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(Whitesburg) Mountain Eagle - 5.21.26 · Eastern Kentucky Newspapers

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Speaker 1: Now we turn to the Mountain Eagle to read news
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from Whitesburg. Your reader today is Bill den Arsdale. We
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will begin with the edition dated May twentieth, twenty twenty six,
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which the publishers have donated to RADIOI as a reminder.
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RADIOI is a reading service intended for people who are
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blind or have other disabilities that make it difficult to
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read printed material. The first headline is Steins ordered to
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attend court hearing June fifth. A judge has ordered former
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Letcher County Sheriff Sean Mickey Steins to appear in person
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on June fifth for a status report on his murder case. Steins,
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who has been in the Leslie County jail since September nineteen,
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twenty twenty four, is charged in the murder of Leccher
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District Judge Kevin R.
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Speaker 2: Mullins.
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Speaker 1: Video showed Stein's shoot Mullins multiple time times in the
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judges chambers. He was arrested a few minutes later and
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charged with murder. Special Lectcher Circuit Judge Christopher Koran issued
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the order for a status conference last week. Stein's will
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be taken out of the Leslie County Jail and transported
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to the Leslie County District courtroom for the hearing set
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for ten am on June fifth. The judge will also
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consider all pending motions at that hearing. Steins's attorneys in
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December asked that Koran recused himself from the case the
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morning he was supposed to begin a bond hearing and
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status conference for Stein's I filed a motion with the
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Supreme Court of Kentucky, but the court ruled it was
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up to Koran to make that decision himself. Koran declined
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to accuse himself, and Stein's attorneys appealed again. Deputy Chief
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Justice Robert Connolly rejected the appeal, which was based solely
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on the fact that both Koran and Mullens were members
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of a seventy five member judicial Commission on Mental Health,
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and both attended a meeting of the commission two weeks
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before Mullins was murdered. The facts, as alleged simply do
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not support a conclusion that a reasonable person would question
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Judge Koran's impartiality, Colly wrote. He wrote that Stein's defense
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is free to appeal after a final judgment is entered.
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The hearing on June fifth will take up all motions
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that are still pending, likely including the question of bond
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and requests that the judge release a metal health report
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on Stein's. Additional motions may be filed prior to the hearing.
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The next story is Jenkins bitcoin mine at center of
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fifty one point five million dollar fight. A foreign owned
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cryptocurrency company has asked a federal judge to enforce a
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fifty one point five million dollar arbitration award against a
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bitcoin mining operation in Lectric County, according to a petition
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filed earlier this month in U. S. District Court in Louisville.
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HBT Power Limited filed a petition May eleventh in U. S.
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District Court for the Western District of Kentucky asking the
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court to confirm a final arbitration award entered April thirteenth
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against Mohawk Energy LLC, a Jenkins based crypto mining company
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owned by Kentucky State Senator Brandon Smith, Republican from Hazard.
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The dispute centers on a large scale bitcoin mining operation
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at Gateway Industrial Park in Jenkins, where Mohawk Energy announced
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in twenty twenty three that it planned to employ hundreds
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of workers in blockchain processing, electronics repair, and related technology work.
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HBT Power a bitcoin mining company tied to Hong Kong
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and British Virgin Islands Entities, claims Mohawk Energy breached a
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licensing agreement governing the mining site and wrongfully seized or
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sold mining equipment worth tens of millions of dollars. According
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to the petition filed by HBT Power, Mohawk entered into
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an operation Right License agreement in twenty twenty two under
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which HBT Power would operate bitcoin mining activities at the
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Gateway Industrial Park, located off US Highway twenty three. The
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bi lingual English Chinese agreement described a thirty megawat bitcoin
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mining operation using bitmain and miner and micro bt Witts
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miner mining machines housed in a forty one thousand square
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foot facility formerly occupied by Ferris Incorporated, a Canadian firm
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that provided liquid nitrogen used in the natural gas industry.
