Frankfort News Archives

Get the Flash Player to see this player. Photo By Hilly SchifferTim McClain, a state worker with the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, has been a hot air balloon pilot since 2002.

A Christmas red-and-white striped box with around 12 pieces sells for $8.50. Above is a box in fall wrapping.

Monday Dec 7 2009 will see the auction of the former Home Depot property on Vandalay Drive in Frankfort.

State Journal/Kelly Mackey A keepsake urn and memorial jewelry sold at Harrod Brothers Funeral Home.

The Frankfort Civitan Club is selling Claxton Fruit Cake. Prices are 1 pound for $3.75, 2 pounds for $7.25, 3 pounds for $10.50 and 5 pounds in a decorative tin for $19. To purchase a fruit cake contact JL Soyars at 223-0633. Profit from the sales supports the club's local service projects.

Photo By Charlie PearlAbout 150 participated in the traditional Thanksgiving Morning Walk of Awareness, a benefit for the ACCESS Soup Kitchen and Mena s Shelter on Second Street.

BERLIN -- German cabinet minister Franz Josef Jung resigned on Friday over an Afghan airstrike as Chancellor Angela Merkel tried to limit the political fallout from a matter that threatens to deepen Germans' doubts about their involvement in the U.S.-led war. Mr. Jung, who was defense minister at the time of the Sept. 4 airstrike, now is Germany's labor minister. He is the third senior official to lose his job over allegations that the German military withheld information about civilian casualties.

By JONATHAN WEISMAN WASHINGTON -- The battle over health care has played out publicly, in Congress, in presidential speeches and in heated town hall meetings all over the country. It has also been waged in the back rooms of the White House, new visitor logs suggest. White House aides released logs of more than 1,600 visits between Inauguration Day and Aug. 31, the second batch released this year. The release of the visitor logs came in response to requests for information from news organizations, interest groups and individuals, and is far from exhaustive. But the records suggest a scramble by lobbyists, industry groups and academics to make their views on the health-care debate known.

A program proposed at the University of Minnesota would result in required examinations of teacher candidates on "white privilege" as well as "remedial re-education" for those who hold the "wrong" views, according to the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education.

FRANKFORT, Ky. - The cost to taxpayers for legislators' pensions is projected to skyrocket by more than 460 percent in the next budget, in large part because of a benefit enhancement they quietly voted into law four years ago.

Associated Press - November 27, 2009 7:04 PM ET FRANKFORT, Ky. - While the state struggles with a $1 billion shortfall, the retirement plan for legislators is set to increase by more than...

Photo By Kelly MackeyFloyd a oeHappya Terrell gets help sitting in his wheelchair from Physical Therapist Assistant Thomas Hayden and home health aide Crystal Middleton after standing for about three minutes.

Photo By SubmittalDr. James A. Shepherd will be recognized Sunday by the First United Methodist Church.

Share + Nov 27, 2009 12:41 pm US/Eastern ROGER ALFORD, Associated Press Writer FRANKFORT, Ky.

Heads up, schmokers: Lighting up near your computer is heresy enough that Apple says it voids your warranty should you need to bring a smoke-exposed computer in for repair.

Photo courtesy Underwriters Laboratories FRANKFORT, Ky -- Just as you want to feed your friends & family well this holiday weekend, be sure to keep everybody safe from fire, too.

A 14-year-old Alabama girl might have helped arrange the gang rape of her ninth-grade classmate and could face charges as an accomplice based on her comments in a televised interview, a district attorney said.

By Tom Loftus tloftus@courier-journal.com The Courier-Journal FRANKFORT, Ky. - Kentucky State Police have called a news conference for 2 p.m. Tuesday to release the official results of the investigation into the September death of census worker Bill Sparkman in Clay County.

Photo By Hilly SchifferChuck Cotton, president of the St. Vincent de Paul Society, looks through items in the storea s current location in the basement of Good Shepherd School.

Photo By Hilly SchifferPat Wilson, 59, of Frankfort, a Salvation Army employee and volunteer, rings a bell to encourage donations in front of Bryanta s Pic-Pac Friday.

