 Tonight on EKB Evening News at 6, Pike leaders turn their attention to how to put new tax revenue to use. Good evening, I'm Gary Slung. And I'm Cindy Mae Johnson. Following the passage of the Pike County Occupational Tax, the court is now looking at how to spend any revenues left over after the shortfall is covered. EKB news reporter Shannon Deskins spoke with leaders about the plans. Now that the Pike County 1% Occupational Tax has been enacted, county leaders have begun studying the best way to use the funds. In an attempt to reduce the $1.7 million shortfall, the judge's executive's office has recently laid off five full-time employees, eliminated 10 county-issued cell phones, and restricted the use of some county vehicles, bringing it down to just over $1.3 million. The expected revenue from the Occupational Tax will actually give the county a surplus to fund projects that officials say are way overdue. You know, I'm looking forward to going forward. You know, now we can step out to our foreign departments and give them the financial support that they need. You know, the senior citizens, they was here being represented, our county workers were here. You know, their roads need fixed. You know, when FEMA comes in, we need $535,000 for our 13% FEMA matching. We don't have it right now. This tax lets us fix our roads. But even though the Occupational Tax went into effect on July 1st, Pike County government will still have to wait several months to see any of that revenue. The 1% Occupational Tax on the employee is due quarterly. It's the employee's responsibility to collect the fee and send it in quarterly. The net profit tax on the business, it's due annually. April 15th is tax day. Without extensions, it's due April 15th. With extensions, probably some time in September. In a letter sent out today from Pike County Judge Executive Bill Deskins, he expressed his excitement about the opportunities now before the county. For EKB Evening News at 6, I'm Shannon Deskins. While the past few Pike County fiscal court meetings have been long and tense affairs, mostly centered around taxes and the budget, today's fiscal court meeting was much different. EKB News reporter Shelby Steele was at the meeting and talked to Pike County Deputy Judge Executive Brian Morris about life after the Occupational Tax. She filed this report. It was a courtroom of much fewer people Thursday during a special Pike County fiscal court meeting. Due to the budget needing to be completed by Tuesday night, the past three meetings were all about the budget and whether or not to pass the 1% Occupational Tax. Today's meeting was the first meeting of the new budget year and was needed in order to pass the next payroll. The last three fiscal court meetings have been standing room only, but today's had a much different feeling. Today's meeting, what was it, 10 minutes, usually, you know, you talk about two hour meetings. So, you know, it's, it's, we just need to move forward in Pike County. Morris adds that the fiscal court is trying to cut cost as much as possible in order to make the shortfall smaller. One cost cut is a consolidation of jobs. That's the goal of the physical court, moving forward, trying to eliminate not jobs, but eliminate the duties that one conducts. You know, if we got two people doing two jobs now, can we consolidate having one person do two jobs? That's the kind of things we're looking at in-house. Morris explains that the Pike County fiscal court is more than ready to move on from the budget. Last three months has just been this budget, you know, I mean, we've been in office for six months. The last three months has been budget consumed, you know, now we're into the new budget year. I know the fiscal court is looking forward to moving on and showing Pike County what their plans are. The fiscal court won't see an improvement on the budget until at least three to six months. But the first thing on the agenda will be improving roads and equipment. Reporting for EKB Evening News at 6, I'm Shelby Steele. Amingo County woman who admitted injecting her son's IV with fecal matter has been sentenced to six years in prison. 35-year-old Candida Fludi of Kermit pleaded guilty to one count of child endangerment Wednesday during a hearing in Cincinnati. Fludi's son has a bowel condition requiring numerous surgeries. During one of his hospital stays, she was accused of contaminating his IV, which led to a fever. Fludi was allowed to return home after the hearing, but must return to court July 8th. If she doesn't, her sentence will automatically increase to seven years. The Prestonsburg Motor Sports Committee met at City Hall last night to go over event scheduling and other affairs of the racing group. However, the meeting abruptly took a turn when Chairman Grady Underwood resigned the group in the middle of the meeting. The topic of discussion then became appointing a new chairman, Sean Woods, who was selected to be the new chairman, explained how it happened and what he knows the community want to know about the committee. Well, there was a few things that were brought up in executive session. Apparently, they didn't want to address those things, and we had the chairman and another board member walk out. So the mayor and the rest of the board members appointed a new chairman, which is me. We just want everybody to know that we are running it the way it should be run. We are doing everything that the city wants us to do, both cities, together. And we are doing things the way that Bob Porter and Les Stapleton both collaborating with us want. The committee also went over maintenance needs