FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Gov. Andy Beshear forcefully defended his coronavirus-related restrictions Thursday, saying they spared Kentucky from a more devastating outbreak and now have the state primed to move ahead with business reopenings.

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — More than 50,000 Kentucky residents applied for unemployment benefits last week, a slight increase that reflects continuing struggles in the labor market as a reopening economy tries to recover from the coronavirus pandemic.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Some residents in a Kentucky nursing home were evacuated to area hospitals after nearly 60 residents and employees tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Vowing not to back down after armed protesters gathered near his home and hung him in effigy, the governor of Kentucky on Tuesday condemned their use of “fear and terror” in a demonstration fueled by coronavirus restrictions.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — The University of Kentucky will use portions of its contingency fund to save nearly 100 school jobs in the next fiscal year amid continuing furloughs at the school, the university's president said in a news release.

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — An effigy of Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear was hung in a tree near the State Capitol on Sunday during what was billed as a protest rally in defense of constitutional rights, drawing sharp political rebukes, according to local news reports.

WINCHESTER, Ky. (AP) — Red River Gorge and other recreational areas in the Daniel Boone National Forest are set to reopen next month, the U.S. Forest Service said.

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — A 1-year-old child is among Kentucky's 158 new coronavirus cases, Gov. Andy Beshear said Saturday.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Nashville District is extending its closure of 25 Corps-managed campgrounds within the Cumberland River Basin in Kentucky and Tennessee through at least May 31 in the interest of public safety due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

WHITLEY CITY, Ky. (AP) — A Kentucky appeals court judge has ordered a Kentucky man exposed to the coronavirus to quarantine himself and to get tested.

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky's tax collections took a nosedive in April, when General Fund receipts dropped nearly $433 million below collections a year ago as the coronavirus outbreak stalled much of the economy.

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — A Kentucky prison has been hit by hundreds of coronavirus cases, prompting action to separate inmates into housing units based on their health conditions to try to contain the outbreak.

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — The number of confirmed coronavirus cases at a Kentucky state prison are expected to increase, Gov. Andy Beshear said Sunday.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A federal appeals court on Saturday declined to block the Kentucky governor's temporary ban on massing gatherings from applying to in-person religious services.

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky will open a new hotline Tuesday for people who have yet to receive a payment from unemployment claims they filed in March amid the coronavirus pandemic.

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky is partially lifting restrictions in its fight against the coronavirus with the reopening of health-care businesses Monday.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Doctors at the University of Kentucky Chandler Hospital’s emergency department say they believe sick people are avoiding the hospital for fear of catching COVID-19.

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky will start a partial lifting of restrictions on medical services next week, but health care workers and patients will have to follow safeguards as the fight against the coronavirus continues.

Vacation wonderland in Pulaski County and the Lake Cumberland area is getting off to a delayed start in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A federal judge has denied a Kentucky church's bid to block enforcement of the governor's restrictions on faith-based gatherings due to the coronavirus pandemic.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A Kentucky church that held in-person services on Easter in defiance of the state's coronavirus restrictions on gatherings has sued the governor to block enforcement against houses of worship.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Three hunger-relief charities will benefit from a $500,000 donation by the Kentucky Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Co. and Kentucky Farm Bureau Insurance Foundation in response to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

In his Thursday evening update on the novel coronavirus pandemic, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear announced that Somerset has been selected by the state to set up a drive-thru testing site like the ones operating in Frankfort and Kenton County.

With presidential preference primaries and hotly contested senatorial and state legislative races highlighting already delayed primaries it is still uncertain in what manner voting will be done during the CONIV-19 crisis.

FRANKFORT -- Protesters calling for businesses to reopen interrupted Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear's typically serene daily briefing on Wednesday.

Somerset’s U.S. Congressman Hal Rogers said on Wednesday he agreed with President Donald Trump’s pointed criticism of the World Health Organization and its “failed response” to the COVID-19 pandemic.

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — A group of churchgoers from northern Kentucky has sued Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, arguing the state's prohibition on in-person church services amid the coronavirus pandemic violates the Constitution.

FRANKFORT, Ky. — Kentucky’s death toll from the coronavirus pandemic surpassed 100 with seven additional deaths reported Monday, Gov. Andy Beshear said.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Most Kentucky churches did not hold in-person Easter services, heeding warnings against such gatherings in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — The city of Louisville cannot halt a local church's drive-in church service planned for Easter, a federal judge on Saturday ruled.

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Gov. Andy Beshear reported 147 new coronavirus cases in Kentucky on Tuesday, the largest single-day number since the outbreak began, along with seven more virus-related deaths.

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Officials with the Kentucky Community and Technical College System have postponed the search for a new president due the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.