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The agreement called for Ohawk to provide the site, electrical
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infrastructure and staffing of eleven employees at forty thousand dollars
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a month, while HBT Power would supply specialized computers called ASICs,
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Application specific integrated circuits used to mine bitcoin and pay
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rent of fifty thousand dollars a month, energy costs and
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a ten percent share of mining revenue. The contract references
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who will be a major Chinese cryptocurrency company in describing
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HBT powers, ownership, structure, and operations. Bitcoin is a digital
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currency or a virtual form of cash that allows users
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to make anonymous payments online. Bitcoin mining refers to the
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data processing operations that solve the complicated mathematical equations that
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verify cryptocurrency transactions worldwide. Companies earned rewards in the form
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of new bitcoins in exchange for completing blocks of data
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that are transmitted over peer to peer computer networks or
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block chains around the world. One bitcoin is now worth
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about seventy eight thousand dollars in U S dollars, down
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from its all time high of one hundred twenty six thousand,
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one hundred ninety eight dollars in October two thousand, twenty five.
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The federal petition says the dispute went to arbitration in
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late twenty twenty three and was heard over five days
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in May twenty twenty five before a judicial Arbitration and
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Mediation Services arbitrator who issued an interim award in December
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two thousand twenty five and ordered further briefing on attorney sees, costs,
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prejudgment interest, punitive damages, and the scope of injunctive relief.
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After considering other motions filed by both HBT Power and Mohawk,
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in March twenty twenty six, the arbitrator found that Mohawk
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breached the operating agreement and unlawfully retained or sold mining
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equipment belonging to HBT Power. The petition states the arbitrator
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found Mohawk sold two thousand, fifty nine micro bt wets
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Minor M thirty M thirty one series ASIC miners to
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third parties without authorization after ousting HBT Power from the
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Jenkins facility, and kept two thousand, two hundred seventy bit
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main and Minor S nineteen series ASIC miners for its
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own use.
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Speaker 2: The arbitrator's final.
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Speaker 1: Ruling awarded HBT Power a total of fifty one point
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five million dollars forty six point seven million dollars for
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breach of contract, six hundred thousand dollars for conversion, one
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hundred twenty eight thousand, one hundred twenty five dollars in
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prejudgment interest, three point five to three million dollars in
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attorney fees and five hundred fifty nine thousand eight dollars
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in costs. The petition also asks the court to permanently
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bar Mohawk from selling, using, or transferring mining equipment and
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electrical infrastructure at the site, and to order the return
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of remaining equipment, including two thousand, two hundred seventy S
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nineteen series mining machines, a substation said to have cost
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eight million dollars, fourteen transformers, and fourteen low voltage cabinets.
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HBT Power claims Mohawk has not paid any portion of
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the arbitration award since the April ruling. The filings are
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the latest development in a long running dispute surrounding the
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Jenkins operation. Mohawk Energy held a grand opening in September
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twenty twenty three, touting plans for blockchain computing, electronics repair,
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and aviation related training. At the time, Smith said the
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company would pay workers between twenty five and sixty five
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dollars an hour and eventually employ as many as two
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hundred fifty people, but within months the operation became embroiled
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in litigation. Earlier reporting described disputes between Smith and representatives
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of the Chinese crypto company over payments and control of
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the mining operation. The Gateway Industrial Park site itself has
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a long history of failed industrial projects. The former Firous
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nitrogen plant at the center of the dispute previously sat
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vacant after the collapse of earlier oil and gas related
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industrial projects in eastern Kentucky. The petition asks the federal
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court to convert the arbitration award into an enforceable judgment
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under the Federal Arbitration Act. While the bill his coin
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mining facility is in Jenkins, which is in the U.
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S District Court's Eastern District of Kentucky, the lawsuit was
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filed in the Western District of Columbia because Louisville was
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designated as the arbitration location in the contracts between HBT
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Power and Mohawk Energy. HBT Power is represented by the
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Lexington law firm of Stahl keenan Ogden, PLLC. Mohawk Energy
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is represented by Frankfurt attorney Anna Stuart Whites. Meanwhile, Brandon
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Smith and Mohawk Energy are named in a separate lawsuit
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that remains pending in Lector Circuit Court. The lawsuit concerns
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the same Gateway industrial park property now at the center
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of the case in which HBT Power is seeking to
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enforce the fifty one and a half million dollar arbitration
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award against Mohawk Energy.
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Speaker 2: According to a.
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Speaker 1: Complaint by Ricky Dale Cole of Danville, Kentucky, Smith approached
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him in April two thousand, two twenty two about leasing
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and eventually purchasing the Old Fears Building in Jenkins. Cole
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says Mohawk initially agreed to lease the property for fifty
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thousand dollars a month under a three year agreement, before
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later negotiating to purchase.
