City officials in Elizabethtown say Mayor Tim Walker died unexpectedly early this morning. 

Hardin Memorial Hospital issued the following statement: "It is with deep sadness that we inform the community of the passing of Mayor Timothy Walker this morning at 5:33 a.m. at Hardin Memorial Hospital. At this time, please keep the Walker family in your prayers. At the request of the family, please respect their privacy.”

Walker’s body is being transferred to the state medical examiner’s office for an autopsy.

Walker was 54 years old.  Before being elected mayor in 2010, Walker was a former city firefighter, a city councilman, and businessman.

Check back later for updates to this story.

Tea party activists have asked a judge to resolve a lawsuit over the legality of the Kentucky Health Benefit Exchange by granting a summary judgment.

Irvine attorney Michael Dean filed a motion Thursday asking that Franklin County Circuit Judge Phillip J. Shepherd rule in favor of the activists. They also want a permanent injunction that would essentially shut down the exchange, a product of the federal health care overhaul intended to help uninsured people arrange health insurance coverage.

Attorneys for the state asked last month that the tea party lawsuit be dismissed. But Shepherd refused.

Kentucky Health Benefit Exchange is set to begin open enrollment Oct. 1, and the exchange starts operation Jan. 1.

A former pharmacy worker and two other Allen County residents were indicted this week by a federal grand jury in Bowling Green.  The trio is charged with conspiracy to distribute pain medicine that was stolen from a pharmacy by a former employee. 

According to the seven count federal indictment, 46-year-old Lynn Harper Denton, who worked at Stovall’s Pharmacy in Scottsville, conspired to sell more than $5,000 worth of stolen Hydrocodone. 

Also charged in the indictment are two other Allen County residents, 34-year-old Katherine Virginia Rookstool and 47-year-old Jeffrey Clay Stinson. 

If convicted at trial, each defendant faces a minimum of 25 years in prison.