Transcript

5.29.25 · The Mountain Eagle

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Speaker 1: Now we turn to the Mountain Eagle to read news
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from Whitesburg. Your reader today is Bill's an Arsdal. We
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will begin with the edition dated May twenty eighth, twenty
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twenty five, which the publishers have donated to RADIOI as
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a reminder. RADIOI is a reading service intended for people
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who are blind or have other disabilities that make it
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difficult to read printed material. The first story is bond
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set at one million dollars for accused killer. A man
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charged in a year old murder on Callen is being
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held in the Letcher County Jail under a one million
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dollar bond. Mark A Miles, sixty five of Callen, who
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called nine to one one and told a dispatcher he
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found Angela Jeannette Roberts dead in her car at a
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Callen cemetery in twenty twenty four, is now accused of
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killing her. Electric County Grand Jury indighted Myles on May
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twenty second on one count of murder, and Kentucky State
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Police Trooper Michael Burton arrested him around six p m.
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The same day. The arrest comes six months after police
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filed a search forrant for DNA samples from Miles Roberts,
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fifty eight, died March seventh, two thousand twenty four, when
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she was shot in the head while seated in her
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car at a cemetery near her home on Bald Mountain Road.
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The Mountain Eagle reported in October two thousand twenty four
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that a cousin to Roberts was allegedly supposed to meet
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her at her home the day of her death, but
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didn't find her there. The newspaper did not publicly identify
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Miles at the time because he had not been charged
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with a crime. Myles told police that when he started
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off the other side of the mountain, he saw Roberts's
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car at the cemetery and pulled in beside it. That's
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when he said he saw she was slumped over in
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the driver's seat, and she didn't respond when he knocked
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on the window. Miles, who stands five feet seven inches
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tall and weighs two hundred twenty five pounds, told police
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he used a log he picked up to break a
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window and get into the car, and that he tried
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to get her out. He said he discovered the blood
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and realized she was dead when he tried to pull
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her out of the car. That's when he called nine
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to one one and waited for police to arrive, he claimed.
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According to the search warrant, Miles said he had touched
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several places in the car while trying to move Roberts,
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and police took DNA from Miles to determine whether samples
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taken from inside the car came from him or someone else.
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Police have not yet said whether DNA tests were conclusive.
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There was no gun found at the scene, though Roberts
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was known to carry one or more firearms. Roberts had
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been invested stigating her own daughter's murder, which occurred the
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previous summer, and had been very public about her quest
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to find her daughter's killer. Patricia May Trisha Roberts Deathridge, forty,
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was murdered sometime between July twenty seventh and July thirty first,
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twenty twenty three, near her home on Bald Mountain Road.
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Deathridge's decomposing body was found over a hillside and tangled
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in vines near her home on July thirty first, twenty
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twenty three, and she was pronounced dead on August first,
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shortly after midnight. She had been dead for an estimated
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two days. Authorities first said she had fallen over the
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hill because the darkness and the condition of the body
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made it impossible to find a wound, and autopsy found
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that she had also been shot in the head. Deatheridgch
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would have been forty one. On March sixth, twenty twenty four.
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Roberts posted on face book that day asking people to
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remember Deathridge on her birthday and to contact her if
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they knew anything about her daughter's murder. Roberts allegedly had
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a list of suspects and was marking them off one
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by one as she proved, to her own satisfaction they
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were innocent. She was killed one day after writing a
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Facebook post about her daughter's death. The next story is
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bill would impact counties Medicaid SNAP recipients, work requirements for
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Medicaid recipients, cuts to the nation's food assistance program, and
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other measures in the budget passed last week by the
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US House of Representatives could have a major impact on
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Leser County, where more than seven three hundred individuals receive
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Medicaid benefits and over five thousand people participate in the
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Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program SNAP, formerly known as food stamps.
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The budget bill, officially titled the One Big Beautiful Bill
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Act passed the Republican led the House by just one
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vote and now heads to the Senate. Opponents warn the
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proposed cuts would be extremely harsh on low income people.
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Supporters say it would cut out waste and encourage personal responsibility.
