Fayette Mall

If you still have Christmas shopping or other retail therapy needs upcoming, please avoid Fayette Mall. They do not want our business.   Whether it's because we are from schools in Danville or because we were a group of disabled students, we were treated with contempt, ridicule and spite during a recent visit. We've transported disabled students to Fayette Mall for years without even a hiccup.   Most recently, however, we weren't afforded the same privilege as Fayette or Jessamine County school buses and the same respect was not shown to our staff, driver and children.

For her 16th birthday, Kari Taylor wanted to go shopping. Big surprise. "I have a closet full of clothes," Taylor said. Apparently, she needed more. She also wanted to get batteries. "For my camera," she said. "It keeps going down. " How does she drain the power so quickly? "People always take pictures of me," she said. Pretty typical behavior for a 16-year-old girl. But Kari is not a typical 16-year-old. In 2000, she was in a devastating car accident that confined her to a wheelchair and left her with limited mobility in her arms and hands.

The engagement of Monica Bentley and Chris Shearer is announced by her parents, Stan and Terri Bentley of Winchester. Shearer is the son of Vernon and Karen Shearer, also of Winchester. The bride-elect is a 1999 graduate of Paul Laurence Dunbar High School and was a member of Alpha Gamma Delta at Western Kentucky University. She is a 2005 graduate of Lexington Beauty College and works at Regis Salon at Fayette Mall. Shearer is a 1999 graduate of George Rogers Clark High School and a 2004 graduate of Campbellsville University, where he played football.

The 4BS Senior Adults Group from First Baptist Church, 32 East Lexington Ave., met at the church Thursday and traveled by bus to Lexington. The group had lunch at the Chop House, Richmond Road, followed by visiting Fayette Mall for two hours of shopping and strolling. Those attending were Virginia Blanton, Oma Brown, Jim Davis, Mary Elizabeth Johnson, Hallie McCloud, Louise Pittman, Elizabeth Prather and Ava Tyler. Prior to leaving, the members brought canned fruit and laundry detergent for the Clark County Community Service Center Davis was the bus driver.

LEADER LESSON Leader lesson training will be at 10 a.m. Thursday at the Clark County Extension Office, 1400 Fortune Drive. The training will be on herbs. In the past, using herbs to flavor food was of interest only to a select group of people. Now people use them for health reasons or to give their average meal a special taste. For more information, call the extension office at 744-4862. OPERATION COOKIE DROP You can help American military members when you buy Girl Scout cookies this year.

Nicolette Coontz, daughter of Dwight and Patty Coontz of Stanford, was selected on behalf of the Central Kentucky Council on Youth Leadership as the 2008 Youth Salute Lincoln County Essay Winner. In addition to this honor, she was also chosen to receive a $4,000 scholarship to Eastern Kentucky University and a $100 scholarship through Holifield Photography to the college of her choice. On behalf of the Central Kentucky Council on Youth Leadership 2008 Youth Salute Program, provided through Holifield Photography in Lexington, all Lincoln County 2008 Youth Salute recipients will be on display at the entrance to the Sears in the Fayette Mall wing near Abercrombie & Finch the week of July 22-28, along with the Frankfort and Franklin County winners.

LEXINGTON - The most important numbers to Lexington retailers - and retailers everywhere, for that matter - are the ones on their bottom lines. But there are other numbers that the merchants in this commercial hub for central and eastern Kentucky also look to as a measure of their success. These other, highly important numbers include 40422, 40330, 40440, 40484 and 42539, the zip codes for Danville, Harrodsburg, Lancaster, Stanford and Liberty. Based on marketing studies conducted by several Lexington stores, residents of these area communities do a fair amount of shopping in Lexington, especially those on the south and west ends of the city, along Nicholasville and Harrodsburg roads.

Crime of the Week Police are searching for information about the April 10 robbery of Sears in Fayette Mall. At approximately 5 p.m., a black man and woman approached the jewelry counter and said they were looking for a ring. When the clerk turned her back, the man reached over the counter and took a diamond ring from the display. The ring was valued at $8,400. Police retrieved surveillance video from the store but have not been able to indentify the suspects. The picture is available at www.bluegrasscrimestsoppers.

