Wednesday, May 11, 2011
EKB Capsule News...Kentucky...5-12-'11
REWARD OFFERED IN COPPER THEFTS...
AT&T has announced a $2,500 reward leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for the vandalism of the company's aerial copper telephone cables which have occurred recently in Williamsburg and Pineville. Company officials is working with law enforcement agencies and scrap metal dealers in Pineville and Williamsburg to catch those responsible for several thefts that have occurred in the past several weeks along HWY 190 in Bell County and HWY 904 in Whitley County. The offer expires May 31, 2011. AT&;T urges shop owners, employees and anyone with information on the recent copper thefts to call AT&T Asset Protection at 1-800-807-4205. You can also call the Kentucky State Police (Harlan Post) at (606) 573-3131 or London Post at (606) 878-6622.
FLORIDA "PILL MILL" ARRESTS...
Seven Bath County Kentucky men are in a Florida jail after being arrested last Friday. Police say the group went to a pain clinic in Miami to obtain prescriptions for Oxycodone, Xanax and Hydrocodone and had them filled in Brevard County, Florida. They believe the men were bringing the pills back to Kentucky to sell. After undercover agents received a tip about the men, they immediately placed them under surveillance. Police pulled their two cars over just south of Daytona Beach. During the traffic stop police found 3,000 pills hidden in a cooler and about $10,000 in cash. Arrested were Jeffrey Blankenship, Larry McCarty, Steven Thompson, Mark Butcher, Terry Wills, Barry Pergram and Pierce Gibbs.
ATTORNEY FIGHST DISBARRMENT...
Cincinnati attorney Stan Chesley has asked Kentucky Bar Association officials to delay any disciplinary action against him in connection with his involvement in a case dealing with the diet drug fen-phen. Chesley is fighting a trial commissioner's recommendation that he be disbarred in Kentucky and ordered to return $7.5 million of the $20 million he was paid in fees. He has filed a request that no action be taken until civil litigation in the case is settled. Most recently, the Kentucky Court of Appeals vacated a $42 million judgment against three other lawyers accused of swindling clients in the case and sent the case back to a lower court in Boone County for further proceedings. The three other attorneys have already been disbarred.
PRESERVATION OF AMERICAN STORIES...
StoryCorps' MobileBooth, an organization that works to preserve the stories of Americans, will be parked at the Lexington History Museum for six weeks, starting next week, with a mobile recording studio. The organization has joined with WUKY, the University of Kentucky's NPR station, to collect 180 interviews some of which WUKY plans to air nationally on NPR's "Morning Edition," and all of the interviews, with participant permission, will be archived at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. The opening ceremony is May 19th, with the first interviews of Mayor Jim Gray and a family member and the second interview with Keeneland CEO Nick Nicholson and his brother, Kentucky Horse Park Director John Nicholson.
RECORD SETTING VOTER REGISTRATION...
Kentucky Secretary of State Elaine Walker announced record-setting voter registration at a press conference held in the State Reception Room at the Capitol Building. Previous voter-registration records, set during the General Election in 2008, were surpassed this spring with an increase of 11,028 voters, bringing the Commonwealth’s registration numbers to 2,917,837 voters. At the press conference, Secretary Walker predicted that only approximately 10% of the state’s registered voters would participate in the upcoming primary election. Additionally, Secretary Walker announced improvements to the online election tally system, noting that this year, the number of precincts reporting will be viewable. Finally, Secretary Walker reminded members of the media that they are welcome and encouraged to cover the election process, but that they cannot interrupt the voting process, record the identity of a voter or conduct interviews inside the polling location.
FIRE DEPARTMENT TO CHARGE FEE...
A suburban fire department in Louisville will begin charging a fee to battle most blazes later this summer. Lyndon will charge a homeowner's or business' insurance company as part of a new "cost-recovery" program approved on Monday
POLICE SHOOTER IDENTIFIED...
SENIOR CENTER WOMAN SHOT...
