or stick our hands over our ears, and say “well unless you shouted loudly, or put it right in front of me I'm not going to believe it” But it's there. I mean, I'll give you an example. today, of just- denial. It was brought to my attention that we had several lawmakers say, you know, do you have any evidence or that no they didn't say that they said “The governor doesn't have any evidence that COVID-19 is spreading through restaurants”. That's why we put the 50% capacity. Well, instead of getting on Twitter and launching attacks, just take 60 seconds to research. So this is the CDC, the CDC has a definitive study out saying “dining out is tied to the coronavirus infection”. That was from September. If you don't believe that, I believe this one is Stanford came out with a study, just in the last couple weeks, about super-spreader sites, which also include restaurants, or if you don't believe that I think this last one is from Johns Hopkins and Forbes magazine, which certainly isn't a bastion of liberalism, actually having the headline: “There's no denying the evidence restaurant and bars are helping to spread COVID-19”. So, again, if we put our head in the sand and try to deny, then we can act like what we have learned, we don't know- or we can face the reality, face the challenges that we have, and move forward.
I'm following up on what's on the screen right now, are bars and restaurants going to be one of the targets that we hear tomorrow? And what- will it be a different enforcement mechanism, and a more stricter enforcement mechanism? -- Well I think that tomorrow we will announce steps- they will include restaurants and bars, but we are also going to announce a program to hopefully provide some relief. We'll wait on the details until tomorrow.
Hi everyone, it is four o'clock on Tuesday. A time we get together, at least Monday through Thursday to remember that we're going to get through this, and we're going to get through this together. Today it's important for us to say that and believe it because when we do the COVID update, you're going to learn that today, at least in terms of announcing those we've lost, is the deadliest day that we have had in our fight against this virus.
But I want to start because we need it, we need it during these times with good news. There are still good things going on out there. And for our own mental and emotional health, it's important to recognize that there are good things going on. That we are trying to make positive steps as we work towards this virus, to make sure there is a brighter tomorrow ahead of us.
So first, we got a couple of jobs announcements, good jobs, jobs that are going to help raise families in the future, and that are going to help provide security for Kentuckians out there.
So I'd like to congratulate Georgia-Pacific consumer products, and the Bowling Green community. This week, company and community leaders cut a ribbon on the company's $100M expansion, which is expected to create over 70 full time jobs. The 80,000 square foot expansion in the South Central Kentucky Industrial Park will increase the company's production capacity for its Dixie brand plates and bowls. The facility accounts for one quarter of the company's paper plate and bowl production. Georgia-Pacific has long been a committed member of Kentucky's manufacturing industry, announcing several expansions since the company began operations in Warren County, nearly 30 years ago. The company has invested over $200M in the state, in the last seven years alone, including upgrades at a facility in Lexington. Between the two operations, the company employs nearly 500 Kentuckians. Georgia-Pacific is a key part of Kentucky's paper products industry, which in just the past five years, has seen 35 new or expansion announcements, totaling nearly $400M in new investment as well as over 700 announced jobs. Thank you, Georgia-Pacific for your commitment to our state, for being an important part of Team Kentucky, and congratulations to the Warren County community, and the families there on this announcement of more good jobs.
That's not the only community today that is seeing the prospect of new good jobs on the horizon, because next we have exciting news to announce about a Christian County employer, with plans to create high paying jobs at its Hopkinsville facility. Stanley Engineered Fastening, a producer of precision fasteners and other products used in assembly, plans to create 49 high paying jobs for Kentuckians with a $6M expansion. Plans include adding 30,000 square feet of space to the existing 250,000 square foot Hopkinsville facility, which will allow the operation to grow its current business and manufacture additional products. Once complete, the expansion will elevate the plant's total employment to 205 Kentuckians. Work is slated to begin this month and is expected to conclude in July. The project puts Kentucky's premier manufacturing capabilities on full display, and a company's commitment to creating impactful job opportunities, is tremendous news for Kentucky's future. This facility has served as a vital part of the region's economy for more than five decades, and it's great to see this continued growth, even in these challenging times. Providing high wage jobs for our families is essential, not to just rebuilding our economy but building a better Kentucky. So I want to thank this company for choosing to expand in Christian County.
Alright, and in some good news on the COVID front I wanted to announce that the Lexington surge testing area is now open. Remember we announced Louisville which started several weeks back- that's at the exposition center there now- over 400 people getting tested every day at that facility. The Lexington facility, which the Keeneland Race Course is hosting, is now open 9-5. Neither the facilities will be open on Thanksgiving, but on other days they have significant capacity where you can get in and get out. And with the level of COVID we have right now, everybody needs to be getting tested, and everybody needs to get tested regularly. I get tested every two weeks- I’d suggest you find a schedule that works for you, there are testing locations out there. When we look at our test positivity rate which today is over 9%, nine. It means that there is so much COVID with 108 red counties that we need to get people tested so that we can get you the care, if you test positive, but also so you can ensure that you are not spreading it to others. And we're going to talk about that in a minute.
