News Around the State

Published 9:37 am Monday, November 5, 2018

Former mayor, broadcaster Walter May dies

PIKEVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A funeral home says former Kentucky mayor and president of the Kentucky Broadcasters Association Walter E. May has died.

J.W. Call and Son Funeral Home in Pikeville says May died Friday at his home. He was 81.

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According to the funeral home’s website, May began his radio career as a disc jockey in 1955 and built East Kentucky Broadcasting, a group of radio stations.

May served as president of the Kentucky Broadcasters Association and later was elected president of the radio board of the National Association of Broadcasters.

May also was Pikeville’s mayor from 1990 to 1993 and was a longtime administrator at Pikeville Medical Center.

His funeral was scheduled for Sunday in Pikeville.

Bring cans, not cash to pay parking tickets

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Officials in one Kentucky city are offering to reduce parking fines in exchange for canned food items.

A statement from the Lexington Parking Authority says its Food for Fines program begins Monday, Nov. 19 and runs through Friday, Dec. 14. Those who bring in 10 cans of food will receive $15 off parking citations, including those that are past due. The statement said those with multiple citations will receive $15 credit for every set of 10 cans.

The Parking Authority said previous food drives have brought in more than 32,200 cans of food.

All donations will go to God’s Pantry Food Bank. Along with vegetables, officials suggest protein items including canned meat, beans and peanut butter.

Veteran agent to lead FBI’s Louisville office

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — The FBI says a veteran agent who oversaw its investigation of a South Carolina church shooting has been named its top agent in Kentucky.

FBI Director Christopher Wray has selected James “Robert” Brown Jr. to serve as special agent in charge of the FBI’s Louisville Field Office.

Brown replaces Amy Hess, who left for a high-level administrative job at FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C.

FBI officials say Brown most recently served as a deputy assistant director in the National Security Branch’s Weapons of Mass Destruction Directorate at FBI headquarters. He joined in the FBI in 2002 and was first assigned to the Miami Field Office.

He’s also worked in FBI offices in North Carolina and South Carolina. He oversaw the FBI’s investigation of the 2015 shooting at a Charleston, South Carolina, church that killed nine parishioners.

Suspect captured in Ky. after La. couple killed

SCOTTSVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Authorities in Kentucky say they have captured a person of interest in the slayings of a man and wife who were found dead at the scene of their Louisiana swimming pool business.

News outlets report 45-year-old Michael Collins was arrested Saturday afternoon in connection with the deaths of 72-year-old Eugene “Frank” Gurley and 70-year-old Patricia Gurley. Their bodies were discovered Tuesday in Denham Springs.

Authorities say a tip helped investigators find Collins in Scottsville, Kentucky. He is awaiting extradition to Louisiana, where he’s expected to be charged with two counts of first-degree murder.

Denham Springs Police Chief Shannon Womack on Friday said preliminary autopsy results indicate the victims were killed by blunt force trauma to the head.

Al.com reports that the couple had gone to high school in Birmingham, Alabama, and college in Calhoun County.

Judge charged with forgery, altering public records

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A judge in Kentucky has been charged with forgery and tampering with public records.

WDRB-TV reports that Circuit Court Judge Beth Maze has been indicted by a grand jury.

Maze represents Bath, Rowan, Montgomery and Menifee counties.

Maze is under investigation for ethics charges filed by the state Judicial Conduct Commission. She is accused of violating judicial rules by trying to help her ex-husband after he was arrested on drug charges last year. She was suspended with pay Oct. 2.

The indictment alleges Maze falsely altered public records. The commission claims that Maze asked attorneys and law enforcement officers whether confidential informants were involved in drug cases involving her ex-husband.

Maze told the commission that she never intended to “bestow any benefit” to her ex-husband. She has denied wrongdoing.