Transcript

8.6.26 · The Mountain Eagle

0:01
Speaker 1: Now we turn to the Mountain Eagle to read news
0:04
Speaker 1: from Whitesburg. Your reader today is build an arsenal. We
0:09
Speaker 1: will begin with the addition dated August fifth, twenty twenty six,
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Speaker 1: which the publishers have donated to RADIOI as a reminder.
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Speaker 1: RADIOI is a reading service intended for people who are
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Speaker 1: blind or have other disabilities that make it difficult to
0:24
Speaker 1: read printed material. The first headline is the caption of
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Speaker 1: a photograph from Farmers Supply to Farmers Market. A new
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Speaker 1: pavilion for the Whitsburg Lecture County Farmers Market is taking
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Speaker 1: shape in downtown Whisburg on the site of the original
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Speaker 1: Farmer's Supply Company, which was relocated to West Whitesburg in
0:48
Speaker 1: the nineteen seventies to make way for the Whitsburg Bypass.
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Speaker 1: Plans call for the completed pavilion to include thirty vendor
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Speaker 1: bays and are covered twenty by twenty foots stage. The
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Speaker 1: project is being funded through a one million dollar Abandoned
1:05
Speaker 1: mind Lands grant announced in twenty twenty one by US
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Speaker 1: Representative Hal Rogers and Governor Andy Basheer. An additional two
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Speaker 1: hundred and forty thousand dollars grant has since been awarded
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Speaker 1: to help cover unexpected costs, and the next headline is
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Speaker 1: Jenkins officials say they knew nothing about any data center.
1:30
Speaker 1: A Jenkins City Council member says he knew nothing about
1:33
Speaker 1: the possibility of a data center being built on the
1:36
Speaker 1: Gateway Business Park until the land option purchased by Project
1:40
Speaker 1: Maverick was made public. Councilman Sean Collier brought up the
1:45
Speaker 1: issue Monday night at a meeting of the Jenkins City
1:48
Speaker 1: Council after backlash from the public about the possibility. I
1:54
Speaker 1: found out about it, like everybody else did, Collier said.
1:57
Speaker 1: I just wanted on record that I didn't know the
1:59
Speaker 1: first thing about that. City Attorney Randall Tackett, who is
2:04
Speaker 1: also the attorney for the Appalachian Industrial Authority, said Collier
2:09
Speaker 1: or the other council members couldn't have known about a
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Speaker 1: data center because there isn't one. There is no data center,
2:15
Speaker 1: so there's nothing to bring to the council, he said.
2:20
Speaker 1: Documents show the Appalachian Industrial Authority signed an option for
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Speaker 1: a Project Maverick to purchase land on the Gateway Business
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Speaker 1: Park if it determines the land is suitable for construction
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Speaker 1: of a one hundred Megawat gas fired power plant to
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Speaker 1: attract a company to build a data center. Members of
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Speaker 1: the Lecture County Fiscal Court also said they knew nothing
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Speaker 1: about a data center and passed a two year moratorium
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Speaker 1: on such facilities and voted to require any company that
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Speaker 1: wants to place a data center to complete an environmental
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Speaker 1: impact study before building one. Some members of the court
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Speaker 1: expressed concern that a data center would adversely affect tourism
3:03
Speaker 1: in the area, especially the Raven Rock Resort that is
3:08
Speaker 1: currently being planned for the top of Pine Mountain near
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Speaker 1: Pound Gap. Design work for water and sewer extensions from
3:16
Speaker 1: the City of Jenkins to the proposed Raven Rock Resort
3:20
Speaker 1: are about fifty percent complete. The resort, which is being
3:25
Speaker 1: developed by the Eky Heritage Foundation, will include a conference center, cabins,
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Speaker 1: and bicycle and hiking trails, but it will have to
3:34
Speaker 1: have water and sewer service available before it can open.
3:38
Speaker 1: Those lines will be paid by a grant from the
3:41
Speaker 1: Kentucky Infrastructure Authority. The Jenkins City Council approved payments of
3:47
Speaker 1: fifteen thousand, two hundred and fifty dollars to engineering firm
3:51
Speaker 1: Nesbit Engineering for design of the sewer extension and twenty
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Speaker 1: seven thousand dollars for design of the water line extension.
