4.20.25

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Now we turned to the reading of the Hazard Herald
for news of Hazzard and Perry County. I'm Lee Townshend.
We begin with the online edition dated April seventeenth, twenty
twenty five. As a reminder, radioized a reading service intended
for people who are blind or have other disabilities that
make it difficult to read printed material. Queen City Barbershop

(00:23):
officially reopens after flood by Justin Begley. After being forced
to close due to severe flooding on February fifteenth, the
Queen City Barbershop has reopened its doors. Owner Jade t
resumed operations at its Main Street location on Monday, April fifteenth,
crediting the swift recovery to overwhelming support from friends, family,

(00:47):
and the community. It wasn't closed long at all, said
teg The work got completed very fast. Everything was torn
out and put back new and painted with new floors.
And by open we had a wall that was removed,
allowing for six extra feet further back than the original foepan,

(01:07):
so I have a lot more space now. Keig recalled
how quickly he help arrived following the flood. The flood
hit that Saturday, and I got all of my stuff
moved out that evening with the help of some friends.
Then Sunday I came back down here to work and
I pulled up and there's already ten people out here

(01:28):
just waiting to get started. It was all hands on
deck and we started pumping out water and then came
in and washed down the walls with soap and water
and pumped out the clean water. We also cleaned out
the gym next door and the woman who lived across
the alley in her apartment. There were probably thirty people
down here helping, so we just spread out to help

(01:50):
everyone else out that we could. King said the support
he received was not only physical, but deeply meaningful friends
and family. They really showed up in support and helped
me take care of all of this. He said, my landlord,
Lucas he did a lot of work. It was a
great show of support and that's what makes this community
so special. While he was grateful to have a temporary

(02:14):
space to continue cutting hair, Tige said nothing compares to
returning to his own shop. It feels great to be back.
Tigue said, I was very fortunate that I was able
to get back to my original spot at the SPA
with those gals and continue working there in the meantime.

(02:34):
But it feels great to be back in this space
and I'm excited to pick up where I left off
and continue my work on Main Street. It was really
awesome to have the community support. I was being helped
all the way. It would have most definitely been a
lot harder to get all of this done this quickly
without their help. Queen City Barbershop is open from eight

(02:55):
am to five pm Tuesday through Saturday. Appointments are aired
and can be booked through teague spacebook page or via
his Instagram handle Jade the Barber. East Perry showcases big
academic improvements at board meeting. Faculty from East Perry Elementary
School presented a detailed update on the school's academic progress

(03:17):
and student engagement achievements during the Perry County Board of
Education meeting on Tuesday, April fifteenth. Principal Jennifer Hickerson, Assistant
Principal Ashley Watts, and academic interventionist Janeie Campbell led the presentation,
spotlighting improvements across several key performance areas as part of

(03:38):
the twenty twenty four twenty five academic year. We'd like
to start off by looking at our attendance data, said Hickerson.
Last year we were at eighty eight point seven percent
for the year. This year we're at ninety three point
oh three percent, so we're on track for meeting our
student attendance goal. We have multiple student attendance and centives

(04:03):
in place. First and foremost, our goat Attendance Challenge every week,
so Miss Campbell announces every week who the three top
grade levels are who win that attendance challenge and they
get a trophy along with the certificate, and the teachers
of course get bragging rights. Hickerson reported that creative approaches

(04:23):
to boosting attendants have kept students engaged throughout the year.
Most recently, our students participated in the ep March Madness
Attendance Challenge, which coincided with the NCAA tournament. She said,
we went live every Friday to announce who was moving
on in the attendance bracket. Recently we started the Countdown

(04:44):
on KSA Attendance Challenge and that was to boost our
attendants prior to our testing window. Ms Whitson's home room
was the Cinderella story of the bracket. They started at
the bottom and ended up winning it all. Assistant Principal
Ashley Watts provided updates on the school's academic growth, particularly

(05:06):
focusing on student performance in the Already diagnostic assessments conducted
throughout the school year. Also, most recently, we moved into
our i Ready diagnostic that we do in the fall, winter,
and spring, said Watts. We've just finished up our spring assessment,
so we wanted to highlight some of the hard work

(05:26):
our teachers and students have accomplished. If you look back
at the start of the year at our three through
five diagnostic results, in the fall, they had only thirty
three percent indistinguished in our class. By spring they doubled
that to sixty three percent. That's pretty great, what said.
Math results mirrored the same upward trend in math. It's