FRANKFORT, KY.: On the surface it all seemed like a gruesome hate crime in a rural part of Kentucky with a history of disdain for the government: a census worker found bound with duct tape and hanging from a tree, the word ''fed'' scrawled across his chest.

Ky. police: Census worker found hanging killed himself, staged death to look like homicide.

Emma Campbell and Victoria Dungan, both students in Kay Combsa class, do the hand motions for the a oeTurkey Pokya by putting their gobble in the circle during their Thanksgiving Play at Bridgeport Elementary School Monday.

They have a bit of a reputation for a vicious streak, but this dog certainly got more than it bargained for after pouncing on a baby squirrel it found on the ground.

Editor's note: The contents of this story are graphic in nature. An illegal alien has been sentenced to life in prison for breaking into an 83-year-old woman's home, grabbing her by the throat, smashing her head into furniture, saturating her with gasoline and setting her body on fire while she was still alive all to cover up his check-fraud scam ...

President Barack Obama is expected to spell out his strategy for Afghanistan during a national address next week.

When he outlines his plans for Afghanistan -- probably next week -- President Barack Obama says the goal will be to "finish the job" there while he's president.

First on TVNewser : American Idol runner-up Adam Lambert won't be appearing on "Good Morning America" tomorrow.

Modeled after the assembly of colonial leaders that formed the original governing body of the U.S., a grass-roots organization has concluded a "new Continental Congress" it hopes will be a catalyst for citizen action that will help return the nation to its roots.

Authorities are saying a Kentucky census worker found hanging from a tree with "fed" scrawled on his chest committed suicide and staged his death to look like a homicide.

Photo By Kelly MackeyBrenda Phillips, center, founder of Busy Bee Consulting, cuts the ribbon with members of the Frankfort Area Chamber of Commerce and other guests.

Get the Flash Player to see this player. Photo By Kelly MackeyLinda Brown, executive director of the ACCESS Soup Kitchen and Mena s Shelter, talks with Terry Foymire before lunch.

FRANKFORT, Ky. a ' Preliminary statistics indicate that 12 people died in 11 separate crashes on Kentucky roadways from Nov.

Four years after cartoons of the prophet Muhammad set off violent protests across the Muslim world, Islamic nations are mounting a campaign for an international treaty to protect religious symbols and beliefs from mockery - essentially a ban on blasphemy that would put them on a collision course with free speech laws in the West.

Cover will be provided by the Church of the Green: In Massachusetts, plans are for a "green" clinic, made of recycled and other environmentally friendly materials.

President Obama has dispatched a delegation this week to The Hague to explore issues involving the United States' possible participation in the International Criminal Court, an organization critics charge could be used to prosecute Americans under international legal standards for actions that are not crimes in the U.S. Andy Laney of the U.S. State ...

Feed The Children's former president is discouraging donations to the charity until his dispute with the group's officials is resolved.

A HONG KONG businessman said on Monday he was planning to build China's first Bible-themed amusement park, with construction to start next year if he gets approval from authorities in the communist state.

An evangelist yelled at the Jessamine County Public Library Board, then turned his attention to the seated crowd of more than 100: "If this is not pornography, what is?" He had passed out photocopies of a page out of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier to each of the board's members, and he held a copy aloft as he spoke.

A Frankfort man has been sentenced to four years probation and 60 days of house arrest for sexually assaulting two young female relatives between 2003 and 2005.

FRANKFORT, Ky. a ' Gov. Steve Beshear today announced the following judicial appointments to serve until the general election on Nov.

Hundreds of private e-mails and documents hacked from a computer server at a British university are causing a stir among global warming skeptics, who say they show that climate scientists conspired to overstate the case for a human influence on climate change.

Parkside Development was such a potential hot spot in 2006 the city and county got into a fight.

The county accused the city of theft for quickly annexing the eastside property from the county, and threatened a lawsuit.

Dr. Ed Ball, former executive director of the Kentucky Academy for School Executives, right, will speak to the Frankfort Chapter of the United Nations Association of the USA Monday.

What kind of parent are you? Strict? Let them be? I have news for you. If you believe in 'tough love ' parenting, and apply it, then your defiant children or problem kids have a much better chance of growing to be well-adjusted adults.

