Latest / Eastern Kentucky Newspapers / (Whitesburg) Mountain Eagle - 3.12.26

Transcript

(Whitesburg) Mountain Eagle - 3.12.26 · Eastern Kentucky Newspapers

0:01
Speaker 1: Now we turn to the Mountain Eagle to read news
0:04
from Whitesburg. Your reader today is Bill den Arsdale. We
0:08
will begin with the addition dated March eleventh, twenty twenty six,
0:12
which the publishers had donated to RADIOI as a reminder.
0:17
RADIOI is a reading service intended for people who are
0:20
blind or have other disabilities that make it difficult to
0:22
read printed material. The first story is fifty years later,
0:29
Scotia mind disaster still haunts families. It was a horrible
0:36
thing to wake up to. Grover Mark Tussey was eight
0:40
years old, still asleep with his mother when someone started
0:44
banging on the door. It was March twelfth, nineteen seventy six,
0:49
the morning after a second explosion ripped through the Scotia
0:53
mine at Oven Fork, adding another eleven men to the
0:57
death toll. Tussy's father, Grove Tussy, was a mine inspector
1:02
and had gone inside to look for the fifteen miners
1:05
who had been killed or trapped by the first explosion.
1:10
It was the worst thing that ever happened to me,
1:13
Mark Tussy said. The people knocking at the door were
1:17
a mine inspector who worked with his father, and their
1:20
next door neighbor. His mother made him go back to
1:23
the bedroom when she saw who was at the door,
1:26
but Mark sneaked back and listened from around the corner
1:29
as the visitors broke the news that there had been
1:32
another explosion and his father was likely dead. I know
1:38
over the years, my mother had come in. I guess,
1:40
as apparent, certain things have just sort of burned into
1:43
your mind. But she said Mark's pillow was wet with
1:46
tears when I went in there. He said, a total
1:52
of twenty six coal miners and mine inspectors, including Grover Tussy,
1:57
died in the twin explosions at school. Mark Tussey, now
2:03
a doctor in Lawrenceburg, was among the family's friends and
2:07
those who experienced that disaster who gathered Monday at the
2:11
entrance to the mine now submerged thirty feet below the
2:15
surface of a pond to mark the fiftieth anniversary of
2:19
that horrific day fifty years ago today. That was where
2:24
everybody went in and came out of the Scotia deep mind.
2:27
Down here. They went to work that morning like any
2:30
other morning, and it was a pretty uneventful day until
2:33
it wasn't, said Brian McKnight, who teaches Appalachian history at
2:38
the University of Virginia at Wyse and has been researching
2:42
the Scotia disaster. Around eleven forty five am. There's still
2:47
a law of speculation exactly when this happened, but around
2:51
eleven forty five am the first explosion took place. That
2:55
explosion killed fifteen people. Nine of them were killed instantly,
3:01
six survived for a little while before they barricaded themselves
3:05
and ultimately died. The Mind's Safety Administration, known as MESA,
3:13
dispatched inspectors to the mine, and mine rescuers from Westmoreland
3:17
Coal responded to search for survivors and bodies. Everything seemed
3:23
to be going the way it normally goes in the
3:24
wake of one of these things. But sixty hours after
3:28
the first explosion, there's a second explosion, and that was
3:32
a real shock to everyone. McKnight said, I talked to
3:37
a lot of these mine rescue guys and they all
3:39
basically said the same thing. They said, when we got
3:42
caught for the first explosion, we were excited, we were ready.
3:46
When we got caught for the second explosion, we were
3:49
terrified because we didn't know what was going on. Alan
3:55
Wolf of Apalachia, Virginia was one of the Westmoreland team.
4:00
He stood in the crowd for the memorial. Wolfe said
4:03
his team was the first underground and found the first body.
4:07
He still wonders why there's nothing permanent other than a
4:10
highway historical marker honoring the dead. Why has it taken
4:15
this long to recognize those twenty six men that died?
4:18
He said. The recognition on Monday was short, brief remarks
4:24
from McKnight, then a moment of silence and a prayer
4:27
by Chad Morgan, director of the Marizo Center Ministry's Shinikaw
4:32
Village retreat nearby. Marizzo leases the land that the mine
4:37
entrance and the only remaining building are on. He said,
4:41
there are plans for a permanent monument, but that effort
4:44
is in its infancy. I don't know if it's going
4:47
to be here or down the road, or even where
4:50
the old Scotia Employees Association building is. We don't know yet.
