WKDP – WCTT Local News

State Police have released a photo of the man who robbed the Dream World adult store in Knox County Wednesday afternoon.

Police say a man armed with a gun entered the store demanding cash and synthetic marijuana before fleeing the scene on foot.

Police aren’t sure if he had a vehicle parked along the highway, but say store surveillance shows he approached the store on foot as well.  They later found his coat, mask and the socks he wore over his hands discarded nearby.

The suspect is described as a white man in his mid-20s.  He was wearing a flannel hooded jacket, a mask and white socks over his hands during the robbery. 

Anyone with information about the robbery is asked to call the Kentucky State Police Post 10 in Harlan at 606-573-3131.

An arrest has been made in a home invasion case that occurred last month in Laurel County, and police continue to  search for a third suspect in the crime.

On Dec. 8, police say 21-year-old Latasha Lynch knocked on the door of a home in Fariston before allowing two men to force their way inside and assault the owner, robbing him of prescription medication and money.

Lynch was arrested the following weekend after a short police chase in Rowan County on charges of Escape from Home Incarceration.  Her passenger, 25-year-old Michael Townsend, was also arrested for hindering prosecution and fleeing and evading police.  He has now been charged with burglary, robbery and assault in connection with the home invasion.

The Laurel County Sheriff’s Department is still searching for the third suspect in the case, 21-year-old Josh Campbell of Lawrenceburg.  He is wanted on charges of burglary, robbery and assault and is currently evading arrest.

Anyone with any information on his whereabouts is asked to contact the Laurel County Sheriff’s Department at 606-864-6600.

Gov. Steve Beshear announced today the authorization of additional funding for Kentucky’s Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP).

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recently released additional funding to help eligible low-income families meet their home energy needs.  The immediate distribution of $9.5 million in additional funding will bring Kentucky’s total for the fiscal year to $46.4 million.  

LIHEAP’s first winter funding phase ended in December.  The program’s crisis phase, for families facing a home-heating emergency, began Wednesday and ends March 31 or when funding runs out.

For more information about applying for LIHEAP, visit www.communityactionky.org or call 800-456-3452 to find a local Community Action Agency.

Another city in the Tri-County area is one step closer to selling packaged alcohol.

A petition containing 753 signatures was turned in Wednesday regarding a local option election for the sale of packaged liquor in London – over 200 more than the 540 signatures required.

Once the signatures are verified by the County Clerk’s office, an election will be held sometime between March 3 and April 5.

If the vote passes, packaged alcohol could be sold in liquor stores within the city limits and beer could be sold at grocery and convenience stores.

Barbourville will be having such a vote on Feb. 7 to determine if alcohol can be sold in that city, and voters in Corbin will know the date of their wet/dry vote after the Whitely County Fiscal Court meets on January 17. 

A petition is also circulating in Williamsburg for a vote to allow alcohol by the drink, though the petition has yet to be filed.

State officials have determined that the East Knox Volunteer Fire Department in Flat Lick is in non-compliance after five volunteers resigned last Saturday.

The state fire commission requires volunteer fire departments to have at least 12 firefighters and a fire chief. 

A former volunteer with the department told a local newspaper Tuesday that at the time he left, the department only had “seven or eight men.”

The commission has given the department until Jan. 15 to get back into compliance.

State Police are looking for a man who robbed a Knox County adult store at gunpoint Wednesday afternoon.

It happened just after 2 p.m. at Dream World off HWY 25 E in Gray.

Police say a white man in his mid 20’s came into the store with a gun and demanded cash and synthetic marijuana.  He got away on foot with an undisclosed amount of cash and synthetic marijuana packaged as incense.

Police aren’t sure if he had a vehicle parked along the highway, but say store surveillance shows him approaching the store on foot.  They later found his coat, mask and socks discarded nearby, which are pictured above.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Kentucky State Police Post 10 in Harlan at 606-573-3131.

Jason Singleton and his former girlfriend Christina Marcum will be arraigned on murder charges in Madison County Wednesday.

The two are accused of killing and dismembering Singleton’s wife, Angela Frazier-Singleton, whose body was found in field last January.

The two face charges of murder and tampering with physical evidence.

Singleton was recently sentenced to 10 years in prison for holding several people hostage during a standoff with police shortly after the murder.

Gov. Steve Beshear projected deep cuts, pushed for a constitutional amendment to allow expanded gambling and called for overhauling the state’s tax structure in last night’s fifth State of the Commonwealth address.

The cuts could be as deep as 7 to 9 percent during the next two years.  Beshear will lay out his budget plan to lawmakers Jan. 17.

There was no mention of tax increases, but Beshear used the backdrop of the state’s anemic financial health to make a case for expanded gambling. 

He also called for reforming the state’s tax code.  The governor didn’t mention specifically how he would reform the tax code, but intends to lay out a process in coming days.

Well-known Kentucky lawyer and political figure Gatewood Galbraith has passed away.

According to a release from the coroner’s office, Galbraith was found unresponsive in his bed Wednesday morning after suffering several days with cold-like symptoms.

The coroner listed Galbraith’s cause of death as “complications from chronic emphysema.”

Galbraith had ran for various offices in Kentucky, including running for governor five times; most recently in the November election alongside running mate Dea Riley.

It is believed he died in his sleep.  He was 64.

Kentucky’s new Agriculture Commissioner Jamie Comer has fired his predecessor’s girlfriend from her $60,000 per year job.

Stephanie Sandmann was hired by former commissioner Richie Farmer as a special assistant the week before the November election. 

Sandmann was among 16 non-merit employees in the department who were let go Tuesday, the day after Comer was sworn in.

As a political appointee, Sandmann can be fired without cause.