Transcript

6.18.26 · The Mountain Eagle

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Speaker 1: Now we turn to the Mountain Eagle to read news
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Speaker 1: from Whitsburg. Your reader today is Bill Vanarsdale. We will
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Speaker 1: begin with the addition dated June seventeenth, twenty twenty six,
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Speaker 1: which the publishers have donated to Radio I as a reminder.
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Speaker 1: RADIOI is a reading service intended for people who are
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Speaker 1: blind or have other disabilities that make it difficult to
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Speaker 1: read printed material. The first item is a photo and
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Speaker 1: the caption is still swinging after all these years. Paul
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Speaker 1: Wooten of Hayden and Annie Reynolds of Louisbourg, North Carolina
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Speaker 1: respond to the caller's command swing your partner during the
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Speaker 1: monthly Carcasone Square Dance on Saturday, June thirteenth at the
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Speaker 1: Carcason Community Center. The gathering is believed to be Kentucky's
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Speaker 1: oldest continuously operating square dance, having begun in the early
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Speaker 1: nineteen sixties. Following the well attended June event, five dances
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Speaker 1: remain on the twenty twenty six schedule, each held on
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Speaker 1: the second Saturday of the month. The dances draw both
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Speaker 1: local residents and visitors and are held at the historic
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Speaker 1: Carcassone School, which is now over one hundred years old.
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Speaker 1: Live music and a live caller are featured at every dance,
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Speaker 1: and the next headline is County officials want to be
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Speaker 1: educated on data centers. Judge and magistrates want to learn
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Speaker 1: about the issue before any proposal comes to lecture. Lecture
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Speaker 1: Fiscal Court members said they planned to attend a meeting
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Speaker 1: of a group opposed to data centers in order to
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Speaker 1: educate themselves before any proposal to build one in the
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Speaker 1: county is brought forward. Judge Executive Terry Adams said no
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Speaker 1: one has approached the county about building a data center,
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Speaker 1: but added that officials should learn more about the issue
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Speaker 1: before before that happens. It would be nice to have
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Speaker 1: an education before we are approached, Adams said. The comments
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Speaker 1: by Adams, District three Magistrate Deb Collier, and District I
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Speaker 1: Magistrate Jack Banks came in response to questions from Michael Wine,
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Speaker 1: an independent candidate for Congress from Bottom Fork. Wine asked
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Speaker 1: whether anyone had approached the county about constructing a data center.
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Speaker 1: He said he has collected a petition with about four
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Speaker 1: thousand signatures across eastern Kentucky, including two hundred seventy from
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Speaker 1: Letcher County, opposing such developments. Today I speak for a
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Speaker 1: growing group of concerned citizens, and we're concerned specifically with
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Speaker 1: the movement and encroachment of data centers into eastern Kentucky.
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Speaker 1: Wine said there have already been discussions in Boyd County
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Speaker 1: as well as Pipe County about bringing data centers there,
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Speaker 1: and there are rumors through the grapevine that discussions are
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Speaker 1: happening in county as well. Data centers are large computer
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Speaker 1: facilities used to power cloud computing and artificial intelligence systems.
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Speaker 1: Critics say they can place significant demands on electrical grids
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Speaker 1: and water supplies. Wine pointed to Meta's Hyperion Data center
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Speaker 1: in Richland Parish, Louisiana, a four million square foot facility
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Speaker 1: occupying more than two thousand, two hundred acres. The project
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Speaker 1: is expected to require about two gigawatts of electricity in
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Speaker 1: its initial phase, with plans that could eventually expand to
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Speaker 1: five gigawatts. For comparison, two gigawatts is roughly enough electricity
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Speaker 1: to serve about one point five million to two million homes,
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Speaker 1: depending on assumptions about household electricity use. A future five
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Speaker 1: gigawatt facility would be several times larger. Still, Collier said
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Speaker 1: she would like to serve on a committee if the
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Speaker 1: county decides to form one to study the issue. It's
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Speaker 1: going to be something that we more than likely are
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Speaker 1: going to be approached with because we're approached with all
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Speaker 1: the crappy stuff for lack of a better word. Collier said, so, yeah,
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Speaker 1: I would like to be on that committee, and whatever
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Speaker 1: we decide to do, I'd like to educate myself about it.
