Transcript

3.20.25 · The Mountain Eagle

0:01
Speaker 1: Now we turn to The Mountain Eagle to read news
0:04
from Witzburg. Your reader today is Bill den Arsdal. We
0:09
will begin with the addition dated March nineteenth, twenty twenty five,
0:13
which the publishers have donated to RADIOI as a reminder.
0:18
RADIOI is a reading service intended for people who are
0:20
blind or have other disabilities that make it difficult to
0:23
read printed material. The first item is the caption of
0:28
a photograph why did the turkey cross the road? After
0:32
a week, it's still crossing back and forth across US
0:36
one nineteen, Kentucky fifteen, and Kentucky two oh three four
0:40
at Pine Mountain Junction, making cars swerve to miss it
0:45
and sometimes stopping traffic as its trolls to the other side.
0:49
A wildlife biologist was expected to come and move it along,
0:53
but it was still there at press time while it
0:56
was enjoying McDonald's last week. It had moved to Pine
1:00
Mountain Grill by lunchtime on Tuesday. The next story is
1:06
nearly seven hundred students could be hurt if cuts in
1:09
funding approved. Nearly seven hundred children in Letcher County with
1:14
physical and mental disabilities, developmental delays, and learning differences could
1:20
be effected by cuts announced at the US Department of
1:23
Education's Office of Civil Rights. The OCR is tasked with
1:28
overseeing compliance with several civil rights laws, including Section five
1:32
oh four of the Rehabilitation Act of nineteen seventy three,
1:37
which prevents discrimination based on disability. The Department of Education
1:42
announced last week that it has cut the staff of
1:44
the department in half, with two hundred forty three employees
1:48
of the Office of Civil Rights being fired and seven
1:52
of the twelve regional offices of the OCR closed. The
1:56
cuts from the OCR amount to more than eighteen percent
1:59
of the total employees eliminated. Superintendents of the Letcher County
2:03
School District and the Jenkins Independent School District say that
2:07
so far they have not experienced any cuts, but they
2:11
have received no guidance from the federal government about what
2:14
will happen now. I'm worried about it, but I have
2:18
no information. Jenkins Superintendent Damian Johnson said. The Jenkins Independent
2:24
Schools had eighty nine students with disabilities according to last
2:27
report available from the Kentucky Department of Education, and Letcher
2:31
County had five hundred and ninety nine. The primary handicaps
2:36
or disabilities are speech and developmental delay, which covers a
2:40
child up to age nine, said Regina Brown, director of
2:44
Special Education, preschool, Health, home bound and Alternative Education for
2:49
the district. At that point, students who are still behind
2:52
their peers are tested to determine if they have a
2:55
more serious disability. A news release from the U. S
2:59
Secretary of Education said all statutory programs will continue. It's
3:05
not clear who would administrate grants to local districts or
3:08
protect the civil rights of students, or which programs the
3:11
Trump administration considers statutory. The Department of Education itself is
3:16
statutory because it was created by Congress, but the President
3:21
has decided unilaterally to close it. Lectra County gets about
3:26
seventeen million dollars a year through the Department of Education,
3:30
mostly for disabled students and for school breakfast and launch.
3:34
Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which
3:38
provides supplemental funding to districts with high percentages of low
3:42
income students, is used for disadvantaged students, mainly those with disabilities.
3:48
About two thirds of federal total comes from Title I.
3:52
Today's reduction in force reflects the Department of Education's commitment
3:56
to efficiency, accountability, and ensuring that resources are directed where
4:00
they matter most to students, parents, and teachers. Secretary of
4:05
Education Lynda McMahon said in the news release, I appreciate
4:09
the work of the dedicated public servants and their contributions
4:12
to the department. This is a significant step toward restoring
4:15
the greatness of the United States education system. McMahon, former
4:20
president and chief executive officer of World Wrestling Entertainment, was
4:24
appointed by President Donald Trump to close the Department of
4:27
Education and started her new job two weeks ago. The
4:32
department cut nearly half of its workforce through emailed notices
4:35
of termination. So far, McMahon claims about two one hundred
4:40
eighty three of the department's four one hundred seventy three
4:44
employees have been fired or resigned. About six hundred retired
4:49
or took the quit and took the payout. The rest
4:52
were fired and promised they will receive pay through June ninth.
