Kentucky News Now

KENTUCKY BUDGET

State projects meager General Fund income growth

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Top state budget staffers are predicting meager revenue growth over the next two years in the General Fund and a slight decline in the Road Fund next year, largely because of Kentucky's slow rebound from economic recession.

Government financial analyst Greg Harkenrider told a group of Kentucky's top economists on Thursday that collections from the individual income tax, the state's top revenue producer, is projected to rise slightly in the next two fiscal years. That would help to offset projected sharp declines in the coal severance tax and the cigarette tax.

Those latest projections were presented Thursday to economists serving on the Consensus Forecasting Group, a panel charged with predicting long-term state government revenues.

POLITICAL REDISTRICTING

Senate redistricting proposal pairs no incumbents

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Republican Senate President Robert Stivers has unveiled a legislative redistricting plan for members of his chamber that would pit no incumbents against each other in upcoming elections.

Stivers said Thursday he expects overwhelming support for the proposal when it's voted on during a special legislative session next week.

Typically a divisive process, redistricting is undertaken every 10 years to account for population changes recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau. The latest Senate proposal is a stark contrast to one passed last year only to be struck down as unconstitutional by the Kentucky Supreme Court.

Democratic House Speaker Greg Stumbo is expected to release a redistricting proposal for members of his chamber on Friday. The last one Stumbo proposed would have pitted 11 House Republicans against each other.

UPS PLANE CRASH

NTSB: No engine failure in fatal UPS plane crash

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Federal officials have found no evidence of a pre-crash fire or engine failure aboard a UPS plane that went down at the end of a flight from Louisville, Ky., to Birmingham, Ala., killing two pilots.

National Transportation Safety Board member Robert Sumwalt says the plane was trying to land on the Birmingham airport's shorter runway early Wednesday because the longer one was closed for maintenance.

Sumwalt also said at a news conference Thursday that investigators expect to be able to recover good data from two flight recorders taken from the wreckage earlier in the day.

The plane slammed into a hillside just short of the runway.

JOBLESS RATE

Ky. jobless rate rises for third straight month

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky's unemployment rate rose to 8.5 percent in July as the state's civilian labor force shrank, marking the third straight monthly increase in the jobless rate.

The Office of Employment and Training said Thursday that the statewide rate rose slightly from 8.4 percent in June.

The jobless rate has risen every month since April, when unemployment stood at 7.9 percent.

The national unemployment rate dropped to 7.4 percent in July, down from 7.6 percent the prior month.

In July, the state's civilian labor force was nearly 2.1 million, a drop of 8,799 from June.

Some sectors gained jobs in July, including the trade, transportation and utilities sector, which picked up 2,600 jobs.

The state's manufacturing sector grew by 1,500 positions in July.

The government sector lost 1,600 jobs in July.

SUPERFUND CLEANUP-LOUISVILLE

Crews to begin cleaning Superfund site next week

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky officials say crews will begin removing contaminants from the soil of homes near a Louisville Superfund site next week.

Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection Commissioner R. Bruce Scott told The Courier-Journal that the cleanup around dozens of homes is expected to cost between $1.1 million and $1.8 million and last into November. He said it is the largest residential soil cleanup in the state.

He said residents won't have to leave their homes while environmental crews remove contaminated soil from the homes, which are located near a former pesticide factory.

State and federal authorities have permission to excavate soil from 44 yards and are seeking permission to work on about 30 more properties.

FERRY CLOSED

Dorena-Hickman Ferry in western Ky. reopens

HICKMAN, Ky. (AP) — The Dorena-Hickman Ferry in western Kentucky has reopened.

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet said Wednesday the ferry had closed to a mechanical issue that would take until late Thursday to resolve. The cabinet said Thursday afternoon the ferry was back open.

The ferry connects Kentucky 1354 at Hickman, Ky., with Missouri Route A and Route 77 near Dorena, Mo. Kentucky and Missouri are the only border states that aren't directly connected by a road, leaving the ferry as the only direct route between the two states.

The cabinet says truck traffic has increased recently on the ferry because of the work zone on the U.S. 51/U.S. 60/U.S. 62 Ohio River Bridge between Wickliffe, Ky., and Cairo, Ill.

INFANT-DEPARTMENT STORE

Woman charged with murder after newborn found dead

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A woman who police said left her newborn in a Louisville department store trash can has been charged with murder.

WAVE-TV reported the charge was placed against 29-year-old Jessica Price. She is also charged with abuse of a corpse and evidence tampering. The station reports she was an employee at the store.

The body of the apparently full-term infant was found in a rest room at a Kohl's department store on Aug. 8. Police say they believe the child was born healthy but died from an intentional act.

The child's cause of death hasn't been determined.

Online jail records did not indicate whether Price had an attorney.

RETALIATION LAWSUIT REINSTATED

Court reinstates job retaliation lawsuit

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A federal appeals court has reinstated a lawsuit by a Kentucky man who claims he was passed over for a job overseeing waste disposal from a nuclear plant because of whistleblowing activities.

The U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday ordered U.S. District Judge Thomas B. Russell to determine whether executives with EnergySolutions Inc. learned of Gary Vander Boegh's whistleblowing before bypassing him for a landfill manager's job.

While Vander Boegh worked as a landfill manager for two companies overseeing the landfill where waste from the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant was being deposited, he filed two complaints with the U.S. Department of Energy about the handling of material from the plant.

Vander Boegh claims EnergySolutions knew about the complaints, causing him to be passed over for the job.

POLICE SHOOTING

Police fatally shoot Kentucky man

HILLSBORO, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky State Police say a man who pointed a gun at officers has been fatally shot.

Police said in a statement that officers were called to a Fleming County residence early Thursday on a report of a domestic dispute.

When they arrived, officers were confronted by 46-year-old Thomas McClanahan. Police say McClanahan pointed a pistol at officers after a confrontation and officers fired at him.

He was taken to the Fleming County hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Kentucky State Police say they continue to investigate the shooting.

DEPUTY INDICTED

Civil rights charge added against Ky deputy

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A federal grand jury has added a new charge against a Kentucky sheriff's deputy, this one related to an alleged assault in 2008.

The grand jury in Louisville says 48-year-old Steven Molen attacked a person identified only as "C.F.' in Russell County on Aug. 24, 2008 and caused bodily injury. The new charge was unsealed Thursday.

Molen, a Pulaski County Deputy, had previously been charged in Lexington with two other counts of violating the civil rights of different victims by using excessive force in 2009 and 2011.

Molen entered a not guilty plea to the charges in Lexington in July. A trial in that case is scheduled for December.

He did not have a listed attorney for the new charge.