NKU senior to intern in Frankfort

        HIGHLAND HEIGHTS — Josh Wice, a Northern Kentucky University senior, is one of two college students selected to intern for Kentucky House Speaker Jody Richards, D-Bowling Green.

        Mr. Wice, 22, of Edgewood, will intern during the legislative session that begins Tuesday.

        Mr. Wice is scheduled to graduate in May with a degree in political science and criminal justice.
       

Park invites hunters to shoot pesky fowl

        GREENUP — In an effort to trim the waterfowl population at Greenbo Lake State Resort Park, state officials will allow hunters to shoot ducks and geese beginning next week.

        “Don't get me wrong, they're beautiful birds, but we've got too many of them,” said Tom Clay, the park's business manager. “It's getting to the point where it's taking someone two to three hours every day to clean up the mess around the swimming pool and the lodge.”

        Greenbo's resident waterfowl population always gets migrating visitors this time of year, said Rocky Pritchert, migratory bird program coordinator for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources.

        “Hunting is a useful tool for managing the population, because geese have few natural predators,” Mr. Pritchert said.
       

Election official disputes liquor vote

        MURRAY — A member of the Calloway County election board claims a referendum that resulted in liquor sales at Murray Country Club was illegal.

        The country club was annexed by the city in February. Homer Bullard contends the election board never approved a change in precinct boundaries, so county voters — not city voters — should have decided the referendum.

        “They knew if Calloway people had voted on it, they would have turned it down, no doubt about it,” Mr. Bullard told the Paducah Sun. “In past votes, Calloway always went dry, 2 to 1. That's the reason why they did it.”

        Wet voters in the city's 6th precinct prevailed 45-28 in the election Dec. 4. County Clerk Ray Coursey said he believed the election was proper because the 6th was the only precinct contiguous to the country club.
       

Guilty plea made to counterfeiting

        LEXINGTON — One of the seven men charged with operating a counterfeiting ring out of a University of Kentucky dormitory has pleaded guilty.

        Joshua Allen Nelson, 18, of Harrodsburg, will be sentenced in March for passing and possessing bogus bills. He pleaded guilty to the charge last week.

        Six other defendants, three of them UK students, head to court today. Some are asking that their trial, set for Tuesday, be delayed.
       

Complaints against phone firm probed

        LEXINGTON — The Public Service Commission is examining complaints against a company that wants to take over Verizon's Kentucky telephone lines and become the state's No. 2 provider of local phone service.

        Alltel Corp., based in Arkansas, has offered $1.9 billion for Verizon, formerly GTE. If approved, Alltel would control 596,000 telephone lines in Fayette and 51 other counties. The acquisition does not involve Verizon Wireless, a cellular telephone company.

        The commission opened an inquiry into Alltel's offer in late November. Of special interest are complaints about Alltel's customer service record in Nebraska.

        The three-member commission will hold a public hearing in Frankfort on Wednesday.
       

Bridge inspector fights bribe allegation

        FRANKFORT — A state Transportation Cabinet bridge inspector has brought a libel and slander counterclaim against two companies that said three state inspectors demanded bribes from contractors hired to paint the Kennedy Bridge in Louisville.

        Billy Strader of Elizabethtown said he was “falsely and maliciously” accused by the contractors.

        Mr. Strader and Scott Kring of Frankfort both filed responses late last month denying allegations that bribes were solicited. The allegations were contained in a lawsuit filed in October.

        In that suit, two companies hired by the state to repaint the bridge — Abhe & Svoboda Inc. of Prior Lake, Minn., and Brighton Painting Co. of South Roxana, Ill. — alleged that three state inspectors demanded bribes, and that 11 days after one of the demands was refused, the state terminated the $13 million painting contract.

        One of the inspectors, Kevin Earles of Louisville, was subsequently charged by the FBI with extortion and has pleaded innocent. The FBI has said its investigation is ongoing.
       

Man dies in jail after DUI arrest

        BRANDENBURG — A Louisville man in jail on a drunken driving charge died Wednesday after an apparent seizure, state police said.

        Horace R. Smith, 42, was in the Meade County Jail when guards called emergency medical personnel to say that Mr. Smith was “possibly having a seizure,” a police statement said.

        He was taken to Hardin Memorial Hospital and was pronounced dead Wednesday. State police said the cause of death won't be known until toxicology tests come back.

        Police said no foul play is suspected.

        Mr. Smith, from western Louisville, was jailed after he was arrested by state police on drunken driving charges on New Year's Day around midnight.
       

Coal operator gets bond extension

        LOUISVILLE — Federal officials have granted Kentucky's Addington Enterprises, one of the largest coal operators in the country, three additional months to replace environmental reclamation bonds from a troubled insurer.

        Already given a 90-day grace period, the Ashland-based group of coal companies owned by the Addington family had faced a deadline today to find reclamation insurance or possibly be ordered to cease all mining in Kentucky and Tennessee.

        Addington coal now will be allowed to continue mining without adequate insurance to cover the costs of reclaiming disturbed areas — a violation of federal law, according to environmentalists.

        “This will not go unchallenged,” said Tom FitzGerald, environmental lawyer and director of the Kentucky Resources Council.

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