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It would impose work requirements for low income adults to
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receive Medicaid health insurance, and also increase work requirements for
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those who receive benefits through the federal's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
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Program SNAP. Supporters of the bill say the legislation will
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save money, root out waste, and encourage personal responsibility. Among
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them are U S Representative Herald hal Rogers, whose fifth
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Congressional district is home to three hundred sixteen thousand, four
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hundred fifty individuals enrolled in Medicaid and nearly sixty eight thousand,
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five hundred households participating in SNAP. This plan will restore
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integrity by getting four point eight million able bodied individuals
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without children back to work for at least eighty hours
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per month, not per week per month, Rogers, or Republican
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from Somerset, said after the bill passed the House early
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on the morning of May twenty second, by a vote
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of two hundred fifteen to two hundred fourteen. We must
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get rid of the waste, fraud, and abuse, and it
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is our duty to secure this program as well as
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snap benefits for the American people in greatest need. Two
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of Kentucky's five House members, Republican Thomas Massey of Lewis
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County who represents the fourth district, and Democrat Morgan mc
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garvey of Louisville, who represents the third congressional district, voted
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against the legislation. A preliminary estimate from the nonpartisan Congressional
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Budget Office said the proposals would reduce the number of
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people with health care by eight point six million over
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a decade. The measure, which also includes tax cuts, could
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have provisions reworked again as it heads to the Senate.
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Across the nation, many people who receive Medicaid are worried
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they could see their coverage end, even if it is
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not immediately clear whether they might be covered by an exception.
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Here is a look at some of their concerns and
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the potential impact of the bill. Work would be required
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for most people to get Medicaid health insurance starting next year.
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Many able bodied Medicaid enrollees under sixty five would be
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required to show that they work, volunteer, or go to
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school and exchange for the health insurance coverage. Raquel Vasquez,
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a former cook who is battling two types of cancer
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and has diabetes, said she believes she could be effected
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because she has not been able to qualify for Social
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Security disability benefits. I cannot even afford this life now
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because of my disabilities, said the forty one year old Bakersfield, CALIFORNI.
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I'm your resident, but my country won't even help me.
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About ninety two percent of people enrolled in Medicaid are
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already working, caregiving, attending school, or disabled. That leaves about
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eight percent of seventy one million adult enrollees who would
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need to meet the new requirement, and estimated five million
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people are likely to lose coverage altogether. According to previous
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estimates of the bill from the Congressional Budget Office, only
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Arkansas has had a work requirement that kicks people off
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for a non compliance. More than eighteen thousand lost coverage
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after it kicked in in twenty eighteen, and the program
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was later blocked by federal courts. The people of Arkansas
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are generous and we want to help those who cannot
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help themselves, but we have no interest in helping those
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who are unwilling to help themselves, said Arkansas Senate President
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Pro Temporary bart Hester, a Republican. I'm glad the federal
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government is starting to align with our thinking. Work requirement
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could hit harder in rural areas. Increased eligibility checks and
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red tape related to work requirements may result in some
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people wrongly getting booted off, said Eduardo Conrado, the president
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of Ascension, a healthcare system that operates hospitals across ten states.
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That could spell trouble for rural hospitals in particular, who
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will see their small pool of patients go from paying
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for their emergency care with Medicaid coverage to not paying
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anything at all. Hospitals could have to eat their costs.
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Adding work requirements is not just a policy change, it's
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a shift away from the purpose of the program, Conrado
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said of the rule. That is also a concern for
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Sandy Heller of Marion, Massachusetts. Her thirty seven year old son, Craig,
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has down syndrome and other complicated medical needs. She worries
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the changes would make it harder for or hospitals in
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out of the way places like hers to stay afloat
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and offer the services he could need. If they don't,
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he would have to travel about ninety minutes for care.
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It could mean life and death for my son if
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he needed that medical care. Heller said more people would
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be required to have jobs to receive food assistance. The
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Supplemental Nutrition Assistance program formerly known as food Stamps, already
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requires work for some of its roughly forty two million recipients.
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Adults ages eighteen to fifty four who are physically and
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mentally able and don't have dependents must work, volunteer, or
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participate in training programs for at least eighty hours a month,
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or else be limited to just three months of benefits
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in a three year period. The legislation passed by the
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House would raise the work requirement to age sixty five
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and extend it to parents without children younger than age seven.
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The bill also would limit the ability to work requirements
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in areas with high unemployment rates, which could have a
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major impact in Lecture and other counties in eastern Kentucky.
