The Mountain Eagle
WHITESBURG WEATHER

The way we were

Clips from Mountain Eagle front pages over the past 50 years



 

 

Nov. 8, 1962

A $60,000 fire damaged the Royal Crown Bottling Co. plant at Ermine. Passing motorists reported the fire at about 6 a.m. The blaze was extinguished two hours later.

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Letcher County voters reversed a statewide trend and gave Democrat Wilson Wyatt a majority for U.S. Senator in the general election this week. However, Republican Thruston B. Morton retained his office as senator, leading Wyatt by more than 43,000 votes.

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Folger’s Coffee is 70 cents a pound at the Whitesburg A&P Food Store. Pork loin roast is 35 cents a pound.

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Hoover’s Bargain Store is offering ladies’ coats for $5, wool shirts at $2, and flannel pajamas or gowns at $1.19.

Nov. 16, 1972

The condition of the road surface on Railroad Street in downtown Whitesburg continues to be a source of problems and confusion for Whitesburg city officials. The Louisville & Nashville Railroad, who owns the tracks, declines to cooperate with the city in finding some way to improve the street surface.

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Officials of Kentucky state government and the Appalachian Regional Commission were in Hazard this week taking a look at the operations of the Kentucky River Area Development District. They are expected also to investigate widespread complaints about KRADD’s officials and policies, and especially to try to measure the seriousness of Letcher County’s repudiation of the district’s policies.

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The Whitesburg City Council has passed an ordinance increasing occupational licenses 50 percent across the board.

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The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says the Fishtrap Reservoir in Perry County will fill up with coal mine siltation within the next 34 years if pollution continues at its present level.

Nov. 18, 1982

Fourteen coal companies with full or partial operations in Letcher County were ranked among the state’s top coal producers in 1981. Kentucky Coal Journal, a coal industry publication, said three coal companies operating within the county produced well over one million tons each. They are Beth-Elkhorn, Scotia and South East.

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Construction of a 4.9-mile section of US 119 from Cumberland is included in a new six-year road and bridge contractual plan.

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Whitesburg High School students overwhelmingly prefer School Hill in Whitesburg as the site for a proposed new high school building, according to the school newspaper, The Black Kat. Ermine is the second choice.

Nov. 18, 1992

A study by the state Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Cabinet shows that Letcher County is not only the source of the North Fork of the Kentucky River, but also is the source of sewage in the North Fork. Unacceptable levels of fecal coliform bacteria were found by officials. Officials estimate 16 pipes per mile dump raw sewage in Boone Fork, which runs from Hemphill to Kona, and 15 pipes per mile dump raw sewage into Thornton Creek.

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A downturn in coal severance tax collections and an unexpectedly high cost for garbage disposal could leave Letcher County’s treasury nearly half a million dollars short.

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Kentuckians for the Commonwealth proposed a law to regulate oil and gas dealers.

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The Letcher County Board of Education approved a $22 million budget.

Nov. 20, 2002

New federal education standards could cause all of the schools in Letcher County and most of the schools in Kentucky to fail, even though those same schools meet Kentucky state standards.

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Water lines in the Mayking Golf Course subdivision are expected to be completed any day, and meters will be set as soon as contractors turn the project over to the City of Whitesburg.

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Residents of Benham, including retired miners, are fighting an effort by a coal company to open a new portal in the Harlan County town that’s home to the Kentucky Coal Mining Museum.

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Fleming-Neon High School football players Dustin Duty and Matt McElroy have been named to the All-District team for the 2002 Class A, District Eight, Region Four unit.


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