Cheryl Gerber
The arrival of the first doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine was met with cheers around the Ohio Valley as the first doses were administered to front-line health workers. The Pfizer and, soon, Moderna vaccines bring the promise of relief after months of pandemic-driven closures and a deadly surge in cases.
But the vaccines’ arrival also brings a lot of questions. The Ohio Valley ReSource asked you, our listeners and readers, what you need to know about the vaccine, and you responded with dozens of questions. People want to know about how safe and effective the vaccines are, how they work, and who will get vaccinated when.
If youâre planning on driving around town looking at Christmas lights, be sure to drive by 2904 Wesleyan Park Place, behind Wesleyan Park Plaza.
LeAnn Huffman, her husband, Chris, and their daughter Sloan, have won the Golden Santa Award for the best Christmas lights in town.
Owensboro Municipal Utilities and the Owensboro Neighborhood Alliance sponsored the contest.
Sonya Dixon, communications and public relations specialist at OMU, said 25 homes entered the contest this year.
Thatâs the most in recent years, she said.
The award includes a $250 OMU gift certificate, a prize package, a lighted yard sign and a professional portrait of the lighted home.
âUtilities is the big request right now,â said Angela Settle, the Help Officeâs director.
The Help Office and the Salvation Armyâs Owensboro office both have utility assistance funds available, officials said Tuesday. Audubon Area Community Services is currently out of utility assistance dollars, although more funds are expected in early January.
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused multiple hardships for people, even those who havenât become ill. Settle said some Help Office clients are reporting losing income when they learn they have a possible COVID exposure and have to quarantine.
âA lot of people have lost income due to COVID,â Settle said. âOne client said they were exposed and had to quarantine, and ended up getting (the virus). So they were off for several weeks.â
The Owensboro Times
Updated December 10, 2020 | 10:49 pm
Graphic by Owensboro Times
The Owensboro Utility Commission on Thursday voted to terminate an agreement to begin purchasing solar power in late 2022 from Ashwood Solar I, LLC. The move was made after the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) handed down a ruling that would result in increased transmission costs that could make the agreement uneconomical.
FERC’s decision follows a request filed by LG&E/KU to eliminate a longstanding FERC requirement that shielded municipal utilities, including OMU, from paying additional transmission charges on energy transmitted to and from the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO).
The City Utility Commission voted unanimously Wednesday to sever an agreement to purchase solar power from a planned Lyon County solar farm.
The agreement, which was signed in 2018 and set to begin in 2022 once the solar farm is built, had to be terminated because of changes that would lead to excessive fees for Owensboro Municipal Utilities, OMU General Manager Kevin Frizzell said.
Although the utility will end its contract with Ashwood Solar, there will be options to purchase power from renewable sources in the future, Frizzell said. The contract allows OMU to terminate the agreement.
Under the agreement, 5% of OMUâs power annually would have come from Ashwood Solar.