Kentucky

By BRENDAN KIRBY Staff Writer Pamela A. Stephens was overwhelmed when a tractor-trailer pulled into her flood-ravaged town last month with food and supplies from Hagerstown. On Sunday, she said thanks. Stephens, superintendent of West Point (Ky.) Independent School District, was one of about 50 people who attended a benefit concert at Hagerstown Junior College. Organizers raised another $700 for the relief effort. "Saying thanks in person means a little bit more than over the phone," Stephens said.

If you are sober enough after the St. Patrick's Day weekend and still have a food and beverage supply ready next to your favorite chair, let's get ready for the men's NCAA March Madness frenzy that begins tonight. Despite the pool of fraud around academics and payments to athletes, it's time to get on with the games. While Georgia, Michigan, Fresno State and St. Bonaventure will be off in the wilderness playing in their own Academic Final Four, the two-week frenzy for those qualifiers is underway.

martinsburg@herald-mail.com MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - In a Kentucky hotel Wednesday night, authorities found the man who is charged in a warrant with kidnapping an 83-year-old Martinsburg woman in December and trying to force her to withdraw money from her bank account. U.S. Marshals took Belcher Grady, 19, into custody around 11 p.m. after finding him at a hotel in Florence, Ky., according to Detective Sgt. George Swartwood of the Martinsburg Police Department. Outstanding arrest warrants in Berkeley County charge Grady with kidnapping, aggravated robbery, burglary, assault, giving false information to police, obtaining money by false pretenses, petit larceny and writing worthless checks.

charlestown@herald-mail.com SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va. - A 39-year-old Kentucky work-release escapee who was apprehended Monday in Shepherdstown remained at Eastern Regional Jail on $5,000 bond Wednesday afternoon, a jail spokeswoman said. Timothy Scott Carlisle initially was seen at a public boat ramp at the end of Princess Street, said Patrolman K.E. White of the Shepherdstown Police Department. Carlisle went to a house near the boat ramp and police responded to the house, according to White and court records.

Angela Nicole and Bobby Lee Thomas of Martinsburg, W.Va., announce the birth of a son, Brandon Levi Thomas , Aug. 19, 2011. Maternal grandparents are Deborah Painter of Montgomery, Texas, and the late Paul Painter Jr. Paternal grandparents are Patricia Horn of Inwood, W.Va., and Claude Thomas of Kentucky.

Frances S. York, 93, of South Carlisle Street in Greencastle, Pa., and formerly of Kentucky, died Thursday, Dec., 13, 2012, at her home. There will be no viewing. A memorial service will be Monday at 12:30 p.m. at Greencastle Baptist Church. Arrangements are by Harold M. Zimmerman and Son Funeral Home, Greencastle.

Make mine Ford; no, Chrysler; no, Chevy DETROIT (AP) - Ben Wallace appears in ads touting Ford trucks. Rasheed Wallace tools around the Motor City in a $300,000 car built by DaimlerChrysler AG. But after the Pistons won the NBA championship, they piled into Chevrolets - "the official vehicle of the Detroit Pistons" - for the victory parade. The 40-plus vehicles were provided by the Detroit Area Chevy Dealers Association, one of many businesses trying to cash in on the Pistons' first NBA title since 1990.

The Rev. Craig Jones comes to the Downsville Christian Church after serving two churches in Ohio. A native of the Washington, D.C. suburbs, Jones, 55, spent some of his youth in and around the White House, where his father worked in the mailroom. Before seminary, he was a locksmith and held many lay jobs at University Christian Church in Hyattsville, Md. Following his undergraduate studies in history at the University College of the University of Maryland, Jones earned his Master of Divinity degree from Lexington Theological Seminary in Kentucky and completed a semester of ethics at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C. He was ordained in 1995.

katec@herald-mail.com "We're still over there," said Capt. Brian T. Beckno, commander, 1-187th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. Beckno fears that people already are starting to forget about U.S. efforts in the war against terrorism. Beckno has been back in the States since June. The "we" he talks about is other American soldiers. One of them, Daniel R. "Danny" Burger, 19, who grew up in Hagerstown, is "over there" in Afghanistan. Burger enlisted - in peacetime - for a four-year tour last August.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - The $2,000 raise for West Virginia State Police approved by the state Legislature last weekend still leaves trooper pay lagging behind troopers in other states, according to the head of the West Virginia Troopers Association. "It's a good start, but we would like to see it get to the point where our pay is competitive with other states," said WVTA President Dave Williams. The West Virginia Legislature approved a $2.26 billion general revenue budget Sunday after Gov. Cecil Underwood called a special session that allowed lawmakers to revisit the issue of pay raises.

Frances S. York, 93, of South Carlisle Street in Greencastle, Pa., and formerly of Kentucky, died Thursday, Dec., 13, 2012, at her home. There will be no viewing. A memorial service will be Monday at 12:30 p.m. at Greencastle Baptist Church. Arrangements are by Harold M. Zimmerman and Son Funeral Home, Greencastle.

