Kentucky U.S. Sen. Jim Bunning, a frequent critic of Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan, said this week's interest-rate cut was not large enough.

        The Federal Reserve cut interest rates by a quarter-point Tuesday, the 11th cut this year.

        But Mr. Bunning, a Southgate Republican, said “bolder action” was needed.

        “I appreciate the Fed's effort in cutting rates by 25 basis points,” Mr. Bunning said, “but question whether it is enough. After aggressively cutting rates three consecutive times by 50 basis points, the Federal Reserve has regressed back to a play-it-safe attitude.”

        “We need to maintain bolder action if we are going to to put an end to the Greenspan Recession,” he said.

Park's environmental impact faces scrutiny

        BOWLING GREEN — A board overseeing development of the Kentucky TriModal Transpark voted Wednesday for a university center to study the environmental impact of the proposed industrial park.

        Directors of the Inter-Modal Transportation Authority board agreed to have the study performed by the Western Kentucky University Center for Cave and Karst Studies.

SIGNING OFF: Chris Biddle of Quality Signs and Service removes the plastic covering from the Joe's Crab Shack sign at the Port Bellevue development. The restaurant is to open in mid-January. (Patrick Reddy photo) | ZOOM |

        The proposed 4,000-acre industrial park in Warren County could eventually include an airport.

        Opponents say the project is unworkable because of the topography. Scientists say the land where the park would be built is atop an underground landscape of caves, sinkholes and streams, called karst. The subterranean gaps make the waterways especially susceptible to pollutants.

        The Western center, headed by professor Nick Crawford, is recognized worldwide as an authority on karst topography and geology, ITA officials said.

C.W. Stoll, noted riverman, dead at 85

        LOUISVILLE — C.W. Stoll, who helped preserve the Delta Queen and who envisioned the transformation of the riverboat Avalon into the Belle of Louisville, died Monday at Norton Suburban Hospital of heart failure. He was 85.

        “Once you're infected with that strange indefinable malady, river fever, you're never quite normal again. You've got it, and there's nothing can be done about it,” he once told members of the Filson Club.

        Charles William Stoll was born July 28, 1916, in Louisville. He had been in love with boats and rivers since childhood.

        He was a correspondent for the St. Louis-based Waterways Journal when he was 15.

        From the time he was 6 years old, Mr. Stoll had jobs in the office of his grandfather's oil company in Louisville. As a teen, he would go down to the oil docks and talk with the boat crews, then send the news to the Journal.

        During summers in the mid-1930s, Mr. Stoll worked as a clerk on the old Gordon C. Greene packet boat, owned by the Greene Line.

Kenton libraries to close Dec. 23-25

        COVINGTON — All locations of the Kenton County Public Library will close for the Christmas holiday starting Dec. 23 and will reopen at 9 a.m. on Dec. 26.

        The library also will close at 6 p.m. on Dec. 31 and reopen at 9 a.m. on Jan. 2.

        To find out more about library programs, to review the electronic card catalog, or for directions to any library location, visit the Kenton County Public Library web site at www.kenton.lib.ky.us.

Man apparently fell in creek after crash

        PIKEVILLE — A Salyersville man drowned after a traffic accident early Wednesday when he fell into a creek, authorities said.

        Magoffin County Coroner Johnnie Lovely was awaiting autopsy results from the state medical examiner's office because Kentucky State Police say Carl Allen, 50, drowned following the early Wednesday accident.

        State police say Mr. Allen's vehicle left Lick Branch Road off Kentucky 378 at 1:30 a.m. and plunged over an embankment. The vehicle rammed a tree and became stuck on a hillside, according to officer Justin Cornett.

        Mr. Allen was getting out of the vehicle when he fell down a hillside and landed in a creek where he apparently drowned, Officer Cornett said.

Europeans hope to enrich uranium

        PADUCAH — A European supplier of nuclear fuel wants to build a uranium enrichment plant in the United States in direct competition with Paducah's USEC Inc., operator of the nation's only enrichment plant.

        “We see it as a commercial opportunity to deploy our technology in the United States,” said Peter Lenny, CEO of Urenco Inc., Urenco Ltd.'s U.S. subsidiary. “We have not made a final decision, but are very seriously considering it. It is looking very favorable at this point in time.”

UofL hopes to lure more out-of-staters

        LOUISVILLE — In an effort to attract more out-of-state graduate students, the University of Louisville will begin offering up to 100 merit-based scholarships to the students.

        The scholarships will be available for the summer 2002 semester. They will pay the difference between in-state and out-of-state tuition, a savings of about $10,000 per year for each recipient.

        “By attracting the best and brightest students to our campus, we will continue to raise the level of academic excellence at UofL,” university President John Shumaker said.

        The scholarships will be available to new students who have earned at least a 3.25 grade point average in their undergraduate studies.

        Ù Applications for summer of fall 2002 semesters must be received by March 1.

Mississippi Queen scales back plans

        LOUISVILLE — The 420-passenger Mississippi Queen, which had been idled by bankruptcy, will be cutting the waters of the Ohio River again next summer, stopping in Louisville and unloading river travelers at the city's waterfront.

        Last August, the boat's parent company predicted the number of passengers to visit Louisville on the Mississippi Queen in 2002 would more than double to about 8,500 compared with an estimated 4,100 this year.

        The newest estimate is for 3,328 passengers in 2002.

        Hotels were expected to benefit by starting or ending voyages in Louisville.

        But those plans were thrown into limbo in October when American Classic Voyages Inc., parent company of the Mississippi Queen, Delta Queen and other boats, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization.

        At that time it announced that six of the company's seven steamboats — including the Mississippi Queen — would cease operations after their scheduled autumn voyages.

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