 Tonight, on EKB Evening News at 6, opposition to a proposed tax in Pike County brings out a crowd. Good evening, I'm Cindy Mae Johnson. And I'm Gary Slum. A proposed one percent occupational tax under consideration in Pike County drew a packed house to a fiscal court meeting last night, and most were not happy about the plan. EKB News reporter Shelby Steele was at that meeting and brings us the details. It was a packed house during last night's Pike County fiscal court meeting. As EKB reported yesterday, one heated topic on the agenda was the proposed occupational tax. If passed, that could be a one percent tax on each check a person earns from working within the county. County residents were given the opportunity to express their concerns, and Pike County deputy judge executive Brian Morris says he feels that last night's meeting went well. We had some great comments from some community leaders who just wanted to understand what it was. They had some basic questions and the magistrates and the physical court answered their questions. I thought it was very informative and I appreciated the comments. Residents lobbied heavily against the occupational tax and expressed their concerns to the court. Well, one of my main concern was to make sure that the elected officials in the fiscal court here were being good stewards with the citizens' money. I mean, have we went through and scrubbed all the expenses to make sure that we're cutting what we can cut and just not asking for more additional money to spend on things here in the county. Another concern was if the tax was the last resort and the only option left for the court and citizens of Pike County. My concern is that they're wanting to implement a tax before they really go into the budget and make the cuts that they need to make it. Really, to me, they just want an extra money to spend freely. Hopkins adds that there may be some other options to look into. It's really a needs versus a wants situation. The judge had referred to the county as sort of like running a business and in any business situation, when revenues are down, you have to really look at what you need to run your business versus what you want. So sometimes you necessarily don't get what you want. Sayers is nervous that the tax will generate more revenue than what is needed. 1.7 is what they said they need for the budget and this tax is going to create five million dollars. So there's going to be a surplus and they're just going to spend it. There's no controls in place. They need controls for what they got now and that's the problem. For EKB Evening News at 6, I'm Shelby Steele. With the first of the month upon us, 900 families affected by the Social Security Administration's suspension of disability benefits are entering their first month of not receiving a check. All of those affected by the suspensions are former clients of Stanville Attorney Eric C. Kahn whose cases were determined by medical evidence provided by one of four doctors. Benefits for 900 were suspended and benefits for 600 others are in jeopardy, pending redetermination hearings because the Social Security Administration found reason to suspect fraud in some of the cases. Last night, Attorney Ned Piller's Dwarf gathered together as many of his clients that would fit in the old Floyd County Courthouse physical courtroom to inform them of updates on the lawsuit proceedings. Well, the reason we're having the meeting is one, information two, just to, this is such a stressful time for these people. As I've indicated, when I came back from the meeting, it was a state police detective in my office who advised me there have now been, they believe, three suicides linked to this. And I want to stress how important it is for people to not obviously take such drastic measures or suicide hotlines. I'd like to be able to 100% guarantee these folks are going to get their benefits back. I really can't do that. I think we have a good legal argument and we're likely to win. An emergency temporary restraining order was entered today by Judge Harris, seizing his assets and telling him not to destroy any more evidence. If there'll be a formal hearing Thursday, Mr. Conn's attorney will be there and we will introduce evidence why the judge's temporary order today was appropriate. And at that hearing, we also intend to introduce evidence that none of my 900 people had anything to do with any of the misconduct Mr. Conn's been rightfully accused of. Two of Peeler's Dwarf's clients, Cheryl Martin and Robert Martin are acting as representatives in the legal battles since they are class action lawsuits. Peeler's Dwarf also hopes that putting faces to the lawsuits will help others see that real people with real disabilities are suffering. Both of these people have very problematic cancer prognosis. They're clearly disabled. Miss Martin has not denied the fact or she has acknowledged that she has cancer that's metastasized or lymph nodes. She's not faking her injury. She is disabled. Her benefit should not have been taken away and the problem with Miss Martin is she has $600 out-of-pocket