LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR-AIDE
Fired Hampton aide appeals dismissal to Personnel Board
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — A fired aide to Lt. Gov. Jenean Hampton has asked the Kentucky Personnel Board to reverse her dismissal, which has intensified a feud between Hampton and Gov. Matt Bevin’s administration.
Adrienne Southworth is seeking reinstatement to her job as Hampton’s deputy chief of staff as well as back pay and benefits. She filed her appeal Friday.
Southworth’s appeal says Bevin’s staff lacked legal authority to fire an aide to the lieutenant governor. She says the reasons given for her dismissal were “factually inaccurate.”
Bevin’s chief of staff, Blake Brickman, recently told the Courier Journal he authorized Southworth’s firing, saying she repeatedly demonstrated poor judgment. Hampton calls it an “unauthorized personnel action” and says Brickman “overstepped his boundaries.”
The dispute has flared while Bevin seeks reelection this year. The Republican governor dropped Hampton from his ticket in January.
ABORTION PROTESTER-ASSAULT
No charges in Kentucky anti-abortion activist assault case
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A Kentucky grand jury has declined to indict a Louisville woman accused of attacking an 82-year-old anti-abortion protester while leaving a women’s clinic.
Court records show a grand jury decided against an assault charge on Thursday for 32-year-old Janaya Alyce Gregory, who is accused of knocking Donna Durning down outside Kentucky’s only abortion clinic in April. The longtime anti-abortion activist was hospitalized with a broken femur and cut to her head.
The Courier Journal reports that Durning said she was offering Gregory a card for a crisis pregnancy center when Gregory “charged” at her, bumping her to the ground. Crisis pregnancy centers generally try to persuade women against having abortions.
PARK KILLING
Suspect sentenced for boy’s stabbing death in Kentucky park
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — The suspect who admitted to fatally stabbing a child at a park in Kentucky has been sentenced to 13 years in prison.
News outlets report 26-year-old Joey Cambron learned her sentenced Friday. Cambron identified as a male at the time of the stabbing, but is now a transgender female who prefers the pronoun “she.”
Police say 12-year-old Ray Allen Etheridge was at a mall with his mother Sept. 30, 2014, when he wandered off to Cherokee Park. Cambron told police she stabbed Etheridge after the boy punched her and took her wallet.
Cambron was originally charged with murder but pleaded guilty to manslaughter and tampering with evidence for disposing the knife. Attorneys said the plea deal was reached after the judge suppressed Cambron’s statement to police.
POLICE SHOOTING-KENTUCKY
Kentucky State Police: Trooper shot in leg killed gunman
HAZARD, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky State Police have identified a man who was killed and a trooper who was wounded in an exchange of gunfire.
News outlets report that police say Trooper Brad Martin fatally shot 58-year-old Zendall Noble when he came out of his home armed in Perry County on June 11.
Police say they ordered Noble to drop the gun, but he refused and gunfire was exchanged. The trooper was shot in his leg.
Police said they had come to serve a search warrant in the area when they saw “suspected drug activity” by people who went into a neighboring home. They say officers then negotiated for them to come out and Noble emerged with a gun.
Martin was placed on routine administrative leave. Police say the investigation is continuing.
CHILD SLAIN
Sheriff: 15-year-old boy charged with killing 7-year-old
(Information from: The News-Enterprise, http://www.thenewsenterprise.com)
ELIZABETHTOWN, Ky. (AP) — A Kentucky sheriff says a 15-year-old boy has been charged with murder in the death of a 7-year-old family member.
Hardin County Sheriff John Ward told The News-Enterprise that officers responded to a call Thursday and took the injured boy to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Ward didn’t provide details about what happened or how the younger child died. Neither juvenile was identified.
Ward confirmed that the children were “immediate family” but didn’t specify their relationship.
The teen was taken to a juvenile detention center.
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POLICE MEMORIAL SERVICE
Memorial service to recognize fallen Kentucky officers
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky State Police are holding a memorial service for fallen officers.
A statement from the agency says the annual memorial service and wreath-laying ceremony is Friday afternoon at the Kentucky State Police Training Academy in Frankfort. The service will recognize the 29 troopers, two officers, and six highway patrolmen who have died in the line of duty.
Those attending will include Kentucky State Police Commissioner Rick Sanders as well as family and friends of the fallen officers.
