Kentucky News Now

HOUSE REPUBLICANS

House GOP to select new leaders after November elections

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky Republicans could clean house on Tuesday as they select leaders for the upcoming legislative session following a disappointing showing in the November elections.

Democrats maintained their eight-seat majority in the House of Representatives in November despite Republican U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell winning all but 10 of the state's 120 counties at the top of the ticket. After the election, two of the House Republicans' top leaders announced they would step down from their leadership posts. And Rep. Adam Koenig of Erlanger is challenging Rep. Jeff Hoover of Jamestown for minority leader.

Koenig said Republicans need new leadership to take control of the House of Representatives. But Rep. Bam Carney said Republicans lost in part because of new House districts created by Democrats. He said he expects Hoover to be re-elected.

SPECIAL ELECTION

Special election set for northeast Ky. state Senate seat

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Some northeastern Kentucky voters will not have a state senator for the majority of the 2015 legislative session.

Democratic State Sen. Walter Blevins resigned from his 27th District seat on Sunday to become judge-executive of Rowan County. On Monday, Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear ordered a special election on March 3 to replace him. State law requires at least a 56-day notice before a special election.

The winner will take office immediately after the results are certified. The 2015 legislative session begins Tuesday and concludes March 24. Lawmakers are scheduled to meet six days after March 3.

The filing deadline is 4 p.m. Jan. 13 for independents and candidates nominated by political parties and 4 p.m. Feb. 3 for write-in candidates.

The district includes parts of Bourbon, Fleming, Harrison, Lewis, Mason, Nicholas, Robertson and Rowan counties.

KENTUCKY GOVERNOR-FUNDRAISING

Republican James Comer raises $1 million for governor's race

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Republican James Comer says he has raised more than $1 million for his campaign for governor.

The state agriculture commissioner reported Monday he raised more than $555,000 in the three-month fundraising period that ended Dec. 31. Comer raised more than $500,000 the month after he announced his candidacy, for a total of just under $1.1 million. A campaign news release did not say how much money the campaign had available to spend after expenses.

Former Louisville Metro Councilman Hal Heiner is the only other announced Republican in the race. He loaned his campaign $4 million during the summer. Attorney General Jack Conway is the only major Democratic candidate to file for governor, along with Lexington engineer Geoff Young.

The primary is May 19, and the general election is Nov. 3.

COAL MINE DEATHS

Govt. report: Coal-related deaths in 2014 lowest ever in US

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — The nation's coal mines set a record for the lowest number of on-the-job fatalities last year, with 16.

The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration issued a news release Monday noting two fewer deaths than the previous low of 18 in 2009. The department says it's the lowest annual number of coal mining deaths ever recorded.

Coal mine employment in Appalachia has dropped drastically in recent years, meaning there are fewer miners working in fewer underground mines, where most coal-related fatalities typically occur. But the department said current nationwide coal employment is similar to what it was in the early 2000s, when there were twice as many annual deaths.

Forty miners died in 2014 in all mines, which include metal and non-metal operations.

CHILD PORN-SENTENCE

Kentucky woman gets prison on Va. child pornography charge

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — A Lewisport, Kentucky, woman has been sentenced to 17 ½ years in prison for producing pornography of a child victim less than 1 years old.

The government says 24-year-old Rebecca Mae Gibbs was sentenced Monday in U.S. District Court in Norfolk. She pleaded guilty in September to producing images and videos of child pornography.

Prosecutors say a co-defendant, 23-year-old Douglas Lawrence True of Clarksville, Indiana, pleaded guilty to receiving child pornography in November. He is facing 20 years at his sentencing Feb. 20.

Gibbs was also sentenced to a life term of supervised release once she completes her prison term.

COLLEGE PRESIDENT SEARCH

4 semifinalists for new president of Johnson State College

JOHNSON, Vt. (AP) — The search for a new president for Vermont's Johnson State College has been narrowed to four semifinalists.

The semifinalists will meet with the search committee and visit with faculty, staff and students the week of Jan. 26, 2015.

The four candidates are Eric Becher, a vice president at The University of Pikeville in Pikeville, Kentucky; Elaine Collins of the College of Education at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Michigan; Ron Dempsey, a vice president at Southern Polytechnic State University in Marietta, Georgia, and T. Mills Kelly, a fellow at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.

Current Johnson State President Barbara Murphy is planning to retire in June.

Johnson State began as a teachers' college in 1866. It now offers more than 50 academic programs.

PLANE CRASH-KENTUCKY-SERVICES

Services set for family killed in Kentucky plane crash

NASHVILLE, Ill. (AP) — Services are set for three southern Illinois family members and another relative killed in a Kentucky plane crash that a 7-year-old girl survived.

Forty-eight-year-old Marty Gutzler, 46-year-old wife Kimberly Gutzler and their 9-year-old daughter Piper Gutzler died at the scene of the crash of the small plane on Friday. A 14-year-old cousin of Piper's, Sierra Wilder, also was killed.

The Gutzlers' other daughter, Sailor Gutzler, crawled from the wreckage and managed to walk roughly a mile while injured and barefoot to a home, telling the resident of the crash.

Campagna Funeral Home in the Gutzlers' hometown of Nashville, Illinois, says private funeral services for the Gutzlers will be at 11 a.m. Friday at Trinity Lutheran Church in Nashville.

Wilder's services will be at 10 a.m. Wednesday at Campagna Funeral Home.

COCKFIGHT-ARRESTS

Police: 15 arrested at cockfight in southern Ky.

ALBANY, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky State Police say 15 people found at a cockfight in southern Kentucky are facing charges.

A police statement says troopers received an anonymous tip about a possible cockfight on Sunday near Albany. The statement says a trooper and Clinton County Sheriff Rick Riddle responded and found a cockfight in progress.

They arrested 15 people, who are all charged with animal cruelty and trespassing.

Clinton County Animal Control took possession of 23 chickens.

Police say they are still investigating.