The Courier-Journal from Louisville, Kentucky • Page B5

Time: 07-11-2008 22:51 User: shelbymurphy PubDate: 07-12-2008 Zone: KY Page Name: 5 Color: METRO I THE COURIER-JOURNAL I SATURDAY, JULY 12, 2008 I B5 Injured soldiers cruise free on Belle of Louisville Linda Brashears, who was wounded in Iraq with a traumatic brain injury in 2006, stepped aboard. Soldiers and their families may ride the Belle without charge all summer. Riverboat's offer lasts all summer By Aittwon Pinkston The Courier-Journal A group of soldiers from the Fort Knox Warrior Transition Battalion were treated to a two-hour cruise and lunch on the Belle of Louisville yesterday. The Waterfront Development Corp. and Belle of Louisville and their staffsraised funds for the soldiers, including their families, to pay for the lunches.

The fare cost was waived by the riverboat. The group of 16 included soldiers from all over the country stationed at Fort Knox while recovering from injuries sustained in the Iraq war and at least one soldier who has been stationed in Korea. Linda Harris, the Belle's chief executive officers, said cruises on the Ohio River will be offered to soldiers and their families at no charge throughout the summer. She said the idea for the free trips on the river began to take shape several months ago when a representative of Fort Knox contacted the Belle staff about the possibility of cruises for the soldiers. "We jumped on it right away, and within a matter of days we raised the funds for it," Harris said.

"We are just honored to do something for people that are protecting our country." Waterfront officials collected about $2,500 in private funds. After hearing about the opportunity of a free cruise, most of the soldiers said they were excited to get off the base and relax. "I was so thrilled at the chance that I couldn't miss out," said Linda Brashears, a wounded soldier from Louisville who suffered a traumatic brain injury in Iraq in December 2006. "It's though he had a chance to leave the military, he has chosen to stay. "I love being in the Army," he said.

"What better way is there to have opportunities to see the country and protect it at the same time." Robnolte, who is from Louisville, was joined on the cruise by his wife, Tonya Robnolte, and their two children, Justice and Gary Robnolte. Readers can reach reporter Ant-won Pinkston at (502) 582-4241. a great way to show off the city of Louisville." Brashears was deployed to Iraq in December 2005. She joined the military in the mid-70s and, tugged by a sense of obligation, she re-enlisted in 1990. She is almost fully recovered from her injury and now is a support assistant who helps the battalion with activities.

Cpl. Damon Robnolte spent about nine months in Korea. He returned to Fort Knox in January 2006 after he broke his hip and had to get a hip replacement. Even Indy in Photos by Kylene Lloyd, The Courier-Journal Jim Boyle, a chaplain for the Warriors Transition Battalion, boarded the Belle with soldiers from Fort Knox yesterday. Violence leaves 11 Matt DialThe Indianapolis Star Indianapolis police Chief Michael Spears, left, and Mayor Greg Ballard talked Thursday about the shooting of Officer Jason Fishburn as he pursued a homicide suspect.

City defends anti-crime effort By Tom Murphy Associated Press INDIANAPOLIS A wave of violence that has claimed 11 lives in two weeks and left a police officer critically wounded sparked calls yesterday for prayers and a restoration of peace to city streets. Indianapolis police Officer Jason Fishburn, 29, lay in a medically induced coma after being shot in the head while chasing a suspect in one of the recent homicides. Surgeons said his condition was guarded. "Our main concern is survival," Dr. Gerardo Gomez said at a news conference be-hind Wishard Memorial Hospital.

Fishburn's father, Indianapolis police Sgt. Dennis Fishburn, asked for prayers from the community. "If we say that something as negative as what happened last night can bring this community together, then so be it," Dennis Fishburn said. The wave of violence comes six months into the term of Mayor Greg Ballard, who made public safety a top 2 weeks very hard and very quickly to try to stem this violence," he said. Indianapolis police planned a prayer vigil today for Officer Fishburn, a five-year Indianapolis police veteran who underwent more than two hours of surgery Thursday night as doctors tried to relieve pressure on his brain.

