(Sept. 26, 1984)

Some residents near Ball Alley Curve complain of mine dust. Vocational students were the first to get a look at the new rock-duster at the Mayo Vocational School simulated mine, near Betsy Layne High School. Donald G. Hall, Prestonsburg Job Corps graduate, ranked second for Hall of Fame Award. If a coal strike is avoided it could mean a stockpiling of coal that may slow mine work. The stockpiling of coal was due to the anticipation of a strike. There died: Robert C. Machholz, 36, of Prestonsburg, September 15, when the helicopter he was piloting crashed, following a mid-air collision; Hattie Duncan, 84, of Hueysville, September 18, at McDowell Appalachian Regional Hospital; Douglas H. Fairchild, 67, of East Point, September 14, at his home; Glessie Marie Mullins, 76, of Wheelwright, Friday, at Riverside Nursing Home; Violet Mae Rice, 63, of Martin, Thursday, at her residence; Bessie Whittaker Wells, 77, of Prestonsburg, Saturday, at the home of her daughter; Phyllis Mayo Hoppman, 42, of Martin, Tuesday, at Whitesburg Appalachian Regional Hospital; Robert Meade, 77, of Printer, September 18, at Riverview Manor Nursing Home, Prestonsburg.

(August 29, 1984) 

As part of a city program, the Prestonsburg City Council voted to remove parking meters on Court Street. Elisha Branham, 26, now serving a prison sentence for murder, asked for his sentence to be set aside. For nearly four months, raw sewage has been bubbling out of the ground in a shallow depression between playing areas at Clark Elementary School. The Floyd County Fiscal Court approved overtime paid to Floyd County Clerk's staff. Groundbreaking ceremonies were held for the proposed 60-unit housing project near Martin. There died: Kenneth B. Caudill, 71, of Cow Creek, Sunday, at Riverview Manor Nursing Home; Sol J. Bentley, 74, of Betsy Layne, Friday, August 17, at his home.

(August 22, 1984) 

Cisco Neeley, 30, of Salt Lick, ran a state police roadblock on Route 7, at Hueysville, last Wednesday, wrecked when police gave chase, and found himself facing various charges. It was the same road that Neeley's car collided head-on with another, killing a pregnant woman in February 1977, and on Christmas Day 1979, on the same road, he collided, killing a man. Bobby Cole, 22, and Jay Toddie Gibson, 18, were arrested in Salyersville, Tuesday, and charged with first degree robbery, following an armed hold-up, Friday, of a Middle Creek store. Schools record a drop in attendance, which could mean fewer teachers for the system. There died: Sol J. Bradley, 74, of Betsy Layne, Friday, at his residence; Norma Williams Patrick, 70, of Tram, August 15, at Riverview Manor Nursing Home; Edna M. Stumbo, 69, of McDowell, Saturday, at McDowell Appalachian Regional Hospital; Patty Gail Adkins, 15-year-old daughter of Tom Delmer and Earvina Carroll Adkins of Galveston, Saturday, at U.K. Medical Center; Timothy Paul Case, two-week-old son of Michael and Debra Crawford Case of Hi Hat, Sunday, at U.K. Medical Center; Miles M. Slone, 62, of Martin, last Wednesday, in a Lexington hospital; Otis (Sodie) Wallen, 68, of Water Gap, Friday, at Highlands Regional Medical Center; Leland Victor Tackett, 70, of Melvin, Sunday, at U.K. Medical Center; Woodrow W. Demurray, 65, of Wheelwright, August 14, at U.K. Medical Center; Ida Gayheart Collins, 79, of Price, Sunday, at Pikeville Methodist Hospital; Marvin "Merv" McKinney, 69, of Harold, last Wednesday, at U.K. Medical Center.

(August 15, 1984) 

The Floyd County Fiscal Court's policy on health insurance is the target of a lawsuit filed on behalf of Floyd County Sheriff Henry Hale and his deputies. Plans were announced for construction of a $3 million shopping center near Prestonsburg, to be known as Glyn View Plaza. After deliberating nearly three hours a Floyd Circuit Court jury declared itself about evenly split or whether David Lee Allen, 23, of Garrett, was guilty of selling three "hits" of PCP to Det. Johnny Creech. There died: Alto Lovely, 73, of Hueysville, last Wednesday, at Central Baptist Hospital in Lexington; Mittle Gunter Johnson, 70, of Melvin, Sunday, at St. Joseph Hospital in Lexington; Fannie Cole Johnson, 84, of Melvin, Saturday, at McDowell Appalachian Regional Hospital; Carley McSurley, 78, of Drift, last Friday, at his home; Lula Florence Burchfield Jervis, 84, of Prestonsburg, last Friday, at Highlands Regional Medical Center; Thomas Marshall, 73, of Martin, Sunday, at VA Hospital in Lexington; Mary Elizabeth Wells, of Auxier, August 10, at the Chandler Medical Center in Lexington.

(August 1, 1984) 

Floyd County Schools damaged in the spring flooding will receive $825,000 immediately in federal disaster assistance. The Allen Water Commission, Alpike Mobile Home Park, Sandy Valley Water District, Weeksbury Water Supply and Wheelwright Utility Commission were all cited for failing to submit water samples or operating reports some months between October 1983, and March. Ray Hamilton, 63, and Mary Lou Boyd, 54, died at Hamilton's mobile home on Pin Hook. Dr. Grady Stumbo and two of his supporters who have been under fire from the state Registry of Election Finance, filed a lawsuit in the Franklin Circuit Court naming as defendants, the Registry and Attorney-General David Armstrong. Dr. Thomas L. Boneta, 73, last month prevailed on a circuit court judge to restrain his employer, Big Sandy Health Care Inc., from firing him, pending a hearing on his claim that he is a victim of prejudice and discrimination. There died: Tom Henry Music, 72, of Spradlin Branch, Tuesday, at Riverview Manor nursing home; Mellie Blackburn, 89, of Endicott, Monday, at Highlands Regional Medical Center; Della King, 79, of Kite, Tuesday, at Riverview Manor Nursing Home; Dorothy Hall Newsome, 30, of Ligon, Saturday, at the University of Kentucky Medical Center; Arthur Bradbury of Prestonsburg, Wednesday, at Riverview Manor Nursing Home; Alex Rowe, 97, of Mousie, July 16, at Our Lady of the Way Hospital.

(June 13, 1984)

(April 25, 1984)

(February 29, 1984)

Smoke and flames shooting 200 feet in the air, destroyed the Allen Lumber Company, causing an estimated $1 million in damages...A Fayette Circuit Court jury acquitted Clyde Douglas Marshall of a charge of plotting the death of his wife, Glenda Sharon Pack Marshall, last June...There died: Fred Hall, 81, of Galveston, Thursday, at Highlands Regional Medical Center; Claude Layne, 68, Tuesday, at his home in Langley; Rawley Mann, 71, of Corn Fork, last Wednesday, at Highlands Regional Medical Center; James Campbell, 80, of Auxier, Saturday, at Highlands Regional Medical Center; Ethel Collins Bailey, 44, of Abner Fork, near Melvin, last Friday, after failing down a stairway.

(February 22, 1984)

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(January 12, 1983)

Prudent investments by board of education treasurer, Ray Brackett, helped keep the Floyd County school district in the black last year, an auditor told the board last Wednesday...Members of the Floyd County Fiscal Court learned of allegations that unnamed persons want to see the system destroyed, when they met, Thursday, to appoint a new commission to oversee the county’s troubled solid waste system...The tragedy-ridden career of Roy Boleyn, 31, former Floyd County resident and state police trooper, as the trooper’s life, may have come to an end, last Tuesday, when he was critically wounded during a gunfight on Glomaur Hollow, near Hazard, in which three persons died...There died: Fannie Tuttle, 71, of Garrett, last Wednesday, at Our Lady of the Way Hospital; Arvel Bryant, 51, of Melvin, Monday, at his home; Emmitt Hamilton, 70, of Teaberry, Monday, at Pikeville Methodist Hospital; Oscar Reynolds, 70, of Goble-Roberts Addition, Tuesday, in Mount Vernon; Minnie Vance Tackett, 76, of McDowell, last Wednesday, at McDowell Appalachian Regional Hospital.

(December 22, 1982)

The state Alcoholic Beverage Control Board stole the initiative from disgruntled liquor-license applicants by asking the Kentucky State Police to investigate charges that bribes were solicited from some applicants...A Hindman family physician, and secretary of the Human Resources Cabinet until his decision to run for elective office, Dr. Grady Stumbo is one of three announced Democratic candidates for governor...Wonnell Godsey had no quibble with the opposition’s claims that the new First Commonwealth Bank would be a fine bank, but she protested that the bank would destroy the residential area that she and her husband, Prestonsburg dentist Garland Godsey, call home...American Signal Corporation, the Tennessee-based firm which owns Radio Station WPRT, filed in District Court at Lexington a voluntary petition for reorganization under the federal bankruptcy code...The panel of four charged with the task of finding a way to equalize the county’s lopsided magisterial districts has hit on a simple, if not wholly uncontroversial, solution by switching the Allen and Dwale communities from the first magisterial district to the second...There died: Gold Howard, 53, of Eastern, Sunday, at the U.K. Medical Center in Lexington; Lola R. Ousley, 49, of Hopkinsville, formerly of Floyd County, Thursday, in Hopkinsville; Boyd Felts, 69, of Melvin, Saturday, at the McDowell Appalachian Regional Hospital; Albert Spradlin, 71, of Bonanza, Wednesday, at the home of his daughters in Catlettsburg; Dawsie Hale Chaffins, 86, of Hueysville, at River Manor Nursing Home; E. W. (Gene) Hale, 71, of Harold, Wednesday, at Highlands Regional Medical Center; David Compton, 85, of Hueysville, Monday, at the Riverview Manor Nursing Home; Clara Samons Conn, 71, of Martin, Wednesday, at Mountain Manor Nursing Home; Arthur Clinton Crider, 55, of Stanville, at Highlands Regional Medical Center; Della Gayheart Martin, 84, of Eastern, Monday, at the Riverview Manor Nursing Home.

(December 15, 1982)

Paul Thompson and Paul Hunt Thompson, father-son owners of Thompson’s IGA grocery stores, announced the beginning of work on the development of a Lancer shopping complex called Jenny Wiley Village, which will involve the expenditure of approximately $500,000; Phase I is expected to be completed in May, 1983...Trial of James Messer, former Johns Creek resident, in U.S. district court at Pikeville on a federal indictment alleging possession of a firearm involved in interstate commerce by a convicted felon, has been scheduled for Valentine’s Day...The state Alcoholic Beverage Control Board will not reconsider the issuance of package liquor licenses in this county; nor will the ABC commissioner meet with Floyd residents to explain the matter...There died: E. W. (Gene) Hale, 71, of Harold, last Wednesday, at Highlands Regional Medical Center; Wade Stratton, 55, of Banner, Friday, December 3, at his home; Nora Akers, 85, of Weeksbury, last Friday, at McDowell Appalachian Regional Hospital; Ada J. Moore, 83, of McDowell, Thursday, at McDowell Appalachian Regional Hospital; Donald Foster, 44, of Garrett, November 30, at Highlands Regional Medical Center; Flora May Crum, 69, of Martin, Monday, at her home.

(November 17, 1982)

U.S. District Judge C. Wix Unthank, last week, agreed to stay an order that would permit 16 Dinwood residents to evict the Dinco Coal Sales tipple from their neighborhood...Curtis Clark, 73, former mayor and first city manager of Prestonsburg, died Saturday night at Highlands Regional Medical Center...State Labor Commissioner John C. Wells announced at a press conference in Frankfort, Tuesday, that one of the two black lung clinics to serve Kentuckians will be in Prestonsburg, and that it is scheduled to begin service around December 1...Danny Mead, of Beaver, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court, last Thursday, to a single count of mail fraud and sentencing was set for January 3...There died: Cussie Spurlock Barbe, 83, of Betsy Layne, Friday, at Pikeville Methodist Hospital; Jim Bob Elswick Jr., 50, formerly of Floyd County, Monday, at Mountain Heritage Hospital in Taylor, Michigan; Levi Mitchell, 92, of Beaver, Saturday, at Our Lady of the Way Hospital; Amon Mature Jr., 25, of Grethel, last Thursday, in Ridgefield, Washington, a victim of a self-inflicted gun wound; Mildred C. Thompson, 61, formerly of Prestonsburg, November 9; Willie R. Patton, 71, formerly of Langley, Saturday, in Lima, Ohio; Glenn “Sarge” Walke, 63, former golf professional at the Paintsville Country Club, November 3.

(November 3, 1982)

Residents of Toler Creek, Big Mud, Middle Creek, and Wheelwright in this county, and Hurricane Creek and the Wells Addition in Pike County, will soon have expanded cable television service as a result of plant improvements for which bids were opened, Tuesday, according to a news release issued by Tel-Com Inc...Ground breaking for Highlands Regional Medical Center’s 53,000-square-foot expansion project came at a ceremony, Monday afternoon, which also marked the 10th anniversary of the dedication of the original medical center structure...A story that began nearly 15 years ago—when community organizers were active in eastern Kentucky communities—moves into its final chapters today as a federal jury considers a claim by two former activitists for $8 million in damages...There died: Estille Bentley, 62, of McDowell, Wednesday, at Our Lady of the Way Hospital; Corrie Sanders, 73, of Wheelwright, last Wednesday, at McDowell Appalachian Regional Hospital; Tishie Williamson, 80, of Estill, last Friday, at her home; Hazel Lafferty, 66, of Cliff, last Wednesday, at St. Joseph Hospital; Ollie I. McCoy, 59, of Brushy Fork of Johns Creek, Saturday night, in Pike County; Georgiana Leslie Harris, 69, of Emma, last Saturday, at Pikeville Methodist Hospital; Goble Reed, 84, of Hippo, Monday, at Highlands Regional Medical Center; Carlton W. Dawson, 10, son of Carlis and Oma Burke Dawson, of Hi Hat, Sunday, at McDowell Appalachian Regional Hospital; Darmack S. Goble, 76, of Prestonsburg, Monday, at Riverview Manor Nursing Home.

(October 27, 1982)

The agreement on garbage bills rate followed a meeting between city and county officials over the vexing question of how much Prestonsburg should pay to dump its trash on the county landfill; it was decided that they would raise the bill from $1350 to $1600 a month...A 70-year-old Toler Creek woman, Connie Thacker Bush, was found guilty of first degree manslaughter in the slaying of her 71-year-old husband, John Bush, at their home on Meade Branch. She was sentenced to an 18-year-term...The legal sale of liquors (whiskey, wine, etc.) was slated for November 1, but according to the county alcoholic beverage administrator it could be as late as November 25...There died: Sharee Lynn Ousley, 2 1/2-year-old daughter of Anthony and Alisa Lynn Leckrone Ousley, of the Middle Creek Road, last Wednesday, at her home; Robert Lee Matthews, 88, of Ligon, Saturday, at McDowell Appalachian Regional Hospital; Forrest Burchett, 75, formerly of Sugarloaf, Sunday, at Bowling Green Medical Center; Nancy DeRossett, 88, of Martin, last Thursday, at Riverview Manor Nursing Home; Rebecca Wheeler, of Prestonsburg, Sunday, in Charleston, West Virginia; Lillie VanDyke McCoy, 84, of Pikeville, Saturday, at Pikeville Methodist Hospital; Nannie M. Gibson, 73, of Hueysville, Monday, at St. Joseph Hospital in Lexington; Curtis Richardson, 71, of Little Paint Creek, at Highlands Regional Medical Center, Friday; Billie Gene Hamilton, Sunday, at his home in West Prestonsburg; Thomas E. Parson, 36, of Martin, last Thursday, at his home; Roxie Akers Collins, 87, of McDowell, Saturday, en route to McDowell Appalachian Regional Hospital.

(October 20, 1982)

The trial of Okie Bevins, charged with the murder of five persons at Allen, October 16, of last year, has been continued in Greenup Circuit Court until January...Highlands Regional Medical Center is not to do anything to interfere with two doctors in their practice of anesthesiology at the hospital; the hospital is to make necessary supplies and equipment available to the physicians, and any failure to do so could result in a fine of $500 a day... More than half a grant that was supposed to help juvenile offenders will have to be paid back to the state, because it was misused, according to an auditor’s findings disclosed last week at the Floyd County Fiscal Court meeting...There died: Julia Ann Bentley, 76, of Langley, en route to Our Lady of the Way Hospital; Bruce Blair, 33, of Water Gap, last Tuesday, when a tractor-trailer went out of control on the Parkway bridge, striking Blair’s pickup truck; Violet Mae Ward, 56, of Prestonsburg, last Thursday, at Highlands Regional Medical Center; Ervin Wallen, 73, of Williamsport, died Sunday, in Birmingham, Alabama; Maebelle Osborne, 65, of Melvin, Monday, at Our Lady of the Way Hospital; James W. Perry Sr., 59, last Thursday, in Lima, Ohio; George C. Stanley Sr., 75, of Vicco, formerly of Prestonsburg, last Thursday, en route to a Lexington hospital; Catherine Harris Wiechers, 82, of Prestonsburg, last Friday, at Good Samaritan Hospital; Dixie Howard Gibson, 61, of Lower Johns Creek, last Thursday, at Pikeville Methodist Hospital; Sandra Lynn Halbert, two-year-old daughter of Della and Virgil Halbert Jr., of Langley, Tuesday, at McDowell Regional Hospital.

