HAZEL MAN FACES ABUSE CHARGES
Bite marks, facial bruising and signs of choking on a 5-month old child lead to the arrest of 25-year-old Christopher Clark of Hazel. Clark has been charged with first-degree criminal abuse and is being held in the Calloway County Jail on a $100,000 cash bond.

DOG PARK CONSTRUCTION UNDERWAY
Ground was broken yesterday at the new dog park in Murray. Linda Cherry has been raising funds for the park through the group Lost But Loved Animal Rescue. One of the major donors to the project was Ben Wright with Rightway Nursery.  He donated landscaping for the Park.

TWO ARRESTED IN DRUG BUST
A sale of drugs to an undercover officer with the Pennyrile Narcotics Task Force has led to two arrests. 23-year old Bruce Carter allegedly sold 100 Ecstasy pills to undercover officers Tuesday night, and then fled.  Police say they caught him on College Farm Road.  Following Carter's arrest, a search warrant was executed at his residence at 914 Coldwater Road. Detectives found 21-year old Marvin Williams, who was charged with possession of marijuana. Carter was charged with trafficing in a controlled substance and fleeing and evading police. The drugs seized have a street value of more than $5,000.

WEBASTO MULLING OPTIONS
According to the Manufacturing and Technology E-Journal, the fate of the Webasto stamping plant in Murray is up in the air until next summer. Company officials say because of overall business environment they are reviewing what to do with the plant, which employs 63. A decision won’t be made until July 2009, according to Adreas Weller, vice president of business development for Webasto. Weller said the three options under consideration include: developing a joint venture to make auto or non-automotive parts at the plant; selling the facility and equipment to another company; or closing the plant and consolidating a majority of the operations to Michigan. For now, the plant will operate normally. Michigan-based Webasto makes OEM and aftermarket parts for a variety of transportation industry segments

BRIDGE MEETING TONIGHT
Kentucky transportation officials tonight will present several cost-cutting ideas and seek the public’s input on a pair of bridges on U.S. 68 across Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley. State Transportation spokesman Chuck Wolfe said the state seeks ways to reduce the cost that early estimates indicated could be as high as $500 million. They want to build the bridges for about $150 million. The public meeting will be held from 5:30 to 8 p.m., with a presentation starting at 6 p.m., in the Conference Center at Lake Barkley State Resort Park.

LAWMAKERS TO CONSIDER TEEN CELL BILL
A bill is in the works that could prohibit Kentucky teens from driving while using a cell phone. Under the proposed bill, drivers under 18 years of age would not be allowed to use a cell phone unless it was an emergency requiring medical help, or assistance from police. Violators would face fines from $20 to $100. The National Safety Council report on traffic safety from 2005 ranked Kentucky as the ninth deadliest state for teen-related traffic deaths.

JUSTICE BRANCH LOSING MONEY
Kentucky's chief justice says the state's judicial branch expects a $37.8 million deficit in 2011. Chief Justice John D. Minton Jr. spoke to the Interim Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, telling members the courts could also face cuts in the current fiscal year. Minton said most of the money problems come from personnel costs and building new courthouses. The state courts employ 3,700 people and have an annual budget of $293 million.

LAWSUIT OVER KIDNEY
Bob Stogner of Murray is suing the recipient of his donated a kidney for not honoring an "oral contract" he said the two men struck before surgery. Stogner claims Thomas Clendenen owes him more than $4,167 for construction work performed on Stogner's home. Stogner agreed to move up the date of the kidney transplant if Clendenen agreed to help Stogner cover some costs of construction work being done on Stogner's home, according to the suit filed last month in Calloway District Court. Clendenen, a diabetic on dialysis, argues that the suit should be dismissed, since it is unlawful to trade a human organ for money. Carolyn Clendenen said her husband made a verbal agreement to pay for a small portion of the work. Clendenen paid $1,100 to Stogner, according to the suit.

