Transcript

9.10.26 · The Mountain Eagle

0:01
Speaker 1: Now we turn to The Mountain Eagle to read news
0:04
Speaker 1: from Whitesburg. Your reader today is Bill Denarsdal. We will
0:09
Speaker 1: begin with the edition dated September 9, 2026, which the
0:14
Speaker 1: publishers have donated to Radio Eye. As a reminder, Radio
0:18
Speaker 1: Eye is a reading service intended for people who are
0:21
Speaker 1: blind or have other disabilities that make it difficult to
0:24
Speaker 1: read printed material. The first story is... Couple arrested after
0:31
Speaker 1: visiting sheriff's office to complain about their names appearing in
0:35
Speaker 1: the paper. A millstone husband and wife were arrested when
0:41
Speaker 1: they went to the Letcher County Sheriff's Office to complain
0:44
Speaker 1: that publication of their names in the newspaper had led
0:47
Speaker 1: to harassment, Sheriff Billy Jones said. Darrell E. Heiston, 38,
0:54
Speaker 1: and Luella Heiston, 32, had been named in the Mountain
0:58
Speaker 1: Eagle after a Letcher County grand jury indicted them on
1:01
Speaker 1: charges involving the alleged sexual abuse of children under age 12.
1:07
Speaker 1: The indictment warrants had not been served before the couple
1:10
Speaker 1: arrived at the sheriff's office, Jones said. Both were arrested
1:14
Speaker 1: and are being held in lieu of $ 25, 000 cash bonds.
1:18
Speaker 1: An arraignment hearing for the couple is set for September
1:21
Speaker 1: 23rd at 8.59 a.m. in Letcher Circuit Court. The two
1:27
Speaker 1: were indicted August 27th on charges related to first-degree sexual abuse.
1:34
Speaker 1: Daryl Heiston is charged with subjecting a female child under
1:38
Speaker 1: 12 to sexual contact when she was incapable of consenting
1:42
Speaker 1: because of her age. The indictment alleges the abuse began
1:46
Speaker 1: at the child's birth and continued to the present. Luetta
1:51
Speaker 1: Heiston is charged with complicity to first-degree sexual abuse. she
1:56
Speaker 1: is accused of subjecting the same child to sexual contact
2:00
Speaker 1: while acting alone or in criminal complicity with Daryl Heiston.
2:05
Speaker 1: The alleged abuse occurred between June 2017 and March of
2:09
Speaker 1: this year, beginning when the child was an infant. Luella
2:15
Speaker 1: Heiston is also charged with first-degree sexual abuse involving a
2:19
Speaker 1: male child under age 12. The indictment alleges that she
2:23
Speaker 1: subjected the child to sexual contact when he was incapable
2:27
Speaker 1: of consenting because of his age. Those acts allegedly occurred
2:31
Speaker 1: from 2018 through 2020, when the child was between 4
2:36
Speaker 1: and 6 years old. At an arraignment, the charges against
2:41
Speaker 1: the defendant are formally presented in court, the defendant enters
2:45
Speaker 1: a plea, and the judge considers such matters as bond
2:48
Speaker 1: and future court dates. An arraignment is not a trial
2:52
Speaker 1: and does not determine whether a defendant is guilty. An
2:56
Speaker 1: indictment is an accusation and does not constitute evidence of guilt.
3:02
Speaker 1: The next headline is, Early voters are urged to avoid
3:07
Speaker 1: using post office. Voting rights advocates are encouraging people who
3:12
Speaker 1: vote by mail this year to bypass the U.S. Postal Service,
3:16
Speaker 1: and deliver their ballots directly to the ballot box at
3:19
Speaker 1: their county clerk's office. With 10 days left before Kentucky's
3:24
Speaker 1: absentee ballot portal opens up on the internet, the future
3:28
Speaker 1: of mail-in ballots is still up in the air, as
3:31
Speaker 1: the Trump administration asks the Supreme Court for the third
3:34
Speaker 1: time in six weeks to allow the executive branch to
3:38
Speaker 1: place restrictions on the delivery of mail-in ballots. Letcher County
3:43
Speaker 1: Clerk Winston Meade said he has received no instructions from
3:47
Speaker 1: Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams about how to proceed,
3:51
Speaker 1: or even the possibility that ballots might not be delivered.
