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(Whitesburg) Mountain Eagle - 4.30.26 · Eastern Kentucky Newspapers

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Speaker 1: Now we turn to the Mountain Eagle to read news
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from Weisberg. Your reader today is Bill van Arsdale. We
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will begin with the addition dated in April twenty ninth,
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twenty twenty six, which the publishers have donated to RADIOI
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as a reminder. RADIOI is a reading service intended for
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people who are blind or have other disabilities that make
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it difficult to read printed material. The first item is
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a photograph and the caption is Letcher High Classmates revisit
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memories at fifty year reunion. Amy Asher Wilson reminisces while
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looking at photographs taken fifty years ago at Lecher High
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School and shared by a fellow classmate. She was one
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of nearly twenty five classmates who attended the school's fiftieth
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class reunion, held Saturday at Pine Mountain Grill. And the
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next headline is one point four million dollars in bonds
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approved for school roofs. The Electric County Board of Education's
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Finance Corporation will issue more than one point four million
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dollars in bonds to replace roofs on two schools. The
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Finance Corporation and the Board approved the resolution after a
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presentation by Lincoln Feinhart, a partner with RSA Advisors of Lexington.
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The bonds will fund reroofing projects at Cowan Elementary School
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and Fleming Neon Middle School and are expected to total
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about one million, four hundred twenty thousand dollars. Finehart told
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the Finance Corporation that the State School Facilities Construction Commission
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SFCC regularly offers funding assistance to local districts for high
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priority projects and both projects qualify, they get a pot
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of money from the General Assembly and then hand out
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offers of assistance to districts on a pro rate a
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basis based on your district's percentage of total unmet need
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compared to the total unmet need in the state. Fight
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Art said, that's why I always stress to local boards
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that even if a project is far above any amount
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you could finance on your own, it's important to list
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as many justifiable needs as possible on your facility plan.
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The offers are made every two years and commit the
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state to covering bond payments for twenty years. The Electric
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County School District has accrued one point seven million dollars
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in offers. Again, those are bond payments that would be
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made one hundred percent by the school facility's construction commission.
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You would not write a check at all from your
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local funds or tax base. Fight Art said. Of that
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one point seven million dollars, this project would use one million,
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four hundred twenty thousand dollars, leaving about two hundred eighty
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thousand thousand dollars available for future projects. The finance Corporation
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and the board approved the proposal unanimously. Finart said the
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bonds are expected to be issued within three to four weeks,
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and the district should receive the funds to begin construction
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by July first. While the bonds are being paid off,
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the schools will technically be owned by the local finance
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Corporation and leased back to the school district. The arrangement
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allows the district to comply with a state constitutional provision
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that prohibits school systems from borrowing more money than they
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can repay within a single year. The next story is
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absentee vote opens as primary election season is heating up.
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More than six thousand, six hundred Kentuckians, including seventeen voters
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in Letcher County, have already cast ballots in the May
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nineteenth primary election, even though election day is still nearly
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three weeks away. As of Monday, sixty eight Letter County
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residents had applied for mail in absentee ballots. All sixty
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one forty one Democrats and twenty seven Republicans qualified to
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receive the ballots. Seventeen of the ballots have already been
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filled out and returned, eleven from Democrats and six from Republicans. Statewide,
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twenty four thousand, fifty six voters have applied for and
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received mail in absentee ballots. Of these, twelve four hundred
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seventy eight are Democrats and eleven two hundred four are Republicans.
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Of those numbers, six hundred fifty seven voters, three thousand,
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seventy eight Democrats and three thousand, five hundred twenty six
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Republicans had completed their ballots and returned them as of
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April twenty seventh. The early turnout reflects the start of
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mail in absentee voting across Kentucky's one hundred twenty counties,
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giving eligible voters a head start on the election. Voters
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have been able to request mail in absentee ballots since
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April fourth, through the state's Mail in Absentee Ballot Request Portal.