An elderly woman is recovering after being shot in the back at a senior center in Nicholas County during a Mother's Day party.
Eighty-one-year-old Lodema Foster was sitting in the recreation room at Shepherd Place when she was struck by a bullet that came through the wall of the building. Family members say they don't think Foster was targeted. After talking with police, Foster's great-niece Amy Mastin told WKYT-TV in Lexington that family members think it was a stray bullet, possibly from a hunter. Foster told the station that the incident scared her, but it takes more than that to keep her down. She was treated and released from a local hospital and says she expects to make a full recovery. Carlisle Police continue to investigate the shooting.
STORM DAMAGE IN EASTERN KENTUCKY...
Emergency management officials are inspecting storm damage in eastern Kentucky. Violent weather struck Pikeville on Tuesday, bringing torrential rain, hail, strong winds and vivid lightning. The heavy rain set off flash flooding in the area. Some people had to be rescued from their cars in the Ashland area. No deaths or injuries were reported and the water receded quickly Tuesday night after the storms moved through. There was an unconfirmed report of a tornado touchdown in the Cannonsburg area. The bridges linking Ashland to U.S. 52 in Ohio were closed for a time after a string of barges broke loose during the storm.
CENSUS DATA FOR KENTUCKY...
New census data shows that changes in the Kentucky population over the last decade mirror that of the nation, with residents becoming older, living in less traditional households, renting rather than owning and becoming more diverse. The numbers made public last week for 13 states were the first in-depth numbers on general population and housing released for the 2010 census. Total population for Kentucky rose to 4,339,357, a 7.4 percent increase. Women in Kentucky tend to be older than men, though the average ages for both sexes increased, with the average age of women at 39.3 and men at 36.7. The median age of Kentuckians increased from 35.9 in 2000 to 38.1 in 2010, according to the figures. Those living in traditional husband-wife households decreased 4.6 percent to less than half the population at 49.3 percent. The number of Kentuckians who rent rather than own slightly increased to 31.3 percent from 29.2 percent. The figures show 68.7 of Kentuckians own their homes, down from 70.8 percent in 2000. Meanwhile, those living in traditional husband-wife households went down 4.6 percent, from 53.9 percent of the population in 2000 to 49.3 percent of Kentuckians in 2010. Non-family households also increased, rising 2.5 percent from 30.6 percent in 2000 to 33.1 percent in 2010.
KSP SHOOTER IDENTIFIED...The Breathitt County man that fired shots at police on Monday was positively identified by fingerprints at the State Medical Examiner's Office yesterday. The individual has been identified as Jeffrey L. Southwood, age 45, of Clayhole in Breathitt County.
Preliminary autopsy results indicate that Southwood died of a gunshot wound to the leg. The investigation is continuing by the Kentucky State Police.
Lyndon Fire Chief Russell Rakestraw told The Courier-Journal the fire district had no choice but to impose the extra fee or reduce services. It becomes the first Jefferson County fire district to add an extra fee for structure fires, though several districts bill insurance companies for services at auto-accident cleanups and vehicle fires.
Officials hope to raise an additional $110,000 through the new charges. Lyndon responded to its budget problems last year by occasionally closing one of its fire stations for 12-hour shifts.
BANKRUPTCY HAUNTS CANDIDATE...
Lexington businessman John T. Kemper III is leading dual lives these days. He's trying to become the Republican nominee for Kentucky auditor while digging out of bankruptcy after a real estate development went bust. Kemper doesn't shy away from discussing the turmoil that may cost him his home and overshadows his campaign. The conservative said earlier this week he realizes his bankruptcy is "big baggage," and voters are being asked to take a chance on him. His campaign website calls for a "debt-free Kentucky." Kemper acknowledges Democrats will have a field day with his financial setbacks if he wins the Republican primary. But he says his bankruptcy has put all his business dealings out in the open. Kemper is running against state Rep. Addia Wuchner of Florence in the Tuesday's GOP primary.
