Duct Tape

Val Gallutia was sticking by his students as they stuck him to the wall Friday afternoon. Students at Warner Elementary School took turns applying duct tape that held the principal against the wall of his school's cafeteria. The spectacle was the result of a fundraiser that brought in about $1,000 to help buy a wheelchair van for a student. First-grader Braden Petrucci suffers from cerebral palsy and is confined to a wheelchair with very limited speech capabilities. The school-wide fundraising is aimed to buy the van for Braden's mother, Tenia Johnson, who currently has to assemble and disassemble her son's wheelchair each time they travel anywhere, storing it in the trunk of her Toyota Corolla.

Editor's note: The following articles were written by seventh-graders from Boyle County Middle School. During the first nine weeks of school, seventh-grade students learned the format of writing feature articles in language arts class. They then were assigned a feature article by life skills teacher Mandy Barnes on any aspect of their lives that "enhanced the home. " Some students wrote recipe pieces, others featured a grandparent or tackled family budgeting, etc. These pieces will be considered by students for inclusion in their CATS writing portfolios that are required by the state Department of Education in seventh grade.

Local authorities are investigating a burglary and theft Wednesday at Heather Hills apartments on Hill-N-Dale Drive where two victims were tied with duct tape. Joi Welch told police that two black males forcibly entered her apartment about 12:30 a.m. and bound her and her boyfriend, Cartrail Houston, with duct tape and shoestrings. The intruders entered with weapons and tied the two victims' hands and feet together, according to Interim Police Chief Tony Gray. The intruders reportedly took several expensive electronic devices and jewelry from the apartment.

Police have identified the victim in Tuesday morning's robbery as 54-year-old Joe Altman. Altman was taken to Clark Regional Medical Center this morning after he was bound with duct tape at his home on East Broadway by a man with a gun. According to Winchester Police, a suspect approached the man as he was attempting to get into his vehicle, which was located in a detached garage behind the residence. The suspect shined a flashlight in the man's eyes and stuck a gun in his face.

LANCASTER - A Garrard County man was arraigned Monday in district court on charges of assault and rape. Steven Alex James, 49, of 91 Creek Drive, was arrested Thursday outside his home on alcohol intoxication and disorderly conduct charges. James had called police to report that a woman had assaulted him with a fork four days earlier. According to the citation, sheriff's deputies responded about 4 p.m. and found him to be intoxicated and belligerent. He was heard yelling at the woman that he would "get her. " The citation said James was told several times by officers to go inside the home, sit down and be quiet, but he refused.

A Main Street service station was closed for a couple of hours Wednesday morning after a suspicious device wrapped in duct tape with a fuse sticking out was discovered in a window of the garage. Randy East, owner of East Service Station, said he found the object around 8:30. "I walked around there and saw it laying in the window and I thought it looked like a bomb, so I called (Jessamine County) Sheriff Kevin Corman," East said. Nicholasville Police Officer Scott Harvey said officers found a homemade explosive device laying on the outside windowsill and immediately called the Lexington Police Department Hazardous Devices Unit to assist in disposing of it. "It was a homemade black powder device.

Police have identified Joe Altman, 54, as the victim in a Tuesday morning robbery at his home, where his wife found him bound with duct tape in the garage.Altman was treated and released from Clark Regional Medical Center and had no serious injuries, said Winchester Police Detective James Hall. According to police, a suspect approached the man as he was attempting to get into his vehicle, which was located in a detached garage behind the residence, at 502 E. Broadway. The suspect shined a flashlight in the man's eyes and stuck a gun in his face.

A Lincoln County High School senior charged with kidnapping and sexual abuse in the first degree was in district court for a preliminary hearing Monday. District Judge Bill Oliver sent the case against 19-year-old Justin Davis of Stanford to a Lincoln County grand jury. The defendant's lawyer said the case is blown out of proportion and the alleged victim is exaggerating what actually happened at the high school on the day in question. Once again accompanied to court by his parents, Mr. Davis, sat emotionless beside his lawyer, Bill Erwin, during testimony from a sheriff's deputy and two schools officials, but not the alleged victim, although she was in court along with her family and supporters.

Val Gallutia was sticking by his students as they stuck him to the wall Friday afternoon. Students at Warner Elementary School took turns applying duct tape that held the principal against the wall of his school's cafeteria. The spectacle was the result of a fundraiser that brought in about $1,000 to help buy a wheelchair van for a student. First-grader Braden Petrucci suffers from cerebral palsy and is confined to a wheelchair with very limited speech capabilities. The school-wide fundraising is aimed to buy the van for Braden's mother, Tenia Johnson, who currently has to assemble and disassemble her son's wheelchair each time they travel anywhere, storing it in the trunk of her Toyota Corolla.

