• Kentucky's three Republican candidates for governor say sparking the state's sluggish economy is the key issue of their campaign. Republicans David Williams, Phil Moffett and Bobbie Holsclaw told about 200 voters at a political forum in Paducah that creating jobs is a top priority in a state where one in 10 workers is unemployed. The McCracken County Republican Party arranged Friday night's faceoff at the Carson Center. It was the first forum involving all three GOP hopefuls.

• A 41-year-old western Kentucky woman has died after a tractor carrying her and two young children went off the road and turned over in a field. Kentucky State Police say Barbara Byler was driving the tractor east on Kentucky 848 southeast of Trenton in Todd County when she lost control. Police say the tractor then went across the other lane and off the road, turning over onto Byler.  She was pronounced dead at the scene.

• A Jefferson County judge has sentenced a Carroll County man to 15 years in prison in the death of a Louisville woman 20 years ago. The Courier-Journal reports Circuit Judge Charles Cunningham sentenced 48-year-old David Hawkins on Friday. Hawkins had pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter in the beating and strangulation of 52-year-old Karen Goodman.

• Vice President Joe Biden will speak in Louisville next month in a program at the University of Louisville. Tickets are free but are required to attend the talk and are available on a first-come, first-served basis.

• Shuckman's Fish Co. & Smokery Inc. of Louisville is recalling its 8-ounce packages of Mooney's Kentucky Bourbon Cheese and ValuMarket Beer Cheese Spread because they may contain undeclared soy. People who have allergies to soy run the risk of serious or life-threatening allergic reaction if they consume the products. Shuckman's said no illnesses have been reported.

• Governor Steve Beshear today announced an additional $2.8 million in federal appropriations to be allocated to the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). Kentucky’s allotment is part of $200 million in emergency LIHEAP funding announced Jan. 24 by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to help eligible low-income families meet their home energy assistance needs.  Kentucky’s cumulative amount from HHS this fiscal year, combined with carry-forward money from the prior year, is $64 million.

Alpha Natural Resources Incorporated says it's agreed to buy Massey Energy for $7.1 billion in cash and stock. Alpha is offering 1.025 share of Alpha Natural Resources Inc. for each share of Massey, plus $10 per share in cash, representing a bid of $69.33 per share, a 21 percent premium over Massey's closing share price Friday. Alpha will own 54 percent of the combined company and Massey will own 46 percent.



Congressman Nick Rahall wants a review of the U.S. Postal Service's decisions to suspend services at the Hacker Valley Post Office in Webster County and to consolidate operations at the Beckley and Huntington post offices into the Charleston processing and distributions center.



Under a bill reviewed by members of the West Virginia House of Delegates on Friday, police departments would have to report instances of officer wrongdoing to the state. The bill would give the state Law Enforcement Training Subcommittee subpoena powers to look into instances where an officer may need to be decertified.



Kanawha County school board President Pete Thaw says schools cannot reach the state's goal that students should receive 180 days of instruction each year. Superintendent Ron Duerring says the school system has no makeup days remaining after school was canceled Friday, making the 180-day mark.



Former state Lottery Director Butch Bryan was convicted on five counts of federal political corruption charges on September 24, 1993, and sentenced to more than four years in prison and required to pay $120,000 in restitution. Former Supreme Court Justice Richard Neely, a Charleston lawyer, is trying to get the conviction overturned and is asking that the $120,000 be returned to Bryan.

• Prosecutors want the death penalty if they win conviction of a man accused of fatally beating his ex-girlfriend's son. Prosecutor Jonathan Heck the filed notice Tuesday in Jefferson Circuit Court, The Courier-Journal reported. He says in the filing that Johnny Juliot's extensive criminal history is the aggravating circumstance that makes him eligible for the death penalty if convicted in the death of 4-year-old James Anthony "Tony" Hack.

• An eastern Kentucky woman has died after a crash involving a loose horse on a roadway. WKYT-TV cites emegency workers in reporting details of the accident Friday morning in Estill County. The station reports the horse was running loose on Richmond Road when it was hit by two vehicles. The crash killed a woman in one of the vehicles. The horse also died.

• Police in western Kentucky pursued a traffic law violator, at times at high speed, for three hours before catching him. During the pursuit in the Paducah area, school bus drivers were told to park their buses for the safety of the students.

• A Federal Bureau of Prisons official says a former student convicted of hacking Sarah Palin's private e-mail account isn't eligible to serve his yearlong sentence at a Knoxville halfway house. The Knoxville News Sentinel reports that in an unusual move, Bureau of Prisons head Jose Santana told U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Phillips by letter that David Kernell has three years of college and the support of his family. The official said the halfway house space is needed by inmates who have limited skills, resources and community support.

• A Breathitt County jury has convicted a man of killing his neighbor in a shootout. The guilty verdict to one count of murder and three counts of wanton endangerment was returned Thursday against William Caudill, reports WYMT-TV in Hazard. Randall Carpenter was killed and Caudill was seriously wounded in the August 2009 shooting.

• Newly released information by a national group that represents anti-domestic violence coalitions says organizations across Kentucky served more than 1,000 people during a one-day survey last year but weren't able to meet the needs of nearly 100 more people. The National Network to End Domestic Violence survey was conducted Sept. 15, when 1,114 adults and children received services from local organizations in Kentucky. The Kentucky Domestic Violence Association says in the same 24 hours, 248 emergency hotline calls were answered, and 94 requests for services were not provided. The group says most of the unmet requests were due to lack of funding.

• A Louisville couple has sued the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Louisville, contending she was fired for complaining about a priest who was removed from ministry. The lawsuit filed by Gary and Margie Weiter of Louisville alleges that the archdiocese violated its own policies on responding to sexual abuse. She contends a priest who had allegedly been sexually abusive was living at the parish and circulating among children without supervision and that she was fired when she complained.

• The owner of a western Kentucky convenience store is facing charges after police say he was selling bath salts containing a banned chemical.  It is the first time a person has been charged under a Ballard County ordinance banning the sale of the powders being sold as bath salts. Across the nation, emergency calls are reporting overexposure to stimulants the powders often contain, popularly known as MDPV.

