Transcript

5.15.25 · The Mountain Eagle

0:01
Speaker 1: Now we turn to the Mountain Eagle to read news
0:04
from Whitesburg. Your reader today is Bill an Arsdale. We
0:09
will begin with the addition dated May fourteenth, twenty twenty five,
0:13
which the publishers have 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
0:23
read printed material. And the first headline is Cicadas emerge
0:30
across Lecchure. Kentucky is the epicenter for the emergence of
0:36
brood fourteen of seventeen year periodical cicadas now happening in
0:41
Letcher and most other central and Eastern Kentucky counties, designated
0:47
the Bourbon brood by University of Kentucky Martin Gatton College
0:51
of Agriculture, Food and Environment entomologists. These time keeping insects
0:57
are characterized by their red eyes and loud singing. Periodical
1:03
cicadas have appeared in western Kentucky counties over the past
1:06
few years, but the largest emergence area for twenty twenty
1:10
five is now occurring across most of central and eastern Kentucky.
1:16
According to Jonathan Larson, Assistant Extinctionion Entomology, professor in the
1:20
Department of Entomology at UK Martin Gatton, Coife. The seventeen
1:25
year periodical cicadas are now emerging from the soil and
1:29
molting into their flying adult form much earlier than annual cicadas,
1:36
with the soil having now warmed to the mid sixties.
1:39
Larson said, we are now seeing this brood of cicadas,
1:43
which often occurs about the same time you start to
1:45
see iris blooms. A lot of people hate them, but
1:49
I hope they will learn to appreciate them as periodical
1:52
cicadas are such a rarity. Larson explained that the periodical
1:58
cicada nymphs live in the soil, feeding on the sap
2:01
of tree roots. They count their feeding cycles to know
2:05
when to emerge and prepare for mold. Not all cicadas
2:08
appear in the correct year. Cicadas are not harmful to humans, pets,
2:14
or wildlife, as they do not bite or sting. Local
2:19
wildlife such as snakes, foxes, and turkeys will benefit from
2:23
the extra protein provided by the cicadas, although Larson mentioned
2:29
that the surge in cicada numbers won't immediately boost the
2:32
population of predatory animals in high emergence areas it will
2:37
likely lead to increased feeding activity. He advised people to
2:41
be aware. In addition to the many nymph exoskeleton shells
2:46
left behind on tree trunks and nearby objects, the adult
2:49
cicadas sound will be difficult to avoid. A song from
2:54
a large congregation of cicadas can be deafening, rivaling the
2:58
sound made by a jet inch. Larsen sid only the
3:02
males can produce the sound, and their first song is
3:06
to encourage other males to congregate in sunlit trees. Another
3:11
choral song is then made to attract females. The males
3:15
will die shortly after mating, and the females will begin
3:19
laying their eggs, Larsen said. Egg laying is the part
3:24
of the periodical cicada lifestyle that can be problematic for orchards,
3:29
tree nurseries, and landscapers. Female cicadas will bore their ovipositor
3:35
into young, tender tree or shrub branches and deposit two
3:39
hundred to six hundred eggs. This flagging may cause the
3:44
branches to snap. While not beneficial for a growing tree,
3:49
a fallen branch makes for a much shorter journey for
3:52
the hatching nymphs from egg to soil. A heavy population
3:56
of nymphs in the soil may also impact the tree's
3:59
root system. While using insecticides may be less costly, Larsen said,
4:05
the safest and most effective way to prevent tree and
4:08
shrub damage is by using cicada netting, which prevents females
4:13
from laying their eggs. The next headline is osm layoffs
4:20
would cause loss of funds for projects here, the retired
4:26
head of the Office of Surface Mine Reclamation and Enforcements
4:29
London office says a recommendation by the Federal Department of
4:33
Government Efficiency DOGE to move auditors out of the agency
4:38
will hamstring its ability to collect money from coal companies
4:42
to pay for abandoned minelands reclamation. Abandoned Mineland's money pays
4:48
for water systems in areas where wells have been damaged
4:52
by mining, and pays for economic development in communities that
4:56
are adversely affected by the decline in coal mining in Appalachia.
