EKB News

• Teach for America will recruit 30 teachers to eastern Kentucky next school year to try to close the achievement gap between Appalachia and the rest of the state. The organization will hire an additional 30 teachers for each of the following two years and make efforts to expand its presence in the region. Teachers will apply for open positions in Floyd, Knox and Martin counties, organizers announced Thursday at a news conference attended by Education Commissioner Terry Holliday and Lt. Governor Daniel Mongiardo. Executive Director Will Nash said a decision whether to hire Teach for America teachers in Whitley county schools will be determined next week. First lady Jane Beshear, a former teacher, applauded the effort in a video statement.

• Clayton Jackson could face the death penalty after being convicted for the murders of three Leslie County children. Listening to opening and closing statements and witness testimony in the beginning of the penalty phase for Jackson Thursday, a Clay County jury heard pleas from both sides involved. The jury will receive instructions from Judge Oscar Gayle House Friday morning and hear closing statements from the defense and prosecution. They will deliberate until a sentence is passed.

• The Red Cross is stepping in to help Floyd County tornado victims who are cleaning up and looking for new places to live after their homes were damaged or destroyed when an EF-1 tornado touched down on Smokey Branch Road in Teaberry Monday. The Big Sandy Red Cross Chapter is accepting donations to help the storm victims, while other agencies are planning to help them get a new home and belongings.

• Twenty-three year old Larry Brewer and 36 year old Sonya Jones, both of Bulan, in Perry County, are facing theft charges after Hazard Police caught the two stealing merchandise from K-Mart at Town and Country Plaza. Brewer and Jones admitted to five other thefts. Police recovered around $450.00 worth of stolen items from the back of their vehicle.

• Wiley M. Smith has filed a lawsuit against several officials alleging he was injured while in custody of Corbin Police and in the Whitley County Detention Center. Corbin Mayor Willard McBurney, Corbin Police Chief David Campbell, Whitley County Judge-Executive Pat White Junior, and Whitley County Jailer Kenneth Mobley are named in the suit along with three police officers and a deputy jailer.

• Kayem Pharmaceutical in India that supplied sodium thiopental, a key lethal injection drug, to at least one U.S. state and reached out to a half dozen others announced Thursday it was no longer selling the drug to American prison officials. Mumbai-based Kayem says it made the decision to refrain in selling the drug where the purpose is purely for lethal injection and its misuse because it cherished the “ethos of Hinduism. Nebraska announced in January it had acquired 500 grams of the drug from Kayem, and a company salesman said he also sold the drug to South Dakota prison officials. A spokeswoman for the South Dakota attorney general said the state bought 500 grams for $5,000 but wouldn’t say what company the state purchased the drug from.

• Kentucky has a new license plate, this one celebrating the 75th anniversary of Keeneland. First lady Jane Beshear unveiled the plate Wednesday in Lexington. The track opens its spring meet on Friday.  The green-and-white plate is available at local county clerk offices by taking current registration, proof of insurance and the previous license plate. The cost is $39. Beshear said the plate helps promote a "distinct part of Kentucky's identity" and said the track "encompasses all that is Kentucky: horses, beauty and hospitality."

• After being closed for five weeks, a western Kentucky ferry that connects Kentucky and Missouri has reopened. The Dorena-Hickman Ferry had been closed since March when Mississippi River floodwaters covered the Kentucky landing. The ferry connects Kentucky 1354 at Hickman with Missouri Route A and Route 77 near Dorena, Mo. The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet says Missouri and Kentucky are the only border states not directly connected by a road, and the ferry is the only direct route between the two states. The ferry resumed normal service on Tuesday

• Kentucky appears to be a moderately peaceful place, according to an index put together by the Institute for Economics and Peace. The group released its 2011 Peace Index on Tuesday. It ranks Kentucky 20th, better than all the states that border it, except West Virginia, which finished 18th. Tennessee was nearly last, finishing 49th with Louisiana 50th. Maine was ranked the most peaceful state. The index is based on five indicators: number of homicides per 100,000 people, number of violent crimes per 100,000 people, number of jailed population per 100,000, number of police officers per 100,000 and availability of small arms. The Institute for Economics and Peace says it is an independent research institute founded in 2007 to improve understanding of what creates peace and its economic effects.

• Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway's office says that a public agency responsible for overseeing $13 billion in assets to provide benefits for state and county retirees must publicly disclose employee salaries.Kentucky Retirement Systems refused to honor state retiree Eva Smith-Carroll's request for its "current payroll records" under the Kentucky Open Records Act. Mike Burnside, who is the executive director of KRS, says there was ambiguity in releasing the information because KRS members are protected from public record releases and many employees are KRS members. He said the ruling clarified the question and the board will make a decision  about making records publicly available online. KRS reserves the right to appeal the case to Franklin County Circuit Court.

• A Kentucky man has died after being choked in a fight with another man in Oak Grove. First responders found 22-year-old Terry Lee Yocum face-down and unresponsive early Monday. He was taken to Blanchfield Army Community Hospital at nearby Fort Campbell, Ky. and then transferred to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville. He died about 4 p.m., according to The Leaf-Chronicle of Clarksville, Tenn. Police say Seneca Demingo Moore told officers he and Yocum were fighting and he put the victim in a sleeper hold until Yocum passed out. Moore was arrested on an assault charge and was held in lieu of $25,000 bond Wednesday morning at the Christian County Jail in Hopkinsville. 

• A band with eastern Kentucky ties is getting national attention. Several songs from "Cumberland River" were heard on the hit FX series "Justified" during Wednesday’s show. The band has roots in Harlan County. Many in the community came out to show their support for the group during a community viewing of the show. According to their website, the band's upcoming new project will include songs written by the band and their family members taken from their life experiences and campfire stories from Harlan County.

• A Louisville man is accused of breaking into a home with his 3-year-old son in tow. Shively homeowner April Harris says she spotted an unfamiliar gold Cadillac in her driveway when she got home Tuesday shortly before noon. She then found her flat-screen TV, an Xbox, games and movies on her back porch. Harris said Green walked out of her home with the toddler and told her he was looking for a man who owed him money and had the wrong address. He left and Harris called 911. Green pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to burglary and endangering the welfare of a minor. His next court hearing is on April 18. Police said the 3-year-old is staying with a relative.

• During Wheeling Jesuit University's 4th-annual Mining Health and Safety Symposium at the Charleston Civic Center, Davitt McAteer, a longtime safety advocate who leads an independent team of experts, said Thursday the U.S. coal industry needs to adopt more effective dust-control measures and comprehensive monitoring for explosive gases to avoid disasters like the one that killed 29 miners at Massey Energy's Upper Big Branch Mine. McAteer also said criminal mine-safety statutes need to be broadened and federal regulators need to abandon closed-door investigations after major accidents. McAteer said, "Disasters are not an inevitable part of the mining cycle. We can mine coal safely." Former Governor Joe Manchin appointed McAteer to perform the review after the April 5, 2010, explosion. McAteer said his team would release its report within a few weeks. McAteer says Congress should pass legislation making it a felony for anyone to "subvert the inspection system" by warning workers or mine management that government inspectors are on their way to a mine or headed underground. He also outlined other recommendations at the meeting.

• Kanawha County's Prosecutor Mark Plants is making changes in his office as it prepares to try the Kanawha Sniper case. Plants said Wednesday his office will move people and furniture to accommodate those working on the case and the seven and a half years' worth of evidence that comes with it. Assistant prosecutors Maryclaire Akers and Don Morris, who primarily handle felony and homicide cases, will be assigned exclusively to the case against Shawn Thomas Lester, the 35-year-old Charleston resident charged in the 2003 sniper-style shooting of Jeanie Patton.

• Southern West Virginia Community and Technical College has broken ground on a $6 million addition at its Williamson campus. College officials say the 25,000-square-foot Applied Technology Center will train students for future jobs and try to enable them to complete state license exams on campus. Completion of the center, next to the main campus building, is expected in August 2012.

