Beech Tree News Network

On December 13, 2016, at approximately 2351 hours, Morgantown Police officer James Embry made a traffic stop on a 1999 Ford car. Upon the stop, Officer Embry detected the odor of marijuana. Through investigation, it was determined that the operator of the vehicle,  Katherine Lapierre was under the influence of drugs and possessed approximately 115 grams or 4.5 ounces of marijuana and a small amount of suspected methamphetamine.

Bowling Green, KY (December 15, 2016) Kentucky State Police responded to a  2 vehicle  collision on Interstate 65 at the 22 mile marker in Bowling Green today at 11:13 a.m.  involving a Commercial Motor Vehicle and a Dodge Caravan.

Butler County Fiscal Court met Monday night December 12 at the Butler County Courthouse for a regularly scheduled meeting.  Once the Pledge of Allegiance was lead and the opening prayer given, the room was called to order by Judge-Executive David Fields. Although there were several items of business on the agenda, the meeting ran smoothly with few bumps in the proceedings.  There was no old business to review.  

On Dec. 13 shortly after midnight, Morgantown Police Officer James Embry made a traffic stop on a 1998 Dodge Dakota that was operated by James Bogle of Bowling Green. During the stop, it was determined through training and experience that Bogle was under the influence of drugs. Upon search of Bogle, Officer Embry found suspected methamphetamine. Bogle was lodged at the Butler County Jail on various charges.

West Central Kentucky gas prices decreased by a penny this week to $2.142 per gallon, according to AAA East Central’s Fuel Gauge Report. 

On the National Front

The national average has increased for 14 days in a row following the OPEC oil production agreement on November 30. Today’s average of $2.21 per gallon is up three cents per gallon on the week and two cents per gallon on the month. The national average is up 20 cents compared to the same date last year.

FRANKFORT --- Last week, Speaker-Elect Jeff Hoover released the names of House committee chairs for the upcoming 2017 Regular Session of the Kentucky General Assembly. Included on the list is 17th District State Representative Jim DeCesare, R-Bowling Green, who will serve as the Chairman of the House Economic Development & Workforce Investment Committee.

The Morgantown City Council met in regular session on Thursday, December 8th.  All of the current council was present as were the newly elected members, Jason Gaskey, Dustin Embry, and Sterling White. The new council will be sworn in on December 27th at 6:00 p.m. at the Eva J. Hawes Building.

Western Kentucky University conferred degrees and certificates to more than 1,370 graduates Saturday at its 180^th Commencement.

During morning and afternoon ceremonies at Diddle Arena, WKU awarded 75 associate, 925 bachelor’s, 307 master’s, 13 doctoral and three specialist degrees and 19 undergraduate certificates and 30 graduate certificates for a total of 1,372.

The state’s education secretary wants to see Kentucky schools be given A to F grades under its rede­signed accountability system, say­ing that having the report card­style labels will be clear and easy for parents and the community to understand.

FRANKFORT - Gov. Matt Bevin vowed this week that he and other Republican leaders will not use the “rope” that Kentucky voters gave them on Nov. 8 to “hang ourselves.”

With Republicans in control of Kentucky’s governor’s office, Senate and House, some people “believe we’ve been given enough rope to hang ourselves,” Bevin said in an interview this week with Kentucky Today, a publication of the Kentucky Baptist Convention.