FATAL CRASH-KENTUCKY
2-vehicle crash kills 4 in Kentucky
WHEATCROFT, Ky. (AP) — Police are investigating a crash that killed four people in western Kentucky.
State Police in Madisonville say in a news release the accident occurred Saturday when a car slid into the oncoming lane and collided with a pickup truck on Kentucky Route 109 in Wheatcroft.
The statement says the car that hydroplaned was driven by 23-year-old Eduardo Lopez of Madisonville. Lopez and three passengers in the car, Jorge Chavez, Miguel Brico, and Christina Chavez, all of Madisonville, were pronounced dead at the scene. The passengers’ ages weren’t immediately known.
The driver and passenger in the pickup were taken to a Madisonville hospital for injuries that were not life-threatening.
SECURITY OFFICER-FATAL CRASH
Kentucky court security officer charged in fatal ATV crash
(Information from: The State Journal, http://www.state-journal.com)
MONTEREY, Ky. (AP) — Authorities say a Kentucky court security officer has been arrested after a passenger on an ATV he was driving died in a crash.
Kentucky State Trooper Steven Dykes says in a news release 43-year-old Mario Chavez-Canela of Monterey was arrested in Owen County on Friday on charges of second-degree assault and operating a motor vehicle under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
It wasn’t immediately known whether Chavez-Canela has an attorney.
The statement says 73-year-old passenger Patricia Karsner of Owenton was pronounced dead at a hospital.
The Owen County Sheriff’s Office requested that state police take over the investigation.
The State Journal reports Chavez-Canela had rejoined the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office as a security officer earlier this year. He had been fired in August 2016 by a previous sheriff after a DUI arrest in Shelby County.
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FUGITIVE ARRESTED-KENTUCKY
Kentucky fugitive arrested in Ohio
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A man who failed to appear in a Kentucky court on kidnapping and other federal charges has been captured in Ohio.
FBI spokesman Timothy Beam in Louisville says in a news release that Bryan Douglas Conley was caught Saturday in Ada, Ohio.
News outlets report Conley was originally arrested in January in Leitchfield, Kentucky, and was released while awaiting trial on charges that he kidnapped a Brentwood, Tennessee, woman and demanded a ransom from her parents.
The FBI says Conley removed an electronic monitoring device from his ankle on Interstate 65 near Smiths Grove on Friday and failed to appear in federal court on a superseding indictment.
The indictment charges Conley with kidnapping, bank fraud, aggravated identity theft, and additional counts of interstate threatening communications.
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.
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.
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.
