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<p>photos by Cris Ritchie | Hazard Herald</p><p>A local housing organization is moving forward with plans to develop the property on Broadway where the first public high school in Hazard was built in 1912. The condition of the building, which remains on the property but has stood vacant, has deteriorated for the past few years.</p>
Public gives input on future of old school property
HAZARD – One of Hazard’s oldest existing structures remains on tap for demolition, though its removal from the streetscape will make room for up to five new houses on one of the city’s most historic streets. The old school on lower Broadway was built in 1912 and became the first public high school in Hazard. Thirteen years later, a new high school was added on Baker Street, while the school on Broadway became a grade school. During its life...
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Lawyer plans appeal of man’s rape conviction
HAZARD – The attorney for a Scuddy man convicted of first-degree rape says he will seek to have the conviction overturned. A jury convicted 31-year-old Stephon Slone and recommended he serve 20 years in prison during a jury trial in Perry Circuit Court earlier this week. Attorney David Johnson said the evidence against his client was insufficient for a conviction, and he will file a motion requesting Circuit Judge William Engle to set aside...
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<p>Police located several pills while arresting Hazard resident Ashley Huff on Wednesday. (photos courtesy of Hazard Police Department)</p>
Police make arrests in separate investigations
HAZARD — Two people were arrested Wednesday by officers with the Hazard Police Department as part of separate ongoing investigations. Ashley N. Huff, of North Main Street, was arrested and charged with second-degree trafficking in a controlled substance and trafficking within 1,000 feet of a school, according to an HPD press release issued Wednesday evening. Police say Huff was also carrying several legend drugs along with the drug suboxone...
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<p>photo by Amelia Holliday | Hazard Herald</p><p>The shopping center in Allais caught fire Saturday afternoon, leaving the structure badly in disrepair.</p>
Shopping center fire leaves questions about building’s safety
A fire in an abandoned shopping center in the Allais community of Hazard has left the building badly in disrepair. Hazard Fire Department received the call about the fire on Saturday at 2:51 p.m., Sam Stacy, Hazard fire chief, said. “When they got there was smoke and flames coming out of the building, the storefront right beside where the grocery store was,” he said. The store front had at one time been apparently used as a consignment ...
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<p>photos by Cris Ritchie | Hazard Herald</p><p>Deputies with the Perry County Sheriff&#8217;s Office, along with a team from the Kentucky State Police, responded to the scene of a suspected active meth lab Wednesday morning in Bonnyman.</p>
Police locate suspected meth lab in Bonnyman
BONNYMAN — Deputies with the Perry County Sheriff’s Office made their second meth-related arrest in as many days after discovering an active meth lab Wednesday morning. Authorities arrived at the residence on Harveyton Road while following up on a tip and attempting to serve an arrest warrant, said Chief Deputy Tony Eversole. Several people were located inside the residence who informed deputies the subject they were attempting to contact w...
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Rock slide slows traffic
Workers with the state highway department were on the scene of a rock slide on Highway 15 in the Jeff community Wednesday morning that closed both northbound lanes. Several boulders had been dislodged from the hillside above the road, though crews had begun removing the rocks at approximately 8:30 a.m. Wednesday. Police were on the scene directing traffic, and no injuries have been reported. Photos by Cris Ritchie
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<p>Gov. Steve Beshear announces Hazard Community and Technical College is the first Kentucky recipient of the ACT College and Career Readiness - Career Preparedness Award. Shown at left is Dr. Terry Holliday, Kentucky Commissioner of Education. On right are HCTC President Dr. Steve Greiner and other award recipients.</p>
HCTC chosen for Ky. Dept. of Education Award
Hazard Community and Technical College has been chosen as the first Kentucky recipient of the ACT College and Career Readiness – Career Preparedness Award. Four awards were presented Monday, April 15 in Frankfort by Governor Steve Beshear and Education Commissioner Terry Holliday recognizing exemplary college and career readiness efforts of an employer, a community college, a district or school, and a student. HCTC President Dr. Steve Greiner...
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<p>Stephon Slone</p>
Perry man found guilty in rape case
HAZARD – A Perry man accused of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl was found guilty of first-degree rape Tuesday in a trial that started last week. Stephon Slone, 31, of Scuddy, was indicted in October 2012 after allegations surfaced that he forced the girl to engage in sexual intercourse inside a residence in the Scuddy community in February 2011. With the addition of a charge of persistent felony offender, he faced a possible life sen...
