Thursday, July 16, 2009
Commercial Air Service For The Region Moves A Step Closer
Commercial air service at the Pikeville Pike County Regional Airport is now a little closer to reality. At a meeting Thursday afternoon, a presentation was made by Nathan Vallier of Locair from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. The airport has continually made improvements to its facility, always with an eye on the day when commercial passenger and cargo service will be realized. The presentation by the Florida-based company was only the first of several meetings scheduled with the airport board. Following an August 11th. working session with the board, extensive market research will be the next step.
# posted by Homer Owens @ 10:10 PM
Pike County Case Heads To Grand Jury
Twenty-six year old Justin Robinson appeared in court Thursday (today) to plead not guilty to charges of criminal abuse and resisting arrest. He's accused of beating the 20-month-old son of his girlfriend, causing a broken leg and severe bruising to the head. Robinson will remain on home incarceration while the case goes to the grand jury.
# posted by Homer Owens @ 9:48 PM
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Rutherford Says KACo Spent Money Like Drunken Sailors
Pike County Judge Executive Wayne Rutherford e-mailed a three page letter Wednesday (today) to colleagues in county courthouses across Kentucky. Rutherford says he's shocked at how KACo leaders "spend the county's money like drunken sailors" while increasing fees in its insurance and finance programs. He's called on the non-profit organization to lower its rates and cut dues. He says officials of the KACo Executive Committee completely failed in their duty of oversight. Rutherford is calling for swift corrective actions.
# posted by Homer Owens @ 9:09 PM
Paintball Masked Man Robs Meta Double-Kwik
Kentucky State Police are searching for a male suspect who, just before midnight Tuesday, entered the Meta Double-Kwik, wearing a paintball mask, showed the clerk a small-caliber handgun and proceeded to rob the store of an unknown amount of cash. He then fled the scene in a black Ford pickup truck.
# posted by Homer Owens @ 9:03 PM
Pike County Man Charged With Beating Twenty-Month Old Boy
Twenty-six year old Justin Robinson of Greasy Creek Road is due in court Thursday after being accused of severely beating the 20 month old son of his live-in girlfriend. When the mother arrived home from work Tuesday, she took the child to Pikeville Medical Center, where doctors notified Kentucky State Police. The boy suffered a broken leg, and his entire head was black from bruising.
# posted by Homer Owens @ 8:56 PM
Legislative Panel Approves University Of Kentucky Contract
The Government Contract Review Committee has approved a contract between the University of Kentucky and the law firm of Fisher and Phillips, which is based in Atlanta and has offices in Dallas and Houston. The firm will represent U.K. in its legal battle with former coach Billy Gillispie and will be paid through an insurance policy. The contract is not to exceed $100,000 fromJune 23rd. to June 30,2010. The Department of Finance and Administration must now approve the contract.
# posted by Homer Owens @ 8:46 PM
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
KSP To Kick-Off "Blue Lights Across The Bluegrass" Campaign
In an effort to raise awareness about highway safety, the "Blue Lights Across The Bluegrass" campaign will begin July 20th. and run through July 31st. Law enforcement organizations in 37 counties identified with four or more fatalities, as of June 10th., will participate. The campaign is sponsored by the Kentucky Office of Highway Safety. Officials say the year began with a reduction in highway fatalities, but the number increased in May and most of June. Counties in southeast Kentucky include Pike, Floyd, Knott, Letcher, Knox, Bell and Whitley counties.
# posted by Homer Owens @ 7:46 PM
Open Records Act Trial Scheduled
A hearing is scheduled for July 20th. to determine whether the Kentucky Attorney General's Office should release statements made by road contractor Leonard Lawson during a 1983 criminal case involving Lawson-owned Mountain Enterprises. His lawyers argue information sought by the Courier-Journal, the Herald-Leader and the Associated Press, under the state's Open Records Act, will invade the privacy of Lawson, as well as others involved in the 1983 case, and would make it difficult for Lawson to get a fair trial.
# posted by Homer Owens @ 7:36 PM
Bank Refusing To Refund KACo Credit Card Charges
On behalf of the Kentucky Association of Counties Executive Committee, KACo President J. Michael Foster says he's thinking about using a special counsel to investigate charges that appeared on KACo credit cards. Central Bank and Trust Company says it can't determine who made the charges in January and February 2008 on then-president David Jenkins' credit card to two Louisville strip clubs and the Lexington escort service Campus Cuties, which bills under the name Calypso Enterprises. The bank also can't determine who charged $270 on May 16,2007 on the card of executive director Bob Arnold made to Calypso. The bank is refusing to refund $890 in payments.
# posted by Homer Owens @ 7:24 PM
Bridge Dedication In Johnson County Scheduled
A ribbon-cutting ceremony and bridge dedication will be held at 11:00 A.M. Friday morning as state and local officials officially open the new bridge which connects the community of River to Offut in Johnson County. The $5.6 million span will be named in memory of Irvin Clay, who owned the property on the River side of the bridge until his death in 1973.
# posted by Homer Owens @ 7:16 PM
Monday, July 13, 2009
Local Beauty To Represent Kentucky In National Pageant
Jessica Danielle Casebolt, the daughter of Samuel Dean and Carol Casebolt, will represent Kentucky in the 2009 National American Miss pageant to be held in Anaheim, California at Disneyland during Thanksgiving week. As 2009 National American Miss Kentucky, Casebolt will have the opportunity to win her share of more than $500,000 in cash and prizes, which includes scholarships and a 2009 Ford Mustang Convertible.
