 If this is not the perfect storm, we don't ever want to see one. It's wind chill values that could be anywhere between 20 and 30 degrees below zero. Their techs are being cut off, pending further review of their cases. Each with entire five pounds, everything. Those jobs won't be with us and we've got to diversify this economy. Sewage spill in Virginia that has been polluting the Lafay support for two months. They're sampling in fish trap lake and below fish trap lake. You see the little specks there right? That's the way we are saying maybe as much as five inches of grain. Seven cadaver dogs have to come down. They're actively working in the area now. Don't answer the jewelry box that we're found a mile away from. We have a shelter open. From the flat gap community extending down just the 172 corridor. The homeless are there. Neighbors set the route and we just flow right by. I just can't put it into words how much I appreciate our neighbors and friends. They're absolutely wonderful. It only takes one person to change what everybody else believes in. Have all of you creamed out on a traffic stop with a wanted subject? God made those little lives. He can fix them. Welcome to the EKB News 2015 year in review. I'm Cindy Mae Johnson. And I'm Gary Sloan. For the next half hour, we will look back at some of the most memorable moments of 2015. And for many of the stories we will feature, you will see footage and interviews that have never aired on EKB TV. Now, as we got ready for this broadcast, we all agreed the entire EKB news team, the majority of the biggest stories of the year were weather related. So we do have to have chief meteorologist Latham Hopkins included on this segment. Literally everything you can imagine happened in eastern Kentucky as far as the weather is concerned during the year of 2015. We had everything from record breaking temperatures, both record breaking cold and record breaking heat, along with record breaking snowfall. And of course, flooding that many of us will never forget. We began 2015 on a quiet note with temperatures near average and below average precipitation in January. As a matter of fact, for the entire month, we only picked up a little more than two and a half inches of snow. But that was all about to change. February 16th, a storm system drops a foot or more of snow across our region. It was the most widespread 12 inch snowfall across eastern Kentucky in more than a decade. The highest snowfall total was found in Pike County, where 18 inches of snow was recorded in Coleman. February 20th, a deep snowpack in high pressure combined to produce the coldest temperatures since January of 1994. The mercury dropped to 26 degrees below zero near Paintsville, 21 degrees below zero in Prestonsburg, and 14 degrees below zero in Pikeville. February 21st, another round of rain, freezing rain, and snow moved in. While snow and ice totals were light for most of us, when combined with the rainfall, we picked up nearly three inches of precipitation, causing more high water issues on creeks, streams, and rivers. February 2015 went down as the coldest and snowiest February on record. The act of weather did not let up in March. Heavy rain on March 3rd and 4th, combined with melting snow from previous storms, led to the most widespread flooding our region has seen in more than a decade. The Levisa Fork of the Big Sandy River in Pikeville hit 40.4 feet, more than 5 feet above flood stage. This made it the highest crest since 1984 and the 13th highest crest on record. The same was true with the Tug Fork River in Kermit. It topped out at 45.2 feet, the sixth highest crest on record. April 2015 went down as the wettest April yet, with more than 10 inches of rain measured, nearly six and a half inches above average. This caused numerous mudslides, including this one, which destroyed the Ratliff Old Regular Baptist Church on Dry Fork of Shelby, Anna. May went down as the driest on record when we picked up less than two inches of rain, but that was followed by a soggy June when storms dumped more than seven inches of rain. July 2015 turned into a deadly month as severe thunderstorms led to flash flooding. The first of three rounds of severe weather moved in from the north on July 13th. The hardest hit locations were the flat gap and red bush communities of Johnson County. In those areas, Doppler radar estimated that training thunderstorms dropped between three to four inches of rain in only one hour. Despite more than 50 swift water rescues, four people lost their lives. More than 150 homes were destroyed, and as many as 500 homes were affected to some extent by the flooding. After relatively calm conditions during August, September and October, we observed the third warmest November on record. The warm weather continued into December with 26 days of above average temperatures, 17 of those above 60 degrees. That makes it the warmest December on record. With those warm temperatures, we have yet to record a measurable snowfall in our area. This is the latest that has ever happened. With your 2015 year in review, I'm Chief Meteorologist Layton Hopkins. The winter