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Hazard commissioners vote to raise water rates
HAZARD — Those in the area who use Hazard city water will be seeing a slight increase in their bill next month after the Hazard City Commission voted to approve a water rate increase for their customers at their monthly meeting Monday night. Hazard’s water rate is the second lowest in the area for inside and outside municipal rates, at $8.87 and $12.79 respectively. The increase, of 50 cents more per 1,000 gallons used, would add one dollar...
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KRADD votes to help make region work ready
HAZARD — The Appalachian Teaching and Leadership Network (ATLN) has started a new initiative to help improve and grow the local economies in Eastern Kentucky. ATLN has teamed up with the Kentucky River Area Development District (KRADD) and the Big Sandy Area Development District, along with the 13 counties in the ATLN service area, to help the area become a Kentucky Work Ready Community. Ron Daley, Hazard Community and Technical College’s...
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Ky. Power makes first step to diversify power
HAZARD — Kentucky Power announced last week its filing of a Renewable Energy Purchase Agreement (REPA) with the Kentucky Public Service Commission for approval to purchase energy from a biomass energy producer planning to build a plant in Perry County. According to a press release from Kentucky Power, the REPA would be for a 20-year period to purchase approximately 58 megawatts of electricity from an ecoPower biomass power generating facili...
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<p>The March of Dimes March for Babies Committee continues work this week on their annual walk, scheduled this year for Sunday, April 21 at Hazard&#8217;s Daniel Field.</p>
March of Dimes walk set for Sunday
The March of Dimes March for Babies Committee is actively making plans for the upcoming walk to be held on Sunday, April 21 at the Hazard Daniel Field. The March of Dimes will celebrate its 75th Anniversary this year and its ongoing work to help all babies get a healthy start in life. About 4 million babies are born in the United States each year, and the March of Dimes has helped each and every one through research, education, vaccines, an...
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Stephon Slone
UPDATE: Defense calls first witness in rape trial
Editor’s note: Although the identity of the alleged victim in this case was revealed during the trial, the Herald does not report the names of juveniles who are alleged to have been the victims of sexual assault. HAZARD — Testimony was brief Friday in the trial against 31-year-old Stephon Slone, accused of forcing a 14-year-old girl to engage in sexual intercourse in 2011. Friday’s testimony began as defense attorney David Johnson c...
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Board members deny interfering with school recovery
HAZARD – Three members of the Perry County Board of Education are vehemently denying allegations of interference with the academic recovery of Perry Central High School. Perry Central was listed as a persistently low-achieving school in 2011, resulting in the implementation of an educational recovery plan and the presence of a support team to aid local educators in the school’s academic turn around. According to a letter from Kentucky Educa...
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Police find suspected meth lab in Lothair
HAZARD – Authorities charged a Hazard man with manufacturing meth this week after a one-step meth lab was allegedly found inside his residence in Lothair. The Hazard Police Department received a tip Tuesday evening that a man identified as Christopher A. Minks was in possession of a one-step lab inside his bedroom on 516 Mulberry Street, where he lived with his parents, according to a press release from the Hazard Police Department. Offic...
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<p>Amelia Holliday</p><p>The forest fire behind Fugate&#8217;s Entertainment burned through Wednesday night, but had moved on Thursday morning.</p>
Forest fire season hits Perry with full force
Spring is here and along with it has come not only the new green leaves on trees and the sounds of peepers filling the evening, but also the intense smell of wood smoke as forest fire season has hit the region — and hit it hard. Kristy Ritchie, a chief forester with the Kentucky Division of Forestry’s Kentucky River District, said since the beginning of the spring forest fire season the division has seen 36 fires in Perry County; 15 of thos...
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Elizabeth Duncan
Elizabeth Duncan dies at 86
Editor’s note : Some information for this story was provided by WSGS radio in Hazard. HAZARD – Elizabeth Duncan , the first woman elected to public office in the city of Hazard, passed away early Thursday morning at the age of 86. Duncan was a 1944 graduate of Hazard High School, and went on to play a significant role in the history of her native Hazard. Along with her husband Joe and his partner Howard Smith, she owned and operated Ha...