• A trio of Republican gubernatorial candidates faced off in a political forum in downtown Paducah.  It was the first faceoff between all three GOP hopefuls -- state Senate President David Williams, Louisville businessman Phil Moffett and Jefferson County clerk Bobbie Holsclaw.  Holsclaw joined the race earlier this week. The winner of the matchup will likely face incumbent Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear, who has no primary opponent, and independent candidate Gatewood Galbraith, a Lexington lawyer. The primary is set for May 17.

• Chris E. Coats of Chapmanville, in Logan County, has been charged with malicious wounding after police say he stabbed Michael Conley, also of Chapmanville.  Coats told police Conley had pulled a pistol on him before he stabbed Conley.

• Massey Energy General Counsel Shane Harvey has pubicly disputed MSHA's preliminary assessment of the deadly April 5th Upper Big Branch explosion, blaming worn bits, missing sprayers and coal dust. Harvey said, during a media briefing Friday, that Massey continues to believe an inundation of natural gas fueled the explosion.

• Officials have identified the miner killed at the Baylor Mining Jim's Branch 3A Mine near Pineville Thursday as 19 year old John C. Lester Jr. of Wyoming County. Lester was a red hat miner, which means he was still training.

• Timothy Scott Carter, 35, of Sissonville, was arrested Friday on five felony counts of possession of child pornography from Kanawha County, two felony counts of third-degree sexual assault in Putnam County and misdemeanor charges of domestic battery and violation of a protective order in Kanawha County.

• Anthony Patrick Cole, 19, of Huntington, has been charged with the murder of Dashawn Gilbert who was found shot to death in a Huntington apartment Wednesday.

• Larry Hayes of South Charleston was in court Friday asking for a bond reduction after being charged with child abuse causing death in connection with the October death of 18-month-old Rebecca McDaniel. His request was denied, and a trial was set for June 6th.

• An audit of Mountain Water District, a Pike County water and sewer public works, released  by State Auditor Crit Luallen found that its management contract with Utility Management Group had a “detrimental impact” on MWD.  According to the audit, the MWD board entered into its original contract with UMG in 2005 through a questionable procurement process with no public board discussion and no examination of the contract terms – which resulted in costly management fees and conflicts of interest. The district, which is the largest in Kentucky with a management contract, has paid UMG more than $36 million in fees from 2005 to June 2010. Luallen said the audit, requested by the Pike County Fiscal Court, would be referred to the state attorney general's office and the state Public Service Commission.

• Pike County Judge Steven Combs has voided Elkhorn City's mayor general election results, removing newly elected Mayor Mike Taylor from office and declaring a new election. Former mayor Billy Powell who lost re-election in November and Attorney Steve Owens alleged there was evidence precinct workers at the Upper Elkhorn precinct let people who did not live in city limits vote in the mayor's race.

• The Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, some law enforcement officials and former Lt. Governor Steve Pence are opposing a bill in the General Assembly that would require a prescription for cold medicines containing pseudoephedrine, a key ingredient in making methamphetamine. The group says the plan would increase health care costs and create a burden on legal users, while moving a law enforcement issue into the medical profession, where it can least be handled.

• Out of 109 nursing homes in Kentucky checked by state inspectors during the third quarter of last year, 18 percent, or 20 nursing homes, had 10 or more deficiencies. The average number of deficiencies for nursing homes in Kentucky is six. Forty-two had more than six deficiencies, and four had no deficiencies.

• After about an hour of deliberation, a jury convicted Billy Caudill on four charges including murder. Prosecutors say he fatally shot his neighbor, Randall Carpenter, in August 2009. The jury recommended 20 years in prison for murder and five years for each of three counts of wanton endangerment when Caudill is sentenced February 11th.

• Police are attempting to locate 28 year old Joshua Sowders and 24 year old Laurel Brittany Napier of Corbin after the Laurel County Grand Jury indicted them on 10 counts of sodomy involving two kids, ages three and four.

• Unemployment rates fell in 84 Kentucky counties between December 2009 and December 2010. Fayette and Woodford counties recorded the lowest jobless rates at 7.5 percent each. Magoffin County recorded the state’s highest unemployment rate at 18.8 percent.

• Kenton County District Judge Ken Easterling in Covington sharply criticized the Cabinet for Health and Family Services while presided Wednesday at a hearing for 26 year old Megin Gray whose 9-month-old daughter died after becoming wedged between a mattress and a wall, atop a baseboard heater. Easterling  said Family Services had six contacts with Gray before the infant's death, but did not remove the baby or two other children from the home.

• A judge in Louisville has sentenced a homeless, deaf man to two consecutive life terms without parole in two murder cases. The sentence was imposed Wednesday on Jeston Murray.  Murray was convicted in the beating death of Darrell Spencer in December 2008 and the fatal stabbing of Marcus Penny in January 2009.

• Bullitt County officials are investigating apparent anti Ku Klux Klan graffiti spray painted on two high schools. The images show a hooded figure that has been hanged. The graffiti appeared three times at Bullitt Central and Bullitt North high schools and has been painted over. Eric Farris, the school district attorney, says the image is hateful, regardless of who is portrayed by it.

• A scary situation for some airline passengers in Virginia. Lightning struck a US Airways commuter plane as it began its landing approach at Lynchburg airport yesterday. The plane was arriving from Charlotte. Thirteen passengers and three crew members were on board. The pilot reported engine failure, but managed to land the plane safely.

• Nearly a decade later and there is still no sign of a Floyd County man and now police are again asking for the public's help to find him. Michael Keith Allen was last seen in the Langley community at the end of May in 2001. Police are now putting up flyers in the hope of generating new information.

• A northern Kentucky man convicted of killing his infant daughter has been sentenced to 15 years in prison. Boone Circuit Judge James R. Schrand on Wednesday followed a jury's recommendation when he sentenced 32-year-old Benjamin Senseman. It was the maximum penalty he could have received after being convicted in December of manslaughter and criminal abuse.

• The state Mine Safety Office says a coal miner died Thursday afternoon at Baylor Mining Company's Jim's Branch underground mining operation in Wyoming County. The death marks the first coal mine related death in the state this year.

• An officer with the Charleston Police Drug unit was was taken to Charleston Area Medical Center General Thursday afternoon after being shot in the hand while attempting to serve a warrant  at a home on Bard Avenue in St. Albans. Cash and Oxycodone were allegedly taken from the home during an invasion on January 23rd.

