Beech Tree News Network

AROUND KENTUCKY …The Rev. Jean-Rene Kalombo has a daily routine of walking a nearly 5-mile roundtrip from Fourth Street to Kroger inside Owensboro's Wesleyan Park Plaza. That built-up cardio came in handy on Saturday when the 56-year-old pastor of SS. Joseph and Paul Catholic Church pursued a thief on foot for at least 10 blocks. After about a mile, Kalombo was able to catch up to Woods. Kalombo said he managed to pull the purse and money away from Woods. The purse contained cash, a car key and multiple credit cards. --Messenger-Inquirer * * * Two-time Triple Crown-winning trainer Bob Baffert on Thursday denied giving Justify a banned medication. “I unequivocally reject any implication that scopolamine was ever intentionally administered to Justify, or any of my horses,” Baffert said in a statement. “Justify is one of the finest horses I’ve had the privilege of training and by any standard is one of the greatest of all time. I am proud to stand by his record, and my own.” Baffert blamed environmental contamination for a positive finding for the chemical, which is found in Jimson weed. He also said he had no “input into, or influence on, the decisions made by the California Horse Racing Board.”--Lexington Herald-Leader * * * The first full day of the Paducah Area Chamber of Commerce's annual D.C. Fly-In ended on a high note with some promising news from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. The senator told the chamber delegation at a Wednesday night reception in the U.S. Capitol Building that he believes funding will be increased next year over previous amounts for the ongoing cleanup of the U.S. Department of Energy's Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant site. "We're actually going to be able to get more money for the cleanup this year than you had asked for," McConnell said. --Paducah Sun * * *