COVINGTON — A direct-access phone line is being set up between Kenton County police officers and the Kenton County Attorney's Office, Kenton County Attorney Garry Edmondson said.

        Officers in the field will be able to use it to ask the attorney's office questions from anywhere.

        “Every police officer in Kenton County will have immediate access to me or a member of my staff, 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” Mr. Edmondson said.

        The number is confidential between law enforcement officers and the attorney's office.

SPILLED ASH: Truck driver Franklin D. Davis (left), of New Richmond, and Wilder Police Detective Andrew Williams look over Mr. Davis' truck, which overturned on southbound Ky. 9. Mr. Davis was coming off a ramp from westbound Interstate 275 when the truck toppled, spilling its load of ash from a power plant. Mr. Davis was not injured. (Patrick Reddy photo) | ZOOM |

        The public may reach the county attorney's office at (859) 491-0600 or on the Internet at www.kentoncoatty.com.
       

Independence library to be closed Friday

        INDEPENDENCE — The Independence branch of the Kenton County Public Library will be closed Friday for inventory.

        The Erlanger and Covington libraries will be open regular hours that day, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

        Items may be renewed or placed on hold by visiting the library's online catalog at www.kenton.lib.ky.us.
       

Educational co-op passes state audit

        The Northern Kentucky Cooperative for Educational Services got a clean bill of health Thursday in its first state audit — prompted after an embezzlement scandal last year in another co-op.

        State Auditor Ed Hatchett released an audit report of the Northern Kentucky co-op's financial statements for the 1999-2000 fiscal year.

        No major problems were found, but the co-op was cited for not properly accounting for its fixed assets, such as furniture or property; and for not adequately collateralizing, or securing, all its public deposits.

        The co-op has 16 member school districts and an annual budget of $2.8 million.

        This is the first year the state legislature has required audits for Kentucky's nine school co-ops.

        The requirement came after Randy Kimbrough, the Kentucky Department of Education's top budget official, pleaded guilty to embezzling more than $500,000 through one of the co-ops, the Kentucky Educational Development Corp. in Ashland.

        The state auditor contracts with private firms to perform the audits.
       

Mardi Gras event benefits shelters

        COVINGTON — Tickets can still be purchased for the Northern Kentucky Restaurant Association's 10th annual Mardi Gras fund-raiser Tuesday.

        The event runs from 6:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. at the Northern Kentucky Convention Center. It features food from 21 Northern Kentucky restaurants, beverages, New Orleans jazz, and live and silent auctions.

        Proceeds benefit shelters for homeless children in Northern Kentucky and Cincinnati: Bethany House Services, Brighton Center Homeward Bound, Mercy Franciscan at St. John and Welcome House.

        For ticket information, call 291-NKRA.
       

Senate passes bills in abortion debate

        FRANKFORT — Two bills with abortion implications were passed Friday by the Kentucky Senate.

        One would allow someone accused of killing a fetus to be prosecuted for wrongful death. Physicians, pregnant women and hospitals would be exempted.

        But the bill, if enacted, would make a significant change to Kentucky law by declaring a fetus “from fertilization onward” to be a person.

        “The baby is a life ... and should not be deprived of legal protection,” the bill sponsor, Republican Sen. Elizabeth Tori of Radcliff, said in a floor speech.

        The wrongful-death law allows parents to sue for loss of affection and companionship of a minor child.

        The vote was 31-2. One of the opponents, Sen. Ernesto Scorsone, D-Lexington, offered an ill-fated amendment that would have permitted only personal-injury lawsuits by pregnant women who were made to suffer a miscarriage or stillbirth.

        The other bill would amend the state's legal definition of abortion to include RU-486, the “abortion pill.” The bill was sponsored by Sen. Jack Westwood, R-Erlanger. It passed 36-1.

        The wrongful-death bill is Senate Bill 157; the RU-486 bill is SB 7.
       

Bills would affect school calendars

        FRANKFORT — Kentucky schools would have to be closed on Veterans Day under a bill the Senate passed 37-0 Friday.

        The General Assembly last year required state government employees to take Veterans Day, which is Nov. 11, but give up Presidents Day as a paid holiday.

        A second bill affecting school calendars also was passed 37-0. It would give districts flexibility in scheduling spring breaks, which now is scheduled around the Kentucky Education Association's annual state convention.

        The bill by Sen. Vernie McGaha, a former Russell County school principal, would permit classes during KEA convention week. But KEA delegates would not be prohibited from attending, and districts would have to hire substitutes.
       

Gift shop manager guilty of poor ethics

        FRANKFORT — The gift shop manager at Kentucky Horse Park committed an ethics code violation by purchasing items from a company owned by her daughter, the Executive Branch Ethics Commission said Friday.

        The shop manager, Patricia Ann Warren of Georgetown, agreed to a $2,500 civil penalty and a public reprimand, the commission said.

        The commission said that from July 1998 through May 2000, Ms. Warren regularly authorized purchases of sportswear and embroidery and silk-screen work from Sew Perfect Embroidery, a company owned by her daughter.

        The purchases were worth $20,925 to her daughter, the commission said.

        Horse Park Executive Director John Nicholson said the park, in Fayette County, concurred with the commission's findings.

        Ms. Warren remains the gift shop manager.

        In response to the case, ethics commission staff will conduct a training session for the horse park's employees, Mr. Nicholson said.

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