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It had a happy ending. When Becky Brewer's 60-pound treeing coon dog Lily went missing from her 80 Cannonade Trail home in Tattersall Trails Estates on Tuesday evening last week she looked everywhere, or so she thought. She put up fliers throughout the neighborhood. She went searching on adjacent streets but found nothing until late last Wednesday/early Thursday morning when she heard something and looked down, or rather, under the street. As it turned out, Lily was close to home the whole time. Close as in stuck inside a 15-inch wide metal drainage tile or pipe that ran from Brewer's yard under the street to a neighbor's yard where it merged with...

The Kentucky Attorney General has ruled in favor of The News Journal in its efforts to secure a recording of the 911 call stemming from the April 5 beating death of 30-year-old Anthony Johnson at a Lily residence. Laurel County Sheriff’s deputies said it was Anthony Johnson’s twin brother, Antonio, who called Laurel County 911, telling dispatchers that he had found his brother in the back bedroom of the residence on Robinson Creek Road and believed he may be dead. The News Journal submitted an open records request seeking copies of the 911 call and any follow-up communications with law enforcement or emergency personnel. “I thought it was just a formality,”...

As a June 28 special election over a referendum to expand alcohol sales in Williamsburg nears, an organized opposition effort has been mounted. Williamsburg Mayor Roddy Harrison submitted a petition on April 18 that contained 335 valid signatures in order to place a measure on the ballot that, if approved, would allow the sale of alcohol by the package in Williamsburg and reduce requirements restaurants must meet in order to serve alcohol. It is identical to what Corbin already has in place and what Barbourville and London residents approved earlier this year. Recently "Vote NO June 28" yard signs have begun to emerge in Williamsburg, including three on display on 10th...

The Corbin Tourism Commission passed its 2016/17 $1.362 million budget Tuesday night with one small amendment. The commissioners agreed to give an additional $1,000 to the Corbin Varsity Club to help sponsor the annual Pigskin Classic football event and the Cumberland Falls Invitational Basketball Tournament. When the commission discussed the budget at a workshop in May, the commissioners approved at total of $6,000, which included $2,000 for the Cumberland Falls Girls Invitational Tournament. At the meeting held later in May, Tourism Director Maggy Kriebel told the commissioners that the girl’s tournament was not held in 2015 and the varsity club had no plans for it to return in 2016. That money was taken...

It was absolute pandemonium in the Knox School Board Annex as the board voted 3-2 in favor of rescinding the March 15 and March 22 actions to cancel the superintendent’s contract and renew Superintendent Kelly Sprinkles’ contract for another four years. The audience waited anxiously as each of the board members were asked to cast their vote. When all the votes were cast, the crowd exploded with excitement. The board’s two no votes - Merrill Smith and Peggy Gray - came as no surprise to anyone, as they continued to hold their ground. Gray and Smith, along with former board member Dexter Smith, shocked the community when the three voted in...

The Laurel County Sheriff’s Office has issued a “Golden Alert” for a 71-year-old man who may have travelled through southern Laurel and Whitley Counties en route to McCreary County. Miller According to Sheriff John Root, Douglas Macarthur Miller left a home on Sally’s Branch Road approximately three miles east of London about 9:30 p.m. Monday, driving a gray GMC pickup truck. “He may be going to McCreary County to Marshes Siding on Lick Creek Road where he resides,” Root said, noting Miller reportedly has unspecified mental and physical disabilities. Miller is described as a white male, 6’2”, 190 pounds, with brown eyes, long gray hair and wearing blue jeans, a green shirt and...

Knox County Sheriff Mike Smith is warning residents of a phone scam involving computer tech support. Deputy William Stewart, the department’s public affairs officer, said the perpetrator(s) claim to be with a technical support group specializing in computer updates and viruses. “He then asks for your computer password and other information regarding your computer,” Stewart said. Stewart said calls from the scammer(s) are coming from an unknown number. The individuals are speaking with a foreign accident. Smith offers the following tips to residents who receive such calls: Don’t give control of your computer to a third party who calls you out of the blue. Do not rely on caller ID alone to authenticate...

About 15 percent of registered Whitley County Republican voters went to the polls and cast their ballots Saturday during Kentucky's first ever Republican Presidential Caucus. Nearly 3,200 people cast ballots in the gymnasium at Whitley County High School, which was the only polling location in Whitley County. Donald Trump led the field in Whitley County with 1,499 votes followed by Ted Cruz with 816 votes, Marco Rubio with 428 votes and John Kasich with 344 votes. For a complete list of Saturday's Whitley County caucus results, see Wednesday's edition of the News Journal.

The Whitley County Fiscal Court has been approved for a $131,000 federal grant that will be used to purchase four advanced cardiac monitors to be used in the county’s EMS ambulances. Amber Owens, Director of County Projects for the Whitley County Fiscal Court, said the Physio Control Lifepak 15 monitors/defibrillators are “top of the line” equipment and will give emergency personnel and medical professionals another added edge in order to save lives. “If we have a patient in the back of an ambulance, they will allow us to send the information from the monitors to the emergency rooms crews even before we get there,” Owens said. “It definitely benefits patients. Any...

Dispatchers will receive a new, state of the art, system to communicate with in Whitley County. This is all thanks to a grant awarded to Whitley County E-911 through the Commercial Mobile Radio Service (CMRS). Whitley County Fiscal Court officials said they are pleased to announce the reception of this grant, which will be used to purchase a new Computer Aided Dispatch and Mapping System (CAD). “We are very excited CMRS picked our project for funding,” said Whitley County Judge-Executive Pat White, Jr. “Our dispatch center was in dire need of a new CAD system.  Many times the system was not available for use and dispatchers were forced to document calls by...