WVIH.com

State officials are evaluating a roadside drug test that could help police counter the growing number of drivers who are high behind the wheel. State Office of Highway Safety is partnering with authorities in Louisville, Paducah and Madison County to test portable kits that police officers could eventually carry into the field to test drivers for controlled substances. If the tests prove reliable, lawmakers say they will consider legislation next year to expand their use. Louisville defense attorney Larry Forman says the tests could lead to invasive searches or give officers false pretense for arrests. According to Kentucky State Police, authorities suspected that drugs were a factor in nearly 1,600 traffic collisions across the state last year, resulting in 939 injuries and 214 deaths. … [Read more...]

U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan's message for students thinking about college is simple: You can do it, and the federal government can help pay for it. Duncan visited Louisville on Thursday as part of a back-to-school bus tour with stops in 10 cities. He told a group of prospective college students during a discussion at the University of Louisville that too many of them never fill out federal financial aid forms. He said they miss out on about $150 billion in grants and loans made available by the federal government every year. Duncan said he worries that many students with the grades to go to college believe that it will be too expensive. Those skeptical students have a point: nationally, student debt is near $1.3 trillion dollars and the average price for in-state students at public four-year universities is 42 percent higher than it was a decade ago, according to the College Board. … [Read more...]

Vandals have spray-painted multiple anti-Islamic messages on the outside of the Louisville Islamic Center in Kentucky. Center spokesman Muhammad Babar says members found the graffiti Wednesday evening when they arrived for a prayer service. Vandals left phrases like "this is for France" and "Nazis speak Arabic." Babar said he filed a police report and has spoken to the FBI about the incident. Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer responded by asking the community to help the center paint over the graffiti on Friday. Louisville Police Chief Steve Conrad told reporters Thursday that the FBI is investigating the incident as a hate crime. … [Read more...]

The hand sanitizer used for getting rid of those nasty germs and bacteria can be dangerous and even deadly. Just swallowing two to three squirts of hand sanitizer can be extremely dangerous. In fact, it can make people, especially children and teens, drunk and give them alcohol poisoning, according to the Kentucky Regional Poison Center at Kosair Children's Hospital. Dr. Ashley Webb from Kentucky Regional Poison Control Center at Kosair Children's Hospital says they get about 100 calls each year regarding hand sanitizer. The cases they receive regarding children swallowing hand sanitizer under six is usually accidental. Cases involving children ages 7 to 18 often involve abuse of the product. Dr. Webb said if you have older children in the home and seem to be going through an abnormal amount of hand sanitizer, that could be a red flag and you should start asking questions. For children, exposure to the hand sanitizers that are scented can be appealing. With scents like strawberry, grape, orange and pumpkin spice, children often mistake them for candy. In November 2013, Jefferson County Public Schools banned hand sanitizer except for temporary or emergency use for a number of reasons including the fact that students were drinking it and some young children were licking their hands after using it with some ending up with alcohol poisoning. If your child has swallowed hand sanitizer call poison control at 1 (800) 222-1222. … [Read more...]

A coal miner died after a heavy piece of mining machinery fell on him in an underground mine in western Kentucky. Rickey Thorpe of Dawson Springs was working on a continuous mining machine early Wednesday morning in the Sebree Mine in Webster County when he was crushed. The mining machine is a broad, flat vehicle that uses cutting teeth to quickly dig into a coal seam. Officials with the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet say the 29-year-old Thorpe was working on the equipment when the accident occurred at 2:20 a.m. CDT. No one else was hurt. The mine, owned by Alliance Resource Partners, has been closed while officials investigate the incident. It was the second mine-related death in Kentucky this year. … [Read more...]

Police in northern Kentucky have identified a man found dead in a vacant home and say they have charged the man's caretaker with collecting his Air Force veteran benefits. Media report the body discovered Saturday in a Dayton home was identified Wednesday by police as 55-year-old Steven Reis. Dayton Police Chief David Halfhill said it looked like Reis probably died in early January, but the cause of death hasn't been determined. Police charged 40-year-old Christy Russell of Dayton with tampering with evidence and fraud. She was being held in the Campbell County jail on $7,500 bond. Halfhill said Russell knew Reis was dead and used his credit card to steal between $24,000 and $30,000 in Reis' veteran benefits. … [Read more...]

After promising more transparency in its expenses, Kentucky's pension plan for public employees has reported investment fees that are more than double what's been previously made public. The Kentucky Retirement Systems Board of Trustees made the disclosure last week in a meeting. A memo to board members said the agency revised the amount it paid to outside investment firms as part of a "proactive transparency change." KRS Chief Investment Officer David Peden said the system's net income was not affected. The numbers give the nearly 350,000 public employees and retirees that depend on the pension system a better idea of how much the board pays to firms to invest about $16 billion in assets. … [Read more...]

Kentucky farmers may be poised to produce the state's largest soybean crop on record as the fall harvest gets under way. The latest figures from the National Agricultural Statistics Service show that soybean production in Kentucky is forecast at 92 million bushels. That is unchanged from the August forecast but up 10 percent from 2014. Statewide corn production is forecast at 224 million bushels, up 1 percent from the August forecast but down 1 percent from the previous crop. Corn yield is estimated at 172 bushels per acre, up 14 bushels from last year's level. Soybean yield is projected at 50 bushels per acre, up 2 bushels from a year ago. Burley tobacco production is forecast at 118 million pounds, down 28 percent from 2014. Yield is projected at 1,900 pounds per acre. … [Read more...]

A former high school football coach has pleaded guilty in western Kentucky to sexual abuse. Attorney General Jack Conway's office says Former Marshall County High School coach Ronald E. Barnard pleaded guilty Tuesday to six different charges, including five felonies. Sentencing is November 5 in Marshall County. The attorney general's office said in a news release that the 47-year-old Barnard agreed to a total sentence of seven years. The release said Barnard was arrested last year in a case involving a 15-year-old student at the school. Investigators examined personal computer devices belonging to Barnard, and he was indicted in May in connection with another female student, who was 17. The release said the investigation led to discovery of a fake Twitter account set up by Barnard to communicate with students and allow inappropriate pictures to be exchanged. … [Read more...]