Norovirus sickens 350 at mall food court

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — The food court illness that sickened 350 people in Kentucky has been identified as norovirus.

Citing a Lexington-Fayette County Health Department release, the Lexington Herald-Leader reports that test results from those who had gone to the Fayette Mall food court were consistently positive for the very contagious virus.

Fayette Mall’s Chick-fil-A had closed voluntarily July 20, after many employees reported becoming ill. The entire food court closed Monday for cleaning and sanitization. It reopened Tuesday afternoon, following an inspection by the health department, which visited again Thursday.

Most of the people who reported illness became sick a day or two after eating at the food court, experiencing fever, vomiting and diarrhea.

Prosecutors: Doctor who illegally dispensed pills sentenced

COVINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Prosecutors in Kentucky say a doctor who conspired to unlawfully dispense more than 300,000 oxycodone tablets has been sentenced to more than a decade in prison.

News outlets report 69-year-old Sundiata El-Amin was sentenced Thursday after being convicted of charges that include conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and 171 individual counts of distributing controlled substances in March.

Evidence shows El-Amin repeatedly issued improper prescriptions for high doses of oxycodone and regularly issued the prescriptions without examining patients. His office manager, Wendy Price, has also entered a guilty plea for her role in the offenses.

El-Amin will have to serve 85 percent of his sentence and will be under the supervision of the United States Probation Office for 3 years. He was also ordered to pay a special assessment of $17,300.

Blast injures 3 during estate sale

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Fire officials say three people were injured in an explosion during an estate sale at a house in Kentucky’s second-largest city.

News outlets report investigators said the blast was caused by an improvised explosive device made to look like a lighter that went off when a shopper picked it up Friday.

Lexington Fire Department Battalion Chief Brad Whittaker described it as a “low-level explosion” that caused no structural damage inside the house.

He says three people were taken to the hospital. He says one person had a “fairly significant” hand injury, another suffered a leg injury and the third person had a concussion-type injury.

Agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were called to the scene to assist local authorities in the investigation.

City settles police shooting lawsuit for $1.8M

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Louisville officials have settled a lawsuit over a 2017 police shooting for $1.8 million.

The Louisville Courier Journal reports the city’s chief financial officer, Daniel Frockt, announced Thursday that the lawsuit filed by Bruce Warrick is settled.

Warrick was shot by Louisville Metro Police Officer Sarah Stumler in March 2017. Authorities had received a report of a man doing drugs inside a house. Upon searching the home, Stumler and other officers came across the unarmed Warrick, who was then shot in the stomach. He sued the city in February and argued excessive force was used.

The case was sent in May to a grand jury, which declined to indict Stumler for assault. An internal investigation is ongoing. Stumler still is on the force, though her police powers are suspended.

Police remove anti-ICE protesters camping on city property

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Police in Louisville have shut down a demonstration against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement after warning protesters that they couldn’t camp on city property.

The Louisville Courier Journal reports police had Occupy ICE Louisville protesters remove their campsites Thursday afternoon, hours after nine protesters were arrested. They were arrested after blocking the city’s immigration court elevators. The protest followed calls to abolish ICE after previous policies separated migrant children and parents.

Protesters had one hour to comply with the city regulation that says it’s illegal to use camping gear on public property 3 acres (1.2 hectares) or smaller. Police gave protesters until 6 p.m. to leave. An attorney representing the protesters, Maureen Sullivan, says police agreed to let protesters stay until midnight. Police Maj. Eric Johnson denies the agreement.