4:01
Speaker 1: The council also voted to contract with the Kentucky River
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Speaker 1: Area Development District to administer the grant money for the project.
4:09
Speaker 1: The Raven Rock project is one of several underway in
4:12
Speaker 1: the city of Jenkins. The council on Monday night also
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Speaker 1: approved twelve thousand, two hundred twenty two dollars to Nesbit
4:20
Speaker 1: and DCMC Partners for storm sewer improvements, and voted to
4:26
Speaker 1: approve a bid from Hubert Technology for screen equipment for
4:30
Speaker 1: the city's sewage treatment plant. It is currently applying to
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Speaker 1: the Appalachian Regional Commission for money to expand the treatment plant.
4:40
Speaker 1: Another major project is the placement of a new water
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Speaker 1: storage tank to serve Grand View the new high ground
4:48
Speaker 1: subdivision being built beside US twenty three in the area
4:52
Speaker 1: formerly known as Slick Rock. Engineers told the city they
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Speaker 1: have settled on placing the water tank on the Gateway
5:00
Speaker 1: Industrial site because of the risk of subsidence caused by
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Speaker 1: underground mining in the area near the subdivision. The city
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Speaker 1: has a total of twenty six million dollars in funded
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Speaker 1: infrastructure projects, and the city tapped Planning Firm q K
5:17
Speaker 1: four to make sure all those projects move forward and
5:20
Speaker 1: are accountable to the public. Also, at the meeting on
5:25
Speaker 1: Monday night, the council approved tax rates that remain the
5:29
Speaker 1: same as last year's rates. The next story is three
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Speaker 1: indicted in separate cases. Three Electric County residents have been
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Speaker 1: indicted in Lectri Circuit Court in separate cases involving drug possession,
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Speaker 1: an alleged assault on a police officer, and a rollover crash.
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Speaker 1: Angelo Mullen's forty two of two thirty five Gray's Branch Road.
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Speaker 1: Jenkins is charged with first degree possession of a controlled
6:00
Speaker 1: substance involving metham fetamine, first offense, possession of drug paraphernalia,
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Speaker 1: third degree assault of a police or probation officer, and
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Speaker 1: resisting arrest. According to a uniform citation filed in the case,
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Speaker 1: Jenkins Police Chief Joshua Richardson was assisting fleming Neon police
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Speaker 1: Chief Dustin Jackson at a residence along Kentucky eight O
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Speaker 1: five near Haymond on July sixth when they encountered Mullins.
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Speaker 1: Richardson wrote that Mullins appeared to be highly intoxicated and
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Speaker 1: said she had used metham fetamine. A citation says a
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Speaker 1: glass pipe and a bottle containing a white crystal like
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Speaker 1: substance were found in Mullins's purse. Richardson alleged that Mullins
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Speaker 1: tried to run away as he attempted to place her
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Speaker 1: in a patrol vehicle, then kicked and kneed him in
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Speaker 1: the chest as he tried to fasten her seat belt.
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Speaker 1: Richardson wrote that Mullins later unbuckled herself and kicked and
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Speaker 1: headbutted the cage inside the vehicle. Richardson testified before the
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Speaker 1: grand jury. Travis Tackett, forty six, of fifty pine Wood Drive, Ermine,
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Speaker 1: is charged with first degree possession of a controlled substance
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Speaker 1: involving metham fetimin first offense, possession of marijuana, possession of
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Speaker 1: drug paraphernalia, and public intoxication involving a controlled substance other
7:29
Speaker 1: than alcohol. According to a uniform citation, Richardson was stopped
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Speaker 1: by a concerned citizen July seventh and told that a
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Speaker 1: man wearing a white T shirt appeared to be passed
7:41
Speaker 1: out beside Kentucky Ato five near the turn off to
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Speaker 1: Joe's Branch. Richardson wrote that he found Tacket sitting on
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Speaker 1: the steps of a residence, slumped over and initially unresponsive.
