Category: Office News

We recently teamed up with Fayette County Attorney Larry Roberts and his staff to raise money for the Lexington Humane Society in memory of Prosecutor Brian Mattone.

We recently teamed up with Fayette County Attorney Larry Roberts and his staff to raise money for the Lexington Humane Society in memory of Prosecutor Brian Mattone. During his career, Brian was an Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney for Ray Larson, and later the First Assistant for Fayette County Attorney Larry Roberts. Tragically, Brian was killed in a car accident on May 2, 2012. Brian is missed by many, and we are honored to be able to contribute to his legacy by raising money for a cause he championed. Thanks to all who donated or spent their lunch hour on behalf of our friend Brian.

Our Newest Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Volunteers with Habitat for Humanity

From the Courtroom to the Construction site our newest Assistant Commonwealth’s
Attorney Aaron Ann Cole is always working to make our community a better placed to live.

Thanks Aaron Ann!

The Nest, a Center for Women, Children, and Families

The Nest, a Center for Women, Children, and Families provides a place to support children and families in need, anywhere from child care to educational counseling. The Nest’s mission is to support healing, stability, and well-being of children and families. Their holistic approach includes respite child care, parent education and support, domestic violence counseling and recovery, and crisis care services for fragile families.

Every year the Nest hosts Reindeer Express which helps give children in need new toys, and coats during our cold winters.  This year, The Nest was able to provide for over 275 families and 600 children who otherwise may not have had a whole holiday season.

Volunteers and donors came from all over Lexington, Crestwood Christian Church supplied food boxes for the families, 5/3 Bank gave out education toys, and our very own Rewa Zakharia who volunteered as a personal shopper for the families who came in.

Thank you to The Nest for helping hundreds of children have a warmer, happier holiday season!

For information, please click the link: https://thenestlexington.org/reindeerexpress/

3rd Annual Blanket Drive

Our Commonwealth Attorney, Lou Anna Red Corn, encourages her staff to be involved in philanthropic efforts for the good of our community.  This year, for Lou Anna’s Christmas gift, we participated in the 3^rd Annual Blanket drive put together by the 1^st Responders Missional Community.  Our office donated around 50 blankets to the project in Lou Anna’s name.  Detective Steve Cobb, who is always doing something to help others, coordinated our involvement and says that the project collected the largest number of blankets so far, with over 300 blankets being given out to people living on the streets and to the Catholic Action Center.   The day the donated blankets were given out also happened to be the coldest day of the year. – Kimberly Baird, First Assistant.

Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Traci Caneer attends a training for Educating, Empowering, and Protecting Kentucky Seniors.

As part of Attorney General Andy Beshear’s Mission is protecting senior Kentuckians, the Office of Senior Protection was established. The office of Senior Protection is responsible for administering and offering a “triage” of services and training, to equip senior stakeholders in protecting seniors against fraud, scams and financial exploitation.

Office of Senior Protection (502) 696-5300

Our newest Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney, Aaron Ann Cole

Our newest Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Aaron Ann Cole is sworn-in by Chief Judge Pamela Goodwine.

WE ARE THE CHANGE Rally Against Violence November 21, 2016 at Paul Laurence Dunbar High School

By: Briana Persley

In October, Mrs. Turner, PLD Lamplighter advisor, was approached by students who most recently were affected by the death of loved ones, due to violence in our community. They wanted to hold an annual event for peace and unity in Lexington. If you know Wendy Turner, she was going to give her students a voice.

She knew I was a Crime Victims’ Advocate at the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office and asked for me to sit in on a meeting and review some correspondence she had with other department heads at PLD.  I was amazed at the maturity of the teens that were developing this rally.

They expressed how they may not always feel comfortable with going to teachers, parents, and other adults to talk about their problems, and would turn to “the streets” for help. That is where a resource fair came into play. Teens need to know what agencies are out there that they can go to for the help they need.

I had the honor of being asked to assist with helping bring together agencies that are geared towards educating teens and arranging speakers to send powerful messages. We had over 20 booths set up, some were even teen lead clubs at PLD!

Inside the auditorium, students heard from Anita Franklin, who lost her son, Antonio Franklin, to gun violence, in April 2014 at Duncan Park.

Gerald “Geo” Gibson, spoke to them about serving time in prison for drug and gun offenses before changing his life and creating O.M.A.C. (Opportunity Making A Change), a mentoring program that focuses on teaching boys in elementary and middle schools respect and self-confidence.

Sergeant Day, with Fayette County Public School’s Law Enforcement Division, spoke about S.T.O.P. (Safety Tiplein, Online Prevention) on the school’s website and how they can report things anonymously. Sergeant Berry, with the Lexington Police Department, spoke about Text-A-Tip, that is available to report crimes anonymously.  All speakers had strong messages of empowerment for the audience and how they can be effective in changing our community.

I was happy to represent our office during this event and hope to do the same next year!

Prosecutors tidy-up the yard at the Children’s Advocacy Center of the Bluegrass.

To learn more about the Children’s Advocacy Center, please visit: http://kykids.org/