Sheriff’s office makes felony drug arrest after a traffic stop six miles north of Columbia.

On Saturday, August 17 at 3:31 p.m., K9 deputy Josh Durbin initiated a traffic stop on a 2011 Dodge passenger car.

During the investigative stop, it was determined there was suspicion of controlled substances in the vehicle.

K9 Nitro was deployed and gave a positive hit indicator of narcotics in the vehicle, and a search followed revealing suspected methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia.

Benjamin Shroyer, 40, of Columbia was arrested by the Sheriff’s office and lodged in the Adair County Regional Jail on methamphetamine and paraphernalia possession charges.

Congressman James Comer will host a town hall meeting in Adair County on Tuesday. Congressman Comer will give a Washington update and then take part in a question and answer discussion with those in attendance.
The meeting will be held from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at the Adair County Judicial Center, 201 Campbellsville St., in the Adair County District courtroom, which is on the first floor. All citizens are invited.

 

BY: VENUS POPPLEWELL, LWC DIRECTOR OF PR

COLUMBIA, KY. — The Lindsey Wilson College A.P. White Campus was adorned in blue and white on Saturday as the liberal arts college’s faculty and staff officially welcomed members of the Class of 2023.

The 2019 freshman class is made up of more than 500 undergraduate students and includes more than 50 international students; the largest incoming class of international students in the history of the college.

“We have students from a wide variety of countries and we’re excited that several new countries are represented this year,” said Director of International Programs Sabine Eastham. “We have new students from Greece, Honduras and Colombia and twin sisters from Morocco who will be on the swim team.”

One of those new international students is Faith Lucy Kirabo from Kampala, Uganda who follows cousins Ronald Kaluya ’10 and recent graduate Derrick Kisita ’18 to join the Lindsey Wilson family.

“I’m happy to be at Lindsey Wilson College. I’m most excited about the family I’m going to make here — everyone is so friendly and nice,” said Kirabo. “Sabine (Eastham) is very great as our international advisor. She has been there for us for everything.”

Although several hundred students began to move into the college’s residence halls earlier in the month, the official welcome ceremony was held Saturday. College officials expect more than 1,100 students to live on campus in 2019-20. That will increase Columbia’s population by about 25 percent for the next nine months.

Roommates Parker Barnett from Albany, Ky., and Evan Smiley from Payneville, Ky., were among the LWC freshmen who moved into the residence halls on Saturday.

Barnett, who plans to major in nursing, says LWC was his first choice for his undergraduate education.

“Lindsey Wilson was actually the first school I applied to,” said Barnett. “My friend dared me to apply because I didn’t think I would get accepted and Lindsey Wilson ended up being the first school to accept me.”

Lake Cumberland Region Admissions Counselor Emily Carnall says this is one of the more gifted and talented groups she has worked with during her time with LWC. Carnall’s recruitment area includes Russell, Casey, Lincoln, Pulaski and Boyle counties.

“In my seven years of recruiting this is definitely the brightest class I have ever recruited with ACT scores coming in above the national average.”

An academic forum was held on Saturday afternoon after the Kick-off Ceremony to allow students to interact with professors and learn about majors and special opportunities. English senior and military science minor Adam Hoehler from Somerset, Ky., participated in the forum representing ROTC. When Hoehler graduates in the spring he will be the first cadet to commission from the college.

“The Lindsey Wilson Army ROTC program started last fall with more than a dozen students — so it was a learning experience for everyone,” said Hoehler. “But being a part of the academic forum is helping us to reach out to freshmen early.”

LWC President William T. Luckey Jr. said members of the Class of 2023 will begin an exciting chapter in their lives when the fall semester begins Tuesday, August 20, 2019.

“You’ve made a great decision in attending Lindsey Wilson College,” said Luckey, who has served as the college’s eighth president for 21 years. “But the next decision I want you to commit to is to do more than just attend Lindsey Wilson — I want you to finish. In fact, I want you to finish together. Your class, the Class of 2023, will accomplish amazing things together. Love each other and take care of each other because that’s what family is supposed to do. Welcome to this family and to your new home.”