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The portal operated by the Kentucky Secretary of State's Office
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will remain open until Tuesday, May fifth. The US Postal
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Service recommends that voters mail completed absentee ballots no later
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than May twelfth to ensure they are received by the
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Leccher County Clerk's office before the six pm deadline on
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election day, May nineteenth. Mail in absentee voting is available
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to military members, students living outside the county, jail inmates
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who have not been convicted of the crime for which
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they are charged, persons temporarily living outside the county, those
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who will be absent during the period of in person
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absentee voting, and individuals who cannot make it to a
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polling place because of age, disability, or illness. Voters concerned
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about postal delivery times may return completed ballots using a
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drop box at the Letcher County Clerk's office in the courthouse. Meanwhile,
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in person excused absentee voting will begin Wednesday, May sixth
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at the Lescher County Clerk's office and continue through Friday
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May eighth. A second round will be held May eleventh
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through thirteenth, also at the Clerk's office. Early in person
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no excuse absentee Voting will take place Thursday through Saturday,
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May fourteenth through sixteenth at the Leccher District Courtroom from
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eight am until four pm, and at the Letcher County
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Recreation Center in Whitsburg, also from eight am until four pm.
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In person voting on election Day, May nineteenth will be
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held from six am to six pm. The next headline
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is new daycare offers affordable pricing for local families. A
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new childcare option is opening in Jenkins, offering affordable services
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for families across Electric County and elsewhere in the region,
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including those who qualify for financial assistance. Shining Star's Daycare
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is now enrolling and will provide care in what organizers
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describe as a safe, loving, and educational environment for children.
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The center is located at nine five nine nine Highway
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eight O five in Jenkins and will serve both full
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time and part time needs. The daycare is designed to
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be accessible to low income families through programs such as
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the Childcare Assistance Program CCAP and Kentucky Transitional Assistance Program KTAP.
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With qualifying assistance, weekly costs can be as low as
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forty five dollars, making childcare more attainable. For working parents
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in the area. Shining Stars Daycare emphasizes learning through play,
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creative activities, and attentive care from staff. The center, which
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also serves as a preschool, aims to support early childhood
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development while providing a dependable option for families needing consistent childcare.
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Shining Stars is holding a grand opening celebration this Friday,
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May first, at six p m. Tours of the facility
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will be available and applications will be available. Refreshments will
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also be served at the event. Operating hours are Monday
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through Friday from seven a m. To six p m,
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with Saturday hours available from seven a m. To five pm.
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Organizers say the goal is to create a welcoming environment
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where children can learn and grow while giving parents peace
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of mind. For more information or to enroll, families can
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call six oh six two one two one one one
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six or visit Elkhorn Creek Village dot org. In the
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next story, Aeolia Partridge area gets six percent hike in
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power bills. PSC approves power cost increase affecting Cumberland Valley
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Electric customers. The Kentucky Public Service Commission has approved a
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power cost increase that will affect customers served by Cumberland
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Valley Electric Cooperative, including residents in the Upper Cumberland area
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of Lectter County. The Public Service Commission PSC on April
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twenty second issued a final order granting a rate increase
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to East Kentucky Power Cooperative, which supplies electricity to sixteen
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rural electric cooperatives across the state. Those cooperati, including Cumberland
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Valley Electric, pass those costs directly onto their members. The
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increase will take effect Friday, May first. East Kentucky Power
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had requested a revenue increase of about seventy nine point
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seven million dollars, or seven point five percent. The PSC
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approved a smaller increase of about sixty three point seven
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million dollars or five point nine eight percent. The Commission
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said the reduced increase was necessary to ensure rates remain fair,
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just and reasonable. Customers in the southern portion of Lectra County,
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including oven Fork, Eolia, and Partridge, are served by Cumberland
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Valley Electric, which receives its power from East Kentucky Power.
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The increase comes as most Eastern Kentucky residents have already
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seen higher electric bills in recent years. In its order,
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the PSC also rejected a proposal that but have allowed
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future rate changes to occur automatically without prior review. The proposal,
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known as a symmetrical earnings mechanism, would have allowed East
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Kentucky Power to raise or lower charges based on its
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financial performance. The Commission denied the request, citing concerns that
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it could result in automatic bill increases without sufficient oversight.
