Transcript

6.26.25 · The Mountain Eagle

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Speaker 1: Now we turn to the Mountain Eagle to read news
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from Wiesberg. Your reader today is Bill den Arsdale. We
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will begin with the addition dated June twenty fifth, twenty
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twenty five, which the publishers have donated to RADIOI as
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a reminder. RADIOI is a reading service intended for people
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who are blind or have other disabilities that make it
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difficult to read printed material. The first item is a
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photograph of a sign reading road closed. The caption is
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a familiar sign this summer. With the summer construction season
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entering full swing, railroad crossings and damaged ties throughout Letter
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County are being replaced, leading to road closings. Residents of
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many hollows are parking and walking while the work is
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being completed. Many of the crossings are expected to take
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a day or two to complete. Road and bridge closings
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they're also taking place, including a bridge on Kentucky eighth
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five near Neon. The next story is Trump attempts to
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defund prison. Representative Rogers says project still safe. Seven months
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after a decision by the Bureau of Prisons to be
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in construction on a federal correctional institution in Lecter County.
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The Trump administration is again asking Congress to cut the
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money for it out of the budget. Buried deep in
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a more than two hundred fifty page summary released on
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Friday the thirteenth, is a two paragraph passage explaining from
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where six hundred ten million dollars in cuts to the
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Department of Justice appropriations would come balance recision minus six
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hundred ten million dollars and zero positions. This recision cancels
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six hundred ten million dollars in prior year balances. This
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is a three part recision of funds. Approximately five hundred
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million will be from the Letcher County, Kentucky construction project balances,
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fifty million will be from the Levenworth, Kansas construction project balances,
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and sixty million dollars will be from the DOJ Federal
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Law Enforcement and Correctional Officer Training Facility Project Balances FCI.
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Letcher has been talked about for more than twenty years,
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and a five hundred ten million dollar appropriation was made
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by Congress specifically for construction more than a decade ago.
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While construction was first approved under the Obama administration, the
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environmental impact statement was challenged by opponents and had to
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be redone then, under the first Trump administration, the record
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of decision was withdrawn after opponents file suit that White
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House had been trying to take the money for four years,
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and the department settled a lawsuit over the prison by
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agreeing not to build it. But last fall, after prodding
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from US Representative Harold Hal Rogers, Republican from Somerset, the
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Bureau of Prisons issued a new record of decision days
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before the federal election. Now that Donald Trump is again president,
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the push to remove the funding is back in full swing.
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Rogers said in a statement that he will continue to
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fight to keep the money. Rogers said, the people of
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Leccher County have invested nearly twenty years of planning and
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preparation for a new federal prison to bring more than
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three hundred much needed jobs to our region. As a
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senior appropriator, I have helped secure more than half a
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billion dollars in federal funding that remain available exclusively for
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this facility, which will help address BOP's need for modernized facilities.
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The proposed prison has surpassed multiple environmental studies and every
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ounce of red tape that has been doled out. Years
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of investments have been made in good faith to support
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this project at the federal, state, and local levels, and
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I will continue working to see it to completion. It's
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impossible to tell if the money is being moved out
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of the budget entirely or just shifted to something else.
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While the Annual Appropriation shows a total cut of three
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billion dollars from the Department of Justice, the Big Beautiful
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Bill Act includes DOJ appropriations for this year that are
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not in the annual appropriations bill, including six hundred million
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dollars out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated,
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to be used for immigration enforcement. It also includes five
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hundred million dollars for drug enforcement, also out of any
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money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated. That bill is
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being handled through reconciliation, an expedited process that could pass
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on a party line vote without input from Democrats. The
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regular budget would require sixty votes in the Senate. Asked
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if the proposed cut to the prison bill would have
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any bearing on Rogers's support for the larger bill, Rogers's spokesperson,
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Danielle Smoot, said the two are not related. The President's
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discretionary budget proposal for the single fiscal year twenty twenty
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six is completely separate. From the One Big Beautiful Bill,
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which is a blueprint for federal spending over the next
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ten years. The proposed recision of the prison in Lectter
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County was not included in the One Big Beautiful Bill.
