http://www.kentucky.com/news/index.xml News, sports, and entertainment from Kentucky.com en-us Copyright 2008 Kentucky.com News 60 Tue, 07 Oct 2008 13:33:05 EDT http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss McClatchy Interactive's Workbench webmaster@kentucky.com http://www.kentucky.com/211/story/547566.html http://www.kentucky.com/211/story/547566.html Tue, 07 Oct 2008 06:34 EDT
A mix-up over the weekend prompted scores of worried black Lexington voters to call or visit the Fayette County clerk's office on Monday and ask why they were purged from the voter rolls . when in fact, they are still registered.

The source of the confusion is a list of names that a Democratic Party activist passed around Saturday at Funky Farm, a voter-registration event in Lexington's Douglass Park.

Urika Berry said the list includes the names of about 4,500 recently purged voters in the 77th Kentucky House district, which has a large black population. Berry said she got the list Friday after she asked the Kentucky Democratic Party for a list of recently purged voters from its Voter Builder database.

However, the Democratic Party on Monday denied that it produced a list of purged voters. Spokesman Thom Karmik said he's not even certain the Voter Builder database can generate a list of purged voters. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/211/story/547607.html http://www.kentucky.com/211/story/547607.html Tue, 07 Oct 2008 06:13 EDT
The Experimental Aircraft Association brought its B-17 bomber to Blue Grass Airport for tours through Wednesday.

The association's plane was built in 1945 but did not serve in World War II. It was donated to the association's foundation in 1981 and has been taken on tours since 1994.

Rides in the plane are $425. Ground tours are $5 a person, $15 per family, from 2 to 5 p.m. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/211/story/547161.html http://www.kentucky.com/211/story/547161.html Tue, 07 Oct 2008 05:54 EDT
Former high school basketball standout Jonathan "Bud" Mackey was sentenced Monday to two months in jail and community service, his attorney Jerry Wright says.

Circuit Judge Rob Johnson gave Mackey 30 hours of community service, Wright said, but the 19-year-old plans to do more. Mackey, 19, plans to speak to schools about the consequences of becoming involved in crime and drugs.

Mackey pleaded guilty in August to an amended charge of first-degree possession of a controlled substance. He was indicted in February for first-degree trafficking a controlled substance, a class C felony punishable by one to five years in prison.

Mackey's jail stint will begin next Monday. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/211/story/546974.html http://www.kentucky.com/211/story/546974.html Tue, 07 Oct 2008 06:22 EDT
The 2.62 inches of rain recorded over last two months was the second-lowest amount in 114 years of record-keeping, according to numbers compiled by the University of Kentucky Agricultural Weather Center.

The driest year for the two-month period was 1897. In the top 10 for driest August-September combinations, last year came in at No. 9.

Kentucky was in extreme drought last year. Thanks to a wet start to 2008, most of the state is in moderate drought now.

Repercussions large and small are spreading because of the recent lack of rain.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/211/story/545127.html http://www.kentucky.com/211/story/545127.html Sat, 04 Oct 2008 12:06 EDT
William Safire would like you to think about the fourth quarter, and he does not mean the end of the football game: He means the last part of your life, the years about which you concoct elaborate daydreams that involve sleeping in, fishing and being the soul of schadenfreude who sides with the grandkids in their disputes with your children.

Safire would like you to get a plan. That plan should involve a new career.

Safire, 77, is known as a plainspoken observer of many things, foremost among them as a phrasemaker. He is the man who called Hillary Clinton a "congenital liar," earning the columnist a veiled threat from then-president Bill Clinton to take vengeance on the bridge of Safire's nose.

Safire is also the brains behind vice president Spiro Agnew's "nattering nabobs of negativism," still as succinct a bit of alliterative political meanness as was ever uttered (in this case, by media-baiting vice president Agnew, but created by Safire, the former Nixon administration speechwriter who has called himself a "vituperative right-wing scandalmonger"). ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/news/state/story/547505.html http://www.kentucky.com/news/state/story/547505.html Tue, 07 Oct 2008 05:57 EDT
State Rep. Larry Belcher, a Shepherdsville Democrat, was killed in a traffic accident Monday night.

The crash occurred a little after 6 p.m. CDT on Interstate 65 half a mile north of mile marker 43 in Edmonson County, a Kentucky State Police Trooper Todd Holder said.

It appeared Belcher's northbound white Ford F-150 pickup truck ran into the back of a tractor-trailer that had stopped for construction ahead, Holder said. Belcher was not wearing a seat belt and was pronounced dead at the scene.

The tractor-trailer driver, Mary Wasson, of Texas, was not hurt, Holder said. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/news/state/story/547609.html http://www.kentucky.com/news/state/story/547609.html Tue, 07 Oct 2008 01:50 EDT
SMITHS GROVE . A sheriff's deputy accused of killing his ex-girlfriend in Kentucky taunted state police in an e-mail exchange Monday, threatening a county jailer and telling police he was going to "make them earn their money" in their search for him.

Simpson County Sheriff's Deputy Randall Creek, 41, is wanted on a warrant for murder in the death of his ex-girlfriend, Debbie R. Rediess, 46, authorities said. Rediess was shot to death outside her home Sunday morning in Smiths Grove, 85 miles south of Louisville.

In an e-mail that was sent to a newspaper, Kentucky State Police and about 30 other recipients, Creek confesses to the killing, trooper Todd Holder said.

"I am not running to get away but I am going to make the KSP earn their money on this one," Creek said in the e-mail, which was posted on The Daily News of Bowling Green's Web site. "I have never been armed after the encounter and there will be no chase or struggle I assure you." ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/news/state/story/547082.html http://www.kentucky.com/news/state/story/547082.html Tue, 07 Oct 2008 07:49 EDT
Will Matt Overstreet be our state hunk?

