Lottery to pick pavilion users

        FORT MITCHELL — Because of the popularity of the pavilion at Ormsby Mitchel Park, a lottery system will determine users, effective March 1.

        The city will start accepting priority reservations by mail from Feb. 15 through March 3. The sealed envelopes will be randomly drawn at noon on March 3 in the city building.

        Reservations should include a name, address and phone number, and a list of four dates to reserve the pavilion in order of preference.

        A check for the $30 security deposit also should be made out to City of Fort Mitchell.

        Those making reservations should also make sure that someone is available to discuss alternate dates.

        Call Bobbi Smith, the reservationist, at 341-0329, or Jim Procaccino, park director, at 331-2536. ext. 333.

        Reservations can be sent to Park Reservations, c/o City of Fort Mitchell, P.O. Box 17157, Fort Mitchell, Ky. 41017.
       

NKU, woman settle math dispute

        COVINGTON — A former Northern Kentucky University student has agreed to settle a federal lawsuit against the school alleging it failed to accommodate her learning disability in mathematics.

        Terms of the agreement were not released, but both sides have agreed not to pursue the matter further, attorneys for the two sides said.

        Denise Pangburn, who teaches special education in the Campbell County school district, filed suit in 1997 after claiming that she has a disability that prevents her from learning math.

        She took Math 141 six times and never earned the “C” required for a degree in elementary education. Ms. Pangburn had asked the university to accept a “D,” substitute it for another course or waive the requirement.

        Sara L. Sidebottom, attorney for NKU, said the university never admitted any wrongdoing in the case.

        U.S. District Judge Karl S. Forester ruled in 1999 that the university had “provided every conceivable means of accommodating” Ms. Pangburn and dismissed the case. The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the case last year.
       

Bill may increase black-lung compensation

        FRANKFORT — Gov. Paul Patton on Friday offered changes in the black lung disability rules, acknowledging the proposals he pushed through nearly five years ago made it too hard for injured miners to get workers' compensation.

        House Majority Floor Leader Greg Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg, sponsored the bill on Mr. Patton's behalf.

        Coal miner's pneumoconiosis, or black lung disease, is a respiratory problem that can come after years of breathing coal dust.

        A release from Mr. Patton's office said the changes could increase the cost of workers' compensation coverage for coal companies for black lung from the current $1 million annually to as much as $5.7 million.
       

Rogers to chair transportation group

        WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers is taking the helm of the appropriations subcommittee that deals with transportation issues — a move that some Kentuckians say could benefit the Bluegrass State.

        House Republicans impose six-year term limits on their chairmen, so Mr. Rogers had to give up his position heading the appropriations panel overseeing the Commerce, Justice and State departments.

        The Transportation Subcommittee distributed nearly $60 billion in federal dollars last year for highways, airports and transit projects nationwide.

        U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., chaired the panel before Mr. Rogers.
       

Western settles discrimination suit

        BOWLING GREEN — Western Kentucky University has tentatively settled a reverse discrimination lawsuit filed by a part-time instructor who was passed over for a full-time professorship.

        The settlement still requires approval from the school's Board of Regents.

        The suit was filed in April 1999 by Virginia Pfohl, then a part-time instructor in Western's psychology department. She sought as much as $2.5 million in damages, claiming that Western discriminated against her because she is white.

        Ms. Pfohl's suit followed a decision by Western administrators to disregard a search committee's unanimous recommendation to hire Ms. Pfohl as a full-time psychology professor at its community college and instead give the job to the committee's last choice, a black man.

        In the settlement, Ms. Pfohl and her attorney, Steve Downey, would receive a combined $90,000 for damages, attorney fees and expenses, the Daily News of Bowling Green reported. Western's insurance company, Great American Insurance Co., would cover the deal.

        Western also agreed to give Ms. Pfohl a tenure-track position of assistant professor in the university's psychology department with a salary of $30,528, effective this semester.
       

Mom charged with watching abuse

        HENDERSON — A criminal abuse charge was filed against a woman accused of watching as an Illinois man allegedly slammed her 13-year-old daughter repeatedly to the floor.

        The alleged attack in a Henderson motel room led to the girl's death, authorities said.

        Police said it was provoked by the man's anger over the girl knocking over a video game console.

        Dorothy Slaton, 38, of Henderson, was taken into custody Thursday by Henderson police and lodged at the Henderson County Detention Center under a $25,000 full-cash bond.

        She was charged with one count of first-degree criminal abuse, a felony, said Sheila Nunley-Farris, assistant county attorney in Henderson County.

        If convicted, she faces five to 10 years in prison, Ms. Nunley-Farris said.
       

UK slaying trial delayed

        LEXINGTON — A Fayette County judge on Friday delayed the trial of a man accused of killing a University of Kentucky football player more than six years ago.

        Lawyers for Shane Ragland asked for the continuance, claiming they still had not had the opportunity to go through audiotapes, photos and more than 1,800 pages of evidence related to the 1994 killing of Trent DiGiuro.

        Fayette Circuit Judge Thomas Clark postponed the trial, which had been scheduled to begin Feb. 19.

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