Johnson County is a cleaner place this week after the efforts of more than two dozen people to clean up Ky. 581 and Boyd Branch Thursday and F…

As law enforcement officers prepared to gather with their friends and families at the East Kentucky Expo Center on Tuesday, Pike Commonwealth’s Attorney Rick Bartley was preparing his office to file to seek the death penalty against the man charged with the killing of Pikeville Police Officer Scotty Hamilton in March.

Bartley took to the stage during Tuesday’s National Peace Officers Memorial Day event to announce that motion has now been filed in Pike Circuit Court, notifying the defense team of John Russel Hall, 55, of Hurricane Branch, Pikeville, that the Commonwealth would seek additional penalties in the case, including, but not limited to, the death penalty.