of 2014-2015 will long be remembered for the series of winter storms and extreme cold temperatures that hit the last two weeks of February and the first week of March. The February 16th snowstorm, which put down as much as 20 inches of snow, started what officials in Pikeville would soon describe as a perfect storm. And if that wasn't bad enough, nearly two feet of snow was followed just four days later by a mix of snow sleet and freezing rain. That was followed by record low temperatures and everything went from bad to worse. Ice jams formed in the river, which clogged intakes at water plants along the Levisa Fork of the Big Sandy, causing water outages in several communities, including right here in Pikeville. Saturday night, about 8 o'clock, I just left the water plant just to check on everything to make sure that everything was okay. And I just got home from an exhausting week and I got a call about an hour later. We went from pumping 4,700 gallon a minute to zero in just a matter of 30 or 40 minutes. We seen depletion occurring throughout the week of our system. It was actually hard to keep up pumping the pump stations to the tanks. And then when this ice hit the river with a debris and stopped off the intakes up and down the river, it just made a bad situation worse. Southern water has a plant down at Martin and mountain waters up Harliss's Creek. And then I talked to the folks at Prestonsburg. Every one of them has had the same issues with their screens during this event. We've actually found a lot of governmental agencies, schools, that kind of issues that's been closed during this timeframe that have leaks on their side. I've actually had crews just going door to door to those locations, businesses, church that may not be occupied, looking at meters, and we're finding major leaks. If this is not the perfect storm, we don't ever want to see one. Now let's fast forward about 10 days to March 3rd, when another storm that brought heavy rain and several more inches of snow leading to widespread flooding along the Big Sandy. In fact, for the first time in more than 30 years, the river and Pikeville reached the point where the Pikeville Fire Department closed the floodgates near Pikeville High School. At times like these, we know how important communication and regular updates are to our viewers and listeners. We suspended all regular programming on EKB-TV and radio, cutting short the Daybreak Morning Show and other live shows to bring you live, in-depth coverage as long as the threat of flooding persisted. We had reporters who worked throughout the overnight hours and long into the day, monitoring water levels, calling in reports, and providing pictures and video. Gary, I know you and I both remember that day well. I think we were on the air without a break seven or eight hours that day. We were, Cindy. And we got a great deal of feedback from social media and people who called or just stopped us to say thanks for keeping us informed during that very frightening time. Stay with us. Because when we come back, we'll continue our look back at the news stories of 2015 that left the biggest impact on us on EKB-TV's 2015 year in review. The first few months of 2015 brought snow, ice, and high water. It was practically expected that would be followed by several rock slides. And for the most part, it only took a couple of weeks to recover when rock slides happened. But one slide on the Pikeville bypass closed the road for more than six months, taking a serious financial toll on area businesses as well as creating a big inconvenience. Because of the work being done along the bypass to prevent future rockfalls, traffic patterns changed three different times, further confusing motorists and disrupting business. We've had calls. Are you open? Then I've had some call. Well, how'd I get that? Like when schools out, there's more traffic going through town and everything. And it's harder for them to get here. So I don't know. They probably stop off someplace else. Businesses affected by the slide reported losing 60 to 70% of their business while the repair work was being done. But after the mid-September reopening of the road, business has been booming. You can't mention flooding in 2015 without immediately thinking about Johnson County's deadly July 13 flash flood that claimed four lives. Nearly 100 homes along Route 172 in the flat gap community were destroyed. Many of them swept hundreds of yards from their foundation. Dozens of families lost everything and have spent the past five and a half months completely rebuilding their lives. EKB News reporter Shannon Deskins has been covering this story since the day it happened and witnessed a rebuilding process firsthand. She recently visited with the owners of a convenience store that just reopened after more than five months of blood, sweat and tears and a lot of support from the community. Many people in Johnson County, Kentucky are going to look back at 2015 and remember the July 13 flood that took lives and homes with it. But a lot of people are going to remember 2015 in Johnson County as a time for rebuilding. Residents who