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Speaker 2: The building outright.
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Speaker 1: The complaint says Coal agreed to accept two point five
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million dollars less than the property's asking price in exchange
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for a twenty percent ownership interest in Mohawk Energy.
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Speaker 2: Coal claims Smith.
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Speaker 1: Told him the deal represented an opportunity to invest in
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Mohawk Energy at a very low cost and that the
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company had a strong financial outlook that would produce substantial profits.
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The lawsuit alleges those representations were false and that Coal
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has received nothing additional by way of monetary value since
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the property transfer was completed. Coal further alleges Mohawk failed
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to provide him access to company financial records and information
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regarding ownership interests, transactions, and company assets, despite a formal
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demand made in December twenty twenty four. The suit asks
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the court to order Mohawk to produce company records and
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seeks compensatory damages, punitive damages, attorney fees, and recision of
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the transaction. Mohawk Energy denied the allegations. In its answer.
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Mohawk denied Coal ever acquired a valid ownership interest in
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the company, and claimed he had intentionally and voluntarily relinquished
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any interest he may have had. Mohawk also alleged Coal
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repeatedly told local residents and members of the Jenkins community
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that he had nothing whatsoever to do with Mohawk. The
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company further accused Cole of undermining Mohawk's operations and interfering
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with a major third party contract tied to the Gateway
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Industrial Park project. According to Mohawk's counterclaim, Cole continually undermined, damaged,
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and disrupted the company's business operations, and intentionally interfered with
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a contract that would have generated substantial income for Mohawk.
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Although the filing does not identify the third party by name,
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the allegations appeared to correspond to Mohawk's cryptocurrency mining agreement
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with HBT Power and related Chinese crypto entities that later
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became the subject of arbitration in federal court.
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Speaker 2: Mohawk has asked the court to dismiss.
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Speaker 1: Cole's lawsuit, ruled that he is not a member of
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the company, or alternatively expel him from the LLC. The
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company is also seeking compensatory and punitive damages for alleged
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interference with its business relationships. Cole has denied Mohawk's counterclaims
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and denied interfering within it the Mohawk contracts. The case
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remains pending in Leiser Circuit Court. In the next story,
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man pleads guilty to lesser charge in girlfriend's death. A
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cram Creek man charged with murdering his girlfriend on November one,
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twenty twenty four, has pleaded guilty to a lesser charge
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of manslaughter. Vincent Fleming, twenty six, admitted to killing twenty
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three year old Renata Don Bailey at flemings home at
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three sixty six Box Rock Road. May King. Bailey, twenty three,
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of Elk Creek at Blackie was found dead inside Fleming's
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home by an ambulance crew after Fleming called nine one
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one and requested an ambulance. Emergency Medical Service personnel notified
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nine one one and requested police shortly after eleven o'clock
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that night, reporting a dead body. Police said there were
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signs of a struggle and there were bruises on her body.
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Bailey had apparently been involved in an all terrain vehicle
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accident two weeks earlier, sources said, but there was also
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fresh bruising on her body. Sources said windows had been
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broken out of the car parked outside, and Bailey's cellular
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telephone was lying in the yard. Police first said that
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she could have been killed when a dresser fell on her,
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but other sources said she had severe bruising all over
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her body and head trauma. Fleming was in the district
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courtroom on the first floor of the courthouse to answer
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numerous traffic violations when the murder indictment was returned. Nearly
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a month later, Fleming pleaded guilty May thirteenth to an
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amended charge of first degree manslaughter in exchange for a
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recommended nineteen year sentence. The charge carries a minimum of
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ten years and a maximum of twenty Formal sentencing is
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set for June third in Lector Circuit Court. In the
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next story, yet another dream appears to fade at Gateway.
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At a grand opening in September twenty twenty three, Mohawk
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Energy owner and state Senator Brandon Smith told visitors touring
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the former Furious Nitrogen plant at the Gateway Industrial Park
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that workers there could earn up to forty six dollars
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an hour repairing high tech electronics, while even the company's
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lowest paid workers would make twenty five dollars an hour.
