EKB News

The Kentucky State Police is investigating a crash involving two tractor-trailers which closed the northbound lanes of Interstate 65 near Elizabethtown for nearly five hours yesterday (Thursday).

Police say one of the trucks hit another from behind and burst into flames, killing one person whose remains were taken to the state Medical Examiner's Office in Louisville for identification.

20-year old Christopher McPeek, 22-year old Jordan Holbrook and 22-year old Thomas Bartley appeared in court Thursday in Pikeville.They pleaded "not guilty" to a list of charges.

Police say not only did they rob the Virgie Middle School, but, they're believed to be responsible for a string of robberies in the Virgid area, ranging from the school to pharmacies.

Although no one was hurt, police say residents were scared as burglaries increased. The case has been sent to the grand jury and bond was set at $10,000 each or home incarceration.

US Magistrate Judge James B. Todd has set a hearing for October 7 in Lexington to consider a motion to delay the November 12 trial for constuction contractor Leonard Lawson and Lawson aide Brian Russell Billings. They are accused of bid-rigging to obtain state highway construction contracts.

Todd will alson hear arguments about whether defense attorneys should be required to return a tape recording mistakenly given to them by prosecutors.

A no-smoking ban went into effect Wednesday morning at all Martin County schools, banning smoking and/or chewing tobacco.

The Cabinet for Health and Family Services has received a federal grant for its KASPER (Kentucky All Schedule Prescription Electronic Reporting) Program. The US Department of Justice awarded $400,000 funding earmarked to continue the work of improving efficiency for combating illegal prescription drugs, by increasing KASPER use by health care and law enforcement professionals.

55-year old Roy Lacy Cobb or Keavy, was indicted on charges he illegally distributed oxycodone from June, 2005 to May, 2008 in Laurel, Knox and Whitley counties to young women who performed sexual acts hundreds of times to get drugs from him.

He faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

The Martin County Sheriff's Office is searching for a man they say drove up to a Fast Lane store along Route 3 Sunday morning, smashed the door and stole an ATM machine.

He was last seen driving a black Toyota Camry, believed to be a 1989 or 1990 model.

Ramona Barder, Raceland City Clerk, has had her resignation accepted after being involved in the city's federal tax shortfall.

The IRS recently seized nearly $1,000,000 in city funds. The city has cut some services and officials say they're scrambling to stay financially afloat.

Vice-Presidential candidate Senator Joe Biden will be in Louisville tonight for a fund raiser from 7:00p-9:00p.

The event will take place in the downtown Marriott. Admission to the general reception is $1000 a person. The cost to attend dinner with Biden is $28,500 per couple.

In move to make more gasoline available to the public, Governor Steve Beshear has issued an executive order allowing wholesalers to immediately begin distributing gasoline usually sold during the fall and winter months.

He says his order is intended to assure Kentucky isn't affected by hurricanes Gustav and Ike.

Nineteen year old William Smith, nephew of former UK coach Tubby Smith, was stabbed to death early Sunday during a fight at an off-campus apartment near Becker College in Worcester, Massachusetts, where he was a student.

Police say the fight involved students and non-students and broke out during a house party and spilled into the street when uninveited guests refused to leave the party. He was the son of Tubby's brother William.

Before November 4...Election Day...tens of millions of Americans will be voting ahead of time.

Some voters in Kentucky, South Carolina and Virginia have already cast their ballots. Thanks to expanded early voting provisions, and few restrictions on absentee voting, it's projected more than 30 states allow registered voters to cast early ballots.

Nationwide, about a third of the electorate is expected to vote early this year.

Rosemary McClain was sentenced to 20 years in prison in connection to her role in the 2005 murder of Lisa Jenkins of Letcher County.

McClain was charged with complicity to commit murder, robbery and tampering with physical evidence. She denied any involvement in the crime other than helping hide the body. She says her live-in boyfriend, Shannon Garland, is responsible for the murder and she only helped out of fear.

According to West Virginia state officials and Huntington city officials, the Red Iguana, a Huntington bar, had its business and operating license pulled while an investigation continues into a Septmeber 5th shooting which occurred behind the club.

Police in Knox County teamed with Operation UNITE, as they attempted to arrest 31 suspected drug dealers.

They switched their tactics in their fight against drugs by conducting the roundup in the middle of the afternoon.

Dan Smoot with Operation UNITE points out that drug dealers, who are users themselves, no longer have the excuse of not being able to afford treatment, as that treatment is now free through a voucher program.

In an effort to attract high-tech companies and private sector employers, Martin County is spending $6-million in coal severance taxes to erect the Martin County Business Center.

The Center is expected to open next year. So far, no businesses have emerged to sign a lease. The Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services will move its local office from a few hundred feet away into the building...tripling its current rent to $133, 192/year.

The Center is located in Inez.

Just as elk season is about to begin, CONSOL Energy and the Kentucky Department of Fiish and Wildlife has reached an agreement to allow public hunint on 5,000 acres of land owned by COSOL in Knott and Floyd Counties.

The land, off Highway 550 near Mousie, is expected to open by October 4.

