From a number of high-profile court cases to a hotly-contested race for governor with a Winchester resident in the mix, it was a busy year in Winchester and Clark County. At the same time, there were no shortage of stories to make residents and readers think, to inspire unity and change, and to offer hope for a brighter future in Clark County. We’ve compiled a list of the top 10 stories from 2019.

1. Election 2019: Beshear ousts Bevin

Although it was still nearly a year away, news revolving around the election started early in 2019, when Matt Bevin announced he had selected Winchester resident State Sen. Ralph Alvarado as his running mate for his bid at his second term.

Alvarado was selected to take the place of Bevin’s former running mate and lt. governor, Jenean Hampton, on the ticket.

The May primary saw Bevin come one step closer to his second term when he was selected to vie for the office against then Attorney General Andy Beshear.

Beshear and Bevin had become political nemeses in recent years, particularly after falling on opposite sides of the argument involving public pensions, especially regarding Kentucky’s teachers. That led to a highly-contentious race throughout the year.

In the November general election, Beshear ousted Bevin by only about 5,000 votes, prompting a recanvass at Bevin’s request.

The recanvass returned the same results, and Beshear was inaugurated Dec. 10 in Frankfort.

In his first week in office Beshear took several highly-publicized actions, including replacing the entire Kentucky Board of Education and restoring voting rights to more than 100,000 disenfranchised voters in Kentucky.

2. Several high-profile cases work through court system

It was a busy year in Clark County’s court system with several high-profile cases continuing from previous years along with some new ones.

—  Clark principal charged with child porn: In August, Clark County Area Technology Principal and former school board member Todd Wilson was arrested on child pornography charges.

Wilson, 54, was arrested Aug. 27 by Kentucky State Police and charged with distribution of matter portraying the sexual performance of a minor and possession or viewing matter which portrays sexual performance by a minor.

His case was sent to the Clark County grand jury in November and he was indicted on 17 counts related to child pornography. Wilson was indicted on 11 counts of possession of matter portraying a sexual performance by a minor and six counts of promoting a sexual performance by a minor. Both charges are class D felonies with a sentence of one to five years upon conviction.

According to court documents, Kentucky State Police detectives interviewed Wilson in his office at the ATC, which is housed in George Rogers Clark High School. In a search warrant affidavit, Wilson reportedly admitted to sending the images to two females. Detectives confiscated Wilson’s cell phone and a laptop computer from his office as part of the investigation.

Wilson had served as the ATC principal since 2017, following a brief stint on the Clark County Board of Education in 2016.

— GRC employee charged with stealing thousands from activities fund: A former George Rogers Clark High School employee was indicted in May for stealing thousands from the student activities fund.

Initial reports were that Dixie Rigney, 61, stole at least $90,000 in cash from the fund over the course of several years. However, Rigney, who was a secretary at GRC, pleaded guilty to taking $219,000 from the fund from July 2010 to January 2019.

Rigney pleaded guilty in Clark Circuit Court to one count each of theft by unlawful taking over $10,000, tampering with physical evidence and second-degree forgery. Eight other counts of theft were merged and dismissed as part of the agreement.

Rigney told Clark Circuit Judge Jean Chenault Logue she took the cash from the student activity fund at GRC and then altered or forged the records at the school.

Prosecutors recommended Rigney serve five years for theft, one year for forgery and another year for tampering with evidence. The three sentences would run consecutively for a total of seven years.

Rigney’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for Feb. 13, 2020.

— Guilty pleas made by some, trials set for others in 2017 homicide: Although the shooting happened more than two years ago, 2019 was a busy year in court for the multiple suspects in a double homicide. The shooting resulted in the death of two 16-year-old girls, Adreanna Castro and Kayla Holland.

In January, Brian McIntosh pleaded guilty to hindering apprehension. McIntosh said in court he gave a ride to one of the alleged shooters, Matthew Carmen, after the incident. When police asked McIntosh about Carmen’s whereabouts he did not disclose he had given him a ride that evening. Prosecutors recommended a one-year sentence.

Jessica Burton, previously pleaded guilty and was sentenced to first-degree hindering apprehension or prosecution after withholding information from Winchester Police while they were searching for Carmen. She was sentenced to three years in prison.

