Nicholasville

The Nicholasville City Commission accepted the bid of Nicholasville-based Curry Services for the mowing of Maple Grove Cemetery during Monday's meeting. The bid came in at $1,685 per week, city purchasing agent Pauline Horsley said. In years past, inmates from the Jessamine County Detention Center did much of the mowing, but commissioner Andy Williams said the city elected to bid out the work because the inmate labor pool was dwindling. “They're letting quite a few of them out, and we're just not getting that quality that we were getting before,” Williams said.

Two Jessamine Countians are lodged in the Scott County Detention Center after being arrested on second-degree burglary charges late Thursday. Steven Woodford Graham, 24, of 107 Wolfe St., Nicholasville, and Barbara Leanne Johnson, 31, of 600 Keeneway Drive, Nicholasville, also are charged with third-degree criminal trespass. Georgetown police Lt. Robert Swanigan said officer Chris Bayer responded to a call shortly after 10:30 p.m. Thursday from a resident of a home in the 100 block of Stapleton Way about intruders.

Officials say a freak accident claimed the life of a Nicholasville man who was camping with with friends in Jessamine County near the Mercer County line. According to Jessamine County Chief Sheriff's Deputy Allen Peel, Luke Riddering, 19, was camping near the Brooklyn area of the county Saturday when a large rock hit him on the head while he was sleeping. “It appears the victim had been camping about four or five miles south of Wilmore near the Mercer County line with some friends and was sleeping in a hammock under a cliff,” Peel said.

There was a lot of building going on in 2007, but when the economy tanked, the city of Nicholasville saw a sharp decline in building permits, according to the city's annual Report to the Community. “New home and business construction permits, a major indicator of a community's growth, declined by 48 percent from 2007 to 2011,” according to the report. In 2007, the city issued 402 building permits, including 172 for residential construction and 22 for business structures. From there, the total dropped to 288 in 2008; 240 in 2009; 204 in 2010 and 211 in 2011.

A56-year-old Jessamine County woman and her granddaughter have recovered quickly after a scary car accident earlier this month. Sherry Lowry was a passenger in a Nissan Pathfinder driven by 18-year-old Marina Hillis on Union Mill Road on Sunday, Dec. 9. With the road already wet from rain earlier in the day, the vehicle came around a curve and began to fishtail. Lowry said Hillis thought she had regained control of the car when it started sliding again. The Pathfinder that was traveling between 45 and 55 mph slid into a ditch and flipped several times, ejecting Hillis through the sunroof and coming to a stop when it crashed into a utility pole, according to a Jessamine County Sheriff's Office accident report.

The cities of Nicholasville and Wilmore have set their 2012 trick-or-treat times. Trick-or-treaters can do so in Nicholasville and Wilmore from 6-8 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 31.

A Nicholasville man is behind bars after police said he sexually abused a 1-year old child, according to court records. Shpend Alija, 20, of 701 Elmwood Court was arrested May 3 by Nicholasville police. According to the arrest citation, Alija allegedly “admitted to sexually touching the vaginal area of a 1-year-old child while visually thinking about the intimate area of an adult for the purpose of gratifying his sexual desires.” Alija was arraigned in Jessamine District Court on Monday.

The driver of an SUV involved in a wreck on Richmond Avenue on Wednesday afternoon has died. Nicholasville police Sgt. Scott Harvey said Billie Blevins, 59, of Nicholasville died from her injuries. Shortly before 3 p.m. Wednesday, a driver of a Corvette lost control along Richmond Avenue and hit the SUV driven by Blevins. “I found out about (the death) this morning, and I confirmed late this afternoon that the family had been notified,” Harvey said. Nicholasville firefighters used the Jaws of Life to free the driver of the Corvette, whose name has not been released by police.

The Nicholasville Police Department is asking the public's help in a burglary case at the Goodwill store on North Main Street. The burglary occurred around 4 a.m. Monday, Feb. 4, when a man used a screw driver to break into the business. “He got into a cash drawer and took money,” Sgt. Scott Harvey said. “We just go some photos and got everything process to where we could release (the information).” By releasing the photo, police are hoping somebody recognizes the man. Anyone with information regarding this case is asked to call the police department at 859-885-9467.

A Nicholasville man was seriously injured in a Garrard County crash that claimed the life of a Lexington man Wednesday morning. Jason Grizzell, 33, of Lexington was traveling north on U.S. 27 in northern Garrard County around 10:20 a.m. Dec. 26 when his 1987 Toyota Corolla crossed the center line and collided head-on with a southbound 2007 Mercedes SUV driven by 31-year-old Islam Ali, according to a Kentucky State Police news release. Jason Grizzell was pronounced deceased at the scene by Garrard County coroner Darrell Hodge.