Police seek trucker in I-275 collisions

        WILDER — Police are searching for a trucker who didn't stop after being involved in collisions on Interstate 275 that seriously injured one person.

        Earl Larison, 60, of Taylor Mill was in fair condition Tuesday afternoon at University Hospital, a spokeswoman said.

        The wreck occurred at 4:25 p.m. Monday at the Wilder exit of I-275, according to Wilder Police.

        Officers say a white tractor-trailer hit a van and pickup after losing control or trying to merge from the middle eastbound lane to the high-speed lanes. The impact propelled the van and pickup across the median into westbound traffic, where one of the vehicles hit Mr. Larison's vehicle.

        Jessie Kuntz, 20, of Burlington was driving the pickup. She was treated for minor injuries at St. Elizabeth Hospital South in Edgewood. The driver of the van, Kimberly Balser, 22 of Dayton, Ky., was not injured, according to police.

        Anyone with information about the wreck is asked to call Wilder police at (859) 581-8863.
       

Chief justice speaks at chamber event

        COVINGTON — Kentucky Supreme Court Chief Justice Joseph Lambert is the scheduled speaker for November's Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce Government Forum series.

        The event will be held from noon to 1:30 p.m. Nov. 30 at the Metropolitan Club in Covington. Reservations and information are available by calling the chamber, 859-578-8800, extension 355, or www.nkychamber.com.

        Justice Lambert is considering a run for governor as a Republican in the 2003 election.
       

Four parcels sold for industrial park

        BOWLING GREEN — A proposed industrial park gained momentum with the purchase of the first four parcels of land for the development.

        The $1.5 million purchase of the contiguous parcels were finalized Monday when the deeds were recorded at the Warren County clerk's office, said Inter-Modal Transportation Authority President Dan Cherry.

        Opponents of the Kentucky TriModal Transpark have organized campaigns to try to persuade landowners not to sell. Roger Brucker, a member of one of the opposition groups, said he was not surprised some decided to sell. On the whole, the campaigns have been successful, he said.
       One landowner received $542,000 for nearly 42 acres, while another was given $969,725 for three tracts, totaling more than 73 acres.
       

Case could herald Commandments posting

        KNOXVILLE — The Knox County Commission plans to post the Ten Commandments in its downtown government building if a federal appeals court upholds a similar display in a Kentucky case.

        The commission voted 10-7 Monday to display the biblical tenets if the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals does not strike down McCreary County, Ky.'s display.

        Until that ruling comes down, however, the Knox County resolution is “suspended in time,” said county Law Director Mike Moyers.

        The resolution also provides that commissioners would pay for the display themselves and not at taxpayer expense.
       

Clothing maker closing U.S. plants

        SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Tompkinsville, Ky. will lose its Key Industries factory.

        The last three U.S. factories of Key Industries are closed, after the co-owner said he could no longer compete with foreign players in the apparel industry.

        The Fort Scott, Kan., company had held on as other clothes makers folded under foreign pressure. It streamlined and matched U.S. labor to its foreign competitors and kept prices as low as possible.

        But owner Bill Pollock estimates he lost $10 million in the last six years.

        He said Monday that Key's plants in Buffalo, Nevada and Tompkinsville, Ky., will be closed. He said he had to take Key's production to plants in Latin America and Asia.
       

Arsonists set blazes behind forest fire crews

        JACKSON — Crews fighting fires on two hillsides in Breathitt County had to flee when arsonists set fires behind them, forestry officials said Tuesday.

        No injuries were reported from the incidents, which occurred Sunday, about 20 miles apart.

        Division of Forestry spokesman Cary Perkins said law-enforcement officers had no leads and, as yet, no help from witnesses.

        One crew was from the Division of Forestry. The other was a combination of National Guard soldiers and forestry employees, he said.

        With rain Monday night in parts of eastern Kentucky, crews on Tuesday were working on just two fires, in Bell and Whitley counties. ŁAll other crews were doing “mop-up” work, and some were pulling out, officials said.
       

Moratorium urged to study death penalty

        FRANKFORT — Sen. Gerald Neal wants a two-year moratorium on executions while Kentucky studies whether capital punishment is fairly administered.

        “Two years will be enough time for us to find out what we need to know,” Mr. Neal said.

        During the moratorium, which will be considered by the 2002 General Assembly, death sentences could still be imposed at trial and reviewed by appellate courts. No executions would be carried out.

        A former judge of the highest criminal court in Texas told the interim Judiciary Committee on Tuesday a study of capital punishment is essential, and it makes sense for a moratorium while the study is completed.

        According to the Department for Public Advocacy, which represents all death penalty cases on appeal, there have been 82 death sentences imposed in Kentucky since it was reinstated in 1976.

        Of that total, 69 cases have been reviewed on appeal and 43 of those cases have been reversed at some level.

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