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Now we turn to the Mountain Eagle to read news
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from Whitesburg. Your reader today is build an arsenal. We
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will begin with the addition dated August fifth, twenty twenty six,
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which the publishers have donated to RADIOI as a reminder.
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RADIOI is a reading service intended for people who are
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blind or have other disabilities that make it difficult to
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read printed material. The first headline is the caption of
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a photograph from Farmers Supply to Farmers Market. A new
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pavilion for the Whitsburg Lecture County Farmers Market is taking
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shape in downtown Whisburg on the site of the original
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Farmer's Supply Company, which was relocated to West Whitesburg in
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the nineteen seventies to make way for the Whitsburg Bypass.
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Plans call for the completed pavilion to include thirty vendor
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bays and are covered twenty by twenty foots stage. The
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project is being funded through a one million dollar Abandoned
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mind Lands grant announced in twenty twenty one by US
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Representative Hal Rogers and Governor Andy Basheer. An additional two
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hundred and forty thousand dollars grant has since been awarded
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to help cover unexpected costs, and the next headline is
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Jenkins officials say they knew nothing about any data center.
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A Jenkins City Council member says he knew nothing about
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the possibility of a data center being built on the
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Gateway Business Park until the land option purchased by Project
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Maverick was made public. Councilman Sean Collier brought up the
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issue Monday night at a meeting of the Jenkins City
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Council after backlash from the public about the possibility. I
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found out about it, like everybody else did, Collier said.
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I just wanted on record that I didn't know the
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first thing about that. City Attorney Randall Tackett, who is
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also the attorney for the Appalachian Industrial Authority, said Collier
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or the other council members couldn't have known about a
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data center because there isn't one. There is no data center,
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so there's nothing to bring to the council, he said.
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Documents show the Appalachian Industrial Authority signed an option for
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a Project Maverick to purchase land on the Gateway Business
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Park if it determines the land is suitable for construction
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of a one hundred Megawat gas fired power plant to
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attract a company to build a data center. Members of
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the Lecture County Fiscal Court also said they knew nothing
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about a data center and passed a two year moratorium
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on such facilities and voted to require any company that
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wants to place a data center to complete an environmental
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impact study before building one. Some members of the court
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expressed concern that a data center would adversely affect tourism
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in the area, especially the Raven Rock Resort that is
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currently being planned for the top of Pine Mountain near
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Pound Gap. Design work for water and sewer extensions from
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the City of Jenkins to the proposed Raven Rock Resort
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are about fifty percent complete. The resort, which is being
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developed by the Eky Heritage Foundation, will include a conference center, cabins,
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and bicycle and hiking trails, but it will have to
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have water and sewer service available before it can open.
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Those lines will be paid by a grant from the
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Kentucky Infrastructure Authority. The Jenkins City Council approved payments of
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fifteen thousand, two hundred and fifty dollars to engineering firm
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Nesbit Engineering for design of the sewer extension and twenty
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seven thousand dollars for design of the water line extension.
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The council also voted to contract with the Kentucky River
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Area Development District to administer the grant money for the project.
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The Raven Rock project is one of several underway in
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the city of Jenkins. The council on Monday night also
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approved twelve thousand, two hundred twenty two dollars to Nesbit
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and DCMC Partners for storm sewer improvements, and voted to
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approve a bid from Hubert Technology for screen equipment for
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Load full transcript
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the city's sewage treatment plant. It is currently applying to
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the Appalachian Regional Commission for money to expand the treatment plant.
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Another major project is the placement of a new water
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storage tank to serve Grand View the new high ground
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subdivision being built beside US twenty three in the area
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formerly known as Slick Rock. Engineers told the city they
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have settled on placing the water tank on the Gateway
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Industrial site because of the risk of subsidence caused by
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underground mining in the area near the subdivision. The city
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has a total of twenty six million dollars in funded
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infrastructure projects, and the city tapped Planning Firm q K
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four to make sure all those projects move forward and
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are accountable to the public. Also, at the meeting on
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Monday night, the council approved tax rates that remain the
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same as last year's rates. The next story is three
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indicted in separate cases. Three Electric County residents have been
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indicted in Lectri Circuit Court in separate cases involving drug possession,
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an alleged assault on a police officer, and a rollover crash.
