 Spring Cleaning is here and Appalachian Wireless has the deal to get you started. Get a Samsung Galaxy S8 for a penny or a Galaxy S8 Plus for only $89.99 on the region's best network. Better service, bigger savings, that's today's Appalachian Wireless. To your agreement required, see store for details. Yesterday, Eastern Kentucky celebrated a first when the results of the Kentucky Elk Lottery drawing were revealed live in Prestonsburg. But the region is also celebrating an anniversary concerning the elk. Twenty years ago, this past January, we turned the first big truckload loose of elk that we brought in from Utah. That was down near hazard, but since then we brought in about 1,551 individual animals. And the reintroduction of elk to our region has been one of Kentucky's greatest success stories. And now we have a 16 county elk zone, the largest elk herd east of the Rocky Mountains. As a matter of fact, Kentucky's elk herd is larger than all other states' herds east of the Rocky Mountains combined. Maricini says there are approximately 16,000 elk east of the Rocky Mountains and 11,000 of those are in eastern Kentucky. Twenty-one years ago, there were none. But they're back and they're back largely because the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife put a plan together. The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation came to the table with money and that all began 20 years ago. Deputy Commissioner of Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Dr. Karen Waldrop says her career with the department began with the elk program. I remember going out west and catching them and getting to bring them back. I remember watching and seeing and hearing the first elk bugle on the ground. And even though the people in Prestonsburg on Tuesday were mostly hunters, eastern Kentucky's elk herd is appealing to nearly everyone. They're majestic. They bugle in the fall, late summer, early fall. And then they get these big groups and then you have calves that you can see different times a year. So it's a lot of fun and it's great tourism for eastern Kentucky. Jenny Wiley State Resort Park offers elk viewing tours that will start in early fall.