Last piece of good news, still folks out there doing it right, doing it right every day.
So yesterday we talked about how widespread this virus is in Kentucky, but also all over the country, and we got the White House's updated report and recommendation, and I want to share a couple lines that they have to show you that we are all in agreement about how dangerous of a spot we're in. Alright, these are words approved from the White House sent to us in the report: “There is now aggressive, unrelenting, expanding broad community spread across the country, reaching most counties, without evidence of improvement but rather further deterioration. Current mitigation efforts are inadequate and must be increased to flatten the curve, to sustain the health system for both COVID and non-COVID emergencies.” This is an admission of what we know- that COVID is out of control. It is burning all across America, listen, the house is on fire at this point. And we need everybody not to close their eyes, close their ears, and sit in the house while it burns down on them. We need everybody to join the bucket brigade, and to do what it takes to address the crisis.
Also want to share another part of those of the White House report. This is the White House, sharing our concern that the current situation is worsening, and that all Kentuckians need to do their part to stop the spread. But here's where I want to just just draw a little bit of attention because they should stop the goofiness, right? “The Governor's active measures are commended” The White House supports the things we have done, and hopefully the things that we're gonna have to do. This isn’t a red state, blue state, democrat, republican, liberal, conservative- any of that. It's a virus that's coming for everybody it can. I would hope that if we're talking about the house being on fire if the town's on fire, we don't look at our neighbor and say, “well, you’re ‘X party’ or you’re ‘Y party’, so we're not helping.” Right? This is affecting all of us, and it can spread through all of us, the White House Coronavirus Task Force and the state are on the same page. And that's, that's needing your help to do more.
And as we look at the spread, let's look at our stair stepper chart, again, it is now, exponential. Dr Stack’s going to talk about this in a minute, but the numbers are simply staggering, they were getting every day. And they threaten to overwhelm our healthcare system, they have overwhelmed our contact tracers. And so today, we have the head of the Franklin County Health Department to talk to you about some changes in contact tracing and their best efforts to protect as many people when it's as widespread as we're seeing right now.
Video: Hi, I'm Judy Mattingly, the director of the Franklin County Health Department in Frankfort, Kentucky. We have all heard our governor announce staggering COVID-19 case numbers each day. With this higher than ever number of positive COVID-19 cases also comes a simply overwhelming number of contacts to these cases that may literally be hundreds upon hundreds of additional calls each day. At this point, it is becoming impossible for our local health departments to call each and every one of these contacts in a timely fashion, which is necessary for contact tracing to be effective. We are all truly in this together as Team Kentucky, and we are asking for your help to prevent the spread of this virus. Therefore local health departments, along with the Kentucky Department for Public Health, will be identifying positive cases, and then listing positive cases to notify their contacts themselves. So your friend, family member, or employer may be the one to notify you that you were a contact to them as a positive case. As a reminder, a close contact is someone who was within six feet of an individual with COVID-19 for at least 15 minutes. This contact could have occurred anytime during the 48 hour period before the person's symptoms began, or before they received a positive COVID-19 test, whichever one was first. Whether you are notified by your local health department or a positive case themselves, then as a contact, you should stay home for 14 days from the date of your last exposure to the positive case. This means not going to work, school, the store, etc. You should also check your symptoms, stay away from even household members, using your own restroom if possible, and having family or friends drop off food or needed supplies. You can always contact your local health department if you do have any needs or questions. Thank you to all of you for being an active part of Team Kentucky by notifying your contacts, if you should test positive for COVID-19. Thank you also to Governor Beshear, Dr. Stack, all of our amazing public health workers across the Commonwealth, and a very special thank you to my team at the Franklin County Health Department. And remember, mask up Kentucky.
She’s doing a great job, and that health department like all of our health departments is showing up to fight this virus, every day. I know they get tired, but they continue to show up. I think they take their stress out by the test they do on me every couple of weeks- but a really special group of people. And when we talk about our health care workers, and we talk about these workers, we call them “our front line of defense”, but as somebody mentioned to me today, they are our only-“line”. We don't have backup. And so if we are going to truly care about them and ensure that there are enough nurses and doctors to help people who are sick, we have to lower community spread; because we have a lot of healthcare workers that are quarantined right now because of community spread. You don't want to be the person who is not wearing a mask that then requires that nurse or doctor to quarantine, that you later need to treat you, or maybe a family member, or a friend. So remember our capacity, the number of people that we can help at any one time in our healthcare system, depends on our number of health care workers. Our number of available health care workers depends on how we address and lower community spread. This is something that when it grows exponentially will also inversely impact the available workforce to help us when we need them the most. So, you haven’t been wearing a mask yet, wear it right now because it might be the difference between somebody to help you if and when you get COVID, or nobody being there.
