Kentucky
Kentucky mom and daughter refuse $26M offer to sell their farms to mysterious Fortune 100 company
A Kentucky mother and daughter turned down a combined $26 million offer for their farmland from a developer representing a mysterious Fortune 100 company that sought to build a massive data center on the land.
Ida Huddleston said she has rejected the staggering offer for her 71-acre property in Mason County — valued at $60,000 per acre for a total of $4.26 million — multiple times and is fed up with the developer’s persistence, LEX 18 reported.
The 82-year-old’s daughter, Delsia Bare, said the developer also offered $48,000 per acre for her 463-acre property — totaling more than $22 million — but she refused to sell.
“I said I don’t want your money, I don’t need your money, but I do feel sorry for everybody around us,” Huddleston told the outlet.
The pair turned down the deal because they believe the data center would affect everyone in the community, adding that the developer’s continued pressure to sell has only hardened their determination not to give up even a single acre.
They said the secrecy surrounding the project — particularly the company’s refusal to reveal its identity — has only fueled their determination to keep their land.
“When they will not reveal who they are that’s a major player in what you’re going to do with the rest of your life if you are stuck here or even if you are leaving here,” Bare said.
The proposed data center would be built near Big Pond Pike Road in rural Kentucky, around an hour and a half from Lexington.
Several landowners have already been approached about selling farmland for the project — a development local officials say could transform the region economically, according to LEX 18.
“As far as jobs would go, they would become, if not our largest employer, definitely top three,” Tyler McHugh, economic development director for the Maysville-Mason County Industrial Development Authority, told the outlet.
McHugh said the data center could create around 400 full-time jobs and more than 1,500 construction jobs in the county and surrounding area.
However, the mother and daughter remain skeptical that those jobs will remain once the project is built.
“My guess is you won’t have over 50 and they won’t even be here at this building when it’s said and done,” Bare said.
As for her 82-year-old mother, she said nothing will make her budge.
“I’m staying put,” Huddleston told the outlet.
Despite the women’s unwillingness to sell their land, the Mason County Fiscal Court still needs to approve the project, LEX 18 reported.
Tech giants are swarming around rural cities to build their data centers.
Last week, George Washington University sold its Virginia Science and Technology Campus to Amazon Data Services to turn the site into a data center.
The company purchased the land for $427 million, according to The Hatchet.
Meanwhile, Microsoft is planning to build 15 data centers in Mount Pleasant, Michigan after purchasing the land in 2024, the Biz Times reported in January.
Kentucky
Northern Kentucky parents sentenced for shooting death of their toddler by his brother
COVINGTON, Ky. (WKRC) – Two Northern Kentucky parents were sentenced Monday for the shooting death of heir toddler at the hands of their other child.
Khalil Adams, 2, was shot and killed by his 3-year-old brother in January 2024 at the family’s Covington home. The 3-year-old found the gun in an unsecured dresser.
At the time of the shooting, Kenton County Commonwealth’s Attorney Rob Sanders said the Tashaun Adams and Selena Farrell were asleep in the afternoon when their 3-year-old shot his little brother.
Farrell took off and was found hiding at a hotel in Florence. She told police at the time she was trying to avoid arrest on a warrant so she could attend Khalil’s funeral.
The couple originally faced a murder charge. Farrell was also charged with abandonment of a minor, and possession of a handgun by a convicted felon.
Adams was also charged with hindering apprehension, for allegedly not telling police where Farrell was.
Kenton County Commonwealth’s Attorney Rob Sanders said the pair was convicted of reckless homicide in April.. Farrell was also convicted of abandonment of a minor. Sanders believes it to be the first time in Kentucky that a jury has held parents criminally responsible for their failures to secure their gun and supervise their children.
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The jury had recommended a seven year sentence for Farrell and a five year sentence for Adams, which is what the judge handed down.
