Saturday, February 12, 2011

 

EKB Capsule News...Kentucky...2-13-'11












 

EKB Capsule News...West Virginia...2-13-'11










Friday, February 11, 2011

 

EKB Capsule News...Kentucky...2-12-'11






 

EKB...Capsule News...West Virginia...2-12-'11


















Thursday, February 10, 2011

 

EKB Capsule News...Kentucky...2-11-'11









       Arrested were:
Albert D. Davis, age 53 of Corbin, charged with Engaging in Organized Criminal Syndicate,   Trafficking   Marijuana Over 5 pounds.
Mark C. Martin, age 46 of Gray, charged with Engaging in Organized Criminal Syndicate, 2 counts Trafficking Marijuana Over 8 ounces, Trafficking in Marijuana less than 8 ounces, Trafficking in Controlled Substance.
Tim Wayne Brock, age 54 of Pineville, charged with Engaging in Organized Criminal Syndicate, Trafficking Marijuana Over 8 ounces.
Damon D. Williams, age 46 of Gray, charged with Engaging in Organized Criminal Syndicate, Trafficking Marijuana Over 5 pounds.
Jonathan Martin, age 19 of Corbin, charged with Engaging in Organized Criminal Syndicate, Trafficking Marijuana less than 8 ounces.
Brandon Smith, age 18 of Corbin, charged with Trafficking Marijuana less than 8 ounces.
Michael Woody, age 20 of Corbin, charged with Trafficking Marijuana less than 8 ounces.
Tonya Honeycutt, age 25 of Corbin, charged with Trafficking Marijuana less than 8 ounces.



















 

EKB...Capsule News...West Virginia...2-11-'11

































Wednesday, February 09, 2011

 

EKB Capsule News...Kentucky...2-10-'11






































 

EKB Capsule News...West Virginia...2-10-'11

























Tuesday, February 08, 2011

 

EKB Capsule News...Kentucky...2-9-'11

  • Pikeville city officials have declared the Chris Ratliff Law Office Building on Main Street unsafe. The building, located next to the construction site for the new hall of justice, is leaning, and no one is being allowed inside. A structural engineer ruled the building should be evacuated.

 


 


 


 









  •  Don’t let out-of-state investment corporations that purchase counties’ delinquent tax bills sell your property. Take advantage of the Pike County Government’s 60-day amnesty period for delinquent solid waste bills. Those who owe money to Pike County Solid Waste will be given 60 days from the date of publication to pay delinquent bills. Assistant county attorney Roland Case sees a great advantage for people who participate. “If the court must pursue payment of these delinquent bills, a lawsuit will be filed for the total amount of the bill,” Case said. “The benefit to amnesty is late fees and penalties are waived if the bill is paid, but once the lawsuit is filed, the court must pursue the total bill. People need to take advantage of this amnesty program because lawsuits must follow if a bill is not paid or a payment plan put in place.” People or businesses with delinquent bills will be notified by mail. The letter will outline the terms of the amnesty program and will give instructions on how to proceed.


  • The House voted 90-6 on Tuesday to approve an immigration bill that would require all government contractors to verify the citizenship of workers. The Senate is considering a separate immigration bill that would allow local and state police agencies to check the citizenship status of people they stop and detain them if warranted. Hundreds of demonstrators who believe the Senate bill is unfair and unnecessary gathered at the Capitol on Tuesday.

  • The Senate voted 31-5 late Tuesday afternoon to approve a measure in which a long-standing moratorium on nuclear power plants in Kentucky would be lifted. State law prohibits nuclear power plants from being built in Kentucky until the U.S. has a permanent storage facility to contain radioactive waste.

 

EKB Capsule News...West Virginia...2-9-'11



























         Acting Governor Earl Ray Tomblin
     
         Randolph County State Senator Clark Barnes, a Republican

         Secretary of State Natalie Tennant, a Democrat

         Former Secretary of State Betty Ireland, a Republican

         House Speaker Rick Thompson, a Democrat

         Putnam County Prosecuting Attorney Mark Sorsaia, a Republican

         Mountain Party Candidate Jesse Johnson

         Kanawha County Delegate Patrick Lane

Monday, February 07, 2011

 

EKB Capsule News...Kentucky...2-8-'11

  • There are three certified rescue squads in Pike County and all have received their order of affiliation with the Pike County Government and the Pike County Office of Emergency Management. In all declared states of emergency, the squads will fall under the direction and control of the Pike County Office of Emergency Management and/or the Pike County Judge-Executive. Pike County Judge-Executive Wayne T. Rutherford says affiliation also qualifies rescue squads for assistance from the state, and only in the event of a declared emergency do the standard operating procedures of the squads change. “By being affiliated with the county, members of the squads are covered by Kentucky Emergency Management insurance,” says Doug Tackett, Director of the Pike County Office of Emergency Services.


