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Hazard Herald - 5.3.26 · Eastern Kentucky Newspapers

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Speaker 1: Now we turned to the reading of the Hazard Herald
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for news of Hazard and Perry County Humbley Townshend. We
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begin with the online edition dated April twenty ninth, two
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thousand and twenty six. As a reminder Radio ezes or
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reading service intended for people who were blind to have
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other disabilities that make it difficult to read printed material
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from the front page. Park at Gurney's Men named in
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honor of Colony, a new community park at Guerney's Men
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now stands as a tribute to a longtime leader in
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local development as the Housing Development Alliance hosted a dedication
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ceremony on April twenty fourth for the John Rudd Collell
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Memorial Park. The park, located at one forty Hopper Circle,
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was celebrated with a community gathering marking it opening and
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lasting impact. Brad had who played a key role in
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reshaping development efforts. Perry County Judge Executive Scott Alexander, reflected
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on the personal and community significance of the dedication. John
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Rudd and his family are very close to me, said Alexander.
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It was an emotional moment to be there and to
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see him honor. It is great. He helped with development
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here for years and played a major role in the
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directions that this community is heading to have that and
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with his family there, it was a good day. Alexander said.
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The addition of the park represents a broader shift to
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toward enhancing the quality of life in the county. It's
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a new park at Gurney Ben, he said. Over the years,
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we spent a lot working on infrastructure that's needed here
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and we're gradually getting it to where we can look
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at parks and recreation and quality of life issues. So
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that was a great day to have a new park there.
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Hazard Mayor Donald Happy Mobilini so praised the naming of
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the park and the collaboration behind the project. It couldn't
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have been named after anyone better, said Mobulini. He worked
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at the HDA forever and he was adamant about getting
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us that park. It's a true city park. It's another
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collaboration with the city, the county and the HDA. Scott
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mccrennoll's executive director of the Housing Development Alliance, detailed the
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origins and development of the park, noting it grew from
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an unused lot within Gurney's Ben neighborhood. When we built
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Gurney's ben there was one location that was kind of
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a three quarter lot, not quite big enough for a house,
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said mcgreennoll's so we've been talking with the city since
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it was a joint project, that we would leave it
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as a green space, just to have a place for
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pictures of something of that nature. Then we introduced the
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idea of putting a playground in or a small park,
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and that became the play We actually started fundraising and
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the city agreed to put up some money, and the
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Perry County Community Foundation put up some money, and we
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put a little bit in of our money, and then
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the flood hit and slowed everything down. Mc rennoll said
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the project experienced delays but remained the priority. It got
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delayed a lot, he said. John Rudd worked here for
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nineteen years, I believe maybe longer, and was such an
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important part of everything the HDA accomplished, including that someone
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had suggested that we name the park in order of
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John Rudd, and we said, of course, it's perfect. He added.
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The planning efforts resumed more actively in recent years, with
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support from designers, staff and contractors helping bring the project
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to completion. We started working on that project in twenty
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twenty sent Mcarndals, but the park kind of got put
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on the back burner and we started in earnest, probably
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over a year ago, talking with people who designed these
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sorts of things, and we looked at a lot of
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ideas and various staff members worked on it and made
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it happen. We also had a lot of great contractors
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who helped build it. They were able to step in
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and get the work done. The Grenals said the park
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is intended to serve both nearby residents and the broader community.
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I think it will serve well as a park, he said.
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There is the Gurney's Been neighborhood which has fifteen houses
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and then another seven or eight back here, along with
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other close communities. And this is a publicly available park
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with a picnic shelter that's welcomed to everyone. It's a
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city park and the city will maintain it. It's an
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attractive park and I think it will do well. New
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canine joins Hazard Police Department. Local officials joined the Hazard
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Police Department the Grand Park on April twenty seventh to
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introduce Tia, the department's newest canine, marking an expansion of
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public safety resources aimed at supporting schools and the broader community.
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Donald Happy Mobilini said the addition of the new canine
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unit is an important step forward for the department and
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the community. This is really an exciting day, said Mobolini.
