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5 |Lady Warriors beat Floyd to reach state finals; will face Martinsville Bulldogs Thursday. T U E S D AY
the
March 7, 2017 Vol. 106 • No. 19 10 Pages
A Progressive Newspaper Serving OurOur Mountain Area Newspaper Serving Mountain AreaSince Since1911 1911 A Progressive
PROGRESS
NORTON, VA 24273 USPS 120-120 $1.00
It takes darkness to see the lights Rhonda Cooke
Child sex crimes alleged after two decades JENAY TATE EDITOR AND PUBLISHER
RODDY ADDINGTON PHOTO
Bark Camp Lake’s remote location and minimal campground lighting make it an excellent candidate for dark sky park designation. JEFF LESTER NEWS EDITOR When did you last take time to stare into the night sky and try to count the stars? If you’re old enough, you remember that years ago, it was easier to see lots of stars, even if you lived near a town. There simply wasn’t as much artificial lighting everywhere that interfered with your view of the heavens. Boy Scout Daniel Rose of Coeburn is among the local folks who are working to address that problem. For months, Rose, 15, and fellow members of Coeburn’s Scout Troop 301 have been working to get Bark Camp Lake recognized officially for being an excellent place to sky-watch at night. The team, with help from Wise County/Norton Circuit Court Clerk
Bark Camp Lake could get international recognition for its sky-watching quality.
R.J. ROSE PHOTO
Eagle Scout candidate Daniel Rose of Coeburn is leading efforts to get Bark Camp recognized by the International Dark-Sky Association.
SKIES, PAGE 2
NORTON — Officials are being tight-lipped about the case of a Norton woman facing child sex charges that stem from recent allegations of crimes more than two decades ago. A juvenile and relations domestic judge closed a Feb. 27 preliminary hearing for Rhonda Jean Cooke, 60, who has been in the Duffield jail since her arrest last fall. According to court and jail records, Cooke is accused of forcible sodomy and taking indecent liberties with a child 13 years or over. The record shows Cooke was arrested by Virginia State Police Nov. 2, 2016, on an offense alleged on Sept. 1, 1996. She was arrested again Nov. 10 on an offense alleged on April 29, 1990. According to multiple sources close to the situation, a couple related to Cooke who bought her former home found items there that were then turned over to state police and were the basis for the investigation. Both individuals were under multiple drug indictments and both subsequently had sentences suspended and were confined to home incarceration. Cooke is the widow of Roger Cooke, the one-time lead investigator and assistant chief of police in Norton who was killed by a gunshot wound at that same home on Christmas Day 2012.
COOKE, PAGE 3
Man runs, is caught, twice in two days S U B S C R I B E R I N F O R M AT I O N H E R E
JEFF LESTER NEWS EDITOR A trail of beer cans helped lead police to a Pound man who escaped Saturday before he could be processed into the Wise County Justice Center. The story began with an arrest Friday in Norton and ended Saturday on Pole Bridge Road east of Wise. Friday at about 4 p.m., a Norton police officer spotted Travis Scott Pratt in Walmart, city police Chief James Lane explained. The officer knew that Pratt, 39, of 11003 Old Indian Creek Rd., was wanted on outstanding warrants. The officer approached Pratt, who started running across the Walmart parking lot. Pratt jumped over a guardrail in the direction of Hawthorne Drive, tripped and tumbled down an embankment, injuring himself, Lane said. He was treated and held overnight for observation at Mountain View Regional Medical Center, with a police officer in the room. Saturday at 12:20 p.m., Pratt was released into a Norton officer’s custody and
Travis Pratt was to be charged with obstructing justice and possessing drug paraphernalia. He was handcuffed in front instead of behind his back because of his injuries, Lane said, and he was secured in the front seat of a police cruiser. They arrived at the county justice center, which is east of Wise, shortly before 12:40 p.m. and stopped to wait for the main gate to open. Pratt removed his seat belt, telling the officer he thought they were walking into the justice center, Lane explained. Pratt then opened the passenger door against the
officer’s warnings to stop and he tried to get out. The officer grabbed Pratt’s arm but took his foot off the brake pedal, causing the cruiser to bump the gate. Pratt began to run. The Norton officer chased him on foot with help from Wise police and University of Virginia’s College at Wise campus police, according to the Wise County sheriff ’s office. Sheriff ’s deputy Josh Edmiston was on his way to help when he saw a blue, older model Dodge truck speeding and driving recklessly on Christmas Lane, slightly northeast of the college. He described the vehicle to dispatch, noting that a lot of empty beer cans were in the truck bed. Citizens alerted the sheriff ’s department that the vehicle was traveling near Lonesome Pine Airport and turned onto Pole Bridge Road. Edmiston followed a trail of beer cans and found the truck in a driveway on Pole Bridge, near the fairgrounds.
