Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Taking Care of Kentucky

"Ky. police say more officers threatened" by Bruce Schreiner |  Associated Press, June 12, 2013

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A small-town Kentucky police department mourning the ambush slaying of one of its men has received threats that more officers will be targeted, prompting an investigation by the FBI and State Police, the police chief said Tuesday.

The department received a written threat last week that ‘‘there are more to come,’’ a reference to the nighttime ambush slaying of Bardstown Officer Jason Ellis, 33, last month while the K-9 officer was headed home from work, said Chief Rick McCubbin.

‘‘We don’t even know if any of the threats are credible, but obviously we’re going to treat them as if they are credible,’’ McCubbin said, adding that police would continue operating as usual, while taking extra precautions, in Bardstown, a town of 12,000 about 40 miles southeast of Louisville....

Ellis was shot on May 25 after he got out of his cruiser to pick up tree limbs strewn on a highway exit ramp in Nelson County. Authorities said they think someone purposely placed the limbs on the ramp in order to get him to stop.

Ellis was described as one of Bardstown’s top officers when it came to arrests, with his bosses saying he had made a dent in the town’s drug problems during his seven years with the Police Department.

McCubbin has said that he thinks Ellis was targeted, but that the written threat did not single out anyone in particular. The note was turned over to Kentucky State Police and the FBI, the chief said. Mary Trotman, an FBI spokeswoman, confirmed the agency is investigating but would not comment on specifics.

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You can also get killed with a kiss in Kentucky:

"Ky. town stunned by boy’s shooting of sister, 2" by Travis Loller |  Associated Press, May 06, 2013

BURKESVILLE, Ky. — As Stephanie Sparks cleaned the kitchen, her 5-year-old son, Kristian, began playing with a rifle he was given last year. She stepped out onto the front porch, poured grease out of a frying pan for the dogs, and “heard the gun go off,” a Kentucky coroner said.

Authorities said the boy had fatally shot his 2-year-old sister, Caroline, in the chest.

In rural southern Kentucky, far removed from the national debate over gun control, where some children get their first guns even before they start first grade, the accident stunned the community.

They used to teach gun safety in this country; however, now that the government has turned on the people they wish to disarm us. Thus we get the ma$$ media mouthpieces emphasizing this accident to further push the agenda.

Kristian’s rifle was kept in a corner of the mobile home, and the family did not realize a bullet had been left in it, said Cumberland County’s coroner, Gary White.

“Down in Kentucky where we’re from, you know, guns are passed down from generation to generation,” White said. “You start at a young age with guns for hunting and everything.”

What is more unusual than a child having a gun, he said, is “that a kid would get shot with it.”

At the funeral for Caroline Sparks on Saturday, mourners seemed upset at the national furor over the case, saying people have been too quick to judge the rural tradition of youthful gun use.

In this case, the rifle was made by a company that sells guns specifically for children — “My first rifle” is the slogan — in colors ranging from plain brown to hot pink to royal blue to multicolor swirls.

“It’s a normal way of life, and it’s not just rural Kentucky, it’s rural America — hunting and shooting and sport fishing. It starts at an early age,” said Cumberland County’s judge executive, John Phelps said. “There’s probably not a household in this county that doesn’t have a gun.”

In Cumberland County, as elsewhere in Kentucky, local newspapers feature photos of children proudly displaying their kills, including turkey and deer. Even one of the latest reality shows on Country Music Television, “Guntucky,” features a family-owned gun range in Kentucky. The range, Knob Creek, says on its website that it is as a safe place for youngsters to learn about firearms and offers family memberships.

It's not anything like Honey Boo Boo is it? 

That's on the "learning" channel?

“The whole town is heartbroken,” Phelps said of Burkesville, a farming community of 1,800 northeast of Nashville. “This was a total shock.”

The company that makes the rifle, Milton, Pa.-based Keystone Sporting Arms, has a “Kids Corner” on its website with pictures of young boys and girls at shooting ranges and on bird and deer hunts. It says the company produced 60,000 Crickett and Chipmunk rifles for kids in 2008. The smaller rifles are sold with a mount to use at a shooting range.

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"Ky. college gets $250 million gift, among biggest ever" by Bruce Schreiner |  Associated Press, July 31, 2013

DANVILLE, Ky. — A tiny liberal arts school in rural Kentucky that hosted vice presidential debates in 2000 and 2012 announced a $250 million donation Tuesday, one of the largest single gifts in higher education history.

The all-stock donation to Centre College from the A. Eugene Brockman Charitable Trust ranks among the 20 biggest gifts ever to a US college or university, according to a list maintained by the Chronicle of Higher Education. It is the second-largest such gift to a US school since 2011, according to the Chronicle of Philanthropy, surpassed only by the $350 million donation by Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York to Johns Hopkins University.

RelatedMichael Bloomberg gifts to school top $1b

How generous of him.

Centre said Tuesday it will use the money to set up scholarships for students majoring in natural sciences, economics, and computational sciences.

The school, which has produced two US vice presidents, will award the scholarships to students who ‘‘have a very good chance of making a mark on the world,’’ said Richard Trollinger, a campus vice president.

Meaning they are going to mold and train the next generation of elitist leaders.

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UPDATE:

"Centre College in Danville, Ky. — known for hosting vice presidential debates in 2000 and 2012 — said the all-stock gift from the A. Eugene Brockman Charitable Trust was linked to a ‘‘significant capital market event’’ that didn’t pan out. As a result, the gift was withdrawn and a proposed scholarship program at Centre is on hold."

It truly, truly is a whoreporate pre$$.

That cleans things up and gets you current, according to the Boston Globe.