A Soldier successfully shoulder-fired a "smart" High Explosive Airburst, or HEAB round for the first time Aug. 11 from the XM-25 weapon system at Aberdeen Test Center, Md.

FRANKFORT, Ky. - Despite previous claims, investigators said Friday that bad food wasn't the primary cause of a fiery riot at a central Kentucky prison in August.

Photo By AP/Alex BrandonRep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., center, flanked by Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., left, and Rep.

FRANKFORT, Ky. - "Until now, we had been encouraged by the possibility of Harley-Davidson coming to Kentucky.

Photo By Kelly MackeyFrankfort Plant Board employee Troy Perry puts lights on the Christmas Tree in front of the Capitol.

FRANKFORT, Ky.. - Thanksgiving and Christmas are right around the corner. But if your job is to listen to and report on Frankfort political leaders it's hard to get into the spirit.

Two retirees who sold more than $1 million in knock-off merchandise and a suspended lawyer who failed to report her income have been indicted by the Franklin County grand jury for tax fraud.

A Frankfort policeman dozed off at the wheel Friday and suffered a minor leg injury in a collision that severely damaged his cruiser, according to reports.

Responding to more inaccuracies discovered in the reporting of spending and job creation from the administration's economic stimulus plan , the top White House official charged with overseeing the program vowed today to go through the reports with a fine-toothed comb and to correct the mistakes.

Lazette Cherry wanted only to help her son, Jamar Pinkney Jr., when she called his father, and shared some of the most disturbing news she ever had heard.

Winter Garden police this afternoon continued their search for at least two men thought to be involved in a home invasion that left a woman in the hospital with a gunshot wound.

Starry-eyed children writing letters to the jolly man at the North Pole this holiday season likely won't get a response from Santa Claus or his helpers.

Nearest city: Louisville Population: 57,099 Median family income: $53,636 Runners-up: Louisville, Bowling Green Owensboro, situated on the southern bank of the Ohio River, 109 miles southwest of Louisville, is an industrial hub with aluminum, coal, steel processors, and natural gas operations.

FRANKFORT, Ky. - Kentucky has borrowed roughly half a billion dollars from the federal government this year to pay benefits to unemployed workers - money the state likely will have to pay back when the economy recovers.

Authorities have released the name of a Carter County man found shot to death in his home on Monday.

Photo By Kelly MackeyRonald Willoughby drives the first Jim Beam truck across a new bridge built in May.

Directors of the Frankfort Plant Board say it will take four to five months to recruit a new general manager and cost between $30,000 and $80,000. The board is seeking a new executive after long-time general manager Warner Caines retired in September.

Beam Global Spirits & Wine says it plans to close its Cincinnati bottling plant in two years, shedding 184 jobs.

New England states top this new set of rankings, while the South still lags. This annual ranking, published by the United Health Foundation, looks at 22 indicators of health, including everything from how many children receive recommended vaccinations, to obesity and smoking rates, to cancer deaths.

The nation receives a "D" Tuesday, November 17, 2009 FRANKFORT, Ky.-- Too many babies are being born too early in Kentucky.

Nearly three years after Heather Ellis switched checkout lines at a southeast Missouri store and touched off what she calls a racially charged dispute with white customers and authorities, the young black schoolteacher faces a trial that could send her to prison for 15 years.

Over 150 volunteers of all ages and backgrounds came together on Saturday November 14th as Go Frankfort to make a difference in their community.

ROGER ALFORD Ky. budget chairman: State will likely have to deal with revenue shortage without higher taxes FRANKFORT, Ky.

Groceries and gas stations will be the big money makers with the approaching Thanksgiving holiday.

Eds: APNewsNow. Will be updated. By ROGER ALFORD Associated Press Writer FRANKFORT, Ky.

FRANKFORT, Ky. - The Beshear administration on Friday fired veteran state regulator Ron Mills as director of the Division of Mine Permits - but gave no explanation for its decision.

The Frankfort man who broke into the Silver Lake home of City Commissioner Rodney Williams last year received five years probation.

Photo By Kelly MackeyBen Chandler talks to Elkhorn Elementary School fifth-grade students in the library.

In a cavernous warehouse amid rolling hills and dairy farms, a group of farmers recently gathered around a buyer in a conversation heralding a sea change in the United States.