Only if you vote for him in the Cosmopolitan magazine "Hottest Bachelor of 2008" competition.

Cosmopolitan will give you a chance to represent on behalf of the Commonwealth of Kentucky by casting a vote for the Mount Sterling native.

A senior at Morehead State University, Overstreet, 21, is one of 51 hot bachelors featured in the November issue of the magazine. There is a bachelor from each except for Michigan, which has two contestants. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/news/state/story/547614.html http://www.kentucky.com/news/state/story/547614.html Tue, 07 Oct 2008 01:50 EDT
FRANKFORT . Online gambling advocates say Kentucky's governor is entering potentially dangerous territory with his administration's attempt to enforce a state law against Web sites based across the globe.

Groups opposed to Gov. Steve Beshear's ongoing civil lawsuit that seeks control of selected Internet domain names say Kentucky doesn't have jurisdiction and is violating constitutional due process rights. They say the state is seeking to stifle competition and question whether the gambling activity that occurs is even illegal.

"We're going to fight this one strongly," said Rich Muny, president of the Kentucky chapter of the Poker Players Alliance.

The Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet is attempting to block Kentuckians' access to online casinos, including some of the most popular in the world. State officials claim state law gives them authority to take "illegal gambling devices," in this case domain names. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/news/state/story/547611.html http://www.kentucky.com/news/state/story/547611.html Tue, 07 Oct 2008 01:50 EDT
FRANKFORT . The candidates in Kentucky's U.S. Senate race continued an airwave war Monday over their records regarding veterans, even as Democrat Bruce Lunsford tried to capitalize on voters' worries about the economy.

In response to two hard-hitting ads released by Republican incumbent Mitch McConnell over the weekend, Lunsford launched one of his own on Monday that defends a veterans' health care company he ran that is accused by some patients of providing shoddy care.

Lunsford's ad says Valor Healthcare provides "quality health care" to 57,000 veterans and accuses McConnell of being so "desperate" that he "tricked a veteran into making an attack ad." The ad goes on to tout Lunsford's role in expanding Valor and creating jobs. "He knows how to get our economy back on track," says a narrator.

McConnell's new ads continued a line of attack begun in a Sept. 26 spot that featured several veterans complaining about the care they received at Valor clinics. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/211/story/547607.html http://www.kentucky.com/211/story/547607.html Tue, 07 Oct 2008 06:13 EDT
The Experimental Aircraft Association brought its B-17 bomber to Blue Grass Airport for tours through Wednesday.

The association's plane was built in 1945 but did not serve in World War II. It was donated to the association's foundation in 1981 and has been taken on tours since 1994.

Rides in the plane are $425. Ground tours are $5 a person, $15 per family, from 2 to 5 p.m. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/211/story/547161.html http://www.kentucky.com/211/story/547161.html Tue, 07 Oct 2008 05:54 EDT
Former high school basketball standout Jonathan "Bud" Mackey was sentenced Monday to two months in jail and community service, his attorney Jerry Wright says.

Circuit Judge Rob Johnson gave Mackey 30 hours of community service, Wright said, but the 19-year-old plans to do more. Mackey, 19, plans to speak to schools about the consequences of becoming involved in crime and drugs.

Mackey pleaded guilty in August to an amended charge of first-degree possession of a controlled substance. He was indicted in February for first-degree trafficking a controlled substance, a class C felony punishable by one to five years in prison.

Mackey's jail stint will begin next Monday. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/211/story/546974.html http://www.kentucky.com/211/story/546974.html Tue, 07 Oct 2008 06:22 EDT
The 2.62 inches of rain recorded over last two months was the second-lowest amount in 114 years of record-keeping, according to numbers compiled by the University of Kentucky Agricultural Weather Center.

The driest year for the two-month period was 1897. In the top 10 for driest August-September combinations, last year came in at No. 9.

Kentucky was in extreme drought last year. Thanks to a wet start to 2008, most of the state is in moderate drought now.

Repercussions large and small are spreading because of the recent lack of rain.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/211/story/545127.html http://www.kentucky.com/211/story/545127.html Sat, 04 Oct 2008 12:06 EDT
William Safire would like you to think about the fourth quarter, and he does not mean the end of the football game: He means the last part of your life, the years about which you concoct elaborate daydreams that involve sleeping in, fishing and being the soul of schadenfreude who sides with the grandkids in their disputes with your children.

Safire would like you to get a plan. That plan should involve a new career.

Safire, 77, is known as a plainspoken observer of many things, foremost among them as a phrasemaker. He is the man who called Hillary Clinton a "congenital liar," earning the columnist a veiled threat from then-president Bill Clinton to take vengeance on the bridge of Safire's nose.

Safire is also the brains behind vice president Spiro Agnew's "nattering nabobs of negativism," still as succinct a bit of alliterative political meanness as was ever uttered (in this case, by media-baiting vice president Agnew, but created by Safire, the former Nixon administration speechwriter who has called himself a "vituperative right-wing scandalmonger"). ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/news/state/story/547609.html http://www.kentucky.com/news/state/story/547609.html Tue, 07 Oct 2008 01:50 EDT
SMITHS GROVE . A sheriff's deputy accused of killing his ex-girlfriend in Kentucky taunted state police in an e-mail exchange Monday, threatening a county jailer and telling police he was going to "make them earn their money" in their search for him.

