Jennifer Hewlett, Lexington Herald-Leader

Officials Pleased With Innovative Interchange

Jennifer Hewlett, Lexington Herald-Leader — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 14:07:00 +0000

The double-crossover diamond at Harrodsburg and New Circle roads in Lexington might not be flawless, but state highway officials involved in the road project consider it a sparkling success. It's considered so successful that two more — on Ky. 536 at Interstate 75, and on Ky. 338 at I-75 in Boone County — are planned. Authorities also are considering more double-crossover diamonds in Lexington. The Harrodsburg Road crossover is the sixth of its kind in the country.

Blue Grass Airport Sustains Success

Jennifer Hewlett, Lexington Herald-Leader — Sun, 20 May 2012 20:17:41 +0000

Most of the commercial flights leaving Lexington's Blue Grass Airport are full these days, which makes airport officials happy. Still, those officials are keeping a watchful eye on airline industry trends, particularly airline mergers and bankruptcies, in an effort to keep passenger counts and numbers of flights, destinations and available seats from sliding.

Juvenile Jails Can't Examine Naked Teens

Jennifer Hewlett, Lexington Herald-Leader — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 14:10:02 +0000

The Kentucky Department of Juvenile Justice has changed its entry screening policy after a federal judge questioned a juvenile detention facility's practice of screening juveniles while naked. The change came Dec. 9, a day after U.S. Senior Judge Karl S. Forester said in a court document that, based upon preliminary research, he believed the "Body ID process" at the Breathitt Regional Juvenile Detention Center, in which juvenile detainees were "subjected to a visual, unclothed examination upon intake to the facility," was unconstitutional.

Hindman School Director Dies

Jennifer Hewlett, Lexington Herald-Leader — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 14:42:19 +0000

Mike Mullins, who took over the reins of Hindman Settlement School in Knott County in 1977 and helped turn it into a regional cultural and educational center, died Sunday night, apparently of a heart attack. He was 63. As executive director of the school, Mr. Mullins' tasks ranged from fund-raising to fixing broken pipes. He tackled each with a hands-on, no-nonsense and down-to-earth approach, according to his friends. His impact extended far beyond Knott County and Eastern Kentucky.

Pike Co. Church Reverses Vote on Membership

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 14:56:51 +0000

A tiny Pike County church voted Sunday to affirm that it welcomes people of all races, a week after some members touched off a storm of controversy by voting against accepting interracial couples. Members of the Gulnare Free Will Baptist Church voted 16-0 Sunday to make clear that everyone is welcome, "regardless of race, creed or color," and that the church wants to move forward in unity, pastor Stacy Stepp said.

Berea Shooting Suspect Arrested

Mon, 21 Nov 2011 20:00:44 +0000

Police apprehended a former Berea College public safety officer and Army veteran suspected in a double shooting in Berea Monday morning that killed one man and wounded another, authorities said. About 1:30 p.m., Matt Denholm, 27, was taken into custody without further incident after a brief standoff in Louisville with police, said Berea police spokesman Capt. Ken Clark. Denholm had two people with him in a vehicle until a relative talked to him by cell and convinced him to let those people go.

Berea Suspect had Previous Altercation with Victims

Mon, 21 Nov 2011 18:34:41 +0000

UPDATED: Berea police are looking for a suspect possibly armed with rifles and other equipment after a Monday morning double shooting that killed one man and wounded another in a building across from city hall. The shooting victims have not been identified, said police spokesman Capt. Ken Clark. Berea College and some schools in Berea and Madison County are locked down as police look for the suspect, he said.

Kentucky's Modern Day Hatfields and McCoys

Jennifer Hewlett, Lexington Herald-Leader — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 03:39:02 +0000

Move over Hatfields and McCoys. There's a modern-day battle that has been going on in Central Kentucky for nearly 10 years, and there's no sign of when the fighting might stop. Unlike the infamous Hatfield-McCoy feud of the late 1800s, in which the weapons of choice were guns, knives and fists, the weapons in this fight are attorneys and the courts. And, a TV set, not a hog, is at the center of this dispute.

Kentucky Voter Turnout Better than Expected

Jennifer Hewlett, Lexington Herald-Leader — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 15:02:21 +0000

A record 2,944,603 Kentuckians were registered to vote in Tuesday's general election, but just more than 28 percent made the trip to the polls. By about 10:45 p.m., with 99.61 percent of precincts reporting, 837,868 ballots had been counted. The percentage of voters was slightly higher than the 25 percent to 28 percent that Secretary of State Elaine N. Walker had predicted.

