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Goldbug and Emlyn volunteer firefighters and the Kentucky Division of Forestry spent several hours Monday afternoon battling a brush fire/forest fire in the Beck’s Creek area of Whitley County. Goldbug Volunteer Fire Chief Brandon Woods said the fire was reported around noon about half a mile up Beck’s Creek Road behind a structure. Woods said that the fire is not endangering any structures and that Goldbug and Emlyn firefighers have been busy staging at the top and bottom of the hill to protect any structures if the need arises while forestry is working to cut containment line around the blaze. Woods said the blaze was “pretty good size” but he didn’t know...

The Whitley County school bus driver, who was fired for leaving an 11-year-old autistic boy on a school bus for over five hours on March 15, has been identified. The News Journal filed an open records request with the Whitley County school district on Friday afternoon to obtain any documents related to the firing of the bus driver. Tim Crawford, an attorney for the school district, replied to the open record request Tuesday afternoon by providing a copy of the notice of termination letter that Superintendent Scott Paul sent to bus driver Derrick Shelton on March 17 and a copy of the investigative report, which was conducted by Transportation Director Bobby...

A pair of bizarre attacks involving a squirrel last week briefly had students, faculty and administrators on edge at Corbin Middle School, and made off-limits certain outdoor areas near where the attacks happened. School Principal Cindy Davis said the first attack happened last week near a covered outdoor picnic area after a student threw a stick at the squirrel. “It came after him. It was going after his arm,” Davis said. She said the student was taken to Baptist Health Corbin’s emergency room as a precautionary measure. She didn’t think the squirrel’s attempts to bite the student had broken the skin. The following day, the squirrel went after a female student who was...

A Corbin man was arrested Friday night after Corbin Police say he beat and stabbed his girlfriend and held her prisoner for approximately four days. Thirty-nine-year-old Earl H. Jackson was charged with first-degree unlawful imprisonment and first-degree assault after police say they found the woman beaten and bloodied at a residence on Tennessee Street where he was reportedly staying. Jackson Corbin Police Capt. Coy Wilson said police were contacted Friday night by a friend of the victim, identified as Kristi Lee, who reported that she had received a Facebook message from Lee. “She was beat up,” Wilson said of Lee, adding the message stated that she had been assaulted by Jackson and was...

A Wofford man was transported to the hospital by ambulance for treatment of smoke inhalation following a structure fire early Friday afternoon. The fire was reported shortly before 1:30 p.m. at a residence across the street from Wofford Baptist Church. “It appears right now that an old fireplace got too hot and it got smoky in the house,” said Goldbug Volunteer Fire Chief Brandon Woods. “It looks like he was trying to draw the smoke out. He had a fan at the back door and a fan at the front door. What he was able to tell me was he was trying to get the fire out. He got overwhelmed with smoke...

The only fatality during a single-vehicle accident Thursday afternoon on Ky. 92E was that of a utility pole, which was snapped in two after being struck by an SUV. The accident happened about 3:45 p.m. on Ky. 92E about 12 miles east of Williamsburg. Coleman Lacy, 20, of Ft. Mitchell, was driving east on the wet road when he lost control of the vehicle, went off the side of the roadway and struck the utility pole near the driver's side door. "He came around the curve after it just started raining. I guess he was going too fast for the curve with the rain, lost control, went off the roadway and cut...

Three area fire departments were called to Whayne Supply in Corbin Wednesday to battle a fire in the building’s paint room and exhaust system. According to Corbin Fire Capt. Doug Brock, firefighters were initially dispatch just after 11 a.m. after multiple calls to 911 reporting flames coming from the roof of the building on South Kentucky Ave. Brock stated in the department’s run report that company officials told firefighters that the fire was in the paint room. Firefighters entered the building with one hose line while the sprinkler system was activated to knock down the flames. Corbin firefighters requested tankers from Woodbine and Oak Grove Fire departments because of the distance to the...

The Tennessee Department of Transportation announced that one lane of northbound Interstate 75 in Campbell County will be opened to traffic Thursday morning. According to TDOT officials traffic near the 142-mile marker will be reduced to one lane as workers continue repairs to the damage caused by a rockslide on Feb. 26. TDOT officials estimate that repairs to the second lane will be completed on or before April 15. “We asked that motorists use extra caution in this area as workers are present,” TDOT officials said in a press release.

A fiery single vehicle crash Friday evening near Siler claimed the life of a Bell County woman, and alcohol is suspected as a contributing factor, according to the Whitley County Sheriff's Department. Whitley County Coroner Andy Croley pronounced Sharon F. Mills, 54, of Ingram, dead at the scene about 9:20 p.m. Friday from injuries she sustained in a motor vehicle accident. Ingram is located on Highway 92 outside of Pineville. "I think she passed prior to the fire," Croley said. "I feel that the impact of the accident was the ultimate factor that caused her death." Shortly after 8 p.m., Mills was driving a black four-door Chevy Malibu west on Highway 904...

Corbin Police arrested a Corbin man Wednesday that they have been searching for in connection with two burglaries at Gatti’s Pizza on consecutive nights in early March. According to Corbin Police Major Rob Jones, the department’s public affairs officer, officers received a tip about 2 p.m. that 20-year-old Jacob Huff was at the Marathon gas station on U.S. 25 near Hunter Hills Elementary School. Huff Jones, along with Detective Rusty Hedrick and officers Jeff Hill and Amanda Neal responded. “When we rolled up he was sitting in the car,” Jones said. “Hill blocked him in the front and I blocked him in the back and we got him out of...