4:54
We're looking into all that, Morgan said. We don't know
4:58
if we can put it here, because you know, the
5:00
Mind Company still owns this, so we want to make
5:03
sure if we put something that it's going to be
5:05
kept and not torn down. Mark Tussey will remember the
5:10
disaster for the rest of his life. He said, not
5:14
knowing his father in adulthood has affected him profoundly, and
5:19
Grover Tussey's death changed the whole course of his life.
5:23
It was because of that, he said, that he went
5:25
to medical school and became a doctor. I don't think
5:28
I would have gone down this path if it hadn't
5:31
been for that tragedy. He said. That really just impressed
5:34
upon me the frailty of how fragile life is. When
5:39
you're eight years old, you don't really understand those type
5:41
of things, but it's a very maturing experience. The next
5:48
headline is insurance to pay three hundred thousand dollars in
5:53
costs for a sheriff's department to settle lawsuit. A federal
5:59
judge has ordered both the plaintiff and defendants to pay
6:02
the costs for a jury that was impaneled to hear
6:06
the lawsuit against the Leccher County Sheriff's office and former
6:09
bailiff Ben Fields after the suit was settled at the
6:12
last minute. After the jury arrived at the federal courthouse
6:16
in London, U S. District Judge Robert E. Weir ordered
6:21
plaintiff Sabrina Atkins and Defendant's Fields and the Sheriff's Office
6:25
to pay the three thousand, eight hundred eighty dollars and
6:28
twenty three cents cost, with Atkins paying half and Fields
6:33
and the Sheriff's Office splitting the other half. Defendants may
6:37
not disburse settlement funds to the plaintiff until both sides
6:41
have paid the total. The order issued last week says
6:45
the party's shall tender payment to the Clerk of the
6:47
Court no later than April third, twenty twenty six. Atkins's attorney,
6:53
Joe Childers, sent the court a check for one thousand,
6:56
nine hundred forty dollars and twelve cents per half of
6:59
the payment on March fourth, and it was filed with
7:03
the court Tuesday, March tenth. The terms of the settlement
7:08
with Fields were not disclosed. The Sheriff's office will pay
7:12
three hundred thousand dollars. However, Sheriff Billy Jones said the
7:16
settlement will be covered by the agency's insurance and won't
7:19
come out of the department budget. Atkins sued in federal
7:24
court claiming Fields did not charge her for an electronic
7:28
monitoring device when she was out of jail on bail
7:31
and didn't turn the device on in exchange for sex.
7:36
Fields had claimed she seduced him, but he pleaded guilty
7:39
in Lecture Circuit Court to a third degree rape, sodomy,
7:42
and perjury. Kentucky law makes it illegal for persons in
7:47
corrections to have sex with people under their supervision. Atkins
7:52
alleged that then Leccher County Sheriff Mickey Steins failed to
7:57
properly train Fields. Kines was replaced in the case by
8:01
Jones after Steins was placed in jail to await trial
8:05
for murder in the shooting death of Letcher District Judge
8:08
Kevin R. Mullens. The sheriff's office has consistently said that
8:13
Fields was moonlighting for East Kentucky Correction Services, a private
8:18
company that owned the electronic monitoring bracelets, when he was
8:22
supervising Atkins and having sex with her. East Kentucky Corrections
8:27
settled with Atkins last year, and the next headline is
8:33
judge says he had no contact with Mullens. The judge
8:38
in the murder trial of former sheriff Sean Nicky. Steins
8:42
says he never had any kind of interactions with the
8:45
late Judge Kevin R. Mullens, and that characterizations otherwise are wrong.
8:52
Special Lecter Circuit Judge Christopher Korn issued the thirteen page
8:56
order on March sixth, saying the accusation of biasque contained
9:00
an emotion. For him to be recused from the case
9:03
was based only on his attendance at a professional meeting,
9:07
a meeting in which the victim in this case participated.