Over 100 Painkiller Suits Moved to Federal Court

Jennifer Hewlett, Lexington Herald-Leader — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 14:27:16 +0000

More than 100 lawsuits filed by people from throughout the country — who claim they or their loved ones have been hurt by the pain relievers Darvon and Darvocet and other drugs containing propoxyphene — have poured into the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Kentucky since August. That's because U.S. District Judge Danny Reeves, who holds court in Covington, has been selected by a federal panel to refine the issues and streamline pretrial proceedings.

Big Brothers Big Sisters Ex-Office Manager Pleads Guilty

Jennifer Hewlett, Lexington Herald-Leader — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 14:18:16 +0000

Bendrea Wilson, the former office manager for Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Bluegrass, was sentenced to four years in prison Thursday in federal court in Lexington. Wilson, 33, pleaded guilty in May to a count of bank fraud for cashing more than $435,000 in checks on the organization's account.

Ex-official at Blue Grass Airport gets Probation

Jennifer Hewlett, Lexington Herald-Leader — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 14:48:31 +0000

Former Blue Grass Airport official John Slone, jailed since June for violating the terms of his conditional discharge on a theft-related conviction in an airport spending scandal, has been granted shock probation. Fayette Circuit Judge Pamela Goodwine granted Slone shock probation during a court hearing Wednesday. She placed Slone on probation for 18 months.

Changes for Blue Grass Airport

Jennifer Hewlett, Lexington Herald-Leader — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 13:41:53 +0000

Inside and out, Lexington's Blue Grass Airport has undergone a major overhaul since Aug. 27, 2006, when 49 people lost their lives in the crash of Comair Flight 5191. But most of those changes — in facilities, personnel and customer offerings — have nothing to do with the crash.

Hearing set for Suspected Bosnian War Criminal

Jennifer Hewlett, Lexington Herald-Leader — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 20:10:21 +0000

An extradition hearing for Azra Bašic, accused of war crimes against civilians during the Bosnian civil war in the 1990s, has been set for Nov. 7 in U.S. District Court in Lexington. U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert E. Wier set the date Monday during a status hearing. Bašic, who is being held in the Fayette County jail, appeared in court in jail garb

Former Herald-Leader Publisher Dies

Jennifer Hewlett, Lexington Herald-Leader — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 17:45:52 +0000

Creed Carter Black, who dramatically changed the face of the Lexington Herald-Leader when he was publisher from 1977 to 1988, died early Tuesday at Baptist Hospital in Miami. He was 86. As chairman of the board and publisher of the Herald-Leader, Mr. Black secured the land and oversaw the construction of a new newspaper plant at Main Street and Midland Avenue.

Documents Tell of Nunn's Desperation

Thu, 04 Aug 2011 14:07:33 +0000

UPDATED: As police in Hart County closed in on Steve Nunn after he murdered his ex-fiancée in downtown Lexington on Sept. 11, 2009, the former state lawmaker apologized to his daughters by phone. Seven days after the killing, Mary Elizabeth Nunn and Katharine Courtney Nunn told police officers of the disturbing play-by-play they received from their father, who called them from a cellphone the day Amanda Ross was murdered. A summary of the police interview with the two women was among hundreds of pages of documents released Wednesday by the Urban County Government in response to the Lexington Herald-Leader's request under the Kentucky Open Records Act.

Retired Newsman Publishes 1st Novel

Jennifer Hewlett, Lexington Herald-Leader — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 13:45:30 +0000

Scott Smith, 87, is a retired newspaperman. He's also had a lifelong fascination with the Old West. Now, the Danville resident has combined his two long held interests and published his first novel - The Bronco Man. Naturally, it's a western.

Unclaimed Body to be Buried

Jennifer Hewlett, Lexington Herald-Leader — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 15:48:59 +0000

Robert George, whose body has been in the University of Kentucky Chandler Hospital morgue for more than three months, finally will be laid to rest, possibly on Thursday, in Burnside Cemetery in Pulaski County. It's not likely that any of George's relatives, including his children — four sons and a daughter — will be there when his coffin is lowered into the ground, George's son, Robbie George of Texas, said Wednesday. "He's done a lot of very bad things, and the family is not so forgiving," the son said.

Former Candidate Found Dead

Jennifer Hewlett, Lexington Herald-Leader — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 14:20:30 +0000

Matthew D. Vanderpool, who lost a bid for the 45th District state House of Representatives seat last fall, was pronounced dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head early Wednesday, several hours after Lexington police responded to a call about a suicidal man at a home.

UK Hospital Sues Over Unclaimed Body

Jennifer Hewlett, Lexington Herald-Leader — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 16:44:11 +0000

Robert George's body has been in the University of Kentucky Chandler Hospital's morgue for more than three months, and UK officials say they can't get anyone to claim it.The Fayette County coroner's office has refused to take the body. So has the coroner's office in Pulaski County, where George apparently lived. Relatives who have been contacted by UK also have not stepped forward to claim George's remains.

