MURDER SUSPECT IN COURT
Kentucky State Police say a man charged with three counts of capital murder in southwest Kentucky near Fort Campbell once lived near the victims. Trooper Dean Patterson says 36-year-old Kevin Wayne Dunlap of Hopkinsville once lived "down the road" from the home where two teen sisters and their brother were slain last week. Patterson says the possibility exists "that they at least knew each other" but he declined to elaborate or say if they knew each other more recently. Dunlap was arrested Saturday. He made his first court appearance Monday by video from jail and did not enter a plea to three counts of capital murder and other charges in the slayings of 17-year-old Kayla Williams, 14-year-old Kortney Frensley and 5-year-old Ethan Frensley. The three were found dead at a burning house in Roaring Spring last week. Their mother, Kristy Frensley, was wounded but survived.

KENTUCKY A MILE LARGER
While it's been said that good fences make good neighbors, sometimes the lack of fences can also make good neighbors. That's been the case for years along KY 893/State Line Road in Calloway County, Kentucky. West of the Hazel community, the highway runs along the Kentucky-Tennessee state line. While the roadway itself is in Kentucky, the eastbound shoulder borders Tennessee. When Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) officials began efforts to replace an aging bridge over Dry Creek, a little less than a mile west of Hazel, they found they needed to purchase additional right of way in Tennessee. "To make this all work, we entered into an agreement with the Tennessee Department of Transportation to purchase the property for us. We have similar cooperative relationships with all of our surrounding states," said Jim LeFevre, chief engineer for KYTC District 1. "However, this effort with Tennessee is one of the more unusual property transactions our right of way staff has had to work out. The TDOT people were very helpful through the process."

The Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) helped negotiate the purchase of just over one acre of property from two Tennessee landowners. The arrangement provides KYTC with necessary right of way while Tennessee officially owns the property. While the arrangement sounds odd, it is not all that uncommon. TDOT spokeswoman Julie Oaks says working with Kentucky and other border states on important projects benefits citizens of both states. "Tennessee is fortunate to share a border with eight different states which makes it even more vital that we reach across state lines to work with our neighbors on important projects like this," said Oaks. "This slice of the volunteer state will help improve safety for many motorists from both Kentucky and Tennessee who travel KY 893 and we are pleased to have helped the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet with this bridge project." In addition to the one acre purchased by Tennessee, KYTC obtained easements from several property owners on the Kentucky side of the road to allow construction of a traffic diversion and temporary access for construction of the new 75-foot bridge. The unusual situation along KY 893/State Line Road has created a long-standing relationship between Kentucky and Tennessee law enforcement officials. Calloway County Sheriff Bill Marcum said his officers have to call on their Tennessee counterparts when traffic crashes involve vehicles running off the southern edge of the roadway into Tennessee.

"While our people are able to immediately assist with an emergency, we've had to call Tennessee authorities to come up to officially investigate a crash because the vehicle ended up in their territory or caused some type of property damage in Tennessee," Marcum said. "It has created some odd situations that have helped us maintain a good working relationships over the years." The anticipated completion date for a new bridge is mid-summer 2009. Murray Paving, Inc., is the prime contractor on the $733,000 highway improvement project. The existing bridge has been a weak spot in the transportation system due to a reduced load limit. Traffic control signage is being installed this week with other preliminary work to follow. The existing bridge will remain open for with a 15-ton load limit until a temporary traffic diversion is complete. Construction of the diversion is expected to take about two weeks. About 800 vehicles travel KY 893/State Line Road West of Hazel in an average day.

CLINTON IN PADUCAH FRIDAY
Former President Bill Clinton will campaign Friday in Paducah for U.S. Senate candidate Bruce Lunsford. Details of the location and time of the visit will be announced later in the week. Lunsford received confirmation of the visit Monday while meeting with the Paducah Sun editorial board. He also campaigned Monday in Ballard, Fulton, Hickman and Carlisle counties, and will return Thursday for a debate with U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, his Republican opponent. The Four Rivers Business Journal, a publication of The Paducah Sun, is the sponsor. The debate will be broadcast live on the Internet starting at 8 a.m. The link to the live broadcast is at www.paducahsun.com. McConnell, the Senate Republican floor leader, also intends to spend time in the region before the Nov. 4 election. He will bring his bus tour to western Kentucky on Thursday and again next week.

ESCAPEES SOUGHT
Police continued to search Monday for two men who escaped from the Fulton County Detention Center late Sunday. Police were called around 8 p.m. Sunday when someone noticed Jeremy Phelps and Tommy Southard walking across the road. The men were working kitchen duty when they escaped through a vent into the captain’s office and broke out a window, according to a statement from the Fulton County Sheriff’s Department. State police received information Monday that the men remained in the area and searched two residences, but did not find them. The men are not considered dangerous.

SIU EXPANDS IN-STATE TUITION
Southern Illinois University in Carbondale is offering in-state tuition rates for college-bound high school students in three neighboring states. The university's board to trustees says the offer to students in Missouri, Kentucky and Indiana would take effect for the academic year beginning next August. SIU President Glenn Poshard says the move has been discussed for about a year, and that it reciprocates what the neighboring states already have been doing. The cuts mean an annual savings of nearly $10,000 for an out-of-state undergraduate student to attend the Carbondale school. A similar plan being proposed for SIU's Edwardsville campus is expected to be approved by trustees in December.

ACROSS KENTUCKY
Governor Steve Beshear has called a late morning news conference. He will announce the creation of a task force to focus on the ever increasing cost of higher education. The task force to study affordability an accessibility of higher education in the Commonwealth.

A new poll shows Senator Mitch McConnell still ahead in the Senate race. The "Herald Leader" reports a Research 2000 poll shows McConnell leading challenger Bruce Lunsford 46-to-42 percent. Last month, the same poll showed McConnelll with a double digit lead.

The September unemployment rate is the highest in 16 years. According to the "Courier Journal," the seven-point-one percent is up several tenths of a point. The state's chief labor analyst, Justin Detzel, says unemployment is up in nearly every sector of the Kentucky economy.

For the first time a special new light bulb is being made in this country. The Pentrol T5 energy efficient fluorescent light has been made overseas. Now, Osram Sylvania workers in Versailles are making the bulb. The new assembly line went online this week.

Investigators are looking for the cause of a fatal fire in Floyd County. A weekend fire has taken the life of 42-year-old Teresa Roark. A neighbor managed to break down a door to get her out of the house, then administer CPR. She later died at the hospital.

Thirteen people died in eleven separate accidents Kentucky roadways last week. Eleven of the fatal accidents involved motor vehicles, one person died in an ATV accident, and one pedestrian was fatally injured.