Let's go over a couple of things that she mentioned, because we're now to the point where our health departments and contact tracers are so overwhelmed, we need your help. And if you've tested positive, you should want to protect those around you. Do you have COVID-19? Notify your contacts. This will be up on http://kycovid19.ky.gov. But if you test positive, we need you to quickly call your close contacts, who should quarantine for 14 days since seeing you. Here is the process for determining who they are:
Within six feet
Two days before symptoms began or before your COVID-19 test
For 15 minutes or more.
So the CDC now says that’s not 15 minutes, all in one sitting, it can be 15 minutes accumulated throughout the day. This is the way you protect those around you. Next, are you a COVID-19 contact. This is what happens when people call you. These are the things that we need you to do. Remember one infected person can otherwise infect 400+ other people if they don't do the right things, and that's part of why we're seeing this spread though I hope the spread is being caused by asymptomatic folks, or folks that don't know that they have the virus.
So today's COVID report shows that this crush of cases is not letting up. So today, we're announcing our third highest day of new COVID cases and our highest Tuesday with 2,931 new cases.
Positive cases today: 2,931 - Just think about this, I said this is the third highest day, it's November 17th, the highest day was November 14th, the second highest day was November 13th, and just, what 3 days later? 4 days later? We're having our third highest day, they're all happening right now.
Probable cases: 24,451
Total confirmed cases: 142,008
Children Under 18: 325
Third highest day and Jefferson and Fayette combined have some of the smallest percentages they made up of any report. That should tell you how widespread this is.
This is impacting every part of Kentucky and the virus is out of control everywhere in Kentucky. We need your help to get it back and control. This next part is going to be hard.
Total tests conducted: 2,445,265 (PCR: 2,262,716, Serology: 90,628)
Positivity Rate: 9.10% - You remember when we had it under 4? And we were concerned when it went up to 5? This is a very dangerous territory.
Total hospitalized: 8,948
Currently hospitalized: 1,521 - Hospitalization continues to rise at an alarming rate of 79 individuals just since yesterday. 1,521 individuals in the hospital- it's up almost 50% in the last two weeks.
Total in ICU: 2,257
Currently in ICU: 354
On a ventilator: 178 - We have 50 additional Kentucky and since yesterday on a ventilator. Obviously pray, think about those families who need those prayers.
Total recovered: 24,760
New deaths today: 33
Total Deaths: 1,697
New deaths by county: 85 M Barren, 69 M Breathitt, 60 M Calloway, 36 F Christian, 83 F Daviess, 91 F Daviess, 91 F Daviess, 90 F Daviess, 89 M Floyd, 51 M Grayson, 78 F Green, 85 M Hancock, 93 F Henderson, 49 M Jefferson, 87 M Jefferson, 79 M Jefferson, 88 M Jefferson, 93 F Jefferson, 75 F Jefferson, 78 F Jefferson, 94 M Jefferson, 68 M Jessamine, 72 M Jessamine, 89 M Madison, 94 F Madison, 92 F McLean, 94 F McLean, 86 F Monroe, 74 M Ohio, 68 F Ohio, 65 M Oldham, 99 F Rockcastle, 58 F Trigg
That might be one of the first individuals lost in Trigg. That's a lot of families, that's a lot of suffering, that's occurring right now, all over the Commonwealth. Now there's a lot of suffering, that's occurring right now, all over the Commonwealth. So I hope that you'll keep those green lights on, because just too many people, too much pain out there. And it's gonna be difficult for them to grieve. And maybe seeing that green light in your house or your neighborhood will be something that just let them know that you care and ring those bells at 10am every morning.
