Judge to evaluate statement about slaying

        LEXINGTON — Fayette Circuit Judge Thomas Clark has scheduled a January hearing to decide whether statements made by a man accused of killing a University of Kentucky football player will be admissible in his trial.

        Shane Ragland is accused of shooting and killing Trent DiGiuro in a sniper-style killing. Prosecutors allege Mr. Ragland sought revenge for being blackballed by a fraternity.

        Mr. Ragland, 27, was arrested earlier this year after his ex-girlfriend, Aimee Lloyd, told police Mr. Ragland had admitted to her that he killed Mr. DiGiuro.

Matthew Nussbaum scales a 25-foot wall brought to Covington's Holmes High as a National Guard promo Friday. (Patrick Reddy photo) | ZOOM |

        Mr. Ragland's lawyers say he was not properly read his Miranda rights after being arrested July 14, and say that police did not stop their initial interview when Mr. Ragland said he wanted a lawyer.

        Judge Clark scheduled a Jan. 8 hearing to argue the admissibility of Mr. Ragland's statement. His trial is scheduled to begin Feb. 19.

        Mr. Ragland was in court Friday. He remains free on a $1 million cash bond, which was paid by his father, Jerry Ragland, a prominent contractor and developer in Frankfort.        

Appeals court lets libel judgment stand

        FRANKFORT — The Court of Appeals on Friday upheld a $75,000 judgment against the publisher of a racetrack tip sheet for libeling another racetrack regular.

        Edward L. Musselman publishes Indian Charlie, a free newsletter that is distributed at racetracks in Kentucky and elsewhere. In October and November 1997, Mr. Musselman “lampooned (Donald) Alvey's abilities as a self-employed bloodstock agent, professional handicapper and gambler; he also ridiculed Alvey's personal appearance,” according to court records.

        Mr. Alvey sued, claiming Mr. Musselman's writings damaged his reputation, hurt his earning ability and caused him emotional distress.

        A jury in Jefferson County awarded Mr. Alvey $75,000. During the trial, testimony for Mr. Musselman was offered by former Kentucky Gov. Brereton Jones, a horse owner and breeder himself, and Bob Baffert, a thoroughbred trainer whose horses include Indian Charlie, which finished third in the 1998 Kentucky Derby.

        Mr. Musselman claimed that his writings were pure opinion and therefore protected from litigation. Mr. Musselman also said Mr. Alvey, who wrote a Web-based column for a thoroughbred magazine and made appearances on a radio talk show, was a public figure. Public figures must prove a more stringent sent of circumstances to prevail in a libel case.

        Mr. Alvey had asked for up to $200,000 for a loss of net profits in his business and for his embarrassment, humiliation and mental anguish.        

UK teams up with former all-black school

        LOUISVILLE — The University of Kentucky on Thursday entered into an academic partnership with a high school that figured in its desegregation 51 years ago.

        A contract gives students of Central High Magnet Career Academy — the former Central High School — access to a wide range of programs and expertise.

        “A person is judged by the company he or she keeps. ... Who you run with says who you are,” Central Principal Harold Fenderson said at a signing ceremony with UK President Charles T. Wethington.

        The university gets a foot in the door with some of the top high school students in Jefferson County and the chance for an improved image within the black community.

        “Clearly the University of Kentucky is interested in being a diverse institution,” Dr. Wethington said in an interview.

        “More and more, we're getting students from all over the country and all over the world, ... African-American students from within the state and outside, and we believe this is a very real source of strong African-American high school graduates,” Dr. Wethington said.

        Central High originally was all-black and the university was all-white.

        “Who would have thought our two paths would cross?” BaRhonda Dickerson, a Central senior, said at the signing ceremony. She said she has been accepted by UK and will enroll in the fall.

        UK's color line was broken in 1949 by Lyman T. Johnson, a Central High teacher who had sued for admission to graduate school.        

Bishop Marmion dies, active in civil rights

        LOUISVILLE — Retired Episcopal Bishop Charles Gresham Marmion, who led the Kentucky diocese for 20 years amid the upheaval of the civil-rights movement, died Thursday at home. He was 95.

        Bishop Marmion, who was bishop from 1954 to 1974, integrated Episcopal church camps in Kentucky and he took part in civil-rights marches, said the Rev. Dick Humke, a retired pastor.

        “A lot of my people disagreed with me, but they knew pretty well where I stood because I had tried to stop a lynching down in Texas many years ago,” Bishop Marmion said in an interview at his home in October.

        While serving at a parish in Columbia, Texas, in 1935, two black teen-age boys were hanged by a mob. Bishop Marmion tried to talk the mob out of lynching them but was pushed aside.

        Bishop Marmion continued to stay active in the church after retirement.

        Born Aug. 19, 1905, in Houston, Bishop Marmion earned a business degree from the University of Texas and a divinity degree from Virginia Theological Seminary.        

Hepatitis outbreak linked to Taco Bell

        RUSSELL SPRINGS — Public health officials Thursday reported a hepatitis outbreak infecting at least six people.

        Among those infected with hepatitis A was a Taco Bell worker in this south-central Kentucky town, the Cabinet for Health Services said.

        Other possible cases are being investigated by the Lake Cumberland District Health Department in conjunction with the state Department for Public Health.

        Health officials said people who ate at the Russell Springs Taco Bell on Nov. 25, 26, 29 or Dec. 1 should contact a health care provider. Those people should ask whether they should receive a vaccination of immune globulin, which can substantially reduce the risk of developing hepatitis A.        

Founder of racing's Eclipse Awards dies

        LEXINGTON — James Bailey “J.B.” Faulconer, the founder of thoroughbred racing's Eclipse Awards, died Tuesday in Vero Beach, Fla. He was 81.

        Mr. Faulconer, a former sportscaster for the University of Kentucky and a major general in the Army Reserve, founded the Eclipse Awards in 1971 as a way of honoring elite thoroughbreds, jockeys, trainers, owners, breeders, writers and photographers.

        Before the Eclipse Awards, the National Turf Writers Association, the Daily Racing Form and the Thoroughbred Racing Associations all chose their own horse of the year.

        Mr. Faulconer himself received an Eclipse Award in 1987.

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