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Eleven die on Kentucky roadways last week
Preliminary statistics indicate that 11 people died in nine separate crashes on Kentucky’s roadways from Monday, Apr. 1 through Sunday, Apr. 7, 2013. Two double-fatality, motor vehicle crashes occurred: one in Breckinridge County and one in Estill County. One of the Breckinridge Co. victims was not wearing a seat belt. One single-fatality, motor vehicle crash occurred in each of the following counties: Adair, Calloway, Madison and Todd. T...
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County school board votes on new facilities plan
HAZARD – The Perry County Board of Education approved a revised district facilities plan on Friday that could result in the simultaneous construction of two new elementary schools. With the construction of East Perry Elementary nearly complete, the school board is beginning to address the needs of other facilities in the district. Their latest effort, a slight revision of a plan approved by the district’s local planning committee earlier th...
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<p>photos by Cris Ritchie | Hazard Herald</p><p>Viper native Eugene Woods sat inside his house on Maces Creek this week after a sign was placed naming a bridge near his home the “Eugene Woods Bridge” on Thursday.</p>

Bridge named for WWII veteran and Perry native
VIPER — Our world is full of untold stories or stories that are just not told enough. Some may be passed down generationally in a family line, while others may not pop up until notoriety is given to a character in that story. The Middle Fork of Maces Creek in Perry County is the starting point of one story such as this. In 2012, the Herald reported that the Perry County Fiscal Court approved a bridge in the Middle Fork of Maces Creek to b...
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Fire in Busy destroys mobile home
A fire at a residence in the Busy community of Perry County destroyed a mobile home Wednesday afternoon. The Avawam fire department responded to a call at 8044 KY Hwy 451 just after 1 p.m. Officials were able to control the fire and keep it from spreading to neighboring residences. No injuries have been reported as a result of the fire. The Herald will have more on this story as more information becomes available.
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<p>Williamson City Police officers and Mingo County sheriff’s deputies were on the scene around 12 noon where Sheriff Eugene Crum was murdered near the underpass near Harvey Street and Third Avenue in downtown Williamson. (photos by Kyle Lovern | Williamson Daily News/Civitas Media)</p>

West Virginia sheriff gunned down
WILLIAMSON, W. Va. — Mingo County Sheriff Eugene Crum was shot at point blank range while sitting in his official vehicle Wednesday afternoon. Eyewitnesses told the Williamson Daily News that a man who has been identified as Tennis Maynard, of Ragland, walked up to the sheriff’s SUV and at point blank range, shot Crum in the forehead and temple region, killing him instantly. In a matter of moments, police from all agencies swarmed to th...
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Pictured above is a load of coal at a Perry County Coal site in Hazard.

State data show 4,000 coal jobs lost in 2012
HAZARD – More than 4,000 coal industry jobs were lost in Eastern Kentucky last year, according to new state data, leaving one organization to call for new ideas for regional development. Numbers from the Kentucky Department of Energy Development and Independence show Eastern Kentucky coal production in 2012 dropping 27.9 percent to its lowest level since 1965, translating to a loss of 4,068 jobs in the region. These figures should make it...
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<p>Virginia State Police confirmed three fatalities after a 95-vehicle pileup Easter Sunday on Interstate 77 in Fancy Gap. Virginia State Police Spokesman Mike Conroy said dense fog was a major factor. He said it appeared as if the initial wreck led to many chain reaction accidents in the pileup.</p>

E. Ky. man killed in 95-car Virginia pileup
FANCY GAP, Va. — An Eastern Kentucky man was one of three people killed in a 95-car pileup on Interstate 77 on Easter. According to the Virginia State Police, William M. Sosebee, 33, of Allen in Floyd County, was a passenger in a vehicle that collided with a tractor-trailer in the southbound lanes of I-77. Sosebee died at the scene. Police say dense fog was the cause of a 95-vehicle pileup on Interstate 77 in Fancy Gap on Easter Sunday th...
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<p>photo courtesy of Kentucky Dept. of Fish and Wildlife</p><p>The emerald ash borer, an invasive beetle from Asia, is now in 21 Kentucky counties and causing the loss of thousands of ash trees. The emerald ash borer attacks all species of ash trees including the blue ash, white ash and green ash. The larvae of this beetle damage ash trees, impacting the flow of sugars and nutrients within the tree.</p>

