Kentucky News Now – April 10th 2015

SOLDIER KILLED

101st Airborne soldier killed in Afghanistan

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. (AP) — A Fort Campbell soldier has been killed in Afghanistan.

The 101st Airborne Division said Thursday that 22-year-old Spc. John M. Dawson of Whitinsville, Massachusetts, died Wednesday in Jalalabad of wounds suffered when he was attacked by small arms fire while he was on an escort mission.

Dawson was assigned to 1st Squadron, 33rd Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, as a combat medic. He joined the Army in 2012 and was stationed at Fort Campbell in January 2013.

Survivors include his parents, Rhonda J. Dawson and Michael J. Dawson of Whitinsville.

POLICE SHOOTING-KENTUCKY

Man shot, killed in confrontation with officers in Kentucky

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Louisville police have identified the officers involved in the fatal shooting of a man near a middle school.

Police said the officers are Rondall Carpenter, who has been with the department since 2009, and Zachary Cooke, a first-year officer.

Both officers are white, and the man killed is also white. The man who was shot hasn't been identified.

Carpenter and Cooke have been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of an internal investigation.

This is Carpenter's second fatal shooting in less than a year. Police said the earlier shooting remains under review.

Police say Wednesday night's shooting happened after the man pointed his gun and fired multiple shots at officers.

GOP 2016-PAUL

Rand Paul struggles to get campaign started smoothly

MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. (AP) — Sen. Rand Paul's first days as a presidential candidate have not gone as planned.

The first-term Kentucky senator is no stranger to attention. But in opening his campaign, he betrayed a hot temperament that, by his own admission, needs some control.

After defensive and dodging press interviews about abortion, Iran and his shifting views on some issues, he's acknowledged he'll have to get better at holding his tongue and temper.

Paul skipped encounters with the media altogether after his rally in South Carolina on Thursday.

In his first 24 hours as a contender, Paul lectured an NBC reporter about how to ask a question and grew testy in an Associated Press interview when asked about abortion policy.

GOP 2016-PAUL-WALTER SCOTT

In South Carolina, Rand Paul doesn't mention police shooting

MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. (AP) — Republican presidential candidate Rand Paul made no mention of the unarmed black man killed by a white police officer during a campaign stop just miles from where the shooting happened.

Paul often says that U.S. criminal justice isn't equally applied, a statement he repeated at his rally Thursday. But since launching his White House bid Tuesday, the Kentucky senator has sidestepped questions about the high-profile South Carolina case.

North Charleston police officer Michael Slager initially claimed he shot Scott in self-defense. Slager was later fired and charged with murder after a bystander's video showed him firing his weapon repeatedly as Scott fled.

U.S. Rep. Mark Sanford did not shy away from the case, telling Paul supporters it proves the senator is right about the importance of civil liberties.

HEROIN-MCCONNELL

Nation's drug czar touts needle-exchange programs

COVINGTON, Ky. (AP) — The nation's drug czar has touted needle-exchange programs as a way to reduce the spread of disease and to steer heroin users into treatment.

Michael Botticelli, the director of National Drug Control Policy, spent Thursday visiting northern Kentucky, which has been hard hit by heroin abuse addiction. Botticelli was invited to Kentucky by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

During his speech, Botticelli said needle-exchange programs are a way to reduce the spread of hepatitis and HIV by discouraging use of dirty needles by multiple people. He said the programs reduce the risk that law enforcement officers will be infected by accidental needle sticks.

Kentucky lawmakers last month passed sweeping anti-heroin legislation.

One component allows local governments to set up needle-exchange programs where addicts can swap dirty needles for clean ones.

GE FIRE

GE to bring hourly workers back to Kentucky site after fire

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

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — General Electric plans to start bringing hourly workers back to its sprawling Appliance Park manufacturing center next week after a massive fire.

GE officials told The Courier-Journal on Wednesday that all salaried employees were back to work and the company was running some limited production. Hourly workers will begin coming back in phases.

Meanwhile, lead fire investigator Maj. Henry Ott says it could take two months to complete the investigation into what caused Jefferson County's largest structure fire.

The blaze last week destroyed the warehouse section of the park's Building 6, which is larger than 5 acres. It is a nonproduction building.

The Louisville fire department official says firefighters were still extinguishing hotspots on Wednesday.

Ott says that there's no known cause of the fire and that no theories have been eliminated.