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Local youth initiative offers grant opportunity
CHAVIES — Organizations, businesses, and anyone struggling to find funding for a project geared toward the advancement of youth in the county may be able to stop struggling soon. The Youth Leadership and Philanthropy Initiative (YLPI) of Perry County, the first such initiative to be started in the state, has begun taking applications this week for what they’re calling a mini-grant opportunity. Adam Abbott, president of Perry County’s YLPI...
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Ky. Power files for purchase agreement for biomass plant in Perry
Kentucky Power Company, an operating unit of American Electric Power, filed an application with the Kentucky Public Service Commission for approvals related to a Renewable Energy Purchase Agreement (REPA) for biomass energy resources between Kentucky Power and ecoPower Generation-Hazard LLC. According to Kentucky Power, the REPA would be for a 20-year period to purchase approximately 58 megawatts of electricity from an ecoPower biomass powe...
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Perry residents charged in mobile meth lab case
HAZARD — Two cases involving a mobile meth lab allegedly discovered in Hazard are to be sent to the grand jury this month. Last week, Terry A. Hendrix, 23, of Wooton, and 30-year-old Ashley L. McDaniel of Avawam, were arraigned on one count each of manufacturing methamphetamine and unlawful possession of meth precursor, both first offenses. According to arrest citations, Trooper Derrick Combs stopped a silver 2003 Chevrolet Cavalier, driv...
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Beshear vetoes Medicaid bill, issues plan to address managed care
FRANKFORT — veto might not mean failure for a bill meant to speed up the recovery and payment for patients and providers in the Medicaid system. Kentucky House Bill 5, supported by many in the House and Senate including House Speaker Greg Stumbo and Senate President Robert Stivers, passed both the House and Senate unanimously last month but was vetoed by Gov. Beshear last week. “I understand and appreciate what legislators were working to...
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<p>Christopher Colwell</p>
Police still on the lookout for escaped inmate
HAZARD —An inmate who allegedly escaped from a jail work detail in February remains on the loose this week, according to jail officials. Authorities said 37-year-old Christopher Colwell, of Lower Second Creek, was working with a detail from the Kentucky River Regional Jail in the Pigeon Roost community when he escaped on Feb. 25. Police launched a search of the area but were unable to locate Colwell, and he remains at large this week. Col...
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Burglars make off with jewelry, firearms in break-in
BULAN – The Perry County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the burglary of a residence along Ky. 476 in the Bulan community in which several thousand dollars worth of items were taken. The break-in took place some time between Sunday evening and 9 a.m. Monday morning, said Deputy Elmer Fugate. That’s when the homeowner returned and discovered that several items, including a television, jewelry, a computer, and three firearms, had been stole...
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Conference to address economic transition in E. Ky.
The economy of Eastern Kentucky is undergoing change. There needs to begin a discussion on how this change will affect the people of this region, and how the future can be shaped to provide a diverse economy. That’s the premise of an upcoming conference scheduled in Harlan County this month that will include a “focus on the challenges and opportunities facing Eastern Kentucky.” The community action organization Kentuckians for the Commonwea...
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Eleven die on Kentucky roadways last week
Preliminary statistics indicate that 11 people died in nine separate crashes on Kentucky’s roadways from Monday, Apr. 1 through Sunday, Apr. 7, 2013. Two double-fatality, motor vehicle crashes occurred: one in Breckinridge County and one in Estill County. One of the Breckinridge Co. victims was not wearing a seat belt. One single-fatality, motor vehicle crash occurred in each of the following counties: Adair, Calloway, Madison and Todd. T...
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County school board votes on new facilities plan
HAZARD – The Perry County Board of Education approved a revised district facilities plan on Friday that could result in the simultaneous construction of two new elementary schools. With the construction of East Perry Elementary nearly complete, the school board is beginning to address the needs of other facilities in the district. Their latest effort, a slight revision of a plan approved by the district’s local planning committee earlier th...
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<p>photos by Cris Ritchie | Hazard Herald</p><p>Viper native Eugene Woods sat inside his house on Maces Creek this week after a sign was placed naming a bridge near his home the &#8220;Eugene Woods Bridge&#8221; on Thursday.</p>
Bridge named for WWII veteran and Perry native
VIPER — Our world is full of untold stories or stories that are just not told enough. Some may be passed down generationally in a family line, while others may not pop up until notoriety is given to a character in that story. The Middle Fork of Maces Creek in Perry County is the starting point of one story such as this. In 2012, the Herald reported that the Perry County Fiscal Court approved a bridge in the Middle Fork of Maces Creek to b...
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