Nursing doctoral student Kayla Jones was a volunteer long before arriving on Rocky Top for classes this fall.

Jones began volunteering at the Norton Children’s Hospital in Louisville, Kentucky—two hours away from her hometown in Columbia—when she was in grade school. Touched by some of the young patients she met, she began raising money to fight pediatric cancer. She even wrote a young adult novel about a girl fighting cancer to help in raising funds for pediatric oncology.

Now Jones is taking her desire to help young cancer patients a step further: she is beginning a doctoral program in the College of Nursing with the goal of doing research that will improve cancer treatments.

“I began this journey when I was only in the sixth grade. I felt that I was supposed to give my birthday money to take and purchase gifts for children battling cancer at our local children’s hospital. After this, it was a never-ending cycle of scheming up how I could do more and more for these kids that I met who inspired me so much.”

In 2013, after several years of volunteering at the hospital, Jones—then only a sophomore in high school—created Kayla’s Rise Above Cancer Fund to raise money to create a more comfortable environment for young patients. With some of the donations, Jones was able to assist in the renovation of the oncology unit at Norton Children’s Hospital to help children feel more at home. “I feel like the atmosphere that a child is in every single day, especially with cancer, is important,” said Jones.

Over the years, she has raised more than $40,000 for Norton Children’s Hospital.

In 2015, Jones combined her love for writing and her desire to raise money to fight pediatric cancer by penning Kadee’s Hope: A Family’s Fight Against Childhood Cancer, a young adult novel about a girl finding strength in her family and faith as she battles cancer. The book was named an INDIES Book of the Year, an award for independently published books.

For her efforts, Jones was named Children’s Hospital Foundation Young Philanthropist of the Year in 2015 and Young Philanthropist of the Year by the Greater Louisville Chapter Association of Fundraising Professionals in 2016.

Jones recently graduated from Lindsey Wilson College in Columbia, Kentucky, with a bachelor’s degree in nursing and minor in women’s studies. Her degree, coupled with experience working as a pharmacy technician, patient care technician, and nurse ex-tern, has helped her develop a deeper understanding of health care.

“My goal is to focus more solely on research and finding ways to give children an easier life,” Jones said. “People think that once a child is given the treatment they need that they will be better, but in reality, that’s not true. Children still have doctors’ visits and monthly checkups, all the while they and their parents still have to fear for the cancer to come back. I want to push for better treatments—which is why I find research to be important, as it is always evolving.”

Jones applied to several PhD programs, but felt that UT was the perfect fit.

“I wanted to attend somewhere that would cater to my specific research interests of pediatric oncology. The first person I was connected to was Nursing Professor Sandra Thomas. From the beginning, she was prompt in responding, considerate, and she answered all the questions I had. Her whole demeanor was welcoming, and she provided me with in-depth information about what I would expect in the program. She also introduced me to Associate Professor Lisa Lindley’s research on pediatric end-of-life care, which is related to the specific interest I have in pediatric oncology research.”

Jumping right into a doctoral program after completing your bachelor’s degree can be intimidating, but Thomas is confident that Jones is ready.

“Kayla already knew as a teenager that she wanted to make a difference in the care of cancer patients—-not necessarily by giving them direct care but by discovering new ways to improve their care through scientific research,” she said. “Her passion was already evident in her extensive volunteer work and fundraising for cancer patients. I envision a long and successful career trajectory for Kayla after she completes the PhD program.”

Jones is the recipient of a J. Wallace and Katie Dean Graduate Fellowship from UT’s Graduate School.​

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Contact:

Alexa Neff (aneff5@vols.utk.edu)

Amy Blakely (ablakely@utk.edu, 865-974-5034)

Original Post: https://news.utk.edu/2019/08/19/phd-student-helps-cancer-patients-by-raising-funds-writing-doing-research/