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A Williamsburg man was charged with two felonies and one misdemeanor offense following an incident at his home Saturday afternoon that involved a gun. Williamsburg Police Sgt. Brandon White arrested Roger Dale Lovitt Jr., 48, of 506 Moore Road, at 4:35 p.m. and charged him with first-degree unlawful imprisonment, first-degree wanton endangerment and fourth-degree assault. According to Lovitt’s arrest citation, Williamsburg police responded to the residence after receiving a call from dispatch reporting that a man was holding a woman at gunpoint and against her will inside the residence. After White established communication with Lovitt, he came outside and White observed the smell of an alcoholic beverage on Lovitt, the citation stated. After...

A special judge has been appointed to preside over the capital murder trial of a Williamsburg woman, who is accused of shooting her husband and two teenager daughters to death in January while they slept. On March 20, a Whitley County Grand Jury indicted Courtney Taylor, 41, on three counts of capital murder in the Jan. 13 shooting deaths of her husband, Larry Taylor, 56, and their two daughters, Jessie Taylor, 18, and Jolee Taylor, 13. In addition, the grand jury also indicted Taylor on March 20 on two counts of first-degree wanton endangerment for pointing a 9mm handgun at Whitley County Sheriff’s Deputy Jonas Saunders and Sgt. James Fox, who...

If the driver had been going much faster or the vehicle had been much bigger, a three-year-old Williamsburg girl might not be alive after being hit by a vehicle Thursday evening on Cemetery Road. “If it was like a bigger car, an R-Tech bus or anything like that, she would have been dead,” noted the girl’s father, Stan Huddleston. The accident happened about 7:43 p.m. when according to several witnesses a vehicle driven by Richard Smith, 31, was heading west on Cemetery Road when he struck Mileigh Huddleston. “There were numerous witnesses in the area, including the parents of the child, who saw the accident,” said Williamsburg Police Chief Wayne Bird. “The...

If you live in the Goldbug area and don’t have a smoke alarm but want one, then you are in luck. The Goldbug Volunteer Fire Department is giving out free smoke alarms courtesy of a partnership with the American Red Cross. Tabitha Pfoutz, a member of the fire department’s fire prevention team, said that people living in the fire department’s coverage area can contact the fire department to schedule an appointment to have a smoke alarm installed. “We go through a five minute spiel on what to do in a crisis and come up with a family plan and just try to talk to them about fire safety as we are installing...

The Corbin Center is offering a fitness option for those wanting to take that first steps down the road better health. Officials at the center, which is owned by the city but operated by Corbin Independent Schools, said the new “Dance to be Fit” program is part of the school system’s community education effort. At 6 p.m. each Tuesday and Thursday through June 30, Shannon Rimas, the activities director for in-patient rehab at Baptist Health Corbin, will lead the one-hour beginner Zumba-style class. Rimas said she is working toward the same goal as the students, to lose weight and get in better physical shape. “We are a slow beginners class that just wants...

High winds Thursday night spread a house fire to a neighbor’s home and two nearby vehicles in Gray. West Knox Fire Chief Daryl Baker said firefighters were called to the scene on Aster Lane off of Hazel Fork Road about 11:08 p.m. Firefighters were on scene within six minutes. “The first house was fully involved,” Baker said of the scene. “It had already burned so much that you could see the frame.” Baker said the wind blew the flames approximately 40 feet sideways to the second house. A truck parked in the area between the two homes was consumed by the flames along with another that was parked near the corner. “By the time...

The Arena in Corbin will be rattling the rafters Friday and Saturday night as rock legends Bret Michaels and Warrant take the stage Friday night while country music star Brantley Gilbert goes on Saturday night. Gilbert, who has scored back-to-back platinum albums with “Halfway to Heaven” in 2010 and “Just as I Am” in 2014, is going for the hat trick with his current album, “The Devil Don’t Sleep.” “It is going to be wide open,” Gilbert said when asked what fans can expect at the show. “It will be high energy as always. Loud and a lot of fun.” Gilbert, who writes his own music, said he believes it resonates with...

Whitley County students and teachers will be getting an extended summer vacation this summer. During its monthly meeting Thursday, the Whitley County Board of Education unanimously approved the school calendar for the 2017-2018 school year, which pushes the school start date for students to Aug. 22, 2017, which is one week later than the start date this current school year. The last day of school for students next school year is scheduled for May 16, 2018, under the new school calendar. Superintendent Scott Paul said that the staff were surveyed and were overwhelmingly in favor of the later starting date. School officials don’t plan to extend the school day to reduce the number...

The Kentucky Division of Forestry and area firefighters want to remind residents that spring fire season is in effect. Between Feb. 15 and April 30, state law prohibits anyone from burning debris outdoors between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. within 150 feet of the woods. West Knox Fire Chief Daryl Baker said his department was called to fight three separate brush fires over the weekend. “We were able to contain them pretty quick, so we were lucky,” Baker said adding that firefighters in northern Laurel County could be heard on the radio battling multiple fires Sunday. Baker said West Knox was called to two brush fires on Saturday. At the scene on Johnson Hollow...

A Keavy man has been arrested for allegedly burglarizing a Corbin area residence. According to Laurel County Sheriff John Root, 19-year-old Tyler Forbes is accused of breaking into a residence on Douglas Blvd., located off Laurel Whitley Road in southern Laurel County. Once inside, Forbes allegedly took assorted items valued at more than $500. Deputies took Forbes into custody about 2 p.m. Sunday at his residence on Laurel Lake Road, North. Forbes is charged with second-degree burglary and theft by unlawful taking of the value of $500 or more but less than $10,000. Forbes is being held in the Laurel County Detention Center on a $25,000 cash bond. Forbes has pleaded not guilty to the...