• Environmental group Coal River Mountain Watch is suing Massey Energy, claiming Massey's Marfork Coal subsidiary is dumping untreated water from its White Queen mine into a tributary of the Marsh Fork of the Big Coal River, putting iron, manganese and other pollutants in the water.

• James Smith who pleaded guilty to a series of 2010 burglaries at Shawnee Park has been sentenced to five consecutive one- to ten-year sentences, the first to be spent in prison, the second on home confinement, and three suspended. Smith is to spend five years on probation, pay $15,000 in restitution and stay off county park property.

• West Virginia State Police hit the streets in Boone County Thursday morning, arresting 18 people indicted in a copper theft ring that netted the suspects more than $100,000 and resulted in more than 160 charges. Police say Curtis Adkins of Route 3 Recycling was caught on tape buying copper he was told was stolen.

• Charleston Police say, when they responded to a fight late Wednesday night, they found Steve Worth and Phillip Smith injured, one stabbed. Both will be charged with malicious wounding.

• Jesse Moore of Charleston faces up to 25 years in prison when sentenced in March for first degree sexual abuse. Moore pleaded guilty to forcing his four year old son to perform oral sex on him. A psychiatric evaluation will be done before sentencing to determine if Moore's likely to be a repeat offender.

• Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee passed legislation setting June 20th as the date of a primary election for governor. County clerks across the state have asked for the primary to be held in May, but two Democrat House Delegates say they favor political party conventions as the means to nominate candidates.

• Zachary Jones, the son of Charleston Mayor Danny Jones, was arrested Monday on heroin possession charges.

• The Mine Safety and Health Administration said Thursday it issued 288 citations during impact inspections at 17 mines last month in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Indiana and Wyoming...up from 250 citations at 22 mines in November.

• DuPont in Belle has hired Jim O'Connor as its new manager and plans to hire 150 new employees to replace retirees expected to leave in the next few years. O’Connor, who joined DuPont in 1981, has experience in plant management and safety.

• Calvin Clements, a Mount Olive Correctional Facility inmate serving multiple life sentences for the double murder of Paula Jo Gray, 17, and Belinda Harper, 20, of Wheeling in 1981, died Monday in prison.

• Jermaine Charles Lawrence of Ohio was charged with nighttime burglary and possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver Wednesday night after allegedly trying to break into the home of Fayette County Deputy W.K. Willis while possessing a large amount of cocaine, marijuana and cash.

• A project to widen Island Creek in Logan County is under way. The $5.8 million flood reduction project was awarded to Spencer contractor Heeter Construction, Inc. of Roane County.

• House Bill 2865, introduced Wednesday, would create a new legal holiday, making November 20th Robert C. Byrd Day. Byrd died June 28, 2010 at the age of 92 after serving as a U.S. Representative from 1953 to 1959 and as a U.S. Senator from 1959 until his death.

• Nitro Mayor Rusty Casto says payroll funds for the city were mistakenly taken out of the payroll account and put into accounts receivables just before the January 25th scheduled payday, placing more than $750,000 in accounts receivable but not enough in the payroll account to keep 17 payroll checks from bouncing.

• Huntington Police are investigating after the body of 23 year old Dashawn Gilbert was found shot to death inside a Huntington apartment building Wednesday afternoon.

• Mason County Sheriff's deputies searched a house in Leon Wednesday morning and found one pound of marijuana, cocaine, prescription pills, drug paraphernalia, money and 27 guns plus ammunition. No arrests were made during the raid, but police are searching for Stephen Winter.

• Eight community health centers in West Virginia have sued the state over Medicaid reimbursements. They say improper reimbursements have created financial hardships and put patient care at risk. The lawsuit asks a judge to order the state to immediately pay the proper rates as outlined by federal law.

• The West Virginia Citizen Defense League has filed lawsuits challenging city ordinances in an effort to overturn city gun control laws in Charleston, South Charleston and Dunbar that forbid firearms in a number of city properties, including courthouses, city hall and the Charleston Civic Center.

• Senator Joe Manchin has been selected to serve on three committees, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, the Senate Armed Services Committee and the Senate Special Committee on Aging.

• David Startzell says he'll step down as leader of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy in Harpers Ferry at year's end after serving 25 years, leading the group that maintains the 2,175-mile trail which runs through 14 states, from Maine to Georgia.

• Acting Senate President Jeff Kessler has introduced a bill to the judiciary committee in Charleston which could help victims who are mentally injured during a crime that happens at work get worker's compensation.

• In a survey of 1,105 West Virginians, Public Policy Polling found Representative Shelley Moore Captio beats out Democratic candidates Acting Governor Earl Ray Tomblin, Secretary of State Natalie Tennant, state Treasurer John Perdue and House Speaker Rick Thompson. But Capito says she not running for governor. The next most popular candidates were Tomblin and Tennant.

• With blood drives called off as harsh winter weather keeps repeating itself, the American Red Cross region that covers eastern Kentucky is short about several hundred units of blood. The organization has put out a national appeal for donors to help make up the deficit, and officials say they're responding.

• The Keeneland Library has been awarded a grant to help preserve collections of work by photographer Bert Morgan and caricaturist Pierre "Peb" Bellocq. The library says the National Endowment for the Humanities Preservation Assistant Grant will buy preservation supplies to properly house the collections while they are inventoried and assessed.

• Officials in Bellevue are considering passing a law to try to keep bedbugs from spreading once warmer weather arrives. The Bellevue City Council will consider a proposal that would require people setting out for trash collection any furniture that is infested with bedbugs to cover it with plastic.

• Voters in a south-central Kentucky precinct will decide in March whether to allow sales of wine at Park Mammoth Resort. Edmonson County Fiscal Court at its meeting Monday set the special election for March 29. The county is dry.

• Police in western Kentucky are investigating the death of a 14-month-old girl found in a 5-gallon bucket of bleached water. Fulton Police Chief Terry Powell says the child was in the care of a baby sitter while the mother worked when discovered in the kitchen of a residence Monday night.

• Edmonson County officials plan to order the county clerk to repay more than $21,000, the amount the state auditor says the clerk's office overspent on salaries. Edmonson County Attorney Greg Vincent says the auditor's office found the problem about four months ago in County Clerk Larry "Butch" Carroll's budget.