9:11
Koran and Mullens were both members of the Kentucky Judicial
9:14
Commission on Mental Health. The committee, which has seventy five members,
9:19
met on September twelfth, twenty twenty four, seven days before
9:23
Mullins was shot. Being an active member of the legal
9:27
profession for many years and serving in various roles including
9:31
Commonwealth Attorney and now Circuit Court judge, I have traveled
9:35
across the state for court and countless other meetings, Quran wrote,
9:40
I cannot recall a formal or informal professional or personal
9:44
interaction with Judge Mullens on any occasion, and the KJCMH
9:49
video reflects a lack of close relationship. My interaction with
9:53
Judge Mullins was as limited as it was with the
9:56
dozens of other members of the KJCMH. Koran is a
10:02
judge in the Eighth Circuit, which encompasses Warren, Bowling, Green,
10:06
and Edmondson Counties in western Kentucky. He was appointed special
10:11
Leccher Circuit judge to hear the Stein's murder case. As
10:15
I have no personal bias or prejudice concerning a party,
10:19
and there are no surrounding facts and circumstances upon which
10:22
an objective observer might reasonably question my impartiality, the motion
10:27
is denied. Koran's order says Stein's was caught on security
10:33
video shooting Leccher District Judge Kevin Mullins at least eight
10:37
times in Mullins's chambers on September nineteenth, twenty twenty four.
10:43
Stein's is charged with murder in the case. The defense
10:48
had filed emotion saying that Koran had set inches away
10:51
from Mullens for two hours during a meeting of the
10:54
Kentucky Judicial Commission on Mental Health on September twelfth, a
10:58
week before the shooting, and since he served on the
11:01
Commission with Mullins, he should recuse himself from the case.
11:05
Koran was late for the meeting. The defense referred to
11:09
arriving more than an hour after it began, and sitting
11:12
at a long meeting table with an empty chair between
11:15
him and Mullins. The two never appeared to acknowledge each
11:19
other in the video of the meeting. Koran said in
11:23
his ruling that he watched the video, which was referred
11:26
to in the motion to accuse. He said Mullins gave
11:30
a report during the last twenty minutes of the meeting
11:33
and at one point praised a well known program striving
11:36
to prevent substance abuse and misuse and facilitate recovery. I
11:42
nodded and spoke to a member to my left, Koran said.
11:46
I appeared to nod again when Judge Mullins described a
11:49
program involving him and scheduled at the upcoming District Judges College.
11:55
Koran said the defense views the nods as a sharing
11:58
of accolades and contends there is inherent bias reflected in
12:02
the video which would lead an objective observer to believe
12:06
that a prior ruling the denial of the defendant's motion
12:09
to unseal the KCPC Kentucky Correction Psychiatric Center report, was
12:15
a result of such bias. Koran said the law says
12:20
that absent good cause for recusal, judges have an obligation
12:24
to remain on and decide a given case. While Koran
12:29
said the law does provide for judges to recuse when
12:32
they have a personal bias, he said a motion to
12:35
recuse must include an affidavit setting out factual allegations and
12:40
must be serious enough that a judge's impartiality might reasonably
12:44
be questioned from the perspective of a reasonable observer who
12:48
is informed of all the surrounding facts and circumstances. The
12:53
defense claimed in its motion that the fact that the
12:55
meeting was seven days prior to the shooting and that
12:58
the two judges were near each other was enough to
13:02
create an appearance of partiality. The defendant cites no authority
13:07
finding that a professional relationship such as that which existed
13:11
between Judge Mullins and myself creates an appearance of partiality
13:15
giving rise to the necessity of recusal or authority which
13:19
deals with the recusal the judge on the grounds that
13:21
the judge in some way knew the victim in a
13:23
criminal case, Koran wrote. Koran's ruling notes that the defense
13:29
said in its motion to accuse that bias was indicated
13:33
because there was no legal basis for the judge to
13:36
deny its previous motion to release the psychiatric report. However,
13:41
Koran wrote, it is well subtled that litigant's disagreement with
13:45
the court's interpretation of the law or adverse rulings is
13:49
not a proper basis for a recusal. Instead, Koran said
13:54
such disagreement is properly handled in the appeals process. The
13:59
judge also wrote that the defense complained that he didn't
14:02
disclose that both he and Mullins had been at the
14:04
same meeting, despite that meeting being a week before the shooting.
