Kentucky News Now – May 26th 2014

Ky. doesn't regulate zip lines

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — The growing zip line industry isn't regulated by any government authority in Kentucky.

The Lexington Herald Leader (http://bit.ly/1jDUTkZ) reports no federal or state agency is charged with keeping track of the safety of the attractions that allow people to "zip" over an area high above the ground.

State lawmakers decided in 2012 to exempt the Kentucky Agriculture Department from overseeing zip lines. The department says it doesn't have the manpower to adequately monitor the growing activity.

That leaves the zip line industry to self-regulate. Several zip line operators in central and eastern Kentucky say they conduct several in-house inspections each year and have certified outside inspections annually.

Most states consider zip lines a "sport" and do not regulate them, but Tennessee began inspections after several accidents happened there.

Ky man facing sentencing in gun shipping case

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (AP) — A southern Kentucky man is scheduled for sentencing on charges of shipping weapons inside hollowed-out video game systems to foreign countries.

U.S. District Judge Joseph H. McKinley will determine what punishment to hand down for 34-year-old Adam Bunger of Bowling Green on Thursday.

Bunger pleaded guilty in March to illegally exporting firearms, illegally shipping and transporting firearms in foreign commerce, shipping firearms in foreign commerce with obliterated serial numbers and illegal delivery of firearms for transportation and shipment in foreign commerce.

Federal authorities investigated Bunger after a package arrived in Australia and was found in a forensic examination to contain disassembled components of a 9mm pistol, gun parts and two empty magazines that were in a hollowed out Xbox video game system.

Police traced that weapon and others to Bunger.

Second company discontinues wind energy project

MAYSVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A second company has notified officials in northeastern Kentucky that it has discontinued research on a possible wind energy project in the area.

The Ledger-Independent (http://bit.ly/1k26Tai) reports NextEra Energy Resources sent a letter earlier this month to Mason County officials to let them know an analysis of the project is being discontinued due to a new state law and a move for stricter local laws.

The move came about a week after Duke Energy Renewables announced that it was discontinuing a proposed wind turbine project Mason and Fleming counties near the community of May's Lick.

A letter from that company said officials decided to explore other possibilities after finding that the wind project had a "marginal" likelihood of success.

Both proposals had caused controversy in the surrounding communities.

Judge rejects lawsuit over deaths of 2 women

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought against the federal government by the family of two women killed by a Fort Campbell soldier.

U.S. District Judge Charles R. Simpson III found that the government could not be held liable for the actions of Army Sgt. Brent Burke when he shot and killed his estranged spouse, Tracy Burke, and her former mother-in-law, Karen Comer, in Rineyville, Kentucky, in 2007.

The family sued in federal court and claimed that Army officials should have confiscated Burke's weapons and warn the women of any potential danger.

Simpson found that the Army lacked a legal duty to control Burke's actions outside of his employment.

A military jury found Burke guilty on two charges of premeditated murder and sentenced him to life in prison.

Categories: What's New