Photo By Hilly SchifferKelly Everman, Downtown Frankfort, Inc. executive director, makes a stop at The Woolery dressed as an elf as she dances for Hailey Miller, 3, during the Whitaker Bank Candlelight Tour Thursday night.

It's enough to bring Johnny Walker to his knees or make Jack Daniels cry. A tanker truck carrying whiskey overturned on a highway near the Jim Beam distillery in Frankfort, Ky.

Greenland's ice losses are accelerating and nudging up sea levels, according to a study showing that icebergs breaking away and meltwater runoff are equally to blame for the shrinking ice sheet.

White House Counsel Gregory Craig said Friday he was resigning, ending a troubled tenure marked by his central role in the administration's rocky efforts to close the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay.

Say it ain't so! Could everyone's favorite bus driver Ralph Kramden and his sewer-worker buddy Ed Norton be mixed up in murderous high jinks? Yes, but it's all in good fun in "The Honeymurders," a spoof of the classic television show "The Honeymooners." Lexington-based Fantastical Theatricals is presenting "The Honeymurders" during a special ...

Recognize an individual or entity for efforts to protect the environment by nominating them for a 2010 Earth Day award presented by the Kentucky Environmental Quality Commission .

Gov. Steve Beshear is leaving open the possibility of a special legislative session in coming weeks to approve economic incentives for a possible Harley-Davidson plant in Shelbyville.

It turns out there's lots of water on the moon - at least near the lunar south pole.

Here's a ripple effect from the recession: The loss of blue-collar jobs across the country has led to the closing of a Danville plant that makes work boots.

As Harley-Davidson scouted out its potential sites for relocation in recent months, Shelby County was visited and explored fully by the motorcycle powerhouse.

After hearing from a small but enthusiastic audience at Shelby County High School, Triple S Planning & Zoning unanimously recommended approval Thursday night of a highly publicized zone change for the Shelby County Industrial Park a significant step in the county's pursuit of Harley-Davidson. Triple S voted, 7-0, to recommend approval of the zone ...

FRANKFORT, Ky. a ' The Council on Postsecondary Education recently awarded more than $1.1 million in federal grant funding to provide professional development for P-12 teachers and administrators.

It's enough to bring Johnny Walker to his knees or make Jack Daniels weep. A tanker truck carrying whiskey overturned on a highway near the Jim Beam distillery in Frankfort, Ky.

The rubble of a brick chimney is about the only thing left at 220 West Todd St., barely out of the Capitol's shadow.

A drop in energy stocks dragged the market lower Thursday following a government report that consumers and businesses cut back on their use of oil and gas.

The bat gate funded with Recovery Act dollarsA will be similar to this one, which controls human access toA Wheeler's Deep Cave in Great Basin National Park.

Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is a natural phenomenon caused by volcanoes and is not responsible for climate change, a scientist has claimed.

The Earth has developed stores to absorb excessive levels of carbon dioxide, according to a study that challenges the conventional thinking on climate change.

It was a "bottoms up" of a different variety. Authorities in Scott County said a tanker truck carrying Canadian Club whiskey overturned Wednesday on U.S. 460 as it was being driven to the Jim Beam distillery in Frankfort.

A Frankfort man has been indicted on charges of fracturing the skull of a 19-year-old during a fight.

The people want an empire, apparently, with that unassuming little black VW bug at the head of it.

Want to be live among the happiest Americans? Move to Utah. People in Utah report the highest levels of well-being, according to recent survey results from Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index .

Associated Press - November 12, 2009 4:15 AM ET FRANKFORT, Ky. - The Kentucky State Nature Preserves Commission has paid $147,500 for 98.5 acres of land in central Kentucky to protect a...

While in Luxembourg, Martha Ueltschi Penn spotted a hat in the window of a shop.

Triple S Planning & Zoning will conduct a public hearing Thursday night to discuss a zone change for 114 acres located in and adjacent to the Shelby County Industrial Park that could help the county in its bid for the Harley-Davidson motorcycle plant.

Walmart put an entirely new spin on its "Save Money. Live Better" mantra by putting caskets and other funeral supplies for sale on Walmart.com last month and essentially allowing its customers to die better, or at least more affordably, too.

