Transcript

4.10.25 · The Mountain Eagle

0:01
Speaker 1: Now we turn to the Mountain Eagle to read news
0:04
from Whitesburg. Your reader today is Bill van Arsdale. We
0:09
will begin with the addition dated April ninth, twenty twenty five,
0:13
which the publishers have donated to Radio Eye as a reminder.
0:17
Radio Eye is a reading service intended for people who
0:20
are blind or have other disabilities that make it difficult
0:23
to read printed material. The first headline is truck crashes
0:29
into home, driver runs from scene. Bruce Brown was asleep
0:35
when he heard a loud boom outside his house shortly
0:39
after midnight on Tuesday morning. He thought a tree had
0:42
fallen off the cliff across Kentucky five eighty eight from
0:46
his home, but when he got dressed and went outside,
0:49
Brown found a light pickup truck on its side against
0:53
his basement wall. The truck had run off the road,
0:57
hit the bridge that leads from the shoulder of the
0:59
road to the second floor of his concrete blockhouse, and
1:02
plunged into a deep ditch between his house and the
1:05
road bed. Brown said there was no one in the truck,
1:10
but it was still running, and there was a five
1:12
gallon can of gasoline and some empty beer cans in
1:16
the cab. Kentucky State Police checked the license plate and
1:20
found the owner, who said her son usually drives the truck.
1:24
Police had not released any details about the accident at
1:27
press time. Brown said the truck continued to run until
1:31
a wrecord pulled it out about an hour later. The
1:36
next story is Trump signs orders on coal. President Donald
1:42
Trump on Tuesday signed a series of executive orders aimed
1:47
at boosting the struggling coal industry, a reliable but polluting
1:51
energy source that's long been in decline. Under the four orders,
1:56
Trump uses his emergency authority to allow some older coal
1:59
fired power plants set for retirement to keep producing electricity
2:04
to meet rising US power demand amid growth in data centers,
2:08
artificial intelligence, and electric cars. Trump also directed federal agencies
2:14
to identify coal resources on federal lands, lift barriers to
2:19
coal mining, and prioritize coal leasing on US lands. In
2:24
a related action, Trump also signed a proclamation offering coal
2:29
fired power plants a two year exemption from federal requirements
2:33
to reduce emissions of toxic chemicals such as mercury, arsenic,
2:37
and benzene. Trump's administration had offered power plants and other
2:42
industrial polluters a chance for exemptions from rules imposed by
2:47
the Environmental Protection Agency the EPA. Under Trump appointee Lee Zelden,
2:53
set up an electronic mailbox to allow regulated companies to
2:57
request a presidential exemption under the Clean Air Act to
3:01
a host of Biden era rules. Trump, a Republican, has
3:06
long promised to boost what he calls beautiful coal to
3:09
fire power plants and for other uses, but the industry
3:13
has been in decline for decades. Trump's orders also direct
3:18
Interior Secretary Doug Burgham to acknowledge the end of an
3:21
Obama era moratorium that paused coal leasing on federal lands
3:27
and require federal agencies to rescind policies transitioning the nation
3:31
away from coal production, and they seek to promote coal
3:35
and coal technology exports and accelerate development of coal technologies.
3:40
Trump also targeted what he called overreach by Democratic controlled
3:44
states to limit energy production to slow climate change. He
3:49
ordered Attorney General Pam Bondi to take all appropriate action
3:53
to stop the enforcement of such laws. Trump, who has
3:57
pushed for u S energy dominance in the globe market,
4:01
has long suggested that coal can help meet surging electricity
4:04
demand from manufacturing and the massive data centers needed for
4:09
artificial intelligence. We're ending Joe Biden's war on beautiful, clean
4:14
coal once and for all, he said Tuesday. All those
4:17
plants that have been closed are going to be opened
4:19
if they're modern enough, or they'll be ripped down, and
4:22
brand newes will be built, and we're going to put
4:25
the miners back to work. In twenty eighteen, during his
4:29
first term, Trump directed then Energy Secretary Rick Parry to
4:34
take immediate steps to bolster struggling coal fired and nuclear
4:38
power plants, calling it a matter of national and economic security.