5:01
Michael Mills served with OSMRI for twenty nine years and
5:06
was division chief in London when he retired. OSMRI is
5:10
part of the Department of Interior and consists of two
5:13
branches Inspection and Enforcement and the Compliance management branch. Mills
5:20
said the two work together to see that mining is
5:22
done correctly and that coal companies pay the fees and
5:25
fines that are legally required to pay for a reclamation
5:29
of abandoned mine lands that includes projects to pay for
5:33
municipal water systems in areas where wells were damaged by mining.
5:39
Many of the water lines in Letter County were paid
5:41
for by abandoned minelands money, and a m L water
5:46
lines projects are currently under way in carbon glow and
5:49
loggy Hollow. DCM works hand in hand with osmri's Inspection
5:55
and Enforcement to maintain a robust compliance framework. While I
6:01
and E focuses on environmental and regulatory compliance at mine sights,
6:05
DCM ensures that the financial responsibilities of mine operators are met,
6:11
Mills said in an open letter. Additionally, DCM provides technical
6:17
assistance to the coal industry, maintains fee payment databases, and
6:21
develops reports to monitor compliance trends. When violations occur, DCM
6:28
coordinates with legal and enforcement arms of DOI to pursue
6:33
corrective actions and fee recovery. The Trump administration has already
6:38
shut down every OSM office in Kentucky and fired nearly
6:43
all of the employees in the Inspection and Enforcement division.
6:47
Mills said, now doze is coming for the rest of OSM.
6:52
DOGE is recommending they take the auditors and transfer them
6:55
over to the Department of Interior, Mills said, separating the
6:58
people who inspect the mines from the people who audit
7:01
the mining company's accounting. Mills said he's all for avoiding
7:06
duplication when possible, but moving DCM away from inspection and
7:11
Enforcement and giving the jobs to auditors unfamiliar with OSM
7:15
procedures or giving DCM auditors additional duties outside OSMRI is
7:21
the opposite of efficiency. DCM is a critical component of OSMRE,
7:27
tasked with ensuring the integrity of the AML fund by
7:30
auditing coal mine operators for accurate reclamation fee payments, Mills
7:35
said in a letter. These thees mandated by the Surface
7:39
Mining Control and Reclamation Act of nineteen seventy seven, fund
7:43
the restoration of lands and waters impacted by legacy coal mining.
7:50
The next story is Stein's appears stressed in video. Another
7:57
snippet of video leaked this week in the Shawn Mickey
8:01
Stein's murder case does little to explain why Stein's shot
8:05
and killed District Judge Kevin Mullins, who had been a
8:08
friend and a frequent attendee at poker games in Stein's garage.
8:13
It does, however, show Stein's was panicky and paranoid as
8:18
he sat handcuffed in a chair in the hallway of
8:20
the courthouse while Kentucky State police questioned him and tried
8:24
to get him to go with them willingly to jail.
8:28
Steyn's his hands behind him and his shoes off, turns
8:32
his head to watch when someone passes behind the detectives
8:35
and repeatedly pleads with the detectives, don't kill me and
8:39
be fair with me. In part of the video, one
8:42
detective looks questioningly at the others as the two repeatedly
8:46
tell him they have no intention of hurting him. As
8:50
police talk to him about where they're going to take him,
8:53
Stein's becomes animated, shaking his head at the prospects of
8:56
going to a police car for transport to another jail.
9:01
Right now, I'm alive and well and no weapons on me.
9:04
I'll leave here and I won't draw another breath, he
9:06
says at one point, as police question why he thinks
9:11
that someone would hurt him. Steines refuses to answer and
9:15
claims that he believes they will stop somewhere on the
9:17
road during the transport and kill him. They came in
9:22
here huffing and puffing. Stein says. While he doesn't answer
9:25
when asked who he's talking about, he appears to be
9:28
referring to the four police officers who arrived first, clearing
9:32
the courthouse with AR fifteen patrol rifles at the ready.
