News from January 19, 2006 issue



Hart joins UK Wildcats football
Brad Hart is now officially back in blue ­ Kentucky Wildcat blue this time.
The former Rocket football and basketball player took the hard road into collegiate athletics as a walk on.

Now, Hart is a full-fledged member of the Kentucky Wildcat football team, making him the first Division 1-A player from Crittenden County in many years.

Marion-Crittenden County Hall of Famer Dwight Little is the last local player to earn his stripes at UK. A lineman, Little was also the last Division 1-A player from Crittenden County back in the 1960s. There have been a handful of Division 1-AA players at schools like Murray State and Western Kentucky over the years. Chad Mott was the last Murray State player in the early 1990s.

To have an opportunity to play football in the SEC in Kentucky blue has been a life's dream for Hart. He said the reality of it set in Monday morning as he joined the rest of the 100-or-so UK players for a 7:30 a.m., team meeting before a mandatory workout program.

"When I got all of my equipment and locker with my name it, that's when it started to hit me," said Hart, who is listed as second-team snapper for special teams.

The starting long snapper, Jason Dickerson, is a senior. That gives Hart plenty of opportunity to work his way into the starting role next year. In fact, being No. 2 on the depth chart means that he may even join the traveling squad next fall.

"It's really a great opportunity for me the way I have come in as a freshman and he's a senior," Hart explained. "Jason told me that's the same way it was when he came in, there was a senior ahead of him the first year."

While projected as a long snapper, Hart has aspirations of something greater.
"I would like to work myself onto a kickoff or kickoff return team then by my senior year it would be nice if could work my way up and play some backup linebacker."

At 6-foot-1, 210 pounds, Hart knows he will have to bulk up more to play linebacker in the SEC.

Hart, 19, began school last year as a walk-on along with about a dozen other Wildcat hopefuls. Only a handful have made it on the roster. He spent last summer and fall working out with other walk-ons, but was not actually on the team. As of late last week, UK coach Rich Brooks notified Hart that his name had been added to the team roster.

Hart is assigned to locker No. 96, just a few down from quarterback Andre Woodson who is at No. 102. Hart says it's nice to be stationed next to another western Kentuckian, Cody Morehead of Heath who walked on and made the team a couple of years ago.

Right now, players are reporting daily at 7:15 a.m., in the team meeting room at the Nutter Training Center where the locker room is located.

"We run Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and lift on Tuesdays and Thursdays," Hart said. "It's a very structured routine."

For now, Hart admits he's in somewhat of a wonderland, a bit awestruck by the opportunity of playing big-time college football. But it won't take long before it's all hard work, especially when the real hitting begins.

"We did a lot of sprints and gassers Monday then got kind of a break, I was trying to catch my breath and thought it might be over, but we were actually only about half done. It's pretty tough."

Hart is pursing a degree in finance and plans to attend law school.

Crittenden County High School head coach Al Starnes said Hart has a great deal to be proud of, and so does the Rocket football program.

"This creates excitement and enthusiasm in our high school program because it shows other kids that through hard work and determination that they too might be able to play Division 1 football," Starnes said. "We are proud of Brad and at the same time encouraged by what he has been able to accomplish."

Jury deadlocked in sodomy trial
Ronnie D. Damron, accused of sodomizing and burglarizing a 64-year-old woman in the Deer Creek community three years ago, remains in jail awaiting a new trial in June.

Damron was on trial last Friday in Crittenden Circuit Court, but the 12-person jury could not reach a unanimous verdict. After a day of testimony and four hours of deliberations, the jury was split on gender lines with seven women believing Damron was guilty and five men electing to acquit him.

Damron, who was previously convicted on unrelated felonies, has served time in prison. He remains in the Calloway County Jail on a $10,000 cash bond. The retrial is scheduled for June 22-23.

The jury was not entirely convinced that Damron was the person who committed the crime despite testimony from the victim who identified Damron as the person who held a flashlight in her face and tried to rape her.

Damron, 45, was the Kentucky State Police's sole suspect in the Oct. 30, 2002 burglary and sexual assault.

The victim broke down in tears when recalling the events of the crime which occurred around 2 a.m., when her home was broken into. During the police investigation, she identified Damron as the suspect. She had known him for several years. The victim told the jury she saw her attacker's face from the eyes up while he held a flashlight in her face during the incident. A blue flashlight was recovered from the truck Damron was driving the night of Oct. 29 when he was arrested, but the victim could not identify it as the one used in the attack.

"He kept calling me by my name," she said. "He was trying to get my pants off and I was having a fit and he kept telling me to quit screaming."

The victim, who was recovering from surgery at the time of the attack, said the man eventually gave up, got off of the bed and forced her to perform oral sex.

The trial was held under heavy security with about a dozen armed law enforcement officers on duty inside the courthouse.

For more on this story, see this week's printed edition

Fredonia looking for deputy
The Caldwell County Fiscal Court is working on a plan that might lead to the hiring of a deputy to patrol nights in the Fredonia area.

The issue of having at least nightime law enforcement in the Fredonia, Crewell and Flatrock areas has been a big topic lately because of the Robert Dorris murder and the break-in and shooting at Larry Yancy's home. According to a front-page story in last week's Princeton Times-Leader, county officials are looking at using road fund money to help hire a deputy for the northern end of the county. The county is looking for someone with experience and training in law enforcement.

In a related topic, the pickup believed to have been used in the commission of the murder of Dorris, an elderly northern Caldwell County man, was found near Dycusburg Friday, Dec. 6.

State Trooper Stu Recke said the 1987 Dodge pickup was found behind a barn. The exact location was not disclosed, but Recke said it appears that the suspects, cousins Joseph and Dean Caraway, had abandoned the vehicle in hopes that it wouldn't be found for some time.

Recke said the vehicle belonged to a relative of the suspects. Recke said state police continue to look at the possibility of the murder suspects being involved in the shooting of Larry Yancy during a break-in at his home in late December. "Our detectives haven't ruled it out," Recke said. "Right now there is no evidence to link the two cases." Recke said the method of operation, however, was quite similar.