Local News
Evaluation ordered for VanWinkle in rape case
Jaclyn Dawn VanWinkle will be evaluated for her competency to stand trial after a request Thursday afternoon by her attorney.
VanWinkle’s lawyer, Richmond attorney Mike Eubanks, asked Madison Circuit Judge Jean C. Logue to order an evaluation for VanWinkle during a pretrial conference on third-degree rape, third-degree sodomy, third-degree unlawful transaction with a minor and first-degree sexual abuse charges.
The charges stem from an alleged sexual relationship between VanWinkle and a 15-year-old boy in which she allegedly had sex with the boy, performed oral sex on him and gave him alcohol.
VanWinkle told Richmond police during an interview following her June 30 arrest that she did have sex with the boy once and gave him alcohol she had purchased for him, but denied the boy’s allegations that they had sex twice and that she had performed oral sex on him twice.
Doctors from the Kentucky Correctional Psychiatric Center in La Grange will perform the observation and determine if VanWinkle is competent to stand trial. Logue scheduled a Dec. 10 pretrial conference to allow attorneys to discuss the evaluation.
If convicted, VanWinkle could receive up to five years in prison on each of the rape, sodomy and sexual abuse charges and up to 12 months in jail on the unlawful transaction charge.
She already was on probation for two years following a guilty plea to reckless abuse or neglect of an adult in connection with her role in the abuse of a Madison Manor resident while working at the facility as a nurse’s aide.
That plea was part of an agreement with state prosecutors that requires her to cooperate with their investigation, and her probation included the condition that she commit no additional offenses.
Endangerment plea
A McKee man entered a guilty plea to a single first-degree wanton endangerment charge for brandishing a firearm at a Bradbury Pointe resident.
Farris Dwayne VanWinkle, 48, entered the plea in exchange for dismissal of a persistent felony offender charge and a charge of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and prosecutors recommended a five-year prison sentence.
VanWinkle was arrested July 29 after the resident of a home in the 100 block of Bradbury Pointe reported he pointed a .38-caliber revolver at her.
He allegedly was drunk at the time, and had parked in a nearby driveway and staggered into the home’s front yard, the resident told police. VanWinkle produced the firearm after the woman asked him to leave.
He was indicted in late August on the charges, and is free on bond. Sentencing in the case is scheduled for Dec. 10.
Trafficking plea
A Richmond woman, arrested by police for drug trafficking after an indictment against her was unsealed by the court, pleaded guilty and told Logue she had sold prescription pills to an undercover officer.
Linda C. Johnson, 52, of Westover Avenue, had been arrested Sept. 16 after a second-degree trafficking in controlled substances indictment against her was unsealed.
Johnson entered a plea and received a recommended one-year sentence on the charge as part of an agreement with prosecutors, and told Logue she sold prescription Lortab pills to an undercover Richmond police officer.
“I didn’t know I was selling to an undercover cop,” Johnson told Logue while choking back tears.
Final sentencing is scheduled in the case for Nov. 12.
Brian Smith may be reached at bsmith@richmondregister.com or at 624-6694.
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Berea men arrested for robbery
Berea police arrested two men in connection with a March 8 robbery at a check-cashing business, a spokesman said Monday.
Shawn Burns, 32, was charged with first-degree robbery and misdemeanor receiving stolen property, while Bradley Lamb, 21, was charged with complicity to first-degree robbery and misdemeanor receiving stolen property, said Capt. Ken Clark, Berea Police Department spokesman. -
City seeks proposals for Gibson Bay Cafe
The operation lease for Gibson Bay Cafe expires at the end of May, and the City of Richmond will be accepting bids for the operation of the restaurant from the public until Friday, March 26.
Gibson Bay Cafe, which is located at Lake Reba Recreational Complex on the Gibson Bay Golf Course, is owned by city commissioner Bill Strong and his wife Jeanie Strong. -
Reports of home burglaries keep Richmond police busy
The new owner of a mobile home on Bradbury Pointe reported to Richmond police Friday that appliances had been stolen from the home.
A stainless steel refrigerator, a white stove, a white microwave and a three-ton Trane heating and air conditioning unit were discovered to be missing from the home on March 7, said Chief Larry Brock. -
Parents upset about test scores, deficiencies
The frustration was evident in the voices of a number of Berea Community School parents who spent more than an hour Monday night addressing the Berea Independent Board of Education.
The parents spent most of the evening talking directly to middle school/high school principal John Masters about a lack of communication with school personnel and asking for answers about how the district intends to correct a number of deficiencies identified by the state in a December audit. -
Time to stand up, be counted
Madison County households will be receiving questionnaires in the mail today through Wednesday from the U.S. Census Bureau which is carrying out it constitutional mandate to count all U.S. citizens every 10 years.
Letters were mailed last week advising household to be watching for the census questionnaire, according to J.C. Barbour, the bureau’s media specialist for Kentucky. -
‘Sunshine Boys’ dedicated to Kerby’s memory
The late Dr. Clifford Kerby, former mayor of Berea, was a longtime supporter and often an actor in community theater.
One of his favorite plays, in which he played one of the two lead roles for the old Berea Community Theater back in 1977, was “The Sunshine Boys,” said his wife Diane. -
Two chances to meet, hear candidates
“You can’t tell the players without a program,” vendors at old minor league baseball games used to yell.
With so many local candidates in the running for election this year, voters may know too little about them to make an informed choice, some observers have remarked.
However, two Madison County organizations have scheduled events for Thursday evening to help clarify who the candidates are and what they stand for. -
Local group to meet on skate park on Tuesday
A local group seeking to build a public skateboard park in Richmond will conduct a public meeting next week in downtown Richmond.
Skate Richmond, KY is a non-profit group founded in 2007, according to group member and local attorney Wesley Browne, and is interested in constructing a public skateboard park in downtown Richmond. -
Lots of ‘energy’ at expo Saturday
Gloomy weather and college basketball did not keep people away from Saturday’s Madison County Home Energy Expo at the Perkins Building on Eastern Kentucky University’s campus.
The second-annual event, hosted by Madison County’s University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension office, moved to the EKU campus this year after last year’s event was conducted at Glenn Marshall Elementary School. -
Kentucky Blood Center collection Tuesday in Berea
Kentucky Blood Center will conduct a blood drive on Tuesday from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. at Union Church in the Community Room, 200 Prospect St., Berea.
Every volunteer who presents to donate blood with the Kentucky Blood Center (KBC) will have a chance to win a trip to the 2010 NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Four games. One winner will receive a package for two that includes hotel stay April 2-6 and tickets to the Final Four (April 3) and Championship Games (April 5) in Indianapolis. The drawing will be conducted on April 1. - More Local News Headlines
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Berea men arrested for robbery