and the race day times. The group decided on two test and tune dates for the Combs Airport arm drop drag race. One on July 25th and the other on August 15th. Dates will open at 9 a.m. Racing will begin at 11 and go on until 7 o'clock in the evening. Gary, I know you like to see Ginny Wiley Theater production. I do. They've got a new one coming and they're going to raise the curtain on it soon. Great. And Pikeville is paying tribute to veterans with a new monument. We'll be right back. Just in time for Independence Day, local veterans and the city of Pikeville came together to pay tribute to those who have served by dedicating a new veterans monument. The display includes flags for each branch of service and a globe to symbolize all the areas where U.S. servicemen and women have served. Those behind the effort say the monument's completion is a true community effort. This is very important because this is something that will last long after we are gone and the younger generations will be able to hopefully understand a little bit about what we went through to be able to make this possible. This is extremely important to the local veterans because they are the ones that put this up. They're the ones that go through all the heartache, the fundraising and everything. It's a big job. It means a lot to them because that way they've always got a place to go where they can honor those who are left behind. Well, I'll tell you what, no one man does nothing. We all work together and the city work together and they were so cooperative. Everything they've done. I mean, we went along with them too. Anything they wanted done, we were glad to do it for them because they provide us with a place to have a meeting here in town. The monument is located next to Fire Station 3 on Hambly Boulevard. With this year's 4th of July holiday falling on a Saturday, local residents can expect to see different agencies closing on different days. All state and courts will be closed on Friday, as will all county offices in Floyd, Johnson, Knot, Letcher, McGuffin, Martin, Mingo and Pike Counties. City offices will also close Friday in Allen, Colrun, Del Barton, Elkhorn City, Gilbert, Heimann, Inez, Jenkins, Kermit, Matewan, Martin, Paintsville, Pikeville, Prestonsburg, Saliersville, Whitesburg and Williamson. Banks that have Saturday hours will be closed that day and the City of Wheelwright has chosen to close its offices on Monday. Jenny Wiley Theater is ready to raise the curtain on its newest production. The producers say it will leave you with a lot of laughs and maybe a few screams. EKB news reporter Courtney Lovern went to dress rehearsal last night. She's got a behind the scenes look. Jenny Wiley Theater has a new play coming to its amphitheater stage in Prestonsburg this week. Little Shop of Horrors previews on July 2nd and is one of the longest running off Broadway shows of all time. The plot is centered around a floral assistant named Seymour in a skid row area of New York City. After he discovers an interesting plant he gains fame but it comes with a price. The plant feeds on blood and it convinces Seymour to kill people in order to keep it satisfied. Along with the main plot it contains a love story and musical numbers as well. Well, this show is interesting because it's a very small type of show and it's a very intimate type of show and usually on the main stage here because the stage is so large. Bigger shows. We do Beauty and the Beast. We do, you know, Footloose and The Music Man and those huge musical theater pieces. But this is a really interesting piece because it's not traditional musical theater yet it's not super contemporary either. It falls sort of in the middle there and it has the camp value that makes it very funny and very accessible to people and they can really enjoy it but also has a realness and a sincerity that brings it, you know, right to home for anyone who's watching it. The performers hail from New York City. As the rehearsals were going on, Helton mentioned the progress his actors were making. They're fantastic. I feel lucky because I got to handpick them when I went to New York City. I was the casting director as well this summer but they're great. They're enjoying it. They're having a good time. They really sound, they're phenomenal singers and they really sound amazing on these songs so I'm ready for everyone to see them. The play has comedy and catchy songs but the director did warn parents to use their own judgment when deciding whether or not to bring children. Well I do think that there's a certain age level that it's appropriate for. It is family friendly in most ways. The puppets for the plants are really fun and colorful but it is scary so if you have young children who would be afraid I wouldn't bring them because there are some very scary moments in the show. The production begins this week and will run until August 1st. For EKB Evening News at 6, I'm Courtney Levin. Tiger Woods had a great day over in West Virginia at Greenbrier. Jamie Johnson will be in to tell us about it. And after the break, Matt Hawkins will be in to tell us if we can expect any break from the rain. Well Matt now that you've joined us Gary we saw that plant that's going to be in the production at Jenny Wiley Theater. I don't think we want to water that plant yet there's a lot of water coming. There is a lot of water coming especially tonight and tomorrow but we may see some relief inside Saturday night. So we'll stay hopeful for that. Right now for the area we are under a flood watch until 8 p.m. tomorrow. As you can see most of our viewing area is under that watch. Watch