WQXE News

An Elizabethtown woman faces federal charges after allegedly vandalizing a memorial on the National Mall in Washington D.C.

Melissa Farris, also known as Melissa Lovewell, is charged with Willfully Injuring or Committing a Depredation against Property of the United States and Destruction of a Veterans’ Memorial.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, Farris was charged by criminal complaint Friday after allegedly vandalizing the Atlantic Theatre Pavilion of the World War II Memorial Thursday.

The criminal complaint states that U.S. Park Police responded to the memorial on August 13 for a report of a disorderly person. A witness told police they saw a woman spray painting graffiti on the memorial. A U.S. Park Ranger arrived on scene and observed foam in the fountain area of the pavilion, and saw multiple people watching the woman as she recorded video of herself before fleeing when she saw the park ranger.

A U.S. Park Police officer recognized Farris in a photo taken by a witness as Farris had been arrested on August 10 for unlawfully camping on federal property a few blocks from the memorial. Officers found that Farris had live streamed her August 10 arrest on social media, and had recorded multiple live stream videos on August 13, in one of which she allegedly admitted to the World War II Memorial vandalism.

Farris is expected to appear for a preliminary hearing in D.C. court Monday.

Kentucky State Police Post Four is searching for a Louisville man after a fatal collision on Interstate 65 in Bullitt County.

According to the KSP, at around midnight on August 15 troopers responded to a report of a two-vehicle collision at the 112-mile marker of I-65 North near Shepherdsville. The preliminary investigation indicates that Luis Gonzalez Perez was operating a southbound-facing wrecker hooked to a northbound-facing bobtail tractor parked on the shoulder of the roadway. Perez allegedly attempted to make a u-turn across the three northbound lanes in order to transport the tractor.

As the wrecker was turning, it was struck by a passenger vehicle operated by 43-year-old Shawn Franklin of North Carolina. Franklin sustained life-threatening injuries and was transported to the University of Louisville Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead by the Jefferson County Coroner’s Office.

Perez was not injured and fled the scene. The KSP and other law enforcement agencies are actively attempting to locate Perez, with charges through the Bullitt County Attorney’s Office pending. The KSP’s investigation of the collision is ongoing.

Meanwhile, the Upton Fire Department is reminding drivers of the importance of being aware of emergency vehicles while driving on the highway.

According to the fire department, at around 10 p.m. on August 15 firefighters responded to a single-vehicle accident on I-65 North near the 81-mile marker. While crews were working the scene, an Upton Fire Department apparatus was positioned to protect emergency responders and provide advance warning to approaching motorists. The apparatus was struck, with no injuries to firefighters or civilians as a result of the secondary location.

In a Facebook post, the fire department said this is the second time one of their vehicles was struck while working an accident scene on I-65. The fire department is asking drivers to do their part in protecting emergency responders by remaining alert, slowing down, and moving over when approaching emergency vehicles and personnel working on the side of the roadway.

A case of measles in Christian County has state health officials warning of a possible outbreak and reminding residents of the importance of vaccination.

The Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services says the individual who tested positive for measles was not vaccinated, and is believed to have been exposed through contact with an out-of-state visitor from a community currently experiencing an ongoing outbreak. Health officials are suspecting a wider outbreak in the area due to additional unconfirmed reports of the disease.

The health cabinet says measles is a “highly contagious respiratory virus that can cause serious health complications, especially in children.” The American Academy of Pediatrics and other experts, however, say two doses of the MMR vaccine are 97 percent effective against the disease.

The health cabinet says the immunization rate among Kentucky kindergartners has recently increased to 90.7 percent, but this remains among the lowest rates in the nation. This comes as the United States is experiencing its largest measles outbreak since the disease was declared eliminated in the U.S. in 2000.

Contact your local health department or your primary care provider for more information about measles and the vaccine.