Kentucky News Now – August 25th 2015

ATTORNEY KILLED

Man sentenced in fatal shooting of southern Kentucky lawyer

SOMERSET, Ky. (AP) — A southern Kentucky man who pleaded guilty but mentally ill in the fatal shooting of a prominent defense lawyer has been sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Commonwealth's Attorney Eddy Montgomery told the Lexington Herald-Leader that Clinton D. Inabnit (in-AB'-nit) will have to serve at least 85 percent of the sentence imposed Monday in Somerset. Inabnit is in his early 40s.

Inabnit lived across the street from Mark Stanziano's law office in Somerset. Authorities said he ambushed Stanziano last summer as the attorney arrived at work, shooting him six times with a 9 mm pistol.

Inabnit had been diagnosed as paranoid schizophrenic. Police said he told them he received a message through the newspaper telling him to shoot Stanziano and that unidentified people told him ringing in his ears would stop if he shot the lawyer.

EDUCATION COMMISSIONER

Board of Education continues search for new commissioner

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — The Kentucky Board of Education is meeting again Tuesday as it looks for a successor to Commissioner Terry Holliday, who is retiring at the end of the month.

The Education Department says the board will meet in Lexington to discuss additional information gathered on candidates and possibly conduct more interviews in closed session.

The board interviewed 12 candidates earlier this month.

The board is also expected to decide Tuesday whether to release finalists' names.

Final interviews are scheduled Friday and Saturday in Lexington.

Associate Commissioner and General Counsel Kevin C. Brown will serve as interim commissioner until a new commissioner begins.

BEAM-HANDCRAFTED CLAIM

Judge dismisses suit claiming bourbon was falsely advertised

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A judge has dismissed a lawsuit accusing a Kentucky bourbon producer of false advertising for claiming its product is handcrafted.

The suit against Jim Beam was dismissed by federal Judge Larry Alan Burns in San Diego.

Plaintiff Scott Welk said he was enticed by the handcrafted claim to buy a bottle of Jim Beam. The suit said the labeling enables Beam to sell bourbon at a higher price because consumers connect handcrafted with high-end products.

In dismissing the suit last Friday, Burns said a reasonable consumer wouldn't interpret "handcrafted" to mean whiskey literally created by hand.

Beam's parent, Beam Suntory Inc., said Monday it's pleased with the ruling.

Plaintiff's attorney Abbas Kazerounian says a decision whether to appeal hasn't been made.

Similar suits against Maker's Mark bourbon were dismissed this year.

UTILITY SHUTDOWN

Public regulators in Kentucky order small gas company to close

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — The Kentucky Public Service Commission has set Oct. 31 as the final day of operations for a south-central Kentucky gas company that it says can't provide adequate service.

Richardsville Gas Co. Inc. serves about two dozen customers in northern Warren County. The PSC said in an order Monday that the company has no reliable source of supply of natural gas.

The commission said the company also has a dwindling customer base that makes it impossible to continue operations.

The PSC began investigating after receiving reports of service interruptions. Last month, the commission alleged the utility had been abandoned, in effect. Richardsville Gas responded that it had run out of options to maintain adequate operations.

The PSC held a hearing July 21 and on Monday ordered the utility to cease operations.

PASTOR-CHILD PORN INVESTIGATION

Former priest being returned to Kentucky in child porn case

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A former Louisville priest has appeared in Florida on child pornography charges and will be returned to Kentucky.

The U.S. attorney's office in Louisville says 57-year-old Stephen Pohl was charged in a complaint unsealed Monday with knowingly accessing with intent to view images of child pornography on two computers at St. Margaret Mary Parish. The church has a school on its eastern Louisville campus.

Pohl was arrested Friday night in Indian Rocks Beach, Florida, and is in the custody of the U.S. Marshal's Service. He will be transported to Louisville for a detention hearing.

Archdiocese of Louisville officials said Friday that FBI investigators found 200 images of students from the school on Pohl's computer. The students were clothed but some of the images were "inappropriate."

Pohl resigned on Thursday.

MOUNTAIN LION KILLED

Mountain lion found in Kentucky, was apparently from South Dakota

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky Fish and Wildlife officials say they have investigated and can't say for sure how a mountain lion turned up on a central Kentucky farm last December.

A conservation officer responded to a complaint on Dec. 15 in Bourbon County and found the animal treed by a homeowner's dog in a populated area outside of Paris. The officer shot and killed the animal due to public safety concerns.

The lion was determined to be a 5-year-old male, weighing 125 pounds and in good condition. DNA analyses link the lion's genetic origin to a population in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

The agency says there's no evidence the mountain lion made its way to Kentucky on its own and is believed to have been a released or escaped captive lion.

DEFENSE GRANT

Kentucky commission receives $600K defense agency grant

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — The Kentucky Commission on Military Affairs has won a grant of more than $600,000 to look into defense-related economic development opportunities.

Gov. Steve Beshear's office announced the grant from the U.S. Defense Department's Office of Economic Adjustment. Beshear said in a news release Friday that the commission is also working to set conditions for economic growth near Kentucky military installations.

The funds will be used for planning and to take action to adjust to recent Army force structure reductions in Kentucky.

The Cabinet for Economic Development says Kentucky shipped out $7.8 billion in aerospace parts and products last year, up 38 percent from 2013.

GHOST TRAIN

Ghost Train will carry visitors to abandoned mining camp

STEARNS, Ky. (AP) — Storytellers will share regional tales at a Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area event next month.

The fifth annual Blue Heron Ghost Train Storytelling event will be Sept. 12 beginning around 7:30 p.m. EDT at the Blue Heron Mining Community Interpretive Center near Stearns, Kentucky.

Park staff and volunteers will lead groups of visitors by lantern to hear the storytellers. The event involves some walking over rough ground in low light.

Visitors may descend to the abandoned coal-mining camp by rail for a fee. Contact Big South Fork Scenic Railway at (800) 462-5664, (606) 376-5330 or http://www.bsfsry.com .

JUNIOR CHEFS

Junior chefs head to Kentucky State Fair to compete

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Junior chefs will be in the spotlight during an event this week at the Kentucky State Fair in Louisville.

The Kentucky Agriculture Department says 15 high school teams will compete for scholarships and a trophy at the third annual Kentucky Proud Farm to School Junior Chef Tournament.

The championship round will be at 10 a.m. Friday at the Gourmet Garden Stage in the lobby of South Wing A.

Sullivan University will offer a $6,000 scholarship to each member of the champion team, a $4,000 scholarship to each runner-up team member and a $2,000 scholarship to each member of two semifinalist teams.

The Agriculture Department says the program encourages students to learn to cook healthy meals from local ingredients and teaches students about agriculture, marketing, organization, teamwork and community involvement.