Extra Edition from the Mount Vernon News

FREDERICKTOWN — Cracks in a chimney let flames from a fireplace burn through and set a house on Green Valley Road on fire Saturday night.

MOUNT VERNON — A small, two-bedroom frame home just off Harcourt Road was destroyed by fire early today. When the Mount Vernon Fire Department received the call at 11:56 p.m. Sunday, it was reported the house at 611 Smith St. was fully involved in flames.

MOUNT VERNON — Mount Vernon resident Tom McHugh received his Christmas present a little early this year in the form of a little trip.

Knox County residents, and villages, are all set for the Christmas season with stunning light displays .The Mount Vernon News and mountvernonnews.com is proud to present a series of videos showcasing the festive mood of the season. Christmas lights from around the county will be featured in daily videos running through Christmas Eve.

MOUNT VERNON — Mount Vernon High School students in the Transitions & Career Search I classes recently combined sewing skills with the holiday spirit by designing and sewing holiday stockings for children attending New Directions’ Christmas party.

MOUNT VERNON — The call is being made for census workers in 2010.

MOUNT VERNON — In 2008, there were five accidental overdoses from opiates, according to Dr. Jennifer Ogle, Knox County coroner. The count for 2009 surpassed that, with seven as of Dec. 23. One was from an overdose of heroin — 27-year-old Carl Culbertson.

FREDERICKTOWN — They may not be in the same conference, but whenever the Clear Fork Colts and Fredericktown Freddies match up, things heat up.

Knox County residents, and villages, are all set for the Christmas season with stunning light displays .The Mount Vernon News and mountvernonnews.com is proud to present a series of videos showcasing the festive mood of the season. Christmas lights from around the county will be featured in daily videos running through Christmas Eve.

MOUNT VERNON — Heroin use is increasing, and small-town cities like Mount Vernon are not immune. That is the message Dave Culbertson wants to get across to youths and parents in rural America.

FREDERICKTOWN — As part of its 25th anniversary celebration, the Reading Recovery community in North America has honored the outstanding success of the program in Fredericktown Elementary School.

MOUNT VERNON — Restoring hours, staff and books is high on John Chidester’s agenda now that the library levy has passed.

MOUNT VERNON — A joint law enforcement operation over the weekend has resulted in the largest drug seizure in Knox County’s history, according to Sheriff David Barber.

MOUNT VERNON — Rob Clendening, Knox Soil & Water Conservation District program administrator, and representatives of the KSWCD’s board met with the Knox County Commissioners to formally submit the department’s budget for 2010.

MOUNT VERNON — Another leg of the 2009-10 hunting season wrapped up on Sunday with the close of the two-day deer-gun season.

Danville — The Centennial Stars rolled into Danville on Monday night and ran straight into a brick wall.

MOUNT VERNON — Fifty-four-year-old Jean Davis lived her entire life in the Bladensburg area, until her death this past Sunday. Found shot to death outside her back door, those who knew this Sunday school teacher and retired Columbia Gas worker can think of no reason someone would want to harm her.

MOUNT VERNON — For Mike and Karen Kepple, Christmas is their season. Over the years, their joy of decorating for the holidays has become well known in Mount Vernon.

MOUNT VERNON — After making an investigation into the shooting of Jesse Ervin in Riverside Park on Sunday, Detective Craig Feeney of the Mount Vernon Police Department has determined Ervin was injured as the result of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

BLADENSBURG — The small, tight-knit Bladensburg community is struggling to make sense of recent crimes, which have left some feeling uneasy about their safety in an area which does not usually have much crime.