  • Kentucky State Police say 47 year old Anthony D. Sayers of Belcher, in Pike County, died in an accident Sunday when he lost control of his vehicle, crossed the centerline and hit a guardrail, before overturning and going down an embankment on Ferrel's Creek Road on U.S. 460. Sayers was pronounced dead at the scene by Pike County Deputy Coroner Denver Bailey.


  • Kentucky State Police Post 9 in Pikeville say Larry Ratliff, 62, of Banner, was traveling north on US 23 in front of the Harold Double Kwik gas station in Floyd County about 5:30 P.M. Sunday afternoon, and, while attempting to turn left into the gas station, his vehicle was struck by a car driven by Douglas Williamson, 45, of Kimper. A passenger in Ratliff’s SUV, Tabatha Bentley, 42, of Dwale, was pronounced dead at the scene. Both Williamson and Ratliff were transported to Pikeville Medical Center. At 1:30 A.M. Monday morning, Ratliff died at Holston Valley Hospital in Kingsport, Tennessee.


  • The Boyd County Sheriff's Department has identified the man killed in a head-on crash Monday morning on Route 60 West near Manning Furniture as 30 year old Christopher Cumpston of Catlettsburg. Investigators say Cumpston was trying to pass five vehicles at a high rate of speed when he crashed into an oncoming dump truck. The driver of the dump truck received minor injuries.


  • Attorney General Jack Conway's office has concluded that the Knott County Fiscal Court violated the state's Open Meetings Act by holding a meeting via telephone. An opinion released publicly Monday says Judge-Executive Randy Thompson and magistrates also violated the law by failing to response to a complaint about a December 22, 2010, meeting within three days. Knott County resident Emma Lois Pigman complained that the telephonic meeting excluded the public. In response, Knott County officials said they "will no long continue the practice if possible."


  • First Lady Jane Beshear said Monday that the "Shop and Share Day" held Saturday at Kroger stores across the state netted $341,000 in goods and monetary gifts. The initiative, which has generated nearly $750,000 since it began three years ago, benefits domestic violence shelters across the state.


  • U.S. District Judge Charles R. Simpson has ruled that Karen Cunagin Sypher’s attorneys have had enough time to prepare for the February 18th sentencing and Sypher will not get a hearing on a motion for a new trial. Sypher was convicted in August of attempting to extort Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino, lying to the FBI and retaliation against a witness. Her attorney, David Nolan, filed a motion in January, asking that the sentencing be delayed. In January, Simpson delayed Sypher’s sentencing 30 days to accommodate Nolan’s entrance into the case.


  • Operation UNITE confiscated more than $10,000 in cash, 14 guns and approximately 50 assorted pills, including Roxycodone, Xanax and Opana, in an unmarked bottle during the search of the home on Bill Stepp Bottom in Inez, in Martin County, Saturday, February 5th. No arrests were made at the time of the search, but the case will be presented to a grand jury next month. Stacy was home with his wife and 13 year old granddaughter when detectives, Martin County Sheriff Garmon Preece and three deputies executed the search warrant.


  • The old Jenkins High School was built in 1912, and, while three of the back rooms are used as a senior citizens center, the rest of the building has gone unused for decades. Judge-Executive Jim Ward and many others are hoping to transform it into an assisted living center for seniors. Ward says since the county took over the building, officials have invested about $1.5 million. The county has talked to a firm in Lexington about renovating the building.


  • Consumer groups are hoping to add Kentucky to the growing list of states that have set caps on the interest rates that can be charged on payday loans. State Representative Darryl Owens, D-Louisville, said Monday that the House Banking and Insurance Committee has agreed to vote on legislation next week that would cap interest rates at 36 percent. Owens says lawmakers can no longer ignore mounting evidence that "predatory lenders" are preying on Kentucky's poor, including the elderly. If the legislation passes this year, Kentucky would join at least 17 other states and the District of Columbia that have already established caps.


  • Kentucky law requires that kids be in school 177 days or 1,062 hours and that teachers work 185 days. Leslie County students have already missed 22 days, while Knox County has missed 20 and Estill County has missed 17. Most agree that kids shouldn’t be going to school past June 21st. Education Commissioner Terry Holliday says education commissioner would like to see some changes in the ways districts plan their calendars.


  • The Kentucky Parole Board opted Monday to keep 46 year old Karen Brown in prison for at least five more years on her conviction in a murder case that included lesbian lovers and a hit man. Brown, her lover Elizabeth Turpin and Keith Bouchard were convicted in the killing of 22 year old Michael Turpin on February 3, 1986. Police say the women hoped to get $60,000 from insurance. Turpin's body was pulled from a pond near the entrance to Lakeside Golf Course in Lexington after he had been stabbed 19 times with two paring knives. Elizabeth Turpin, 44, who was married to Michael Turpin, faces the parole board February 16th at Western Kentucky Correctional Complex in Fredonia, where she is being held. Six members of the board cited the seriousness of the crime and the fact that a life was taken.


