The Advocate-Messenger staff has been working hard in recent days to ensure that we remain — both in print and online — your best source of local information in scary and uncertain times related to COVID-19.

That work has included securing access to two alternative printing presses, including one out-of-state, should our press in Winchester become impacted by staff illnesses. We are confident that our regular print publication won’t be interrupted even should the COVID-19 outbreak worsen significantly in central Kentucky.

As the global story and its impact on this community unfolds literally by the minute, online publishing becomes more important than ever in providing timely, accurate information to citizens. To that end, we are providing even nonsubscribers unlimited free digital access to COVID-19-related coverage until further notice. News stories about the virus won’t count toward nonsubscribers’ allotment of eight free online articles per month.

We will devote as much news space as needed to provide important information from governmental and nonprofit organizations.

Here are a couple of things that will be different for readers and customers until things return to normal:

• There will be no sports section in the daily print edition, as all high school, college and professional sports have been suspended until further notice. Until competition resumes, we will continue to publish relevant sports news as it occurs, but it will appear on other pages of the newspaper. Classified ads and the other pages, which often share a section with Sports, will move to the main news section.
• Hours for walk-in customer service at our office could be restricted as we heed Gov. Andy Beshear’s advice to have as many employees as possible work from home until the virus threat subsides. Telephone and email customer service should not be affected. For those who typically come to our office to purchase a newspaper over the front counter, we will put extra copies in the newsstand outside our front entrance.

We appreciate our government and civic leaders, the business community and citizen volunteers for their collective efforts to guide our town through whatever challenges await in the days and weeks ahead. We stand proudly with them in journalistic service to Boyle County.