Latest / Eastern Kentucky Newspapers / Whitesburg Mountain Eagle - 9.17.26

Transcript

Whitesburg Mountain Eagle - 9.17.26 · Eastern Kentucky Newspapers

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Now we turn to the Mountain Eagle to read news
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: from Whitesburg. Your reader today is Bill Van Arsdal. We
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: will begin with the edition dated September 16, 2026, which
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: the publishers have donated to Radio Eye. As a reminder,
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: Radio Eye is a reading service intended for people who
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: are blind or have other disabilities that make it difficult
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: to read printed material. The first story is Fire Chief
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: Water shortage worsened damage at UZ Fire. Medical oxygen tanks,
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: a large propane tank, and the lack of a dependable
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: nearby water supply complicated efforts to fight a fire that
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: destroyed a home, garage, and two vehicles at UZ, the
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: fire chief in command at the scene said. Daniel Dan Klar, 79,
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: was badly burned Sunday, When fire destroyed the home he
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: shared with his wife, Melissa Missy Klar, near the intersection
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: of Kentucky 588 and Kentucky 3401. Klar suffered second and
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: third degree burns and was flown to the burn unit
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: at Cabell Huntington Hospital in Huntington, West Virginia. Haley Cates
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: of Whitesburg, who works with Mrs. Klar in the Electric
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: Circuit Clerk's Office, and organized a GoFundMe campaign for the family.
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: said Klar's kidneys were shutting down and doctors had determined
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: that he was not strong enough to undergo needed surgery.
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: Cates said Klar was to be transferred to hospice care. Mrs.
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: Klar traveled to Huntington to be with her husband and
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: his son. Before emergency responders arrived, Mrs. Klar wheeled her
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: husband from the burning house in his wheelchair. The fire
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: originated in the Clars' bedroom, said David Bentley, chief of
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: the Kings Creek and Colson volunteer fire departments and an
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: instructor with Kentucky Fire Commission state fire rescue training. The
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: fire started in an occupied bedroom at the front of
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: the house, Bentley said. That occupied bedroom had an individual
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: who was on oxygen therapy, so there would have been
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: portable tanks in there, but I don't know the actual
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: cause of the fire. Oxygen itself does not burn, but
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: it can cause other materials to ignite more easily and
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: burn much faster in an oxygen-enriched environment. Firefighters who arrived
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: before the fire engines reported hearing a number of small explosions,
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: believed to have been oxygen tanks over-pressurized by the heat.
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: They described a relatively manageable fire upon arrival that rapidly
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: grew out of control. Flames were coming from a bedroom
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: window when the first volunteers arrived. By the time Bentley
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: reached the scene, the fire had spread to the home's
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: propane supply. The big thing was, I had a 500-gallon
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: LP tank that was wanting to go ballistic, Bentley said.
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: It had already had a valve fail on it, and
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: it sounded literally like a rocket. Firefighters received specialized training
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: in handling propane tank fires. But shutting off a burning
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: tank requires two hose lines and several firefighters to advance
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: to within arm's reach. Such an operation also requires a
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: significant amount of water, which crews did not have, Bentley said.
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: The way this went off, it makes flag class look
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: like a Christmas tree and a lighter, Bentley said. Bentley
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: and other firefighters described flames shooting approximately 100 feet into
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: the air from the safety valve atop the tank. They
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: said the roar was too loud to yell over, and
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: the ground was shaking. Bentley determined that the situation was
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: too dangerous and ordered firefighters to retreat to a safe distance.
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: Liquefied petroleum gas can burn at temperatures up to 3,600
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: degrees Fahrenheit. Several smaller propane tanks in the garage also exploded.
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: The fire eventually destroyed the house, garage, and both vehicles
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: parked in the driveway. A neighbor told the Mountain Eagle
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: that a red cast-iron waterline flushing device across Kentucky 588
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: from the house had been partly covered with dirt by
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: contractors cleaning debris from Dry Fork Creek after the July
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: 2022 flood. The neighbor also said the top of the
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: fitting was later knocked off by a state highway contractor
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: using a bush hog. It has not been repaired. Firefighters
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: laid 1,050 feet of hose to another water connection, but
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: they were able to draw only 4,000 to 5,000 gallons
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: before it stopped working, Bentley said. Crews then used gasoline-powered
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: pumps to draw water from nearby creeks and the North
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: Fork of the Kentucky River. Bentley said having an adequate
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: water supply at the scene would not have changed what
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: happened to Klar, who had already been removed from the
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: house before firefighters arrived. He believes, however, that it would
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: have reduced the property damage. That absolutely had an adverse
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: effect on the outcome, Bentley said. Bentley has complained previously
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: about flushing devices that firefighters could not use. Letcher County
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: Water and Sewer District Manager Jason Lewis said in February
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: that he knew of only three non-working hydrants in the district.