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Speaker 1: The citation alleges that Tackett repeatedly reached toward his pockets
8:00
Speaker 1: while police were checking his identification. During a search, police
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Speaker 1: allegedly found a glass pipe tucked behind Tacket's belt, a
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Speaker 1: folded piece of paper containing a white crystal like substance
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Speaker 1: believed to be methamphetamine, and a bag containing a green
8:17
Speaker 1: leafy substance believed to be marijuana. Cigarette rolling papers also
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Speaker 1: were found. According to the citation. Richardson testified before the
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Speaker 1: grand jury. Christian Adams twenty seven of twelve fifty one
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Speaker 1: Craft Collige road Ermine is charged with careless driving, operating
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Speaker 1: a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol or other substances,
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Speaker 1: tampering with physical evidence, three counts of first degree wanton endangement,
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Speaker 1: and being a second degree persistent felony offender. According to
8:54
Speaker 1: a Kentucky State Police citation, trooper Khalil Sloan responded shortly
8:58
Speaker 1: after three a m July eighteenth to a report of
9:02
Speaker 1: a crash with injuries on Limestone Drive in Whitsburg. Sloane
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Speaker 1: wrote that a Dodge Challenger carrying four people, had left
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Speaker 1: the road, struck a rock, overturned several times, and come
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Speaker 1: to rest in a ditch. One passenger told police that
9:20
Speaker 1: the driver appeared to be intoxicated and had been swerving
9:24
Speaker 1: before the crash. The passenger also alleged that the driver
9:29
Speaker 1: moved the damaged vehicle across the roadway after the crash
9:34
Speaker 1: and threw beer bottles down a hillside in an attempt
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Speaker 1: to hide them before police arrived. Adams told Sloan that
9:42
Speaker 1: he had been driving to show the passengers and overlook
9:45
Speaker 1: on Pine Mountain when an animal he believed was a
9:48
Speaker 1: black bear entered the roadway, causing him to swerve. According
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Speaker 1: to the citation, Sloan wrote that Adams admitted drinking four
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Speaker 1: large Budweiser beers before driving. A preliminary breath test registered
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Speaker 1: zero point one two, and Sloan reported observing several signs
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Speaker 1: of impairment during field sobriety tests. Adams was taken to
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Speaker 1: Wisburg rh and refused breath, blood, and urine tests after
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Speaker 1: being advised of Kentucky's implied consent law and being given
10:22
Speaker 1: time to contact an attorney. The citation says Sloan testified
10:27
Speaker 1: before the grand jury. An indictment is an accusation and
10:32
Speaker 1: does not establish guilt. The next story is city officials
10:40
Speaker 1: reviewing preliminary hotel plans with hope for forty two rooms.
10:47
Speaker 1: Preliminary plans for the Daniel Boone Hotel in Whitsburg have
10:51
Speaker 1: been submitted to the city and are now in the
10:53
Speaker 1: process of being revised. Mayor Tiffany Kraft said Joseph and
10:58
Speaker 1: Joseph Architects, the firm selected for the second phase of
11:02
Speaker 1: the project, has asked for the first payment of one
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Speaker 1: hundred sixty four thousand, nine hundred thirty one dollars and
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Speaker 1: seventy five cents, and the Lecture County Fiscal Court, which
11:13
Speaker 1: is acting as the city's fiscal agent for the grant,
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Speaker 1: approved the payment last week. E k Y Heritage Foundation
11:20
Speaker 1: Incorporated is advising the city on the project. We had
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Speaker 1: to make some adjustments to those plans and we've sent
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Speaker 1: it to them now. Kraft said. The first plan included
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Speaker 1: king beds sweeps, and the city has asked for Queen's
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Speaker 1: suites instead in an attempt to fit more rooms into
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Speaker 1: the hotel. We're predicting forty two rooms. She said. The
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Speaker 1: current project will include windows and doors and cleaning the
11:49
Speaker 1: outside of the building. The first floor will be white boxed,
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Speaker 1: meaning walls will be completed and painted white, but fixtures
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Speaker 1: will not be installed. That will allow a potential retail
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Speaker 1: tenant to finish the space as it chooses. We want
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Speaker 1: people to come in who have private businesses, Kraft said.