4:56
Out of twelve ocr regional offices opened when mc the
5:00
man took over March third, just five remain. Those are
5:04
in Washington, Atlanta, Denver, Kansas City, and Seattle. Offices in
5:09
New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, Cleveland, San Francisco, and Dallas
5:13
were closed. The Letcher County School District also uses around
5:18
two million dollars a year from the Department of Agriculture
5:22
to provide free lunch and breakfast. All students get two
5:26
meals a day free. The administration last month cut one
5:30
billion dollars from the portion of that program that helps
5:33
schools and food pantries purchase locally grown fresh food. The
5:39
next story is work set to begin on clearing flood
5:43
debris from river creeks. Contractors are expected to begin clearing
5:48
debris from streams this week in Lectri County in the
5:51
wake of the flood that occurred February fourteen to fifteen.
5:55
E Lectri Fiscal Court will use DRC Emergency Service of Gallas, Texas,
6:01
which has already signed a master contract with the Kentucky
6:04
Transportation Cabinet, to manage local contractors collecting and hauling debris.
6:10
Some magistrates and local contractors at the court meeting last
6:14
week were concerned about how much debris they will be
6:17
allowed to take. The scope of work here is going
6:20
to be limited, and my understanding right now is going
6:24
to be emergency bridges is pretty much the only thing
6:26
that's approved of, said Jonathan Tucker, a local contractor chosen
6:31
by DRC to subcontract here. No right away projects one
6:37
hundred feet on every side of every bridge and every
6:39
culvert has not been approved of, and bridges emergency blockage
6:43
just going to be in under or on bridges. While
6:47
Tucker said he believes the only work allowed will be
6:50
for things that create an emergency, Judge Executive Terry Adams said,
6:55
every one of our structures that has debris on, under,
6:58
or in, in my opinion, is an emergency. If we
7:02
have four inches of rain next week, all that is
7:04
going to be washed out. To address concerns from the
7:08
contractors and the fiscal court, Eric Gibson, director of Kentucky
7:12
Emergency Management, told The Mountain Eagle Tuesday that there is
7:16
no prescribed distance mentioned for removal of debris. Gibson said
7:22
the state is going strictly by the guidelines supplied to
7:25
it by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which say debris
7:29
that is a threat to life, public health, safety, or
7:32
significant damage to property should be removed. While the Kentucky
7:37
Transportation Cabinet let the contract under which counties can choose
7:41
to hire a contractor, Kentucky Emergency Management provides expert assistance
7:46
in their removal. The Army Corps of Engineers determines whether
7:50
any silt or gravel may be removed. Expenses for cleaning
7:55
up from the flood will be mostly reimbursed by FEMA,
7:58
but the state will still be responsible for twelve percent
8:01
of the cost and the county will be responsible for
8:04
thirteen percent. In the twenty two flood, our portion was
8:08
such an enormous amount, the state paid our part, and
8:12
I don't think they're going to do that this year.
8:14
Speaker 2: Adams said.
8:16
Speaker 1: Unless the state and FEMA agree to extend this out further,
8:19
we can't do that. We don't have funding capability of
8:22
making this happen. We're at their mercy. We know what
8:26
needs to be done. Every stream in Lecher County needs
8:29
to be dug out, but we can't do that. In
8:34
other business, at the regular March meeting, the court heard
8:38
a request from the West Leccher Oral History Society that
8:42
the county place a state historical marker in front of
8:45
the courthouse honoring the late Narse Whittaker. Whittaker, who was
8:49
born on Mill Branch at Roxanna, was Kentucky's most decorated
8:54
soldier during World War II. Whittaker reached his landmark title
8:58
of most Decorated Kentucky Soldier in nineteen forty three during
9:02
the campaign in the South Pacific. Whittaker was a B
9:06
seventeen bomber pilot and rose to the rank of colonel,
9:10
the highest rank for field grade officers. If approved, the
9:14
historical marker would join one honoring the late Francis Gary
9:17
Powers of Jenkins, who was piloting a U two spyplane
9:22
for the CIA when he was shot down by a
9:25
Service to Air missile in nineteen sixty over the Soviet Union.