expenses because she takes 24 medications. Cutting and taking away her $1,200 check is basically shortening her life. One of Peeler's Dwarf's disability clients is Alex Sloan from Bath County who was hurt at his construction job when a 3,000-pound column pulled him into some rebar on the job site. He is already feeling the effects of this situation. Because I get shots in my back, in my lower back, my knees, my shoulders, and here they won't take my social security, you know what I mean? After I paid it all in. You know, I paid it in. I paid my social security in. I'm about to lose my home. I bought a home here about a year ago, about an acre and I'm about to lose it now. I don't know what I'm going to do. Other people like me who have hurt and everything else, they don't serve with social security. But you know, other people like her that don't serve it, they don't serve it. You know what I mean? This is what, this is the plan I took. Reporting for EKB Evening News at 6, I'm Courtney Levin. This is a complicated matter and to give us more insight into the issue of the disability suspensions and all the legal issues surrounding them, we've invited Pikeville attorney Noah Friend who serves as co-counsel to our studios. Thank you for being with us tonight. Thank you. This is a very concerning issue for everyone, not just those people who are affected by the suspension, but when we think about this many people losing their income, it's an economic impact across our entire region. Has there been a precedence for something like this before in the past? Well, I've certainly never seen anything in my co-counsel which includes Mr. Pillars Dwarf, other lawyers we've talked to have been in the area for 50 years have never seen anything like this. This came as a total shock to us. It certainly came as a total shock to the 900 families that are now suffering from this. And I think it's very important to know that there is no evidence and no accusation even by the administration that these people did anything wrong. This all relates to Mr. Pillars Dwarf, or not Mr. Pillars Dwarf, Mr. Kahn's misconduct. So you know, people are scared, they're desperate and a lot of people are just absolutely hopeless right now because these benefits are absolutely necessary for them to buy groceries, for them to buy medications. As you heard, you know, our two clients that are representative clients have advanced cancers. They're on medications that cost them hundreds of dollars a month. So all of a sudden knowing with very little notice or no notice at all from the administration that they weren't going to be able to buy those medications the next month is just absolutely devastating. And as Mr. Pillars Dwarf mentioned in the report, you know, we've had at least two or three people that have committed suicide because of this because there's just that feeling of hopelessness. Let's get to the lawsuits themselves. And where do these cases stand currently? And when can the people that's involved in these cases, when can they expect some sort of answer? I think the first case is the one in Floyd County that's set for a hearing tomorrow morning. And that's the case against Mr. Kahn, trying to actually, you know, cause him to have to pay for this, for his misconduct. So there will be, I think, some answer on that tomorrow, at least in terms of freezing his assets and making sure that, you know, he received $22 million from the Social Security Administration that he's not attempting to hide that money and that that's available for the victims of his actions. The other lawsuit, and the one that I think has a more immediate impact on people is pending here in Federal District Court in Pikeville. We will be having a hearing in front of Judge Tha Par on Friday of this week. I don't think we will have any final answers by Friday, though it's possible that the judge could order the Social Security Administration to reinstate these benefits. More likely it will be another week or two before we have a final answer from him as to whether these people will start getting their checks back in the near future. This is going to be ongoing for quite some time. Thank you so much, and will you stay in touch so that we can follow? Absolutely. Thank you. Thank you. Well, coming up, a new college president met local residents last night in Pikeville. And a prominent Pikeville fit feature will be soon moving, and we'll tell you where in just two minutes. Well, of course, you've noticed the city of Pikeville is evolving. And as part of that evolution, a community landmark, the Pikeville Rail Car, is moving. You might be very surprised to learn where it's going. EKB news reporter Shannon Deskens has been looking into this and brings us the details. Residents are being made for this historic Pikeville landmark to take its last ride. This former baggage car for the C&O railway has been home to Pike County tourism, as well as the Chamber of Commerce since being parked in downtown Pikeville in the late 1960s. Jerry Sloan, who retired from the railroad after nearly 40 years, was working at the