4:43
At that time, Trump also considered, but didn't approve, a
4:47
plan to order grid operators to buy electricity from coal
4:50
and nuclear plants to keep them open. Energy industry groups,
4:55
including oil, natural gas, solar, and wind power, condemned the proposal,
5:00
saying it would raise energy prices and distort markets. Energy
5:05
experts say any bump for coal under Trump is likely
5:08
to be temporary because natural gas is cheaper and there
5:12
is a durable market for renewable energy such as wind
5:15
and solar power. No matter who holds the White House,
5:20
Trump's administration has targeted regulations under the Biden administration that
5:24
could hasten closures of heavily polluting coal power plants and
5:28
the mines that supply them. Coal once provided more than
5:33
half of US electricity production, but its share dropped to
5:37
about sixteen percent in twenty twenty three, down from about
5:41
forty five percent as recently as twenty ten. Natural gas
5:46
provides about forty three percent of US electricity, with the
5:49
remainder from nuclear energy and renewables such as wind, solar,
5:54
and hydro power. The front line in what Republicans call
5:59
the War on Coal is in the Powder River basin
6:02
of Wyoming and Montana, a sparsely populated section of the
6:06
Great Plains with the nation's largest coal mines. It's also
6:10
home to a massive power plant in Coalstrip, Montana, that
6:14
emits more toxic air pollutants such as lead and arsenic
6:18
than any other US facility of its kind, according to
6:21
the EPA. EPA rules finalized last year could force the
6:27
Coal Strip generating station to shut down or spend an
6:30
estimated four hundred million dollars to clean up its emissions
6:34
within the next several years. Another Biden era proposal from
6:38
the Interior Department would end new leasing of taxpayer owned
6:42
coal reserves in the Powder River basin. Trump vowed to
6:48
reverse those actions and is named Bergham and Energy Secretary
6:52
Chris Wright to lead a new National Energy Dominance Council.
6:57
The panel is tasked with driving up already records setting
7:00
domestic oil and gas production, as well as coal and
7:03
other traditional energy sources. The council has been granted sweeping
7:08
authority over federal agencies involved in energy permitting, production, generation, distribution, regulation,
7:14
and transportation. It has a mandate to cut bureaucratic red tape,
7:19
enhance private sector investments, and focus on innovation instead of
7:24
unnecessary regulation, Trump said. Zelden meanwhile, has announced a series
7:30
of actions to roll back environmental regulations, including rules on
7:34
pollution from coal fired power plants. In all, Zelden said
7:39
he's moving to roll back thirty one environmental rules, including
7:43
a scientific finding that has long been the central basis
7:46
for US action against climate change. Industry groups praised Trump's
7:52
focus on coal despite countless warnings from the nation's grid
7:56
operators and energy regulators that we are facing an electric
8:00
to the supply crisis. The last administration's energy policies were
8:04
built on hostility to fossil fuels, directly targeting coal, said
8:08
Rich Nolan, president and CEO of the National Mining Association.
8:14
Trump's executive actions clearly prioritize how to responsibly keep the
8:18
lights on, recognized the enormous strategic value of American mind coal,
8:24
and embrace the economic opportunity that comes from American energy abundance,
8:28
Nolan said. But environmental groups said Trump's actions were more
8:33
of the same tactics he tried during his first term
8:36
in an unsuccessful bid to revive coal. What's next a
8:41
mandate that Americans must commute by horse and buggy, asked
8:45
Kit Kennedy, Managing director for Power at the Natural Resources
8:48
Defense Council. Coal plants are old and dirty, uncompetitive, and unreliable,
8:54
Kennedy said, accusing Trump and his administration of remaining stuck
8:59
in the past, trying to make utility customers pay more
9:02
for yesterday's energy. Instead, she said, the US should do
9:06
all it can to build the power grid of the future,
9:09
including tax credits and other support for renewable energy such
9:13
as wind and solar power. In the next story, prosecutor
9:20
seeks ninety criminals who remain at large. The Letcher County
9:25
Commonwealth's Attornity this week released a list of ninety six
9:29
accused felons who were still at large after they either
9:32
failed to show up for court or had never been arrested.
