Kentucky

COVINGTON – An Internal Revenue Service employee in Northern Kentucky was arrested by federal agents Thursday on charges he looked up the personal information of nearly 200 celebrities and professional athletes.

The victims include Hollywood stars such as Kevin Bacon, Alec Baldwin and Sally Field to Vanna White of Wheel of Fortune fame and the late Eddie Albert of the classic sitcom Green Acres.

The athletes are tennis champion Steffi Graff, Cincinnati Reds and Chicago Cubs players, in addition to Bengals coach Marvin Lewis.

The tax examiner, John Snyder, spent the last five years looking up at confidential information of 197 celebrities, one neighbor and four publishers, according to a affidavit signed by Special Agent Daniel Carney of the office of Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.

Snyder was caught when authorities audited who was accessing personal and tax information stored on a federal database called the Integrated Data Retrieval Systems, according to the affidavit.

(Read the full post about ‘Feds: Man took celeb info’…)

SOUTHGATE - About 150 people shared memories Wednesday evening at the foot of the vacant, overgrown hillside where the Beverly Hills Supper Club once stood. They remembered the glamour of the resplendent nightspot where the Rat Pack and other celebrities hobnobbed.

They also remembered the horror of May 28, 1977, when fire burned the club to the ground and killed 165 people.

For the 31st anniversary of the fire, former Beverly Hills employees Wayne Dammert and Dave Brock organized a gathering to mark the occasion and raise money for a permanent memorial to go on or near the site.

They sold about 80 of the 900 bricks they had gathered from the property and had engraved with the date of the fire.

People came to support the effort for a permanent memorial and to remember those that died.

“Other things that are much smaller happen and memorials are put up immediately,” Theresa White said.

(Read the full post about ‘Fire memorial attracts crowd’…)

CLEVELAND — A coroner has ruled that R&B singer Sean Levert died of natural causes following a jail medical emergency in Cleveland.

The 39-year-old Levert died March 31 at a hospital after he was taken from the Cuyahoga County jail. He was serving one year and 10 months for failure to pay $89,025 in child support.

County Coroner Frank Miller said that Levert died from complications of sarcoidosis, an inflammatory disease. Miller ruled out foul play or trauma. (Read the full post about ‘Coroner: Levert, 39, Died Of Natural Causes’…)

Listen up!

Class is in session.

Well, after a Memorial Day break (I was sunning in Bimini), it’s time to get back to work. Ready for WWE’s “One Night Stand?” That’s right, just when you thought it was safe to pay your cable bill, Vince McMahon wants more of your money.

Does he deserve it? Judge for yourself, as we run down a card that features a gimmick in every match:

Podcast: ‘Old School, New School’ — Episode 77

Singapore Cane Match: Big Show vs. Tommy Dreamer vs. C.M. Punk vs. John Morrison vs. Chavo Guerrero
What Should Happen: The dreaded Kendo stick! How about a steel pipe match instead? You know, something that actually might hurt if you get hit with it? (Read the full post about ‘Professor Wrestling: ‘One Night Stand’ Picks’…)

PALO ALTO, Calif. — Patrick Swayze, 55, star of “Ghost,” “Dirty Dancing” and numerous other films, said in a statement this week to People magazine that he is responding well to his chemotherapy treatment at Stanford University.

“Lisa and I have been back and forth from New Mexico enjoying the arrival of spring and new baby calves,” he wrote in a statement. “This past weekend we spent a fun time with friends in Reno for Lisa’s birthday. In the meantime I am continuing treatment at Stanford and the great news is, I continue to respond well.”

News broke in March that Swayze had been diagnosed with a painful and deadly form of pancreatic cancer.

“This took everyone by surprise,” said J.D. (Read the full post about ‘Report: Swayze ‘Responding Well’ To Chemo’…)

Bill Murray’s wife has filed for divorce, claiming the comedy actor uses drugs, has been unfaithful, and has abandoned and physically abused her for more than 10 years, according to The Post and Courier in Charleston, S.C.

According to the paper, Jennifer Butler Murray made the allegations in a complaint filed with the court May 12. The Post Courier added that court records were subsequently sealed on Friday.

Bill Murray, who doesn’t have a publicist or agent, didn’t return calls from the paper made to the offices of the Charleston RiverDogs — a minor league baseball team co-owned by the actor. (Read the full post about ‘Murray Accused Of Abuse In Divorce Papers’…)

Supermodel Naomi Campbell is facing five charges stemming from her alleged “luggage rage” incident with police at London’s Heathrow airport last month, according to TMZ.com.

The Web site said Campbell was charged Thursday in London with three counts of assaulting a constable, a count of disorderly conduct and a count of using threatening words.

Campbell faces up to six months in jail if convicted, TMZ said. The site quoted Campbell’s UK lawyer, who said the supermodel is “bitterly disappointed” about being charged.

Campbell, 38, is due back in court June 20.

According to witnesses, Campbell was aboard a British Airways plane due to take off for Los Angeles when she allegedly became involved in a dispute over her luggage. (Read the full post about ‘Naomi Campbell Charged In Airport Fracas’…)

PIKEVILLE, Ky. — Kentucky State Police are investigating two separate fatal all-terrain vehicle crashes that killed youths in the eastern part of the state.

Authorities said 12-year-old Sarah Elizabeth Colley of Dorton died Sunday when an ATV she and a 13-year-old boy were trying to get unstuck tumbled into a creek on top of them.

Also on Sunday, a 17-year-old girl died from injuries she suffered Saturday in an ATV crash at Hippo.

State police said Brianna Castle of Langley was a passenger on an ATV operated by a 17-year-old boy.

The report said the machine struck a bump on a mine road and overturned, fatally injuring the girl.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Louisville Metro police are investigating the suspicious death of a man whose wife has been missing for several months.

Investigators discovered the body of 44-year-old Bradley Hubbard Jr. in the 4400 block of Lees Lane Tuesday morning.

The coroner said the cause of Hubbard’s death is still pending.

Homicide detectives wouldn’t comment on Hubbard’s death.

Hubbard’s wife, Pat, disappeared from their Dixie Highway home in February. Police believe she is dead, but haven’t found her body.

COVINGTON, Ky. — As the trial continues for three lawyers in the fen-phen diet drug case, the assortment of courtroom spectators varies with the day.

Lisa Swiger sat in the gallery in U.S. District Court at Covington wearing a surgical mask because the drug sickened her.

Lawyer Burr Travis, of Florence, said he attended the trial Friday to hear evidence of the money trail. He said the case has changed the way those in the judicial system do business.

More than two dozen people regularly have packed the courtroom of U.S. District Judge William Bertelsman, who has said the proceeding has transcended into a trial “of the whole legal system.”

Attorneys William Gallion, Shirley Cunningham Jr. (Read the full post about ‘Parade Of Spectators Changes Daily At Fen-Phen Trial’…)