9:37
Stein's had left the courthouse and came back in behind them,
9:41
then drew his gun and laid it on a table
9:43
and surrendered. An officer in the video explains to Stein's
9:47
that the others didn't know if he was still aggressive
9:50
and planning to attack them. Lead Detective Clayton Stanton seems
9:55
puzzled in the video, telling Stein's no one is going
9:58
to hurt him, and an the unseen trooper tells him
10:01
he can choose whatever police officer he wants to transport
10:04
him as long as two go and one is with KSP.
10:09
Stein's chooses State Police trooper Jason Bates, who was a
10:13
deputy under Sheriff Danny Webb, but when Bates sits beside
10:17
him and tries to talk, Steins still claims he's worried
10:20
they'll hurt him. Bates reminds him that they've known each
10:25
other since they were fourteen years old and work together
10:27
for years, but Stein's is still insistent that he's scared.
10:33
When officers suggest they use the elevator in the courtroom
10:36
to take him downstairs, he balks at that as well,
10:40
you'll take me to the Leslie County jail. They'll beat
10:42
the hell out of me and kill me in stuff.
10:44
Stein said, I ain't got nothing on me. Don't take
10:47
me back there toward an active crime scene and me
10:50
end up dead when a million people seen me. While
10:54
his demeanor is relatively calm, he refuses to say why
10:58
he shot Mullins and seems almost ready to resist when
11:02
they ask him to slip his shoes back on and
11:04
come with them. As they approach the elevator in the hallway,
11:08
Steyne's panics and begins backing up quickly. No, no, no,
11:13
he says, that ain't the way to the jail. He
11:16
continues to back up and glances quickly down the front
11:19
hallway as though contemplating running. Finally, police ask him how
11:24
to get to the jail. Claiming they don't know the
11:27
court house like he does. Stein's tells them to use
11:30
the stairs, which they do, but he again balks. When
11:35
they reach the first floor. He attempts to go out
11:37
the exit, and a trooper puts his hand out and
11:39
steers him back toward the basement. On the walk down
11:43
the hallway, the trooper puts his hand on Stein's back
11:46
multiple times to keep him moving toward the sally Port,
11:50
the garage area where police cars load and unload prisoners.
11:54
The new video stops as the door to the sallyport opens.
12:00
This is the second snippet of video that has found
12:02
its way to Fox News or to Tabloid TV in
12:06
the past few days. The other shows the complete footage
12:11
of the crime, including other people leaving the judge's office
12:14
just before the shooting. The video shows Stein's attempt to
12:18
call someone on his own phone and then reaching his
12:22
hand toward the judge, who takes his own phone out
12:24
and hands it to Stein's seemingly relaxed as he smokes
12:28
a cigarette. As The Mountain Eagle reported months ago, the
12:33
video clearly shows Stein's input a telephone number on the
12:37
judge's phone and wait for someone to pick up. He
12:41
then lays the phone back down and pulls his shirt
12:44
tail up and off his concealed handgun. It appears as
12:48
though Mullins doesn't notice the gun until Stein's stands up
12:52
and draws the gun, walking to the side of his desk,
12:55
and then he waves at him as though telling him
12:58
to put it away before he reaches Stein's as serious.
13:03
As the judge starts to stand up, Steins raises the
13:06
gun slightly and motions for him to sit back down.
13:09
It is then that he raises the weapon, aims at
13:12
the unarmed judge, and fires the fatal shot. In other developments,
13:19
Stein's has been removed from the lawsuit over the sixth
13:22
scandal involving former Deputy Ben Fields and an inmate in
13:26
the Leccher County Jail. Stein's attorney asked that he be
13:30
removed from the case and Sheriff Billy Jones replace him
13:34
in the suit. Jones was not involved in the scandal, but,
13:38
as Steines's successor, is responsible for the office. Jones, like Stein's,
13:44
is not being personally sued, but is being sued in
13:47
his official capacity as sheriff. The judge granted the motion
13:53
and Fields has now filed a motion for summary judgment
13:56
dismissing the case, and the defendants have joined in that motion.
14:01
The motion came after a settlement conference when no agreement
14:04
was reached. A judge has not yet ruled on the matter.