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The combination of those changes could put six million adults
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at risk of losing snap benefits According to the liberal
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leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, states that cover
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immigrants lacking legal status would lose federal funds. Under the bill,
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the federal government would punish states that use their own
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state dollars to provide Medicaid covered services to immigrants lacking
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legal status, or to provide subsidies to help them buy
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health insurance. Some states that provide that sort of coverage
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extended only to children. Those states would see federal funding
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for the Medicaid expansion. Population, typically low income adults, drop
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from ninety percent to eighty percent. Kentucky is only going
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to get sicker. Opponents of the bill. Members of the
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Kentucky Medicaid Defense Coalition, a group fighting to protect Medicaid
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in the Commonwealth, say the bill would strip life sustaining
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healthcare from many thousands of Kentuckians. This bill would result
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in an estimated one point seven billion dollars cut to
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the Kentucky's Medicaid program, terminating health coverage for as many
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as three hundred forty five thousand people across the state,
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said Dustin Pugell, policy director at the Kentucky Center for
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Economic Policy. These coverage losses would be in addition to
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estimated forty seven thousand who would become uninsured due to
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the failure of Congress to extend the enhanced subsidies on kynect,
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our health insurance marketplace, these would not only be the
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biggest most severe cuts in Medicaid history, they're larger than
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all previous cuts to Medicaid combined, Pugel said. In addition
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to lost Healthcare acttions, these cuts would mean fewer jobs
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in the health care industry, especially in rural areas where
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healthcare is among the largest employers. According to the coalition,
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policies and the legislation that would be responsible for these
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cuts include cumbersome and unnecessary work reporting requirements, more frequent
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paperwork to prove eligibility, a freeze to provide her taxes,
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and the expiration of important subsidies on the health insurance exchange.
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Melissa Mather, a chief communications officer at Family Health Centers
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in Louisville, said more than half of the forty thousand
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people her federally qualified health centers served last year were
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covered through Medicaid. It's what keeps our doors open, she said.
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Lost coverage due to the changes in the House budget
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will lead patients at family health centers to make difficult
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choices between health care and other necessities. Do we want
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Kentuckians to have to choose between buying grosses and their medicine,
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she asked. I think that's an untenable choice we're asking
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people to make. Doctor Edward Miller, an obstetrician with U
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of L Health, said cutting Medicaid will only make a
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sick state even sicker. The Commonwealth of Kentucky is sick,
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he said, noting Kentucky's high rates of hypertension, diabetes, smoking,
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and new cancer detections. What is decreasing access going to do,
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he asked. You don't have to be a doctor to
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know that decreasing access for those at the most risk
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is only going to make us plummet further down those rankings.
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Kentucky is only going to get sicker by decreasing access
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to Medicaid. Statement from US Representative Harold hal Rogers. This
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is the text of the statement released by Representative Rogers
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after the bill passed the House of Representatives. This legislation
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is a comprehensive, responsible plan for the decade ahead and beyond.
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It will give Americans back more of their own patchecks
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with a historic tax cut from middle and working class families.
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We're eliminating the tax on tips, the tax on overtime,
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and cutting social security taxes. At the same time, we
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are investing in job creation, safer air traffic control, secure borders,
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and energy independence in America. With one of the nation's
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highest rates of Medicaid recipients in my congressional district, I
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did not take this vote lightly. In fact, I voted
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for the bill because it secures Medicaid for Eastern Kentuckians
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living below the poverty rate by removing one point four
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million illegal immigrants from the program along with one point
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two million ineligible recipients. Medicaid reported five hundred and forty
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three billion improper payments over the last decade, plus individuals
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who are enrolled in multiple states, and other acts of fraud.
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This plan will also restore integrity by getting four point
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eight million able bodied individuals without children back to work
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for at least eighty hours per month, not per week
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per month. Able bodied individuals ages nineteen to thirty four
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who were added in the Medicaid expansion should not be
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receiving nine times more than disabled Americans in the traditional program.
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We must get rid of the waste, fraud and abuse,
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and it is our duty to secure this program as
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well as snap benefits for the American people in greatest need.
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The next story is road Crimes Dominate grand Jury Business.
