Shortly after being rescued from their burning mobile home early last Saturday morning, April 2, six people were arrested by the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office on charges of manufacturing methamphetamine.

“This could have had a much worse outcome,” said Dan Smoot, law enforcement director of Operation UNITE. “Even though flames were coming from the home and the interior was quickly filling up with toxic smoke, these individuals refused to allow law enforcement officers to enter.”

“Deputies had to forcibly break through a barricaded door and pull the suspects outside,” Smoot added. “Another few minutes and the situation could have turned tragic.”

Although all six individuals experienced some smoke inhalation, none required hospitalization.

“Wayne County EMS checked them out at the scene,” Smoot said. “After being medically cleared they were then arrested and lodged in Wayne County Detention Center.”

Those arrested were Monticello residents, 25-year-old Brittany A. Lowhorn of Park Avenue, 54-year-old Billy L. Ray of Mobile Manor, 36-year-old Heidi R. (Conner) Savage of Short Street, 35-year-old Justin E. Smith of Stokes Street and 24-year-old Kendell L. Thompson.

All six were charged with manufacturing methamphetamine, second-degree arson and tampering with physical evidence. In addition, the charges will be enhanced because a Hi-Point 9mm handgun was found inside the residence.

Earlier in the morning Wayne County deputies received a complaint of a possible meth lab at Ray’s home at Mobile Manor, located east of Monticello off KY 90 near Mill Springs.

About 4 a.m., a sheriff’s deputy and Monticello police officer went to investigate.

Upon arriving they knocked on the door and spotted one of the suspects looking out a window, but nobody answered. Because they noticed a chemical smell, UNITE detectives were called for assistance.

The officers heard people moving around inside the trailer, then spotted smoke coming from one end and called the Monticello Fire Department.

A few minutes later the “smoke vanished as quickly as it came,” said one of the officers.

As they waited for the responding units, the officers then spotted flames coming from one end of the home. Repeated attempts were made to get those inside to come to the door.

The deputy then kicked his way through a fortified door, headed down the hallway past the flames, located five of the individuals in a rear bedroom and pulled them out to safety as smoke filled the home.

About this time the fire department had arrived. One of the fire fighters heard another person moving around inside and went back in and pulled him to safety.

Once the fire was extinguished, police obtained a search warrant with the assistance of Wayne County Attorney Tom Simmons.

Their search uncovered numerous items used in the making of methamphetamine, including chemicals that were neutralized by UNITE detectives.

Officials were on the scene until about noon.

UNITE detectives will present the cases to an upcoming Wayne County Grand Jury for possible indictment.

“This is yet another example of why UNITE is so committed to seeking legislation scheduling pseudoephedrine,” Smoot said. “We believe cases like this, and many others, would decline dramatically–like has been seen in Oregon and Mississippi–if it were more difficult to obtain the main ingredient in making methamphetamine.”

“We were just very lucky today,” Smoot said.

For more information about Operation UNITE visit their website at www.operationunite.org.

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Three women were arrested Thursday, March 31, following the execution of a search warrant on Michigan Avenue.

According to information released by the Wayne County Sheriff’s Department and Lake Cumberland Area Drug Task Force, four one-step meth labs were found when the search warrant was executed on Michigan Avenue.

Arrested at the scene were Lisa Dishman, Jessica Dople and Deborah Salle. They were charged with manufacturing methamphetamine.

Salt, Coleman fuel, acid, lye, tubing, lithium battery strips, ammonium nitrate and an undetermined amount of suspected meth was also found at the scene.

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For the past nine years, Norrie Wake has been growing grapes on his farm, and he has been making his own wine from the fruit for the past three years. So, it seems natural that Wake would want to take the next step and establish his own small farm winery.

He recently filed a petition with the Wayne County Clerk’s Office seeking a special local option winery election in the Mill Springs precinct. The petition was submitted on March 14 and contained a total of 201 signatures.

Wake was required to gather signatures of at least 25 percent of the voters who cast ballots in the Mill Springs precinct in the last election held. According to County Clerk Josephine Gregory, 600 people voted in that precinct last November.

Once Gregory determined that Wake had met the requirements of the Kentucky statute dealing with a local option winery election, the petition was then presented to Wayne County Judge/Executive Greg Rankin. Rankin has set the date for the special election for June 21.

“I think this is the first time we have had this type of vote in Wayne County,” said Rankin, as he talked about the upcoming special election. “We are doing what the statute requires us to do.”

Gregory noted that the special election will be conducted like any other election in the county. The precinct, which is located at Bob’s Auto Supply, will be open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The absentee machine will be open in Gregory’s office several weeks prior to the special election, and voters can also use traditional absentee paper ballots to cast votes.

The question that will appear on the ballot will be, “Are you in favor of the sale of wine at the Lake Cumberland Winery?”

Lake Cumberland Winery would be located on Wake’s Cedar Lane Farm, where he currently has nearly 1,000 producing vines. He began growing grapes as an alternative crop to tobacco.