FRANKFORT, Ky. - Seven more cases of West Nile virus have shown up in horses in Kentucky, bringing the total number of equine cases in the state to 15 this year, the state veterinarian's office said Friday.

        Two of the new cases were in Barren County, two in Fayette County and one each in Logan, Marion and Todd counties, said Rusty Ford of the veterinarian's office. Three of the horses - a 2-year-old quarter horse colt in Barren County and two thoroughbred mares, one 15-year-old and one aged, in Fayette County - were euthanized, he said. The other four were all showing improvement, he said.

        None of the animals had been vaccinated for West Nile, Ford said. Since Jan. 1, 100,550 doses of vaccine have been approved for shipment to Kentucky, he said.

        Of the previous eight cases, four were euthanized, one was found dead and three survived, Ford said.

Arbitrator: Give fired officer job back

        LONDON, Ohio - An arbitrator again ordered the city to rehire an officer twice fired on accusations of using excessive force.

        London police officer Mike Albright should not have been fired after scuffling with a suspect on a domestic-violence call in July 2001, the arbitrator ruled Friday, ordering the city to reinstate him with back pay.

        Mr. Albright, a London officer since 1995, was indicted on four misdemeanor charges, including disorderly conduct and assault, in the scuffle. A jury acquitted him in November, but the department fired him in December.

        Mr. Albright also was fired in 1997 after being accused of slamming a prisoner's face into a cell door and lying to the police chief about it. An arbitrator ruled then that Mr. Albright deserved only a 30-day suspension.

Newark welcomes Wayne Newton home

        NEWARK, Ohio - This central Ohio city said “Danke Schoen” as Wayne Newton came home to lead its bicentennial parade.

        The Las Vegas entertainer - best known for the thankful hit - greeted fans and received a key to the city from Mayor Frank Stare as grand marshal of Friday's parade, which an estimated 25,000 people attended.

        Mr. Newton, 60, who lived in Newark as a child in the 1950s, said he didn't immediately recognize anything.

Officer faces charges of sex with inmates

        MEDINA, Ohio - A corrections officer faces two charges of having sexual encounters with Medina County Jail inmates.

        Lester McNary, 34, of Cuyahoga Falls, was indicted this week by a Medina County grand jury on the second sexual battery count. He had been charged last month in the first encounter.

        Prosecutors accused him of having a liaison with the first woman in the jail's kitchen. That investigation led to the accusation that he had sex with a second woman in the laundry room.

        A second corrections officer, Joseph Bradley, 39, is charged with complicity to commit sexual battery for acting as a lookout during the first alleged sexual encounter.

        Both officers have been fired, and are free on bond.

Stricter rules eyed for wildlife trappers

        HAMMOND, Ind. - The Natural Resources Commission Tuesday is expected to consider stricter regulations for businesses in the nuisance wildlife control industry.

        Currently, the state's 235 licensed wildlife control businesses are loosely regulated with very few requirements to obtain a license or open a business.

        The state does not require training or education to trap, handle or care for wild animals, and wildlife control operators need a license only to operate outside of a species' hunting or trapping season.

        The proposed changes would require wildlife control operators to hold a year-round permit, and permit holders would have to pass a test and receive continuing education annually.

Cancer survivors offended by remarks

        EVANSVILLE, Ind. - A group of breast cancer survivors say they are offended that a meeting with U.S. Rep. John Hostettler to discuss research, turned into a talk about a reported link between breast cancer and abortion.

        The women from Terre Haute met with Mr. Hostettler, R-Ind., at his Capitol Hill office in May, while in Washington for the National Breast Cancer Coalition's annual advocacy day with Congress.

        “We were extremely disappointed,” said Coral Cochran, who has had two battles with breast cancer and was one of 11 women at the meeting. “He was obsessed” with the link between breast cancer and abortions, she said.

        Ms. Cochran said some of the women felt Rep. Hostettler was implying they had undergone abortions.

        Mr. Hostettler said in an interview with the Evansville Courier & Press that he felt it was important for the women to know about the studies linking abortions to an increased risk for breast cancer.

        He said he did not imply that any of those women had abortions.

        “I can't control what people feel,” Mr. Hostettler said. “I can only control what I say.”

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