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Electric County grand Jury has indicted a Buck creekman on
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charges of receiving stolen property, first degree criminal mischief, and
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multiple other charges after he allegedly led police on a
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high speed chase in a stolen van after backing through
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the wall of a convenience store. Cecil Shell Junior, twenty
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two of seven ninety five, buck Creek was charged in
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connection with a pursuit that began on the evening of
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May eighth at the quick Stop convenience store on Kentucky
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seven North at near Indian Creek. The pursuit began when
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two Kentucky State Police troopers spotted a van reported stolen
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from Smithburgh Baptist Church and Sassafras parked at the quick
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Stops gas pumps. Security video showed the white mini van
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parked at the gas pumps and the driver getting into
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an SUV that was also parked at the pumps. Two
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State Police cruisers slowed suddenly on the highway and turned
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into the store parking lot. As they did, the driver
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of the Chrysler Town and Country minivan got back into
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the vehicle, put it in reverse, and backed through the
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wall of the store, before speeding around the police cars
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and heading south down Kentucky seven. Kentucky State Police pursued
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the vehicle on Kentucky seven to Buck Creek, which dead
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ends near a strip mine. The van led police up
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the hollow before finally traveling up a strip mine road
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and stopping on the abandoned mine, where the driver got
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out and ran away on foot. Shell was arrested May
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fourteenth at Aisom on a warrant obtained by police. He
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was indicted for receiving stolen property over ten thousand dollars,
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two counts a first degree criminal mischief for damaging the
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van and the store, first degree fleeing and evading police
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motor vehicle, second degree fleeing and evading police on foot,
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and second degree persistent felony offender. Meanwhile, the driver of
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a vehicle involved in a near head on collision on
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the Wisburg Bypass on May twentieth was also indicted. According
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to police, Todd Stephen Brooks fifty four of fifty seven
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McCrae lane Millstone driving south on Kentucky fifteen bypass when
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he passed a truck on the right, cut back in
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front of it to pass another vehicle, and went into
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the opposing lane of traffic, hitting the left front of
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a pickup truck with the left front of his car.
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The pickup, driven by Ethan Cummings of Weisberg, then flipped
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over the guardrail and landed over the hill. Works was
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indicted on charges of first degree wanton endangerment, operating a
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motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol point eight or higher,
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no registration receipt, no registration plate, failure of non owner
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operator to maintain required insurance first offense, and failure to
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produce proof of insurance. The grand jury also charged five
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other people in indictments handed up last week to lecture
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Circuit Judge James W. Craft the second those indicted and
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the charges against the mar Kimberly Maggard thirty nine, also
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known as Kimberly Cornett two forty seven Cornetts Branch Line Fork,
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who was charged with possession of a handgun by a
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convicted felon second degree criminal mischief and being a second
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degree persistent felony offender. Kentucky State Trooper Jarrett Fields testified
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in the case Brittany Rudd thirty seven one oh four
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Cable Row, Jonesboro, Tennessee, who is charged with first degree
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promoting contraband tampering with physical evidence, and being a second
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degree persistent felony offender. Lieutenant Amanda Sexton of the Lectter
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County Jail testified in the case Christopher Holcombe thirty nine
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six thirty three flint Field, Drive, Line, Fork, who is
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charged with complicity to theft by unlawful taking or disposition,
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second degree unlawful transaction with a miner, and being a
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first degree persistent felony offender. Henry Holcombe testified in the
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case Marcus Long twenty three five oh four, Last Resort Court, Cumberland,
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who is charged with theft by unlawful taking or disposition
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otto and being a second degree persistent felony offender. Johnson
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testified in the case, and William Bill Fraser fifty nine
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for Clyde Baker spur Road, Hinman, who is charged with
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being a first degree persistent felony offender. The next story
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is White House denies requests from lecturer schools. The Trump
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administration has denied the Letcher County School District's request to
21:25
reconsider taking away a three million dollar federal grant that
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was already approved for the district and obligated to pay
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for twenty five new school buses. We were notified on
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Friday that our reapplication was denied, Superintendent Denise Jance said
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this week. The Saint will appeal on our behalf. The
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Letcher County School District ordered twenty five new buses to
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replace those destroyed in the July twenty twenty two flood
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on a promise from the US Education Department that it
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could use three million dollars left in COVID nineteen recovery
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money to pay for them. School buses are made to order,
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and with the time it takes normally to build twenty
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five buses and continued supply chain issues, the new fleet
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of IC buses didn't start arriving until this spring. The
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Biden administration extended the time to use the money last September,
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but just as the buses began arriving, the Trump administration
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clawed back the funds that left the school district without
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the money it had counted on to pay for the buses.
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We will be reworking our budget to pay for them.
