WOMI Day Starter – July 23, 2013 News & History
CASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
Ky implementing new case management system
OWENSBORO, Ky. (AP) — The Kentucky court system will roll out a new way to manage its caseload by the end of the year after issuing $28.1 million in bonds.
The Administrative office of the Courts is currently running a system that operates on equipment that's 25-years-old and software that is a decade old.
Daviess County Circuit Clerk Susan Tierney told the Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer that the state Supreme Court or technology committee will select the counties where the new system will be tested.
Tierney says the Daviess County office was chosen as a pilot site for an electronic accounts receivable system.
Previously, a clerk who collected a fee would have to manually put the payment information into the case management system. The new accounts system updates when a payment is made.
PLANTATION PAPERS
Plantation papers to go on display in Owensboro
OWENSBORO, Ky. (AP) — A western Kentucky museum paid $7,600 for a collection personal papers, books and a "slave pass" issued in Kentucky 186 years ago.
The Owensboro Museum of Science and History will display the collection from the family of Daviess County plantation owner Amos Riley and his son, Owensboro attorney Camden Riley, later this summer. The museum bought the collection last month at a Cincinnati auction.
Museum Executive Director Kathy Olson told the Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer the collection includes deeds, bills of sale for slaves and receipts from steamboat companies and other businesses.
Among the papers is a "slave pass" issued to Josiah Henson, one of the inspirations for the title character in Harriet Beecher Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin."
Olson says the collection was valued at between $10,000 and $15,000 at auction.
KENTUCKY SENATE-TEA PARTY
McConnell could pick up tea party challenger
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, already facing a stiff Democratic challenge for re-election, could pick up a tea party primary opponent later this week.
Louisville businessman Matt Bevin's entry into the race would force a major shift in the McConnell campaign, which has been concentrating entirely on the chief Democratic opponent, Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes.
Bevin is scheduled to announce his intentions on Wednesday at the state Capitol in Frankfort, after which an aide said he will begin a three-day statewide tour.
University of Louisville political scientist Laurie Rhodebeck said Bevin's entry into the race would cause McConnell to spend time and money on the primary when he'd much rather focus exclusively on Grimes.
KENTUCKY VOTE FRAUD
7 convicted of vote fraud seek release from prison
LONDON, Ky. (AP) — A former judge and six of his co-defendants whose vote-buying convictions were overturned have asked a federal judge to release them from prison while they await a new trial.
Former Clay County Circuit Judge R. Cletus Maricle and six other people say they should be free on bond after the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals found that a judge mishandled portions of their case.
Former Clay County school superintendent Doug Adams did not sign on to the motion filed Monday. His attorneys expect to file a separate motion.
Prosecutors did not object to the request, which was not immediately ruled upon.
The charges stem from allegations that votes were paid for during the 2002, 2004 and 2006 elections.
KENTUCKY-NASA
UK gets grant to improve heat shields for NASA
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — A University of Kentucky assistant professor and a research team have received a $1 million grant from NASA to improve the heat shields for spacecraft as they enter the planet's atmosphere.
While he won't be spacewalking, Alexandre Martin told the Lexington Herald-Leader that the work will focus on ways to improve the spacecraft that make it to neighboring planets, such as Mars and Venus.
Martin and the research team, including graduate and undergraduate students, and two high school students, will be working with researchers at NASA sites in Ames, Iowa, and Langley, Va.
The heat shield material is like a carbon matrix with little holes, and you fill the holes with resin. Martin says researchers don't yet understand how different materials might react with other atmospheres in space.
AMBULANCE SERVICE-DRUG RECORDS
Ambulance service to pay $40K, settles drug claims
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — An ambulance company has agreed to a $40,000 settlement with federal prosecutors over allegations that the company didn't keep accurate records about the acquisition, administration and disposal of drugs being used.
Mercury Ambulance Service Inc., which does business as Rural/Metro, reached the agreement Monday with the U.S. attorney's office in Louisville.
The settlement says that the Drug Enforcement Administration started investigating Mercury Ambulance on Feb. 16, 2012, and noted seven alleged violations.
Among the violations was a failure by the company to report the theft of morphine to DEA.
Prosecutors say the agreement is neither an admission of liability by Mercury Ambulance Service nor a concession by the United States that its claims regarding the covered conduct are not well-founded.
UK-UOFL PARTNERSHIP
UK, UofL teaming up to offer joint executive MBA
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky's two largest public universities are teaming up to offer a joint master of business administration program for executives.
The University of Kentucky and University of Louisville on Monday said they'll create the new MBA program to prepare mid-level executives for senior leadership.
The program is likely to start in the fall of 2014. Classes would be held every other weekend to allow students to keep their existing jobs.
It will take students about 17 months to complete the program, with half the courses in Louisville and half in Lexington.
UofL and UK will split teaching duties, revenue and expenses.
It's the latest academic joint endeavor by the schools that are athletic archrivals.
In 2011, the two schools said they shared about 100 academic and research projects and several patents.
