EKB News

•  Pikeville Police Investigating ATV Crash That Killed Jerry W. Hunt

Pikeville Police are investigating an ATV crash that killed a man Wednesday night. Police say a husband and wife riding their ATV discovered an overturned ATV, with the driver trapped underneath on a gravel parking lot near Billups Drive. The driver of that ATV, Jerry W. Hunt of Pikeville, was pronounced dead at Pikeville Medical Center. Hunt was not wearing a helmet.

•    Man Arrested After Posing As Pike County Sheriff's Deputy

•    Kentucky Representative Richard Henderson To Prefile “Caylee's Law” 

Kentucky law forbids child abandonment but does not establish a timeframe for notifying police about missing children. Representative Richard Henderson, D-Jeffersonville, said Thursday he is prefiling “Caylee's Law”  for the 2012 legislative session. The proposal, which would apply to children 12 years old and younger, would require parents of missing children to notify authorities within 12 hours or face a Class D felony charge which can carry a sentence of one to five years in prison. Henderson says the high-profile Florida murder case of Caylee Anthony highlights the need for new penalties against parents who fail to report missing children in a timely manner. Henderson says a stiff penalty could provide protection for those that can't protect themselves.

•   Coventry Health Care, WellCare Health Plans And Centene Corp. To Oversee Ky Medicaid

•    Ford Motor Co. To Hire 1,800 New Workers In Louisville

Ford Motor Co. is about to hire 1,800 new workers for its Louisville Assembly Plant to produce the new Ford Escape. Applications were being taken at the Kentucky Office for Employment and Training in downtown Louisville Thursday and will continue through 5:00 P.M. EDT next Thursday. Mayor Greg Fischer's office says people will be chosen for pre-employment testing through a lottery. To participate in the lottery, applicants must fill out a form provided by the employment office. The mayor's office says some of the hires will be made from former Ford workers who were laid off in the past. Starting pay for the production assembly jobs is $15.51.

•   Harlan County Sheriff's Office Chaplain Corps Sues County Judge-Executive Joe Grieshop

The Harlan County Sheriff's Office Chaplain Corps, a group of eastern Kentucky chaplains, has sued Harlan County Judge-Executive Joe Grieshop over comments he allegedly made about the organization, including that the chaplains were selling donated items online. Attorney Robert Melvin, who represents the Corps, says Grieshop accused the chaplains of conducting illegal activities as part of his dispute with Sheriff Marvin Lipfird. Melvin filed the suit in Harlan Circuit Court seeking unspecified damages, saying the comments hurt the group's ability to raise money.

•    McCreary County Officials Say Man Dies Of Apparent Electrocution

•    Paintsville Herald Newspaper Wins Open Records Appeal

The attorney general's office has concluded the city of Paintsville subverted the intent of the state's Open Records Act by trying to charge the Paintsville Herald newspaper $300 for records related to delinquent occupational and restaurant taxes. Paintsville Herald reporter David Wheeler had requested the documents and appealed to the attorney general's office after the city informed him of the charge. In an opinion issued last week, Assistant Attorney General Amye L. Bensenhaver called the fee excessive. City officials can either accept Bensenhaver's finding or appeal to circuit court.

•    Kentucky Equality Federation Retracts Claims Against Hazard Officials

Thursday, Kentucky Equality Federation President Jordan Palmer retracted his claims after accusing city officials in Hazard of  refusing to change policy after a public employee kicked out a couple with developmental disabilities from The Pavilion pool in Hazard because the couple was gay. Hazard City Attorney Paul R. Collins says claims of the KEF were simply not correct, and new signage will be placed at The Pavilion soon. Collins says the city of Hazard has not refused to change policy and fully intends to carry out an agreement made on June 18, 2011. The city is in the process of securing signage, and the city had already scheduled training promised prior to the claims. The KEF says it requested 'gender identity' be added along with sexual orientation in order to avoid future problems as well as legal action.

•    Food Stamp Usage In Kentucky Continues To Rise

•    State Real Property Tax Rate Set

The Kentucky Department of Revenue has set the 2011 State Real Property Tax Rate at 12.2 cents per $100 of assessed value – the same rate as last year. Kentucky Revised Statute 132.020 requires the Department of Revenue to set the real property rate no later than July 1 of each year. This rate is based on the revenue generated from the increase in taxable real property assessments from 2010 to 2011. If the increase in revenue is more than 4% after the exclusion of new property added to the tax roll during 2011, then the prior year rate must be reduced. Because the assessment increase for 2011 is estimated at 1.05%, the state rate will remain the same as the 2010 rate, 12.2 cents per $100 of assessed value. All of the revenue generated from the state property tax rate will go into the state’s General Fund.

•    Pioneer  Life Week Scheduled

Visitors can experience what life was like on the frontier with Pioneer Life Week July 25-31 at Carter Caves State Resort Park. The week is dedicated to the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812 and the settlement of lands around the Ohio River. It will feature re-enactors, musical entertainment and historical programs. The pioneer camp is open from 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Sunday. Historical programs are scheduled daily throughout the week, including tomahawk throwing, black powder rifle demonstrations, and spinning and weaving demonstrations, primitive fire making, atlatl demonstrations and pioneer clothing interpretation. County Fair Day is on Saturday which includes displays of flint knapping, old time machinery, woodcarving, 18th century naturalist and pioneer food. The park will also have a pie auction, pioneer vittles tasting, pioneer games, tomahawk throwing and finish off with a homemade ice cream social. Carter Caves State Resort Park is located at 344 Caveland Drive in Olive Hill. The park has a lodge with a restaurant, cottages and campground. Besides cave tours, activities include hiking, horseback riding, swimming, boating and fishing. The park is located off Interstate 64 at exit 161. Take U.S. 60 east. Go approximately 2 miles and turn left on KY 182 north. The park entrance is 3 miles from the left turn onto KY 182 north.

•    Cabell County Delegate Kelli Sobonya To Introduce "Caylee's Law"

•     Tennessee Man Pulled From Coal River

Kanawha County Deputies say swimmers pulled Charles Fitzgerlad, 33, from Tennessee, out of the Coal River near Tornado shortly after 4:00 P.M. Thursday afternoon. Witnesses say Fitzgerald swam out to a deep section of the water and started splashing around and screaming for help as he went under. A group of swimmers rushed to the rescue, brought him to shore and tried to do CPR, but he was unresponsive and had turned blue.

