BURLINGTON - Indicted on attempted murder charges Tuesday by a Boone County grand jury, a 42-year-old drifter and former U.S. Special Forces member is being held in the Boone County jail on a $155,000 bond.

        Bruce J. Heald, whose driver's license from his last known address in Oregon lists him as a “continuous traveler,” was allegedly plotting to murder a former girlfriend who lives in a Burlington subdivision, said Maj. Jack Banks, who oversees criminal investigations for the Boone County Sheriff's office.

        “We had to piece together quite a bit of information. Our investigation led us to believe he was there first of all to surveil the victim, and later to possibly murder the victim,” Maj. Banks said.

        According to a police investigation, Mr. Heald was in the subdivision stalking his former girlfriend June 4.

        “In the early morning hours we received a complaint of someone trespassing in a house that was under construction in a subdivision,” Maj. Banks said.

        Though the person fled, an automobile was left behind. The contents led investigators to connect Mr. Heald to the former girlfriend who lived within viewing distance of the construction site.

        Maj. Banks said that while executing a search warrant, police found a weapon, which had been converted to fully automatic with a homemade silencer, and related material in the car.

        Former columnist to sign copies of book

        NEWPORT - Former Kentucky Post columnist Margie Jenkins will be at the Barnes & Noble at Newport on the Levee at noon Monday

        for a book signing of her new work, You Only Die Once.

        The book's subtitle, “Preparing for the End of Life with Grace and Gusto,” reflects the book's focus of confronting death as an issue to be handled before the stressful times which can surround illness and death.

        Mrs. Jenkins, 79, is a licensed professional counselor in Texas, where she has been a member of the committee of the Texas Partnership for End of Life Care for the Bill Moyers television series Dying on Our Own Terms, which originally aired in September 2000 on PBS.

        American Indian culture topic of forum

        FLORENCE - A discussion on American Indian culture will be led by authors James Alexander Thom and his wife, Dark Rain Thomas, at 7 p.m. Monday at the Boone County Public Library's Scheben Branch at 8899 U.S. 42.

        Mr. Thom's most recent book is SignTalker: The Adventure of George Drouillard on the Lewis and Clark Expedition. He is also the author of Follow the River, a story based on Mary Ingles' journey and escape along the Ohio River from the Shawnee Indians who kidnapped her; and Panther in the Sky, about the life of the former Shawnee chief Tecumseh. Dark Rain Thom, a Shawnee clan mother, is the author of Kokumthena's Grandchildren, The Shawnee, a history of the Shawnee and their culture.

        The American Indian program is one of the activities the Boone County Public Library is featuring in a two-month series titled “ReDiscover America,” which runs through the end of October.

        Christian musicians to perform at Pride Park

        TAYLOR MILL - Six contemporary Christian musical artists will perform from noon to 6 p.m. today at Pride Park on Taylor Mill Road as part of the Second Annual Seasons of the Spirit Musical Festival.

        Four Seasons Community Church in Edgewood sponsors the festival. People attending the free event may want to bring a blanket or lawn chair.

        Musical styles will range from folk-rock to heavy metal. Performing will be Brother Love's Traveling Salvation Show, Chasing Superman, Jordan's Crossing, Sword, Daniel and Michael Brocker.

        For more information call (859) 261-2387 or go to http://home.viafamily.com/frankiebk.

        Report blames driver for fatal bus crash

        HOPKINSVILLE - A report from the National Transportation Safety Board puts much of the blame for the cause of a fatal bus crash on the driver of the bus.

        The report, adopted in August, is the federal agency's final verdict in the crash, which injured 47 schoolchildren bound for South Christian Elementary School Nov. 30, 2000. Five-year-old Tyler Powers of Oak Grove, the son of a Fort Campbell soldier, was killed in the crash.

        Ulima Allen, 38, was operating the bus when it crashed. Ms. Allen, whose driver's license was suspended for unpaid traffic fines and reinstated just two days before the wreck, has never been charged with a violation in connection with the wreck.

        However, Ms. Allen was arrested about two weeks after the wreck on unrelated traffic and theft charges. She served 60 days in the county jail.

        The NTSB report discusses Ms. Allen's testimony that a student approached her while she was rounding a curve on Ky. 117 a few miles from the Herndon school. The student touched her on the arm, causing her to swerve off the right side of the roadway.

        When she corrected to bring the bus back onto the road, the child fell toward the entrance door and she reached out to catch the child, the report said.

        The bus hit a culvert before skidding back across the road and into a shallow ditch to the left, where it overturned. Tyler was ejected through an escape hatch in the roof.

        Wage bill could set city workers' pay

        LOUISVILLE - City employees would be paid no less than $10.20 an hour under a proposed ordinance that also would affect employees of companies doing contract work for the city.

        The proposal, which Alderman Bill Allison plans to introduce, has drawn praise from social activists and skepticism from business groups.

        More than 80 U.S. cities and counties have enacted variations of “living wage” laws, though some were repealed or remain bogged in lawsuits.

        Mr. Allison and other supporters say they can pass the wage increase, which would include health insurance benefits, without increasing taxes.

        The law would go into effect in fiscal 2003.

        Mr. Allison said about 160 of the city's 1,000 employees could get a raise.

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