Man shot in car at Covington intersection

        COVINGTON — A Newport man was wounded Thursday when a man jumped into the back of his car and shot him.

        Covington Police said Clay Burris, 37, who was staying at a Newport motel, was shot four times when the man, armed with a small-caliber handgun, got in his car about 1:20 p.m. when it stopped at Eighth and Washington streets.

        Police said Mr. Burris was shot three times in the right shoulder and once in the hand before getting out of the car.

        Mr. Burris' wife and brother were in the car with him.

        His brother drove the car to St. Elizabeth Medical Center North, where Mr. Burris was hospitalized in fair condition.

        Investigators said they have no motive for the shooting.
       

Volunteers sought for foster care board

        Volunteers interested in helping foster children are being recruited for the Kenton County Foster Care Review Board.

        The board meets monthly to review cases of children who have been placed in foster care because of abuse or neglect.

        According to the Administrative Office of the Courts, there are 414 children in foster care in Kenton County.

        The goal of the review board is to ensure proper care and treatment of these children while they are away from their homes.

        Each volunteer must finish an eight-hour training session and consent to a criminal record check.

        A recommendation then would be made to the chief circuitjudge for appointment to the board.

        For information about the foster care program, contact the Administrative Office of the Courts, Division of Citizen Foster Care Review Boards, at (800) 928-2350.
       

Art program offers doll making, music

        COVINGTON — Explore a variety of art at the Carnegie Visual & Performing Arts Center, 1028 Scott Blvd., from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.

        The free “Everybody is an Artist” program offers participants the chance to make a doll, build a kite or listen to bluegrass music.

        The event is sponsored by the Charles H. Dater Foundation, the Robert H. Reakirt Foundation and Friends of Carnegie Kids.

        Information: (859) 491-2030.
       

Two-car crash kills Cynthiana woman

        DRY RIDGE — A woman was killed in a two-car crash in Bourbon County, Kentucky State Police said Thursday.

        Mary F. Barker, 59, of Cynthiana was killed when the car she was driving turned into the path of a pickup truck about 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, state police said.

        The driver of the pickup, James O. Brummett, 45, of Paris was treated at Bourbon Community Hospital for injuries.

        Hospital officials did not release his condition Thursday.
       

Charges dropped as murder case unravels

        LEXINGTON — Prosecutors dismissed murder charges against a man they blamed in the killing of a popular Lexington pool hall owner nearly seven years ago.

        Chief Assistant Commonwealth Attorney Mike Malone dismissed the charge after prosecutors determined that they had too little evidence to build a case against Cody Allen Dunn.

        Police had charged that Mr. Dunn bludgeoned Overton “Toby” Kavanaugh on June 17, 1994.

VILLA HILLS PROGRESS: Mike Smith of the Kenton County Public Works Department excavates an area for a new sidewalk along Amsterdam Road in Villa Hills. Corey Schalk, in background, of the Villa Hills Public Works Department, clears mud from a driveway. By the end of summer, about 80 percent of Villa Hills will be linked by sidewalks, as projects are completed along Collins Road and Amsterdam and Highwater roads, Councilman Tim Sogar said. More sidewalks are planned in a second phase of the project. (Patrick Reddy photo) | ZOOM |

        He was charged in the murder a little over a year ago.

        The case unraveled when the main prosecutor, Lou Anna Red Corn, discovered that Robert James Wilson, the star witness who said he saw Mr. Dunn emerge from Mr. Kavanaugh's home with blood on his hands, was wrong.

        Mr. Wilson, now 25, had been in jail at the time of the killing.

        Mr. Dunn, in an interview from prison this week with the Lexington Herald-Leader, said police should have to answer for charging him with a murder without proper evidence.

        Mr. Dunn is serving a 35-year sentence for robbery.

        “I've been through a whole lot of emotional strain for the past year, and a lot of money was spent on this because the police didn't do their job,” he said.

        No physical evidence linked Mr. Dunn to the crime; tufts of hair that Mr. Kavanaugh apparently ripped from his assailant's head, for instance, were a different color than Mr. Dunn's and failed to match his blood type.
       

State court will decide Carneal claims

        PADUCAH — A federal bankruptcy judge ruled that state courts should decide whether the insurance company of Michael Carneal's parents will pay $4 million for the Heath High School shooting that killedthree.

        Bankruptcy Judge Wendell Roberts denied a request this week from the parents of Michael Carneal's victims to transfer the matter to his court, arguing it is too far along in Jefferson County Circuit Court.

        The parents of the three girls who died in the Dec. 1, 1997, shooting filed the bankruptcy petition to collect part of the $42.1 million court judgment.

        The parents are trying to collect benefits outlined in two liability insurance policies that Michael Carneal's parents had with Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Co.
       

Man pleads guilty to killing bank teller

        LOUISVILLE — A man charged with fatally shooting a bank teller during a robbery pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

        Tiffany Dominique Pennington, 27, entered his plea at a hearing before U.S. District Judge Thomas B. Russell.

        Judge Russell deferred acceptance of his plea for 90 days to give the U.S. Attorney General's Office time to decide whether to pursue the death penalty against Mr. Pennington, said Hancy Jones, a spokesman for U.S. Attorney Steve Reed.

        Mr. Pennington was charged with assaulting and killing Mary Dell Kaelin-Brandenburg during the Feb. 13 robbery of the Brownsboro Road branch of National City Bank.

        He is also charged with using a firearm in a violent crime and possession of a firearm by a felon.

        Jessica Lawrence, Mr. Pennington's girlfriend, was indicted Wednesday in connection with the robbery.

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