• A group of high school students in western Kentucky is working to build and program a robot so they can compete in a national competition. It is the first time students from Calloway County High School and Murray High School have teamed together to compete in the For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology Robotics Competition.

• A judge has indefinitely postponed a trial that would have determined Comair's negligence in an August 2006 plane crash in Lexington that killed 49 people. U.S. District Judge Karl Forester earlier this month ordered that no new date be set for the trial, which was scheduled for Feb. 1. Forester granted the delay at Comair's request so the company may file a motion to end the punitive damages portion of the case.

• A plea bargain by a Tennessee man has resolved a DUI crash case in which a soft drink company driver was killed near Murray. James P'Poole entered a guilty plea Monday to second-degree manslaughter in a 2009 crash that killed Donny G. Houston of Camden, Tenn. The 22-year-old P'Poole is from Clarksville, Tenn. Police said P'Poole's truck sideswiped the Pepsi-Cola truck being driven by Houston, causing it to run off of U.S. 641, strike a tree and catch fire.

• With a scandal-free term in office and $3.5 million raised for his re-election bid, Governor Steve Beshear has drawn no serious opponent in the Democratic primary election. Only Harlan County scrap metal dealer Otis Hensley, a perennial candidate whose best showing was 3 percent of the Democratic vote in 2003, has said he intends to enter the race.

• The Big Blue Slam is now underway presented by the Kentucky Blood Center.  It's a competition between the state and Florida to see who can donate the most blood.  All donors receive a free T-shirt and are eligible to win a trip for two to the SEC Tournament in Atlanta. The package includes lower arena tickets for all sessions and a three night stay at Atlanta Downtown Marriott. The Donor Center in Pikeville is open Monday through Friday...9a-7p.

• Several inches of snow fell Wednesday in some parts of Kentucky. About 3 to 5 inches fell in western Kentucky, with 1 to 2 inches in the northeast and 1 to 3 inches in the southeast. The Lyon County sheriff's department says 46 year old Charles Sivells died after he got out of his pickup after losing control on the ice-covered road on Interstate 24, then was hit about five minutes later when a second pickup went out of control.

• Kentucky State Police are investigating after they say Tabitha Slone was shot Tuesday on Ogden Branch Road, outside Hindman in Knott County. Police believe Bart Slone shot her before turning the gun and fatally shooting himself.

•  Wednesday, Senate Leader Mitch McConnell filed legislation he says will save taxpayers $617 million over 10 years by ending partial federal funding for presidential campaigns. McConnell says unused funds could be returned to the U.S. Treasury to reduce the deficit. Wednesday, the House approved a measure eliminating the checkoff box on income tax returns allowing people to dedicate $3 to the Presidential Election Campaign Fund.

•  A civil lawsuit filed against actress Suzanne Somers has been dismissed. Louisville businessman and attorney John Shannon Bouchillon claimed he wasn't told the truth before or after making a $400,000 investment in Suzanne's Kitchen, a store he opened in late 2006 in Lexington but closed a few months later. Somers testified her name and likeness were used to promote the store, but the company was run by former Kentucky Governor John Y. Brown.

• Elbert Adams, 69. died Wednesday morning after his pickup truck collided head on with an SUV on a snowy road in Somerset in Pulaski County.

• Former Cumberland Drug Pharmacy owner/pharmacist Ernie Watts and former part owner/pharmacist Rodney Stacey have agreed to pay the U.S. Government $10,000 each for failing to report the theft of nearly 70,000 prescription pills which were missing from the pharmacy between December 2005 and October 2007. Law requires that a pharmacist notify the DEA within 24 hours of a theft.

• Laurel County Sheriff's Deputies arrested Jasper McQueen and his wife, Winifred McQueen, after investigators searched a home about three miles north of London and found more than 100 one-step meth labs and 54 generators, making it the largest meth seizure in the county to date.

• Science scores for Kentucky's fourth and eighth graders on the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress topped national averages.

• Jeanette Pridemore and Jacob Pridemore, the wife and son of retired Fayette County Detention Center employee Randy Pridemore, has filed a federal lawsuit alleging the city, its jail, the police department and several city employees are to blame for his suicide last September. Pridemore was arrested following a domestic dispute with Jeanette Pridemore.

• Passport Health Plan’s main contractor, AmeriHealth Mercy Plan, has agreed to pay more than $2 million in damages to the Kentucky Medicaid program to settle a fraud investigation. Attorney General Jack Conway says a whistleblower reported that AmeriHealth falsely reported data to the state on the number of Medicaid recipients who received cervical cancer screenings in 2009. The false numbers allowed AmeriHealth to receive more than $677,000 in bonus money under the terms of its contract.

• A Franklin County judge has denied pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca's request for a new trial in a case in which it was ordered in October 2009 to pay $20.5 million over inflated prescription drug prices for Medicaid reimbursements. Attorney General Jack Conway's office said Wednesday that civil penalties amounted to nearly $5.4 million, with another $396,000 in interest. AstraZeneca spokesman Tony Jewell said the Wilmington, Del.-company disagrees with the verdict and will push for a reversal.

• Former University of Kentucky basketball star Jamal Mashburn, who also played 13 years in the NBA, called Wednesday for state lawmakers to approve a proposal that would gradually raise the minimum dropout age from 16 to 18. Legislation under consideration in Kentucky would increase the minimum age for legally quitting school to 17 in 2015 and to 18 in 2016.

• The Obama administration's own experts say proposed new coal mining regulations to protect streams would trim production to the point that 7,000 of the nation's estimated 80,600 coal mining jobs would be lost. The rules are supposed to replace Bush-era regulations.

• Republican U.S. Senator Rand Paul has filed legislation calling for a full audit of the Federal Reserve. The bill, co-sponsored by Senators Jim DeMint of South Carolina and David Vitter of Louisiana, would remove restrictions now in place that prevent the Government Accountability Office from conducting Federal Reserve audits.

• In West Virginia, the Nicholas and Clay County Commissions declared countywide state of emergencies Wednesday as heavy wet snow fell faster than Department of Highways crews could clear roadways across the state and several accidents were reported.

