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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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<p>Donald Combs</p>
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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Perry man 1 of 7 killed on Ky. roadways last week
Preliminary statistics indicate that seven people died in six separate crashes on Kentucky’s roadways from Monday, Mar. 18 through Sunday, Mar. 24, 2013. One double-fatality, motor vehicle crash occurred in Estill County. One single-fatality, motor vehicle crash occurred in each of the following counties: Jefferson, Knox and Perry. The victim in the Perry County crash was not wearing a seat belt. One single-fatality motorcycle crash occ...
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United Steelworkers union files strike notice with ARH
HAZARD — Over 2,000 employees with Appalachian Regional Healthcare (ARH) could be facing a strike in the coming weeks as negotiations with their union and the organization have come to a halt. In a letter to ARH employees on Wednesday, ARH President and CEO Jerry Haynes explained the situation. “It is with regret that I must inform you that late yesterday afternoon the United Steelworkers (USW) union issued an ‘intent to strike’ notice. I...
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<p>A man was killed and another injured Friday morning when a Ford collided with a GMC pickup on Highway 7 in Perry County. (photos by Cris Ritchie | Hazard Herald)</p>
UPDATE: Collision kills 1 on Highway 7
FUSONIA — One person was killed early Friday morning and another injured in a two-vehicle collision in Perry County. The crash happened at approximately 7 a.m. near the nine-mile marker on Highway 7 when a GMC pickup bring operated by 25-year-old Jordan Shepherd, of Jeff, apparently crossed the center line, colliding with a Ford truck driven by 59-year-old Dwight Eversole, according to a release from Kentucky State Police. Eversole, of Ye...
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City commission approves grant money for water project
The Hazard City Commission met Monday night to discuss Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds, open bidding for the solid waste transfer project, and promote Hazard City Police officers. The commissioners passed two resolutions concerning CDBG funds. The city’s water system rehabilitation project is using funds from the CDBG, which, according to the CDBG’s website, is a grant meant to be used to benefit low- and moderate-income pers...
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Fire breaks out at former Trus Joist plant
Firefighters with the Grapevine-Chavies and Hazard fire departments responded to a fire inside the former Trus Joist building Wednesday at the Coalfields Industrial Park. Officials on the scene said the fire started as workers were disassembling pieces inside the building, though firefighters were able to get the fire under control without injuries shortly after arriving. Photo by Cris Ritchie | Hazard Herald
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Health rankings reveal Perry as second unhealthiest county
HAZARD — This year’s “County Health Rankings” have been released, and once again Perry County ranks as one of the least healthy counties in the state. Out of 120 counties, Perry has taken the 119th spot with Floyd County beating it out for the least healthy county in Kentucky. This is the fourth year the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute have conducted this report, which ranks the ove...
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<p>photo by Cris Ritchie | Herald file</p><p>Former Magistrate Randy Bailey, pictured above at left during a fiscal court meeting in 2006, was hired by the fiscal court as the county&#8217;s pro tem on Tuesday.</p>
Former magistrate named county’s judge pro tem
HAZARD – The Perry County Fiscal Court this week appointed former Magistrate Randy Bailey as the county’s new pro tem judge. Judge-Executive Denny Ray Noble had intended to appoint his wife, Brenda, to the position of pro tem, but noted during a meeting of the fiscal court on Tuesday the county ethics commission ruled against Mrs. Noble’s appointment, a ruling he said was fair considering the county’s ethics ordinance which states that coun...
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Grand jury returns indictments against 25
HAZARD — A Perry County woman was indicted this month on allegations that she took money from the Hazard nursing home. Deborah Joseph, 39 of Sassafras, was indicted on one count of theft by failure to make required disposition of property. Joseph allegedly retained refund money for purchases made for the Hazard Nursing Home for her own personal use on January 17 of last year. Her bail was set for $20,000. Jessica Noble, 24, of Booneville,...
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<p>Timothy Fugate</p>
UPDATE: Sex abuse trial ends with plea to lesser charge
HAZARD – A Perry County man accused of subjecting a 9-year-old girl to sexual contact pleaded guilty to an amended charge one day after the trial had started. Timothy Fugate, 38, was originally indicted in June 2011 on one count of first-degree sexual abuse, a Class C felony that could have brought up to 10 years in jail, after the juvenile told police that Fugate inappropriately touched her in the bedroom of a mobile home on Little Grapevi...
