The Mountain Eagle
WHITESBURG WEATHER

The Way We Were

Clips from available Mountain Eagle pages since our founding in 1907

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 1910

Reports from most sections of Letcher County indicate that corn crops are going to be very light this year, perhaps not more than half the normal crop. s

“Find enclosed $2 for the bird. One dollar at a time is not enough. I must have the Eagle,” writes Charles Hall Jr. of Norton, Va., in a letter containing his subscription renewal to The Mountain Eagle. The price is currently $1 per year. s

“Owing to the circumstances of the noble bird, the emblem of our country, and in order to show my appreciation of it as an advocate of truth, honor and all virtues, I herewith enclose $1 as a birthday present,” writes E.A. Hammond of Mallie, Ky. “Accept in the spirit given and continue on your mission.”

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 5, 1940

Word has just reached this office that the Letcher County Board of Education has just purchased two new 64-passenger GMC school buses to be used in the transportation of pupils to and from school. The buses are said to contain all the modern conveniences including heat, light, etc. s

A reward of $10 will be paid for the arrest and conviction of the person or persons who stole around 40 or 45 White Rock chickens, mostly pullets, from a home on Pine Creek between Thursday and Saturday night of last week. s

Mr. Ward Collins, accompanied by five other U.S. Army boys, was visiting friends and relatives here this week. Those accompanying young Collins are Oliver Collins, Raymond Banks, James C. Day, Deward M. Banks and Wayne Day. Hope you enjoy yourselves, boys, and it may serve in some way to help you keep yourselves as well as your rifles greased up, just in case some other bird besides an Eagle tries to light in a parachute from a foreign land. s

The Leslie County Grand Jury turned an indictment against Elige Bowling of Hyden, charging him with murder in connection with the death of Mrs. Clark Napier, mother of five, who died of a snakebite she suffered while handling reptiles at a religious meeting. Bowling, preacher and owner of the snakes, was fined $50 and costs two days before Mrs. Napier died.

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 7, 1950

The Department of Economic Security, Frankfort, said that employment in coal mining operations was estimated to have decreased slightly during July. However, the Department said that the 58,800 miners working in mid-July was 14 percent above July 1949. s

General discussion of the proposed Whitesburg swimming pool dominated the monthly meeting of the local Businessmen’s Club. Main topics concerning the pool were its approximate cost and possible sites where the pool might be located. s

Private James Gray Hogg is with the first Marine Division in Korea, it was learned today from his mother Mrs. S.M. Banks. s

“Broken Arrow” starring James Stewart and Debra Paget is playing this week at Isaac’s Alene Theatre in Whitesburg.

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 8, 1960

Whitesburg’s police and fire chiefs told the city council this week that the city is having increased problems with juvenile delinquency and they are hard pressed to cope with the situation. The subject came up when Councilman Jack Cox complained that so many youths are ganging up along the sidewalk in the area of the Alene Theatre that sometimes it is almost impossible to walk to church. s

Franklin D. Roosevelt Jr., son of the late President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, will speak in Letcher County next month. The speech will be part of a tour of eastern Kentucky Roosevelt is making on behalf of the Democratic presidential ticket of Sen. John F. Kennedy. s

A major division in the largest religious denominations in southern Appalachia took place last week at the annual meeting of the Indian Bottom Association of Regular Baptists. The issue was the rule against “fellowship”, which prohibits preachers of the Indian Bottom Association preaching in churches of any other association. s

Army M-Sgt James A. Robbins, son of Mr. and Mrs. Robert A. Robbins of Jenkins, is a platoon sergeant in Company B of the 3rd Armored Division’s 52nd Infantry in Friedberg, Germany. He entered the Army in 1948 and arrived overseas on this tour of duty in November 1958.

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 3, 1970

A Mountain Eagle editorial details a drive on Route 15 between Jackson and Hazard, telling of what bad shape the road is in. The road is so bad that the Perry County Board of Education says it may have to close down county schools this winter unless something is done. The editorial says, “We face the likely prospect that, by spring, much of eastern Kentucky will be isolated. A total breakdown in the area’s transportation must be considered as a strong possibility.” s

Letcher County’s population may have started to gain this summer, marking an historic break in migration patterns that have seen more than one person out of every two move to the cities in the past 25 years. Countywide school enrollment has risen to 5,686, compared to 5,470 at the end of school last year. s

The Office of Economic Opportunity in Washington has allocated $23,000 to the Millstone Sewing Center for six additional months of operation. The center had been reduced to a six-month budget by cuts imposed on the Leslie, Knott, Letcher, Perry Community Action Council by the Atlanta Regional Office of OEO. s

U.S. Air Force Staff Sergeant Charles O. Chapman, son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles O. Chapman, Jenkins, is on duty at Tan Son Nhut AFB, Vietnam. He is a vehicle repairman assigned to the 377th Transportation Squadron, a unit of the Pacific Air Force headquarters for air operation in Southeast Asia.