9:37
Commonwealth's Attorney Matt Butler said about twenty five of the
9:40
cases were filed after he took office, and the remainder
9:44
were already in the system when he was appointed last
9:46
summer to fill the unexpired term of Edison Banks, who
9:51
resigned and has since died. Some of them have been
9:55
served in the last few days. Toward the end of
9:56
that list, some of them were in rehab. Butler's said
10:00
there's old stuff that's never been served. Several of the
10:05
people on the list have turned themselves in, and others
10:08
might have been arrested since the list was made, but
10:11
Butler said he did not have a current list of
10:13
who those people are. The majority of the cases are
10:17
from twenty twenty two and after, with eighteen dated before
10:21
that year. Butler said he had made motions to dismiss
10:25
many of the old cases that were still lingering in
10:27
the office when he took over. The current list contains
10:32
those whose cases seem to have been abandoned or those
10:35
indicted recently who have not been picked up yet. The
10:39
list included only names and case numbers. The oldest case
10:43
on the list dates back twenty three years. Douglas Owens
10:48
of Wise County, Virginia was charged with assault first degree,
10:52
leaving the scene of an accident, and multiple traffic charges.
10:56
He is being sought on a bench warrant related to
10:59
restitution for his crime. The complaining witness in the case
11:04
was Kentucky State Police trooper Derrick Hall, who served many
11:07
years on the Governor's security detail after leaving the hazard
11:12
post and has since retired. Persons who believe they may
11:17
be the person on the list can turn themselves into
11:19
the Electra County Sheriff's office or to any police agency
11:23
near them. The next story is state is nearly out
11:29
of money after disasters. Kentucky will run out of money
11:34
to deal with the steady stream of natural disasters the
11:38
state has faced over the past five years and continues
11:41
to face today unless the General Assembly holds a special
11:45
session and allocates more. Governor Andy Busheer said this week.
11:51
Floodwaters in central, western and northern Kentucky are expected to
11:55
begin receding this week, and four hundred and sixty seven
11:58
state roads remain closed yesterday, most because they were under water.
12:04
Of those four hundred and sixty seven roads, seventeen were
12:07
blocked by landslides, and while things are beginning to improve
12:12
around Frankfort, where the Kentucky River crested Monday at more
12:15
than seventeen feet above flood stage, counties in the northern
12:19
and western parts of the state are still in danger.
12:23
Some streets in Louisville are expected to be flooded into
12:26
the middle of next week. The Ohio River at Louisville's
12:30
Macalpan Dam was at sixty seven point sixty two feet
12:34
at press time, nearly thirteen feet above flood stage and
12:38
still rising. The Green River has not crested yet, Basher
12:42
said on Tuesday. Owensboro even next week will have flooding.
12:48
The General Assembly in twenty twenty four set a spending
12:52
cap of twenty five million dollars per year on National
12:55
Guard operations and fifty million dollars for the Department of
12:59
militi Carry Affairs, which includes Kentucky Emergency Management, to match
13:04
federal funding during disasters. A last minute amendment to an
13:09
unrelated bill during this year's session allowed the entire one
13:13
hundred million dollars to be spent this year, but Basher
13:16
said in February that fifty million dollars had already been spent.
13:21
The bill allowed money to be drawn from the Western
13:24
Kentucky Safe Fund and the Eastern Kentucky Safe Fund which
13:29
were created after the tornadoes and flooding in twenty twenty
13:32
two as part of that one hundred million dollar fund,
13:36
but the Eastern Kentucky Fund is still being used for
13:39
the flooding in February. Asked by a reporter on Tuesday
13:44
at the cap on emergency funding, Basher said, it's the
13:47
first time in history that the General Assembly put a
13:50
cap on responding to emergencies. We have a three plus
13:54
billion dollar rainy day fund, and these were rainy days.
