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Latest Local News
05.02.2008
103.9 The Bulldog Local News provided by WYMT TV, The Mountain Eagle, Associated Press and Local News Sources of 103.9 WXKQ.
Updated Friday May 23rd, 2008
Warrant is Issued For The Arrest of Suspected Bank Robber
A warrant is issued for the man police say is responsible for robbing the Citizen's National Bank in Garrett.
KSP Detective Mike Goble says a grand jury returned an indictment on Michael Wayne Williams.
Williams is from Mansfield, Ohio and police say they're contacting authorities there.
A woman was also arrested in Knott County in connection with the bank robbery.
Police say Christina Hall burned the clothing Williams was wearing during the robbery in Garrett.
Former Guard Charged in Lee County
A former prison guard has been charged with a plot to bring drugs into the Lee Adjustment Center in Booneville.
Matthew Hoskins, age 20, of Booneville, was arrested on a charge of first-degree promoting contraband last week by deputies from the Owsley County Sheriff's Office after recognizing his name on a list of citizens called for jury duty.
Operation UNITE detectives had been looking for Hoskins since September 2007, but had been unable to locate him.
Hoskins is accused of conspiring with an inmate at the Lee facility to have marijuana sent to him by a third person, then bring the drugs to the inmate.
Apparently several attempts to mail the marijuana were made, but each time the U.S. Postal Service was unable to make a delivery because of a bad address. Agents from the Postal Service became suspicious and obtained a federal search warrant for the package.
Inside the package authorities discovered approximately 2 grams of marijuana with a street value of about $800.
Drug Arrests in Breathitt County
Nine of 13 people wanted in connection with an undercover drug investigation in Breathitt County have been arrested.
Detectives from Operation UNITE, with assistance from the Jackson Police Department, have been attempting to locate and arrest these individuals a few at a time over the past three months.
The cases, developed over a 3-4 month period in 2007, primarily involved the illegal sale of OxyContin tablets.
Changes in Cases
It appears state cuts will cause the charges against hundreds of people to be dropped .
Public advocacy officials in Bell County say there are an increasing number of drug cases and they're required by law to represent everyone who can't get their own attorney.
State lawmakers cut their funds. So they say they'll soon have to start dismissing hundreds of less serious cases.
Public advocacy officials say public defenders across eastern Kentucky will also soon have to make adjustments but it appears no attorneys will lose their jobs as once thought.
Search Continues for Missing Eastern KY Man
The search continues for a Floyd County man who hasn't been seen in several days.
Family members say 62-year-old Sampie Sparkman left his nephew's home one week ago. He was going to see his daughter in Somerset, but his family says he never made it.
According to police, Sparkman was last seen at a gas station near the Knott/Perry County line.
He was driving a Chevy S-10, extended cab, black truck, with a Kentucky license plate of 897HRG.
Charges Filed Against Students
Criminal charges have been filed against six Letcher County Central High School students who were involved in three separate pranks that took place on the last day of the school year.
Bert Slone, school resource officer for the Letcher County School System and Letcher County Sheriff's Deputy said two food fights took place at the high school on May 14 that damaged about a dozen ceiling tiles.
Slone charged two juveniles with inciting a riot. Slone said the two male students allegedly started a food fight in the LCCHS cafeteria, which got out of control.
Slone said later during the senior lunch period three 18-year-old male students threw food and were each charged with third-degree criminal mischief and disorderly conduct. One of the males was charged with assault for allegedly hitting a lunchroom monitor in the head with pizza, causing physical injury.
Slone said a juvenile let off two stink bombs and was charged with possession of a noxious substance.
Slone said "They are all good kids but they let their mischief get out of hand and didn't realize the consequences,"
Stephen Boggs, principal of LCCHS, said the pranks did not interrupt instructional time.
Boggs said he regrets that some students decided to celebrate their last day of high school with disruptive pranks.
The three 18-year-old males were given criminal summons to appear in Letcher County District Court at 9 a.m. tomorrow, Friday, May 23.
Slone said the investigation is ongoing.
Another Local Post Office in Peril
Another Letcher County post office is about to close.
The Linefork Post Office will suspend its services May 30.