Motion Filed for New Doneghy Murder Trial

Jennifer Hewlett, Lexington Herald-Leader — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 17:38:02 +0000

An attorney for Glenn Doneghy, who was convicted of second-degree manslaughter in the hit-and-run death of Lexington police officer Bryan J. Durman on June 30, has filed a motion for a new trial. Attorney Sally Wasielewski, in the motion filed this week, says that jurors in the trial were allowed to walk freely around downtown Lexington during a June 30 lunch break — after deliberations had begun — when they should have been kept in a group and accompanied by a court bailiff. Wasielewski says this was a violation of Kentucky law.

Awaiting Verdict of Doneghy Trial

Thu, 30 Jun 2011 14:09:52 +0000

A 12-member jury deliberated late into Wednesday night whether Glenn Doneghy should be convicted of murder in the hit-and-run death of Lexington police officer Bryan Durman last year. Jurors had heard 60 witnesses — many with wildly conflicting recollections and interpretations of events — testify during the past 2½ weeks. After closing arguments from defense attorney Kate Dunn and Commonwealth's Attorney Ray Larson on Wednesday, the case was handed to the jury about 1 p.m.

Former Lawmaker Guilty of Murder

Jennifer Hewlett, Lexington Herald-Leader and Lisa Autry, Kentucky Public Radio — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 15:42:43 +0000

Former state lawmaker Steve Nunn pleaded guilty to murder with aggravating circumstances in the 2009 death of Amanda Ross in Lexington.

Nunn, who was set to go on trial in August, entered the plea Tuesday morning in Fayette Circuit Court.

He waived formal sentencing and Judge Pamela Goodwine sentenced Nunn to life without parole. He also was given 12 months for violating a domestic violence order of protection. That sentence is to run concurrently.

When Goodwine asked Nunn if he was guilty of the charges Nunn said "yes ma'am" in a quiet voice.

Afterward, Nunn's attorneys, Warren Scoville said first-degree manslaughter was the best case scenario and with that charge he would have still spent the rest of his life in prison.

Prosecutor Faces Tough Task in Trial

Sun, 12 Jun 2011 14:41:43 +0000

A murder charge comes in two forms in Kentucky: intentional and wanton. Intentional murder means a death was purposely caused. In a case of wanton murder, the defendant demonstrated "extreme indifference to human life." Regardless, prosecutors must either prove intent to kill or indifference to life, and legal experts think that could be one of the highest hurdles in the trial of Glenn Doneghy, who is charged with murder in the hit-and-run death of Lexington police officer Bryan J. Durman. Two rulings last week by Fayette Circuit Judge James Ishmael seemed to deal major blows to the prosecution.

DNA may Support Theory of Officer's Death

Jennifer Hewlett, Lexington Herald-Leader — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 15:54:00 +0000

DNA evidence found on the steering wheel of the vehicle that hit and killed Lexington police Officer Bryan Durman last year matches the DNA of a woman whom police apparently ruled out last fall as a possible suspect in Durman's death, says a defense attorney for the man accused of murder in the case. The woman, who goes by the nickname "Juicy," is the same woman alleged to be on a recently made video recording admitting she was the driver who hit Durman.

Missing Video could Identify Cop Killer

Jennifer Hewlett, Lexington Herald-Leader — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 14:23:15 +0000

Lexington police and attorneys for Glenn Doneghy, accused of murder in the death of Lexington police officer Bryan Durman, are looking for a videotape of a woman who allegedly says on the video that she was driving the vehicle that struck and killed Durman last year. The existence of such a tape was discussed Monday during a hearing in Doneghy's case in Fayette Circuit Court.

Nunn Murder Trial Evidence Allowed

Jennifer Hewlett, Lexington Herald-Leader — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 14:44:13 +0000

Evidence indicating former state lawmaker Steve Nunn engaged the services of prostitutes less than a week before he is alleged to have killed his former fiancée will be allowed at his murder trial, Fayette Circuit Judge Pamela Goodwine ruled Thursday. The judge said prosecution evidence showing contacts between Nunn and women from an online service in August and September 2009, just before the Sept. 11, 2009, shooting death of 29-year-old Amanda Ross, was relevant to the case. Defense attorneys had sought to have the information excluded from the trial.

Retailer Frank Dawahare Dies at 83

Jennifer Hewlett, Lexington Herald-Leader — Wed, 18 May 2011 14:16:42 +0000

He gave many college students in the area their first jobs. For years, he anonymously placed gifts on the doorsteps of poor people at Christmas. Recently, when he was lying in a hospital bed trying to beat leukemia, he prayed for visitors who had come to pray for him. Serur Frank Dawahare Jr., one of the principals in a former Kentucky retail clothing dynasty, died Monday at his home in Lexington, apparently of complications from leukemia. He was 83. Read more...