(October 6, 1982)

The task facing officers attempting to identify the slayer of 17-year-old David Allen Whitten, whose body was found September 18, in a deserted fishing cabin in the headwaters area of Dewey Lake, was compounded, early Wednesday night, when the cabin burned to the ground...Early last month, with the opening of legalized beer outlets, County Attorney Arnold Turner Jr., announced a “get tough” policy against alcohol-related offenses—public intoxication and drunk driving—“repeat” violators, in particular...A West Prestonsburg man, Hershel Owens, entered a guilty plea in district court, Monday, to a charge of mining without a license and was fined $300, and equipment seized, by mining officials, was ordered forfeited...The state Transportation Cabinet has awarded a contract to resurface five miles of KY 414, the David-Prestonsburg road...There died: Leon Blackburn, 63, of Prestonsburg, last Friday, at the VA Hospital in West Virginia; Leonard Ousley, 58, of Risner, Monday, of an apparent heart attack; Tom Baldridge, 99, of East Point, last Wednesday, at Highlands Regional Medical Center; Felix Collins, 84, of Wheelwright, Tuesday, at Pikeville Methodist Hospital; Nancy C. Carpenter, 92, of Wayland, last Wednesday, at Riverview Manor Nursing Home.

(September 22, 1982)

Lynn Marie Holbrook, 29, of Johnson County, pleaded guilty, last week, to the poison slaying of her husband, Paintsville Policeman Bill Holbrook, and is now a prisoner in the Floyd County Jail, awaiting her transfer to a state prison to begin serving a 20-year sentence...Arson is suspected when a home near Hueysville, owned by Prestonsburg Attorney David Barber, was destroyed...The identity of the victim is being sought by authorities as the first step toward determining who killed a youth whose badly decomposed body was found, Saturday morning, in a fishing pond cabin in the upper reaches of Dewey Lake...There died: Darcus Hall Newsome, 86, of Melvin, last Wednesday, in Lexington; Otis Leedy, 76, of Betsy Layne, Wednesday, at his home; George Cavins, 71, of Raccoon, Wednesday, at UK Medical Center; Ola Jones, 53, of Wayland, died Monday, while at work; Nora Lee Conley Spradlin, Tuesday, September 14, in Louisville; Anna Delores Ray Lemaster, 50, of Allen, Sunday, en route to Highlands Regional Medical Center; Robert Napier, 44, of Hueysville, Monday, from apparent stings from a yellow jacket’s nest.

(September 8, 1982)

With unemployment running around 14 percent here, this is not the time to seek a property tax increase, Asst. Superintendent Ray Brackett advised at a meeting of the Floyd County Board of Education, last week...As a result of a Board of Education decision last week, cheerleaders at county schools will be chosen by students’ votes from a list of candidates approved by a screening committee...The Kentucky Highlands Folk Festival, oldest of its kind in the region, opens for the 17th consecutive year...There died: Nora Lee Hayes, 80, of Hueysville, Tuesday, at Pikeville Methodist Hospital; Hassel Burke, 66, of Wheelwright, Wednesday, at McDowell Appalachian Regional Hospital; Virginia Roop Little, 66, of Wheelwright, Monday, at McDowell Appalachian Regional Hospital; Myrtle Slone, 75, of Hueysville, Sunday, at Highlands Regional Medical Center; Mallie Walter Conn, 85, of Harold, Sunday, at his home; Raymond Meade, 55, of McDowell, Monday, at St. Joseph Hospital; Jason Bentley, day-old son of Jack and Lisa Ward Bentley of Wayland, Monday, at Cabell-Huntington Hospital.

(August 18, 1982)

A grade school student may be levied as much as $12.65 for classroom supplies this year. A high school freshman may be required to pay $40 or $50 or more, depending on the subjects taken..With about a quarter of the work completed, and the materials on hand to finish the job, a project designed to extend water lines on Spurlock, Bucks Branch, and the left fork of Middle Creek has become bogged down in a dispute over who should pay for it...A U.S. District Court judge, last week, set a $75,000 surety bond for Sterling Hamilton, who was indicted, recently, on a charge of transporting stolen property, and fixed a September 27 trial date...Following an agreement between prosecutor and defense council in the case, Eddie Slone Jr., recently found guilty of slaying Paul Douglas Stanley and Terry D. Johnson at Wheelwright, in January, was sentenced, Friday, to two 20-year pen terms, to be served concurrently...There died: Lillian C. Osborne, 80, of Langley, last Wednesday at Mountain Manor Nursing Home of Pikeville; Haskel Frye Sr., former mayor of Martin, last Wednesday, at Our Lady of the Way Hospital; Ethie Bates, 62, of Wayland, August 6, at the Riverview Manor Nursing Home; Carl Jarrell, 78, of Tram, Tuesday, August 10, at Riverview Manor Nursing Home; Martha Wireman Hopkins, 89, of New Haven, West Virginia, formerly of Estill, August 4, in New Haven. 

(August 11, 1982)

Prospects of an end to the long and bitter dispute over the future of the Martin water system brightened last week, with the signing by officials of Martin and Prestonsburg of a contract providing for use of Prestonsburg water as a backup source of supply for Martin...The threat of a disastrous explosion faced the town of Martin for a time, early Saturday morning, after a fire was reported at the Solo Service Station on Main Street there...State police have been alerted by Mary Anderson, McDowell nurse, that her sister, Zelma Anderson, 53, has been missing since Monday afternoon, August 2, and that efforts of relatives and others to locate her have been fruitless...There died: Floyd Adkins, 73, of Betsy Layne, July 31, in Lexington; Alice M. Hornsby, 86, formerly of Garrett, last Friday, at Riverview Manor Nursing Home; Wanda T. Hall, 70, of McDowell, last Saturday, at St. Josephs Hospital, Lexington; Alex J. Collins Sr., 43, of Endicott, July 30, at Pikeville Methodist Hospital; Manford Lee Boyd, 47, last Wednesday, at his home; Mintie Greer, 85, of Prestonsburg, Monday, at Riverview Manor Nursing Home; Mary Richmond May, well-known Prestonsburg resident, last Friday, following an extended illness; Ishmael Price, 70, retired Harold miner, August 3 at UK Medical Center, Lexington.

(Wednesday, Aug. 4, 1982)

Responding to a plea, made last Friday, at a special ffiscal court meeting by Supt. of Schools, Pete Grigsby Jr. for a share in the “liquor tax,” the court voted to set the tax at 10 percent and to divide the “take” equally between the county and the schools...On the whole, compliance with the new state “tarp” law requiring coal trucks to be covered has been good, but not all “button up” before leaving the loading point; District Judge Harold Stumbo said that “the next no-tarp charge that comes before me, and all others after that, will cost the violater a $500 fine, plus costs.”...The evidence will show that Eddie Slone Jr. shot and killed Paul Douglas Stanley and Terry D. Johnson with a .22 caliber revolver as they approached a house in Wheelwright on the night of January 30, the prosecuting attorney told a circuit court jury here at the opening of Slone’s murder trial, Tuesday...There died: Madie C. Shepherd, 60, of Price, last Thursday at her home; Achilles (Kill) Williams, 67, of Auxier, at Pikeville Methodist Hospital; Worley Kidd, 78, of Harold, last Thursday at Our Lady of the Way Hospital; Evan Tackett, 74, of Teaberry, Thursday at Grandview Hospital in Dayton, Ohio; Lewis Boyd, 93, of Regina, Saturday, at Pikeville Methodist Hospital.

(July 28, 1982)

The murder trial of Edward Slone Jr., of Price, charged in the shooting deaths of two Melvin youths, Terry Johnson and Paul Stanley, at Wheelwright, will be held in this county, ruled Circuit Judge Hollie Conley...A new law that took effect, July 15, stated that coal trucks must have all loose loads covered by tarpaulin...Sterling Hamilton, 55, of Teaberry, was arrested, Friday, and charged with transporting a stolen vehicle and stolen property, interstate. He remains in jail without bond...In going behind closed doors to discuss budget cuts in a remedial reading program, the Floyd County Board of Education apparently violated the state open-meeting law, according to an attorney-general’s opinion...There died: Vina Webb Davis, 71, of Dwale, last Wednesday, at Highlands Regional Medical Center; Harry May, 79, formerly of Abbott Creek, last Thursday, at Fort Logan Hospital; Martha Mollett, 84, formerly of Floyd County, last Saturday, at Albion Community Hospital; Susie Click Pitts Prater, 78, of Manton, last Friday, at Highlands Regional Medical Center; Homer Bentley, 63, of Ashland, formerly of Floyd County, Monday, at King’s Daughters’ Hospital; Virgil Justice, 83, of Harold, last Saturday, at Mountain Manor Nursing Home in Pikeville; Thomas Wilson, 71, of Auxier, last Thursday, at Highlands Regional Medical Center; Myrtle Ann Maynard, 81, of Allen, last Saturday, at Our Lady of the Way Hospital; William Spears, 94, of Emma, last Thursday, at the J.J. Jordan Geriatric Center in Louisa; Bonnie Sue Brookover, 50, formerly of Floyd County, Sunday, at her residence; Hawley Robinson, 71, native of Langley, last Friday, at Albion Community Hospital; Oakie Hall, 59, of Pikeville, native of Floyd County, last week in Pikeville; Roby V. Hamilton, 56, of Saybrook Township, Ohio, last Saturday, at his residence. 

(July 21, 1982)

Price Hall, accused of slaying Ed Ray “Panhandle” Moore and wounding Moore’s two sons, James, 28, and Ricky, 21, in a blood fray, at McDowell, on June 14, was bound over to the grand jury with a $500,000 bond...The Martin Housing Authority will get first option to purchase state property at the mouth of Stephens Branch, and that decision by the state transportation department means that the agency will be able to proceed with plans to build from 60 to 100 low-income housing units on the site...The first raid on an illegal strip mine site under the new law, which became effective only last Thursday, was made in Knott County, Monday, and state and federal agents confiscated $350,000 worth of mining equipment, but the crackdown under the new law is not expected to affect Floyd County mining operations...No county roads will be paved this fiscal year, that is, before July 1, 1983; Judge-Executive Jerry Lafferty Jr., told members of the fiscal court that some patching would be done, but that the county could not afford more extensive road work...There died: Mary Tackett, 82, of Teaberry, Thursday, July 15 at her home; Martha B. Leake, 58, of Prestonsburg, Friday, July 16, at Riverview Manor Nursing Home; Laburn W. Burke, 70, of Catlettsburg, Monday, July 12, in Catlettsburg; Claudette M. Fairchild, 19, of Prestonsburg, Saturday, at Central Baptist Hospital; Ninnie Spears Endicott, 79, of Abbott Creek, Tuesday, July 6, at UK Medical Center; Earl Layne, 86, of Betsy Layne, Friday, at Pikeville Methodist Hospital; Nora Campbell Rose, 69, of Claypool, Indiana, Saturday, at her home; Barbara Hayton, 59, of Racoon, Thursday, July 15, at Pikeville Methodist Hospital; Hattie Barney, 79, of Wayland, Tuesday, July 6, at Highlands Regional Medical Center; Juanita Carroll, 44, of Craynor, Saturday, at Our Lady of the Way Hospital; Dortha W. Allen, 77, formerly of Floyd County, Sunday, in Texas; and Col. T.M. Montgomery, 48, of Prestonsburg, June 26, in Daytona Beach, Florida.

(June 30, 1982)

For the first time in more than 35 years, Floyd County has voted a wet majority. The voting in Tuesday’s election was comparatively, heavy, with a total of 12,187 votes cast, and of this total the Wets had 6,743 votes, to 5,444 for the Dry cause—a Wet majority of 1,299...Just before the start of the Jenny Wiley Summer Music Theatre’s production, “Music Man,” last Thursday evening, the capacity crowd which filled the state park amphitheater was treated to the appearance of Cheryl Ladd, popular television actress and star of a new movie, “Mantrip”...Transportation Secretary Frank Metts has announced the contract letting dates for improvements to remaining sections of U.S. 23, but the Prestonsburg-Paintsville gap remains an “unmentionable”...Arson is suspected in the destruction by fire of three buildings in the county last weekend, and one man has been arrested. Separate blazes on the Spurlock Fork of Left Beaver Creek destroyed the Church of Christ, and gutted the Spurlock Grocery Store, at an estimated loss of $80,000...There died: Henry David Gibson, 13-year-old son of James and Elaine Setser Gibson of Prestonsburg, Tuesday afternoon; Chloe Hall, 93, at Riverview Manor Nursing Home; Eugene Davis, 60, of East Point, at his home; Clay Douglas Martin, 41, formerly of Martin, Monday; Faye V. Dingus, 69, of Martin, Sunday, at the Paintsville Hospital; and Virgil (Dobbin) Rowe, 59, of Langley, Sunday, at the VA Hospital in Lexington.

(June 23, 1982)

Arson and robbery is suspect in the last Tuesday night fire at the Mud Creek Clinic, which destroyed the 20-room main building, a trailer that housed the respiratory therapy unit, all equipment housed in the structures, and nearly 20,000 patients charts...Cisco Neeley, charged with the death in an auto accident, five years ago, of Mrs. Loretta Howard on KY 7, near Hueysville, was convicted, and his pen term was set at 10 years, after the third trial...A dispute between brothers-in-law over the merit of one truck as compared with another, is cited as the probable cause of the fatal stabbing at David last Wednesday, of Milton Charles Lindsey, 27, allegedly by John Dwayne Hill, 18...A 14-year-old Prestonsburg boy died, June 22, and an autopsy is being performed to determine the exact cause of death; it was reported that he and a companion were sniffing gasoline. There died: Arthur Tackett, 38, of Hi Hat, last Saturday, at St. Joseph Hospital in Lexington; Miles Terry, 95, of Dema, last Wednesday, at Highlands Regional Medical Center; Jewell D. Minix, 57, of Chicago, Illinois, June 7; John Trent Salmons, 78, of Indiana, Sunday, in Louisville; Estill Shepherd, 76, of West Prestonsburg, Saturday, at Highlands Regional Medical Center; Russell Crum, of Cynthiana, formerly of Floyd County, June 6; Clay Martin, 41, formerly of Floyd County, Monday; Cora Fife, 76, of Harold, Sunday, at Pikeville Methodist Hospital; Eugene Conley, 69, of Martin, Sunday, at St. Joseph Hospital; and Lucian McCoy, 63, of Prestonsburg, Saturday, at his home.

(June 16, 1982)

For 36 hours, the City of Prestonsburg was without police protection as city police officers went on strike. Striking officers presented grievances to the city council and returned to work...McDowell resident Ray Moore, 53, was killed, and two of his sons, James, 28, and Ricky 21, were shot. Price Hall, 40, of McDowell, was arrested at the scene...Teddy Meade, 21, of Wheelwright, was killed in a motorcycle accident...Three days of searching the Big Sandy River still had not produced the body of Betty Jane Brewer Cole, believed to have fallen into the river at Boldman...A dispute over a cheerleading position at Allen Central High School led to a late- running school board meeting and a possible lawsuit...The Floyd County Fiscal Court approved the new budget for the fiscal year in the amount of $2,293,766...There died: Rhoda Risner Ousley, 69, of Risner, at Our Lady of the Way Hospital; Darkie Alley Elliott, 82, of McDowell, at McDowell Appalachian Regional Hospital; James Farris Mullins, 86, of Wheelwright, at McDowell A.R.H.; Joe Johnson, 63, of Blue River, at Highlands Regional Medical Center; Mrs. Artie S. Moore, 66, of Ypsilanti, Michigan, formerly of Floyd County, at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Superior Township Michigan; George W. Holbrook, 88, of Ada, Ohio, formerly of Magoffin County, at his home; James B. Muncy, 56, of Wayland, at Pikeville Methodist Hospital; and Henry O. Wilson Jr., 58, of Englewood, Ohio, formerly of Martin, at Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton, Ohio.

(June 9, 1982)

Herbert Hoover Hall, 49, is in jail, charged with the murder of his son-in-law, David Akers, 31, after he was shot, late Sunday night, on Tinker Fork of Mud Creek...Andy Ray Newsome of Hi Hat, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for the rape of 10-year-old girl...The third man, Freddie Hunter of Sidney, sought in the alleged May 23 kidnapping-rape of an Auxier girl, was arrested in Pikeville last Wednesday; the other two believed to be part of the kidnapping-rape, Sherman Ray Poston of Wayland, and Edwin Michael Mullins of Ligon, were arrested earlier...There died: Linda L. Clark, 29, of Wabash, Indiana, Sunday in Fort Wayne, Indiana; Frank Moore, 78, of Prestonsburg, May 23, in Virginia; David (Doc) Hutchinson, 90, of Martin, June 1, at his home; Georgia C. Robinson, 74, of Prestonsburg, last Wednesday, at U.K. Medical Center; Sally Hicks Allen, 86, of West Prestonsburg, Friday, at Highlands Regional Medical Center; Greeley Stephens Jr., 48, of Lancer, last Wednesday, at Highlands Regional Medical Center; William (Bill) A. Wright, 47, of Hager Hill, formerly of Floyd County, an route to Paintsville Hospital; Eunice Salyers, 67, of Paintsville, formerly of Floyd County, Thursday, at Paintsville Hospital; Goldie Mae Shufflebarger, 84, of McDowell, Monday, at Riverview Manor Nursing Home.

