- On May 19th, Millard Thornhill's home on Route 292 in Pike County caught fire. When the fire was out, Thornhill's body was found inside the home. The medical examiner has not released how Thornhill died and the exact cause of the fire is still being investigated, but police say 41 year old Jeffery Lowe and 44 year old Randy Thomas are responsible for the murder and robbery, with robbery being the motive. Thornhill's family says there are vehicles and other items missing from the property. Lowe and Thomas are in the Pike County Detention Center with no bond.
- Starting Wednesday, Kentucky police officers, under a new law, will issue citations rather than make arrests for dozens of misdemeanors, as long as they believe the suspect is no danger to himself or others and will appear in court to answer to the charge. The law also reduces some felony drug charges to misdemeanors that require citations rather than arrest, such as second-degree possession of a controlled substance. The Attorney General's Office confirmed that police can still make arrests for misdemeanors crimes such as alcohol intoxication, shoplifting, animal cruelty or torture and for other misdemeanors in cases where a suspect disregards an officer's instruction or is a danger to themselves or others. Court and law-enforcement officials say they hope the new law will ease jail crowding.
- Justin L. Jones, 29, of Corbin was pronounced dead at the Baptist Regional Medical Center in Corbin early Saturday morning after police say his motorcycle crashed at a high speed at the Corbin-Barbourville exit on Interstate 75. Police say the motorcycle struck a guardrail, ejecting Jones, who was wearing a crash helmet.
- Residents of Ballard, Daviess, Henderson, Lawrence, McLean and Pike counties may be eligible for unemployment assistance if they lost work or had their businesses damaged because of severe weather that started April 22nd. The Kentucky Office of Employment and Training says farmers and self-employed people may also qualify, even though they normally aren't eligible for unemployment insurance benefits. The deadline to apply is July 5th. Applications can be filed at local unemployment offices.
- Alice and Heather Stambaugh, a Johnson County mother and grandmother, entered not guilty pleas Friday to charges of manslaughter following the death of Heather's infant son who died in November of 2010 from overdosing on medication. Last month, Alice Stambaugh said she did nothing wrong. They are expected to be back in court July 1st.
- The estate of 54 year old Dean Ferguson, a Lexington man who collapsed and died of a pulmonary embolism while held at the Fayette County jail has sued the county and others for ignoring his medical needs. Estate administrators claim "egregious and unjustifiable treatment" by nurses Karen Hodge and Stephanie Travis led to Ferguson's death last year. Ferguson was serving time on the weekends after a driving under the influence conviction when the lawsuit claims he began to experience chest pains and shortness of breath before collapsing, and his medical needs were ignored until he collapsed again the next morning. The nurses have since been placed on limited/probated status for three years following an investigation by the Kentucky Board of Nursing.
- The Kentucky Lottery Corp. board is forecasting record sales of $813 million for the 2011-12 fiscal year that starts July 1st. The record for ticket sales was $810.5 million in 2008-09. Lottery president and chief executive officer Arch Gleason says the lottery is also forecasting significant sales from a new online game that will be introduced. The new budget also forecasts a return of nearly $220 million to the state treasury, including nearly $211 million for scholarships, grants and higher education and programs and $9 million in unclaimed prizes for the Kentucky Educational Excellence Scholarships reserve fund. The comparable figures for the current year are $200.5 million for the state scholarships, grants and higher education program and $7.7 million to the education scholarship reserve fund from unclaimed prizes.
- Six bears are being placed in strategic places around Harlan County, but the painted animals should be easy to spot. Artists and students are creating bear statutes, which will be painted before being placed around the community. The Cumberland Tourist and Convention Commission Director Tracey Bailey says the project is funded by a $10,000 grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission. Art students at Harlan County High School were entrusted with painting some of the bears will represent aspects of life in the community. One will be designed like a quilt, while others will be painted with a coal theme, shapes of the different communities in Harlan County, a patriotic bear, a traditional black bear, with teeth and eyes painted, along with one where students at Cumberland Elementary School will place their handprints.
# posted by Homer Owens @ 10:27 PM