Report: Ky. tourism generates $15 billion impact

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — The economic impact of Kentucky’s tourism industry has jumped nearly 4 percent to more than $15 billion.

A report commissioned by the Kentucky Department of Tourism shows the industry supports more than 195,000 jobs across the state and generated $1.5 billion in taxes. Of that tax money, $202 million went to local governments while the rest went to the state government.

Tourists spending money in Kentucky accounted for more than $9.5 billion of the $15 billion impact. Tourism jobs accounted for $3.3 billion in wages to Kentucky workers.

Department of Tourism Commissioner Kristen Branscum said all of the state’s nine tourism regions posted gains in 2017. The largest gain was the Western Waterlands Region, which increased 6.4 percent.

Sheriff: Man fatally shoots other man then himself

WARSAW, Ky. (AP) — Authorities in Kentucky say they don’t yet know what led a 35-year-old man to fatally shoot another man before killing himself.

The shooting happened in downtown Warsaw on Monday morning.

Kentucky State Police spokesman Steven Dykes says that Gallatin County Sheriff Josh Neale was the first on the scene. The sheriff began negotiating Treigh Monroe of Louisville who was holding 54-year-old Dwight Wesley of Bennington, Indiana, at gunpoint.

Dykes said Monroe shot Wesley and then turned the gun on himself. The sheriff didn’t fire any shots.

Monroe died at the scene and Wesley died a short time later at a hospital. Autopsies have been scheduled for both.

Dykes said investigators are trying to determine whether the men knew each other and what led them to Warsaw.

Commercial kitchen venting company expanding

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — A commercial kitchen ventilation company is building a $6.6 million facility to expand its operations in south central Kentucky.

Halton Co. will build a 55,000-square-foot (5,100-square-meter) facility in Scottsville that will house the company’s Halton Air Moving division, which supplies the North American market.

The new location will make emission control devices, specialized air handling units and other products.

Gov. Matt Bevin’s office made the announcement on Monday. Bevin says Halton Co. “has proven itself to be an exemplary corporate citizen and strong economic partner of the Commonwealth.”

The company moved to Allen County in 1997, where it currently employs 160 people.

Ex-doctor gets 8-year prison sentence on drug, fraud charges

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (AP) — Prosecutors in Kentucky say a former doctor whose patient died of a drug overdose has been sentenced to eight years in federal prison.

U.S. Attorney Russell M. Coleman tells news outlets in a statement that 66-year-old Charles Fred Gott was sentenced on Monday. U.S. District Judge Greg N. Stivers also ordered Gott to pay restitution and court costs totaling more than $160,000 and a $17,500 fine in addition to the prison term.

Coleman says Gott pleaded guilty to conspiring to illegally distribute drugs that included methadone, fentanyl and hydrocodone between June 2010 and September 2013. He also pleaded guilty to health care fraud.

Court records say state police started investigating Gott’s pain-management practice after a deputy Warren County coroner reported responding to the overdose death of one of Gott’s patients.

Man, woman found dead at possible arson site

SHELBYVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Police in Kentucky are investigating the deaths of a man and woman whose bodies were found following a fire that authorities believe may have been intentionally set.

News outlets report firefighters were sent to a vehicle fire at a Shelbyville home Sunday morning. Crews found 44-year-old Georgina L. Knott dead inside the home. A Kentucky State Police statement says they body of 47-year-old James M. Knott was found inside a car behind the home from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Shelby County Fire Department Deputy Chief Jeff Ivers says there were three active fires on scene when crews arrived.

Police investigators are working with fire officials on the investigation. Arson is being considered as a cause. The fire department says the Jefferson County Coroner will handle the autopsies.