• Twenty-four year old Raymond Stoumile of Beckley, a suspected shooter on the run for three months, was arrested earlier this week. Stoumile is charged with attempted first- degree murder and wanton endangerment in connection with the January 28th of 24 year old Anthony Johnson. Police say Johnson was shot in the chest after a fight at Club Phoenix in Mabscott. Stoumile's preliminary hearing is scheduled for April 13th. He's free on a $75,000 bond.

• Trial began Wednesday in Upshur County Circuit Court for Misty Dawn Wimer Linger, a Buckhannon mother charged with child neglect resulting in death. Her 3-year-old son was pronounced dead at St. Joseph's Hospital. Police say Linger called 911 in May 2009 after finding her son in a car outside her home with the windows rolled up. After opening statements, the judge allowed the jury to visit Linger's home so they could consider whether the statement she gave police was plausible.

• Putnam County Deputies have charged Joyce Midkiff of Hurricane with malicious wounding after she shot her ex-husband James Midkiff at a residence on Scary Creek Road Thursday morning. According to the criminal complaint, Midkiff says she and her ex-husband started fighting after she found text messages from other women in his cell phone. Joyce Midkiff allegedly asked her ex-husband for a .22-caliber pistol that had belonged to her stepfather, which James threw onto a dresser. Joyce Midkiff told Putnam sheriff's deputies that she got the gun off the dresser, her ex-husband turned her around to face him and she shot him in the chest. Midkiff was taken to Charleston Area Medical Center General Hospital, where he was under evaluation late Thursday afternoon. Joyce Midkiff was placed on a $100,000 cash bond.

• Richard Taylor was transported to Charleston Area Medical Center General Hospital Thursday after being stabbed at a residence on Witcher Creek Road in Belle. Fifty-four year old Jennings Hancock was charged with malicious wounding after Kanawha County Sheriff's Deputies say he stabbed his neighbor with a pocketknife as he was trying to get into his car following an argument. Hancock was placed on a $25,000 bond.

• Kanawha County Deputies arrested Odie Lee Reveal, 51, of Rand, Wednesday after searching his Midland Drive residence and finding 4.2 pounds of marijuana, 120 Valium pills and 36 OxyContin pills, valued at more than $22,000, as well as $2,700 in cash. Reveal was charged with felony possession with the intent to distribute. Deputies went to his home to serve a family court warrant.

• Two men lost appendages in two separate accidents when they were struck by trains Thursday in Huntington. Huntington police say 20 year old Matthew Corrigan was hit by a CSX train near the Hal Greer Boulevard underpass about 3:30 A.M. Police believe a domestic dispute may have prompted Corrigan to run toward a moving train. Officers do not believe Corrigan was involved in the dispute. Corrigan was taken to St. Mary’s Medical Center, where he was listed in critical condition Thursday evening. Authorities say he lost fingers in the accident. A 22 year old man is expected to recover after his arm was severed when he was struck by a train about 6:30 P.M. Huntington Police Sgt. John Williams says the man appeared to be jumping trains on the CSX train tracks over the 20th Street underpass near 8th Avenue when he was struck by a westbound train. Authorities were able to locate the “remains of the arm” a few hundred feet west of the incident.

• Charleston Police charged Kanawha County resident Shawn Lester last week for the August 2003 sniper shooting death of Jeanie Patton. The criminal complaint alleges Lester told a friend he shot Patton because she and her boyfriend stole a vehicle engine stuffed with meth supplied by Mexican national Gilberto Cruz Lopez, also known as Tito. Court documents show Lopez was indicted along with his brother Jaime Lopez in October 2008 for allegedly selling 500 grams of cocaine and 50 grams of a drug, which included a mixture of meth, from 2002 to October 2003. Federal charges against Tito and his brother were dismissed by a federal judge in March 2010 without prejudice, which means they could be filed again. Tito Lopez was also named in a November 2003 arrest warrant in Kanawha County for allegedly stealing an ATV, but he was never arrested.

• Congress voted 88-12 Wednesday to reject a proposal sponsored by U.S. Senator Jay Rockefeller to stop the federal Environmental Protection Agency from regulating emissions from coal-fired power plants. Another proposal concerning EPA also died Wednesday. Legislation sponsored by U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell R-Ky, which would have prevented EPA from enforcing any regulations regarding greenhouse gas emissions died on a 50-50 vote. Rockefeller's proposals would have been limited to only two years, while McConnell's would have been indefinite. U.S. Senator Joe Manchin voted for both proposals, saying he believes it is fundamentally wrong for any bureaucratic agency to go around the will of the people and try to regulate what lawmakers have not legislated. EPA is expected to begin implementing new regulations next year.

• A city agency approved a street-closing plan Wednesday that will allow Yeager Airport to lop off the top of Coal Branch Heights and improve the flight path for planes taking off from the airport. Airport Director Rick Atkinson asked members of the Municipal Planning Commission to close A Street and Ox Street, plus a series of paper streets and alleys -- all on Coal Branch Heights, the hill southwest of the airport. The Federal Aviation Administration has already set aside grant money to acquire property for the project, , including three homes in the disturbance zone and four next to it. The others are undeveloped vacant lots. One of the larger property owners, has not signed any agreements yet. Yeager officials also hope to obtain FAA funding for construction -- an estimated $15 million.

• About 1,000 judges and lawyers will descend on The Greenbrier for a judicial conference in June -- but they won't be gambling in the resort's new $80 million underground casino. The Greenbrier will close the casino during the three-day conference at the request of the event's sponsor, the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals. It will be the only time the Casino Club has shut its doors -- other than Christmas Day -- since opening last July.

• Work has started on a project to reduce flooding in the Island Creek basin in Logan. Heeter Construction Inc. of Spencer was awarded a $5.8 million contract for the project's initial phase. The entire project will create an 80-foot-wide channel along 3,600 feet of Island Creek upstream from its confluence with the Guyandotte River. Several major floods have occurred in the creek basin in the last few years.

• More than 17 percent of West Virginia’s 1.8 million residents rely on Medicaid for health care. Families USA, a health care advocacy group, said Thursday that, among the states most dependent on Medicare and Medicaid, West Virginia stands to lose $16 billion over the next decade under a Republican plan for the federal budget. Deputy Executive Director Kathleen Stoll estimated during a Wednesday interview that between half and two-thirds of the state’s Medicaid budget covers nursing home, community-based and in-home care for around 40,200 West Virginia seniors who receive these and other Medicaid services that Medicare does not provide. Stoll says, if West Virginia continues its Medicaid program, they will have about 33 percent less federal support to do the program. West Virginia draws down around $2.80 in federal Medicaid funds with every dollar it provides from its own revenues. The new state budget that kicks in July 1s includes $2.05 billion in federal funds for Medicaid, an amount roughly equal to half the main, general revenue portion of the budget.

A Clay County Circuit Court jury on Wednesday found 30-year-old Clayton Jackson guilty of murder and arson in the deaths of 4-year-old Michael Sturgill, 3-year-old Robert Sturgill and 18-month-old Jordan Sturgill in 2004 in Leslie County. The jury deliberated for about eight hours over two days but could not reach a decision in the deaths of Chris and Amanda Sturgill. The couple died after being shot with a bow and arrows. The children died of smoke inhalation after their mobile home was set on fire.

Karen Cunagin Sypher, 51, checked into the minimum-security federal women's prison in Marianna, Florida at 1:50 P.M. on Wednesday to begin serving a sentence of more than seven years.  Sypher's attorneys have made repeated requests for her to remain free while she appeals convictions on charges of extortion, lying to the FBI and retaliating against a witness in connection to a 2003 sexual encounter with University of Louisville coach Rick Pitino.. On Tuesday the U.S. Court of Appeals in Cincinnati denied Sypher's latest request to stay out of prison, siding with a lower court judge who rejected the request last week. Sypher's attorneys have asked the appeals court to reconsider the ruling.


Police arrested Bill Crider at the EZ Pawn Shop in Prestonsburg Wednesday afternoon.  Crider was indicted on drug trafficking charges.  Police say undercover officers made several buys of illegal prescription pills at the store. Last June, police raided the business and found pills, $17,000 in cash, and guns. Police closed the store, but it can reopened if Crider is released on bond.


