Author: Associated Press

Pit bull dog killed while attacking robbers in Gulfport home

GULFPORT, Miss. (AP) - Gulfport police say a pit bull dog was shot to death while attacking would-be robbers, It happened Tuesday night at a Gulfport home. Police said a woman who answered a knock at her door was accosted…

Barbourville voters approve alcohol sales

BARBOURVILLE, Ky. (AP) - Voters in Barbourville have decided to allow alcohol sales in the city. WYMT-TV reports a petition began in October to turn the city from "dry" to "wet." On Tuesday, residents voted 498 to 433 in favor…

Boy, 14, charged in assault on 3 children, 1 of whom died

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - Police say a 14-year-old boy attacked three children, one of whom died, and has been charged with attempted murder and child abuse. Memphis police spokeswoman Karen Rudolph said Wednesday that the teenager assaulted two girls, ages…

Mariota’s season over, Titans say QB will not play at Indy

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Tennessee quarterback Marcus Mariota's season is over. Titans interim head coach Mike Mularkey says it's "not worth the risk" of playing the rookie in their season finale Sunday at Indianapolis. Mariota had tested his sprained right…

No voting rights automatically restored to felons

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) - An official says no convicted felons had their voting rights automatically restored before Gov. Matt Bevin rescinded an executive order by his predecessor allowing the process. Department of Corrections spokeswoman Lisa Lamb told the Messenger-Inquirer that…

Tennessee to release statewide animal abuse registry Jan. 1

GREENEVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Tennessee is set to become the first state to release a registry that will consist of the names of people convicted of having intentionally abused animals. WBIR-TV reports that, beginning Jan. 1, anyone can access the…

Governor Matt Bevin targets Medicaid overhaul plan for 2017

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) - Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin says he intends to draft a plan to overhaul the state's expanded Medicaid program by the middle of next year, one that could be implemented by the start of 2017. Bevin, elected…

Gov. Matt Bevin touts charter schools to pastors

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin has told a group of pastors that he has every intention of following through with his campaign promise to push for a charter school law in the state. On Tuesday night, the…

UMMC jousts with other helicopter operators over expansion

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - The University of Mississippi Medical Center plans to add two medical helicopters, doubling its current fleet, but some other medical helicopter operators are protesting the plan. The medical center plans to place one helicopter in southwestern…

Jackson council votes to join state emergency radio system

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - The Jackson City Council has voted to join the deal Hinds County worked out to integrate the county's 911 emergency communications system into the state's Wireless Information Network. The Clarion-Ledger reports some council members blasted county…

Committee selects Columbus police chief finalists

COLUMBUS, Miss. (AP) - The field of Columbus police chief candidates has narrowed to five. The Commercial Dispatch reports the city's chief of police search committee met Monday. The 14-member committee spent most of the meeting behind closed doors in…

Biloxi council cuts incentives for developers by 50 percent

BILOXI, Miss. (AP) - Two of Biloxi's biggest developers saw their requests for tax abatements cut in half by city officials. Council members say the city needs the revenue and they think the 50 percent offered is fair. Barrington Development,…

Oyster, pearl themed objects for New Year’s Eve on the Coast

BILOXI, Miss. (AP) - Biloxi and D'Iberville will join other cities across the country in having their own lighted, locally themed objects to mark the start of the new year. The Sun Herald reports the Maritime & Seafood Industry Museum…

Lawsuit settled in Wiggins police excessive force case

GULFPORT, Miss. (AP) - A lawsuit alleging three Wiggins police officers assaulted a man in municipal court and in a hallway has been settled with undisclosed terms following a three-day trial. The Sun Herald reports U.S. District Judge Sul Ozerden…

Mississippi crawfish abundant early, prices down

PASCAGOULA, Miss. (AP) - Mississippi crawfish are plentiful early in the season and prices are down. Keith Delcambre, owner of Bozo's Seafood Market in Pascagoula, tells The Sun Herald his price per pound is $1.30 lower than it was when…

City of Paducah to install floodgates as river surges

PADUCAH, Ky. (AP) - Paducah city staff has announced they will close the city's floodwall against rising Ohio River waters. Media outlets report city officials made the call Monday night to install the floodgates by the end of the week…

