Paintsville, Ky – The Big Sandy Regional Detention Center is expanding its search for female correctional officers to include Floyd County. Jail administrators say they haven’t received enough qualified applicants from Johnson, Lawrence, Magoffin, or Martin counties. The jail board approved the move in a 4 to 3 vote, allowing emergency hiring from Floyd County for the next three months but only if no hirable candidates come from the four member counties. Applicants must be 21 or older. Starting pay is $33,032 a year with full benefits. Apply at bsrdc.com or stop at 904 Third Street in Paintsville to apply in person.
Boyd County, Ky – A Catlettsburg woman has died after a crash on icy I-64 in Boyd County. The Boyd County Coroner’s Office says the crash happened around 8:20 Thursday morning between the 185 and 186 mile markers on I-64 West, when a vehicle lost control on a bridge, went off the left side of the road, became airborne, and hit several trees before rolling down an embankment. The driver, 70-year-old Janet Teresa Vodder of Catlettsburg, was ejected and died at the scene, and officials say icy conditions and her allegedly not wearing a seatbelt are believed to have contributed to the crash, which remains under investigation.
Paintsville, Ky – A Johnson County man is jailed on multiple felony drug and DUI charges after a New Year’s Day traffic stop in Paintsville. Officer Isaac Owens stopped a 2017 Volkswagen Jetta on Ky. 321 after it allegedly cut off another vehicle and identified the driver as 61-year-old Keith D. Jackson of Oil Springs, who admitted his license was suspended and had an active warrant. Police say Jackson tried to hide a baggie of gabapentin, admitted smoking meth, and was found with cash and suboxone. He was lodged in the Big Sandy Regional Detention Center on multiple trafficking, DUI, and license-related charges, with the warrant tied to a prior meth trafficking indictment.
Wolfe County, Ky – A Wolfe County woman is charged with fetal homicide after police say she ended a pregnancy at home and buried the infant on her property. State Police say 35-year-old Melinda Spencer of Campton told a Campton clinic she ordered abortion pills online, delivered a developed male infant who died, and buried him in a shallow grave behind her Flat Mary Road home, where troopers later recovered the body. Kentucky currently has a near-total abortion ban, with abortions allowed only to prevent the mother’s death or serious injury.