After passing a series of non-binding veto resolutions  to shore up the state's Medicaid budget, the Senate adjourned late Wednesday, ending what had become a lengthy and costly special legislative session. Lawmakers had been caught in limbo when the House adjourned and the Senate took a two-week legislative recess, an unusual circumstance that required the state to continue paying the salaries of all 138 members of the General Assembly even though they weren't at the Capitol. The cost of salaries and expenses during the legislative recess were estimated at more than $600,000. House Speaker Greg Stumbo blamed those costs on the Senate for not adjourning sooner. Senate leaders insisted Wednesday that they won't accept pay for the legislative recess.


An Amber Alert was canceled Wednesday afternoon after  6 year old Shelly Bailey was found safe. Larry Bailey took her from an apartment in the Loyall community of Harlan County Tuesday. Shelly Bailey was ordered into protective custody, although Larry Bailey presented a birth certificate in court that showed he was the father. Despite Bailey's repeated claims, "She's my daughter," authorities say the kidnapping charges will hold for now.


The future of Kentucky Kingdom is uncertain after the city of Louisville said it won't help pay for the amusement park to reopen this year, according to businessman Ed Hart, who heads the group trying to reopen the park as a public-private partnership. Hart recently asked the city to approve a $20 million bond issue to help open part of the park in 2012, but the city declined the request. Mayor Greg Fischer's spokesman, Chris Poynter, says the city decided the deal was "too risky for taxpayers."
Hart says the earliest the park could open is 2013 and that is questionable. Six Flags abandoned the park in 2009 after going into bankruptcy.



The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet has awarded six contracts totaling more than $7 million for eight highway projects impacting four counties in the Department of Highways District 10.

• A $493,509.77 contract to resurface 2.71 miles of KY 205 in Morgan County. The project is to be completed by Nov. 15. Hinkle Contracting Corp. was the successful bidder.
• A $587,587 contract to resurface 6.15 miles of KY 7. The project is to be completed by Nov. 15. Mountain Enterprises, Inc. was the successful bidder.
• A $2,911,145.71.71 contract to correct a rockfall hazard on KY 7 in Perry County near Fusonia. The project is to be completed within 160 working days after work begins. Philmor Contracting, Inc. was the successful bidder.
• A $158,921.95 contract to resurface 0.48 miles of KY 11 and 0.73 miles of KY 214 in Powell County. The project is to be completed by Nov. 15. The Walker Company of Kentucky, Inc. was the successful bidder.
• A $691,171 contract to resurface 3.04 miles of KY 28 and 2.06 miles of KY 463 in Perry County. The project is to be completed by Nov. 15. Mountain Enterprises, Inc. was the successful bidder.
• A $1,229,280.10 contract to build a low water bridge on Meadow Branch Road (CR 1339) across the North Fork of the Kentucky River at Dunraven. The project is to be completed within 75 working days after work begins. Bluegrass Contracting Corp. was the successful bidder.
• A $550,082.76 contract to resurface 4.82 miles of KY 30 in Owsley County. The project is to be completed by Nov. 15. Hinkle Contracting Corp. was the successful bidder.
• A $440,777.77 contract to resurface two sections of KY 80 totaling 1.47 miles and 2.48 miles of KY 699 in Perry County. The project is to be completed by Nov. 15. Mountain Enterprises, Inc. was the successful bidder.
• The Department of Highways District 10 consists of 10 counties – Breathitt, Estill, Lee, Magoffin, Menifee, Morgan, Owsley, Perry, Powell and Wolfe – in east-central and southeastern Kentucky. The district office is located in Jackson.

The City of Pikeville Board of Commissioners will meet in regular session on Monday, April 11, at 6:00p in the public meeting room at City Hall on College Street.


The Kentucky state fire marshal's office has concluded that a man who was killed in last week's explosion at a plant in Ashland triggered the explosion when he opened an access panel to a high-pressure gas line. The fire marshal's office released that finding on Tuesday and said 61-year-old Forrest Finley of Milton, W.Va., had intended to work on a nearby electrical panel instead at AK Steel's coke plant. Finley worked for a contractor, Dixon Electrical Systems and Contracting.



The University of Kentucky will award five honorary degrees at the school's May commencement. The recipients will be engineer and educator Robert Drake Jr., researcher Pearse Lyons, journalist Al Smith and South African activists Ahmed Kathrada and Barbara Hogan. Drake oversaw the development of UK's College of Engineering as its dean and later became special assistant to UK President Otis Singletary He also was a driving force in creating the high-tech company Projectron. Lyons is the founder and president of Alltech, a global animal health company based in Kentucky. Smith's journalism career spanned 60 years. He's best known as the founder, host and producer of "Comment on Kentucky" through 2007. The weekly round table is aired on Kentucky Educational Television.


An annual report from the Kentucky Center for School Safety says student policy violations have decreased by 23 percent in the last five years. That decline was despite an increase of 20 percent in Louisville schools during the same period. The report said 16 percent of Louisville students violated school policy, compared with a statewide average of 10 percent in 2009-2010. Violations include such problems as fighting, disturbing class and defying authority.The annual report measures student discipline in each Kentucky school district, separating the data as violations of school policy and crimes committed by students. Statewide, the rate of students breaking laws has remained relatively unchanged at 1 percent since 2005-2006.



Jockey Robby Albarado has pleaded not guilty to charges that he assaulted his wife in Kentucky. Albarado entered the plea Tuesday in Jefferson District Court. A judge ordered him not to have any contact with his wife, Kimberly. Albarado was charged last week with wanton endangerment, domestic assault and intimidating a witness after an incident at the couple's home in Louisville.



Two environmental groups that pressure banks to stop funding mountaintop removal coal mines say Credit Suisse and Wells Fargo have the strongest lending policies. The Rainforest Action Network and the Sierra Club issued their second report card Tuesday, ranking 10 of the world's largest banks in their dealings with coal companies. Since January 2010, the report says those 10 have provided more than $2.5 billion in loans and bonds to companies that use the highly efficient and highly destructive form of strip mining in Virginia, West Virginia and Kentucky. The report says five banks adopted policies on mountaintop removal after last year's report -- Chase, Wells Fargo, PNC, UBS, and Credit Suisse.  It gave Deutsche Bank and GE Capital an F for having no policy.

West Virginia's State mine safety director C.A. Phillips said Wednesday emergency refuge chambers that survived the deadly Upper Big Branch mine worked properly when tested last week. Phillips said  it's an important finding because it tells miners they can rely on shelters if they're trapped. State and federal officials and Massey Energy Co. tested the three Upper Big Branch shelters last Thursday.
West Virginia and later the federal government mandated airtight underground refuges after 12 trapped miners ran out of air and died following the Sago Mine explosion in 2006. Federal rules now require refuges with four days of food, water and air at all underground coal mines.


Swiss eye care products maker Alcon Inc. has opened its expanded West Virginia manufacturing operation. Alcon President and CEO Kevin Buehler told the State Journal that the new plant just north of Huntington is expected to bring 300 new jobs over the next few years. The company employs 750 at its other plant in Huntington. The plants manufacturer intraocular lenses, which replace the clouded natural lens removed in cataract surgery.


The widows of two men killed in a coal mine fire are appealing the dismissal of a lawsuit against the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration. Delorice Bragg and Freda Hatfield asked the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals to take the case Wednesday. U.S. District Judge John Copenhaver Jr. dismissed it last July, ruling that MSHA wasn't liable for the men's deaths. The lawsuit was filed in April 2010 by the widows of miners Don I. Bragg and Ellery Elvis Hatfield. The men died in a conveyer belt fire at Massey Energy Co.'s Aracoma Alma No. 1 mine on Jan. 19, 2006. The lawsuit accused MSHA of negligence in its regulation of the mine and argued that federal inspectors should be liable under West Virginia law.


Fort Gay is without a police department after the Wayne County town's new mayor fired the police chief and an officer. Rose Devaney took the action Tuesday night during a town council meeting following her appointment as mayor. A former officer, firefighters, Wayne County Sheriff's deputies and others gathered outside the meeting to protest the firings. Devaney declined to disclose her reasons. She says the officers' services are no longer needed.


