Kentucky News – Happy Monday

PAUL-CHRISTIE

Paul: GOP big enough to accommodate him, Christie

WASHINGTON (AP) — Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul says he and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie will continue to disagree over national security and other issues, but the Republican Party is big enough to accommodate both men's views.

In an apparent shot at Christie, Paul said Sunday that "there's room for people who believe in bigger government in our party." The New Jersey governor is considered a moderate whose views on government spending differ sharply from the libertarian Paul's.

The two men, potential rivals for president in 2016, have been sparring for weeks.

Paul told "Fox News Sunday" that Republicans should concentrate growing the party instead of bickering. He said the GOP "is shrinking almost down to nothing" in the Northeast, Christie's home base, and needs people with new ideas to attract independents and Democrats.

PERSONAL CARE HOMES

Agreement to help 600 in personal care homes

(Information in the following story is from: Lexington Herald-Leader, http://www.kentucky.com)

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — An agreement has been reached that will lead to better care for some residents at personal care homes.

Advocates for the disabled and mentally ill told the Lexington Herald-Leader that the agreement between state regulators and a watchdog group will dramatically improve the lives of 600 mentally ill people who reside at personal care homes — and possibly others in the future.

The agreement will provide additional community-based services for people who have been isolated from the community.

Kentucky Protection and Advocacy is a state agency that advocates for the disabled and mentally ill. Director Marsha Hockensmith said the agreement is a "systematic change" in how Kentucky treats those who are seriously mentally ill.

PLANT SHUTDOWN

Kentucky plant closure disrupts workers' lives

PADUCAH, Ky. (AP) — Jim Rodgers assumed his job as an electrician at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant would take him all the way to retirement.

For six decades, the government-owned uranium-enrichment plant was synonymous with job security and some of the region's best wages.

And yet, with a decade or more to go in his working life, the 53-year-old Rodgers is looking for a new job, possibly in another state.

In May, plant operators announced they were shutting it down. They laid off 160 workers at the end of last week and expect to let another 100 go in October.

Altogether, it looks like more than 1,000 workers will be left without jobs, losing generous salaries that will be nearly impossible to match elsewhere in the region.

SEX OFFENDER REGISTRY

Sentencing set sex offender case

OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — A man convicted in Kentucky of sexually assaulting a child is now scheduled for sentencing Sept. 26 in Mississippi for failing to register as a sex offender.

Lloyd Clinton Davis pleaded guilty to the registration charge in May in U.S. District Court in Oxford.

Davis was convicted in Kentucky's Barren County for first degree sexual abuse of a 12-year-old girl in 2005. He was sentenced to three years in prison.

He was arrested in Pope, Miss., in February.

MOTORCYCLE FATAL

Motorcyclist killed when struck by driver

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

HAZARD, Ky. (AP) — Authorities say a teenager was killed when he was struck on his motorcycle by an alleged drunk driver.

According to WYMT-TV, the accident occurred about 8:30 p.m. Friday on Kentucky 201 in Sitka.

Johnson County Sheriff Dwayne Price says a car crossed the center lane and hit the motorcycle head-on.

Coroner J.R. Frisby identified the victim as 18-year-old Casey Roger Mollett Jr.

Price says DUI charges are pending against the driver, and more charges are possible.

MUSIC THERAPY

Hospital expands music therapy

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Lying in bed recently at Norton Audubon Hospital, Martha Bishop closed her eyes, clapped her hands and tapped her toes as music therapist Kerry Willis strummed a guitar beside her and sang an old country song.

Bishop is an 87-year-old patient with arthritis who recently had abdominal surgery. She said the song helped relax her.

Music therapy is on the rise both locally and nationally, as researchers, doctors and hospitals increasingly embrace it as a way to alleviate pain and anxiety, aid rehabilitation and help general healing.

Last week, Norton Healthcare opened a $400,000 expansion and renovation of a therapy area at Norton Audubon that includes performance space, a spot for patient classes, a music library, offices, a concert grand piano and storage space for musical instruments.