The offices of The Leaf-Chronicle were severely damaged in the January 22, 1999 tornado; however, the paper was still released the following day, after then publisher F. Gene Washer took editors and reporters into his home to gather news and used the Kentucky New Era's printing press in Hopkinsville. The Saturday edition of The Leaf Chronicle was a complete newspaper that featured eight pages of tornado coverage. Within four days, the staff was able to print from the downtown newspaper press, only slightly damaged. The departments worked out of an empty grocery store for eight months, until the main offices were rebuilt and reopened in the fall of 1999.