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Smoot said. While the prison has drawn vocal opposition from
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the local area and from the Prison Abolition Movement, money
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for the construction is being used not just for building
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the prison, but for upgrading infrastructure around it, including water
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and sewer projects that would also benefit residents in the
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Rock Sanna and Kings Creek areas. If they rescind it,
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I hope they wait a while because I'd like to
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save some of that money in case there is a
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problem with a new water plant. Letcher County Water and
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Sewer District Director Mark Lewis said. In the next headline,
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bus drivers others not satisfied with how school board is
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handling strike talk. Classified employees in the Lectri County Public
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School District say they're not satisfied with the Board of
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Education's response to their request for a raise, but they
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have little choice but to wait another month to see
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what the board's final decision will be. Bus drivers, cooks, custodians,
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maintenance workers, bus monitors, teachers, aides, and other non teaching
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staff are asking the district for a five percent raise
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this year to match the rays given during the last
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school year, something the board said then that it hoped
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to do, but now district officials say with declining enrollment
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and low attendance, the district might not be able to
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give a five percent raise and might be able to
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give a two to three percent raise. The board tabled
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the issue Monday night and will take it up again
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in July after seeing what the district's bank balance is
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at the end of this month. Bus drivers have said
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unless they get the five percent they were expecting, they
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will strike on the first day of school. We're going
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to come back next month, hopefully with more numbers. Bus
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driver Nadine Hayes said after the meeting, I think some
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people are still worried about speaking up. Hayes spoke during
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the meeting along with instructional assistant Amanda Mullins, instructional assistant
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and driver Beck Fields, and bus driver Josh Brown. Mullins
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said she is a single parent and has to work
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two jobs to support her family. Despite working full time
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in the classroom with special needs children, there are days
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I go home. I've been beat I've been hit, my
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hair has been pulled, she said, adding that classified personnel
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across the board are underpaid. I just don't think we're
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treated fair. Brown said. Bus drivers pay tops out at
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seventeen dollars and fifty one cents per hour after fifteen years,
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while custodians in some other districts nearby start at nineteen
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dollars per hour. You're the first person those kids see
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every day and the last one they see, so you
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make their day, he said. Superintendent Denise Jance said a
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five percent raise would cost the district about eight hundred
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thousand dollars a year, and she does not think the
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district will have money for that. Tony's Sergeant, a former
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superintendent who retired and returned to work in the district's
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finance department, said all of the district's wages through September
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have to be paid by the end of June, and
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until the bank balances are in, officials won't know how
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much money is available for raises. If there's four hundred
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thousand dollars left over and you give an eight hundred
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thousand dollars raise, you're in the red, he said. The
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board voted unanimously to delay a vote on raises until
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it knows what the final balance is on June thirtieth.
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Also at the meeting Monday night, the board did the following.
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Heard a report from Trace Creek Construction that construction is
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continuing on the Alternative Education building with a painting crew
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in soon. In answer to a question from board member
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Will Smith, Zach Duncan of Trace Creek said he believes
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the Federal Emergency Management Agency will pay for the work,
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including electrical changes, because the electrical work brings the building
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up to code, which is required by FEMA when repairing
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a building. Duncan said construction at goss Chandler Field is
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complete inspection. The work includes new locker rooms, concession stand
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and bleachers that had been named for Smith. That work
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is also paid for by FEMA because the previous facilities
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were destroyed in the twenty twenty two flood. The board
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heard a report from Yance that the district's Policies and
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Procedures Manual was updated to comply with a new state
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law that requires all communications between teachers and students to
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be traceable. The district is currently looking at a new
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phone computer application that complies with state law, and the
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board heard a report from Yance that the district has
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been invited to join Local Laboratories for Learning, which the
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State Department of Education describes as a collaborative network of
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school districts and community partners proactively designing innovative systems for
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student assessment and accountability. Yance said it is a great
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honour to be invited to join the network. The next
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headline is ex Sheriff's lawyer says he never made the
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claim about lies in deposition. A criminal defense attorney for
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former sheriff Mickey Steins has filed an affidavit in a
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civil case that he never said his client lied in
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a deposition that occurred three days before Stein's shot and killed.
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District Judge Kevin R. Mullins. Bethany Baxter, a lawyer for
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Sabrina Atkins, who is suing former Deputy Ben Fields, Stein's
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and East Kentucky Corrections, filed a motion for additional discovery
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in the lawsuit in May, saying Stein's lawyer in the
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separate murder case indicated that Stein's lied under oath, but
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the attorney defending the current sheriff filed an answer this week.