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Speaker 1: Thanks also said he would like to serve on such
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Speaker 1: a committee. Adams said he was not sure whether a
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Speaker 1: committee would be formed, but said he wanted to discuss
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Speaker 1: the issue further with Wine and learn more about it.
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Speaker 1: Wine said he would welcome the court's involvement. So if
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Speaker 1: you're just looking to get groundwork and you'd be willing
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Speaker 1: to sponsor us, or you'd like to work alongside us,
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Speaker 1: or you'd like to have both groups running simultaneously, I
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Speaker 1: would see a place for any of those options. Wine said.
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Speaker 1: The group will hold a meeting at five thirty pm
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Speaker 1: June thirtieth in the middle level meeting room of the
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Speaker 1: Harry M cl total Memorial Library in Wisburg. The discussion
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Speaker 1: took place during Monday's meeting of the Lectrifiscal Court. The
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Speaker 1: Court also approved a resolution accepting one point five million
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Speaker 1: dollars in House BILLT nine hundred grant funding to construct
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Speaker 1: a water line to the proposed Thunder Mountain Shooting Sports
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Speaker 1: range at Millstone. Originally planned for sand Lick, the development
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Speaker 1: is now proposed for the mountain top behind the county
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Speaker 1: garbage transfer station. In other business, the court voted to
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Speaker 1: extend the deadline for a net recovery to spend fifty
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Speaker 1: thousand dollars awarded through opioid settlement funds for a rehabilitation
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Speaker 1: program that uses electrical probes attached to patient's heads to
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Speaker 1: provide gentle stimulation intended to reduce withdrawal symptoms in people
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Speaker 1: recovering from opioid addiction. The court held the second reading
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Speaker 1: and approved the county budget for the next fiscal year.
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Speaker 1: It heard a report from crisp Back of the Kentucky
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Speaker 1: River Area Development District that the National Park Service has
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Speaker 1: reopened its preservation grant program. He said the county may
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Speaker 1: be eligible for grants to restore historic buildings. In Whitesburg,
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Speaker 1: the court awarded a one point seven million dollar contract
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Speaker 1: to Nathan Bailey Construction to renovate the former Blackie Water
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Speaker 1: treatment plant into the new Blackee Community Center, and the
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Speaker 1: court heard a report from Collier that a new certificate
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Speaker 1: of need is not required for another ambulance service to
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Speaker 1: operate in Electric County. I sent an e mail to
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Speaker 1: k B E m S Kentucky Board of Emergency Medical
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Speaker 1: Services about the situation and about a second certificate of
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Speaker 1: need because some areas are not being served. Collier said
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Speaker 1: the reply was that a second certificate of need is
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Speaker 1: not required. You can operate an ambulance service, but the
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Speaker 1: only stipulation is the second service can only do emergency runs.
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Speaker 1: It can't do transports. The area previously served by Letcher
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Speaker 1: Fire and Rescue is now being covered by Neon Fire
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Speaker 1: and Rescue, which serves the area from Atswisberg Station and
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Speaker 1: often has only two ambulances on duty. County wide magistrates
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Speaker 1: have repeatedly questioned when that situation will improve. Adams said
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Speaker 1: he has spoken with Neon Fire Chief Carter Bevins and
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Speaker 1: plans to do so again, but has been told the
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Speaker 1: service has been unable to find qualified personnel. In a
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Speaker 1: related matter, Letcher Fire Chief Wallace Spanky Bowling said there
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Speaker 1: are too few usable helicopter landing zones in the County
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Speaker 1: and suggested using some of the property acquired through flood
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Speaker 1: buyouts for that purpose. Adams said he believed it was
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Speaker 1: a good idea. The next story is drones join in
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Speaker 1: battle against invasive kudzuu. The much anticipated UFO report from
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Speaker 1: the federal government didn't reveal any little green men. But
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Speaker 1: here in the South we've had plenty of sightings of
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Speaker 1: one very hungry alien green and voracious. It can grow
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Speaker 1: up to a foot a day, crawling along the ground
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Speaker 1: and gobbling up telephone poles, junk cars, and even entire buildings.
