Kentucky News Now

COAL COUNTRY SCHOOLS

As families flee coal country, schools struggle

PIKEVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Eastern Kentucky and West Virginia public school districts are grappling with declining enrollments as the area loses population amid the declining coal industry.

Eastern Kentucky's public school districts have lost more than 12,000 students since the 1999-2000 school year, which state officials say is the result of the region's economic troubles amid a declining coal industry. West Virginia has lost 26 percent of its public school student population since 1979.

Pike County Schools has lost more than 1,000 students since 2001, the most of any school district in Kentucky. The district has combined and closed some schools to deal with declining enrollments.

Two independent groups are studying Kentucky's 25-year-old school funding formula. Lawmakers are waiting on the results of those studies before deciding whether to make changes.

JUDGE ETHICS

Louisville judge accused of campaigning from bench

(Information in the following story is from: The Courier-Journal, http://www.courier-journal.com)

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A Louisville judge is accused of campaigning from the bench.

The Courier-Journal reports Jefferson District Judge Gina Kay Calvert summoned defense lawyers who support her to the bench during open court. She then showed them a handwritten note that said, "The FOP did not endorse me!!"

Calvert the asked the attorneys, "Can you believe that?" The March 27 conversation was recorded on the courtroom video.

The exchange came to light because Calvert filed a complaint with the sheriff's office accusing a courtroom deputy of showing the note prosecutors. They included Calvert's opponent.

The deputy's attorney says his client felt he had a duty to report an action he thought was improper.

Calvert told the newspaper in an interview that, in retrospect, she shouldn't have discussed her campaign in court.

HEPATITIS-CHARGES

Corbin woman charged with hepatitis exposure

(Information in the following story is from: The Times-Tribune, http://www.thetimestribune.com)

CORBIN, Ky. (AP) — A Corbin woman has been indicted on charges she intentionally exposed several people to hepatitis C at a hospital.

The Times-Tribune reports that 29-year-old Tiffany Myers faces charges including second-degree assault.

Police say Myers was arrested earlier this month after she forcefully removed an IV unit from her arm Aug. 5 at Knox County Hospital, knowing she suffers from hepatitis C

Police say she purposefully slung her infected blood across the room, potentially exposing officers and medical personnel. One nurse reported having blood land in her eye.

Police say Myers also allegedly attempted to spit on law enforcement and medical staff while they tried to restrain her.

Myers is being held at the Clay County Detention Center. It was not immediately known if she had a lawyer.

FIGHTING HUNGER

Music used as tool to fight hunger

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (AP) — Creating a benefit CD to raise money for a local food pantry has turned into a family affair for Amanda Harder.

Harder, a 15-year-old from Bowling Green, is one of more than a dozen young singers and musicians recording a song for a CD to be sold at Will Sing for Food, an annual food drive for the American Red Cross of South Central Kentucky food pantry.

Her father used to work in the music industry and is producing the CD, and her mother is trying to involve the online fundraising website she works for, FirstGiving. Her brother is also helping.

Caroline Ford created Will Sing for Food as part of the Young Artist Alliance. During the food drive, the group performs in front of grocery stores while collecting food.

WOMAN KILLED-CHILE

Services held for Kentucky woman killed in Chile

BENTON, Ky. (AP) — A 22-year-old western Kentucky woman who authorities say was murdered in Chile has been honored at a memorial service.

WKYT-TV reports that services were held Saturday for Erica Hagan in Marshall County.

The body of Hagan, a Georgetown College graduate, was found in the bathroom of her apartment in the southern city of Temuco, Chile on Sept. 6.

Hagan had been in Temuco since July 28 working as a teaching assistant at a local school. She had been scheduled to return home in December.

Officials say a security guard at the school has been arrested in the case.

Georgetown College is also planning a memorial, but a date has not yet been set.

FLIPPED CLASSROOM

Teachers experiment with flipped classroom method

ELIZABETHTOWN, Ky. (AP) — Some Hardin County teachers are creating instructional videos for students to watch as part of their assignments.

Fourth-grade science teacher Jamie Chenault tells The News-Enterprise she assigns her students to watch one or two videos or presentations a week. The videos were created either by herself, another teacher or an educational organization.

For students without Internet access, they watch the videos by using computers or tablets at school during breakfast.

The concept is known as the flipped classroom approach. It's a recognition that learning doesn't occur only in classrooms.

One benefit of the concept is allowing students to re-watch lectures or videos if they don't understand the lesson.

UK-BICYCLES

Free bicycle program popular at UK

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

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — University of Kentucky students are taking advantage of a program that gives them free bicycles.

According to the Lexington Herald-Leader, about 400 people signed up for the Big Blue Cycles program, and the university's Office of Sustainability held a lottery to give away 160 bikes.

UK sustainability coordinator Shane Tedder says the goal of the program is to make the campus more bike- and pedestrian-friendly.

The idea grew out of the Wildcat Wheels Bike Library program, in which UK scoops up all the bikes left on campus when classes are over. The bikes are repaired and reconstituted, and they can be used on campus by faculty, staff and students for free, like many bike-sharing programs.

Tedder says officials will evaluate whether they can expand the program.