PINER — David Erskine, 37, of Independence remained in critical condition on Tuesday, hours after he lost control of his vehicle on Madison Pike, crashed into a tree and telephone pole and flew 85 feet upon ejection from his vehicle.

        Mr. Erskine's 1986 pickup was traveling northbound when it veered east off the road, overturned and crashed about 10:30 a.m. Mr. Erskine was not wearing a seat belt, said Kenton County Police Capt. Ed Butler.

        Mr. Erskine, who suffered head injuries, was taken by helicopter to University Hospital.

        The accident remains under investigation. There is no evidence that alcohol was involved, Capt. Butler said.
       

Three admit roles in bank robbery

               COVINGTON — Three Lawrenceburg, Ind., men have acknowledged their roles in the July 18 robbery of a Fifth Third Bank in Butler, Ky.

        Adam Miles and Michael Farmer pleaded guilty Tuesday to armed bank robbery and aiding and abetting. They will face a maximum of 32 years in prison when sentenced Dec. 18.

        Christopher Adam Brown pleaded guilty to attempting to help the two escape arrest. He faces 12 years in prison.

        Investigators say Mr. Miles and Mr. Farmer robbed the Fifth Third Bank of about $9,700 by brandishing a gun.

        Campbell County police picked up the trio that evening during a traffic stop.
       

Car ownership clinic offered

               Car owners will soon have an opportunity to boost their knowledge on car ownership topics. The Northern Kentucky Volunteer Lawyers Inc. and Campbell County Cooperative Extension Service will sponsor a clinic to educate the public on ways to prevent problems and save time and money when dealing with their vehicles. Speakers will discuss financing, credit, repossession, repairs, warranties and judgments. The free program will be 7-9 p.m. Thursday at the Cooperative Extension Service, Room B, 3500 Alexandria Pike in Highland Heights.
       

Singer Holly Near to perform at NKU

               Singer Holly Near will perform at Northern Kentucky University's Greaves Hall at 8 p.m. Oct. 14. The women's choir, MUSE, will join Ms. Near for a concert benefitting the Women's Crisis Center of Northern Kentucky. After a sabbatical year, Ms. Near is again performing. $15 advance tickets are available throughout Cincinnati. Call (859) 655-2649 or (859) 572-6497 for locations.
       

Music acts, arts highlight festival

               DAYTON — Nationally known acts will be in town for the first of what will be an annual Music and Arts Festival, Oct. 7 and 8 at Gil Lynn Park. Entertainment will include Pop Wagner the Singing Cowboy and Lariat Spinner, Ohh La La and the Greasers, Celtic Core, Jubilant Bridge, Bet Stewart with the Intuition Theatre and One Riot One Ranger. The festival will also feature arts and crafts vendors, food, artists, and a Kids Zone. Fireworks will end the evening Sunday. WNKU-FM (89.7), which will broadcast the event live, is co-sponsoring it along with Dayton Youth Strate gy and Brighton Center Youth Leadership Program.
       

Patton calls for probe of nuclear plant data

               PADUCAH — Gov. Paul Patton wants Kentucky environmental officials to study newly uncovered Energy Department maps that show the presence of plutonium outside the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant.

        The maps were released last week in response to a federal Freedom of Information request filed by the Courier-Journal of Louisville in September 1999.

        The maps show plutonium at levels hundreds of times above what would be expected to be in the soil, sediment and water from decades-old fallout from atomic bomb tests. The U.S. Department of Energy, which for years maintained that plutonium levels at the site were insignificant, said it didn't know the maps existed.

        Maps plotting levels of other radioactive elements near the nuclear weapons plant have also recently been uncovered, the Energy Department acknowledged Monday.

        The Energy Department is investigating why the maps and other documents were not disclosed to DOE administrators earlier, said Steven Wyatt, a spokesman for the department in Oak Ridge, Tenn.

        The maps, which track plutonium over a 10-year period ending in 1998, were prepared by Bechtel Jacobs, the company hired to clean up the site.
       

Chief justice was Centre College alum

               DANVILLE — Fred M. Vinson became chief justice of the United States but never stopped being a Centre College man. Nor has his alma mater forgotten him.

        Justice Vinson can be seen at the vice presidential debate inside Centre's Norton Center for the Arts on Thursday. He's not there in person — Justice Vinson died in 1953 — but in portrait.

        “Dead Fred,” a portrait of Justice Vinson, was ensconced in the auditorium Tuesday by members of Phi Delta Theta, his fraternity. The “Phi Delts” began taking the portrait to home football games shortly after Justice Vinson's death. The wall above the mantle in their house is its customary spot.

        Justice Vinson, Centre class of 1909, “maintained close contact with Centre throughout his life, and he went to any sporting event going,” Mike Norris, a college spokesman, said.
       

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Kentucky News Briefs