•    Gun Discharges At Billy Bob's Wonderland

•    Secret Pleasures Owner Reaches Agreement With Kanawha County Commission

Secret Pleasures in Jefferson voluntarily closed its doors after the West Virginia State Police seized synthetic drugs from the store May 19th. Thursday morning, Kenneth Holiday, owner of Secret Pleasures, and the Kanawha County Planning Commission agreed to several conditions agreeing to keep the store closed. Holiday says he has a long-term lease on the building so he will reopen another store there, but the court ordered him to not sell any adult novelty items or anything Secret Pleasures previously sold at that location. Holiday will avoid charges for selling the synthetic drugs. His attorney argued that the items he sold were stamped "legal for sale," so Holiday had no intent to sell an illegal substance.

•    Charleston Police Searching For Credit Card Thief

•    U.S. Chemical Safety Board Releases Report On DuPont Chemical Leaks

At a Thursday news conference in Charleston, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board released its report into a number of chemical leaks, including one that resulted in the death of Danny Fish at the Belle DuPont Plant in Kanawha County in January 2010. The Chemical Safety Board's lead investigator Johnnie Banks says, during the investigation, it was found that the Teflon-lined stainless steel hoses used in the Belle plant are particularly susceptible to failure when using phosgene because it can seep thorough the permeable Teflon lining and corrode the stainless steel. During normal operations, the hose would have been purged of phosgene as the cylinder emptied and production shifted to a new cylinder. On the day of the accident operators had experienced problems with the flow and switched the tanks before one was completely empty. The phosgene in the idle tank heated up since it was no longer moving and caused pressure to build on the hose where the material was still present. "DuPont's standard operating procedure requires replacement of hoses in phosgene service every 30 days,"  Banks said. "However, by the day of the accident, the phosgene hoses had not been replaced in over seven months.

•    AG Darrell McGraw Plans To Request Rehearing On Dey, Inc. Settlement

•    Little Beaver State Park Opens 30 Campsites

A campground at Little Beaver State Park opened 30 of the planned 46 total campsites on July 1st in time for the Independence Day holiday weekend. The 30 campsites will be first-come first-served. The location is minutes off I-64 in Raleigh County. From I-64, take Exit 129A, It is two miles south on WV 307. These 30 sites have water and electricity, but the remaining 16 sites, when completed, will have water only. For information about Little Beaver State Park, call 304-763-2494 or visit online www.littlebeaverstatepark.com.

•    State DEP Awards REAP Litter Control Grants

Twenty-six applicants in West Virginia have been approved for state Department of Environmental Protection REAP Litter Control Matching Grants totaling $57,241. They were awarded to state solid waste authorities, county commissions and municipalities. The DEP said Thursday that the funding will be used for public awareness, annual town cleanups and other projects.

The following recipients won grants:
Village of Barboursville: $1,500 for dumpster fees for the annual village cleanup
Berkeley County Solid Waste Authority: $750 for county-wide radio advertisements for public awareness
Town of Burnsville: $1,900 for dumpster fees, landfill fees and labor for the town's annual cleanup event
Town of Cowen: $1,500 for containers and landfill fees for the town's cleanup event
Fayette County Solid Waste Authority: $3,000 for the county litter control officer salary and cleanup equipment
Town of Fayetteville: $1,200 for anti-litter educational material and litter receptacles for the town program.
Gilmer County Commission: $3,000 for supervisor wages for a county-wide litter cleanup program
Greenbrier County Solid Waste Authority: $1,000 for advertising to promote a county-wide anti-litter campaign
Hardy County Commission: $3,000 for implementation of hay bale plastic wrap recycling program for the county
City of Hurricane: $3,000 to raze dilapidated structures within the city
Kanawha County Commission: $3,000 for off-duty deputies to issue litter citations as part of the county-wide litter control program
Kanawha County Solid Waste Authority: $1,921.50 for equipment and labor for the annual county-wide cleanup events
City of Kenova: $3,000 for the cost associated with the removal of litter for the town's clean-up program
City of Mannington: $1,356 for dumping fees for a town cleanup
Mason County Commission: $3,000 for public awareness campaign materials, litter and ash receptacles, and fuel for the Litter Control Program
Monroe County Solid Waste Authority: $2,022.23 for supervisor's vehicle for the Day Report cleanup program
City of Nitro: $2,000 to assist with the purchase of litter receptacles and signage for the city's litter control program
City of Parkersburg: $1,000 for an anti-littering/recycling newsletter
Putnam County Solid Waste Authority: $3,000 for a demolition contractor for structure razing

• A parade took place Wednesday afternoon as NASCAR truck trailers traveled through Lexington heading to Sparta for this weekend's Quaker State 400, Kentucky Speedway's first Sprint Cup race. Many trucks and haulers lined up outside the Walmart in Hamburg Pavilion, before the parade. Just after noon, the trucks rolled out onto Winchester Road. They then traveled through downtown, and finally back onto the interstate at Newtown Pike.

• Preliminary statistics indicate six people died in six separate crashes on Kentucky's roadways during the official July 4th Independence Day holiday period, which began at 6:00 P.M. Friday, July 1st, and ended at 11:59 P.M. Monday, July 4, 2011. Four of the fatalities involved motor vehicles and two of those victims were not wearing seat belts. The motor vehicle crashes occurred in Daviess, Calloway, Oldham and Pike counties. Two crashes involving motorcycles occurred in Pike and Spencer counties. Through July 4th, preliminary statistics  indicate 321 people have lost their lives on Kentucky roadways during 2011. There were 258 motor vehicle fatalities. Twenty-seven pedestrians have been killed. Twenty-four fatalities involved a motorcycle, 1 involved a scooter, 9 involved an ATV and 2 involved a bicycle. A total of forty-nine fatalities have resulted from crashes involving the suspected use of alcohol.

• A repeat impaired-driving offender has been charged with murder after causing a wreck in Floyd County. Kentucky State Police say, while traveling on State Route 979 near Ligon Tuesday evening, 37 year old Malen Mitchell, Jr. of Beaver crossed the center line and hit a car driven by Judith Blankenship, also of Beaver. The impact caused Blankenship's car to go left of center, where it was hit by an oncoming SUV. A passenger in Blankenship's car, 22 year old Tiffany Adams, was pronounced dead at the scene. Mitchell fled the scene but was later caught on Osborne Branch in Ligon. Mitchell was arrested and  taken to the Floyd County Detention Center charged with one count of murder, one count of driving under the influence, one count of driving under a suspended license and one count leaving the scene of an accident. Mitchell pleaded not guilty and is being held without bond. Visitation for Adams starts Thursday night at the Greasy Creek Freewill Baptist Church in Pike County, and her funeral is Saturday at 1:00 P.M. at the church. Police say Judith Blankenship and Jennifer Newsome were also injured.