(June 2, 1982)

A 70-year-old Toler Creek woman, Connie Thacker Bush, was charged with the murder of her husband, John. She was jailed last Saturday, after she allegedly shot and killed him; Bush will first be given psychiatric care to determine is she is mentally competenet to stand trial...In last week’s election, a total of 155 votes were cast—21 fewer than the total number of election officers; in five precincts, Depot, Wayland, Gearheart, Jack’s Creek and Jack Allen—not a vote was cast; the primary was only for Republicans to choose a nominee to oppose incumbent Carl D. Perkins for Seventh District Congressional seat...Ol’ Don Jacobs, Ford-Lincoln-Mercury-Honda agency at Water Gap, closed, Friday, and has terminated its franchise...There died: John Hutton, 92, of McDowell, last Friday, at McDowell Appalachian Regional Hospital; Perry Tackett, 68, of Hillsboro, formerly of Drift, last Saturday, at St. Clair Medical Center in Morehead; Benny Mullett Jr., 48, at his home in Weeksbury, on Tuesday; Garner McKinney, 65, of Michigan, formerly of Floyd County, Tuesday, at the Heritage Hospital in Taylor, Michigan; Kelly Haywood, 72, of Albion, Michigan, formerly of Floyd County, April 3, at the Albion Community Hospital; Sabrina Adkins, infant daughter of Burnis and Peggy Sue Adkins of Galveston, Sunday, at Pikeville Methodist Hospital; Margaret V. Boyd, 98, of Betsy Layne, Saturday, at Mountain Manor Nursing Home in Pikeville; Martha Hopkins Martin, 93, of Melvin, last Saturday, in Mountain Manor Nursing Home, in Pikeville; James Jackson Lewis, 82, of Martin, last Saturday, at McDowell Appalachian Regional Hospital; Josephine Z. Hobson, 73, of Pikeville, last Friday, at Highlands Regional Medical Center; Stella Mae Prater, 77 of North Manchester, Indiana, Monday, at Wabash County Hospital in Indiana; Millie Castle Bowens, 102, May 21, at her residence in Thealka. 

(May 5, 1982)

One dead and six hurt after boats crash on Dewey Lake last Sunday afternoon; Robert Clayton Montgomery, 23, of Paintsville, drowned and six others were injured...A circuit court jury began hearing evidence, Tuesday, on the murder trial of Otis Lee Wallen, who is accused of the shotgun slaying of his neighbor, Paul Edward Mullins, on Town Branch...An East Point woman, Parcella Collins, 37, died Thursday night while on her way home from church, in a two-car crash...Illegal mining practices were cited as cause for the deaths of eight men in a mine near Topmost, and seven in a Mink Branch mine in January...There died: Steve Hamilton, 81, of Martin, last Thursday, at the Mountain Manor Nursing Home; Flauna Hamilton, 60, of Harold, last Thursday, at Pikeville Methodist Hospital; Amos Stumbo, 80, of Price, last Thursday, at the McDowell Appalachian Hospital; Harmel C. Roberts, 68, of Harold, last Thursday at St. Joseph Hospital; Dorothy C. Moore, 65, of McDowell, last Friday, at Our Lady of the Way Hospital; Ted Newman, 73, of Hi Hat, last Friday, at his home.

(Wednesday, April 21, 1982)

A former Martin resident, Sherry Lynn Adams, 27, was one of four women stabbed to death in Georgia...A cheerleading controversy began after a 14-year-old, who was trying out for the Prestonsburg High School cheerleading squad, hit her head on the board, while trying to complete a round-off back handspring...Highlands Regional Medical Center nurses will vote, next week, whether to join a union or not...A Knott County deputy sheriff, Randall Cook, 28, of Topmost, was killed, when his vehicle collied with another at an intersection near Hindman...There died: Tressie Clevinger Collins, 71, of Drift, last Wednsday at U.K. Medical Center; Tom Calhoun, 70, of Prestonsburg, last Thursday at Highlands Regional Medical Center; Aggie Paige, 68, of McDowell, last Thursday, at McDowell Appalachian Regional Medical Center; Cecil M. Sturgill, 67, of Harold, Tuesday, at Our Lady of the Way Hospital; Lillian Pauline Craft, 52, of Estill, last Thursday, at Our Lady of the Way Hospital; Ouida Slone Johnson, 62, of Garrett, last Wednesday, at Louisville; Earl Prater, 62, of Hueysville, last Thursday, in Lexington Manor Nursing Home; Woodrow Boggs, 52, of Prestonsburg, last Wednesday, in Louisa; Fanny Catherine Ward Workman, of Allen, last Friday, at her residence; Mary Jane Hughes, 71, of Martin, Monday, at Riverview Manor Nursing Home; Ammie Johnson, 76, of Abbott Road, Monday, at HRMÇ; Roger Wayne Hall, 30, of Wheelwright, Sunday, in Lexington. 

(April 7, 1982)

Mothers of Floyd County students will challenge a policy regarding early dismissal of students for sports events...Countywide vote slated for June 29 will decide whether to legalize liquor sales in the county...Gypsy Williams Hughes of Ashland, filed a damage suit against S. J. Bradley of Betsy Layne for taking gas from her wells on their adjacent gas leases on Mare Creek...Martin Council Coal, Lee Construction, Triple B. Corp., and its president, Gary Branham, have been named in a $27 million suit for the mine-associated death of George Elmer McGaffee...There died: Anna Howard Scott, 83, of Betsy Layne, March 30 at her residence; Cindy Rose Stidham, 5, of Wayland, Saturday, at McDowell Appalachian Regional Hospital; Virgil (Bowser) Conley, 72, of Garrett, Wednesday, at Pikeville Methodist Hospital; Hershel Ray Hale, 36, of Manton, March 29, at U.K. Medical Center; Nona B. Bentley, 79, of Langley, last Saturday, at Pikeville Methodist Hospital; Billy H. Ward, 60, of McDowell, Sunday, at McDowell Appalachian Regional Hospital; Barbara Coleman Burnette, 28, of Pikeville; last Wednesday, at her home; Joe Wheeler (Smokey Joe) Meadows, 86, of Prestonsburg, last Thursday, at Pikeville Methodist Hospital; Gertrude Bates, 71, of Bevinsville, Monday, at Our Lady of the Way Hospital; and Bennie Sellards, 93, of Endicott, last Friday at his home.

(Wed., March 31, 1982)

Police search for four suspects who robbed the Eastern Heights Motel at Ivel, and bound and gagged the owner, Mrs. Zella Mae Tackett...Water Gap Freewill Baptist Church will be the founder of the new Prestonsburg Christian Academy, projected to start next fall...Newly-built racketball courts at Archer Park stood idle this week while city and state officials argued about who should pay for them...There died: Lack Ferrell, 86, of Goble-Roberts, last Wednesday, at his home; Dallas Gross, 89, of Cowpen, last Thursday, at Pikeville Methodist Hospital; Crystal Dawn Elswick, four-day-old daughter of Hershell and Hazel Elswick of Hi Hat, Monday at U.K. Medical Center; Torrence Wright, 41, died last Thursday in an auto accident; Grover Pratt, 60, formerly of Garrett, died en route to Harrison County Hospital on Tuesday; James Harmon Jr., 52, of Prestonsburg, last Thursday at the Layne House; Melda S. Fannin, 61, of Ohio, formerly of West Prestonsburg, Sunday, of a self-inflicted gunshot wound; and Hershel Ray Hale, 36, of Manton, Monday at U.K. Medical Center.

(March 24, 1982)

Parents in this county considered an alternative to public schools as Rev. Danny Curry had gone public with his plans for starting a “Christian Academy” this year...Charges against hospital workers Larry Daniels and Geneva Skeens, and union organizer Tom Woodruff were dropped on motion of the Commonwealth Attorney James Allen...An earlier order rescinding an earlier order setting April 20 as the date for a local option election in Magisterial District 3 of this county was rescinded by Floyd County Judge-Executive Jerry Laffery Jr., on Tuesday afternoon...Born: a son, Michael Jerome, to Lynn and Clifford J. Schornak of Kennesaw, Georgia, on March 16...There died: Johnny E. Ray, 38, of Wheelwright, last Friday, at McDowell Appalachian Regional Hospital; Emitt Blevins, 79, of McDowell, Friday, at his home; Belle DeRossett Jarrell, 73, of Evansville, Indiana, formerly of Water Gap, Sunday, at the home of her brother; Bessie Dye Bryant, 53, of Printer, Saturday, at Highlands Regional Medical Center; Henry Conn, 78, of Banner, last Wednesday, at Highlands Regional Medical Center; Crystal Leigh Safewright, nine-month-old, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Safewright of Teennessee, died Friday, March 12; Lois C. Johnson, 53, of Eastern, last Friday, at Our Lady of the Way Hospital; Virginia Leonora Adams, 60, of Florida, formerly of Pike County, Sunday; James H. Stambaugh Jr., 58, of Johnson County, March 12, at Veteran’s Hospital in Lexington; Don Mead, 57, of Hi Hat, Sunday, at Our Lady of the Way Hospital.

(March 17, 1982)

Denver Patrick pleaded guilty to murder, and arson charges in Boyle Circuit Court, and was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of James Neimi and 20 years for arson...Glen Hicks, 21, of Johnson County, was convicted of the murder of two men, Steven Sharkey and Raymond Holbrook...Two short roads and three new bridges represent this county‘s share of about 564 projects included in an upcoming five-year state construction program...There died: Olga May Latta, 79, Tuesday, at Riverview Manor Nursing Home; Bryan D. Hall, 6, of Banner, last Thursday, at UK Medical Center; Ulysses Wright, 69, of Milford, Indiana, formerly of Emma, last Wednesday, at Goshen General Hospital; Delilah Osborne, 75, of Hunter, Saturday, at her home; Polly Oiler, 65, of Galveston, Monday at Pikeville Methodist Hospital; James Roberts, 64, of Harold, Tuesday, at his home; Alison Rosetta M. Hecker, five-week-old daughter of Connie Miller and Mark Hecker, of Prestonsburg, Tuesday, at UK Medical Center; Tilda Hamilton, 66, of Teaberry, last Tuesday at Pikeville Methodist Hospital; Troy Hicks, 82, of David, Sunday, at Paintsville Hospital; Jenny Stephens, 84, of Prestonsburg, Tuesday, at Riverview Manor Nursing Home. 

(March 10, 1982)

A Circuit Court jury, Monday, convicted Olive Ann Meade, a Prestonsburg woman, of two counts of assaulting her infant daughter, age two...Arson is suspected after a Right Beaver Creek landmark, former home of Mrs. Beatrice Collins of Prestonsburg, was virtually destroyed by fire, early Monday night...Jeffrey Walter (Jeff) Cochran and his parents, have asked for more than $1 million in a lawsuit for alledged injuries sustained in an explosion at Prestonsburg High School...District Judge Harold Stumbo has refused to lower a $500,000 bond on Ray Newsome, of Melvin, for allegedly raping a 10-year-old girl...There died: Homer Neeley, 69, of Abbott Creek, Monday, at Our Lady of the Way Hospital; Henry D. Gibson, 59, of Tram, Sunday, at Highlands Regional Medical Center; John C. Wakeland, 60, of Pikeville, March 3, at his home; James Little, 58, of Bypro, last Wednesday, at Homestead Nursing Home in Lexington; Hazel T. Howell, 61, of Grethel, last Wednesday at McDowell Hospital; Anna L. Pittman, 98, of Estill, Saturday, February 27, at Riverview Manor Nursing Home; Wayne Conley, 61, of Mousie, February 27, at Potter Clinic; Fannie Bryant, 83, of Melvin, Monday, at Mountain Manor Nursing Home in Pikeville; Jay Stephens, 75, Saturday, at home at Water Gap; Thelma Bragg Korowski, 67, of Green Acres, March 2, at Highlands Regional Medical Center; Opal Stratton Todd, 73, of Ivel, Monday, at home; Benton Hall, 57, of Wayland, last Saturday, at Highlands Regional Medical Center; and Ike Slone, 59, of Middle Creek Road, last Friday, at St. Joseph Hospital in Lexington.

(March 3, 1982)

Elisha Branham Jr., 23, of Prater Creek, pleaded guilty in circuit court, Monday, to charges of murder, kidnapping, and armed robbery in the abduction of 18-year-old Michael Dwayne Cline of Emma, and was sentenced to two life prison terms, plus 20 years...Commodore Lewis Truman, 36-year-old Topmost man, was killed instantly by a rockfall near the entrance of a Toler Creek mine...Arson is cited in a fire at a tipple recently leased by Ray-Mac Mining Company at Simpson’s Branch, near McDowell...Kentucky Black Lung Program is being investigated, with special attention given to the millions of dollars paid to doctors and lawyers under the program...There died: Billy Ray Whitt, 47, of Sugar Loaf, last Thursday, at his home; Charles Reinsmith, 84, of Betsy Layne, Tuesday, at Mountain Manor Nursing Home; Flora Jones, 64, of Melvin, last Thursday, at Riverview Nursing Home; Cliva Jeanette Oaks, 64, of Weeksbury, Friday, at McDowell Appalachian Regional Hospital; Georgia H. Martin, 65, of Dema, last Thursday, at McDowell Appalachian Regional Hospital; Theda D. Hall Branham, 58, of Auxier, last Thursday, at Highlands Regional Medical Center; Melvin Hall, 56, of Galveston, Sunday, at Pikeville Methodist Hospital; Cora K. Hale, 82, of Betsy Layne, February 27, at Pikeville Methodist Hospital; William C. Conley, 22, of Allen, February 26, at University of Kentucky Medical Center; Nova Lee Lovely Hicks, 48, of Garrett, Friday, at University of Kentucky Medical Center.

(February 24, 1982)

An abducted 10-year-old Allen girl, missing nearly 12 hours, was found walking in the vicinity of the Allen Park; she was badly frightened and her clothes had been slashed with a knife...Three Mud Creek men, Tony (19) and Johnny “Buck” (25) Tackett and Melvin Howell (22), were jailed for allegedly beating and stabbing Darrell Hunter, 25, of Printer...Ronald Gullett, 45, of Wheelwright, survived after he came in contact with a power line carrying approximately 45,000 volts of electricity...New South Central Bell opens Prestonsburg Operations Building at Water Gap...There died: Polly Hicks, 62, of Hueysville, Friday, at her home; Troy Calhoun, 76, of Warsaw, Indiana, formerly of Floyd County, Monday, at his home; Robert Keith Osborne, 28, of Azusa, California, formerly of Floyd County, Friday, following a brief illness; Daisy Osborne, native of Floyd County, February 12, in Louisville; Otto Hyden, 76, of Prestonsburg, Sunday, at his home; Lucian Laferty Sr., 68, of Prestonsburg, Thursday, at St. Joseph Hospital; Johnny Neeley, 71, of Abbott, Tuesday, at his home; Edna Mae Martin, 55, of McDowell, Monday, at her home; Minnie Prater, 78, of Greenup, formerly of Hueysville, Friday, at home; and J.C. Finley, 83, of Tennessee, formerly of Wayland, February 14, at Harrisman Hospital.

(February 17, 1982)

Five Knott Countians, including two principals and three former employees of the school system, have filed civil action against the Knott County Board of Education, seeking reinstatement, restitution of wages and benefits, and damages totaling $20,000 each...Ricky Moore, 21, was hit during a flurry of shooting, early Tuesday morning, at a Mud Creek mine site...State Representative Greg Stumbo sought to amend in the House, last week, the Senate redistricting bill which splits Prestonsburg in the apportionment for the 29th and 25th senatorial districts. Stumbo failed by a vote of 35-21...There died: Mollie W. Arnold, 69, of Drift, last Saturday, at Highlands Regional Medical Center; James Rose, 56, of Herrick, Michigan, Monday, February 8; Joseph D. Fitzpatrick, 70, formerly of Floyd County, Feb. 3; Patricia Bentley, 20, of Auxier, Friday, at Highlands Regional Medical Center; Malta W. Baldridge, 83, of East Point, Tuesday, at her home; Evelyn S. Elkins, 75, of Prestonsburg, last Wednesday, at Riverview Manor Nursing Home; Harry M. Porter, 35, of Floyd County, last Wednesday, of a gunshot wound; Anna Wells, 84, of Daniels Creek, last Wednesday, at Highlands Regional Medical Center; Ella Cox Martin, 92, of Wayland, last Friday, at McDowell Appalachian Regional Hospital; Gary Roger Fultz, 36, of Wayland, Monday, at his home; Meecy B. Chaplin, 63, of Florida, Friday, February 5; Jay Branham, 81, of Lackey, last Saturday, at his home; and Paul D. Stanley, 20, of Melvin, Monday, at U.K. Medical Center. 

(February 10, 1982)

The Grand Jury indicted 47, one for murder; Edward Slone Jr., 19, was charged with the slaying of Terry Johnson at Wheelwright...Job Corps anniversary program honors Perkins with an open house and the dedication of the first Job Corps radio station, WCDP, in the nation...The only medical facility in the Wheelwright area will close on March 7, due to declining economy and the lack of funds...There died: John Thurman Hughes, 69, of Florida, last Friday, at Indian River Hospital; Paul D. Stanley, 20, of Melvin, Monday, at U.K. Medical Center; Roger Andrew Hancock, five-year-old son of Roger and Joy Hall Hancock of Prestonsburg, last Thursday at Highlands Regional Medical Center; L. C. Tuttle, 70, of McDowell, Tuesday at U.K. Medical Center; Susan Hughes, 87, of Willard, Ohio, Thursday, at her home; Spicy M. Blevins, 74, of Prestonsburg, last Wednesday, at Riverview Manor Nursing Home; Martha Collett, infant daughter of Larry and Maggie Caudill Collett of Garrett, stillborn Tuesday, at Our Lady of the Way Hospital; Wilbur G. Stiles, 81, of Prestonsburg, last Wednesday, at U.K. Medical Center; John E. Layne, 90, of Ashland, last Wednesday at Ashland Nursing Home; Daniel Minix, 31, last Monday in a mine accident; Oliver Chaffins, 82, of Garrett, last Saturday at Highlands Regional Medical Center; Tameric M. Howell, eight-months-old daughter of Michael and Tammy Evans owell of Grethel, last Friday at U.K. Medical Center; William L. Orsborne, 52, of Ashtabula, Ohio, formerly of Floyd County, last Wednesday at Ashtabula General Hospital; Gussie F. Dorton, 85, of Wise, Virginia, last Saturday, in Dayton, Ohio; Nute Neeley, 78, native of Abbott Creek, Jan. 29, in Virginia; Ben Mullett, 80, of Weeksbury, last Friday, at McDowell Appalachian Regional Hospital; Ross C. Lyon, 88, of East Point, Saturday, at Paintsville Hospital; Henry Clay Patton, 86, of Eastern, Tuesday, at his home; Lillie M. Clark, 89, of Harold, formerly of Prestonsburg, Saturday, at Riverview Nursing Home; Sally S. Slone, 83, of Michigan, January 26; Fred Miller Jr., 54, native of Floyd County, Tuesday, in an explosion; and Estill Johnson, 57, of Detroit, Michigan, December 20, at his home.