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Angelo Mullen's forty two of two thirty five Gray's Branch Road.
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Jenkins is charged with first degree possession of a controlled
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substance involving metham fetamine, first offense, possession of drug paraphernalia,
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third degree assault of a police or probation officer, and
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resisting arrest. According to a uniform citation filed in the case,
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Jenkins Police Chief Joshua Richardson was assisting fleming Neon police
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Chief Dustin Jackson at a residence along Kentucky eight O
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five near Haymond on July sixth when they encountered Mullins.
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Richardson wrote that Mullins appeared to be highly intoxicated and
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said she had used metham fetamine. A citation says a
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glass pipe and a bottle containing a white crystal like
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substance were found in Mullins's purse. Richardson alleged that Mullins
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tried to run away as he attempted to place her
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in a patrol vehicle, then kicked and kneed
him in
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the chest as he tried to fasten her seat belt.
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Richardson wrote that Mullins later unbuckled herself and kicked and
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headbutted the cage inside the vehicle. Richardson testified before the
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grand jury. Travis Tackett, forty six, of fifty pine Wood Drive, Ermine,
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is charged with first degree possession of a controlled substance
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involving metham fetimin first offense, possession of marijuana, possession of
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drug paraphernalia, and public intoxication involving a controlled substance other
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than alcohol. According to a uniform citation, Richardson was stopped
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by a concerned citizen July seventh and told that a
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man wearing a white T shirt appeared to be passed
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out beside Kentucky Ato five near the turn off to
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Joe's Branch. Richardson wrote that he found Tacket sitting on
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the steps of a residence, slumped over and initially unresponsive.
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The citation alleges that Tackett repeatedly reached toward his pockets
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while police were checking his identification. During a search, police
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allegedly found a glass pipe tucked behind Tacket's belt, a
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folded piece of paper containing a white crystal like substance
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believed to be methamphetamine, and a bag containing a green
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leafy substance believed to be marijuana. Cigarette rolling papers also
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were found. According to the citation. Richardson testified before the
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grand jury. Christian Adams twenty seven of twelve fifty one
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Craft Collige road Ermine is charged with careless driving, operating
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a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol or other substances,
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tampering with physical evidence, three counts of first degree wanton endangement,
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and being a second degree persistent felony offender. According to
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a Kentucky State Police citation, trooper Khalil Sloan responded shortly
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after three a m July eighteenth to a report of
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a crash with injuries on Limestone Drive in Whitsburg. Sloane
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wrote that a Dodge Challenger carrying four people, had left
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the road, struck a rock, overturned several times, and come
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to rest in a ditch. One passenger told police that
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the driver appeared to be intoxicated and had been swerving
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before the crash. The passenger also alleged that the driver
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moved the damaged vehicle across the roadway after the crash
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and threw beer bottles down a hillside in an attempt
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to hide them before police arrived. Adams told Sloan that
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he had been driving to show the passengers and overlook
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on Pine Mountain when an animal he believed was a
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black bear entered the roadway, causing him to swerve. According
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to the citation, Sloan wrote that Adams admitted drinking four
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large Budweiser beers before driving. A preliminary breath test registered
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zero point one two, and Sloan reported observing several signs
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of impairment during field sobriety tests. Adams was taken to
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Wisburg rh and refused breath, blood, and urine tests after
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being advised of Kentucky's implied consent law and being given
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time to contact an attorney. The citation says Sloan testified
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before the grand jury. An indictment is an accusation and
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does not establish guilt. The next story is city officials
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reviewing preliminary hotel plans with hope for forty two rooms.