lost their homes in the flood had to make a tough decision, whether or not to return. And that was the same decision facing the owners of Wade's One Stop. We first met Wade in Betty Castle two days after the floods severely damaged their convenience store on Route 172. That's when Wade described how quickly this disaster began and ended. The rain started like 12 minutes to four and by 4.15, 4.18 it was starting to run in. By about 4.24 to 4.35 we were on that bank at the highest point. I mean in 20 minutes we moved three times trying to get out of the way of the water. By 5.35 it was receding. The building had to be stripped down to the concrete walls and ceiling before they could start rebuilding and just like everyone else along Route 172 will tell you the castle said the support that they've received from the community has been amazing. The store recently reopened with a new floor, new products and a new fresh coat of paint on the walls. But just inside the door you'll find a reminder of the flood which Wade and Betty say gives them the opportunity to tell their story. It's not like it's ever going to be forgotten in our minds but when someone comes in here that isn't from this area we want them to know that yes we've had disaster here but we are survivors and we've made it through. One would think that after the flash flood that caused so much damage and changed so many lives that people would be bitter but that's not the case. As sad as it was there's still some good things and there's good people, wonderful people in this area and I'm just pleased with how everything turned out in the end. I hate the tragic events that happened but it has brought a community together. Reporting in FlightGap for EKB News I'm Shannon Deskins. You know Cindy they were various fundraising activities that was scheduled and held and conducted after that terrifying situation in Johnson County. It's one of the things we typically see in this region when times are tough people really band together you're right a lot of different things happen one of the biggest of course the radio and telethon that East Kentucky Broadcasting did in conjunction with Pikeville Medical Center by the time we had finished that fundraising effort about $70,000 went directly to flood relief and that was very impressive and much needed. The next prominent story from 2015 came from Virginia quite literally in May EKB News learned about a massive sewage spill in Buchanan County, Virginia that was dumping millions of gallons of raw sewage directly into the Levisa Fork which flows directly into Pike County's fish trap lake. To make matters worse officials in Virginia said it had been going on since March. This like many other stories this year can also be blamed on the weather during the early March flooding event. Buchanan County officials said manhole covers were displaced allowing debris to block more than 700 feet of the county's main sewer line. That in turn put all the untreated sewage directly into the river. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officials employees from the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Kentucky Division of Water kept a close eye on the river and fish trap lake throughout the summer. We're collecting some samples from the Levisa Fork and as well some of our counterparts from Frankford are up today they're sampling in fish trap lake and below fish trap lake to make sure that we're not seeing any impact water quality from the potential sewer overflowing Conaway wastewater treatment plant in Virginia. The good news is that no fish or wildlife were impacted and bacteria levels in the lake and the river below the fish trap spillway never reached levels above normal. When we come back we will revisit more stories from this past year. You're watching EKB-TV's 2015 Year in Review. Not all struggles faced by communities in 2015 were weather related. Many county governments as well as various city leaders faced severe fiscal challenges. Every county and community in our region has experienced shortfalls due to declining coal severance tax money. And while that also applies to the city of Williamson, West Virginia their main fiscal challenge this year had nothing to do with coal. EKB news reporter Shelby Steele has been covering Williamson's ongoing economic struggle from the announcement of the city's 50% water and sewer increase to the recent resignation of three public officials. She brings us this update. Williamson residents have experienced a lot of turmoil over the past few months. Problems began when the Williamson City Council proposed a 50% water and sewage rate hike due to a $1.2 million debt owed to Viola Water Company. Direct some of your discomfort with this in the direction of the water board not the city council. You have a right to raise those issues with us because ultimately we're going to be responsible for making a rate adjustment. Citizens then took matters into their own hands by petitioning the West Virginia Public Service Commission for a review. It could be a miscalculation on their part on a lot of stuff. It's just stuff that needs to be