Hi Redditors, I am an East Asian female in the Pacific NW at 5'3''. For 3 yrs my weight skyrocketed from 148 lbs to 165 lbs n stayed there for several years. During pandemic, it reached a frightening 170 lbs. On some days even 172 lbs. I watched the scale in horror and anxiety but I couldn't seem to push the scale downward. In the summer heat this yr, my neck began to break out in hives as I noticed fat begin to show around the neck area. I urgently needed to cut down my weight as I scratched my neck to the point of fierce epidemic looking red. I also noticed dark grey spots around the neck and armpit areas which according to webMD was a result of obesity. I honestly became depressed I had let myself go like this and turn into a junk food binging mess by the time I was 30 from a breakup. Then pandemic hit, and movement was further restricted. Weight only had one direction. But all this had to change. My body was now showing dire signs of suffering. * ** I started running. It was super hard. I was really walking. I'd run for 3 seconds before walking. Every day at lunch and after work I'd force myself to push as much as I could (which wasn't very fast) for 30 mins only as I figured any longer wouldn't be productive for high intensity training. It was really difficult in the beginning. On the diet side, I started counting calories. After a few times of searching up calories of most foods it started to get pretty easy to estimate calories of most produce and packaged foods always had nutrition labels. Some days I was exhausted. I recall one entire week when I could not concentrate on my job at all. I wrote down a fitness plan that included a meal plan. The meal plan actually looked quite decent like what you'd find on a business class flight menu since we couldn't fly anymore. I listed out all the foods I could still eat. I included workarounds to potential barriers I'd face in the plan. I put down a "decline list" of foods I'd temporary PAUSE but reassured my panicked psyche I was not swearing off forever: Chocolate Cheese Chips Pizza Ice cream Cakes and Cookies I'd chant that over n over everytime I had a craving until it became a mantra. I substituted bread, pasta, rice, and noodles with zucchini noodles and cauliflower rice. I watched YouTube videos on healthy substitutes for starchy foods. I aimed for 300 calories per meal. I bought smaller plates and bowls . I gradually reduced portions . Once a week I treated myself to a bakery specializing in miniature pastries. Fast forward 2.5 mths ... I can run faster and longer now. I bounce easier while jogging without feeling like a collapsing mountain slide. My joints and muscles feel less tight n stiff. My BMI is still overweight, but I've at least left the danger obesity zone. Face is slightly less round, but not yet at defined cheek bones and chin. I've got a long road ahead still on the journey to a healthy BMI range of 105 - 120 lbs for my height and ethnicity. My next target milestone is 140 smthn range first. I want to share my journey with everyone else trying to lose weight to know they're not alone. I have psychotherapy scheduled to talk thru emotion eating, binge eating behavior, and learning to cope with life stressors with alternate ways than sugar and salt. Mostly, I'm 34 female who really want to date again and most strangers wont give a second glance to a female stranger who is round faced. It's a fact of life also verified by several strangers I met in person. And hey even if I don't find a mate, I need to do this for the sake of my physical health as detailed above. I have other health related issues as well such as paused menstruation likely due to obesity as after visiting the Dr there were no issues with blood or thyroid levels. There are days even today when I'm standing on the st with a credit card in my pocket and thinking of ramen, coffee buns, and banana bread. I let myself have those thoughts, and then I headed home to make my steamed tofu shrimp fish paste dinner. **TLDR KEY TAKEAWAYS** The biggest takeaway of this journey so far is that exercising a ton doesn't effectively help with weight loss. For the last 3 years I biked and walked for hours a day but my weight frustratingly didn't move because I usually felt hungrier and let myself eat more after. Diet change is the biggest key to weight loss. EXERCISE specifically cardio HELPED CURVE CRAVINGS which assisted my reduced caloric intake. But exercise alone won't move the scale. In fact, when first starting out to exercise one is slower and heavier so calories burned are negligible compared to reduced consumption. Too much or too long exercising can actually have an opposite effect. Personally, I felt hungrier after a longer workout. Pickles as a side dish or snack also helped curb my cravings due to the acidic content. Nuts, raisins, apple, and pears also helped satiate if you just want something crunchy to nibble on during craving moments midday. If Rebel Wilson at 40 can lose 75 lbs this yr, so can the rest of us! Even if she has a nutritionist and personal trainer, and more disposable income than most of us. Weight management is a mental challenge more than anything else esp if you were predisposed to eat in any occasion growing up. Please feel free to share your weight loss and food craving management techniques if you feel so compelled.
Philadelphia Eagles (9-7) vs Seattle Seahawks(11-5)
For the third season in a row the Eagles are limping into the playoffs with a multitude of injuries at key positions. But for the first time in those 3 seasons, starting QB Carson Wentz is at the helm and playing at his best. Wentz has won 4 straight must win games against division rivals and leading the Eagles offense complied mostly of backups and practice squad players to over 400 yards of total offense in each game. He will need to extend that winning streak to 5 games this week week against the Seattle Seahawks, the same Seahawks Wentz had his worst game of the season against where he turned the ball over 4 times. Wentz will need to stay hot and play much better than he did in the week 12 loss to the Seahawks. Like that game Wentz will be without his top targets at WR, and starting RG Brandon Brooks and RT Lane Johnson. Unlike last time, Wentz seems to have found a way to win without those key players. Key players have stepped up including Greg Ward and Boston Scott in those wins and they will need to again in their first playoff action of their careers. On the other side of the ball the Eagles will need to do something they have struggled with for years, stop Russel Wilson who is currently undefeated against the Eagles. Wilson has had an outstanding season and should be in conversation for MVP if not for Lamar Jackson’s amazing season. The Eagles defense will need to hold him in check if they hope to win, especially since the Seahawks will be without their top running backs. If the Eagles defense can hold, and Wentz can keep up his hotsteak, we may just see another week of postseason football in the Doug Pederson era with a hot team which can always be dangerous. Go Eagles!