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: Lewis also said the red cast-iron fittings found along some
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: water lines are not conventional fire hydrants. They are intended
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: primarily for flushing lines during routine maintenance, or after outages
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: and repairs, although fire departments are permitted to use them.
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: Lewis was out of the office on service calls Tuesday
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: and was unavailable for comment about Sunday's fire. The fire
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: began between 1.30 and 1.45 p.m. Sunday, September 13th. The
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: 911 dispatch center at Kentucky State Police Post 13 in
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: Hazard sent the Kings Creek Volunteer Fire Department to the
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: scene at 1.47 p.m. An ambulance dispatched from Neon Fire
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: Rescue a few minutes later arrived before the fire engines.
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: The ambulance crew transported Klar to a waiting helicopter for
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: the flight to Huntington. Kings Creek requested mutual aid from
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: the Sand Lake Volunteer Fire Department and asked for an
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: all-call to county fire departments but the countywide call was
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: not issued. Tanker trucks, fire engines, and personnel from the
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: Kings Creek, Whitesburg, May King, Sand Lake, and Jenkins fire
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: departments eventually were called to assist. Firefighters remained at the
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: scene until approximately 4.30 p.m. The fire came four years
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: after the Clars lost another home in the catastrophic July
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: 2022 flood. Cates said the couple used their savings to
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: rebuild their lives after that disaster. Even with insurance, the
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: cost of replacing furnishings and so many basic everyday items
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: will be a huge burden, Cates said. Donations to the
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: GoFundMe campaign will help the Clars obtain clothing, shoes, and
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: other immediate necessities and begin replacing what was destroyed. By
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: noon Tuesday, 64 people had donated $ 6, 025 toward the campaign's $ 9, 500 goal.
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: The next headline is, More than 130,000 Kentuckians are expected
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: to have approximately $ 250 million in medical debt erased. through
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: a program established this week by Governor Andy Beshear. Beshear
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: signed an executive order Tuesday establishing the Team Kentucky Medical
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: Debt Relief Program and directing $ 2. 5 million to Undue Medical Debt,
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: a national nonprofit organization. The nonprofit purchases bundled medical debt
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: from participating hospitals and collection agencies for a fraction of
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: the amount owed and then forgives it. State officials said
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: the Kentucky partnership is expected to eliminate approximately $ 100 in
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: medical debt for every $ 1 spent. Beshear said medical debt
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: can damage credit and prevent people from obtaining loans needed
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: to purchase homes and meet other expenses. One in five
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: Kentuckians and over 100 million Americans struggle with medical debt.
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: The problem is so bad it's become a leading cause
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: of bankruptcy. Beshear said. Medical debt isn't a choice. It's
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: what people are faced with after a serious injury, a
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: serious illness, a cancer diagnosis, and more. Courtney Worker Story,
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: vice president of government initiatives for undue medical debt, said
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: the first official letters will begin arriving next week. They
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: will notify more than 46,000 qualifying Kentuckians that that more
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: than $ 103 million of their medical debt has been erased.
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: No one chooses to get sick, get injured, or face
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: financial hardship simply because they needed health care, Story said.
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: To qualify, a person must be a Kentucky resident and
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: meet at least one of two financial standards. The person's
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: medical debt must equal 5% or more of annual household income,
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: or the household income must be at or below 400%
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: of the federal poverty level. 400% of the federal poverty
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: level is approximately $ 100, 000 for a family of three, according
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: to the governor's office. There is no application process, and
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: individuals cannot request that particular debts be purchased. Undue medical
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: debt will acquire qualifying accounts from participating hospitals and collection agencies,
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: Identify eligible Kentucky residents and send each recipient an official
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: letter identifying the debt that has been erased and the
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: creditor involved. Recipients will not owe taxes on the relief
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: and will not be required to take further action, according
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: to the program. The governor's office recommends keeping the letter
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: as proof that the debt was erased. During President Joe
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: Biden's administration, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued a rule
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: that would have prohibited consumer reporting agencies from including medical
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: debt on credit reports provided to lenders. It also would
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: have prohibited lenders from considering medical debt when deciding whether
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: a person qualified for credit. The Cornerstone Credit Union League
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: and Consumer Data Industry Association challenged the rule in federal court.
