Kentucky News Now

BUILDING ROLLER COASTERS

Students build roller coasters from paper

ELIZABETHTOWN, Ky. (AP) — T.K. Stone Middle School seventh-grade science teachers David Grossman and Katie Davis in Elizabethtown, Kentucky, are educating their students on kinetic and potential energy by letting them design and build their own homemade thrill ride.

Grossman and Davis assigned students to design and build a roller coaster with at least one loop, six turns and a height no more than one meter using cardstock paper and tape. This is a process that took five days in class to create.

The assignment was made for a unit on kinetic energy and potential energy with some added engineering techniques including design, planning and testing.

The students were in groups of about four. On a recent Wednesday, they tested the coasters using a marble to travel through the miniature ride.

CAMPER DEATH

Cincinnati man dies after falling off central Ky. cliff

(Information in the following story is from: WLEX-TV, http://www.wlextv.com)

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Authorities are investigating the death of a Cincinnati man who fell off a cliff at Red River Gorge in central Kentucky.

According to WLEX-TV, the Wolfe County Search and Rescue team got a call late Saturday night that a camper on Chimney Top Rock was in serious danger.

Officials say the man was on an annual camping trip with a group of friends when he lost his footing and fell into a crevice. The name of the man has not been released.

David Fifer is with the rescue team. He says although the gorge is filled with warning signs about the dangerous cliffs, it's still one of the most popular places for people to visit and often spend the night.

ASIAN CARP-OHIO RIVER

Invasive Asian carp fish spawning in Louisville

(Information in the following story is from: The Courier-Journal, http://www.courier-journal.com)

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A highly invasive fish commonly called Asian carp is proliferating in the Ohio River at Louisville. Wildlife officials say they have a spawning area below the McAlpine Locks and Dam.

A report from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says two species of the fish, Bighead and Silver carp, are spawning at Louisville. It says they have been detected as far up the Ohio River as Greenup Lock and Dam near Huntington, West Virginia.

Ron Brooks with the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources tells The Courier-Journal that there are enough of the carp below the McAlpine dam for spawning to occur.

The fish has infested lakes and tributaries all along the Mississippi River. They eat up food supplies and starve out native species.

DEMOCRATIC CHAIRMAN

Kentucky Democrats elect Patrick Hughes as new chairman

FRANKFORT, KY. (AP) — The executive board of Kentucky Democratic Party has unanimously elected attorney Patrick Hughes as the party's new chairman.

Hughes, or Edgewood, served as Chief Deputy Attorney General to Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway in 2011 and 2012. He currently is a partner at Dressman, Benzinger and LaValle.

In a news release on the election, Gov. Steve Beshear called Hughes "a passionate, dedicated and thoughtful leader who understands what's important to Kentucky families."

Hughes succeeds Dan Logsdon, who served as party chair for four and a half years.

LOTTERY WINNER

$1 million Ky. Lottery winner almost missed out on prize

(Information in the following story is from: The Kentucky Enquirer, http://www.nky.com)

VILLA HILLS, Ky. (AP) — A $1 million Kentucky Lottery winner almost missed out on her prize.

The Kentucky Enquirer reports Patricia Pearson did not know she had a winning lottery ticket until nearly a week after the drawing. That's when Lottery officials went to the AmeriStop Food Mart in Villa Hills where the winning ticket was sold for some routine security procedures. Watching the surveillance video, store manager Paul Gabis recognized the customer who purchased the winning ticket.

When Gabis called Pearson to tell her the good news, she was afraid he was calling for something else. She had put a sign up at the store to try to sell her condo and she thought he wanted her to take it down.

THEATER'S LOSS

Ashland college theater's costumes, props destroyed

(Information in the following story is from: The Independent, http://www.dailyindependent.com)

ASHLAND, Ky. (AP) — Devotees of the Ashland Community and Technical College theater are reeling after the school destroyed two decades worth of costumes, furniture and props.

ACTC officials told The Independent it was necessary to bulldoze the college-owned house containing the theater materials because everything was contaminated by mold and asbestos and the items could not be safely cleaned.

That explanation was no comfort to those who have acted and worked in ACTC productions who say the loss is irreplaceable.

Some involved with the theater program says they were completely blindsided by the decision, only learning of it when they drove by the pile of rubble. They also challenged the school's conclusions about the danger and difficulty of salvaging the materials.

Despite the loss, ACTC officials say the theater program will continue.