Thursday’s Kentucky News

COUPLE TRAPPED

LaRue couple die after being trapped under car

HODGENVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A central Kentucky couple died after being trapped underneath a car that they were working on.

LaRue County Deputy Coroner Wesley Warren said 56-year-old John Muir and 71-year-old Chong Muir died of asphyxia due to the weight of the car.

Warren said the Muirs' son, Danny Muir, found his parents around 7:30 p.m. EDT Tuesday when he returned from work to the home about five miles south of Hodgenville. Warren said that was probably several hours after the car fell.

Warren said the car had apparently been lifted on ramps and a jack.

He said the Muirs had another son, Dennis, who died in his late teens about 13 or 14 years ago when he fell off a car.

PRIVATES BY CHOICE

Musical performance set at Lincoln Birthplace

HODGENVILLE, Ky. (AP) — The 150th anniversary of the Civil War will be commemorated Saturday at Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park in Hodgenville with two performances by the band Privates by Choice.

The park says the band will perform original musical scores highlighting the nation's difficulties during the war. The band features guitar, mandolin, violin, hammered dulcimer, cello, mountain dulcimer, bass and some light percussion.

The free performances will be at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. EDT.

Visitors should bring a blanket or lawn chair for the concert. Parking is available in the visitor center lot on a first-come, first-served basis.

For more information, call (270) 358-3137 or visit http://www.nps.gov/abli.

AIRPORT GRANTS

Federal grants to assist 4 Kentucky airports

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Four rural Kentucky airports will share more than $3.5 million in federal grants that will cover most of the costs for improvement projects.

State officials say the grant recipients are the Breckinridge County Airport at Hardinsburg, the Mayfield-Graves County Airport, the Cynthiana-Harrison County Airport and the Stanton-Powell County Airport. The grants are from the U.S. Department of Transportation.

The Breckinridge County Airport will receive a $3.2 million federal award for a project that includes lengthening the runway.

The Mayfield-Graves County Airport will get $215,916 for runway and pavement rehabilitation for the taxiway.

The airport in Harrison County will use a $175,000 grant for runway repairs.

In Powell County, a $163,568 grant will be used for an environmental analysis.

The state will help cover a portion of all four projects.

OHIO RIVER BRIDGES

Meeting may shed light on Ohio River bridge tolls

JEFFERSONVILLE, Ind. (AP) — Motorists may be about to find out how much it will cost to cross two Ohio River bridges being built between Kentucky and Indiana.

A bi-state group is meeting Thursday in Jeffersonville, Ind., and the agenda includes a resolution to set toll rates.

That's one big unanswered question regarding the $2.6 billion project. The work includes a new bridge linking Louisville, Ky., and Jeffersonville and an East End span connecting Utica, Ind., and Prospect, Ky. The project is one of the country's largest public works endeavors. Both bridges are scheduled to open in 2016.

Kentucky is handling construction of the downtown bridge and will use toll revenue to pay back debt and interest.

Indiana is in charge of work on the East End bridge. It has secured financing but will use tolls.

BRIDGE WORK

W. Ky. bridge project delayed by rainy weather

PADUCAH, Ky. (AP) — A Transportation Cabinet official says rainy weather has delayed a western Kentucky bridge project by about a week.

Work on the U.S. 51 Ohio River Bridge between Wickliffe, Ky., and Cairo, Ill., has been extended to Sept. 22.

Transportation Cabinet District 1 Acting Chief Engineer Mike McGregor says the contractor is trying to finish work as quickly as possible and that officials are aware the restrictions place a hardship on industry and farmers.

The restrictions prohibit trucks, buses, motor homes and vehicles pulling trailers from crossing the bridge. The bridge is limited to passenger vehicles and light trucks until the repairs and maintenance are finished.

The six-mile trip from Wickliffe to Cairo becomes an 80-mile detour for restricted traffic, but the Paducah-Cairo detour only adds about 20 miles.

PIPELINE FIGHT

Pipeline not to cross nuns' land

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A spokesman for a company building a pipeline through Kentucky says the proposed route would avoid land owned by a group of Catholic nuns who have been outspoken opponents of the underground line.

The Sisters of Loretto had refused to let pipeline surveyors enter their 780-acre property in Marion County. The new 500-mile pipeline would carry natural gas liquids to the Gulf of Mexico.

Williams Co. spokesman Tom Droege said Wednesday that the proposed route "is becoming more defined" and would "stay well to the north of Marion County."

Peg Jacobs, a co-member at the Loretto Motherhouse, says the sisters would continue to oppose the pipeline, wherever it goes.

The sisters, along with landowners and environmentalists, have demonstrated against the proposed pipeline, saying it presents a chemical leak risk.

TEEN KIDNAP-RAPE

2 men charged with kidnapping, raping W.Va. teen

(Information in the following story is from: The Exponent Telegram, http://www.cpubco.com )

CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (AP) — A Kentucky man is charged with abducting and raping a mentally disabled 14-year-old West Virginia girl he met online, then forcing her to have sex with a Fairmont man.

State Police on Wednesday charged 22-year-old Radcliff resident Lewis Kelly Dailey and 37-year-old Jamey Glen Dodrill with kidnapping, trafficking a minor, sexual assault and conspiracy.

Troopers say Dailey met the victim Sunday, took her to a Fairmont home and raped her, then watched while Dodrill raped her there on Tuesday.

Both men remain in jail. Daily is being held on a $2 million bond, while Dodrill's bond was set at $750,000.

State Police also arrested 23-year-old Parkersburg resident Allen Reeves, claiming he also used the Internet to try to meet the girl.

It wasn't clear if the men had attorneys.