9:29
The court approved returning about eight four hundred dollars from
9:33
the auction of surplus police cruisers to the sheriff's department,
9:37
and approved the sale of two more cruisers to the
9:40
Jenkins Police Department and a constable in Tennessee. Sheriff Billy
9:45
Jones said he will use money from the sales to
9:48
purchase laptop computers for the department's cars. Jones said the
9:53
department is in the process of switching all of its
9:55
vehicles to four wheel drive SUVs, and the vehicles he
10:00
has bought so far already have the mounts for the computers,
10:04
known as mobile data terminals or mdts. He said the
10:08
mdts will allow deputies to write their reports in their
10:11
vehicles without coming back to the Sheriff's office. The court
10:15
voted to hire Thompson Consulting Services, LLC of Florida to
10:20
monitor flood debris clean up. Thompson was the low bidder.
10:25
Magistrate Kenny Anderson asked why the court isn't bidding work
10:29
for entire hollows instead of bidding individual repairs related to
10:33
the flood. Laurel Mathula, a VM assist, a contractor who
10:38
tracks projects and writes grants for the county, said when
10:42
the inspections were done prior to work beginning, projects were
10:45
listed by road name in alphabetical order. She said while
10:50
the projects could be bid for an entire road, any
10:53
roads off the main hollow road would not be listed
10:56
with it. The court voted to terminate its contract with
11:00
electrical inspector Gary Thompson. Adams said that by law, septic
11:05
tanks must be approved by the Letcher County Health Department
11:08
before electrical service is approved for a new home, but
11:12
the contractor had not been coordinating with the Health Department,
11:16
and the court approved regular business, including the Treasurer's report.
11:21
The jail commissary report and approved bills for payment. The
11:26
next headline is she's now one hundred and one. Opal
11:31
Johnson Marcus, a native of Letcher County, recently celebrated her
11:35
one hundred first birthday. Family members say she is very
11:39
independent and able to live alone and cook her own
11:42
meals in the Michigan home where she now lives, the
11:46
widow of Red Marcus. She enjoys playing cards and bingo.
11:51
The next story is judge orders mental exam for ex sheriff.
11:57
A judge has ordered a psychiatric examination for former Leccher
12:01
County Sheriff Sean Mickey Steins, who is facing a murder
12:05
charge in the September eighteen, twenty twenty four shooting of
12:09
District Judge Kevin R.
12:10
Speaker 2: Mullens. Special Judge Christopher T.
12:14
Speaker 1: Korn issued the order on Friday, March fourteenth, in response
12:18
to a motion by Special Commonwealth's Attorney Jackie Steele. Stein's
12:23
defense attorneys had also given notice that they planned to
12:26
put on a defense of insanity or extreme emotional distress.
12:32
The order filed last week says one or more psychologists
12:35
or psychiatrists shall examine, treat when applicable, and report on
12:40
the defendant's medical condition. The examination shall assess whether the
12:46
defendant meets the criteria of insanity as defined in KRS
12:51
five four point zero six to zero sub Section five.
12:55
If so, the examiner shall opine whether, as a result
12:58
of mental illness or retardation, the defendant lacked the substantial
13:02
capacity either to appreciate the criminality of his conduct or
13:06
to conform his conduct to the requirements of the law.