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Speaker 1: If you don't know what this insatiable invader is by now,
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Speaker 1: you ain't from around here. Kudzuo, the scourge of farmers,
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Speaker 1: the bane of abandoned buildings, and the vine that ate
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Speaker 1: the South, may be the worst invasive plant ever brought
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Speaker 1: to the United States, and as the climate changes, it's
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Speaker 1: only getting worse. With an abundance of eighty six degree
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Speaker 1: days last summer and ample rainfall until near the end
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Speaker 1: of the growing season, kudzoo has hit its full stride.
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Speaker 1: Over the past few years. Parts of Lectter County that
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Speaker 1: once had little or no problem with the ground creeper
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Speaker 1: had disappeared beneath its broad, fuzzy green leaves, and while elk,
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Speaker 1: deer and other wildlife may enjoy it, the Kentucky Department
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Speaker 1: of Fish and Wildlife Resources says enough is enough. It's
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Speaker 1: a terrible problem in that part of the state, said
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Speaker 1: Jacob Stuart, private lands coordinator for k d f w R.
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Speaker 1: With any plant, there are positives and negatives. Stuart said,
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Speaker 1: elk bear, anything that is a browser will eat on it,
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Speaker 1: but anything that takes over and becomes a monoculture is
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Speaker 1: a detriment. Kudzu was never meant to be growing in
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Speaker 1: the wilds of the United States. It was brought here
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Speaker 1: from China in eighteen seventy six as part of the
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Speaker 1: country's centennial celebration. The plant was intended to be grown
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Speaker 1: on trellises to provide shade from the hot summer sun.
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Speaker 1: While Southerners might tire of the heat, kudzoo thrived in
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Speaker 1: it and grew like a weed, so to speak. Once
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Speaker 1: it started growing, there were all kinds of plans for
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Speaker 1: the foreign invader. Farmers were encouraged to use it as
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Speaker 1: livestock feed. The U. S Soil Conservation Service promoted it
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Speaker 1: for erosion control, but kudzoo proved ungovernable. It went where
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Speaker 1: it wanted, grew where little else would, and if something
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Speaker 1: else did grow there, the vine simply climbed over it
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Speaker 1: and shaded it out of existence. The problem with getting
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Speaker 1: rid of kudzu is that it is not only detrimental,
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Speaker 1: it's determined. It will climb seventy five foot trees, scale cliffs,
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Speaker 1: and cover almost anything that gets in its way. So
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Speaker 1: k d f w R is borrowing an old military strategy.
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Speaker 1: If you can't beat an invading army on the ground,
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Speaker 1: call in air support. Fish and Wildlife is using drones
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Speaker 1: to reach places that are difficult or impossible to access
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Speaker 1: on foot. The drones carry tanks of herbicides called Escort
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Speaker 1: and transline into the woods, weaving between trees and delivering
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Speaker 1: treatment directly to the kudzu. We use it where it's
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Speaker 1: non containable, in places that are not reachable by heavy equipment,
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Speaker 1: sprayers and that sort of thing. Stewart said. The work
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Speaker 1: is still experimental, but so far it has shown promising results.
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Speaker 1: Much of the treated kudzu has been killed down to
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Speaker 1: the route, although repeated spraying over several years will likely
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Speaker 1: be necessary. To eliminate it completely. The technique is promising
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Speaker 1: not only because it allows crews to reach areas that
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Speaker 1: would otherwise be inaccessible, but also because it is relatively inexpensive.
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Speaker 1: Land Owners can treat their property for about seventy five
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Speaker 1: to eighty dollars per acre in herbicide costs and then
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Speaker 1: watch the vines die back. Anyone interested in removing kudzu
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Speaker 1: from their property can contact Fish and Wildlife for a
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Speaker 1: free consultation on managing land for wildlife without resorting to
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Speaker 1: imported invasive plants. The next headline is Pipeville man fined
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Speaker 1: ten dollars costs after speeding over one hundred twenty miles
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Speaker 1: per hour to flee cop. Three others sentenced. A Pipefville
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Speaker 1: man was sentenced to two days in jail and a
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Speaker 1: ten dollars fine after being arrested for fleeing from police
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Speaker 1: at speeds up to one hundred twenty miles per hour.
