Sunday, June 12, 2011
EKB Capsule News...Kentucky...6-13-'11
- Robert Branham, 37, of Louisa, was reported missing by his wife Laura Branham at 6:00 P.M. Saturday. Laura told Kentucky State Police she had received a text message from Robert’s cell phone saying, “Your man has gotten exactly what he deserves, he is at the mouth of 645, sorry for your loss." Kentucky State Police discovered his cell phone was actually “pinging” in the area of Torchlight Road, near KY 645, prompting KSP and other agencies to search for Branham. According to a press release, Branham saw his name on a newscast, contacted the KSP and agreed to meet with Detective Ben Cramer and a Post 9 Pikeville Trooper at Danco Fuels in Johnson County to let them know he was alive and well. Kentucky State Police met with Branham at Danco around 1:30 P.M. Sunday. When troopers met with Branham they found he had an outstanding Boyd County traffic warrant. He was arrested by the Post 9 Trooper and taken to Big Sandy Regional Jail. The incident is still under investigation.
- The public and locally elected leaders are invited to an informational and organization meeting of The Jenny Wiley Trail Conference at 7:00 P.M. Tuesday, June 14th, at the Jenny Wiley State Park Lodge. Steve Barbour, executive director of the Jenny Wiley Trail Conference will outline the plans for resurrecting the trail and its return to National Recreational Trail status. The Jenny Wiley Trail was first designated as a National Recreation Trail by the Department of the Interior on July 29, 1980 but it has gone unsupported since the early 1980's when the state suspended its funding. Traversing more than 180 miles from South Portsmouth in Greenup County to the lodge at Jenny Wiley State Park in Floyd County near Prestonsburg, this neglected trail system is still in use by local groups along some sections where evidence of shelters and blazes remain.
- Kentucky plans to speed traffic toward the inaugural Sprint Cup race in the state by stopping a half-dozen construction projects along Interstate 71/75 during the weeks around the race. The Quaker State 400 is set for July 9th. Kentucky Transportation Cabinet spokeswoman Nancy Wood says nearly all the work being done as part of the $91 million Revive the Drive-NKY project will be halted from June 30th to July 12th. Kentucky Speedway General Manager Mark Simendinger says halting the work will be a huge assist to the track as it handles what it expects to be a crowd of more than 100,000.
- Jeffrey A. Runyon, from Franklin Furnace, Ohio, was arrested Sunday after undercover sheriff's deputies in Boyd County, Kentucky say they purchased Oxycodone from him near the Kyova Mall in Ashland. Prescription medication and money were seized during the arrest.
- A Tompkinsville man accused in a federal vote fraud case has pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Owensboro. Billy Proffitt admitted on Thursday to conspiring with his uncle Tony Gumm and four other Monroe County residents to elect Gumm for county magistrate in the 2006 election. Proffitt's plea agreement says the group instructed voters to cast absentee ballots. They also accompanied voters into the voting booth to mark their ballots during the general election. Vote-buying allegations against Proffitt were dropped under the agreement. Defense attorney Jim Deckard says he hopes Proffitt will receive probation and be able to put this behind him. He is scheduled for sentencing on September 14th in Bowling Green. Prosecutors have recommended a five year sentence and $250,000 fine.
- The estate of a nursing home resident who choked to death is accusing employees of falsifying documents. The Cabinet for Health and Family Services issued a citation to the Johnson Mathers Nursing Home in Carlisle on May 10th regarding the 2010 accident. Both the citation and the suit claim that nurse Joyce Fulton saw Lorrine Wheeler choking on food but left her alone and spent 15 to 20 minutes cleaning a dirty suction machine. The nurse eventually suctioned Wheeler but was unable to clear the food. She then notified other staff she thought Wheeler was dead. The nursing home has asked the court to dismiss the lawsuit, filed in Nicholas County Circuit Court.
- An Owensboro police officer was injured after he said a driver dragged him and tried to run him over. Officer Jeremy Mulligan was at home when he heard a vehicle doing burnouts Friday. After he approached the vehicle and identified himself as a police officer, driver Anthony Palmiero put the car in reverse, hitting Mulligan with the open door and dragging him a short distance. Mulligan then pushed off the vehicle and was crawling away when the 21-year-old Palmiero swerved toward him and a passerby who was helping him. Palmiero was charged with assault, wanton endangerment, fleeing, DUI, resisting arrest and driving on an expired license.
# posted by Homer Owens @ 9:23 PM 