3:55
Speaker 1: There were 47 mail-in ballots in the county in the
3:58
Speaker 1: last general election, but Meade expects more this November. This
4:03
Speaker 1: time it will be worse than ever because you've got
4:05
Speaker 1: it from federal down to city council, Meade said. It's
4:09
Speaker 1: going to be a mess. Secretary Adams, a Republican, won
4:14
Speaker 1: an earlier case in July after U.S. District Judge Clarion
4:18
Speaker 1: Horn Boom threw out a lawsuit filed against Adams by
4:22
Speaker 1: the Department of Justice because he refused to give the
4:25
Speaker 1: Department of Justice a complete, unredacted list of Kentucky voters.
4:30
Speaker 1: The administration has also appealed that ruling. Its briefing is
4:34
Speaker 1: due to be filed in two weeks, and Adams will
4:37
Speaker 1: have one month to answer. That case is unlikely to
4:40
Speaker 1: be concluded before the November 10th election. In the current appeal,
4:46
Speaker 1: the administration is asking the high court to uphold a
4:49
Speaker 1: new U.S. Postal Service rule that would require state election
4:53
Speaker 1: officials to redesign ballot envelopes to include a unique barcode
4:58
Speaker 1: for each voter who requests a ballot and give the
5:02
Speaker 1: Postal Service a list of all those barcodes. The post
5:05
Speaker 1: office would then compare the barcodes on the envelope to
5:08
Speaker 1: the barcodes on the list and would refuse to deliver
5:12
Speaker 1: any ballots that don't match. Like the demand for a
5:16
Speaker 1: complete list of voters, the U.S. Postal Service rule was
5:20
Speaker 1: written as the result of an executive order signed by
5:23
Speaker 1: President Donald J. Trump in March that set out multiple
5:27
Speaker 1: layers of control over elections. U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani
5:33
Speaker 1: paused enforcement of the executive order after 23 states and
5:37
Speaker 1: the District of Columbia filed suit, arguing the Constitution gives
5:41
Speaker 1: the administration of elections solely to the states and that
5:45
Speaker 1: the president has no authority to issue election edicts. The
5:49
Speaker 1: Supreme Court declined to rule on the constitutional question. but
5:54
Speaker 1: still overturned the pause Talwani ordered, saying the states did
5:58
Speaker 1: not have standing to sue because while the Postal Service
6:00
Speaker 1: had proposed a rule changing how ballots were handled, it
6:04
Speaker 1: had not put it in place. The Postal Service rule
6:08
Speaker 1: went into effect the next day, and the states again
6:11
Speaker 1: asked Talwani to stop it. As the case works its
6:16
Speaker 1: way through the courts, the Trump administration has asked twice
6:19
Speaker 1: more for the Supreme Court to intervene. once after Talwani
6:24
Speaker 1: issued a temporary restraining order, and again after she replaced
6:28
Speaker 1: the temporary restraining order with a preliminary injunction. Meanwhile, a
6:33
Speaker 1: Postal Service whistleblower told Congress that the new system could
6:38
Speaker 1: reject an entire batch of mail-in ballots if just one
6:41
Speaker 1: barcode is bad. And the Postal Service has also changed
6:45
Speaker 1: its systems so postmarks are no longer placed on mail
6:48
Speaker 1: when it is dropped off. Instead, postmarks won't be placed
6:53
Speaker 1: on envelopes until they reach a regional processing facility. Here,
6:58
Speaker 1: that means a ballot mailed from all the or most
7:01
Speaker 1: other post offices in Letcher County won't be postmarked until
7:05
Speaker 1: it arrives in Knoxville, Tennessee, where it would be sorted
7:08
Speaker 1: and sent back to Whitesburg. If a ballot is mailed
7:12
Speaker 1: in Jenkins, it won't be postmarked until it arrives in Charleston,
7:15
Speaker 1: West Virginia, While Kentucky requires mail-in ballots to be received
7:21
Speaker 1: in the clerk's office by 6 p.m. local time on
7:23
Speaker 1: Election Day, some states allow ballots to be counted as
7:26
Speaker 1: long as they are postmarked before Election Day. The new
