Kentucky News Now – February 19th 2014

TODDLER TIED

Grandmother sentenced to 5 years for tying girl

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

LAWRENCEBURG, Ky. (AP) — A central Kentucky woman has been sentenced to five years in prison for tying up her 3-year-old granddaughter for hours at a time.

Anderson County Circuit Judge Charles Hickman disagreed with defense lawyer Max Comley that 66-year-old Carolyn Case should be given probation. Case pleaded guilty last month to second-degree criminal abuse, and the Lexington Herald-Leader said under a plea agreement, prosecutors recommended a five-year sentence and objected to probation.

Comley said there were letters in support of Case and a presentence investigation showed no criminal history.

The deal also calls for Case to testify against the child's mother and stepfather, who are charged with first-degree criminal abuse.

Case told investigators she tied the girl to the bed at night to keep her from getting up and getting into things or trying to leave the house.

BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL

Owensboro bluegrass festival announces lineup

OWENSBORO, Ky. (AP) — Organizers have announced the lineup for an annual bluegrass music festival sponsored by the International Bluegrass Music Museum in Owensboro.

The festival known as ROMP: Bluegrass Roots & Branches Festival will welcome Ricky Skaggs, Sam Bush and Del McCoury to the June three-day event. It is held at Yellow Creek Park in Owensboro and last year attracted about 21,000 bluegrass fans.

The museum announced the lineup of more than 20 artists and bluegrass bands last week. Other acts including Doyle Lawson, the David Grisman Folk Jazz Trio and Railroad Earth.

Tickets and camping passes can be purchased on the festival's website, http://www.rompfest.com.

The ROMP festival is June 26-28.

INTERSTATE REPAIRS

Repair work closing lane of I-64 in Shelby County

SHELBYVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Eastbound Interstate 64 traffic will be reduced to one lane on Wednesday for drainage repairs.

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet says the left lane of eastbound I-64 will be closed while workers make repairs to alleviate ponding of water on the roadway. The closure will last from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. EST.

The closure will be in the work zone of the I-64 widening project between Simpsonville and Shelbyville, mile points 27.9 to 32.8.

Traffic will be shifted to the right lane east of the Simpsonville exit, Exit 28. Motorists will have access to the welcome center and Exit 32 in Shelbyville.

SNAKE-HANDLING PASTOR'S DEATH

Pastor who died of rattlesnake bite remembered

MIDDLESBORO, Ky. (AP) — People in southeastern Kentucky have been lining up to pay their respects to a snake-handling pastor who died after being bitten by a snake during a church service.

Jamie Coots was known for his role on the National Geographic television reality show "Snake Salvation," but a family friend remembered him Tuesday night for his "great faith" and tolerance of others. Bill Bisceglia (bih-SHEG'-lee-ah) of Middlesboro told reporter Jennifer Meckles of Knoxville, Tenn., station WBIR-TV that the 42-year-old Coots didn't argue with people who didn't agree with him but maintained his own beliefs until he died.

People parked blocks away from the funeral home where visitation and a funeral service were held. Visitors said afterward the funeral home was full and lines were long.

Coots was handling a rattlesnake when he was bitten Saturday night.

IRAQ-RAPE-SLAYING

Ex-soldier serving life in prison dies in Ariz.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A former Fort Campbell soldier convicted of raping and killing a teenage Iraqi girl and using a shotgun to kill her family has died in prison in Arizona.

Federal Bureau of Prisons spokesman John Stahley says the death of 28-year-old Steven Dale Green of Midland, Texas, on Saturday morning is being investigated as a suicide.

Green was a private in the 101st Airborne Division based at Fort Campbell on the Kentucky-Tennessee state line when he deployed to Iraq.

Green and three other soldiers went to the home in Mahmoudiya (mom-ah-DEE'-ah), Iraq, in March 2006. Green killed three members of the al-Janabi family before becoming the third soldier to rape 14-year-old Abeer Qassim al-Janabi (ah-BEER' kah-SEEM' al-jah-NAH'-bee). Green then shot her.

The other soldiers are serving sentences in the military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kan.

KENTUCKY SENATE

Bevin stresses debt ceiling amid bailout questions

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Republican Senate hopeful Matt Bevin isn't saying much about Sen. Rand Paul's latest assessment of him.

Paul said Monday that Bevin's credibility has been hurt by revelations that Bevin praised the 2008 federal bank bailout years before turning it into an issue against Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Bevin told reporters Tuesday that Paul is entitled to his opinion.

Bevin focused instead on McConnell's role in lifting the nation's borrowing authority without concessions from President Barack Obama. He called it "reckless financial behavior."

As an investment firm president, Bevin signed a report to investors praising the $700 billion bank bailout. As a candidate, Bevin has criticized the bailout and McConnell's role in backing it.

Bevin says he didn't write "investment commentary" for such reports.

The Louisville businessman is challenging McConnell in the May 20 primary.