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Saying that is not true. Sheriff Billy Jones was substituted
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for Stein's because the suit named the sheriff in his
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official capacity, meaning the lawsuit follows the office holder, not
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the individual originally named Stein's resigned after his arrest. Attached
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to that response is an affidavit from Jeremy Bartley, one
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of Stein's defense lawyers in the criminal case. Bartley has
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publicly tied the criminal case to the civil case, though
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there has been no evidence publicly presented that there is
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a connection. Steins gave a deposition in the civil case
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on September sixteenth, twenty twenty four. Security video shows him
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shoot and kill Mullins in his chambers. Many have assumed
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a connection because Fields was convicted of coursing Atkins to
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have sex with him in exchange for not having to
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pay for her home incarceration. At least one instance occurred
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in a restroom in the judge's chambers. The motion by
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the plaintiff included the following passage. This civil suit had
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drawn a lot of attention to things that were happening
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in the courthouse, Bartley said, and in fact, if you
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look at it, it was because of this lawsuit the
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reason that there had been a camera placed in the
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judge chambers, which is highly unusual, highly unusual to have
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such concern that the Administrative Office of Courts puts a
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security camera in the judges chambers. Bartley said that Stein's
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was under pressure by his peers not to say too
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much during the proceedings in the civil lawsuit. I think
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one of the big things is that my client felt
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there had been pressure placed on him not to say
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too much during the deposition and not to talk about
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things that happened within the courthouse, particularly in the judges chambers.
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He said, on the day that this shooting happened, my
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client had attempted multiple times to contact his wife and daughter,
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and he firmly believed that they were in danger. Bartley
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said he believed that they were in danger because of
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what he knew to have happened within the courthouse, and
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there was pressure and there were threats made to him
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to sort of keep him in a line, to keep
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them from saying more than these folks wanted him to say.
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While the plaintiffs in the civil suit say this means
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Stein's lied under oath and should be deposed again, Bartley
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said in the declaration that he did not mean that
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Stein's lied. As criminal defense counsel for Mickey Stein's, I
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have made no public statement meant to convey that my
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client gave any untruthful responses to any questions posed, or
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was in any way untruthful in responding to questions during
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his deposition, Bartley said in the declaration filed in U
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S District Court. Stein's is currently being held in the
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Leslie County Detention Center awaiting a psychological examination and awaiting
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a date for a bond hearing. The next story is
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the promise of high paying tech jobs in Jenkins seemed
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too good to be true After twenty months appears over
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it seemed too good to be true. Mohawk Energy, a
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private company owned by State Senator Brandon Smith, was opening
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a crypto mining business in Jenkins that Smith said would
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employ workers at up to forty six dollars an hour
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and the lowest paid employee would make twenty five dollars
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an hour. There was a thirty megawatt electrical substation out
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back that Smith said was the first of its kind
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in the United States. The company even held a grand
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opening with tours of the computer servers stacked in steel
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racks fabricated by unemployed coal miners. But just two months
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after the red carpet grand opening, police were called to
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the site for a dispute between Smith and representatives of Hubie,
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the Chinese company that owned the servers, over a camper
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the company representative was living in, and then Hohobi filed
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suit against Smith, claiming breach of contract. Smith counter sued,
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claiming the company was more than seven hundred thousand dollars
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in arrears on its payments to Mohawk. That lawsuit quickly
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went into arbitration, which is not public. Now, twenty months
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after the grand opening, the parking lot at Mohawk Energy
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is empty, the doors are locked, and there are multiple
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lawsuits flying in state and federal court. The latest is
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a suit filed in Letcher Circuit Court by Ricky Dale
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Cole of Danville, the former owner of the building that
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housed Mohawk. Cole is claiming Smith cheated him out of
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three million dollars, and a counterclaim filed by Smith says
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Coal continually undermined, damaged, and disrupted Mohawk's business, calling it
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substantial harm. The saga starts before Mohawk acquired the large
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speck building on the Gateway Industrial Park at Jenkins when
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Smith was partnered with West Hamilton to create a company
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called Biofuel, which was to host bitcoin mining in Martin County. Again,
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that company was partnered with Chinese firms TUSI and VCV,
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and again the company collapsed when the Chinese partners allegedly
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took the bitcoin that was mined and left owing Biofuel money.