Invasive beetle reported in 21 counties
One of Kentucky’s most familiar trees may be in for the fight of its life with a recently discovered pest. These half-inch long, dark metallic green beetles are responsible for the loss of countless trees across the 17 states they have inhabited since their discovery in Michigan in 2002. It is thought that the emerald ash borers (EABs) were brought to the U.S. in wood shipping crates by cargo ships from Asia, which is the native continent f...
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Prosecutors seeking death penalty for triple murder
HAZARD – A Perry County man charged in a triple murder case could face execution after prosecutors filed their intention to seek the death penalty. Commonwealth’s Attorney John Hansen filed a notice on March 27 that he will be seeking the death penalty against 21-year-old Dalton Stidham, who is accused of shooting and killing three people outside of Hazard Community and Technical College on Jan. 15. Two of the victims, Caitlin Cornett and h...
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United Steelworkers union ratifies contract with ARH
HAZARD — Workers at Appalachian Regional Healthcare (ARH) can breathe a sigh of relief after those represented by the United Steelworkers (USW) union voted to accept a new three-year collective bargaining agreement instead of striking. USW and ARH came to a tentative agreement early last week after both parties had set down to work through negotiations. Julius Pearson, ARH system director of employee and labor relations, said USW employees ...
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Group begins effort to show positives of E. Ky.
Eastern Kentucky is and has always been in some sort of fiscal, nutritional, or cultural bind — at least according to the news in the last few decades. And while it is true the region is coming up short in many fields as compared to the rest of the country, one group in the state is determined to make sure the people of the mountains don’t forget that progress is still happening. According to the latest figures from the Office of Unemployme...
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<p>Cris Ritchie | Herald file photo</p><p>The Housing Development Alliance is planning its annual Repair Affair for May 11, during which volunteers will help make repairs to local residents’ homes in Perry County. The above photo was taken during the Repair Affair in 2007 as a crew worked on a roof at a home in Allais.</p>

HDA’s Repair Affair set for May 11
HAZARD – It was 13 years ago when the Housing Development Alliance hosted its first Repair Affair, and since then dozens of local families have benefited through free home repairs and safety upgrades. The organization is now gearing up for another Repair Affair while taking a slightly different approach in how it will be funded. The Housing Development Alliance (HDA) is a non-profit organization headquartered in Perry County, and with the h...
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Kentucky Power's Big Sandy plant near Louisa. (photo by Cris Ritchie | Herald file photo)

Ky. Power seeks Big Sandy replacement
LOUISA, Ky. — A plan announced Thursday would spell the end of coal being burned for electricity in the Big Sandy region. Kentucky Power is seeking proposals to replace the electric generation capabilities of its Unit 1 generator at the Big Sandy Power Plant, which is scheduled for retirement in June 2015. The utility has long planned to shutter its older and smaller Unit 1 generator, which produces 278 megawatts of power. In its request ...
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Burglar targets Subway shop on East Main
Police are investigating a break-in at a restaurant this week in Hazard. The Subway on East Main Street was burglarized between late Wednesday night and early Thursday morning, and at least one perpetrator stole the business’s cash register before fleeing the store, said Lt. Paul Campbell with the Hazard Police Department. Campbell said the burglar forced entry into the restaurant through the front door before turning off a surveillance s...
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Unemployment up again in Perry
HAZARD – Unemployment rates in Perry County jumped for the third straight month in February, while catapulting nearly two percentage points in the past 12 months. More than 1,600 people in Perry County’s civilian labor force were estimated to be jobless in February, according to the latest figures from the Office of Employment and Training in Frankfort. That represented an unemployment rate of 13.8 percent, up slightly from January’s rate o...
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Beshear appoints Weinberg as county judge in Knott
HINDMAN — Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear has appointed Zach Weinberg as the new judge-executive in Knott County. Kerri Richardson, communications director for Gov. Beshear’s office, confirmed the appointment was filed with the Kentucky Secretary of State’s Office on Thursday. Weinberg’s appointment follows the removal of former Knott County Judge-Executive Randy Thompson, after Thompson was sentenced to serve 40 months in a federal prison in...
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<p>Student volunteers from Lafayette College’s Alternative School Break Club help put up trusses for a Housing Development Alliance house in Browns Fork on Thursday.</p>

