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1 week ago | 
themountaineagle.com | Sam Adams
The Trump administration has cut more than 1,000 jobs from the National Institute of Health and Safety, the federal agency which researches black lung disease and provides free black lung evaluations for coal miners. And a week after the President held a press conference in the White House with men in work uniforms and mining hats standing behind him and […]
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2 weeks ago | 
themountaineagle.com | Sam Adams
Kentucky will run out of money to deal with the steady stream of natural disasters the state has faced over the past five years and continues to face today, unless the General Assembly holds a special session and allocates more, Gov. Andy Beshear said this week. Floodwaters in central, western, and northern Kentucky are expected to begin receding this week […]
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3 weeks ago | 
themountaineagle.com | Sam Adams
They say a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, but a million birds in the skies over Pine Mountain could be worth a lot of money to the local economy. A new festival scheduled for later this month is seeking to find out just how much money birds of a feather — and the birdwatches who […]
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1 month ago | 
themountaineagle.com | Sam Adams
Letcher County Public Schools will increase the time students here spend in school by nearly half an hour, cutting six days off the length of the school year. The Letcher County Board of Education approved the plan at its regular March meeting Monday night. Superintendent Denise Yonts said House Bill 241 will allow schools to compute the length of the […]
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1 month ago | 
themountaineagle.com | Sam Adams
A last-minute bill approved by the Kentucky General Assembly will likely add more burden for many of the 7,339 Kentucky Medicaid recipients in Letcher County, requiring them to volunteer at least 20 hours a week in order to keep their medical coverage. The bill is likely more smoke than fire, since nearly 7 in 10 Medicaid users nationally work either […]
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1 month ago | 
themountaineagle.com | Sam Adams
Contractors are expected to begin clearing debris from streams this week in Letcher County in the wake of the flood that occurred February 14 to 15. The Letcher Fiscal Court will use DRC Emergency Service of Galveston, Texas, which has already signed a master contract with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, to manage local contractors collecting and hauling debris. Some magistrates […]
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1 month ago | 
themountaineagle.com | Sam Adams
Nearly 700 children in Letcher County with physical and mental disabilities, developmental delays, and learning differences could be affected by cuts announced at the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights. The OCR is tasked with overseeing compliance with several Civil Rights laws, including Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which prevents discrimination based on disability. The […]
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1 month ago | 
themountaineagle.com | Sam Adams
While Elon Musk’s cuts to the federal government may have already closed at least 19 federal offices in Kentucky, including all of those tasked with the safety of coal miners, some Kentucky legislators have filed a bill to create a state version of Musk’s Department Of Government Efficiency. They’ve also filed a bill to prevent Kentucky Occupational Safety and Health […]
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1 month ago | 
themountaineagle.com | Sam Adams
Over 300,000 people visited Letcher County nearly 3 million times in 2024, according to a study commissioned by the county Tourism and Convention Commission. Jeffery Justice, Executive Director of the Pine Mountain Partnership, gave a copy of the study report to the Letcher Fiscal Court at its regular February meeting. Justice said the report by Placer.ai, a software suite by […]
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1 month ago | 
themountaineagle.com | Sam Adams
School children in Letcher County have to meet their buses outside in at least 11 hollows because damage from last week’s flooding left the roads impassable by school buses and the county water system has been off-line sporadically throughout the county. In Whitesburg, a landslide on Tunnel Hill pushed a water storage tank and separated a water main, causing the […]