NBC will broadcast Sunday’s game to a national audience. Al Michaels will handle play-by-play duties and Chris Collinsworth will provide analysis. Michele Tafoya will report from the sidelines.
Calling the game on 94WIP and the Eagles Radio Network will be Merrill Reese, the NFL’s longest-tenured play-by-play announcer (42nd season). Joining Reese in the radio booth will be former Eagles All-Pro wide receiver Mike Quick, while Howard Eskin will report from the sidelines.
Location
Station
Frequency
Philadelphia, PA
WIP-FM
94.1 FM and 610 AM
Allentown, PA
WCTO-FM
96.1 FM
Atlantic City/South Jersey
WENJ-FM
97.3 FM
Levittown, PA
WBCB-AM
1490 AM
Northumberland, PA
WEGH-FM
107.3 FM
Pottsville, PA
WPPA-AM
1360 AM
Reading, PA
WEEU-AM
830 AM
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, PA
WEJL-FM
96.1 FM
Salisbury/Ocean City, MD
WAFL-FM
97.7 FM
Salisbury/Ocean City, MD
WEJL-AM
630 AM
Salisbury/Ocean City, MD
WBAX-AM
1240 AM
Williamsport, PA
WBZD-FM
93.3 FM
Wilmington, DE
WDEL-FM/AM
101.7 FM
York/LancasteHarrisburg, PA
WSOX-FM
96.1 FM
Philadelphia Spanish Radio
Rickie Ricardo, Macu Berral and Gus Salazar will handle the broadcast in Spanish on Mega 105.7 FM in Philadelphia and the Eagles Spanish Radio Network.
Location
Station
Frequency
Philadelphia, PA
LA MEGA
105.7 FM
Allentown, PA
WSAN
1470 AM
Atlantic City, NJ
WIBG
1020 AM; 101.3 FM
Seahawks Radio
Seahawks Radio Network Steve Raible returns for his 37th season in the radio booth, his 15th as the play-by-play announcer and “Voice of the Seahawks” after 22 seasons as the Seahawks analyst. Hall of Fame quarterback, Warren Moon, returns to the Seahawks radio team for his 15th season as an analyst.
National Radio
Westwood One will broadcast the game to a national audience with Kevin Harlan on play-by-play and Brian Griese providing analysis and Ross Tucker reporting from the sidelines.
December 12th, 1976 at Veteran's Stadium Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia Eagles 27 - Seattle Seahawks 10
Points Leader
Seattle Seahawks lead the Philadelphia Eagles (350-319)
Coaches Record
Doug Pederson: 0- against the Seahawks
Pete Carroll: 5-1 against Eagles
Coaches Head to Head
Doug Pederson vs Pete Carroll: Carroll leads 3-0
Quarterback Record
Carson Wentz: Against Seahawks: 0-3
Russell Wilson: Against Eagles: 4-0
Quarterbacks Head to Head
Carson Wentz vs Russell Wilson: Wilson leads 3-0
Records per Stadium
Record @ Lincoln Financial Field: Seahawks lead the Eagles: 4-0
Record @ CenturyLink Field: Seahawks lead 3-2
Rankings and Last Meeting Information
AP Pro 32 Ranking
Eagles No. 11 - Seahawks No. 7
Record
Eagles: 9-7
Seahawks: 11-5
Last Meeting
Sunday, Nov 24th, 2019
Seahawks 17 – Eagles 9
In a sloppy rainy game with high winds both QBs struggled, but the Wilson made plays when it counted and got help from running back Rashaad Penny who had a career day running for 129 yards including a 58 yard TD run. The Eagles defense was again fooled by a trick play on a flea flicker which saw Wilson hit Malik Turner for a 33 yard TD. The Eagles offense was terrible struggling to get anything going all day and missing key players including Jeffrey, Jackson, Agholor, Howard, Johnson and Brooks didn’t help. It was the worst game of the season for Wentz who turned the ball over 4 times in the Eagles loss. Russel Wilson continued his dominance over the Eagles and remained undefeated against them in his 8 year career.
Eagles HC Doug Pederson was born in Bellingham, WA, and grew up in Ferndale, WA. Pederson recently admitted that he "Grew up a Seahawks Fan" and used to attend Seahawks games at The Kingdome.
Eagles LBs coach Ken Flajole is from Seattle and previously coached the Seahawks’ DBs (1999, 2001-02) and LBs (2000).
Eagles Safeties coach Tim Hauck played for the Seahawks in 1997.
Eagles Defensive Line coach Phillip Daniels was selected by Seattle in the 4th round of the 1996 NFL Draft.
Seahawks Northeast Area Scout Todd Brunner worked for the Eagles for four seasons (1994-97) as an area scout covering the Northeast. He joined the Eagles as a scouting intern in 1992 and worked as a scouting assistant in 1993.