Stubbornly high joblessness threatens to trigger loan defaults and drag on consumption next year, hobbling a U.S. economy struggling to rebound from recession, World Bank President Robert Zoellick said Wednesday.

Two members of a Centers for Disease Control team that evaluated studies of sex education programs have raised alarms, reporting that the data actually conflicts with the agency's stated conclusion that comprehensive programs such as those emphasizing "safe sex" over abstinence are working.

Frankly, I wasn't all that impressed when it was announced that a memorial for World War II veterans would be built on the Mall in Washington, D.C. As a vet, I had never felt the need for a special monument.

My name is Nicholas Rider. I'm 14 and last year I published my first book. How's that? you ask.

The only blind marching band in the country - and possibly the world - wants to show the world that their talents have no limits.

The famed Navajo Code Talkers, the elite Marine unit whose unbreakable code stymied the Japanese in World War II, fear their legacy will die with them.

FRANKFORT, Ky .-- State lawmakers met Tuesday morning, gathering information on the alleged abuse of walking horses, the illegal practice of "soring." It involves making the horses' feet hurt, so they lift them higher and faster in competition.

Handout photo released in 2008 by the British Antarctic Survey shows of a c... Global warming has been blamed for the alarming loss of ice shelves in Antarctica, but a new study says newly-exposed areas of sea are now soaking up some of the carbon gas that causes the problem.

A newly reappointed director of the Frankfort Plant Board is criticizing the policy to allow its members to qualify for health insurance through the utility's plan at a monthly cost of up to $1,200 each.

A worker uses an excavator to move dirt and rocks as work continues on widening U.S. 421.

Although he hadna t been on stilts for 25 years until two weeks ago, Joe Bowen is stilt walking and cycling from his native Powell County to Frankfort this week to promote his new book, a oeReal Winners Dona t Quit,a that he will sign at the book fair.

Danny Barker talks to a customer over the phone at his shop. Danny began his career at the age of 13 as a gas station mechanic making less than $1.50 an hour.

Joe Bowen, author of a oeReal Winners Dona t Quita stands on stilts while leaning down to talk with Phyllis George about her book, a oeNever say Never Yes You Can!a at the 28th Annual Kentucky Book Fair at Frankfort Convention Center Saturday morning.

Franklin County Health Department nurse Cindy Wilhoite prepares to administer the swine flu vaccination to Lt.

FRANKFORT, Ky. - A spokeswoman for Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear says he's calling the tree on the Capitol's front lawn a "Christmas" tree this holiday season.

Sen. Julian Carroll, left, watches as Pat Melton, center, fills out paperwork declaring his candidacy for sheriff.

Downtown Frankfort, Inc. executive director Kelly Everman is in charge of getting things ready for the Whitaker Bank Candlelight Tour.

Kentucky State University volleyball players Kamani Meriweather, Nikki Douglas, Mercedes Parker, Breanna Cozart and Brittany Stewart dance to music in the Exum Center parking lot while waiting to travel to Wilberforce, Ohio for a competition Friday.

A judge has denied the city's request for a $12,000 refund from the state fire commission over the incentive pay for three firefighters with the Frankfort Fire Department in 2007.

FRANKFORT, Ky. - Gov. Steve Beshear announced Thursday that Kentucky will receive $4 million in federal stimulus funds to pay for training and other resources for child-care providers.

FRANKFORT, Ky. - The Kentucky Supreme Court on Monday denied a stay of its recent ruling striking down residency restrictions on sex offenders convicted before July 2006.

A display downtown advertises a oeHorsina Around Frankforta a bench art project effort to beautify the area for tourists attending the World Equestrians Games in 2010.

When I got home today I noticed a flyer in my mailbox. With Thanksgiving approaching my first thoughts were for some upcoming seasonal sales/discounts. Unfortunately this was not the case.

The museum has been closed the past two years for extensive renovations, including replacement of the heating and air conditioning system and repairs and restoration to the exterior.

FRANKFORT, Ky. - At least $100 million annually would go to Kentucky's horse industry if voters approve a proposed constitutional amendment to legalize slot machines.