In May, a third suspect, Julia Richardson was given probation for her role in the case. Richardson pleaded guilty to moving evidence from the crime in an attempt to conceal it on Carmen’s behalf.

In March, Mikaela Buford, who allegedly drove three of the shooters to the scene of the crime, pleaded guilty to her role. Buford pleaded guilty to two counts of facilitation to commit murder and one count of complicity to first-degree wanton endangerment. She was scheduled to be sentenced to 11 years.

One of the four alleged shooters, Denzel Hill, pleaded guilty to the crime in June. Hill pleaded guilty to two counts of facilitation to commit murder and single counts of first-degree wanton endangerment and tampering with physical evidence. He would be sentenced to five years on each count, which would run consecutively. In August, Hill filed a motion to withdraw his guilty plea, but eventually told the judge he did not want to pursue the matter further.

In November, a second alleged shooter, Ronnie Ellis, was deemed competent for trial. Shortly after, he pleaded guilty to terms negotiated during a felony mediation session. Ellis pleaded guilty to two counts of facilitation to commit wanton murder and single counts of first-degree wanton endangerment and tampering with physical evidence. He also agreed to testify truthfully against his co-defendants at trial. According to the agreement, Ellis would be sentenced to five years on each count which would run consecutively for a total of 20 years. He would be able to meet the parole board after serving 20 percent of the sentence.

Hill, Ellis and Buford are scheduled to be formally sentenced March 5.

Carmen’s trial is set for May 11, 2020. A trial date has not been set for Skinner.

— Lonnie Martin pleads guilty to murder: More than five years after a Winchester woman was found dead in Montgomery County, the suspect pleaded guilty to manslaughter. Lonnie Martin, 45, pleaded guilty in Rowan County in February to first-degree manslaughter and agreed to a 10-year prison sentence.

Martin was charged with killing Kyla Kline of Winchester in July 2013 after she was last seen at the Dairy Queen on Main Street. Police tracked her cell phone signal to a farm near the Clark-Montgomery county line.

Cadaver dogs found her remains on July 28, 2013, 25 days after she was last seen.

Detectives said Kline was stabbed and beaten before being buried in a shallow grave on the farm.

Martin was also charged with the Oct. 29, 1995, death of his cousin, Joseph Martin, in Winchester.

Lonnie Martin allegedly caused Joseph Martin to fall from a viaduct on Washington Street. He landed on the tracks and was dragged by a train.

Initially, Winchester Police believed foul play was involved but did not have enough evidence to charge anyone.

Following his arrest in 2013, Lonnie Martin was interviewed again by Winchester Police, who said he made a statement which prompted them to reopen the investigation. The trial for the Winchester case is set for March.

3. City expands Sunday alcohol sales

In September, before a packed meeting room, the Winchester Board of Commissioners approved the first reading of an ordinance amendment that would expand Sunday alcohol sales in the city.
That ordinance prompted much feedback from the community, with numerous people speaking out both for and against the measure, which would allow wineries, distilleries, breweries and microbreweries to serve alcohol from 1 to 10 p.m. on Sundays.

The commission ultimately passed the final reading of the measure in October with a 3-2 vote.

Commissioners JoEllen Reed and Shannon Cox cast the dissenting votes. Mayor Ed Burtner and commissioners Kitty Strode and Ramsey Flynn voted in favor of the ordinance.

4. City, county continue to face shortages in fire departments

One weekend in October, fire trucks for both Winchester Fire-EMS and Clark County Fire Department were parked because there weren’t enough firefighters to staff them.

The instances of “browned out” apparatus were seemingly the culmination of several years of discussions for both bodies of local government about shortages of firefighters, paramedics and EMTs.

Both departments have struggled with attracting new employees and retaining the ones they have. At the time of the brown out, Winchester Fire-EMS had about a dozen vacant positions including six recently-created EMS positions to cover additional run volume.

In September, Winchester Fire-EMS Chief Cathy Rigney presented a plan to the Winchester Board of Commissioners which included parking trucks or closing stations if minimum staff was not available. It also eliminated mandatory overtime.