Simpson County Sheriff's Deputy Randall Creek, 41, is wanted on a warrant for murder in the death of his ex-girlfriend, Debbie R. Rediess, 46, authorities said. Rediess was shot to death outside her home Sunday morning in Smiths Grove, 85 miles south of Louisville.

In an e-mail that was sent to a newspaper, Kentucky State Police and about 30 other recipients, Creek confesses to the killing, trooper Todd Holder said.

"I am not running to get away but I am going to make the KSP earn their money on this one," Creek said in the e-mail, which was posted on The Daily News of Bowling Green's Web site. "I have never been armed after the encounter and there will be no chase or struggle I assure you." ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/news/state/story/547082.html http://www.kentucky.com/news/state/story/547082.html Tue, 07 Oct 2008 07:49 EDT
Will Matt Overstreet be our state hunk?

Only if you vote for him in the Cosmopolitan magazine "Hottest Bachelor of 2008" competition.

Cosmopolitan will give you a chance to represent on behalf of the Commonwealth of Kentucky by casting a vote for the Mount Sterling native.

A senior at Morehead State University, Overstreet, 21, is one of 51 hot bachelors featured in the November issue of the magazine. There is a bachelor from each except for Michigan, which has two contestants. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/news/state/story/547614.html http://www.kentucky.com/news/state/story/547614.html Tue, 07 Oct 2008 01:50 EDT
FRANKFORT . Online gambling advocates say Kentucky's governor is entering potentially dangerous territory with his administration's attempt to enforce a state law against Web sites based across the globe.

Groups opposed to Gov. Steve Beshear's ongoing civil lawsuit that seeks control of selected Internet domain names say Kentucky doesn't have jurisdiction and is violating constitutional due process rights. They say the state is seeking to stifle competition and question whether the gambling activity that occurs is even illegal.

"We're going to fight this one strongly," said Rich Muny, president of the Kentucky chapter of the Poker Players Alliance.

The Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet is attempting to block Kentuckians' access to online casinos, including some of the most popular in the world. State officials claim state law gives them authority to take "illegal gambling devices," in this case domain names. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/news/state/story/547611.html http://www.kentucky.com/news/state/story/547611.html Tue, 07 Oct 2008 01:50 EDT
FRANKFORT . The candidates in Kentucky's U.S. Senate race continued an airwave war Monday over their records regarding veterans, even as Democrat Bruce Lunsford tried to capitalize on voters' worries about the economy.

In response to two hard-hitting ads released by Republican incumbent Mitch McConnell over the weekend, Lunsford launched one of his own on Monday that defends a veterans' health care company he ran that is accused by some patients of providing shoddy care.

Lunsford's ad says Valor Healthcare provides "quality health care" to 57,000 veterans and accuses McConnell of being so "desperate" that he "tricked a veteran into making an attack ad." The ad goes on to tout Lunsford's role in expanding Valor and creating jobs. "He knows how to get our economy back on track," says a narrator.

McConnell's new ads continued a line of attack begun in a Sept. 26 spot that featured several veterans complaining about the care they received at Valor clinics. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/news/state/story/547565.html http://www.kentucky.com/news/state/story/547565.html Tue, 07 Oct 2008 06:39 EDT
Kentucky's Medicaid program has spent more than $40 million since 2001 filling prescriptions for certain powerful drugs that help youngsters with emotional problems, but also could pose risks for their physical health.

Now, the program's medical director, Dr. Thomas Badgett, wants to rein in prescriptions for so-called "atypical anti-psychotic" drugs in children. Badgett plans to launch an effort early next year alerting Kentucky Medicaid providers to prescribe the drugs for youngsters only when their use is appropriate and to carefully monitor patients for problems.

Similar efforts in other states have reduced prescriptions of atypical anti-psychotics and saved millions of dollars, officials say.

Atypical anti-psychotics are a relatively new class of drugs often prescribed for conditions in both adults and children such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and irritability associated with autism. But mounting evidence suggests that they also can cause dramatic weight gains in some children and put youngsters at increased risk for Type II diabetes. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/471/story/547451.html http://www.kentucky.com/471/story/547451.html Tue, 07 Oct 2008 01:32 EDT
A family member stopping by the house found the scene just before 7:30 p.m. EDT and called police, Louisville Metro Police spokeswoman Alicia Smiley said.

Smiley said investigators believe the woman killed her daughters then shot herself.

Jefferson County Deputy Coroner Bob Jones identified the mother as Hope Orwick, 35, who he said died of a gunshot wound to the head. The girls were 9-year-old Emily Orwick and 8-year-old Lindsey Orwick, Jones said.

He said both girls died of stab wounds but couldn't say how many times they were stabbed pending an autopsy scheduled for Tuesday.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/471/story/547738.html http://www.kentucky.com/471/story/547738.html Tue, 07 Oct 2008 08:15 EDT
Randall Creek, 41, was caught at a motel in Waterloo, Iowa.

Senior Kentucky State Police dispatcher Danny Rendleman said the KSP post in Bowling Green was notified early Tuesday that Creek was in the custody of the Blackhawk County, Iowa, sheriff.

Creek is wanted on a warrant for murder in the death of his ex-girlfriend, Debbie R. Rediess, 46, authorities said. Rediess was shot to death outside her home Sunday morning in Smiths Grove, 85 miles south of Louisville.

Authorities said Creek sent an e-mail to the KSP, a newspaper and about 30 other recipients, taunting police and confessing to the killing.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/471/story/547841.html http://www.kentucky.com/471/story/547841.html Tue, 07 Oct 2008 11:18 EDT
U.S. Magistrate Judge James Todd said Tuesday the trial will be scheduled for late April. He did not have a specific date.