13:10
The order says this examination shall also assess whether the
13:14
defendant suffers or has suffered from a mental disease or defect,
13:19
or any other mental condition that bears on the issues
13:23
of guilt and punishment. The next story is Social Security
13:28
Administration to require in person identity checks for millions of recipients.
13:35
In an effort to limit fraudulent claims, The Social Security
13:39
Administration will impose tighter identity proofing measures, which will require
13:44
millions of recipients and applicants to visit agency field offices
13:49
rather than interact with the agency over the phone. Beginning
13:53
March thirty first, people will no longer be able to
13:55
verify their identity to the SSSAY over the phone, and
13:59
those who can not properly verify their identity over the
14:02
agency's My Social Security online service will be required to
14:07
visit an agency field office in person to complete the
14:10
verification process. Agency leadership told reporters Tuesday. The change will
14:16
apply to new Social Security applicants and existing recipients who
14:20
want to change their direct deposit information. Retiree advocates warn
14:26
that the change will negatively impact older Americans in rural areas,
14:30
including those with disabilities, mobility limitations, those who live far
14:35
from SSA offices and have limited Internet access. The plan
14:40
also comes as the agency plans to shutter dozens of
14:43
Social Security offices throughout the country and has already laid
14:47
out plans to lay off thousands of workers. In addition
14:51
to the identity verification change, the agency announced that it
14:55
plans to expedite processing of recipients direct deposit change requests,
15:00
both in person and online, to one business day. Previously,
15:05
on line direct deposit changes were held for thirty days.
15:09
The Social Security Administration is losing over one hundred million
15:12
dollars a year in direct deposit fraud. Leland Dudeck, the
15:17
agency's acting commissioner, said on a Tuesday evening call with reporters.
15:22
His first call with the media Social Security can better
15:25
protect Americans while expediting service. He said, a problem with
15:30
eliminating fraudulent claims is that the information that we use
15:34
through knowledge based authentication is already in the public domain.
15:39
This is a common sense measure. Doudeck added. More than
15:43
seventy two point five million people, including retirees and children,
15:48
receive retirement and disability benefits through the Social Security Administration.
15:53
Connecticut Representative John Larson, the top Democrat on the House
15:57
Ways and Means Social Security sub Committee, said in a
16:00
statement that by requiring seniors and disabled Americans to enroll
16:05
online or in person at the same field offices, they
16:08
are trying to close rather than over the phone. Trump
16:11
and Musk are trying to create chaos and inefficiencies at
16:15
SSA so they can privatize the system. The DOGE web
16:19
site says that leases for forty seven Social Security field
16:23
offices across the country, including in Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, Florida, Kentucky,
16:28
and North Carolina, have been or will be ended. However,
16:33
Dudeck downplayed the impact of its offices shuddering, saying many
16:37
were small, remote hearing sites that serve few members of
16:41
the public. Many Americans have been concerned that SSA office
16:45
closures and massive layoffs of federal workers, part of an
16:49
effort by President Donald Trump and Elon Musk's Department of
16:53
Government Efficiency to shrink the size of the federal government,
16:57
will make getting benefits even more didafer difficult.
17:01
Speaker 2: Musk has pushed debunked.
17:03
Speaker 1: Theories about Social Security and described the federal benefit programs
17:07
as rife with fraud and called it a Ponzi scheme,
17:11
suggesting the program will be a primary target in his
17:14
crusade to reduce government spending. Voters have flooded town halls
17:19
across the country to question Republican lawmakers about the Trump
17:23
administration's cuts, including its plans for the old age benefits program.
17:29
In addition, a group of labor unions last week sued
17:32
and asked a federal court for an emergency order to
17:35
stop DOGE from accessing the sensitive social security data of
17:39
millions of Americans. The next headline is you can eat free,
17:45
learn on Diabetes Alert Day. Mountain Comprehensive Health Corporation is
17:51
sponsoring a Diabetes Alert Day on March twenty fifth, from
17:55
eleven am until two pm. The event is free and
17:59
will be held at Caine Kitchen in Whitesburg. The facility
18:03
is located at thirty eight College Drive.
