Train Collision Claims Three

(Bowling Green)  Three people were killed Friday about 6:40 p.m., when their vehicle was struck by a train.

According the Trooper James Newkirk, a 2000 Dodge pickup was traveling west on Ray Houchin Road in Edmonson County, when he failed to yield at the railroad crossing. A CSX train traveling north struck the driver's side of the vehicle and pushed it approximately a quarter of a mile before coming to rest and bursting into flames. The operator of the vehicle, Jeffery L. Cockrill, 42, of Fountian Run, Kentucky and two of his passengers, Stephanie Cockrill, 34, of Fountain Run, Kentucky and Samantha Coulter, 28, of Adolphus, Kentucky were pronounced deceased by the Edmonson County Coroner's office. A fourth passenger John Coulter, 31, of Adolphus was flown to  University of Louisville Hospital. The investigation is still ongoing and is being led by Trooper James Newkirk. He was assisted on scene by the Edmonson County Sheriff's Office, Park City Fire Department, Rocky Hill Fire Department, Air Evac, and the Edmonson County Coroner's Office, and CSX officials.

Son Of Kentucky Sheriff Facing Charges

(Stanford)  The son of a central Kentucky sheriff is facing charges from his father's department after deputies found stolen items in his wrecked car. Lincoln County Sheriff Curt Folger told The Advocate-Messenger that his son, 24-year-old Hagan Folger will be charged with receiving stolen property, valued at more than $500 when he is released from the University of Kentucky hospital.

The sheriff told The Lexington Herald-Leader that Hagan Chandler is recovering from hip and knee injuries suffered when he crashed his mother's Ford Explorer into a ditch and tree about 1 a.m. Saturday. Deputies discovered a mandolin and power tools at the scene of the accident. The sheriff says the charges will likely go to the grand jury because of the hospitalization. However, an arrest warrant has been issued.

KSP Fatality Report

(Frankfort)  Preliminary statistics indicate that sixteen people
died in fourteen separate crashes on Kentucky roadways from Monday, Aug.
22, through Sunday, Aug. 28, 2011. 

Eleven of the fatalities involved motor vehicles and four of the victims
were not wearing seat belts.  Single-fatality crashes occurred in Boone,
Hardin, Marshall, Perry, Pulaski, Scott, and Washington counties.   The
crash in Scott County involved the suspected use of alcohol.

Two double-fatality crashes occurred in Marion and Muhlenberg counties.

Five motorcycle-involved fatal crashes occurred in Hopkins, Laurel,
Simpson, Union, and Warren counties. 

Through August 28, 2011, preliminary statistics indicate that 452
people have lost their lives on Kentucky roadways during 2011.  This is
fifty less fatalities than reported for the same time period in 2010.

FEMA Assistance

(Kentucky)  Bell, Knox and Perry counties have been
designated for disaster assistance to households and businesses as part of Kentucky's
July 25 federal disaster declaration, according to officials from the Federal
Emergency Management Agency.

Individual Assistance for homeowners and renters can include grants to help
pay for temporary housing, home repairs and other serious disaster-related
expenses not met by insurance or other assistance programs. Also,
low-interest loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration are available to
cover residential and businesses losses not fully compensated by insurance.

Louisville Mother Sentenced For Children's Murder

{Kentucky}...Gail Lynn Coontz, a Louisville woman charged with killing her two children, pleaded guilty Friday to two counts of murder, just more than a week before her scheduled September 12th trial date. Coontz was accused of shooting her 14 year old son, Greg, and 10 year old daughter, Nikki, in the family's home on March 27, 2008 and taking the gun to the University of Louisville counseling center and briefly holding a therapist hostage. Coontz will serve life in prison without a chance at parole for 25 years.

Family Foundation Appeals Instant Racing

{Kentucky}...Instant Racing began September 1st at Kentucky Downs in Franklin. The Family Foundation of Kentucky has asked the Kentucky Court of Appeals to put an end to Instant Racing. Initially the anti-gambling Family Foundation said it would not seek to halt Instant Racing. The request is part of an appeal to a ruling last December that said the games were legal in Kentucky. Kentucky Downs spokesman Bill Flesher says, if a judge rules against the games, the track could have to remove the machines.

Inmate Died From Substance Intoxication

{Kentucky}...Greenup County Coroner Neil Wright says Rodney Salyers, 44, from Russell, an inmate found dead just hours after he was brought into the Greenup County Detention Center on August 6th, died from the result of a combined substance intoxication from Hydrocodone, Oxycodone and Alprazolam. Salyers was booked on charges of operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol or drugs, failure to produce an insurance card and expired or no registration.