Shelby Yard the night this car arrived in Pike County. Judge Ruford and Hamley, they got that coach to come to Pikeville. They come from Walbridge, Ohio. I remember very distinctly the night it came in on the very end of the manifest train going south, they stopped at Shelby and changed crews. But this Saturday, crews with R.J. Corman out of Lexington, Kentucky will put that rail car back on the tracks bound for central Kentucky to become part of the company's dinner train in Bardstown. Officials with the city of Pikeville say the company leasing the space to build a new restaurant and Irish pub need that space and made the deal to move it out of Pikeville. But Jerry Sloan said today's news was painful to hear. Well, when I heard the news that it was going to be moved out, I don't really kind of broke my heart because I'm a die-hard railroad man about 39 years worth. Crews with Kentucky Power worked this afternoon to disconnect all the power from the train car in preparation for the move. Which officials say will be sometime early Saturday morning. Officials tell us the train will leave Pikeville on the tracks just as it came into town more than 50 years ago. For EKB Evening News at 6, I'm Shannon Deskins. Tuesday evening, the community had a chance to meet the new president of Big Sandy Community and Technical College at the school's Pikeville campus. Dr. G. Devon Stevenson and his wife were part of a meeting greet hosted by Big Sandy to offer locals a chance to meet the new president who has close to 40 years of community college administrative experience. The school's board of directors unanimously recommended Stevenson for the position. This has been outstanding. 76 people from the community came, so I'm really excited about the interest from the Pikeville community in regard to Big Sandy Community and Technical College and our growth and expansion here. We're excited to be working with you, Pike, as well. I think a great partnership can be forged here with business industry as well as higher ed. It's going to be an exciting future for these two institutions. In addition to having experience as a community college administrator, Stevenson is also a community college graduate. He began his job with Big Sandy on Monday. A woman accused of sneaking drugs into the Big Sandy federal prison is expected to plead guilty later this month after working out a deal with prosecutors. Misty Rachelle Davidson is accused of sneaking marijuana into the prison and passing it to an inmate at the end of a visitation session on March 22. The ploy was discovered by a guard as the inmate left the visitation room. This week, her attorney, Bill Sloan, filed a motion for re-arrainment in order for Davidson to plead guilty to the charge. U.S. District Judge Danny C. Reeves granted that motion and set the hearing for June 26 in London. Davidson faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Kentucky State Police, post-13 and hazard, are investigating the robbery of a Letcher County convenience store. Shortly before 4 o'clock yesterday morning, police were alerted to a robbery at the double-quick store in Isom. According to police, a man wearing a ski mask entered the store and demanded cash from the store's register. When an employee complied, he ran away on foot. The robber is described as a white male, approximately 5 feet 9 inches tall, weighing approximately 150 pounds. It is unknown if he had a weapon. Anyone with information about the robbery is asked to contact post-13 at 606-435-6069. A former Floyd County doctor facing federal charges of receipt and possession of child pornography is asking for a delay in his trial. Pikeville attorney Steve Owens filed a motion this week asking for a later trial date for Brett A. Dunning. Dunning was originally scheduled to go on trial July 28. However, Owens said in his motion, the amount of evidence in the case will require at least 70 days of review before he can be ready for trial. U.S. Magistrate Judge Edward B. Atkins will rule on the request at a later time. Coming up, U.K. and UofL broke bread today. They were discussing their upcoming matchup on the football field and Jamie Johnson will be in with the story. But first, DKB Chief Meteorologist Lathan Hopkins will give us the weather forecast. We'll be back in two minutes. Well, is it just me or has the weather today been a bit of a mixed bag? It all depends on location today. The farther north you go, Painsville, Prestonsburg, you enjoyed some sun. The farther south you go, Jenkins, even over toward Dorton. A lot of rain. As a matter of fact, within the last 10 minutes, we've got a couple of advisories and warnings to tell you about. Doppler radar showing where the heavy rain is falling, and that is mainly from Pike County. We have a couple of little cells in northern parts of Pike County. The heaviest of the rain falling right now from southern Pike County into Letcher County. And as a matter of fact, that's where we will zoom into first and give you an idea of who is picking up the heaviest of the rain. Anywhere you see the orange or the red, that's radar