The case involves construction contractor Leonard Lawson, former Transportation Secretary Bill Nighbert and Lawson aide Brian Russell Billings.

The three were indicted Sept. 3 on charges of conspiracy, misapplication of property and obstruction of justice after a yearlong FBI probe into the awarding of state highway construction contracts. They entered not guilty pleas.

Todd also prohibited the public release of a tape recording that prosecutors unintentionally gave the defense and asked to have returned. Todd warned that violations would be dealt with severely.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/471/story/547302.html http://www.kentucky.com/471/story/547302.html Tue, 07 Oct 2008 06:07 EDT
A family member stopping by the house found the scene just before 7:30 p.m. EDT and called police, Louisville Metro Police spokeswoman Alicia Smiley said.

Smiley said investigators believe the woman killed her daughters then shot herself.

Jefferson County Deputy Coroner Bob Jones identified the mother as Hope Orwick, 35, who he said died of a gunshot wound to the head. The girls were 9-year-old Emily Orwick and 8-year-old Lindsey Orwick, Jones said.

He said both girls died of stab wounds but couldn't say how many times they were stabbed pending an autopsy scheduled for Tuesday.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/471/story/547781.html http://www.kentucky.com/471/story/547781.html Tue, 07 Oct 2008 10:43 EDT
Federal prosecutors said Dr. Robert L. Nold received two years of probation and three years of supervised release.

The Courier-Journal in Louisville reported Nold, who is 71, pleaded guilty to health care fraud and prohibited drug acts and agreed to pay the government $649,000.

The U.S. Attorney's office said Nold sold the samples to pharmacist Brian Ullom at a now-closed pharmacy. The samples were later sold to pharmacy customers, with Medicare, Medicaid and private insurers paying much of the cost.

Ullom has pleaded guilty to selling the samples and is scheduled for sentencing Nov. 3.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/216/story/547583.html http://www.kentucky.com/216/story/547583.html Tue, 07 Oct 2008 01:50 EDT
WASHINGTON . In secretly recorded telephone conversations played in court Monday, an occasionally profane Sen. Ted Stevens denied any suggestion of wrongdoing and cursed about federal agents raiding homes and offices in Alaska as part of a corruption investigation.

"I don't know what the (expletive) these guys are doing, we'll have to figure that out later," Stevens told Bill Allen, chief executive of oil services company Veco Corp.

"The worst ... we wind up with a bunch of legal fees and might lose and we might have to pay a little fine, might have to serve a little time in jail." ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/216/story/547582.html http://www.kentucky.com/216/story/547582.html Tue, 07 Oct 2008 01:50 EDT
WASHINGTON . The Supreme Court returned to the stage Monday as justices weighed whether state laws can be used to challenge deceptive cigarette advertising.

Against the backdrop of a presidential campaign, the high court opened its 2008-09 term with a case crucial to business and consumer advocates alike. Multiple justices sounded skeptical about the efforts by three Maine smokers to challenge the parent company of Philip Morris under state law.

"I have difficulty in accepting your position in this entire case," Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy told the attorney for the smokers.

The issue in Altria Group vs. Good is pre-emption: whether a federal cigarette-labeling law blocks state lawsuits charging deceptive practices. The stakes are high, and not just for an industry that spends more than $15 billion a year on advertising. Big business, in general, prefers dealing with one uniform law instead of 50 different state laws. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/216/story/547573.html http://www.kentucky.com/216/story/547573.html Tue, 07 Oct 2008 01:50 EDT
WASHINGTON . Turns out rescuing the economy will take a rocket scientist.

That's what the man picked Monday to engineer the largest financial bailout in U.S. history did before moving to the world of finance.

Neel Kashkari, who worked closely with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson at Goldman Sachs, followed him to the Treasury in July 2006 and has been one of his key advisers.

Kashkari, an Indian-American who was born in Ohio, is one more example of how Paulson has drawn on former executives at Goldman to staff Treasury. Paulson also leans heavily on former Goldman Sachs executives Dan Jester, a financial institutions banker, and Steve Shafran, who focused on corporate restructuring while at Goldman. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/216/story/547569.html http://www.kentucky.com/216/story/547569.html Tue, 07 Oct 2008 01:50 EDT
Nation

Bus driver arrested after crash kills 8

WILLIAMS, Calif. . A bus driver with a string of motor vehicle offenses and a history of substance abuse was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence Monday after his casino-bound charter bus ran into a ditch, killing eight people. Investigators also said the bus had an invalid license plate, and they were looking into whether the driver, Quintin Watts, 52, had proper permits to operate the vehicle. The bus ran off the road Sunday while taking passengers to a gambling hall in northern California. About 30 people were injured, and Watts was critically hurt.

Despondent man kills family ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/216/story/547568.html http://www.kentucky.com/216/story/547568.html Tue, 07 Oct 2008 01:50 EDT
WASHINGTON . The now-bankrupt investment bank Lehman Bros. arranged millions in bonuses for fired executives as it pleaded for a federal lifeline, lawmakers learned Monday, as Congress began investigating what went so wrong on Wall Street to prompt a $700 billion government bailout.

The first in a series of congressional hearings on the roots of the financial meltdown yielded few major revelations about Lehman's collapse, and none about why government officials, as they scrambled to avert economic catastrophe, declined to rescue the flagging company while injecting tens of billions of dollars into others.

But it allowed lawmakers . still smarting from a politically painful vote Friday for the largest federal market rescue in history . to put a face on their outrage at corporate chieftains who took home hundreds of millions of dollars while betting on risky mortgage-backed investments that ultimately brought the financial system to its knees.

