Principal named for middle school

        COVINGTON — The first leader of the city's new middle school was announced Friday — a day after the school was approved.

        Eric Neff was named interim principal of Covington's new sixth- and seventh-grade middle school.

        As part of its redistricting plan, the school board approved the middle school Thursday. It will be in the First District Elementary building on Scott Street. This fall, the school will house sixth-graders only, with seventh grade added next year.

        Mr. Neff, 35, joined the district last fall as the assistant principal of Ninth District Elementary. He previously taught third and fourth grades for seven years at Lincoln Elementary in Dayton, Ky., and coached football and basketball at Dayton High School.
       

Children's home holds festival

        FORT MITCHELL — The Diocesan Catholic Children's Home in Fort Mitchell holds its summer festival this weekend.

The home offers long-term treatment for emotionally and behaviorally disturbed children. Proceeds from the festival benefit the home, which has an operating budget of $2.3 million. The festival is expected to net more than $90,000.

        There will be music, a car show, fireworks, chicken dinners, a silent auction and bingo. Also, a two-year lease and maintenance on a 2001 Toyota Corolla is being raffled. Tickets cost $5 and are available by calling 331-2040, Ext. 234.

        Admission and parking are free. Hours are 3 to 11 p.m. today and 3 to 9 p.m. Sunday.
       

School district says blacks regaining jobs

        LEXINGTON — Fayette County school officials, criticized after dozens of black educators lost their jobs this spring, have released figures showing that some have regained jobs with the district.

        Fayette County Superintendent Robin Fankhauser said she wants minority groups to understand why the employees were let go.

        “It's very complex,” she said. “Some of them are programmatic adjustments. Some of them are due to restructuring in the central office. Some of them are due to looking at saving money.”

        In all, 354 employees lost their jobs or received reductions in pay and responsibility this spring. Of those, 22 percent were black.

        Each spring, employees without tenure are routinely let go and hired back over the summer as student enrollment warrants. This year those included:

        • Thirty-one bus monitors — 14 black and 17 white.

        • Eleven teachers — four black and seven white. Schools are just beginning the rehiring process.

        Additionally, a black assistant principal and white principal demoted when their one-year interim contracts ran out were hired back to the same posts.

        Ms. Fankhauser also declared a black teacher fired with cause in April eligible for hire at another school.
       

Jobless rate rises slightly in N.Ky.

        FRANKFORT — The slowing economy has slightly increased Northern Kentucky's unemployment rate, according to the state's Cabinet for Workforce Development.

        The jobless rate in the eight-county region rose in April to 3.3 percent compared with 3 percent in April 2000.

        The rates in the three largest counties also increased:

        • Boone, 2.9 percent from 2.6 percent.

        • Campbell, 3 percent from 2.5 percent.

        • Kenton, 3.2 percent from 3 percent.

        Statewide, the rate rose from 3.9 percent a year ago to 4.1 percent. Nationally, the jobless rate was 4.2 percent in April, compared with 3.7 percent a year earlier.
       

Infant dies after being left in hot van

        PADUCAH — A 10-month-old girl died after she was left in a minivan in the driveway of her house, authorities said.

        The girl was found unresponsive Thursday afternoon by her mother, said McCracken Chief Deputy Sheriff Terry Long. Paramedics were unable to revive her and took her to Lourdes Hospital, where she was pronounced dead, Deputy Long said.

        McCracken County Coroner Danny Sims determined the cause of death was hyperthermia, or overheating.

        Authorities were trying to determine how long the infant was in the minivan. According to the National Weather Service, the high temperature Thursday in Paducah was 83 degrees, at 3:08 p.m.

        Deputy Long would not say who left the infant in the minivan. No charges have been filed.
       

Patton, others going to biotech conference

        FRANKFORT — Kentucky Gov. Paul Patton will lead a delegation to an international conference on biotechnology this month.

        “I am bullish on biotech,” Mr. Patton said Friday.

        Biotechnology is a fertile field, increasingly competitive and figures prominently in a strategy for modernizing Kentucky's economy, Mr. Patton and other officials said.

        Bio 2001, the International Biotechnology Convention and Exhibition, is June 24-27 in San Diego.

        Others in the Kentucky delegation include two university presidents — John Shumaker of the University of Louisville and Charles Wethington of the University of Kentucky — and Lee Todd, who soon will succeed Dr. Wethington at UK.

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