Garrard

The Garrard County Public Library will have story hour for children on Wednesday. Totally Toddler time, 9:15-9:45 a.m. for ages 2-3; Primarily Preschool, 10-10:45 a.m. for ages 4-5; Bouncing Book Babies, 11-11:30 a.m. for ages 18 months to 3 years. Also, the Lancaster Ladies Book Club will meet 12:15 p.m. Thursday. This month they will be discussing “Summer Island” by Kristin Hannah.

RICHMOND - A Garrard County man is dead after a fatal motorcycle wreck Saturday night. Cecil Johnson, 61, died at the scene of the Madison County accident, in which no other vehicles were involved, according to a Kentucky State Police press release. Johnson was apparently traveling west on Moran Mill Road about 10 p.m. when he veered off and hit a ditch. He was then ejected from his 1978 Harley Davidson during one of the multiple times it flipped, according to the release. Police responded to the accident and located Johnson, whom Madison County Coroner Jimmy Cornelison pronounced dead at the scene.

LANCASTER - A Lancaster man was seriously injured Thursday when his truck struck a plank fence north of Lancaster. State police in Richmond said Ryan S. Lane, 25, was driving a 1998 Mazda truck on Forks Church Road. The vehicle drove onto the shoulder of the road. Lane apparently overcorrected, crossed the roadway and struck a plank fence. A portion of the fence entered through the windshield and struck him. A small child in the vehicle was not injured. Lane was transported to University of Kentucky Chandler Medical Center and was listed in serious but stable condition, state police said.

LANCASTER — Lancaster police are investigating the death of a Paint Lick teenager who died Monday. Brandon Hubbard, 18, was pronounced dead at a residence on Highland Avenue in Lancaster about 2:30 p.m. Monday, Garrard County Coroner Daryl Hodge said. A homeowner told police that Hubbard came into the house about 10:30 p.m. Sunday, saying he planned to drive to Georgia. But the homeowner said she did not think Hubbard was in good condition to drive and convinced him to stay, Hodge said.

MOUNT VERNON — A single-vehicle crash in Rockcastle County claimed the lives of two area women Wednesday morning. Lagina Snow, 43, of Stanford, and Tammy Griffin, 39, of Lancaster, were both killed when their pickup truck crashed at the intersection of U.S. 150 and Ky. 70 about three miles west of Mount Vernon. According to Kentucky State Police, Snow was driving the 1997 Dodge Ram when it crashed about 9:30 a.m. Snow and Griffin were both ejected and pronounced dead at the scene, police said.

CRAB ORCHARD - A Garrard County man whose body was discovered in his home died after falling down the stairs, an autopsy revealed. Garrard County Coroner Daryl Hodge said Saturday that Ormand VanWinkle, 64, who lived alone on Drakes Creek, suffered blunt force trauma to the head when he toppled down the stairs of his home. VanWinkle was able to get up after the fall and go back upstairs to lay down in his bed, but died as a result of bleeding on his brain, Hodge said. VanWinkle was last heard from on Tuesday and his body was discovered Thursday evening after family members became concerned.

LANCASTER — A Garrard County grand jury indicted Jeffrey Grant Reynolds, 28, of Liberty, burglary and theft for allegedly breaking into a home on July 2 and taking $1,000 in cash and a gun. Bond was set at $10,000. Trooper Chris Damron testified.

Jonathan Gay, a friend of Wilson’s since college and one of the first to encourage Wilson to run for secretary of state, said he and Wilson have been talking about a potential run for “a couple months.” “What I really like about John is he seems to be able to fit in anywhere he goes,” Gay said. “He has both grassroots appeal and he’s a bright guy who understands that this is a complicated world.” Gay said he has been encouraging Wilson to run for a variety of state-level seats for the past six to eight months but only more recently began talking specifically about secretary of state.

LANCASTER - Garrard County Board of Education has named a new school superintendent, effective July 1. Paul Mullins of Hodgenville currently is principal at Larue County High School, where he has served  for eight years. Over the course of his career, he also principal at the elementary and middle school levels. This will be his first job as superintendent. Originally from Elizabethtown, Mullins said he is excited about the opportunity to transition to the superintendent position, but noted that only if everyone in the district works together will Garrard be successful.

