Kentucky News Now

KENTUCKY AGRICULTURE

Ky. corn farmers says yields down due to less rain

(Information in the following story is from: Daily News, http://www.bgdailynews.com)

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (AP) — Corn farmers in south central Kentucky say the dry summer didn't affect crops as much as they feared.

Smiths Grove farmer Chad Elkins was expecting spotty crops this season, but he says that wasn't the case in his fields.

Another farmer, David Hunt, says modern corn genetics make the crop better able to handle dry conditions. But Hunt says the low rainfall meant his yield was down to 125 bushels an acre compared to 200 bushels last year.

The Daily News in Bowling Green reports that half a million fewer bushels of corn have come to the South Union Elevator in Auburn compared to last year. Chris Timmons, the grain elevator's manager, says he thinks farmers are holding on to their corn because of lower sales prices this season.

WOMAN FOUND

Tenn. woman allegedly kidnapped found safe in Ky.

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

CROSSVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Authorities say a Cumberland County, Tennessee, woman who was allegedly kidnapped has been found safe in Kentucky.

According to WKRN-TV, 21-year-old Layla Aperans was found at a truck stop off Interstate 65 in Elizabethtown, Kentucky, on Saturday. Police say she was kidnapped Thursday night.

Her alleged kidnapper, 44-year-old Douglas Davis, was also at the truck stop and was taken into custody without incident.

He is being held in Hardin County, Kentucky, where he faces multiple charges of aggravated kidnapping, theft of property and aggravated robbery.

Aperans was reunited with her family in Tennessee after being evaluated at a hospital.

FATAL HOME INVASION

Ky. man fatally shot during home invasion

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

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Authorities say a man was fatally shot in the back after two men broke into his home in Lexington, Kentucky.

Investigators told WKYT-TV that 36-year-old Darnell Bates was in the front room of his home when the armed men broke in around 4:50 a.m. on Sunday.

Officers say Bates was shot in the back when he started fighting back.

Authorities continue to search for the home invaders.

CHURCHILL-RACING DATES

Churchill may drop September racing in 2015

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

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Churchill Downs is considering dropping September racing in 2015 if required to share racing dates with Kentucky Downs in Franklin.

Track President Kevin Flannery told the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission's race dates committee that there are issues with horse population and making sure everybody can fill the fields.

The Courier-Journal reported Keeneland Race Course is supporting Churchill's request. Churchill agreed to let Keeneland have the first weekend in October, which normally would've gone to Churchill, because Keeneland wants to move up its fall meet next year when it is to host the Breeders' Cup.

Committee members will reconvene Oct. 14 to make recommendations to the racing commission, which must award 2015 dates by Nov. 1 under state law.

TRUCK HITS TRAIN

Train hits dump truck in northern Ky., driver dead

WALTON, Ky. (AP) — A dump truck driver has died in a crash with a train at a crossing in northern Kentucky.

Steven Hess was driving the dump truck eastbound on Old Lexington Pike in Boone County Friday afternoon when he drove through the crossing. The Boone County Sheriff's Department says the oncoming Norfolk Southern Railroad train hit the truck on the passenger side, causing it to roll over and into an embankment.

Hess, 52, was taken to University Hospital in Cincinnati where he was pronounced dead. The train's conductor suffered non-life threatening injuries. Hess lived in Williamstown and was working for Crupper Transport.

Police say they have not determined why the truck went through the crossing. An investigation determined that crossing signals were working at the time of the collision.

SOAR APPOINTMENT

Eastern Kentucky jobs initiative chooses director

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

PIKEVILLE, Ky. (AP) — The head of the Pikeville-based Southeast Kentucky Chamber of Commerce will lead an initiative to diversify eastern Kentucky's economy.

Jared Arnett will switch to his new position as executive director of Shaping Our Appalachian Region, or SOAR, on Nov. 1.

Gov. Steve Beshear and U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers started the initiative last year in an effort to boost the region, which has been hurt by a sharp drop in coal jobs.

The Lexington Herald-Leader reports Arnett will help develop a 2015 program of work for SOAR and oversee putting it in place

He also will work with the executive committee to host a second regional summit early next year. An estimated 1,700 people attended the first summit as part of the initiative in Pikeville in December.

LAKE CUMBERLAND

Lake Cumberland enjoyed strong summer

(Information in the following story is from: Commonwealth Journal, http://www.somerset-kentucky.com)

SOMERSET, Ky. (AP) — Tax revenues and tourist spending were up during the summer at Lake Cumberland thanks to water levels that returned to normal after being down for several years.

Carolyn Mounce, head of the Somerset-Pulaski Convention & Visitors Bureau, says marina operators were happy this season with the lake traffic.

The southern Kentucky lake's dam underwent major repairs beginning in 2007. The U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, which operates Wolf Creek Dam, lowered lake levels by 40 feet to ease pressure on the leaking structure. The repairs have since been completed.

Mounce says for the fiscal year beginning July 1 county transient tax revenues were up 1 percent over last year.

Earlier this year officials say rainfall had returned the lake to its full summer point for the first time in eight years.

AMISH DRIVERS

Couple drives Amish workers to job

CAVE CITY, Ky. (AP) — Billy Minton often jokes with the Amish employees at Bi- Rite grocery in Cave City, with whom he's developed a good rapport since he began driving them to and from work about a year ago.

Minton retired as Cave City's police chief about two years ago, but found he was uninterested in staying at home and doing nothing. He then heard about the driving job through the grapevine.

Minton leaves his home in Horse Cave about 6:30 a.m. five days a week and picks up as many seven employees who live in the Cub Run community of Hart County and brings them to the grocery.

Amish Bi-Rite owner Vernon Detweiler hired Minton and later Minton's wife, Yvonne, as drivers.

Although Detweiler and other members of his Amish community don't drive gas-powered vehicles, they do use cellphones, but only for business purposes.