3 human cases of West Nile reported in northern Ky.

FLORENCE, Ky. (AP) — Health officials in northern Kentucky say there have been three human cases of West Nile virus reported there over the summer.

The health department said in a statement Thursday that all the cases have been reported since July. The agency serves residents in Boone, Campbell, Grant and Kenton counties.

Since the virus is spread by mosquitoes, officials are recommending that people who live in the area use insect repellent and wear long-sleeved shirts and pants. The also recommend eliminating any standing pools of water where mosquitoes might breed.

Personnel Board votes to investigate Grimes

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — The Kentucky Personnel Board has voted to investigate Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes’ use of the state’s voter registration database.

Kentucky State Board of Elections Executive Director Jared Dearing asked the board to investigate. He said Grimes and her office have been using the database to look up the political party affiliation of current and potential employees.

Grimes, as Secretary of State, is chairwoman of the State Board of Elections.

Dearing said a person who worked for Grimes pressured him to hire someone who was a registered Democrat instead of someone who is a registered Republican. Dearing said he hired the Republican but gave the Democrat a contract job.

Stephen Amato, an attorney who represents the State Board of Elections, said Dearing has provided no evidence the board hired employees based on political affiliations.

Ex-constable gets 10 years for distributing opioids

PIKEVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A former Tennessee constable has been given 10 years behind bars for conspiring to distribute oxycodone pills.

News outlets report Bobby Roy Justice was sentenced Monday in Kentucky. He was also ordered to pay a $60,000 fine.

Justice had been charged with possessing drugs and conspiring to sell pain pills between 2009 and August 2014. A federal investigation revealed that Justice imported more than 90,000 oxycodone pills in the Pike County, Kentucky, area for distribution from suppliers in Florida.

During one of the trips, Kentucky State Police found him in possession of hundreds of pills and a firearm. Prosecutors say Justice used others to distribute pills on his behalf.

Justice had been serving as a constable in Dandridge, Tennessee, before his indictment. He has since resigned from that post.

Ex-officer gets 3 years for arresting man who reported him

OWENSBORO, Ky. (AP) — A former Kentucky police officer has been sentenced to roughly three years in prison for arresting a man who complained about him.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office says in a release that former Providence police Sgt. William Dukes Jr. was sentenced after he was convicted this summer of violating the civil rights of the man. Evidence presented at trial showed that Dukes was angered over the complaint and drove to the man’s house at 1 a.m.

Evidence says Dukes then shocked the man with a stun gun, sprayed him with pepper spray and punched him in the face.

A jury in July found that Dukes arrested the man while knowing he didn’t have probable cause to believe the man had committed any crime.

Ky. schools seek to help graduates pay for college

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Officials with a public school district in Kentucky say they are trying to develop an initiative that would help high school graduates pay for college.

JCPS Superintendent Marty Pollio tells WAVE-TV the district wants to start a program called Louisville Promise. The program would provide graduates a two-year scholarship for an associate’s degree program in the state of Kentucky.

He said the aim is to remove any major barriers that would keep students from attending college. Pollio said officials are collaborating with the city, non-profit organizations and foundations and they hope to start the offering the initiative to the class of 2020.