AT&T has announced a $2,500 reward leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for the vandalism of the company's aerial copper telephone cables which have occurred recently in Williamsburg and Pineville. Company officials is working with law enforcement agencies and scrap metal dealers in Pineville and Williamsburg to catch those responsible for several thefts that have occurred in the past several weeks along HWY 190 in Bell County and HWY 904 in Whitley County. The offer expires May 31, 2011. AT&;T urges shop owners, employees and anyone with information on the recent copper thefts to call AT&T Asset Protection at 1-800-807-4205. You can also call the Kentucky State Police (Harlan Post) at (606) 573-3131 or London Post at (606) 878-6622.
FLORIDA "PILL MILL" ARRESTS...
Seven Bath County Kentucky men are in a Florida jail after being arrested last Friday. Police say the group went to a pain clinic in Miami to obtain prescriptions for Oxycodone, Xanax and Hydrocodone and had them filled in Brevard County, Florida. They believe the men were bringing the pills back to Kentucky to sell. After undercover agents received a tip about the men, they immediately placed them under surveillance. Police pulled their two cars over just south of Daytona Beach. During the traffic stop police found 3,000 pills hidden in a cooler and about $10,000 in cash. Arrested were Jeffrey Blankenship, Larry McCarty, Steven Thompson, Mark Butcher, Terry Wills, Barry Pergram and Pierce Gibbs.
ATTORNEY FIGHST DISBARRMENT...
Cincinnati attorney Stan Chesley has asked Kentucky Bar Association officials to delay any disciplinary action against him in connection with his involvement in a case dealing with the diet drug fen-phen. Chesley is fighting a trial commissioner's recommendation that he be disbarred in Kentucky and ordered to return $7.5 million of the $20 million he was paid in fees. He has filed a request that no action be taken until civil litigation in the case is settled. Most recently, the Kentucky Court of Appeals vacated a $42 million judgment against three other lawyers accused of swindling clients in the case and sent the case back to a lower court in Boone County for further proceedings. The three other attorneys have already been disbarred.
PRESERVATION OF AMERICAN STORIES...
StoryCorps' MobileBooth, an organization that works to preserve the stories of Americans, will be parked at the Lexington History Museum for six weeks, starting next week, with a mobile recording studio. The organization has joined with WUKY, the University of Kentucky's NPR station, to collect 180 interviews some of which WUKY plans to air nationally on NPR's "Morning Edition," and all of the interviews, with participant permission, will be archived at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. The opening ceremony is May 19th, with the first interviews of Mayor Jim Gray and a family member and the second interview with Keeneland CEO Nick Nicholson and his brother, Kentucky Horse Park Director John Nicholson.
RECORD SETTING VOTER REGISTRATION...
Kentucky Secretary of State Elaine Walker announced record-setting voter registration at a press conference held in the State Reception Room at the Capitol Building. Previous voter-registration records, set during the General Election in 2008, were surpassed this spring with an increase of 11,028 voters, bringing the Commonwealth’s registration numbers to 2,917,837 voters. At the press conference, Secretary Walker predicted that only approximately 10% of the state’s registered voters would participate in the upcoming primary election. Additionally, Secretary Walker announced improvements to the online election tally system, noting that this year, the number of precincts reporting will be viewable. Finally, Secretary Walker reminded members of the media that they are welcome and encouraged to cover the election process, but that they cannot interrupt the voting process, record the identity of a voter or conduct interviews inside the polling location.
FIRE DEPARTMENT TO CHARGE FEE...
A suburban fire department in Louisville will begin charging a fee to battle most blazes later this summer. Lyndon will charge a homeowner's or business' insurance company as part of a new "cost-recovery" program approved on Monday
POLICE SHOOTER IDENTIFIED...
SENIOR CENTER WOMAN SHOT...
An elderly woman is recovering after being shot in the back at a senior center in Nicholas County during a Mother's Day party.