# posted by Homer Owens @ 8:42 PM
Kentucky State Police Searching For Pike County Mother
Kentucky State Police and the family of 32 year old Nancy Lockard of Turkey Creek are seeking information related to her June 24th. disappearance after she was last seen at her home on Nosben Fork. If anyone has information, they're urged to call Pikeville KSP at 606-433-7711.
# posted by Homer Owens @ 8:35 PM
Kentucky State Police Searching For Floyd County Armed Robber
Kentucky State Police are searching for a white male suspect who robbed the BP Double-Kwik in Ivel at gunpoint around 1:00 A.M. Sunday morning. According to the clerk, the man entered the store, wearing shorts, a black shirt and a mask, showed a gun and demanded cash before getting away in a red Ford Ranger, driven by another suspect. Authorities say the suspects fled with a little more than $200.
# posted by Homer Owens @ 8:24 PM
U.S. Attorney's Office Interested In Kentucky Case
The U.S. Attorney's office has become interested in a case against 18 year old Ethan Edwards of Mayfield. Authorities say, last August, Edwards gave 17 year old Adam Hogarty a mixed drink known as "morphine tea", a drink containing codeine and morphine from poppies. They believe the poppies were sent through the U.S. mail from Florida.
# posted by Homer Owens @ 8:17 PM
Montgomery County Skeletal Remains Investigated
Authorities are investigating skeletal remains of what appears to be a male in his early twenties that were found in a wooded area along Highway 1050 in the Jeffersonville community of Montgomery County. Police believe the victim died of multiple gunshot wounds.
# posted by Homer Owens @ 8:10 PM
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Pike County Magistrate Says KACo Charges For Escort Services Don't Look Good
Pike County Magistrate Chris Harris, second vice-president of the Kentucky Association of Counties, says there's obviously something going on concerning two escort service charges on KACo credit cards in separate years. The KACo executive committee is investigating a charge made on May 16,2007 on the card of executive director Bob Arnold in the amount of $270 at the Lexington-based escort service, Campus Cuties, which bills under the name Calypso Enterprises. A $175 charge for Calypso appeared on Spencer County Judge Executive David Jenkins' credit card statement when he was the group's president in 2008. Jenkins and KACo are disputing that charge and others to two Louisville strip clubs, totaling nearly $900. The men say someone else must have made the charges, but Harris says it certainly doesn't look good for the organization.
# posted by Homer Owens @ 4:19 PM
Fourth Assigned Bid-Rigging Judge Surprised By Ties To The Case
U.S. District Judge Karl Forester, the fourth judge to be assigned to the bid-rigging case involving road contractor Leonard Lawson, says he's surprised by the link between his family and Lawson's industry group. Forester's son-in-law, Sean Cutter, is a Frankfort lobbyist for the Kentucky Association of Highway Contractors who was paid by the group as recently as this year's legislative session. Lawson has long been active in the KAHC, and his son, Steve Lawson, an executive in his companies, has, in recent years, served as a KAHC officer and sat on the board of directors.
# posted by Homer Owens @ 3:39 PM
Investigations Launched Following Two Kentucky Mine Accidents
State and federal officials have launched investigations following accidents last Thursday that injured a total of ten workers at two Kentucky coal mines. Eight miners, who work for Ken-American Resources, a subsidiary of Cleveland-based Murray Energy, were hurt when a mantrip malfunctioned while they were riding the vehicle at Paradise Mine, about 100 miles southwest of Louisville. In Floyd County, 51 year old Harold Skaggs of Louisa and 71 year old Frank B. McCoart of Van Lear were airlifted to Cabell Huntington Hospital after being struck by a pickup rolling down a road at the F9 Prater Branch Mine. That mine is operated by Frasure Creek Mining.
# posted by Homer Owens @ 3:28 PM
Floyd County Man Gets Five Years In Death Of Brother
Terry Tuttle of Floyd County has been sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to reckless homicide in connection to the September 2008 death of his brother, David Tuttle. Police say Terry Tuttle shot his brother in the head during a fight at the home of their mother.
# posted by Homer Owens @ 3:23 PM
New Indictment In Clay County Vote-Buying Case
According to a new indictment released Friday, Magistrate Stanley Bowling, who was elected in 2002, was arrested Friday and added to the list of Clay County officials charged in an alleged vote-buying scheme from 2002 to 2007. Federal prosecutors say, in addition to racketeering, a new indictment alleges they conspired to launder money used in the scheme. Prosecutors are seeking $3,472,847.23, which they say represents the total of interests acquired and gross proceeds obtained through illegal acts. Bowling's arraignment is scheduled for Monday.
# posted by Homer Owens @ 3:11 PM
SBA Approves $3.7 Million In Loans As Application Deadline Approaches
The U.S. Small Business Administration has announced the approval of over $3.7 million in low-interest- rate disaster loans to Kentucky homeowners, renters and businesses who sustained losses from severe weather and flooding from May 3rd. through May 20th. Disaster loans up to $200,000 are available to repair or replace primary residences, and up to $40,000 to repair or replace personal property. If a borrower doesn't know how much of their loss is covered by insurance or other sources, the SBA will consider a loan for the total loss, provided the borrower agrees to use insurance proceeds to reduce or repay the loan. The physical loan application deadline is July 28th. The deadline for economic injury applications is March 1,2010.
# posted by Homer Owens @ 2:55 PM