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: After President Donald Trump took office, the Consumer Financial Protection
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: Bureau changed its position and joined the plaintiffs in asking
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: the court to invalidate the regulation. The U.S. District Court
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: for the Eastern District of Texas vacated the rule on
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: July 11, 2025. The court concluded that the Consumer Financial
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: Protection Bureau had exceeded its authority under the Fair Credit
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: Reporting Act. Undue Medical Debt says it has eliminated more
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: than $ 49 billion in medical debt nationwide. A number of
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: states and local governments have established similar partnerships with the organization.
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: In the next story, Whitesburg plans to locate new pool
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: on higher ground. Whitesburg plans to build a replacement municipal
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: swimming pool on higher ground. about a half mile from
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: the existing pool, improving the city's chances of receiving a
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: federal grant for the project. The city has been without
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: a public pool for more than five years. The existing
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: pool initially closed for repairs and later sustained additional damage
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: during the catastrophic July 2022 flood. Before the flood, city
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: officials had planned to remove the wading pool and build
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: a splash pad for children. The city resumed work after
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: the disaster, but a state inspector stopped the project after
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: determining that the existing pump and filtration system could not
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: be used. It was a reimbursement grant and we had
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: to wait, said Mike Jackson, the city's special projects director.
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: Jackson said delays in beginning the project caused the earlier
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: grant to expire. Although the city had acquired equipment for
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: the splash pad, it still needed to hire a contractor.
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: The city now plans to build the splash pad at
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: the playground in James Wiley Craft Park, just downhill from
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: Whitesburg Appalachian Regional Hospital. The Whitesburg City Council accepted a
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: bid from Greg Hale Construction to build the splash pad.
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: Work is expected to begin soon. The proposed swimming pool
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: would be built between the Ledger County Conservation District building
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: and the city's wastewater treatment plant. The property was used
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: as a recreational vehicle park for people displaced by the
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: 2022 flood. Mayor Tiffany Craft said the city could rebuild
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: at the existing pool site, but could not use federal
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: money for the work because the property is in the floodplain.
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: It's in the floodplain and we're having a hard enough
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: time as it is getting funding, Kraft said. She said
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: Jackson had spoken with several grant writers who advised that
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: moving the pool to higher ground would improve the city's
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: chances of obtaining the money. It's still accessible from the
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: Tanglewood Trail, still a great access point, Kraft said. We're
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: more likely to get this funded. The City plans to
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: apply for a grant from the Federal Land and Water
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: Conservation Fund. The program provides grants of as much as
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: $ 1 million for outdoor recreational projects and requires recipients to
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: provide an equal match. If the application succeeds, the project
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: would cost approximately $ 2 million. City officials said the federal
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: grant would provide $ 1 million, while most of the required
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: match would come from a state program approved by the
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: Kentucky General Assembly. The city's direct contribution would be approximately $ 40, 000.
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: Jackson said the proposed location should score well under the
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: grant program because it is near senior housing and other
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: residential areas serving economically disadvantaged people. The location of that
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: property sits right on Tanglewood Trail, Jackson said. Those are
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: all factors in the story for that grant award. So
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: that's going to actually put us in a better scenario
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: than we would ever be with the original pool location.
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: In addition to recreational swimming, city officials said the pool
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: could be made available for physical therapy and other uses
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: intended to support economic activity. Plans call for the existing
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: pool to be removed. The whale-shaped building containing the dressing rooms,
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: an office, and a concession stand likely will remain. City
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: officials said the building could be renovated to provide concessions
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: and showers for people using the surrounding recreational facilities, including
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: the tennis and pickleball courts. Because the building remains in
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: the floodplain, the city would have to pay for that
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: work without federal assistance. The next headline is, Once planted
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: to help wildlife and reclaim mines, autumn olive now called invasive.
