CRASH ANNIVERSARY-MEMORIAL
Crash survivors attend 25th anniversary service
RADCLIFF, Ky. (AP) - Survivors of the nation's deadliest alcohol-related highway crash attended a 25th anniversary memorial service in the Kentucky town that still grieves for the people who perished in the tragedy.
Crash survivor Carey Cummins tearfully said 27 "beautiful souls" didn't make it off the fiery bus on the night of May 14, 1988, when a drunken driver slammed his pickup truck into a bus carrying a church group home to Radcliff.
The names of each victim, along with the 40 people who survived, were read at the service Tuesday evening.
Cummins says that each day she lives with the joy and guilt of having survived the crash.
The crash occurred near Carrollton in northern Kentucky. The bus was hit by a pickup driven by Larry Mahoney, who was driving in the wrong direction.
SUPREME COURT-KELLER
Keller sworn in as high court's 3rd female justice
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) - The Kentucky Supreme Court now has three female justices, a first for the seven-person court.
Justice Michelle M. Keller was formally sworn in Tuesday by Chief Justice John D. Minton Jr. in the Supreme Court Courtroom at the state Capitol. Gov. Steve Beshear appointed Keller in April to fill the unexpired term of Justice Wil Shroder, who retired in January because of health issues.
Keller has been a Kentucky Court of Appeals judge for the last six years.
She will serve as Supreme Court justice from the 6th District, which is made up of 21 counties in northern Kentucky.
MCCONNELL-TEA PARTY
McConnell gets endorsement from tea party group
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - An influential tea party group has endorsed Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's campaign for a sixth term next year in Kentucky.
Todd Cefaratti, founder of TheTeaParty.net, said Tuesday that McConnell is "an indispensable ally" of Senate conservatives and deserves another term.
Cefaratti praised McConnell for supporting spending cuts and defending gun-ownership rights.
McConnell has been courting tea party support in hopes of heading off a GOP primary challenge.
As the leader of Senate Republicans, McConnell has been a steadfast critic of President Barack Obama.
Democrats are looking for a challenger to McConnell. Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes is considering a Senate bid but has given no timeframe for making a decision.
McConnell, always a prolific fundraiser, reported more than $8.6 million on hand in his latest campaign finance report.
COAL'S APPALACHIAN FUTURE
Report says more woes for Appalachian coal mining
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - A new report says hard times are expected to continue for the coal industry in Central Appalachia, which at one time was the hub of the nation's coal production.
Coal business in the mountains of eastern Kentucky and southern West Virginia is facing declining reserves, higher production costs and competition from other coal basins and natural gas.
The report from Downstream Strategies says government figures show that production there will fall from 185 million tons in 2011 to 128 million tons by 2020, a 31% drop.
The group sounded alarms about the decline in a 2010 report. The new report out Tuesday says the region's coal sales will continue to slump as coal-fired power plants in the U.S. seek cheaper sources, switch to natural gas or are shut down.
CHILD ABUSE PANEL
Abuse panel to issue first report this year
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) - A panel appointed by Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear to review cases of severe child abuse and neglect says it expects to issue its first report later this year.
The Child Fatality and Near Fatality External Review Panel began meeting last November after Beshear created it through an executive order.
As part of its responsibilities, the Child Fatality and Near Fatality External Review Panel is required to issue an annual report that includes suggestions for changes that could improve child welfare.
Panel Chairman Judge Roger Crittenden told The Courier-Journal that he expects to have a draft report done in September and a final report that would be issued in December.
HARDIN WATER
Louisville Water Co. to sell water to Hardin Co.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - Louisville Water Co. and Hardin County Water District No. 2 have reached an agreement for Louisville Water to supply supplemental drinking water to the region, which is experiencing growth.
The Hardin County district will buy a minimum of 60 million gallons of water a year from Louisville Water in 2016, and the amount will increase to 365 million gallons by 2021.
Construction is expected to start by year end.
Louisville Water will spend an estimated $5.8 million to install four miles of water main and a pumping station, which the company said Tuesday will also help improve service in Bullitt County. The Hardin County district will build up to 11 miles of a 24-inch main and has received $8.5 million in grants to help cover the $12.5 million cost.
KENTUCKY BRIDGE COLLAPSE
NTSB: Ship's crew ignored warnings before wreck
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - Federal investigators have concluded that the crew of a cargo ship ignored radioed and visual warnings about lights being out on a bridge in the moments leading up to a wreck.
National Transportation Safety Board investigators said on Tuesday that the crew of the Delta Mariner used only visual cues and went under the wrong span of the Eggner's Ferry Bridge near Aurora, Ky., on Jan. 26, 2012.
The wreck tore down a 322-foot span of the bridge over the Tennessee River.
Investigators also concluded that white warning lights on the bridge had been out for several years and other lights shorted out before the wreck.
The missing span halted traffic on U.S. 68 between the western shore of Kentucky Lake and the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area.
MAINTENANCE MAN-RAPES
Man indicted in series of unsolved Ga. rapes
ATLANTA (AP) - Police say a man has been indicted in a series of rapes from the mid-1980s in the metro Atlanta area.
Atlanta police spokesman Carlos Campos Tuesday said DNA evidence linked 62-year-old Daniel Wade to five cases from 1986 and 1987 dubbed "maintenance man" rapes because they happened in apartment buildings, which led investigators to probe whether the suspect worked for 1 of the complexes.
Authorities say the attacks may be linked to 29 unsolved cases in the area.
Campos says Wade, who is serving a prison sentence in Kentucky for robbery, was identified in a DNA index system in 2011 after the cases had gone cold. Police were able to contact 4 of the five victims and traveled to Kentucky to interview Wade.
It's unclear if Wade has an attorney.
MAYOR ARRESTED
Indicted Walton mayor resigns from position
WALTON, Ky. (AP) - A northern Kentucky mayor who was indicted on a charge of abusing public trust has resigned from office.
Philip Trzop (TER'-zop) was charged with the count last year, shortly after taking office, in relation to his former job as general manager of the Boone County Water District.
Police said they arrested Trzop on Nov. 16 after he scrapped metal from the utility and allegedly kept some and gave some to employees as Christmas bonuses. Police say about $34,000 worth of metal was scrapped, but only $24,000 has been accounted for. He has pleaded not guilty.
The Kentucky Enquirer reports Trzop submitted a letter of resignation on Monday to the City Council in which he says he must give up the public office "to attend to personal issues."
SUPERMARKET FEAST
Man charged in overnight supermarket feast
MOUNT WASHINGTON, Ky. (AP) - Authorities in Mount Washington have charged a man who officers say had an overnight cookout in a closed supermarket.
The manager of a ValuMarket said he found 57 empty whipped cream cans in the garbage when he arrived Monday morning.
WAVE-TV in Louisville reported 30-year-old Trevor Runyon was charged after he was found in the ceiling of the store.
Surveillance video from the store showed Runyon cooked and ate six steaks, washed them down with beer and then topped off his meal with shrimp and birthday cake.
Police said Runyon slipped into the store and hid while employees closed it for the night.
Bullitt County Detention Center records show Runyon is from Shepherdsville. It wasn't clear whether he had an attorney.
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