Police identified the man suspected of shooting Fishburn as Brian Reese, 36, of Indianapolis. He was being treated in the hospital's detention unit for a shoulder wound. Police said Reese also was suspected in the death of 69-year-old Clifford Had-dix, who was killed inside his home Sunday. the agency takes over control of maintenance from contract agencies. Shanklin said the radar's main improvement will be its ability to use dual polarization, which allows meteorologists to look at weather formations from several angles instead of being limited to horizontal views.

JACKSON, MISS. Panel OKs $20 million for Delta agency The Delta Regional Authority could receive $20 million under a bill passed by the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee. The bill still needs approval of the full Senate, and then the House and Senate must agree on a figure to send to President Bush. Republican Sen.

Thad Cochran of Mississippi said after Thursday's vote that DRA's work is important to livelihood of people in the region. DRA was created by Congress in 2000 and provides economic development programs in Kentucky, Tennessee, Illinois, Arkansas, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Missouri. The Senate figure is more than triple the amount passed by the U.S. House and in the president's dead in the former girlfriend of Jones' boyfriend, headed and what she was wearing. He attributes that to the new administration's push for cooperation.

"We got a strong message out here about how it's not snitching, it's caring," Williams said. "You know, let's have peace in the streets." The recent violence comes nearly two years after 15 murders in 10 days prompted police to drive taxis as part of an effort to end what then-Mayor Peter-son called an "extreme emergency." The city's homicide rate this year is slightly below last year's, and Williams noted that crime overall is down. He also said he was pleased to see about 1,000 people show up at a recent rally for a "Peace in the Streets" initiative. The Rev. Charles R.

Har-rison, senior pastor at Barnes United Methodist Church, said the recent homicides haven't surprised him. "There's just a lot of things going on in our streets that if we don't address them, the violence is not going to go down," he said. Harrison said the city used to benefit from a partnership involving law enforcement, the faith com- "That's the least likely time of the year that we would have severe storms," said Rick Shanklin, a warning coordination meteorologist with the weather service. The Doppler radar, about 20 miles north of Evansville, will be shut down early in September. BRIEFS Police said at the time that Jones meant to use his Taser on Michael McCar-ty, 26, of Jessamine County, but instead drew his pistol and shot him.

McCarty's ex-wife, Amanda McCarty, and her boyfriend, Nathan MacLa-ren, were at the department to pick up McCarty's son. Police said Michael McCarty punched MacLaren in the head. He is charged with misdemeanor assault and is scheduled for trial Sept. 19. Michael McCarty's lawyer, Gatewood Galbraith, told the Lexington Herald-Leader he plans to file a lawsuit over the incident.

PADUCAH, KY. Women get probation for lying in death probe Two Tennessee women found guilty of lying to federal agents during an investigation into the deaths of two women in Central Kentucky last year have been sentenced to probation. METRO BRIEFS Mayor's 'Community Conversation' July 21 Mayor Jerry Abram-son's monthly Community Conversation will be Monday, July 21, in the cafeteria of Carter Elementary School, 3600 Bohne Ave. The session will begin at 6:30 p.m. It offers citizens a chance to discuss problems and issues with the mayor and heads of city departments.

Several Louisville Metro Council members are expected to attend. For more information on the Community Conversation, call Metro Call at 311 or 574-5000. Army engineers get new chief in Louisville Col. Keith A. Landry is the new commander of the Army Corps of Engineers' Louisville District, replacing Col.

Raymond Midkiff, who retired from the Army. Landry is a West Point graduate who was commissioned in the Corps of Engineers in 1985. He has a doctorate in civil engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He has completed overseas tours in Germany, South Korea and Iraq and three combat tours during Operation Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom Memorial benefit for slain troops delayed The Fallen Service Member Memorial benefit scheduled for July 26 has been postponed to Sept. 27.

The benefit, which will include a dinner and live entertainment, will raise money for the Marine Semper Fi Fund. For more information on the benefit, go to http: MOUNT STERLING, KY. Witnesses relate suspect's confession Law enforcement officers say a man on trial for the murder of Clay City police Chief Randy Lacy told them he killed him. The second day of Jamie Barnett's murder trial focused on his statements. A state trooper said Bar-nett kept asking about Lacy's condition.