A community meeting to discuss the closure of the Linefork Post Office is set for 6 p.m. this evening, Thursday, at the Linefork House of Prayer. Michael V. Thompson, manager of post office operations, said that the person who owns the building which houses the post office requested the postal service vacate the facility at the end of the lease term which is May 31.
According to Thompson, "it will be necessary to suspend services at the Linefork Post Office at the close of business on Friday, May 30, 2008," "This change is tentative and will not lead to a formal proposal unless we conclude that it will provide a maximum degree of regular and effective postal services."
Thompson said customers who receive mail from a Highway Contract Route Carrier will continue to use Linefork 41833 as the last line of delivery.
Thompson said customers who do not want a roadside mailbox and prefer renting a box can obtain a post office box at the Whitesburg Post Office which is 17 miles away or at the Cumberland Post Office which is 6.1 miles away.
Thompson said no final decision to permanently discontinue the post office has been made.
He said the public meeting has been scheduled to "explain plans and solicit comments concerning possible alternate means of providing postal and other services."
Thompson said Highway Contract Route Carriers can provide all of the retail services provided by the Linefork Post Office.
The Thornton Post Office was closed on August 25, 2006 and the Millstone Post Office was closed February 5, 2007. Post office boxes from Thornton and Millstone were moved to the Mayking Post Office.
The Letcher Post Office was closed June 13, 2007.
After the Linefork Post Office is closed there will be 19 post offices left in Letcher County.
Deputy Killed in 1958 is honored
A Letcher County sheriff 's deputy who was killed in the line of duty in 1958 is being honored for his work nearly 40 years later.
Deputy Conley Potter and 24 other officers killed in the line of duty was honored by the Kentucky Department of Criminal Justice Training at its annual law enforcement memorial ceremony at Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond.
Potter died on August 8, 1958. According to an article that appeared in The Mountain Eagle the following week, Potter was shot to death by a 20-year-old Isom man, Maxwell Oliver, who was on parole for shooting an officer and four other persons in a crowd in Perry County. A second man, 21-year-old Raymond Hensley, also of Isom, was charged with aiding and abetting Hensley in the death of Conley.
The names of Potter and the 24 other officers were dedicated on the Kentucky Law Enforcement Memorial monument yesterday.
Teen Back in Court
It's been more than four months since a Southeastern Kentucky sheriff's deputy was killed when his cruiser was rammed by two teenagers on the run. The teen charged with murder in connection with the death of Bell County Deputy Sean Pursifull was back in court Wednesday.
David Poppiti's defense attorneys asked Special Judge Roderick Messer to send the case back to juvenile court and because of pre-trial publicity. They also want it moved out of Bell County.
Police say 17 year old David Poppiti from Delaware rammed his car into Pursifull's cruiser after he and a 16 year old from Pennsylvania drove off without paying for gas in Harlan.
Deputy Pursifull's fiance,Stephanie, is pregnant and is due in about a month and says even though Sean won't be there to see their son's birth, she says he's always on her mind.
A judge denied the change of venue request, but did not rule on whether to allow David Poppiti to return to juvenile court. He's due back in court in June.
Pike County Trial Continues
Testimony continued Wednesday in a Pike County murder trial for a man accused of causing a deadly DUI accident.
Police say 31 year old Billy Reed killed Ronnie Church in January when his truck slammed into Church, who was on a motorcycle at a red light.
Wednesday, the crash's investigators took the stand and claimed Reed was driving around 60 miles an hour when he hit Church and revealed the black box information recovered from Reed's truck to prove it.
KSP Detective Eddie Crum says the black box shows Reed was not only driving around 60 miles an hour, but claims it shows he never even hit the brake before he hit church at the red light on U.S. 119. Crum says it also looks like reed hit a guardrail several miles up the road before he hit Church.
Testimony Tuesday claimed Reed was high on drugs when it happened.
The state medical examiner said it appears Church had no chance to survive after he was hit.
The defense has not presented their case yet, but could start today.
You may recall Reed had two pending DUI charges when this happened, but those are not involved or discussed in this trial.
One Killed in Pike County Car Crash
Officials say one man is dead after a car accident on a Pike County mine site.