(February 3, 1962)

The county road fund bankrupted and the fiscal court had to lay off 24 employees temporarily...Terry D. Johnson, of Melvin, was killed by shots from a .22-calibre revolver; Paul D. Stanley, of Melvin, was shot one time and is in critical condition at the U.K. Medical Center; and Edward Slone Jr., of Price, was jailed as the gunman for the Saturday morning shooting...James M. Noel plead guilty to the murder of James T. Neimi of Wayland and arson. He was sentenced to life in prison...There died: Bill Butts, 65, of Ivel, Saturday, at VA Hospital in Lexington; Luella Martin, 76, of Minnie, last Friday, at McDowell Appalachian Regional Hospital; Jesse T. Blankenship, 43, of Grove City, Ohio, formerly of Floyd County, Tuesday, at Mount Carmel Hospital West in Columbus; Gladys P. Porter, 63, of Martin, Friday, at U.K. Medical Center; Mary S. Vastano Webb, 60, of Lima, Ohio, formerly of Floyd County, last Wednesday, at St. Rita’s Hospital in Lima; Arnold L. Robinette, 78, of Banner, Monday, at home; Daisy McCoy, 72, of East Point, Tuesday, at her residence; Edith Hall Martin, 69, of Galveston, last Wednesday, at Our Lady of the Way Hospital; and Sally S. Campbell, 70, of New Jersey, formerly of David, Tuesday, at her residence.

(January 27, 1982)

A trailer fire claimed the life of Charles Edward Justice, II, 19 years old, when the trailer of his parents caught on fire. Justice and his sister were at home alone. His sister received only minor burns...A Mink Branch mine blast claimed the lives of seven, Jack Hamilton, 36, Burnis Hamilton, 31, Wade Hamilton, 23, Donald Ray Hamilton, 39, Palmer McKinney, 26, Thurman Reynolds, 25, and Ronnie Hall, 25, on Wednesday. The funeral for the seven miners killed in the blast will be Sunday...Governor John Y. Brown named three Floyd County men to a deep mine safety panel due in part to the recent blast that killed seven men...There died: Donald R. Martin, 41, of Printer, last Tuesday en route to McDowell Appalachian Regional Hospital; Margaret Salyer, 73, of Paintsville, Sunday, at Paintsville Hospital; Haze “Rex” Reynolds, 48, of Ypsilanti, Michigan, formerly of Floyd County, January 14, in St. Joseph Mercy Hospital; Edna McKinney,59, of Printer, last Tuesday, at U.K. Medical Center, Fay A. Wright, 70, of Ashland, Sunday at her home; Ransom Marcum, 84, of Columbus, Ohio, formerly of Floyd County, Monday in Columbus; Roxanne R. Hall, 15, of Galveston, Monday at Pikeville Methodist Hospital; Lewis Conley, 73, of Wheelwright, Saturday, at McDowell Appalachian Regional Hospital; Pearl G. Crum, 74, of Prestonsburg, last Thursday at St. Joseph Hospital; Ernest Baldridge, 86, of Ashland, formerly of Prestonsburg, Friday, at Elmwood Village Nursing Home; Rinia M. Hall, 62, of Dwale, last Friday, at Highlands Regional Medical Center.

(January 20, 1982)

Razing of the old Chessie System rail depot at West Prestonsburg began some ten days ago. The levelling of Garfield Place began Monday...Schools closed for 13 days as record breaking cold and heavy snow covered Floyd County, the thermometer dropped to 8 below...Floyd teacher, Sandy Boyd of Dana, who was charged with giving a student marijuana to sell was cleared, as the student confessed that he lied...William Okie Bevins, accused of killing five people and assaulting three others at Allen, was granted a change of venue. Bevins will stand trial in Greenup County...There died: Charles Clark, former Superintendent of Floyd County Schools, Wednesday, at Highlands Regional Medical Center; Mack Little, 66, of Melvin, last Friday at UK Medical Center; Sol Tackett, 100, of Kite, Saturday, at his home; Stella Mullett, 63, of Auxier, Monday, at Highlands Regional Medical Center; Martha B. Butcher, 66, of McDowell, last Wednesday, at McDowell Appalachian Regional Hospital; Charles Hughes, 58, of Prestonsburg, last Wednesday, at Highlands Regional Medical Center; Martin E. Bley, 40, of Arvilla, Indiana, formerly of Floyd County, last Friday, at Kendallville Nursing Home; Clarence (Chigger) Lewis, 80, of Banner, Sunday, at Highlands Regional Medical Center; James G. Richmond, 63, of Paintsville, Monday, at Paintsville Hospital; Tony Isaacs, 55, of Teaberry, last Thursday, in Louisa Community Hospital; Siddie Reed Hughes, 81, of Hueysville, last Friday, at Our Lady of the Way Hospital; Arnold Thornsberry, 62, of Kite, last Friday, at McDowell Appalachian Regional Hospital; and Lula B. Harvey, 85, of Honaker, Monday, at Highlands Regional Medical Center.

(January 13, 1982)

John Henry Newsome ended his long plea holdout and pled guilty to manslaughter and is now a free man. He accepted his 15-year jail term, but since he already had served five years he was eligible for parole...William Oakie Bevins, accused slayer of five men at Allen last October asked for change of venue since he feels he could not receive a fair trial here...Ralph Gene Rowe of Martin was wounded by a shotgun blast and Thomas Bartrum of Martin was jailed for allegedly shooting Rowe...Senate district plans draw fire as Prestonsburg may be split between senatorial districts 25 and 29...There died: Ted Miller, 77, of Prestonsburg, Sunday at his residence; Milton (Bill) Osborne, 85, of Hi Hat, Monday at McDowell Appalachian Regional Hospital; South Arnett, 50, of Menifee County, last Wednesday at Blue Sky Motel; William James Caudill, 77, of Melvin, Friday at McDowell Appalachian Regional Hospital; Emma Akers Compton, 86, of Prestonsburg, Sunday at Riverview Manor Nursing Home; Charles C. Rowe, 49,of Clarksville, Tennessee, native of Floyd County, Sunday, at Veterans Hospital in Tennessee; Laura T. Ramey, 54, of Hueysville, last Thursday at U.K. Medical Center; Tilton Hall, 66, of Roseville, Michigan, January 2 at St. Joseph West Hospital; Sallye G. L. Clark, 71, of Prestonsburg, Sunday at U.K. Medical Center; Melvina H. Price, 79, of Prestonsburg, Sunday at Riverview Manor Nursing Home; John M. Stewart, 66, of Marietta, Ohio, formerly of Estill, Sunday at Memorial Hospital; and Bertha Ann Mitchell, 70, of Teaberry, Monday at her residence.

(December 23, 1981)

The death penalty will be asked in the trials of four Floyd County men, Denver Patrick, Otis Lee Wallen, Elijah Branham Jr., and James Noel...Torrence Wright, 41, formerly of Printer, was convicted by circuit court for murdering his wife, Barbara Wright, and sentenced to 20 years in prison...Robert Craft Sr., 64, of West Prestonsburg was returned to jail after he had been released for medical treatment, for the shooting of Prestonsburg City Police Chief Keith Lawson in March 1980...Kentucky Department of Mines reached the conclusion that a misfire was the cause of a blast that killed eight at the Adkins Coal Company Mine at Topmost...There died: Junior N. Napier, 77, of Martin, Saturday, at Our Lady of the Way Hospital; Jenny Owens, 68, of Banner, last Wednesday, at Our Lady of the Way Hospital; Orville Moore, 72, of Price, last Thursday, at Pikeville Methodist Hospital; John C. McNeil Jr., 69, of Knoxville, Tennessee, formerly of Wheelwright, December 8, at Serene Manor Nursing Home; Ida Bentley Shumate, 56, of Flatwoods, formerly of Wheelwright, Sunday, at Our Lady of the Way; Lucy Whitaker Hackworth, 73, of Abbott Road, last Wednesday, at HRMC; Linzy Hicks, 92, of Garrett, Tuesday at Knott Health Care Center; Maggie Ousley Hicks, 53, of Middle Creek, Sunday, at Highlands Regional Medical Center.

(December 16, 1981)

Magoffin crash claimed the lives of four, Harold Dean Howard, Eddie Montogomery, Patty Howard, and Jason Edward, seventeen-month-old infant, in a two-car collision near Salyersville...Trial of Torrence Wright, 40, of Printer, accused of killing his wife, Barbara, 37, at their home, enters day three...Drug raid results in the arrest of three men, Lonnie Neeley, 26, Tommy Minix, 30, and David Pack, 32, and the confiscation of more drugs...Fire levels a 72-year-old church at Hueysville, last Thursday, apparently caused by a gas furnace...There died: James Leslie Arthur, 56, of Allen; Wayne Martin Sr., 66, of Dema; Rose M. Tackett, 70, of Green Acres; John Milton Stumbo, 70, of McDowell; Dewey Hunt, 83, of Prestonsburg; James Boyd Timmons, 61, of Lima, Ohio; Sarah Hale, 88, of Risner; Claybourne Stephens, 72, of Allen; Paul B. Akers, 63, of Dana; Draxie Collins, 51, of Lexington, formerly of Melvin; Henry Ousley, 82, of Hippo; Sherrill Haywood, 67, of El Paso, Texas, formerly of Floyd County; Arch Bayes, 72, of Ivel; Maryland (Bird) Hall, 102, of Florida, formerly of Kite; and Jim Steele, 79, of Harold.

(December 9, 1981)

Explosion a half-mile inside a Knott County hillside mine claimed the lives of eight miners, one of whom was a Floyd County man, Keith Crager, 25, of Hueysville...Tony Baril, accused of murder, won his freedom after more than 3 years in prison while his case was wandering through the courts...Two Floyd men and a third Pike County man, were arrested as members of an auto theft ring, after 10 luxury-type cars had been recovered in Pike County...John Hall was arrested by state police after he allegedly shot his wife, Verna Cantrell Hall, once in the chest at their residence...There died: Lula Mullins Patton, 71, of Garrett, Tuesday, at her residence; Elsie T. Whitaker, 79, of Middle Creek Road, last Monday, at Pikeville Methodist Hospital; Bonnie B. Bottomley, 52, of Eaton Rapids, Michigan, formerly of Floyd County, Tuesday, at Sparrow Hospital in Lansing, Michigan; Ethel Gravely Heinze, 92, Tuesday, at Highlands Regional Medical Center; John Kidd, 90, of Printer, last Saturday, at Mountain Manor Nursing Home; Nannie J. Spears, 69, of Honaker, last Saturday, at Our Lady of the Way Hospital; Keith Crager, 25, of Hueysville, Monday, in an explosion at Adkins Mining Company mine at Topmost; John C. Janow, 62, of Eastern, Tuesday, at Our Lady of the Way Hospital; Paul “Catfish” Pittman, 47, of Louisville, formerly of Wayland, last Thursday, at Veteran’s Hospital in Lexington; Birdie G. Parks, 77, of Harrisburg, Penn., formerly of Floyd County, December 3, in Pennsylvania; Ida Bentley Shumake, 56, of Flatwoods, formerly of Virgie, Sunday, at Our Lady of the Way Hospital; and Charlie Lee Conn, 86, of Dana, last Friday, at Pikeville Methodist Hospital.

(December 2, 1981)

Special prosecutors will be asked in two cases, one—Torrence Wright, accused in the death of his wife, Barbara; and two—Ann Meade, accused in the assault of her infant daughter...Arson is suspected in the fire at Ray and Anita’s Restaurant at Hite last Tuesday night...One injured in accident near the “Y” in Martin after a car reportedly pulled into the path of an oncoming 18-wheel tractor trailer driven by Greg Mullins of Jenkins...Handicapped and elderly topped the list as Floyd County Rural Development Committee was asked to list the area’s needs in order of urgency...There died: Lula M. Patton, 71, of Garrett, Tuesday, at her home; Elsie T. Whitaker, 79, of Middle Creek, Monday, at Pikeville Methodist Hospital; Maxilene Jones, 31, of Grethel, Monday, at McDowell Appalachian Regional Hospital; Della Newsome, 80, of Ligon, Thursday, at her home; Martella Hall, 79, of Melvin, Monday, at Mountain Manor Nursing Home in Pikeville; Scott Alan Fitch, 4, of Butler, Indiana, Wednesday, at DeKald Memorial Hospital in Indiana; Edward Isaac, 62, of Bevinsville, Tuesday, at his residence; Zonia D. Williamson, 73, of Auxier, at her residence; Belle Scutchfield, 81, of Water Gap, Wednesday, at Riverview Manor Nursing Home; Everett F. Martin, 65, of Orient, Ohio, formerly of Drift, Tuesday, at Mt. Carmel Hospital in Ohio; L. R. Johnson, 84, Monday, at his home; Odis Miller, 68, of Ligon, Thursday, at McDowell Appalachian Regional Hospital; Ozni E. Allen, 78, of Hampton, Virginia, November 7, in Langley Air Force Base Hospital; and Clara Webb Butcher, 69, formerly of Butcher Hollow, and the mother of Loretta Lynn and Crystal Gayle, died last week in the Parkway Hospital in Tennessee.

(November 25, 1981)

Floyd Fiscal Court adopted a building code, heard a final report on a proposed county bus system, and argued the merits of abandoning the county’s TV franchise system...Keith Shannon Alley, 48, of Auxier Heights, was killed and three others were slightly injured in an auto-truck collision on U.S. 23...The goal of a statewide proposal to channel federal block-grant funds into in-home services for people who might otherwise have to be admitted to nursing homes is to help elderly people manage at home with a little help from social service agencies...Mining industry representatives from several foreign countries and various sections of the United States joined in a discussion of mine safety last week...Owners of a Prestonsburg coal mine last week applied to the city council for a zoning change which would alter classification of the 25-acre site, just north of Ball Alley curve...There died: Trixie L. B. Nichols, 78, of Prestonsburg, at the home of her daughter; Orville Clark Sr., 78, formerly Floyd Countian, November 11, at the Methodist Hospital; Rodney Lee, infant son of Roger Lee Tackett and Debra Cheryl McKinney Tackett, Friday; Grace Layne Burke, 80, well-known Prestonsburg woman, Saturday, at her home; Dixie Burchett, 64, of Prestonsburg, Wednesday, at Our Lady of the Way Hospital; Arlee Kiser, 59, of Beaver, Saturday, at his home; Clova Moore Howell, 52, of East McDowell, Monday, at Our Lady of the Way Hospital.

(November 18, 1981)

Circuit Judge Hollie Conley denied a request by the City of Prestonsburg for a restraining order that would have prevented county authorities from reopening the juvenile detention center until fire code violations are corrected...Sam Martin III and Fred Hall announced their plan to spend up to $15 million to convert small pockets of natural gas into a highly profitable production...Trial of Sandy Boyd of Dana on charges of selling marijuana to a high school student has been scheduled for November 23...Sterling Hamilton was convicted of obstructing justice and sentenced to 18 months in prison...Rev. W.D. Jaggers was elected president of Kentucky Baptist Convention...District Judge Harold Stumbo agreed to dismiss 39 misdemeanor charges arising from a labor dispute at Highlands Hospital...There died: Miley Prater, 84, at his home at David, Tuesday; George K. Symon, 70, former Martin resident at his home, Sunday; John M. Slone, 82, former David resident, Thursday, in Indiana; Jim Johnson, 37, Tuesday, at his home at Banner; Boyd Thornsbury, 64, of Melvin, at McDowell Appalachian Regional Hospital, November 9; Rosy W. Burchett, 85, of Auxier Road, Wednesday, at Highlands Regional Medical Center; William C. Pauley, 66, Pikeville civic leader, Wednesday, at the Methodist Hospital.

(November 11, 1981)

Even as he received sentencing Monday for his part in a stolen dynamite pact, Teaberry coal operator Sterling Hamilton, 54, faced trial in U.S. District Court in Pikeville on a charge of obstructing justice...A Floyd Circuit Court jury late Tuesday found a Pike County man, Glen Alan Keene, guilty of second degree burglary after he broke into the home of Ruth Meade at Hi Hat...Floyd native John Marvin Johnson unveiled his revolutionary automobile at Allen Central High School last week...William Okie Bevins, the 70-year-old Printer man who is being held in the Laurel County jail for safekeeping, accused of the mass slaying of five men at Allen last month, pleaded not guilty at his arraignment Monday...The murder trial of James Noel, accused of the arson-murder at Wayland of James T. Neimi, has been postponed from late this month till February...According to a verbal report by engineers, there is “nothing wrong with the stability” of Allen Grade School, Supt. E.P. Grigsby Jr. said Monday...After consulting a geologist and a veteran driller, the Prestonsburg Utilities Commission decided last week to accept what it had and not to attempt to increase the volume of gas from the well drilled at Cliff...There died: Burnis Stephens, 68, of Allen, Thursday, at Highlands Regional Medical Center; Junie D. Prater, 65, formerly of Risner, October 20, at Wabash County Hospital; Richard Horne, 78, former Floyd Countian, Friday, at Hardin Memorial Hospital in Kenton, Ohio; Frankie M. Hamilton, 78, of Beaver, Wednesday, at Riverview Manor Nursing Home; Blanche Porter, 70, native Floyd Countian, Friday, at her home in Louisa; Rufus Palmer Newsome, 49, of Teaberry, Monday, at his home; Ethel Moore Cooper, 63, of Martin, Friday, at McDowell Appalachian Regional Hospital; Susanna Isaac, 83, of Bevinsville, Tuesday, at Riverview Manor Nursing Home; Bonnie P. Powers, 66, of Auxier, Sunday, at Highlands Regional Medical Center; and Gordie Robinson, 76, of Pikeville, Monday, at the Methodist Hospital.

