Jessamine County

The 10th Annual Jessamine County Women's Health Check-up Day, a free health fair, will offer women of all ages in Jessamine County a wide range of health screenings and services from area medical personnel on Saturday, April 27 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Jessamine County Technology Center in Nicholasville. The facility has ample parking and is handicapped accessible. The event is sponsored by the Jessamine County Health Department (JCHD), Jessamine County Emergency Services, Jessamine County Schools, and the Jessamine County Fiscal Court.

The room was packed Tuesday as Nicholasville police representatives, Jessamine County Schools superintendent Lu Young and Nicholasville Mayor Russ Meyer asked the Jessamine County Fiscal Court to increase its funding of the school system's resource officer (SRO) program. The program, which began in 2007, stations Nicholasville police officers full-time in the county's middle and high schools. The first three years of the program, the court, the city of Nicholasville and the Jessamine County Board of Education took nearly equal parts in its funding, each contributing about $88,500.

Michael Stacy and his wife spent a year having their home in the Reserve at Chrisman Mill built and settled in about a year ago. Now, the couple and their 3-year-old might face the prospect of once again relocating. “I can't imagine having to go through it all again,” Stacy said in an interview. Stacy was one of hundreds of Jessamine County and Madison County residents who turned out last Thursday for a public meeting held by the state transportation cabinet to learn more about and voice their opinions on a proposed I-75 connector road that would link the two counties.

Volunteering is a great way to get involved in your community and to make a difference in the life of others. The Jessamine County Public Library is hosting a spring volunteer fair to help match volunteers with local volunteer opportunities. The fair will be held Saturday, April 13, from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Potential volunteers are invited to drop by at any time during the fair and pick up a slip for a door-prize drawing. The library is looking for volunteers to bring library materials to homebound customers, train as oral storytellers, greet customers and help represent JCPL in the community, help with book repair, shelve books and DVDs and help with programs.

Agnes Barnes, 80, died Sunday, April 7, at Central Baptist Hospital. Agnes was the loving wife of Elmer Barnes and native of Jessamine County, daughter of James F. and Frances Johns. Agnes was preceded in death by son David Allen Barnes, four sisters and four brothers. She will be missed by daughters Frances Stokley and husband Ernest, Marcella Fay Barnes, and Connie Laber; son Jeffrey Wayne Barnes and wife Tammy; 13 grandchildren; 15 great-grandchildren; one great-great grandson; and many nieces and nephews.

The Jessamine County Public Library was transformed into a galaxy far, far away Saturday as more than 500 people attended Star Wars Fan Day, which capped off Star Wars Week. Star Wars Week was the brain-child of the library's children's department, according to Heather Reynolds, community relations librarian. “They thought it would be a great theme to use for programming during spring-break week for the families that don't travel,” Reynolds said. “We were looking for a theme that attracted kids, teens and adults.” Saturday's event also featured members of the 501st Star Wars Legion, whose volunteers dressed up as Darth Vader, storm troopers, a sandtrooper and an imperial gunner.

I am blessed that my wife understands the nature of the business that I am in. That's a good thing, because it is not uncommon for my cell phone to buzz indicating a text message or for it to ring with a business-related phone call after hours. This also happens when I'm on vacation, or taking paid time off, as the company likes to call it. I took the week of spring break off to tend to some projects at home, and over the course of five days, I responded to my fair share of work-related text messages, and fielded a phone call or two. I am not complaining, because I encourage those who have my number to call or text me when news happens.

Jessamine County attorney Brian Goettl presented Nicholasville police officer John Paul Rainey with his office's Top Cop award during Monday's city-commission meeting. The Top Cop award was presented at a gathring of law-enforcement officers last year. Goettl said the Top Cop award goes to the law-enforcement officer in Jessamine County who has had the most significant impact on the county attorney's office for that year. “(Law-enforcement officers) are the ones running to the danger when everyone else is running from the danger,” Goettl said.

After a 30-year career in Jessamine County schools, superintendent Lu Young is leaving her home district to assume a new position in Fayette County. Young will become chief academic officer in Lexington on July 1. The announcement was made at a Fayette County leadership meeting Wednesday morning; she will present a formal resignation to the Jessamine County Board of Education at its April 22 meeting. Young, 53, called the new position “the right challenge” for her career and said the decision had been emotional, professional and spiritual.

The state's medical examiner's office has concluded that 49-year-old Dale “Monty” Burgess died of multiple gun shot wounds, and now Jessamine County Sheriff's Office (JSO) is conducting its second murder case in a four-month period. The sheriff's office received the call around 12:10 p.m. Friday and responded to 1034 Elm Fork Road, where they found the body of Burgess in a bathroom, according to deputy Larry Oliver. Burgess had lived in the residence for 10 years, Oliver said.