If you still have Christmas shopping or other retail therapy needs upcoming, please avoid Fayette Mall. They do not want our business.   Whether it's because we are from schools in Danville or because we were a group of disabled students, we were treated with contempt, ridicule and spite during a recent visit. We've transported disabled students to Fayette Mall for years without even a hiccup.   Most recently, however, we weren't afforded the same privilege as Fayette or Jessamine County school buses and the same respect was not shown to our staff, driver and children.

Wanted Person of the Week Authorities with the Lexington Division of Police and the Fayette County Sheriff are searching for 27-year-old Fredrick A. Spencer, who is wanted for first-degree robbery. He is a white male, 6-feet tall and 170 pounds. Anyone with information on his whereabouts should call local law enforcement or call crime stoppers at 253-2020 or 877-970-2020 rather than trying to apprehend him personally. Crime of the Week Police are looking for any information concerning the thief of a purse taken from an employee of Anne's Hallmark on Fort Harrod Drive in Lexington on Feb. 21. Authorities say the purse was stolen out of the employee area of the store.

Seven hundred and forty high school juniors from 46 high schools in central Kentucky were recognized in this year's Youth Salute. The 29th annual awards ceremony was held in their honor May 3 at Midway College. A top Youth Leader was named for each high school, as well as Youth Leaders of the Year. Individual school winners from this area were Emily Donlon of Boyle County, Jonathan Thomas Beckerson of Burgin Independent, Nolan Weddle of Casey County, Anna Meurer of Danville, Hillary Asberry of Garrard County, Mohammed Nurur Rahman Chowdhury of Kentucky School for the Deaf, Ande Stamper of Lincoln County and Shannan Marie Wilson of Mercer County.

Crime of the Week Police are searching for information about the April 10 robbery of Sears in Fayette Mall. At approximately 5 p.m., a black man and woman approached the jewelry counter and said they were looking for a ring. When the clerk turned her back, the man reached over the counter and took a diamond ring from the display. The ring was valued at $8,400. Police retrieved surveillance video from the store but have not been able to indentify the suspects. The picture is available at www.bluegrasscrimestsoppers.

Despite the constraints of a Grinch-inspired economy, I hope this will be a merry Christmas for you shopping-wise. For me, however, it has been a moo-ey Christmas. I do my Christmas shopping the middle of every November so I can get it over with. With the exception of doing some catalog and online ordering, I do most of my shopping in one day. I go to the Fayette Mall and to Joseph Beth Booksellers in Lexington and to some stores in Danville. Usually things go fairly smoothly, orderly and, best of all, speedily.

My name is Charlie Cox, and I'm 23 years old. For those missing their abacus at home, that's six years older than 17. So why do I still get carded for rated-R movies? I'm not joking. Recently when going to see R-rated flicks - which, by Motion Picture Association of America rule, require the accompanying of an adult if a moviegoer is under the age of 17 - I've been asked to provide some form of identification. The first time this happened, I chuckled and jovially obliged.

Nicolette Coontz, daughter of Dwight and Patty Coontz of Stanford, was selected on behalf of the Central Kentucky Council on Youth Leadership as the 2008 Youth Salute Lincoln County Essay Winner. In addition to this honor, she was also chosen to receive a $4,000 scholarship to Eastern Kentucky University and a $100 scholarship through Holifield Photography to the college of her choice. On behalf of the Central Kentucky Council on Youth Leadership 2008 Youth Salute Program, provided through Holifield Photography in Lexington, all Lincoln County 2008 Youth Salute recipients will be on display at the entrance to the Sears in the Fayette Mall wing near Abercrombie & Finch the week of July 22-28, along with the Frankfort and Franklin County winners.

When he moved to Lexington from eastern Kentucky, Joe Waddell noticed a trend of golf fanatics scattered across the central part of the state. "And several people here have never had a golf lesson," he said. "Golf is a lot more fun to play if you play it well. " After a trip to a Tennessee-based golf academy, Waddell decided Lexington needed that kind of facility. Months later, Waddell opened the KiS country club and golf academy: a members-only club and practice hub for golfers.