meaning the conditions are favorable for flash flooding to occur. So you want to stay tuned to EKB TV. Should that take a turn for the worse we'll be sure to keep you informed. Now Doppler radar is showing a system to the northwest around Stanton. That's actually going to feed a lot of our rainfall coming into the eastern Kentucky area around Pifal, Prestonsburg, all that little in Paintsville right now at this hour. There are areas out to the southwest of the state. They're getting a lot worse and we'll talk about that in a moment right now. The temperatures 73 in Pikeville and 73 in Prestonsburg 74 in Paintsville and Sygersville 75 in West Liberty 73 in Jackson and 75 in Hazard off to the east. Logan at 74 Williamson at 75 cool spots to the south is always Dorton at 70 and wise at 71. Well, it was a pretty cool day today. The observed high 76 degrees nowhere near what's normal for this time of year. Record high set back in 1991 of 93 degrees and throwback Thursday. Two days in a row 1988 53 degrees for the low as we get into our evening hours. 73 as thunderstorms here and there may occur. We'll see that kind of taper off into just rain as we get to sunset. The rain will increase as we head to midnight and the overnight hours, especially is where a lot of that rain is going to occur. We'll see our lows get into the mid 60s. Now, where's all that rain coming from? As we look over the state of Kentucky over the past few hours, we've seen systems move through the state. West Virginia got hit especially hard just a few hours ago. Now, this is still coming from the northwest. You'll see a system that looks much heavier to the southwest over the Bowling Green area flood warnings issued in that area. However, not to worry, that system is actually separated by the frontal line going right through the valley in our state. The southwest portion system will actually move east and southeast while the one above us that's coming into the area tonight will go actually southeast and off to the east. So it's kind of doing a split kind of a little bit of a trick. And we'll see the lesser parts of that rain mostly tonight and mostly tomorrow, especially in the afternoon and evening hours. But we may have a break for Saturday, but for tonight. A low of 66 degrees, a flash flood watch in effect, of course, until 8 p.m. tomorrow showers and storms will continue. That'll keep it cool. 78 for the high tomorrow, mostly cloudy. Another day of showers and storms expected. Faith Pharmacy located in the Adams Plaza in Pikeville brings you our pollen count, a 1.1 reading for tomorrow as we've got a lot of rainfall. That'll start to taper off a little bit on Saturday. 2.5 and 3.3 on Sunday rain, not too much of a factor on Sunday. But what about Saturday? Saturday, the 4th of July. Well, the evening hours could be promising for good fireworks, maybe the later afternoon hours, if you want to get grilling. Tomorrow, most of the rainfall comes with some thunderstorms likely that will continue on in through the evening. And in through most of the day part on Saturday. But overnight on Saturday and into Sunday, especially, we'll see that rain start to back off. As a result, the high temperatures bump back into the lower 80s to mid 80s to upper 80s as we progress through the week. Rain not too much of a factor. It may start to come back in the middle of next week. So Saturday night, maybe looking good, hopefully. And enough puddles on the ground to drop your hot sparkler. Exactly. You've got plenty of backup in case of a fire hazard. Thank you, Matt. Thank you. All for this week's special two-part outdoor adventure. EKB videographers Ronnie Hilton and Charles Mims put away their paddles and hiking boots and instead spoke to a Floyd County man who satisfies his passion for archery by using materials he finds in nature. This week, we took a break from the trails in the rivers to go visit an old friend. Chris Riley, like many people in our region, owns bows and arrows. However, you might be surprised to find that his bows and arrows are not store-bought and they don't feature any extensive pulley or cable systems. Chris's bows and arrows come straight out of the mountains. For me, it started, I ordered a book series called The Bowyer's Bible. I started reading the first volume of that and just kind of got addicted to it. And it snowballed from there. I do, it's called traditional bowiering, which means that I use only raw materials that I harvest myself, only hand tools to work those materials. So bows come from essentially logs. You split those logs out using iron wedges and a mallet, which gives you half logs. You split those half logs into quarter pieces. And what you have is essentially, it's called your stave. And that's just a long, triangular-shaped piece of wood. And that's what you work into a bow eventually. All my animal hides, feathers, things like that, those are all things I find in nature. I practice what I call ethical hide working, which means that I don't kill animals specifically for their skins. So everything, feathers, hides, skins, bones, stuff like that, those are all things that I find in nature or have been given to me. So when I'm working on a piece of wood, I'm only thinking about what I'm doing at that particular moment. And when you have an idea in your head and you see that manifest in a physical form, that to me is the most rewarding part about it. What I think an artist's most valuable asset is, is your own creative integrity and your drive to create. And the reason I say that is because each person's creative intuition is something that is completely unique