• During a hearing Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Pikeville, Darrell B. Patrick of Salyersville, a former school teacher at North Magoffin Elementary School in Magoffin County, was ordered to forfeit 87 guns to the federal government after admitting the guns were used to further his prescription pill trafficking activities. Patrick pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, distributing a controlled substance, and possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance. According to his plea agreement, starting in August 2009, undercover investigators with Operation UNITE bought Oxycodone tablets from Patrick on several different occasions. During an October 2009 search of Patrick’s residence, authorities confiscated firearms and a small amount of Oxycodone tablets. Patrick faces a minimum of five years on the firearm offense and a maximum of 20 years on the drug offense when sentenced in October.

• Sarah Melton, a Perry County woman accused of shoting her brother, Bill Couch, and fatally shooting his girlfriend, Cindy Caudill, in the Browns Fork community of Perry County last week, has pleaded not guilty. Couch was flown to the UK Medical Center for treatment and has been released. A preliminary hearing is set for July 12th.

• Franklin Ross of Johnson County pleaded guilty to assault and other charges Tuesday, admitting he beat a woman with a chair and then stabbed her repeatedly last October. Paintsville Police called it one of the worst crimes they had ever seen. Officials say Ross has agreed to a 10 year sentence, and will be formally sentenced on August 5th.

• MSHA has released a preliminary report into a fatal mine accident which took the life of 49 year old David Partin who was hit in his head and chest on a dolly after a roof and wall collapse at Manalapan's P-1 Mine last Wednesday in Harlan County. The report says Partin was alive when he was found by his co-workers, but stopped breathing shortly after reaching the surface of the mine. Partin had sixteen years of experience in the mines and had been working in the P-1 Mine for ten months.

• A federal judge has ordered that 62 year old Harold Carmical Jr., an accused con man suspected of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from investors in Pulaski County and elsewhere, be detained without bail until his trial in August. Carmical, a native of Harlan County, is charged with wire fraud, mail fraud and interstate transportation of stolen property. Investigators say, while living in Pulaski County in the summer of 2006, Carmical allegedly gained the trust of a number of people through activities, including those with whom he attended church, and promised them big returns if they gave him money to invest for them but spent their money on casino trips, trips to Hawaii and big-ticket items including vehicles and a travel trailer. Carmical, who broke off contact with the investors in early 2008 and left the area, was arrested in California in May and later brought back to Kentucky to face the charges.

• The current contract between the Service Employees International Union and Highlands Regional Medical Center workers, including service, maintenance, technical, and clerical employees, in Floyd County is set to expire at midnight July 9th. Contract negotiations are ongoing, and Highlands COO Chris Hoffman says he is confident an agreement will be reached before the deadline.

• Kentucky State Police Sgt. Brian Evans, who oversees the detachment assigned to the state Capitol and other government buildings in Frankfort, says 15 additional officers will be added to Capitol security by early September, bringing the total to 55, a 37 percent increase. The additional officers, who will have starting pay of about $2,000 a month, will undergo a two-week training program at the state police academy before reporting for duty. The action comes more than a year after Governor Steve Beshear  and other elected leaders reported a rash of threatening calls and letters from the anti-government group Guardians of the Free Republics, demanding that they resign or be removed. Investigators said they feared that a broad call for removing state officials could have inspired violence. Several other Kentucky political leaders, including Attorney General Jack Conway, also received threats after Congress last year passed the federal health care overhaul. And more than 100 protesters, some carrying guns, rallied last year at the state Capitol in an effort to persuade Conway to join other states in filing a lawsuit to stop federal health care reforms. State police documented 53 instances in which visitors carried guns into the Capitol during the last regular legislative session.

• The man recovered from the Ohio River Tuesday near barges just west of the West 17th Street Bridge has been identified as 40 year old Robert Allen McDowell of Huntington. Investigators say the body had been in the river for at least two days, but no cause of death has been determined.

• Bobette L. Grimm, 54, of Parkersburg, pleaded guilty Wednesday to theft of government money, admitting to stealing nearly $20,000 in Social Security benefits. The office of U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin says an unidentified person began receiving survivor's spouse benefits, known as Title II benefits, from the Social Security Administration in 1990, and the money was deposited into that person's account, which Grimm had access to. Grimm continued withdrawing and transferring benefit funds from the account, taking $19,322 in benefits despite the fact that the recipient died in December 2008. Grimm faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine when sentenced October 12th.

• Kanawha County prosecutors plan to ask for a delay in the sentencing of Shane Peck, 19, and Joseph Gibson, 18, who admitted they beat and tied up Geraldine Gibson in March. The sentencing was scheduled for Thursday, but Geraldine Gibson died earlier this week, and prosecutors want to postpone the sentencing until the results of an autopsy are available.

• Charleston Police have charged Charles Illingworth, 36, a registered sex offender in Nebraska, with first-degree sexual assault. Police say a 43 year old Charleston woman, who knew Illingworth only by the name “Bear,” was taken to a hospital after being discovered on Pennsylvania Avenue after she was badly beaten, raped and sodomized on the Elk River Bank near the Spring Street Bridge. Illingworth had been staying at the Roark-Sullivan Lifeways Giltinan Center, a men's shelter in Charleston. Illingworth, arrested early Wednesday, was in the South Central Regional Jail in lieu of $50,000 bond.

• Casey Elizabeth Morris, 31, of Cross Lanes, was sentenced Tuesday to 21 months in prison after she pleaded guilty in February to stealing and pawning about nine firearms. Morris was convicted of felony embezzlement in Kanawha County Circuit Court on October 27, 2006.

• Frontier Communications gave a $100,000 to Charleston Area Medical Center Wednesday morning to be used to develop a telemedicine network which will connect pediatric specialists at CAMC Women and Children's Hospital with rural hospitals and physicians. CAMC NICU Medical Director Stefan Maxwell says it will allow them to more easily communicate with other Neonatal Intensive Care Units and show them the problem. A big part of the hospital's telemedicine plan is to be able to examine x-rays and exams to determine on the spot when patients need to be transferred.

• Four years ago, John Miller complained bitterly when Charleston Mayor Danny Jones removed him from City Council's Finance Committee. Tuesday evening, when the post-election Finance Committee convened for the first time, Miller once again took a seat at the conference table after Jones had named him to fill one of the vacancies on the committee. Three former members were lost when Harry Deitzler chose not to run for re-election, and Cheryle Hall and Dave Higgins lost in the May 17th general election. Besides Miller, Jones named Mary Jean Davis and Joe Deneault to the new Finance Committee.