7:31
Speaker 1: postmarked system means voters would have to mail in their
7:33
Speaker 1: ballots earlier than ever before in order for their votes
7:37
Speaker 1: to be counted. Solicitor General John Sauer, who is arguing
7:42
Speaker 1: the case for the Trump administration, has acknowledged in court
7:46
Speaker 1: that it might be impossible for states to get ballots
7:49
Speaker 1: out to voters and back into election offices in time
7:52
Speaker 1: to be counted, but he blamed the delay on the
7:55
Speaker 1: states and indicated the administration will push ahead in implementing
7:58
Speaker 1: the rule in spite of that. Sauer, in his request
8:03
Speaker 1: to the Supreme Court for a stay while the case
8:06
Speaker 1: continues through the Court of Appeals, said there is a
8:09
Speaker 1: grave risk that states may not have taken the necessary
8:12
Speaker 1: steps to comply due to the false sense of latitude
8:15
Speaker 1: created by the court's improper order, potentially depriving those states'
8:18
Speaker 1: citizens of the ability to vote by mail. Tuesday morning,
8:23
Speaker 1: 261 current and former members of Congress and the Senate
8:27
Speaker 1: from both Democrat and Republican parties filed a Friend of
8:31
Speaker 1: the Court brief asking the Supreme Court to halt the
8:34
Speaker 1: administration's attempts to to exert control over the election. And
8:40
Speaker 1: the next story is, both school districts are projecting gains
8:45
Speaker 1: from property taxes. Property tax revenue is expected to increase
8:51
Speaker 1: for both public school districts in Letcher County under rates
8:54
Speaker 1: proposed for the coming fiscal year, although the Jenkins Independent
8:58
Speaker 1: School District plans to lower its rates. The Letcher County
9:03
Speaker 1: Board of Education is proposing a general fund tax rate
9:07
Speaker 1: of 68.1 cents on each $ 100 of assessed value for
9:11
Speaker 1: both real estate and personal property. That would represent an
9:16
Speaker 1: increase of one-tenth of a cent from the 68 cent
9:19
Speaker 1: rates levied during the previous fiscal year. The Jenkins Independent
9:24
Speaker 1: Board of Education is proposing rates of 84 cents on
9:27
Speaker 1: each $ 100 of assessed value for both real estate and
9:31
Speaker 1: personal property. Jenkins levied 86 cents on real estate and
9:37
Speaker 1: 90 cents on personal property during the previous fiscal year.
9:41
Speaker 1: Its proposed rates would therefore reduce the real estate rate
9:44
Speaker 1: by 2 cents and the personal property rate by 6 cents.
9:49
Speaker 1: For the owner of real estate assessed at $ 100, 000 before
9:53
Speaker 1: any exemptions are applied, the proposed Letcher County School General
9:58
Speaker 1: Fund tax would be $ 680. would be $ 1 more than
10:03
Speaker 1: under the previous 68-cent rate. The proposed Jenkins school tax
10:08
Speaker 1: on real estate assessed at $ 100, 000 would be $ 840 or
10:10
Speaker 1: $ 20 less than the $ 860 imposed under the previous Despite
10:22
Speaker 1: the lower rates, the Jenkins District expects its general fund
10:25
Speaker 1: property tax revenue to increase by $ 110, 689. 51. The district collected $ 482, 713. 24
10:29
Speaker 1: from its general fund property taxes during fiscal year 2026.
10:44
Speaker 1: The proposed 84 cent rates are expected to produce $ 593, 402. 75
10:47
Speaker 1: during fiscal year 2027, according to a legal notice published
10:49
Speaker 1: by the district. Of the projected revenue, $ 129, 392. 48 is expected
10:52
Speaker 1: to come from new property and personal property. Jenkins listed
10:54
Speaker 1: a compensating tax rate of 82.9 cents on both real
11:15
Speaker 1: estate and personal property. That rate would be expected to
11:19
Speaker 1: produce $ 585, 632. The compensating rate generally is calculated to allow
11:28
Speaker 1: a taxing district to receive approximately the same revenue from
11:31
Speaker 1: property that was taxed the previous year, despite changes in assessments.
