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Local News

  • EARLIER: Hotel loses Holiday Inn franchise

    The former Holiday Inn Express in Shelbyville no longer bears that familiar name. Instead, it's temporarily going by the Ritz Inn and Suites.

    Holiday Inn pulled the franchise from Shelby County's largest hotel because its owners hadn't been paying their franchise fees, said Charlie Kramer, executive director of the Shelbyville-Shelby County Tourism Commission.

    “To my knowledge, there has been no change in ownership,” said Kramer, who met with the hotel's general manager earlier this week.

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  • Former Holiday Inn closed

    The guest rooms and parking lot of Shelby County's largest hotel now share one thing in common — they are both empty after the former Holiday Inn Express was shut down last week.

    Hotel employees told Charlie Kramer, executive director of the Shelbyville-Shelby County Tourism Commission, that the hotel was closed by the IRS late last week.

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  • Board may OK fields for Collins High School

    Members of the Shelby County Board of Education said on Wednesday that they want to keep their options open for athletic facilities at the new Martha Layne Collins High School.

    But after a specially called work session to discuss those options, Superintendent James Neihof said he expects board members to vote next week to seek bids on a multipurpose stadium for football, soccer and track as well as game fields for softball and baseball for Shelby County’s new high school.

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  • News briefs: July 17, 2009

    State unemployment rises again in June  

    Kentucky’s seasonally adjusted preliminary unemployment rate for June 2009 reached a near 26-year high of 10.9 percent from a revised 10.7 percent in May 2009, the Kentucky Education and Workforce Development Cabinet reported. Local and regional figures are due out this morning.

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  • County postpones approval of plan update

    Shelby County Fiscal Court magistrates voted Tuesday to postpone a first reading to adopt the goals and objectives portion of the county's new Comprehensive Plan.

    The consensus of the court, sparked by Magistrate Michael Riggs, is that magistrates did not want to approve the plan because planners had not explained the variances of the document to them.

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  • Tapp mum on plans for cash

    With no opponent in his last election, state Sen. Gary Tapp is sitting on a significant amount of campaign contributions, money  he no longer will need because he isn’t seeking re-election in 2010.

    Kentucky Registry of Election Finance Records show Tapp had just less than $69,000 in campaign funds as of the last reporting date, Nov. 7, 2008.

    State law does not allow a candidate to keep leftover funds but does allow the candidate some options for spending the money. By law, Tapp can:

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  • EARLIER: Board to consider athletic facilities for new high school

    When  the Shelby County School Board meets Thursday night, it will consider approving outdoor athletic facilities for the Martha Layne Collins High School that is now under construction.

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  • EARLIER: Police nab suspect in rash of burglaries

    Shelbyville Police have arrested the man they believe is responsible for numerous recent break-ins at businesses in Shelby and surrounding counties.

    Robert Eugene Weathers, 40, of Springfield was arrested Wednesday and could be charged with perhaps 30 burglaries in a six-county area.

    Weathers is on parole after being convicted in a similar spree of crimes in Nelson County six years ago, and police appear convinced he is responsible for the break-ins and thefts that hit 15 businesses in Shelby County during the past few weeks.

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  • Pool provides free sunscreen

    For the rest of the summer, visitors to the outdoor pool at Clear Creek Park will be treated to free sunscreen.

    The lotion, located at the entrance of the pool in a pump dispenser, is SPF 30, said Renee Blair, North Central District Public Health Director.

    "At the pool, we have two stations with a gallon container dispensed with a pump, and they can put it on while they're there," she said.

    Blair said the free lotion as well as an additional umbrella is part of the health department's campaign to raise awareness about the dangers of skin cancer.

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  • EARLIER: Burglary spree targets insurance agencies

    As many as a dozen businesses, primarily insurance agencies, have been the targets of a recent series of break-ins spanning a four-county area that has motivated some of the victims to offer their help to law enforcement.

    Little information is available from Shelby County's police agencies, but the business community is abuzz about what some see as a carefully planned series of burglaries in which the perpetrators smash windows, cut communications and power lines and carry away safes that they later open.

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