The Mountain Eagle

Not to be confused with the Alfred Hitchcock film of the same name, The Mountain Eagle is a weekly newspaper based in Whitesburg, Kentucky. Serving as the primary publication for Letcher County and one of the key newspapers in Eastern Kentucky, it has a rich history. Established in 1907 by Nehemiah Webb, The Mountain Eagle has been under the ownership of the Gish family since 1956. Thomas E. Gish led the paper until his passing in November 2008, after which his son, Benjamin T. Gish, took over as editor. The newspaper has gained recognition for its in-depth reporting on issues such as strip mining and its environmental impact, as well as topics related to education and political corruption. Its memorable motto is "It Screams."

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English

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#1623448

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#396161

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#10661

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Articles

Letcher Fire, EMS goes broke, shuts down all services

3 days ago | themountaineagle.com | Sam Adams

Letcher Volunteer Fire Department and Letcher EMS are not operating after an apparent financial collapse of the organizations. Neon Fire and Rescue is covering emergency medical calls, and fire departments in the surrounding the area are handling any calls for fire service. The financially troubled ambulance service sparked the crisis when it laid off all employees last week and ambulances […]
Attorney seek a second deposition from Stines

1 week ago | themountaineagle.com | Sam Adams

The plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit against former deputy sheriff Ben Fields are seeking to keep the discovery portion of the case open another six months and asked the judge to order another deposition with former sheriff Shawn Mickey Stines. The request is based on a state- ment the defense attorney in Stines’s murder case made on a tabloid TV […]
Bond set at $1 million for accused killer

1 week ago | themountaineagle.com | Sam Adams

A man charged in a year-old murder on Cowan is being held in the Letcher County Jail under a $1 million bond. Mark A. Miles, 65, of Cowan, who called 9-1-1 and told a dispatcher he found Angela Jeanette Roberts dead in her car at a Cowan cemetery in 2024, is now accused of killing her. A Letcher County Grand […]
White House denies request from Letcher schools

1 week ago | themountaineagle.com | Sam Adams

The Trump administration has denied the Letcher County School District’s request to reconsider taking away a $3 million federal grants that was already approved for the district and obligated to pay for 25 new school buses. “We were notified on Friday that our reapplication was denied,” Superintendent Denise Yonts said this week. “The state will appeal on our behalf.” The […]
When America’s First Lady went inside an underground coal mine

2 weeks ago | themountaineagle.com | Jadon Gibson

Ninety years ago today — on May 21, 1935 — First lady Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, toured the Hanna Coal Company mine at Willow Grove, Ohio. She was provided with a miner’s hard hat and a gray coat for the two-mile round trip through what was considered a model mine, “one of the safest in […]
Up to one-fourth of state’s coal miners have black lung, showing the need to maintain funding of federal agency

2 weeks ago | themountaineagle.com | Sam Adams

Between a fifth and a quarter of central Appalachian miners have complicated black lung, a study by the largest black lung clinic in Kentucky indicates, underlining the need to maintain funding for the National Institute of Safety and Health. NIOSH certifies “B Readers,” who examine miners for the disease, offers miners screening for black lung, researches the disease to set […]
Pope sees superstardom ahead for Johnson

2 weeks ago | themountaineagle.com | Larry Vaught

Vaught’s Views Jasper Johnson is a 6-foot- 4 guard with elite shooting skills who has strong family connections to Kentucky and has proven himself on a national level the last two seasons as well as in recent national all-star games. Kentucky coach Mark Pope targeted Johnson almost immediately in his 2025 recruiting class after he got the job at Kentucky and now […]
Chance of a lifetime

2 weeks ago | themountaineagle.com | Sam Adams

Letcher Central High School band students chosen for two-week concert tour of Europe Two Letcher County Central High School band students will get the chance of lifetime this summer when they begin a two-week concert tour through Europe.
OSM layoffs would cause loss of funds for projects here

3 weeks ago | themountaineagle.com | Sam Adams

The retired head of the Office of Surface Mine Reclamation and Enforcement’s London office says a recommendation by the federal Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to move auditors out of the agency will hamstring its ability to collect money from coal companies to pay for Abandoned Mine Lands Reclamation. Abandoned Mine Lands money pays for water systems in areas where […]
Stines appears stressed in video

3 weeks ago | themountaineagle.com | Sam Adams

Another snippet of video leaked this week in the Shawn Mickey Stines murder case does little to explain why Stines shot and killed District Judge Kevin Mullins, who had been a friend and a frequent attendee at poker games in Stines’s garage. It does, however, show Stines was panicky and paranoid as he sat handcuffed in a chair in the […]