LANCASTER - When Garrard County Judge-Executive John Wilson announced to the Fiscal Court last August that the county had paid off the $4.5 million hospital debt 10 years early, discussions began on how quickly the insurance premium tax, which had been burdening taxpayers while decreasing the debt, could be repealed. Unfortunately, magistrates discovered in September the tax could not be dropped until July 2013, as a Kentucky statute limits how often insurance premiums can be adjusted.

BURGIN - It's been quite the turnaround year for the Garrard County softball team. A year ago, the Golden Lions were in the midst of a two-win season with a team full of freshmen and eighth-graders. But after their 18-0 win Tuesday over Burgin, the Lions are one of the hottest teams in the 12th Region, having won five straight nine of their last 10 to sit at 23-12. “They've just got a lot more confidence and they're grown up as ball players. They're doing a million times better than I thought they would, and we're just becoming a better team,” said Garrard's only senior, outfielder Sydney Pozzuto, who drove in two runs Tuesday.

Cole Grecco felt confident he could win a regional title in the 3,200-meter run since that's his main race. But now the Garrard County junior has gained confidence in the 1,600 as well after winning Central Kentucky Conference and Class AA regional titles in the past two weeks. “My goals were to come out and win the 2-mile because I knew Bryant (Qualls of Mercer County) and Tucker (Jones of Corbin) were going to be really good in the mile," Grecco said. “I was OK in the mile, but then I stared working on that some more.

Garrard County scored five runs in the bottom of the sixth inning Thursday to break a tie and beat visiting Berea 8-3. Evan Smith had a pair of doubles for the Golden Lions (15-13), while Ronnie Saylor, J.T. Lyon, Seth Murphy, Jacob Wix and Matt Wilburn all drove in runs. Chris McSorley started and picked up the win, while Sammie Galloway earned the save. Danville 7, Corbin 6 (10 innings) - At Corbin, the Admirals (22-12) got a run in the top of the 10th inning and held on to edge host Corbin.

BEREA - Ethan Smith and Spencer Anderson are the last area boys players standing today after the Garrard County duo advanced to the 12th Region Tournament doubles championship. The two Golden Lions, seeded second, dropped their first set to Casey County's No. 3 seed of Tayler Leigh and Skyler Wright, but rebounded with a 3-6, 6-2, 10-5 semifinal victory Saturday at Berea College. “We were just trying to focus on the matches we had today and we didn't look ahead to the championship matches, and now we have time to do that,” Anderson said.

LANCASTER - About 90 energetic volunteers young and old gathered Saturday at the former Garrard County Middle School to assist the Garrard County Family Resource Center and ATEAM AmeriCorps build 26 beds for needy children. The build-a-bed mission was created by a few Kentucky volunteer corporations in 2009 and has since produced thousands of beds that have been distributed throughout many Kentucky counties. The reasoning behind build-a-bed's mission is to ensure every child has a private bed to get a solid night's rest, rather than cramming in with other family members.

J.T. Lyon hit a three-run home run to highlight a five-run seventh inning Thursday as Garrard County rallied to defeat Lincoln County 5-2 in Stanford in the final 45th District game of the season. Lyon's homer gave host Garrard the lead and helped the Golden Lions avenge an earlier loss to Lincoln and secure a tie for second place in the final district standings, which determine seeding for the 45th District Tournament later this month. Garrard (14-12, 3-3 district) and Danville finished in a tie for second place behind Boyle County.

Four Mercer County pitchers combined for a six-inning no-hitter Wednesday as the Titans defeated Burgin 10-0 at Harrodsburg. Jackson Stoeckinger, Jon Banks, John Ingram and Russell Sims teamed to hold Burgin hitless, striking out eight batters and walking three. Stoeckinger pitched the first two innings, Sims pitched the last two, and Banks and Ingram threw one inning each for host Mercer (17-5, 3-2 46th District). Logan Horn had two hits, including the Titans' only extra-base hit, a double.

STANFORD - Lincoln County and Garrard County squared off on the softball diamond Monday with the No. 2 seed in the 45th District on the line. When the final out was registered, it was the Garrard Lady Lions securing the No. 2 spot, shutting out the host Lady Patriots 5-0.    The Lady Lions (15-11, 3-1 district) scored one run in the top of the third inning to give starting pitcher Kenlea Norton all the help she would need. Norton got the complete-game win, limiting Lincoln to just four hits and not allowing a single runner past third base.