Boat explodes on lake, injuring 8

GRAND RIVERS, Ky. (AP) — A boat explosion on a Kentucky lake has injured eight people, although authorities say none of the injuries were life-threatening.

Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Conservation Officer Daniel Richardson tells news outlets a couple were on board the 32-foot (10-meter) cruiser at Green Turtle Bay Marina when the blast occurred Sunday. He says the explosion came after the motor was started while the boat was tied to the fuel island.

He says nothing currently indicates that the explosion was caused by anything but mechanical failure.

The husband and wife were treated at hospital with what Livingston County emergency management official David Koon said were “moderate” injuries. Koon says six others were treated at the scene.

Richardson says the boat was completely destroyed, with “debris for 100 yards.”

Catholic school nixes ‘political’ grad speeches

COVINGTON, Ky. (AP) — A Catholic diocese in Kentucky ruled just hours before graduation that the student council president and openly gay valedictorian couldn’t give their planned speeches. So the pair grabbed megaphones and delivered them outside afterward.

Diocese of Covington spokesman Tim Fitzgerald told news outlets the Holy Cross High School students’ speeches weren’t submitted on time, and upon review “were political and inconsistent with the teaching of the Catholic Church.”

Valedictorian Christian Bales’ mother, Gillian Marksberry, says her son and Katherine Frantz believed their speeches were approved, before being told otherwise the morning of their Friday graduation.

Bales say the pair’s social activism likely drew scrutiny. His speech featured the repeated phrase “the young people will win,” and encouraged graduates to “perpetuate God’s will by bettering the quality of life” for communities.

Police probing discovery of explosive device at truck stop

PENDLETON, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky authorities are investigating how an explosive device wound up in a trash can at a truck stop in Henry County.

Kentucky State Police say an employee of the truck stop contacted authorities Sunday after seeing what appeared to be a 6-inch-long pipe bomb in a trash can outside the store.

State police say the building was evacuated and the surrounding area was cordoned off as a safety precaution. Police say the device later was “rendered safe” and the truck stop reopened.

Police say they have opened a case for use of a weapon of mass destruction, which is a felony. Police say no suspects have been identified.

Bill would add battlefield to National Park System

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Two longtime members of Kentucky’s congressional delegation are teaming up on a proposal to add the Mill Springs Battlefield to the National Park System.

Rep. Hal Rogers and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell say they will lead the effort for legislation adding the battlefield in Pulaski and Wayne counties to the park system.

The Republican lawmakers say the measure would commemorate the site’s significance as an early victory for the Union Army during the Civil War. They say they will work with Interior Department officials to protect the battlefield site.

The bill is the second in a two-part process to add the battlefield to the federal system.

First, the National Park Service must complete a study to evaluate Mill Springs’ addition to the park system. The study is expected to be completed later this year.

Woman charged with fatally shooting neighbor

MOUNT STERLING, Ky. (AP) — Police in Kentucky say a woman has been charged in the fatal shooting of a neighbor and the wounding of the neighbor’s wife.

Montgomery County Sheriff Fred Shortridge tells WKYT-TV that Frances Zaayer was charged with murder, attempted murder and first-degree burglary after Saturday’s shooting near Mount Sterling.

A coroner identified the male victim as 47-year-old David N. Scott. Shortridge says Scott’s wife was taken to the University of Kentucky Hospital in critical condition.

Shortridge says Zaayer and the victims had been in a year-long dispute.

Zaayer is being held in the Powell County Detention Center. It wasn’t immediately known whether she has an attorney.

Woman struck by Tennessee-bound freight train

HOPKINSVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A woman who was hit by a freight train in Kentucky has died.

WKRN-TV reports that the woman was struck late Sunday night in Hopkinsville. A CSX statement says the train was traveling to Chattanooga, Tennessee, and consisted of three locomotives, 77 loaded rail cars of mixed freight and 34 empty rail cars.

The company says it’ll work with investigating Hopkinsville police.

No one on the train was injured.

The woman hasn’t been identified. The circumstances of the collision have not been reported.

Kentucky dismisses safety Walker following drug arrest

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky coach Mark Stoops has dismissed safety Marcus Walker following his arrest for trafficking cocaine and marijuana.

A release from the school Tuesday had no other comment on Walker besides listing career statistics of 17 tackles in 21 games. The junior faces a June 20 hearing in Fayette District Court after being released Friday on a $1,000 surety bond. Lexington police arrested the 21-year-old Walker and another man Thursday morning after finding at least five pounds of marijuana and four grams of cocaine during a search of an off-campus apartment.

The arrest citation stated that a large amount of cash and a cash counter were found in the search. Walker, of Lake Wales, Florida, was also charged with possessing drug paraphernalia.

2 dead in single-vehicle crash

LEBANON, Ky. (AP) — Police in Kentucky say two people have died in a single-vehicle crash in Marion County.

State Police Trooper Nick Hale in Columbia says in a news release that 18-year-old David B. Lawson of Lebanon was driving a pickup truck that left a road and struck a tree Friday six miles west of Lebanon. Lawson was pronounced dead at the scene.

The statement says 21-year-old passenger Shelby Goode of St. Francis later was pronounced dead at the University of Louisville Hospital. A 19-year-old passenger was taken to another hospital for injuries that weren’t life threatening.

The statement says none of the occupants were wearing seat belts.