2015-06-24

Rancher is looking for car recommendations



Dear Car Talk: My Italian water buffalos, African pygmy goats, rescue Thoroughbred exracehorses and Rhodesian Ridgeback dogs are requesting your masterful insight, please, for what might be the perfect car for their transportation needs. I have been pondering a replacement for my beloved 1998 Toyota RAV4 (206,000-plus miles) for several years now, but believe it or not, manufacturer brochures don’t […]

Horses saved in truck-hauler fire



Police say transmission problems are to blame for a truck fire on Pine Mountain early Monday morning. The driver of a truck pulled over at the scenic overlook near Little Shepherd Trail around 2 a.m. Monday when the transmission warning light lit up on the dashboard, according to Whitesburg Police Officer Sara Damron. The driver looked under the truck and […]

Power bills expected to rise June 30



Kentucky Power Company customers in Letcher County will see their monthly power bills increase by an average of $7.35, under a settlement agreement approved Monday by the Kentucky Public Service Commission. The rate hike approved by the PSC is more than half of the $14.39 average monthly increase Kentucky Power was seeking. The average bill for a Kentucky Power residential […]

Spelling bee help



Brooke Saurer, former spelling bee champion, will host a free spelling bee workshop from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. on June 26 at the Harry M. Caudill Memorial Library in Whitesburg. Letcher County students going into third through eighth grades are encouraged to attend. This meeting is in preparation for the upcoming fall school district spelling bee and participation at […]

Letcher Schools lose 74 students



Letcher County Public Schools ended the 2014-15 school year with 74 students fewer than the previous year. Enrollment for the 2014-15 school year totaled 3,099. Kenneth Cornett, Letcher district director of pupil personnel, said the decline in student enrollment has made an impact on the district. “That’s a concern,” said Cornett. “Hopefully with employment things may level off some or […]

Council OK’s budget



At a special called meeting held Monday at noon, the Whitesburg City Council conducted the second reading of its Fiscal Year 2015-2016 budget. The budget shows $1,910,500 in total revenue against $1,692,780 in total appropriations and passed by a unanimous vote. Mayor James Wiley Craft told the council that a $2,000 appropriation that had been made for the Riverside Days […]

Letcher schools addressing issue of electronic privacy with cameras and recorders



A new policy aimed at protecting the privacy of students by limiting use of electronic devices to snap photos and record video or audio clips during school hours is one of several policies and procedures to be voted on next month by the Letcher County Board of Education. “There’s been a lot of controversy over students filming other students, students […]

Fleming stands up for seniors’ program as court talks budget



After some last minute negotiations and changes, the Letcher County Fiscal Court voted unanimously to pass the county’s budget for Fiscal Year 2015-2016. After County Treasurer Phillip Hampton conducted the second reading of the budget, Fifth District Magistrate Wayne Fleming said he would not vote yes on the budget because $100,000 had been cut from the Senior Citizens Program. Fourth […]

Here’s hoping tomatoes grow in Houston, too



HOUSTON, Texas I have dreamed for decades that one day I would actually put a dateline on the column to indicate that it was being filed by a world famous, globe-hopping journalist with immense importance to the international newsgathering community. Points East But the truth of the matter is that I’m sitting upstairs at my 14-year-old grandson’s computer in an […]

Tommy Francis Sr. dies at 74



Tommy R. Francis Sr., 74, of Indianapolis, Ind., died June 19. A son of the late Curtis and Volina Francis, he was the father of the late Tommy R. Francis, II, and a brother of the late Hobart Francis and Eugene Francis. He retired in 2004 and was a U.S. Army veteran. Surviving are his wife, Virginia F. Francis; three […]