Ky. coal-producing counties receiving fees refunds
FRANKFORT (AP) — Refunds totaling nearly $180,000 are being delivered to fiscal courts in 33 counties from mining permit and acreage fees.
Gov. Matt Bevin, who announced the refunds last week, says the money will directly benefit coal-producing counties.
The Department for Natural Resources collects mining permit and acreage fees and sends part of the revenue to coal-producing counties for projects that the fiscal courts deem beneficial to the communities.
Refunds range from $62.50 in Pulaski and Rockcastle counties to almost $40,000 in Pike County.
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About 400 Fort Campbell soldiers joining unit in Iraq
FORT CAMPBELL (AP) — Fort Campbell says about 400 soldiers with the 101st Airborne Division are deploying to Iraq this summer.
The post on the Kentucky-Tennessee border says the soldiers from the 2nd Brigade Combat Team will deploy as part of an increase in authorized troop levels in Iraq.
They are to join some 1,300 previously deployed soldiers from the same unit who deployed in the spring.
Lt. Col. Eric Lopez, the 2nd Brigade Combat Team provision brigade commander, said in a news release from the post that the soldiers are referred to as the “Strike Ready Force.” He says they’re “prepared to deploy and join the team in Iraq at a moment’s notice.”
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Boy dies after falling into cemetery pond in Kentucky
LEXINGTON (AP) — A Kentucky coroner’s office says an 11-year-old boy has died after being pulled from a pond at The Lexington Cemetery.
Media outlets report that Lexington police say the boy fell into the water Sunday afternoon.
Police told WKYT-TV that the boy and two other children were believed to have been fishing at the pond.
Lexington Fire Battalion Chief Joe Best says a team of divers helped to recover the boy, who was taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries.
The Fayette County coroner’s office said on Monday that D’Shannon Davis was later pronounced dead at the hospital.
This is the second time in a week someone has fallen into a pond at the cemetery. Last week, a man died after he slipped and fell into the water.
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Judge wants more details on UofL accreditation, board makeup
FRANKFORT (AP) — A state judge says he wants more information about University of Louisville’s accreditation and the political and racial makeup of the school’s board of trustees.
Franklin Circuit Judge Phillip Shepherd issued an order last month at the request of Democratic Attorney General Andy Beshear to temporarily block Bevin’s decision to abolish and replace the University of Louisville board. On Monday, both sides were back in court to discuss scheduling for the case.
Shepherd said the university’s accreditation is “an extremely important issue” and said he does not have enough information about it to make a permanent decision.
Shepherd also said he is concerned the old board of trustees may violate state law because it does not have proper political and minority representation.
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Kentucky officials: Man shot, killed by Louisville police
LOUISVILLE (AP) — Authorities in Kentucky say a man has been shot and killed by police in Louisville.
Louisville Metro Police Chief Steve Conrad tells news outlets the shooting happened about 1:30 a.m. Monday.
Officers responded to an apartment for a domestic dispute when Conrad says a man came out of the home armed with a knife and another machete-like weapon.
Conrad says officers ordered the man to drop the weapons but he did not.
He says the man then advanced toward the three police officers. Conrad says two of the officers shot at the man, killing him.
Officials have not released the man’s identity. Conrad says the man was black. The races of the officers have not been released.
Police say all three officers were wearing body cameras.
The shooting remains under investigation.
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Body found in Clark Co.; autopsy results pending
WINCHESTER (AP) — Police in Clark County say a decomposed body has been discovered by people collecting aluminum cans for recycling.
Clark County Coroner Robert Gayheart says the body was found Friday at a U.S. 60 intersection near Interstate 64 in Winchester.
The identity of the body wasn’t immediately determined pending a weekend autopsy.
Clark County Sheriff Berl Perdue says the body appears to be that of an adult. He says the investigation is being handled by state police in Columbia. Media outlets report the Columbia post also is handling the investigation into the July 3 disappearance of a northern Kentucky couple.
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Police arrest 4 in fatal shootings of 2 in Lee Co.
BEATTYVILLE (AP) — Kentucky State Police say they have arrested four people in the fatal shootings of two men in Lee County.
Police said in a statement on Sunday that it appears 27-year-old Billy Roark and 36-year-old James R. Brown, both of Beattyville, were fatally shot on Thursday night in separate incidents. Roark’s body was found Friday morning and Brown’s body was found Saturday night.
Police said 34-year-old Anthony T. Taylor and 23-year-old Kasandra K. White, both of Beattyville, are charged with murder and complicity to murder in the deaths. In addition, police say 22-year-old Wesley T. Johnson of Irvine and 32-year-old Kevin F. Kendall of Beattyville, are charged with complicity to murder.
Online jail records don’t indicate whether they have attorneys.
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Southern States worker killed in accident in Ky.
HARRODSBURG (AP) — Police say a worker at a Harrodsburg store has died after becoming pinned under a front loader.
Media outlets report that police responded to the accident at a Southern States store in Harrodsburg.
Harrodsburg Police Officer Richard Reilly says the cause of Thursday’s accident wasn’t immediately determined.
A coroner later identified the victim as 52-year-old David Huff of Shelbyville.
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating.
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Louisville company faces proposed fines over worker death
LOUISVILLE (AP) — Federal regulators are proposing fines of more than $320,000 for safety violations for a Louisville company whose employee died in a fatal fall in Illinois.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has proposed the fine for Material Handling Systems.
The Courier-Journal reports a 42-year-old man was dismantling equipment in February when he fell 22 feet at a United Parcel Service facility in Addison, Illinois. Material Handling Systems and MHS Technical Services were working under contract with UPS to replace conveyor systems.
Assistant Labor Secretary David Michael says in a statement that OSHA cited Material Handling Systems twice previously for exposing workers to fall hazards — including at the same site four months earlier. Regulators cited the company for three willful violations late last month, along with repeat and serious violations.
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Police: Brother arrested in stabbing deaths of 2 sisters
HOPKINSVILLE (AP) — Police in Kentucky say the brother of two women who died after being found stabbed in Hopkinsville has been taken into custody.
Local news agencies report Hopkinsville police say 65-year-old Robert Jerry Rogers has been arrested and charged with two counts of murder.
Officers were called Sunday morning to a home, where they found 69-year-old Francis Carolyn Coleman of Houston, Texas, and 62-year-old Joanne Rogers of Hopkinsville both stabbed.
Officials say Joanne Rogers died at the scene. Coleman was taken to the hospital, where she died.
Police say they found the suspect inside the residence with blood on himself and his clothes. It isn’t immediately clear if he has an attorney.
Police haven’t released a motive in the deaths, which remain under investigation.