That face was Richard S. Fuld Jr., the Lehman chief executive who sat for a two-hour-plus grilling before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee as the panel combed through his pay history, management practices and financial strategies. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/267/story/547570.html http://www.kentucky.com/267/story/547570.html Tue, 07 Oct 2008 01:50 EDT
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates . On the surface, this glittering Arabian boom town seems immune to the financial crisis plaguing the global economy.

The skyline still bristles with cranes . an estimated 20 percent of the world's total . and the papers are full of ads promoting spectacular new building projects.

On Sept. 24, tourists from around the world flocked to the opening of Atlantis, a gargantuan, pink, $1.5 billion resort hotel built on an artificial, palm-tree-shaped island. There was no shortage of people willing to pay as much as $25,000 a night for a room, to gaze at the sharks and rays in a vast glass-lined aquarium in the lobby, and to dine at marquee restaurants such as Nobu and Brasserie Rostang.

Dubai's presence is felt strongly in Kentucky, where Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum has become a fixture in the Thoroughbred marketplace and was involved in acquiring North America's oldest Thoroughbred auction house, Lexington-based Fasig-Tipton Co. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/267/story/547569.html http://www.kentucky.com/267/story/547569.html Tue, 07 Oct 2008 01:50 EDT
Nation

Bus driver arrested after crash kills 8

WILLIAMS, Calif. . A bus driver with a string of motor vehicle offenses and a history of substance abuse was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence Monday after his casino-bound charter bus ran into a ditch, killing eight people. Investigators also said the bus had an invalid license plate, and they were looking into whether the driver, Quintin Watts, 52, had proper permits to operate the vehicle. The bus ran off the road Sunday while taking passengers to a gambling hall in northern California. About 30 people were injured, and Watts was critically hurt.

Despondent man kills family ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/267/story/545850.html http://www.kentucky.com/267/story/545850.html Sun, 05 Oct 2008 02:00 EDT
SUZHOU, China . She's about 80 years old. He's 100. Breathless scientists watched as the world's most endangered turtles successfully mated.

But the attempt to breed the species' last known female with the last known male in China has failed because the eggs didn't hatch, disappointed conservationists said Saturday.

The elderly pair can try again next year, part of a delicate attempt to keep the species alive.

Just four known Yangtze giant soft-shell turtles are left, and three are male. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/267/story/545848.html http://www.kentucky.com/267/story/545848.html Sun, 05 Oct 2008 02:00 EDT
SEOUL, South Korea . North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Il, who is thought by South Korean and U.S. officials to have suffered a stroke, recently made his first public appearance in more than a month, the North's state-run news agency reported Saturday.

Kim watched a soccer game held to mark the 62nd anniversary of the founding of Kim Il Sung University, the North's premier university, the Korean Central News Agency said. The university is named for Kim's father, the founder of the Communist state.

"We are trying to verify the report," said a spokesman at South Korea's National Intelligence Service, who spoke on the customary condition of anonymity.

The university's anniversary fell on Wednesday, the day that the American nuclear envoy, Christopher R. Hill, arrived in Pyongyang, the capital, to try to stop North Korea from restarting its nuclear weapons program. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/267/story/545847.html http://www.kentucky.com/267/story/545847.html Sun, 05 Oct 2008 02:00 EDT
DEAUVILLE, France . Armed pirates aboard fast-moving skiffs have increasingly turned the shipping lanes off Somalia into lucrative hunting grounds, commandeering vessels large and small and frustrating the world's maritime powers.

Now, however, momentum is growing for coordinated international action to back up the sharp response after the stunning seizure late last month of a Ukrainian cargo ship laden with tanks and heavy weaponry . as the pirates quickly found themselves encircled by U.S. warships and receiving only silence to their demands for millions of dollars in ransom.

It could be a sign of a more aggressive and unified front in one of the world's most important shipping lanes. Several European Union countries are planning to launch an anti-piracy patrol, and Russia announced Friday it would cooperate with the West on fighting the pirates. U.S. warships, meanwhile, are being diverted from counterterrorism duties to respond to the hijackers.

America and some of its allies already have 10 warships in the area in the Gulf of Aden, north of Somalia on Africa's eastern elbow and between the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea. France's defense minister said eight EU countries have volunteered to take part in an anti-piracy operation off Somalia that could get a formal go-ahead next month. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/219/story/540486.html http://www.kentucky.com/219/story/540486.html Tue, 30 Sep 2008 02:53 EDT
It all started when Sarah Lynn Edwards was a girl, singing in the choir at Jimtown Baptist Church.

Other churches wanted to hear that deep, soul-inspiring voice, so she sang for them too, friends said.

Later she helped found the Bright Star Quartet. Then came the gospel group the Edwards Sisters.

Except for a short stint singing blues in local clubs, Sarah Lynn Edwards made gospel music her life. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/219/story/538889.html http://www.kentucky.com/219/story/538889.html Sun, 28 Sep 2008 08:26 EDT
The Long, Hot Summer , 1958: Newman and Joanne Woodward blaze up the screen for the first time in this fiery, Southern-fried Faulkner adaptation.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof , 1958: "Jump off the roof, Maggie, jump off it!" says tormented ex-football hero Newman to his restless missus Liz Taylor, in the bold but bowdlerized Metrocolor version of Tennessee Williams' dysfunctional family saga.

The Hustler , 1961: Fast Eddie Felson plays the angles in director Robert Rossen's jazzy, black-and-white pool-hall masterpiece. If Newman wasn't already a superstar, his performance here clinched it.