Three Charleston men were robbed early Wednesday morning on the city's West Side. Sgt. Eric Hodges of the Charleston Police Department said Dillon King, 18; Timothy Smith, 21 and Corey Cantley, 19, had just pulled into the driveway of a house on Hunt Avenue at a little past midnight when a gold-colored Chevrolet Cavalier pulled up behind their car. Hodges said two men allegedly got out of the Cavalier, pulled guns and ordered the three men out of their car. They were robbed of an undisclosed amount of cash and other valuables.


Deborah Joyce, 38, of Hurricane, who admitted she participated in a multimillion-dollar mortgage fraud scheme in the Stonegate subdivision in Hurricane, was sentenced to almost four years in prison Wednesday. In September, Joyce pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit bank and wire fraud and tax evasion. Federal prosecutors put the losses associated with the Stonegate mortgage fraud at more than $2.3 million. According to court filings, Joyce provided inflated appraisals of several Stonegate properties to a Salt Lake City-based company called 100X, which lined up customers to buy them as investments. Because of the scheme, the new buyers were immediately underwater, and some of the properties were later foreclosed.


As Appalachian Power workers tried to restore power to those still affected by Monday's storms, at least 600 residents lost power on Wednesday for the first time since the storms. But the additional outages aren't unusual, especially after windstorms, according to Appalachian Power spokesman Phil Moye.  As of 10:30 A.M. Wednesday, about 10,000 Appalachian Power customers in Southern West Virginia -- mostly in Kanawha County -- had no power. By 1:30 P.M., that number had dropped to 6,705 residents. But less than an hour later, the number jumped to 8,426 people without power.
During repairs, Moye said, crews will sometimes deactivate a live power line so they can safely restore power to other customers without the risk of electrocution.


Three health centers in West Virginia are receiving federal funding to continue and improve operations.
U.S. Sens. Jay Rockefeller and Joe Manchin announced the funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Wednesday. The funding includes $140,662 for Belington Community Medical Services Association, $462,157 for Martinsburg-based Shenandoah Valley Medical System, Inc., and $313,048 for Beckley-based Community Health Systems, Inc.


West Virginia's Chamber of Commerce is supporting three candidates in the upcoming primary for governor. The business group endorsed acting Governor Earl Ray Tomblin on Wednesday. He's among six Democrats seeking the party's nomination. The chamber also is backing two of eight Republicans running: Betty Ireland and Bill Maloney. The chamber called Ireland and Maloney leaders in the business community who understand the struggles of employers. It said Tomblin has long been a steady voice for lower taxes and a supporter of jobs and economic development. The primary is May 14th.


The families of a mother and two teenage girls who were killed in a head-on collision in Cabell County in 2009 have sued the doctor who wrote prescription after prescription for pain medication for the driver of the other car. In separate lawsuits filed April 1 in Kanawha Circuit Court, the families of Carole Lynn Crawford and Meaghan McGuire Crawford and Kelsey Rebecca Kuhn allege that Dr. Anita Dawson ignored signs that her patient Erma Marie Brown was dangerously addicted to prescription narcotics



Massey Energy Co. announced a new severance package as it begins its merger with Alpha Natural Resources, but Massey officials say they have no plans to lay anyone off. Massey has sent letters detailing the plan to an undetermined number of administrators and office staff. The notices weren't sent to the company's coal miners. Massey, based in Richmond, Va., employs about 7,300. Alpha, also based in Virginia, employs 6,400 people and is acquiring Massey in an $8 billion deal. Massey's letters are dated April 1. Massey also filed the letter and a detailed severance package plan with financial regulators on the same day.  A day later, Alpha and Massey said in a joint statement they had received antitrust approval for their merger, meaning the companies have overcome a key hurdle.


Thers' no doubt the campaign season is underway in Mingo County with visits from two candidates for the Governor of West Virginia. Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin was in Gilbert; Rick Thompson visited Matewan. Tomblin, who became governor when Joe Manchin was elected to fill Sen. Robert Byrd’s seat after Byrd’s death, explained he has three main planks in his political platform. “We need to make sure we are financially stable,” Tomblin said. “When I attended the Governor’s Association convention, I was proud to be able to say West Virginia has a surplus.” Tomblin went on to explain the other areas he is focusing on during the campaign are education and bringing jobs to the state. He said the state has the highest high school drop out rate in the nation.


Kanawha County sheriff's deputies each got a check for $1,000 this week. Chief Deputy Johnny Rutherford said he and his brother, Sheriff Mike Rutherford, decided to take $99,000 from the county's pistol permit fund to give each deputy in the department $1,000. When state lawmakers put county sheriffs in charge of issuing concealed weapons permits, they gave the sheriffs discretion over how to spend leftover money from processing the permits. Many sheriffs rely on extra pistol permit money to buy equipment or supplement their budgets. Sheriff's officials previously took about $70,000 from the pistol permit fund to help buy new cruisers and four-wheel-drive vehicles for the Sheriff's Department.


West Virginia's business tax collections were up 700 percent in March compared to the same month last year, a sign that West Virginia's economy continues to improve significantly.  The combined collections of the state's corporate net income tax and business franchise tax stood at $55.7 million last month, exceeding projections by $25.6 million. The taxes raised $6.7 million in revenues for the state in March 2010.

Two Huntington residents pleaded guilty in federal court to crack charges. Stephen Hicks, 48, pleaded guilty to distributing cocaine base, also known as crack.
Lakasia Woolfolk, 24, pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting the distribution of crack. In June 2010, an undercover agent arranged through Woolfolk the purchase of two 8-balls of crack cocaine to be delivered by Hicks to Smokin' Aces in Huntington. Hicks admitted to arriving at the store to deliver the crack cocaine and while inside, called Woolfolk to discuss the details of the drug transaction. Hicks also admitted to the amount of crack sold to the undercover agent was short of the original agreement. Hicks also admitted to making additional sales of crack cocaine at the same location three other times in June 2010. Both Hicks and Woolfolk face up to 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine when they are sentenced on July 11, 2011.


A Charleston man has pleaded guilty to conspiring to sell more than 3.4 million contraband cigarettes. Basim Ali Talouzi also pleaded guilty Monday to distribution of oxycodone. He faces up to 25 years in prison and a $1.25 million fine when he is sentenced June 27 in U.S. District Court in Huntington. According to prosecutors, Talouzi conspired with others to buy, transport and sell contraband cigarettes between July 2010 and last month. The total tax loss to West Virginia on the 17,112 cartons of contraband smokes was just over $94,000. Talouzi also admitted selling oxycodone pills to undercover federal agents.


A jury has found a Charleston man not guilty of domestic battery after he punched his pregnant girlfriend in the belly. The victim, Nastacha Caudill, told jurors that Timothy Paul Burdette was so mad that she wouldn't give him money that he also threw pizza at her and jerked her out of a recliner chair.  Caudill called police after the altercation at a Sixth Avenue home and became ill while being questioned. She miscarried the three-month fetus a few days later. Prosecutor Mark Plants originally charged Burdette, 25, with murder under the state's Unborn Victims of Violence Act. He became the second person in Kanawha County charged under that law.  But the charge of murder against Burdette was dismissed in September when Plants said a report from the state Medical Examiner did not confirm that the fetus died as a result of the punch. Burdette denies he punched Caudill, and on Monday his defense attorney insisted to the jury that prosecution did not introduce evidence sufficient to convict him.  His court-appointed defense attorney, Barbara Brown, told the jury Caudill's testimony was inconsistent and should not be believed, saying  he never struck that woman.


