Forum to focus on improving Kentucky foster care system

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — The Administrative Office of the Courts says a community forum is being held to discuss improving outcomes for children and families involved in the Kentucky foster care system.

A statement from the agency says Citizen Foster Care Review Boards are hosting the forum Thursday at the Pulaski County Board of Education in Somerset. The forum is one of six being hosted across the state between March 28 and April 18 as part of legislative reforms.

Kentucky Citizen Foster Care Review Board Chairman Tom Stevenson says the public is invited to share concerns about the foster care system as well as ideas to improve it.

Findings will be reported to the Kentucky Citizen Foster Care Review Board and will be among the board’s annual recommendations to the Supreme Court, the governor and the legislature.

Man gets 33-year prison sentence in teen’s killing

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — A Kentucky judge has sentenced a man to 33 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to charges including murder in the 2016 Thanksgiving day fatal shooting of a 14-year-old boy.

According to the Lexington Herald-Leader , Fayette Circuit Court Judge Lucy VanMeter sentenced 25-year-old Kevin Josue Ipina-Garcia on Friday in the death of Angel Juarez.

Juarez was shot in the chest at home through the front door.

Ipina-Garcia’s attorney, Jared Bewley, said his client was sorry.

Court records show some victims suspected the boy’s brother, Danilo Juarez, of orchestrating a robbery in which he was also robbed.

Court records say Ipina-Garcia and another man went to the house, asking for Danilo Juarez, but another brother said he wasn’t home.

Court records say Ipina-Garcia shot through the door, hitting Angel Juarez.

Man who stopped to feed homeless fights traffic citation

FLORENCE, Ky. (AP) — A Kentucky man is fighting a traffic citation he received while feeding a homeless man.

Morris Soard told The Kentucky Enquirer he saw the man holding a sign that said “Homeless and hungry,” so he decided to buy him a meal. Soard says he returned in his car to the man’s spot in Florence and his wife was handing food out the window when a police officer approached. Soard says he was cited for stopping on a limited access highway.

The citation says the vehicle was stopped in the right lane as traffic approached. The Florence Police Department did not respond to the newspaper’s request for comment.

Soard pleaded not guilty in court last week. His attorney says he will pursue dismissal of Soard’s ticket at the April 5 trial.

Nominations sought for Ky. preservation awards

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — The Kentucky Heritage Council says nominations are being taken for the state’s annual preservation awards.

The awards are named for Kentucky’s first state historic preservation officer, Ida Lee Willis, and are given for the protection, preservation and rehabilitation of historic buildings and cultural resources.

The council said in a news release the awards ceremony will take place in May in Frankfort during National Historic Preservation Month.

The Ida Lee Willis Memorial Foundation hosts the event with the Kentucky Heritage Council/State Historic Preservation Office.

Nominations must be received in the council office or postmarked by April 22. More information is available online .

No parole for man who killed family, held students hostage

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — A Kentucky man who killed his family and then took a high school classroom hostage 25 years ago has been denied parole.

Kentucky Department of Corrections spokeswoman Lisa Lamb says the state Parole Board deliberated Monday and decided 42-year-old Clay Shrout should remain in prison.

News outlets report Shrout was 17 in 1994 when he fatally shot his mother, father and two sisters in their Boone County home, and then went to Ryle High School, where he held students hostage.

During a hearing last week, Shrout told the parole board that he was sorry for his actions, that he wasn’t a public threat and that he planned to move out of state if released.

Lamb says Shrout will have to serve another 10 years before he’ll be eligible to go before the parole board again.

2 killed, including 9-year-old, in house fire

WEST LIBERTY, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky State Police say two people have died in a house fire, including a 9-year-old.

State Police named 44-year-old Timothy Gambill as one of the deceased in the fire Saturday in West Liberty in Morgan County. Police did not name the 9-year-old who died. Both victims were pronounced dead at the scene.

Police say no foul play is suspected at this time and the incident remains under investigation.