11:37
Speaker 1: Revenue from new property is treated separately in the calculation.
11:41
Speaker 1: Jenkins proposes to allocate its projected $ 110, 689. 51 increase in revenue
11:45
Speaker 1: among three areas. The district would use $ 4, 427 for tax
11:46
Speaker 1: collection costs, $ 84, 124 for instruction, and $ 22, 137 for maintenance of
11:49
Speaker 1: its buildings and other facilities. The Letcher County School District
12:10
Speaker 1: collected $ 3, 211, 511. 27 from its 68-cent general fund rates during fiscal
12:12
Speaker 1: year 2026. Its proposed rate of 68.1 cents on real
12:13
Speaker 1: estate and personal property is expected to produce $ 4, 128, 618. 57 during
12:16
Speaker 1: fiscal year 2027. Of that amount, $ 807, 660. 20 is projected to
12:44
Speaker 1: come from new property and personal property. The proposed $ 68. 1
12:50
Speaker 1: rate is also the compensating rate calculated for the Letcher
12:53
Speaker 1: County District. The District's legal notice says the proposed rate
12:59
Speaker 1: is expected to generate $ 60, 677. 50 more than the applicable 2026
13:01
Speaker 1: revenue calculation. That additional revenue would be divided equally among
13:11
Speaker 1: five areas. The district proposes to allocate $ 12, 135. 50 each to
13:19
Speaker 1: tax collection costs, its building fund, instruction, transportation, and maintenance
13:25
Speaker 1: of its buildings and other facilities. The notices do not
13:30
Speaker 1: mean that all property owners will experience the same change
13:33
Speaker 1: in their tax bills. The amount owed depends on the
13:36
Speaker 1: assessed value of each property. whether that assessment has changed,
13:41
Speaker 1: and whether the owner qualifies for an exemption. The notices
13:46
Speaker 1: concern only the school district's general fund property tax levies.
13:50
Speaker 1: They do not include property taxes imposed by other local
13:53
Speaker 1: taxing districts. Both school districts publish the information as required
13:59
Speaker 1: by the Kentucky General Assembly. The notices say neither proposed
14:03
Speaker 1: rate is subject to recall under state law. The next
14:08
Speaker 1: story is, Food Giveaway Helps Pets Remain With Families. What
14:15
Speaker 1: began as one woman's plan to establish another animal shelter
14:19
Speaker 1: in Letcher County has become an effort to keep pets
14:23
Speaker 1: out of shelters and in the homes of people who
14:25
Speaker 1: already love them. Scarlet's Hope of Letcher County distributed free
14:31
Speaker 1: dog food, treats, and chew toys in Fleming Neon on
14:35
Speaker 1: August 31st. Founder Christy Robinson of Crafts Collie said similar
14:40
Speaker 1: distributions are planned in other parts of the county. We
14:44
Speaker 1: chose Neon first because they just went through the flood here,
14:47
Speaker 1: Robinson said. She arrived with 200 one-gallon bags of dog food,
14:53
Speaker 1: 200 chew toys, and 200 bags of dog treats to
14:58
Speaker 1: distribute on a first-come, first-served basis. Robinson has not been
15:03
Speaker 1: able to establish the animal shelter she originally envisioned. As
15:08
Speaker 1: she continued working with homeless animals, however, she decided that
15:11
Speaker 1: helping owners care for their pets might prevent some animals
15:15
Speaker 1: from being abandoned in the first place. It's not about
15:19
Speaker 1: putting them in a shelter. It's about helping them stay
15:22
Speaker 1: with the people who love them already, she said. Robinson
15:26
Speaker 1: plans to hold at least one pet food distribution each month,
15:31
