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Latest Kentucky news, sports, business and entertainment at 9:20 p.m. EDT

Posted at 1:20 AM, Jun 22, 2019
and last updated 2019-06-22 21:22:35-04

BOURBON WAREHOUSE COLLAPSE

Bourbon barrel recovery underway in damaged warehouse

OWENSBORO, Ky. (AP) — A Kentucky bourbon distillery says barrel recovery is underway at a storage warehouse that partially collapsed during a thunderstorm.

O.Z. Tyler Distillery in Owensboro says a quadrant of the warehouse has been “successfully deconstructed” and the painstaking process of recovering barrels is moving ahead as workers take down the entire rickhouse.

Distillery officials say the warehouse cannot be salvaged.

No one was injured when part of the warehouse collapsed early Monday. The distillery says “minimal leakage” of bourbon was reported.

The distillery says 19,400 barrels were aging in the warehouse, including about 4,500 barrels in the storm-damaged section.

Master Distiller Jacob Call says removing all the barrels “will take some time.”

Company officials have been meeting daily with EPA representatives as well as state and local officials.

DRUG BUST

Drug crackdown in northern Kentucky town nets indictments

DAYTON, Ky. (AP) — Authorities say more than 20 people were indicated after a six-month investigation into drug trafficking in a northern Kentucky community.

Media outlets report that authorities seized fentanyl, meth, cocaine and more drugs and firearms as part of the crackdown in Dayton.

The Northern Kentucky Drug Strike Force began the operation — called Operation River Sweep — in January. The strike force is made up of narcotics officers from the region.

Dayton Police Chief David Halfhill says the community doesn’t have major drug dealers. He says the users he does see often travel to Covington or Cincinnati for drugs and sell among themselves.

JUVENILE DETENTION-LOUISVILLE

Council considers disbanding youth detention services

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky’s top justice official says the state is ready to take charge of Jefferson County juveniles charged with crimes if local officials decide to stop running Louisville Metro Youth Detention Services.

State Justice Secretary John Tilley tells news outlets that the state can’t operate a local detention center. He says youths being held on charges instead of being released pending trial would likely be transferred to one of six regional juvenile detention centers elsewhere in Kentucky.

Tilley’s comments come as Louisville Metro Council is considering whether to disband its youth detention services and hand over the job to the state Juvenile Justice Department as a cost-savings measure.

The council estimates it can save about $2.4 million in six months beginning Jan. 1 by shifting youth detention services to the state.

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.