• The FBI announced Wednesday it will offer an undisclosed, financial reward for information leading to the identity, arrest and/or conviction of the man who robbed the Pea Ridge branch of the City National Bank last Thursday. Anyone with information should call the FBI’s Huntington Violent Crime Drug Task Force at 304-525-4741 or the Cabell County Sheriff’s Office at 304-743-1594.

• Bonnie Jean Bain of Belle, a former BB&T teller supervisor, has been indicted on 26 counts of embezzlement which occurred between May 2004 and October 2007. If convicted, she could be sentenced to 30 years in prison and $1 million fine on each count, along with restitution.

• U.S. Senators Jay Rockefeller and Joe Manchin, both D-W.Va., have signed on to the Robert C. Byrd Mine and Workplace Safety and Health Act aimed at improving safety in coal mines and other workplaces by providing measures, including protections for whistle blowers and allowing miners to speak freely during investigations.

• Massey Energy has presented a $1.5 million check to the Raleigh County Board of Education which will be used in the construction of the new Marsh Fork Elementary which is expected to be ready for students and faculty by fall 2012.

• Anthony Kosela, 30, of Charleston, has been arrested after Kanawha County Deputies found materials and equipment consistent with operating a meth lab at his residence on Falcon Drive.

• Nitro Police have arrested Kimbar-Lee D. Hughes,27, and Edward L. Moore, 23, and charged each with gross child neglect creating a substantial risk of bodily injury. The couple had previously been arrested and charged with operating a meth lab.

• State regulators have fined Go Mart Inc. $12,000 for wastewater violations at a truck stop and fueling station in Putnam County. They say the truck stop violated its water pollution control permit four times between January 2008 and March 2010.

• Thomas Manns Jr. of Peytona, in Boone County, has been sentenced to home confinement and a two-month stint in rehab after he left his 8-month-old son in a bathtub with a 2-year-old on October 25, 2006 and returned to find him drowned.

• The Cabell County School system has implemented a School Messenger Service in each district which can reach 20,000 parents in five to 10 minutes, alerting them about inclement weather and other emergency situations.

• John Strader, 36, of Canvas, in Nicholas County, has been arrested after witnesses and sheriff's deputies say they saw him digging up a grave at the Garrett Family Cemetery on Fenwick Mountain.

• Attorney General Darrell McGraw has filed a lawsuit against DirectBuy Inc., alleging it engages in unlawful, coercive, deceptive, and high-pressure sales practices. The lawsuit says DirectBuy coerced consumers by offering free trial offers, guaranteeing free gifts and offering a variety of other promotions it failed to honor, but, instead, DirectBuy focused on selling expensive club memberships.

• U.S. Senator Jay Rockefeller says President Barack Obama's State of the Union speech sent the right message to West Virginians, saying emphasis on investment in infrastructure investment is the right way to reduce unemployment.

• In response to President Barack Obama's State of the Union Address, Representative Shelley Moore Capito says she'll be interested to hear more about Obama's plan calling for 80 percent of all electricity to come from clean energy sources by 2035. Capito praised the plan when Obama said,  "If a bill comes to my desk with earmarks inside, I will veto it."

• Houston, Texas-based McJunkin Red Man Corp. branch offices in Nitro and Hurricane are being consolidated as about 14 employees in Nitro will be transferred to the office in Hurricane. The consolidation doesn't affect the company's 13-acre pipe yard in Nitro. McJunkin distributes oil and natural gas pipe and valves.

• The House of Delegates has voted to pass a law defining a public record under West Virginia's Freedom of Information Act as any writing prepared or received by a public body, if its content or context relates to the public's business. The other measure passed would exempt certain Division of Juvenile Services records from FOIA.

• The one percent occupational tax for the City of Huntington has been declared constitutional by Bob Bastress, a WVU constitutional law professor.The city's tax reform plan has been on hold since last September, but city leaders plan to take the new findings before the Home Rule Board before the next scheduled meeting on March 17th. 

• Tuesday, Appalachian Power began mobilizing more than 350 workers from outside its service area to assist crews in southern West Virginia and southeast Virginia ahead of a winter storm expected to possibly cause widespread damage to electrical facilities.   

• Keival Lewis Kelly, also known as “Swell,” will be sentenced May 2nd after pleading guilty to distributing crack cocaine in Huntington on September 23, 2008.  

• Twenty-two year old Joseph Duffield of Milton faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine after  pleading guilty to passing counterfeit money at fast food restaurants in the Milton and Barboursville areas of Cabell County.

• Wesley Earnest, a former Virginia high school principal, has been sentenced to life in prison plus three years for the December 2007 shooting death of his estranged wife, former West Virginia University  women’s basketball player Jocelyn Earnest. 

• Stephen James Mahnken, a former Winfield veterinarian, was arrested at Thomas Memorial Hospital after the nursing staff noticed someone dressed as a physician acting suspiciously and officers found some "bizarre" items in a patient's room. Mahnken has been ordered to stay away from the hospital.

• "Coal," a Spike TV series featuring the Westchester mine in McDowell County is set to premiere on March 30th. Nine more one-hour episodes will air each Wednesday.

• George Jeffrey of South Charleston has been found not guilty of malicious wounding after police say he stabbed Jeremy Pullen and Robert Peters in 2009. Jeffrey still faces charges after being arrested earlier this month for allegedly holding up the Speedway along Corridor G with a shotgun.

• WorkForce West Virginia Acting Executive Director Russell Fry says West Virginia's unemployment compensation fund could be insolvent by March unless legislators approve a bill that would take $20 million from the state's Rainy Day Fund. Fry says the money would be paid back within six months.

• Construction has begun on a facility along Old Logan Road in Logan County which will soon serve as a new office housing the two Logan State Police detachments.

• The Huntington City Council has voted unanimously to ban synthetic marijuana throughout the city, making  it a punishable offense to carry or smoke it. West Virginia lawmakers are consider legislation to ban sells of synthetic forms of marijuana and cocaine.

• State officials have told West Virginia lawmakers they're proceeding with plans to implement changes to the state's health care system as Congress debates repealing last year's overhaul. Supporters warn that small businesses, seniors and children are among those who would lose out if it's repealed.