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The Commission did approve other parts of a settlement agreement
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in the case, including changes to cost recovery mechanisms and
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financial tracking tools used by the cooperative. East Kentucky Power
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is a non profit generation cooperative that provides electricity to
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sixteen member owned distribution cooperatives serving more than five hundred
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seventy thousand customers in Kentucky. In a separate but related action,
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the PSC has opened a new review of East Kentucky
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Power's environmental searcharge and how those costs are passed through
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tue to member cooperatives. That review could result in additional
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adjustments in the future what the rate increase brings. The
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increase approved for East Kentucky Power Cooperative will be passed
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through to customers served by local cooperatives such as Cumberland
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Valley Electric Cooperative. Because the increase applies to wholesale power costs.
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The full five point nine to eight percent increase is
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not added directly to the total bill. The overall impact
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is expected to be smaller. Following is a closer look.
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Estimated total bill increase about three to five percent on
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a two hundred dollars monthly bill, about six to ten
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dollars more per month on a four hundred dollars monthly bill,
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About twelve to twenty dollars more per month on a
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one thousand dollars winter bill, about thirty to fifty dollars
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more per month. Actual impact will vary depending on electricity
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use and other charges included in the bill. Even relatively
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small percentage increases can add up, especially during colder months
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when electricity use and bills are higher. The next headline
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is Kentucky Power versus CVEC. What's the difference? Electric Customers
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in Electric County are served by two different types of utilities,
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and their bills are affected in different ways. Kentucky Power
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Company investor owned utility rates set directly by the Kentucky
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Public Service Commission. Customers pay base rates, fuel and purchased
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power adjustments riders including securitized surcharge and recent bills include
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charges tied to Big Sandy plant costs and securitization, and
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then Cumberland Valley Electric Cooperative, a memory owned cooperative, buys
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power from East Kentucky Power. Cooperative passes wholesale costs directly
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to customers. Rates are influenced by EKPC decisions and PSC
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approvals and does not earn profits in the same way
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as investor owned utilities. The bottom line, Kentucky Power customers
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are seeing complex ongoing rate cases and cost reviews. Cumberland
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Valley customers are seeing direct pass through increases from wholesale
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power costs. In both cases, decisions made at the state
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level continue to play a major role in monthly electric
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bills across Letcher County. In the next headline, dog shot
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in Jenkins is recovering. Man is charged with two felonies.
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A dog shot in the chest at Jenkins last week
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is recovering, its owner, said Rambo, a small to medium
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mixed breed dog, was in the yard of Josh and
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Ashley Gibbs in the two hundred block of Rocky Hollow
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on April twentieth, when witnesses say a neighbor shot him.
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Video from a surveillance camera shows Rambo, known to some
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neighbors as Baby, collapsing in the driveway in front of
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the Gibbs home and yelping as he scrambled to his
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feet and ran away. The homeowner called another neighbor who
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cared for the dog until a Pike County veterinary clinic
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opened Monday morning. Neighbors also collected money to help pay
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the veterinary bill. Although the dog is a family pet,
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it roamed the neighborhood and was well known to residents
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who often played with and cared for him. The veterinarian
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initially advised euthanasia, but owner Rogina Collins arrived and said
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she wanted to take Rambo home and give him a
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second chance. I bought Rambo for my dad after my
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mother died last year, and then six months later my
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dad died and we brought him home with us, Colin said.
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She said she took Rambo to another veterinarian on Thursday
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for a second opinion and was told to bring him
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back in a week for a follow up visit. He's
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up and walking around in the house, but he has
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his moments when he gets tired, she said. Colin said
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the dog appears to be improving and is enjoying the
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attention from her children. She said she did not know
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the man accused of shooting the dog and that no
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one had ever complained to her about it. She added
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that many people in the neighborhood enjoyed having Rambo around.
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I looked at it as the more people who love
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the dog, the better, she said. The Letcher County Sheriff's
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Office and Jenkins Police Department served outstanding warrants and arrested
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Johnny Tinnell, forty one, who lives next door to the Gibbses.