Frederick Thomas Butts, 42, of Charleston, was supposed to go on trial this week, but a circuit judge agreed to postpone to give defense attorneys more time to prepare. He's charged with 274 counts of sexual abuse and incest. The trial is now scheduled for May 2nd.  In the meantime, an assistant prosecutor asked Kanawha Circuit Judge Charles King to limit Butts' phone calls and visits at South Central Regional Jail. Erica Lord told King that Butts and his sister, Lori Butts, had conspired in telephone calls to intimidate a witness and do everything possible to keep her from coming to the trial.
The victim was 5 years old when the alleged sexual abuse began, and she told police it occurred every weekend for years. Now 15, she is in the custody of Child Protective Services. King agreed to the limitations on Butts, who is being held without bond. King denied a motion to reduce that.  Butts has pleaded not guilty.


Central Appalachia's largest coal producer idled dozens of mines across three states for a time to honor the 29 miners who died at one of its West Virginia mines a year ago.  Massey Energy's action was to honor the victims of last April 5th's Upper Big Branch mine explosion. Public and private memorial services were held in the state Capitol, Beckley and Whitesville throughout the day. A candlelight vigil was held for the evening in Whitesville. Acting Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin and U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis participated during the day. The explosion was the deadliest to strike the U.S. coal industry since 1970. Regulators and federal prosecutors are still investigating. Massey operates mines in West Virginia, Virginia and Kentucky.


Authorities are urging Kanawha Valley residents to check their credit and bank statements after
Charleston police have received numerous complaints of debit and credit card fraud in the past two to four weeks.
The  U.S. Secret Service and the U.S. Attorney's Office are investigating the thefts.


Two Kentucky men and one West Virginian have been sentenced to one year and one day for conspiring to steal diesel fuel worth more than $900,000. The men were sentenced Monday in federal court in Huntington. They are 47-year-old Darrell Glen Deerfield of Rush, Ky.; 52-year-old Joey Williams of Greenup, Ky.; and 40-year-old Paul David Smith of Barboursville. The defendants pleaded guilty in January to conspiracy to transport and sell goods stolen from interstate shipments. According to prosecutors, Deerfield worked for a company that transported diesel fuel to be used by CSX trains. They say Deerfield conspired with Williams and Smith to steal fuel from a facility in Russell, Ky., and that Smith then sold the fuel to businesses and individuals in West Virginia and Kentucky.  


A major storm ripped through the area causing over 29,000 customers to lose power in Kanawha County Monday night.  Monday's severe storms left a mark on several homes throughout the area, as well as Kanawha County's Metro 911 phone service. According to Metro 911, phone calls made to 911 were not able to connect. As of 8:18 p.m., according to Metro 911, their  line was back and working.  According to Appalachian Power, several counties reported power outages.  As of 11:03 p.m., according to Appalachian Power's website, over 26,000 customers in Kanawha County are without power.  At one point, Kanawha County was reporting over 29,000 customers without power.

A missing 68-year-old man from Pike County, Ky. has been found dead.  A Golden Alert was issued for Robert Hamilton Monday night after he was last seen in the Virgie area Monday morning.
Kentucky State Police Trooper, Shaun Little says Hamilton was found dead around 1:00 p.m. Tuesday afternoon about a mile from his residence. Search crews from the Pike County EMS and the Shelby Valley Fire Department took part in the search for Hamilton.


 More arrests have been made and officials are searching for six more in a Floyd County drug roundup. Sheriff's deputies say all of the people are accused of bringing pills from Florida and Georgia to Floyd County to sell.
The round-up ends a three-month undercover investigation.
Officers say the suspects are allegedly selling Roxies, a new drug they say they are starting to see a lot of in our region.
The following is an updated list of arrests:
• John Sherman Moore, McDowell
• Gregory Moore, McDowell
• Estill Newsome, Jr., McDowell
• Scott Hamilton, Teaberry
• Victor Rhea
• Carol Bryant, Weeksbury
• Elizabeth Shapiro, Wheelwright
• Gregory Salisbury, McDowell
• Darvis Newsome, Prestonsburg
• Crystal Dawn Newsome, Auxier
• Harry Skeens, Allen
• Brandon Leslie, Allen
• Muril Moore, McDowell
• Wendell Burchett, Harold
• Mary Burchett, Harold
• Talsha Bentley Clover Fork
• Jimmy John Adkins, Betsy Layne
• Louann Bartrum, Martin


Bush & Burchett of Allen plans to begin construction of a bridge connecting the community of Concord in Johnson County to KY 40 on April 18. The Floyd County company was awarded the $3.4 million contract March 1 and held its preconstruction meeting with Highway District 12 officials last week.  There has never been a bridge connecting KY 1145 to KY 40, said Doug Wright, resident engineer for Highway District 12.  This new bridge will provide much faster and safer access to US 23 and US 460.  Access to Concord and Thealka by first responders and other service providers will also be enhanced.


Through  Apr. 3, preliminary statistics indicate that 141 people have  lost their lives on Kentucky roadways during 2011. This is 28 fewer than reported for this time period in 2010. Of the 117 motor vehicle fatalities, 67 victims were not wearing seat belts. Of the four
motorcycle fatalities, three were not wearing helmets. Two of the three ATV fatalities were not wearing helmets. Seventeen pedestrians have been killed. A total of 19 fatalities have resulted from crashes involving the suspected use of alcohol.



The Kentucky Historical Society (KHS) and the Kentucky Genealogical Society (KGS) will host a free family-history workshop focused on KHS cemetery preservation resources from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 9 at the Thomas D. Clark Center for Kentucky History in downtown Frankfort.  Ann Johnson, KHS cemetery preservation program coordinator, will discuss KHS resources available to family historians and cemetery preservationists. These resources include tracking databases, advice on legal issues governing property and descendent rights, stone cleaning and rubbing techniques and cemetery mapping practices.  The workshop will also feature Phil DiBlasi, staff archaeologist at the University of Louisville, who will discuss the use of GPS to document cemeteries.  There will also be an on-site visit to Frankfort Cemetery for a stone cleaning and GPS demonstration.



As part of a national level EXERCISE on May 16, 2011, a major earthquake will rock the mid-South and unleash an unprecedented level of destruction upon more than eight states.  Unlike other forecasts of doom, this prediction is based on the certainty of a National Level Exercise (NLE) scheduled to put local, state and federal officials through the paces of responding to a catastrophic earthquake in the heart of the United States. Unlike the weather, experts cannot predict when and where an earthquake may occur.  However, we can tell you with certainty what will happen in Kentucky during the EXERCISE on May 16, 2011:  A 7.7 earthquake will strike the New Madrid Seismic Zone in Western Kentucky and the impact on the Commonwealth during the EXERCISE will include:
        Approximately 235,000 people will seek shelter
        330,000 households will be without power
        Approximately 6,500 will be injured
        Approximately 300 deaths will occur
        68,500 buildings will be damaged
        Critical infrastructure will be damaged or destroyed
        250 bridges damaged or destroyed, limiting transportation into and out of the impacted area
        Communications will be greatly impaired or fail
        Emergency responders will scramble to get information from the area and local emergency management will be  limited getting information out
The Tier I exercise, known as NLE 2011, will simulate the decisions and actions that top officials should be prepared to take in the first 96-hours after such a devastating earthquake. This is the first NLE to focus on a natural hazard, rather than a terrorism-focused scenario.
"Is Kentucky ready for a 7.7 earthquake? No.


A public workers rally -- billed as a "block party" -- was held in downtown Louisville as part of a national day of solidarity to defend the public sector. About 200 people attended the Monday evening event to support collective bargaining rights for Kentucky's public sector workers. Musicians, including the Grammy-nominated Nappy Roots, played to a home crowd in a show of support. The rally was relocated to the Kentucky International Convention Center from an outdoor venue at Jefferson Square due to rainy, windy weather.


Keeneland is celebrating its 75th anniversary with a new book about the history of the central Kentucky race course. "Keeneland: A Thoroughbred Legacy" is the third in a series and includes 12 chapters written by local authors. Veteran Kentucky journalist Al Smith says the book is a reminder that Keeneland is a special source of pride to the community. The 231-page book sells for $39.95. Profits are to be distributed through the Keeneland Foundation to various community non-profit organizations. The book is available at the gift shop at Keeneland, which opens Friday for its three-week spring meet.