Hud , 1963: "The only question I ever ask any woman is, 'What time is your husband coming home?'" cracks Newman, hands wrapped around Kentucky native Patricia Neal, in this ace black-and-white portrait of a coldhearted, hard-drinking Texas cowpoke. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/219/story/538866.html http://www.kentucky.com/219/story/538866.html Sun, 28 Sep 2008 02:06 EDT
LOUISVILLE . Dinwiddie Lampton Jr., a prominent Louisville insurance executive and horse enthusiast who once ran for governor, has died. He was 94.

The Courier-Journal of Louisville reported that Lampton died Thursday at his home in Lexington.

Lampton ran unsuccessfully in the 1987 Democratic gubernatorial primary.

He was the longtime president of American Life . Accident Insurance Co., headquartered in downtown Louisville. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/219/story/538871.html http://www.kentucky.com/219/story/538871.html Sun, 28 Sep 2008 02:06 EDT
WESTPORT, Conn. . Paul Newman, the Oscar-winning superstar who personified cool as the anti-hero of such films as Hud , Cool Hand Luke and The Color of Money . followed by a second act as an activist, race car driver and popcorn impresario . has died. He was 83.

Mr. Newman died Friday at his farmhouse near Westport after a long battle with cancer, publicist Jeff Sanderson said. He was surrounded by his family and close friends.

As an actor, Mr. Newman got his start in theater and on television during the 1950s, and went on to become one of the world's most enduring and popular film stars, a legend held in awe by his peers. He was nominated for Academy Awards 10 times, winning one Oscar and two honorary ones, and had major roles in more than 50 motion pictures, including Exodus , Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid , The Verdict , The Sting and Absence of Malice .

Mr. Newman worked with some of the greatest directors of the past half century, from Alfred Hitchcock and John Huston to Robert Altman, Martin Scorsese and the Coen brothers. His co-stars included Elizabeth Taylor, Lauren Bacall, Tom Cruise, Tom Hanks and, most famously, Robert Redford, his sidekick in Butch Cassidy and The Sting . ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/513/story/547934.html http://www.kentucky.com/513/story/547934.html Tue, 07 Oct 2008 11:53 EDT
Judge Robert Kugler hopes to have 12 jurors and six alternates seated in time for the trial to begin Oct. 20.

About 1,500 people were summoned to jury duty last month for the case. More than half were excused immediately.

Just over 600 filled out questionnaires. Lawyers thinned the pool to about 300. Another two dozen were dismissed before questioning began Tuesday.

Questions have delved into biases against illegal immigrants, Muslims, and those in the military.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/513/story/546605.html http://www.kentucky.com/513/story/546605.html Tue, 07 Oct 2008 03:02 EDT
Marco was a small tropical storm with winds extending out only up to 15 miles (30 km) from the center, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

In the Gulf of Mexico, the country's state oil company Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, said Monday it had evacuated 33 workers from four offshore platforms, closed six wells and shut down a natural gas processing plant in Veracruz state ahead of Marco's arrival.

A hurricane watch was in effect for Mexico's Gulf Coast from Cabo Rojo south to Veracruz, and a tropical storm warning was in effect for the coast from Cabo Rojo south to Punta El Lagarto.

Marco had maximum sustained winds near 65 mph (100 kph). The storm was centered about 130 miles (215 km) east-southeast of Tuxpan, Mexico, at 2 a.m. EDT Tuesday. The storm was moving west-northwest near 7 mph (11 kph).]]> http://www.kentucky.com/513/story/547998.html http://www.kentucky.com/513/story/547998.html Tue, 07 Oct 2008 12:58 EDT
The owner of a new museum and gift shop in Salem has agreed to change its name so it won't be confused with the Lizzie Borden Bed and Breakfast 80 miles away in Fall River.

The bed and breakfast is in the home where Borden's father and stepmother were gruesomely killed with a hatchet in 1892. Borden was accused in their deaths.

The owner of the Fall River business sued in federal court, saying The True Story of the Lizzie Borden Gift Shop and Museum in Salem infringed on his trademark of "Lizzie Borden Museum" and would siphon his business away.

The agreement allows the Salem business to use the Lizzie Borden name in a tagline describing his business. But he can't use the full name.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/513/story/547534.html http://www.kentucky.com/513/story/547534.html Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:07 EDT
Prosecutors won an appeal to return Norma Gonzalez Sanchez, 48, to prison, arguing that her original 33-month sentence was "unreasonable" because it meant she would spend less than three years in prison, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney's office.

Gonzalez Sanchez pleaded guilty to conspiracy to transport and harbor undocumented immigrants illegally under circumstances that placed the lives of people in jeopardy and caused serious bodily injury and death, according to U.S. Attorney Don DeGabrielle's office.

The May 2003 smuggling attempt resulted in the deaths of 19 illegal immigrants, who were packed into the back of a tractor trailer. The trailer was found at a truck stop near Victoria, about 100 miles southwest of Houston.

U.S. District Judge Lynn Hughes re-sentenced Gonzalez Sanchez to 84 months on Monday, but she will receive credit for time served. The judge ordered Gonzalez Sanchez to voluntarily surrender to the U.S. Marshals Service on Oct. 20.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/513/story/547534.html http://www.kentucky.com/513/story/547534.html Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:07 EDT
Prosecutors won an appeal to return Norma Gonzalez Sanchez, 48, to prison, arguing that her original 33-month sentence was "unreasonable" because it meant she would spend less than three years in prison, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney's office.

Gonzalez Sanchez pleaded guilty to conspiracy to transport and harbor undocumented immigrants illegally under circumstances that placed the lives of people in jeopardy and caused serious bodily injury and death, according to U.S. Attorney Don DeGabrielle's office.

