Kentucky News Now – March 13th 2014

ARMY-RECRUITING MOVE

Army to move recruiting, retention office to Ky.

FORT KNOX, Ky. (AP) — Fort Knox will become the new home of the U.S. Army's Recruiting and Retention School come October.

The Department of the Army is moving the school from Fort Jackson, S.C., to the military post in central Kentucky where the U.S. Army Recruiting Command is housed.

The school's mission statement is to train and educate military and civilian leaders and develop complementary concepts, doctrine, organization, materiel and training across the spectrum of recruiting and retention. Army officials say the move will improve synchronization within the command, enhance the training needs of Army recruiters and better support the development of recruiting doctrine and curriculum development.

The relocation will also result in an annual savings of $14 million and a projected savings of $138 million to the Army over a 10-year period.

KENTUCKY BUDGET

House OKs bill that would raise motor fuels tax

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — The Kentucky House has passed a revenue bill that would raise the state's motor fuels tax to provide more revenue for transportation projects.

The bill would increase the tax at the pump by 1.5 cents a gallon, restoring it to 32.3 cents per gallon. That's the amount in place at the end of 2013.

House members voted 53-44 Wednesday to send the bill to the Senate. It drew strong opposition from House Republicans.

The bill is a key component to balancing the state budget.

It deals with other revenue issues, including restoring a tax on Instant Racing gambling machines.

House Democratic leaders delayed a vote on the $20 billion, two-year state budget proposal until Thursday. The spending plan closely resembles the governor's spending recommendations. It is drawing criticism from House Republicans.

CANNABIS OIL

Kentucky Senate OKs cannabis-based medical oil

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — The Kentucky Senate has passed a bill that would allow doctors to prescribe, and patients to use, cannabis-based oil for medical purposes.

The non-intoxicating cannabidiol has been used in other states to treat severe seizures in children, as well as post-traumatic stress disorder.

The bill is sponsored by Republican Sen. Julie Denton of Louisville who says that the oil would be studied by Kentucky research universities. Doctors would be able to send patients to those universities to acquire the oil.

The bill drew no vocal opposition in the Senate chamber.

The measure cleared the state Senate on Wednesday with a unanimous vote. The bill moves now to the Kentucky House for consideration.

RAND PAUL-2016

Bill benefiting Rand Paul passes Senate committee

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Republican U.S. Sen. Rand Paul could run for president and for re-election to his Senate seat at the same time under a bill approved by a state Senate committee on Wednesday.

The bill is modeled after a law in Wisconsin that allowed U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan to run for re-election while also running for vice president under Republican Mitt Romney. State Sen. Damon Thayer, R-Georgetown, changed the bill so that it would only apply to people running for president or vice president.

Sen. Morgan McGarvey of Louisville was the only Democrat on the committee to vote for the bill. He said he supported U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman's simultaneous run for re-election and vice president in 2000.

Leaders in the Democratic-controlled House oppose the bill.

LEGISLATIVE SESSIONS

Plan to shorten Ky. legislative sessions advances

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — A proposal to reduce the number of days Kentucky lawmakers are in session each year has cleared a Senate panel with bipartisan support.

Senate President Robert Stivers pitched his bill to the Senate State and Local Government Committee, which approved it on an 11-0 vote Wednesday.

Under his plan, lawmakers would be in session up to 60 days every two years. Now, they meet 90 days over two years.

Stivers says the change would save the state up to $7 million a year and would encourage more people to serve in the Legislature.

The proposed constitutional amendment would go on the November ballot if it clears the General Assembly.

Stivers says the bill will come up for a full Senate vote in coming days.

SUSPECT SHOT

Man shot by deputies not man named in warrant

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Authorities say a man fatally shot by deputies was not the man named in a warrant being served but was wanted for bank robbery in Tennessee and Ohio.

The Jefferson County coroner's office says 53-year-old Albert William Keyes died of multiple gunshot wounds Tuesday in Louisville.

Deputies went to his home to serve a Trimble County warrant for flagrant nonsupport, but Jefferson County sheriff's department Lt. Col. Carl Yates says Keyes was not the person named in the warrant.

WAVE-TV says Keyes went to retrieve identification but slipped out the back door instead. Two other deputies who spotted him in a parking lot fired at him after Yates says Keyes exited his vehicle with a knife.

The Courier-Journal reported that the FBI in Memphis said Keyes is wanted for bank robberies in West Carrollton, Ohio, on Feb. 7 and in Dickson County, Tenn., on Feb. 26.

MURRAY STATE-PRESIDENT

Murray State chooses new president

MURRAY, Ky. (AP) — The president of Eastern Oregon University has been chosen to lead Murray State University.

Murray State's board of regents voted unanimously Wednesday to hire Robert Davies as the university's president. Davies interviewed with university officials and campus groups this week.

Murray State said Davies' contract hasn't been finalized but is expected to officially begin July 14.

Tim Miller has been interim president since mid-2013 following the departure of Randy Dunn.

James Smith, president of Northern State University in Aberdeen, S.D., was the other finalist.

Davies has been president at Eastern Oregon since 2009. He received a bachelor's degree from the University of Nevada at Reno, an MBA from the University of Oregon and a doctorate in higher education administration from the State University of New York at Buffalo.

FORMER DEPUTY CHARGED

Former Franklin County deputy charged

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — A former sheriff's deputy is facing federal charges of theft and trafficking in steroids stemming from his time on the force.

Media report Matt Brown, who used to work as a narcotics detective for the Franklin County Sheriff's Department, pleaded not guilty to the charges on Monday in Frankfort.

According to an indictment handed down last week, Brown is accused of misappropriating about $26,000 in cash and goods seized by the sheriff's office during drug busts. He is also accused of trafficking anabolic steroids in Franklin, Fayette and Jessamine counties.

The charges come after Sheriff Pat Melton requested an audit of drug money in 2012 because of some financial discrepancies.

Melton says Brown resigned about the time the audit began.

COAL COMPANY FINE

Ky. coal firm to pay $660,000 for illegal dumping

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A proposed order in federal court says a Kentucky coal company will pay $660,000 in fines for illegally dumping mining debris into Appalachian streams.

Prosecutors say Nally & Hamilton Enterprises violated the federal Clean Water Act by dumping at mining sites in Harlan and Knox counties. A proposed consent decree filed in U.S. District Court Friday says the coal company dumped in waterways beyond the permitted limits and also dumped without a permit. The order must still be signed by a judge.

The document was filed in the same week that another coal operator, Alpha Natural Resources, agreed to pay $27.5 million for water pollution violations in five Appalachian states, including Kentucky.

An attorney for Bardstown, Ky.-based Nally & Hamilton declined to comment on the proposed order.