looked into in more detail than what has been instead of somebody just saying yeah this is how it is. The PSE eventually postponed the water rate increase until an audit could be conducted to determine where the $1.2 million is. Then during the city's economic struggles three city officials resigned causing the council even more problems. While the city clerk and city attorney were easy spots to fill the council had a difficult time replacing the mayor. You know when there's conflict you go to a place where there's not conflict so that's what we did. Now that the city's personnel issues have been resolved the city is still waiting on the PSE to finish its review before a rate increase can be determined. Reporting in Williamson for EKB News I'm Shelby Steele. The city of Williamson struggles are expected to continue well into 2016 and as always EKB News will follow the story and bring you in-depth coverage. In Pike County after several failed attempts in previous years to pass an occupational tax the 2015 fiscal court was successful. June 30th in front of a standing room only crowd the magistrates and Pike County judge executive Bill Deskins voted unanimously to adopt the ordinance imposing a 1% occupational tax and a 1% business net profit tax. The fiscal court had confidence that the revenue generated by the tax would offset the $1.7 million deficit they were facing. With nearly two quarters now behind them EKB News reporter Chris Anderson visited county leaders to see if the tax is working. One of the biggest stories out of Pike County in 2015 was the passage and implementation of the now in effect 1% occupational tax. The tax proposal was met with resistance from some members of the public who were vocal in their opposition to the tax while a large contingent of county employees voiced support for the tax. But with the county's financial situation worsening due in large part to declines in cold severance tax receipts the occupational tax officials say was needed to plug the $1.3 million shortfall in the county's budget and stop the bleeding. County Treasurer John DeBilder said since the tax was approved it has helped the budget situation. If we hadn't had the occupational tax you could be looking at, you know, $3 million or so that we would be short. But other issues including cold severance declines are still causing problems. The tax helped to plug the hole that was needed to balance the budget but now we have another issue with the coal and mineral severance tax they have bottomed out on us completely. The coal severance was projected to be $3 million which is $288,000 less than what we received last year but we've only received $1.178,000 and if you double that for two quarters potentially being $600,000 short or worse if we were to be lucky enough to realize the same amount of revenue in the next two quarters. DeBilder also said however that receipts for the occupational tax have come in below initial estimates. She said several issues have resulted in fewer occupational tax receipts and rather than the $1.2 million that was forecast in the second quarter of the fiscal year the collection may only reach about $750,000. We were projecting for each quarter about $1.2 million so we've gotten $650,000 which is, you know, $550,000 short each quarter from what we had thought but there's been money that was allocated that will not be spent to offset the decrease of what we're not going to get. DeBilder said as the budget situation continues to look bleak cuts are possible within the county. We are looking at ways to cut back and trim. Reporting from Pike County for EKB News I'm Chris Anderson. In light of all of the obvious fiscal challenges and the region brought about by the downturn of the coal industry work began to strengthen the regional economy through diversification. On one front, construction finally began on the Mountain Parkway expansion in McGulf and County and this summer officials at the state and national level announced plans to create jobs through technology. Governor Steve Beshear, U.S. Congressman Hal Rogers and hundreds of businessmen and women met in hazard to celebrate the launch of the Kentucky Wired Highway Broadband Network part of the SOAR Initiative. Officials say the dark fiber which should reach eastern Kentucky this spring will be a gang changer making communication faster than ever before. This began the tide of bringing jobs back into eastern Kentucky in a new economy. This enables us to hook up with the world and we're in competition I think down with the world once the cable is in place and output our workers and the work ethic we have at East Kentucky up against anybody in the world. The broadband network will cover an estimated 3,400 miles across Kentucky at an estimated cost of $324 million. In anticipation of the broadband network reaching eastern Kentucky Big Sandy Community and Technical College along with the University of Pikeville announced a new fiber optics training program. Officials said this is a great opportunity for many out-of-work coal miners to be trained for a new career. Classes began on the Big Sandy Pikeville