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Speaker 1: The basement is also expected to be completed, possibly with
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Speaker 1: a ball room and conference rooms, but that plan hasn't
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Speaker 1: been finalized. Whatever it includes, Craft said she would like
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Speaker 1: to keep the exposed brick in that area the basement.
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Speaker 1: We just talked about electrical and plumbing, she said. We're
12:30
Speaker 1: talking about things we would like to see that could
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Speaker 1: go down there, but we haven't decided. The nine thousand,
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Speaker 1: two hundred twenty four square foot building opened on Independence
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Speaker 1: Day weekend in nineteen twenty and was last used as
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Speaker 1: a hotel in nineteen seventy four. Mountain Comprehensive Health Corporation
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Speaker 1: converted it into a clinic and office space in nineteen
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Speaker 1: seventy five. In the nineteen nineties, it served as the
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Speaker 1: Electra County court House while the court building down the
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Speaker 1: street was being renovated. The Dallhare family gave the one
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Speaker 1: hundred and six year old hotel to the city in
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Speaker 1: two thousand and nine, and it sat empty until the
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Speaker 1: roof and floors collapsed from a leaky skylight. The first
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Speaker 1: phase of renovations was in twenty nineteen, when now retired
13:20
Speaker 1: architect Bill Richardson designed Renovations and SSRG, a Cincinnati firm
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Speaker 1: known for historic restorations, stabilized the building and replaced the
13:31
Speaker 1: roof and sub floors and built a new elevator shaft.
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Speaker 1: That work cost about one point five million dollars, but
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Speaker 1: it still left the building with just the basic shell
13:43
Speaker 1: and structural elements. That original work was paid for by
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Speaker 1: a grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission. The new phase
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Speaker 1: of work is being funded through a three million dollars
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Speaker 1: state earmark approved by the Kentucky General Assembly. According to
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Speaker 1: the city, Joseph and Joseph Architects brings extensive experience in
14:05
Speaker 1: historic rehabilitation and community centered design. The first projects include
14:11
Speaker 1: the Dream Hotel and jo La Hotel in Louisville, Angels
14:16
Speaker 1: env Distillery in Louisville, New Albany City Hall in Indiana,
14:21
Speaker 1: and Mixer's Fort Nelson Distillery, also in Louisville. City officials
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Speaker 1: said the Daniel Boone Hotel project is expected to create
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Speaker 1: new lodging and retail opportunities while preserving the character and
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Speaker 1: legacy of one of Wlisburg's most iconic buildings. The next
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Speaker 1: item is the caption of two photographs Flood of July
14:45
Speaker 1: two thousand, twenty two being remembered through artwork. Seen in
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Speaker 1: these photographs are a mosaic mural project which reflects the
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Speaker 1: one thousand year flood of July twenty eighth, two thousand
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Speaker 1: twenty two and the history of our region. Located in
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Speaker 1: downtown Watchburg behind the old post Office, it is a
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Speaker 1: project of the Kallan Community Action Group at the Kallan
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Speaker 1: Community Center and mainly consists of both things broken by
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Speaker 1: the flood as well as historical pieces. Seen in both
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Speaker 1: photos is the mural's creator and designer, renowned Appalachian artist
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Speaker 1: Lacey Hale and her summer intern Julian Holt, a Electric County
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Speaker 1: native studying fine art at Eastern Kentucky University. One photo
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Speaker 1: features a mirror from the old Southeast Coal Company bath
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Speaker 1: house at Cicco, where the miners all cleaned up after work.