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That case was settled for sixty thousand dollars, but Hamilton
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told Wired magazine that it cost him his house and
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everything he owned. Cole showed up in Electric County in
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the early twenty twenties and began telling the city of
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Weisburg that he intended to put in a heat pump
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distribution center. Whisburg was leary about his pitch, which including
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building a kayak rental if the city would give him
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property to put it on. When Whitesburg didn't respond, he
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went to Jenkins and purchased the former fires nitrogen plant
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from the previous owner. He said he needed more land
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and obtained a part rsel across the road from the
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Ferris building, which still remains empty. Meanwhile, Smith approached him
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about leasing then buying the old nitrogen plant. Cole agreed,
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but asked for twenty percent ownership in Mohawk. Smith would
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pay him fifty thousand dollars a month in rent, and
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Coal would take two point five million dollars for the
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plant instead of the five point five million dollar asking price.
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According to the lawsuit filed here, Smith denies the terms
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of the sale and denies that Coal had a twenty
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percent interest in Mohawk. Cole now claims Mohawk misrepresented itself
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during the negotiations in bad faith by making false promises, misrepresentations,
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and omission of the status of the company and its financials,
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which Smith also denies. Coal is asking for the transaction
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to be rescinded and is asking for compensatory and punitive damages,
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interest costs, and attorney fees. In Smith's counterclaim, he says
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Cole was not a member of Mohawk and intentionally and
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voluntarily relinquished the interest he may have had, if any,
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in Mohawk. Since he is not a member, Smith says
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Cole is not entitled to any recovery from Smith. It
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also asks that if the court finds Cole is a member,
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he should be expelled as a result of his engaging
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in wrongful conduct that has adversely and materially affected not
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only Smith but Mohawk's business activities and opportunities. Smith claims
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Cole was aware of Mohawk's contract for the third party
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not named in the lawsuit, but which matches the known
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facts about HUBI, and intentionally took actions to cause the
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third party to breach the contract with Mohawk, causing Mohawk
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and Smith to sustain substantial damages. He is asking that
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the complaint be dismissed, that Cole be ruled not to
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be a member of the limited Libelary Company or be
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expelled from membership, and is asking for an unspecified amount
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of compensatory damages, consequential damages for lost revenue and interference
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with the Hoobie Contract, interest, punitive damages, costs, and all
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other relief to which he may be entitled. A man
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called the newspaper anonymously earlier this spring from a number
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listed for Coal, claiming a criminal indictment was pending against
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Smith in Leccher County. However, Lectcher Commonwealth attorney Matt Butler
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said no citizen or police agency has asked him to
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present any case against Smith. The next headline is money
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for new water plant at Olva among millions in grant
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funding KRADD to administer for county. The Letcher Fiscal Court
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has approved contract for the Kentucky River Area Development District
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to administer millions of dollars in grants The county has
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received EVED to build a water treatment plant, repair damaged
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water lines, and build a garbage digestion to reduce disposal costs.
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The court approved contracts last week for KRADD to administer
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the grants, which totaled nearly eight million dollars. The grants
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were announced already, but from the time awards are announced
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until money actually begins flowing can take months or years.
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The contracts to administer the grants indicates the money may
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be becoming available for use. Lettuer Counting Water and Sewer
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District Director Mark Lewis said the district has all of
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the money it needs in place to build a water
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treatment plant and is just waiting for a final building
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site to be identified. The court voted to pay KRADD
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fifty thousand dollars to administer the one million dollar grant
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Community Development Block Grant, which represents just part funding for
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the plant. The plant will be built somewhere near the
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confluence of Line Fork Creek and the north Fork of
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the Kentucky River, where there is more water available to
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draw from the river. It will have the capability to
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furnish water for the whole county. Of course, we have
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to keep our connections to Knot County, Lewis said. Keeping
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that connection is a requirement of the grants, so either
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county can draw from the other if there is a
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problem with one of the treatment plants. One of those
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connections to Knot County is also included in the grants
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approved last week. The court will pay KRADD up to
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fifty thousand dollars to administer Community Development Block grants worth
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four million, two hundred five thousand dollars for repair of
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flood damaged water infrastructure. Lewis said the project includes flood
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damaged pump stations and zone meters that measure flow in
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different parts of the system, and twelve inch pipes along
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Kentucky fourteen ten between Kentucky seven North at Coulson and
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the Knot County Line. Lewis said those pipes have been
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an issue since day one. It has cost the water
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district thousands and thousands of dollars. Lewis said, every time
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we have an issue there, it disrupts the water service
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for about fifty percent of our customer base. The district
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currently serves about three thousand, two hundred customers. One of
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the largest areas not yet served in the Cumberland River
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section of the county, but Lewis said money is also
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in place to serve that area. The county is waiting
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for the City of Cumberland to complete upgrades to its
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water treatment plant and extend lines to Lester County at Partridge.
