Kentucky News On The Weeks End – Interstate Wreck, Deputy Uses Steroids & More

MUHAMMAD ALI-AWARDS

Muhammad Ali presents humanitarian awards in Ky.

Muhammad Ali has paid honor to former President Jimmy Carter, Grammy winners and young adults for their roles in fighting for humanitarian causes.

The former boxing champion returned to his hometown of Louisville to join in presenting the inaugural Muhammad Ali Humanitarian Awards on Thursday night.

The 89-year-old Carter received a lifetime achievement award. His son Chip accepted the award on his father's behalf.

Singers Christina Aguilera and Michael Bolton were other award winners.

Ali's wife, Lonnie, says the awards are a culmination of her husband's efforts to promote social causes.

Six young adults and teenagers from around the world were being recognized for exemplifying core principles espoused by Ali. Winners include a Ugandan who formed an anti-poverty organization and an American teenager who started a foundation to provide shoes to homeless children.

BIG SANDY-SLAYING

Feds to seek death for inmate charged in slaying

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — An inmate charged with killing a fellow prisoner at a high-security prison tucked away in the Appalachian region of eastern Kentucky faces a possible death sentence if convicted of murder.

Federal prosecutors in Lexington and Washington, D.C., have filed notice they intend to seek the execution of 31-year-old John Travis Millner, who has a long history of violence in and out of federal prison.

In a filing in federal court in Pikeville, prosecutors cited the brutality used in killing 35-year-old Vincent Earl Smith Jr. while he was housed at the United States Penitentiary Big Sandy in January 2009, as well as Millner's repeated attacks on other inmates and prison staff and conviction for murder in Washington, D.C.

Millner is scheduled for arraignment in federal court in Lexington on Tuesday.

DEPUTY CHARGED-STEROIDS

Ex-deputy faces Oct. 10 hearing on steroid charges

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (AP) — A former Taylor County sheriff's deputy charged with selling steroids is scheduled to appear in court on Thursday for a preliminary hearing.

U.S. Magistrate Judge H. Brent Brennenstuhl set the hearing in Bowling Green for William Allen Rice, who was arrested on Tuesday on three counts of selling steroids to an undercover agent.

FBI Special Agent Virginia McHenry wrote in an affidavit that Rice met with the informant three times — once in May and twice in August. McHenry says Rice sold Equipoise — which is commonly used on horses — for $150 and two other steroids in August.

Taylor County Sheriff Allen Newton said he fired Rice when he learned of the arrest.

Rice pleaded not guilty on Wednesday. He did not have an attorney listed in court records.

RETIREE APPRECIATION-CANCELED

Fort Campbell drops Retiree Appreciation Day

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. (AP) — Fort Campbell has canceled Retiree Appreciation Day at the Fort Campbell Passenger Processing Center, saying the government shutdown and furlough of employees makes the event impossible.

Garrison Commander Col. David "Buck" Dellinger says a review of what services would be available would not make it worth the time for many retirees to travel to the military post on the Kentucky-Tennessee line.

The post commissary is closed until the furloughs and shutdown ends. However, all the PX facilities will continue to operate. Dellinger says there would also a limitation on what vaccinations would be offered and no Department of Veterans Affairs representation would be available.

It is unknown if the event, which had been scheduled for Saturday, will be reset for a future date.

INTERSTATE PILEUP

Southbound I-75 near Corbin reopens after pileup

CORBIN, Ky. (AP) — A wreck involving about a dozen vehicles closed travel down for several hours yesterday on Interstate 75 in southeastern Kentucky.

Kentucky State Police say some minor injuries were reported but there was no indication of anything more serious.

One of the vehicles was a tanker carrying liquid nitrogen. The tanker wasn't damaged but police say it required special precautions to make sure it was stable.

The pileup happened around 4:20 p.m. EDT, and the highway didn't reopen for about three hours.

KENTUCKY-OHIO BRIDGE

2 options under review to build Ohio River bridge

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky and Ohio officials have been presented with two proposals to pay for a new Ohio River bridge to ease traffic congestion in the Cincinnati area, and both options include tolls.

The project would build a bridge near the existing Brent Spence Bridge, which would be renovated.

The 50-year-old Brent Spence connects Cincinnati and Covington, Ky., and is often snarled while carrying motorists on Interstates 71 and 75.

The transportation secretaries in both states said Thursday they intend to move the project forward.

One option calls for a combination of federal and state funding that includes loans and bonds. Repayment of the loans and bonds would come from toll revenue.

The other proposal calls for a contractor to finance and build the bridge and to be repaid over many years. That option also includes tolls.