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Speaker 1: The mirror was donated to the project by Debbie togl Pendley,
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Speaker 1: a historian, musician, and artist living in Cicco. The next
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Speaker 1: story is Jenkins would like its own ambulance service, but
15:57
Speaker 1: the cost is overwhelming. Despite concerns from council members and
16:02
Speaker 1: other officials, the city of Jenkins will not be getting
16:05
Speaker 1: its own ambulance service anytime soon. After a report from
16:10
Speaker 1: Fire Chief Corbette, the council decided the city could not
16:14
Speaker 1: afford the nearly one million dollar startup cost. Corbett was
16:19
Speaker 1: asked by the city council to look into the possibility
16:21
Speaker 1: of an ambulance service. Because of long response times, Neon
16:27
Speaker 1: fire and rescue handles calls county wide now after the
16:30
Speaker 1: shutdown of lecture ems and fire departments, and local officials
16:35
Speaker 1: are concerned it doesn't have enough staff to reach patients
16:38
Speaker 1: quickly enough. Fire chiefs say they often have to rely
16:41
Speaker 1: on ambulances from other counties to respond because there is
16:45
Speaker 1: none available inside the county. Emergency medical technicians volunteering at
16:51
Speaker 1: fire departments have been providing first response for many calls
16:55
Speaker 1: and taking care of patients until an ambulance arrives. Which
17:00
Speaker 1: fire department is the only department in the county with
17:02
Speaker 1: paid firefighters on duty around the clock, though it still
17:06
Speaker 1: is classed as a volunteer fire department. Corbett told the
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Speaker 1: Jenkins Council the Kentucky Board of Emergency Medical Services KBEMS
17:17
Speaker 1: said new ambulances cost around four hundred thousand dollars each
17:21
Speaker 1: and the city would need two. That would mean a
17:24
Speaker 1: department serving only the city would come up in the
17:26
Speaker 1: negative unless it had three thousand runs per year. We
17:31
Speaker 1: were told there would be about fifteen hundred here, he said.
17:36
Speaker 1: He said the good news for the city is that
17:38
Speaker 1: if it were able to start an emergency ambulance service,
17:41
Speaker 1: it would indeed the state's approval for it. They say
17:45
Speaker 1: a city or a county does not need a certificate
17:48
Speaker 1: of need as long as they are using the ambulance
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Speaker 1: service for nine to one one, Corbett said. He said
17:55
Speaker 1: KBEMS also recommended starting as a basic life support service
18:00
Speaker 1: instead of opting for advanced life support immediately. Basic life
18:05
Speaker 1: support service use emergency medical technicians, who have a much
18:09
Speaker 1: narrower scope of practice than paramedics and are paid less.
18:14
Speaker 1: BLS ambulances do not carry the wide variety of medicines
18:18
Speaker 1: that als ambulances do, and do carry some of the
18:22
Speaker 1: more expensive equipment, such as electron heart monitors. With built
18:26
Speaker 1: in defibrillators, Paramedics can administer a wide variety of medicine,
18:33
Speaker 1: read ECGs, intubate patients, and perform other tasks similar to
18:38
Speaker 1: those a patient would receive in an emergency room. Equipping
18:42
Speaker 1: an ALS ambulance is much more expensive because of the
18:45
Speaker 1: medications and equipment needed for paramedics to make a difference.
18:51
Speaker 1: Councilman Rick Damrun indicated he did not know the city
18:54
Speaker 1: could run BLS ambulances, but Corbett assured him it could.
18:59
Speaker 1: Said Pikeville had a BLS until recently and is now
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Speaker 1: switched to ALS. That's good information, but I would still
19:07
Speaker 1: like to see us get one here. Dannren said, maybe
19:11
Speaker 1: if we could get some business around here and more people,
19:14
Speaker 1: more tax dollars coming in, we could get one. And
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Speaker 1: next is a photograph with the caption along for the ride.
