Local News

On the morning of July 9, Ronnie William Cairnes Sr., 55, the operator of Cedar Creek Bait and Tackle Shop, was shot to death while standing outside his business at Blakley Crossroads, not far from the Chester County line.

His killer was Darren Winchester, 46, who lived across the road from the store.

Cairnes’ family said Winchester had threatened to harm Cairnes a number of times before. Winchester had also tried to set fire to Cairnes’ business, a brother of Cairnes said.

At 5:35 a.m. Monday, Aug. 4, a woman on her way to work called 911 to report that the historic Lancaster County Courthouse was on fire. Firefighters who rushed to the scene hoped for the best, but arrived to find the building engulfed in flames.

Lancaster County Emergency Management Director Morris Russell learned how serious the fire was as he was driving to the scene. He heard firefighters already there ask for more water pressure.

Van Wyck native Shawn Crawford made many Lancaster County residents proud when he made his second appearance in the Olympic Games in Beijing in August.

Crawford, an Indian Land High School graduate and a former All-American runner at Clemson University, was looking to repeat the success he had in the 2004 Olympics in Athens. There, he won the gold medal in the 200-meter race.

But Crawford wasn’t able to repeat his 2004 success. Usain Bolt of Jamaica overshadowed all other runners in the 2008 games, winning three gold medals, including the medal for the 200 meter.

Retired Lancaster police officer Ray Knight was just trying to help at a wreck scene on Lynwood Circle when he was shot in the face on June 27.

As Knight approached the car, the occupants ran in the opposite direction, and one of those occupants shot Knight, Sheriff Johnny Cauthen said.

Knight was the second person shot in that area that night; he had no idea the occupants of the wrecked car were somehow connected to a shooting.

“He was going to render aid – doing what he was trained to do and was brutally shot,” Cauthen said.