• A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled unanimously Wednesday the federal government acted within its authority when it withheld more than $446,000 in Medicaid funds from West Virginia to collect its share of a $850,000 settlement with pharmaceutical company Dey Inc. West Virginia Attorney General Darrell McGraw alleged in a 2001 complaint that California-based Dey billed state health care programs for an asthma inhalant after improperly inflating its average wholesale price. The state and Dey settled the case in 2004, with the proceeds going to McGraw's consumer protection fund and other state programs. The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services later withheld $446,607 in Medicaid reimbursement from the state to recoup its share of overpayments. That decision was upheld by a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services appeals board, prompting McGraw to sue.

• Deadlines have been extended in the Blair Mountain court battle. The Department of Interior, the National Park Service and the Keeper of the Register filed a motion last week asking a U.S. District Court in Washington to give them until July 25th to answer motions in a court battle over whether Logan County's Blair Mountain should be put back on the Register of National Historic Places. The federal agencies said between annual leave and scheduling conflicts in other cases, they would be unable to meet the previous July 11th date for final filings, and no harm would be caused by the delay.

• The Kanawha County Commission has filed a motion to dismiss the attorney representing Sandra Shaffer, a woman suing the county and city of Charleston for damaging her Sissonville property during a search in April for evidence connected to the 2003 sniper case. County Commission President Kent Carper says the filing indicates the commission believe there's an ethical conflict under the rules of professional conduct, but that will be up to the courts to decide. At the time of the 2003 shootings, Shaffer's attorney, Mike Clifford, was the county prosecutor. Officials say his involvement in that case is overlapping with his involvement in Shaffer's lawsuit which specifically names the county commission, the city of Charleston, the Kanawha County Sheriff's Department, Charleston police officer James Hunt and county Planning Director David Armstrong. In addition to getting Clifford off the case, the county is hoping to have Armstrong and the Sheriff's Office removed as the defendants. Commissioners say Charleston officers actually conducted the search, while deputies provided security. Armstrong investigated the property once it was reported that a meth lab was found. Carper says Armstrong and sheriff's deputies were acting within the law.

• Shelia McCuskey-Moore was officially sworn in Tuesday as the first female police officer in St. Albans in 20 years.  She's only the second woman officer in the town's history. McCuskey-Moore has worked as a reserve officer for the past six years without pay. During that time, she's volunteered about 25 hours per week to help the department. McCuskey-Moore will begin classes at the West Virginia State Police Academy on July 18th. She's scheduled to graduate on November 4th.

• Less than two weeks remain for Kentucky residents affected by the severe storms, tornadoes and floods that struck the Commonwealth between April 12th and May 20th to register with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for disaster assistance. FEMA Registration Deadline: July 18, 2011.

• On Monday July 4, 2011 at 4:25 PM Post 9 Pikeville received a call of a single vehicle accident on Marrowbone Creek Road Ky 195 in Pike County. KSP units arrived on scene and determined 19 year old Kaitlyn Kendrick of Pikeville was operating a 2006 GMC pick up traveling South on Ky 195 when she lost control of her vehicle, struck a tree and came to rest in the creek. The passenger in the vehicle, 22 year old Alexander Thacker of Pikeville,  was pronounced dead at the scene by Pike County Deputy Coroner Denver Bailey. The incident remains under investigation by Trooper James Creekmore.  Trooper Creekmore was assisted on scene by KSP Detective Jimmy Anderson.

• Rescuers have recovered the body of a third man who drowned in Leslie County in a July 4th swimming accident. The body of Tim Blevins was recovered early Tuesday about half a mile below a dam on the Middle Fork of the Kentucky River near Hyden. Rescuers had recovered the bodies of Larry Blevins and Kendall Estep on Monday. The drownings happened after the three and Larry Blevins' son, Tony Hoskins, went swimming in the river near Leslie County High School, and a strong current swept Larry Blevins over the structure. His son tried to help him and was also swept over the structure. Tim Blevins and Estep went over the spillway at the dam to try to help. Hoskins was in the churning water below the dam and his uncle, Tim Blevins, grabbed his arm but had to let go. Hoskins was swept on down the river but managed to get to the bank and get out. He was the only survivor. Larry and Tim Blevins were brothers, and Estep was their brother-in-law.

• Kentucky State Police from Post 13 were called to the Hazard Double Kwik located on Highway 15 North, shortly after 4:30 A.M. Tuesday morning for a reported strong-armed robbery. Two male subjects and a female subject entered the store and while the female was paying for her items, one of the male subjects went behind the counter, grabbed a quantity of change, and left the store. The clerk followed the male into the parking lot attempting to stop him from leaving. The clerk was assaulted and suffered a minor injury. The suspect left the scene, but not before the clerk was able to obtain his vehicle's license number. In a related incident, a short time later, the second male subject entered Francis's Diner in the Airport Gardens area of Perry County, grabbed a jar containing a quantity of change and fled the scene. Detective Clayton Stamper and Trooper Jonathon Sizemore of the Hazard Post were able to identify the alleged perpetrators. They were located at a residence in Perry County shortly before 9:00 A.M. Dustin G Mullins, 29, and his brother, Randall K Mullins, 23, were arrested without incident and lodged in the Kentucky River Regional Jail in Hazard. Dustin Mullins was charged with robbery first-degree, and Randall Mullins was charged with theft by unlawful taking under $500. The female was not charged.

• Steven Douglas Jr., 57, of Whitley County has been arrested on a charge of first-degree rape and two counts of first-degree sexual abuse of a juvenile. The alleged assault happened June 30th at a home on Browns Creek in Whitley County.

• U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell has sent a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder repeating his request to reconsider holding civilian trials for Waad Ramadan Alwan and Mohanad Shareef Hammadi,  two Iraqis arrested in Bowling Green last month. McConnell, who wants the men sent to a Navy-run prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, saying the decision to treat the civilian criminal defendants in federal court in Bowling Green is "ill-advised." Holder has defended his position, saying terrorism-related trials can be successfully handled by civilian courts.

• The late Proctor Brown will be honored on Friday, July 8th, at 10:30 A.M. during a ceremony to dedicate the bridge on KY 321 leading to James Trimble Boulevard in Paintsville in his memory. State Rep. Hubert Collins and representatives from Highway District 12 of the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet will join Brown family members at the ceremony, which will be held at the bridge site, weather permitting.