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Speaker 1: A small bird, believed to be an Eastern phoebe, perches
19:28
Speaker 1: on the back of a young buck as the deer
19:30
Speaker 1: grazes in Electric County. Birds sometimes help deer by eating ticks, fleas, flies,
19:37
Speaker 1: and other biting insects from their coats. Although the little
19:40
Speaker 1: passenger may simply have been enjoying a convenient perch. The
19:47
Speaker 1: next story is Feds ending Medicare drug plan. What will
19:52
Speaker 1: the cost be? Millions of older adults on Medicare prescription
19:58
Speaker 1: drug coverage could face deeper monthly costs in twenty twenty seven,
20:03
Speaker 1: after the Trump administration concludes a temporary subsidy program that
20:07
Speaker 1: has helped offset premiums for the past two years, The
20:12
Speaker 1: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has announced it would
20:15
Speaker 1: wrap up the program, which was initially implemented by the
20:18
Speaker 1: Biden administration in twenty twenty four, to lower patients Medicare
20:23
Speaker 1: Part D prescription drug costs in response to effects of
20:27
Speaker 1: the twenty twenty two Inflation Reduction Act. While federal officials
20:32
Speaker 1: insist the financial impact on Medicare beneficiaries will be minimal,
20:37
Speaker 1: the decision opens the Republican led administration to potential political
20:41
Speaker 1: consequences in a high stake's mid term election year. Voters
20:46
Speaker 1: have identified cost of living as a top concern, and
20:50
Speaker 1: many older adults who tend to vote in high numbers
20:53
Speaker 1: are on fixed incomes where every dollar counts. The roughly
20:58
Speaker 1: twenty five million Americans with Medicare Part D plans will
21:02
Speaker 1: find out about their twenty twenty seven rates in the
21:05
Speaker 1: fall when they are casting ballots in November's elections. Democrats
21:11
Speaker 1: slammed cms's move as part of a pattern of federal
21:15
Speaker 1: attacks on healthcare affordability. Alongside federal Medicaid cuts and the
21:20
Speaker 1: expiration of Affordable Care Act subsidies that had reduced premium
21:24
Speaker 1: costs for working age Americans. In that program, the Trump
21:29
Speaker 1: administration is actively raising prescription drug costs for twenty five
21:33
Speaker 1: million seniors. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer wrote on X
21:37
Speaker 1: in response to the news, which was first reported by
21:40
Speaker 1: The Wall Street Journal, heartless, cruel, and completely by choice.
21:47
Speaker 1: CMS administrator doctor mermet Oz last week said ending the
21:52
Speaker 1: subsidy program would prevent billions of taxpayer dollars from being
21:56
Speaker 1: funneled to insurance companies. It costs the agency and n
22:00
Speaker 1: estimated three point six billion dollars in twenty twenty six.
22:05
Speaker 1: He said most Medicare beneficiaries would see less than a
22:08
Speaker 1: ten dollars per month increase, and some would even see
22:11
Speaker 1: lower premiums than beforehand. Every Medicare beneficiary still has access
22:17
Speaker 1: to low cost plans, and we will continue to lower
22:20
Speaker 1: prescription drug prices for every American patient from more MFN
22:25
Speaker 1: deals to our policy giving seniors access to GLP ones
22:29
Speaker 1: for fifty dollars a month, he wrote on social media.
22:35
Speaker 1: The federal government also negotiates directly with pharmaceutical companies to
22:39
Speaker 1: lower the prices of some of the most expensive drugs
22:42
Speaker 1: in Medicare through a program created by Congress in twenty
22:46
Speaker 1: twenty two. The decision has no impact on the out
22:51
Speaker 1: of pocket cap that limits the amount that older adults
22:54
Speaker 1: with standalone Medicare drug coverage spend on their prescription drugs
22:58
Speaker 1: over the course of a year. That was set at
23:01
Speaker 1: two thousand, one hundred dollars in twenty twenty six and
23:05
Speaker 1: is projected to rise to two thousand, four hundred dollars
23:08
Speaker 1: for twenty twenty seven. Part D beneficiaries paid an average
23:14
Speaker 1: of thirty six dollars a month this year for their
23:17
Speaker 1: prescription drug premiums. With the subsidies in place, according to
23:21
Speaker 1: the healthcare research nonprofit KFF, the subsidies offset the average
23:26
Speaker 1: premium by sixteen dollars in twenty twenty six, according to
23:30
Speaker 1: the Federal Medicare Payment Advisory Commission MEDPACK. It's not yet
23:35
Speaker 1: known how many Americans the change will effect or how
23:39
Speaker 1: much more they'll pay. Older Americans have the opportunity to
23:43
Speaker 1: shop for plans each year, and prices vary widely between them.
