Kentucky News Now – May 23rd 2014

KENTUCKY-HEMP

Kentucky gains permit for hemp seeds

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A Kentucky Agriculture Department official says the state has received a federal permit to release an impounded shipment of hemp seeds for spring planting.

Holly Harris VonLuehrte is chief of staff to Agriculture Commissioner James Comer. She says the department anticipates getting the seeds by Friday.

Kentucky's pilot hemp projects for research were put on hold after the 250-pound seed shipment was stopped by U.S. customs officials in Louisville earlier this month. The state's Agriculture Department sued the federal government in hopes of freeing the seeds.

Eight test projects are planned in Kentucky as part of a small-scale comeback for the long-banned crop.

Hemp's return was spurred by the new federal farm bill, which allows state agriculture departments to designate hemp pilot projects for research in states such as Kentucky that allow hemp growing.

CHURCHILL DOWNS-HORSE DIES

Horse dies in freakish accident at Churchill Downs

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A racehorse has died at Churchill Downs in a freakish accident that the trainer is blaming on the sound of a starting gate bell blaring on the track's new sound system.

Trainer Kenneth Wirth says the 5-year-old mare Never Tell Lynda was walking toward the paddock on the dirt track Thursday when she reared, twisted and fell, hitting her head.

Wirth says she was spooked by what he thought was the sound of a starting gate coming from a commercial on Churchill's new HD video board, the world's largest. The system includes 750 speakers.

Wirth says the mare was being schooled, meaning she was not entered in the race but was going through pre-race activities.

The Louisville, Kentucky, track says it is gathering details about what it called an extremely rare and heartbreaking accident.

PLANE CRASH

2 injured in small plane crash in western Kentucky

HOPKINSVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Officials in western Kentucky say a father and son were injured when their small plane crash landed on the shoulder of the Pennyrile Parkway in Hopkinsville.

Capt. Chris Miller of the Christian County sheriff's department says 58-year-old Mike Creed, the pilot, and 20-year-old Benjamin Creed of Hopkinsville took off in the 1943 Piper airplane shortly before the crash Thursday.

Miller says when the plane began to lose altitude, the pilot decided to return to the local airport but couldn't make it and attempted an emergency landing on the parkway.

The plane crashed on the shoulder shortly before 2 p.m. CDT. Miller said no one was injured on the ground.

Mike Creed is in serious condition at TriStar Skyline Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee. Miller says Benjamin Creed was treated at the scene.

ATHEISTS-IRS LAWSUIT

Judge dismisses atheists' challenge to IRS

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A federal judge in Kentucky has dismissed a lawsuit brought by an atheist group challenging tax exemptions for churches and religious groups in the federal tax code.

U.S. District Judge William O. Bertelsman ruled that American Atheists Inc. was speculating about being potentially injured by the tax code or treated differently from other organizations because it's never sought to be classified as a religious organization and the attendant tax benefits.

The New Jersey-based American Atheists sued the IRS in federal court in northern Kentucky in 2013 saying the tax-exempt status granted to religious organizations is discriminatory and should be ruled unconstitutional.

Bertelsman found that the regulations for tax-exempt organizations don't favor any group over another.

American Atheists President Dave Silverman says the organization will appeal.

MEMORIAL DAY-FORT CAMPBELL

Fort Campbell to hold wreath-laying ceremony

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. (AP) — The 101st Airborne Division and Fort Campbell will commemorate Memorial Day with a wreath-laying ceremony at division headquarters.

The ceremony will take place at noon on Monday.

The commanding general of the 101st Airborne Division, Maj. Gen. James C. McConville, will host the event and provide brief remarks during the ceremony.

The sprawling military post on the Kentucky-Tennessee state lines is home to the 101st Airborne Division, 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, 5th Special Forces Group and Sabalauski Air Assault School, and Blanchfield Army Community Hospital among other Army units.

BLACK BEARS

Black bear encounters expected to rise

PIKEVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky officials expect black bear encounters to increase this year in eastern Kentucky.

WYMT-TV says there were nearly 600 documented black bear sightings last year in eastern Kentucky. Pike County resident Jack Compton says a black bear went through his yard some time ago. Now he keeps his garbage in a secure bin, as officials recommend.

Wildlife biologist Jayson Plaxico of the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources says it's hard for bears to find much natural food early in spring. Plaxico says the way to remove the bear is to remove the food. And never feed a bear, which is illegal in Kentucky.

If you encounter a bear, don't run away, but move calmly. Or make your presence known by standing tall with your arms raised, yelling at the bear.

RIVER FLOODING-LAWSUIT

Army Corps sued over river-management approaches

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. (AP) — Environmental groups have sued the Army Corps of Engineers over the agency's use of man-made structures meant to keep the Mississippi River navigable.

The federal lawsuit was filed Thursday in Illinois' East St. Louis. Plaintiffs including the National Wildlife Federation claim the techniques provoke flooding as seen during historic inundations four times in the past two decades.

The plaintiffs ask the Army Corps to stop building more "river training structures" such as wing dikes, bendway weirs and chevrons until it comprehensively evaluates the environmental impacts.

The corps long has relied on such structures to use the river's current to clear navigation channels of sentiment, lessening the need for pricey dredging.

The corps isn't discussing the lawsuit but says it stands behind the projects.

No hearing date has been set.

SENATE-KENTUCKY-SHINSEKI

Ky. Democrat Grimes calls for Shinseki to resign

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — The Democratic candidate in Kentucky's Senate race is calling on Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki to resign following reports of problems at health care facilities nationwide.

Alison Lundergan Grimes says the government has violated its solemn obligation to its military veterans after 40 people died at a facility in Phoenix while waiting for treatment. The Kentucky secretary of state says the only way the federal government can repair the broken trust with military veterans is to have new leadership at the department.

Grimes has been trying to distance herself from the Obama administration because a majority of Kentucky voters disapprove of President Barack Obama's job performance.

Her opponent, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, has said that a VA leadership change might be a good step in the right direction.

ATHLETIC DIRECTOR-THEFT

Ex-AD sentenced to 10 years for theft conviction

NEWPORT, Ky. (AP) — A former Northern Kentucky University athletic director has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for stealing more than $300,000 from the school.

Scott Eaton was sentenced Thursday in Campbell County Circuit Court for a six-year scheme that included taking gift cards meant to help feed student-athletes.

The 50-year-old Eaton also was ordered to pay $311,215 in restitution to NKU.

Eaton agreed not to request shock probation. He will be eligible for a parole board hearing after serving two years of the sentence.

He pleaded guilty last month to one count of theft by unlawful taking.

Eaton was hired as the school's athletic director in 2009 and was fired last year over improper relationships with female employees and a student.

An audit of the athletic department's accounts led to the theft charge.