Regional

The National Transportation Safety Board has released preliminary information, on the June 6th Air EVAC helicopter crash in Clay County.

Several witnesses reported the helicopter was spinning prior to the crash, about 750 feet from their base landing zone. One told investigators it was in a 40-degree nose up attitude, and shortly after, no engine sound was heard.

There was conflicting testimony: some witnesses saying the weather was clear, others that there was dense fog. According to security camera recordings, the helicopter erupted into a fireball, immediately upon impact.

All three crew members aboard, Pilot Eddy Sizemore, Paramedic Lee Dobbs and Nurse Jesse Jones were killed.  A public memoiral service for them will be held in the North Laurel High School gym, at 10:00 Saturday morning.

The investigation into the crash continues.

Tennessee’s junior U.S. Senator is asking the White House to provide arms to certain groups within the Syrian opposition.

Republican Bob Corker wrote a letter to President Obama this week, urging him to allow lethal aid to vetted elements within the opposition who aren’t hardline Islamists.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Corker, the ranking member of the GOP on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, argued in his letter that providing arms to secular elements in the Syrian opposition would “shift momentum away from radical Islamist groups, the Assad regime and its militias toward more moderate elements and could help alter the balance of power on the ground at a time when negotiations over a political settlement have stalled.”

Some senior U.S. officials told the Journal that Corker’s proposal would have little more than symbolic value at this point, given that arms are already widely available inside Syria.

The Louisville chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police is planning a fundraiser to help the family of a slain Bardstown police officer.  Jason Ellis was gunned down on the Bluegrass Parkway on May 25, leaving behind his wife and two young sons. 

"All the proceeds from the benefit will go to the Ellis family just for every day expenses like food, lights, the mortgage," says River City FOP Lodge President Anita Simkins.  "In the case of Jason's  family, his wife doesn't work and they have a special needs child."

The benefit is scheduled for June 22 at the River City FOP Lodge in Louisville.  The FOP is requesting donations of items to be auctioned or raffled.