From staff reports

Suspect held in home burglaries

MORNING VIEW - Police on Thursday arrested a Morning View man who is suspected of stealing $20,000 worth of property from at least four Kenton County homes.

Randy Baird, 37, is in the county jail on charges of burglary, receiving stolen property, possession of a handgun by a convicted felon and possession of a stolen firearm.

County police said they arrested Baird, who has been wanted since April 2002, at a Camp Drive residence after receiving a tip.

Police say they found at the residence a firearm, jewelry, assorted tools and kitchen cabinets he is suspected of stealing.

Two more in Ky. contract West Nile

FRANKFORT - The West Nile virus has been found in two Kentuckians, one in Barren County and one in Hart County. That brings the total number of state cases to four, a spokesman for Kentucky's Cabinet for Health Services said.

Both of the latest Kentucky victims had West Nile encephalitis, the more serious version of the disease, and are now resting at home. State health workers declined to elaborate, citing a new federal health care privacy act.

Further testing in a possible Grant County case reported on Aug. 12 turned up negative for West Nile virus, so that case has been removed from the state's case count. A Boone County man is Northern Kentucky's only confirmed West Nile virus case.

Information from state agencies on the West Nile virus is at www.westnile.ky.gov.

Ketron's council seat available

INDEPENDENCE - Anyone who wants to fill a City Council vacancy here should submit a resume by Sept. 15.

First-term Council member Otis Ketron submitted his resignation this month before pleading no contest to importuning, or solicitation. Sentencing is Sept. 10.

Ketron was accused of using his work computer to solicit sex with what he thought was a 15-year-old girl. The "teenager" was actually a Hamilton County sheriff's deputy working undercover.

Applicants should submit letters of interest, with brief biographies, to the City of Independence, Office of the City Clerk, 5247 Madison Pike, Independence, KY 41051.

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