HEAVY RAINS-KENTUCKY-THE LATEST
The Latest: Woman rescued from home smashed by a mudslide
TAYLORSVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Officials say a 90-year-old woman has been rescued from a Kentucky home that was smashed by a mudslide amid heavy rains.
Stanton Fire Department Assistant Chief Eddie Barnes said emergency workers arrived at the two-story home Monday morning to find the mudslide had knocked the first floor from its foundations and caused the second floor to collapse on top of it.
He said rescuers located the woman under layers that included a floor and a brick wall. Barnes said it took about four hours to extricate her.
The slide came as heavy rains moved through the area Sunday and early Monday.
Powell County Emergency Management Director Steve Asbury said the woman was conscious and alert as was being taken to a hospital.
Asbury said a nearby road is closed until authorities can assess whether the area is safe.
BOURBON WAREHOUSE COLLAPSE
Part of bourbon warehouse collapses in western Kentucky
OWENSBORO, Ky. (AP) — Part of a bourbon warehouse in western Kentucky collapsed during a thunderstorm.
News outlets report the partial collapse of the O.Z. Tyler Distillery rickhouse was reported early Monday.
Master Distiller Jacob Call says around 20,000 barrels are stored at the location and it appears that about 4,000 were affected. He says it appears most barrels remain intact.
Call says engineers will be out later Monday to try to determine what caused the collapse. It’s unclear if weather played a role.
Officials say no one was hurt. A nearby road is closed while the cleanup continues.
Another Kentucky bourbon barrel warehouse collapsed last year. Half of a warehouse collapsed at the Barton 1792 Distillery in Bardstown on June 22, 2018, and the other half came down two weeks later.
PHARMACORD-JEFFERSONVILLE
Company plans to create up to 850 jobs in Jeffersonville
JEFFERSONVILLE, Ind. (AP) — Indiana officials say health care solutions provider PharmaCord will build an operations and call center in southern Indiana, creating up to 850 new jobs by the end of 2023.
The Indiana Economic Development Corp. says the Louisville, Kentucky-based company will invest more than $52 million to launch its Indiana operations at the River Ridge Commerce Center in Jeffersonville.
The IEDC says PharmaCord, which currently has about 150 employees serving pharmaceutical companies, plans to begin hiring immediately for customer service representatives, benefit specialists, case managers and specialty nurses.
Pending approval from its board of directors, the IEDC will offer PharmaCord up to $9 million in conditional tax credits based on the company’s planned job creation and capital investment. It says the River Ridge Development Authority will consider other incentives.
ELECTRIC CARS-CHARGING STATIONS
PSC: Electric car chargers in Kentucky don’t need regulation
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — The Kentucky Public Service Commission has ruled that electric car charging stations are not utilities and do not need to be subject to regulation.
The ruling is intended to remove any ambiguity over the legal status of charging stations. The commission says it should also pave the way for more stations to be installed in Kentucky. The commission says Kentucky has lagged behind neighboring states in the availability of public charging stations. The state has 94.
The ruling hinged on whether charging stations are providing electric service to the public, which would make them fall under the commission’s jurisdiction. Commissioners determined that the stations are consumers and end users of electricity.
The Public Service Commission regulates more than 1,100 gas, water, sewer, electric and telecommunication utilities operating in the state.
SLAYING CONVICTION UPHELD
Kentucky Supreme Court upholds man’s murder conviction
(Information from: Daily News, http://www.bgdailynews.com)
ADAIRVILLE, Ky. (AP) — The Kentucky Supreme Court has upheld a murder conviction and 55-year sentence for a man who killed his sister-in-law.
The Bowling Green Daily News reports George Walker’s sentence was upheld last week. The 24-year-old man was convicted last year of strangling 23-year-old Alice Walker in 2015 and tampering with physical evidence in her death. Alice Walker’s body was found bound with rope, wrapped in a tarp and dumped in a river near her Adairville home.
George Walker’s appeal argued jurors saw a suppressed portion of his confession, which he argued shouldn’t have been used as evidence because his rights were violated during it. The court dismissed these arguments, saying Walker’s defense wasn’t harmed by the video and his rights weren’t violated.
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LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR-AIDE
Bevin’s chief of staff authorized firing of Hampton’s aide
(Information from: Courier Journal, http://www.courier-journal.com)
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin’s chief of staff says he authorized the firing of a key aide to Lt. Gov. Jenean Hampton.
Blake Brickman said in a statement on Saturday to The Courier Journal that he authorized the firing of Adrienne Southworth, saying she repeatedly demonstrated poor judgment.
The firing last month prompted Hampton to send out a tweet praising Southworth’s work as “stellar” and asking for prayers in her fight against “dark forces.”
Brickman said the governor’s office doesn’t usually comment on personnel matters, but wanted “to set the record straight.” He said Southworth was let go for several reasons, but “the bottom line is, (Southworth) was an at-will employee, and I lost all confidence in her ability to faithfully serve the people of the Commonwealth.”
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