Kentucky News Now

COUPLE FOUND DEAD

Western Kentucky couple found dead in home

DUNMOR, Ky. (AP) — A western Kentucky couple have been found dead in their home.

Kentucky State Police say there's no indication an outsider gained access to the home in Dunmor in Muhlenberg County.

Police said the bodies of 84-year-old Nancy B. Coomer and 85-year-old Albert Coomer were found Wednesday morning. A preliminary investigation indicates they suffered apparent gunshot wounds.

Trooper Stu Recke says both victims had health issues. He says a family member who checked on the Coomers after not hearing from them since late last week found them Wednesday and contacted authorities.

Police said the case remained under investigation.

SUPREME COURT-GAY MARRIAGE

Justices to discuss Louisiana gay marriage case

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has added the challenge to Louisiana's same-sex marriage ban to the agenda for the justices' closed-door conference on Jan. 9.

The action Wednesday does not mean the court will decide that day to hear a gay-marriage case. But the January meeting will be the first time the justices will have had the issue before them since they opted in October against taking up same-sex marriage.

The Louisiana case is unusual in that it has yet to be heard by a federal appeals court. But same-sex couples challenging an appellate ruling upholding bans in Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee also could be considered by the court next month.

The justices would have time to hear and decide on gay marriage by late June, if they act in January.

KENTUCKY POWER-RATES

Kentucky Power seeking 12 percent rate increase

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky Power Company is seeking to raise customer electric rates to help it complete the purchase of a West Virginia power plant.

According to The Independent, Kentucky Power says the 12.5 percent increase would bring in $70 million, and that residential customers would pay about $22 more per month.

Kentucky Power chose to purchase the coal-fired Mitchell Plant in Moundsville, West Virginia, rather than invest in an old generating unit to meet EPA regulations. The utility says retrofitting the Big Sandy unit would require a 31 percent rate hike.

State Rep. Rocky Adkins, who is challenging the request, says the proposal would actually increase residential bills by 16.5 percent. He said the company's decision to retire a unit and use the West Virginia plant is being challenged in court.

CONGRESS-MCCONNELL

AP Interview: McConnell cool to Obama's Cuba move

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell is criticizing the Obama administration's plans to normalize ties with Cuba.

McConnell says he defers to Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, a Cuban-American from Florida, on the issue because he says Rubio is an expert on U.S.-Cuban matters.

Rubio has said that the administration's approach will help the Castro government while doing nothing to further human rights and democracy.

McConnell says he won't differ with Rubio because he says Rubio is an expert on Cuban matters.

The Kentucky senator spoke in an interview Wednesday with The Associated Press.

HEMLOCK SEMICONDUCTOR

Hemlock permanently closing $1.2B plant in Tenn.

(Information in the following story is from: The Leaf-Chronicle, http://www.theleafchronicle.com )

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Hemlock Semiconductor Group is permanently closing its idled polysilicon plant in Clarksville, citing global trade disputes that have led to an oversupply of the compound used in solar energy panels.

The company's president, Denise Beachy, announced the decision to the The Leaf-Chronicle on Wednesday.

Construction on the on the plant located near the Kentucky line was begun in 2009, and the facility was close to complete when Hemlock announced in 2013 it would not begin construction because of the supply glut and disputes with China over tariffs.

Hemlock will now work with local officials to decide how to dismantle the facility and to determine which parts can be repurposed for other business uses.

MINE EXPLOSION-INVESTIGATION

Ex-coal CEO seeks W.Va. mine blast trial delay

BECKLEY, W.Va. (AP) — The former head of a coal company that ran the West Virginia mine where 29 men were killed in a 2010 explosion wants his criminal case moved and his trial delayed for a year.

Former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship is charged with conspiring to violate safety and health standards at the Upper Big Branch Mine.

Blankenship's attorney said at a hearing Wednesday that his client couldn't get a fair trial in southern West Virginia because of bad publicity.

Also, U.S. District Judge Irene Berger heard news organizations, including The Associated Press, argue against a gag order, which they want dropped or modified.

The order restricts parties or victims from discussing the case with reporters or releasing court documents.

INSULIN OVERDOSE KILLING

Trial date set for man accused of fatal insulin dosing

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A former medical technician who told police he gave a fatal dose of insulin to a nursing home patient is scheduled to go on trial for murder next year.

David T. Satterfield told police in January he gave the fatal dose to 86-year-old Marcelline Vale in 2007.

Jefferson Circuit Judge Judith McDonald-Burkman set a trial for Oct. 27. Attorneys said at a hearing Wednesday they were still seeking documents in the case.

Satterfield was working at the Parkway Medical Center nursing home when Vale and two other patients were found with critically low blood-sugar readings. Vale died the following month. A second, 82-year-old woman also passed away, and a third woman recovered.

Police say Satterfield said of Vale, "I killed this woman and I want to admit it to you."