Sunday, February 27, 2011
EKB Capsule News...Kentucky...2-28-'11
- Kentucky State Police Trooper Stu Recke says officers killed 32 year old Larry D. Brown of Clay, in Webster County, early Sunday morning after a nearly seven-hour standoff. Police were called to a home in Clay about a man barricaded inside a house and firing shots. KSP say Brown fired shots inside the house, then about 5:38 A.M. CST, he fired a shot through the door of the house. Brown left the house carrying a shotgun and fired at the officers, prompting State Police Sgt. Brenton Ford, Trooper Tim Sales and Webster County Deputy Steve Madden to fire back, killing Brown. An autopsy is scheduled for Monday at the State Medical Examiner's Office in Madisonville.
- Kentucky State Police say 16 year old Sara Shepherd of Paintsville was pronounced dead at Paul B. Hall Regional Medical Center in Paintsville after a wreck occurred about 3:45 P.M. Saturday on Ky. 581 in Thealka, in Johnson County. Shepherd was driving south when the vehicle ran off the road after leaving a curve, struck a culvert and overturned. A passenger, James Jones, 41, of Sitka, was airlifted to a hospital with serious injuries.
- Federal investigators have released their report on a deadly mine accident which occurred at the Rex-Coal Strip Mine in Harlan County in November. The report found 32 year old Rhett Mosley, a contract mine worker from Perry County, died when a truck rolled out of control on the steep grade of the pit mine and overturned. Investigators say the truck's brakes weren't properly maintained, and Mosley wasn't wearing a seat belt. They say the mine needs to put a system in place to check equipment before it is used.
- Neighbors in the community of Dublin, in southwestern Kentucky, about 25 miles south of Paducah, have been collecting donations to help feed the estimated 1,000 Amish who are expected to come for the Monday funeral of four children who drowned Thursday night. Authorities say the family was traveling in a downpour when their horse-drawn buggy flipped, knocking them into a creek that is normally a trickle but often floods during heavy rains. Four children were swept away in the water. Two adults and three other children escaped. Friday, rescuers found the bodies of 8 year old Samuel Wagler, 5 year old Sarahmae Wagler, 5 month old Rosemary Wagler and their cousin, 11 year old Elizabeth Wagler. Hickman County Coroner Paula Boaz says all four children drowned.
- Police say 24 year old Randall James Hicks, a fugitive from Indiana has been arrested in Floyd County. Hicks was arrested at a home on Kentucky Route 850. Hicks is wanted in Noble County, Indiana for intent to manufacture meth. Hicks and his wife were also arrested in 2009 on meth charges. He is being taken back to Indiana for a court appearance.
- A second lawsuit has been filed in western Kentucky against the Boy Scouts of America alleging sexual abuse by a scoutmaster in the 1970s. The lawsuit filed Thursday alleges that then-Troop 1 Scoutmaster Danny Middleton sexually abused the plaintiff, who was a minor at the time, between about 1972 to 1976 in connection with Scout activities. Middleton is not a defendant in the lawsuit or in one filed earlier this month but is accused in both. The lawsuit, filed by a 51-year-old Paducah man who is a former Troop 1 Scout, names Shawnee Trails Council of Owensboro, Boy Scouts of America, Grace Episcopal Church and the Episcopal Diocese of Kentucky as defendants. Court files say Grace Episcopal was the troop's chartering organization. The diocese is the church's governing body.
- Kentucky Emergency Management and officials at the National Weather Service urge Kentuckians to prepare as a strong storm system is expected to move northeast across Kentucky on Monday. This system is capable of producing high, heavy rains, large hail and possible tornadoes. According to the National Weather Service, potential for severe weather appears somewhat higher than the previous system that moved through last Thursday which was blamed for fourth deaths in Graves County. With the ground already saturated, river flooding continues to be a possibility and concern. If you live along rivers and flood prone areas, be prepared to take appropriate action.
- A new state commission is finding that setting standards for the care of farm animals is more complex than it may sound. The Kentucky Livestock Care Standards Commission was created last year by state lawmakers. Its job is to set standards for Kentucky's estimated 85,000 farms with animals. Those include everything from backyard farms to large-scale poultry, hog and cattle operations. And sales of Kentucky farm animals, including horses, topped $2.4 billion in 2009. The commission is finding there are no easy answers as it wades into the animal welfare debate. It is considering questions like whether it is OK to confine egg-laying chickens in cages where they can't extend their wings. Or whether sows should be kept in stalls that don't allow them to turn around.
# posted by Homer Owens @ 10:20 PM 
