News - The Mountain Eagle (2024)

Letcher Emergency Medical Service is deep in debt and hemorrhaging money, with some employees saying they have missed paydays and a Chicago area lender with a history of lawsuits against it threatening to repossess everything the service owns. Employees say most if not all of those who missed checks have now been paid, but some have left the ambulance service […]

A Pert Creek man was arrested on assault and drug charges after a high-speed motorcycle chase that ended in a crash at Payne Gap. According to a citation issued by Letcher County Deputy Sheriff James Norris, the incident began after Whitesburg Police Officer Hunter Holbrook said he saw a black Harley-Davidson motorcycle with a driver and passenger run the red […]

The state has put a concrete barrier up to prevent scofflaws from crossing the Blackey Bridge, which is closed to traffic because of structural issues. The state closed the bridge on Monday, June 3, after an inspection three days earlier showed holes had rusted in a steel gusset connecting a truss member in the bridge’s superstructure to the beams below. […]

Flooded homes are being removed on Maryland Avenue in Whitesburg as part of the FEMA buyout program. This house, owned by Virginia Faye and Arnold Weaver, was taken down on Tuesday. The Weavers were the first family to move into a new HOMES house on Copperhead Road built especially for flood victims.

While there’s no doubt that the PACT Act did a lot of good, opening up an additional 20 health conditions for eligibility for presumptive benefits, the sheer number of veterans who applied created delays in processing new claims. It also brought out the scammers, thieves and conmen. Those crooks offer so-called assistance with claims … for a fee. Fact: You […]

The director of the Letcher County Recreation Center is a retired Navy chief with more than 20 years of defending the United States under his belt. But at a recent fiscal court meeting he had to defend himself against accusations made during a fiscal court meeting a month earlier. Jeremiah Johnston went before the court to challenge statements made in […]

Drug overdose deaths in Kentucky fell nearly 10% in 2023, marking a second straight annual decline in the fight against an addiction epidemic that’s far from over, Gov. Andy Beshear said. The number of fatal overdoses statewide dropped below 2,000, as officials credited a comprehensive response that includes treatment and prevention as well as illegal drug seizures by law enforcement. […]

The Jenkins City Council voted this week to contribute opioid settlement funds it receives towards HEAL (Help End Addiction for Life), a Letcher County-based addiction recovery support program. HEAL President Sydney Whitaker spoke to the council on the program’s expansion from a substance abuse treatment project to a full-service nonprofit with a planned Letcher County Hub to launch this summer. […]

It takes a lot of nerve to cook up a scheme to steal large amounts of money from government agencies such as the VA, especially since in the end the criminals get caught. One thief tried to convince the VA that he couldn’t use his feet anymore. The scam got him a 100% disability rating (as well as the monthly […]

Six people have been indicted on felony charges in Letcher Circuit Court. They are: • Billy Gray, 24, 50 Coffee Court, Whitesburg, who is charged with alcohol intoxication in a public office (first and second offenses), menacing, resisting arrest, first-degree strangulation, fourth-degree assault domestic violence (minor injury), fourth-degree assault (minor injury), first-degree disorderly conduct, and third-degree criminal mischief. Whitesburg Police […]