Speaker 1: moving the event to different areas of the county. She
15:35
Speaker 1: said financial hardship is making it increasingly difficult for some
15:38
Speaker 1: families to feed their pets. Rescue volunteers are responding by
15:44
Speaker 1: providing food, helping arrange spaying and neutering, and finding homes
15:49
Speaker 1: for animals that have already been abandoned. Robinson has volunteered
15:54
Speaker 1: with the Kentucky River Regional Animal Shelter, transporting van loads
15:59
Speaker 1: of stray animals to out-of-state rescue organizations that have a
16:03
Speaker 1: better chance of finding homes for them. She started Scarlet's
16:07
Speaker 1: Hope after seeing the number of abandoned dogs increase beyond
16:11
Speaker 1: the regional shelter's available space. Robinson said she hopes distributing
16:17
Speaker 1: dog food near the end of each month will help
16:20
Speaker 1: pet owners, particularly those living on fixed incomes, get through
16:25
Speaker 1: the final days before their next check arrives. They can't
16:28
Speaker 1: afford to feed them, she said. Scarlett's Hope is named
16:33
Speaker 1: for Robinson's red-boned coonhound. A veterinarian in Washington, D.C. owns
16:40
Speaker 1: another female from the same litter and donated ten 30-pound
16:44
Speaker 1: bags of dog food to the effort. Robinson divided the
16:49
Speaker 1: large bags into one-gallon portions, enough to help an owner
16:53
Speaker 1: who might otherwise run out of food a few days
16:55
Speaker 1: before receiving a paycheck or monthly check. Dogs are not
17:01
Speaker 1: her only concern. Robinson said the problem involving homeless and
17:06
Speaker 1: feral cats may be even more difficult because less shelter
17:10
Speaker 1: and rescue space is available for them. Cats can produce
17:14
Speaker 1: several litters a year, she said, causing a small colony
17:18
Speaker 1: to grow rapidly if the animals are not spayed or neutered.
17:24
Speaker 1: Robinson believes trap-neuter-return programs can help control feral cat populations.
17:31
Speaker 1: Under those programs, cats are humanely trapped, spayed or neutered,
17:35
Speaker 1: and returned to the areas where they were found. She
17:39
Speaker 1: said grant-supported programs generally require participating cats to be returned
17:44
Speaker 1: to their original locations. Although that prevents additional kittens from
17:49
Speaker 1: being born, the cats may still lack dependable food and
17:52
Speaker 1: protection from the weather. Robinson said she knows someone with
17:57
Speaker 1: contacts at horse farms in central Kentucky. where some feral
18:01
Speaker 1: cats can live in barns and help control mice. She
18:06
Speaker 1: has used her own money to have cats spayed or neutered.
18:10
Speaker 1: She said she presently has about 70 telephone messages from
18:14
Speaker 1: people seeking help with the cost of having their animals sterilized.
18:19
Speaker 1: It's not that people don't want to spay and neuter
18:21
Speaker 1: their pets. It's that we need vets to participate, Robinson said.
18:27
Speaker 1: Scarlett's Hope also needs a heated and air-conditioned location where
18:32
Speaker 1: donated pet food can be stored, and large bags can
18:35
Speaker 1: be divided into smaller portions. Robinson said a 34-pound bag
18:41
Speaker 1: of dog food can be divided into nine one-gallon bags.
18:46
Speaker 1: She said a $ 50 donation would cover the vaccinations needed
18:49
Speaker 1: for one animal. In the next headline... PSC reopens case
18:56
Speaker 1: involving $ 2 million in Kentucky Power winter storm costs in region.
