Kentucky News Now – May 6th 2014

KENTUCKY SENATE RACE

New McConnell ad looks to November

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell's campaign has spent more than $100,000 on a new TV ad that will run statewide beginning Tuesday.

McConnell will face Louisville businessman Matt Bevin in the Republican primary on May 20. But McConnell's new ad does not mention Bevin. Instead, it focuses on McConnell's record of protecting Kentucky jobs at a Louisville aluminum plant and the Bluegrass Army Depot in Richmond.

The ad comes less than two weeks after a local newspaper quoted McConnell saying it was not his job to bring employment to a struggling Kentucky county. McConnell has said his comments were taken out of context. But Bevin and likely Democratic opponent Alison Lundergan Grimes have repeatedly criticized McConnell for his comments.

The new ad calls McConnell a hero for saving Kentucky jobs.

BASKETBALL STAR'S DOWNFALL

State auctions Richie Farmer's guns, knives

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — The state Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources raised more than $21,500 for charity on Monday by auctioning off the 29 guns and knives that lead to the imprisonment of former University of Kentucky basketball star Richie Farmer.

Farmer used state money to purchase the items as gifts at a 2008 conference when he was Commissioner of Agriculture. But he kept many of the items for himself. Farmer is now serving a 27 month sentence in federal prison on government corruption charges.

The knives cost about $80 each and were sold for between $400 and $500. The guns cost about $500 each and were sold for $1,000 and $1,300. Farmer's personal rifle sold for $1,400.

The money will benefit the Boys and Girls Club urban garden project in Louisville.

BUS CRASH

More than 20 taken to hospital after bus crash

SALYERSVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A crash involving a school bus in eastern Kentucky has led to more than 20 children being taken to a hospital.

Magoffin County Schools Superintendent Stanley Holbrook told the Lexington Herald-Leader that all the students, the bus driver and a monitor had been released early Monday afternoon after being examined at the hospital. Holbrook says the driver of a car involved was also released.

Salyersville Fire Chief Paul Howard says the car crashed into the rear of the bus, which had stopped to pick up a child, around 7:15 a.m. EDT Monday. The bus was carrying more than 40 children, ranging from 5 years old to high school seniors.

Holbrook said the students complained of neck or back pain but none suffered traumatic injuries.

COCKFIGHTING CHARGES

5 charged in cockfighting case in eastern Kentucky

McDOWELL, Ky. (AP) — Three eastern Kentuckians and two Virginia residents have been charged in federal court with conducting cockfights that drew people from eight states to a pit in eastern Kentucky.

U.S. Attorney Timothy J. Heaphy of the Western District of Virginia said in a news release Monday the five were charged with conspiring to operate an illegal gambling enterprise and illegally conduct cockfights at the Big Blue Sportsmen's Club in McDowell, Kentucky.

Those charged are 51-year-old Walter Dale Stumbo, 51-year-old Sonya Stumbo and 25-year-old Joshua Stumbo of Floyd County, Kentucky; and 57-year-old Wesley Dean Robinson and 33-year-old Jonathan Robinson of Wise County, Virginia.

They were released on bond.

Prosecutors allege people traveled from Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia, Maryland and Georgia for fight weekends.

BROTHER'S BODY DRAGGED

Police accuse man of killing, dragging brother

VERSAILLES, Ky. (AP) — A central Kentucky man is facing murder and other charges after police say his brother's body was found alongside a highway after having been dragged by a car for more than a mile.

Vernon Saunders of Versailles is charged with murder, tampering with physical evidence and abuse of a corpse in the death of his brother, 51-year-old Timothy Saunders.

Versailles police Lt. Daniel Clark told media that Timothy Saunders' body was found along Kentucky 33 in Woodford County on Sunday morning by a passing motorist. Clark said evidence took officers to the nearby home of Vernon Saunders, who was arrested after a three-hour standoff.

An autopsy was scheduled Monday in an effort to determine how Timothy Saunders died.

It wasn't immediately clear whether Vernon Saunders has an attorney.

LITERARY AWARD

Russellville native wins Kentucky Literary Award

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (AP) — South-central Kentucky native Holly Goddard Jones has won this year's Kentucky Literary Award for her debut novel, "The Next Time You See Me."

Jones was born and raised in Russellville. She attended Western Kentucky University and graduated from the University of Kentucky before earning a master's degree at Ohio State. She has taught at Denison University, Murray State and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where she is an assistant English professor.

She is also author of "Girl Trouble," which was published in 2009.

The Kentucky Literary Award was given first in 2003 and reintroduced in 2012 after a brief hiatus. It goes to an author from Kentucky or one whose book has a strong Kentucky theme.

It is awarded by Southern Kentucky Book Fest partners.

HIGHWAY PROJECT GOALS

Transportation Cabinet proposing project goals

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet will publish online later this month its proposed goals for increasing involvement in highway projects by disadvantaged business enterprises.

The 2014 goals will be available online at http://transportation.ky.gov/Civil-Rights-and-Small-Business-Development from May 26 to June 25. The cabinet will take written comments until July 10, submitted through the website or by mail to Melvin Bynes, Office for Civil Rights and Small Business Development, Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, 200 Mero St., Sixth Floor, Frankfort, KY 40622.

The agency's Civil Rights Office will also host public forums starting next week to explain the proposed goals. Forums will be held in Louisville on May 13, Covington on May 14, Lexington on May 21 and Hopkinsville on May 22.

RUN WITH THE ROSES

Flowers taken from Richmond greenhouse

RICHMOND, Ky. (AP) — Most people know the Run for the Roses is held the first Saturday in May, but Richmond police say someone has been running with the roses there.

Police told WKYT-TV that someone has taken almost $2,500 worth of flowers from a Richmond greenhouse.

About $900 worth of flowers were taken in the first theft from Bi-Water Farm greenhouses. Then last week, more than $1,500 worth of roses and hydrangeas were stolen.

Police are investigating.

THREATENED PLANT

Kentucky glade cress listed as threatened plant

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — The small plant Kentucky glade cress is being listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is designating about 2,000 acres as critical habitat for the plant.

The agency says the winter annual only exists in Jefferson and Bullitt counties in Kentucky. It needs sunny areas that are wet in late winter to early spring but that dry quickly.

The Fish and Wildlife Service says residential and commercial development and associated activities have destroyed or degraded the plant's natural glade habitats.

Landowners who want to help recover Kentucky glade cress can learn more by contacting the Kentucky Field Office in Frankfort.

E KENTUCKY-NEUBAUER

Eastern Kentucky gives Neubauer contract extension

RICHMOND, Ky. (AP) — Eastern Kentucky and coach Jeff Neubauer have agreed in principle to a contract extension through 2018 following the Colonels' first NCAA tournament appearance since 2007.

Neubauer led EKU (24-10) to the Ohio Valley Conference tournament title and the school's eighth NCAA appearance. The 15th-seeded Colonels led No. 2 seed Kansas with nine minutes remaining and were within five with 2:28 left before losing 80-69.

EKU finished with the second-most wins in program history, highlighted by three victories in as many nights to claim the OVC championship. Neubauer is 167-122 in nine seasons and is 47 wins away from tying career leader Paul S. McBrayer.

EKU president Michael Benson praised Neubauer's on-court success in a release but called the program's 90 percent graduation rate "the most important statistic."