The trooper said Barnett told him: "I shot Big Randy; I'm going to die." Barnett, 38, faces the death penalty if convicted. The prosecution was expected to wrap up its case yesterday. Lacy was sitting in his police cruiser when he was fatally shot in the head with his spare pistol. Prosecutors say Barnett grabbed the gun through a divider screen in the vehicle. Officials have said Lacy cuffed Barnett's hands in front of him rather than behind his back, a frequent Southwestern Indiana weather radar going offline campaign issue when he defeated incumbent Bart Peterson in November.

The victims since June 30 include a woman gunned down while four children were in the house, a 72-year-old man shot while trying to stop the robbery of a friend, and a 69-year-old man killed in an apparent home invasion and robbery. Despite the string of homicides, some say the city is poised to increase the peace. Ballard said the administration's anti-crime strategy focusing on the most dangerous beats with warrant sweeps, undercover officers and community contact had been working. "We've had a streak here that's really kind of unprecedented," he said. He said the city would continue the same strategy, with perhaps even more emphasis on working with neighborhoods.

"The community's really trying to step up and work with the police department," said Olgen Williams, the city's deputy mayor for neighborhoods. Williams said that after Wednesday's shooting of La-Tonya Jones, who police say was shot repeatedly, residents were eager to share details on where the suspect, much of southwestern Indiana for two months this fall to upgrade its software and hardware. The upgrades, which will make the radar compatible with the rest of the agency's Doppler system, are being made during a time chosen for its quiet skies, the weather service said yesterday. dislodged a concrete panel, which fell on her. Hufnagel was eight months pregnant at the time.

The victim's husband and her mother sued the driver of the pickup, Devona Jones, along with garage manager TIC Properties and investors. The newspaper said Jones' attorney did not return phone calls and the garage owner's attorney declined to comment. NICHOLASVILLE, KY. Grand jury clears officer in accidental shooting A grand jury in Central Kentucky has declined to indict a police officer who police say mistakenly drew his gun and shot a man when he intended to use his Taser to break up a fight. The incident happened in April when Nicholasville police Lt.

Bill Jones and another officer were assisting in a child custody exchange at the police department. munity and businesses during the administration of for-mer Mayor Stephen Goldsmith. Faith workers would hit the streets to offer jobs as an alternative to the easy money that comes from dealing drugs or other crime. "We were able to begin to pull people out of that cycle of crime, and we began to give them hope," he said. "The law enforcement did the stick, the faith community brought the carrot." He said he thinks the Ballard administration is moving in that direction again, and he's encouraged by discussions between the mayor's office and the faith community.

"We're going to work The weather service said radars from neighboring areas will stand in while the radar site is down. After the upgrade, the radar will be able to take advantage of future technology upgrades. The upgrades are expected to cost $700,000, but Shanklin said the cost would likely be recovered as Prosecutors say Michelle L. Lovelace, 37, and Lindsey A. Brooks, 23, both of Clarks-ville, were sentenced to two years' probation during a hearing in federal court in Paducah.

The two were found guilty in March. The case stems from an investigation into the deaths of Tracy Burke, 31, and Karen D. Comer, 53, of Rineyville in Hardin County. A Fort Campbell soldier, Army Sgt. Brent Burke, Tracy Burke's estranged husband, has been charged with their murders.

Karen Comer was Tracy Burke's mother-in-law from a previous marriage. Brent Burke has pleaded not guilty. The two women were found dead Sept. 11, 2007, in a home in Rineyville after Tracy Burke's 9-year-old son called 911, saying he had heard gunfire and the women weren't moving. The boy was one of three children left unharmed in the house.

Brent Burke is the father of the two younger children. Upgrades will take 2 months Associated Press OWENSVILLE, Ind. The National Weather Service will shut down the Dop-pler radar site covering practice for suspects he knew. Barnett told The Associated Press last year that Lacy, who had arrested him numerous times, would always cuff him in the front "because he was my friend" and sometimes didn't handcuff him at all. LEXINGTON, KY.

Settlement reported in suit on woman's death A lawsuit filed after a concrete slab fell and crushed a pregnant Lexington woman in 2006 has been settled, according to the family's attorney. The Lexington Herald-Leader reported yesterday that terms of a settlement in the death of Stephanie Huf-nagel are confidential. Attorney Michael Trout-man told the newspaper all he could say was that the issues were resolved. The 22-year-old victim was walking to work in May 2006 when a pickup truck in a parking garage struck and.