• Store clerks 45 year old Bhaggy Patel and her 25 year old son, Hardik Patel, of Lexington, entered not guilty pleas Tuesday to charges that they tried to cash winning lottery tickets after telling customers the tickets were worthless. Both were released on their own recognizance, and the next court date was set for September 9th. Later Tuesday, 28 year old Vaishaliben Patel of Louisville also pleaded not guilty. The fourth clerk indicted in the sting set up to catch dishonest retailers didn't show up for her arraignment. They are accused of keeping $8,000 worth of scratch-off lottery tickets turned in by customers, who were actually undercover lottery security officers.

• Kentucky State Police Trooper Royce Collett, Trooper Jeff Crase, the Elliott County Sheriff's Department and Elliott County EMS responded to to the scene where two year old Ryder Garris was found dead in a pond on Dewey Garris Road in Sandy Hook, Kentucky at 11:00 A.M. Tuesday morning. Garris was missing from bed when his mother woke up Tuesday morning.

• Kentucky police agencies say the commonwealth's texting-while-driving statute which took effect a year ago is well intended, but difficult to enforce. Citations and fines have been handed out since January 1st, but there were only 144 of them statewide in the first half of this year. The areas where the most citations have been written are the counties where the two largest cities are: Jefferson County leads with 23, while  Fayette County follows with 12.

• Around 1:30 A.M. Tuesday morning, Williamson fire crews were dispatched to a three-story house on Moore Street where they found the structure fully engulfed in flames. Irma Scott, 24, was rescued from the third floor balcony, but a man inside the house was found dead. The death and the cause of the fire are being investigated by the state Fire Marshal's Office.

• Huntington Police are investigating after a body was found floating in the Ohio River near some barges near the West 17th Street Bridge around 3:00 P.M. Tuesday. The body has been sent to the West Virginia State Medical Examiner’s Office for examination and identification.

• Authorities say Carolyn Lynn Hall, 53, escaped from the Beckley Correctional Center in Raleigh County Monday. Hall is described as a white female with brown hair, green eyes, 5-feet, 1-inches tall and 162 pounds with a heart tattoo that says "Joe" on front of her right lower leg. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Beckley Correctional Center at 304-256-6780.

• A Kanawha County Sheriff’s Deputy conducted a traffic stop Saturday on Campbell’s Creek and discovered about 120 Hydrocodone pills, empty prescription bottles throughout the car and hundreds of dollars in cash. The driver, Samuel E. Harris, 53, of Charleston, told the deputy the pill bottle belonged to his sister’s boyfriend, but Harris couldn’t remember the man’s name. Harris was charged with the possession of prescription narcotics with the intent to deliver.

• Roger Nicholson, a former executive for International Coal Group Inc., is rejoining Charleston law firm Jackson Kelly PLLC August 1st after six years as senior vice president and general counsel at ICG. Nicholson, who has more than 25 years of experience in the coal and natural resources industries, including multiple roles at Massey Energy, acquired last month by Alpha Natural Resources, is also admitted to practice law in Kentucky.

• When the new West Side Elementary opens its doors for the first time Friday, consolidating the student bodies of Chandler and Glenwood Elementaries, it will be staffed with a full-time psychologist in addition to a guidance counselor. The large number of low-income students it will serve helped the school qualify for a full-time Title I psychologist. Title I refers to the federal law that provides extra funding to improve the academic achievement of disadvantaged students. 

• Senator Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., has been relatively silent on the nation’s budget crisis, but late last week, he submitted to the Senate 18 specific proposals he says could shave more than $1 trillion from the deficit during the next 10 years. The proposals include a mix of options such as closing tax loopholes, reining in tax abuse and eliminating special tax breaks for the wealthy and big companies. Rockefeller has publicly criticized Republican budget plans that include cuts to programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. He says his plans will not cut any program for the elderly, poor or working families. He says big corporations and the wealthy must start paying their fair share.

• Keith Gwinn attended his first cabinet meeting Tuesday as the cabinet secretary of the newly formed state Department of Veterans Assistance. Gwinn served as director of the state Division of Veterans Affairs under former Governor Joe Manchin. When veterans affairs was under state Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety Gwinn would have to go through that state agency first with budget and hiring requests, but now veterans have a direct voice to the governor's office with their own state agency. Gwinn says the department will have two major events later this year including the official ceremony dedicating the new female soldier statue at the state capitol and the opening of the Donel Kinnard Memorial State Veteran Cemetery in Kanawha County in December.

• According to a graph by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, documenting electric power from February 2010 through February 2011, wind energy production has increased by approximately 25.4 percent in the past year in West Virginia. For March 2011, the table states that West Virginia produced 215,000 megawatt hours, up from 171,000 megawatt hours in 2010. Jeff Herholdt, director of the West Virginia Division of Energy, says West Virginia has about 580 megawatts of wind-generated capacity, and  another 300 megawatts have been permitted. According to an American Wind Energy Association fact sheet published in May, the state currently has 431 megawatts online with 101 megawatts that were added in 2010. There are issues with the permitting process which can take up to a year and a half from start to finish. Dave Friend, CEO of U.S. Wind Force, says an operator must give a 30 to 60 day notice to file for a permit and conduct several studies to see what impact the wind farm will have on the local ecology, and another challenge comes from political changes that happen in the duration of the process.

• Earlier this year, the Kanawha County Commission forced Kanawha County Prosecuting Attorney Mark Plants and all county departments to cut their budgets about 5 percent. Plants says $250,000 worth of cuts to his office's budget will not cause any decrease in the number of criminals they prosecute or affect in any way the level of service provided to crime victims. Plants initially cut only about 2 percent from his budget, but commissioners were not satisfied. He went back to the drawing board and eliminated about 6 percent from his budget by eliminating two positions, including one attorney, cutting pay for 27 employees and getting rid of a slew of line items.

• Leslie "Wayne" Southwood, an inmate who escaped from Three Forks Regional Jail in Breathitt County on June 26th, is still on the loose, and authorities say he is extremely dangerous. Police are searching across the area but believe he is still in Breathitt County. In May, Southwood's brother Jeffrey was killed in a police shootout while they were searching for Leslie Southwood. Southwood had been sentenced to 20 years for violating probation.

• Lexington Mayor Jim Gray and Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer say the region already has two Ford plants and a Toyota plant, but there is room for more. Businessman Jim Host has been chosen to lead an 18-month study that will be undertaken by a committee appointed by the mayors to study ways they can partner to attract regional economic development. Host expects the first meeting to be in August or September.

