WOMI Daystarter – Cooler, 60 Bridge, Nunn Mum, Students’ Rights

KENTUCKY WEATHER

2013 shaping up as wetter, cooler than 2012 in Ky.

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (AP) — State climatologist Stuart Foster says 2013 has been wetter and cooler than last year in Kentucky.

He says statewide precipitation this year is about 10 inches above last year's average, with June and July's rainfall higher than a year ago.

Foster says the statewide rainfall average this past June was slightly above 6 inches, compared with 1.13 inches in 2012.

Some parts of far western Kentucky that suffered through severe drought last year have had less abundant rainfall this summer.

As for temperatures, Foster says the statewide average temperature for July has been 74.7 degrees, which is 4.5 degrees cooler than last July.

The March 2013 average temperature of 39.7 degrees was 18.2 degrees cooler than in March 2012.

Foster is director of the Kentucky Climate Center at Western Kentucky University.

SHERIFFS TIP LINE

Sheriffs' group offers tip line on its website

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — The Kentucky Sheriffs' Association has created a tip line on its website.

Sheriffs' Association Executive Director Jerry Wagner says tips received will be forwarded to the appropriate office.

Wagner says all identifying information is removed before a tip is received by the sheriff's office. He says the tip line can be used to notify a sheriff's office of drug activity or other illegal activity. Wagner says the tips can be useful information in making arrests.

Tipsters are asked to be as specific as possible when passing along information. Wagner says that includes when the illegal activity occurred, where and who was involved. He says the more detailed the information, the better chance authorities have of using it in a case.

The tip line is on the sheriffs' association website

BRIDGE OPENING

Ky. bridge may open soon for 2-lane traffic

PADUCAH, Ky. (AP)— Kentucky transportation officials say the new U.S. 60 Tennessee River Bridge in western Kentucky may be ready for two-lane traffic around the middle of next week.

Jim LeFevre, the region's chief engineer for the state highways department, says the rainy weather has made it difficult for the contractor to be specific about when the new bridge at Ledbetter will be ready for traffic.

The new four-lane bridge originally was scheduled to open in July 2014. But state transportation officials and the contracting team devised a way to get the bridge partially opened, with two lanes of traffic, ahead of schedule.

The bridge is an important river crossing for commuters and commerce in Livingston and McCracken counties.

The new bridge replaces the two-lane Ledbetter Bridge, which was built 82 years ago.

FORMER LAWMAKER-SLAYING

Nunn refuses to answer questions from attorneys

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — A former lawmaker has been ordered to answer questions about the shooting death of a woman that landed him in prison for life.

Fayette County Circuit Judge James Ishmael on Tuesday ruled that 60-year-old Steve Nunn cannot avoid questions about the day 29-year-old Amanda Ross died outside her Lexington home.

Nunn has been found liable in civil court for the death of Amanda Ross. Nunn pleaded guilty to shooting and killing Ross four years ago. Nunn is serving life in prison.

He faces a civil trial in August in which the Ross family is seeking damages from him. The owner of the townhouses where Ross lived, Opera House Square, is also a defendant in the case.

Nunn refused to answer questions on July 11 during a deposition.

HUMANA-AMERICAN ELDERCARE

Humana acquiring Florida home-health company

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Humana Inc. says it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the largest provider of nursing home diversion services in Florida, American Eldercare Inc.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed Wednesday.

Humana said in a statement that American Eldercare's annualized revenue of about $75 million is expected to grow to more than $1 billion in 2015.

American Eldercare said on its website that it provides home-based skilled nursing, medical rehabilitation and private-duty services to clients in more than 23 counties. The company was founded in 1993 as a home nursing provider.

State regulatory approvals are required for the transaction, which is expected to close by the fourth quarter of 2013.

Louisville-based Humana's stock rose 98 cents to $91.57 Wednesday.

FANCY FARM-ABSENCES

Beshear, Abramson won't attend Fancy Farm picnic

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Gov. Steve Beshear and Lt. Gov. Jerry Abramson will skip next week's church picnic in the western Kentucky community of Fancy Farm.

Democratic Party Chairman Dan Logsdon said Wednesday they're unable to go.

The Fancy Farm picnic includes an afternoon of stump speeches involving the state's top Democrats and Republicans. Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell plans to attend, as does his chief Democratic challenger in next year's election, Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes. Several others have also committed to attend.

In a phone call to Republican voters this week, McConnell called the picnic "the summer event you won't want to miss."

The picnic, a fundraiser for St. Jerome Parish, draws some 10,000 people and generates about $250,000.

Logsdon said Beshear intends to be at next year's event.

STUDENT RIGHTS-QUESTIONING

Ky. appeals ruling over questioning students

The Kentucky attorney general's office has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to consider a case involving whether students must be informed of their rights before being questioned at school.

Attorney General Jack Conway asked the justices Tuesday to overturn a Kentucky Supreme Court decision from April. In that case from Nelson County, the state justices concluded that students must be informed of their legal rights — including the right to remain silent — before being questioned by school administrators working with police or school resource officers.

Conway says school administrators shouldn't be required to advise students of their rights — a practice known as Mirandizing — simply because a school resource officer may be present during an investigation of school-related issues.