LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - A federal judge is set to review a lawsuit by Kentucky’s Agriculture Department that’s aimed at forcing federal officials to release imported hemp seeds for use in pilot projects.
U.S. District Judge John G. Heyburn II has scheduled a preliminary conference Friday afternoon.
Customs officials in Louisville have detained a 250-pound shipment of seeds from Italy.
Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner James Comer claims the action violates the intent of the new farm bill, which allows state agriculture departments to designate hemp pilot projects for research in states such as Kentucky that allow hemp growing.
Eight projects are planned across Kentucky as part of a limited reintroduction of hemp to determine the crop’s potential.
Defendants in the suit include the Justice Department, Drug Enforcement Administration and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
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LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - Hope Keown was reading the newspaper in her kitchen when she noticed a face she hadn’t seen in years. Staring up from the page was her estranged stepfather’s mug shot, next to a story about how he starved himself to death in a Kentucky prison.
The story triggered tears, confusion and a torrent of memories about James Kenneth Embry, the man she knew as “Kenny” and “Spider Red.” She recalled the good times, such as when a sober Embry helped with homework and folded laundry. But there were also the drugs, alcohol and disappearances that lasted for days or weeks until he finally drifted away for good.
When The Associated Press exposed that Embry had died after a five-week hunger strike, prison officials said no family had visited him in prison or claimed his remains. He was buried in a pauper’s grave.
But within days of the AP story, Embry’s family finally found the man they lost touch with years earlier.
“We didn’t even know he was back in prison,” Keown said.
She and her mother, 58-year-old Mae Embry of Owensboro, Kentucky, didn’t believe what they were reading at first, then broke into tears as the reality set in. They had trouble finding the words to tell other family and friends.
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Kentucky State Penitentiary inmate James Kenneth Embry Jr. died Jan. 13 after a hunger strike in which he skipped 35 of 36 consecutive meals, lost 32 pounds in just a few weeks and repeatedly reported suicidal thoughts to prison officials. Embry never made clear what prompted him to stop eating, only telling prison officials he had nothing left to live for. Prison physician Steve Hiland was fired in March because of his actions surrounding Embry’s death; he denies doing anything wrong.
A timeline of the events leading up to Embry’s death at the maximum-security facility in Eddyville, Kentucky, based on interviews with Department of Corrections officials and public records obtained by The Associated Press:
- Nov. 29, 2013: Prison officials move Embry into segregated housing at the inmate’s request. Embry told officials he feared for his safety.
- Dec. 3, 2013: Embry meets with prison psychologist Dr. Jean Hinkebein. During the meeting, Embry asks to resume taking medications for his mental health and describes himself as anxious and paranoid. Hinkebein turns down the request and notes no significant mental health symptoms or problems.
- Dec. 7, 2013: Embry refuses breakfast and lunch, starting his refusal to take food over the next five weeks.
- Dec. 10, 2013: Embry is moved to an observation cell and tells Hinkebein, “I have nothing left to live for.” Hinkebein notes that Embry has no plan and only vague thoughts about harming himself.
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CINCINNATI (AP) - Potential Republican president candidate U.S. Sen. Rand Paul steered clear Friday of commenting on Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton’s health, while sharply targeting her about the ill-fated U.S. diplomatic mission in Libya.
The Kentucky senator helped draw a 600-strong crowd Friday evening to the Hamilton County Republican Party’s Lincoln-Reagan dinner. Paul drew one of his several ovations when criticizing Clinton for not doing enough as secretary of state to protect the Benghazi compound from the 2012 attack that killed four Americans.
“I think Hillary Clinton has precluded herself from ever being considered as commander in chief,” said Paul, who made similar comments recently to Republican National Committee members.
Some Democrats have said Republicans are raising Benghazi and other topics for political reasons as Clinton considers running.
Paul, though, refused emphatically to comment when asked whether Clinton’s health could be an issue, as suggested recently by Republican strategist Karl Rove. A Clinton spokesman has said she is “100 percent” and ripped Rove’s comments as thinly veiled attacks that show Republicans fear her potential candidacy.
Paul’s theme in the swing state of Ohio was the need for the GOP to broaden its appeal.
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