Commercial red drum season starts; some shrimp areas closing

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - Mississippi's Department of Marine Resources has announced that all waters north of the Intracoastal Waterway in Mississippi territorial waters will be closed to shrimping beginning Friday at one minute after midnight. Tuesday's news release says all…

Off-highway vehicle area closed at Land Between Lakes

GOLDEN POND, Ky. (AP) - Land Between The Lakes National Recreation Area says the Turkey Bay Off-Highway Vehicle Area and Trails is temporarily closed following heavy rain. A news release from Land Between The Lakes said the area received several…

Company expanding Lexington operation, adding 30 jobs

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) - A forklift truck manufacturer is expanding its Lexington facility, creating 30 full-time jobs. Gov. Matt Bevin and Lexington Mayor Jim Gray announced the expansion on Tuesday in a news release from Bevin's office. Clark Material Handling…

New Year holiday highway enforcement checkpoints planned

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - It's a holiday warning for Mississippi motorists: The Mississippi Highway Patrol plans safety checkpoints around the state to make sure impaired drivers are removed from the roads. In a Wednesday news release, the Highway Patrol said…

TBI trying to identify suspect in 1980 homicide

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - State police are seeking help from the public in their investigation into a double homicide in Stewart County in 1980. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation says it is trying to identify a suspect in the deaths…

2 from Columbia were killed in Monday night Lamar wreck

PURVIS, Miss. (AP) - The identities of two men killed in a Lamar County traffic accident have been released. A Lamar County deputy coroner told Mississippi news media that the victims were 24-year-old Matthew Blake Harrell and 26-year-old Cody Hammond,…

Man charged in crash that killed 5 pleads not guilty

MANCHESTER, Ky. (AP) - The man Kentucky State Police say drove drunk and crashed, killing four people and an unborn child, has pleaded not guilty. Multiple media outlets report troopers charged 40-year-old Jason Gibson on Thursday with four counts of…

First black sheriff of Adams Co. since 1800s takes oath

NATCHEZ, Miss. (AP) - The first African-American sheriff of Adams County in about 140 years has been sworn in. Multiple media outlets reports Travis Patten received a standing ovation after taking the oath to office Tuesday at the Natchez Convention…

Officials expect cooler weather to end algae bloom

BILOXI, Miss. (AP) - Officials are expecting cooler temperatures to weaken the red tide algae bloom that has affected the coast. The Sun Herald reports temperatures in the area will begin to drop from the 70s to the 40s and…

Radioactivity lingers at Oak Ridge sewer plant

OAK RIDGE, Tenn. (AP) - Evidence of radioactive pollution lingers at the Oak Ridge sewage treatment facility, and it's not clear when the problem will be resolved. The Knoxville News Sentinel reports the radioactive pollution was discovered in early 2014,…

Eagles fire coach Chip Kelly with 1 game left in 3rd season

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - The Philadelphia Eagles have fired coach Chip Kelly with one game left in his third season, dumping their coach after missing the playoffs in consecutive seasons. Kelly was released Tuesday night just before the end of a…

Tennessee rallies late to beat Tennessee State 74-69

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Kevin Punter scored 23 points and capped a critical 9-0 run with a 3-point play Tuesday as Tennessee rallied to beat Tennessee State 74-69 despite trailing for most of the second half. Tennessee (7-5) trailed by…

3 high school basketball players charged with rape, assault

GATLINBURG, Tenn. (AP) - Police say three high school basketball players have been charged with raping and assaulting a teammate. Gatlinburg Police say in a statement that the players were charged Monday in the incident, which occurred last week. The…

Unicoi County advances resolution opposing gay marriage

ERWIN, Tenn. (AP) - Unicoi County could become the next in a growing number of Tennessee counties to call for an override of the U.S. Supreme Court's historic ruling on gay marriage. The Johnson City Press reports that the Unicoi…

Court papers: Man with gun not approved to be in the US

GULFPORT, Miss. (AP) - A motorist stopped for driving erratically in Biloxi had a semi-automatic handgun and is suspected of being in the United States without permission. The Sun Herald reports a Mississippi Department of Marine Resources officer conducted a…