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Speaker 1: According to the citation, issued shortly after noon on April thirteenth,
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Speaker 1: Kentucky State Police trooper Brandon Watts driving north on US
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Speaker 1: twenty three at Jenkins and running ringar when he met
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Speaker 1: Christopher Bevins twenty eight of East Shelbyana Road in Pikeville,
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Speaker 1: traveling eighty five five miles per hour in the opposite
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Speaker 1: direction on the twenty twelve Harley Davidson motorcycle. Watts wrote
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Speaker 1: that when he turned his cruiser around, Bevins fled, hitting
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Speaker 1: speeds of up to one hundred twenty miles per hour
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Speaker 1: in the fifty five mile per hour speed zone before
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Speaker 1: pulling over at the Virginia state line. Bevans was charged
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Speaker 1: with speeding twenty six miles per hour or more over
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Speaker 1: the limit, reckless driving, first degree fleeing and evading police,
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Speaker 1: no registration plates, no registration receipt, and no motorcycle operator's license. However,
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Speaker 1: his charges were reduced as a result of his plea bargain.
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Speaker 1: He pleaded guilty to first degree fleeing or evading police
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Speaker 1: and a reduced charge of speeding five miles per hour
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Speaker 1: over the limit. In addition to the ten dollars fine,
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Speaker 1: he was ordered to pay one hundred sixty five dollars
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Speaker 1: in court costs, given credit for time served and released
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Speaker 1: from jail. Videns was one of three people to plead
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Speaker 1: guilty in the past week in Lectri Circuit Court. A
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Speaker 1: fourth person, Vincent Fleming was sentenced to nineteen years in prison.
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Speaker 1: Jason Polly, forty five of seven to forty Lakeside Drive, Jenkins,
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Speaker 1: was sentenced to fifteen days in the county jail for
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Speaker 1: possession of drug paraphernalia, while a charge of first degree
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Speaker 1: first defense possession of Metham fetemen was dismissed. As part
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Speaker 1: of the plea deal, court costs were waived. Polly was
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Speaker 1: arrested after police responded to domestic dispute and found him
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Speaker 1: hiding in the home allegedly in possession of Metham fetemen.
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Speaker 1: Vanessa Adams sixty nine of fifty Blue Jay Hill, Jeremiah,
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Speaker 1: pleaded guilty to first degree trafficking in a controlled substance
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Speaker 1: first defense greater than ten dosage units of an unspecified drug.
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Speaker 1: She was sentenced to five years in prison, probated, and
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Speaker 1: ordered to pay four hundred doll restitution. Court costs were waived.
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Speaker 1: She asked that her prison sentence be waived, and the
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Speaker 1: judge agreed she must be on supervised probation for five
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Speaker 1: years rather than go to prison. The next headline is
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Speaker 1: head Start expanding the Jenkins head Start is opening a
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Speaker 1: new early head Start classroom in Jenkins. On June twenty ninth.
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Speaker 1: Lklp's early head Start serves pregnant women, infants, and toddlers
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Speaker 1: from six weeks to three years of age. Persons wishing
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Speaker 1: to learn more information or apply may visit the Jenkins
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Speaker 1: head Start Center call six oh six, four three, five, seven,
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Speaker 1: nine six two. The next story is Yance takes helm
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Speaker 1: of lecture schools, sets three major goals. New superintendent cites
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Speaker 1: school safety, academic achievement, and enrollment growth as Letcher County's
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Speaker 1: new superintendent of schools has three major goals for his
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Speaker 1: first four years, hiring school resource officers in every school,
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Speaker 1: elevating the district's schools to be the best in the state,
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Speaker 1: and bringing students who have left the district back home
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Speaker 1: to Letcher County. Josh Yance, currently the district's assistant superintendent
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Speaker 1: for finance, said he still has two children in the
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Speaker 1: school district and takes his duty to students and parents seriously.
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Speaker 1: I know how I love my children, I know how
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Speaker 1: parents in the community love their children, and I want
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Speaker 1: to provide for them the best that I can, he said.