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: The red berries covering autumn olive bushes across Letcher County
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: this fall are reminders of a well-intended conservation effort that
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: produced consequences few people anticipated. Today, autumn olive is classified
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: as an invasive plant, that can crowd out vegetation native
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: to Kentucky. Beginning at least as early as the 1970s, however,
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: state forestry and wildlife officials promoted the Asian shrub as
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: a source of wildlife food and cover, and as a
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: hardy plant for reclaiming strip-mined and otherwise disturbed land. Stories
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: preserved in the Mountain Eagle's files document how state agencies
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: distributed autumn olive seedlings and how local organizations planted thousands
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: of them across Letcher County. The earliest reference located so
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: far appeared in the January 30, 1975 edition of the
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: Mountain Eagle. The article reported that the Kentucky Division of
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: Forestry and Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources were working
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: together to sell special packets of 100 seedlings intended for
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: wildlife plantings. Autumn olive was among the trees and shrubs
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: included in each $ 5 packet. The seedlings had been raised
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: in Division of Forestry nurseries. A Fish and Wildlife official
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: said the mixture was designed to provide a reliable source
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: of food for wildlife. People were advised to plant the
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: seedlings near cover so animals could make maximum use of them.
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: The push in Letcher County may have begun several years earlier.
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: In a February 3, 1987 Mountain Eagle story, Line Fork
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: Fish and Game Club president Vedas Cornett said club members
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: had begun planting autumn olive approximately 15 years earlier, placing
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: the beginning around 1972. Cornett said club representatives had learned
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: about the shrub by visiting a conservation officer and forest
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: ranger in Boone County, West Virginia, where officials had experimented
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: with autumn olive. They told me anything from a chipmunk
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: to a bear would thrive on them, Cornett recalled at
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: the time. By 1987, Cornett said, the Line Fork Club
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: had planted approximately 15,000 autumn olive bushes and was preparing
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: to plant 15,000 more. He also said the Kentucky Conservation
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: Department was planting them on former strip mine and auger
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: mine operations. Warning came by 1983. Kentucky reclamation officials were
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: formally recommending autumn olive by the early 1980s. A 1983
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: state manual, Revegetation of Kentucky Surface Mines' Lands, recommended mixing
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: autumn olive with autumn olive. and other nitrogen-fixing shrubs with
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: tree seedlings because officials believed the shrubs would improve tree
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: growth in poor mine soil. The manual advised that the
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: shrubs make up no more than 25% of a seedling mixture.
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: The manual described autumn olive as easily established across a
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: wide range of mine soil types and conditions. It said
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: the shrub provided wildlife food and cover, could serve as
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: a nurse plant for commercially valuable trees, and could grow
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: even where herbaceous ground cover was already established. Remarkably, the
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: same manual warned that autumn olive had the potential to
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: become a pest plant and had already been banned in
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: some West Virginia counties. Despite that warning, the shrub remained
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: widely promoted. An August 27, 1986 Mountain Eagle article announced
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: that the Kentucky Division of Forestry was selling autumn olive
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: seedlings in lots of 100, 500, and 1,000. Letcher County
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: Forest Guard James Roberts recommended tree planting on unreclaimed land,
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: abandoned pastures, depleted cropland and creek banks, as well as
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: in woodlands damaged by fire. By February 1989, the Line
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: Fork Fish and Game Club had planted more than 30,000
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: autumn olive bushes, Chinese chestnuts, and other food-bearing plants as
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: part of approximately 100 acres of wildlife food plots. At
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: the time, Cornett called the autumn olive plantings The salvation
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: of wild turkey, grouse, squirrels, raccoons, and deer in the area.
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: The praise was understandable. Autumn olive grows on acidic, infertile,
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: and badly disturbed ground, where many other plants struggle. It
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: grows quickly, bears large quantities of fruit eaten by birds
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: and mammals, and provides thick cover. Promotion continued into the 1990s.
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: The planting continued into the 1990s. In December 1992, the
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: Mountain Eagle reported that seven juvenile offenders performing community service
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: had planted more than 1,000 black walnut and autumn olive
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: seedlings around county-owned Fish Pond Lake. The Kentucky Division of
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: Forestry supplied the seedlings. A February 3, 1993 article announced
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: that the Division of Forestry was again accepting orders for
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: autumn olive and other seedlings. The plants were sold in
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: bundles of 100, 500, and 1,000, and special packets intended
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: for wildlife plantings were also available. On February 23, 1994...
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: The Mountain Eagle carried a recommendation from the Division of
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: Forestry concerning plants suitable for reclaiming disturbed sites. The Division
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: recommended black alder, black locust, autumn olive, bicolor lespedeza, or
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: pines for highly acidic bare land areas. Kentucky continued to
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: include autumn olive in its formal mine reclamation guidance in 1995.