saying at least moderate, if not heavy rain falling at this time in southern parts of Pike County, we're going to go over to another type of radar, and this shows how much rain the radar is estimating has fallen here over the past three hours or so. And you see that little shade of purple showing up right there just to the north of Joe Nancy. That is radar saying maybe up to three inches of rain over the past one to two hours. And for that reason, within the last 15 minutes, a flash flood warning is now in effect for southwestern Pike County. That goes until 915 this evening. Some of the communities need to be on the lookout. Elkhorn City, Joe Nancy, Belcher, Dorton, Ash Camp, Shelby Gap, Vergy, as well as Lookout. So keep an eye on the creeks and streams and remember, turn around, don't drown. Keep that in mind if you come across a flooded roadway. Also in southern parts of Letcher County, a lot of greens showing up from Whitesburg to Jenkins. There's still some moderate rain falling at this time. And for that reason, we also have a flood advisory in effect for Letcher County. And that goes until 815 this evening. So a lot going on. We have a lot of advisories and watches and warnings. We'll keep you updated throughout the night. Satellite and radar composite. And you'll see just that one little batch right along the Kentucky, Virginia border. That is where the rain has been falling for today elsewhere across the state. Things pretty calm here in Pikeville. It's still dry. This is a look at the EKB weather cam on top of Pikeville Medical Center. And you can see the cloud cover. But so far, downtown Pikeville dry temperature is right now at 75 degrees. The humidity at 66%. And for now, the winds are calm. But I do expect those showers to be moving toward Pikeville here over the next little bit. 75 in Pikeville, 78 now in Prestonsburg and Painesville. As far as what you can expect for the rest of the overnight hours, you'll see those showers winding down once we get the sun set. Then we stay dry, it looks like, through the overnight hours tonight before more showers develop about a 40% chance of rain as we make our way into the day tomorrow. How about that pollen count? Sponsor by Fave Pharmacy, Adams Plaza in Pikeville, 7.24 tomorrow, 8.0. High category for Friday. With a better chance of rain moving in on Saturday, that will drop into the moderate category at 6.9. Sunday forecast, 40% chance of rain for Thursday, 30% on Friday, 40% on Saturday and Sunday. Temperatures each and every day of the next seven days in the low to mid 80s. But again, flash good morning, Southern Pike County, 9.15. Watch the creeds and streams. We'll keep you posted throughout the night, though. Thanks, Clayton. The City of Culveron held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for its new community center this morning. The new facility houses City Hall offices as well as a large meeting room, kitchen, restrooms and balcony overlooking the city park. Mayor Andrew Scott gave full credit to former Mayor Laverne Dye for being the driving force behind the project. I'm happy to be here at this ribbon-cutting, but this is Laverne Dye's, our previous Mayor's project. Without her hard work and dedication, this center would not be here. And this is the center for all of Eastern Kentucky. It's for all of Pike County. It's just not for Colorado. The center is available for event reservations such as reunions, parties, meetings, receptions, showers and other community events and gatherings. That's a lot of events. It is. We'll have to schedule a meeting there. Absolutely. And we'll be back with sports in two minutes. Well, Jamie, did Coach Stoops make it to a lunch today? Well, you know, he skipped this event last year. He was gently nudged to go this year. But more to look forward to this year in year three of the Stoops era for Kentucky football. Last year, Wildcat football coach Mark Stoops skipped out on the annual governor's lunch and saying he didn't have time to talk about Kentucky's annual renewal of the rivalry with Louisville. I was snacking on overpriced food and listening to alumni talk about the old dimes. Well, who could blame him? Stoops had a rebuilding process in place since arriving in Lexington and now it's year three of the Stoops era takes shape. Coach took a little time off to take in today's function saying this squad is ready and willing to start the season. Excited about this season. I feel like we have a good football team getting better every day. Tried to kick them out in May, get them a break and 30, 40 guys stayed and really enjoyed having them. Guys are anxious. The whole group is back now, working extremely hard, so getting ready for a big season. Stoops also told the crowd that the returning players know what is expected of them as this Kentucky team will have a healthy blend of veterans and youth. That first year was difficult, just trying to get the players, the coaches, the people, the community to understand your expectations and what you demand of them. I think that second year, you know, it's a lot about self-awareness, self, the