Lincoln County

FRANKFORT - The Kentucky Court of Appeals on Friday upheld the manslaughter conviction of Jason Napier in the 2009 beating death of a 4-year-old Lincoln County boy. Napier was convicted of second-degree manslaughter in 2011 by a Lincoln Circuit Court jury in the death of Nathaniel Knox and was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Nathaniel died of blunt force trauma to his head. Nathaniel's mother, Jessica Noble, plead guilty in her son's death and also received a 15-year prison sentence.

STANFORD - The following people were indicted last week by a Lincoln County grand jury: • Tara Lake, 28, of Danville, first-degree assault for allegedly hitting Melissa Pike with a baseball bat on Feb. 22. Bond was set at $25,000. Deputy Chase Marcum testified before the grand jury. • Joseph B. Brewster, 36, of 117 Harris Creek No. 3, Stanford, third-degree assault and terroristic threatening for allegedly being armed with a deadly weapon while trying to injure Kentucky State Trooper Josh Chenault and threatening harm to Cynthia Reardon on May 18, 2012.

LANCASTER - Even with a couple of days to go, it has already been a big week for Lincoln County baseball. The Patriots shuffled their lineup, swept the two games their coach said they had to win and matched their longest winning streak of the season, all in the span of three days and in the wake of their worst loss of the season. Their latest achievement was a 4-1 victory over Garrard County on Thursday that kept them in the running for the top seed in their district tournament. “We had to have these,” Lincoln coach Brad McNew said.

The West Jessamine Colts quickly rebounded from Friday's regional loss to McCreary Central, hitting the hardwood at full gallop Tuesday to take a commanding 13-point first-quarter lead over Lincoln County. The visiting Patriots used a 13-0 third-quarter rally to whittle the deficit down to single digits, but the Colts slammed the door shut on Lincoln in the fourth, pulling away to claim a 62-47 win. “We've gotten off to a good start in three of our four games this year at home, so that gives us a lot of confidence,” said West Jessamine coach Damon Kelley.

Lincoln County and the cities of Hustonville and Stanford have lifted burn bans put in place while Lincoln County underwent an extended drought. Lincoln County and Hustonville have also lifted fireworks bans that were in place. Stanford Mayor Bill Miracle said his city's fireworks ban will be lifted once city council members can vote to do away with it. The county-wide burn and fireworks bans were issued July 2; Hustonville and Stanford put their bans in place in late June.

CRAB ORCHARD - A Clay County man died Friday in a crash on U.S. 150 in the Crab Orchard community, according to Kentucky State Police. James Layton, 51, of Manchester was driving his 2001 Ford F-150 pickup truck west on the highway about 10 a.m., police said. When the truck went onto the right shoulder of the road, Layton overcorrected and the truck traveled across two lanes of traffic and flipped over, police said.  Lincoln County Deputy Coroner Donnie Gilliam pronounced Layton dead at the scene.

STANFORD - Lincoln County has been designated the “most disaster-ready” county in an eight-county region by the Daniel Boone chapter of the American Red Cross. Lincoln Emergency Management Director Don Gilliam also was awarded a “dive right in” award for his work serving as a Daniel Boone Red Cross board member. The award and designation came during a recent volunteer and staff recognition event held by the Red Cross.  “As a board member, (Gilliam) educated elected officials, met with local business leaders, recruited other board members and increased awareness of the Red Cross in Lincoln County,” the announcement of Gilliam's award reads.

STANFORD - Lincoln County Board of Education decided Monday night to cancel school Thursday for the girls Sweet 16 state basketball tournament. The Lincoln County High School Lady Patriots will be  playing in the tournament in Bowling Green. The game will be at 1 p.m. at the E.A. Diddle Arena at Western Kentucky University. Students will make up the missed day on May 21, Election Day, which originally was scheduled as a non-school day. The last day of school for students will remain scheduled as May 23, with closing day for teachers on May 24. Graduation is also scheduled for May 24.

HUSTONVILLE - Pills, alcohol, paraphernalia and suspected cocaine were seized Friday as Lincoln County sheriff's officers and Hustonville police executed a search warrant after an undercover drug buy at Crossroads Market in Hustonville.  Sheriff Curt Folger said his office had been working closely with Hustonville Police Chief Fred McCoy over the last several months and had recently executed an undercover drug buy at the busy market, according...

STANFORD - A 17-year-old Fort Logan High School student died July 5 after a motorcycle crash in the early morning hours, officials said. Kenny Creech, who would have been a senior in the fall, was driving his motorcycle on Ky. 501 near Kings Mountain at 1:50 a.m., Lincoln County Sheriff Curt Folger said. Creech lost control of the motorcycle when he tried to negotiate a curve and was thrown from the vehicle. His head struck a fence post. Paramedics airlifted Creech to the University of Kentucky Chandler Medical Center in Lexington.

