Author: Associated Press

Black UK protester statue removed from pedestal in Bristol

BRISTOL, England (AP) — Officials in the English city of Bristol have removed a statue of a Black Lives Matter activist that was installed on a pedestal once occupied by a monument to a 17th-century slave trader. Artist Marc Quinn created the resin and steel likeness of Jen Reid, a protester photographed standing on the pedestal after demonstrators pulled down…

US executes 2nd man in a week; lawyers said he had dementia

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (AP) — The United States has carried out its second federal execution this week, killing by lethal injection a Kansas man whose lawyers contended he had dementia and was unfit to be executed. Wesley Ira Purkey was put to death Thursday at the Federal Correctional Complex in Terre Haute, Indiana. Purkey was convicted of kidnapping and killing…

New Kentucky education commissioner’s annual salary is $260K

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — The Kentucky Board of Education has given new education commissioner Jason Glass a four-year contract with an annual salary of $260,000. The contract approved Wednesday begins Sept. 14. Glass is a native of Brandenburg, Kentucky. Since 2017, he has been superintendent of Colorado’s second largest school district, Jeffco Public Schools in the metro Denver area. He…

Beshear seeks court rulings to uphold coronavirus actions

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear has asked separate courts to uphold some of his executive actions to combat COVID-19. In both court filings, the Democratic governor says Kentucky is embroiled in “a life-and-death battle” against the coronavirus. In a filing Tuesday, Beshear asked a Franklin County Circuit Court judge to declare he acted within his authority when…

Trainer Bob Baffert suspended 15 days by Arkansas stewards

(Photo credit: BobBaffert.com/Barbara Livingston)LOS ANGELES (AP) — Two-time Triple Crown-winning trainer Bob Baffert has been suspended for 15 days by Oaklawn Park stewards after two of his horses tested positive in Arkansas for a banned substance. The stewards said in a ruling that the suspension runs from Aug. 1 to Aug. 15. They said Baffert violated a rule that states…

Police: Troopers fatally shoot man who wouldn’t drop gun

SHEPHERDSVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky State Police say troopers fatally shot a man who ended an hourslong standoff with officers by coming out of a residence and refusing orders to drop a gun. A state police statement says Shepherdsville police originally went there Tuesday night seeking 22-year-old Tyler Blevens, who was wanted on felony warrants including wanton endangerment of a…

Walmart to require customers to wear masks at all its stores

NEW YORK (AP) — Walmart has become the latest major retailer to require customers to wear face coverings at all of its namesake and Sam’s Club stores. The nation’s largest retailer said the policy will go into effect on Monday to give the company time to inform stores and customers. The Bentonville, Arkansas-based company said that currently about 65% of…

Coroner: Kentucky mayor killed in ‘freak’ mowing accident

Image Source: LEX18STANFORD, Ky. (AP) — Officials say a Kentucky mayor was killed when a lawnmower rolled on top of him while he was cutting grass on city property. Lincoln County Coroner Farris Marcum says Stanford Mayor Scottie Ernst died following the accident on Tuesday afternoon. Marcum said Ernst stepped off the edge of a creek bank and the mower…

87 protesters arrested at Kentucky attorney general’s home

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Police say 87 demonstrators who gathered at the home of Kentucky’s attorney general to demand justice for Breonna Taylor have been arrested. News outlets report protesters with the social justice organization Until Freedom gathered Tuesday for a sit-in at the home of Daniel Cameron. Police say they were charged with the felony crime of “intimidating a…

Police investigate death at Kentucky mine

JACKSON, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky State Police are investigating the death of a West Virginia man at a surface mine in eastern Kentucky. Police said in a statement that their investigation has found that 41-year-old Dale Cassel Jr. of Glen Morgan was operating a piece of mining equipment at a surface mine in Breathitt County last week when he lost…