• The Kentucky Association of Food Banks has launched a program to increase access to fresh produce among people in low-income households. The association is using a $163,000 grant from the Kentucky Agricultural Development Fund and matching funds from the Walmart Foundation to buy surplus fruits and vegetables and produce not sold on the retail market because of minor blemishes or size discrepancies. The food is then distributed at no cost to people in need in Kentucky. The association plans to distribute more than 400,000 pounds of produce purchased from at least 150 different farmers this growing season.

• Drivers in Boone, Gallatin, Hardin, Jefferson and Oldham counties may notice new message signs and traffic-monitoring cameras in the next few months. Seven new side-mounted message signs and eight cameras are being installed by Arrow Electric of Louisville under a $1.5 million contract. The devices will be part of the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet's overall intelligent transportation system, which relays information to motorists about traffic incidents and delays. The work is scheduled to be finished in January.

• State Police were called to Rutherford Lane in the Genoa area of Wayne County about 8:00 P.M. Sunday night after Charles Miller, 41, allegedly made threats at another residence near his home. When officers arrived, Miller went to the roof of his residence armed with a longgun and a handgun and spent several hours before the standoff ended when law enforcement officers shot Miller at about 11:00 P.M. after he had threatened to shoot officers with the State Police and the Wayne County Sheriff's Department.

• A vacation for Lyle and Margaret Hartman of Franklin, West Virginia turned tragic Sunday when they were boating on Monroe Bay along Monroe Bay Campground near Colonial Beach in Virginia and another boat crashed into them, went airborne, and landed on top of their boat. Margaret died in the crash and Lyle was taken to Mary Washington Hospital with serious injuries to his head.

• A fight in Huntington Sunday night led to seven arrests. Police say two semi-automatic handguns and a baseball bat were found at the scene, and a baby was in a car right beside the fight. Lacey Lee Blankenship, 23, was arrested on a felony charge of domestic battery, carrying a concealed deadly weapon and child neglect with risk of injury. Randy Peck, 51, was charged with the felony malicious wounding. Also arrested were Ryan Blankenship, Walter Peck, Margie Peck, Franklin Peck and Jared Salmons.

• Deputies say Tommy Allen Marcum, from Branchland, was driving westbound on McComas Road in Barboursville Monday afternoon when he saw a vehicle driving toward his car, in his lane. Marcum told deputies he swerved off the road to avoid the vehicle, then over-corrected and crossed the road, causing it to go airborne and crash into the creek. Paramedics treated Marcum for minor injuries, but Eva McGray, a passenger in Marcum's car, was transported to St. Mary's Medical Center.

• More people are on the Hatfield-McCoy Trails in southern West Virginia this year compared with the same time last year. Trail officials estimate ridership is up by more than 2%. Trails Executive Director Jeff Lusk says any future growth will be severely limited by the lack of sufficient lodging. The Hatfield-McCoy Trail System covers more than 500 off road miles. They are Rockhouse, Buffalo Mountain, Bearwallow, Indian Ridge, Little Coal and Pinnacle Creek. By the time the trail system is finished, it could cover more than 2,000 miles.

• The Bowling Green City Commission has scheduled a vote for Tuesday on a resolution urging U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and the Justice Department to move the case of Iraqi nationals Waad Ramadan Alwan and Mohanad Shareef Hammadi. Alwan, 30, and Hammadi, 23, were arrested May 25th in Bowling Green, and a federal grand jury returned a 23-count indictment against the men May 26th. Both entered the country legally as Iraqi refugees, receiving publicly funded housing assistance and health care. Commissioner Melinda Hill says the commission is not trying to use the prosecution of Alwan and Hammadi as a political platform. If the resolution passes, the commission will join U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., in calling for the two men to be tried by a military commission at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

• Carl Wedekind, a longtime board member of the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky and the Kentucky Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, has died at the age of 85. Wedekind became involved in the movement against capital punishment while working on the case of Harold McQueen, who in 1997 became the first person executed in Kentucky since 1962. Last year the Kentucky ACLU gave Wedekind its lifetime achievement award. A memorial service is scheduled for 2:00 P.M. EDT Thursday at the First Unitarian Church in Louisville.

• Lawyers for nine Amish men from western Kentucky filed an appeal Thursday asking the state Supreme Court to overturn their 2008 convictions for failing to display bright safety triangles on their horse-drawn buggies, as required by state law. The men, all members of the strict Old Order Swartzentruber Amish sect, object to the triangles because their colors violated their modesty code. The men want the state to honor their strict religious convictions, which they say prohibit them from using the safety triangles in good conscience. The Kentucky Court of Appeals upheld the convictions June 3rd.

• The Humana Insurance Company has announced they’ll no longer hire workers in Arizona who use tobacco products as part of a trend of employers who are cracking down on tobacco use. Humana will test employees for nicotine use during a pre-employment urine drug screen, but the policy does not apply to the company’s headquarters in Louisville. Kentucky has declared smokers a “protected class”, making it illegal to discriminate against people because they smoke.

• A group called Preservation Louisville is taking aim at Louisville's historic shotgun houses, which have been prevalent in the city's urban neighborhoods for more than a century. The houses are deteriorating because of old age and neglect. The initiative, Preservation S.O.S. "Save Our Shotguns," will revamp the homes in neighborhoods such as Butchertown, Smoketown, Germantown and Portland. The first will be chosen by a panel in July, with work expected to start in the fall. The renovation work will be done using a grant from PNC Bank and volunteer help from Habitat for Humanity and others.

• Charleston Police say Larry Patterson Jr., 28, was arrested Sunday after he allegedly held a woman at gunpoint on Lee Street East. Police say Patterson ran from them but was found about two hours later, two blocks away in an alley. That's when police say he dropped his gun, and a six year old boy picked it up and handed it to police. Patterson is charged with wanton endangerment, child endangerment, fleeing, possessing a firearm and domestic battery.

• During a preliminary hearing Friday, a trooper testified that Boone County Career and Technical Center teacher Jack Turley confessed to buying Sudafed to trade for finished meth  that was smoked in the office of school principal Keith Phipps, who faces misdemeanor charges related to the investigation. Police say Turley bought in several counties, but is only charged with four buys in Boone County. Phipps is accused of buying too much psuedoephrine in Kanawha County. Turley's lawyer argued that even though he admitted buying Sudafed for meth making, the state police can't prove the Boone buys were used to do it. The magistrate said he felt probable cause had been shown but decided to withhold ruling and continued the hearing, but no date was set for the next part of the hearing.

