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Laurel County Sheriff's deputies are investigating a reported shooting, which occurred off Hopper Creek Road about nine miles southeast of London Thursday about 2:45 p.m. Sheriff's investigators were dispatched by the London-Laurel County 911 Communication Center to a complaint that a 43-year-old male had been shot there, according to a sheriff's department release. When investigators arrived at the scene, they found out that the man had been shot once in the hip. He was airlifted to the University of Kentucky Medical Center in Lexington for treatment. Investigators are attempting to determine a possible suspect in the shooting. A shooter has not been determined at this time. Laurel Sheriff's Detective Taylor McDaniel is...

A Corbin LLC was among those selected Monday to obtain a medical cannabis dispensary license. No 1 Boundary LLC was among the 36 licensees selected during a lottery held Monday afternoon via live stream on the Kentucky Office of Medical Cannabis’ (KOMC) YouTube channel. According to the Kentucky Secretary of State’s website, the registered agent is based out of Irvine, California, and is registered in Kentucky through a company in Richmond. The organizer name associated to the LLC is John Malone, who has nearly two dozen originations listed under his name. At this moment, the News Journal is attempting to verify ownership of that LLC and determine if they plan to open...

Jordan Blake Taylor has admitted to strangling, sodomizing and ultimately killing three-year-old Amoura Smallwood earlier last year. Taylor, 24, of Corbin, appeared in Whitley Circuit Court on Wednesday morning to enter a guilty plea in connection to Smallwood’s death. Smallwood died in February 2023 at Baptist Health Corbin after suffering extensive non-accidental injuries  sustained while she was in Taylor’s care. Taylor’s plea is contingent upon a deal with Commonwealth’s Attorney Ronnie Bowling, in which Taylor has agreed to serve life in prison without the possibility of parole. During Wednesday’s proceedings, Taylor pleaded guilty to murder, first-degree sodomy and first-degree strangulation. Judge Dan Ballou, who presided over the case, accepted the plea. A sentencing...

Gov. Andy Beshear announced about 4 p.m. Friday that Kentucky’s Chief Medical Examiner Dr. William Ralston and the Kentucky State Police Crime Lab have confirmed that the unidentified body found Wednesday off Exit 49 is in fact that of suspected mass shooter Joseph Couch of Woodbine. The remains were positively identified through DNA extracted from bone. “We appreciate everyone involved in the search and are grateful no one else has been hurt,” said Beshear. “We will continue to be there for those injured as well as the Laurel County community as they recover from this tragic situation.” Couch is the suspect accused of shooting five people on Sept. 7 on I-75...

Knox County Sheriff Mike Smith is reporting an accident involving a Knox County Public Schools school bus at the intersection of Hwys. 830 and 1232 at Gray Monday afternoon, the Mountain Advocate is reporting. Of 35 passengers on board, Sheriff Smith said two passengers and a bus monitor received minor injuries. Everyone is off of the bus and is being taken by another bus to Lynn Camp Elementary School, Smith reported. The accident happened about 3:30 p.m.

UPDATE 4: A South Carolina man has been arrested in connection to an alleged attempted child abduction at a Whitley County school earlier Friday. According to a release from Kentucky State Police Public Affairs Officer Trooper Scottie Pennington, law enforcement officials arrested Willie O. Bethea, 37, of Latta, South Carolina, after being located at Walmart in Corbin. Sometime Friday afternoon, Bethea allegedly tried to lure a child from a playground and into his vehicle at Whitley County Intermediate School. He was confronted by school officials and quickly fled the scene. Bethea has been charged with attempted kidnapping of a minor, first–degree criminal trespassing, operating a motor vehicle on a suspended or revoked operator’s...

The Pilot Travel Center off Exit 11 in Williamsburg has been evacuated by police as they attempt to investigate a threat involving the business. Williamsburg Police Assistant Chief Bobby Freeman told the News Journal that a report was made to police Monday evening that someone had threatened to blow up the Pilot Travel Center. The alleged threat originated with an inmate at the Whitley County Detention Center. The inmate, who allegedly made the threat, has been an inmate for approximately three to four weeks and is from Michigan, though police could not share the person’s identity at this time. That inmate allegedly recently got into a fight with another inmate inside...

Update: Corbin police have released additional details regarding two people found shot to death in a vehicle at Baptist Health Corbin late Friday evening in what police say appears to be a murder suicide. The two deceased are identified as Michael Salisbury, 39, and Shonda Parker, 35, both from the Gray community of Knox County. Both victims died from a single gunshot wound to the head. Both bodies were sent for autopsy, and the investigation is ongoing. Corbin Police Detective Robbie Hodge said that police suspect the incident was a murder suicide. "It appears the male shot the female and then shot himself," Hodge said Monday morning. The pair had children in common, but...

Angelia Foster has been named president of Baptist Health Corbin effective Oct. 14. She will replace interim head Matt Bailey, who took over following the Feb. 6 departure of Anthony Powers. Powers had been hospital president since fall 2018. Bailey will be staying on until Nov. 1 to help provide a seamless transition. For the last four years, Foster has been president of Marshfield Medical Center-Beaver Dam, located in the county seat of Dodge County, Wisconsin. The medical center is a not-for-profit facility including a 48-bed acute care hospital, 100-bed skilled nursing facility, ambulatory care, regional clinics, long-term care, assisted living, home care and hospice, sleep center, wound care, retail pharmacy and independent senior...

UPDATE: Two men have been arrested in connection to an alleged road rage incident Friday afternoon near Exit 29 in Corbin that ended with one of the two men reportedly discharging a firearm. The incident occurred at the intersection of Adams Road and KY770 between Love's Travel Stop and Sonny's BBQ. According to a release from the Laurel County Sheriff's Department, Jacob Harness, 26, of Cincinnati, Ohio, was stopped in traffic on Adams Road when he exited his vehicle and began arguing with another motorist in a tractor-trailer behind him. The altercation quickly became physical, with Harness allegedly grabbing the other motorist by the shirt and throwing them to the...