13:58
Basher said. The fact that we're going to have to
14:02
have a special session just for our legislature to say, yes,
14:04
you can help people, that's silly. What does it cost
14:08
to protect our people from a natural disaster. It costs
14:11
what it costs, and as a commonwealth, we ought to
14:14
be there for our people every time. So far, four
14:18
people have been confirmed dead in the flooding this week.
14:22
Bashir credited the ability to preposition rescue equipment and teams
14:26
with that number. Yes, it takes money, but it saves lives,
14:31
he said. The next article is how to keep predators
14:36
from your livestock. There are an estimated seventy five thousand
14:41
sheep in Kentucky, or a little more than two for
14:45
every coyote in Bobcat. As parts of the state return
14:50
to their agrarian roots, livestock, sheep, cattle, and goats, as
14:54
well as poultry is becoming a virtual smortas board for predators,
14:59
some of which didn't exist in the state fifty years ago.
15:03
Sheep producers worried that coyotes, foxes, bobcats, bears, wild dogs,
15:09
and black vultures will see their stock as a convenient
15:12
snack held a training session at the Electra County Extension
15:16
Office on Saturday to learn how to deal with the
15:19
threat and make their animals less likely targets of predators.
15:24
Advice handed out by the Southeastern Kentucky Sheep Producers Association
15:29
covered everything from guard dogs to guard lamas, and from
15:33
electric fences to steal traps. But Stacy White, extension agent
15:39
in Whitley County, said farmers shouldn't pick just one. It
15:44
takes all of this together to have good predator control.
15:47
White said in the morning. White and trapper Steve Pickard
15:52
of Corbin taught farmers how to trap coyotes and bobcats
15:56
to keep them from killing their herds. Pickard advised farmers
16:00
to set traps even if they haven't seen depredation yet.
16:04
From November to the end of February is trapping season,
16:08
and while coyotes may be the most visible predators, there's
16:12
more to worry about. There are thought to be around
16:14
fourteen thousand to fifteen thousand bobcats in the state, while
16:19
there are about twenty thousand coyotes. But bobcats, he said,
16:23
are stupid, while coyotes are very smart. If you can
16:27
catch a coyote, you can catch anything. A coyote uses
16:31
its nose, a bobcat uses this right here, he said,
16:34
pointing at his eyes. He demonstrated a trap set in
16:38
a pile of leaves that simulates another bobcat's buried kill
16:43
with a Texas cottonry above it. The Texas cottonry is
16:47
a bush with bits of cotton stuck to it to
16:49
make it look as though a rabbit has been killed,
16:52
or bits of sheep's bull are hanging from it. For
16:56
black vultures, White recommended propane cannons or effigy devices, including
17:02
dead vultures hanging near the livestock enclosure, and showed a
17:06
picture of one farm with dead coyotes hanging on a
17:09
fence near the enclosure for a less smelly solution. Guard
17:14
animals are commonly used. These can be dogs, donkeys, or llamas,
17:19
but the farmers at the meeting on Saturday advised against donkeys, alpacas,
17:24
and lamas. I had lamas, and one of them liked
17:27
to kill me, said Talmadge Childers, who raises sheep and cattle.
17:32
I don't have any more lamas. Lamas run into people
17:36
with their chests spit on. People have to be sheared
17:39
and have their hooves trimmed. Alpacas are too small to
17:44
defend against determined predators, and donkeys are unreliable and unpredictable,
17:49
farmers said. Above all. White told farmers not to use
17:54
toxins under any circumstances because they can also kill raptors, owls,
17:59
and other protected species. He recalled one instance a few
18:04
years ago in which a central Kentucky farmer put out
18:06
poison for predators. It cost him about fifty seven thousand
18:10
dollars in fines, White said. White disagreed with fish and
18:16
wildlife officers interpretation of a law that says farmers can
18:20
kill animals that are killing livestock and damaging property. While
18:25
White said he believes the law is clear that action
18:27
can be taken preemptively, conservation officers say animals have to
18:32
be caught in the act. Lester Burshar of Viper and
18:37
Patrick Angel of London, the vice president and president of
18:40
the Southeastern Kentucky Sheep Producers Association, said guard dogs are
18:45
the best choice for livestock protection, but need to be
18:48
kept with the livestock and have very little contact with humans.