Top University of Kentucky officials say they're in the final stages of the school's presidential search and hope to make the selection May 3. In a campuswide e-mail Monday, UK Board of Trustees Chairman Britt Brockman and search committee Chairman Jim Stuckert laid out a tentative schedule leading to the selection of the next president. They said the search committee will meet April 11 in hopes of forwarding three to five finalists to trustees. Under their timetable, trustees are scheduled to meet April 30 in northern Kentucky to review the finalists, then interview them the next day. That evening, the trustees will vote for a preferred candidate who will be introduced. The finalist will visit the Lexington campus on May 2, and the next day will come a final decision.


The death toll has risen to six people after fast moving storms hit the South with high winds, hail, lightning and power outages.
Georgia Emergency Management Agency spokeswoman Lisa Janak says four people have been killedin Georgia, two of them, a father and son who died when a tree fell onto a home in Butts County. Dodge and Colquitt counties also each had a death.
Tennessee and Mississippi also each have reported a death related to the storms.


A fourth mistrial has been declared in the case of a former Fort Campbell sergeant accused of killing his estranged wife and her former mother-in-law. Jurors were unable to reach a unanimous decision after deliberating through the afternoon and into the evening Monday, Brent Burke was being tried on murder charges in the death of Tracy Burke and Karen Comer in 2007 in Rineyville. The trial started three weeks ago. It is the fourth time Burke has faced the charges. Two mistrials were declared when witnesses were unavailable, and a jury last year was unable to reach a verdict. A new hearing is scheduled for April 26. Prosecutors wouldn't comment since the case is continuing, and the families of Traci Burke and Comer left without commenting.


Paintings, lithographs, mixed media works and photographs by 26 Kentucky artists are on display in the Governor's Derby Exhibit through May 10 in the Capitol Rotunda. The show's theme is spring, and it is part of the Governor's Derby Celebration More than 200 entries were submitted to be considered for the show. The exhibit is open during public visiting hours at the Capitol, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and during the Governor's Derby Celebration on Kentucky Derby Day, May 7.

Acting Governor Earl Ray Tomblin has proclaimed Tuesday a day of prayer and remembrance for the 29 miners killed in the Upper Big Branch mine explosion near Montcoal, the deadliest U.S. coal mining accident since 1970. Tomblin has asked for observance to start at 3:01 P.M., the estimated time of the explosion, and for churches in the state to ring their bells 29 times at that time. Massey Energy has announced it will hold a "company-wide, one minute and twenty-nine second moment of silence" Tuesday on the anniversary of the April 5, 2010 explosion at the Upper Big Branch mine which killed twenty nine miners. Massey plans to idle production and hold a safety stand down at all 92 of its underground coal mines.


The National Park Service Chief Ranger Jeff West said a second man's body was pulled from the New River on Monday afternoon after three men went missing in a weekend boating accident when their boat capsized Sunday afternoon. Hours earlier, searchers recovered the body of Paul Malone, 23, of Lester. Those reported missing were Malone, Dean Halsey of Lester and Sam Acord of Richmond, Virginia. Two others, Jeff Acord of Sandstone and Daniel Malone of Lester, swam to shore safely.


Darrell Glen Deerfield, 47, of Rush, Kentucky, Joey Williams, 52, of Greenup, Kentucky and Paul David Smith, 40, of Barboursville, West Virginia, were sentenced Monday in federal court in Huntington to one year and one day for conspiring to steal diesel fuel worth more than $900,000 from April 2007 to September 2008. The defendants pleaded guilty in January to conspiracy to transport and sell goods stolen from interstate shipments. According to prosecutors, Deerfield worked for CEVA Logistics, Inc., a Texas corporation which contracted with CSX to transport diesel fuel to various locations throughout Kentucky and West Virginia for the purpose of refueling CSX locomotives. Deerfield conspired with Williams and Smith to steal fuel from a facility in Russell, Kentucky. The three men admitted the stolen fuel was subsequently given to Smith who would sell it to various businesses and individuals in West Virginia and Kentucky.


Twenty-three year old Katharine Janelle Boozer of Mercer County is expected to enter a guilty plea  Wednesday to a neglect charge in the death of her 6-month-old son, Joshua Isaiah Boozer, who died in February 2010. Boozer was indicted for first-degree murder and death of a child by abuse in June 2010. Prosecuting attorney Scott Ash says she'll plead to child neglect resulting in injury. That charge carries three to 15 year in prison.


Twenty-three year old Rusty Morrison of Huntington was killed Saturday morning when a blaze broke out at a camp in the Branchland community of Lincoln County. West Virginia State Police say, when the fire started, Rusty woke up Brandon Newton of Altizer, a friend who was also staying at the camp. Newton escaped the burning structure while Morrison died in the fire.


Twenty-eight year old Willard Lewis, an Elkins police officer accused of kidnapping and domestic battery. has been suspended until the charges are resolved. Lewis, who has been on the force since July 2008, is charged with domestic assault on his wife, Roxana.


David Kinney, 32, of Charleston, is accused of shooting and killing 31 year old Jeremy Parsons on Charleston's West Side last July. Kinney was indicted on murder charges by a grand jury in October. Parsons was shot three times at the intersection of Park Avenue and Virginia Street West.


Acting Governor Earl Ray Tomblin has lifted a ban on discretionary pay raises for classified employees of the executive branch of state government. The freeze on discretionary raises had been in place since April 29, 2005. It affected 22,000 classified state employees in 26 pay grades and about 1,007 classifications. Joe Smith, a personnel consultant to Tomblin, says the turnover rate in state government averages about 9.98 percent a year, and that requires significant costs in recruitment and training. Smith says lifting a freeze that is almost six years old could be costly, but reducing turnover could offset some of those costs. The governor’s office will watch pay increases carefully to ensure they don’t cause expenses to get out of line with state revenues, and it will watch agencies to be sure the raises are used to retain employees with critical skills.


This time last year, drivers in West Virginia were paying about $2.87 for a gallon of regular gasoline.  Now, the AAA Fuel Gauge Report puts that price at about $3.67 a gallon. U.S. Senator Jay Rockefeller says it isn't all about what's going on in the Middle East, but it's about what's going on on Wall Street. Rockefeller says he believes oil trades by greedy speculators, those guessing at the future price of oil, have driven up prices at the pumps. Rockefeller says, since January, speculator prices have jumped by 35% while U.S. gas prices have grown by 40%. He has called on the Federal Trade Commission to review gas prices to make sure people are paying fair prices for gasoline. In addition, Senator Rockefeller says President Barack Obama needs to be prepared to open the country's Strategic Petroleum Reserve. The AAA Fuel Gauge Report puts the national average for a gallon of regular gasoline at around $3.61 compared with $2.80 this time last year.


Cathy Yarosky, the spokesperson for the U.S. Postal Service says a lot of money will be saved now that all of the mail processing operations that had been done in Beckley and some of the mail processing operations that were handled in Huntington have been consolidated in Charleston. After feasibility studies for those moves last June, the U.S. Postal Service announced the consolidation plans in December. Consolidations were finished last month and, Yarosky says, the changes have had little impact on jobs. The Beckley site is no longer handling any mail processing. In Huntington, overnight processing has been moved to Charleston. Daytime processing work continues there and there are no plans to change that. A total of 38 Huntington positions could be impacted because of the change. Feasibility studies continue for the possibilities of moving processing work from Martinsburg to suburban Maryland and from Bluefield to either Charleston or Johnson City, Tennessee.


State Deputy Revenue Secretary Mark Muchow says collections for the state's Corporate Income Tax surged in March, rocketing ahead of estimates by $25.6 million dollars. The total collected was 700 percent higher than last March. Muchow says corporations have been improving their balance sheets in recent months, while payments  coming in were running over 50 percent higher than last year and refunds to corporations were a good 76 percent below last year. Muchow says that combination created the gain.
Consumer sales tax collections were also up for March...seven percent higher than last year at this time. Muchow says a new federal law that reduces the Social Security tax that employees must pay by 32 percent is helping. State tax collections continue to run about $200 million ahead of estimates for the fiscal year.