REVIEW OF STATE MERIT SCHOLARSHIPS SUGGESTED
State Auditor Crit Luallen told a panel studying college affordability Thursday that Kentucky should reconsider its merit-based college scholarship program. Luallen wants the panel to see whether the funds are being used and whether unused money should be reallocated to need-based recipients. The merit-based scholarship program was created in 1998 as a way to get more Kentucky high school students to go to college and to keep the best students in the state.

PADUCAH MAN FACING CHILD PORN CHARGES
A Paducah man is in jail on 54 counts of possessing child pornography. 59-year-old Hobert Edward Williamson was charged after police executed a search warrant at his home Wednesday as the result of a child pornography investigation in Ohio. Authorities were notified that a local cell phone number showed up in a child porn case and retrieved two phones belonging to Williamson one of which contained pornographic images.

MSU'S ASHLEY JOHNS HONORED
A 21-year-old senior at Murray State University from Schaumburg, Ill., Ashley Johns has been named as one of the American Advertising Federation's Most Promising Minority Students for 2009. Connecting the advertising industry with the nation's top minority college seniors, AAF's Most Promising Minority Students Program is the premier advertising industry award program to recognize and recruit outstanding minority college graduates in advertising, marketing, media and communications.

MSU PROFESSOR RECEIVES FULLBRIGHT GRANT
William H. Mulligan Jr., professor of history at Murray State University, has been awarded a Fulbright Scholar grant to lecture and complete research in the history department at University College Cork, Ireland (UCC) during the spring 2009 semester, according to the United States Department of State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board. Recipients of Fulbright awards are selected on the basis of academic or professional achievement, as well as demonstrated leadership potential in their fields.

ACROSS KENTUCKY
The commissioner of the Indiana State Department of Heath talked about the benefits of higher cigarette taxes to a group of Kentucky lawmakers. Dr. Judy Monroe addressed the Interim Joint Committee on Health and Welfare. Kentucky has one of the highest smoking rates in the country and one of the lowest cigarette tax. The "Herald Leader" reports Dr. Monroe says when Indiana increased it's 44-cents-per-pack to 99-cents-per-pack the number of Indiana smokers fell by 20-percent. A bill to increase the tax in Kentucky from 30-cents a pack to one dollar passed the House and was defeated in the Senate. Representative David Hawkins , a Democrat from Henderson says he will introduce the tax increases again. The governor has held out the possibility as a way to help cover the revenue shortfall the state is facing.

Representative Bill Farmer says he's going to file a bill to eliminate state income taxes for individuals and businesses, but there will still be taxes. Farmer's bill would also lower some sales taxes but add sales to tax to haircuts and some other services not now taxed. Representative Farmer says the tax is revenue neutral, meaning the state will not make any more money, but he believes it would bring new business to the state.

Attorney General Jack Conway says two therapists charged with bribing a witness have entered guilty pleas. A Jefferson County grand jury had indicted Vanessa Rouse from Letcher County and Janice Fields from Perry County for fraudulently billing the Kentucky Medicaid Program. They then faced charges of bribing a prosecution witness. Sentencing in the bribery case is set for December 18 while the Medicaid Fraud case is still pending in Jefferson Circuit Court.

Lexington Police, FBI agents, and the state forensic pathologist spent are searching a field near Prestonsburg. They're looking for clues in the disappearance of Joyce Crider, who disappeared from her Lexington home six years ago. The property being searched belongs to her ex-husband.

Mercer County School officials became concerned and called in police to investigate an upsetting phone call. The "Advocate Messenger" reports a central office employee received an answering machine message that is a song. The music makes an implied threat about "saying goodbye to people at the end of the world." Security at the schools was increased as police search for the caller.

TAC Air a company that provides services to private planes at Lexington's Blue Grass Airport announces some new projects. According to "Kentucky.com" TAC Air is building a new terminal and three new hangers. They hope to have the project completed by the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games. That event is expected to bring in several hundred thousand visitors from around the world.

For 42 years he's been the person the media went to with questions about Cincinnati/ Northern Kentucky International Airport, now he's retiring at the end of the year. Ted Bushelman worked at a number of television stations in a number of roles before becoming the spokesman for the airport. Asked about the retirement Bushelman says "I'm 72 years old. Don't you think it's about time ?"