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Speaker 1: The Letter County Board of Education voted four to nothing
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Speaker 1: late Friday to hire him to a four year contract
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Speaker 1: at a salary of one hundred and fifty five thousand
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Speaker 1: dollars per year. Yance signed the contract in the Letcher
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Speaker 1: County Central High School auditorium Friday night. Yance will take
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Speaker 1: over as superintendent on July first. He will replace Denise Yance,
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Speaker 1: who has announced her retirement. The two share a last name,
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Speaker 1: but are not related. Josh Yhnce thanked the current superintendent
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Speaker 1: for her service and support as his boss since she
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Speaker 1: took over eight years ago. During the pandemic, I was
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Speaker 1: made COVID czar, I guess, so I had to deal
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Speaker 1: with all the contact tracing and everything during COVID. So
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Speaker 1: all I got was the bad news. That's all I heard,
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Speaker 1: he said. I'd say, Denise, what are we going to do?
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Speaker 1: She said, We're going to get through it, and we're
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Speaker 1: going to get through it together, and she was right.
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Speaker 1: Josh Johns has been associated with the Lester County School
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Speaker 1: District his entire life. He attended Martha Jane Potter Elementary
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Speaker 1: School and is a nineteen ninety four graduate of Fleming
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Speaker 1: Neon High School. After earning a bachelor's degree in history
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Speaker 1: and math from the University of Virginia's College at Wise.
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Speaker 1: He went on to earn a master's degree from Union College,
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Speaker 1: certifications in principal ship and school finance, and an Education
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Speaker 1: Specialist EDS degree from the University of the Cumberlands. He
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Speaker 1: taught math and coached basketball at Martha Jane Potter served
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Speaker 1: as principal there for six years and then moved to
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Speaker 1: the Central Office as director of State and Federal Programs.
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Speaker 1: I did that for about two years probably, and then
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Speaker 1: I was hired as the finance director. I picked up
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Speaker 1: the assistant superintendent duties to go along with it in
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Speaker 1: twenty eighteen, John said. John said as finance director, he
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Speaker 1: already budgeted for the district to hire school resource officers
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Speaker 1: throughout the district. The state will provide the district twenty
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Speaker 1: thousand dollars per school for an SRO. He said that
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Speaker 1: amount is about a third of what is required for
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Speaker 1: each position. State law requires one officer at each school,
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Speaker 1: but the district has only been able to find three
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Speaker 1: so far, and one of those quit after deciding the
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Speaker 1: job was not a good fit. Yance said people often
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Speaker 1: think of school resource officers as protection against major threats,
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Speaker 1: but it is the smaller, day to day situations that
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Speaker 1: demonstrate their value. As an example, he said he was
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Speaker 1: taking his two younger sons to Fleming Neon Middle School
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Speaker 1: when he encountered an accident in front of Martha Jane Potter.
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Speaker 1: Thank god, no one was hurt, but there was Officer
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Speaker 1: Joseph taking care of everything, directing traffic because our SRO
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Speaker 1: was stationed at Martha Jane that day, He said, it
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Speaker 1: made me feel good as a district administrator knowing there
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Speaker 1: was somebody there taking care of that. It didn't have
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Speaker 1: to be a teacher or a principal or an aide
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Speaker 1: or something. We had somebody there who was trained for that,
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Speaker 1: and that felt good. I want that for all our schools.
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Speaker 1: Johns said his second goal is to improve education in
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Speaker 1: Letcher County schools and make them the best in the state.
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Speaker 1: He said the high school has already achieved a Blue rating,
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Speaker 1: meaning it is among the highest performing schools in Kentucky.
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Speaker 1: Now he wants the same distinction for the district's middle
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Speaker 1: and elementary schools after a couple of years. I want
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Speaker 1: our academic success to be unparalleled in the state. John
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Speaker 1: said his third goal is to encourage students who left
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Speaker 1: the district during COVID nineteen or after the flood to
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Speaker 1: return to Letcher County schools. To do that, he said,
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Speaker 1: the district must make its schools attractive to students and parents.
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Speaker 1: I want a lot of our kids to come home.
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Speaker 1: If they're in a neighboring district or a neighboring state,
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Speaker 1: wherever it may be, I want them to come back home.