LEXINGTON-EMERGENCY LANDING
Plane makes emergency landing after takeoff in Ky
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — A charter flight carrying 10 people and several horses made an emergency landing just after takeoff from Blue Grass Airport in Lexington.
WKYT-TV and WLEX-TV in Lexington each reported that the plane landed at about 9:05 a.m. EDT Monday when the pilot could not retract its wheels after takeoff.
An airport spokesman says there were no injuries and the incident remains under investigation.
KENTUCKY SENATORS-VFW
McConnell criticizes VA for claims backlog
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell says a backlog of disability claims handled by the Veterans Affairs Department is a "national disgrace."
The Kentucky Republican told the Veterans of Foreign Wars national convention Monday the problem demands attention from the top of the command chain. He said President Barack Obama should get involved to end the backlog.
The VA pays disability benefits to veterans who are injured or become ill as a result of their active service.
In late March, about 70 percent of claims were pending longer than 125 days. But the department has taken steps to try to deal with the backlog.
McConnell and fellow Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul spoke at the VFW convention in Louisville.
Paul spoke out against U.S. military aid to Egypt, Pakistan and Syrian rebels.
UNPAID FINES
Feds sue coal company over $318K in unpaid fines
PIKEVILLE, Ky. (AP) — An eastern Kentucky coal company is being sued by the federal government as it seeks to collect more than $300,000 in unpaid fines for health and safety violations.
The government says Viper Coal LLC owes $318,981 in unpaid fines as of September 2011. The suit was filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Pikeville.
The lawsuit seeks that amount, plus more than $122,000 in other fees and interest.
The U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration issued more than 250 citations and orders to the company between January 2008 and August 2011, and has sent more than 20 letters demanding payment of the resulting fines.
Federal records show Viper has underground mines in Floyd and Pike counties.
TODAY IN HISTORY
Today is Tuesday, July 23, the 204th day of 2013. There are 161 days left in the year.
Today's Highlight in History:
On July 23, 1983, an Air Canada Boeing 767 ran out of fuel while flying from Montreal to Edmonton; the pilots were able to glide the jetliner to a safe emergency landing in Gimli, Manitoba. The near-disaster occurred because the fuel had been erroneously measured in pounds instead of kilograms at a time when Canada was converting to the metric system.
On this date:
In 1885, Ulysses S. Grant, the 18th president of the United States, died in Mount McGregor, N.Y., at age 63.
In 1886, a legend was born as Steve Brodie claimed to have made a daredevil plunge from the Brooklyn Bridge into New York's East River. However, there are doubts about whether the dive actually took place.
In 1888, author Raymond Chandler was born in Chicago.
In 1914, Austria-Hungary issued a list of demands to Serbia following the killing of Archduke Franz Ferdinand by a Serb assassin; the dispute led to World War I.
In 1945, French Marshal Henri Petain (ahn-REE' pay-TAN'), who had headed the Vichy (vee-shee) government during World War II, went on trial, charged with treason. He was convicted and condemned to death, but the sentence was commuted.
In 1951, Petain died in prison.
In 1952, Egyptian military officers led by Gamal Abdel Nasser launched a successful coup against King Farouk I.
In 1967, a week of deadly race-related rioting that claimed 43 lives erupted in Detroit.
In 1977, a jury in Washington, D.C., convicted 12 Hanafi (hah-NAH'-fee) Muslims of charges stemming from the hostage siege at three buildings the previous March.
In 1986, Britain's Prince Andrew married Sarah Ferguson at Westminster Abbey in London. The couple divorced in 1996.
In 1997, the search for Andrew Cunanan, the suspected killer of designer Gianni Versace (JAH'-nee vur-SAH'-chee) and others, ended as police found his body on a houseboat in Miami Beach, an apparent suicide.
In 2011, singer Amy Winehouse, 27, was found dead in her London home from accidental alcohol poisoning.
Ten years ago: A new audiotape purported to be from toppled dictator Saddam Hussein called on Iraqis to resist the U.S. occupation. Massachusetts' attorney general issued a report saying clergy members and others in the Boston Archdiocese probably had sexually abused more than 1,000 people over a period of six decades. New York City Councilman James Davis was shot to death by political rival Othniel Askew (AHTH'-neel AS'-kyoo) at City Hall; a police officer shot and killed Askew.
Five years ago: Hurricane Dolly slammed into the South Texas coast with punishing rain and winds of 100 mph. Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama toured Israel's Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial, laying a wreath in memory of the 6 million Jews who died. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met North Korea's top diplomat, Pak Ui Chun, in Singapore, ending a four-year hiatus in cabinet-level contacts between the two countries.
One year ago: His hair dyed a shocking comic-book shade of orange-red, James Holmes, the former doctoral student accused of killing 12 moviegoers at a showing of the new Batman movie in Aurora, Colo., appeared in court for the first time. Penn State's football program was all but leveled by penalties for its handling of the allegations against former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky as the NCAA imposed an unprecedented $60 million fine, a four-year ban from postseason play and a cut in the number of football scholarships it could award. Sally Ride, 61, the first American woman in space, died in La Jolla, Calif. Oscar-winning screenwriter Frank Pierson ("Dog Day Afternoon"; "Cool Hand Luke") died in Los Angeles at age 87.
