Monday, May 09, 2011
EKB Capsule News...Kentucky...5-10-'11
- Officials with the Jackson Police Department in Breathitt County say Leslie Southwood ran into a nearby wooded area after allegedly firing at two Kentucky State Police troopers Monday afternoon in the Clayhole community near Jackson. Earlier in the afternoon, police had received a call of a individual that was possibly driving under the influence. When troopers, a Breathitt County Sheriff's Deputy, and a Commercial Vehicle Enforcement officer arrived at the house where the vehicle was, they were fired upon. A helicopter was flown in from Frankfort to assist in the search, as well as several tactical vehicles and a K-9 unit. Special Response Teams set up down the road from the scene at a church and State Police surrounded the mouth of Barge Creek Road. As the sun began to set, police were talking about resuming the search Tuesday morning when a call came down from officers looking around the site where the shots first rang out that a body had been found.
- The trial of John Combs, the man accused of gunning down Doctor Dennis Sandlin at the Leatherwood-Blackey Clinic in Perry County in December 2009 has been postponed. The defense has filed a petition to go to the court of appeals to see if they are entitled to funding for expert witnesses. A status hearing is set for August 11th in Perry Circuit Court.
- Fifty year old Ricky Turner was arrested Monday morning in connection with the death of Norman Adams whose body was found in October 2010 over a hillside in Leslie County. Police say Turner and four others tried to make it look like Adams had wrecked an ATV, but after further investigation, police say they determined it was a murder. Turner is charged with murder, tampering with evidence and abusing a corpse.
- A federal grand jury in East Tennessee has indicted nine people on charges of operating a brothel and interstate prostitution network in Tennessee and Kentucky that involved women who are illegal immigrants. The U.S. attorney's office says the network, which operated in Knoxville, Morristown, Johnson City, Nashville in Tennessee and in Louisville, Kentucky, catered to Hispanic men. The defendants are accused of transporting the women from one city to another on a weekly basis for more than four years. One of the defendants, Reyna Rodriquez Rios, was arraigned Friday. His attorney, Donald Spurrell of Johnson City, said Monday his client pleaded not guilty. Spurrell said he has not yet received details on the case. U.S. Attorney Bill Killian says "human trafficking is an ever-increasing problem."
- Volunteers participated in the PRIDE cleanup on Saturday, May 7th, on the left fork of Island Creek. The cleanup was a success, according to PRIDE coordinator Jimmy Dale Sanders. Pike County Judge-Executive Wayne T. Rutherford attended the event and said he is very proud of the PRIDE program, and the cleanup on Island Creek is a prime example of why. “Pike County is beautiful,” Rutherford said. “These volunteers should be commended for their commitment to keeping Pike County beautiful.”
- Kentucky State Police have identified the body of a woman found in an eastern Kentucky pond. Police said in a statement Monday that the dead woman is 38 year old Tammy Faye Roberts of Fallrock, Kentucky. Her cause of death is still under investigation. Her body was found Friday in a rural area of Clay County near Manchester.
- A Kentucky lawmaker and schoolteacher who was critically injured nearly a month ago while trying to break up a student fight is showing signs of improvement at a rehabilitation center in Georgia. A spokesman for the Shepherd Center said on Monday that state Representative Dewayne Bunch is expected to move out of the intensive care unit into the rehabilitation unit. Spokesman Larry Bowie said Bunch was admitted April 28th at the Atlanta center that specializes in treating people with spinal cord and brain injuries. Bunch was punched in the head and fell to the floor after trying to break up a fight between two students at Whitley County High School. He was initially treated at the University of Kentucky Medical Center in Lexington. The two students were charged with assault.
- Officials are hoping to gather photographs of every Kentuckian whose name appears on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, and they kicked off the effort Monday at a breakfast in Somerset, where a traveling half-size replica of the memorial wall will be on display all week. The exhibition includes a traveling museum and information center, which is equipped with a scanner so visitors can bring photos of their loved ones whose names are on the wall and have them scanned. The memorial will be in Somerset through Saturday. Local organizers have activities planned each day at noon starting Tuesday. Somerset is the only stop scheduled in Kentucky for the memorial this year.