All sides acknowledge the situation is complex, and quick fixes have not been found. Interest in the profession seems to have reduced, and competition for paramedics from the private sector has grown as well. Salaries are another issue, between neighboring departments and the private sector as well.

To address the issue, the city and county have formed a joint EMS committee with representatives from both bodies aimed at addressing the complex issue.

5. Sphar issues continue, commission opts to demolish

At the start of the year, things already looked bleak for the more than a century old Sphar building on North Main Street.

After more than half a decade of efforts by the city to save the property, options were running out.

In February, Mayor Ed Burner announced two private investors interested in the project — one from Winchester and one from Mount Sterling — decided not to move forward with involvement in the project. That was likely the last ditch effort on the city’s part to save the old seed warehouse that was the last tie to the city’s railroad past in downtown Winchester.

The city, through several grants, pledges and other funds, had about $2 million on hand to restore the building and convert it into space for some city offices and other uses. When bids for the project came in around $3 million, city officials began looking at other options.

The project architects previously offered three options: raise more money, scale the project back to match available funds while stabilizing the building, or ending the project and demolishing the building.

The building is deteriorating and is in poor condition. City Manager Matt Belcher said previously there were three partial collapses during the winter of 2017-18 and he wasn’t sure if the building would survive another winter.

In May, the commission voted to explore a scaled-down version of the project. The project would have preserved the core of the building built in 1880 and scaled the project down to about a fourth of the initial proposal. The city intended to keep a $1.25 million state transportation enhancement grant for the new project.

A month later, two people were arrested for illegally entering the building and starting a fire, sparking further concern from some in the community about the safety of the structure. Still, many desired to preserve at least a portion of the iconic downtown landmark.

However, in October, the lone bid for the scaled down project came in about $1 million more than the budget would allow, and the city rejected it, setting its sights next on opening bids for demolition.

Earlier this month, despite continued pleas and efforts to save the structure by some in the community, the commission accepted a low bid of barely more than $100,000 to demolish the building and salvage what is possible.

A date for demo has not been set.

6. Debates about magistrate-officer continue throughout year

Are being a city police officer and a county magistrate mutually exclusive under Kentucky’s constitution? A petition was filed in March for a judge to decide, with Magistrate Travis Thompson at the center of the debate.

Thompson was elected in November 2018 to the Clark County Fiscal Court and had also recently been rehired as Winchester Police officer.

Thompson filed a petition in Clark Circuit Court asking for a declaration from a judge to determine whether or not he can hold both offices.

The issue, according to attorneys and city officials, hinges on the required oaths of office for being a police officer and as magistrate.

According to the petition, Thompson was hired by the Winchester Police Department Sept. 3, 2018, and took his oath of office. Thompson was also running for the second district magistrate seat at the time, a position he ultimately won in the November 2018 general election.

Clark County Attorney William Elkins, though, questioned whether anyone can serve simultaneously as a sworn officer and a sworn county magistrate, which could amount to holding a municipal office and a county office at the same time, which is prohibited under state law.

In March, a judge ruled in favor of Thompson, but that would not be the end of the matter by a long haul.

Later that month, Elkins asked to join as a party in the case and was allowed to join in May.

By June, an injunction had been approved in the case allowing Thompson to serve in both roles while the legal case continued. He had been previously put on administrative duty after Elkins raised the issue and dismissed a number of Thompson’s cases in district court.

In a nine-page ruling in August, Clark Circuit Judge Brandy Oliver Brown said the two positions are not incompatible, and Thompson can continue serving in both roles.

Brown said being a police officer is not the same as holding a municipal office. Being a police officer does not fill all eight requirements to be an officer in city government, and it is not an appointed office like police chief, she said.

Less than a week later, Elkins filed an appeal to challenge Brown’s ruling. No further action has been taken in the case.

7. St. Agatha celebrates 100 years

The year centered on celebrating a century of learning at St. Agatha Academy in Winchester.

Celebrations began in February with a special worship service — which marked the Feb. 5 founding day of the academy and the date of Saint Agatha of Sicily’s, the school’s namesake, feast day — and continued throughout the year with a community gathering in September

St. Agatha Academy, founded in 1919 by the Sisters of Divine Providence, offers classes from preschool through eighth grade. Initially, it served as a boarding school as well as a local grade school and high school.