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<p>Allison Cooper, vista for the Kentucky Mountain Health Alliance, helped young volunteers at STAR Land in January get box gardens ready to be placed at the Perry County Public Library as part of a gardening initiative Pathfinders of Perry County started earlier this year.</p>
Communities team up to plow through bad eating habits
HAZARD — Spring is on its way, the season of growing and new life, and volunteers with Pathfinders have found a new way to help the community better itself while also showing off their green thumbs. Jenny Williams, chair of the board of directors for Pathfinders of Perry County, said she, Karyn Knecht, and Allison Cooper, both Vistas working with Pathfinders and the Kentucky Mountain Health Alliance respectively, have come together in just ...
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<p>The egg from the Herald&#8217;s annual Great Easter Egg Hunt was found on Wednesday, March 13.</p>
Clues explained from this year’s hunt
DWARF – After five weeks, The Hazard Herald’s annual Great Easter Egg Hunt came to a close last week when Bonnyman residents Derrick Adams and Ashley Bishop turned in the egg and certificate to the Herald’s office. Adams said he only began looking for the egg on the morning of Wednesday, March 13, after reviewing the first five clues. After checking a couple spots along Ky. 476, he said pulled over near Augustus Court in Dwarf and found...
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Coyote bill awaits governor’s signature
FRANKFORT – Gov. Steve Beshear will likely sign into a law a bill filed by state Rep. Fitz Steele and passed during the General Assembly’s ongoing session earlier this month. House Bill 60 was enrolled and delivered to the governor on March 11, and will expand nighttime hunting of coyotes in Kentucky. Steele said he filed the bill to help quell Kentucky’s population of coyotes, an animal which Steele noted has become a nuisance for landow...
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<p>Timothy Fugate</p>
Trial begins for sex abuse defendant
HAZARD – The trial of a Perry County man accused of subjecting a 9-year-old girl to sexual contact began in Perry Circuit Court this week. The grand jury indicted 38-year-old Timothy Fugate in June 2011 on one count of first-degree sexual abuse after the juvenile told police that Fugate inappropriately touched her in the bedroom of a mobile home on Little Grapevine Creek in March 2011. Fugate has maintained his innocence, and was released...
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<p>Sheriff John K Blackburn</p>
UPDATE: Sheriff charged with DUI in official vehicle
STANTON — Floyd County Sheriff John K. Blackburn found himself on the other side of law enforcement in Powell County Sunday night, after being arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol. Blackburn, 62, of Prestonsburg, who currently serves as president of the Kentucky Sheriff’s Association, registered a .202 on a breathalyzer — more than twice the legal limit — and was arrested in Powell County Sunday night, after other motorists r...
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Accountability bill for special districts heads to governor
FRANKFORT — Kentuckians can expect to see much more accountability in their state government after a bill was passed and delivered to the governor’s desk last week. House Bill 1, sponsored by House Speaker Greg Stumbo, would make it mandatory for special taxing districts, including public libraries, EMS boards, fire districts, and soil and water conservation districts, to provide more information about what is happening with the tax money t...
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Jobless rates spike in Perry, other eastern counties
HAZARD -- While jobless rates for the state of Kentucky fall to some of the lowest numbers seen in years, the rates in Southeastern Kentucky continue to rise — and at exceedingly steep rates in some counties. The unemployment rate for the state has fallen from 8.8 percent in January 2012 to 7.9 percent in January 2013, the lowest it has been in four years; Perry County, though, has seen an increase in unemployment for that same time frame, goi...
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Woman gets 7 years for U Bet theft, escape cases
HAZARD – A Hazard woman could serve several years in prison for her part in the theft of over $17,000 from a local business, along with two subsequent escape attempts. Sharon Hensley, 33, appeared in Perry Circuit Court on Thursday where she was sentenced to serve seven years in prison. She was one of four people who staged a theft in June 2012 on Dawhare Drive as Christianne Clemons, a former employer of U Bet, was taking a deposit to a lo...
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