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Speaker 1: This is their home. Lecher County is their home, and
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Speaker 1: I want them back here. He said. We have a
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Speaker 1: great school district, We have great schools, and it needs
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Speaker 1: to be a warm, welcoming and inviting environment. I think
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Speaker 1: we can do that. Yance is married to Martina Green Yance,
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Speaker 1: and the couple have three children, Gage, who is in college,
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Speaker 1: and Jude and Jace, who will be incoming freshmen at
21:19
Speaker 1: LCC this fall. The next story is County remains in
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Speaker 1: severe drought. Letcher County remains in severe drought according to
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Speaker 1: the latest US Drought Monitor report released June twelfth. The
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Speaker 1: federal drought map places all of Letcher County in the
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Speaker 1: D two, or severe drought category, indicating continued shortages of
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Speaker 1: soil moisture and below normal stream flows. Despite scattered recent rainfall,
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Speaker 1: Forecasters say the weather pattern may become more favorable for
21:55
Speaker 1: rain in the coming days. The National Weather Service is
21:59
Speaker 1: calling for a periodic chances of showers and thunderstorms through
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Speaker 1: much of the week, with daytime temperatures generally reaching the eighties.
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Speaker 1: While locally heavy rainfall could provide temporary relief, drought experts
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Speaker 1: note that it typically takes several widespread rain events over
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Speaker 1: an extended period to significantly improve severe drought conditions. The
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Speaker 1: next US Drought Monitor update is expected Thursday. Drought is
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Speaker 1: forecast to persist across most of eastern Kentucky through the
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Speaker 1: end of summer, although some improvement will likely occur act
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Speaker 1: times in the next month or so. The National Weather
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Speaker 1: Service says some rain is possible Thursday and Friday. The
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Speaker 1: mixt headline is the caption of a photograph delivered by
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Speaker 1: rail driven home to Jeremiah by mule. An old horse
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Speaker 1: drawn farm wagon sits on a farm near Jeremiah. The
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Speaker 1: wagon was sold by by Sears, Roebuck and Company and
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Speaker 1: shipped to Letcher County by rail some time after the
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Speaker 1: arrival of the railroad in nineteen twelve. The wagon's original owner,
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Speaker 1: Hezekiah highse Caudle, ordered it from a Seers catalog and
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Speaker 1: had it delivered to Blackie by train. According to his
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Speaker 1: grandson L. M. Mike Caudle, who took the photograph Highsey
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Speaker 1: Road a mule to Blackie to pick up the wagon,
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Speaker 1: spent two days assembling it beside the railroad depot, and
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Speaker 1: then drove it home. The arrival of the railroad transformed
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Speaker 1: life in Letcher County, allowing residents to purchase goods previously
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Speaker 1: unavailable in the mountains. Through the Seers Catalog, families could
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Speaker 1: order everything from horse drawn wagons too ready to build
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Speaker 1: homes which were shipped by rail to depots from Blackie
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Speaker 1: to McRoberts. And The next story is drought changes fishing
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Speaker 1: patterns across area lakes. This is Gabby's Fishing Fever by
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Speaker 1: Greg Gabby Caudle. We've been in a bad drought for
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Speaker 1: quite some time now and it has had a major
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Speaker 1: effect on our lakes. Low water levels have impacted many
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Speaker 1: aspects of fishing, especially the spring sprawning season for a
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Speaker 1: species such as bluegill and bass. Normally, these fish move
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Speaker 1: into the backs of creeks and along shallow banks to
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Speaker 1: spawn when lakes reach their summer pool levels. This year, however,
24:31
Speaker 1: they have had to seek out new areas with suitable
24:33
Speaker 1: spawning habitat The changing conditions have also made fishing much
24:39
Speaker 1: more difficult. Many anglers look forward to this time of
24:42
Speaker 1: year because fish are usually concentrated near traditional spawning areas,
24:47
Speaker 1: making it possible to catch a lot of fish in
24:49
Speaker 1: a short amount of time, But the unusually low water
24:53
Speaker 1: levels have changed those patterns. Some long time fishing spots
24:58
Speaker 1: in shallow areas are now completely dry. Beaches and area
25:02
Speaker 1: lakes also remain closed because of low water conditions. We
25:07
Speaker 1: have fished both deep and shallow water for bluegill over
25:11
Speaker 1: the past few weeks and have done fairly well, but
25:14
Speaker 1: we have had to work much harder to stay on
25:16
Speaker 1: active fish. Traditional spring fishing patterns simply have not worked
25:21
Speaker 1: under these conditions. Lake levels are slowly beginning to rise.