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We've had a couple of dogs with the city police before,
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and our last one retired. Now. Chief Miller and the
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police department have been diligent in working through these grant
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programs to get this new canine. This is just a
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great service to have. The dog helps all the schools.
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Perry County Judge Executive Scott Alexander emphasize the collaboration between
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local agencies and the value the new canine brings to
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the ongoing effort. We're always working together and it's great
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to have this, said Alexander. We really appreciate what Chief
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Miller does and what his crew does continuously helping us
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with events and other issues we face here. We have
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a great department and this is a great addition. Sandra
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Cones highlighted the importance of having a canine resource available locally,
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particularly for school safety. You can always count on your
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city police, said Thomas. This year, we had got a
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tip about something at the high school and we had
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to go through the Kentucky State Police who brought three
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dogs in which ended up being a false alarm. But
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this will be a great service for us, not only
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our school system, but our community. We appreciate everything HPD
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does for us. Zach Miller described the addition of T
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as a meaningful milestone for the department and credited community
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partnerships for making the program possible. This is a proud
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and meaningful day for Hazard, said Miller. Today we officially
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accept our new can I to the department. This was
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made possible through generosity and support of Canine Organization. A
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lot of moving pieces fell into place for us to
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get here today, so we're very thankful for that. On
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behalf of the entire police department, I want to extend
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our sincere gratitude to Knine dot org for its commitment
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to public safety and to the donors for investing in
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communities like ours. Organizations like this don't just create resources,
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they create opportunities for departments to better serve and protect
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our communities. Miller said the canine will play a great
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role in addressing ongoing challenges in the region while also
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maintaining a visible presence throughout the community. It's no secret
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that we have a drug epidemic in this region, he said.
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Everyone here knows someone who's been affected by drugs in
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some way. We're committed to proactively dressing the narcotics issue
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in our community, and Tia will help us tremendously. We
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want to create a safer environment for our children, and
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you're going to see Tia in the community. She'll be
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at events, schools, churches, and you're going to see her
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working throughout the community. Today represents more than just a
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new addition to our team. Today also represents progress. One
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goal I had as chief of Police was to modernize
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the department with up to date tools, equipment, and this
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right here represents one of these steps in the progress.
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Care Cottage holds open house. The Kentucky River Child Advocacy Center,
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known as the Care Cottage, welcome community members for its
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annual open house on April twenty fourth. Tours of the
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facility and insight into the expanding role in serving children
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and families occurred across the region. According to Executive director
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Pam Carey, the event drew strong community interest and engagement.
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Open house was a huge success this year, said Carrie.
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Over seventy people were in attendance, including Senator Brandon Smith.
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Tours were given by staff members and attendees learned about
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what we can do. Carrie said. The organization continues to
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see an increase in demand for its services, particularly in
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the area of forensic interviews. Our numbers continue to rise,
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says Carrie. Since January first, we've already conducted around one
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hundred forensic interviews. By the end of the year, that
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number is expected to surpass four hundred. The care Cottage,
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as well as our board member Taylor Holbrook, offer free
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training on child abuse prevention and mandated reporting free organizations, schools,
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and daycares. In addition to training opportunities, Carrie noted the
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organization's willingness to engage with the community through outreach education efforts.
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We're also available to do presentations of meetings and special events,
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she said. The staff is myself, Pamela Carey Executive Director,
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Jonah Gooch, Assistant Corrector, Jeffrey Combs forensic interviewer, Victoria Holcombe,
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DT coordinator, and Colleena Cornett victim advocate. For more information
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about the care Center, you can call six O six
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four eight seven nine one seven, three six, O six
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four eight seven nine one seven three. AML contracts on
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rise in Eastern Kentucky Since passage of BIL, the number
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and size of abandoned mine land reclamation contracts have increased
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in Kentucky, especially in the eastern part of the state,
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since the appropriation of federal funding in the twenty twenty
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one Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. According to a report released April
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twenty third, Kentucky's abandoned mineland reclamation market has nearly quadrupled
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since the dispersement of federal funding from the BIL, said
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the report, Repairing the Damage in Kentucky How to market
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to reclaim abandoned mines is changing since the passage of
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the BIL. The report by the Ohio River Valley Institute
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said the law set aside more than one billion dollars
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for mine clean up in Kentucky over fifteen years and
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has boosted good paying job opportunities in struggling labor markets
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and supported the restoration of polluting, hazardous coal mine damage.