Eighty-one-year-old Lodema Foster was sitting in the recreation room at Shepherd Place when she was struck by a bullet that came through the wall of the building. Family members say they don't think Foster was targeted. After talking with police, Foster's great-niece Amy Mastin told WKYT-TV in Lexington that family members think it was a stray bullet, possibly from a hunter. Foster told the station that the incident scared her, but it takes more than that to keep her down. She was treated and released from a local hospital and says she expects to make a full recovery. Carlisle Police continue to investigate the shooting.
STORM DAMAGE IN EASTERN KENTUCKY...
Emergency management officials are inspecting storm damage in eastern Kentucky. Violent weather struck Pikeville on Tuesday, bringing torrential rain, hail, strong winds and vivid lightning. The heavy rain set off flash flooding in the area. Some people had to be rescued from their cars in the Ashland area. No deaths or injuries were reported and the water receded quickly Tuesday night after the storms moved through. There was an unconfirmed report of a tornado touchdown in the Cannonsburg area. The bridges linking Ashland to U.S. 52 in Ohio were closed for a time after a string of barges broke loose during the storm.
CENSUS DATA FOR KENTUCKY...
New census data shows that changes in the Kentucky population over the last decade mirror that of the nation, with residents becoming older, living in less traditional households, renting rather than owning and becoming more diverse. The numbers made public last week for 13 states were the first in-depth numbers on general population and housing released for the 2010 census. Total population for Kentucky rose to 4,339,357, a 7.4 percent increase. Women in Kentucky tend to be older than men, though the average ages for both sexes increased, with the average age of women at 39.3 and men at 36.7. The median age of Kentuckians increased from 35.9 in 2000 to 38.1 in 2010, according to the figures. Those living in traditional husband-wife households decreased 4.6 percent to less than half the population at 49.3 percent. The number of Kentuckians who rent rather than own slightly increased to 31.3 percent from 29.2 percent. The figures show 68.7 of Kentuckians own their homes, down from 70.8 percent in 2000. Meanwhile, those living in traditional husband-wife households went down 4.6 percent, from 53.9 percent of the population in 2000 to 49.3 percent of Kentuckians in 2010. Non-family households also increased, rising 2.5 percent from 30.6 percent in 2000 to 33.1 percent in 2010.
KSP SHOOTER IDENTIFIED...The Breathitt County man that fired shots at police on Monday was positively identified by fingerprints at the State Medical Examiner's Office yesterday. The individual has been identified as Jeffrey L. Southwood, age 45, of Clayhole in Breathitt County.
Preliminary autopsy results indicate that Southwood died of a gunshot wound to the leg. The investigation is continuing by the Kentucky State Police.
Lyndon Fire Chief Russell Rakestraw told The Courier-Journal the fire district had no choice but to impose the extra fee or reduce services. It becomes the first Jefferson County fire district to add an extra fee for structure fires, though several districts bill insurance companies for services at auto-accident cleanups and vehicle fires.
Officials hope to raise an additional $110,000 through the new charges. Lyndon responded to its budget problems last year by occasionally closing one of its fire stations for 12-hour shifts.
BANKRUPTCY HAUNTS CANDIDATE...
Lexington businessman John T. Kemper III is leading dual lives these days. He's trying to become the Republican nominee for Kentucky auditor while digging out of bankruptcy after a real estate development went bust. Kemper doesn't shy away from discussing the turmoil that may cost him his home and overshadows his campaign. The conservative said earlier this week he realizes his bankruptcy is "big baggage," and voters are being asked to take a chance on him. His campaign website calls for a "debt-free Kentucky." Kemper acknowledges Democrats will have a field day with his financial setbacks if he wins the Republican primary. But he says his bankruptcy has put all his business dealings out in the open. Kemper is running against state Rep. Addia Wuchner of Florence in the Tuesday's GOP primary.
# posted by Homer Owens @ 12:55 PM 