Eagles CB Sidney Jones attended University of Washington.
Seahawks LB Mychal Kendricks played 6 seasons for the Eagles from 2012-2017 including winning a Super Bowl with him in Super Bowl LII.
With the division on the line, the Eagles controlled their own destiny as they took on the division rival New York Giants on the road. The Eagles were already short and then they lost running back Miles Sanders and three-time Pro Bowl right guard Brandon Brooks in the first half. But Scott, Josh Perkins, Greg Ward, Deontay Burnett and Robert Davis combined for 16 catches on 25 targets, 225 yards receiving, 54 yards rushing and four TDs. The five players were cut a combined eight times by four teams since Aug. 31. But Carson Wentz got the most out of them as he lead the Eagles to their 4th must win game in a row beating the Giants 34-17.
The Seahawks were playing for the division title against the 49ers in week 17 with a playoff spot already locked in for both teams. In the first half, the 49ers dominated, taking a 13–0 halftime lead aided by a Deebo Samuel 30-yard touchdown run on a pitch and catch. The 49ers also held Seattle to just 79 yards of total offense, including stuffing running back Marshawn Lynch on 4th and inches from the 49ers 31-yard line, causing a turnover on downs. In the second half, the Seahawks proved resilient, scoring multiple times. The Seahawks would never lead in this game however, as the 49ers countered every Seahawks score with one of their own, including a Raheem Mostert 13-yard touchdown run to make it 26–14 with 5:51 left. After Seattle cut the lead to five, a questionable personal foul call against Ben Garland forced a punt, giving them the ball back with 2:27 left. They marched all the way down to the 49ers 1-yard line, but a delay of game penalty pushed them back to the 6-yard line. After three incomplete passes, the Seahawks faced 4th and goal. Russell Wilson hit receiver Jacob Hollister with a pass to the 49ers 1-yard line, but Hollister was stopped inches short of the goal line by linebacker Dre Greenlaw, causing a turnover on downs with nine seconds left that sealed the victory.
General
Referee: Shawn Smith
Including playoffs, Philadelphia has the 2nd-best home winning percentage (.735, 25-9) in the NFL since 2016, trailing only New England (.838, 31-6).
In Week 17, the Eagles totaled 400+ yards for the 4th consecutive game, which is Eagles the longest stretch of 400+ yards since 2013 (6 games).
The Eagles captured their 2nd division title in the last three seasons and 3rd consecutive postseason berth (2017-19).
Philadelphia owns the No. 4 seed in the NFC Playoffs heading into Wild Card Weekend (Jan. 4-5, 2020).
Doug Pederson is the first Eagles head coach to lead his team to three straight postseason appearances since Andy Reid from 2008-10.
Philadelphia has made the playoffs in three-or-more consecutive seasons for the 6th time in team history.
The Eagles have earned a postseason berth for the 27th time in franchise history (since 1933).
Since 2000, Philadelphia is tied for the 4th-most playoff appearances (13) in the NFL, behind New England (17), Green Bay (14) and Indianapolis (14).
The Eagles are NFC East Champions for the 11th time in franchise history.
Philadelphia’s nine NFC East championships since 2001 are the most in the division, ahead of Dallas (5), N.Y. Giants (3) and Washington (2)
Draft Picks
Eagles
Seahawks
OT Andre Dillard
DE L.J. Collier
RB Miles Sanders
S Marquise Blair
WR JJ Arcega-Whiteside
WR DK Metcalf
WR Shareff Miller
LB Cody Barton
QB Clayton Thorson
WR Gary Jennings Jr.
G Phil Hayes
CB Ugo Amadi
LB Ben Burr-Kirven
RB Travis Homer
DT Demarcus Christmas
WR John Ursua
Notable Off-season Additions
Eagles
Seahawks
WR Desean Jackson
DE Jadeveon Clowney
DT Malik Jackson
DE Ziggy Ansah
DE Vinny Curry
DT Al Woods
DT Hassan Ridgeway
WR Josh Gordon
QB Josh McCown
QB Geno Smith
G Mike Iupati
K Jason Myers
FB Nick Bellore
Notable Off-season Departures
Eagles
Seahawks
QB “Big Dick” Nick Foles
FS Earl Thomas
DE Michael Bennett
SS Kam Chancellor
DE Chris Long
WR Doug Baldwin
S Chris Maragos
WR Paul Richardson
RB Jay Ajayi
DE Frank Clark
RB Josh Adams
K Sebastian Janikowski
RB Wendell Smallwood
G J.R. Sweezy
DT Haloti Ngata
CB Justin Coleman
DT Shamar Stephen
SS Maurice Alexander
QB Brett Hundley
Pro Football Focus Matchup Charts courtesy of PFF Edge (join.profootballfocus.com/edge/)
The Eagles have not been great at defending the deep ball. Russell Wilson is good at the deep ball. I should just leave it at that, but that’s not what you’re here for. In 2019, Wilson’s averaging the 2nd-highest percentage of total throws targeting 20+ yards downfield (16.5%). Over the previous 3 seasons, Wilson has been 3rd, 2nd, and 8th. His Adjusted Completion % (accounting for drops) is 48.2%, good for 8th. His Passer Rating on Deep Balls is 119.2, good for 4th.