to them. So when you harness that, that gives you the ability to make and create things that nobody else can. And I think that's certainly something that shouldn't be overlooked. Be sure to watch tomorrow night as Chris shows us his homemade arrows and talks about how an artist's self-doubt can be turned into a positive influence on their work. For EKB Evening News at 6, I'm Ronnie Hilton. A fascinating story. And what a craftsman. I'm impressed. Yes, can't wait till tomorrow's part two. We'll be back with sports. Well, Jamie, is it a possibility of a tiger turnaround? Well, don't get too excited, all right. It's one round of golf. He's got the rest of the weekend to get back into some old habits. But the first day of play from White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, wrapped up this afternoon, and there's a tiger on the prowl, ranked 220th in the world, and coming off the worst golf weekend of his professional career, Tiger Woods is in the hunt early on at the Greenbrier Classic. Tiger today finished opening round play, shooting four under par 66. It's the first time Tiger has finished the first round of an event under par this year. Today was also Tiger's best round of golf since March of 2014. It's a remarkable turnaround, considering Tigers shot rounds of 80 and 76 at the US Open just two weeks ago. Here's a look at the leaderboard. Scott Langley sits alone at the top, finishing the day eight under. Jonathan Byrd is second at seven under par. Tiger is tied for 10th, and Kentucky native J.B. Holmes is three shots back tied for 22nd. NBA Free Agency is underway, and several former University of Kentucky Wildcats are dialing for dollars, or at least their agents are. Yesterday, Anthony Davis agreed to stay in New Orleans and a five year $145 million deal. Another deal finalized to a former cat was a new five year $70 million agreement to keep Point Guard Brandon Knight with the Phoenix Suns. Now, some rumors involving former cats include troubled Point Guard Rajan Rondo, who was traded from Boston to Dallas during the season. Rondo is reportedly searching for a one year $10 million deal with the Sacramento Kings, and they are interested. Also, Enos Cantor has drawn interest from the New York Knicks. Cantor spent last season between Utah and Oklahoma City. Veterans Tayshon Prince and Nazi Mohamed are also searching for work. Prince has drawn interest from Cleveland, and Nazi, who's enjoyed 17 years in the league for playing exactly 1,000 games in his career with eight different teams, is still available. Finally, the inaugural White Lightning Half-Marathon and 5K Run is set to take off this 4th of July weekend in Pikeville, EKB Sports, but Kali visited the running trail searching for moonshine and details. On July 4, the first annual White Lightning Half-Marathon and 5K will take place. All proceeds go to the Shriners Hospital for Christmas in July. We have over 200 people registered. Registration will be available online until midnight tonight. There's links on the Facebook page and through RunSignUp.com. That will guarantee them a T-shirt. If not, they can register at the Packet Pickup Friday from 4 to 8 at the Hilton in the lobby, or they can register at 6 AM here on Saturday morning. There are plenty of unique awards and medals that will go to each of the participants of the race. We have a couple of very large antique jugs for the overall female and male. And then we have jugs for first place and second place for the Half-Marathon. The third place gets an antique mason jar. We have first, second, and third place for the 5K also. And we have custom-made finisher medals for everybody. The White Lightning name comes from moonshine, a custom that many know around the area. It's a tradition carrying on from Hibbley Days. My grandfather started Hibbley Days. Just hope that everybody comes out. It's a little rainy today. The forecast is for rain. But we run in the rain, and it's going to be a great time. We're going to run through Buffalo Creek. I'm so good-willing that the creek don't rise, but we're still going to run. It's going to be a great day, and we hope everybody can come out and celebrate their independence with us on July 4th. For EKB Evening News at 6, I'm Makayla Colley. Now, they're even giving away an award for dead last. Really? Yeah, it's the DFL award, dead last. Feeling the blank with the other one. OK. It's not what you think. OK. I would be the one getting that one, I'd say. And we could compete for that. We'll be right back. Well, Matt, Flash Flood Watch remains in effect. That is correct. Flash Flood Watch in effect for the area shown here until about 8 p.m. tomorrow evening. And hopefully for Saturday, we will see a tapering off of that, especially Saturday evening. And we get into the, especially as we get out of the weekend and into the first part of next week. OK. Thank you. And I'm excited about this white lightning run. Our own Joe Kinzer has indicated that he will be participating. And he cannot wear his compression sleeves or socks. It almost caused him to have some cramping problems in his last event. I tell you, he can die from that. We don't want that to happen. We don't want that to happen. But hopefully put a camera on his head and have some fun with him. That's what I'm hoping for. Yes. Sports guys back tonight at 7? Yes. Make sure you're there. OK. Well, that will do it for tonight's EKB Evening News. Remember, you can get more local news anytime by listening to the radio stations of East Kentucky Broadcasting. You can follow EKB News and EKB TV on Facebook and Twitter. Good night. Thanks for watching.