Associated Press

A Kentucky judge is weighing whether a same-sex couple qualifies for the privilege of not testifying against a spouse in a slaying case in Louisville.

The question arose in the case of Bobbie Joe Clary. Clary is charged in the Oct. 29, 2011, murder and robbery of 64-year-old George Murphy, accused of fatally wounding Murphy with a blunt object in his Portland home.

Clary is claiming self-defense, saying that Murphy was raping her and she fought back by hitting him in the head with a hammer.

The Courier-Journal reports Clary and partner Geneva Case were legally married in Vermont in 2004. Kentucky doesn't recognize same-sex marriages.

A newspaper's review of Nelson County court records shows that a slain officer arrested more than 350 people in his seven years on the force, but few involved violent crimes.

The Courier-Journal reported Bardstown Police Officer Jason Ellis had made 52 arrests that ended up as felony indictments in Nelson Circuit Court. There were some convictions for manufacturing methamphetamine that had long prison sentences, but only a few cases involved violent crimes and there were no homicides.

Investigators are pouring over those arrest records looking for clues into Ellis' murder.  Kentucky State Police detectives have interviewed friends and family of a local gang, in part because of comments some members made on social media sites following Ellis' death.   KSP Spokesman Norman Chaffins says the investigation is in no way limited to the gang. 

"It doesn't matter if they're a member of a gang or a member of the AARP.  We're going to follow up on every lead.  If we receive a tip on somebody, we're going to come knocking on their door," says Chaffins.

This has become the largest investigation ever for the KSP Elizabethtown post.  Chaffins says all eight detectives and 40 troopers at the post are working the case. 

Ellis was gunned down in the early morning hours of May 25th as he removed debris deliberately placed on a Bluegrass Parkway exit ramp.  Since KSP announced this week the debris was tree limbs, the public has offered more than 100 tips, but no information solid enough to name a suspect. 

Two more churches in central Kentucky say they are cutting ties with the Boy Scouts of America over the organization's decision to allow gay youth.

Pastors at Severns Valley Baptist Church in Elizabethtown and Rineyville Baptist Church told The News-Enterprise that they will not renew their charters with the Boy Scouts when the agreements expire later this year.

Jeff Wilson, an associate pastor at Severns Valley, said a vote Sunday by senior pastors and deacons was unanimous because the new Boy Scout policy doesn't adhere to Biblical and church standards. He says the church has more than 4,000 members.

At least one other church in Kentucky - Southeast Christian Church in Louisville - has said it will cut ties with the Boy Scouts.

Senators Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul and Congressman Ed Whitfield on Tuesday met with Department of Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz and Assistant Secretary Daniel Poneman to discuss the long term future of the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant.

Still reeling from the DOE’s recent announcement not to extend the United States Enrichment Corporation’s (USEC) operation, the delegation, stressed the importance of DOE's commitment to cleanup and utilizing the tails and other assets located in Paducah to secure a long term future for the site.

“The Department of Energy must act quickly to maximize long term job retention and job growth in Paducah, and we will continue to do all we can to ensure that happens,” stated McConnell, Paul and Whitfield.  “There is significant private sector interest for utilizing the site’s assets in Paducah, so any plan by the DOE to ship the tails out of the area is unacceptable to us.”

Ohio State University President Gordon Gee is retiring following the revelation of recorded remarks in which he criticized Notre Dame, Roman Catholics, and the Southeastern Conference.

The university announced Tuesday that Gee is retiring as of July 1.

Gee made the joking remarks to the university's Athletic Council in December, during an update on Big Ten expansion. The recorded comments were obtained by The Associated Press, which published a story about them last week.

Gee also questioned the academic integrity of schools in the Southeastern Conference and the University of Louisville. He said Big Ten presidents would never agree to admit Louisville or Kentucky.

Trustees had called Gee's remarks unacceptable and placed him on a remediation plan after learning of the comments earlier this year.

Gee has been a successful college president but also prone to verbal gaffes, once calling Ohio's governor a "dummy" and likening the job of running a university to the Polish Army.