14:09
I fully believe that sharing no more than the same
14:12
area at a professional meeting with dozens of other individuals
14:15
in attendance, no one would reasonably consider it relevant to
14:19
a possible motion for disqualification, the judge said. Koran, who
14:25
took over the case in January twenty twenty five, is
14:29
the third special judge to be appointed to the case.
14:33
All three have denied Stein's requests for bond. The next
14:39
story is old high school building is now recovery housing.
14:46
The old Watsburg High School English Building will begin its
14:50
new life by the first of April. As a transitional
14:53
apartment building for men recovering from addiction. Mountain Comprehensive Health
14:59
Corporation owns the former high school campus and has converted
15:03
the English building into twenty two efficiency apartments. The apartments
15:08
are for men in recovery, coming straight out of inpatient
15:11
rehab and coming here, said Sidney Whittaker, a doctor of
15:15
social work and clinical services director for Behavioral Health and
15:19
Transitional Housing at MCCHC. When they get here, they'll get
15:25
acclimated and assessed for their needs. If they need referrals
15:29
for food stamps, health insurance, or anything like that, we'll
15:33
get that started and set up transportation for them. Whittaker said.
15:37
We're going to set them up on a recovery pathway
15:40
so we can refer them to re entry programs, job training,
15:44
or whatever it is they're interested in. We'll talk with
15:47
them about their interests and then set them on the
15:49
path for that. The men must have jobs or be
15:54
enrolled in an educational program to stay in the apartments,
15:58
and MCCHC will also help them with that. The goal
16:02
is to help the men become independent and productive after
16:05
a life of addiction. They don't have to be patients
16:09
at MCCHC, but they can be referred there for services
16:13
if they want. The apartments are not for people who
16:17
are just entering recovery, but for those who have already
16:20
completed drug rehab and are ready to re enter society.
16:25
The apartments are meant to help them transition to independent
16:28
living without relapsing into addiction. They're going to come from
16:33
inpatient rehab to hear so that they don't have to
16:36
go back to that same environment. Whittaker said, that's typically
16:40
what happens with folks around here. We don't have a
16:43
lot of housing options and they have to go back
16:46
to that same environment of use. Then they end up
16:49
relapsing and having to start the process all over. The
16:54
men who live in the building will be referred for jobs,
16:57
volunteer opportunities, or education within three days of moving in.
17:03
They can stay there for up to a year before
17:05
moving out on their own. MCCHC will provide everything residents
17:11
need to get started, but once they are living there,
17:13
they will have to buy their own household supplies, so
17:17
everything from dish soap to laundry detergent. They get cookware, utensils,
17:22
anything you would need to live basically, toilet paper, everything
17:26
they get a first set when they move in, Whittaker said,
17:30
and their miniature size containers. So eventually they do have
17:34
to care for themselves and be self sufficient, but we
17:37
try to give them a leg up to start with.
17:41
Residents will get to keep their bedding when they leave,
17:44
but everything else will remain with the apartments. The classrooms
17:49
in the old building were split in two and private
17:52
bathrooms added to each apartment. The apartments are fully furnished.
17:57
Each room has a bed, television, complete kitchen closet, and
18:01
private bath. There is also coin laundry for residents, meeting rooms,
18:06
visitation areas, and lounges with hoosetball and pool tables. The
18:12
next story is SKCTC opens twenty twenty six twenty seven
18:19
scholarship applications. Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College has opened
18:26
scholarship applications for the twenty twenty six twenty seven academic year,
18:31
offering students across the region new opportunities to receive financial
18:35
support while pursuing their educational and career goals. Through the
18:41
SKCTC Education Foundation and institutional Scholarships, students may qualify for
18:48
funding that helps offset tuition and educational expenses. Scholarships are
18:53
available for both new and returning students across a variety
18:57
of academic programs. Many scholarships are made possible through the
19:02
generosity of local donors, businesses, and community partners who believe
19:07
in investing in the region's future workforce. Students are encouraged
19:11
to apply early and explore the full range of scholarship
19:15
opportunities available through the college. Financial aid advisors are available
19:20
to assist students with completing applications and identifying funding sources
19:26
that may help them reach their educational goals. Applications for
19:31
the twenty twenty six twenty seven scholarship cycle are now open.