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Plans for a water plant on the south side of
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Pine Mountain did not work out, Lewis said. Instead the
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county will buy water from Cumberland and from the Wise
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County Virginia Public Service District to supply homes along Kentucky
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nine thirty two and US one nineteen south. Unrelated to
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the water systems, the LECTRI Fiscal Court also voted last
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week to pay karadd fifty thousand dollars to administer a
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three point three million dollar grant from the Department of
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Abandoned mind Lands to begin work on a digester at
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the old Letcher County landfill at Millstone. While that is
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not enough to complete the facility it is enough to
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begin work. Once complete, the digester would use heat to
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accelerate the decomposition of garbage and then separate recyclable materials
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and other non biodegradable substances from a topsoil product. The
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next story is bridge is closed at Haymond, maybe down
24:46
until August tenth. A bridge on Kentucky Highway A five
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at Haymond near Neon has been closed and could be
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shut down for at least a month, according to the
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Kentucky Transportation Cabinet DES District twelve office in Pikeville, The bridge,
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located at mile point four point two zero, was closed
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as part of a replacement project now under way. Santana Woodward,
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the spokesperson for District twelve, said the original plan for
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the replacement called for the existing bridge to remain open
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while the new structure is being built, but that plan
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had to be shelved because of safety concerns. As a result,
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the bridge has been demolished and a detour implemented. Woodward
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said the project, which began with preliminary work earlier this month,
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has since undergone changes in its traffic control plan because
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of safety concerns. District twelve's Shantanna Woodward said, according to Woodward,
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work should be finished and the new bridge opened on
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or before Saturday, August tenth, before the start of the
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new school year. Drivers who use the old bridge are
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being asked to follow the following detail information. Southbound traffic
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take US twenty three south to US one nineteen south
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and back to Kentucky eight o five. Northbound traffic follows
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signs to US one nineteen north to US twenty three
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and back to Kentucky eight oh five. Central Bridge Company
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is the contractor for this important infrastructure project, which will
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result in a safer, more reliable crossing for Kentucky eight
26:28
oh five once complete. Woodward said, motorists are advise to
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follow posted detour signs and allow extra travel time. The
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Cabinet appreciates the public's patients and cooperation as we work
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to improve safety and reliability across our highway system, she added.
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And the next article is Gabby's Fishing Fever by Greg
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Gabby Caudle Fishing with jigs in heavy cover. If you
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like to fish almost the most forms of cover and
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like to fish for big bass, then the jig might
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be just the bait for you. All bass fishermen have
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their favorite type of lures and places to fish for bass.
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Some like to run and gun and go faster and
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cover a lot of water and burn the water with
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fast moving baits like spinner baits or crankbaits. This is
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fine if you catch bass. However, my favorite style is
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to fish a little slower in an area and check
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out every good looking spot there for this slower style.
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Learning the basics of jig fishing for bass can be
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very exciting. Learning how to pick the best size and
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colored jig for the cover and bass activity you are
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faced with is key. You will be faced with all
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types of cover and fishing them in a well thought
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out pattern will make you a more successful bass angler.
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Some bass will be buried deep in the cover because
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of a low activity level from things like heavy fishing pressure,
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low oxygen levels due to hot weather, and for safety reasons.
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On the other hand, some bass with fairly good activity
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levels will be moving in and out of the cover,
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while the most active bass will be hanging out on
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the outside edges of the cover looking for an easy meal.
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So you may want to try fishing the outside ages
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with the jig first and then slowly work your way
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into the cover. When you reach the heaviest part, work
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the jig very slowly and watch your line to twitch
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or pull sideways, or feel a strike. Reel down and
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set the hook. God bless and have fun fishing. This
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concludes the reading of The Mountain Eagle. Your reader has
28:39
been building Oarsdale. Now please stay tuned for continued programming
28:45
on behalf of everyone here at Radio I thank you
28:47
for listening, and have a good day.