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The sprawling operation, built around cryptocurrency mining and electronics repair,
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featured rows of powerful computer servers, an eight million dollar
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electrical substation, and plans for aviation repair training. Smith of
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Hazard said the operation was not dependent on public incentives
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and would instead create a self sustaining technology hub in
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the mountains. Less than three years later, the parking lot
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is empty, the doors are locked, and Mohawk Energy now
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faces a court fight over an arbitration award totaling more
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than fifty one point five million dollars. The latest filing
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in US District Court in Louisville asks a federal judge
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to confirm the award in favor of HBT Power Limited,
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a foreign owned cryptocurrency mining company that partnered with Mohawk
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to operate a bitcoin mining facility in Jenkins. According to
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the filing, an arbitrator found that Mohawk breached its operating
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agreement with HBT Power, wrongfully retained computerized equipment to mine bitcoin,
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and sold more than two thousand of the mining machines
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without authorization. The arbitrator awarded forty six point seven million
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dollars for breach of contract, six hundred thousand dollars for
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conversion of proper three point five three million dollars in
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attorney fees, and additional interest and costs, for a total
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of fifty one million, five hundred eighteen thousand, four hundred
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fifty three dollars and thirty cents. HBT Power is also
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asking the court to permanently prohibit Mohawk from selling or
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using mining equipment and to order the return of thousands
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of mining machines and electrical components located at the Jenkins site.
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The lawsuit is only the latest chapter in a business
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saga that has left Gateway Industrial Park once again searching
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for stable industry after years of highly publicised projects that
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collapsed under economic pressure, disputes, or changing markets from promise
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to lawsuits. Mohawk Energy first emerged publicly in twenty twenty
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three as a replacement for an earlier bitcoin mining proposal
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that never materialized. An August twenty twenty three article in
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The Mountain Eagle described Mohawk as part of a multi
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pronged approach to reviving Jenkins through industry, tourism and housing.
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At the time, company officials said Mohawk planned not only
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blockchain processing operations, but also electronics repair and aviation related
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training programs. The company leased the former fires facility at
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Gateway Industrial Park and installed the large transformers needed to
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power cryptocurrency mining operations. By the following month, Smith was
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hosting reporters and invited guests inside the facility, touting custom
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built cooling systems, in house fabrication work by former coal miners,
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and plans to expand electrical capacity from thirty to fifty megawatts.
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Smith and Mohawk Vice president Dustin Rodgers repeatedly emphasized worker
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training and long term opportunity. We don't say we'll give
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you a job, we give a degree, Smith said during
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the twenty twenty three grand opening event, but According to
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a June twenty twenty five Mountain Eagle report, problems surfaced
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almost immediately. Just two months after the grand opening, police
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were called to the site during a dispute between Smith
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and representatives of Huobi, the Chinese lenk company that owned
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the mining servers, over a camper being used by one
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of the company representatives. Huobi, identified in court records as
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HBT Power Limited, later sued Mohawk for breach of contract,
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while Smith counter sued, claiming the company owed Mohawk more
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than seven hundred thousand dollars. That dispute eventually moved into
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private arbitration, which largely remained hidden from public view until
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the recent federal filing seeking confirmation of the arbitration award. Meanwhile,
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Mohawk became embroiled in additional litigation involving the ownership of
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the former Fist building itself. For longtime observers of Gateway
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Industrial Park, the collapse of Mohawk Energy feels painfully familiar.
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The industrial park has seen a succession of heavily promoted
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projects arrived with promises of economic revival, only to close
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a few years later. A twenty seventeen Mountain Eagles story
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traced the cycle through earlier ventures at the same site.
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Before Mohawk occupied the former Fires building, the site housed
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two oil and gas related companies, Ferris Corporation, which shut
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down in twenty fifteen after the collapse of Energy Markets
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and Drillers LLC. At the time, local officials were already
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searching for a new economic direction after repeated setbacks to
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to coal, oil and gas markets. Economic development leaders promoted aerospace,
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automotive manufacturing, and advanced technology as possible futures for the region.
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Mohawk appeared to fit that vision as a technology centered
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employer promising high wages, technical training, and an industrial reuse
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of an otherwise vacant building. Instead, the latest filings suggest
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the project devolved into an international dispute over cryptocurrency mining, equipment,
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electrical infrastructure, and millions of dollars in alleged damages. No
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ruling has yet been issued by the Federal court on
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the request to confirm the arbitration award.
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Speaker 2: When it comes to success.
