Pair of fund-raisers planned in N. Ky.

        Two Northern Kentucky political candidates are scheduled to hold campaign fund-raisers tonight.

        Gov. Paul Patton will be the guest speaker at a fund-raiser for Boone County Commissioner Tim Hamilton, a Florence Democrat seeking re-election in November.

        The event will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Commonwealth Hilton on Turfway Road in Florence. The suggested contribution is $25.

        Four Republicans are running in the May 28 primary, with the winner challenging Mr. Hamilton — a first-term commissioner appointed by Mr. Patton last year — in the fall.

        The Republican candidates are Karen Byrd, Terri Moore, Larry Brown and Sal Santoro.

        Newport City Commissioner Ken Rechtin — a candidate for Campbell County Fiscal Court — will hold a fund-raiser from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Southgate Community Center, 122 Electric Ave. The suggested contribution is $25.

        Mr. Rechtin is challenging incumbent county commissioner Roland Vories in the May 28 Democratic primary. The winner will run in November against Republican Terry Rasche, a Woodlawn businessman and real estate investor.
       

Ky. priest suspended after abuse alleged

       WHITLEY CITY, Ky. — A priest in eastern Kentucky has been suspended pending an investigation into sexual misconduct allegations, according to officials at the Diocese of Lexington.

        The Rev. Carroll Howlin, formerly a priest in the Diocese of Joliet, Ill., was a pastor at Good Shepherd Chapel in Whitley City when he was put on administrative leave Sunday.

        The action was taken pending the investigation of a sexual misconduct allegation received by the Joliet diocese, according to Tom Shaughnessy, a spokesman for the Lexington diocese.

        “As a diocese, we have received no complaints in our jurisdiction,” Mr. Shaughnessy said Tuesday. “The diocese in Joliet is handling the investigation.”

        Father Howlin has ministered in Kentucky since 1977 after receiving permission to work in “home missions” from Archbishop Thomas J. McDonough, the late archbishop of Louisville.

        Father Howlin has been the pastor at the Good Shepherd Chapel in McCreary County since at least 1988, when the Lexington diocese was formed.

        A spokeswoman for Good Shepherd Chapel declined to comment.

        A statement from the Diocese of Joliet said the information provided to the diocese came from the parents of the alleged victim. The man, who is now in his 40s, had recently told his parents he was abused by Howlin at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Romeoville, Ill., and in Kentucky in 1975, the statement said.

        The Joliet diocese is in Will County, Ill. No criminal charges have been filed against Howlin in that county or McCreary County, according to court clerks.

        The recent allegation comes on the heels of several sexual abuse cases across the nation and in Kentucky.

        A priest in Eunice, La., was relieved of his duties Monday because of allegations of sexual misconduct with a minor decades ago. At the time of the allegations Father Joseph Alexander was a Benedictine monk in the Diocese of Owensboro, Ky., according to the Diocese of Lafayette, La.

        A spokeswoman with the Diocese of Owensboro said the victim, who was not identified, was in a seminary at the time of the alleged abuse and would have been in his mid- to late teens.
       

File on closed case is filled with blanks

        FRANKFORT — An 800-page file on the gambling and prostitution case against a former legislative staff official was released by Attorney General Ben Chandler's office Tuesday.

        The documents, replete with hearsay statements, contain hundreds of blank spaces or entire blank pages as a result of court-ordered redactions.

        The case involved Kent Downey, who once was director of operations for the Kentucky House. He pleaded guilty in 1997 to federal charges of promoting prostitution and illegal gambling, often through a side business he sometimes ran from his Capitol office.

        A Franklin Circuit Court judge last year ordered Mr. Chandler's office to release the file after deleting material that would invade the privacy of those who sued to block its release.

        News organizations, using the Kentucky Open Records Act, requested access to the file after the case was closed in 1998.

        Barbara Hadley Smith, Mr. Chandler's spokeswoman, said the agency cannot vouch for the veracity of statements in the file.
       

Army picks new boss for Fort Campbell

        FORT CAMPBELL — The Army has tapped a former Screaming Eagle who holds a doctoral degree in international relations as the next commander of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) and Fort Campbell.

        Brig. Gen. David H. Petraeus, assistant chief of staff for military operations in Sarajevo, Bosnia, will replace commander, Maj. Gen. Richard A. Cody, later this year, the Kentucky New Era newspaper of Hopkinsville reported Tuesday.

        The date for the change of command has not been released, said Maj. Paul Fitzpatrick, a spokesman for the post.

        The 101st is based at Fort Campbell, an Army base on the Tennessee border with more than 20,000 soldiers. About 3,500 soldiers from the 101st are deployed to central Asia to fight in the war on terrorism.

        Maj. Gen. Cody took over operations at Fort Campbell in June 2000. His next assignment has not been released, Maj. Fitzpatrick said.

        Historically, a new commander for the post and division is installed every two years, with the official ceremony conducted in June.

        Brig. Gen. Petraeus is slated for promotion to major general when he assumes command at Fort Campbell.

        He is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., and entered the Army as a second lieutenant in 1974. He earned his doctoral degree from Princeton University.

        From 1991 to 1993, Brig. Gen. Petraeus was commander of the 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division — one of three battalions from the division that are deployed to Afghanistan. After serving as the director of plans, training and mobilization for the 101st for one year, Brig. Gen. Petraeus left Fort Campbell in 1994.

        He is a former executive assistant to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He was assistant division commander for operations and later acting commanding general of the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, N.C.

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