Louisville police to note race in every stop

        LOUISVILLE — Amid allegations that Louisville and Jefferson County police officers engage in racial profiling, officers have begun documenting the race of every person they stop in a vehicle or on foot.

        Louisville Judge-executive Rebecca Jackson announced the new policy Friday.

        Officers are required to fill out an “Investigate Stop” form detailing where the stop was made, the primary cause, the person's race, sex and age and what action was taken.

        County police don't engage in racial profiling — targeting people solely based on race — but the new procedure, which started Friday, will reassure the public, said County Police Chief William Carcara.

        “If the community has this perception, then we have to address it, regardless of what our data says,” Chief Carcara said.

        Data will be collected in weekly and monthly reports, which will be compared with the racial makeup of geographic areas, said county police spokeswoman Stacey Redmon. The data will be available to the public.

        The Courier-Journal reported in October that blacks are more likely than whites to be stopped and checked for warrants in Louisville. The study of 30 randomly selected days in a 12-month period in 1999 and this year found that 44 percent of the drivers stopped in Louisville were African-American. The city's driving-age population is estimated to be 27 percent black.
       

Cab-riding bank robber gets 4-plus decades

               LEXINGTON — A Louisville man who used a cab for a getaway car during a Lexington bank robbery was sentenced to 47 years and eight months in prison by a federal judge, prosecutors said.

        Todd Allard, 44, was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Lexington.

        Mr. Allard enlisted a Louisville cab driver to take him to Lexington, where he robbed a Bank One branch at gunpoint, then took the cab back to Louisville on I-64. Police stopped him in Shelby County and arrested him after a short foot chase.

        Mr. Allard pleaded guilty on Aug. 4 to five bank robberies in Kentucky, Indianapolis, Cincinnati and Columbus, Ohio.
       

New trial under way in drunken-crash case

               JAMESTOWN — A second trial is under way for a Russell County man charged with killing five people in a 1996 drunken-driving wreck.

        The retrial of Jack Shaffer, 39, began Friday in Russell Circuit Court.

        Mr. Shaffer was convicted in 1998 of killing Mary Lucille Eads, 47, Aaron Eads, 16, and Erin DeBoard, 15, Eddron “Ed die” Eads Jr., 43, and Brittany Blankenship, 8 months old, in a December 1997 crash on Ky. 80.

        He was sentenced to five life terms, but the Kentucky Supreme Court overturned the conviction last year, ruling Circuit Judge Eddie Lovelace failed to allow the jury to consider lesser charges.

        Mr. Shaffer maintains he was not driving the car at the time of the crash.
       

Man who survived crash of stolen car sentenced

               LEXINGTON — A man who fled the scene of a crash that killed two was sentenced to 2 years in prison Friday.

        Clifford Andrew Deburlet, 20, was sentenced by Fayette Chief Circuit Judge Mary Noble after pleading guilty to receiving stolen property and failing to render aid after an accident.

        Stanley Damien Clark, 14, and Franklin Aaron Horn, 19, were killed when they crashed in a stolen car.

        Mr. Deburlet, who walked away from the crash, said he was not driving. State accident reconstructors could not determine who was driving.

        Mr. Deburlet already has served 127 days in jail.
       

Bank robber finds drive-through handy

               OWENSBORO — A man pulled up to a drive-through window at a Bank One branch here and robbed it of an undetermined amount of money Friday, Owensboro police said.

        Police said the man left what he said was an explosive device in the drive-through drawer.

        The robbery happened between 5:30 and 6 p.m. CST.

        The area was sealed off until about 10 p.m., when Kentucky State Police bomb experts determined the object the man left was not an explosive.
       

Superintendent quits amid strike, probe

               JACKSON — Breathitt County school Superintendent Hargus Rogers has offered his resignation amid a strike by bus drivers and an investigation by the state Office of Educational Accountability

        The school board plans to meet Monday to discuss the issue, Mr. Rogers said. Mr. Rogers, 56, said his resignation would be effective Jan. 1, if accepted.

        The Office of Educational Accountability has been investigating the district on issues including the awarding of contracts, curriculum problems and grading irregularities involving football players.

        School in the district has been out since Tuesday, when bus drivers walked off the job over a pay dispute.

        Mr. Rogers said the district's current problems are not related to his decision to resign. He said he's been considering retirement for more than a year.

Children with mental problems often have nowhere to turn
For Daniel, 'the bottom would drop out'
Where to get help for troubled youths
Brain tumor studies planned
Community may gate streets
CROWLEY: For Steve Henry, 'I do' gives way to 'No, I didn't'
Greetings from 'Mt. Rumpke'
PULFER: Pet limits
Rally fights Klan with calm
WILKINSON: Portune has own ideas for filling his council seat
BRONSON: Bombs away
A city divided
Boehner prods CSX to repair crossings
Boone Co. Democrats ponder fate
Caught speeding? Help the needy
College may locate near airport
Homicide evidence: The flies have it
Ky. Hindus break ground for temple
Pioneer days at Gov. Bebb preserve
Somerset schools settle harassment suit by student
Study-abroad program enriches Miami students
Title thrills Highlands fans
Traffic light at firearm buyback
Vietnam veterans slow to unite
Water skiers laugh off cold self-torture
Kentucky News Briefs
Tristate A.M. Report