Thursday, January 27, 2011
East Kentucky Broadcasting Capsule News...Kentucky
- An audit of Mountain Water District, a Pike County water and sewer public works, released by State Auditor Crit Luallen found that its management contract with Utility Management Group had a “detrimental impact” on MWD. According to the audit, the MWD board entered into its original contract with UMG in 2005 through a questionable procurement process with no public board discussion and no examination of the contract terms – which resulted in costly management fees and conflicts of interest. The district, which is the largest in Kentucky with a management contract, has paid UMG more than $36 million in fees from 2005 to June 2010. Luallen said the audit, requested by the Pike County Fiscal Court, would be referred to the state attorney general's office and the state Public Service Commission.
- Pike County Judge Steven Combs has voided Elkhorn City's mayor general election results, removing newly elected Mayor Mike Taylor from office and declaring a new election. Former mayor Billy Powell who lost re-election in November and Attorney Steve Owens alleged there was evidence precinct workers at the Upper Elkhorn precinct let people who did not live in city limits vote in the mayor's race.
- The Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, some law enforcement officials and former Lt. Governor Steve Pence are opposing a bill in the General Assembly that would require a prescription for cold medicines containing pseudoephedrine, a key ingredient in making methamphetamine. The group says the plan would increase health care costs and create a burden on legal users, while moving a law enforcement issue into the medical profession, where it can least be handled.
- Out of 109 nursing homes in Kentucky checked by state inspectors during the third quarter of last year, 18 percent, or 20 nursing homes, had 10 or more deficiencies. The average number of deficiencies for nursing homes in Kentucky is six. Forty-two had more than six deficiencies, and four had no deficiencies.
- After about an hour of deliberation, a jury convicted Billy Caudill on four charges including murder. Prosecutors say he fatally shot his neighbor, Randall Carpenter, in August 2009. The jury recommended 20 years in prison for murder and five years for each of three counts of wanton endangerment when Caudill is sentenced February 11th.
- Police are attempting to locate 28 year old Joshua Sowders and 24 year old Laurel Brittany Napier of Corbin after the Laurel County Grand Jury indicted them on 10 counts of sodomy involving two kids, ages three and four.
- Unemployment rates fell in 84 Kentucky counties between December 2009 and December 2010. Fayette and Woodford counties recorded the lowest jobless rates at 7.5 percent each. Magoffin County recorded the state’s highest unemployment rate at 18.8 percent.
- Kenton County District Judge Ken Easterling in Covington sharply criticized the Cabinet for Health and Family Services while presided Wednesday at a hearing for 26 year old Megin Gray whose 9-month-old daughter died after becoming wedged between a mattress and a wall, atop a baseboard heater. Easterling said Family Services had six contacts with Gray before the infant's death, but did not remove the baby or two other children from the home.
- A judge in Louisville has sentenced a homeless, deaf man to two consecutive life terms without parole in two murder cases. The sentence was imposed Wednesday on Jeston Murray. Murray was convicted in the beating death of Darrell Spencer in December 2008 and the fatal stabbing of Marcus Penny in January 2009.
- Bullitt County officials are investigating apparent anti Ku Klux Klan graffiti spray painted on two high schools. The images show a hooded figure that has been hanged. The graffiti appeared three times at Bullitt Central and Bullitt North high schools and has been painted over. Eric Farris, the school district attorney, says the image is hateful, regardless of who is portrayed by it.
- A scary situation for some airline passengers in Virginia. Lightning struck a US Airways commuter plane as it began its landing approach at Lynchburg airport yesterday. The plane was arriving from Charlotte. Thirteen passengers and three crew members were on board. The pilot reported engine failure, but managed to land the plane safely.
- Nearly a decade later and there is still no sign of a Floyd County man and now police are again asking for the public's help to find him. Michael Keith Allen was last seen in the Langley community at the end of May in 2001. Police are now putting up flyers in the hope of generating new information.
- A northern Kentucky man convicted of killing his infant daughter has been sentenced to 15 years in prison. Boone Circuit Judge James R. Schrand on Wednesday followed a jury's recommendation when he sentenced 32-year-old Benjamin Senseman. It was the maximum penalty he could have received after being convicted in December of manslaughter and criminal abuse.
# posted by Homer Owens @ 11:27 PM 
