Over 3.3M Kentuckians registered to vote in primary

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — More than 3.3 million Kentuckians are registered to vote in the May 22 primary elections, a net increase of about 62,000 voters since the 2016 general election.

Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes said registered Democrats comprise just over 50 percent of the electorate while registered Republicans make up about 41 percent of all voters. The rest, 8.5 percent, are registered with another party or as “other.”

Grimes said more than half of new voters are young people between the ages of 18 and 25.

All six of Kentucky’s U.S. House of Representatives seats are on the ballot this year, along with all 100 seats in the state House of Representatives. Half of Kentucky’s 38 state Senate seats are on the ballot, along with a host of local elections.

Feds claim identity theft in bid for victim settlement money

COVINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Federal prosecutors say a Kentucky man used another person’s identify to try to collect $1 million from a settlement fund for victims of sexual abuse involving the Catholic Church.

The Kentucky Enquirer , citing a federal indictment unsealed recently, reports the 32-year-old Covington man had already been awarded $750,000 for a claim he filed in 2006.

The charges he faces do not involve that claim.

Prosecutors say he obtained the birth certificate of another person, created an email address in that person’s name, and in 2014 submitted a fraudulent claim for compensation as part of the settlement involving the Diocese of Covington.

Prosecutors say he used the person’s name, date of birth and Social Security number in the compensation request for about $1 million.

The man is charged with wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.

2 plead guilty in 2015 death of police officer

RICHMOND, Ky. (AP) — Two men have pleaded guilty in the 2015 shooting death of a Kentucky police officer, avoiding possible death sentences.

Media outlets report 37-year-old Raleigh Sizemore and 28-year-old Gregory Ratliff entered their pleas Friday in Madison County Circuit Court. Judge William Clouse sentenced Sizemore to life in prison without parole for murder, attempted murder and other charges, and Ratliff to 30 years for wanton murder.

Richmond Officer Daniel Ellis’ widow, Katie Ellis, said in a statement she supported the plea agreements to protect the couple’s 5-year-old child and avoid appeals and parole hearings. But Daniel Ellis’ father and brother told the court they had hoped a jury trial would result in the death penalty for the men.

Daniel Ellis was investigating a gas station robbery when he was killed.

Teen charged with fatally shooting stepfather

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (AP) — A Kentucky teen is charged with shooting and killing his stepfather.

The Daily News cites a Bowling Green police citation that says officers found 26-year-old Homer G. Boling with several gunshot wounds Saturday night.

The citation says the 17-year-old boy told police he borrowed a gun from a friend, intending to shoot Boling in the legs because he had hurt the teen’s mother. The teen says he opened fire when Boling approached him aggressively.

He initially told police he threw the gun out a car window, but later said his friend might have it.

Police found a message on the teen’s phone discussing a plan to shoot Boling “well before the shooting occurred.”

The teen was arrested on charges of murder-domestic violence and tampering with physical evidence. It’s unclear whether he has a lawyer.

Ex-judge sentenced to prison for human trafficking

NEWPORT, Ky. (AP) — A former Kentucky judge and conservative political activist has been sentenced to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to human trafficking and other sex crimes.

A special prosecutor said Tim Nolan, 71, targeted young women, gave them opioids and threatened to withhold the drugs or call law enforcement if they didn’t perform sex acts.

News outlets report that prosecutor Barbara Whaley read statements from some of the women. Seven of the 19 victims were under 16 years old.

Nolan fired his attorney in March and tried to withdraw his guilty plea.

On Friday, he apologized in court and promised to seek treatment.

AG: Eastern Kentucky board violated law with secret meeting

RICHMOND, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky’s attorney general says the Eastern Kentucky Board of Regents violated the state open meetings acts when it held a closed-door session before announcing they’d deal with a $25 million budget shortfall by cutting around 120 jobs.

The Lexington Herald-Leader reported Thursday that Attorney General Andy Beshear found that the discussion of budget cuts was “only tangentially related” to the individual personnel matters that the regents cited to use open meetings law exemptions. The opinion comes after student newspaper Eastern Progress filed an appeal after the April 19 meeting that lasted more than five hours.

Board Chairman Craig Turner says the board “takes great exception with the ruling” and may appeal. Under state law, the board would have to sue the newspaper to move the matter into circuit court for an appeal.