• William Chapman 'Chap' Cook was a soldier in the Union Army during the Civil War. Saturday, state, county and local officials gathered with the Cook family along Route 26 in the Van area of Boone County to dedicate a stretch of the highway to Cook and other Civil War heros. Signs now bear a new name on the stretch of highway from Van to Twilight in Cook's honor. The Cooks, who lived in Virginia, which was controlled by the confederacy at the time of the war, were a family of union sympathizers.

• West Virginia officials are examining how to bolster the finances of the state's 911 call centers which are facing declining revenues and increasing technology demands. Deputy revenue secretary Mark Muchow says the state needs to move in the same direction as Virginia and North Carolina by adopting an equitable tax structure. If such a change occurs, landline, mobile and voice-over-internet customers could see their 911 tax based on a percentage of their total bills, rather than the current flat fee.

• Senate President Jeff Kessler announced Friday that a joint state Senate and House of Delegates committee, composed of five delegates and five senators, will hold its first meeting July 12th to look at Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling regulations, including the issue of hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking." Fracking, a process by which drillers use high-pressured water to crack and get through rock, has become a controversial method to reach natural gas. Last month, Morgantown City Council banned the process within one mile of city limits. Critics of fracking claim it can pollute city water supplies.

• IVS Hydro, Inc., an Institute company with 250 employees, filed a lawsuit Friday against the proposed annexation of Dunbar, claiming Dunbar Mayor Jack Yeager met with the Regional Intergovernmental Council in South Charleston with a map proposing certain land to be annexed into Dunbar. It also claims the proposition and planning of the annexation has cost several thousands of dollars of public funds, the proposed areas are not “contiguous to the municipal boundaries” of Dunbar, several residents of the community are against the plan, it does not favor jobs or economic development, and  it goes against West Virginia statute. The lawsuit requests the court immediately suspend the proposed annexation and declare it invalid or unconstitutional.

• A vehicle rollover in the area of 5th Street Road in Huntington at 1:12 A.M. Saturday morning sent one woman to the hospital and 20 year old Joshua Barr to the Western Regional Jail charged with DUI causing  injury. Police say Barr was heading south when he swerved, hit the median, flipped and landed on an SUV.

• Talbert Dehaven III, who also goes by the name “Chip,” escaped from the Beckley Correction Facility, where he was serving time for forgery and uttering, between 2:00 - 3:00 A.M. Saturday morning. Police think he may have gone to Virginia, where he is originally from. Dehaven is 5 feet 10 inches tall, weighs roughly 200 pounds, has brown hair, blue eyes and a shaved head. Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Dehaven is urged to contact Raleigh County’s detachment of the West Virginia State Police.

• Kentucky State Police located an elderly West Virginia couple at about 5:00 P.M. Saturday afternoon after Wayne County 911 dispatchers had issued a Silver Alert for French James Napier, 86, and his 81 year old wife Elizabeth May, of Prichard, who were last seen Friday at approximately 4:30 P.M. at Chase Bank  in Wayne. The couple was on their way to meet family at Pullman Square in Huntington. The couple's family was worried because French James has dementia and diabetes and Elizabeth has Alzheimer's. Dispatchers had gotten  a call about a car swerving all over the southbound lane of I-75 at the 115 mile marker near Mt. Sterling. When KSP found the car on a side road, they realized it was the Napiers. Family msmbers picked them up at the KSP station in Morehead 

• Timothy David Chapman, 33, of Wayne has been arrested and charged with sexual abuse after state police say he had pictures of a 14 year old boy, partially-clothed with his wrists, arms and legs duct-taped or tied with a rope. The photos, taken in November and December of 2008, were found on a thumb drive by Chapman's ex-wife and taken to state police. Bond was set at $100,000.

• A fire that started in a garage of a Chelyan home on Church Street belonging to Becky Adkins quickly spread to the adjacent Paul White Chevrolet car dealership Friday afternoon, destroying the business's storage building and body shop. Paul White Chevrolet Inc. general manager Margie Hancock said employees rushed to salvage whatever they could from the two buildings before they were destroyed, including a 1981 Corvette.

• Kanawha County Commission President Kent Carper wants to ban the use of electronic cigarettes for county workers on the job. The Kanawha-Charleston Health Department recently banned their use on Health Department property and in Health Department vehicles, and the state banned them for state employees on state property. Dr. Rahul Gupta, director of the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department, thinks there are enough questions about the safety of electronic cigarettes that health officials decided to ban the devices on Health Department property, and he would love to ban electronic cigarettes countywide but doesn't have the science to back the move up.

• Friday, Dr. Eli Capilouto took over as the 12th president of the University of Kentucky. Dr. Capilouto says he's going to spend his first couple of weeks in office listening to student input before he makes any big changes. Capilouto had served as provost at the University of Alabama, in Birmingham, since 2005.

• U.S. District Judge Amul Thapar has issued a temporary restraining order commanding CAM Mining LLC in Pikeville to stop giving coal miners advance warning about searches for cigarettes and lighters. The order comes a week after the Labor Department sued CAM Mining in federal court under a little-used provision in federal mine safety law that allows regulators to seek an injunction from a federal judge, bringing the mine under the jurisdiction of the judge to ensure the law is followed. Federal inspectors had planned to search CAM Mining's No. 28 mine on June 17th after receiving a tip about smoking underground. Federal officials say, since the federal Mine Safety and Health Act was passed in 1977, there have been four major mine explosions blamed on smoking.

• Governor Steve Beshear is expected to make an announcement next week regarding Medicaid managed-care contracts. The Beshear administration had pledged earlier this year to have the contracts in place by Friday. Beshear says the Cabinet for Health and Family Services is in the final stages of evaluating managed care organizations for potential contracts that are key to filling a $166 million deficit in the Medicaid budget.

• More than 1,300 soldiers from the Kentucky National Guard of the 149th Maneuvering Brigade are training for deployment to Iraq to help decommission hundreds of bases, guard convoys and weapons and handle security at U.S. bases as the military prepares to pull out of Iraq. The mission is the Guard's largest overseas deployment since World War II.

• Greg Harkenrider, deputy executive director of the Governor's Office for Economic Analysis, said Friday that raising the state's cigarette tax from 30 cents to 60 cents a pack in 2009 appears to have caused people to smoke less. Kentucky smokers purchased 120 million fewer packs of cigarettes over the past two years. The American Heart Association's advocacy director in Kentucky, Tonya Chang, says the state, with one of the highest smoking rates in the nation, needs to do more to discourage people from lighting up. Chang said she'd like to see Kentucky's cigarette tax raised to the national average, which now stands at $1.45.