14:11
The next headline is Attorney General Hope's Acker killers may
14:16
finally be put to death after court's ruling. If Kentucky
14:21
Attorney General Russell Coleman has his way, two of the
14:25
three men convicted in the August nineteen eighty five murder
14:29
of Tammy Aker will be put to death sooner rather
14:32
than later. Nearly thirty nine years after Benny Lee Hodge,
14:38
now seventy three, was convicted of murdering miss Acker and
14:42
attempting to murder her father, doctor Roscoe j Acker, in
14:46
their Fleming Neon home, a federal appeals court has upheld
14:50
the death sentence imposed on Hodge by a Leccher Circuit
14:54
court jury. Coleman, the Attorney General, announced last week that
14:59
the full the U. S. Court of Appeals for the
15:01
Sixth Circuit has rejected the latest attempt by Hodge to
15:05
avoid the death penalty he received in June nineteen eighty six.
15:10
The latest ruling reverses last year's decision by a three
15:13
judge panel of the Sixth Circuit Court to spare Hodge
15:17
the death penalty. As a result of that decision, Coleman
15:21
asked the full Appellate Court to reconsider. In what Coleman
15:25
says is a rare move, all the judges of the
15:28
Sixth Circuit agreed to rehear the case. In a fourteen
15:32
to four decision handed down May seven, the judges rejected
15:36
Hodge's arguments that he wasn't given a fair trial and
15:40
upheld his death sentence for nearly four decades, this brutal
15:45
murderer has tried to escape justice, hoping that we would
15:48
eventually give up and forget about this case, Coleman said
15:52
today in announcing the decision. We never forgot about this tragedy,
15:57
about the Acker family, and about the justice they were prompt.
16:01
Every Kentuckian will be safer when this convicted criminal faces
16:04
his lawful sentence. In the wake of the Full Court's ruling,
16:10
Coleman pledged to continue his effort to end the fifteen
16:14
year ban on the lawful imposition of the death penalty
16:16
in Kentucky. In twenty ten, the Franklin Circuit Court blocked
16:22
any imposition of the death penalty in the Commonwealth until
16:25
certain criteria were met. According to Coleman, Governor Andy Basher's
16:30
administration adopted an amended Capital's Punishment Regulation last year, which
16:35
brought the Commonwealth's policy into full compliance with the Franklin
16:39
Circuit Court's previous rulings. Hodge of Lake City, Tennessee, was
16:45
sentenced to death on June twentieth, nineteen eighty six, in
16:49
Leiger's Circuit Court along with Roger Dale Eperson of the
16:53
jeff Community in Perry County, for murdering Miss Acker, then
16:57
a twenty three year old University of Kentucky' state student,
17:00
preparing to return to Lexington. The murder occurred after Hodge,
17:04
Eperson and another accomplice, Donald Terry Bartley, of Harlan County,
17:10
entered the Fleming home where miss Acker was staying with
17:13
her then seventy seven year old father, doctor Roscoe Acker,
17:17
on the night of August eighth, nineteen eighty five. Tammy
17:21
Acker was home alone when the men first arrived. The
17:25
trio returned to the house after doctor Acker returned home
17:28
for the night after a day of practicing medicine at
17:31
his office. Nearby. Hodge and Bartley got into the Acker
17:35
home by pretending to be FBI agents investigating the financing
17:39
of illegal strip mining. The two men summoned Eperson, their
17:44
so called strawboss inside. After the Acker's hands were tied.
17:50
With doctor Aker now home and the three men inside,
17:54
they brutally stabbed miss Acker to death and choked Doctor
17:58
Acker into unconsciousness leave him for dead. The murder and
18:02
attempted murder occurred after the trio robbed doctor Acker's bedside
18:06
safe of one point nine million dollars. The Ackers were
18:11
also robbed of handguns and jewelry. Hodge, Eperson, and Bartley
18:17
were arrested in Ormond Beach, Florida, on August fifteenth, nineteen
18:21
eighty five, and were returned to Letcher County a few
18:24
days later when the case against Hodge and Eperson went
18:28
to trial less than a year later. It was successfully
18:31
prosecuted by former Letcher Comonwealth's attorney James W. Craft. Late
18:36
of Weisburg attorney L. M. Mike Caudle assisted Craft in
18:41
the prosecution. Caudle is now the CEO of Wichburg based
18:45
Mountain Comprehensive Health Corporation MCCHC. Craft and Caudle also successfully
18:52
prosecuted a second death penalty case against Hodge and Eperson
18:56
in November nineteen ninety six for the murder and robbery
19:00
of Bessie and Edwin Morris in their home in Greyhawk, Kentucky.