19:35
Students can learn more and apply online at Southeast dot
19:39
KCTCS dot edu. In the next headline, Lady Cougars are
19:48
Sweet sixteen pound Blecher County Central High School Lady Cougars
19:54
have earned another trip to the girls Sweet sixteen State
19:58
basketball tournament at Raparina in Lexington. The Lady Cougars, runners
20:03
up in the fifty third district, defeated Knott County Central
20:07
forty three to thirty seven Saturday night to win the
20:10
fourteenth Region tournament, which was held in Hymen, Leccher Central
20:15
is scheduled to open Sweet sixteen play at six pm
20:18
Thursday against the Region three champion Owensborough Catholic. Tip off
20:23
for that game as schedule for three pm. In winning
20:27
the regional crown Saturday, the Lady Cougers avenged their February
20:32
twenty sixth loss to Nott Central in the championship game
20:35
of the fifty third District tournament, which was also played
20:39
in Hymen. Junior Sadie Johnson led Letcher Central in the
20:44
regional championship game with nineteen points, hitting five of eleven
20:49
two point attempts and both of her three point shots,
20:52
while also making three of five free throws. Eighth Greater
20:57
Mere Dixon added eight points and went at the free
21:00
throw line, while senior Ali Bailey scored six points and
21:05
connected on three of four field goal attempts. Junior Kaylee
21:11
Baker added four points, including a three pointer, while senior
21:14
Scarlett Stamper and junior Molly Carl each finished with three points.
21:20
The Lady Cougars made thirteen of thirty five shots from
21:23
the field thirty seven point one percent, including four of
21:27
six from three point range sixty six point seven percent,
21:31
and were thirteen of twenty two at the free throw line.
21:35
Johnson also led LCC in rebounding with five boards, while
21:40
Baker pulled down four rebounds and Stamper added five as
21:43
the Lady Cougars finished with twenty rebounds as a team.
21:49
After finishing as district runners up, the Lady Cougar's opened
21:52
regional tournament play March second with a sixty one to
21:56
fifty one victory over Breathett County. Four knights left. Later,
22:00
ELSC defeated Estell County fifty nine to fifty four to
22:04
earn a rematch with the Lady Patriots. In the regional
22:07
championship game against Estell County, Junior Molly Coddle led the
22:13
Lady Cougars with twenty four points, hitting eight three point
22:17
baskets while going eight for fifteen from the field. Eighth
22:21
Greater Mare Dixon added nine points, including four two point baskets,
22:26
while senior Scarlett Stamper and junior Sadie Johnson each scored
22:30
eight points. Senior Ally Bailey finished with four points and
22:34
six rebounds, while junior Kayley Baker added four points and
22:38
grabbed five rebounds. Sophomore Bailey Howard scored two points as
22:44
a team Lecher Central made twenty of fifty three field
22:47
goal attempts thirty seven point seven percent, including nine of
22:51
twenty four from three point range thirty seven point five percent,
22:55
and connected on ten of twelve free throws eighty three
22:58
point three percent. Stamper led the Lady Cougars on the
23:02
boards with ten rebounds, as elsie C finished with twenty
23:05
nine rebounds overall against Brethett County. However, the Lady Cougars
23:12
placed four players in double figures while shooting twenty one
23:15
of fifty seven from the field thirty six point eight percent.
23:19
Letcher Central also connected on four of eleven three point
23:23
attempts and was especially strong at the free throw line,
23:26
hitting fifteen of seventeen attempts eighty eight point two percent.
23:31
Eighth Greater Mara Dixon led elsie C with sixteen points,
23:35
including a perfect six for six performance at the free
23:38
throw line. Sadie Johnson, a junior, added fifteen points and
23:43
grabbed a team high seven rebounds. Senior Ali Bailey scored
23:48
eleven points and pulled down six rebounds, while junior Molly
23:52
Caudle added ten points, including a pair of three point baskets.