25:27
Speaker 1: I have received reports of some large lakes that are
25:29
Speaker 1: still twelve to fourteen feet below summer pool levels. If
25:35
Speaker 1: you get out on the water this time of year,
25:37
Speaker 1: keep moving and try different locations until you find active fish.
25:42
Speaker 1: As water levels continue to improve, fishing should gradually settle
25:46
Speaker 1: into more typical late spring and early summer patterns. The
25:52
Speaker 1: next article is Vaut's Views by Larry Vaught Reed Shepherd's
25:57
Speaker 1: NBA success is no surprise. Rhes Davidson knew his cousin
26:03
Speaker 1: Reed Shepard was a special player when he played at
26:06
Speaker 1: North Laurel High School and then the University of Kentucky. However,
26:11
Speaker 1: even Davidson has been a bit surprised by Shepherd's overall
26:14
Speaker 1: play the last two years with the Houston Rockets. I
26:18
Speaker 1: can't say I knew he would be where he is
26:20
Speaker 1: right now, especially this early. I thought it would take him,
26:23
Speaker 1: if he got to the NBA, probably a couple of
26:25
Speaker 1: years to do what he's done right now, said Davidson,
26:29
Speaker 1: who signed to play college basketball at Liberty after a
26:33
Speaker 1: superb career at North Laurel. I played with him in
26:37
Speaker 1: high school, and from when I played with him there
26:40
Speaker 1: to going to Kentucky his freshman year, and then now
26:43
Speaker 1: every step of the way, he's gotten better every year.
26:47
Speaker 1: Sheppard was the only Houston player to play in all
26:50
Speaker 1: eighty two regular season games, and one of only eighteen
26:54
Speaker 1: in the NBA to do so last season, when he
26:57
Speaker 1: averaged twenty six point two minutes and thirteen teen point
27:00
Speaker 1: five points per game, after averaging twelve point five minutes
27:04
Speaker 1: and four point four points as a rookie, He shot
27:08
Speaker 1: forty three percent from the field and thirty nine point
27:11
Speaker 1: four percent from three during the regular season. His one
27:14
Speaker 1: hundred twenty two regular season steals or sixth best in
27:18
Speaker 1: the league. Although he began the season coming off the bench,
27:23
Speaker 1: Sheppard started eleven of Houston's final fourteen regular season games,
27:28
Speaker 1: and during that stretch averaged fourteen point three points and
27:31
Speaker 1: four point three made three pointers per game. He started
27:35
Speaker 1: five of the team's six playoff games and averaged twelve
27:39
Speaker 1: point two points, four point seven assists, and two point
27:43
Speaker 1: two steals per game. North Laurel coach Nate Valentine told
27:49
Speaker 1: anyone who had listened that Sheppard was elite in high
27:52
Speaker 1: school and that would translate to the collegiate level. Sheppard
27:56
Speaker 1: finished his high school career with three thousand, seven hundred
27:59
Speaker 1: twenty seven along with one thousand, two hundred fourteen assists
28:03
Speaker 1: and one thousand fifty rebounds. He was Kentucky's Mister Basketball
28:08
Speaker 1: and went on to become National Freshman of the Year
28:10
Speaker 1: at u K and was the third overall pick by
28:13
Speaker 1: Houston in the two thousand twenty four NBA Draft. A
28:18
Speaker 1: lot of people asked me, did you ever think he
28:20
Speaker 1: would be in the NBA, and I was like, yeah,
28:23
Speaker 1: I really did, because every stage that we put him
28:26
Speaker 1: on he excelled. Valentine said, this concludes the reading of
28:32
Speaker 1: The Mountain Eagle. Your reader has been billed an arsenal.
28:37
Speaker 1: Now please stay tuned for continued programming on behalf of
28:41
Speaker 1: everyone here at radio. I thank you for listening and
28:44
Speaker 1: have a good day.