Transcript

3.12.26 · The Mountain Eagle

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