19:05
On June sixteenth, nineteen eighty five, Bartley, now sixty six,
19:11
escaped the death penalty in both cases by pleading guilty
19:14
and agreeing to testify against Hodge and Eperson. He was
19:19
sentenced to life about the possibility of parole for at
19:22
least twenty five years by then Lecher Circuit Judge f
19:26
BYRD Hogg. Under a twenty nineteen settlement of a lawsuit
19:30
he filed against the state of Kentucky. Eperson, now seventy five,
19:35
no longer faces the death penalty in the Acker case,
19:38
but remains on death row for the Morris murders in
19:41
Jackson County. In exchange, Eperson agreed to file no more appeals.
19:48
Attorney General Coleman says that since his conviction, Hodge has
19:52
filed numerous appeals seeking to avoid punishment, noting that in
19:56
their opinion, the appeals court judges underscore the high costs
20:00
of the delays the public suffers, particularly surviving victims and
20:05
loved ones, when we allow previously convicted perpetrators of violent
20:10
and deadly crimes to relitigate their convictions or sentences, or
20:14
both many years after the trial, in this case, decades
20:19
after evidence has gone stale or been lost, and the
20:22
precipient witnesses like doctor Acker, have died, the judges wrote
20:28
Tawny Acker. Tammy's sister expressed her relief at the result.
20:34
I want to thank Attorney General Russell Coleman and his
20:37
staff for their excellent preparation and presentation to uphold the
20:41
sentencing of a cold blooded murderer before the Sixth Circuit
20:45
Court of Appeals. She said, they stood masterfully in the gap,
20:49
defending justice and protecting the safety of my family and
20:53
the safety of all families in the Commonwealth. Kentucky's Solicitor
20:58
General Matt Kuhne presented the Commonwealth's case before the Sixth Circuit.
21:03
Assistant Solicitor General Jacob Abrahamson also supported the Commonwealth's effort.
21:08
Erica Paskey, with the Attorney General's Office of Victim's Advocacy,
21:12
provided services to the victim's family. The US Court of
21:17
Appeals for the Sixth Circuit Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, and Michigan
21:21
is an intermediate federal appellate court, one step below the U. S.
21:25
Supreme Court. The next story is suspect in church van
21:32
theft still at large. A man who backed through the
21:36
wall of a Coulson convenience store in the stolen church
21:40
van is still at large. Police have obtained warrants charging
21:45
twenty two year old Cecil Shell Junior with receiving stolen
21:49
property valued at ten thousand dollars or more, first degree
21:52
criminal mischief, and first degree fleeing or evading police. The
21:58
incident began about seven ten on May eighth, when two
22:02
Kentucky State Police troopers spotted a van reported stolen from
22:06
Smithborough Baptist Church in Sassafras, parked at the quick stop
22:10
on Kentucky seven North near the mouth of Indian Creek.
22:15
April Southar, who worked at the store, said she wasn't
22:18
working that evening, but was cooking out nearby when someone
22:22
yelled that a van had run through the building. She
22:25
said she ran to see what had happened, just in
22:27
time to watch the two police cars pull out on
22:30
the highway in pursuit. She said a plain white minivan
22:35
had parked at the gas pumps, and the driver gotten
22:37
out to talk to someone in an suv that also
22:40
parked at the pumps. Security cameras showed two State police
22:45
cruisers breaking quickly on the highway and turning into the
22:48
store parking lot. As they did, the driver of the
22:52
Chrysler Town and Country minivan got into the vehicle, put
22:55
it in reverse, and backed through the wall of the
22:58
store before speeding around the police cars and heading south
23:02
down Kentucky seven. I'm surprised he didn't tear the bottom
23:06
out of that van. He ran over that metal pole,
23:09
Suthar said. Kentucky State Police pursued the vehicle at speeds
23:15
it up to seventy five miles per hour on the
23:17
narrow two lane before it turned into Buck Creek and
23:20
continued up the hollow, which dead ends near a strip mine.
