EKB News

• After months of undercover work, Friday, Pike County Sheriff Deputies arrested twelve suspected drug traffickers accused of selling cocaine or prescription pills. Social Services took two children into custody after police say Traci Murphy of Virgie was found with drugs in the presence of her children.

The following were arrested:

• Timmy Casey, 44, Phelps
• Christopher Holbrooks, 26, Rockhouse
• Alicia Lee Johnson, 23, Virgie
• Maxwell Mark Tackett, 42, Virgie
• Jodi Ann Taylor, 35, Virgie
• Chris Taylor, 38, Virgie
• Jason Dean Maynor, 31, Virgie
• Traci Murphy, Virgie
• Jamie Ratliff, 39, Regina
• William Johnny Slone, 51, Mouthcard
• Charles Ratliff, 66, Regina
• Phillip West, 68, Coon Creek

• Louisville police say a 21-year-old man wanted in the death of a boy who was hit by stray gunfire has surrendered. Police say Roderick Moss of Louisville is wanted in the shooting death of 3-year-old Davion Powell on May 13. The boy was inside an apartment when shots fired outside hit him in the head, police said. The boy died Monday.  Moss turned himself in at Louisville Metro Police headquarters around 5:20 p.m. EDT.

• A Franklin Circuit judge expects to issue a ruling next week in a case alleging Marathon Petroleum Co. participated in price gouging. Judge Thomas Wingate heard from petroleum experts Thursday who offered contradictory testimony about whether Marathon illegally raised gas prices after an emergency order was issued in April when heavy rains caused widespread flooding.. Attorney General Jack Conway is seeking a court order requiring Marathon to restore prices it charged shortly before the emergency declaration and preventing Marathon from further price increases. Marathon attorney Sheryl Snyder says Marathon's prices aren't set by weather conditions, but by the market.

• Kentucky Education Association members are asking the McCracken County school district to re-evaluate the number of teachers it will cut before classes begin next fall. The board has cut 38 full-time teaching positions and one part-time position. KEA members showed up en mass at Thursday's board of education meeting wearing black clothes and stickers that read "United We Stand," according to The Paducah Sun. McCracken County Education Association president Charlotte Benton told the board that teachers and parents are disappointed at the recent transfers, terminations and non-renewals that left many teachers without jobs. In response, Superintendent Nancy Waldrop said the cuts were necessary due to budget constraints and a reduction in the number of students needing special education. She said the district's actions followed state-mandated staffing procedures.

• Free GED testing in Kentucky will end June 30, but prospective GED test-takers still have time to prepare for and pass the test. Kentuckians taking the test before June 30 will not have to pay the usual $55 fee, which is being paid by Kentucky Adult Education, a unit of the Council on Postsecondary Education. Free GED classes are available through local adult education programs in all 120 Kentucky counties. To be eligible to take the GED, students must first successfully complete the GED Official Practice Test to make sure they are prepared for the actual test. In 10 years, 105,848 Kentuckians have earned a GED, ranking Kentucky 13th highest in the nation in the percentage of non-high school completers earning a GED. On July 1, the test fee will increase to $60 for the full five-part test. The new fee leaves Kentucky well below the $75 national average GED test fee. Official GED test centers receive no state or federal funding. Test centers must operate on the test fees and contributions from their contracting entity – primarily boards of education and community colleges.