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Yance said, we will be working on the details. The
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Lexington Herald Leader reported this week that the US Department
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of Education approved continuing two small projects in Boone County,
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totaling forty four thousand dollars, but rejected another ten point
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six million dollars in projects other districts had not yet
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been notified. School districts all over the country are in
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similar predicaments. In Kentucky alone, the state Department of Education
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lost eighteen million dollars in the clawback, and local districts
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from the Ohio River to the mountains lost thirty eight
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million dollars, said Jennifer Jin, director of communications for the
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state Department of Education. Laurel County schools lost ten million
23:19
dollars that had already been obligated. So far, the Attorney's
23:25
General of sixteen states and the District of Columbia have
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filed suit against the U S Department of Education and
23:32
Secretary Lynna McMahon because of the clawback. The next headline
23:39
is podcast primary appears under way for Democrats. Four months
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into the Trump administration, some top Democrats are rethinking their
23:50
approach to podcasts. Some high profile politicians with twenty twenty
23:55
eight aspirations are starting their own shows or venturing more
24:00
into popular ones with already large audiences, taking a reflective
24:04
look back at their opponent's strategy. Democratic strategists point out
24:08
that Trump used podcasts to take his message to new
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audiences and hope that their party's next round of candidates
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can successfully do the same. The democrats twenty twenty eight
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podcast primary is well underway, from Governors Gannon Newsom of California,
24:27
Andy Basheer of Kentucky, and Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan to
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former Transportation Secretary Pete Budajudge. Potential presidential contenders are following
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the lead of President Donald Trump, who frequently went on
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podcasts appealing to younger men during his twenty twenty four campaign.
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Liberal strategists acknowledge Trump showed that Democratic candidates need to
24:50
master the podcast space, which is typically looser and more
24:54
free wheeling than a press conference or a traditional media interview.
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The way that politicians communicate and need to be seen
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by their audience is changing, said Liz Manilla, who fundraised
25:07
for Democratic nominee Kamala Harris and this year launched Connect
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forward a group to support liberal influencers. I hate to
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give him credit, but he found a way to connect
25:17
with people, talk to them like human beings in non
25:21
political speak. Newsome, long derided by conservatives as a San
25:27
Francisco liberal, has welcomed conservatives onto his podcast and agreed
25:32
with them on issues such as trans participation in women's sports. Basher,
25:38
a lower profile Democrat in a red state, hosted his
25:41
teenagers to teach him how to use the youth slang scibete.
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The likely two thousand twenty eight contenders have produced many
25:49
hours of content already. Here's a look at key moments
25:54
and what we've learned about the field. Andy Basher's be
25:58
you Boo, launching the Andy Bisher podcast earlier this year.
26:05
The Kentucky governor now has hosted a donor, a former ambassador,
26:10
businessman he calls friends, and US Senator Amy Klobaschar, who
26:14
ran for the twenty twenty Democratic presidential nomination. He even
26:19
brought on his two children to explain slang words high
26:23
schoolers are using, asking them to explain to him how
26:26
to use terms like skibbety to say something looks good
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or doing it for the plot to say you'll be
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taking a risk on something despite a potentially bad outcome.
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From his first episode, the forty seven year old politician
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outlines some rules and says the first is be authentic
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Ubu Boo. The governor did not respond to a request
26:50
for comment on his strategy, but has mostly taken a
26:53
position of dissecting and broadcasting opposition to Trump's policies, such
26:58
as potential cuts to medicate and the use of the
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Signal messaging app by the President's national security team to
27:05
discuss sensitive military operations. In one of Bischer's most recent
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episodes earlier this month, his producer asks the governor a
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frequent listener's question, will you run for president? If it
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were three years ago? This was something that we would
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have never thought about, Basheer said, sitting beside his wife, Brittany.
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But I'm committed to not leaving a broken country to
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my kids or anyone else's now. What that looks like
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going forward, I don't know. My job right now is
27:36
to try to lift up as many leaders as possible
27:38
all across the country that are hopefully focused on the
27:41
right things with the right message, to re earn the
27:44
faith of the American people. Gretchen Whitmer recently appeared on
27:51
pod Save America for a shorter interview than other contenders
27:55
have done on podcasts, and in February, California governor launched
28:01
This Is Gavin Newsom as what he called a mechanism
28:04
for talking directly with people I disagree with, people I
28:07
look up to, and you, the listeners. This concludes the
28:14
reading of The Mountain Eagle. Your reader has been Bills
28:17
an Arsenal. Now please stay tuned for continued programming on
28:22
behalf of everyone here at radio. I thank you for
28:25
listening and have a good day.