19:03
Speaker 1: The Kentucky Public Service Commission has reopened a case involving
19:07
Speaker 1: as much as $ 2 million in Kentucky Power storm expenses
19:11
Speaker 1: that could become the subject of a future request for
19:14
Speaker 1: recovery from customers. The PSC granted Kentucky Power's request for
19:20
Speaker 1: a partial rehearing of of a July 21 order concerning
19:24
Speaker 1: costs the company incurred while restoring service after a major
19:28
Speaker 1: winter storm in January. The August 27 order does not
19:33
Speaker 1: decide whether Kentucky Power is entitled to defer the additional
19:37
Speaker 1: expenses or recover them through customer rates. The commission said
19:42
Speaker 1: it reopened the case to obtain more information before ruling
19:45
Speaker 1: on the company's argument. At issue is whether $ 2 million
19:50
Speaker 1: in annual storm expenses already included in Kentucky Power's base
19:54
Speaker 1: rates applies to major storms as well as smaller, more
19:58
Speaker 1: routine storms. Kentucky Power serves most of Letcher County and
20:03
Speaker 1: portions of 19 other eastern Kentucky counties. The company reported
20:09
Speaker 1: approximately $ 3. 69 million in total restoration costs from Winter Storm Fern,
20:15
Speaker 1: which struck its service area beginning January 25th. Of that amount,
20:20
Speaker 1: Kentucky Power identified approximately $ 2. 38 million as incremental operation and
20:27
Speaker 1: maintenance expenses. In its July order, the PSC allowed Kentucky
20:32
Speaker 1: Power to establish what is known as a regulatory asset
20:36
Speaker 1: for qualifying storm expenses, but only to the extent that
20:40
Speaker 1: the expenses exceeded the $ 2 million already included in the
20:44
Speaker 1: company's base rates. Based on the company's estimated expenses, that
20:49
Speaker 1: decision would apparently allow Kentucky Power to defer approximately $ 380, 000
20:54
Speaker 1: rather than the full $ 2. 38 million it requested. Kentucky Power
20:57
Speaker 1: filed a motion August 10th asking the PSC to reconsider
21:06
Speaker 1: that portion of its decision. The company contends that the
21:10
Speaker 1: $ 2 million already included in base rates was intended to
21:14
Speaker 1: cover non-major storms and should not be used to offset
21:18
Speaker 1: costs from a major event, such as the January storm.
21:23
Speaker 1: The PSC reached a different conclusion in July, pointing to
21:26
Speaker 1: language in a settlement agreement from Kentucky Power's most recent
21:30
Speaker 1: base rate case. That agreement said, Kentucky Power would increase
21:34
Speaker 1: the amount included in base rates for major and non-major
21:38
Speaker 1: storm expense from $ 0 to $ 2 million. The Commission therefore
21:43
Speaker 1: determined that the $ 2 million was not limited to expenses
21:46
Speaker 1: associated with non-major storms. Kentucky Power argues that other language
21:52
Speaker 1: and decisions in the rate case show that the allowance
21:55
Speaker 1: was intended differently. The company says it should be permitted
21:59
Speaker 1: to defer major storm expenses even when those costs do
22:03
Speaker 1: not exceed the $ 2 million already included in rates. If
22:08
Speaker 1: Kentucky Power ultimately prevails, the amount eligible for deferral could
22:13
Speaker 1: increase by as much as $ 2 million, from approximately $ 380, 000
22:17
Speaker 1: to approximately $ 2. 38 million, based on the company's current estimates.
22:25
Speaker 1: Establishing a regulatory asset does not immediately place the expense
22:29
Speaker 1: on customer bills. It permits a utility to record an
22:32
Speaker 1: expense on its books for possible recovery in a future
22:35
Speaker 1: rate case, rather than recognizing the entire expense at once.
22:41
Speaker 1: The PSC emphasized in its July order that the accounting
22:45
Speaker 1: treatment did not constitute final approval of the individual expenses
22:49
Speaker 1: for rate-making purposes. the Commission said Kentucky Power would have
22:53
Speaker 1: to document that the expenses were prudent and necessary before
22:57
Speaker 1: any amount could be included in rates. Any decision about
23:02
Speaker 1: whether the regulatory assets should be spread over time and
23:05
Speaker 1: recovered from customers would be made in Kentucky Power's next
23:09
Speaker 1: base rate case. The January storm caused widespread damage across
23:15
Speaker 1: Kentucky Power's service territories. At the height of the storm, 4,970
23:21
Speaker 1: customers were without electricity. The company reported damage to 15 transformers,
23:27
Speaker 1: 25 sets of cross arms, 22 utility poles, and 207
23:32
Speaker 1: spans of electrical conductor. Approximately 925 Kentucky Power employees and
23:39
Speaker 1: contract workers participated in the restoration effort. Hazardous road conditions
23:45
Speaker 1: indicated and continuing bad weather hampered the work, according to
23:49
Speaker 1: the company. Kentucky Power filed its application for a regulatory
23:54
Speaker 1: asset treatment April 17th. No outside party sought to intervene
23:59
Speaker 1: before the PSC issued its original decision. In granting the
24:04
Speaker 1: partial rehearing, the commission cautioned that its action should not
24:08
Speaker 1: be interpreted as a ruling in Kentucky Power's favor. The
24:12
Speaker 1: commission established a new procedural schedule for the case. Initial
24:17
Speaker 1: requests for information from PSC staff are due September 11th,
24:22
Speaker 1: and Kentucky Power must respond by September 25th. By October 2nd,
24:27
Speaker 1: the company must request either a hearing or ask the
24:30
Speaker 1: PSC to decide the case on the written record. In
24:35
Speaker 1: the next story, Speakeasy will raise funds for local projects.