(05:50):
the same way, she said. In the fall, we started
off pretty low, kind of shocking, with twelve percent in
the fall distinguished, but we've jumped that up to fifty
two percent in the spring in proficient and distinguished, and
cut our novice from forty two percent to eight percent.
Same thing in the middle school with big gains in

(06:11):
proficiency and distinguished and cutting our novice scores in both
reading and math, so great job for our elementary in
middle schools. Sower holds diabetes symposium with primary care centers.
The twenty twenty five SORE Diabetes Symposium, held in partnership

(06:31):
with primary care Centers of Eastern Kentucky, took place Friday,
April eleventh at the Primary Care Event Center in Hazard.
The day long event ran from nine am to four
thirty pm and featured discussions on diabetes friendly diets, emerging
technologies in glucose monitoring, patient success stories, and more. Sponsored

(06:55):
in part by Medtronic Diabetes, the symposium also included a
catered diabetes friendly lunch and a patient panel led by
doctor John Jones, where attendees heard firsthand accounts from individuals
navigating life with diabetes, including recent successes in weight loss
and disease management for us. This is the second Eastern

(07:18):
Kentucky Diabetes symposium, said Kristin Norman, chief marketing officer with
the Shaping our Appalachian Region. Last year we also held
it in Hazard Primary Care Center at the Mary E.
Martin Diabetes Center of Excellence, which is making great strides
in diabetes education and care, so we got to hear

(07:40):
a lot from their educators and staff. Doctor Jones works
in the facility as well, and one of the mandates
that our blueprint its SORE is healthy communities across Eastern Kentucky.
So with diabetes being one of Eastern Kentucky's worst health epidemics,
this really speaks to that mission. Primary care centers are

(08:02):
wonderful partners of SORE, she said, working in conjunction with
them in these events is of utmost importance in these partnerships.
Norman added that the topic of diabetes HiT's close to
home for her and many others in the region. This
is very close to my heart, she said, That's why
I wanted to attend the event along with my team.

(08:24):
My dad is diabetic. Both of my grandfathers were diabetics.
I have close friends that are diabetics. It's a very
unpredictable problem. She also recognized the key sponsors that made
the event possible. We have wonderful sponsors at SORE that
helped put on these events, said Norman, Primary Care Center

(08:44):
being one of those. Caitlin College of Nursing specifically for
this event as well as then. Medtronic was our lunch
sponsor who catered to diabetes friendly lunch during the event.
The event was geared toward educators and nurse that work
toward being in the diabetes healthcare space. In addition to

(09:06):
symposium programming, Norman highlighted SORES educational outreach initiatives in the region.
Another initiative that we do through SORE is our Healthcare
Career Pathways fair that we host for middle school and
high school students at various locations across the region. She said,
we just wrapped up one here in Morehead that has

(09:27):
really implemented hands on activities where they learn and experience
real life scenarios. It's some really cool stuff and implementing
it in a teaching training atmosphere helps continue education and
creates a true training experience. And being able to implement
that teaching style experience was very beneficial for a lot

(09:48):
of them. It kept their attention and that's normally not
such a riveting subject. Norman said, events like the Diabetes
Symposium are part of a broader regional mission to confront
critical health care challenges head on. For this specific event,
it's all about addressing a challenge that Eastern Kentucky's facing

(10:08):
that quite frankly, is an epidemic. She said, beyond addressing
the challenge, looking at new opportunities not just in diabetes
prevention or management, but also showcasing new opportunities in the treatment.
Some of these programs are fairly recent in getting their growth.
I think something like this that's such a great opportunity

(10:30):
for these nurses and educators who work in this space.
SORE Executive Director Colby Hall also spoke to the urgency
of addressing diabetes as a regional crisis. Type two diabetes
is one of the greatest public health challenges facing Eastern Kentucky,
and we can no longer afford to treat it as

(10:50):
just another statistic. Hall said, The East Kentucky Diabetes Symposium
is about turning awareness into action. It's a space for
health care leaders, providers, and everyday people that come together,
share solutions, and build a future where better health is
within reach for everyone in our region. We're especially grateful