18:53
They're not pets, Angel said, adding that once they become
18:56
socialized to people, they're useless as guardians. In other items
19:03
discussed at the meeting, Angel said the number of sheep
19:06
in Kentucky and Virginia is on the upswing. He said
19:10
Kentucky sheep production last year was up seven point one
19:13
percent over twenty twenty three, with seventy five thousand sheep
19:17
raised here, slightly less than Virginia. Of those, nineteen thousand
19:23
were sold at market. Virginia is now eighteenth in the
19:27
nation in sheep production and Kentucky is twenty fifth. The
19:31
Southeast Kentucky Sheep Producers Association is the largest east of
19:35
the Mississippi River, Angel said. Angel said ninety nine percent
19:40
of the lamb consumed in the US comes from Australia
19:44
and New Zealand, but production here could start cutting into that.
19:49
He asked farmers if they feel like the agricultural tariff
19:52
of President Donald Trump might boost production here. Only one
19:56
farmer spoke up and his answer was no, something to
19:59
which other nodded an agreement. It'll take at least a
20:03
year to ramp up production, and he might get a
20:05
wild hair and do away with them in six months,
20:07
he said. A better bet, the man went on, is
20:12
to try to capture Jewish and Islamic cultural markets, something
20:16
SEKSPA is already working on. The association sells many sheep
20:21
to members of the Uzbek community in Ohio and is
20:25
trying to tap into the Jewish and Islamic communities in
20:28
New Jersey and New York. A packing house is planned
20:32
for London that will be able to produce both kosher
20:35
meats for the Jewish market and halal meets for Muslims.
20:41
The next story is social security to recover over payments.
20:47
Word is that Social Security is going to claw back
20:51
any overpayment to the tune of one hundred percent of
20:54
the monthly benefit check until it's all paid back, inciting
20:58
panic across the land. But it's not necessarily true. The
21:04
recovery of benefits will only affect overpayments that began on
21:07
March twenty seventh of this year. Yes, they'll take full
21:11
payments until that overpayment is repaid, but any overpayments made
21:16
prior to that date will be made at the rate
21:19
that was in place before ten percent of the benefit check.
21:23
So if your check is usually one thousand dollars, the
21:26
amount they'll take out is one hundred dollars, not your
21:29
full check. It will be the same if you receive
21:32
Supplemental Security Income SSI, they'll take ten percent, not the
21:36
full check. Not that having any amount deducted will be easy.
21:42
Before you start to panic that you might get the
21:45
dreaded overpayment letter from Social Security, here are a few
21:48
facts courtesy of a report by Social Securities Office of
21:52
the Inspector General. Overpayment and even under payment doesn't happen
21:58
very often, in less than one percent of benefits paid.
22:02
There are two main reasons why an error can occur.
22:06
People report the wrong information about their income or fail
22:09
to make corrections if there are changes, especially those who
22:12
are under full retirement agent still working, and there are
22:16
problems with social securities processing, specifically errors made when workers
22:21
enter the data. If you receive the overpayment letter, you
22:25
might be able to waive the recovery of the amount owed,
22:28
especially if the overpayment was not your fault. Go to
22:32
the Social Security website and look for SSA form sixty
22:36
three to two. If that doesn't go well, you can
22:39
appeal by using SSA Form five sixty one. You can
22:44
also try calling them at eight hundred seven seven to
22:47
two one two one three. The next article is an
22:53
old soldier's wish was fulfilled by Jaden Gibson. Lumberland Gap
23:01
is at the tri state of Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia.
23:05
The area changed hands several times during the Civil War.
23:09
The rebels held the gap for a year before General
23:13
Burnside led his troops in an assault on the rebels
23:16
in September of eighteen sixty three. Burnside tricked his adversaries
23:21
into believing they were outmanned. He moved his troops and
23:25
artillery into position while being watched by the rebels from
23:28
a distant mountain. Under the cover of darkness, he moved
23:32
his troops, only to have them openly move again into
23:34
position the following day. This was done a third time.