24:42
Speaker 1: The Letcher County Community Foundation which got its start in
24:45
Speaker 1: the aftermath of the 2022 flood, has given approximately $ 90, 000
24:50
Speaker 1: to projects in Letcher County and is now looking to
24:54
Speaker 1: raise more. The nonprofit is holding its first fundraising dinner
24:59
Speaker 1: in the downtown Whitesburg Historic District this fall with a
25:03
Speaker 1: 1920s-themed speakeasy. The event will be held in the old
25:07
Speaker 1: Dahlhares Building, which was built in 1923 as Mullins Brothers
25:11
Speaker 1: Department Store. The foundation is specific to Letcher County, but
25:17
Speaker 1: it operates with administrative help from the Foundation for Appalachian
25:21
Speaker 1: Kentucky in Hazard. Jeffrey Justice, who works with the Community Foundation,
25:27
Speaker 1: EKY Heritage Foundation, and is chief executive officer of Pine
25:31
Speaker 1: Mountain Partnership, said around half the money the Community Foundation
25:35
Speaker 1: has spent was for flood relief efforts, but it's also
25:39
Speaker 1: helped local nonprofits and other projects. It's all donated money,
25:44
Speaker 1: Justice said. The big thing we've done is the education
25:47
Speaker 1: award on behalf of James and Wanda Rentals. The family
25:51
Speaker 1: endowed some money to allow us to make awards to
25:54
Speaker 1: students in Letcher County. Not technically a scholarship, but $ 1, 000
26:00
Speaker 1: per year gifts can be extended for a student's entire
26:03
Speaker 1: four years of college. and the fund doesn't require a
26:07
Speaker 1: specific area of study, only that the student live in
26:10
Speaker 1: Letcher County and sit for an interview as part of
26:14
Speaker 1: the application process. It's not for 4.0 students. It's for
26:19
Speaker 1: those that fall between the cracks, Justice said. It's not
26:22
Speaker 1: totally based on academic need, and it's not solely based
26:26
Speaker 1: on need. So it's for those that fall somewhere in
26:29
Speaker 1: the middle. The next story is Gordon Water Project, would
26:35
Speaker 1: add nearly 23 miles of lines. The Letcher County Water
26:41
Speaker 1: and Sewer District is moving forward with plans for a
26:43
Speaker 1: major waterline extension along Kentucky Highway 510 in the Gordon community.
26:50
Speaker 1: The district is seeking qualifications from engineering firms to help
26:54
Speaker 1: with planning, design, and construction oversight for the Highway 510
26:59
Speaker 1: Gordon Waterline Extensions Project. According to a public notice issued
27:04
Speaker 1: by the district, the proposed project would include 71,000 feet
27:07
Speaker 1: of 6-inch water main, 28,000 feet of 4-inch main, and 22,000
27:10
Speaker 1: feet of 3-inch main, a total of about 121,000 feet,
27:12
Speaker 1: or nearly 23 miles, of water line. Plans also call
27:14
Speaker 1: for a booster pump station capable of moving 150 gallons
27:16
Speaker 1: per minute, a 100,000-gallon ground-level water storage tank, and a
27:35
Speaker 1: regional interconnection with BMUD. This concludes the reading of The
27:41
Speaker 1: Mountain Eagle. Your reader has been Bill VanArsdel. Now, please
27:46
Speaker 1: stay tuned for continued programming. On behalf of everyone here
27:50
Speaker 1: at Radio Eye, thank you for listening, and have a
27:53
Speaker 1: good day. For young people ages 9 to 18. The
27:59
Speaker 1: Homemaker Learning Service, no.