Kentucky News Now – October 14th 2015

PAUL AIDES-INDICTED-TRIAL

Prosecutor: 2 ex-aides to Ron Paul involved in 'cover-up'

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A federal prosecutor says two top aides to Ron Paul's 2012 presidential campaign were involved in a "cover-up" when they tried to hide payments to a state lawmaker who agreed to endorse their boss.

Justice Department attorney Jonathan Kravis made the comments Tuesday during opening statements in the trial of Jesse Benton and Dimitri Kesari.

Kravis says email records and testimony will show the men concealed payments to former Iowa Sen. Kent Sorenson after the lawmaker jumped from the Michele Bachmann campaign to the Paul campaign before the January 2012 Iowa caucuses. Paul, a former Texas congressman, is expected to testify during the nearly two-week trial.

Benton faces one count of making false statements and Kesari faces five charges, including conspiracy and obstruction. Both men have pleaded not guilty.

GAY MARRIAGE-KENTUCKY

Kim Davis' lawyers say altered marriage licenses are valid

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Lawyers for Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis say the altered marriage licenses she issued to same-sex couples are valid because they have been recognized by Kentucky's highest elected officials.

Davis spent five days in jail for refusing a federal judge's order to issue the licenses. She changed the licenses once she got out of jail to remove her name and office, putting in their place that the licenses were issued by federal court order.

Lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union had asked a judge to order Davis to reissue the licenses. If she refused, they asked the judge to fine her or appoint someone else to do it. Davis' lawyers said Tuesday in a new court filing that the request is without merit because Kentucky's governor and attorney general have said the licenses are valid.

LOUISVILLE-ESCORTS

Coach Pitino on allegations: 'We will get through this'

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Louisville coach Rick Pitino remains defiant that his program will survive the allegations in a book by an escort alleging that former Cardinals staffer Andre McGee hired her and other dancers to strip and have sex with recruits and players.

Pitino said Tuesday that the Cardinals "will get through this the right way."

The coach told a packed room at a tipoff luncheon that he understands the motivation behind Katina Powell's book "Breaking Cardinal Rules: Basketball and the Escort Queen," but questions the need for the alleged activities given the talent his program has produced.

Pitino added, "We will find out the truth, whatever it may be, and those responsible will pay the price."

APPALACHIAN INITIATIVE

Kentucky development fund offers grants for economic impact

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

PRESTONSBURG, Ky. (AP) — The Kentucky Appalachian Regional Development Fund is now available to give local organizations opportunities to create regional economic impact.

The Independent reports the KARD fund is offering eastern communities the opportunity to apply for a maximum of $250,000 in grant money for projects including job creation and retention, entrepreneurship, tourism and economic diversity. Projects that present the greatest likelihood of economic impact in the region will be given priority.

The state legislature appropriated $2 million and the Shaping Our Appalachian Region Executive Board approved funding criteria and an official application process on Oct. 5.

KARD will be administered through the Department for Local Government. The first round of applications is due Dec. 18.

BODY IN FREEZER

Deputy: Woman put boyfriend's dead body in freezer

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

SOMERSET, Ky. (AP) — A deputy has testified at a hearing involving a woman who put her boyfriend's body inside a freezer.

WKYT-TV reports Pulaski County Sheriff Deputy Joseph Johnson testified Monday that authorities found the body of Gary Jenks on Sept. 29 in a freezer of the home he shared with his girlfriend, Teresa Owens.

Authorities say Owens told investigators that Jenks died on Sept. 5 and that she put his body in the freezer the following day.

Johnson says Owens told investigators she thought Jenks died of a stroke. Johnson testified that Owens "panicked" when she put the body in the freezer and that a preliminary investigation showed no signs of foul play.

Owens was charged with tampering with evidence and abuse of a corpse.

KING MONUMENT

Civil rights groups oppose King monument at Stone Mountain

ATLANTA (AP) — A proposal to erect a monument to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. atop Georgia's Stone Mountain is getting a chilly reception from some of the civil rights groups that King worked with.

The Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which King co-founded, and the Atlanta and DeKalb branches of the NAACP say they oppose placing a tribute to King near the figures of three Confederate leaders engraved on the mountain outside Atlanta.

SCLC President Charles Steele said Tuesday that a reference to King doesn't belong near the carving of "three traitors."

Officials with the groups say they will meet Wednesday with Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal to discuss the issue.

A Confederate heritage group also has opposed the King monument at Stone Mountain.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution first reported on the proposal Sunday.

CABIN SLAYING

Louisville man found slain in Pulaski County cabin; 3 sought

SOMERSET, Ky. (AP) — Authorities are looking for three people in connection with the shooting death of a Louisville man whose body was found inside a Pulaski County rental cabin.

The Pulaski County Sheriff's Office tells local media that deputies were acting on a tip Sunday when they found the 34-year-old Danny J. Poore dead inside a cabin in the Nancy community, about 10 miles west of Somerset.

Deputies are looking for 23-year-old Carah Whitney Bell, of Somerset; 25-year-old Jesse W. Brown of Monticello and Rexal K. Brown of Monticello. Rexal Brown's age was not given. All three have been named as persons of interest in the case.