(11:11):
to our care collaborators primary Care Centers of Eastern Kentucky
for their leadership and commitment to tackling this issue head on.
Reflecting on her Mountain roots, Nebrah Lambert takes public oath
as Kentucky's Chief Justice during her investiture at Kentucky's first
female Chief Justice, Nebraa Lambert, said her experience growing up

(11:35):
in eastern Kentucky shape the path she's taken in life. Lambert,
a native of Bell County, said her parents, James and
Kathleen Henry, weren't given much in the way of educational opportunities.
Her father worked as a coal miner at the same
mind his father worked at before him, and her mother's
father was a Baptist preacher who thought a high school

(11:57):
education was only appropriate for his sons but not his daughters.
With a Peace of mining script tucked in her shoe
for good luck, Lambert was publicly sworn into her office
on the High Court Tuesday, surrounded by her family, fellow judges,
and members of Kentucky's other government branches, including Democrat Governor

(12:17):
Andy Basheer and Republican Senate President Robert Stuivers and House
Speaker David Osborn. So, from my brief experience and tenure
as Chief Justice of the Commonwealth, I think my parents'
philosophy will guide me well, work hard, be joyful, and fearless,
Lambert said. Lambert's four year term as Chief Justice began

(12:39):
in January. She represents the third Supreme Court District, which
includes southern parts of central and eastern Kentucky. Voters elected
her to the court in twenty eighteen. Voices from the
Valley event held Hazard Staff writer Justin Begley, in partnership
with the Apple Arts Alliance, hosted the first Voices from

(13:02):
the Valley event at Saturday, April twelfth, at the Art Station.
This event brought together poets, songwriters, and musicians from around
the area to share original works or read excerpts from
books or non fiction works of poetry. Organizers said the
event was a great success, with another gathering schedule for
may Or. Details will be announced in the coming weeks.

(13:27):
Kentucky Superintendents here update on emergency flooding response legislative session.
During the webcast, Kentucky Emergency Management Director Eric Gibson and
members of his team discussed the ongoing flooding emergency affecting
the commonwealth and how to report damage during Kentucky Department
of Education Superintendent web class on April eighth. The Kentucky

(13:51):
Emergency Management Team, according to the Kentucky Department of Education,
asked school districts to report damage to their county Emergency
Management office as soon as possible. Gibson said he wanted
to make sure district leaders capitalize on funding for which
they may not even know they're eligible. If we can
help close some of this information gap and get the

(14:14):
proper reporting in, we believe we can be helpful in
helping the school districts recover the costs of damages and repairs.
Kentucky Emergency Management Assistant Director Stephanie Robi went over potential
funding sources for relief efforts, including the new State Aid
Funding for Emergencies four eight six zero fund established by

(14:37):
House Bill five forty four in twenty twenty five, and
the Federal Emergency Management Agency FEMA. From the Herald opinion
page and the letters ask for support for humanities. How
would you feel if someone took your child's favorite book
out of his hands? What would you think if your
local museum wasn't important enough to keep its doors open?

(15:00):
If someone said, sorry, we can't help your community recover
from a natural disaster, would you feel sad, outraged? Lost?
For more than fifty three years, Kentucky Humanities has helped
communities across Kentucky celebrate what makes them unique and vital.
We've been here for you and with you, connecting you

(15:20):
to our neighbors, promoting our unique history, inspiring the next generation,
championing what makes your city or town special. But right
now we can't, and we're angry about it. You should
be too. In twenty twenty two, we assisted libraries, historical societies,
artisan centers, radio stations, community centers, and cultural institutions in

(15:45):
navigating a disaster like what we're experiencing right now, a
historic flood. We requested and received emergency grant funding from
the National Endowment for the Humanities and poured every dime
back into places that were stated by floodwaters because it's
our mission to help Kentucky communities thrive. We wanted then

(16:06):
and we want now to be part of the rebuilding
of Kentucky's communities ravaged by flooding. But we can't why
because at the federal level, those has targeted the NEEH
and terminated Kentucky Humanities operating grants and any emergency funding
sources that previously allowed us to provide aid in the commonwealth.

(16:28):
We're sorry, but most of all, we're angry because you
and us, we are the ones looking out for Kentucky
at all. Kentuckians. If you're angry too, Please contact our
elected officials and insist they support continued funding of the
NEH and Kentucky Humanities. Together, our voices can make a difference.

