Teen charged with threatening classmate

        RICHMOND — An 18-year-old student was arrested for allegedly threatening another student at Owsley County High School, Kentucky State Police said Friday.

        Nicholas Huff, of Booneville, is charged with misdemeanor terroristic threatening. He posted bond and was released from the Lee County Jail on Friday, a jail spokesman said.

        Mr. Huff is accused of threatening a 17-year-old student, whom police did not identify.
       

Three break out of Butler Co. Jail

        BOWLING GREEN — Three inmates overpowered guards and escaped from the Butler County Jail early Friday, Kentucky State Police said.

        Two of the three remained on the loose Friday and were considered armed and dangerous, police said.

        The jailbreak happened at 12:20 a.m. CDT when the three overpowered two guards after banging on the door of their cell, jailer Terry Fugate said. The guards were unhurt.

DUELING AT PIONEER DAYS: Eric Creech (left), a fourth-grader at Arnett Elementary School in Erlanger, thrusts and parries with Bill Yunker, program director of Clan Desdin, historical re-enactment troupe, during Erlanger Pioneer Days at Silverlake Park. It continues from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. today and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. (Patrick Reddy photo) | ZOOM |

        Afterward, the three retrieved their personal belongings and stole bond money kept at the jail and a knife before fleeing on foot, Mr. Fugate said.

        State police identified the three as Willard Stewart, 20; James Watson, 30; and Calvin Washer, 39. Mr. Watson is bald and has the word “misery” tattooed on the back of his head, police said.

        Mr. Washer was being held on charges of attempted murder, fleeing police and other charges, Mr. Fugate said.

        Mr. Watson was being held on firearms charges, and Mr. Stewart had been arrested for suspicion of burglary.

        Mr. Stewart was arrested Friday afternoon at a home about two miles southeast of Beaver Dam, officials said.
       

Big Brothers/Sisters angers Daviess Co.

        OWENSBORO — The Daviess County judge-executive wants to cut the county's contribution to the local chapter of Big Brothers/Big Sisters.

        Reid Haire said Wednesday the fiscal court's 2001-02 budget proposal contains no money for the group because the organization's board voted last year to ban homosexual volunteers.

        “When an organization decides to exclude a particular class of individuals, government should be very hesitant to financially support it with tax dollars,” Mr. Haire said.

        “If three commissioners opt to put it back in, it will be in.”

        Three county commissioners said they support putting the money back in the budget.

        The Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Owensboro board voted 10-9 in October to no longer allow homosexuals who openly acknowledge they are gay or lesbian to volunteer.
       

Lexington paper says it will cut work force

        LEXINGTON — The Lexington Herald-Leader Co. will reduce its work force by 15 by mid-year to counter declining advertising and rising newsprint prices, Publisher Timothy M. Kelly said Thursday.

        The 2.8-percent reduction will leave the newspaper with 522 employees — 6.8 percent fewer than in 2000, when 14 positions were eliminated through early-retirement incentives, Mr. Kelly said.

        Most of the 2001 reductions are expected to come from early retirements and buyouts, but some involuntary terminations are possible, he said.
       

Perryville site to get 6 miles of new trails

        PERRYVILLE — Six miles of walking trails will be added to the Battle of Perryville historic site in central Kentucky.

        The trails, which will cost more than $80,000 when completed in June, will give visitors an in-depth description of the battle and how it took shape, said Sherry Jelsma, a member of the Perryville Battlefield Preservation Association.

        Fought on Oct. 8, 1862, the Battle of Perryville was the state's largest Civil War engagement. More than 7,500 Union and Confederate troops were killed or wounded in the five-hour fight.
       

Owensboro OKs $27M to upgrade power plant

        OWENSBORO — The city's utility commission approved spending an estimated $27.5 million to bring the Elmer Smith Station power plant into compliance with federal nitrogen oxide emission requirements by May 2004.

        The project, to begin in about a year, will cause Owensboro Municipal Utilities customers' bills to rise. The amount of the increase won't be known for several months.

        OMU will have to borrow the bulk of the money to pay for the emission-control equipment. Kentucky Utilities, OMU's partner in the production of electricity, will pay for about half of the cost and operation of the new system.

        “Bills will rise in order to pay for what we're going to have to do to meet federal standards,” OMU general manager Bob Carper said. “There's no way we can absorb those costs.”
       

Firm eager to improve Owensboro riverfront

        OWENSBORO — City officials are negotiating with a new consulting firm to prepare a master plan for developing the city's riverfront.

        “Contract negotiations broke down, and that's about all I can say,” Assistant City Manager Bob Whitmer said about efforts to hire Hargreaves Associates to help the city develop a blueprint for future development along the Ohio River.

        The master plan selection committee's second choice, EDSA of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., hopes it will get the job.

        “We targeted Owensboro as a place to work because we like to work on projects of this scale,” EDSA Project Manager Paul Kissinger said.
       

Teen gets 10 years for torching school

        CLINTON — A teen-ager has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for setting fire to the Hickman County Elementary School.

        Johnathon Tynes, 19, of Clinton, pleaded guilty in January to a charge of second-degree arson for the July 1998 fire. Judge Will Shadoan imposed the sentence Thursday.

        Mr. Tynes' sentencing was delayed because part of his plea agreement was to testify at last month's trial of Mitchell Combs, 21, also of Clinton, who was charged with complicity to arson. A jury found Mr. Combs innocent.

        The gym, classrooms, computer lab and library were destroyed in the fire. The school has been repaired.
       

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