Tennessee AG sues Chevron over petroleum spill cleanup costs

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - The Tennessee attorney general is accusing Chevron of a 30-year-long scheme to fraudulently siphon more than $18 million from a cleanup fund that people contribute to every time they fill up at the pump. According to…

Yum Center in Louisville to increase security measures

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - Officials say they plan to implement more security measures at the KFC Yum Center in Louisville next month. Media cited a statement Tuesday from the center that said the arena will put in walk-through metal detectors…

State audit of Morgan Fiscal Court finds ‘abuse of power’

WEST LIBERTY, Ky. (AP) - A state audit has concluded that hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal disaster aid are unaccounted for in Morgan County. According to the Lexington Herald-Leader, outgoing state Auditor Adam Edelen's report, released Monday, found…

Ole Miss campus construction creates new parking woes

OXFORD, Miss. (AP) - The director of transportation and parking at the University of Mississippi has bad news and good news regarding parking. Mike Harris says room for cars on campus is going to get even harder to come by…

Crime mapping website launched for Morristown

MORRISTOWN, Tenn. (AP) - The city of Morristown is giving the public easier access to crime data around the area. The Morristown Police Department announced Monday that they have launched a website, www.mymorristown.com, to see where and when recent crimes…

Jackson homeowners could see costly water, sewer fixes

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - With Jackson's aging water lines crumbling, water and sewer lines on properties belonging to homeowners could be next. The Clarion-Ledger reports city officials are warning it could cost residents several hundred to several thousand dollars for…

Starkville, Oktibbeha County discuss central 911 center

STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) - A delay in purchasing new 911 equipment for the Oktibbeha County Emergency Management Association could provide time for the county and Starkville leaders to explore creating a central dispatching call center. County Supervisors John Montgomery and…

Inmate charged in Rockcastle County Detention Center arson

MT. VERNON, Ky. (AP) - A Rockcastle County Detention Center inmate faces an arson charge after being accused of starting a fire in the facility. Kentucky State Police officer Lloyd Cochran says 23-year-old Justin Bishop has been charged with one…

Biloxi Fire Dept. donates pumper to volunteer firefighters

BILOXI, Miss. (AP) - In the aftermath of a Dec. 23 tornado, Three Forks volunteer firefighters cut their way through debris to reach the trucks and equipment they needed to help others. They found the fire trucks and equipment destroyed.…

Man found flowing in small body of water in Hancock County

WAVELAND, Miss. (AP) - Sheriff's deputies say the man found dead in a small body of water in the Lakeshore community Sunday has been identified as 27-year-old Alex Toups, of Waveland. Chief Deputy Don Bass of the Hancock County Sheriff's…

Coal industry on track for record low in mining deaths

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - The U.S. coal industry is close to setting a record low for on-the-job deaths in coal mines. There were 11 deaths in coal mines nationwide for the year by late December, putting the industry, which is…

Man killed when vehicle he was working on runs over him

HINDMAN, Ky. (AP) - Kentucky State Police say a Knott County man died Sunday afternoon when the vehicle he was working on rolled over him. According to police, troopers and emergency workers were dispatched to the Pippa Passes community at…

OSHA warns Tennessee residents about storm clean-up hazards

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - The U.S. Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration is warning Tennessee residents to be safe when cleaning up after recent storms. According to OSHA, only workers with the proper training, equipment and experience should clean…

Oxford film festival gets a mention from AAA

OXFORD, Miss. (AP) - Oxford's film festival got a nod from AAA this month and organizers are hoping that will mean more visitors to the February event. The Oxford Film Festival will be featured as a Southern Travel Treasure in…

Revenue Department offering tax workshops for new businesses

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - New business owners can get answers to their tax questions at a series of free workshops offered in January by the Tennessee Department of Revenue. According to the department, the workshops are designed to assist people…

Kentucky parks offers eagle viewing cruise for students

AURORA, Ky. (AP) - The Kentucky State Parks is giving students the chance to take a cruise on Kentucky Lake to observe bald eagles and other wildlife. According to the parks, the 2-hour cruise takes place on Jan. 29, departing…