Today, St. Agatha offers a classical education as well as many special classes and extracurricular activities including physical education, Latin, music, band, basketball and more.

8. Public art projects focus on healing

In March, Clark Countians were introduced to “I Was Here,” a public art project initiated in Lexington that made its first traveling stop in Winchester.

The project featured more than 20 “hauntingly beautiful ancestor portraits,” according to local supporter Syndy Deese, to stimulate a new conversation about “who we were, who we are and who we could be.”

“I Was Here” is an artistic collaboration between poet Nikky Finney, artist Marjorie Guyon and photographer Patrick J. Mitchell. Deese helped the artists bring the project to Winchester.

The public art exhibit, composed of 23 ancestor spirit portraits, seeks to bridge divides of race, class and culture. The Greater Clark Foundation (GCF), Clark County Community Foundation (CCCF) and Wells Fargo provided funding for the public art project.

The project debuted in October 2018 in Lexington’s Cheapside Park, which was once one of the largest slave auction sites in the country.

Winchester was the first community to welcome the traveling exhibit of the Ancestor Spirit Portraits. The artists installed the portraits in downtown windows in mid-March.

And then the project evolved.

In October, a public art display featuring models from Winchester was unveiled.

“Of Thee, I Sing,” also sought to bridge racial divides as it told the story of an enslaved woman and her son from Clark County.

Thanks to historical records documented in Lyndon Comstock’s book “Before Abolition: African-Americans in early Clark County, Kentucky,” the project at first transports viewers to Clark County in 1810, where a woman named Hannah gave birth to her first child, Daniel.

Hannah was enslaved, and her owner, Jeremiah, was Daniel’s father.

Near Christmas one year, Jeremiah took Daniel and his mother to the courthouse in downtown Winchester, where Daniel was torn from the arms of his mother and sold. He was 7 years old.

Photographs of contemporary Clark County residents were transformed into a series of pieces which tell the stories of Daniel and Hannah, and in turn serve as a representation of the stories of so many people throughout the American south.

The portraits were displayed through the end of the year at the Winchester Opera House. In 2020, the portraits will be installed in places throughout the community. Those locations have yet to be determined.

9.  Clark benefits from $87M grant to fight opioid epidemic

In April, it was announced Clark County would be part of a federal-funded University of Kentucky study tasked with decreasing opioid-related deaths.

In the largest grant ever awarded to the University of Kentucky, researchers from UK’s Center on Drug and Alcohol Research in partnership with the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services and the Justice and Public Safety Cabinet are leading the project as part of the HEALing Communities study.

Clark is one of 16 counties participating in the four-year, more than $87 million study, with “an ambitious but profoundly important goal: reducing opioid overdose deaths by 40 percent in 16 counties that represent more than a third of Kentucky’s population,” according to a release.

UK researchers are hoping to reduce deaths and substance abuse by leveraging existing community resources and initiatives to deploy a robust and comprehensive set of evidence-based interventions.

Sixteen counties in Kentucky that are “highly affected communities” have been identified to be included in the randomized study.

They include Fayette, Jessamine, Clark, Kenton, Campbell, Mason, Greenup, Carter, Boyd, Knox, Jefferson, Franklin, Boyle, Madison, Bourbon and Floyd counties.

10. Winchester named “Nicest Place in Kentucky” 

Winchester made the list of Reader’s Digest 50 “Nicest Places in America.”

The list was a result of a national crowdsourced effort to uncover places where people are kind and treat each other with respect, according to a news release.

In an era of unprecedented cultural and political divides, and “news avoidance” on the rise, “Nicest Places in America” is Reader’s Digest’s response, according to the release.

Reader’s Digest Editor-in-Chief Bruce Kelley said in the release over a submission period of 31 days, Reader’s Digest collected a record number of submissions — a final tally of 1,077 stories, nearly three times that of 2018 — of places across America where people are kind, and civility is winning.

Clark Countian Lori Moore made the nomination, telling the story of how a friendly town gets into an unfriendly battle with polluters and wins.

Moore also wrote of town efforts to save a stray cat named Bob.