Tuesday’s Kentucky News – December 3rd, 2013

LOUISVILLE-MEGA MILLIONS

UPS workers win $1 million lottery prize

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Eighteen employees of UPS in Louisville have been delivered some good news: They will share the winnings from a $1 million Mega Millions ticket.

The Kentucky Lottery Corp. said the ticket from Friday's drawing was claimed Monday. The lottery didn't name the employees and said they requested no other information be released.

The ticket was good for the game's second prize by virtue of matching five white balls but not the Megaball.

The ticket was sold at a Kroger store in Louisville.

NEW AREA CODE

364 area code could pose problems for elderly

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — The Kentucky Public Service Commission is urging caregivers to prepare the elderly in western Kentucky for the upcoming area code changes.

Mandatory 10-digit dialing in the current 270 area code goes into effect on Feb. 1. The new 364 code will exist in the same geographic area as the 270 code.

The PSC says the change could cause problems for elderly residents. The PSC says in a release that family, friends and caregivers of the elderly should help them prepare for the change. One of the best ways, the PSC says, is using programmable landline phones that can store preset numbers.

The first numbers using area code 364 may be assigned beginning March 3, the PSC says.

OLD TIRES

State encourages new ways of using old tires

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — The Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet is offering grants to schools and other organizations that want to use rubber mulch from shredded tires as bedding on playgrounds and athletic fields.

The goal is to dispose of Kentucky's ever-growing supply of discarded tires.

Agency spokeswoman Ricki Gardenhire said the Division of Waste Management in Frankfort will be taking applications through Jan. 31.

Since 2005, the state has awarded more than $5.8 million in grants, primarily to schools and local governments. Some 700,000 tires are being ground into crumb rubber and mulch in Kentucky each year.

PAWN SHOP SHOOTINGS

Judge denies bond for accused in pawn shop deaths

(Information in the following story is from: Lexington Herald-Leader, http://www.kentucky.com )

DANVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A central Kentucky judge has refused bond for a minister accused of murdering three people in a Danville pawn shop in September.

The judge ruled Monday after a detective testified.

Being held without bond in the Boyle County jail in Danville is 48-year-old Kenneth Allen Keith. He was charged Oct. 9 with three counts of murder and one count of first-degree robbery in the deaths of 35-year-old Michael Hockensmith and his wife, 38-year-old Angela Hockensmith, both of Stanford; and 60-year-old Daniel Smith of Richmond.

The Lexington Herald-Leader said Danville police detective Kevin Peel testified Monday about a shell casing and receipts found inside a Somerset gold shop Keith operated. Under questioning from defense attorney Mark Stanziano, Peel said a 9-year-old witness didn't identify the shooter on the 911 call as "Keith" or "Uncle Allen."

CLERK-TAX REFUNDS

Some charges in Bell clerk case dismissed

(Information in the following story is from: Lexington Herald-Leader, http://www.kentucky.com )

PINEVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Some charges against Bell County Clerk Rebecca Blevins have been dismissed, but a judge allowed one charge to move forward.

Circuit Clerk Colby Slusher's office told the Lexington Herald-Leader that the judge dismissed charges of theft and official misconduct. Slusher's office said the judge decided that a grand jury should consider a charge of criminal possession of a forged instrument.

Two deputies in Blevins' office, Kayla Carnes and Connie Watkins, and former deputy Flora Ferrell had conspiracy charges dismissed, but the circuit clerk's office said charges of criminal possession of a forged instrument stand against Carnes and Watkins.

The charges were dismissed Monday without prejudice, meaning they could be reinstated.

All four pleaded not guilty to the charges last month

FIRE-MOTHER DEATH

Woman dies after going back inside burning home

CARROLLTON, Ky. (AP) — A mobile home fire in a rural area near the Ohio River has claimed the life of a mother, who initially escaped the blaze but went back in to retrieve bottles and clothing for her 4-month-old baby.

Carroll County Sheriff Jamie Kinman said 37-year-old Wendy Mercer of Carroll County died in the fire, which was reported shortly after 5 a.m. EST Monday.

Kinman said the fire appears to have been started by a small space heater in a bedroom shared by Mercer and her fiance.

He said the couple and the baby lived in an addition that had been built onto a single-wide mobile home, where three other people lived. All six people got out, but Kinman said Mercer's fiance reported she went back to get things for the baby.

SCHOOL CHIEF-GUILTY PLEA

Former school chief pleads guilty to embezzlement

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — The former head of a small northern Kentucky school district has entered a guilty plea to embezzling more than $193,000 over an eight-year period.

William G. Rye waived his right to a grand jury appearance and entered the plea in federal court on Monday.

The 65-year-old Rye is scheduled for sentencing on April 22 in U.S. District Court in Covington. He faces up to 10 years in prison.

Investigators for state Auditor Adam Edelen uncovered financial issues in a review of the Dayton Independent School District earlier this year. Edelen turned the findings over to the FBI for investigation.

Edelen said in a statement Monday that the findings were "stomach-churning" because Rye "literally drained the bank account" of a school district so poor that 90 percent of students qualify for free or reduced-priced lunches.

OBIT-POWERBALL WINNER

Out-of-work Powerball winner from 2001 dies

(Information in the following story is from: The Independent, http://www.dailyindependent.com )

ASHLAND, Ky. (AP) — A 58-year-old Kentucky man who won part of a $280 million lottery jackpot 12 years ago after being laid off from his job has died.

The Independent said David Lee Edwards died Saturday in Community Hospice Care Center in Ashland.

Caniff Funeral Home, which is handling arrangements, said it did not have a cause of death.

Edwards, an ex-convict, won a one-fourth share of a $280 million Powerball jackpot in August 2001. At the time, it was the third largest lottery pot in U.S. history. He received a lump-sum of $27 million after taxes.

Edwards was convicted of robbery in 1981 and served out his sentence in 1997. Several years after winning the lottery, he was evicted from his million-dollar home in Florida after failing to pay back dues to the homeowners association.