(November 4, 1981)

The City of Prestonsburg and its Utilities Commission have a “paying” gas well to supplement their supply of natural gas...Prestonsburg and Martin Councils chosen in Tepid Election as votes reject succession 2 to 1...Inspector, Larry Adams, says building is unsafe for juveniles but officials are enthusiastic that the facility may return to use within the next few weeks...After a two-day trial U.S. District Court jury found four Floyd County men guilty of taking part in a plan to steal dynamite...There died: Bill Newsome, 62, of Ligon, died Thursday, following an extended illness...Imalee W. Spillman, 65, died Sunday at Glen Lodge Nursing Home in Winchester...Cecil Newsome, 64, of Floyd County, died October 14 at his home...Darrell W. Mutter, 31, of Harlingen, Texas, formerly of Floyd County, died Friday in Harlingen...Herman Likens, 47, of Wadsworth, Oh., died suddenly Saturday at the Wadsworth Rittman Hospital...Ollie Whitaker Handy, 78, Hueysville, Friday at Our Lady of The Way following a brief illness...Ernest Lee, 68, Stone Coal, Wednesday, October 21, in New York...Essie Johnson, 81, of Wheelwright, died October 25, at the Knott County Health Care Center in Hindman...Bonnie B. Holt, 52, of Ashtabula, Oh., formerly of Floyd County, died Saturday, at the Ashtabula General Hospital.

(Oct. 28, 1981)

The accused slayer, William O. Bevins, claims memory lapse and has one wish; that he would like Lester Burns, a well-known criminal lawyer, to defend him—and he does...City races add spice to a dull campaign as Tuesday’s vote may be lower than average...Deputy Transportation Secretary, Clair R. Nichols, announced that U.S. 23 will be widened to include a center turn lane between Prestonsburg High School and Prestonsburg Community College...After five months in business, the efficiency of the county garbage collection system is “improving by leaps and bounds”...Martin’s police chief was fired Thursday, the latest move in a protracted dispute between the lawman and the city’s mayor...Halloween mischief makers may have to contend with the law, according to a policy announced by the Mayor...There died: Grace Stanley, 77, Friday, at her home; Goble “Jack” Branham, Jr., 54, of Westwood, formerly of Prestonsburg, Sunday, at King’s Daughters’ Hospital; Johnie B. Bolen, 37, of Garrett, Tuesday, at Highlands Regional Medical Center after a brief illness; Willis Sunter, 66, of Harold, Tuesday, at his home; Goldie H. Kendrick, 76, of New York, Tuesday, at St. Mary’s Hospital, following a long illness; Kendall Combs, 63, of Burnside, formerly of Wayland, Tuesday, at Lake Cumberland Medical Center; David R. Leslie, II, 18, died Monday; Henry Little, 64, of Wheelwright, Tuesday, at McDowell Appalachian Regional Hospital, following a brief illness; Sarah Jane Keathley, 96, of Allen, Wednesday, at Mountain Manor Nursing Home; Basil Hamilton, 91, of Harold, Sunday, at Mountain Manor Nursing Home; Laura G. Fraley, 91, of Drift, Tuesday, at Louisa Community Hospital; Virginia Idola Thompson, 67, of Prestonsburg, Sunday, at Kettering Memorial Hospital, in Ohio; Jesse J. Hopper, 79, of Lackey, Tuesday, at Our Lady of the Way Hospital; and Sally Vicars Dotson, 79, of Pikeville, Thursday at Pikeville Methodist Hospital.

(October 21, 1981)

Jury indicts gunman, William O. Bevins, 70, of Printer, after killing five men and wounding three others at an Allen parts store...Juvenile center will reopen, due in part, to the combined efforts of the surrounding counties...Mayor-Police rift widens as Mayor Larry B. Hall says city will no longer be responsible for purchases made by Police Chief Hershel Lester...Red, White, and Blue draws biggest crowd Martin has ever had and Gov. John Y. Brown Jr. was there to cut the “world’s biggest” Freedom cake...Funds reduced that financed water, sewerage and housing projects...Kendall Sexton is the newly appointed State Director of the Farmers Home Administration...There died: Joner L. Reffitt, 77, of Risner, Monday, at Highlands Regional Medical Center; Golda C. Thomas, 80, of Allen, October 14, at Highlands Regional Medical Center...Lina G. Johnson, 46, of Columbus, Ohio, formerly of Floyd County, October 14, at Doctor’s Hospital North in Columbus; Margaret H. Nicholas, 81, of Prestonsburg, formerly of Lancaster, Saturday at Highlands Regional Medical Center; Ella Boyd, 90, of Harold, Pike County native, October 10, at Columbus (Ohio) Rest Home; Lena C. Hall, 70, of Melvin, Saturday, at Our Lady of the Way Hospital; Willard Alexander, 74, of Auxier, October 16, at Highlands Regional Medical Center; Russell Moore, 68, of Bermuda Drive, Marion, Ohio, Sunday, at Marion General Hospital; George Rogers, 97, Galveston, October 17, at Riverview Manor Nursing Home; Robert Hicks, 78, McDowell, Friday, at McDowell Regional Hospital; Mary K. Hull, 38, of Columbia, Tennessee, formerly of Floyd County, Tuesday, at Maury County Hospital; John B. Frasure, 80, Harold, Saturday, at Mountain Manor Nursing Home of Pike County; Jarvey Hamilton, 27, of Grethel, Friday, from a shooting at Allen Mountain Truck Parts; Roger D. Click, 28, of Allen, Friday, from a shooting at Allen Mountain Truck Parts; Michael J. Halbert, 28, of Martin, Friday from a shooting at Allen Mountain Truck Parts; Rufus Hamilton, 42, of Ligon, Friday, from a shooting at Allen Mountain Truck Parts; Rogert Hatfield, 34, of Mohawk, West Virginia, Frida, from a shooting at Allen Mountain Truck Parts; Cecil Osborne, Jr. II, a sixth grader died Sunday, enroute to the UK Medical Center.

(October 14, 1981)

James M. Noel, accused slayer of James T. Neimi in an alleged conspiracy to collect insurance, was returned to the Floyd County jail last Wednesday...Administrative Law Judge David Torbett, ruled that Dinco Coal Sales tipple, shut down, July 20, by a US Office of Surface Mining inspector, may resume operations...Kenneth Roberts, Democratic nominee for Magistrate in District 2, filed suit in Floyd Circuit Court to prevent one of his defeated primary opponents, Birchell Duff, from running against him in the November election...Cableentertainment Inc., purchasers of the Flanery and Dingus system, recently proposed adding two channels for an increase of $2.25 per month...Students will have priority right to use school gyms, according to a policy adopted by the Board of Education last week...Governor and Mrs. John Y. Brown Jr. plan to attend the Red, White, and Blue Day Saturday...There died: Annie Music, 87, of Auxier Road, Monday, at Highlands Regional Medical Center; Rhoda J. Kidd, 79, of Honaker, Tuesday, at Pikeville Methodist Hospital; Bobby Wayne Hall, 18, of Clay City, October 11, in Clay City; David Richard Leslie II, of Prestonsburg, Friday, in Tennessee; Faye Burchett, 72, of Emma, Thursday, at Good Samaritan Hospital; Sally Joe Elliott, 45, of Wyandotte, Michigan, Tuesday, in Michigan; Malcom Miller, 69, of Piketon, Ohio, October 7, in Pike County; Vinson Shepherd, 81, of West Prestonsburg, October 7, at Riverview Manor Nursing Home.

(October 7, 1981)

Ray Fields, Republican nominee for Sheriff in Martin County, is in a Huntington, West Virginia, hospital with two high-powered rifle wounds, and his Independent opponent for the office, Alvin Davis, is in jail here, charged with the shooting...Harless “Baldy” Hall of Drift, was jailed here, Sunday night, by State Detective Danny Stumbo, a few hours after Hall’s nephew, 17-year-old Brian Birdsell, has been shot and critically wounded inside Hall’s store. Hall denies anything to do with wounding his nephew, and claims it was the result of a robbery attempt on his store...A slag pile in Baptist Bottom continues to burn, although smoke was first noticed on August 4, and at least two state environmental agencies have issued citations...The hearing to determine whether or not to lift a suspension on the operation of Dinco Coal Sales Inc., tiple at Dinwood, imposed due to the lack of necessary waivers for operating in a residential neighborhood, will be heard today in circuit court...A Harold miner’s struggle to prove he was wrongly fired by a Pike County coal company more than four years ago, ended in victory last week, when a judge found in his favor, ordering the company to reinstate him with back pay...There died: Bee Wicker, 94, of Langley, last Friday, at Our Lady of the Way Hospital, Martin; Claude Prater, 74, of Hueysville, Sunday, at the home of his daughter; Elmer William “Bill” Zenz, 57, of Prestonsburg, October 2, at the VA Hospital in Huntington, West Virginia; Ethel Carter Powers, 92, of Prestonsburg, September 8, at Riverview Manor Nursing Home; Charlie Johnson, 88, of Dwale, Thursday, at Our Lady of the Way Hospital; Marian Estella Wilson of Louisville, former Prestonsburg resident and teacher, on Thursday, at her home; George L. Ramey, 76, of East Point, on September 23, at St. Mary’s Hospital, Huntington, West Virginia.

(September 30, 1981)

The Sheriff’s office added another room to the courthouse this week for the storage of confiscated liquors...The operators of Cliffside Housing Complex were instructed to lift a curfew for young tenants by the Dept. of Housing and Urban Development...Gov. John Y. Brown Jr., held a question and answer session for the economic preservation of Floyd County...Raymond Little was found guilty on two counts of reckless homicide in the shooting deaths of Estil and Major Thornsberry...Ordinance was passed giving the local cable system operators permission to raise the prices of cable service as they saw fit...Cycle Hillclimb was held in memory of the 17-year-old Floyd County youth slayed in a gas station robbery by Elisha Branham Jr., of Prater Creek...The body of 25-year-old Clinard James Jr. of Powell Creek was recovered 10 hours after the roof at the Big Ridge Coal Mines, near Brushy, caved in...There died: Tom Hunter, 78, of Honaker, Sunday, at Our Lady of the Way Hospital in Martin; Fonnie M. Carroll, 58, of Martin, Friday, at Our Lady of the Way Hospital; James A. Dillon, 69, of Ivel, Sunday, at Central Baptist Hospital in Lexington; Merlin Crum, 54, of Martin, Saturday, at Good Samaritan Hospital in Lexinton; Verlin Slone, 65, of Mallie, Wednesday, at Our Lady of the Way Hospital; James R. Prater, 77, of Willard, Ohio, Saturday at Willard, Ohio. 

(September 16, 1981)

A jurisdiction dispute in the murder case, of a kidnapped Emma youth, Micahel Dwayne Cline, led to no indictment from the grand jury of Elisha Branham Jr., 23, of Prater Creek. However, the jury may be called in again to decide the case since jurisdiction has now been established...Some 782 of the 9983 Floyd Countians on various welfare programs will be taken off the roles, because of federal budget cut backs to take affect next month...In an unanticipated switch that has left some Prestonsburg officials angry, it was announced this week that Red, White and Blue Day is to be held this year in Martin...A father has filed a civil suit against Allen Central High School this week, claiming his daughter should be appointed to one of the two positions now vacant on the cheerleading squad. Elizabeth Anne Halbert was ranked 11th on the vote for a 10-member squad and is therefore an eligible alternate, Hubert Halbert claims...While other Kentucky counties are reportedly giving in to state pressure to join district health departments, Floyd will apparently remain intransigent...State and Federal investigators have begun the task of attempting to identify the person who placed an explosive devise on the hood of Ron G. Nance’s car, causing damage to the vehicle and nearby home. Nance, a Prestonsburg resident and manager of field operations for Hiller Fuels Inc., was vacationing in Greensboro, North Carolina, at the time of the blast...There died: Willard “Goat” Burchett, 70, of Prestonsburg, Friday, of an apparent heart attack; Alice Caudill, 79, of Auxier, Monday, August 31, at Riverview Manor Nursing Home; Earl Combs, 90, of Raven, Thursday, at Pikeville Methodist Hospital; Goldie Wells Goble, 71, of Prestonsburg, last Thursday at King’s Daughters’ Hospital in Ashland; Phoebe Jane Tackett, 86, of Stanville, Sunday at Our Lady of the Way Hospital; Creed Prater, 57, of Rome City, Indiana, formerly of Hueysville, last Wednesday at his home.

(September 9, 1981)

In an amended plan submitted by the slate for local school board comment, top priority for school construction was given to a new Middle School in the Prestonsburg area...Results of a school test administered in the spring show Kentucky students scoring above the national average, but Floyd students lagging well behind...Kentucky State Police have been notified of the arrest, at Huntington, Indiana, of two men who are beleived responsible for burglaries of post offices at Price and Minnie...The Floyd County Board of Education should not adopt a rule requiring the dismissal of a teacher who admits using illegal drugs, according to an opinion by the state Attorney-General...“It’s rough,” was new Sheriff Henry Hale’s description of his job last Friday, two days after he had been inducted into office to fill the vacancy space created by the resignation of Sheriff Doug Lewis...Jenny Wiley State Park amphitheatre will be the site of the 16th annual Kentucky Highlands Folk Festival...There died: Narcie Harris Kendrick, 75, of Lancer, Sunday, at Riverview Manor Nursing Home; Raymond B. Woods, 66, of Emma, Saturday, at Highlands Regional Medical Center; William Robert Smith, 50, of Weeksbury, Saturday, at McDowell Appalachian Regional Hospital; Darcus Patton Cole, 78, of Allen, Wednesday, at Methodist Hospital; Martha B. Cooley, 88, formerly of Wayland, Tuesday, at Highlands Regional Medical Center; Guy E. (Serge) Daniels, 73, of Garrett, Thursday, at Good Samaritan Hospital; Everett Ratliff, 78, of Martin, Tuesday, at Highlands Regional Medical Center; Garner D. Crager, 46, of Wayland, Tuesday, at McDowell.

(September 2, 1981)

Elisha Branham Jr., 23, of Prater Creek who at one time was feared a victim along with Michael Dwayne Cline in the Allen service station robbery, has confessed that he was the 17-year-old Cline’s slayer...Work was begun, June 1, toward the long-planned expansion of water plant facilities here, and the extension of service to customers as far distant as Mare Creek...Floyd County Solid Waste, Inc., filed suit in circuit court, Friday, to block Paul Slone, an independent collector from doing business in the county in another attempt to secure total control of solid waste collection and disposal here...Can administration of a public housing project legally impose a curfew on their tenants? That question may be tested in court here soon, as a family facing eviction from the Cliffside housing project vows it will fight to stay on there...Doug Lewis resigned the office of Sheriff on Monday, to devote his full time to the Christian Ministry. Judge Wells said he will appoint Henry C. Hale, of Blue River, a former Floyd Sheriff, and apparent sheriff-elect to serve the four months of the unexpired term...An automobile, which its inventor says, will run no less than 100 miles on one gallon of gas, will have its premiere exhibit on the afternoon of November 7, at the Melvin School which its inventor once attended...There died: Arval Moore Jr., 47, of Price, at Our Lady of the Way Hospital at Martin last Thursday; Willie Holbrook, 65, of Middle Creek Road, last Friday, at Highlands Regonal Medical Center; Joann M. Allen, 65, of Martin, Thursday, at Salyersville Health Care Center; Zelda L. Lafferty, 72, of Martin, Thursday, at her home; William D. Robinette, 94, of Harold, Friday, at Mountain Manor Nursing Home; Mary F. Fogarty, 84, of Prestonsburg, Friday, at Riverview Manor Nursing Home; William F. Hall, 61, of Taylor, Michigan, formerly of this county, Saturday, at the Cleveland Clinic; Tommie Moore, 93, of Langley, Tuesday, at his home; Jack Nelson, 61, of Dwale, Sunday, at OLWH; Chester Lafferty, 59, formerly of Hueysville, August 24, at the Ireland Army Hospital, Ft. Knox; Martha B. Allen Cooley, 88, of Wabasso, Florida, formerly of Wayland, Tuesday, at HRMÇ; Shelly Smith of Hindman, Aug. 21, at Hazard ARH; Michael Todd Pritt, 2-day-old son of Tom and Donna K. Pritt of Crown Point, Ind., Monday, August 24, at Northwestern University Medical Center in Chicago, Ill.