A split second of driver distraction can turn a highway work zone into a death zone. Nationally, someone is killed every 13 hours – and injured every 13 minutes – as a result of an accident in a highway work zone. Last year in Kentucky, the toll was one person killed and 116 people injured. The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet is hosting several events statewide to promote the work zone safety campaign April 4-8 which is also in conjunction with National Work Zone Safety Week.  Work zones can involve highway construction and maintenance workers, utility crews, mowing contractors, brush cutters and tree trimmers.  Four out of five work zone accident victims are motorists rather than highway workers.

• During a child abuse awareness event in Pikeville Friday, a tree was dedicated to planted in memory of Randy Jones, a popular East Kentucky Broadcasting DJ who died last year.  Jones' wife, Paulette and son accepted the tree and then donated it to the city of Pikeville.  It will be planted at the Randy Jones Memorial Playground.  A bass tournament was held Sunday at Paintsville Lake to raise money for the Universal Park.

• Timothy Marsillet of Floyd County has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for his role in the May 2008 death of Thomas Bentley. Marsillet was charged with facilitation to commit murder, arson, and burglary. Police say Bentley was shot to death and then his home in Bull Creek was set on fire. A second man, Richard Adkins, who pleaded guilty to the murder in 2009, is serving a life sentence.

• Kentucky State Police in Hazard received a call last week of an attempted robbery at the Mayking Post Office in Letcher County. An  investigation led police to the residence of 25 year old Jeffery L. McClain of Thornton. He was arrested and charged with complicity to commit robbery first-degree.  Further investigation and information was obtained about the other suspects involved in the incident. Dustin I. Yeary, age 26 of Mayking was arrested and charged with first-degree robbery and possession of a handgun by a convicted felon. Katie Larue, age 27 from Whitesburg was charged with first-degree complicity to commit robbery.  All were lodged in theLetcher County Jail. The investigation is continuing by the Kentucky State Police.

• The Kentucky Commission on Human Rights and the Lexington Fair Housing Council are sponsoring training on the Kentucky Fair Housing Act on April 6th. The training will take place at the Pikeville Public Library, 119 College Street, Room 125, from 2:00 to 4:00 P.M. CST. Real estate licensees, landlords, social service providers and government employees are strongly encouraged to attend. The training is also open to the public. The fair housing training is part of a statewide campaign during April Fair Housing Month to educate the public about federal and Kentucky fair housing laws. Recent statistics have shown that discriminatory practices based on disability are on the rise.

• Karen Cunagin Sypher will voluntarily surrender Wednesday at the Federal Correctional Institution, a federal minimum security camp in Marianna, Florida, about 65 miles west of Tallahassee. She will sleep in a dormitory in the 313-bed facility, where the wake-up call is sounded at 6:00 A.M. each morning and inmates are counted four times a day. Sypher will be responsible for making her bed and sweeping and mopping her living area, which she must have ready for inspection at 7:30 A.M. Under federal law, if Sypher, who was convicted of trying to extort money and gifts from University of Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino and lying to the FBI, shows “exemplary compliance” with institutional rules, she could knock 324 days, about 15 percent, off her 71/4-year sentence. That would make her eligible for release on August 12, 2017, when she is 57 years old. There is no parole for federal prisoners, but Sypher may be moved to a halfway house when she has six months left on her sentence. She will be required to work, most likely in a prison industry that recycles used computer parts, and will be paid 12 cents to $1.15 an hour. The prison camp is next door to a medium-security federal men's prison and was formerly the home of a maximum-security women's unit that housed Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme, who was then serving a life term for the attempted assassination of President Gerald Ford.

• Richard Edwards, an Edmond, Oklahoma chiropractor who received a double hand transplant last August at Jewish Hospital in Louisville, Kentucky,says he's grateful to again have two hands and 10 fingers. Edwards' hands were left mangled after a truck fire on February 11, 2006. Edwards is continuing to go through therapy and has had additional surgeries to keep the hands functioning, but he says, while he has not been able to return to his chiropractic practice, he is able to shower, shave one-handed, buckle his own seat belt and hold a coffee cup with one hand. Warren Breidenbach, who led the surgical team at Jewish Hospital, says he's prescribed Edwards a medication because his arteries seem to be thickening. The 17 1/2-hour double hand transplant operation was the third ever performed in the U.S.

• Putney Ranger Station, a Harlan County ranger station built in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps, is being renovated. Work on the 12-room cabin used to house offices for the Division of Forestry is expected to be finished by the end of the month. Renovation plans for the cabin include a visitor's welcome center and a Civilian Conservation Corps museum. Organizers say $150,000 in grant funds have been secured for the project, with the Harlan County Fiscal Court matching 25 percent.

• A state panel has approved tax incentives for a possible expansion at the General Motors assembly plant in Bowling Green. The Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority approved offering $7.5 million in tax breaks if the plant, which makes Corvettes, goes forward with the $131 million project. Local GM spokeswoman Andrea Hales says the company is looking at other sites for possible investment, and there is no pending announcement.

• Acting Governor Earl Ray Tomblin has proclaimed Tuesday a day of prayer and remembrance for the victims of the Upper Big Branch mine explosion. Tuesday marks one year since 29 miners were killed in an explosion at Massey Energy's Upper Big Branch Mine near Montcoal, the deadliest U.S. coal mining accident since 1970. Tomblin has asked for observance to start at 3:01 P.M., the estimated time of the explosion, and for churches in the state to ring their bells 29 times at that time.

• West Virginia State Police are investigating after a state road crew found female human remains in a Summers County culvert on Hix Mountain in Hinton. A skull was found Wednesday and State Police found the rest of the bones Thursday. Police believe they have been there for several years. Experts from the Smithsonian Institution are attempting to identify the victim.

• Based on the results of a new industry study, the National Mining Association said Friday that a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency measure that relies on mayflies to determine water quality in headwater streams in Central Appalachia's coalfields should be re-evaluated. The study, by GEI Consultants Inc., of Denver, Colorado, contradicts EPA's claim that even the loss of a small number of headwater streams would harm the biodiversity of an area. The association says the study raises doubts on EPA's assumptions because mayflies were not found in many of the streams studied.

• Alpha Natural Resources has cleared a key regulatory hurdle in its $7.1 billion proposed takeover of Massey Energy Co. The companies say the antitrust waiting period under U.S. law has expired, allowing the deal to proceed. The companies have also won foreign antitrust approvals, although the deal still hasn't been approved by shareholders of either company. Combined, Alpha and Massey would have sales of about 131 million tons annually and would control about 29 percent of the U.S. supply of metallurgical coal. Demand from Asian steelmakers has driven up prices for metallurgical coal worldwide. The companies operate mines in Pennsylvania, Virginia, Kentucky, West Virginia and Wyoming.

• Bobby Jo Vance, 28, and Joseph Eric Frazier, 33, were both charged with operating a meth lab after a meth lab exploded inside an apartment building on Lee Street in Charleston late Saturday and blew out some windows. Police are searching for 28 year old Anita Lopez. The lab explosion forced police to temporarily condemn the building and move its occupants out until Environmental Protection Agency and city building inspectors test the air for traces of potentially explosive chemicals.

• According to documents filed in Cumberland County, State Senate President David Williams, who opposes expanded gambling in Kentucky, in his 2003 divorce case, reported more than $36,000 in gambling losses in the four-year period from 1999 to 2002. Documents state that Williams has to have won a greater amount than he lost during that period in order to have reported those losses on his taxes. Williams said Friday that he has long acknowledged gambling at tracks and casinos, but he does not think that is inconsistent with his public opposition to expanded gambling, which he believes is not in the best interest of the people of Kentucky.

