Kentucky News Now

BODY FOUND-BOX

Kentucky man charged after Wisconsin man's body found in box

HARRODSBURG, Ky. (AP) — A man has been arrested following the discovery of a Wisconsin man's body inside a box along a Kentucky road.

The Mercer County Sheriff's Office said in a news release Monday that 61-year-old Clarence Michael Hicks was arrested in his Harrodsburg home on a charge of hiding a corpse that was filed in Wisconsin.

The Lexington Herald-Leader reports Wisconsin's Pierce County Sheriff's Office conducted the investigation.

Authorities say the body of 51-year-old Douglas Bailey was found in December in a large box on an embankment in Hazard. Bailey was a truck driver whose sister reported him missing after he didn't show up for a family Thanksgiving dinner in Peoria, Illinois.

Bailey's 45-year-old girlfriend, Rose Marie Kuehni, of Prescott, has been charged with first-degree intentional homicide and hiding a corpse.

DRIVER-INJURY-LAWSUIT

Dollar General ordered to pay $925K to injured truck driver

FLORENCE, Ala. (AP) — A Lauderdale County jury has returned one of the largest personal injury verdicts in the county's history, finding Dollar General at fault for injuries sustained by a Kentucky delivery driver five years ago.

News outlets report that the jury on Friday awarded Howard Luttrell $925,000 in compensatory damages following a 2013 lawsuit Luttrell had filed against the company.

The lawsuit says Luttrell was crushed by the cargo he was carrying after he opened the trailer door upon arriving in Florence in February 2011. Luttrell's attorneys say their client had to undergo extensive medical treatment and has been unable to work since the incident.

The jury found Dollar General had loaded and prepared the trailer in a dangerous and unsafe manner.

ENGINEERING GIFT

University of Kentucky alumnus, wife give $7M gift

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — A University of Kentucky alumnus and his wife have given $7 million to rename the Department of Biomedical Engineering, adding an endowed chair and two endowed fellowships.

The university says the gift from F. Joseph Halcomb and Joani Halcomb will establish the F. Joseph Halcomb III, M.D., Department of Biomedical Engineering, pending approval from the University Senate and the board of trustees. It will be the first named department at the university.

Halcomb was inducted into the College of Engineering's Hall of Distinction in 2014.

He said in a news release from the university that more than anything, he wants students in the biomedical engineering program to make a difference in the lives of patients.

Halcomb has spent 30 years in the medical device and biotechnology industries. He earned mechanical engineering and medical degrees from UK in the 1970s.

FERRY REOPENS

Ferry linking Missouri, Kentucky reopens after repairs

HICKMAN, Ky. (AP) — Motorists traveling between western Kentucky and Missouri can once again use a ferry service that's been closed for an extended period.

The Dorena-Hickman Ferry was closed due to damage to the rudders and propeller drive system. The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet said the ferryboat had to be taken to Memphis and put in dry dock for repairs.

The ferry has been closed since February.

The ferry connects Kentucky 1354 at Hickman, Kentucky, with Missouri Route A and Route 77 near Dorena, Missouri. Missouri and Kentucky are the only border states that are not directly connected by a road. The ferry is the only direct route between the two states.

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Online: http://www.dorena-hickmanferryboat.com

CHILD-VEHICLE DEATH

Louisville police investigate death of child in vehicle

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Louisville police are investigating the death of a toddler found inside a parked car outside an elementary school.

Police spokesman Dwight Mitchell said the boy was about 3 years old and was in cardiac arrest when he was spotted inside the small sport-utility vehicle Monday afternoon. He died at the scene.

The incident happened at Gutermuth Elementary School, a few miles southwest of downtown Louisville.

Mitchell says the cause of death isn't known.

He said the vehicle was parked, and the boy was alone in the vehicle. The National Weather Service lists the temperature at that hour at 83 degrees.

FATAL SHOOTINGS

2 dead, 1 injured in Floyd County shooting; suspect arrested

HUEYSVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky State Police say a man has been charged in a shooting in Floyd County that left two men dead and one injured.

Multiple media outlets report 49-year-old Ronnie Lee Hall is facing two counts of murder in connection with the incident Friday night.

Trooper Steven Mounts says authorities were called to a home in Hueysville for a report of shots fired. When they arrived, Mounts says troopers found that three people had been shot.

The Lexington Herald-Leader reports Floyd County Coroner Greg Nelson identified the deceased as 30-year-old Daniel Ronnie Harvill and 33-year-old Rodney Keith Whitaker, both of Hueysville.

Mounts say a third victim, 51-year-old Ricky Goble of Hueysville was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

The incident remains under investigation.

It's unclear whether Hall has an attorney.