(August 26, 1981)

Elisha Branham Jr., the last person known to have been with 17-year-old Michael Dwayne Cline on the night of Cline’s abduction and murder, was arrested early Tuesday morning in Texas City, Texas...Douglas Fleming, a Prestonsburg man, has been named defendant in a $2.75 million suit alleging theft of trade secrets from a medical equipment supply firm...Suspected arson resulted in considerable damage to a near-completed home at Lancer, Friday, while a blaze the following day forced the evacuation of one wing of Riverview Manor Nursing Home...Turning down a recommendation of the chief executive office, the Floyd County Health Department board voted, Monday, to seek consolidation with three other counties in a single health district...Etta Mae Gearheart, 44, of Printer, died Sunday, as the result of an auto accident near Martin...Citizens complaints against sex-oriented contests at the Prestonsburg Drive-In were again brought before the city council at its meeting...When the first day of registration for 1981 fall semester at PCC ended Monday night, a total of 595 students had enrolled. There died: Greenbury Tackett, 39, August 13, in Pasadena, California; Jimmy Ray Slone, 45, of Tram, Monday, at Harold; Okie Mae Damron, Monday, at Wabash County Hospital; Oakra Haywood, August 21, at Warsaw Community Hospital; Stella B. Thomas, 58, of Martin, Friday, at McDowell; James Ellis Hamilton, 51, August 25, in Columbus, Ohio; Oma Hall Thompson, 63, of Topmost, August 22, at McDowell; Syltania Tackett, 79, of McDowell, Monday, at Methodist Hospital; Virgie F. Ratliff, 71, of Langley, at UK Medical Center; Cecil Halbert, 56, of Printer at Our Lady of the Way Hospital; Roy Pack, 66, of Martin, August 18, at Our Lady of the Way Hospital; Edith Branham Cherry, 56, of Jacksonville, Florida, July 25, at Baptist Hospital. 

(August 19, 1981)

The weeks-long search for the whereabouts of Michael Dwayne Cline, Emma youth who had been missing since the night of July 9, ended late last Saturday afternoon, in the discovery of his body on Browns Fork, Perry County...Although investigators of the abduction-murder of Michael Dwayne Cline have not admitted having firm proof of the identity of his slayer, State Detective Danny Stumbo said he would swear out a murder warrent for Elisha Branham Jr....The Juvenile Detention Center of Prestonsburg, vacant since the state Department for Human Resources withdrew June 1, may begin operation again under the management of a non-profit corporation...The inspirational sound of gospel music will enhance the final performance, Sunday, of Summer Season ’81 at the Jenny Wiley Summer Music Theatre...Greenberry Tackett, 39, the former Mud Creek man who has been sought since his “escape” from Kentucky State Reformatory custody, July 10, was shot and killed in Pasadena, California...Five times, Charles Douglas Miracle changed his pleas from guilty to not guilty, and vice-versa, after he had been charged with the murder of Lexington cab driver John Willard in Johnson County, finally going to trial last week in Johnson Circuit Court, where a jury found him guilty...There died: Jesse L. Lafferty Jr., 54, of Prestonsburg August 16, at Riverview Manor Nursing Home; James Patton, 75, of Langley, Monday, at his home; Walter Scott Horn, 57, formerly of West Prestonsburg, August 16, in Florida; James W. Hamilton, 65, former Prestonsburg resident, August 9, at his home in Stamping Ground; Denver Lee Tackett, 40, of Teaberry, August 13, at McDowell Appalachian Regional Hospital; Edgar Osborne, 69, of Hunter, August 16, at his home; Charlie W. Clark, 66, formerly of Floyd County, Thursday, in Norwalk, Ohio; Homer J. Robinson, 48, South Point, Ohio, Thursday, in Cabell-Huntington Hospital; and Angie Patrick, 84, formerly of Prestonsburg, on August 11.

(August 12, 1981)

For the second year, the Floyd school district will be ending in the black, said Assistant Superintendent Ray Brackett. Brackett warned that state and federal budget cuts would mean difficult times ahead for the district...The Floyd County Board of Education has stated that a new middle school for Prestonsburg is the system’s number one priority...The trial of Teaberry coal operator and merchant Sterling Hamilton, 54, and five other defenants on charges of trading in stolen explosives began Monday in U.S. district court in Pikeville...Officers involved in the search for Michael Dwayne Cline of Emma and Elijah Branham Jr. of Prater Creek who disappeared, along with two vehicles, have no new leads regarding the youths’ whereabouts. Also missing is Greenberry Tackett from LaGrange prison. Tackett failed to return to prison after being permitted to visiting his sister in Floyd County. Tackett had been visiting his sister in Floyd County. He was serving a 20-year sentence for murder...Community pressure may prove the most effective means of controlling live entertainment at the Prestonsburg Drive-In, complainants were advised at a city council meeting Monday. Citizens were complaining about a series of events, most recently a “wet nightgown” contest, held at the drive-in some Saturdays to entertain the audience between movies...The Jenny Wiley Summer Music Theatre enters its last week of what has been hailed as one of the finest seasons ever...There died: John A. Reatherford, 69, of Paoli, Indiana, formerly of Prestonsburg, at his sister’s home; Mildred S. Nelson, 55, of Prestonsburg, at McDowell Appalachian Regional Hospital; James Walter Sanders, 51, of Cincinnati, Ohio, formerly of Betsy Layne, at Cincinnati General Hospital; Marson Moore, 97, of Mallie, at Our Lady of the Way Hospital; Zola G. Craft, 77, of Lackey, at Highlands Regional Medical Center; Wilson Crum, 70, of Town Branch, at HRMC; Myrtle B. Hall, 84, of McDowell, at Riverview Manor Nursing Home; Jewel D. Allen, 48, of Martin, at her home; Rex Ramey, 73, of Mousie, at Knott County Health Center; Carl Robinette, 60, of Harold, at the VA Hospital in Lexington; Sarah J. Cole, 82, of Garrison, formerly of Floyd, at Mercy Hospital in Portsmouth; Julius F. Schmidt, 70, of Leitchfield, Michigan, at Bronson Hospital in Kalamazoo, Michigan; Clara G. Warrix, 80, of Prestonsburg, at her home.

(August 5, 1981)

State spending cuts announced by Gov. John Y. Brown last week will cost the Floyd school system about $254,000...State Police are as frustrated by their inability to locate two trucks that are missing as by the fact that the two youths who disappeared at the same time from an Allen service station have not been found...Even the Dog Days doldrums have hit circuit court with Circuit Judge Hollie Conley on annual vacation, and only one criminal case docketed for trial during the month...The end of the Jenny Wiley Trail system may be in sight, many fear, as funds to pay for its upkeep have been lost to budget-cutting...There died: Silas Burke, 73, of Halo, Friday, at McDowell Appalachian Regional Hospital; Elder Eugene Case, 52, of Hunter, Sunday, at McDowell Appalachian Regional Hospital; Reba Eversole, 59, of McDowell, Tuesday, at Highlands Regional Medical Center; Pearl Conley, 80, of Garrett, Saturday, at Our Lady of the Way; Richard T. Vinson Sr., 73, Tuesday, in Shelbyville; Eddie Hall, 74, Monday, at Wheelwright; Rettie Donathan, 82, of Marion, Ohio, August 1, at her home; Carol B. May, 83, July 27, at the home of her daughter at Pikeville.

(July 29, 1981)

No information has surfaced as to the whereabouts of two Floyd County boys missing since July 9...City council members voted Monday, to begin the process of rezoning the City of Prestonsburg...A federal review of the black lung program at Highlands Regional Medical Center, funded two years ago, is pending...Ed Green of Weeksbury, has invented, patented and soon will market a revolutionary idea in boats, a combination pontoon and detachable fishing boat...Dinwood residents last week won a round in their two-year fight against a tipple in their neighborhood, when a federal mining inspector ordered the operation shut down...An interstate fugitive from justice was nabbed here following an auto accident Saturday. Estill “Tink” Prater was wanted for rape and deviate sexual behavior in Indiana. He escaped from jail two years ago and is suspected of hiding out in the Salt Lick area, near Hueysville, for most of the time...Governor John Y. Brown Jr. returned $50,410 of mineral tax revenue to Floyd County recently...There died: Bertha A. Dickerson, 91, Saturday, at her home following a long illness; Bertha Thompson, 80, formerly of Melvin, Sunday, at the home of a daughter in Lorain, Ohio; William “Chock” Kendrick, 62, of Prestonsburg, Friday, at Highlands Regional Medical Center; Hazel Castle Varble, 77, of Martin, Sunday, at HRMC; Oca Goldie Stigall, 67, of Prestonsburg, Sunday, at HRMC; Eliza Patrick Hale, 77, of Prestonsburg, Thursday, at McDowell Appalachian Regional Hospital; Rueben Hall, 72, of Topmost, July 14, at Hazard Appalachian Regional Hospital; Manda Conley, 76, of Lackey, Saturday, at King’s Daughters Hospital in Frankfort; Sylvia Wicker, 53, of Dema, Thursday, at Our Lady of the Way Hospital; Troy Stumbo, 71, of Circleville, Ohio, formerly of McDowell, Saturday, July 18 at Grant Hospital in Columbus, Ohio; Anita Linkous, 55, of Weeksbury, Monday, July 20, at McDowell ARH; Elsie Louise Robinson Dixon, 33, of Miners Branch, Bull Creek, Thursday, at Good Samaritan Hospital in Lexington.

(July 22, 1981)

The fate of a coal tipple in Martin’s Dinwood section will have to await clarification of state policy on tipple regulation, the director of the state Bureau of Surface Mining’s operations and enforcement division told the tipple operator...Miss Sandra Duff was crowned Miss Big Sandy RECC at the recent annual meeting of the Big Sandy Rural Electric Co-op held at the Prestonsburg field house...A decision by Prestonsburg City Council last November to rezone three residential to commercial was overturned Thursday by Circuit Judge Hollie Conley...The mystery surrounding the disappearance, 15 days ago, of 17-year-old Michael Dwayne Cline of Emma, remained as unfathomable this week as it was when he was first reported missing...Although the Floyd Fiscal Court and the courts of other counties involved have approved the bond financing asked by Tel-Com Inc. of Harold, the proposal ran into trouble last week in Pike County...As a practitioner of a disappearing art, the picture of Mrs. Maud Foley, 91, who learned to card wool and to operate a spinning wheel when she was only six years old on Johns Creek, hangs in the Smithsonian Art Institute in the nation’s capital...There died: Mrs. Siltania Parsons, 69, of Honaker, Sunday, at Highlands Regional Medical Center; Vermon Gayheart, 38, of Shiloh, Ohio, formerly of this county, died Sunday, July 12, at the UK Medical Center in Lexington; James A. Hall, 26, a member of a former Floyd County family drowned July 5, in Michigan; Worley Boyd, 76, of Endicott, Saturday, at the Methodist Hospital in Pikeville; Mrs. Gussie Jones Shepherd, 78, of Weeksbury, Wednesday, July 15, at McDowell Appalachian Regional Hospital; John W. Hamilton, 67, in Columbus, Ohio; Mrs. Dema Hall, 67, of Garner, Saturday, at Our Lady of the Way Hospital; Caner Crisp, 75, of Martin, June 27, at Methodist Hospital in Pikeville; Margie Hackworth, 46, of Silver Lake, Indiana, Thursday, at Wabash County Hospital; Laura Ray Leslie, infant daughter of Amos and Donna Ray Leslie of Emma, Sunday, at Methodist Hospital; Carla Hunt, 20, of Thurman, Ohio, Friday, at Holzer Hospital in Gallipolis, Ohio.

(July 15, 1981)

James C. Clines of Emma, has offered a reward of $2,000 for information about his 17-year-old son, Michael Dwayne, who has been missing since late last Thursday night...The last piece in the funding package for restoration of Martin’s water system fell into place when Malcom Baldridge, secretary of the U.S. Dept. of Commerce, authorized $500,000 in Economic Development Administration monies for the project...Greenbury Tackett, who was serving a life term for murder, is missing from the state reformatory at La Grange...Drainage problems still plague the upper end of Auxier...Five Prestonsburg firemen were overcome by heat and smoke while fighting a blaze which partially destroyed a small residence owned by Fred Williams on Lake Road...Sterling Hamilton, 54, a Teaberry coal mine operator, was arrested by FBI agents on a charge of obstruction of justice...Fire Chief Tom Blackburn asked Prestonsburg City council members for firmer guidelines to what extent city firefighters are responsible for quelling blazes outside city limits. The department employs 10 paid firefighters and 20 volunteers...Neighboring counties are being invited to participate in a plan to re-open the juvenile detention center here, closed last month as a result of the elimination of state funds...There died: William C. Blackburn, 57, of Wapakoneta, Ohio, formerly of Prestonsburg, June 23, in an automobile accident; Imogene Prater Russell, of Flatwoods, formerly of Floyd County; Frank Hardin, 57, of Prestonsburg, Sunday, at UK Medical Center; Ella Kirk DeRossett Crum, 77, of Blackville, South Carolina, formerly of Prestonsburg, Friday; Vannis Cook, 42, of Ypsilanti, Michigan, Friday, at Banner, at the home of his parents; Harry O. Zimmerman, 84, of Wheelwright, Sunday at King’s Daughters’ Hospital; Annie Brown Tackett, 84, of E. Point, July 2, at UK Medical Center; Willard Hughes, 53, of Burr Creek, Michigan, formerly of Lackey, Tuesday at his home.

(July 1, 1981)

The return of coal severance taxes will mean the Floyd Fiscal Court will have 54 percent more money available for local services this year than it did last year, Senator Benny Ray Bailey estimated this week...Mine supervisor George Elmer McGaffee of Branham Village was killed Wednesday in a blasting explosion at a Martin County strip mine...Highlands Hospital negotiators and representatives of the striking hospital workers’ union resumed contract talks at a Paintsville motel...At its regular meeting Wednesday, the Floyd County Board of Education is expected to employ Jack Sanford to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Howard Wallen, assistant principal and head basketball coach at Prestonsburg High School...A Tram couple charged with abandoning their six-year-old daughter who was reportedly locked in a deserted house, were jailed Saturday...Circuit Judge Hollie Conley ordered Doug Neeley, who was convicted in circuit court of a felony count, released from jail, reversing a district court ruling in the case...Members of the Floyd County Emergency & Rescue Squad worked more than an hour to free a critically injured Pauline Burchett of Allen from the wreckage of her automobile following a head-on collision with a pickup truck on KY 80 near Martin...Rebecca Rasnick, 73, of Prestonsburg was awarded over $25,000 in a damage claim against the First Baptist Church, where she is a member, following a fall at the church in which she fractured her hip and wrist...There died: Henry Shepherd, 62, of Salyers Branch, last Thursday at the McDowell Appalachian Regional Hospital; Avenelle Salyers Stevens, 60, of Betsy Layne, Wednesday at the Pikeville Methodist Hospital; Benjamin F. Gearheart, 83, of Salt Lick Creek, last Friday at his home; Polva C. Likens, 61, of Harold, Friday at his home; Hazel Handshoe, 65, of Salt Lick Creek, Thursday at her home; Virgie B. Jervis, 73, of Endicott, Wednesday at Central Baptist Hospital; Elsie Younce Pennington, 71, of Prestonsburg, Thursday at St. Joseph Hospital; Garfield Hamilton, 65, of Teaberry, Sunday at the home of Ernest Hamilton in Piketon, Ohio; Caner Crisp, 75, of Martin, Saturday at the Methodist Hospital, Pikeville; Dorothy Scott Hall, 54, of Harold, Monday at Our Lady of the Way Hospital; Bummer Gray, 67, of Mays Branch, at Our Lady of Bellefonte, Ashland; Edgar C. Bingham, 67, of Cliff, Friday at Louisa Community Hospital; Johnny Hall, 60, of Martin, Saturday at St. Mary’s Hospital in Huntington, West Virginia; William B. Sturgill, 85, of Ann Arbor, Michigan, Thursday in Ann Arbor.

(June 24, 1981)

The first air fatality recorded in this county claimed the lives of four persons early last Friday evening when their single-engine plane crashed into a hillside, near Garth on Left Beaver Creek...The Floyd County Board of Education at its special meeting, Wednesday employed Robert May of Carrollton as principal at Prestonsburg High School...Public defender Rick Burmeister and his staff were transferred to Pikeville, because the state office of Public Advocacy is “running out of money.”...Trials of defendants in the alleged insurance murder plot in which James T. Neimi was the victim at Wayland, will be held separately in Floyd Circuit Court later this year...Basically, Floyd County’s teachers during the next school term will receive a $1250-a-year across-the-board raise over their pay...A head-on collision last Thursday, in Pike County, claimed the lives of four members of a Weeksbury family and left one seriously injured...Efforts were quickly mounted to get the Cliff access road back on track following the surprise decision by the fiscal court two weeks ago to abandon the project...A glimmer of hope emerged this week that the 13-week-old dispute between Highlands Hospital and members of the hospital workers’ union may be nearing a resolution...There died: Walter Akers, 51, of Galveston, June 10, at McDowell Appalachian Regional Hospital; McKinley Burke, 83, of Weeksbury, Tuesday, June 16, at Pikeville Methodist Hospital; James Emery Conn, 62, of Betsy Layne, Friday at his home; Hester Bray Preston, 64, of Prestonsburg at the Shelbyville Hospital; Paul Bolling, 58, of Lackey, Sunday at Our Lady of the Way Hospital; Angie Fannin Blackburn, 55, of Dwale, Monday at Our Lady of the Way Hospital.

