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A Corbin High School bookkeeper has resigned and agreed to make full restitution but will not face any criminal charges in connection with more than $5,500 that was found to be missing from the school’s fundraiser accounts. Tammy Sewell resigned her position May 4 following an internal investigation by the Corbin Independent Schools. Corbin Police Detective Rusty Hedrick said Superintendent Dave Cox contacted police on April 22 to report that the school system had been investigating several thousand dollars in missing money. Hedrick said Cox came to the station where he said the school system had been reviewing financial documents that showed multiple discrepancies. RJ Flannery, LLC, a professional consulting services company conducted...

If you are going to burglarize a car lot in the middle of the night, then don't get your getaway vehicle stuck in a ditch with the stolen loot inside. Whitley County Sheriff's deputies say this is what happened to two alleged Pulaski County burglars, who are accused of trying burglarize a Goldbug car lot and steal one of its vehicles early Monday morning. About 3:30 a.m., Deputy James Fox responded to a reported wreck along US25W near Town and Country Motors. When Fox arrived at the scene, he made contact with two men, who were trying to get a white 1994 Chevy Astro van out of a ditch where it was...

Grab your cowboy boots because it is time for a good old-fashioned county fair. The 19th annual Whitley County Fair is scheduled for this Friday and Saturday at the 3R Arena in Williamsburg. President of the Whitley County Fair Board Harry Alder says there are no major changes to the schedule this year. Fair goers will get to experience all the same attractions they’ve come to know and love. Registration for the farm and home exhibits will take place Wednesday 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. at the Whitley County Cooperative Extension Office in downtown Williamsburg across the street from city hall. Alder stated that people are invited to bring their vegetables, canned goods...

Williamsburg police say a Whitley County man, who is wanted in connection with a stabbing last Wednesday, should be considered armed and dangerous and are asking for the public's help in locating him. Police are searching for Bruce E. Lewis, 61, of 9255 US25W South, Williamsburg, who is wanted for first-degree assault. A Kentucky State Police Special Response Team (SRT) went to Lewis' residence Friday afternoon in an unsuccessful attempt to locate Lewis and serve him with the arrest warrant. "If anybody has any information or sees the individual, don't approach him just call law enforcement and let us deal with it," cautioned Williamsburg Police Chief Wayne Bird. The incident began about 5:52...

Authorities say an intoxicated, naked Boston man is lucky to be alive after being struck by a train last Wednesday morning in Southern Whitley County. "It was very odd," said Whitley County Sheriff Colan Harrell, who has been in law enforcement for over 45 years. According to information police gathered at the scene, a man was walking along the railroad tracks and failed to move far enough away to prevent being hit by the train. According to his arrest citation, about 6:57 a.m. on July 6, Stephen Charles Lawson, 51, of Rose Lane, failed to move off the railroad tracks about nine miles south of Williamsburg, and the "cow guard" on the...

A domestic dispute led sheriff’s deputies to the discovery of an elaborate marijuana growing operation in southern Laurel County early Tuesday morning and 107 marijuana plants. Deputies Tommy Houston and Shannon Jones, along with Detective James Sizemore, responded to the dispute on KY 233 about 5:15 a.m. The sheriff’s office stated that a woman, identified as 37-year-old Christina Lockhart, had reportedly been fighting with her ex-husband, identified as 41-year-old Casey Lockhart. Deputies conducted an investigation upon arrival, where they also found two juveniles and the marijuana plants. A warrant was granted for investigators to search the property. The plants were located in an out-building that had an intricate growing operation within its walls....

Following the release of the 911 tapes, the girlfriend of the Lily man allegedly beat to death by his twin brother in April agreed to speak about what she heard and saw when she arrived at the trailer on Robinson Creek Road that day. Ashley Rayburn, who had been in a relationship with the victim, Anthony “AJ” Johnson, since October, is one of three people at the residence when Antonio Johnson called 911 to report finding his brother dead. “I had been texting AJ that day and he wasn’t responding to me,” Rayburn said. “So I went to the house anyway. As soon as I was about to knock on the...

Thanks to some new state regulations people getting arrested for some relatively minor offenses will be getting out of jail a little bit quicker. "Basically it is designed to get people charged with lesser offenses out quicker to make room for the people, who really need to be in jail on the harder crimes," explained Whitley District Judge Cathy Prewitt. Prewitt said that the Kentucky Supreme Court is implementing the new bond rule effective Jan. 1, 2017, after conducting a pilot project in 20 Kentucky counties, including Knox and Laurel. However, the state supreme court is asking counties to implement the new regulation sooner. Prewitt, who is Chief District Judge for Whitley and...

How soon will it be before Williamsburg residents can go to a place like Butch's Market to buy a case of beer? Who will get a license to open a liquor store or stores in Williamsburg? How close can a business be to a school or church and still be allowed to sale alcohol? These are some of the many questions on the mind of Williamsburg residents following a special election last Tuesday. By a nearly two to one margin, Williamsburg voters approved the sale of alcohol by the package and by the drink at restaurants seating as few as 50 people. The News Journal sat down with Williamsburg Mayor and Alcoholic...

Emergency officials say a Williamsburg woman is lucky to be alive after her car flipped over on I-75 Friday morning and landed on top of the cable barrier that separates the north and southbound lanes of travel. The crash happened about 10:43 a.m. Friday between the 12 and 13-mile markers on I-75. Whitley County Sheriff’s Deputy John Hill said Amanda Widener, 27, of Ky. 92E, was driving a 2004 Pontiac Grand Prix north on I-75 in the fast lane of travel when she came upon a blown out tire in the roadway. “The witnesses said there was a big tire in the road, and she swerved left to miss it into the median,” Hill...