Students spend break building a house in E. Ky.
The smell of burning building materials breezing through your hair, squishing mud and saw dust between your boots, and sipping water by the saw horses — this may not sound like the kind of spring break college students are stereotyped to have, though this is exactly what some volunteer students signed up for this year. Jane Rose Britton, volunteer and community coordinator for the Housing Development Alliance (HDA) in Hazard, said a total o...
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USW to vote on contract proposal
The United Steelworkers (USW) are scheduled to decide at the ballot box today and Friday on whether to accept a negotiated contract by union officials and Appalachian Regional Healthcare. According to Roger McGinnis, a member of the USW staff, “We have a tentative agreement and plan to explain and vote this Thursday and Friday.” Julius Pearson, ARH system director of employee and labor relations, said, “This tentative agreement reflects c...
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Bill for Medicaid prompt payment sent to governor
On one of the last days of the 2013 General Assembly session, lawmakers in Kentucky voted to pass a bill meant to be the first big step forward on the road to fixing the Medicaid crisis in the state, though Governor Beshear has yet to sign it into law. House Bill 5, which passed both the House and Senate unanimously and was sent to the governor on Monday, would require the Kentucky Department of Insurance to enforce the state’s prompt payme...
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Work continuing on downtown shelter
Work continued on the new shelter along Main Street next to Hazard City Hall Wednesday morning. The shelter is being constructed by the city to replace the aging structure demolished a few weeks ago. The new structure is being built with grant and other funds, and represents a project to help revitalize the street scape in downtown Hazard. The former shelter was built more than three decades ago during the term of the late Mayor Bill Gorman. ...
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ARH, union reach tentative contract agreement
HAZARD — A potential strike of more than 2,000 employees with Appalachian Regional Healthcare could be averted as the company and a union representing the employees have reached a tentative contract agreement. Negotiations between ARH and the United Steelworkers union have been ongoing for weeks, with the union just last week declaring the negotiations stalled while filing a 10-day strike notice. The major unresolved issues between the unio...
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Perry man arrested on meth charges
SLEMP — A Perry County man is facing charges after police allegedly found methamphetamine at his residence over the weekend. James D. Ritchie, 49, of Slemp, was arrested on charges of manufacturing methamphetamine and unlawful possession of meth precursor, both first offenses. According to the arrest citation, Perry County Sheriff’s Deputy Jerry Burns responded to a call Saturday afternoon to 22 Ritchie Hollow after several complaints had...
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Sen. Smith: Region’s coalfields have lost 312 mines
Senate Majority Whip Brandon Smith spoke on several issues last week involving coal during the Bell County Chamber of Commerce luncheon. The most shocking news, according to Smith, involved the amount of coal mine closures in the region. Smith, of Hazard, said Eastern Kentucky has always mined the majority of coal in Kentucky. He said the eastern part of the state typically mines 75 percent of the coal in Kentucky, while 25 percent is mined...
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School board partners with Teach for America, hears restraint policy
HAZARD — The Hazard Independent school board met Thursday evening to discuss construction updates, have a first reading of a physical restraint and seclusion regulation, and review last school year’s nutrition and physical activity report card. The board approved two pay applications to McKnight and Associates for the work that has been done so far on Hazard Middle School and Roy G. Eversole Elementary School. The board also approved change...
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Vicco gets new commissioner; hears reading on new laws
VICCO – A new city commissioner in Vicco was sworn in Monday before the commission heard the first reading of three new ordinances, and also received an update on a piece of blighted property within city limits. Lula Gibson had previously served on the city commission during former Mayor Harry Ward’s administration, and was recently appointed to serve again following the resignation of Commissioner Tim Engle last month. She said after Mon...
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School board delays vote on facilities plan
HAZARD – The Perry County Board of Education on Thursday delayed a vote to prioritize future construction projects in the district, including the proposed consolidation of three elementary schools and the replacement of another. The board’s members met at its central office before a packed board room, and was set to vote on a district facilities plan finalized by the district’s local planning committee earlier this year. The plan calls for ...
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UPDATE: Man charged with murder agrees to plea deal
HAZARD – A Knott County man set to go on trial for murder this week could now serve up to eight years after pleading guilty to an amended charge Monday morning. Donald Combs, 35, of Fisty, was charged in May 2012 after he was alleged to have been under the influence when he drove a vehicle over an embankment in Lost Creek, resulting in the death of a passenger in the car identified as 51-year-old Burly R. Combs, also of Fisty. Donald Comb...
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