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 4, 1980

Armed with a court order, an official with the state attorney general’s office last week seized several Letcher County records — including fiscal court minutes and order books and county bank records. The records apparently will be used in an ongoing investigation of county financial affairs by the attorney general’s office and a special Letcher grand jury. s

Letcher County residents got a close look at some mighty spiffed-up coal trucks during the annual coal truck parade, which is part of the Mountain Coal Festival sponsored by Beta Sigma Phi sorority members in the Neon area. The trucks paraded through Neon’s Main Street before they were judged. Many families rode with their husbands and fathers who drove the trucks. s

For the first time in several years, Letcher County has a drive-in theater. The new drive-in is the Cinema 7 Drive- In Theater and is located on Kentucky Highway 7, the Jeremiah-Isom road. It is owned and operated by Begie “Moose” Breeding. s

Pvt. Louie E. Long, son of Mr. and Mrs. Calvin C. Compton of Jenkins, recently was assigned as a scout with the 1st Cavalry Division at Fort Hood.

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 5, 1990

Kentucky’s Appalachian counties lost 3.6 percent of their population during the past 10 years, with the major drops coming in coal-producing counties, according to early Census figures. Harlan County suffered the highest percentage loss in the state, 13.9, down from 41,889 to 36,046. Letcher County had the second highest percentage, 12.1, down from 30,687 to 26,982. s

Preliminary plans for a “world-class” tourism development at Carr Creek Lake were unveiled in Knott County by Lexington developer Don Webb. He said what he is calling Red Fox Resort, a proposed lodge and tourism development overlooking the lake, has to have something special or it won’t draw any business. s

The Jenkins Independent School Board only has two candidates running for school board seats and the election ballot will tell voters to vote for two, but three seats are open. s

Two Letcher County 4-H Club members brought home top honors from the recent State 4-H Horticulture Contest held during the Kentucky State Fair. Liberty Adams, a Grand Champion, was one of four persons named to be this year’s Grand Champion Judging Team. Kenny Banks, who placed fifth in the state contest, is Reserve Grand Champion.

WEDNESDAY AUGUST 30, 2000

Letcher Volunteer Fire Department Chief Al Adams denied reports that the department is disbanding, but he was faced with new reports that he is asking board members to lease the department’s ambulance service to him for $1 a year, with an option to buy it for $1 with 30 days notice. Adams said the lease was drawn up because of what he says is an effort by some citizens of Blackey to move the fire department there. s

Premier-Elkhorn Coal Co. has served notice on Linda Hall and her nephew, Brian Hall, that it plans to exercise the broadform deed it holds on their property at McRoberts to deep mine coal. The company is offering nothing in return for damage to their property, saying the mineral deed gives it the right to mine coal without further compensation. In 1988, voters overwhelmingly approved an amendment to the Kentucky constitution prohibiting mining companies that hold broadform deeds from using mining methods other than those commonly in use at the time the deeds were signed. The state Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement says the constitution does not apply in this case because Premier-Elkhorn is going to mine the coal from a deep mine and other work is incidental to that. The office has already issued a permit to allow the mining, but the surface owners are protesting that permit. s

The Whitesburg Yellowjackets upset highly regarded Matewan 15-8 in the eighth annual Coca-Cola Bowl at Shelby Valley. s

The Isom Days Festival will include a talent show, an expanded rodeo and a surprise fireworks display. It’s a surprise because the festival committee hasn’t announced when it will be.

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 1, 2010

Residents of Fleming-Neon have reported isolated incidents of “dingy water” coming out of their pipes and two elementary schools that get Fleming-Neon water were forced to dismiss school early one day last week because of the brown water. Water Department Superintendent Carlos Phillips said the lines are mostly clear now and that the problem had been caused by a pump that didn’t stay on long enough to allow tanks to fill all the way up, which in turn caused sediment from the tanks to get pumped into lines. s

Former University of Kentucky basketball player Souleymane Jules Camara recently scrimmaged with the middle school team at Arlie Boggs Elementary School. Camara, who played basketball at UK from 2000 to 2003, volunteered his time to shoot hoops with students, give a motivational speech, and sign autographs. s

A Mud Sling organized by the Letcher County Mud Runners is set for Sept. 11. Events include a 45-minute ATV/UTV ride, an ATV poker run and a 50/50 raffle. s

Kentucky Transportation Cabinet officials say construction of the valley floor section on US 119 between Eolia and Partridge is ahead of schedule. Work should be finished by September 2012. Construction started May 17, 2009.

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