Matchups to Watch
Seahawks Pass Defense vs. the Eagles Pass Offense
Well, now the Eagles are in the playoffs after this tumultuous season. Anything can happen with this team, whether it's one and done or a Super Bowl run. Before we can all think about the future of this postseason, the Eagles need to get by a tough opponent in the Seattle Seahawks. Pete Carroll's Seattle teams, with or without Wilson, has owned the Eagles. That extended into this season with the Seahawks winning an ugly game against the then hapless Eagles. A lot has changed for Philly since then, mainly their success through the air. The Nobodies have stepped up to help Carson eLeVaTe the passing offense as he nearly averaged 300 yard passing per game in the final 4 weeks of the season. Carson has played really well and the coaches stepped up big to help get the passing game going. Their game plan can't, and won't, be a repeat of their early "death by one thousand slant/flats" if they want to win. And the offense can't turn the ball over at the rate they did if they expect to win. This is an athletic pass defense with two great LBs that excel in coverage. The Eagles will need to continue to move the pocket for Wentz to extend the time to throw which will allow deeper shots to open up. Due to personnel, this isn't an offense that can rely on its skill position players to consistently win 1v1. They'll need to continue to be creative in their usage of screens to prevent the defense form keying on them again. If Zach Ertz is able to play, that would be a huge win for the Eagles as he is their best natural separator. Seattle is an easy defense to scheme for as there is very little they change on a week to week basis. It's just being able to hit on the plays they scheme up. One injury for the Seahawks that important to watch is the status of safety Quandre Diggs; he was acquired from the Lions on the cheap (for some reason) and is a key player in their coverage schemes. As of now, the Seahawks should be expecting him to go as he was a full participant in their latest practice report. Either way, this is the 15th ranked passing defense by DVOA. They can be beat through the air. It would be wise for them to build off the game plan the Niners used last week to win in Seattle.
Seahawks Run Defense vs Eagles Running Backs
Philly wasn't able to have a lot of success on the ground the last time they played for a number of reasons. One big reason for that was the injuries on the offensive line - which remains the same for the rematch. Lane Johnson's status for Sunday is still unknown and stud Guard Brandon Brooks landed on IR after the week 17 win against the Giants. The backups have played decently well in reliefof the two key linemen but their absence will always loom large. The variety of concepts the Eagles use in the run game is a big factor in its success as it keeps opposing defenses off-balance. Being down Brooks and Lane could hinder what the Eagles like to do if their replacements can't adequately step up. Moreover, Sanders sustained an injury last week (ankle) and should play, but his effectiveness really won't be known until game time. Since the bye, Sanders has stepped up in a big way when Jordan Howard's shoulder died. Sanders proved he is a capable receiver and pass blocker early on but really improved his ability as a runner very quickly when the team needed him the most. If he is able to be effective on Sunday, that would be a huge boost to the undermanned Philly offense. Additionally, Boston Scott has continued to step up for the Eagles when they need him the most. Scott doesn't profile as an every down back but was able to take that role last week when Sanders left the game. His ability to consistently find the open rush lanes has been paramount to his success. Like Sanders, when Scott is able to get the ball in space he is able to create chunk plays to move the sticks. Jordan Howard returned to the line up last week; while he only played one snap, his ability to now play should help the Eagles rushing attack. This Seattle defensive line is a weak unit that is missing key players. Jadeveon Clowney has been banged up for most of the season and his status for Sunday is questionable. His absence would be a huge boost for the Eagles. This Seattle rushing defense is 26th in DVOA; if the Eagles offensive line was 100% heading into Sunday, this would be the single biggest mismatch in this contest. As it stands now, the Eagles should have enough in their reserves to be effective against this front, but that is a risky bet. They weren't effective in their first meeting - they need to change that to win.
