Wednesday, July 06, 2011
EKB Capsule News...Kentucky...7-7-'11
A parade took place Wednesday afternoon as NASCAR truck trailers traveled through Lexington heading to Sparta for this weekend's Quaker State 400, Kentucky Speedway's first Sprint Cup race. Many trucks and haulers lined up outside the Walmart in Hamburg Pavilion, before the parade. Just after noon, the trucks rolled out onto Winchester Road. They then traveled through downtown, and finally back onto the interstate at Newtown Pike.
- Preliminary statistics indicate six people died in six separate crashes on Kentucky's roadways during the official July 4th Independence Day holiday period, which began at 6:00 P.M. Friday, July 1st, and ended at 11:59 P.M. Monday, July 4, 2011. Four of the fatalities involved motor vehicles and two of those victims were not wearing seat belts. The motor vehicle crashes occurred in Daviess, Calloway, Oldham and Pike counties. Two crashes involving motorcycles occurred in Pike and Spencer counties. Through July 4th, preliminary statistics indicate 321 people have lost their lives on Kentucky roadways during 2011. There were 258 motor vehicle fatalities. Twenty-seven pedestrians have been killed. Twenty-four fatalities involved a motorcycle, 1 involved a scooter, 9 involved an ATV and 2 involved a bicycle. A total of forty-nine fatalities have resulted from crashes involving the suspected use of alcohol.
- A repeat impaired-driving offender has been charged with murder after causing a wreck in Floyd County. Kentucky State Police say, while traveling on State Route 979 near Ligon Tuesday evening, 37 year old Malen Mitchell, Jr. of Beaver crossed the center line and hit a car driven by Judith Blankenship, also of Beaver. The impact caused Blankenship's car to go left of center, where it was hit by an oncoming SUV. A passenger in Blankenship's car, 22 year old Tiffany Adams, was pronounced dead at the scene. Mitchell fled the scene but was later caught on Osborne Branch in Ligon. Mitchell was arrested and taken to the Floyd County Detention Center charged with one count of murder, one count of driving under the influence, one count of driving under a suspended license and one count leaving the scene of an accident. Mitchell pleaded not guilty and is being held without bond. Visitation for Adams starts Thursday night at the Greasy Creek Freewill Baptist Church in Pike County, and her funeral is Saturday at 1:00 P.M. at the church. Police say Judith Blankenship and Jennifer Newsome were also injured.
- During a hearing Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Pikeville, Darrell B. Patrick of Salyersville, a former school teacher at North Magoffin Elementary School in Magoffin County, was ordered to forfeit 87 guns to the federal government after admitting the guns were used to further his prescription pill trafficking activities. Patrick pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, distributing a controlled substance, and possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance. According to his plea agreement, starting in August 2009, undercover investigators with Operation UNITE bought Oxycodone tablets from Patrick on several different occasions. During an October 2009 search of Patrick’s residence, authorities confiscated firearms and a small amount of Oxycodone tablets. Patrick faces a minimum of five years on the firearm offense and a maximum of 20 years on the drug offense when sentenced in October.
Sarah Melton, a Perry County woman accused of shoting her brother, Bill Couch, and fatally shooting his girlfriend, Cindy Caudill, in the Browns Fork community of Perry County last week, has pleaded not guilty. Couch was flown to the UK Medical Center for treatment and has been released. A preliminary hearing is set for July 12th.
- Franklin Ross of Johnson County pleaded guilty to assault and other charges Tuesday, admitting he beat a woman with a chair and then stabbed her repeatedly last October. Paintsville Police called it one of the worst crimes they had ever seen. Officials say Ross has agreed to a 10 year sentence, and will be formally sentenced on August 5th.
- MSHA has released a preliminary report into a fatal mine accident which took the life of 49 year old David Partin who was hit in his head and chest on a dolly after a roof and wall collapse at Manalapan's P-1 Mine last Wednesday in Harlan County. The report says Partin was alive when he was found by his co-workers, but stopped breathing shortly after reaching the surface of the mine. Partin had sixteen years of experience in the mines and had been working in the P-1 Mine for ten months.
- A federal judge has ordered that 62 year old Harold Carmical Jr., an accused con man suspected of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from investors in Pulaski County and elsewhere, be detained without bail until his trial in August. Carmical, a native of Harlan County, is charged with wire fraud, mail fraud and interstate transportation of stolen property. Investigators say, while living in Pulaski County in the summer of 2006, Carmical allegedly gained the trust of a number of people through activities, including those with whom he attended church, and promised them big returns if they gave him money to invest for them but spent their money on casino trips, trips to Hawaii and big-ticket items including vehicles and a travel trailer. Carmical, who broke off contact with the investors in early 2008 and left the area, was arrested in California in May and later brought back to Kentucky to face the charges.
- The current contract between the Service Employees International Union and Highlands Regional Medical Center workers, including service, maintenance, technical, and clerical employees, in Floyd County is set to expire at midnight July 9th. Contract negotiations are ongoing, and Highlands COO Chris Hoffman says he is confident an agreement will be reached before the deadline.
Kentucky State Police Sgt. Brian Evans, who oversees the detachment assigned to the state Capitol and other government buildings in Frankfort, says 15 additional officers will be added to Capitol security by early September, bringing the total to 55, a 37 percent increase. The additional officers, who will have starting pay of about $2,000 a month, will undergo a two-week training program at the state police academy before reporting for duty. The action comes more than a year after Governor Steve Beshear and other elected leaders reported a rash of threatening calls and letters from the anti-government group Guardians of the Free Republics, demanding that they resign or be removed. Investigators said they feared that a broad call for removing state officials could have inspired violence. Several other Kentucky political leaders, including Attorney General Jack Conway, also received threats after Congress last year passed the federal health care overhaul. And more than 100 protesters, some carrying guns, rallied last year at the state Capitol in an effort to persuade Conway to join other states in filing a lawsuit to stop federal health care reforms. State police documented 53 instances in which visitors carried guns into the Capitol during the last regular legislative session.
# posted by Homer Owens @ 11:45 PM 
