Kentucky News Now

DRUG OVERDOSE-LIFE SENTENCE

Eastern Kentucky man sentenced to life in drug overdose case

LONDON, Ky. (AP) — An eastern Kentucky man has been sentenced to life in prison for distributing prescription painkillers resulting in a woman's death in 2011.

The U.S. attorney's office for the Eastern District of Kentucky said it's the first life sentence in Kentucky in a prescription drug overdose death case.

U.S. District Judge Karen Caldwell also sentenced 55-year-old Terry Smith of Clay County on Thursday to 30 years for conspiracy to distribute oxycodone and 10 years for illegal firearms possession. Smith's 53-year-old wife, Gerry, was sentenced to 7 ½ years for conspiring to distribute oxycodone.

A jury convicted them in January.

Prosecutors said Patty Smallwood and others traveled to Georgia to obtain painkiller prescriptions for Terry Smith, who gave them some of the pills. A toxicology report after Smallwood's death showed four times the therapeutic level of oxycodone in her system.

ALLEGIANT-CINCINNATI AIRPORT

Allegiant adding hub at Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky airport

HEBRON, Ky. (AP) — Low-cost carrier Allegiant Air is creating a hub at the Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport and adding flights there.

The Lexington Herald-Leader said Allegiant expects to put as many as three 156-seat Airbus 319 aircraft at the airport. The airline said Thursday it will employ more than 90 flight crew members and airport personnel locally.

Allegiant is adding five weekly flights to its fall and winter schedule to some of its most popular destinations from the airport, located in Hebron, Kentucky.

The company said Cincinnati is the fastest-growing market in Allegiant's history. It began service there in February 2014 with four weekly flights.

Allegiant also serves Blue Grass Airport in Lexington. Airport spokeswoman Amy Caudill said in an email that Allegiant assured airport officials that its flights should continue normally.

SOLDIERS RETURN

400 soldiers from 101st Airborne returning to Fort Campbell

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. (AP) — About 400 soldiers with the 101st Airborne Division are returning to Fort Campbell in the next few days from deployment to Afghanistan.

Half the troops will be returning Friday with the remainder on Monday.

Ceremonies are planned both days with family, friends and fellow soldiers to welcome the returning troops.

The soldiers are with the 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team.

The sprawling Army post straddles the Kentucky-Tennessee state line.

STATE HOUSE-ROBERTS

GOP judge-executive to seek House seat in Bullitt County

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Bullitt County's Republican judge-executive says she will run for a seat in the state House of Representatives in 2016.

Melanie Roberts filed a letter of intent to seek election on Thursday. The 51-year-old was first elected in 2006 and is the first woman to be judge-executive in Bullitt County.

Roberts is running for House District 49, currently held by Democrat Linda Belcher who is in her third term. Democrats have an eight-seat majority in the House, the only southern state where Democrats still control part of the legislature. Republicans would need to flip five seats to gain control of the House for the first time in a century.

Roberts has a master's in education from the University of Louisville and was a public school teacher for 20 years.

ELECTRONIC COURT FILINGS

Administrative Office of Courts adds 12 counties to eFiling

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Twelve western Kentucky counties now have electronic filing available for cases in state courts.

The Administrative Office of the Courts says the new counties are Ballard, Caldwell, Calloway, Carlisle, Fulton, Graves, Hickman, Livingston, Lyon, Marshall, McCracken and Trigg.

Lawyers are able to file electronically in 94 Kentucky counties that offer eFiling, which began in December 2013. The AOC plans to have the program available in all 120 counties by the end of this year.

Since the program began, AOC says more than 800 lawyers and other users have filed more than 33,000 documents electronically.

Documents can be filed during normal business hours, after hours and on weekends.

FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE AWARDS

Nominations open for U of L Florence Nightingale Awards

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — The University of Louisville School of Nursing wants the public to nominate a nurse who has made a difference for its Florence Nightingale Awards in Nursing.

Dean Marcia Hern says it's the second year for the awards, intended to honor nurses in Kentucky and southern Indiana.

Nominating essays of 600 words or less are due Sept. 8 and should explain how a registered nurse impacted a patient's or client's life.

For more information, visit http://www.UofLalumni.org/nightingale-nominations. Nominations may be emailed to Karen.Rose@louisville.edu or mailed to U of L School of Nursing, 555 S. Floyd St., Louisville, KY 40292, Attention: Karen Rose.

Awards will be announced in October. Winners receive $1,000 and a plaque.