18:06
Speaker 2: Join us for.
18:07
Speaker 1: A free diabetes friendly meal, giveaways, aic and glucose checks,
18:12
blood pressure readings, foot exams, education, and much more. MCCHC
18:18
says in a release announcing the event. For more information
18:22
on the event, phone six three three four eight seven one,
18:26
or visit mchc's website at mcchcky dot com. The next
18:33
story is jury considers evidence heard.
18:36
Speaker 2: In two day trial.
18:39
Speaker 1: After a two day trial, the jury was still out
18:41
at press time. In the case of a Blacky man
18:44
charged with incest, Ronnie Sturgel, sixty six, of Elk Creek
18:50
was originally charged with rape, but the charges were updated
18:53
in a superseding indictment issued January twenty fifth. Based on
18:58
the legal definitions, the shape charges were dropped and Storgel
19:02
was re indicted on three counts each of first degree
19:05
sexual abuse and incest with a child under twelve or
19:09
serious physical injury. The incidents allegedly took place during calendar
19:14
years twenty eighteen, twenty nineteen, and twenty twenty. The trial
19:19
began Monday and testimony was completed mid day Tuesday. The
19:23
jury had not reached a verdict at six twenty pm Tuesday.
19:27
Incest of a minor under twelve is a Class A felony,
19:31
publishable by twenty to fifty years in prison or life
19:35
in prison. The next iteme is scams against seniors are
19:41
getting worse. Dated breaches and financial scams against seniors are
19:46
at all time highs. What was bad before is apparently
19:50
even worse now. Why do scammers target seniors? Here are
19:56
the top reasons. They perceive that seniors have a lot
19:59
of money. After all, they worked all those years, saved
20:02
a lot of cash, and now they have huge pension
20:06
and Social Security income that surely puts them in a
20:08
high income bracket. The scammers assume many of us grew
20:13
up in an era when we were polite to people
20:15
on the phone. Scammers take advantage of that and coax
20:18
us into divulging private information. Many of us aren't especially
20:23
skilled with technology. We press buttons on our phone that
20:27
we shouldn't, or click links in a strange email, not
20:31
realizing that we've just enabled the download of a virus
20:35
or made a connection to the scammers. Here are a
20:38
few suggestions for staying safe in the war with the scammers.
20:43
Speaker 2: Order your credit report.
20:45
Speaker 1: From TransUnion, Equifax, and Experience and go over them line
20:49
by line. Be sure there isn't anything you don't recognize,
20:53
that no extra loans show up, and no additional names
20:57
are listed. To do this, go online to Annualcreditreport dot
21:02
com and order your free credit reports. If you spot
21:06
something wrong, report it at identity theft dot gov or
21:10
call the National Elder Fraud Hotline at eight three three
21:13
three seven two eight three one one. Lock down your
21:18
credit at all three credit bureaus. This will keep anyone
21:21
from opening credit in your name. To learn safety on
21:25
your electronic devices, ask your senior center, library, or even
21:30
your bank for a class on how to avoid falling
21:32
for an online scam. And, perhaps most valuable of all,
21:37
don't feel the need to be polite. If a stranger
21:40
calls you on the phone and starts asking questions, just
21:43
hang up there yet don't answer if you don't recognize
21:47
the number. The next article is phishing with Gabby by
21:52
Greg Gabby Carle phishing for bass during pre spawn. We
21:58
have had some crazy weather the past few weeks. It
22:02
was cold and snoring a few weeks, and then it
22:04
rained and flooded everything before reaching into the seventies. This week,
22:09
with spring coming, most of the lakes have settled down
22:12
and the fishing has improved. I've seen several pictures of
22:16
nice bass caught on several lakes. I will be getting
22:20
out real soon on my boat and filming some new
22:23
fishing with gabby footage. During this time of stable water
22:28
on most lakes, bass will start going into early stages
22:32
of pre spawn. They will be moving in and out
22:35
from deeper water to shallow water, looking for areas to
22:39
make a nest and lay their eggs. The male or
22:42
buck bass are smaller than the big females. They will
22:46
come in first and search out good spots to make
22:48
a nest. As the water temperature reaches the fifty five
22:52
degree range, the big female bass will move on the
22:55
new moon phase to go shallow and lay their eggs.