The May 2003 smuggling attempt resulted in the deaths of 19 illegal immigrants, who were packed into the back of a tractor trailer. The trailer was found at a truck stop near Victoria, about 100 miles southwest of Houston.

U.S. District Judge Lynn Hughes re-sentenced Gonzalez Sanchez to 84 months on Monday, but she will receive credit for time served. The judge ordered Gonzalez Sanchez to voluntarily surrender to the U.S. Marshals Service on Oct. 20.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/513/story/547685.html http://www.kentucky.com/513/story/547685.html Tue, 07 Oct 2008 04:27 EDT
Gov. Jon Corzine wants the Garden State to triple the amount of wind power it plans to use by 2020 to 3,000 megawatts. That would be 13 percent of New Jersey's total energy, enough to power between 800,000 to just under 1 million homes.

"We want to create this generation's race to the moon, but this time, a race to the sea, to harness this potential wind source off of our coasts, and bring economic development, environmental benefits, and new, green jobs to the Garden State," Corzine said Monday.

Environmentalists hailed the plan. Dena Mottola Jaborska, executive director of Environment New Jersey, termed it "a gale force for change, moving us away from dirty power and towards a new energy future. It is the most visionary plan to promote offshore wind energy in the nation."

Last week, Garden State Offshore Energy, a joint venture of PSE&G Renewable Generation and Deepwater Wind, was chosen to build a $1 billion, 345 megawatt wind farm in the ocean about 16 miles southeast of Atlantic City. That plant would be able to power about 125,000 homes.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/513/story/547730.html http://www.kentucky.com/513/story/547730.html Tue, 07 Oct 2008 06:32 EDT
U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson made it clear Monday he expects California to pay $8 billion for seven new inmate medical facilities. But he stopped short of immediately holding Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and state Controller John Chiang in contempt for failing to turn over the money.

Medical care in California's prisons is so bad it has been ruled unconstitutional. Henderson appointed a receiver to run the prison medical system after finding that an average of an inmate a week was dying from neglect or malpractice.

The judge says he is likely to order the state to pay $250 million as a first installment to demonstrate good faith.

J. Clark Kelso, the receiver, said he needs that amount to start designing three new medical and mental health units. Kelso said he will need more than $3 billion before July 1 to begin building them. The rest of the $8 billion would come in later years.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/513/story/547772.html http://www.kentucky.com/513/story/547772.html Tue, 07 Oct 2008 09:32 EDT
A preliminary report from the U.S. Geological Survey said a magnitude-4.2 temblor centered about 18 miles west of North Fork shook Elko County at 3:07 a.m. Tuesday.

USGS geophysicist Jessica Sigala says a seismologist reviewed the record and determined that phases from a magnitude-5.8 quake in the Arctic Ocean seven minutes earlier had been wrongly interpreted by a seismograph as a local quake.

Sigala says shaking could not be felt in Nevada, but that waves from a quake like the one in the Arctic can be detected around the world.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/513/story/547855.html http://www.kentucky.com/513/story/547855.html Tue, 07 Oct 2008 11:23 EDT
The city Health Department is expanding its healthy-eating campaign with subway ads that say most adults should limit themselves to 2,000 calories day.

Posters that appeared Monday in about 1,000 subway cars provide calorie counts for several menu items - like 470 for a giant apple bran muffin or 1,170 for a chicken burrito with toppings.

The three-month ad campaign is intended to build on the city's new regulation requiring chain restaurants to post calorie counts on their menus. Officials are betting people will eat fewer calories if they know how many they should consume.

"Small changes in your choices can make a big difference in your calorie intake," assistant health commissioner Dr. Lynn Silver said.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/524/story/547628.html http://www.kentucky.com/524/story/547628.html Tue, 07 Oct 2008 06:17 EDT
The North stopped disabling its main nuclear facilities in mid-August, rejecting a U.S. insistence that the regime should undergo a thorough inspection of its declaration of nuclear programs. Washington's top nuclear envoy visited Pyongyang last week to resolve the impasse, but it was unclear whether it produced any breakthrough.

But on Tuesday, Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan told a South Korean parliamentary committee that Washington and Pyongyang were trying to strike a compromise by exerting "flexibility" and "considerably reflecting each other's position."

However, Yu said he believes the U.S. would not make any substantial change in its demand for a rigorous nuclear verification. He did not elaborate.

Yu said the nuclear talks were at an "important crossroad" as it would be U.S. President George W. Bush's last chance to resolve the issue before he leaves office in January. But he said the North's suspension of disablement work posed "a serious obstacle."]]> http://www.kentucky.com/524/story/547839.html http://www.kentucky.com/524/story/547839.html Tue, 07 Oct 2008 11:03 EDT
The head of Russian peacekeeping troops based in South Ossetia, Gen. Marat Kulakhmetov, made the announcement Tuesday at their base in the regional capital, Tskhinvali. Kulakhmetov did not specifically mention the troops remaining outside Abkhazia, another separatist region.

Russia must pull out its troops from areas surrounding South Ossetia and Abkhazia by Friday under agreements brokered by French President Nicolas Sarkozy. Russia left troops in the areas after they routed Georgian forces during a war in August.

Russian forces have been packing up and dismantling posts outside South Ossetia and Abkhazia in recent days in preparation for the withdrawal.

At a Russian checkpoint near the Georgian village of Kvenatkotsa, about a dozen Russian military vehicles were parked on a hillside Tuesday ready to go.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/524/story/547671.html http://www.kentucky.com/524/story/547671.html Tue, 07 Oct 2008 10:18 EDT
Marco was a tightly wound storm with winds extending out only about 10 miles (20 kilometers) from the center, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami.

