PIKEVILLE, Ky. — A judge has agreed to lower the bond of a Tennessee man who has been in jail since his arrest in April on charges of rape, sodomy and incest out of Pike County. Leonard Dale Baisden, 44, of Kodak, Tenn., is charged with three counts of first-degree rape, three counts of incest, one count of first-degree sodomy and one count of retaliating against a participant in the legal process. Two of the rape counts and two of the incest charges involve a victim younger than 12. If convicted, he faces a potential sentence of 20-to-50 years or […]

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PRESTONSBURG, Ky. — A DoorDash driver faces charges after police say she drove onto a sidewalk in a closed downtown area during the Jenny Wiley Festival, nearly striking a pedestrian. According to a citation filed by the Prestonsburg Police Department, Tamara G. Cole, 34, was driving a 2017 Hyundai Elantra around 10 p.m. Saturday, when the vehicle entered the sidewalk across from City Hall. Police said the roadway had been closed because of a festival, with yellow gates blocking traffic. An officer reported that the vehicle ran onto the sidewalk and nearly struck a woman who was walking there. According […]

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ASHLAND, Ky. — A Lawrence County man has been sentenced to five years of probation for illegally discharging oil-production waste into a creek. Josh Ferguson, 42, of Martha, was also ordered to serve 12 months of home detention with electronic monitoring and pay a $20,000 fine. Federal prosecutors say Ferguson admitted to discharging brine water from two oil wells into Left Fork Blaine Creek without a permit. The practice had reportedly continued for two years. Investigators found a hose running from a brine tank into the creek. Water downstream was orange, showed no signs of aquatic life, and samples revealed […]

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FRANKFORT, Ky. — Kentucky is receiving more than $9 million from the federal government to bring the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting program to more rural and low-income counties. It allows trained home visitors to meet regularly with expecting mothers and families with young children. Tom Engels, administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration, said research shows voluntary home visits during pregnancy and early childhood can help prevent chronic disease, abuse and neglect. “They build a trusting relationship with families, go into their homes and not to judge and not to tell them what to do but […]

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PIKEVILLE, Ky. — A Pike County man has been arrested on voyeurism and child porn charges, after a woman reported discovering he had photos of a young girl on his phone. Robert Lawrence Sowards, 44, is charged with one count of voyeurism and one count of possession of child porn of a victim younger than 12. The woman called Pikeville Police Sunday afternoon, saying she wanted to file a report against him. The woman told police she had learned he had photos of a child under 12 in her underwear in a hidden folder on his phone. Sowards was arrested […]

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