campus in September. Coming up in our look back at 2015 we'll take a look at some of the sports headlines that grabbed regional as well as statewide attention. At the end of May nearly 1,800 disability recipients were surprised with letters informing them that their benefits were in jeopardy and all of those receiving letters had one thing in common that had all been represented by Stanville attorney Eric C. Kahn. Initially those receiving social security disability benefits were told they have received their last check. However, after two highly publicized suicides the Social Security Administration temporarily reinstated their benefits pending a full review of their cases. EKB news reporter Sean Allen looks back at how this all unfolded and updates us on how the story continues to develop. In May EKB news broke the story of the Social Security Administration threatening to cancel disability payments to nearly 1,800 clients of Stanville attorney Eric C. Kahn citing suspected fraud by Kahn and the doctors who his clients consulted. Two of those receiving letters committed suicide after learning that their federal disability benefits were being suspended according to attorney Ned Pillerstorf. Shortly after the legal team headed by Pillerstorf filed two lawsuits. One against the federal government in response to the suspensions and a wrongful death suit against Kahn. The Social Security Administration later reinstated the suspended benefits but said all 1,800 beneficiaries would have to go through redetermination hearings to establish that they were disabled at the time of their initial application for benefits. Those redetermination hearings are now taking place despite the efforts of attorney Ned Pillerstorf to stop them. Pillerstorf claims the hearings are unlawful. The SSA acknowledges no evidence to 1787 engaged in any type of fraudulent conduct. The vast majority of my clients I would say 99% never met Kahn. Had no idea what his relationship was with the doctors. But to this day we're at this shameful juncture where the 1787 are basically being terrorized by these awful hearings that are unfair and nothing's happened to Kahn. A legal team has been assembled and free representation can be obtained through Apple Red and Prestonsburg. Pillerstorf however is concerned that out of the 1,800 clients only 600 have actually taken advantage of the free representation. My real worried prediction is and I hope I'm wrong my prediction come February, March, April, May we'll have 1,500 people primarily in Pike or Floyd are going to lose their benefits. And you remember what I was like those two weeks back in May when 900 lost their benefits we immediately had some suicides. So I'm real worried. I'm terribly sorry that the whole thing has come about the way it has. Anybody that needs a file or medical records anything like that they can come by the office or call the office we're more than happy to try to pull your file out of a closed building get your medical records and get all that stuff together. You can pick it up we can mail it to you anything you need. If you are in need of representation in this case contact the number on your screen. Reporting for EKB News I'm Shawn Allen. Just a little over a month after Kentucky State Trooper Joseph Ponder was shot and killed during a traffic stop on September 13th in Lyon County all of eastern Kentucky was shocked to hear of a Prestonsburg police officer being shot in the line of duty. The night of October 20th Prestonsburg police sergeant Adam Dixon was shot in the chest by 28 year old Robert Powers at a residence on Abbott Creek in Floyd County. The 10 year veteran of the Prestonsburg police department received a Christmas miracle a little early when doctors told him the bullet which went through his sternum missed all vital organs. EKB news reporter Shannon Deskins recently sat down with Sergeant Dixon to talk about his ordeal. The night of October 20th Sergeant Adam Dixon was put into the worst case scenario that all police officers are trained for but hope never happens and even though he had been shot in the chest he never lost consciousness. In fact he told EKB news he actually maintained his sense of humor. The more calm I can keep everybody the better I was and I even done that at the hospital I was joking and cutting up with the staff in the hospital room you know as much as I could and to me that was something that it kept it for me in my mind that hey you're shot you know there's a possibility you're gonna die here I wouldn't let myself think that. Sergeant Dixon said hundreds of prayers were answered later that night when doctors told him the bullet missed his heart and simply came to rest behind his sternum and more good news came when they said they weren't going to do surgery. You know they said it was just gonna always be with me you know it was one of those that the risk of doing the surgery outweighed the risk of just leaving it there so it's actually behind my behind my sternum and it you know it'll I'll have fun with some metal detectors at airports but you know other than that it shouldn't cause me a problem. In