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Two Tampa, Florida men agreed to pay over $2,400 in restitution Monday morning stemming from their alleged roles in a recent Williamsburg credit card fraud case. Isael C. Velazquez, 32, and Osmani Ramirez Chavez, 40, were originally arrested by Williamsburg Deputy Police Chief Jason Caddell on May 26 and charged with felony fraudulent use of a credit card. The pair have been incarcerated in the Whitley County Detention Center since then in lieu of $50,000 cash bonds. As part of their plea deal Monday, the pair agreed to plead guilty to fraudulent use of a credit card under $500, which is a misdemeanor offense, in exchange for a 12-month jail sentence. The plea...

A former Williamsburg High School assistant football coach, who has pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a student athletic trainer in 2014, and the victim's mother, won't be added as third-party defendants in a lawsuit against the school district, its superintendent and its then principal. U.S. District Judge Gregory Van Tatenhove issued an order last month denying the request on various technical legal grounds. The parents of the victim, who are identified in the lawsuit only as John and Jane Doe, filed suit on April 29, 2015, against the school district, Superintendent Denny Byrd and then Principal Gary Peters, who has since retired. The lawsuit alleged that the defendants violated the girl's civil...

Many were in attendance at The Corbin Center  last Thursday evening for the Sixth Annual Daniel Boone “Visionary Award” banquet to honor this year’s recipient,  Kentucky Governor Matthew Bevin. “I truly am not worthy to be considered among them and it is a tremendous honor. Thank you so much for this recognition,” said Bevin upon receiving his award from his fellow recipients. The Daniel Boone “Visionary Award” is given each year to honor an outstanding citizen in the community. Governor Bevin was selected to receive the award by a special committee of The Mountain Laurel District of the Bluegrass Council of Boy Scouts. It is considered the district’s “highest honor.” Past recipients...

A scholarship fund has been created for a Corbin High School and Eastern Kentucky University graduate who went on to serve in the U.S. Marines and became a successful businessman in the medical supply industry before his untimely death in 1989. The creation of the Karl Bays scholarship fund was announced last week at a meeting of the Corbin Kiwanis Club. Bays is a 1951 graduate of Corbin High School where he excelled in football and was a statistician for the Redhound basketball team. He went to EKU on scholarship and graduated in 1955, bypassing dreams to play in the NFL in order to join the U.S. Marine Corps. He later completed his...

A London man has been ordered to pay the Whitley County Fiscal Court $600 restitution for damaging a holding cell door at the Whitley County Judicial Center on April 4. Zachary Turner, 19, pleaded guilty during his arraignment Thursday afternoon to a charge of third-degree criminal mischief. Whitley District Judge Cathy Prewitt sentenced him to a 90-day jail sentence but agreed to probate that sentence for two years on the condition Turner pay $600 restitution to the Whitley County Fiscal Court. She also ordered Turner to pay court costs. About 1:10 p.m. on April 4, Court Security Officer Tom Hurst reported that Turner was in a holding cell using his handcuffs to carve...

Whitley County Judge-Executive Pat White Jr. will be one of five people inducted into Kentucky’s Fifth District Lincoln Club Hall of Fame during the 78th Annual Fifth District Lincoln Club Banquet at 6 p.m. Saturday at the Corbin Technology Center. “I am honored to have been chosen to be a part of such an accomplished group of people,” White said. “Many of those inducted before me were pioneers in the Republican Party in our area. In many ways they paved the way for me and my generation to have the opportunities I’ve had in Republican politics. I am grateful to those leaders and those who chose me to be among...

The case of a Corbin man accused of beating his twin brother to death with a hammer is headed to a Laurel County grand jury. At a preliminary hearing Tuesday in Laurel District Court, Judge Wendell “Skip” Hammons ordered the case against 30-year-old Antonio T. Johnson waived on to the grand jury. The grand jury will next meet on May 16 and any resulting indictments will be returned on May 20. Antonio Johnson is facing one count of murder – domestic violence stemming from the April 5 incident in which is brother, Anthony, was found dead in the bedroom of his residence on Robinson Creek Road in Lily. Police were called to the...

Big, small, fat, skinny, open, closed, singles or in pairs, a group of Corbin High School students wants you old or worn out shoes to help provide safe drinking water to people in third world countries or in areas that have been struck by disaster. Throughout the month of April, a group of 15 students under the direction of social studies teacher Cheryl Tinsley will be collecting the shoes to benefit WaterStep, a non-profit organization based in Louisville. The shoes will be sold for recycling with the proceeds being used to purchase purification kits and waterballs. Tinsley said a waterball is a hard plastic ball that holds up to 20 gallons of...

Earth Week festivities will kick off Saturday in Williamsburg with the Mother Earth Bicycle Ride followed by a movie in the park. Registration for the bicycle ride starts at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Bill Woods Park followed by a bicycle safety talk at 4 p.m. The ride will start at 4:30 p.m. The registration fee is $5 per person or $15 for a family of more than four people. There will be fun festivities at the park Saturday including food vendors, face painting and great learning opportunities for how to save our planet, according to Cortney Moses, Whitley County Agent for Fine Arts. Following the bike ride, there will be a free movie...

A Lily man accused of raping, sodomizing and sexually abusing two child relatives, has already served the majority of his prison term set out in a plea agreement that came down in lieu of a trial Wednesday in Laurel Circuit Court, but he will have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life. Under the terms of the plea agreement, 57-year-old Condy O. Irvin pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree sexual abuse. One count of first-degree rape was amended to first-degree sexual abuse. Additional charges of first-degree sodomy and incest were dismissed. In return for Irvin’s guilty plea, prosecutors recommended a prison sentence...