Area News

Anessa Arehart, the new director of the Arts Council Mercer County, has some fresh ideas. “There’s a lot of potential here,” said Arehart, who replaces Matthew Singleton, the former director. “I think Matthew grew it a lot, everybody here has helped this place to grow. I hope that I can continue the trend.” First on…

Mercer County resident Brian Bentley has a special way of giving back to the community. Dressed in the armor of an Imperial Storm Trooper, he has been able to combine the two loves in his life: Star Wars and volunteering. “I have always been a Star Wars fan, since the original came out in the ’70s,”…

Burgin’s City Council failed to enact a budget for the upcoming fiscal year before the June 30 deadline. Not enough city councilors showed up at a special-called meeting last week to form a quorum and allow a vote. Council members Jamie Keebortz, Syndicat “Sid” Dunn and Katrina Sexton all failed to appear. Each cited other…

The wrongful termination lawsuit filed by former Burgin Police Chief Jim Caldwell against the City of Burgin and Mayor George Hensley will be heard in federal court. Mark Lutz of Jackson Lewis P.C. of Cincinnati, who is defending the city and the mayor, filed to have the case moved to the United States District Court…

The Fort Harrod Amphitheater will be home again to gun blasts and fiery ambushes with the opening of  “James Harrod: Battle for Kentucky,” on Thursday, July 6. This year’s production has several new faces, and the most familiar, Allan Barlow, who has played James Harrod since the show started in 2011, has moved from the…

Despite a new name, new board members and new leadership, the Wilderness Trace YMCA—now the Mercer Family Education and Wellness Center—say their mission is the same: to help the community. That’s according to Debrah Pierce, the center’s CEO and office manager. On Monday, she discussed the center’s new strategy to help Mercer County. “We need…

“I intended to keep this quiet,” said Joyce Sanders, “but the news kind of crept out.” It can’t be helped. It’s not everyday an 80-year-old graduates from college, 62 years after she started. Sanders, a native of Harrodsburg, graduated from Eastern Kentucky University with an associate’s degree in health and physical education this Saturday. “I’m…

The Mercer Grand Jury handed down indictments last Wednesday on charges including wanton endangerment, burglary, theft and drug possession. WANTON ENDANGERMENT • Dustin Turner, 22, of 727B Hildeen Drive, Harrodsburg, was charged with three class D felonies—1st-degree criminal mischief, 1st-degree wanton endangerment of a minor child and 1st-degree unlawful imprisonment—and assault, a class A misdemeanor. Prosecutors…

One man is in the hospital and another is in jail after a violent altercation early Sunday morning. A little after 4 a.m. on Sunday, June 25, a man was stabbed in a home on Louisville Road in McAfee. Ronald C. Puckett, 55, of Salvisa, is charged with stabbing the victim multiple times after an…

The state has shut down the James Harrod Conference Center. Kentucky Parks Commissioner Donnie Holland made the announcement last week. Fort Harrod’s other structures, including the amphitheater, the museum, the Lincoln wedding chapel and the fort, remain open to the public. David Coleman, manager of the Old Fort Harrod State Park, said there were numerous…