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Speaker 1: Stories at Gateway Industrial Park, one of them has been
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locally owned Tailor Metal roofing and siding.
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Speaker 2: The next story is.
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Speaker 1: Man held after holding his girlfriend hostage. A man accused
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of holding his girlfriend at gunpoint in a standoff with police.
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Is being held in the Letter County Jail in lieu
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of a fifty thousand dollars cash bond. Dusty Allen Schell,
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thirty six, whose address is listed as Emmelina in Nott County,
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was taken into custody about one pm May thirteenth, after
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he was accused of taking his girlfriend and a man
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in a wheelchair hostage. Jennifer Cantrell's sister called police about
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fourteen am, reporting that Cantrell had been the victim of
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domestic abuse. Police arrived on Buck Creek sometime after six am,
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after first attempting to find the nine to one one
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caller in nearby Love's Branch. They didn't positively find the
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correct house until after six am, and then learned everyone
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in the house had crossed the road to a neighbor's home.
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When troopers knocked on the door there, they said a
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man answered and told them Cantrell had left. Police continued
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searching the neighborhood until after six thirty am, after the
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original caller told them they had been at the right
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home and the man who answered the door was lying.
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She also said the man was armed troopers knocked on
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the door again, but no one answered. Shortly afterward, the
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caller told dispatchers that her sister had both hands on
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a window and that Shell was holding her at gunpoint.
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The neighbor, who is in a wheelchair, was also held
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in the house, Police said. Police called in the Kentucky
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State Police Special Response Team when the alleged abuser refused
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to come out. Cantrell was allowed to come out later
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in the day. The others eventually left the house, and
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police arrested Shell on a parole warrant. He was also
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charged with second degree assault, domestic violence, and second degree
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terroristic threatening. Shell has a long criminal history stretching back
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eighteen years. Police also arrested Amy L. Griffith, forty five,
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of Hinman, on a fugitive warrant from Cincinnati, Ohio, and
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lodged her in the Letcher County jail. Griffith also remained
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in jail this week awaiting extradition to Ohio. The next
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story is Letcher County's jobless rate is five point three
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percent higher than state and national rates. Letcher County recorded
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a five point three percent unemployment rate in March twenty
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twenty six, above both the US rate of four point
25:54
three percent and Kentucky's statewide rate of four point six percent,
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according to the Kentucky Center for Statistics. Among the eight
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counties in the Kentucky River Area Development District, Letcher County
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tied with Leslie County for the fourth highest unemployment rate.
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Wolfe County posted the district's highest rate at eight point
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three percent, followed by Breathett County at six point zero percent,
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and Nott County at five point nine percent. Perry County
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and Lee County each recorded four point seven percent, while
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Owsley County posted four point eight percent. According to statistics
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released May fifteenth, Letcher County had a certified labor force
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of seven thy three hundred three, with nine hundred eighteen
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of those people holding jobs, while the statistics show that
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three hundred eighty five people are drawing unemployment benefits. Scores
26:53
of others are jobless but no longer searching for work.
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Unemployment rates fell in all one hundred twenty counties between
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March twenty twenty five and March twenty twenty six, according
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to the Kentucky Center for Statistics, an agency within the
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Kentucky Education.
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Speaker 2: And Labor Cabinet.
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Speaker 1: Hartland County's jobless rate for March stood at six point
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one percent, while Pike County's rate was six point four percent.
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Woodford County recorded the lowest jobless rate in the Commonwealth
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at three point five percent. It was followed by Todd
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County three point six percent, Fayette and Scott Counties three
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point seven percent each, Campbell, Franklin, Jessmine, and Oldham Counties
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three point eight percent each, and Boom, Caldwell, Carroll, Graves
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and Kenton Counties three point nine percent each. Lewis County
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recorded the state's highest unemployment rate at eight point four percent.
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It was followed by Wolf County, Magoffin and Martin Counties
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seven point eight percent each, Elliott County seven point one percent,
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Menefee County seven percent, Jackson County six point nine percent,
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Lawrence County six point seven percent, Carter County six point
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six percent, and Wayne County six point five percent. This
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concludes the reading of the Mountain Eagle. Your reader has
28:21
been Bill den Arsdale. Now please stay tuned for continued
28:25
programming on behalf of everyone here at Radio. I thank
28:29
you for listening and have a good day.