Kentucky News Now – March 26th 2015

INTERNET CRIMES

Kentucky lawmakers OK bill to protect children

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky lawmakers have given final passage to a bill aimed at strengthening efforts to protect children from Internet predators and human traffickers that is now before Gov. Steve Beshear.

The bill cleared the House on a 100-0 vote Tuesday before heading to the governor for consideration.

The measure would increase money flowing into the Kentucky State Police's Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. The additional money would come from a $10 fee assessed as part of court costs in criminal cases. The fee would apply to felony and misdemeanor cases but not to violations.

Another part of the bill seeks to crack down on human trafficking. Under those provisions, people charged in human trafficking cases could no longer use as a defense that they were mistaken about a young victim's age.

POLICE CHIEF INDICTED

Former Falmouth police chief indicted on theft charges

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — A former northern Kentucky police chief has been indicted on charges of theft and abuse of a public trust.

Attorney General Jack Conway's office says Mark Lane Posey was also indicted Tuesday on 70 counts of second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument. Posey was police chief in Falmouth, about 40 miles south of Cincinnati, from March 2008 until he resigned in February.

No phone listing could be located to reach Posey for comment.

Conway's office said Posey is accused of taking more than $10,000 in funds from a drug task force account and of buying a gun with police department funds and selling the weapon to a friend for a larger amount.

The attorney general's Office of Special Prosecutions is handling the case.

HEROIN OVERDOSE KITS

State to give heroin overdose kits to 3 hospitals

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — The three Kentucky hospitals that treat the most heroin overdoses are getting reversal kits to hand out to patients.

Media report that the kits will go to University Hospital in Louisville, the University of Kentucky Medical Center in Lexington, and St. Elizabeth Hospital in northern Kentucky.

The kits contain naloxone, which can restart breathing in people who have overdosed.

The initiative to hand out 2,000 kits was announced Tuesday by first lady Jane Beshear and Attorney General Jack Conway.

The pilot program is being funded through Kentucky's Substance Abuse Treatment Advisory Committee.

COLLEGE TRANSFERS

Online event offers help to students looking to transfer

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Students looking to transfer college credits or associate's degrees to four-year schools can get questions answered during an online Transfer Madness Fair this week.

The fair is set for 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. EDT Thursday. The Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education and the Kentucky Community and Technical College System are sponsoring the event.

Education officials say Transfer Madness allows students to chat online with transfer advisers, learn about scholarships and financial aid, download materials and get questions answered.

Twenty-two of Kentucky's four-year schools and the Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority will participate in the event.

CPE President Bob King says the virtual fair takes the guesswork out of transferring. He says it's a chance to put more students on a seamless path to a bachelor's degree.

TEACHER AWARDS

Nominations for Kentucky's top teachers being taken online

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky's best teachers will be announced later this year, and nominations for the awards are being taken now.

The deadline for nominations is May 15. Any full-time public school teacher in the state with at least three years' experience is eligible.

Nominations may be submitted at http://kentuckytoy.com .

The awards are sponsored by the Kentucky Department of Education and Ashland Inc., combining Ashland's Teacher Achievement Awards and the Kentucky Teacher of the Year programs.

Judging will be in August, and up to 24 Teacher Achievement Award winners will be announced in September. The Teacher of the Year will be announced in Frankfort after site visits and personal interviews.

Teacher Achievement Award winners receive $500. Two Teacher of the Year finalists receive $3,000, and the Teacher of the Year receives $10,000.

GEOGRAPHY BEE

Kentucky students compete Friday in National Geographic Bee

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (AP) — Dozens of Kentucky students will be tested on their knowledge of geography this week as they vie for a chance to compete in the National Geographic Bee later this spring in Washington, D.C.

The state competition takes place Friday in Bowling Green, with 100 students ages 10 to 14 competing.

The state winner will receive $100 and an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington to represent Kentucky in the national championship May 11 through 13, when a $50,000 college scholarship will be at stake.

The National Geographic Society organizes the annual bee.

MOUNTAIN PARKWAY EXPANSION

Road being closed as work continues on Mountain Parkway

SALYERSVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Construction on a bridge west of Salyersville that is part of the Mountain Parkway Expansion will require an extended road closure starting next week.

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet says contractors expect to close Gifford Road beginning Monday.

After the road is closed, motorists north of the Mountain Parkway will be able to access U.S. 460 to reach Salyersville, and traffic to the south of the parkway can access the parkway at Exit 72 by traveling Kentucky 3337 to Kentucky 30.

The closure will speed construction of the bridge, which will be part of a new interchange near mile point 70 of the parkway, about five miles west of Salyersville.

Construction on the bridge is expected to start in a few weeks. The speed limit in the area has been reduced to 45 miles per hour.