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: Technical Reclamation Memorandum No. 21, issued January 6, 1995, was
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: prepared jointly by the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources,
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: Kentucky Division of Forestry, and Department for Surface Mining Reclamation
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: and Enforcement. The memorandum was incorporated by reference into Kentucky's
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: administrative regulations governing the revegetation of mine's land. It said
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: the species, planting arrangements, and seeding rates proposed by mine
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: operators would be approved individually by the state. It's a
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: serious problem now. The very qualities that made autumn olive
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: attractive for reclamation eventually made it a serious environmental problem.
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: Autumn olive, native to eastern Asia, can grow as tall
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: as 20 feet and develop into dense thickets that shade
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: out native grasses, wildflowers, shrubs, and young trees. Its roots
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: work with nitrogen-fixing bacteria, allowing the plant to thrive in
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: poor soil and giving it an advantage over native species
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: adapted to low nutrient conditions. The University of Kentucky Cooperative
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: Extension Service now describes autumn olive as particularly common and
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: problematic on reclaimed mining sites in Kentucky. A mature bush
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: can produce as many as 66,000 seeds in a year.
• 24:36
  Speaker 1: Birds and mammals eat the berries and distribute the seeds
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: across mined lands, roadsides, fields, and forest openings. Plants can
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: begin producing fruit when they are only three to five
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: years old. Removing it is difficult. Autumn olive can be
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: difficult to eliminate. Simply cutting or mowing an established plant
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: generally causes it to sprout again, sometimes more densely. Small
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: plants may be pulled if the entire root system is removed.
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: Larger bushes generally require repeated mechanical work or careful application
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: of an appropriate herbicide. Landowners considering removal should consult the
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: Letcher County Extension Office, Kentucky Division of Forestry, or a
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: qualified forester before beginning treatment. Native alternatives recommended by UK
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: specialists include American wild plum, sumac, American hazelnut, winterberry, and spicebush.
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: The old newspaper accounts do not show that anyone knowingly
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: introduced a harmful plant. Instead, they document how autumn olive
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: was regarded at the time, a hardy shrub that could
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: reclaim damaged land while providing food and shelter for wildlife.
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: Kentucky's own 1983 reclamation manual shows that officials had received
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: an early warning about the shrub's potential to become a pest. Nevertheless,
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: the state continued to distribute, recommend, and approve autumn olive
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: for mine reclamation and wildlife habitat. into at least the mid-1990s.
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: Decades later, landowners in Letcher County and elsewhere in the
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: state and region are trying to control a plant once
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: thought to be beneficial. The next story is Cougars Hold
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: Off Perry Central Improved to 3-1 The Letcher County Central
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: Cougars improved to 3-1 and extended their winning streak to
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: three games. with a 28-23 victory over Perry County Central
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: on September 11th at Cougar Stadium. Quarterback Gunnar Holbrook led
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: the Letcher Central passing attack, completing 15 of 32 attempts
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: for 225 yards and three touchdowns. He was intercepted twice
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: and sacked twice. The Cougars gained another 44 yards on
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: 23 rushing attempts. Bryson Frazier carried 16 times for 46
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: yards and scored Letcher Central's only rushing touchdown. Letcher Central
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: finished with 269 yards of offense with 225 coming through
• 27:20
  Speaker 1: the air. The Cougar defense helped preserve the five-point victory
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: by forcing four turnovers. Mason Stevens and Braxton Banks intercepted
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: passes while Frazier and Gunnar Hall recovered fumbles. The defense
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: also recorded three sacks, two tackles for loss, and six
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: pass breakups. Gavin Adams led Letcher Central with ten total tackles,
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: including nine assists. Will Reynolds made nine tackles, including five
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: solo stops, and recorded a sack and a tackle for loss.
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: Morgan Reynolds finished with six tackles and accounted for two
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: of the Cougars' three sacks. Frazier, Ryder, Day, and Kanan
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: Sargent recorded seven tackles each. Frazier also broke up a
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: pass and recovered a fumble, while Sargent had a tackle
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: for loss. Stevens had two pass breakups in addition to
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: his interception. Trigg Wisenant, Jeff Outlaw, and Magnus Morrell each
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: were credited with another pass breakup. Jackson Childers made two
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: of three extra point attempts. The victory followed wins over
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: Leslie County and Shelby Valley. Letters Central opened the season
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: with a loss to Johnson Central, but has not lost since.
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: This concludes the reading of The Mountain Eagle. Your reader
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: has been Bill VanArsdell. Now, please stay tuned for continued programming.
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: On behalf of everyone here at Radio Eye, thank you
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: for listening, and have a good day.