23:57
Junior Kayley Baker finished with seven points, hitting two three pointers,
24:01
and senior Scarlett Stamper added two points. Lecher Central finished
24:06
the game with twenty six rebounds. And the next article
24:12
is two Explosions twenty six did, Remembering Scotia at fifty
24:19
Former Mountain Eagle reporter recalls covering the nineteen seventy six
24:24
mind disaster by Bill Bishop. At eleven fifteen in the
24:30
morning of March ninth, nineteen seventy six, Virgil Coots, a
24:34
foreman at the Scotia coal mine, called to the surface,
24:38
You've cut off all my air. Coots complaint. A few
24:42
minutes later he made another call, I'm not getting any air.
24:45
Coots said, I'm coming down to see what the problem is.
24:49
Coots never made it. Methane gas accumulated in a dead
24:54
end section of the mine, and at eleven thirty am,
24:57
Scotia exploded. Gohots was killed immediately. Fourteen others would die
25:03
that day. Fifty years ago, Scotia exploded again March eleventh.
25:09
Eight miners and three federal mine inspectors died two days.
25:14
Two explosions twenty six did fifty years later. It's worth
25:19
remembering at the Mountain Eagle, we were in the middle
25:23
of our weekly mad rush to finish the paper when
25:26
we received a call about a mine explosion at Scotia.
25:30
The mine was in oven Fork, about ten miles south
25:33
of Whitesburg in Letcher County's Upper Cumberland River Valley. Nineteen
25:39
months earlier, a local cop had hired two people to
25:42
burn the paper down. By the time of the explosion,
25:46
Tom and Pat Gish had found an office in an
25:49
old supply store building on Tunnel Hill, next to the
25:52
road running out of town, and set up shop there.
25:56
Tom and Pat said we weren't printing the paper until
25:59
we found out what happened at Scotia. We scattered looking
26:04
for any information on the disaster. I went to the mine,
26:07
where families and miners had gathered. I took pictures, only
26:11
to have the state police confiscate my film. The same
26:15
thing happened to Apple Shop filmmakers. The state cops said
26:19
we couldn't take photos on private property. The police eventually
26:22
returned the film. Helen Winternitz also went to the mine
26:27
and came back to the office with a camera full
26:29
of good photos. The Eagles extended family kicked into gear.
26:35
Tom Bethel, then research director at the United Mine workers
26:39
provided technical guidance on mind ventilation and inspection reports. David
26:45
Massey came in from Knoxville to help. Jim Branscomb began
26:49
working his sources. We gathered interviews with funeral home directors
26:54
and miners, compiled inspection reports, and developed film. Sometime Wednesday
27:00
we finished the paper and drove it to the printer
27:02
in Prestonsburg. We learned that Virgil Coots was right. The
27:08
Scotia mine wasn't properly ventilated. It was also a particularly
27:12
gassy mine that was a deadly combination. Methane gas is
27:17
explosive when it reaches between five and fifteen percent of
27:21
the atmosphere. All that is needed then is a spark.
27:26
A good ventilation system sweeps methane out of a mind
27:29
before it can reach the five percent threshold. But at Scotia,
27:33
fresh air had been directed away from a non working
27:36
section of the Scotia mine and methane accumulated. Miners told
27:40
The Eagle that ventilation was a chronic problem at Scotia.
27:45
There's not enough air there. One miner said, there's never
27:48
been enough air in there. Virgil Coots's call was further
27:52
indication that ventilation at the mine was fouled. By one
27:59
thirty eight Wednesday, rescue teams had found the bodies of
28:03
fifteen miners four point five miles in from the mine portal.
28:08
Six miners survived the initial explosion. They donned their self
28:13
rescuers breathing devices that provided oxygen for an hour. They
28:18
could have walked out of the mine. Fresh air was
28:20
only three thousand feet away, but they had never been
28:24
trained for these kinds of situations. They must have encountered
28:28
smoke and gas and decided to barricade themselves and wait
28:31
for help. Help didn't come in time. The self rescuers
28:35
stopped working and the men died. The mine exploded again
28:40
at eleven twenty pm March eleventh. Ten miners and three
28:45
Federal mine inspectors were in the mine making repairs. They
28:49
had just finished their shift and were waiting to come
28:52
out of the mine. Two men who were behind a gobpile,
28:56
survived the explosion, but the others died. This concludes the
29:02
reading of the Mountain Eagle. Your reader has been built
29:06
in Arsenal. Now please stay tuned for continued programming on
29:10
behalf of everyone here at Radio I. Thank you for
29:13
listening and have a good day,