CHEERING CROWDS WELCOME HOME 438TH
More than 100 soldiers from the 438TH Military Police Company came home yesterday, and they were greeted by a cheering crowd as their busses entered the parking lot at Calloway County High School . Soldiers were greeted by hugs, kisses, and screams from their friends and families, with many of the soldiers holding their babies in the air after seeing them for the first time.The 438TH left Murray last year for training in Fort Dix, N.J., and ultimately duty in Iraq, where they guarded a construction site for a detention facility. Near the end of their duty, the detention facility was dismantled and the materials used for building schools.

DON'T DRIVE ON NEW PART OF 80 YET!
The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet reminds you that the new section of KY 80 between US 641 and Brinn Road in Calloway County north of Murray is still under construction and remains CLOSED to traffic. Weather permitting, this section is expected to be ready to open by about December 1.

HERDON CEREMONY IS TODAY
The Gold Star Mother Ceremony honoring Donna Herndon, in memory or her son Roger, is scheduled for today at 1pm in the ROTC Department at Blackburn Science Building at MSU. The event will be held in room 211 in the west end of the building. Reserved parking for the event will be available in the lower level parking lot just off Sixteenth Street behind Blackburn Science Building.

POLICE LOOKING FOR HIT AND RUN VEHICLE OCCUPANTS
Charges are pending against the occupants of a car who left the scene of a three vehicle accident in Calloway county Friday night. According to state police, the driver of an SUV was traveling south on U.S. 641, near Green Plains Road in Calloway County, when it tried to pass a car driven by Lawrence Murray of Hazel, who was also traveling south. While passing Murray, the SUV hit another car head-on, which was traveling north causing the SUV to overturn several times before landing on its side, just off the road. All occupants of the vehicle left the scene before state police arrived. The investigation is continuing by Trooper Trey Green and criminal charges are pending against the occupants of the SUV.

HOSPITAL MEETING IS TONIGHT
Murray-Calloway County Hospital will host its annual city/county meeting today in the Murray Room of the Regional Special Events Center at 6. Refreshments will be served just before the meeting begins, and is open to the public. The meeting is held to communicate strategic and financial information to the communities MCCH serves.

PIT BULLS REMOVED
Rescuers in western Kentucky have finished taking in several pit bulls that police say were involved in illegal dog fights. Joanal DeBerry and his wife, Amy DeBerry, have each been charged with 30 counts of animal cruelty, a felony. Animal shelter workers in Graves County removed a total of 69 pit bulls from a residence and a rural wooded area. Officials say several pit bull rescue groups from around the country have expressed interest in taking the dogs to find homes for them. To learn more on how to help you can visit www .mayfieldgravescounty.petfinder .com.

LAYOFFS AT MAYFIELD COMPANY
91 workers have been laid off at Olde South Candle Company in Mayfield. Officials with the company blame the economy for the cutbacks and that if things were to change a rehire could be possible.

LBL ROAD WORK THIS WEEK
A contractor for the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet plans to start two paving projects on US Forest Service roads in the Land Between The Lakes. The first project is on Energy Lake Road and involves cement treating the existing roadbed and then placing a new asphalt overlay. This paving project on Energy Lake Road is expected to start tomorrow weather permitting. During this road improvement project Energy Lake Campground will remain open, but must be accessed from The Trace via the northern entrance along Mulberry Flat Road. The second project is on Wranglers Campground Road. This project begins at The Trace and ends at the campground. This project is also expected to begin tomorrow, weather permitting. Wranglers Campground will remain open during the road work. However, to avoid construction delays, visitors may choose to access Wranglers Camp from US 68/KY 80 via USFS Road 160.

TVA SAYS HIGHER RATES WILL ACTUALLY HELP
Consumers may be hurting, but those higher electric rates from the Tennessee Valley Authority will end up helping their state and local governments. The nation's largest public utility doesn't pay income taxes and is exempt from property taxes. But under the TVA Act, it must return 5 percent of its revenues to state and local governments in its territory. In the current fiscal year, TVA will pay $495 million in lieu of taxes to state and local governments, up from $455 million last year. Depending upon what rates and power sales do in the next year, TVA could boost such tax-equivalent payments to nearly $600 million by 2010. TVA President Tom Kilgore said the money helps operate schools, build roads and fund local government services.

ACROSS KENTUCKY
It is a somber day on the University of Kentucky campus. Students and faculty resume classes knowing two students died over the weekend. Twenty-year-old Thomas May of Louisville and passenger , 18-year-old Bradley Hall of Rockfield were fatally injured in accident on Interstate 75 in Rockcastle County. Another passenger 18-year-old Ben Cooley of Harrodsburg was injured and is being treated at the University of Kentucky Medical Center. The students were returning from a religious retreat when heading northbound on the interstate when the car went out of control and struck a semi heading southbound. The driver of the truck escaped serious injury.

18-year-old Brandy Timerding from Erlanger was with friends at the Red River Gorge. She fell more than 50 feet from a cliff near a campfire. She was rescued and rushed to the University of Kentucky Medical Center. Kentucky.com reports she's in good condition.

Taylor County Sheriff's deputies are searching for suspects after a man is shot to death in his home. WBKO TV reports someone fatally wounded 26-year-old Shafter Couch by firing a shot through kitchen window at at his home .Investigators say was pronounced dead at the scene..

General Motors has announced that it's cutting thousands of jobs across the country, now word that more 100 of those job cuts will come at the Corvette Assembly Plant in Bowling Green. GM plans to layoff 110 workers at the plant in January. The plant will also shut down Cadillac XLR production December and lay off 30 workers temporarily.

Special ceremonies are being held this afternoon at 1 p.m. in eastern Kentucky. A homeless shelter is re-opening in Harlan. "My Brother's House" closed last summer, but re-opens today sections for families, men and women.

Senator Jim Bunning estimates its going to cost ten-million-dollars for his re-election. Bunning informed the Kentucky Republican Party's state central committee that he's running for re-election in 2010 and he expects it to be a costly campaign. Bunning says he expects Democrats to wage a tough campaign and spend a lot of money to try and defeat him.