Kentucky
Missing teen Marly Kinney ID’d as body found in Kentucky lake days after vanishing from boat party
The body of a missing teen was recovered from a Kentucky lake during an extensive search days after she mysteriously vanished from a boating party, according to authorities.
The remains of Marly Kinney, 19, were pulled from Grayson Lake around 3:45 p.m. on Sunday — five days after she disappeared while partying on a rented pontoon boat with at least 10 friends, according to the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources.
Kinney, of Ashland, was last seen around 4 p.m. on Wednesday, before she went overboard to use the bathroom. Her group of friends didn’t initially realize she was missing, according to investigators.
Multiple law enforcement agencies deployed sonar, thermal detectors, helicopters, K-9 teams, heat-seeking, and underwater drones in the hunt for the missing teen, last seen in a pink, orange and white bikini.
More than 50 volunteers joined the search, despite scattered rain showers hampering efforts to find the girl. It’s unclear how Kinney’s body was eventually found.
The pontoon boat’s driver, Cameron P. Conley, 23, was taken into custody for boating under the influence after Kentucky State Police responded to the call to help find Kinney on Wednesday, WOWK 13 previously reported.
A trooper reportedly smelled alcohol and saw that Conley’s eyes were bloodshot and glassy while speaking to him. He failed a breathalyzer test and was transported to the Carter County Detention Center.
Kinney’s family has been notified, and the State Medical Examiner’s Office in Frankfort will now determine the cause of her death.
Smokin’ J’s Rib and Brewhouse, where Kinney worked, announced it would be closed for the next two days so her coworkers could mourn her loss.
“The Smoking J’s Family is saddened by the loss of one of our own, Marly Kinney,” the Ashland restaurant wrote in a Facebook Post.
“Marly was a model employee loved by all. Always with a friendly smile and a kind word. She was loved by her fellow coworkers and friends, many who have been volunteering over these last few days,” the statement added.
“Our love and prayers go out to Marlys’ family and friends through this tragic loss.”
This case remains under investigation, authorities said.
Anyone with information on Kinney’s disappearance is urged to contact Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Law Enforcement at 800-25-ALERT (25378) or Kentucky State Police Post 14 at 606-928-6421.
Kentucky
4 dead amid flooding caused by heavy rains, Kentucky governor says
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Four people have died due to flooding from thunderstorms in Kentucky, Gov. Andy Beshear said Saturday, and he declared a state of emergency with additional rainfall expected.
Flash flood warnings were in effect Saturday for parts of Kentucky and Indiana amid heavy rainfall, according to the National Weather Service.
The agency late Saturday afternoon said between 4 and 10 inches of rain had already fallen in some parts of southwestern Indiana, with more possible. Beshear’s office said up to 7 inches of rain were expected in parts of his state through the late evening.
He said on social media that three people had died in Madison County and one in Jackson County due to flooding.
Two of the flood victims, a man and a woman, were found dead inside their house after floodwaters inundated a section of the city of Richmond, Kentucky, and trapped residents inside their homes, according to the Madison County coroner’s office.
Another victim was extracted from a vehicle trapped in floodwaters on Tates Creek Road near Lexington, the coroner’s office said.
Carlos Coyle, the deputy Madison County coroner, said search and rescue teams were going door to door searching for victims in hard-hit areas. Some areas still were not accessible, he said.
Beshear said on social media there were “significant roads underwater” in Madison County. He also said at least 12 state roads were “out of commission” because they were flooded.
“This is a serious flooding event, where teams have already had to conduct multiple water rescues from vehicles and homes across the commonwealth,” he said in a separate statement. “As more heavy rain continues through late tonight, we need folks to remain alert and to avoid driving, especially after dark when there is limited visibility.”
In northwest Kentucky, just outside Louisville, Bullitt County emergency management officials asked residents of a rural road to evacuate as a precaution after a landslide at a dam embankment. The dam was holding, and there was no indication of imminent failure, they said.
The area saw about 3 inches of rain in the past two days, according to the National Weather Service.
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