Frankfort Regional Medical Center is going tobacco free outdoors and in. In conjunction with the American Cancer Society's 34th Great American Smokeout Challenge on Nov.

It's not unusual to see a deer or a cow crossing Oklahoma's rural highways. But an elephant? A couple driving home from church nearly slammed into a giant pachyderm that had escaped from a nearby circus late Wednesday.

Evelyn Dixon of Kennedy Heights would go to services on Sundays at Gaines United Methodist Church in Madisonville and see the old men dressed in their Sunday best - men in their 80s, some bent over by age, some still robust.

At least seven people are dead and at least 12 others have been wounded in a mass shooting at Ford Hood in Texas, according to a base spokesman.

A Shelbyville man has pleaded not guilty to a charge that he murdered a Frankfort man during an altercation.

With a friendly smile and a sympathetic shrug, the Kroger cashier refused to sell a six-pack of Coors Light to the 18-year-old working as an undercover Alcoholic Beverage Control investigative aide.

From the article .... Black mayors have occupied City Hall since 1973, but this year, a white City Council member is leading in the polls, even though two black civic leaders urged black voters to unite against her.

Sowell, a registered sex offender, is now facing five counts of aggravated murder , rape, felonious assault and kidnapping, police said.

Bill Pelke talks about how he helped save his grandmother's killer from being executed.

Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert, left, is congratulated by Tom Whatman, who ran the campaign team for Issue 3 Wednesday in Cleveland.

Mayor Karen Tingle-Sames says a proposed 6,500-seat arena and retail center could bring hundreds of jobs to Scott County and lure visitors from surrounding cities.

FRANKFORT - The tall, decorated tree on the Kentucky Capitol's front lawn this holiday season will be called a 'Christmas' tree after all.

Harley-Davidson has announced that a Kentucky location is the only one it is considering if it relocates its York, Pa., motorcycle plant.

Two University of Kentucky basketball tickets and a signed basketball by John Calipari will highlight this year's fundraiser for the Frankfort Independent Schools Education Foundation.

Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert, left, is congratulated by Tom Whatman, who ran the campaign team for Issue 3 Wednesday in Cleveland.

The youngest mother in Bulgaria. Recently, an 11-year-old Bulgarian girl gave birth to a baby girl on the day she got married to her teenage boyfriend.

History Speaks!; a oeThis Is Home Now: Kentuckya s Holocaust Survivors Speaka Nov 4, 2009 12:00-1:00 p.m. Thomas D .Clark Center for Kentucky History, Frankfort, KY Arwen Donahue, former program coordinator in the Department of Oral History at the United States Holocaust Museum, and Rebecca Gayle Howell, photographer and faculty member at Morehead ...

The third man suspected in the Tierra Linda home invasions in March was in court Friday after he'd been missing for three months.

The Franklin County Board of Education has told state officials to keep their hands off the school system's rainy day fund.

Kentucky State Police investigation has lead to the indictment of a Franklin County mother.

FRANKFORT, Ky. - The state will meet a goal of providing health insurance to an additional 35,000 needy children through federal health insurance programs six months ahead of schedule, Gov.

Play Video Reuters Artist draws Manhattan from memory Reuters An undated image of the human brain taken through scanning technology.

FRANKFORT, Ky -- Moms and Dads might have a financial break coming next summer, just before school starts.

FRANKFORT, Ky. - Kentucky's low-income AIDS patients face the longest waiting list in the nation for a government program that offers free or low-cost drugs to fight the disease.

Peg Roberts had just returned from summer vacation when one of her GED graduates walked into her classroom.

The anticipation is palpable on Mexican night at this tiny US base in the mountains of Paktika Province in eastern Afghanistan.

FRANKFORT, Ky. - In a state capital where more damaging budget cuts loom, with no short-term prospects for an infusion of money from the private sector to the public sector, via taxes or gambling, some do-gooders met last week to see if the state and its children can get some long-term help from the foundations and individuals who make up what is ...

The Harrod sisters set out for yet another Halloween in 1957. Peggy, the timid witch, and Kay, the gypsy.

Kentucky State University President Mary Sias says the old Paul Sawyier Public Library could open for school groups by March just in time to get back on the river.