(16:51):
Signed Bill Goodman, Executive Director, Kentucky Humanities. Drugs and Taxes
by Jeff Vanderback. Helping addicts get off of drugs is
a dicey proposition. Big Farmer needs them hooked. Unscrupulous doctors
are making a killing with pain management clinics, and the
government appears to turn their heads as big Pharma lines

(17:14):
their pockets. It's no secret the drug abuse is torn
apart our society. The illegal and in a lot of cases,
prescription drugs have been obliterating families and causing crime and
death rates to rise. The epidemic is so bad that
President Trump has mandated Mexico and Canada monitor their borders

(17:36):
to keep drugs out of our country. Illegal drug use
that has become an addiction now qualifies as a disability,
So drug addicts are essentially disabled and dealing with them
requires compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. I get it,
But when a drug addict breaks into your house or

(17:57):
tries to carjack your vehicle, the only disability is their
inability to outright a bullet. I've preached before. The big
farm pain clinics and greedy doctors and operators are to blame.
They keep addicts needing more drugs, just like the cartels.
Using pain clinics to get addicts clean as impossible. Based

(18:17):
on the current methods being used, Big Farmer will never
come clean. The Cycler family was forced to pay billions
to settle their losing case where they were found responsible
for keeping people addicted in the name of more money.
Their greed killed many people and they still are wealthy.
They should all be in jail. Introduced as an alternative

(18:40):
to narcotics as a drug called saboxone, which was intended
to help addicts wean off narcotics while not getting sick
from the detoxification. Clinics were popping up all over the
place and addicts were on some government plan to obtain
their saboxone while paying little to nothing as they had
a disability. Naturally, the pain clinics and the drug addicts

(19:03):
found many loopholes and suboxone became a way for addicts
to get high off the government while being treated. Suboxone
was originally intended to be at eighteen to twenty four
month rehab program. That plan backfired and suboxone addicts are
now hooked for life. The fix tax the clinics and
addicts who get the drug. To obtain a liquor license,

(19:26):
you must pay a big initial tax and then one annually.
The liquor has additional taxes on top of normal taxes.
When the marijuana stores open day two will have a
massive taxes associated with their license to dispense. So why
not enforce a massive tax on the clinics and audit
them monthly. The unscrupulous operators will go out of business

(19:50):
or go to jail like we've seen with other shoddy operators,
and the legitimate operators will relish the ability to cure
patients the right play. The way it stands now, subox
owned clinics are nothing but a way for prescribers to
get stink and rich while the atticts suffer. The bad
clinics are not better than the cycler family. Tax the

(20:13):
clinics and force them to get addicts clean. It's apparent
that they can't govern themselves. Thanks for reading the Hazard Herald.
We have a hero by us Cassiday, the world is
deeply in need of heroes. That much is clear. We
spend millions of dollars each year watching movies and reading

(20:33):
comic books that tell the stories of fictional men and
women who, through various powers they were born with or
which they were granted, save the world on a regular basis.
Those stories, however, are just fiction. Their popularity does, however,
make it clear that we desire for someone to come
in and save the day, knowing that our world is

(20:54):
deeply troubled and in need of salvation. It's not a
surprise that our hearts yearned for this salvation, however, because
the salvation we ultimately seek as the salvation of our
own souls and the salvation of those we love. The
fictional stories, however, are just a view through a dark
mirror of the reality in which we find ourselves. When

(21:17):
God first created the world, he declared it was good,
and mankind was placed in a paradise. However, when sin
entered the picture, so did our separation from him, our
expulsion from paradise, and the beginning of our wandering in
the deserts of our own making. Holy Week is upon
us a time for Christians to memorialize and remember Jesus's

(21:39):
last week leading up to his crucifixion, from the triumphant
entry into the Eastern Morning Miracle, his resurrection from the dead.
This is the real hero story that our hearts are seeking.
Superman and Batman can inspire us to be better, but
only Jesus can truly save our souls. If you do
find yourself in a place of worship where you no

(22:01):
longer believe in this truth, or maybe you never did,
I pray you find inspiration and elimination by means of
the eternal truth expressed in the stories of Holy Week
and the Eastern Narrative. To believe. That's the only way
the world that each of us can forever and truly
be saved. You don't need any bad signals or special

(22:24):
decoder rings to access the true salvation that Jesus provides. However,
the Bible tells us it's our belief that makes the connection.
For God so loved the world that he gave his
only son, that whosoever believes in him shall not perish
but have eternal life. For God did not send his
son into the world to condemn the world, but to