(June 17, 1981)

The new drunk law is posing problems for local peace officers as they are now required to take drunks which may be a threat to themselves or others into custody and detain them for up to 72 hours. The law is designed to lighten the caseload on Kentucky courts...The million-dollar Cliff road project appears to have been dealt a fatal blow by the Floyd County Fiscal Court. The court acceded to a request to withdraw from a condemnation suit filed in Floyd Circuit Court earlier this year...Champion Chaney, the Pike County man who was accused of the slaying, last September, of State Trooper Jerome S. Clifton, and the wounding of State Police Detective Don Weedman, was sentenced to 80 years in prison...Flood damage in the county has been estimated at $1.5 million...The Jenny Wiley Summer Music Theatre opens its 16th season next Wednesday with the Broadway shows, “George M.” “Oklahoma,” “Godspell” and “The Roar of the Greasepaint—The Smell of the Crowd”... There died: Eldora Valentine Rhea, 22, of Wheelwright, at Good Samaritan Hospital in Lexington; Beulah A. Sampson, 61, formerly of Floyd County, in Indianapolis, Indiana; Harley Joseph Johnson, 11-month-old son of Billy Joe and Lakita Conn Johnson of Buckingham, at McDowell Appalachian Regional Hospital; Walter Akers, 51, of Galveston, at McDowell Appalachian Regional Hospital; Alta King, 52, of Burnside, formerly of Floyd County, at St. Joseph Hospital in Lexington; Thomas J. “Jeff” Sword, 71, formerly of Langley, in Columbus, Ohio; Garland Vaughan, 71, of Prestonsburg, at Veteran’s Hospital in Lexington; Osie Compton Shepherd, 81, of West Prestonsburg, at Louisa Community Hospital; Magdalene Ferrell, 48, of Martin, at Our Lady of the Way Hospital.

(June 10, 1981)

Flooding took place this past weekend with $3 million in damages reported, including $1.5 million damage to roads, $800,000 to county schools and $500,000 to crops. Congressman Carl D. Perkins asked Governor Brown and President Reagan to declare Floyd and nine other surrounding counties as disaster areas...The Floyd County school system had its hiring meeting this week, assigning 468 teaching positions and 483 non-teaching posts. Prestonsburg High School remains without a principal after Bobby Wells resigned the post to return to classroom teaching...Ronald Stewart Wright, former Prestonsburg High School football player who was paralyzed in the 1976 Prestonsburg v. Morgan County game, was awarded $7 million in damages at federal court in Covington...The 72-day-old coal mine strike ended Monday with the miners ratifying a new 40-month contract...The City Council of Martin acted Monday night to clear up its garbage collection and disposal problems through negotiation of a new franchise to Pete Grigsby Jr., who sublet the garbage service to Paul Slone...There died: Saul Perry, 85, of Prestonsburg, at the Riverview Manor Nursing Home; Odis Hunter, 23, of Wellington, Ohio, formerly of Floyd County, in a motorcycle accident near his hometown; Justin Tommy Tackett, 3-month-old son of Tommy and Kim Tackett, at St. Joseph Hospital, Lexington; Rutherford Bee Hayes, 75, of Betsy Layne, at his home; Steven Garrett, 10, of Betsy Layne at Pikeville Methodist; Rosina Moore Crum, 87, of Wayland, at Louisa Community Hospital; Susan Tackett, seven-day-old daughter of Edgar and Darlene Tackett, at the UK Medical Center, Lexington.

(June 3, 1981)

Winners in last week’s countywide primary elections were Gerald DeRossett, district 1 magistrate; Kenneth Roberts, district 2 magistrate; Jerry Lafferty Jr., county judge-executive; Roger Nelson, coroner; Arnold Turner Jr., county attorney; Lawrence Hale, jailer; and Elmer Rice, county surveyor...Road maintenance topped the 1981-82 county budget with an allocaton of $890,547—38 percent of the budget. The three senior citizens’ centers were each allocated $6,000 toward maintaining bus drivers and $5,000 was allocated to each of the county’s eight rural fire departments...Britten Patrick, 22, was lodged in the Floyd County jail Friday under the charge of conspiracy to murder James T. Neimi, the 18 year-old victim of an alleged insurance-murder plot last October. Patrick’s brother, Denver, and James Michael Noel, both 30, have been charged with murder in the case...A May 1 order by District Judge Harold Stumbo that Doug Neeley be returned to jail following an April 1980, drug conviction, was the result of state police officers’ intervention, according to Gary Johnson, Neeley’s attorney. The officers allegedly were trying to “scapegoat” Neeley in order to enhance their image as drug law enforcers...The Kentucky Building Authority has approved $275,184 to help the Floyd County Board of Education replace three classrooms at McDowell High School that were destroyed by a flood last August...There died: William Ralph Rowe, 52, of Martin, at Paintsville Hospital; Velva Johnson, 65, of Elkhart, Indiana, formerly of Floyd County, at Elkhart General Hospital; Lourania Miller, 91, of Kalamazoo, Michigan, formerly of Floyd County, at Pontiac (Michigan) Hospital; Armina Hall, 70, of Hi Hat, at McDowell Appalachian Regional Hospital; Bruce Hubbard, 56, of North Manchester, Indiana, formerly of Prestonsburg, at Columbia City (Indiana) Hospital; Daniel H. Slone, Knott County coal operator, at Our Lady of the Way Hospital.

(May 27, 1981)

About 16,000 voters turned out to choose among 91 candidates for political office, among whom were Jerry Laferty Jr., Henry Hale, Arnold Turner Jr., Roger Nelson, Gerald DeRossett, and E. “Shag” Branham...The death of 16-year-old Joann Dale Ratliff, Betsy Layne High School student, who was found dead in an apartment on Fife Fork of Chloe Creek is under investigation...Ten gleaming-white trucks, yellow lights flashing, trundled up the county’s hollows last week, the first week of the county-operated garbage collection system...A dispute over Martin’s use of the road funds erupted in recent weeks when Martin Mayor Larry Hall refused to pay a contractor for paving several city roads...Charges by hospital union officials that assault indictments issued last week by a Floyd Circuit Court grand jury against several union members were the result of a “political manipulation” brought a vigorous denial by the Commonwealth Attorney...There died: Dolly K. Martin, 69, of Teaberry, May 20, at Our Lady of the Way Hospital; Mavis Frasure Newsome, 46, Monday, at his home; Willie Jones, 66, of Bypro, Tuesday at McDowell Appalachian Regional Hospital; Emery Hunter, 76, of Dema, May 20, at the UK Medical Center; Martha Meadows, 69, formerly of Floyd County, May 19, at Koscuisko Community Hospital in Warsaw, Indiana; Jot (Bub) Marsillett, 49, of Abbott, Thursday, at St. Mary’s Hospital; Oliver Hunter, 57, Saturday, at his home at East Point; Clyde Stumbo, Wednesday, at his home at McDowell.

(May 20, 1981)

Eighty-nine indictments, more than half for “cold” checks, were returned by the Grand Jury of Floyd Circuit Court Tuesday. Eight indictments were returned stemming from an incident allegedly involving members of the striking hospital workers’ union. The incident took place last Thursday between union pickets and hospital security guards...A railroad trestle burned to the ground near Wayland, effectively halting the flow of coal from Deane in Letcher County to Martin. The fire was apparently deliberately set...Arraignment has been set for July 1 for Julia Hall Keenes, 40, of Melvin for the alleged shooting death of her husband, James Albert Keenes, 44, at the couple’s home...Parents and teachers at Prater Creek grade school asked a small group of women who had been picketing the school to take their protest to the school board. The picketing had been disrupting normal school activities. Many parents were holding their children out of school, citing “safety reasons.”...A team of Job Corps specialists will be in Eastern Kentucky during the next two weeks to conduct on-the-spot enrollment for the Prestonsburg Job Corps...There died: Elder William Wiley Ratcliff, 80, at Our Lady of the Way Hospital; Bill Hunt, 64, of Lowmansville, formerly of Prestonsburg, at Paintsville Hospital; Frank Mitchell, 71, of Grethel, at home; Willie Hall, 54, of Wheelwright, at Pikeville Methodist Hospital; Roy Turner, 71, of David, at home; Emogene Hayes Wallace, 63, of Wayland, at home; Virgie Burns, 71, of Paintsville, at home; Hallie Flanery, 64, of Martin, at Pikeville Methodist Hospital; Tip Collins, 76, of LaGrange, Ohio, formerly of Hueysville, at home; Ruth Wireman, 41, of Silver Lake, Ind., formerly of Floyd County, at Parkview Memorial Hospital, Ft. Wayne, Ind.; Muriel Martin, 65, of Wheelwright, at St. Joseph Hospital, Lexington; Ezra Hall, 57, of Muse’s Mill, formerly of Floyd County, at St. Claire Hospital, Morehead.

(May 13, 1981)

A report published in this month’s Kentucky Coal Journal indicated Floyd County will receive an estimated $863,000 in coal severance taxes, starting in July...Tax increases were mooted at a meeting of the Floyd County Board of Education last Wednesday — and the subject was raised not by school officials but by the taxpayers...As a result of its recent expansion, the Prestonsburg Utilities system has outgrown its present offices and will build anew, said Superintendent Bill H. Howard...Circuit Judge Hollie Conley charged a grand jury with the task of investigating allegations of mismanagement of Beaver-Elkhorn Water District funds, the county’s solid waste disposal problem, and a Dewey Lake drowning...Strikes by coal miners and Highlands Hospital workers dragged on this week, with scattered incidents reported in connection with each, and no immediate signs of a resolution of the disputes...Although footers and floors have been poured, and most of the steel sub-structure already erected, the last “official” shovelsful of dirt for the new Betsy Layne High School facility was tossed in ground breaking ceremonies at the site...There died: Jasper Blankenship, 70, at his home at Teaberry, Thursday; Danny Salisbury, 27, of Florida, Wednesday at Lakeland General Hospital, in Florida; Lillie Williams, 81, Sunday at her home in Claypool; Ruth Francis Isbell, 71, of Prestonsburg, Tuesday, at Louisa Community Hospital; Art Hayes, 74, of Morehead, in a Lexington hospital, Monday; Everett Hackworth, 76, of Dorton, died Thursday; Ernest Hunter, 64, of Harold, Tuesday, at Methodist Hospital in Pikeville; Morris Thacker, 45, of Langley, Thursday, at the VA Hospital in Lexington; Lula Kilgore, 67, of Blue River, at her home, Monday; Bessie Hamilton Howell, 55, of Beech Grove, Indiana, Saturday, at her home.

(May 6, 1981)

Violence associated with the six-week-old Highlands Hospital strike took an uglier turn last week with an alleged attack outside of IGA on Helen Smith, 45, a hospital employee...As the United Mine Workers union and coal industry negotiators disputed the prospects of resuming contract talks this week, scattered incidents stemming from the 40-day-old coal strike were reported in this and neighboring counties...Ground will be broken for the planned $3.9 million Betsy Layne High School building this Saturday...More than 60 Dana residents rallied in defense of Sandy Boyd, a teacher and coach accused of selling marijuana to a student, during a PTA meeting last week...Lieutenant Governor Martha Layne Collins, will address 136 students eligible to receive their degrees from Prestonsburg Community College, Friday...There died: Ada Coleman Whitt, 82, of Water Gap last Thursday at the home of her daughter, George W. Fraley, 73, of Martin, last Wednesday at Riverview Manor Nursing Home; Virginia Scarberry Shepherd, 61, of Martin, Friday, April 14, at Our Lady of the Way Hospital; Pearlie Crager Compton, 55, of Hueysville, Saturday, at Good Samaritan Hospital; Anna Rebecca Caudill, 53, of Auxier, Saturday at Highlands Regional Medical Center; Marion Hall, 80, of Georgetown, Ind., formerly of this county, Friday, in Indiana; Rhoda Jane Lawson, 66, of Honaker, Wednesday at Mountain Manor Nursing Home; Hibbert F. Meade, 86, of Hi Hat, Wednesday at McDowell Appalachian Regional Hospital; Bluford Clark, 77, of Auxier, Wednesday, at Our Lady of the Way Hospital.

(April 29, 1981)

Highlands Regional Medical Center administrators were unable to successfully negotiate a deal to get their striking employees back to work Monday. The strike is in its sixth week...Judge-Executive Bill Wells said Monday that the new landfill would be open and the collection system operational on May 18...The board chairman has resigned, the general manager has been dismissed, records are impounded, and an investigation appears possible, following allegations that Beaver-Elkhorn Water District funds have been mismanaged...Clark Elementary School teachers and parents are concerned that the good reputation their school has earned through their own hard efforts may ultimately result in a reduction of the school’s overall, quality as parents from other districts seek to enroll their own children in the school...There died: Frankie Goble, 72, of Martin, Sunday at his home; Marcus Crittendon Hurd, 67, of Ypsilanti, Mich., formerly of Prestonsburg, April 22 at his home; Della Bradley Wicker, 80, of Mousie, Thursday at McDowell Appalachian Regional Hospital; William Hall, 75, of Craynor, Sunday at a Lexington hospital; Adelene Patton Daniel, 59, formerly of Emma, April 16 at her home in Decatur, Ga.; John Vaugh Jr., 66, formerly of Garrett, April 8, at his home in San Diego, Calif.; Jacqueline Collins, 51, of Warsaw, Ind., April 20 at a Fort Wayne hospital; Odd Clay, 86, of Dwale, Monday at Our Lady of the Way Hospital, Martin; Rosie Anna Hall, 79, of Bevinsville, Sunday at the McDowell ARH; Willie “Bill” Bentley, 59, of Beaver, Wednesday, at McDowell ARH; John Trent Woods, 53, of Allen, Sunday at the home of Ray Clifton in Allen; Bee Howell, 89, of Meta, Friday at the home of a son; Margaret Martin, 50, of Hazard, at her home Thursday; Rhoda Nickles Jones, 74, of Dema, at McDowell ARH; Eva Coles Hunt, 58, of Stanville, Saturday enroute to Methodist Hospital, Pikeville; Tilton Hall, 67, of Dry Creek, Thursday at UK Medical Center, Lexington; and James L. Chandler, 74, of Melvin, Thursday at McDowell ARH.

(April 22, 1981)

A hearing on alleged violations of an injunction issued at the start of the Highlands Hospital strike four weeks ago, ended in a compromise yesterday (Tuesday)...A temporary restraining order was granted Tuesday afternoon by Circuit Judge Hollie Conley to the Transcontinental Coal Company Inc., which does business in this county as the Diamond Coal Co. Inc., limiting the number of pickets at the company location and defining their conduct...The talk at Monday’s meeting of the Big Sandy Area Development District board, if not exactly bullish, was at least brave. Even the ADD’s more optimistic spokesmen did not disguise the fact, however, that the future looks bleak, both for that organization and for many of the programs it handles...A Floyd County school teacher was named this week in drug charges allegedly involving a high school student. Sandy Boyd, head teacher at Prater Creek grade school was named in warrants, Monday, accusing him of selling marijuana to a Banner youth, said to be a Betsy Layne high school junior...Jim Hammond, Prestonsburg attorney and former state senator, was disbarred from practicing law in Kentucky by the state Supreme Court last week. The court followed a recommendation of the Kentucky Bar Association that Hammond be disbarred after finding him guilty of falsifying black-lung benefit claims...There died: Ruben Isaacs, 69, of Teaberry, Wednesday, at the McDowell Appalachian Regional Hospital; Mary Ann Smith Ward, 40, of Cow Creek, Saturday, at the Highlands Regional Medical Center; Samuel Edward Elliott, 52, of Gary, Indiana, February 5; Patsy Click Samons, 70, Saturday. at her home at Arkansas Creek; Dick Mayo Allen Sr., 61, Saturday in Richmond; Annie Boyd Burkett, 91, of Allen, Tuesday, at the Riverview Manor Nursing Home

(April 15, 1981)

A state construction permit has been given for the county landfill at Garth and the long-awaited, often-promised countywide garbage pickup should be operational “in a month or so,” County planner Dick Leslie said this week...Prestonsburg City Councilmen, Monday night, turned down a request by striking workers to intervene in their labor dispute with Highlands Hospital...As union representatives and bituminous coal industry negotiators began bargaining, Tuesday in Washington, D.C., on the terms of a contract that might meet the approval of both sides to the controversy, the coal strike, in its 20th day, remained quiet and orderly in this county...The strike by hospital workers at Highlands Regional Medical Center enters its fourth week with no prospects for a resolution of the dispute in sight...Judge Harold J. Stumbo of the Floyd District Court, is cracking down hard on shoplifters. Full terms will be served, and fines, ranging from $200 to $300, will also be collected...The 17th annual Mountain Dew Festival, one of the largest collegiate events in eastern Kentucky, will be held at Prestonsburg Community College...There died: William Cullen Bryant, 75, of Melvin, Friday at Our Lady of the Way Hospital; Janice Vanhoose, 40, Wednesday at her home at Wayland; Donald Lloyd Chaffin, 46, of Prestonsburg, Thursday at St. Mary’s Hospital in Huntington; Elisha Moore, 67, of Langley, died Sunday at the McDowell Appalachian Regional Hospital; Edward Martin, 57, of Minnie, at the McDowell Appalachian Regional Hospital; Mary Leola Downs Reynolds, 57, of Dixie Heights, last Friday at her home, Creek B. Martin, 74, Tuesday at Eastern.