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Tinall was released later that night on bond, but was
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arrested again the following night. Lectra County Sheriff Billy Jones
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said he contacted Jenkins Police Sergeant Josh Richardson and forwarded
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additional information he had received. Sergeant Richardson gathered video evidence
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and witness statements, then presented them to the County Attorney's
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office for review and charges. Jones said in a statement
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on his official Facebook page. At approximately seven to ten pm,
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Sergeant Richardson, along with Electra County Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy
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Dingis and Deputy Jacobs, conducted a traffic stop on Main
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Street in Jenkins. The suspect, Johnny Tennell, was inside the vehicle.
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Police arrested Tennell during the traffic stop on a new warrant,
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charging him with torture of a dog or cat and
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first degree wanton endangerment by discharge of a firearm. Both
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charges are felonies. Torture of a dog or cat is
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punishable by one to five years in prison. First degree
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wanton endangerment by discharge of a firearm is punishable by
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five to ten years in prison. Tindell remained in jail
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until April twenty seventh, when he was released on the
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ten thousand dollars cash bond posted by a relative. He
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is now on house arrest with electronic monitoring pending a
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preliminary hearing scheduled for Thursday, April thirtieth. The next story
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is Fleming Neon may get stream gauges. Appalachian Citizens Law
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Center has offered to help the city of Fleming, Neon
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secure funding to install stream gauges in the flood prone
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community to better predict flooding. Courtney Rhodes of Appalachian Citizens
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Law Center said the nonprofit has been working with several
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communities to install gauges following the July twenty eight, twenty
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twenty two flood, which reached record levels in Lecture and
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three other eastern Kentucky counties. Thirteen counties in all were
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affected by the flooding. Rhodes told the Fleming Neon City
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Council last week that ACLC has already helped install stream
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gauges in Jenkins. Whitesburg had a gauge owned by the
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US Geological Survey USGS, but it was damaged in the
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flood and has since been replaced. She said. The US
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Department of Homeland Security has nearly one million dollars that
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could be sent to Kentucky, and ACLC will attempt to
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have some of that funding designated for stream gauges in
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the area. There is funding from DHS of about nine
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hundred thousand dollars that's been proposed to come to the
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state specifically for stream gauges. Roads said, we have a
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contact with USGS that we can bring out to meet
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with you and start identifying areas you would want covered
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and also begin working to secure that funding. She said.
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There are several types of gauges, with more advanced models
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costing about forty thousand dollars. Mayor Ricky Burke said he
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had previously discussed the possibility with ACLC and that the
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city is interested in installing a gauge. If it's free,
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we'll take the forty thousand dollars one, Burke said. Rhodes
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said the main drawback is that cities must pay ongoing
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maintenance costs, which can total about half the initial cost
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of the gauge. She said she will contact USGS and
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follow up with city officials. The next headline is Kentucky
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Power projects millions in new Big Sandy costs Despite securitization,
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Kentucky Power Company expects to incur tens of millions of
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dollars in additional costs tied to the retired Big Sandy
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power plant over the next several years, according to new
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file with the Kentucky Public Service Commission. The projections, filed
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April twenty eight in an ongoing rate case, show the
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company anticipates recovering nearly forty million dollars in costs in
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twenty twenty eight and twenty twenty nine loan through a
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charge on customer bills known as the decommissioning Rider. Those
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filings were submitted in response to questions from the Public
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Service Commission PSC, which is continuing to review how Kentucky
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Power is recovering various costs from customers in case number
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twenty twenty five DASH zero zero three zero seven. According
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to the company's response, projected costs tied to the Big
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Sandy plant include about two million dollars in twenty twenty six,
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about two hundred twenty three thousand dollars in twenty twenty seven,
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nearly twenty million dollars per year in twenty twenty eight
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and twenty twenty nine, and about two hundred twenty three
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thousand in twenty thirty. The company said those expenses reflect
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future retirement and environmental obligations, including clean up and compliance
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costs that were not included in a previous securitization deal.
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Securitization is a financing method that allows a utility to
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recover large costs by issuing bonds and repaying them over
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time through a dedicated charge on customer bills. The approach
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spreads costs over many years, reducing the immediate impact on
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bills but extending how long customers pay for those expenses.