22:59
This is the time when huge female bass can be caught.
23:04
Small baits and light line work best. Because the water
23:07
is shallow and sometimes very clear, the bass will be
23:11
easily spooked by large lures splashing down on them. This
23:16
is a time when you can sight fish and see
23:18
the bass on the nest. Stay back as far as
23:21
you can and make long cast, work the bait into
23:25
the nest area, then work it with twitches to get
23:28
the bass to strike.
23:30
Speaker 2: This type of fishing is not.
23:31
Speaker 1: For everyone, but the reward can be a huge bass.
23:36
The next item is a historical article by Jadon Gibson.
23:41
Growth begins after Civil War. After the War between the States,
23:45
returning soldiers found their home area to be a hazardous
23:49
place to live. Many of the men who served on
23:52
the opposing sides held grudges against them. Some hid in
23:56
the brush along the paths and took potshots at them.
24:00
Those men who hadn't served at all were often bush
24:03
whacked by men who felt they should have done their
24:05
share by fighting in the war. Many of the veterans
24:09
stayed in their home area and tried to keep a
24:12
low profile during this period. Some felt it was too dangerous.
24:16
They gathered their families and belongings and left for Texas, Missouri, Kansas,
24:22
or other destinations. The acronym g t T, meaning gone
24:26
to Texas, was noted in some court house files. Some
24:31
chose never to return. A new industry sprang up in
24:35
the local area following the War between the States. Wood
24:39
was in demand for a multitude of purposes. And the
24:42
tri state area had vast virgin forests of white oak,
24:46
black walnut, yellow poplar, chestnuts, buckeye, ash, maple, and others.
24:53
Many trees were cut for fuel in smelting iron ore
24:56
At the iron furnace in Cumberland Gap, John Newly employed
25:01
approximately three hundred men and produced three to four tons
25:04
of iron daily, that's about forty five units of pig
25:08
iron weighing one hundred fifty pounds each. The logging and
25:12
rafting business reached its peak between eighteen eighty and eighteen ninety,
25:17
before the completion of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad resulted
25:21
in a rapid decline. The railroad lines reached Pineville, Kentucky,
25:25
on April first, eighteen eighty eight. As the line was
25:29
being built to Middlesborough, workers were digging the railroad tunnel
25:33
beneath Cumberland Mountain. Meanwhile, the new city of Middlesborough was booming,
25:37
with English capital pouring into the area. The population of
25:41
Middlesborough was six thousand, two hundred by August of eighteen
25:44
eighty nine. At the beginning of the prior year, there
25:47
were only a handful of homes in Yellow Creek Valley
25:51
titted cities sprang up on the outskirts and at the
25:54
present site of Cumberland Gap. Because accommodations couldn't be built
25:58
quickly enough to meet the demand, much of the Wilderness
26:02
Road was paved in nineteen twenty five and became the
26:06
so called Dixie Highway. Because so many north south motorists
26:10
used the highway, it became a secondary route later with
26:14
the opening of Interstate seventy five, with the completion and
26:18
use of the Cumberland Gap Tunnel and expanding Highway twenty
26:22
five E to four lanes to the north and south,
26:24
and making Highway fifty eight a four lane road to
26:27
the Atlantic Ocean. Cumberland Gap and the Tri State area
26:31
loom as one to be reckoned with for years to come.
26:36
And this concludes the reading of the Mountain Eagle. Your
26:40
reader has been built in Arsenal. Now please stay tuned
26:44
for continued programming on behalf of every one here at
26:47
Radio I thank you for listening, and have a good day.