RUN, PAGE 3
5 |Lady Warriors beat Floyd to reach state finals; will face Martinsville Bulldogs Thursday. T U E S D AY
the
March 7, 2017 Vol. 106 • No. 19 10 Pages
A Progressive Newspaper Serving OurOur Mountain Area Newspaper Serving Mountain AreaSince Since1911 1911 A Progressive
PROGRESS
NORTON, VA 24273 USPS 120-120 $1.00
It takes darkness to see the lights Rhonda Cooke
Child sex crimes alleged after two decades JENAY TATE EDITOR AND PUBLISHER
RODDY ADDINGTON PHOTO
Bark Camp Lake’s remote location and minimal campground lighting make it an excellent candidate for dark sky park designation. JEFF LESTER NEWS EDITOR When did you last take time to stare into the night sky and try to count the stars? If you’re old enough, you remember that years ago, it was easier to see lots of stars, even if you lived near a town. There simply wasn’t as much artificial lighting everywhere that interfered with your view of the heavens. Boy Scout Daniel Rose of Coeburn is among the local folks who are working to address that problem. For months, Rose, 15, and fellow members of Coeburn’s Scout Troop 301 have been working to get Bark Camp Lake recognized officially for being an excellent place to sky-watch at night. The team, with help from Wise County/Norton Circuit Court Clerk
Bark Camp Lake could get international recognition for its sky-watching quality.
R.J. ROSE PHOTO
Eagle Scout candidate Daniel Rose of Coeburn is leading efforts to get Bark Camp recognized by the International Dark-Sky Association.
SKIES, PAGE 2
NORTON — Officials are being tight-lipped about the case of a Norton woman facing child sex charges that stem from recent allegations of crimes more than two decades ago. A juvenile and relations domestic judge closed a Feb. 27 preliminary hearing for Rhonda Jean Cooke, 60, who has been in the Duffield jail since her arrest last fall. According to court and jail records, Cooke is accused of forcible sodomy and taking indecent liberties with a child 13 years or over. The record shows Cooke was arrested by Virginia State Police Nov. 2, 2016, on an offense alleged on Sept. 1, 1996. She was arrested again Nov. 10 on an offense alleged on April 29, 1990. According to multiple sources close to the situation, a couple related to Cooke who bought her former home found items there that were then turned over to state police and were the basis for the investigation. Both individuals were under multiple drug indictments and both subsequently had sentences suspended and were confined to home incarceration. Cooke is the widow of Roger Cooke, the one-time lead investigator and assistant chief of police in Norton who was killed by a gunshot wound at that same home on Christmas Day 2012.
COOKE, PAGE 3
Man runs, is caught, twice in two days S U B S C R I B E R I N F O R M AT I O N H E R E
JEFF LESTER NEWS EDITOR A trail of beer cans helped lead police to a Pound man who escaped Saturday before he could be processed into the Wise County Justice Center. The story began with an arrest Friday in Norton and ended Saturday on Pole Bridge Road east of Wise. Friday at about 4 p.m., a Norton police officer spotted Travis Scott Pratt in Walmart, city police Chief James Lane explained. The officer knew that Pratt, 39, of 11003 Old Indian Creek Rd., was wanted on outstanding warrants. The officer approached Pratt, who started running across the Walmart parking lot. Pratt jumped over a guardrail in the direction of Hawthorne Drive, tripped and tumbled down an embankment, injuring himself, Lane said. He was treated and held overnight for observation at Mountain View Regional Medical Center, with a police officer in the room. Saturday at 12:20 p.m., Pratt was released into a Norton officer’s custody and
Travis Pratt was to be charged with obstructing justice and possessing drug paraphernalia. He was handcuffed in front instead of behind his back because of his injuries, Lane said, and he was secured in the front seat of a police cruiser. They arrived at the county justice center, which is east of Wise, shortly before 12:40 p.m. and stopped to wait for the main gate to open. Pratt removed his seat belt, telling the officer he thought they were walking into the justice center, Lane explained. Pratt then opened the passenger door against the
officer’s warnings to stop and he tried to get out. The officer grabbed Pratt’s arm but took his foot off the brake pedal, causing the cruiser to bump the gate. Pratt began to run. The Norton officer chased him on foot with help from Wise police and University of Virginia’s College at Wise campus police, according to the Wise County sheriff ’s office. Sheriff ’s deputy Josh Edmiston was on his way to help when he saw a blue, older model Dodge truck speeding and driving recklessly on Christmas Lane, slightly northeast of the college. He described the vehicle to dispatch, noting that a lot of empty beer cans were in the truck bed. Citizens alerted the sheriff ’s department that the vehicle was traveling near Lonesome Pine Airport and turned onto Pole Bridge Road. Edmiston followed a trail of beer cans and found the truck in a driveway on Pole Bridge, near the fairgrounds.
RUN, PAGE 3