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In Kentucky Powers case, securitization was used to recover hundreds
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of millions of dollars in pass costs tied in part
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to the Big Sandy power plant. The financing arrangement approved
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in an earlier case allowed Kentucky Power to recover hundreds
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of million dollars in pass costs through a long term
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surcharge already appearing on customer bills. However, in its latest filing,
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the company said the securitization only covered costs that had
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already been incurred at the time and did not include
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future expenses. Because the company has and will continue to
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incur additional retirement related costs, those expenses are still being
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added to the decommissioning writer. The company said the PSC
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has been examining that issue as part of its ongoing case,
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including why tariff language still references Big Sandy retirement costs
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after securitization. The PSC is also reviewing how Kentucky Power
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calculates certain adjustments that can affect how quickly customers are
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charged for rising energy costs or credited when costs fall.
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The company noted that future cost estimates could change depending
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on pending federal regulations related to coal ash disposal. No
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decision has been made on whether the projected costs will
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be approved or how they may affect customer bills. If
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those costs are approved by the Kentucky Public Service Commission
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and passed on to customers, the impact could look like this.
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Kentucky Power serves about one hundred sixty two thousand customers.
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The forty million dollar total would come to about two
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hundred forty five dollars per customer. If spread over time,
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the cost to customers would be over two years about
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ten dollars per month, over five years about four dollars
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per month. These are rough estimates. Actual costs would depend
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on how much regulators approve, how costs are allocated among customers,
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and how long recovery is allowed. In the next story,
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Struggling with power bills, these meetings aim to help a
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series of community meetings aimed at helping residentdents understand and
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manage rising electricity costs will begin May fifth in Electric County.
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Appalachians Citizens Law Center and Appalachians for Appalachia will host
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the first Tuesday conversations, with the first session set for
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five thirty PM at the Electric County Extension Office. The
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meetings will focus on topics including power bills, energy regulation,
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and ways to reduce household electricity use. Organizers say the
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sessions are open to the public and will include dinner
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and a gas car giveaway. Speakers will cover a range
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of subjects, including how the Kentucky Public Service Commission operates,
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weatherization strategies, energy assistance programs, solar energy, and new metering technology.
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Attendees will also have an opportunity to ask questions and
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share their experiences. Mary Kromer, Deputy director of Appalachian Citizens
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Law Center, will speak at the first meeting about the
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Public Service Commission and how residents can participate in its
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decision making process. Additional sessions are scheduled for the following dates.
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June second, Bill pay Assistance Programs, July seventh, Solar Power
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for Energy Savings. August fourth, do it Yourself Efficiency Upgrades.
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September first, Residential energy Bill Transparency. October sixth Bill Reduction
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Opportunities for small businesses, churches and nonprofits. All meetings will
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be held in Letter County, with locations to be announced.
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Organizers say the series is intended to help residents better
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understand their energy costs while building a stronger community voice
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on utility issues. For more information or to sign up,
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call Appalachian Citizens Law Center at six O six six
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three three three nine two nine. The next story is
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Jenkins Council, Okay's state's plan for work on Subdivision Road.
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The Jenkins City Council has approved a resolution authorizing the
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Kentucky Transportation Cabinet to acquire the property and build the
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road to the proposed grand View subdivision. The subdivision is
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one of eight high ground communities that have either already
27:29
been built or are planned in counties that were affected
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by the July twenty twenty two flood. The Cottages at
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Thompson Branch, a ten home subdivision at Marlow near Whitesburg,
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was the first completed. Grandview will include about one hundred
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and fifteen houses. Trees have been removed from the area,
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and the road construction is expected to begin soon. The
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city council this week discussed naming the main street entering
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the subdivision grand View Road, but took no plans for
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the subdivision call for two other streets along with the houses.
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This concludes the reading of The Mountain Eagle. Your reader
28:13
has been Bill and Arsenal. Now please stay tuned for
28:16
continued programming on behalf of Everyone here at Radio I
28:20
thank you for listening, and have a good day.