Amber alert issued for missing Kentucky teen

DAWSON SPRINGS, Ky. (AP) — State police in Kentucky have issued an Amber alert for a teenage girl reported missing from her home.

State police say in a news release 16-year-old Lauryn Sizemore of Dawson Springs was last seen early Saturday in her bedroom. The statement says she is believed to be with her stepfather, 56-year-old Glenn Eugene Harper.

The alert says the teenager wears glasses, has a lazy eye and was last seen wearing a gray hoodie with black strings. She is described as white, 4-foot-8 and 130 pounds with brown hair and hazel eyes.

Her stepfather is described as white with gray hair and brown eyes and weighing 245 pounds.

The statement says Glenn Harper is believed to be driving a 2004 maroon Hyundai Sonata with a Kentucky temporary license plate tag.

Democrat Drew Curtis withdraws from auditor’s race

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Democrat Drew Curtis says he has dropped out of the race for state auditor in Kentucky.

Curtis says on social media that “other commitments” prompted his withdrawal from next month’s Democratic primary. Three other Democrats are running for the job — Kelsey Hayes Coots, Sheri Donahue and Chris Tobe. The only Republican in the race is the incumbent, Mike Harmon.

The secretary of state’s office says Curtis’ name will remain on the May 21 primary ballot because the ballots have been printed. Officials say notice will be given at precincts that Curtis withdrew.

Curtis ran for governor as an independent candidate in 2015. He is the founder of the website Fark.com.

City uproots homeless camp, forces residents to another

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A Kentucky city has uprooted a homeless camp before the upcoming Kentucky Derby, leading some residents to just move to another camp.

The Courier Journal reports the tent city underneath an Interstate 65 overpass in Louisville was deemed unsafe by city officials several weeks ago and cleared Monday. Some residents remained that day, hurriedly packing as they explained they didn’t know where to go. Volunteers helped some move to a well-known but less visible camp that has seen its population spike as the cleanup approached.

City Resilience and Community Services Director Eric Friedlander says the cleanup is because of warming weather and new homeless services, not the derby. The city has funded stopgap measures including emergency shelter beds, lockers and outreach staff, but those run out of funding June 30.

Specialty printing manufacturer expanding in Kentucky

HEBRON, Ky. (AP) — A Kentucky manufacturer is expanding a plant in Boone County and adding 30 jobs.

Armor USA, which creates specialty printing materials, plans to add 36 jobs with a $3.3 million expansion project.

The expansion will add 32,000 square feet of office and storage space, increasing the facility’s size to 113,000 square feet. Company leaders tell state officials they expect to increase production by more than 60 percent between 2020 and 2030.

A release from Gov. Matt Bevin’s office announced the expansion. Bevin says “manufacturing excellence continues to be a hallmark of Kentucky’s economy.”

Armor manufactures thermal-transfer ribbons used for printing variable information onto labels and packaging. The company is a subsidiary of France-based ARMOR.

Tennessee police search for suspect in girl’s attack on I-65

FRANKLIN, Tenn. (AP) — Police in Tennessee have increased a reward offer and expanded the search area for a man accused of attacking a 16-year-old girl whose vehicle had a flat tire along Interstate 65.

Police in Franklin said in a news release the reward for information leading to an arrest has been increased to $5,000.

Police say the girl was outside her vehicle waiting for her father to arrive south of Nashville on March 24 when the suspect pulled her down a hill and into a ditch. The girl escaped and the suspect fled into woods on foot and has not been spotted since.

The girl was treated for minor injuries.

The man is described as white, about 6-feet tall, in his late 30s or early 40s, with a medium build, a blond beard and discolored teeth.

Meteor likely cause of bright flash in Florida night sky

ERIDU, Fla. (AP) — The National Weather Service says a bright flash across the Florida night sky over the weekend was likely a falling meteor.

News outlets report people in southern Georgia and the Big Bend area of northern Florida reported seeing a flash shortly before midnight Saturday. The National Weather Service in Charleston confirmed a mapping tool “detected the released light from the suspected fireball” over a spot about 35 miles (56.32 kilometers) east of Tallahassee just before midnight.

The Tallahassee office released a loop in which the meteor briefly blinks as a purple dot. It’s unclear where the meteor landed.

Saturday’s flash followed meteor sightings across the southeast early Friday. The American Meteor Society says more than 150 reports were recorded in Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.