players understanding what they can do, what they can't do. This third year as we move forward, I think the nice thing is, is the players clearly understand what we expect of them and I think we have some experience, some guys that have been in our program, some guys that played as True Freshman two years ago, some guys that played as True Freshman a year ago. I feel like we have a good blend this year with some upperclassmen that have been in our system, our program for a few years and some good young talent, I think that you saw last year at times. Willie Nelson once saying, there's nothing I can do about it now. Well, that's what happened to Johnson Central's softball team at the state tournament last year. Trailing one to nothing to Ashland in the bottom of the seventh inning, Johnson Central hit what appeared to be a home run to everyone watching, except the umpire, who called it a ground rule double, which prevented Johnson Central from walking off the field victorious. Although there was video evidence to prove the umpire was wrong, there was nothing he could do about it. Johnson Central head coach Jason Hunt says they haven't forgotten about the incident, yet they're focused on having a better showing this year at Owensboro. You know, it's a very rare occurrence that something like that could be wrong, but you know, it can be done about it, but still back over here, we know what happened and I think something like that will live with those who are there forever. So, you know, those that compete and look hard in place, it was just one of those unfortunate incidents that we were part of, but yeah, it leaves a bad trace in our mouths and hopefully we can, you know, turn it around this year and get a win and put that behind us. It's a lot better this year that we're going back to back. We haven't ever done that before. We'd always skipped a year or this is our fourth time and we never went back to back. So I think it helps us to do that with the same team. Pretty much spent some of their last year. So we shouldn't have any surprises or nerves or anything like that to go on. So I think it gives a better chance for, you know, compete and win. I'm going to be winning a few games down here this year. We're going to have to pitch well and have a few errors as possible. They don't hurt us and our batch and the middle lineup are going to have to come through and drive in run. So let's spend kind of our problem here last little bit. I think we can get back on track this week. Coach doing the cold water challenge there on the video clip. Nice job. Johnson Central will face champions from the 13th region. Norfolk Laurel from Jack Fisher Park in Owensboro tomorrow night at 7 p.m. in double elimination play. Finally, the Reds took their Cindy modest three game winning streak on the road to the city of brotherly love last night and were promptly dumped. Johnny Cueto was looking to bounce back after missing two starts and the offense, which had been clicking the past weekend, suffered a setback. Reds were rolling early. Top of the first, Joseph Daniel Votto. Fair ball down the first base line. Phillips is going to score Brandon Phillips from first to second, the third to home, Votto, the RBI double here. Reds were leading early on. Now the setback, Marlon Bird suffered a broken right wrist last night. He was on the 15 day disable list listed about an hour ago. We'll see how that takes shape. Bottom of the ninth game tied at four. When pitch hitter Darren Ruff sends Philly fans home happy. Philly step a seven game losing streak five to four. The final score. Reds are back in action tonight. Mike Leek will take the mail for Cincinnati against Philadelphia's Cole Hamels, game time seven oh five on hit city USA 98 one and one oh four point three FM at sports still on that modest winning streak. Will it ever become a lousy winning streak? But now that's snapped. You start all over and maybe they'll get another modest one going here soon. We'll be right back. Latham some concerning weather moving through, especially for southern parts of Pike County. A flash flood warning is in effect for Southwest Pike County until 915. You folks Elkhorn City, Joe Nancy, especially Belcher, Dorton, Rockhouse, Ash Camp, Shelby Gap, Vergey and Lookout be on the lookout for some flooding and a flood advisory for Letcher County for small creeks and streams that will go until 815 this evening. Any traveling at Southern Pike County or Letcher County. There's going to be a lot of water on the roads. So be careful. Absolutely. Thanks, Slayton. Now we've got another graduation opportunity tonight. Yes, more changing of the tassels and throwing the caps in the air. Preston's Burge graduation at seven o'clock tonight. Oh, that's a that's a not to be missed for all those graduates and their family. That's right. Well, that will do it for tonight's EKV evening news. Remember, you can get more local news anytime by listening to the radio stations of East Kentucky Broadcasting. You can also follow EKB news and EKB TV on Facebook and Twitter. Good night. Thanks for watching.