• Kentucky's Attorney General Jack Conway has written a letter to the editor of the Sun-Sentinel newspaper in South Florida urging Florida residents to speak out for their state's prescription drug-tracking law, which he says would help crack down on so-called pill mills feeding addictions in Kentucky. Conway is encouraging residents to contact their state representatives and senators to let them know they support efforts to implement an electronic monitoring program in Florida. South Florida is a region widely regarded as the national epicenter for illegal dispensing of prescription drugs such as the highly addictive painkiller Oxycodone. Conway called it "a matter of life and death" in urging Floridians to follow through with their state's planned database for tracking prescription drugs. Conway cited estimates from federal law enforcement that 60 percent of illegal pills in Kentucky come directly from Florida. Conway said 34 states, including Kentucky, have prescription monitoring programs in place. Florida Governor Rick Scott has proposed scrapping the pill-tracking database, claiming privacy concerns. In February, U.S. Representative Hal Rogers, R-Ky., chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, wrote to Scott urging him to back off repealing the pill-monitoring law. Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi opposes repealing the system and has been working with Scott to find an alternative.

• An ATV accident on mine property near Witcher Creek in the Belle area of Kanawha County Saturday morning took the life of  Harold Eugene Sizemore. Investigators say he had been riding ATV’s with a friend Friday night and got stuck. The friend went for help, but when he returned, Sizemore was found dead.

• Cabell County Deputies believe black ice may have caused a three car crash Friday morning along Route 2 near the Cabell-Mason line that killed 44 year old Mark Cade of Glenwood, West Virginia.

• According to Human Rights Watch, Charleston neurosurgeon Dr. Rida Mazagri, who went to Libya in February to treat the injured, has been missing since March 16th when he was last seen leaving Ajdabiya.  The U.S. State Department has contacted his family, but both have declined to provide additional information.

• Hoping to boost the number of college graduates in West Virginia, officials with the state Higher Education Policy Commission want more public colleges and universities to reduce the credit hours a student needs to graduate. Kathy Butler, senior director of academic affairs at the policy commission, said many students finish their college years with lots of debt, and the financial burden lasts for years. That's one reason for the new approach.

• U.S. District Judge Thomas Johnston heard arguments Friday in a lawsuit by eight West Virginia community health centers seeking to improve Medicaid reimbursement rates. Johnston didn't immediately rule on the plaintiffs' motion for a preliminary injunction against the state Department of Health and Human Resources and its Bureau for Medical Services. The lawsuit claims the bureau has failed to follow both federal law and its own state plan for reimbursing providers under Medicaid. The state wants the lawsuit dismissed.

• During a child abuse awareness event in Pikeville Friday, a tree was dedicated to be planted in memory of Randy Jones, a popular East Kentucky Broadcasting DJ who died last year. Jones' wife, Paulette Jones, and son accepted the tree and then donated it to the city of Pikeville. It will be planted at the Randy Jones Memorial Playground. A bass tournament will be held Sunday at Paintsville Lake to raise money for the Universal Park.

• Prosecution has rested its case in the murder trial against Clayton Jackson, and the case will now go to Jackson's defense attorney, Barbara Carnes, Monday. Carnes says the goal is to convince the jury that it was impossible for Clayton Jackson to walk from the area that Chris Sturgill's stolen truck was found back to his own house.

• U.S. District Judge Charles R. Simpson III on Friday denied the motion filed by Karen Cunagin Sypher asking she be allowed to remain free pending an appeal. Sypher is scheduled to report Wednesday to a federal prison in Florida. She recently made another request for a new trial. Simpson has rejected her two previous attempts to win a new trial since her August conviction. Sypher was sentenced in February to more than seven years in prison for extortion, lying to the FBI and retaliation against a witness. Prosecutors say she sought millions in cash, cars and a house from University of Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino in 2009.

• The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has taken supplies of sodium thiopental, a key lethal injection drug from Kentucky and Tennessee, effectively preventing any executions in three states while it investigates how the drug was imported during a national shortage. In March, the DEA took Georgia’s entire supply, putting a hold on executions there following claims from a defense attorney for a death row inmate that the state bought the drug from a fly-by-night company in the United Kingdom. Kentucky officials confirmed Friday that they turned their supply over to the DEA, and Tennessee officials said they relinquished theirs on March 22nd. There are currently no scheduled executions in Kentucky because of a court order that has temporarily halted them. In Tennessee, four inmates are scheduled for execution in September and October of this year.

• House Speaker Greg Stumbo says Kentucky lawmakers have amassed more than $500,000 in wages in the past eight days even though they haven't been at work. Stumbo called Friday for Senate leaders to adjourn as the House has already done to stop the $65,000-a-day cost of a special legislative session, but Senate President David Williams sent a letter to Stumbo proposing that the past eight days be declared a legislative interim so lawmakers won't be paid. Williams says Senate lawmakers will not accept pay for the recess period. The pay issue arose when the Senate opted to recess until next Wednesday rather than adjourn after passing a Medicaid budget bill last month. The House adjourned, hoping to end the special session.

• Jefferson County Circuit Judge Barry Willett ruled Friday that Isaiah Howes, a former University of Louisville baseball player can't be prosecuted in the September shooting death of former U of L football player Daniel Covington. Prosecutors concluded Covington illegally entered Howes' vehicle and was punching him and a passenger repeatedly when Howes shot him. Willett ruled that there was no probable cause to conclude that Howes' use of self-defense was unlawful. Howes' lawyer, Bart Adams, asked that the case be kept out of the hands of a grand jury, saying Howes was protected from prosecution by a Kentucky law that lets people use deadly force against anyone trying to get into their house or occupied vehicle.

• The family of William Lynch, who died in the Upper Big Branch Mine explosion, has filed a lawsuit in Boone County Circuit Court seeking judgment for compensatory damages, punitive damages and other fees. Geneva Lynch, William Lynch’s widow, is demanding a trial by jury. The lawsuit claims Don Blankenship, Massey Energy’s CEO at the time, as well as the company’s board of directors, had knowledge of the unsafe manner in which the mine was operated. The lawsuit alleges William Lynch and six other miners who were on the mantrip survived the initial mine explosion, and the explosion and blast forces would never have reached the mantrip and caused injury to the seven men if the mine had been properly maintained and Massey had complied with all safety laws and regulations.

• Before noon Friday, a jury convicted Donald Good for the 1987 Huntington Mall rapes of Janet Johnson Smith and Rebecca Hobson. The women were kidnapped and taken elsewhere then repeatedly assaulted and raped. Jurors found Good guilty on 20 of the 22 charges against him. They exonerated him on two aggravated robbery charges. Although Good testified he was a delivery driver at the time and his job never took him to the area and he had never been to the Huntington Mall, forensic experts testified semen left on the victims' clothing matched the DNA of Good. Cabell County Prosecutor Chris Chiles said, “If we would have had DNA in 1987, Glen Dale Woodall would’ve never been charged and I do regret that…the evidence that cleared Woodall is the evidence that convicted Donald Good.” Woodall eventually was awarded $1 million from the state for the wrongful conviction. Good was sentenced to two life terms, plus an additional 162 to 380 years. Good is eligible for parole in 222 years. In addition, he is currently serving a life sentence for a 1992 murder. He has 30 days to file an appeal.

• Dustin Shaver was sentenced Friday to two 25-year sentences to be served consecutively, making him  eligible for parole in 12 1/2 years, for his role in a pair of 2009 armed robberies at the Marquee Cinemas in Huntington. In September, Shaver pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree robbery. Kidnapping and conspiracy charges were dropped in exchange for his testimony in the trial of his best friend, Joshawa Clark, who was sentenced to up to 60 years in prison. Clark worked at the Marquee Cinemas at the time of the robberies.

• Leslie Dewain Southers, 55 of Randleman, North Carolina, has been arrested on three felony charges of possession with intent to deliver and three counts of delivery of a controlled substance. Deputies say Southers had been bringing pills to Boone County for the last six or seven months and giving them to local residents who would then sell them. Deputies stopped his vehicle on Rt. 85 between Van and Madison Thursday night and found 400 pills in his car, including hydrocodone, alprozolam, carisprodal and others.

• Under legislation signed into law Friday by acting Governor Earl Ray Tomblin, insurance providers soon will be required to cover the cost of treatment for autistic children. The law requires insurance providers to cover children up to $30,000 a year the first three years of treatment and $2,000 a month every year after that. It does not apply to policies covering companies with 25 or fewer employees. Insurance companies have warned that a mandate could raise the cost of providing insurance to everyone. The mandate takes effect in 2012.