• In 2009, state lawmakers approved Senate Bill 1, which calls for the creation of more demanding state education standards that are aligned from preschool to college. Approximately 23,000 Kentucky children were enrolled in state preschool programs and an additional 17,000 in federal Head Start preschool programs in 2010. Lisa Gross, spokeswoman for the Kentucky Department of Education, says state education officials have their eye on a new federal "Race to the Top" education grant proposal that focuses on making improvements in early learning. Public input on the new grants, called "Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge" will be allowed through July 11th.

• Independence Day usually brings thoughts of parades, backyard barbecues and, of course, fireworks. This year, the Kentucky Department for Public Health (DPH) wants the public to focus on safety in addition to celebrating the holiday, particularly when using certain types of fireworks recently legalized in Kentucky.
  House Bill 333, signed by Gov. Steve Beshear in March, expanded legal fireworks in the state from ground devices and novelties to include a full line of consumer fireworks, such as Roman candles and other fireworks that shoot into the air. The law regulates the sale, storage, location and display of the explosives.
  “Fireworks can be a fun way to celebrate and add to the festivity of the holiday, but don’t forget injury prevention,” said DPH Commissioner William Hacker. “This year, the types of fireworks that can be legally sold in Kentucky have expanded and some might be new to consumers. Make sure you know how to properly use these items and are working to avoid injury.”
  The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is asking states to join its nationwide effort to prevent injuries related to fireworks. According to the CPSC, fireworks-related injuries in 2010 were associated with approximately 1,900 people ending up in emergency rooms. CPSC’s annual death and injury report on fireworks incidents indicates that nearly half of these injuries affected children younger than 15 years of age.
  “Although fireworks play a major role in Fourth of July celebration, you have to keep public safety in mind – even with smaller items,” said Kathy Fowler, director of the public health protection and safety division in DPH. “Firecrackers, bottle rockets and sparklers are some of the biggest culprits of injury. Please use caution if you are using these items.”
  In fact, according to the CPSC, a sparkler can get as hot as the flame on some blow torches and can easily ignite clothing.
  No fireworks can be considered safe enough to let young children play with them without direct adult supervision under any circumstances,” Fowler added, emphasizing the following guidelines when using fireworks:
  · Never allow young children to ignite fireworks.
  · Adults should always supervise fireworks activities.
  · Never try to re-light or pick up fireworks that fizzle and don’t go off.
  · Never point or throw fireworks at another person.
  · Keep a bucket of water or a garden hose handy in case of fire or other mishap.
  · After fireworks fully complete their functioning, douse the spent device with plenty of water from a bucket or hose before discarding to prevent a fire.
  ndence Day usually brings thoughts of parades, backyard barbecues and, of course, fireworks. This year, the Kentucky Department for Public Health (DPH) wants the public to focus on safety in addition to celebrating the holiday, particularly when using certain types of fireworks recently legalized in Kentucky. House Bill 333, signed by Gov. Steve Beshear in March, expanded legal fireworks in the state from ground devices and novelties to include a full line of consumer fireworks, such as Roman candles and other fireworks that shoot into the air. The law regulates the sale, storage, location and display of the explosives. “Fireworks can be a fun way to celebrate and add to the festivity of the holiday, but don’t forget injury prevention,” said DPH Commissioner William Hacker. “This year, the types of fireworks that can be legally sold in Kentucky have expanded and some might be new to consumers. Make sure you know how to properly use these items and are working to avoid injury.”  The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is asking states to join its nationwide effort to prevent injuries related to fireworks. According to the CPSC, fireworks-related injuries in 2010 were associated with approximately 1,900 people ending up in emergency rooms. CPSC’s annual death and injury report on fireworks incidents indicates that nearly half of these injuries affected children younger than 15 years of age.  “Although fireworks play a major role in Fourth of July celebration, you have to keep public safety in mind – even with smaller items,” said Kathy Fowler, director of the public health protection and safety division in DPH. “Firecrackers, bottle rockets and sparklers are some of the biggest culprits of injury. Please use caution if you are using these items.”  In fact, according to the CPSC, a sparkler can get as hot as the flame on some blow torches and can easily ignite clothing.  No fireworks can be considered safe enough to let young children play with them without direct adult supervision under any circumstances,” Fowler added, emphasizing the following guidelines when using fireworks:

                              · Never allow young children to ignite fireworks.
                              · Adults should always supervise fireworks activities.
                              · Never try to re-light or pick up fireworks that fizzle and don’t go off.
                              · Never throw fireworks at a person             
                              · Keep a bucket of water or a garden hose handy in case of fire or other mishap.

• Testimony is set to continue Monday, July 11th, in the murder trial of 38 year old Christopher Bowling, a Raleigh County man accused of fatally shooting his wife Tresa in their Daniels home in January 2010. The proceedings were put on hold for a week  Friday to accommodate some jurors with vacation plans. This is Bowling's second trial after the first ended in a mistrial after two jurors were dismissed.

• The investigation into the January 27th mine death of 19 year old John C. Lester Jr. is complete. Investigators say it appears Lester attempted to cross a moving conveyor belt where a suitable belt crossing facility was not provided and became trapped in the structure. The accident occurred at Jim's  Branch No. 3B mine near New Richmond in Wyoming County.

• Charleston Police say an argument on Washington Street East in Charleston Thursday night turned violent when James Wesley Green, 56, of Charleston, struck Bruce Morgan, 56, several times with a hammer, causing him to suffer several minor injuries to his face and hands. Green was charged with malicious wounding.

• About 20 new laws went into effect Friday, July 1st, the start of the new fiscal year for West Virginia. West Virginia’s Division of Veterans’ Affairs became the Cabinet-level Department of Veterans’ Assistance. Marcellus shale natural gas field developers are eligible for new tax credits, and both public and private insurers are required to cover autism spectrum disorder treatment. Insurers do not have to adjust their coverage until the 2012 plan year.

• More than 300 uninsured West Virginia children are now eligible for coverage by the state Children's Health Insurance Program. Medicare and Medicaid Services has approved the coverage expansion proposed by the program's board in February, extending coverage to children of families with a gross income of up to 300 percent of the federal poverty level. A family of four can have a household income of about $67,000, up from about $55,000. Families also must pay a $35 monthly premium for one child or $71 per month for two or more children.

• Public Service Commission staff lawyer John Auville has asked the regulatory agency to require American Electric Power, FirstEnergy and other electric utilities  to report the conditions of their high-voltage transmission lines and provide plans to ensure their continued service. Auville is asking that the utilities submit their reports within 30 days. The state has more than 5,700 miles of high voltage transmission lines.