(April 8, 1981)

An ordinance which would raise Prestonsburg’s water, sewage and natural gas rates next year was given its first reading at a special meeting of the city council Monday night...Prestonsburg and Martin have both been denied funds under the Department for Housing and Urban Development’s Small Cities Program...District 2 Constable Bob Hackworth survived a challenge to his re-election bid in circuit court Tuesday, when Special Judge Charles S. Sinnette denied a motion that would have had his name stricken from the May primary ballot...Floyd County Cable TV Commission filed a complaint in circuit court here Tuesday seeking forfeiture of a $5000 performance bond posted by TV operator Paul Gearheart, president of Tel-Com Inc. ...This was the situation at the deadline for candidates to file for office last Thursday: District Judge Harold J. Stumbo and his son, State Representative Greg Stumbo, had filed at the office of the Secretary of State without opposition...At a time when a wide range of community services is threatened by state and federal budget cuts and a hardpressed school system is considering ways to raise additional revenue here, comes a report that much of eastern Kentucky’s natural wealth is owned by outside corporate interests who leave behind little in return for the profits they draw from the region...There died: Ada Mae Goble, 62, of Dwale, died at Highlands Regional Medical Center; Nova Lambert Blevins, 64, at McDowell; Otis Hayes, 59, died last Wednesday at Bypro; Lucy Jane Kitchen, 89, of Prestonsburg, died last Saturday at Pikeville Hospital; Fanny Stephens Jarrell, 84, of Prestonsburg, died last Friday at the Franklin Manor Nursing Home in Frankfort; Roy Wireman, 74, at Wayland; Ray Little, 38, at McDowell Appalachian Regional Hospital; Myrtle Clevenger Wilson, 73, at Our Lady of the Way Hospital; Brenda Kay Duncan, 31, at Huntington W. Va. (Formerly of Prestonsburg); Clifford Pennington, 75, at Melrose, Ohio; Michael Paul Little, stillborn, son of Diane Little of Prestonsburg.

(April 1, 1981)

Union workers and Highlands Regional Medical Center hospital administration met this week to discuss issues in the week-old strike against that hospital...District Judge Harold Stumbo drafted a letter to Governor John Y. Brown Jr., citing state laws which would prevent the closure of the Floyd County Juvenile Detention Center. In the letter, Stumbo told Brown that the Department for Human Resources is required to maintain the facility and keep it open...According to park officials, Dewey Lake is quickly filling to summer pool level to accommodate summer tourists...Firefighters responded to a fire at the Dixie Heights apartment of Wayne Hughes. Fire damage was limited to the apartment...Two 17-year-old Prestonsburg High School students were committed to 60 days each in the Floyd County Juvenile Detention Center. More serious charges against the two students are expected soon...There died: Maggie Williams Prater, 73, of Abbott Creek; Mrs. Dona Mitchell, 82, of Ligon; Crofus Owens, 55, Garrett; Kata Miller Conn, 56, of West Prestonsburg; Beulah Sexton Goble, 74, of Emma; Jeanette Mayo, 64, of Martin; Charlie Arnet, 62, of Middle Creek; Vannie Sammons Crum, 61, of Martin.

(March 25, 1981)

Two-17-year-old juveniles were charged in connection with an explosion which damaged parts of Prestonsburg High School, injuring one student. Police investigators said the juveniles used a water gel explosive which was equal to one stick of dynamite...Commonwealth Attorney James R. Allen filed separate motions to deny bail for Denver Patrick and James Noel. Patrick and Noel are accused in the October murder of James Niemi...Approximately 240 union employees at Highlands Regional Medical Center are set to go on strike against the hospital at midnight tonight...Mays Branch residents asked the Prestonsburg City Council to withdraw a resolution to annex that area...A tentative agreement between the United Mine Workers Union and the bituminous coal industry will delay much feared strikes and walkouts on several area coal company sites...There died: Lulie Ratliff Prater, 91, of Pyramid; Waverly Eugene King, 63, of Toler Creek; Bud Gibson, 72, of Estill; Maudie Belle Harris, 66, of Melvin; F.D. Cole, 54, of Ligon; Joe McKenzie, 73, of Prestonsburg; Earl Cline, 76, of Prestonsburg; Hayes Johnson, 82, of Melvin; Richard S. Neal Jr., 34, of Elida, Ohio; Jacqueline K. Bartley Huan, 27, of David.

(March 18, 1981)

An emergency session of the grand jury named three men on murder charges. James Noel and Denver Patrick were accused in the slaying of James Niemi. Otis Lee Wallen was charged with the shotgun slaying of Paul Mullins...Elected county officials will get a 12.4 percent cost of living salary increase as a result of a fiscal court decision last week. As a result of the wage increase, the county judge executive, sheriff and county court clerk will earn $26,058, county magistrates will earn $19,139 and the county coroner will receive $9,216. The county attorney could earn as much as $34,000 per year, depending upon his caseload...The state Department of Energy announced that it would begin exploratory natural gas drilling at Cliff. If found, the gas could mean a virtually free supply of the fuel for the city...Workers at Highlands Regional Medical Center voted to go on strike against that hospital at midnight Sunday...The 1980 census showed the official population of Floyd County to be 48,764 people...There died: John Short Burchett, 80, of Cow Creek; Glinis Mullins, 63, of Emma; Orris Delano Stumbo, 48, of Prestonsburg; Mrs. Donna Shepherd, 87, of Gunlock; Sallie Jane Stephens, 78, of Harold; Marie Webb Hobson, 61, of Auxier; Sadie A. Hunter, 65, of Estill.

(March 11, 1981)

A petition from 22 May’s Branch homeowners was presented to the Prestonsburg City Council in opposition to plans to annex that community...Defense attorneys representing Ben and Olive Meade motioned to bar the press and public from pre-trial hearings regarding assault charges toward one of their infant triplets...Employees at Highlands Regional Medical Center said that a walkout strike might be “unavoidable” unless talks between administration officials and union representatives make substantial progress...The Betsy Layne High School Marching Band, directed by Billie Jean Osborne, won first place in the prestigious Mardi Gras Parade in New Orleans for the second straight year...There died: Curtis Bentley, 70, of Allen; Mrs. Allie C. Church, 82, of Prestonsburg; Clyde Ousley, 77, of Middle Creek; Millie Jarrell Burchfield, 77, of Cow Creek; Mrs. Sally Stephens of Boldman; Mrs. Zella Martin, 76, of Drift; Mrs. Ruth Osborne, 78, of Richmond.

(March 4, 1981)

A fire at a Cliff home owned by Jim Hammond was suspected as an arson case. Investigators are scheduled to inspect the fire scene...Two Chicago men were arrested by Prestonsburg police officers for allegedly selling “speed” or amphetamine drugs. The men said the tablets in question were legal caffeine pills...Juanita Faye Boyd, formerly of this county, was found strangled to death in LaPorte, Indiana this week. Indiana police refused to comment on the case...There died: Mrs. Nellie Whitt, 65, of Garrett; Owen K. Damron, 59, of Harold; Henry Morgan, 89, of Wayland; Ethel Martin, 73, of Mousie; Earl Thornsberry, 69, of Eastern; Roscoe C. Hayes, 87, of Martin; Mrs. Eliza C. Handshoe, 66, of Handshoe; Marken Slone, 65, of McDowell; James T. Niemi, 18, of Garrett; Andrew J. Miller, 81, of Abbott Creek; Dave Triplett, 65, of Mousie; Reverend Frederick Cook, 74, of Prestonsburg; Jerry R. Meade, 73, of West Prestonsburg.

(February 25, 1981)

U.S. Congressman Carl D. Perkins said he was hopeful that federally funded projects in the city of Martin would be reinstated. Only one federally funded project in the city remained following the resignation of Ann Crichdon of the EDA...Two homes were destroyed by fire within a three day period. Homes belonging to Mr. and Mrs. Billy Wells and Mr. and Mrs. Jim Bailey were destroyed by the fires...Signs marking the entrance of Archer Park in Prestonsburg were removed after a long debate between state and local officials...The United States Supreme Court affirmed the reversal of a murder conviction against Gloria and Barbara Newsome. The two were accused of murder in the death of Gerald McBrayer...Forestry officials said that Floyd County was the hardest hit county in the state during the 1980 forest fire season...A spokesperson for the Federal Regulatory Energy Commission told a Floyd County Times reporter the Dewey Dam is being viewed as a possible site for a hydroelectric power station...There died: Perry Little, 84, of Bypro, Ervin Isaac, 73, of Bypro; Glennis Ray Wright, 35, of Printer; Oscar Robinson, 82, of Middle Creek; Gertrude P. Meadows, 77, of Wayland; Mrs. Lottie F. Brumfield, 52, of Louisa; Arie Slone, 36, of Wheelwright; Norman Akers, 77, of Floyd County.

(February 18, 1981)

Denver Patrick and James M. Noel were arrested in connection with the murder of James T. Niemi. The two reportedly sought to collect a $100,000 insurance policy from Niemi... The Kentucky Court of Appeals overturned the conviction and ten-year prison sentence of Tony Baril in the stabbing death of Earl Chester Porter...Four small children and their grandmother were killed in a collision with a tanker truck on Rt. 7 near the Floyd County line at Dema...The Floyd County Fiscal Court authorized renegotiation of garbage collection franchises...There died: Roy Cook, 68, of Drift; Joe “Hooker” Branham, 80, of Martin; Jack W. Music, 54, of Prestonsburg; William R. Hall, 43, of Halo; Mrs. Ethel Hamilton, 57, of Honaker; Mrs. Sally Bingham Rice, 59, of Cliff.

(Wednesday, February 11, 1981)

A houseboat, owned by Johnny Gray, was destroyed and two other boats were damaged by a weekend fire at the Jenny Wiley Boat Dock Marina. An electric heater was suspected to have started the blaze...Gusting winds downed power lines in several areas of the county including East Point, Left and Right Beaver Creek and parts of Prestonsburg...U.S. Congressman Carl D. Perkins responded to claims, that a project to “channelize” Beaver Creek “is dead,” by saying the project, “is still very much alive.”...Prestonsburg City Council members expressed disappointment that U.S. 23 in Prestonsburg was not included for repairs by the state transportation department...Prestonsburg Utilities Superintendent Bill Howard said that bids for several water systems will be funded by $4,200,000 in grants for the projects...State department of education survey teams recommended that several schools in Floyd County be merged, while suggesting that other facilities should be renovated or retired. The team recommended that McDowell and Wheelwright High Schools be replaced with a centrally located facility...There died: William L. Manuel, 89, of Langley; John “Brack” Hall, 92, of Melvin; Mrs. Edna Johnson, 63, of Melvin; Roger Colvin, 44, of Prestonsburg; Monroe Newsome, 81, of Melvin; Mrs. Mary Ann Collier, 71, of Garrett; Kate S. McGlothen, 95, of Printer; Mrs. Victoria H. Arnett, 75, of Berea; Hershel McCarty, 62, of Wheelwright; Woodrow Sherman, 65, of Endicott; Harry Lee Leslie, 73, of Emma; James D. Jarrell, 2 weeks old, of Cow Creek; Mrs. Gracie Bell Prater Kilburn, 94, native of Floyd County.

(February 4, 1981)

If Department of Revenue figures are correct, Floyd County is one of 41 counties in the state that have their 1980 assessments at more than the 100 percent ideal sought by the department. Lovel Hall, Property Valuation Administrator, for this county, doubts they are. Also, if figures released by the department, showing that Floyd County has a 1980 property tax assessment-sales ratio of 107.7 are accurate, Hall said, “I wouldn’t see anything illegal about reducing the assessment total for this county by 7.7 percent, since 100 percent was all they demanded.” Hall sees one cause of the higher assessment-cost ratio as the 18 percent inflation which was imposed by the state last year... This means that a home which sold for $50,000 in 1979, say, would in 1980 have 19 percent, or $9,000, added to its evaluation. “But that is unjust,” he pointed out, because a slower economy and high interest rates kept such an increase in the sale price of such property down. The Department of Revenue has held that if a county’s assessment-sales ratio is within 10 percent of the 100 percent ideal—90 or 110—it is still considered acceptable... The grand jury convened Monday morning for a three-day session, and the first cases to be investigated were those involving the slaying of a Garrett man by his brother, and a Printer woman by her husband. Named defendants in the slayings under investigation are Frankie Gibson, accused of the shooting of his brother, Grover Gibson at Garrett, and Torrence Wright, who is under $20,000 bond in the recent shooting-death near Printer of his wife, Barbara. Indictments against the two are believed to have been made Monday, but no indictments will be reported until time for jury adjournment... Mary Catherine Hutsinpiller Smith, 49, last Saturday morning, became the second Prestonsburg woman to die in her burning home within a period of a few weeks. The first such fatality was Frances Jones, former Prestonsburg teacher, on December 18. Mrs. Smith was the daughter of the late Charles L. and Maxie Allen Hutsinpiller and was a native of Prestonsburg... There died: Albert Bushong “Bush” Brooke Jr., 61, formerly of Wayland, died January 23 at Alexandria, Virginia; Dixie Tackett Tuttle, 66, of Weeksbury, died Saturday at the Huntington Memorial Hospital in Huntington, Ind., where she had been living for the past two months; Lukie Korowski, 92, of Green Acres, Prestonsburg, died Monday at the Mountain Manor Nursing Home here following a long illness; Verniece Martin Hall, 59, of Harold, died last Wednesday at Highlands Regional Medical Center after a long illness; Martha Hoover Hayes, 93, died Monday at her home after a short illness; Hugh Douglas Rowland, 80, died Tuesday, January 27, at his home at Langley; Elbert L. Powers, of Bypro, died last Saturday at the McDowell Appalachian Hospital; Nannie Chaffins, 68, of Ligonier, Ind., formerly of this county, died Saturday at the Goshen (Ind.) General Hospital; Vivian T. Kimmel, 57, died last Wednesday at her home at Betsy Layne, after being stricken by an apparent heart attack.

(January 28, 1981)

Two girls were fortunate to escape serious injury Friday night when their car was struck by a train at a crossing on the Lancer-Water Gap road, near its junction with old U.S. 23. Patty Adkins, 17, of Grethel and Carolyn Hall, 12, of Galveston, were in the Ford Mustang when it was struck by the train... Floyd Countians joined in the nation’s sense of relief and Thanksgiving when news was finally confirmed last week that American hostages, after 444 days of captivity in Iran, were coming home. As they had all across the country, yellow ribbons became the symbol here of hope and, finally, of homecoming... The Ten Commandments posted in Floyd County schools will soon come down, Superintendent of Schools E.P. Grigsby Jr. said Monday. The action will be the result of an opinion by Attorney General Steven Beshear interpreting the U.S. Supreme Court decision which held the posting of the decalogue in the schools to be unconstitutional. Supt. Grigsby said he will recommend to the broad of education at its Feb. 4 meeting that the privately financed plaques be removed... Following a state audit of its claim for federal disaster relief in the wake of the April 1977 flood, Prestonsburg is said to owe the federal government $33,062 in disallowed expenses of one $25,123 claim for road repairs, $15,115 was disallowed. It was the cost incurred in paving Mays Branch, a section undamaged by the flood. Also disallowed was $6,908 of a claim for $7,456 for replacing a damaged waterline, said by auditors to have been not only replaced but also relocated. There died: Martin Vance Boyd, Thursday at the Highlands Regional Medical Center; Hester Martin, 89, of Garrett, Thursday at the McDowell Appalachian Hospital; Mary Alice Lawson, 55, of Honaker, died last Wednesday at Mountain Manor Nursing Home, Pikeville; Sola Blackburn, of East Point, Wednesday, January 14 at HRMC; Parthena Gayheart, 75, of McDowell, Sunday at the McDowell ARH; Marie Short Hall, 55, last Friday at her home at Wheelwright; Rev. Moses Adkins, 50, of Banner, Friday at the Methodist Hospital in Pikeville; Willard Horn, 66, native of this county, Friday, January 16 at his home in Paintsville

(January 21, 1981)

Yellow ribbons were placed on trees by Floyd County residents this week in a show of support for American hostages being held in Iran...were arrested for arson in connection with the burning of a Beaver Creek store...HUD authorities confirmed the eligibility of a $500,000 Community Development Block Grant to be used for revitalization of downtown Prestonsburg...Staff members at the Prestonsburg Job Corps Center prepared for the arrival of the very first trainees of the program...The Floyd County Fiscal Court moved to seek a court order to prevent Mike Little from raising cable television service rates for customers of the Burton Antenna Service...There died: J. Graham Porter, 73, of Prestonsburg; Orion Clark May, 61, of this county; Frank Adams Sr., 63, of Prestonsburg; Clyde Hubbard, 75, of this county; Eliza Campbell, 83, of McDowell; Elzie Osborne, 57, of Grethel; Mrs. Virginia Collins Mead, 56, of Hi Hat; Nick D. Frabutt, 69, of McDowell; Peggy S. Napier, 46, of Prestonsburg; Alfonso Patton, 75, of Hueysville; Adis Ousley, 55, of Gunlock; Mark Reed Sr., 73, of Prestonsburg; Buck Allen, 58, of Eastern; Earl Hinkle, 59,of this county; Edward C. Miller, 63, of West Prestonsburg; Chad Haywood, 68, of this county; Marie Spears Hall, 53, of Martin.

(January 14, 1981)

Floyd County School Board member Dr. James D. Adams told school board members that the school system should once again consider a utility tax to finance school construction projects. A similar proposal met with strong opposition in 1979... The Prestonsburg City Council approved the filing of an application for a $500,000 Community Development Block Grant for renovation of downtown Prestonsburg... County officials are working to redefine magisterial districts in accord with 1980 census figures. The county lost no magistrates, but elected officials would see districts redefined before they take office... Vending machines at Clark Elementary School were removed on the advice of a nutritionist... Martin City officials worried that $1.5 million in funding would be lost because city council members would not attend meetings to approve a request for the funds... Floyd County schools remained closed after seven days due to a two-inch snowfall... There died: Ollie Robinson, 84, of Martin; Anna Dingus, 72, of Martin; Minnie W. Gearheart, 73, of Hueysville; Alvin Newsom, 73 of Teaberry; Otto Moles, 80, of East Point; Anthony Howard, one month, of Hippo; Beatrice Dunnagan, 70, of East Point; William (Hoosier) Slone, 79, of Ligon; Mary Hamilton, 53, of Bypro; Elder William Amburgey, 57, of Allen; and Bessie Johnson, 69, of Halo