Rank
Company Name
1
Wal-Mart Associates, Inc.
2
West Virginia University Hospitals/United Hospitals
3
Charleston Area Medical Center, Inc.
4
Kroger
5
American Electric Power
6
Eldercare Resources Corporation
7
Lowe's Home Centers, Inc.
8
CSX/CSX Hotels Inc. (The Greenbrier and railroad)
9
Pilgrim's Pride Corporation of West Virginia
10
St. Mary's Hospital
11
E I DuPont De Nemours & Company
12
Verizon
13
Consolidation Coal Company
14
Cabell Huntington Hospital, Inc.
15
Rite Aid of West Virginia, Inc.
16
Res-Care.Inc.
17
Wheeling Hospital, Inc.
18
Mylan Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
19
Bob Evans Farms, Inc.
20
Allegheny Energy Service Corporation
21
Mentor Management, Inc. (Mentor Network, The)
22
West Virginia University Medical Co. (University Health Associates)
23
Camden-Clark Memorial Hospital
24
BB&T Corporation
25
Mountaineer Park, Inc.
26
GC Services Limited Partnership
27
Monongalia General Hospital, The
28
Teletech Customer Care Management (West Virginia), Inc.
29
K Mart Corporation
30
ISG Weirton Inc. - Mittal Steel USA - Weirton, Inc.
31
Herbert J Thomas Memorial Hospital Association
32
Simonton Building Products, Inc.
33
PNGI Charles Town Gaming, Ltd.
34
Alliant Techsystems, Inc.
35
Employee Resource Group, LLC
36
Eastern Associated Coal Corporation
37
Mingo Logan Coal Company/Hobet Mining, Inc.Arch Coal
38
Alcan Rolled Products
39
Acordia/Wells Fargo Third Party Administrator, Inc.
40
American Woodmark Corporation
41
Weirton Medical Center
42
Toyota Motor Manufacturing, West Virginia, Inc.
43
Hospital Corporation of America, Inc. (Raleigh General Hospital)
44
Go-Mart, Inc.
45
DOLGENCORP, Inc. (Dollar General Stores)
46
United Parcel Service Inc. (WV District)
47
Cabela's, Inc.
48
Columbia Gas Transmission Corporation/Nisource
49
Quad/Graphics, Inc.
50
Heartland Employment Services, LLC
51
Cracker Barrel Old Country Store
52
Dominion Transmission, Inc.
53
Highmark West Virginia, Inc. (Mountain State Blue Cross and Blue Shield)
54
Armstrong Hardwood Flooring Company
55
Sears, Roebuck and Company
56
Wesbanco Bank, Inc.
57
Huntington Alloys Corporation
58
Ohio Valley Medical Center, Inc.
59
Gabriel Brothers, Inc.
60
Lifepoint WV Limited Partner, LLC
61
Homer Laughlin China Company, The
61
GMRI, Inc.
63
United National Bank
64
Asplundh Tree Expert Company
65
BISHOPRIC, Inc.
66
Owner's Solution, Inc. (Personnel Management Company)
67
J C Penney Company, Inc.
68
Food Lion, LLC
69
Snowshoe Mountain, Inc.
70
Appalachian Regional Healthcare
71
Coldwater Creek, Inc.
72
Spartan Mining Company
73
Sunhealth Specialty Services, Inc.
74
McDonalds Restaurants of West Virginia, Inc.
75
Babcock & Wilcox Construction Co, Inc.
76
Davis Memorial Hospital
77
Advance Stores Company, Inc.
78
Pleasant Valley Hospital, Inc.
79
Mountain State University, Inc.
80
Gino's/Tudors Biscuit World
81
Dow (Union Carbide Corporation)
82
Alex Energy, Inc. (Intrepid Mining Company)
82
City National Bank of Charleston
84
West Virginia's Choice, Inc.
85
Global Contact Services, LLC
86
Bluefield Regional Medical Center, Inc.
87
Cecil I. Walker Machinery Company
87
Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel Corporation
89
Prestera Center for Mental Health Services
90
Elk Run Coal Company, Inc. (Black Castle Mining Company)
91
Bayer MaterialScience, LLC
92
Independence Coal Company, Inc.
93
Telespectrum, Inc.
94
Charleston Hospital, Inc. (Saint Francis Hospital)
94
Little General Store, Inc.
96
Logan General Hospital, LLC
97
IQI, Inc. (Interserv)
98
Commercial Help, LTD (Manpower Temporary Services)
99
OS Restaurant Services, Inc.
100
Kohl's Department Stores, Inc.