- Democratic Governor Steve Beshear's re-election campaign said Monday it has raised $222,484 since mid-April. Beshear's campaign manager Bill Hyers said the large total for Beshear shows public support for the governors "efforts to bring jobs to Kentucky." Friday, Republican candidate for governor, Senate President David Williams and his running mate, Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer, filed their report that showed they raised $76,934 during the period, bringing the total for the entire campaign to $1,277,073. That includes a $100,000 loan to the campaign from Williams. The Beshear-Abramson total for the recent period is about $5 million. The campaign says it has $3.2 million on hand.
- A wooden bridge at Long Branch on the Left Fork of Island Creek is replaced by the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. Work began Monday, April 25th, to replace a substandard one-lane bridge on County Road 1291. “This bridge is badly needed,” Pike County Judge-Executive Wayne T. Rutherford said. “Our State Senator, Ray Jones, got this project off the ground, and it is very beneficial to the residents of that area. The $387,000 cost for the project was paid for by the federal highway fund and the residents on state Route 3416 may see heavy equipment and trucks carrying supplies, according to District 12 Highway Department Public Information Officer Sara George. There were brief delays, less than 15 minutes, as the equipment moved onto the sight. A detour was provided for travelers. Garrison Construction is building the bridge, and a temporary bridge is already in place. It is expected to be finished by May 25th.
- Kentucky is shutting down a minimum security prison in Frankfort to convert the complex into a state police training center. State officials said Monday that all 205 inmates are expected to be out of the Frankfort Career Development Center by July 1st. The governor announced the change at an afternoon news conference. The shutdown of the prison marks the first time state officials could recall a correctional facility closing in Kentucky. Justice Cabinet Secretary J. Michael Brown said in an interview that a drop in both the state's prison population and recidivism rate makes the closing possible. Department of Corrections Commissioner LaDonna Thompson said the state will see about a $575,000 savings in the new fiscal year. Inmates will be moved to other state prisons, county jails and halfway houses.
- Two men have died and two others were injured while trying to take down a CB tower attached to a home in western Kentucky. The Graves County coroner says 68-year-old Rayburn Sanderson Sr. and 60-year-old Willie J. Martin died Saturday of complications from electrocution. Two other men survived and were taken to a hospital. One was released Sunday, but the other remained hospitalized. The Mayfield Police Department and the Graves County Coroner are investigating.
- A large concrete panel fell from the faEcade of a downtown Lexington parking garage Sunday. Mayor Jim Gray said it appeared that years of deterioration caused the panel to fall. No one was hurt when the slab fell from the second level of the Phoenix garage which the manager says was last inspected four years ago. It has been closed until a structural engineer determines there is no futher danger. In May 2006, a woman was killed when a slab fell from another downtown parking garage onto her. In that case, a vehicle in the garage struck the panel, dislodging it. The victim was 22 years old and was eight months pregnant.
- Severe flooding in parts of Kentucky can pose risks as areas start to recover and residents begin cleanup. The Kentucky Department for Public Health advises against coming in contact with flood waters, which are unclean and can pose health risks.
- Getting the word out through TV and online isn't enough for Memphis, Tennessee officials who were going door-to-door warning a couple hundred people they should abandon their homes before they are swamped by waters from the rising Mississippi River. Memphis residents have been abandoning low-lying homes for days as the dangerously surging river threatens to crest at 48 feet today, just shy of the 48.7-foot record.
- Two Kentucky teachers are among 85 chosen to receive the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching later this year in Washington, D.C. The recipients named by President Barack Obama include math teacher Charles Rutledge of Grayson and science teacher Andrea Broyles of Corbin.
# posted by Homer Owens @ 11:30 PM 
