Tuesday’s Kentucky News

PROBATION OFFICER SHOT

Probation officer wounded in eastern Ky.

HINDMAN, Ky. (AP) — The Kentucky Corrections Department says a probation and parole officer has been wounded in eastern Kentucky where he was trying to arrest a man accused of not complying with the terms of his probation.

The agency says Brian Melvin and three other probation and parole officers were in the community of Mousie in Knott County on Monday afternoon to try to serve a 2010 warrant on 28-year-old Rocky Wicker Jr.

The agency said Wicker's father, Rocky Wicker Sr., allegedly opened fire on Melvin, hitting him in the arm. Corrections Department spokeswoman Lisa Lamb said Melvin was undergoing surgery at Hazard Appalachian Regional Medical Center.

Lamb said another officer has cuts on his arms from being hit by broken glass when the officers' vehicle was fired on.

HEALTH REFORMS-BESHEAR

Beshear to hold news briefing on health reforms

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Gov. Steve Beshear has scheduled a news briefing Tuesday afternoon to provide an update on efforts to implement federal health care reforms in Kentucky.

The event is set for 1 p.m. EDT at the Capitol.

Beshear has been an advocate for the reforms that he says will provide access to medical care to more than 600,000 uninsured Kentucky residents. Nearly half of those will be added to the state's Medicaid program. The remainder, he said, will be able to get insurance through an online health benefits exchange.

Joining Beshear for the briefing will be Health and Family Services Secretary Audrey Tayse Haynes, Kentucky Health Benefit Exchange Executive Director Carrie Banahan and Kentucky Department of Insurance Commissioner Sharon Clark.

FRAUD ALERT

State auditor issues fraud alert to Ky. retirees

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — State Auditor Adam Edelen has alerted law enforcement authorizes to a fraudulent letter that has been sent to retirees in Kentucky.

The letter claims the auditor's office has discovered that some 26,000 people were overpaid and that a field agent would contact them for repayment. Edelen said that isn't true, and he's concerned it could be part of a scam.

Edelen said no collections are being sought. He said it's unclear how many retirees have received the letter.

KENTUCKY SENATE-RADIO AD

McConnell bypasses Bevin, attacks Grimes via radio

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell is bypassing GOP primary challenger Matt Bevin in his latest attack that takes on Democratic front-runner Alison Lundergan Grimes.

McConnell came out Monday with a new radio and Internet ad to try to draw a distinction between himself and Grimes on federal health care reforms, which he says need to be repealed in their entirety.

McConnell tries to paint Grimes as a supporter of the Affordable Care Act. Grimes has said she objects to portions of the law but that she favors making improvements rather than repealing it altogether.

The new ad declares that McConnell has been the chief critic of the reforms all along.

Bevin called that claim misleading, saying the five-term senator has refused to sign a pledge to defund the reforms.

SENATE ATTORNEY

Fleenor signs on as Senate president's attorney

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — David Fleenor, who served as general counsel to former Gov. Ernie Fletcher, is back in Frankfort working as an attorney for Senate President Robert Stivers.

Fleenor replaces Harland Hatter, who has taken a position in the Kentucky Department of Agriculture.

A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and the University of Tennessee law school, Fleenor served two years as chief attorney in the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services before moving to the governor's office.

Early in his career, Fleenor also served a stint as clerk to U.S. Court of Appeals Judge H. Emory Widener Jr. He later worked as an intellectual property lawyer in Lexington.

FARMER'S SISTER

Farmer's sister to pay $6K fine for ethics abuses

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — The Executive Branch Ethics Commission has imposed a $6,000 fine against Rhonda Monroe, the former assistant executive director of the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance.

That fine and an accompanying public reprimand were part of a settlement agreement with Monroe, the sister of former state Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer.

Members of the ethics panel approved the settlement on Monday. Under the agreement, Monroe admitted helping Farmer get improper reimbursements from a campaign account personal use. Those violations date back to Farmer's 2007 campaign for re-election as agriculture commissioner.

The ethics panel also approved a settlement agreement to resolve unspecified ethics charges against Farmer on Monday. The panel hasn't yet released details of that agreement.

WVA CORRUPTION CHARGES-FIRE

Suspicious fire destroys W.Va. judge's family home

WILLIAMSON, W.Va. (AP) — Kentucky authorities are investigating a suspicious fire that destroyed the childhood home of a West Virginia judge charged with trying to frame his mistress' husband for false crimes.

An arson investigator for the Kentucky State Police didn't immediately return a message Monday.

Media outlets report that the unoccupied house 10 miles south of Williamson in Canada, Ky., was built by the grandfather of Mingo County Circuit Judge Michael Thornsbury and was his retreat before it burned last week.

Federal prosecutors in West Virginia say Thornsbury had an affair with his secretary and tried to frame her husband for various crimes between 2008 and 2012.

He's accused of enlisting the help of a state trooper and commandeering the grand jury.

He's pleaded not guilty and faces trial Oct. 15.