It happened in Island Creek Tuesday night. Emergency responders say two people not affiliated with the mine went riding around on the property. Investigators say the car flipped over and threw a man from the car and killed him.
No names have been released.
The Pike County attorney says charges are pending against a woman who was also in the car. State mining officials say the coal mine is not expected to face any penalties.
Kentucky Voting
Kentucky voters, especially Democrats, turned out in record numbers Tuesday.
With 99.2 percent of precincts reporting, tallies indicated that 43 percent of Kentucky's registered Democrats voted in Tuesday's primary.
The Republican showing was more modest, with 18.9 percent going to the polls.
The overall voter turnout of 32 percent topped the previous record of 26.5 percent in 1992.
That year, 31 percent of the state's Democrats voted in the presidential primary. Just 16 percent voted in the 2004 presidential primary.
Secretary of State Trey Grayson had predicted that 25 to 30 percent of eligible voters would cast a ballot.
Throughout the day, the secretary of state's office was inundated with telephone calls about election illegalities, said Les Fugate, deputy assistant secretary of state.
A verbal skirmish between supporters of Democratic presidential candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton broke out at a precinct in Christian County.
The biggest problem of the day was electioneering within 300 feet of a polling place, which is illegal.
Kentucky voters ignored mounting evidence that U.S. Sen. Barack Obama will be the Democratic presidential nominee and overwhelmingly supported U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton on Tuesday, sending the primary race on to three final contests.
Clinton defeated Obama by 35 points and 250,000 votes. And with an upbeat resolve, she pledged to keep her campaign going in Puerto Rico, Montana and South Dakota.
But Obama snared a key consolation prize by nabbing 14 of Kentucky's 51 pledged delegates -- enough to pass a key threshold. He has a majority of the 3,253 Democratic National Convention delegates that are divvied up based on primary election results.
| President - Dem Primary | |
| Kentucky - 3532 of 3532 Precincts Reporting - 100% |
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Senator John McCain won the Kentucky GOP Primary with 72% of the vote.
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell has won the GOP Senate primary in Kentucky. Businessman Bruce Lunsford picks up the Democratic primary to advance to matchup with McConnell.
The state Senate race that has garnered the most attention in Eastern Kentucky was a rematch between Eric Shane Hamilton and Sen. Johnny Ray Turner, who defeated Hamilton in the 2004 Democratic primary for the 29th Senate District seat by just 24 votes.
Turner, the Senate's Democratic Caucus chairman, managed to narrowly edge out Hamilton again, according to unofficial results from the Kentucky State Board of Elections.
There are no Republicans vying for the 29th seat, which serves Floyd, Knott, Breathitt and Letcher counties.
While numbers are still being finalized it appears that Ancel "Hard Rock" Smith will be going back to Frankfort to represent Knott and parts of Letcher and Magoffin counties in the 92nd district. Vote totals say the incumbent has won by less than a thousand votes. Smith will not face any Republican challenge in the fall.
Kentucky Senator Invites CNN to Clay County
An eastern Kentucky senator is inviting a CNN reporter to come back to Clay County.
Monday night CNN aired a story about how voters in one of the poorest counties in the country felt about this year's presidential election.
Senator Robert Stivers says the place that was shown on national television doesn't match the county he calls home.
Stivers wrote a letter to reporter Gary Tuchman inviting him to come back to Manchester to "dine with me and meet the good people of Clay County on a more personal basis."
ATV Accident
An ATV accident on Hwy 451 in Perry County has sent a juvenile to the hospital.
Officials haven't released many details, but apparently an ATV crashed in the Krypton area of Perry County early Tuesday night.
Officials say a second juvenile was involved in the accident. The conditions of those involved is not known.
Beshear Puts on Hold Water and Sewer Projects
The Herald-Leader is reporting that Governor Steve Beshear is telling state lawmakers to hold off on water and sewer projects for their districts.
That's because Beshear says he's concerned about the state's debt rating.
The Herald-Leader also reports Beshear as saying he's trying to reduce the projects' long-term cost by not issuing the bonds to fund these projects before the funding is needed.
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