Ky. AG says state wrong to block access to protesters

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — A legal opinion by the Kentucky Attorney General says state police and the state Finance and Administration Cabinet violated the law by limiting access to a group of protesters who repeatedly demonstrated at the capitol.

Attorney General Andy Beshear says the agencies failed to develop a new procedure that was properly vetted.

The Poor People’s Campaign recently held a series of protests at the Capitol to call for changes that affect the poor. A spokeswoman for the campaign says the policy that limited their access was “a clear violation of our constitutional rights.”

State police allowed just two protesters at a time inside the building after some members of the group blocked traffic near the Capitol and entered restricted property.

Opinions of the attorney general do not carry the force of law.

Man accused of making bomb threats on Facebook

FLORENCE, Ky. (AP) — A Kentucky man is under arrest for allegedly threatening on Facebook to bomb a courthouse and prosecutor’s office in Ohio.

The Cincinnati Enquirer reports that 51-year-old Allan Summers was charged Monday with terroristic threatening.

Capt. Tom Grau says police in Florence, Kentucky, arrested Summers after being alerted to his threats Sunday night.

The Facebook posts accuse Ohio’s Hamilton County of stealing his freedom for 157 days in 2008.

Summers then allegedly warned his loved ones to avoid the area on July 9, when he planned to mark the 10 year anniversary with a device using nitroglycerine that goes “tick tock … one hell of a clock.”

Court records show a 2008 disorderly conduct conviction and $135 fine for fighting on a bus. It’s unclear who currently represents him.

Paul: Man threatened to attack him and his family with ax

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — U.S. Sen. Rand Paul says he and his family were targeted by someone threatening to attack them with an ax.

Paul told reporters Monday in his home state of Kentucky that Capitol Police issued an arrest warrant for a suspect. Then in a tweet, Paul thanked Capitol Police for arresting the suspect.

During a stop in Leitchfield in western Kentucky, Paul said a man threatened to kill him and “chop up” his family with an ax.

The Republican lawmaker says it’s “just horrendous” that political leaders have to “deal with things like this.”

A Paul spokesman declined to give additional details.

In a separate case, prosecutors are appealing the 30-day sentence given to the man who tackled and injured Paul while the lawmaker was doing yard work at his home.

City breaks ground on new trail, park system

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — A Kentucky city has broken ground on a new downtown trail and park system.

A Lexington city release says Town Branch Commons will wind through downtown for two miles, from just west of Rupp Arena to the Isaac Murphy Memorial Art Garden.

The work on the commons started in 2012, with an international design competition. The winner was Scape/Landscape Architecture.

The trail follows along the path of Lexington’s original water source. The project won a $14 million federal TIGER Grant, plus $13.6 million in state and federal grants and loans. The project will get another $11.8 million in local investments.

Town Branch will link the city’s two major trails, Town Branch Trail and the Legacy Trail.