Pearl Harbor Day survivors gather

        COVINGTON — The Pearl Harbor Survivors Association will meet Dec. 1 through 10 at the Drawbridge Inn and Convention Center in Fort Mitchell.

        This group of soldiers and sailors withstood the Japanese surprise attack on U.S. Naval forces in Hawaii the morning of Dec. 7, 1941. The U.S. Navy's Pacific force was almost destroyed, and 2,335 service men and 68 civilians were killed.

        Members of the survivors association were on active duty on or within 3 miles of the island of Oahu between 7:55 a.m. and 10 a.m. that morning.

        Only 9,000 survivors remain as members, and they are in their 80s. Three of the 11 founders are still live.

        Members of the association present their experiences to school-age children to illustrate the importance of military readiness.
       

Ky. universities host grant programs

        LOUISVILLE — Kentucky has more than $1 billion available in Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer grants.

        A daylong workshop at the University of Louisville on Dec. 4 and at the University of Kentucky on Dec. 5 will help owners of such “knowledge companies” learn to apply for the grants.

        Also available are $4,000 seed grants to help a company develop a proposal and a research topic tracking an alert service.

        The sponsors: Kentucky Science and Technology Corp., the Cabinet for Economic Development, the Kentucky Small Business Development Centers and entities at both universities.

        Registration is due by Nov. 30. The $25 fee includes lunch. For more information, call Barbara Flexter at (859) 233-3502, ext. 221.
       

Unpaid taxes hit 10 percent in 2001

        Unpaid or delinquent state taxes will be charged a 10 percent interest rate in 2001, the Kentucky Revenue Cabinet announced.

        Where applicable, the same rate is paid on refunds. The rate, effective Jan. 1, is based on the rate Kentucky banks charged their best commercial customers during October.

        A recent survey showed the banks' prevailing prime rate was 9.5 percent, which by law is rounded to the nearest full percent to calculate interest on unpaid taxes.
       

I-75 traffic to flow despite accident

        CORBIN, Ky. — State transportation officials say traffic on Interstate 75 near the site of a rock slide will be running normally in time for Thanksgiving.

        Early Thursday morning, a tractor-trailer struck a car-sized rock that had broken from a cliff and fallen into the right lane of I-75 south about 5 miles south of Corbin, police said.

        The truck overturned, and the driver — Phillip Acosta, 46, of Benson, Ariz. — was treated for minor injuries at Baptist Regional Medical Center in Corbin.

        The rock and the tractor-trailer were removed from the road by Thursday afternoon, said Andy Buell, chief district engineer at the state Department of Highways office in Manchester.

        But the right lane of a quarter-mile stretch of southbound I-75 will remain closed through this weekend to allow work crews to remove unstable rock from the cliff above the highway, Mr. Buell said.

        He said about 50,000 cubic yards will be removed using heavy equipment and some blasting. Crews will work around the clock, and I-75 south should be restored to two lanes by Tues day, transportation officials said.
       

Man dies when pipe touches power line

        GEORGETOWN, Ky. — A Scott County farmer was electrocuted Wednesday when an irrigation pipe he was holding touched a high-voltage power line.

        William Dudley Williamson, 59, was loading 20-foot-long aluminum pipes into a wagon about 11:30 a.m. EST at his farm south of Ironworks Pike between U.S. 62 and U.S. 460, said Lane Crawley, Scott County sheriff's deputy.

        One of the pipes made contact with an overhead power line, Mr. Crawley said.

        The line carries 12,470 volts of electricity, Scott County Coroner Stanley Hughes said.

        Mr. Williamson was taken to Georgetown Community Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 12:38 p.m., Mr. Hughes said.
       

Couple pleads not guilty in boy's death

        LEXINGTON — A couple pleaded not guilty in Fayette District Court on Thursday for their roles in the death of a 5-month-old boy, who authorities say died of shaken-baby syndrome.

        Donnie Douglas Sparks, 34, has been charged with murder and the boy's mother, Amanda Jean Crowell, 27, has been charged with first-degree criminal abuse.

        Stephen Trimble died at University of Kentucky Hospital. He was admitted the night of Nov. 2 after being found in distress at an apartment Ms. Crowell shared with Mr. Sparks.

        Police say the boy was left in Mr. Sparks' care for less than half an hour while Ms. Crowell went to buy cigarettes.
       

Ky. gas company sues striking workers

        PIKEVILLE, Ky. — Kentucky West Virginia Gas Co. has filed suit in U.S. District Court, alleging that striking employees are vandalizing gas lines.

        About 150 members of the Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical & Energy Workers Union Local 5-512 have been on strike against the natural gas provider since their contract expired on Oct. 16.

        In a request for an injunction filed Thursday in Pikeville, the Floyd County-based company accused the striking employees of destroying oil tanks and oil pipelines, setting fire to gas lines and shutting off gas service to an elementary school.

        Greg Horn, president of the union local, said the accusations are false.

        “If we were doing that was unlawful, the state police would have let us know about it,” Mr. Horn said.

        The company and union have been unable to reach agreement on a contract. Since talks broke off more than a week ago, no new negotiations have been scheduled.

        Mr. Horn said the union wants a contract that guarantees job security and pay raises for all its members. So far, he said, the company has been unwilling to give that.

        “We have negotiated in good faith with Local 5-512 in an effort to resolve this labor dispute,” company spokesman Richard Taylor said. “Their response, however, has been to interfere with service to customers, to harm the environment, to threaten our workers, and to endanger the safety of the public.”

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