Adam Dixon's mind he will always carry memories of that night but around his neck he carries part of his uniform that many credit for saving his life a button from his shirt that was hit by the bullet. With these buttons some of us you know if you spend any time in in the career it's you know you have to put these on the uniform you have to polish on them you have to maintain them so that they look professional and everything else and you start looking at these buttons going why do I wear these I don't I hate these buttons and you know and that's why I thought before now I'm like you know what I'm pretty glad I had that on. Sergeant Dixon plans to return to work at the Prestonsburg Police Department sometime in January. Powers remains in the Floyd County Jail he's been charged with first degree assault of a police officer fleeing police and driving under the influence. And just as the year was drawing to a close another story came out of Johnson County that grabbed national headlines. As elementary schools and Johnson County made final preparations to Christmas plays a directive came from the Board of Education telling teachers to remove all religious references. Parents and members of the community spent several days protesting the decision in front of the Johnson County Board of Education and even though Linus's line quoting scripture and W. R. Castle elementary schools rendition of a Charlie Brown Christmas was removed parents made sure those lines were spoken. At the December 21st school board meeting both sides agreed to work together on a compromise. From state football championships to high energy regional basketball action to the U-Pike Bears making another run at a national title our region definitely made sports headlines in 2015. EKB TV sports director Jamie Johnson details the action in his report. The year in sports will be remembered with the crowning of two state champions as both Pikeville and Belfrey brought football titles back to the mountains. We did it. We did it. That's all. I don't know what else you want me to say. We got it done. It means a lot to be able to to bring this back to Pikeville. I'm tickled to death for these guys. Well, Pikeville captured its first title since 1989. The Belfrey Pirates successfully defended the Class 3A state title. You just got to have a little bit of whatever that word is tenacity and perseverance and we talk about that a lot that you know just just keep doing what we do eventually good things will happen to you believing yourself believing your teammates and that we've got and we feel like we've got a pretty good system. 2015 was also the year sports fans across the bluegrass were introduced to a couple of standout mountain athletes. Paceville Allstate linebacker Gash Daniel was named Gatorade player of the year and will play at the next level with the University of Kentucky. He's also a finalist for National defensive player of the year. Meanwhile, the town of Jenkins hasn't seen this much attention since Cole was king as Lady Cavalier star Whitney Creech is now the second all time leading scorer in Kentucky high school basketball history. Creech is averaging over 50 points per ball game. It is on pace to become the state's first 5000-point scorer. She'll play at the next level at Western Kentucky. Congratulations are in order to our basketball champions as Johnson Central swept both the boys and girls 15th region tournament titles capping off a dominant season by schools from the 57th district. On the baseball diamond the Lawrence County Bulldogs completed a 23-win season by winning the 15th region championship for the first time since 2011. In softball Johnson Central yielded only three runs on their way to winning back-to-back district and 15th region championships. Finally, Kelly Wales and the U-Pike Bears wrapped up a successful season where they finished in the NAIA tournament semifinals featuring national player of the year Kenny Manigault. The Bears are currently ranked number one and are looking to return to Kansas City in the spring. Through every game this season win or lose mountain fans can be proud of their athletes. Johnson Central Football Coach Jim Matney sums it up best. For EKB Sports I'm Jamie Johnson. You know, Cindy, three area football teams went to state football championship games. That still just blows my mind. I don't know when that's ever happened before. Two of them, of course, Belfry, Pikeville bringing back those trophies but we're proud of all three. Absolutely. That's going to do it for our look back at our most memorable stories of 2015. We'd love to hear what your favorite stories are. Go to EKB News Facebook page and leave us a comment about the stories that left the biggest impression on you in 2015. Thanks for joining us. On behalf of the whole East Kentucky Broadcasting News team, thank you for being with us in 2015 and we look forward to bringing you the most relevant stories, the ones that matter to you in 2016. Happy New Year everyone. 10-4 all units copy direct. 10-4, officer trim, stand by. There'll be two in just a minute. God made those little eyes. He can fix them.