23:25
The van wrecked in a ditch near Kentucky May Road,
23:28
but drove back onto the highway and continued racing down
23:31
Kentucky seven. At one point, a trooper requested permission to
23:35
execute a pit maneuver using his car to knock the
23:39
van out of control, but was denied. The van turned
23:44
up the one lane Buck Creek Road at speeds up
23:47
to fifty miles an hour before finally driving up a
23:50
strip mine road and stopping on the abandoned mine. The
23:55
Not County church had reported the van stolen earlier and
23:58
police were actively looking for it. The suspect lives on
24:02
Buck Creek. Police are asking that anyone with information about
24:07
shells whereabouts contact Kentucky State Police Post thirteen in Hazard
24:12
at six oh six four three five six oh sixty nine.
24:18
The next story is House Republicans unveil Medicaid cuts, dims,
24:24
warn millions to lose care. House Republicans have unveiled the
24:29
cost saving centerpiece of President Donald Trump's Big Beautiful Bill,
24:34
at least eight hundred eighty billion dollars in cuts, largely
24:38
to Medicaid to help cover the cost of four point
24:41
five trillion dollars in tax breaks, tallying hundreds of pages.
24:47
The legislation, made public earlier this week, is touching off
24:50
the biggest political fight over healthcare since Republicans tried but
24:55
failed to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare,
24:59
during Trump's first term in twenty seventeen. While Republicans insist
25:05
they are simply rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse to
25:08
generate savings with new work and eligibility requirements. Democrats warned
25:13
that millions of Americans will lose coverage. A preliminary estimate
25:18
from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said the proposals would
25:22
reduce the number of people with healthcare by eight point
25:26
six million over the decade. Savings like these allow us
25:31
to use this bill to renew the Trump tax cuts
25:34
and keep Republicans promise to hard working middle class families,
25:38
said Representative Brett Guthrie of Kentucky, the GOP chairman of
25:42
the Energy and Commerce Committee, which handles healthcare spending. But
25:47
Democrats said the cuts are shameful and essentially amount to
25:51
another attempt to repeal Obamacare in no uncertain terms. Millions
25:57
of Americans will lose their health care coverage, said Representative
26:01
Frank Palone of New Jersey, the top Democrat on the panel.
26:05
He said hospitals will close, seniors will not be able
26:09
to access the care they need, and premiums will rise
26:12
for millions of people if this bill passes. As Republicans
26:17
race toward House Speaker Mike Johnson's Memorial Day deadline, to
26:21
pass Trump's big bill of tax breaks and spending cuts.
26:25
They are preparing to flood the zone with round the
26:28
clock public hearings this week on various sections before they
26:32
are stitched together in what will become a massive package.
26:37
The politics ahead are uncertain. More than a dozen House
26:41
Republicans have told Johnson and GOP leaders they will not
26:45
support cuts to the health care safety net programs that
26:48
residents back home depend on. Trump himself has shied away
26:53
from a repeat of his first term, vowing there will
26:56
be no cuts to Medicaid. One Republican Senator, Josh Hawley
27:01
of Missouri, warned his colleagues in an op ed Monday
27:05
that cutting health care to pay for tax breaks would
27:08
be morally wrong and politically suicidal. All told, eleven committees
27:13
in the House have been compiling their sections of the package,
27:16
as Republicans seek at least one point five trillion dollars
27:20
in savings to help cover the cost of preserving the
27:23
twenty seventeen tax breaks, which were approved during Trump's first
27:28
term and are expiring at the end of the year.
27:33
Central to the savings are changes to Medicaid, which provides
27:37
almost free health care to more than seventy million Americans,
27:40
and the Affordable Care Act, which has expanded in the
27:43
fifteen years since it was first approved to cover millions more.
27:49
And this concludes the reading of the Mountain Eagle. Your
27:53
reader has been Bill, then Arsenale. Now please stay tuned
27:56
for continued programming on behalf of everyone on here at radio.
28:01
I thank you for listening and have a good day.