There was a time when almost everything was made by hand - from shirts and dresses to curtains and toys. And when fabric items became worn and frayed, they weren't discarded. Instead, they were stitched into comfortable quilts. Our ancestors were early recyclers, using every piece of cloth they owned to make one-of-a-kind coverlets. But as time and technology moved forward, people no longer were limited to sewing little cotton and wool squares into neatly patterned bed covers.

Former Greencastle, Pa., resident Tiffany Webb Porter, 24, died Wednesday in a car crash in Tompkinsville, Ky., where she had lived since 2008, according to family members and Kentucky State Police. Tiffany Porter and her husband, Joshua Porter, 22, were driving north on Ky. 163 in a 1998 Ford at about 9:42 a.m. when the vehicle hydroplaned and slid into the path of a southbound 1995 Chevy pickup truck, police said. Tiffany Porter was transported to the Monroe County Medical Center, where she was later pronounced dead by the Monroe County coroner, police said.

Angela Nicole and Bobby Lee Thomas of Martinsburg, W.Va., announce the birth of a son, Brandon Levi Thomas , Aug. 19, 2011. Maternal grandparents are Deborah Painter of Montgomery, Texas, and the late Paul Painter Jr. Paternal grandparents are Patricia Horn of Inwood, W.Va., and Claude Thomas of Kentucky.

Richard Young, founding member of the Kentucky Headhunters, was taking a quick stop Monday afternoon at a cigar shop while on his way back to his hometown of Edmonton, Ky. The Headhunters just came back from touring Canada - making a stop at home before going back on the road again. The Kentucky Headhunters will perform at 7 and 9 tonight at the Clear Spring Volunteer Co. Carnival. The concert is free. Young said on this morning he was making his way back to the Headhunters' famous Practice House, an old farmhouse given to him and his brother, Fred, by their grandmother when they were in their teens.

After reading Allan Powell's "Kentucky Edutainment" op-ed piece, we found it remarkable that a professor (albeit retired) simply did not do his homework. He appeared to write  knowledgeably about our future full-size Noah's Ark in northern Kentucky, but his starting point was wrong. We hope he was more careful when imparting knowledge to his students. Powell evidently based his column on second-hand information (i.e., using other newspaper columnists, bloggers, etc.) rather than confirming with original sources.

For those who thought the creationist frenzy had reached its peak with the construction of the "Answers in Genesis" museum in Petersburg, Ky., there is now information to show those people are mistaken. On Dec. 1, the same promoters of religious "edutainment" announced their plans to build a much larger creationist project (Ark Encounter) in Williamstown, Ky., less than 50 miles away. The new theme park will occupy 800 acres of space and feature a 500-foot-long interpretation of Noah's Ark, a Tower of Babel and other biblical accounts.

A Kentucky woman was critically injured Wednesday morning when steel beams hanging from a crane drifted over an eastbound lane of Interstate 70 and collided with her tractor-trailer, Maryland State Police said. Evonne J. Whalen, 45, of East Bernstadt, Ky., was a passenger in the rig near the Md. 66 exit when two large support beams that work crews were using to install signs spun into the roadway, pierced the cab and struck her legs, according to a state police press release. Police said emergency personnel spent about 40 minutes freeing Whalen from the vehicle.

WAYNESBORO, Pa. -- Little Antietam Creek Inc. and Antietam Historical Association will host a Kentucky Derby party on Saturday from 4 to 8 p.m. The party will be held at the 1912 Hoover House on West Main Street in Waynesboro. Activities will include a recorded presentation about the history of horse racing, a hat parade contest, and the televised running of the 136th Kentucky Derby at approximately 6:15 p.m. Dinner will be served immediately following the race. There are three levels of admission at $15, $45 and $75. The $45 admission includes a buffet supper, and the $75 one includes an "Old Kentucky dinner.

SEPT. 14, 1928-OCT. 30, 2009 Ann S. Ausherman, 81, of Hagerstown, passed away Friday, Oct. 30, 2009, at Washington County Hospital. Born Sept. 14, 1928, in Baltimore, she was the daughter of the late George W. and Gertrude A. (Blankline) Schoolden. She was a homemaker. She was preceded in death by her husband, David William Ausherman Jr. Ann is survived by three daughters, Sundra L. Ware of Bedford, Pa., Patricia A. Stivell of Virginia Beach, Va., and Cathy L. Vitti of Whiting, N.J.; one son, David R. Ausherman of West Virginia; two sisters, Edna Abel of Kentucky and Audrey Salvato of Brooklyn, N.Y.; seven grandchildren, Candace C. Bennett, Melissa A. Ware, Katharine Sahene, Benjamin Bean, Sarah Shumaker, Tyler Ausherman and Ashley Riffe; and seven great-grandchildren.