Kentucky News Now

METH SHIRT-ARREST

Ky. woman arrested wearing pro-meth shirt

LONDON, Ky. (AP) — Authorities say sheriff's deputies have arrested a Laurel County woman who was wearing a shirt expressing love for crystal meth.

According to WKYT-TV, 37-year-old Deborah Asher, of Somerset, was arrested this week and charged with trafficking in a controlled substance and possession of methamphetamine. A photo released by the Laurel County Sheriff's Department shows her wearing the shirt.

Authorities say 57-year-old Richard Rice, of East Bernstadt, also was arrested and faces the same charges.

The sheriff's department shared the arrest and Asher's photo on its Facebook page.

ESCAPED INMATES

2 escaped jail inmates captured in Lexington

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

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Authorities say two inmates who escaped from the Madison County Detention Center have been found in Lexington.

The Lexington Herald-Leader reports that 20-year-old Raheym Hill and 24-year-old Marcel Sellars were arrested early Saturday.

State police say the men, who are both from Lexington, escaped Friday night, when they hopped out of a van that was pulling up to the detention center.

Hill and Sellars were handcuffed and wearing black and white striped pants when they escaped. Authorities say they later damaged the handcuffs and got rid of the clothing.

Both men were being held on first-degree robbery charges. Hill also faces charges of being a felon in possession of a handgun and drug possession.

They now face additional charges of escape, theft by unlawful taking under $500 and criminal mischief.

FAULTY GUARDRAILS

Kentucky probing potentially faulty guardrails

(Information in the following story is from: WDRB-TV, http://www.fox41.com)

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — State officials are planning an evaluation of potentially faulty guardrail heads on Kentucky roads and highways.

Transportation Secretary Mike Hancock told lawmakers during a committee meeting last week that he believes hundreds of ET-Plus guardrail component are in use. An exact number isn't yet known.

WDRB-TV reports the state recently banned the product, made by Trinity Highway Products of Dallas.

Federal officials have ordered a new round of tests into the guardrail heads, while other states like Virginia are planning to remove the rails.

Critics say that when vehicles strike the guardrail ends, the guardrails don't crumple as they should, but instead become a danger to motorists.

Trinity stopped shipments of the guardrails after a Texas jury ordered it to pay at least $175 million for misleading regulators.

TREE FARMERS

Family prepares to open tree farm

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (AP) — Weston and Larie Vernon have good memories of picking out a live tree at Christmas as children and have carried that tradition with them since starting their own family.

Now they want to extend the opportunity for memory-making to others with a Christmas tree farm on their property.

The Vernons have lived at 395 Carter Sims Road for eight years with their three children: Tucker, 11; A.J., 9; and Trapper, 7 - and own about 10 acres of land. A couple of years ago, the Vernons started researching what they could do with their land. The Vernons traveled the state to see what other Christmas tree farms looked like and the atmosphere they provided.

Bare Creek Farm will open Nov. 22.

NO UNION

CTA Acoustics workers vote not to join union

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

CORBIN, Ky. (AP) — Workers at the CTA Acoustics plant in Corbin have voted against joining the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.

The Times-Tribune reports the final vote count released Friday night was 197-99.

The results were tallied by agents of the National Labor Relations Board inside the CTA plant.

The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers filed a recognition certification petition on Sept. 22. That came after the union received a call over the summer from CTA workers who were interested in joining.

Keith McFarland is a representative of the union who is based in Nashville, Tennessee. In a statement released after the vote tally he says there are "serious issues" at CTA, and he commended the employees who "stood up for their rights."

COURT RUCKUS

Man jumps from bench to bench to flee courtroom

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

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A man caused a ruckus in Jefferson County Circuit Court when he tried to flee the room by jumping from bench to bench before officers tackled him with a stun gun.

The Courier-Journal reports courtroom video shows 22-year-old Mario Guzman speaking with his defense attorney on Wednesday before darting for the exit. Guzman was in court for a pretrial conference on drug charges.

Just before he attempted to flee, prosecutors asked to raise Guzman's bond. His defense attorney argued against it, saying that Guzman was "obviously not running" from court because he signed up for court-ordered drug classes and showed up for his pretrial conference.

Guzman was charged with assault on an officer and criminal mischief. The judge raised Guzman's bond before ordering he be taken into custody.