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The Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services is confirming an outbreak of measles across five counties, noting more cases have been confirmed in the commonwealth this year than in any year since 1991.

The health cabinet says 15 cases of measles have been confirmed in Christian, Owen, Todd, Trigg, and Washington counties in the last four days. That number is expected to increase as the Kentucky Department for Public Health is actively investigating additional reports. Updated case numbers can be found on the KDPH measles dashboard.

The health cabinet says all 19 cases reported in 2026 have been for individuals who were not vaccinated against measles. The American Academy of Pediatrics and other experts say two doses of the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine are 97 percent effective against the disease.

The health cabinet says the immunization rate among Kentucky kindergartners has recently increased to 90.7 percent, but this remains among the lowest rates in the nation. This comes as the United States is experiencing its largest measles outbreak since the disease was declared eliminated in the U.S. in 2000.

Contact your local health department or primary care provider for more information on measles and the MMR vaccine.  

Elizabethtown Community and Technical College Chancellor Dr. Juston Pate said Tuesday’s groundbreaking for an expansion to the college’s Science Building is not just a kickoff for a construction project, it’s a kickoff for the next 40 years of the Science Building.

“Local workforce development is really the point for this,” Pate said. “When we talk about adding value to students’ lives and then returning that value back out into the community, it’s largely evident in the careers that they take.”

Pate discussed the expansion during ECTC’s annual Community Breakfast. The $16 million expansion to the west and south sides of the building is expected to be completed in 2027. Pate said biology and chemistry programs are important to the healthcare field, and the expansion comes at a time where healthcare worker shortages are seen across the area.

“By both expanding and providing more relevant experiences through this renovation, we’re really going to be enhancing our workforce through our students’ lives,” Pate said.

During the breakfast event, Jennifer Swope was presented with the ECTC Chancellor’s Pathfinder Award in recognition of her chairing of the ECTC Home for Hope campaign, which helped fund construction of the Family Scholar House housing facility.

Learn more about ECTC’s ongoing projects at ectc.us/grows.

A Bullitt County man will serve nine years in federal prison after his sentencing on wire fraud charges.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Kentucky says Stacy Allen Taylor of Shepherdsville “conspired with others in an international wire fraud scheme to defraud more than forty victims out of over $23.6 million.” Victims of the scheme believed they were investing into a private trading platform “that would provide significant returns on their investment.”

Taylor entered guilty pleas to seven counts on charges of Wire Fraud, Wire Fraud Conspiracy, and Carrying Out Transactions Over $10,000 with Criminal Proceeds. He was sentenced on August 11 to nine years in prison and was ordered to pay restitution to victims of the scheme.

The case was investigated by the FBI Louisville Field Office and the IRS Criminal Investigation Division, Detroit Field Office. Taylor previously served a three-year prison sentence after being convicted for federal fraud and drug crimes related to his role in an illegal online pharmacy.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office says there is no parole in the federal system.