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The report highlights the need for continued AML reclamation funding,
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more bidders on large contracts in Eastern Kentucky, and greater
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growth in union density in eastern Kentucky. Between twenty twenty
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three and twenty five, after the law was implemented, ninety
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five contracts valued at sixty two million, eight hundred twenty
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six thousand, six hundred ninety dollars twenty million, nine hundred
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and forty two annualized were awarded, with seventy nine of
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them listed as small. The report does not have specific
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data concerning the number and size of AML contracts prior
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to the bil's passage. Among the four counties in the
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Appalachian Newspapers coverage area, Perry County had the most AML
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contracts between twenty twenty three and twenty five, at twenty
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one valued at seventeen million dollars and annualized at five
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point seven million per year, The average contract was eight
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hundred and fifteen thousand, four dollars. Leadership Kentucky announces Elevate
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Kentucky twenty twenty six class. Leadership Kentucky announced that the
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statement April twentieth that members of the Elevate Kentucky Class
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of twenty twenty six. Launched in twenty seventeen, Elevate Kentucky
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provides young professionals with an in depth personal and professional
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development program that fosters a better understanding of challenges facing
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our commonwealth. The class participates in three sessions taking place
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April through June in Pitewell, Owensboro, and Georgetown, Northern Kentucky.
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Class members will hear from provoking Kentucky leaders and learn
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about issues and opportunities facing our state and gain insights
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in about personal leadership abilities. Class members will also engage
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in panel discussions, participate in experimental learning opportunities, gain increased
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leadership skills, and receive both regional and statewide perspectives while
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traveling across Kentucky. Charles Bush from Perry County and the
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Challenger Learning Group represents the area. A. G. Coleman announces
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nearly thirty four million dollars in grants to fight drug epidemic.
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Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman announced the statement on April
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twenty third that nearly thirty four million dollars was awarded
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by the Kentucky Opioid Debatement Advisory Commission to more than
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one hundred Kentucky organizations the combat the drug epidemic throughout
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the commonwealth. On April twenty first. The statement said the
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Opioi Debatement Advisory Commission approved grant applications in three categories treatment, recovery, prevention,
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and for the first time research and innovation. Coleman, the
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statement said, urged the Commission to create the new research
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focused grant opportunity to keep Kentucky on the cutting edge
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of the fight against addiction. The Commission awarded more than
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three point six million dollars and six grants for research
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and innovation. Ninety five three hundred and two dollars went
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to Appalachian Artisan Center of Kentucky Incorporated for First Impressions,
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a program to offer new training opportunities the individuals and
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recovery in KNT, Perry, Leccher, Floyd, and Magoffin Counties. Two
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hundred eighteen thousand, six hundred and thirty nine dollars went
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to East Kentucky Health Services Incorporated for building Drug Free Futures,
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a youth prevention initiative for not County and prevention programming
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will occur in NT, Floyd and Perry Counties. Two hundred
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and twenty four thy nine hundred and ninety five dollars
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goes to Girl Scouts of Kentucky Wilderness Road Council Incorporated
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for fostering Resilience, Girl Scout Troops for Youth and foster
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and Kinship Care to establish trauma and formed Girl Scout
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Troops for girls age five through eighteen who are in
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foster care or kinship care due to parental substance abuse, incarceration,
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or related instability. In Rolly, Perry, Whitley, Fayette, and Laurel Counties,
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you Pike announces new Director of Instrumental Music. The University
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of Pipe Rolle is pleased to announce the appointment of
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Kelly Ryan Taylor EME as Director of Instrumental Music. Taylor,
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according to a statement from u PIP, brings nearly three
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decades of experience in music education, performance, and program leadership
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to you Pipe. In his new role, he'll lead the
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university's instrumental music program, oversee band initiatives, and support the
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continued growth of music opportunities for students. Ribbon cutting hell
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from new VA Center. A ribbon cutting ceremony was held
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to celebrate the opening of the new VA Outpatient Clinic
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in Preston's on April sixteenth. The herschel Woody Williams VA
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Medical Center, community based outpatient clinic is more than double
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the size of the existing clinic and will offer more
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services such as telehealth and X ray services. Official sin
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from the opinion page the guest editorial The Supreme Court
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got it Right and Wrong by the Kentucky Press Association.