PARKSVILLE - Boyle County law enforcement officials are searching for two people in a late 1980s Nissan sedan who they believe tried to burglarize a Mitchell Lane home Monday morning. About 10 a.m., the female occupant of the residence heard unusual noises at the house's windows and garage, said Sheriff Marty Elliott. The homeowner then noticed a young woman with long brown hair entering the residence through the side garage door. With a handgun, the homeowner confronted the would-be burglar, which caused the suspect to flee the scene, Elliott said.

Winchester Police are still searching for two suspects in last week's robbery on Jackson Street. On May 15, police said two men talked their way into the home of Alberta Jones under the pretext of buying things from her. They then restrained her with duct tape and took several items including her cell phone, medication and a collection of old coins and paper money. Winchester Police Capt. James Hall said one of the men had talked his way into Jones' home earlier in the day by saying he needed help.

A Main Street service station was closed for a couple of hours Wednesday morning after a suspicious device wrapped in duct tape with a fuse sticking out was discovered in a window of the garage. Randy East, owner of East Service Station, said he found the object around 8:30. "I walked around there and saw it laying in the window and I thought it looked like a bomb, so I called (Jessamine County) Sheriff Kevin Corman," East said. Nicholasville Police Officer Scott Harvey said officers found a homemade explosive device laying on the outside windowsill and immediately called the Lexington Police Department Hazardous Devices Unit to assist in disposing of it. "It was a homemade black powder device.

By Michael Broihier In a short jury trial Jan. 13, Justin Davis, 19, of Stanford was found not guilty of two misdemeanor charges filed against him by County Attorney Daryl Day. The charges stem from a Lincoln County High School greenhouse incident in April that School Resource Officer Deputy Linda Cook described to The Interior Journal as something that "began as horseplay and got out of control. " Day had originally sought two felony charges against Davis, but a grand jury refused to indict him. The charges were amended down and the case sent from the circuit court to district court.

STANFORD - All charges facing a former Lincoln County High School student accused of duct-taping a female student to a chair and touching her in a sexual manner have been dropped. According to Attorney Bill Erwin, it took a jury roughly 20 minutes to find Justin Davis, 19, innocent on charges of sexual assault and kidnapping Wednesday in Lincoln County Circuit Court. The charges stemmed from a late April 2008 incident at Lincoln County High School, when a 16-year-old female classmate of Davis alleged he duct-taped her to a chair in the school's greenhouse.

Editor's note: The following articles were written by seventh-graders from Boyle County Middle School. During the first nine weeks of school, seventh-grade students learned the format of writing feature articles in language arts class. They then were assigned a feature article by life skills teacher Mandy Barnes on any aspect of their lives that "enhanced the home. " Some students wrote recipe pieces, others featured a grandparent or tackled family budgeting, etc. These pieces will be considered by students for inclusion in their CATS writing portfolios that are required by the state Department of Education in seventh grade.

A Lincoln County High School senior charged with kidnapping and sexual abuse in the first degree was in district court for a preliminary hearing Monday. District Judge Bill Oliver sent the case against 19-year-old Justin Davis of Stanford to a Lincoln County grand jury. The defendant's lawyer said the case is blown out of proportion and the alleged victim is exaggerating what actually happened at the high school on the day in question. Once again accompanied to court by his parents, Mr. Davis, sat emotionless beside his lawyer, Bill Erwin, during testimony from a sheriff's deputy and two schools officials, but not the alleged victim, although she was in court along with her family and supporters.

STANFORD - A Lincoln County High School senior accused of taping a schoolmate to a chair and trying to fondle her breasts will have his case heard by a grand jury. After a preliminary hearing Monday, Lincoln District Judge Bill Oliver decided there was probable cause to believe that charges of sexual abuse and kidnapping against Justin Davis should be weighed by a grand jury. Davis, 19, was arrested last month after he allegedly used duct tape to secure a 16-year-old girl to a desk at the school's greenhouse and then tried to reach inside her shirt.

LANCASTER - A Garrard County man was arraigned Monday in district court on charges of assault and rape. Steven Alex James, 49, of 91 Creek Drive, was arrested Thursday outside his home on alcohol intoxication and disorderly conduct charges. James had called police to report that a woman had assaulted him with a fork four days earlier. According to the citation, sheriff's deputies responded about 4 p.m. and found him to be intoxicated and belligerent. He was heard yelling at the woman that he would "get her. " The citation said James was told several times by officers to go inside the home, sit down and be quiet, but he refused.