Russell Wilson and the Seahawks Receivers vs the Eagles Secondary
Russell Wilson has owned the Eagles in his career but will be entering Sunday's contest off his worst performance against this team in his career. He was sacked 6 times and was generally inaccurate for most of the game. He struggled to pick up some of the coverage changes the Eagles implemented in their secondary and lead to below average play. He's still Russell Wilson and this is still the Eagles pass defense: you simply cannot bet on the Eagles secondary anymore. Wilson has been a top 2 QB this year in an MVP caliber year carrying the Seahawks to this point in the season. There are very few instances in his time with the Seahawks where the Seahawks are down by double-digits late in a game. This is an Eagles secondary that struggles to stop the big play and cover outside receivers - the Seahawks have two dangerous weapons outside. The Eagles should have everyones favorite terrible CB back for this contest... Jalen Mills. The starter opposite him will be a mystery. Since his early season benching, Sidney Jones has been absolutely clutch for the Eagles on their current run. While his play hasn't been perfect, he's been less of a disaster than he previously was. Avonte Maddox and Cre'von Leblanc are fresh off really good performances against the Giants. If I had to guess, Maddox will start outside and Leblanc will see the slot; Jones would work into the rotation in more CB heavy looks. As previously mentioned, not only was Russ generally inaccurate in the first meeting, his receivers had a lot of key drops as well. Here is a big gain dropped by DK Metcalf. How about this dropped TD by DK Metcalf? Or this bricked layup TD pass from Wilson? My point is this: I generally think the Eagles pass defense, namely the secondary, has been more lucky than good in the second half of the season en route to an NFCE title. They are still here, which is awesome, but until they actually clean up their games it's hard to bet on them succeeding. Russ is one of the best passers in the league; it doesn't matter if he is scrambling or in the pocket, he'll generally eat you alive. This is a WR group, especially with Lockett and Metcalf, that will make defenses pay. They didn't last time, I don't think the Eagles will be so lucky this time. If I'm the Seahawks, I throw early and often. The Eagles defensive ranks against outside WRs: Yards allowed: 32nd, Explosive receptions: 29th, TDs: 29th, Yards per target: 27th. If Pete Carroll and Brian Schottenheimer maintain status quo, like they do for some inexplicable reason, the Eagles have a real chance.
**Seahawks Decimated Offensive Line vs Eagles Pass Rush
The biggest aid to a struggling secondary is a strong pass rush. This is the foundation of the Eagles defense. While it isn't the stupid good group from the Super Bowl, it is still one of the best units in the league in getting pressure. Seattle has had bad offensive lines for years now and the group that'll start on Sunday fits that mold. Stud LT Duane Brown should miss this contest with a knee issue; this is a bad injury for the Seahawks as he is their best offensive lineman. The rest of their group is a well-below average unit that struggles in pass protection. The Eagles were able to get after Russell Wilson with 6 sacks in the first meeting and will need that kind of pressure again. Wilson can still make plays with his arm and legs while under pressure but it's still a difficult task for him. Fletcher Cox and Brandon Graham will need to continue to create havoc in the trenches. Derek Barnett must continue to build off his strong outing against the Giants. And if Timmy Jernigan can continue to play well, instead of up and down, then the Eagles should be able to get after Russ like they did Daniel Jones one week ago. The Eagles need to put this Seattle offense in bad situations to help out the secondary and help force some turnovers.
Super Bowl Schedule 2014: Start Time, Performers List and TV Info Richard Langford @ @ the Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks will battle in the 2014 Super Bowl in New York on Feb. 2 at 6:25 Recap: Chiefs headed to Super Bowl for first time in 50 years after beating Titans NFC Championship game: (2) Green Bay Packers at (1) San Francisco 49ers Final: 49ers def. Packers 37-20 2021 Super Bowl TV schedule & kickoff On TV, US fans will watch Super Bowl 55 play out nationwide on February 7 beginning at 6 pm ET on CBS television with kickoff time set for 6:30 pm ET. (That's 5:30 pm Central, 4:30 pm Mountain, and 3:30 pm Pacific time.) For the US viewers, stick to the local time since the kickoff time is 6:30 p.m. ET / 3:20 p.m. PT. Every year it starts at the same time. Here is Super Bowl LV Kick Off time zones in the USA: 6:30 PM Eastern Time (ET) 3:30 PM Pacific Time (PT) 5:30 PM Central Time (CT) 4:30 PM Mountain Time (MT) 2:30 PM Alaska Standard Time (AKST) The home of NFL Super Bowl 2021 news, ticket, apparel & event info. Get Super Bowl Sunday info about the National Football League's championship game. NFL playoff schedule 2021: Bracket, Super Bowl time, date, TV channel, scores for AFC, NFC games Two teams remain in the 2021 NFL playoffs after an eventful Championship Round Sunday. His daily schedule It has been reported that a day in the life of Tom Brady looks, precisely, like this: 5.30am – Wake up, drink electrolyte water and smoothie 7am – Breakfast with his partner Super Bowl 2020: Full schedule, time, TV channel, streaming, everything to know for Super Bowl LIV Let's break down everything you need to know with Super Bowl LIV kickoff just hours away CBS Sports provides the latest picks, news and analysis for Super Bowl LV. The Super Bowl will be played on February 7, 2021 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. Check out this NFL Schedule, sortable by date and including information on game time, network coverage, and more!
Bashaud Breeland Picks Off Jimmy G! Super Bowl LIV - YouTube
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