A Kentucky man is wanted by Mingo County law enforcement for allegedly embezzling thousands of dollars from a local business.Thirty-five year old Michael Baker of Sidney, Ky. is currently being sought to face felony charges of forgery. Baker was the bookkeeper for City Tire for approximately one year. During that time, Williamson Police Chief Roby Pope said Baker used a computer program to forge numerous checks made out to himself.Owner of City Tire Jerry Haynes became aware of the theft after his certified public accountant informed him there was a problem. Haynes called the bank and asked for copies of the checks written and discovered the checks with his signature forged.During the course of the investigation, Pope discovered Baker had previously been arrested for the same thing in Morehead, Ky. five years earlier.
“Baker’s name has been entered in NCIC,” Pope told the Daily News. “There are possible more charges pending.”Pope is asking for the public’s assistance in finding Baker. He is described as a 5-feet 10 inches tall, weighs 210 pounds with black medium length hair and brown eyes. He was last seen driving a dark yellow 2002 Pontiac Sunfire with Ky. registration 118-CPF.Pope suspects Baker is in Pikeville, Ky. Anyone with any information is asked to contact their local law enforcement.

Story Written By : Pamela Scott Johnson of Williamson Daily News.

It is official Mingo County will receive $ 1 million dollars in funding from the state for the construction of a dirt race track in Mingo County.

Kelly Goes , executive director from the WV Development Office signed the agreement.

The funding will be used to build infrastructure at the Twins Branch Complex.

The project will go out for bid on Oct 1st. A groundbreaking ceremony will take place on Nov 1.

PRESTONSBURG, Ky. — State and local leaders came together recently in Prestonsburg to discuss how to attract more visitors to the fledgling adventure tourism attractions Eastern Kentucky has to offer.Several representatives from Kentucky’s tourism industry attended the meeting, which was primarily focused on presenting ideas and input from residents of the Big Sandy area. The Big Sandy Area Development District (BSADD) held ten meetings in four counties to gather information from the public. The Big Sandy consists of Floyd, Johnson, Magoffin, Martin and Pike counties.Sandy Runyon with Big Sandy ADD, said the area hasn’t yet been exploited as a destination for adventure seekers. “We feel Eastern Kentucky has not taken advantage of the opportunity of tourism. We have one of the most beautiful areas in the world, but we don’t market that to the rest of the world to come and see us.”Denise Thomas, a Community and Economic Development Associate for BSADD, said some of the comments from area residents indicated they didn’t feel Eastern Kentucky had much to offer a tourist. But, she said, assets of the Big Sandy area include bike routes, natural bridges, hiking, biking, ATV and water trails, wild life areas, culture and historic sites.
But some people who attended the meetings said they were interested in capitalizing on adventure tourism. “Local individual participation is crucial to the success of adventure tourism as an initiative,” Thomas said. She went on to say that although the people of our area are known for their friendly nature, some training may needed in the area of professional hospitality and coordination among the different attraction areas. “Getting information in tourists’ hands about what events are taking place and what activities are taking place will take a coordinated effort from all of us,” she said.Local businessmen are also an important component to building the industry. “People with existing businesses as well as people who want to start new businesses spoke to us. Some of those businesses are guide services, livery services and equipment sales and services as well as lodging, such as cabins, bed and breakfasts and especially camping.”Sandy Runyon has been appointed to the Kentucky Recreational Trails Authority, and said the focus of area leaders up until now has been on all terrain vehicle trails. “For quite some time now, we have been talking about recreational trails as they involve ATVs,” Runyon said. “This Authority has a focus in that area, but the Authority is looking at hiking, biking, riding and all kinds of trails, including water activities like kayaking and white water rafting.” She spoke about legislation passed in the last session of the Kentucky legislature related to the use of public and private land. The new laws address the use of these lands as recreational areas.Runyon said her organization is working with other ADDs across the state to bring their trail systems together. “We have a huge mandate,” she explained. “That is to have a trail that is connected from east to west across Kentucky by 2010, when the Equestrian Games are scheduled. It’s a huge challenge.”Pike County Magistrate for District Six Chris Harris shared some information about how Pike County is developing sKYward Trails, a system which will connect with the Hatfield-McCoy Trail System.“This project started several years ago with the idea to connect on the the Hatfield-McCoy Trails. That system has been wildly successful, and we wanted to bring it into Eastern Kentucky and eventually the entire state,” Harris said. He said he hopes the new legislation will enable the county to proceed with their trail plans. “We have laid some pretty good ground work with identifying property owners and mapping,” he said.“It it always discouraging as an elected official, we want to see things done now. But some things are a slow process. We are going to hang in there, stay with it, and make sure it gets done.”


Story written by : Julia Goad Staff Writer From the Williamson Daily News.

According to the Kentucky State Police, a 19 year-old Phelps teen died late last week from injuries that she sustained from the result of a two vehicle accident that happened on KY 632 at Kimper.

Authorities say that the victim Priscilla Hunt lost control of her vehicle and crossed into the westbound lane colliding with a vehicle that was being driven by 35 year-old Gary Duty of Stopover.

Duty and two other passengers riding with him were treated and released from an area hospital.

Mary Peterson of Turkey Creek was sentenced to 10 years of prison time on Friday by Pike County Circuit Judge Eddy Coleman.

Peterson pleaded guilty to second – degree manslaughter for the shooting death of her husband Richard, on Nov 13th of last year. The incident happened at their home.

Peterson said she was the victim of abuse.

The commonwealth says the motive for the shooting was jealousy. Police reports indicate Mary Peterson found a bra in her husband’s vehicle.