DANVILLE - Garrard County pitcher Kenlea Norton helped play spoiler in Lincoln County's plans to earn its first regional berth in seven years, registering a shutout on the Centre College softball diamond Tuesday night. The Lady Lions claimed the automatic berth in next week's 12th Region Tournament at Rockcastle County by defeating the Lady Patriots 4-0 in the first round of the 45th District Softball Tournament. Norton gave up six hits to Lincoln in the complete-game win, with one walk and seven strikeouts.

Bertha Mae Reed Fletcher, 93, of Stanford, passed away Monday, May 20, at Select Specialty Hospital in Lexington.  Born Thursday, March 25, 1920, in the Moccasin Community, Lincoln County, Bertha was a daughter of the late Elmer and Florence Bastin Reed. She was the widow of Edsil Joseph Fletcher, Jr., a member of Stanford Baptist Church and worked at Fort Logan Hospital.  Survivors include a son, Joe (Vickie) Fletcher;  daughters, Jane Ann Wilson and Florence (Richard) Naylor; one adopted daughter, Joy Martin; 11 grandchildren; and 18 great-grandchildren.  Visitation will be from 5 to 8 p.m. tonight (May 23)

Cases in Lincoln District Court. List includes all names of those charged who are not identified as minors. 4/15/13 Jennifer Adams, unlawful transaction with minor 3rd degree. Dismissed with leave. Milton Adams, unlawful transaction with minor 3rd degree. Dismissed with leave. Rhonda Camel, two counts of unlawful transaction with minor 3rd degree. Failed to appear. Bench warrant. Jerry Halcomb, unlawful transaction with minor 3rd degree. Plea of not guilty. Pretrial conference 7-11.

Hannah Miniard and Amy Woolum each drove in two runs Monday as Boyle County downed Danville 15-0 in four innings in the semifinals of the 45th District Tournament at Centre College. The No. 13 Rebels (25-8) will face Garrard County (25-12) in tonight's 6 p.m. final. Garrard beat Lincoln County 4-0 in the other semifinal. Elysse Petrie struck out seven and held the Admirals to three hits Monday, Woolum tripled and had three hits, Madison DeBord had two doubles, Chelsea Gill each had three hits and Lauren Richards added two hits.

STANFORD - No one was seriously injured in a nine-vehicle wreck Monday afternoon on U.S. 27 just north of Lincoln County High School. The wreck happened on northbound U.S. 27 just after 4 p.m. near Rowland Cutoff Road, according to Stanford police. Officer Tim Morris, who worked the scene, said the wreck stretched out over a length of about two-tenths of a mile. Eight of the nine drivers were high school students, and the lead car had two passengers who were also high school students, Morris said.

Every area baseball and softball team will play an elimination game today as postseason play begins with the start of district tournaments. All six Advocate-area district baseball and softball tournaments get under way today with semifinal doubleheaders. Five of them are scheduled to conclude Tuesday, with one carrying over to Wednesday. The top two teams in each district advance to the 12th Region tournaments. Both the baseball and softball regionals will be played at Rockcastle County next week.

JUNCTION CITY - Two people were arrested after a search warrant led to the recovery of stolen farm equipment. Christopher Fisher, 19, of 184 Southern Drive in Perryville, was charged with receiving stolen property.  Lisa Parson, 31, of 109 Albany Circle in Junction City, was arrested on the same charge after her residence was searched. Boyle County Sheriff Marty Elliott said The Ackerman Farm in Lincoln County reported many horse and farm items stolen. Parson's property connects with the farm, and Elliott said his office obtained enough probable cause to search her residence.

FRANKFORT - The Kentucky Court of Appeals on Friday upheld the manslaughter conviction of Jason Napier in the 2009 beating death of a 4-year-old Lincoln County boy. Napier was convicted of second-degree manslaughter in 2011 by a Lincoln Circuit Court jury in the death of Nathaniel Knox and was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Nathaniel died of blunt force trauma to his head. Nathaniel's mother, Jessica Noble, plead guilty in her son's death and also received a 15-year prison sentence.

East Jessamine baseball 5/14: W @ George Rogers Clark, 3-0 5/15: W @ Scott County, 5-4 Pitching: Conner Lindsay (W) 10K in 7.0 innings. Batting: Jacob Burnight (2B) ; Jacob Overstreet (3 walks); Burnight , Barron Blackford (1 RBI). 5/16: canceled (rain) @ Anderson County 5/17: @ Pulaski County (7 p.m.) 5/18: vs. Madison Central (12 p.m.) Record to date: 20-11 On the week: 2-0 East Jessamine softball 5/13: W vs. Rockcastle County, 10-0 Pitching: Haylee Hamm (W)

FRANKFORT - This summer, thanks to the Lincoln County Public Library's Fueling the Mind program, children will enrich their bodies while preventing summer learning loss. The Fueling the Mind initiative expands the Summer Reading program through collaboration with the Kentucky Department of Education's Summer Food Service Program, public libraries and many community partners. The goal of Fueling the Mind is to provide free meals during the 2013 summer break along with literacy programming to keep at-risk, school-age children, ages 18 and younger, nourished, reading and learning all summer.