Federal grant awarded to review Ky. veteran licensing

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — The U.S. Labor Department has awarded nearly $2 million to Kentucky to review and streamline licensing requirements for veterans.

Kentucky is one of 11 states in the Occupational Licensing Policy Learning Consortium. That group is reviewing occupational licensing programs across the country to find best practices for occupational licensing.

The funding will be used to implement the best practices identified through the consortium.

The Kentucky Commission on Military Affairs announced the grant. It said a new Kentucky law will make it easier for veterans and service members to start businesses and pursue some career opportunities in the state.

The commission said almost 5,500 soldiers left the Army last year at Kentucky installations, and more than a thousand chose to live in Kentucky. There are almost 300,000 veterans in Kentucky.

2 arrested after girl found with cigarette burns

LONDON, Ky. (AP) — Police in Kentucky say two people have been arrested on criminal abuse charges after their young daughter was found with infected cigarette burns on her body.

News outlets report 26-year-old Thomas Lee Tallon and 26-year-old Jessica Mae Sams, both of Corbin, were arrested Friday night.

The Laurel County Sheriff’s Office says in a news release social services workers had taken the 13-month-old girl from an apartment about nine miles south of London. The statement says the child was transferred to the University of Kentucky Chandler Hospital for treatment.

Tallon and Sams remained held Sunday at the Laurel County Detention Center in London. Jail records didn’t indicate whether they have attorneys.

Panel formed amid Confederate statue debate releases report

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A panel formed by a Kentucky mayor says public displays honoring the Confederacy are unwelcome and not representative of the city today.

News outlets report the advisory committee Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer created amid debate around controversial statues had received hundreds of comments from residents and released its final report Saturday.

The report didn’t address the statue in Louisville of Confederate soldier John Breckenridge Castleman that has been vandalized several times. But it did offer general guidelines and questions for officials to consider when making decisions on public art including removals, installations and evaluations.

The Courier Journal cites a statement that says Fischer is expected to review the report and consider how to proceed, but it didn’t provide a timeline. A mayor’s office spokesman didn’t respond to the newspaper for comment Sunday.

Man sentenced for helping lawyer flee country

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — A Kentucky man has been sentenced to seven months in jail for assisting a lawyer who went on the run after pleading guilty in a $500 million Social Security fraud scheme.

WYMT-TV reports 48-year-old Curtis Lee Wyatt of Raccoon, Kentucky, was sentenced Friday in federal court in Lexington for one count of conspiracy to escape from custody. Wyatt was given credit for three months served.

An indictment alleged Wyatt opened a bank account the lawyer, Eric Conn, used to transfer money. Wyatt, who was Conn’s employee, also tested security at the Mexican border and bought a pickup truck for Conn. Conn was captured in December as he left a Pizza Hut in Honduras.

Investigators say Conn was on home confinement last June when he escaped by cutting an electronic monitoring device from his ankle.

Miss Jefferson County Katie Bouchard named Miss Kentucky

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Miss Jefferson County Katie Bouchard has been named Miss Kentucky 2018.

The Lexington Herald-Leader reports the 22-year-old Owensboro resident was crowned Saturday night at the Singletary Center for the Arts in Lexington.

It was Bouchard’s third time competing in the pageant. She is studying social work at Western Kentucky University.

Miss Lexington Alex Francke was named first runner-up and Miss Bowling Green Caroline Ford was second runner-up.

Bouchard will represent Kentucky in the Miss America Pageant Sept. 9 in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Ohio River ferry between Ky., Ill. reducing hours

MARION, Ky. (AP) — The Cave-in-Rock Ferry between Illinois and Kentucky is reducing its operating hours.

The ferry crosses the Ohio River between Cave-in-Rock, Illinois, and Marion, Kentucky.

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet said starting this week, ferry operating hours will drop from 16 hours to 12 hours each day. The cabinet said it has entered into an agreement with the Crittenden County Fiscal Court to fund the ferry’s operations through Sept. 30, and the Illinois Department of Transportation has matched funds for the same period, while a long-term agreement is evaluated.

The ferry will continue to operate seven days a week with service beginning at 6 a.m. from the Illinois shore and the final Illinois departure at 5:40 p.m. The last run from the Kentucky Landing will be at 5:50 p.m.

The ferry carries about 500 vehicles per day on average.