Today's Birthdays: Actress Gloria DeHaven is 88. Concert pianist Leon Fleisher (FLY'-shur) is 85. Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy is 77. Actor Ronny Cox is 75. Radio personality Don Imus is 73. Country singer Tony Joe White is 70. Rock singer David Essex is 66. Actor Larry Manetti is 66. Singer-songwriter John Hall is 65. Actress Belinda Montgomery is 63. Rock musician Blair Thornton (Bachman Turner Overdrive) is 63. Actress Edie McClurg is 62. Actress-writer Lydia Cornell is 60. Actor Woody Harrelson is 52. Rock musician Martin Gore (Depeche Mode) is 52. Actor Eriq Lasalle is 51. Rock musician Yuval Gabay is 50. Rock musician Slash is 48. Actor Philip Seymour Hoffman is 46. Rock musician Nick Menza is 45. Model-actress Stephanie Seymour is 45. Actress Charisma Carpenter is 43. Rhythm-and-blues singer Sam Watters is 43. Country singer Alison Krauss is 42. Rhythm-and-blues singer Dalvin DeGrate is 42. Rock musician Chad Gracey (Live) is 42. Actor-comedian Marlon Wayans is 41. Country singer Shannon Brown is 40. Actress Kathryn Hahn is 40. Retired MLB All-Star Nomar Garciaparra is 40. Former White House intern Monica Lewinsky is 40. Actress Stephanie March is 39. Country musician David Pichette (Emerson Drive) is 36. Rhythm-and-blues singer Michelle Williams is 33. Actor Paul Wesley is 31. Actor Daniel Radcliffe is 24. Country musician Neil Perry is 23.
Thought for Today: "The most courageous act is still to think for yourself. Aloud." — Coco Chanel, French fashion designer (1883-1971).
! ENTERTAINMENT HISTORY !
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On July 23rd, 1969, James Brown walked out of Los Angeles Mayor Sam Yorty's office when the mayor failed to show up on time to present the singer with a proclamation for "James Brown Day."
In 1980, former Grateful Dead keyboardist Keith Godchaux was killed in a car accident in Marin (mah-RIN') County, Calif. He was 32.
In 1982, actor Vic Morrow and two children were killed during the filming of "Twilight Zone: The Movie" when a helicopter crashed. Director John Landis and four others were acquitted of charges in the deaths.
In 1984, Vanessa Williams became the first Miss America to resign her title, after nude photographs of her were published in "Penthouse" magazine.
In 1990, production began on the film "Falling From Grace," which marked John Mellencamp's acting and directing debut.
Also in 1992, Chicago got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
In 1999, Woodstock '99 began in Rome, New York. The three-day festival started off peacefully but ended in fires, lootings and accusations of rape.
Also in 1999, musician Phil Collins married Orianne Cevey in a private civil ceremony in Switzerland. He was 48, she was 27. They have since split up.
In 2010, Kings of Leon cut short a concert outside St. Louis after pigeons in the rafters defecated on the stage.
In 2011, singer Amy Winehouse was found dead at her home in London. She was 27. Her death was attributed to accidental alcohol poisoning.
Today's Birthdays: Actress Gloria DeHaven is 88. Radio personality Don Imus is 73. Country singer Tony Joe White is 70. Actor Larry Manetti ("Magnum, P.I.") is 66. Singer David Essex is 66. Singer and former Congressman John Hall (Orleans) is 65. Guitarist Blair Thornton of Bachman-Turner Overdrive is 63. Actress Belinda Montgomery ("Doogie Howser, MD") is 63. Actress Edie McClurg ("Ferris Bueller's Day Off") is 62. Actress Lydia Cornell ("Too Close For Comfort") is 60. Actor Woody Harrelson is 52. Guitarist Martin Gore of Depeche (duh-PESH') Mode is 52. Actor Eriq Lasalle ("ER") is 51. Drummer Yuval Gabay (Soul Coughing) is 50. Guitarist Slash of Velvet Revolver (and Guns N' Roses) is 48. Actor Philip Seymour Hoffman is 46. Model Stephanie Seymour is 45. Singer Sam Watters of Color Me Badd is 43. Actress Charisma Carpenter is 43. Singer Dalvin DeGrate of Jodeci is 42. Country singer Alison Krauss is 42. Drummer Chad Gracey of Live (LYV) is 42. Actor-comedian Marlon Wayans ("The Wayans Brothers") is 41. Country singer Shannon Brown is 40. Singer Michelle Williams (Destiny's Child) is 33. Actor Paul Wesley ("The Vampire Diaries") is 31. Actor Daniel Radcliffe ("Harry Potter" movies) is 24. Drummer Neil Perry of The Band Perry is 23.
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