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A recent ruling by the Kentucky Supreme Court has opened
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your government to do business behind closed doors, so long
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as they do it with their personal cell phones. In
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a move that sent shockwaves through open government advocacy groups,
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the state's highest court voted four to two in a
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ruling that the open door law in Kentucky does not
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cover communication if it occurs on a personal cell phone
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or personal email. This means, in its simplest that your
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elected representatives can do the people's business completely shielded from
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the public, simply by calling each other on their own phones.
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To be fair, the Supreme Court said that this is
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a legislative issue and not a judicial one. Justice Kelly
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Thomas was quoted as saying it is not the Court's
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job to legislate, and he went on to say that
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if the legislature wants to make a law to stop
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government officials from doing business behind closed doors on personal
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cell phones or through emails, then the legislature could do so.
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We agree. However, the unintended consequence here might be a
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flurry of activity taking place in the back room on
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a cell phone. Think of it like this. Your teenage
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daughter asks if it's okay for her boyfriend to come
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over to study, and you say sure. Once he arrives,
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she tells you they're going to go upstairs to her room.
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It doesn't feel great, but you say okay because she
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always leaves the door open. A little later, though, you
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will buy and the door's closed. It doesn't matter what's
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going on behind the door that is closed. It no
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longer feels good as all sorts of thoughts race through
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your mind. That's what this ruling does. It takes decades
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of good governance done in the bright sunshine and casts
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shade audit. We understand the court not wanting to write legislation,
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So now we urge those legislators to take the ball
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the court passed them and run with it into the daylight.
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From the Kentucky Press Association Playtime by US Cassiday. The
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latest front in the electric War between the parties of
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the Jackass and the Elephant is taking place in the
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Commonwealth of Virginia. Voters there have approved a measure that,
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according to CNN, aims to help Democrats in net four
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US seats in the House in the upcoming midterm elections.
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Washington is solely overdue for a shakeout. But regardless of
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whether the Democrat Party's lady Salvo in the war survives
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legal challenges, I somehow doubt real change will be the result.
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It will just be another flashpoint in the back and
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forth between the corporate political entities. Each blames the other
20:29
for the political gamesmanship, as the common refrain has become,
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they started it. And while I appreciate that leaders in
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both parties have decided that it's what it takes, that
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doesn't solve the problem that the American people are facing.
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Of course, each party believes that using the loopholes and
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legal system will allow them to best serve American people.
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At least that's the idea, right, But many of my
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countrymen and I have decided that neither party has our
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best interests in mind. That it doesn't take a lot
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of digging to see evidence that bocks up our assertion.
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The results of the last several incarnations of the federal
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legislative and executive branches have vacillated between disappointing and outright failures.
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In just a few weeks, voters in Kentucky will cast
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their ballots in what I believe is one of the
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most important primary elections in recent memory. Here at the
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local level, several key offices will be decided in the primary,
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with some positions having only candidates of one party. However,
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hundreds of thousands of my fellow Kentuckians and I will
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be shut out by the Commonwealth's closed primary system. However
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tasteful or tasteless, the choices we have and who will
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lead us into the next few years. We will be
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directly impacted, but have no voice. I knew this going
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into changing my registration to independent, but it still doesn't
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settle any better. A few years ago I came to
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the conclusion that my stance that the brand of candidate
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wears is little more than a red herring. I can't
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avoid going back to the line I once heard Jello
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by Afra Utter to the effect that the Democrats are
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on the inside what the Republicans are on the outside.