Mexico's state oil company said it had had evacuated 33 workers from four offshore platforms in the Gulf of Mexico, closed six wells and shut down a natural gas processing plant in Veracruz state ahead of Marco's arrival.

Marco had maximum sustained winds near 65 mph (100 kph). The storm was centered about 80 miles (125 kilometers) southeast of Tuxpan, Mexico, at dawn. The storm was moving west-northwest near 8 mph (13 kph) and was likely to hit Mexico's central Gulf coast.

Mexico's Communications and Transportation Department ordered the small ports of Nautla and Alvarado closed to small vessels.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/524/story/547878.html http://www.kentucky.com/524/story/547878.html Tue, 07 Oct 2008 11:08 EDT
Politkovskaya was shot in her apartment building in an October 2006 killing that investigators have linked to her reporting. She exposed human rights abuses in Chechnya and was critical of the Kremlin.

The killing sparked worldwide outrage and Western governments' demands for an independent and objective investigation.

Four men charged in connection with the killing are to go on trial next week. But the suspect identified by authorities as the triggerman remains at large. Investigators have not said who they believe ordered the killing.

Politkovskaya's son Ilya Politkovsky told The Associated Press that holding regular meetings in his mother's honor was crucial.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/524/story/547683.html http://www.kentucky.com/524/story/547683.html Tue, 07 Oct 2008 06:42 EDT
Later Tuesday, while standing with the president and prime minister of Kosovo, Gates said that in meetings with the leaders he reaffirmed the pledge that President Bush made - that "we came in together and we will go out together."

He said they talked about maintaining the current troop levels, and said the U.S. is focused on providing services, equipment and training for the new ministry and the Kosovo security forces. Gates added that there also is funding in the Pentagon's 2009 budget for military education and training programs for Kosovo, although he was not sure what specifically would be provided for Kosovo.

He added that the U.S. looks "forward to the day when peace is self-sustaining."

Gates' visit marked the first time a U.S. Cabinet member has been to Kosovo since the country declared its independence in February. And it underscored the escalating tensions between NATO allies and Moscow as Eastern European nations increasingly look to the West.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/211/story/547566.html http://www.kentucky.com/211/story/547566.html Tue, 07 Oct 2008 06:34 EDT
A mix-up over the weekend prompted scores of worried black Lexington voters to call or visit the Fayette County clerk's office on Monday and ask why they were purged from the voter rolls . when in fact, they are still registered.

The source of the confusion is a list of names that a Democratic Party activist passed around Saturday at Funky Farm, a voter-registration event in Lexington's Douglass Park.

Urika Berry said the list includes the names of about 4,500 recently purged voters in the 77th Kentucky House district, which has a large black population. Berry said she got the list Friday after she asked the Kentucky Democratic Party for a list of recently purged voters from its Voter Builder database.

However, the Democratic Party on Monday denied that it produced a list of purged voters. Spokesman Thom Karmik said he's not even certain the Voter Builder database can generate a list of purged voters. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/513/story/547747.html http://www.kentucky.com/513/story/547747.html Tue, 07 Oct 2008 09:27 EDT
But sitting silently on the floor with his eyes closed while listening to a soft-spoken instructor tell him to find a focal point by pressing on his lower stomach as guitar music hums in the background? That seemed a bit far-out.

Until he tried it.

"I will be the first one to admit that I was wrong," Williams said.

Warriors have long used such practices to improve concentration and relaxation - dating back more than 1,000 years to the techniques of the samurai. Here at coastal Camp Lejeune, 100 miles inland at the Army's Fort Bragg and at several bases in California, such meditation now comes with a name: Warrior Mind Training.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/news/state/story/547505.html http://www.kentucky.com/news/state/story/547505.html Tue, 07 Oct 2008 05:57 EDT
State Rep. Larry Belcher, a Shepherdsville Democrat, was killed in a traffic accident Monday night.

The crash occurred a little after 6 p.m. CDT on Interstate 65 half a mile north of mile marker 43 in Edmonson County, a Kentucky State Police Trooper Todd Holder said.

It appeared Belcher's northbound white Ford F-150 pickup truck ran into the back of a tractor-trailer that had stopped for construction ahead, Holder said. Belcher was not wearing a seat belt and was pronounced dead at the scene.

The tractor-trailer driver, Mary Wasson, of Texas, was not hurt, Holder said. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/471/story/546853.html http://www.kentucky.com/471/story/546853.html Tue, 07 Oct 2008 11:08 EDT
Gov. Steve Beshear's administration has filed a lawsuit asking Judge Thomas Wingate to forfeit control of 141 Internet domain names to the state.

The list includes some of the most popular gambling sites on the Internet.

Frankfort attorney Bill Johnson, however, says the state does not have jurisdiction and the lawsuit shouldn't even be considered.

Johnson says the Kentucky Justice Cabinet does not have the authority to file such lawsuits.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/219/story/542799.html http://www.kentucky.com/219/story/542799.html Thu, 02 Oct 2008 01:53 EDT
MOSCOW . Political cartoonist Boris Yefimov, who drew satirical images of the Soviet Union's foes in the service of Josef Stalin, died Wednesday. He was 108.

His cartoons spanned virtually the entire history of the communist state, from shortly after the 1917 revolution to the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Among his most memorable drawings was one showing a wretched-looking Hitler, who is said to have ordered Yefimov shot if the Nazis captured Moscow in World War II. Instead, Yefimov was sent after the war to the Nuremburg trials to draw the Nazis as they faced justice.

His Cold War drawings portrayed Uncle Sam and American leaders as warmongers and money-grubbing capitalists. ]]>