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Preliminary plans for the Daniel Boone Hotel in Whitsburg have
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been submitted to the city and are now in the
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process of being revised. Mayor Tiffany Kraft said Joseph and
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Joseph Architects, the firm selected for the second phase of
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the project, has asked for the first payment of one
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hundred sixty four thousand, nine hundred thirty one dollars and
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seventy five cents, and the Lecture County Fiscal Court, which
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is acting as the city's fiscal agent for the grant,
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approved the payment last week. E k Y Heritage Foundation
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Incorporated is advising the city on the project. We had
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to make some adjustments to those plans and we've sent
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it to them now. Kraft said. The first plan included
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king beds sweeps, and the city has asked for Queen's
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suites instead in an attempt to fit more rooms into
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the hotel. We're predicting forty two rooms. She said. The
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current project will include windows and doors and cleaning the
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outside of the building. The first floor will be white boxed,
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meaning walls will be completed and painted white, but fixtures
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will not be installed. That will allow a potential retail
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tenant to finish the space as it chooses. We want
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people to come in who have private businesses, Kraft said.
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The basement is also expected to be completed, possibly with
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a ball room and conference rooms, but that plan hasn't
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been finalized. Whatever it includes, Craft said she would like
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to keep the exposed brick in that area the basement.
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We just talked about electrical and plumbing, she said. We're
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talking about things we would like to see that could
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go down there, but we haven't decided. The nine thousand,
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two hundred twenty four square foot building opened on Independence
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Day weekend in nineteen twenty and was last used as
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a hotel in nineteen seventy four. Mountain Comprehensive Health Corporation
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converted it into a clinic and office space in nineteen
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seventy five. In the nineteen nineties, it served as the
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Electra County court House while the court building down the
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street was being renovated. The Dallhare family gave the one
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hundred and six year old hotel to the city in
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two thousand and nine, and it sat empty until the
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roof and floors collapsed from a leaky skylight. The first
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phase of renovations was in twenty nineteen, when now retired
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architect Bill Richardson designed Renovations and SSRG, a Cincinnati firm
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known for historic restorations, stabilized the building and replaced the
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roof and sub floors and built a new elevator shaft.
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That work cost about one point five million dollars, but
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it still left the building with just the basic shell
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and structural elements. That original work was paid for by
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a grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission. The new phase
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of work is being funded through a three million dollars
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state earmark approved by the Kentucky General Assembly. According to
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the city, Joseph and Joseph Architects brings extensive experience in
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historic rehabilitation and community centered design. The first projects include
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the Dream Hotel and jo La Hotel in Louisville, Angels
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env Distillery in Louisville, New Albany City Hall in Indiana,
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and Mixer's Fort Nelson Distillery, also in Louisville. City officials
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said the Daniel Boone Hotel project is expected to create
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new lodging and retail opportunities while preserving the character and
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legacy of one of Wlisburg's most iconic buildings. The next
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item is the caption of two photographs Flood of July
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two thousand, twenty two being remembered through artwork. Seen in
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these photographs are a mosaic mural project which reflects the
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one thousand year flood of July twenty eighth, two thousand
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twenty two and the history of our region. Located in
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downtown Watchburg behind the old post Office, it is a
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project of the Kallan Community Action Group at the Kallan
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Community Center and mainly consists of both things broken by
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the flood as well as historical pieces. Seen in both
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photos is the mural's creator and designer, renowned Appalachian artist
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Lacey Hale and her summer intern Julian Holt, a Electric County
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native studying fine art at Eastern Kentucky University. One photo
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features a mirror from the old Southeast Coal Company bath
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house at Cicco, where the miners all cleaned up after work.
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The mirror was donated to the project by Debbie togl Pendley,
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a historian, musician, and artist living in Cicco. The next
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story is Jenkins would like its own ambulance service, but
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the cost is overwhelming. Despite concerns from council members and
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other officials, the city of Jenkins will not be getting
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its own ambulance service anytime soon. After a report from
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Fire Chief
Corbette, the council decided the city could not
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afford the nearly one million dollar startup cost. Corbett was
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asked by the city council to look into the possibility
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of an ambulance service. Because of long response times, Neon
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fire and rescue handles calls county wide now after the
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shutdown of lecture ems and fire departments, and local officials
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are concerned it doesn't have enough staff to reach patients
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quickly enough. Fire chiefs say they often have to rely
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on ambulances from other counties to respond because there is
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none available inside the county. Emergency medical technicians volunteering at
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fire departments have been providing first response for many calls
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and taking care of patients until an ambulance arrives. Which
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fire department is the only department in the county with
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paid firefighters on duty around the clock, though it still
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is classed as a volunteer fire department. Corbett told the
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Jenkins Council the Kentucky Board of Emergency Medical Services KBEMS
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said new ambulances cost around four hundred thousand dollars each
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and the city would need two. That would mean a
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department serving only the city would come up in the
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negative unless it had three thousand runs per year. We
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were told there would be about fifteen hundred here, he said.
