From staff and wire reports

Autopsy report filed for Erpenbeck exec

UNION - An Erpenbeck Co. executive who died Nov. 20 at his home succumbed to heart problems and an ulcer, an autopsy has found.

Tom Jordan, 55, of Union, died of heart and ulcer complications, said Boone County Deputy Coroner Lon Roberts.

Mr. Jordan was vice president of administration at Erpenbeck and former president and CEO of Provident Bank. He had been questioned by authorities in connection with the home builder's bankruptcy.

Mr. Jordan was among the senior managers who bought Bill Erpenbeck's share of the business after he resigned. He and current president Jeff Erpenbeck were recently working to sell the company's unfinished developments.

Sign-ups to be taken for `do not call' list

LUDLOW - Attorney General Ben Chandler's staff will sign residents up for the telemarketing "no call" list between 10 and 11 a.m. Wednesday at the Ludlow Senior Center, 808 Elm St.

More than 725,000 phone numbers are on the "no call" list. . That number represents 1.8 million Kentuckians who have signed up, including more than 60,000 Kenton County residents.

Louisville to be site of 2007 Senior Games

LOUISVILLE - Louisville will play host in 2007 to the Summer National Senior Games, an Olympic-style competition for people 50 and over.

The games are expected to attract 12,000 athletes and pump more than $15 million into the local economy.

Mayor Dave Armstrong plans a news conference Monday to make the official announcement. He was reluctant to provide details, but said, "I am confident, there's a real likelihood" that the games will be in Louisville in 2007, the Courier-Journal reported.

Phil Godfrey, chief operating officer for the National Senior Games Association, a nonprofit governing body based in Baton Rouge, La., said he will attend Monday's news conference.

Killer of two sentenced to life in prison

WHITESBURG - A Letcher County man has been sentenced to life in prison for the murders of a Whitesburg father and son.

Jerome W. Boggs, 34, pleaded guilty on Nov. 7 to the murders of Timothy Cook and his 4-year-old son, T.J. Cook, during a robbery at their home in February.

Letcher County Circuit Judge Sam T. Wright sentenced Mr. Boggs to two consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole for the murders, plus 70 years for robbery, burglary and drug trafficking and for being a persistent felony offender.

Health provider to pay to settle billing claims

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Appalachian Regional Healthcare Inc. has agreed to pay $1.8 million to settle improper billings submitted to Medicare and Medicaid by one of its hospitals and two clinics, U.S. Attorney Kasey Warner said Wednesday.

Man ARH in Man, W.Va., submitted improper bills for heart testing while two Southern West Virginia Clinics in Glen Daniel and Mullens submitted improper bills for outpatient services. The clinics also provided inadequate documentation, Warner said.

Warner said Appalachian Regional Healthcare, based in Lexington, Ky., had reported the violations under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' voluntary disclosure program.

The nonprofit hospital chain, which operates nine hospitals and several clinics in West Virginia and Kentucky, identified potential violations and hired outside auditors to determine the extent of the problem. A report was then submitted to the disclosure program in 2001.

Machinery turned on; man inside is killed

LOUISVILLE - A temporary worker at the Bakery Chef plant in eastern Jefferson County was killed Tuesday evening when equipment he was cleaning was turned on mistakenly, authorities said.

The man had entered a hopper - about 6 feet in diameter and 15 feet long - to clean it, said Harry Cooke, assistant chief of the Worthington Fire Protection District. Plant procedures call for the power to be shut off while the hopper is cleaned, Mr. Cooke said.

Instead, power to a different machine was turned off and someone turned on the machine being cleaned, not knowing someone was inside, Mr. Cooke said.

The man got caught in the blades on the auger, Mr. Cooke said.

The man's name was not available. The plant mixes several products, such as pancake batter for restaurants.

Bankruptcy court OKs Coleman Oil asset sale

PIKEVILLE - A Whitesburg company will buy Happy Mart and Fillzone convenience stores in Kentucky and other assets of Pikeville-based Coleman Oil for $14 million.

U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Joseph Scott gave approval on Monday for Childers Oil Co. to buy holdings of the bankrupt Coleman Oil, which has 51 convenience stores and three bulk fueling plants.

"We were hoping for a higher price," said Coleman Oil attorney W. Thomas Bunch.