• The West Virginia Senate and House have agreed on a bill which restores language allowing the Parole Board to limit their hearings to every three years for inmates serving life with mercy.

• Acting Governor Earl Ray Tomblin has introduced legislation that would set a gubernatorial primary election for West Virginia Day. which is June 20th.

• A new West Virginia University study for the gas industry says economic activity linked to drilling in the Marcellus shale field created 7,600 jobs and almost $298 million in wages and benefits in the state in 2009.

• Republican Delegate Larry Kump says he knows his bill to let Berkeley, Morgan and Jefferson counties vote to secede from West Virginia and rejoin Virginia will likely fail, but it has gotten people to think about the state's economic challenges.

• Senator Joe Manchin has joined other senators in an effort to repeal a provision in the Affordable Care Act signed into law by President Barack Obama in 2010 requiring businesses, charities and other organizations to file 1099 forms for expenditures totaling at least $600.

• The Huntington City Council has set new spending limits for Mayor Kim Wolfe that will require him to get the council's approval before making purchases exceeding $7,500, down from the limit of $15,000. Wolfe is considering vetoing the new ordinance.

• A public meeting is scheduled Wednesday, Feb. 9, at Pikeville College to discuss the U.S. Postal Service’s proposal to move some mail processing operations to Charleston, W.Va.

• An electronic medical record system is being implemented by U of L Physicians in Louisville as more than 500 health care professionals will be able to access records covering nearly 225,000 patients in the Louisville area.

• Voters in Kentucky this year not only get to choose among the candidates running for office, but they also can help pick the slogan that will be used to encourage them to vote. Anyone can vote in the contest by visiting http://www.sos.ky.gov/sloganpoll by Feb. 11.

• A state highway in western Kentucky has been reopened after a tractor-trailer truck carrying livestock drifted off the right edge of Highway 339 near the Fancy Farm community of Graves County.

• An Alabama law firm has filed a lawsuit claiming that Taco Bell is using false advertising when it refers to using "seasoned ground beef" or "seasoned beef." The lawsuit does not seek monetary damages, but asks that Taco Bell be honest in its advertising.

• The National Archives says 78-year-old Thomas P. Lowry of Woodbridge, Va., a longtime Abraham Lincoln researcher, has confessed to tampering with a Presidential pardon so he could claim credit for finding a document of historical significance.

• Jacob Allen Conder, a former youth minister already convicted of sex abuse, has pleaded guilty to four more counts in Daviess Circuit Court, adding three years to a one-year sentence received in December in Letcher County.

• Effective immediately and through the rest of the flu season, the Pike County Health Department's flu vaccinations will be free of charge and  available on a walk-in basis.

• After five days of battling the latest winter storm, highway crews of the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) today completed the job of clearing roadways of snow and ice.

•  On Monday, January 31, KY 292 in South Williamson a flood gate will be closed between the hours of 10 a.m. and 12 noon so that a trial closure exercise can be performed at the trolley flood gate.

• A Pikeville City Commission special called meeting will be held today at Pikeville City Hall meeting room.  The meeting will start at 4 pm.  The meeting will be held at City Hall 118 College Street, Pikeville, KY, 2nd floor meeting room.

• Prestonsburg High School Senior and basketball player, 18 year old Warren Blackburn, is due in court on February 2nd after police charged him with trafficking marijuana in a Hardee's parking lot, within 1,000 yards of school property.

• Emir Dadanovic, a Bosnian war refugee from Indianapolis, has been sentenced to life in prison after being convicted for heading a drug ring which supplied cocaine from connections in Mexico to dealers in six states, including Kentucky.

• Christopher Andrew Minks has been arrested after police say he broke into Mountain Clinic Pharmacy in Hazard and stole several pills. Shana Renee Spencer was charged with public intoxication, and Brian David Smith was arrested for possession of a controlled substance in connection to the stolen pills.

• Kentucky State Police continue to investigate after a hunter came upon a campsite on Johnson Road in Fleming County Sunday and found military gear, including a live hand grenade.

• Lexington Mayor Jim Gray says he will appoint a task force in the next two weeks to conduct a study to determine the feasibility of redesigning and renovating Rupp Arena and the Lexington Center. The study will be financed by private donations.

• U.S. Senator Rand Paul has unveiled his proposed "Cut Federal Spending Act of 2011" plan to cut $500 billion in federal spending over one year. Paul says, by rolling back to 2008 levels and eliminating the most wasteful programs, we can still keep 85 percent of our government funding in place.

• Officials say 43 year old Teddy Allen Belcher of Albermarle, South Carolina, the driver of a West Atlantic tractor trailer who was found dead in his truck on the side of Interstate 64 in Louisville Tuesday morning, apparently had a pre-existing heart condition.

KENTUCKY....

Meanwhile, President Barack Obama called abortion a constitutional right he's committed to protecting. He said the Roe v. Wade decision affirmed what he called a "fundamental principle: that government should not intrude on private family matters.

KENTUCKY....
State inspectors visited the Golden Years Rest Home in Jenkins in Letcher County on December 8, 2010, finding a number of issues ranging from improper medication storage to filthy bathrooms. The inspector noted medications were not stored properly, while cans of ant and roach spray were stored in the same cabinet with resident medications, other medications that require regulation were stored in a broken box that was corroded with rust, and  some medications found in a refrigerator were shown to be expired. One expired in 2008. In the bathroom, they found one commode soiled with feces and one urinal soiled with urine, both left unflushed and dirty. The shower and shower curtain were dirty and stained with a black and green substance. State Inspector General Mary Begley says officials at the home will have to come into compliance with their regulations.

KENTUCKY....

KENTUCKY....
An arraignment is scheduled for January 31st for Clay County Deputy Jailer William Sizemore. Police arrested Sizemore on January 15th for harassing communications and fourth-degree assault after he allegedly assaulted his girlfriends 17 year old daughter five days earlier. Both charges are misdemeanors.

KENTUCKY....

KENTUCKY....
Bonds have been reduced for four people charged in connection with the May 2009 death of 20-month-old Kayden Branham, a Wayne County toddler who died after drinking drain cleaner out of a sippee cup.
Larry Branham and Wesley Bell have been released, while bond was also lowered for Danny Ray Anderson and James Hunt. Two other people, Bryan Daniels and Alisha Dicken, are also charged in the case.