23:48
Speaker 1: CMS has said it will release information about next year's
23:52
Speaker 1: premiums in September. AARP executive vice president Nancy Lee Mand
23:58
Speaker 1: said her organization, which serves Americans fifty and older, had
24:02
Speaker 1: supported the temporary subsidy. While it's too early to know
24:07
Speaker 1: the full impact of this change, it would be unfortunate
24:10
Speaker 1: if this decision made Part D coverage less affordable, just
24:14
Speaker 1: as we're beginning to see billions in savings from Medicare
24:17
Speaker 1: drug price negotiation, she said in a statement. Juliette Kubanski,
24:23
Speaker 1: vice president and Director of the Program on Medicare Policy
24:27
Speaker 1: at KFF, said the price increases may be marginal for
24:31
Speaker 1: some consumers but impactful for others when combined with higher
24:35
Speaker 1: prices in other areas like groceries, gas, and housing. What's
24:41
Speaker 1: going to matter most for consumers is how much more
24:44
Speaker 1: or less they have to pay at the end of
24:45
Speaker 1: a month, and how much they have left after the
24:48
Speaker 1: bills are paid. She said, this could just make it
24:51
Speaker 1: more challenging for some people to make that math work.
24:57
Speaker 1: The next story is Imagine Nation Library delivers one hundred
25:02
Speaker 1: thousand books to kids here. Dolly Parton's Imagination Library of
25:08
Speaker 1: Electric County has reached a major milestone, mailing more than
25:12
Speaker 1: one hundred thousand free books to local children since the
25:15
Speaker 1: program began here in January twenty twelve. The program mail's
25:21
Speaker 1: one age appropriate book each month to participating children from
25:26
Speaker 1: birth until their fifth birthday. There is no cost to
25:30
Speaker 1: their families. The Rotary Club of Whitesburg launched the Imagination
25:35
Speaker 1: Library program in Lectric County to promote early childhood literacy
25:40
Speaker 1: and help children prepare for kindergarten. According to program figures,
25:45
Speaker 1: approximately one thousand fifty nine children in Lectric County are
25:49
Speaker 1: eligible to receive books through the Imagination Library. Of these,
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Speaker 1: nine hundred seventy are registered and receiving a book each month.
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Speaker 1: Organizers say the one hundred thousand book milestone represents thousands
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Speaker 1: of occasions when children and their caregivers have sat together
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Speaker 1: to read and develop skills that will help prepare the
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Speaker 1: children for school. For some families facing financial difficulties, organizers
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Speaker 1: said the books provided through the program may be the
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Speaker 1: only children's books in the home. Early exposure to books
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Speaker 1: can help children build their vocabularies, strengthen language development, and
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Speaker 1: improve their chances for success in school. Organizers said the
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Speaker 1: program is especially important in Electric County, where kindergarten readiness
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Speaker 1: continues to be a concern. Members of the Rotary Club
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Speaker 1: of Whitesburg said they remain committed to enrolling more eligible
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Speaker 1: children and continuing efforts to improve literacy in the county.
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Speaker 1: The program is supported by local volunteers and Rotary Club members,
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Speaker 1: Whitesburg ARH Babies at Birth Initiative, community donors, businesses, and
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Speaker 1: grant providers. Organizers also credited The Mountain Eagle for regularly
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Speaker 1: publishing information about the program. Donations may be made to
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Speaker 1: the Whitesburg Rotary Foundation and mailed to Post Office Box
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Speaker 1: four six, Watchburg, Kentucky four one eight five eight. Children
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Speaker 1: younger than five may be registered online at imaginationlibrary dot com.
27:30
Speaker 1: The next story is line Forkman sixty seven succumbs to
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Speaker 1: motorcycle crash injuries passengers still hospitalized. A Line Forkman died
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Speaker 1: Friday in a Tennessee hospital of injuries he received in
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Speaker 1: a motorcycle accident two days earlier. Charles Gregg Bentley, sixty seven,
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Speaker 1: of Line Fork, died at Johnson City Medical Center from
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Speaker 1: multiple injuries caused by the crash July twenty ninth at
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Speaker 1: Line Coreen Fraser, a passenger on the motorcycle, remains in
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Speaker 1: critical condition in the Intensive Carry Unit at the Johnson
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Speaker 1: City Medical Center. This concludes the reading of The Mountain Eagle.
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Speaker 1: Your reader has been billed an arsenal. Now please stay
28:19
Speaker 1: tuned for continued programming on behalf of everyone here at
28:23
Speaker 1: Radio I. Thank you for listening and have a good day.