  • Last week President Obama created a task force to look for cleaner coal alternatives and said he wants to pass an energy and climate bill. Congressman Hal Rogers says President Obama's latest proposal to protect streams from coal mining would hurt Appalachia and could eliminate more than seven thousand coal jobs, but he will use his position to make sure coal jobs stay in Kentucky. Rogers says EPA's rigid stance against mountaintop removal is something that is unwarranted.


  • Only about 34 percent of students graduating from Kentucky public high schools last year were ready for college or careers. State Education Commissioner Terry Holliday sent emails to the superintendents and board chairs on Friday, asking them to sign a new pledge, called the "Commonwealth Commitment to College and Career Readiness." Holliday wants every public school superintendent and school board chair to pledge to raise college and career readiness in their high schools by 50 percent over the next four years. He wants signatures by April 1st.














 

EKB Capsule News...West Virginia...2-8-'11
























Sunday, February 06, 2011

 

EKB Capsule News...Kentucky...2-7-'11



















Letter To The Editor....
Office of Pike County Judge/Executive
Wayne T. Rutherford                                                                                   Pike County Courthouse
                                                                                                                                       146 Main St.
                                                                                                                          Pikeville, Ky. 41501                                                                                                                         Office: (606) 432-6247
              Fax: (606) 432-6242
God’s most valuable people are the working class and those on fixed incomes. No one living in America today should be forced to make the difficult decision of whether to eat, buy their medication or keep from freezing to death. How sad it is to look at the people in Kentucky who can’t afford to pay their power bills.
I predicted this would happen when the Kentucky Public Service Commission granted AEP/Kentucky Power a 17 percent rate increase. The cause of that is simple: greed, poor management and political control. Kentuckians need to make this the main issue in the 2011 governor’s race. Our rate payers must have relief NOW. The Kentucky General Assembly is in session, they must take up this issue NOW. Pike County borders some counties in Virginia and their legislature made it possible for their rate payers to get a 20 percent discount. West Virginia also borders Pike County and its public service commission gave residential customers a 2.5 percent reduction. I realize our legislators know what I know; they are getting the same calls and complaints and even their bills have doubled.  The solution: utility restructuring. Kentucky must go to an electric bill assistance program. A tier-based system based on gross income. This program can create a rate reduction anywhere from 5 percent to 70 percent. Many states have this “lifeline” system in place.  I understand the cost is offset in most states by an average of $1.50 per month assessed on all rate payers.
There are also other options our legislature can consider while in session. One is to ELECT the Kentucky Public Service Commission. The Kentucky Government belongs to the people. The legislature can give our public service commission back to us: “Vote ‘em in” and “Vote ‘em out.”  I called for an investigation by the Kentucky General Assembly when AEP/Kentucky Power installed digital or “smart” meters. Every customer’s power bill went up and every rate payer’s bill spiked. Many states have investigations under way such as Texas, California, Connecticut and Maryland to name a few. Kentucky’s working class and those on set incomes must have relief NOW!  We all need to pray. I ask for prayers for these people who are the salt of the earth. Pray that our legislators will have the wisdom to understand this hardship and take action.

Please. Please.
Wayne T. Rutherford
Pike County Judge-Executive


  • Authorities have recovered the body of the driver of a tractor-trailer that crashed into an eastern Kentucky creek this week. Bath County Coroner Robert Powell identified the man as 56-year-old Michael Dean Hall of Staunton, Va. Powell says Hall's body was found Thursday evening in the creek about 100 yards from where the truck went into the water. Police say Hall was on his way to Detroit with a load of automotive parts. The wreck happened Wednesday morning on Interstate 64, and the truck landed in Slate Creek 50 feet below. An autopsy was being performed in Frankfort. 


  • A Kentucky businessman has been sentenced to prison for claiming lavish vacations, home renovations, massages and rent for his girlfriend's residence as deductions on his federal taxes. John Lee VanArsdale was sentenced Thursday in federal court in Lexington to 27 months in prison for his conviction in October for filing false income tax returns. Prosecutors said the 46-year-old VanArsdale wrongfully deducted more than $270,000 of personal expenses from his tax returns from 2002 through 2005. Prosecutors said he treated those expenses as legitimate business expenses for his company, which serviced machinery at auto assembly plants, including the Toyota factory at Georgetown.  


  • Irene and David Morris decided to take out a $1.3 million loan last summer and buy the Atlantic India Rubber Co. in Johnson County. The Morrises spent a decade as manager and executive of the factory that produces rubber parts used on Harley Davidson motorcycles, Arctic Cat snowmobiles and Boeing jets. They said they wanted to make sure those parts continued to be made in the United States.  Kentucky Economic Development Commissioner Erik Dunnigan says the Morrises are part of a trend. He says that 84% of job growth and investment growth in 2010 came from existing local businesses.

 

EKB Capsule News...West Virginia...2-7-'11










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