(22:45):
save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is
not condemned. But whoever does not believe stands condemned already
because they have not believed in the name of God's
one and only son, John three six sixteen through eighteen.
The obituaries. Nanny Watts Campbell, ninety of Hazard died Friday

(23:07):
April eleventh. David Miller sixty three died Saturday April twelfth.
Bernard ray Rice eighty three of Hazard died Saturday April twelfth.
Richard Paul Metzner fifty nine of Hazard died Tuesday April eighth.
Sergeant first Class James E. Morgan Jr. Left the world

(23:31):
April tenth. Deborah Patrick, sixty eight of Hazard died Wednesday,
April ninth, and Doyle ban I Wooton, fifty eight of
Cornetsville died Friday April eleventh. Mother of God Council Catholic
Community held their annual lettin Fish Fry event Friday, April eleventh.

(23:52):
The event lasted from five thirty to seven thirty and
offered the community a free hot meal with fresh cod,
potatoes and cheese, coast law and dessert, with a place
to warm up and share a meal with community members
fell in the assault charge in hit and run. A
peeryman is facing a felling the assault charge after he

(24:13):
allegedly hit another man with his vehicle then left the scene.
According to a warrant taken out by Perry County Sheriff's
Deputy Chase Mullins, on April sixth, Clifton Geary Deaton, forty eight,
a Forkmouth Branch Road busy, was involved in a verbal
altercation with the alleged victim. During the argument, the warrant said, Deaton,

(24:34):
who was driving a vehicle, bicked up and attempted to
trespass on the victim's property. The victim, the warrant said,
followed on foot, at which time Deaton reaved the engine
and drove toward the victim, striking him and causing him
to go airborne before landing in a ditch. Deaton, the
warrant said, continued driving away from the scene. At the

(24:55):
time of the incident, The warren said Deaton had an
individual who had an active against him in his vehicle.
Deaton was arrested and charged with violating an EPODVO, leaving
an accident, failure to render aid or assistance with death
or serious injury, and first degree assault. Enrollment up for

(25:18):
second year in a row at Kentucky's independent colleges and universities.
For the second year in a row, Kentucky's eighteen independent
colleges and universities have seen an increase in enrollment, according
to a statement from the Association of Independent Kentucky Colleges
and Universities. After a big jump enrollment for fall twenty
twenty three, the sector saw another increase for fall twenty

(25:43):
twenty four. According to new data from the Kentucky Council
on post Secondary Education, undergraduate enrollment increased three point seven
percent forty to thirty four thousy two hundred and twenty eight,
while overall enrollment reached a record fifty nine on thy
four hundred and seventy seven at the eighteen institutions that

(26:04):
make up the aik CU. The statement said, in a
year where there was so much uncertainty around the rollout
of new fafts of forms, there was good news for campuses.
Students and families continued to see great value in independent
college education, as evidenced by strong enrollment numbers for the sector.

(26:25):
The statement said that the AIKCU increases contributed to a
three point nine percent increase in Kentucky's overall statewide enrollment
of both public and independent institutions. Al Holland Lee's Hazard
for Pike Central. Pike Central has been searching for a
fifteenth region boys basketball championship since the school first opened.

(26:49):
It's evided them over the years. Al Holland is no
stranger to winning games and region titles. Pipel Central introduced
Holland as their new boys basketball coach Monday Evening Number one.
My family lives over here now, Holland said, both my
daughter and my son. My wife is a retired school

(27:12):
teacher and she spends a lot of time babysitting to grandkids,
and we're over here. I just think it's a great opportunity.
It's close. This concludes the reading of the Hazard Herald.
Please stay tuned for continued programming. Thank you for joining
me and on behalf of everyone here at Radioive. This
is Lee Townshend wishing you a good day. Were coaches

(27:33):
here and we've got a lot of good relationships. They've
always bragged on this program in this community. Pike County
is a big county and there are a lot of
athletes over here. We're hoping to build on that a
lot of guys have already done a really good job
in the past. I just want to try to build
on that and make it stronger and stronger for our community.

(27:56):
Hollin took the job at Pike Central after coaching the
past eighteen years with Hazzard. Hollin spent his entire career
coaching in Perry County. He began his career at Dilsey
Combs before coaching at MEMC Napier and then Perry Central.