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He said the good news for the city is that
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if it were able to start an emergency ambulance service,
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it would indeed the state's approval for it. They say
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a city or a county does not need a certificate
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of need as long as they are using the ambulance
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service for nine to one one, Corbett said. He said
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KBEMS also recommended starting as a basic life support service
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instead of opting for advanced life support immediately. Basic life
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support service use emergency medical technicians, who have a much
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narrower scope of practice than paramedics and are paid less.
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BLS ambulances do not carry the wide variety of medicines
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that als ambulances
do, and do carry some of the
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more expensive equipment, such as electron heart monitors. With built
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in defibrillators, Paramedics can administer a wide variety of medicine,
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read ECGs, intubate patients, and perform other tasks similar to
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those a patient would receive in an emergency room. Equipping
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an ALS ambulance is much more expensive because of the
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medications and equipment needed for paramedics to make a difference.
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Councilman Rick Damrun indicated he did not know the city
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could run BLS ambulances, but Corbett assured him it could.
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Said Pikeville had a BLS until recently and is now
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switched to ALS. That's good information, but I would still
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like to see us get one here. Dannren said, maybe
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if we could get some business around here and more people,
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more tax dollars coming in, we could get one. And
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next is a photograph with the caption along for the ride.
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A small bird, believed to be an Eastern phoebe, perches
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on the back of a young buck as the deer
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grazes in Electric County. Birds sometimes help deer by eating ticks, fleas, flies,
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and other biting insects from their coats. Although the little
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passenger may simply have been enjoying a convenient perch. The
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next story is Feds ending Medicare drug plan. What will
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the cost be? Millions of older adults on Medicare prescription
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drug coverage could face deeper monthly costs in twenty twenty seven,
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after the Trump administration concludes a temporary subsidy program that
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has helped offset premiums for the past two years, The
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Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has announced it would
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wrap up the program, which was initially implemented by the
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Biden administration in twenty twenty four, to lower patients Medicare
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Part D prescription drug costs in response to effects of
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the twenty twenty two Inflation Reduction Act. While federal officials
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insist the financial impact on Medicare beneficiaries will be minimal,
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the decision opens the Republican led administration to
potential political
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consequences in a high stake's mid term election year. Voters
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have identified cost of living as a top concern, and
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many older adults who tend to vote in high numbers
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are on fixed incomes where every dollar counts. The roughly
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twenty five million Americans with Medicare Part D plans will
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find out about their twenty twenty seven rates in the
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fall when they are casting ballots in November's elections. Democrats
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slammed cms's move as part of a pattern of federal
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attacks on healthcare affordability. Alongside federal Medicaid cuts and the
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expiration of Affordable Care Act subsidies that had reduced premium
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costs for working age Americans. In that program, the Trump
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administration is actively raising prescription drug costs for twenty five
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million seniors. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer wrote on X
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in response to the news, which was first reported by
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The Wall Street Journal, heartless, cruel, and completely by choice.
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CMS administrator doctor mermet Oz last week said ending the
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subsidy program would prevent billions of taxpayer dollars from being
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funneled to insurance companies. It costs the agency and n
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estimated three point six billion dollars in twenty twenty six.
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He said most Medicare beneficiaries would see less than a
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ten dollars per month increase, and some would even see
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lower premiums than beforehand. Every Medicare beneficiary still has access
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to low cost plans, and we will continue to lower
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prescription drug prices for every American patient from more MFN
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deals to our policy giving seniors access to GLP ones
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for fifty dollars a month, he wrote on social media.
