Kentucky News Now

FACEBOOK LYRICS ARREST

Man arrested after posting lyrics defended by ACLU

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A lawyer for a Kentucky man who spent several days in jail after posting violent song lyrics on Facebook says he should be cleared of a felony charge.

James Evans was charged in late August with terroristic threatening and spent several days in jail. Evans had posted the lyrics from a song by the heavy metal band Exodus that included the words, "student bodies lying dead in the halls."

Bill Sharp, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky, says the case is a free speech issue and Evans should be "completely exonerated." The ACLU announced Wednesday that it is representing Evans.

Evans was charged by a resource officer for the Muhlenberg County schools, about 100 miles west of Louisville. County officials did not return messages seeking comment.

KENTUCKY LAKE BRIDGE

Work underway on new Kentucky Lake bride

AURORA, Ky. (AP) — A new four-lane bridge is officially under construction in western Kentucky to replace the Eggners Ferry Bridge over Kentucky Lake at Aurora.

Eggners Ferry Bridge was built in 1932 and has two 10-foot lanes with no shoulders. It underwent repairs after a cargo ship hit it in January 2012, tearing down a 322-foot section.

The bridge carries traffic from Aurora to Land Between The Lakes National Recreation Area.

Gov. Steve Beshear broke ground for the bridge on Wednesday during a ceremony at Kenlake State Resort Park. The new bridge will carry U.S. 68/Kentucky 80 over Kentucky Lake and will be the western entrance to Land Between The Lakes.

The new bridge will have four 11-foot travel lanes, plus 4-foot shoulders and a 10-foot-wide pedestrian/bicycle path.

SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION

Study: Sexual violence prevention program works

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Self-reported instances of sexual violence in 13 Kentucky public high schools dropped by more than half over the past five years, according to a new $2 million study based on more than 80,000 anonymous student surveys.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention paid for the study beginning in 2009 to test the effectiveness of the Green Dot violence prevention program created at the University of Kentucky. The program teaches students to recognize warning signs of potential sexual violence in others and how to intervene safely to prevent it from happening.

Instances of violence dropped by more than 50 percent in the 13 selected public high schools while increasing slightly at 13 high schools that did not adopt the program.

Federal grants will pay for the program to continue.

DROPPING STUDENTS

Many dropped students return to Kentucky State

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky State University says 70 percent of the students who were dropped for nonpayment are back at school.

The school said Wednesday that 452 of the students have either paid their balances in full or registered for university payment plans.

Kentucky State says its current enrollment is 1,881.

Last week, the school said it was dropping 645 students for nonpayment.

Interim school President Raymond Burse says there's more work to do, but says he's thanking the students and parents who answered his call for accountability. Burse says that once students realized the school was serious about their charges being paid up front, many of them found the resources to meet their financial obligations to the university.

The school says the 193 students whose accounts remains unpaid are not enrolled in its classes.

CAREER CENTER

Ground broken for western Kentucky career center

MURRAY, Ky. (AP) — Ground has been broken for a new Kentucky Career Center at Murray that will provide services to job seekers and employers.

Gov. Steve Beshear's office says the state partnered with the Murray-Calloway Economic Development Corp. to build the facility at the Murray-West Industrial Park. Construction is expected to finish in February.

The state will then enter into an eight-year lease agreement that includes maintenance of the building.

The center will provide streamlined services for job seekers and business customers.

Services for job seekers will include career coaching, access to local job openings, job leads and referrals, resume services, unemployment insurance claim filing assistance and education and training opportunities.

Services for businesses include talent recruitment assistance, candidate pre-screening and assessment, coordination of job fairs and free use of conference space to conduct interviews.

PAIN PILL SENTENCING

Kentucky woman sentenced to 6 years in prison

PIKEVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A one-time pharmacy manager in eastern Kentucky has been sentenced to six years in federal prison for her role in a scheme to illegally dispense thousands of prescription pills.

U.S. District Judge Amul Thapar on Tuesday handed down the punishment for 60-year-old Beverly Lockhart, who worked at multiple pharmacies in Pikeville. A jury convicted Lockhart earlier this year of conspiring with multiple co-defendants of illegally dispensing prescription drugs from June 2006 through July 2011.

Lockhart's co-defendants included two doctors, the corporation that owns the pharmacy where Lockhart worked, another pharmacy employee and dealers who obtained their pills from the pharmacies where Lockhart worked.

All 11 defendants have been sentenced.

TODDLER TIED

Mother pleads guilty to tying up girl

LAWRENCEBURG, Ky. (AP) — The mother of a 3-year-old girl has pleaded guilty to tying her up for hours at a time.

The Lexington Herald-Leader reports 31-year-old Rebecca Medley entered the plea in Anderson County Circuit Court on Monday, which is when her trial was to begin on a first-degree criminal abuse charge.

The child's grandmother, 66-year-old Carolyn Case, had already pleaded guilty to an amended second-degree criminal abuse charge and had agreed to testify against Medley and the girl's stepfather, 55-year-old Herbert C. Medley, whose trial date will be reset.

The three were arrested in 2012. Police say the girl was tied to her bed from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. Case told police the child was "getting into things" and was also tied up for naps and discipline.

NEW PLANT

T-shirt maker plans new plant in northern Kentucky

HEBRON, Ky. (AP) — A company that makes custom T-shirts used for organizations and fundraising campaigns is opening a new plant in Hebron, where it plans to create up to 299 new jobs and invest nearly $22 million.

Gov. Steve Beshear's office says Teespring Inc. will locate in a 105,000-square-foot facility and is expected to be up and running early next year.

Northern Kentucky was chosen over Texas for the project. Kentucky has given preliminary approval for tax incentives of up to $2.5 million for the project.

The California-based Teespring was created in 2011 to meet demand for small- to medium-order custom T-shirts. The company has used suppliers to fill orders, but the new facility will allow it to make more of its product in-house.

OBIT-CHARLANN CARROLL

Wife of former Gov. Julian Carroll dies

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Charlann Harting Carroll, the wife of former Kentucky Gov. and current state Sen. Julian Carroll, has died at the University of Kentucky Medical Center in Lexington. She was 81.

Dave Cobb, an executive assistant to Julian Carroll, says Mrs. Carroll died early Wednesday. He says Mrs. Carroll became ill Monday and was taken to Frankfort Regional Medical Center and later transferred to UK, where she had been undergoing tests to determine her illness.

The Carrolls were married for more than 60 years and had four children.

Mrs. Carroll was born in McCracken County in western Kentucky. Cobb says the Carrolls went to school together from the second grade through high school. The Carrolls have lived on their family farm in Franklin County since 1984.

Cobb says funeral arrangements are pending