Tuesday, April 12, 2011
EKB Capsule News...Kentucky...4-13-'11
Pikeville is beginning to fill with people from other states and locations. It's Hillbilly Days...a three day celebration of the heritage and festivities surrounding the culture of the mountain tradition. Each April, Pikeville becomes the center of fun and games. It's all to raise money for the Childrens' Hospital in Lexington, hosted by Shriners' Club in various locales. Over 150,000 visitors are expected in Pikeville for the event.
- Captain Michael Todd Kidd , a native of Pike County and a 13 year veteran of the Kentucky State Police, has assumed command of Post 9, Pikeville. After graduating the KSP Academy in 1998, Captain Kidd began his career working at the Pikeville Post. He has worked at the Pikeville Post for 9 years of his 13 year career. He has had a wide variety of assignments throughout his career. He has worked as a Trooper, Sergeant, Lieutenant, and now Captain at Post 9. He has also been the commander at the Recruitment Branch in Frankfort, and has served at Post 4, Elizabethtown; Post 8, Morehead; Post 7, Richmond; and Post 13, Hazard. Captain Kidd is the son of Lee and Erma Kidd. He is a 1990 graduate of Pikeville High School, a graduate of Big Sandy Community and Technical College, where he received an Associate of Science Degree in Criminal Justice, and a graduate of the Southern Police Institute. He is a veteran of the United States Marine Corps.
- A prison inmate in Martin County has been charged in a federal indictment in U.S. District Court in Pikeville with falsely telling Governor Steve Beshear and other officials they had been sent packages containing anthrax, smallpox or explosives. The indictment charges 48 year old Marshall DeWayne Williams with 21 counts of falsely telling federal judges and several Kentucky congressmen on July 6, 2009 that whoever opened a letter would be exposed to anthrax or smallpox. The indictment also said that on July 1st and 2, 2009, Williams conveyed false information that a letter contained anthrax. Those letters went to U.S. Representatives Harold "Hal" Rogers, Geoff Davis, Brett Guthrie and Ed Whitfield, all Republicans, and John Yarmuth, a Democrat. They also went to the Director of the Office of Homeland Security in Louisville; unnamed federal judges in Louisville, Pikeville, Frankfort, Covington and London; the U.S. Attorney's office in London, and other federal officials. Williams was incarcerated at Big Sandy Penitentiary at Inez in 2009 for killing his stepfather with a pipe bomb in 1984 in Texas. He was sentenced to 60 months in prison in federal court in Tennessee in 2009 for mailing a white powder and a threatening message to a federal judge in Memphis. Williams also was indicted in July 2010 in U.S. District Court in Lexington for possessing a weapon called a shank at Big Sandy on August 20, 2009. Williams forcibly assaulted a U.S. Secret Service agent, according to the indictment. That case is pending.
- The Mine Safety and Health Administration announced Tuesday that, for the first time in the history of the 1977 Mine Act, it has successfully placed two mines, Bledsoe Coal Corp.'s Abner Branch Rider Mine in Leslie County and The New West Virginia Mining Co.'s Apache Mine in McDowell County, West Virginia, on a pattern list of violations, which targets mines with chronic and persistent health and safety violations. MSHA chief Joe Main said during a conference call Tuesday. "There are some in the industry that don't get it, and we have two here that have exposed themselves." The Bledsoe mine's owner, James River Coal in Richmond, Virginia, has appealed more than half of the citations that led to the pattern of violations, said Kentucky Coal Association president Bill Bissett.
The man who has been at the helm at the University of Kentucky for the past decade was honored by the community of the Lexington campus on Tuesday. An ice cream social took place at 2:00 P.M. EDT to mark the tenure of UK President Lee T. Todd Jr. and Patsy Todd. A search committee met this week to narrow the list of finalists to succeed Todd, who is retiring in June.
- Veteran science and math teacher and State Representative Dewayne Bunch was critically injured Tuesday morning attempting to break up a fight between students in the Whitley County High School cafeteria. Bunch was taken by ambulance to the Baptist Regional Medical Center in Corbin before being taken to the UK Medical Center with very serious injuries. He was unresponsive and bleeding from his ears after hitting his head while breaking up the fight. Bunch has been a teacher in Whitley County for 17 years. He retired from the Kentucky National Guard after serving for 23 years and taking part in two deployments. He was elected state representative for the 82nd district in November 2010. He serves part of Laurel and Whitley County. He is also a member of the Whitley County Board of Education. The incident is being investigated by the Whitley County Sheriff’s Department which says the students are likely to face charges.
- Republican lieutenant gubernatorial candidate Richie Farmer asked Tuesday that his wife’s divorce petition be dismissed, but, if not, that he receive joint custody of their three children with reasonable time-sharing for both. Rebecca Farmer filed for divorce last week asking for primary custody of their sons and that Richie Farmer be required to pay child support. Franklin County Family Court Judge Squire Williams III said Tuesday he will soon schedule an initial hearing in the case.
U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell has moved into new digs at the Russell Senate Office Building. McConnell says his new Senate office once belonged to the late Democratic Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts, the youngest brother of former President John F. Kennedy. McConnell also will keep his GOP leadership office in the U.S. Capitol building. Kentucky's longest-serving senator, McConnell says he is excited about his new Senate office space that is rich in Senate history. His staff sent out a news release Monday inviting Kentuckians to stop by and see it.
- Eighty-one year old Ethel Hall, an Alzheimer's patient who had been out of sight for only about 10 minutes, was pulled from a lake in Florence by two Boone County Sheriff's deputies shortly after she was reported missing Monday morning. Deputy Anthony Lusty saw shoes in the lake and jumped in to pull Hall to shore where he and another deputy performed CPR until an ambulance arrived. Hall and her husband were visiting their son at a store he owns when the men discovered she was missing and called 911. A maintenance worker in the area told deputies Hall liked to feed ducks at the lake.
- A piece of granite being moved Monday afternoon at KBR Manufacturing in Louisville fell, pinning and killing 50 year old Sylvia Walters of Taylorsville. Louisville Metro Police spokesman Dwight Mitchell says other employees found Walters under the stone and called for help. Deputy Coroner Bob Jones says Walters died at the scene from blunt force injuries. The department has asked Occupational Safety and Health Administration officials to take part in the investigation.
- Primary election candidates for two state offices are scheduled to debate Monday night on statewide television. State Representative Addia Wuchner of Burlington and Lexington businessman John T. Kemper III are seeking the GOP nomination to run for auditor. They face off on Kentucky Educational Television beginning at 8:00 P.M. EDT.
State Budget Director Mary Lassiter says Kentucky is reporting a 5.3 percent increase in revenue this fiscal year. The growth exceeded expectations of state economists who had projected revenue to rise 4.5 percent. General fund receipts have posted 11 consecutive monthly increases, a strong signal that the Kentucky economy is recovering from economic recession. Sales tax revenue was up 7.3 percent in March and 4.3 percent for the fiscal year. Income tax collections rose 7.3 percent in March and 6.2 percent for the fiscal year. Road Fund revenue, largely from fuel taxes, was up 6.9 percent in March and 12.3 percent for the year.Total receipts for March were up 3.7 percent, generating $675.8 million. That was $23.8 million more than was generated in March 2010.
- The Kentucky Derby is up for grabs. With Uncle Mo losing for the first time, there's a new No. 1 in The Associated Press' latest Run to the Roses Top 10 list of Derby contenders: The Factor. The speedy 3-year-old gray colt moves up from No. 3 and could wind up as the Derby favorite May 7th if he can win the $1 million Arkansas Derby.
# posted by Homer Owens @ 11:52 PM 
