Official wants money to pay for I-75 patrols

        INDEPENDENCE — Kenton County Judge-Executive Dick Murgatroyd wants to spend $17,000 from an emergency reserve fund to continue a program to patrol Interstate 75 for speeders.

        The money will be used to replace matching state money, Mr. Murgatroyd said. The state decided to redirect the money after examining the county's accident rate over the last six years and concluding it was lower than in many communities.

        Kenton County Police had received state money to patrol for speeders along the interstate from the Boone County line to the Ohio River. Officers have issued more than 3,000 traffic citations on I-75 from October 2000 through September 2001.

Oxy tablets to get unique initials

        STAMFORD, Conn. — Purdue Pharma announced that OxyContin tablets distributed in Mexico, South America and Canada will now carry unique markings in an effort to identify the source of medications illegally sold in the United States.

        The tablets in Mexico and South America will be marked with “EX,” and tablets distributed in Canada will carry the initials “CDN”. Shipment of the tablets with the new marks to Mexico began in October and to Canada in July.

        Previously, OxyContin tablets had markings etched on each side of the tablet. One side bears the letters “OC” and the other carries a number that indicates the tablet's dosage strength in milligrams.

        The new marks are part of a “multi-faceted” plan developed by Purdue Pharma to reduce prescription drug abuse, according to a news release sent out by the company. Purdue Pharma has been criticized for not doing enough to keep the tablets — which produce a quick and potentially lethal high when chewed, snorted or injected — off the black market.

Sergeant graduates from training course

        COVINGTON — Sgt. Bryan Allen, a 11-year veteran of the Covington Police Department, graduated from the Southern Police Institute's Administrative Officer Course on Nov. 9. The 12-week course at the University of Louisville is designed to develop informed, effective, ethical and technically competent law enforcement managers.

Man charged with murder after crash

       LONDON — The driver of a pickup truck that went off a bridge now faces a murder charge in connection with the death of a passenger.

        David Mark Powers, 35, of Williamsburg, is in the Whitley County Jail. He was charged with driving under the influence following the Nov. 17 wreck on Lick Fork Road.

        Hubert Paul, 35, of Williamsburg, died in the crash.

        Police said the truck Mr. Powers was driving fell off the bridge. Mr. Paul was trapped inside the vehicle and drowned, said Whitley County coroner Jimmy Paul.

        Mr. Powers was arrested on Thanksgiving, shortly after his release from Baptist Regional Hospital in Corbin.

        The case now will go the Whitley County grand jury, state police said.

Ex-boyfriend charged with girl's murder

        MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The former boyfriend of a 17-year-old girl whose body was found in a trash can last week has been charged with first-degree murder in her death.

        Police said tips led them to 17-year-old Cornelius Fields, who was arrested earlier this week in Morganfield, Ky., where he was enrolled in a Job Corps program. He is being held without bond in the Shelby County, Tenn., jail.

        Lecheryl Reshun Henderson, who had dated Mr. Fields for a year, was reported missing by her mother on Oct. 27. A neighbor discovered the 17-year-old's body last Tuesday.

        Authorities don't have a motive. However, witnesses told police they saw Mr. Fields pushing a trash can away from Ms. Henderson's mother's apartment on the day she disappeared.
       

Grants will keep ballet troupe on stage

        INDIANAPOLIS — Ballet Internationale is receiving a package of grants for up to $910,000 that could be a lifesaver for the 28-year-old troupe.

        Lilly Endowment will provide the ballet company with $250,000 next month and $100,000 next summer, with prospects of up to $560,000 more, contingent on the ballet's ability to raise money elsewhere and balance its 2002-03 budget.

        “This grant makes a tremendous difference to the future of the company,” John Zurick, the ballet's interim executive director, told the Indianapolis Star. “It changes the way we operate dramatically.”

        The ballet company has started a campaign to raise the money to collect up to $500,000 in matching funds Lilly has offered, Mr. Zurick said.

Woman dies after apparent blow to head

        BOWLING GREEN — A 40-year-old woman was found dead in her kitchen from an apparent blow to the head, authorities said.

        Ava Anderson was found dead on her kitchen floor Thursday after emergency medical units and firefighters responded to a report of an unconscious woman, police said.

        Laura Anderson, 18, of Louisville, met emergency responders at the door of her mother's home, according to a police report.

        In October 1999, Laura Anderson, then 16, was lodged in the juvenile section of the Warren County Regional Jail charged with murder after the shooting death of her father, Bill Anderson.

        The charges were dropped after an investigation found that Bill Anderson suffered from depression and taunted Laura Anderson into killing him by handing her a loaded .22-caliber rifle and pushing her until it discharged.

        No charges have been filed in Ava Anderson's death. Police are handling the incident as a death investigation, said Bowling Green police Sgt. John Stewart.

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