23:39
Feeling his troops were outnumbered, Rebel General Fraser surrendered his
23:44
dug in force even though they had superior position. Lieutenant
23:49
William R. McIntyre was a member of Company A of
23:53
the ninth Georgia Artillery and was in command of a
23:56
cannon at Fort Pitt, near the Pinnacle on Cumberland Mountain.
24:01
When he was told to surrender, he refused and ordered
24:04
his men to continue firing. Reports are they gladly complied.
24:09
He and the defiant members of his company were eventually
24:12
arrested and placed under guard. However, after dark, individuals of
24:17
the Pesky Unit were able to demonstrate their continued defiance
24:21
by tearing down the Yankee flag. Soon MacIntyre and the
24:26
others were shipped off to prisons in the North, and
24:29
the gap remained in Union hands for the remainder of
24:32
the war. MacIntyre and the other rebel prisoners were kept
24:37
under harsh conditions in the Northern prisons until they were
24:40
released on June sixteenth, eighteen sixty five. Not unlike the others,
24:46
survivors of Company A returned to Georgia, not knowing what
24:49
to expect. MacIntyre fared worse than most. His wife and
24:54
children had been killed, falling before Sherman's march through Georgia,
25:00
only ashes remained where his home and farm buildings once stood.
25:06
He found little to hold to in Georgia, so young
25:08
MacIntyre left it all behind and migrated to Texas, as
25:12
many others did in that era. The initials G T T,
25:16
meaning gone to Texas, were common in court houses at
25:20
the time. McIntyre remarried and became quite successful in Texas
25:26
ranching and banking circles. When Civil War Company A held
25:31
their yearly reunions, he always attended. These events were held
25:36
in or near the Atlanta area. With each successive meeting,
25:41
a dwindling number of veterans attended as they died off
25:44
or became immobile. The men who attended enjoyed reminiscing about
25:49
the war, but MacIntyre remained bitter about what he believed
25:53
to be the misguided surrender. When MacIntyre called the role
25:57
of one hundred fifty names. At the nineteen o four
26:00
reunion in Smyrna, Georgia, only twenty one were present. Most
26:05
of the others were deceased. McIntyre died in nineteen seventeen
26:10
while he was in his eighties, but not before making
26:13
an unusual request of his grandson, George McIntyre, If it
26:19
is in your power, I want you to return to
26:21
Cumberland Gap on September ninth, nineteen sixty three, one hundred
26:25
years to the day after our surrender, He uttered, I
26:29
want you to promise me that you'll stand near Fort
26:31
Pitt on Cumberland Mountain, look at the north and curse
26:35
the Yankees. George appeased his grandfather by making that promise.
26:42
Although he never knew if he would be able to
26:44
keep the promise, it remained in the back of his mind.
26:48
The years passed, and finally nineteen sixty three arrived, with
26:52
George becoming more excited with each passing day. His health
26:56
and finances were such that he could make the trip.
27:00
George MacIntyre drove from his Texas home, arriving at Cumberland
27:04
Gap National Historical Park on September ninth, nineteen sixty three.
27:09
When he told his story to a park ranger. MacIntyre
27:12
was informed that the name MacIntyre was carved into a
27:15
rock near the pinnacle. They drove to the pinnacle and
27:19
walked to the rock. Still evident after a century of weathering,
27:25
was the etching on a rock which read W. R. MacIntyre,
27:29
Lieutenant Colonel A nine G A B A T A
27:32
R T Y September ninth, eighteen sixty three. MacIntyre's chest
27:38
swelled with a greater appreciation for his grandfather, who had
27:41
initiated the trip with his unusual request forty six years before.
27:47
He was quite concerned and embarrassed because of the surrender
27:50
to the Yankees a century ago. George MacIntyre said, I'm
27:54
not as upset as he was, but I'm here to
27:57
keep my promise to him anyway. And this concludes the
28:02
reading of The Mountain Eagle. Your reader has been billed
28:06
an arsenal. Now please stay tuned for continued programming on
28:11
behalf of everyone here at radio. I thank you for
28:14
listening and have a good day.