KENTUCKY...
Communities around Kentucky will be counting the numbers of homeless people this week.

The counts are conducted by the Kentucky Housing Corp., and the results are used to show the need for housing and services for homeless people in each community. The Housing Corp. says results also help determine how much the federal government will award for homeless programs.

This year's count will take place on Thursday, starting at midnight and continuing until 11:59 p.m. local time.

Last year, the total number of homeless people counted in Kentucky was 6,623.

KENTUCKY...
Fixing Wolf Creek Dam will take more time and money than earlier thought.

One spot in the nearly- 4,000-foot-long earthen part of the dam is proving difficult to repair.

A contractor began work 18 months ago to seal off seepage at the dam, which impounds Lake Cumberland in southern Kentucky. Should the dam fail, it would cause the Cumberland River to flood downstream into Tennessee, threatening cities including Nashville.

Corps of Engineers project manager David Hendrix says that where the earth dam meets a concrete section, a concrete barrier wall must be poured within the dam.

Hendrix says the work will go slower and the price is expected to go up. The Corps doesn't have a new cost estimate or completion date.

KENTUCKY...
The deadline is almost here for candidates who want to run for statewide office to get their names on the ballot.

KENTUCKY...
Kentucky school students who work to save energy or make schools more energy efficient could receive $800 grants to pay for the projects.

The Kentucky Green and Healthy Schools program funds may also be used to reduce school waste, conserve water or plant trees.

The program is administered by the Kentucky Environmental Education Council using stimulus funds.

The Education and Workforce Development Cabinet says that since the program began in the fall of 2009, 17 grants have been awarded.

For more information, visit the Kentucky Green and Healthy Schools website at http://www.greenschools.ky.gov.

KENTUCKY...
U.S. Rep. Geoff Davis has introduced a bill that would require Congress to vote on federal regulations that would have an economic impact of at least $100 million.

The bill is called the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny Act, or REINS. Along with Davis, fellow Republican Congressmen Brett Guthrie of Bowling Green and Hal Rogers of Somerset are among the 86 co-sponsors.

The measure didn't move in the last session with a Democratic-majority House.

Critics say it is another way Republicans could try to derail health care and financial reforms, among other government regulations.

WEST VIRGINIA....
Three bills have been introduced in the West Virginia House of Delegates that would exempt guns and coal from federal regulation if both are produced and used in the state. Both bills are based on the premise that the federal government’s authority to regulate goods stems only from its constitutional power to regulate interstate commerce, so if the goods don’t leave West Virginia’s borders, the government has no jurisdiction. All three bills are what are sometimes referred to as “10th Amendment” laws. Eight states, including Tennessee, have passed “Firearms Freedom Acts” exempting state-made firearms from federal regulations, according to The 10th Amendment Center, which promotes the legislation. West Virginia would be the first to attempt the same thing with coal if the bill becomes law. Delegate Gary Howell, R-Mineral, is the lead sponsor of the coal and gun bills.

WEST VIRGINIA....
Thirty-six year old Michael Duane Lacy of St. Albans pleaded not guilty to sexual assault Monday in Kanawha County Circuit Court after being accused of impregnating an 11 year old girl. According to police, the victim was a friend of Lacy's daughter and frequently spent the night at Lacy's apartment. The incident allegedly occurred in mid-May. Lacy told police at the time that he did not intentionally have sex with the girl, but he woke up to someone kissing his neck and thought it was his wife. His bond is set at $50,000. His trial is scheduled for March 2nd.

WEST VIRGINIA....

WEST VIRGINIA....
Scott Phalen, 51, of Charleston was arrested Sunday on charges of sexual abuse and sexual assault. The alleged victim, a 6 year old female family member, told Charleston Detective D.S. Paxton that Phalen would crush Adderal pills with a hammer then snort them, consume alcohol and watch pornographic movies while she was at his home. She says Phalen would come into the bedroom where she was sleeping and touch her inappropriately, and he sometimes would climb on top of her and smother her with a pillow while touching her.

WEST VIRGINIA....

WEST VIRGINIA....

WEST VIRGINIA....
West Virginia is opening its 14th drug court. The drug court will serve residents of Hampshire, Hardy and eventually Pendleton counties. Drug courts offer community-based treatment programs for nonviolent offenders who suffer from abuse or addiction problems. The program is an alternative to sentencing an offender to a state prison.

WEST VIRGINIA....
A fugitive from Florida turned herself in to Kanawha County sheriff's deputies last  Friday. Deputy D.A. Cadle responded to a call at the Exxon gas station in Big Chimney and discovered Linda Haines, 63, upset and crying. Haines told the deputy she was wanted in the state of Florida. A check of computer records showed that Haines has been a fugitive since 2009 on a Florida fraud charge. Haines told Cadle she had been living in West Virginia for the past two years because she was wanted in Florida. She was taken to South Central Regional Jail, where she awaits extradition.

WEST VIRGINIA....
Huntington Officer Ronnie Lusk is on adminstrative leave following a shooting Saturday morning. Mitchell Dunn, 51, a man accused of firing at police in Huntington early Saturday morning has been arraigned on charges of attempt to commit murder and wanton endangerment. His bond was set $210,000 cash. His next court appearance is set for February 2nd. Dunn was shot on his porch by a Huntington police officer after he allegedly opened fire on police. Huntington Police Chief Skip Holbrook says officers were responding to a report of gunshots fired on Washington Avenue when Dunn came out onto his porch with a firearm and fired a round in their direction. Lusk returned fire and struck Dunn in the leg and shoulder. Officer Lusk was involved in another shooting in November 2009, in which he shot and killed Joe Porter in the Babylon nightclub in Huntington. After a lengthy investigation, Lusk was found to have followed protocol.

WEST VIRGINIA....
St. Albans Police are investigating a case where several men, carrying guns and pepper spray, allegedly broke into a home on Bard Avenue early Sunday morning. Dispatchers received a call at 3:21 A.M. that two or three men, wearing ski masks and pretending to be police officers knocked on the front door of the home and then pepper sprayed the man who answered. Once inside, they ordered everyone to lie on the floor and demanded money and Oxycontin pills. Several pills were taken from the home. At some point during the incident, one of the men fired a gun. Investigators later recovered a bullet at the scene, but no one was hit, and no one suffered any serious injuries.