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The federal government also negotiates directly with pharmaceutical companies to
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lower the prices of some of the most expensive drugs
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in Medicare through a program created by Congress in twenty
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twenty two. The decision has no impact on the out
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of pocket cap that limits the amount that older adults
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with standalone Medicare drug coverage spend on their prescription drugs
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over the course of a year. That was set at
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two thousand, one hundred dollars in twenty twenty six and
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is projected to rise to two thousand, four hundred dollars
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for twenty twenty seven. Part D beneficiaries paid an average
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of thirty six dollars a month this year for their
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prescription drug premiums. With the subsidies in place, according to
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the healthcare research nonprofit KFF, the subsidies offset the average
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premium by sixteen dollars in twenty twenty six, according to
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the Federal Medicare Payment Advisory Commission MEDPACK. It's not yet
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known how many Americans the change will effect or how
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much more they'll pay. Older Americans have the opportunity to
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shop for plans each year, and prices vary widely between them.
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CMS has said it will release information about next year's
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premiums in September. AARP executive vice president Nancy Lee Mand
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said her organization, which serves Americans fifty and older, had
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supported the temporary subsidy. While it's too early to know
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the full impact of this change, it would be unfortunate
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if this decision made Part D coverage less affordable, just
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as we're beginning to see billions in savings from Medicare
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drug price negotiation, she said in a statement. Juliette Kubanski,
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vice president and Director of the Program on Medicare Policy
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at KFF, said the price increases may be marginal for
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some consumers but impactful for others when combined with higher
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prices in other areas like groceries, gas, and housing. What's
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going to matter most for consumers is how much more
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or less they have to pay at the end of
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a month, and how much they have left after the
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bills are paid. She said, this could just make it
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more challenging for some people to make that math work.
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The next story is Imagine Nation Library delivers one hundred
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thousand books to kids here. Dolly Parton's Imagination Library of
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Electric County has reached a major milestone, mailing more than
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one hundred thousand free books to local children since the
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program began here in January twenty twelve. The program mail's
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one age appropriate book each month to participating children from
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birth until their fifth birthday. There is no cost to
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their families. The Rotary Club of Whitesburg launched the Imagination
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Library program in Lectric County to promote early childhood literacy
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and help children prepare for kindergarten. According to program figures,
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approximately one thousand fifty nine children in Lectric County are
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eligible to receive books through the Imagination Library. Of these,
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nine hundred seventy are registered and receiving a book each month.
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Organizers say the one hundred thousand book milestone represents thousands
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of occasions when children and their caregivers have sat together
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to read and develop skills that will help prepare the
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children for school. For some families facing financial difficulties, organizers
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said the books provided through the program may be the
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only children's books in the home. Early exposure to books
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can help children build their vocabularies, strengthen language development, and
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improve their chances for success in school. Organizers said the
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program is especially important in Electric County, where kindergarten readiness
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continues to be a concern. Members of the Rotary Club
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of Whitesburg said they remain committed to enrolling more eligible
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children and continuing efforts to improve literacy in the county.
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The program is supported by local volunteers and Rotary Club members,
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Whitesburg ARH Babies at Birth Initiative, community donors, businesses, and
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grant providers. Organizers also credited The Mountain Eagle for regularly
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publishing information about the program. Donations may be made to
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the Whitesburg Rotary Foundation and mailed to Post Office Box
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four six, Watchburg, Kentucky four one eight five eight. Children
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younger than five may be registered online at imaginationlibrary dot com.
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The next story is line Forkman sixty seven succumbs to
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motorcycle crash injuries passengers still hospitalized. A Line Forkman died
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Friday in a Tennessee hospital of injuries he received in
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a motorcycle accident two days earlier. Charles Gregg Bentley, sixty seven,
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of Line Fork, died at Johnson City Medical Center from
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multiple injuries caused by the crash July twenty ninth at
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Line Coreen Fraser, a passenger on the motorcycle, remains in
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critical condition in the Intensive Carry Unit at the Johnson
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City Medical Center. This concludes the reading of The Mountain Eagle.
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Your reader has been billed an arsenal. Now please stay
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tuned for continued programming on behalf of everyone here at
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Radio I. Thank you for listening and have a good day.