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There are good and bad members of each party, that
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their qualities of goodness or badness have little to do
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with the letters beside their name, and I'm not alone.
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According to Kentucky Board of Election statistics, between January twenty
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seventeen and March twenty twenty six, there's been a lot
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of party switching. The Democratic registration has fallen by twenty
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three percent, while Republican registration has risen by sixteen percent
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as the Genie has become the Commonwealth's majority party. However,
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both those changes pale in comparison to the fifty percent
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increase seen in the number of Kentucky's registering is independent.
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While only making up five percent of Kentucky's electric it's
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difficult to ignore that a lot of people are leaving
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the corporate party system to become independent. That doesn't even
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count the number of voters registered under other parties outside
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the binary political system we've accepted. Can you blame us?
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Just look at Virginia and wonder why people are feeling disenfranchised.
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Look at the sowing crisis of everything versus the statement wages,
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the struggles with health care, the continued starting of endless wars,
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the failure to truly hold accountable some of the worst
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people of this country has ever produced, and the like
23:55
of any real change to benefit to the people and
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yet it seems that the leaders of the two parties
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are content to fill their time trying to establish supremacy
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instead of building a better tomorrow. So I'll cast to
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Johnice Die toward what's happening in the state to our east.
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As my suspicion that the outcome really doesn't matter anyway grows.
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I pray that things change, but I'm not going to
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lend my hand to worsening my nation's decline by casting
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my ballance with corporate entities that don't seem to know
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or care that I exist and that I matter. They're
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too busy playing games. Here ere the obituaries. Rexbyshire sixty
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six of Chapmanville, West Virginia died Tuesday April twenty first.
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Bradley will Of eighty five and Bonnyman died Monday, April twentieth.
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Carter Hall eighty nine of Delphia died Thursday, April twenty third,
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Hubert Smith's seventy four di on Saturday April twenty fifth,
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and Ronnie Burt seventy two of Viper died Monday April twentieth.
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The Center for Real Development announces one hundred eighty one
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students have selected to attend the twenty twenty six Rogers Explorers.
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A total of one hundred and eighty one students rising
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high school freshmen from southern and eastern Kentucky have been
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selected to participate in the twenty twenty six Rogers Explorers program.
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Those from Perry County include Carly Whittaker, Chloe Craft, Ben Kiddawin,
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and Parker Collette. The Rogers Explorers program gives rising ninth
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grade students the opportunity to strengthen their leadership skills, engage
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with steam fields, and experience new challenges while on Kentucky
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college campuses, said Ronnie Lawson, President and CEO of the
25:57
Center for Rural Development. We look forward or welcoming the
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twenty twenty sixth class as they began this exciting journey.
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Kentucky State Police Post thirteen and Hazard said in a
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statement the agency is investigating a three vehicle collision that
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claimed the lives of two people on April twenty second.
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According to the reports, troopers were notified of the crash
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at eleven thirteen am on Kentucky fifteen in the Watts
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community of Breathitt County. According to the preliminary investigation, the
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Dodge of ininger operated by Brandon Combes of los Crete,
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was traveling southbound when it hit Toyota camry driven by
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Dina Noble, also of los Crete. Both Combes and Nobles
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suffered fatal injuries and were pronounced to cease Santa scene
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by the Breathitt County Coroner's Office. A hazard man has
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been indicted by a federal grand jury on a methamphetamine
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trafficking charge. On April twenty, the third Court documents show
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the grand jury indicted Michael Scott Thompson of Millian Drive
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on a charge of possession with the intent to distribute
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fifty grams or more of methanphetamine. This concludes the reading
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of the Hazard Herald. Please say tim for continued programming,
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Thank you for joining us and on behalf of everyone
27:21
here at Radio AOW. This is Lee Townsend, wishing you
27:24
a good day.