WEST VIRGINIA....
West Virginia University police are investigating the unattended death of 38-year-old Michael R. Morisette of Morgantown, a Health Sciences Center employee who was found dead in a lab office around 1:30 P.M.
on Saturday. Morisette, an Assistant Professor of Exercise Physiology in the School of Medicine, joined the staff in December 2008. WVU Police Chief Bob Roberts said they do not suspect foul play at this point of the investigation, but are waiting on details from the State Medical Examiner’s Office to make a final determination.

KENTUCKY....
Acting on a tip, Williamsburg Police executed a search warrant at a residence behind the Williamsburg KFC Sunday, where they found evidence relating to the Friday night robbery of the Williamsburg Arby's along with an amount of marijuana consistent with personal use. Police arrested four people at the residence. Ted R. Shickell was charged with first-degree robbery. Joshua Hatfield, an Arby's employee, along with Michael L. Lebanion II and Kristina M. Sito were charged with facilitation to first-degree robbery.

KENTUCKY....
Kentucky State Police charged 35 year old Jason Edward Singleton in the death of his wife, 25 year old Angela Frazer Singleton. Angela Singleton was reported missing on Monday. Her car was found burning on I-75 in Fayette County. On Wednesday, her body was found in a field off Tattlers Branch Road in Madison County. Singleton was arrested Thursday by Somerset police following a hostage situation in which Singleton held four people at gunpoint for about 15 minutes at a Pulaski County business. Friday, he was charged with her murder. Singleton faces charges in Pulaski County related to the hostage situation and murder charges in Madison County.

KENTUCKY...

Winter is still lingering, but one local PRIDE committee is already planning several events for the upcoming year. Pike County PRIDE (Personal Responsibility in a Desirable Environment) Clean Community Board is seeking volunteers and donations for roadside litter cleanup events and educational initiatives for local schools.

Director Jimmy Dale Sanders said approximately $6,500 is needed to continue the nonprofit organization’s educational program, which was funded last year through a collaboration of several organizations in Pike County. Funds are also needed to purchase supplies for cleanup events, he said.

The educational program provides an environmental instructor who travels to schools throughout the county to talk to students about environmental stewardship and the importance of keeping communities clean.

PRIDE volunteers have been doing just that locally. Since Sanders took the director’s seat in Pike County 11 years ago, he’s overseen the cleanup of approximately 300 illegal dumps in Pike County.

Officials still find an occasional small, illegal dump, he said, but most of the major, illegal dumps are no longer a problem.

KENTUCKY....

KENTUCKY...

Pennington was lodged in the Floyd County Detention Center.

KENTUCKY....
Republican Bobbie Holsclaw, of Louisville, where she has been elected county clerk four times, said Sunday she plans to enter the governor's race. Holsclaw says she and Bill Vermillion, a retired Navy master chief from Caneyville who will be her running mate, will file candidacy papers on Tuesday. Holsclaw interviewed several potential running mates in recent weeks before settling on Vermillion, a political newcomer who teaches military science at a Louisville high school. Her entry makes the GOP primary a three-way race. State Senate President David Williams and Louisville businessman Phil Moffett, a tea party candidate, have already filed to run. Democratic Governor Steve Beshear has only one opposing primary candidate, Harlan County scrap metal dealer Otis Hensley, who plans to officially enter the race before the Tuesday evening filing deadline. Independent candidate Gatewood Galbraith, a Lexington lawyer, also is running.

KENTUCKY....
Under a bill pending in the Kentucky General Assembly, hospitals in Kentucky would be required to report all infections acquired by patients during their stay in the facility to state officials. Senate Bill 72, filed last week by Senator Denise Harper Angel, D-Louisville, would also require all hospitals to implement infection-prevention programs. Harper Angel says the cost of infections acquired during hospital stays is staggering, but Kentucky Hospital Association Vice President Nancy C. Galvagni says the measure duplicates a requirement by the federal government, and adding another system of reporting would be burdensome, and there is no need for a new state mandate which would only add additional, unneeded costs on Kentucky's hospitals and state government. Harper Angel and backers of the measure say the federal reporting requirements have not stopped hospital-acquired infections which has caused as many as 1,400 deaths a year in Kentucky. Hospitals would also have to implement infection prevention programs for acute care areas such as surgical and intensive care units. Facilities that fail to report would first get a citation but would be fined up to $1,000 a day for a second violation in six months and a fine of $20,000 for three or more violations within six months.

KENTUCKY...
When Neil Brown got high on dangerous chemicals sold as bath salts, he took his skinning knife and slit his face and stomach repeatedly.

Brown survived, but authorities say others haven't been so lucky after snorting, injecting or smoking powders with such innocuous-sounding names as Ivory Wave, Red Dove and Vanilla Sky.

Some say the effects of the powders are as powerful as abusing methamphetamine.

Mississippi lawmakers this week began considering a proposal to ban the sale of the powders, and a similar step is being sought in Kentucky. In Louisiana, the bath salts were outlawed by an emergency order after the state's poison center received more than 125 calls in the last three months of 2010 involving exposure to the chemicals.

Authorities say the chemicals can cause hallucinations, paranoia, rapid heart rates and suicidal thoughts. The chemicals are in products sold legally at convenience stores and on the Internet as bath salts and even plant foods. However, they aren't necessarily being used for the purposes on the label.

KENTUCKY...
Kentucky State Police Post 13 in Hazard received a 911 call of an injury accident
on Ky-15 in the Carr Fork community of Knott County.
Preliminary investigation indicates that a commercial vehicle operated
by Calvin Turner age 47 of Birmingham, Alabama was traveling in reverse
in the northbound lane.

A passenger car operated by Christopher L. Collins age 34 of Viper, Ky. was traveling North in the northbound lane. Collins was approaching the commercial vehicle and was unable to stop
and avoid the collision due to weather conditions and slick roads. Mr.
Collins's vehicle struck the truck causing fatal injuries. Collins was
pronounced deceased at the scene by the Knott County Coroner. The
investigation is continuing by Tpr. Brandon Thomas and Tpr. Jonathan
Sizemore.

KENTUCKY...

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