Accused murderer free on bond can't find work

        McKEE — Jackson County Clerk Jerry Dean, who is charged with murder in the death of a former employee, is out of jail on bond and free to go to work but has not been able to find a company to cover his performance bond.

        State law requires clerks to have a bond because the office handles hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in license and fee money, even in rural counties.

        Jackson County Judge-Executive Tommy Slone is searching for coverage for Mr. Dean. One key concern is that the May primary is fast approaching and no one else in Mr. Dean's office, which oversees balloting locally, has been through an election before, Mr. Slone said.

        “That would be my concern in having somebody in there with some experience” so the election “could withstand some scrutiny,” he said.

        The company that provides performance bonds for most county officials in Kentucky declined to cover Mr. Dean because of the murder charge.

        Mr. Dean, 58, is charged with using a high-powered rifle to kill Audrey Marcum, 31, a former employee who had filed a $30 million sexual-harassment lawsuit against him. Ms. Marcum was shot through the chest in the garage of her home on Nov. 17.
       

Ex-athletics director had planned to sue
       LEXINGTON — Former University of Kentucky athletics director Larry Ivy said he had planned to sue the university for wrongful termination after he received a letter that said he had been fired.

        But the 58-year-old said heart problems convinced him to retire instead.

        In the statement, Mr. Ivy said UK officials led him to believe that the five-member review committee was formed to examine athletic department policies and “for the purpose of reviewing and dispelling the unfounded rumors concerning me and my family.”

        Said Mr. Ivy: “Judging from the numerous and specific leaks to the press ... it became completely evident that the committee's agenda was simply to review my employment contract with the university and come up with issues which, only upon their face, might seem to justify termination of my employment contract for cause.”

        The university released documents this week that showed UK President Lee Todd fired Mr. Ivy on March 4 after Mr. Ivy refused to quit.
       

Bill would increase nurse responsibilities

        FRANKFORT — Nurses in local health departments could dispense contraceptives, tuberculosis medicine and some antibiotics under a bill the Senate Health and Welfare Committee approved Wednesday.

        The bill, by Rep. Barbara Colter, R-Manchester, applies to registered nurses and advanced registered nurse practitioners. They currently are allowed only to hand out samples of the drugs and birth-control pills. All the items would have to be on a list approved by the state commissioner for public health.

Hearing loss target of proposed law

        FRANKFORT — Many health plans would be required to cover part of the cost of children's hearing aids and treatment of hearing loss under a bill the House Banking and Insurance Committee approved Wednesday.

        Under the bill, which the Senate has passed, insurers would offer a maximum benefit of $2,800 per child every three years. Trish Freeman, a Harrodsburg resident whose two children have hearing losses, said parents typically pay several thousand dollars for treatments.

        No one on the committee voted against the bill, though some committee members usually make a point of opposing insurance coverage mandates.

        Democratic Rep. Jim Gooch, an insurance agent from Providence, said the bill “clearly is a mandate” that would increase premium costs.
       

2 dead, 2 hurt in I-75 crash

        MOUNT VERNON — Two Ohio women died and two were injured after their car hit a tractor-trailer on Interstate 75 in Rockcastle County.

        Kelly A. Simone, 21, of Doylesville, Ohio, was pronounced dead at the scene about 11:50 a.m. Saturday, police said. Kyna Barber, 21, of Cambridge, Ohio, died from her injuries at the University of Kentucky Medical Center on Tuesday afternoon, police said.

        Two other women in the car — driver Sara Pitcock, 21, of Zanesville, Ohio, and Brandy Siegel, 19, of Perry, Ohio — were treated the day of the accident and released, police said.

        According to the Kentucky State Police report, Ms. Pitcock's vehicle began to hydroplane on wet pavement about two miles north of Mount Vernon, before striking a bridge concrete side railing.

        The vehicle then bounced back into the slow lane of I-75, striking a tractor-trailer driven by Ronnie W. Jones of Franklin, Ind., police said.

        Neither Mr. Jones, 51, nor his passenger was injured in the accident.
       

Police say man burned own house

       PRINCETON, Ky. — Kentucky State Police arrested a Princeton man who allegedly set fire to his own house.

        Christopher T. Stith, 30, was in the Caldwell County jail on $10,000 bond after being arrested and charged with felony arson Tuesday afternoon.

        Police said they didn't know why Mr. Stith allegedly set the fire.

        Mr. Stith is also charged with wanton endangerment, also a felony.
       

Miners start work earlier than expected

        MORGANFIELD, Ky. — About 75 miners have gone to work at the new Highland Mine months earlier than expected.

        That's in spite of a delay in the completion of the entrance for the mine, located just north of U.S. 60 in Union County, near the Henderson County line.

        Parent company Peabody Energy Corp. had expected the underground mine to be in operation by mid-2002.

        But a roof fall during the construction of the mine slope, or opening, forced a delay of perhaps two months, until August or so, Peabody spokesman Vic Svec said Monday.

        When in full production, Highland Mine is to employ 250 people, staffed with laid-off miners from the Peabody Coal Co. Camp No. 1 mine.

        The mine is to produce coal from the Kentucky No. 9 coal seam for the Tennessee Valley Authority.

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