 Tonight, on EKB Evening News at 6, the disability suspension spotlight turns from conflict to tragedy. Good evening. I'm Gary Slough. And I'm Cindy Mae Johnson. Tonight there is tragic news tied to the disability suspension that we've been reporting for the past week. Attorney Ned Pillerstorf today announced via Facebook that the first recipient to contact him seeking help for suspended benefits has died, the result of an apparent suicide. Pillerstorf, who declined to speak on camera for this story, told EKB News that Leroy Burchett, who died yesterday, was distraught over losing his benefits. Burchett was one of 900 people initially notified that their disability benefits had been suspended over suspicions of fraud in the way their cases were handled. Another 600 have also now learned that their benefits are in jeopardy. The common denominator for all 1500 clients is that they were represented by Stanville Attorney Eric C. Cohn, and all of their cases relied on medical evidence from one of four doctors. Today, Cohn's personal assistant Becky Rose released a statement expressing sympathy for the family of Mr. Burchett. Pillerstorf told EKB News today he has received reports of two more suicides related to the disability suspensions. He urged anyone who is having suicidal thoughts to seek help immediately. Mountain Comprehensive Care in-house counsel Julie Paxton agrees. Here at Mountain Comprehensive Care Center, we offer many services. Our clinics are open Monday through Friday. We have crisis lines, crisis services. And if you're feeling the need that you need to talk with someone, that your problems are just overwhelming, please call us. We can help you. If you or anyone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide, contact Mountain Comprehensive Care Center's 24-hour hotline or crisis center, or call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline via the numbers you see on your screen. State and local leaders around the region today receive notice from CAM Mining that the company intends to idle mines in Kentucky and West Virginia. Ninety-eight employees will lose their jobs permanently effective August 1st. The action affects operations in Egerton and Thacker in West Virginia. In Kentucky, closings will take place at Dean, Phelps, Pikeville and Shelby. In its announcement, the company blamed the job losses on current adverse market conditions. The Pike County Fiscal Court is meeting right now with finances drawing the most attention. Not only is the county looking at its new budget. It's also considering a new tax. EKB news reporter Shelby Steele has the latest. During tonight's Pike County Fiscal Court meeting, one hot topic on the agenda will be the budget for the upcoming fiscal year. The Pike County Fiscal Court has been experiencing a shortfall in revenue. Pike County Judge Executive Bill Deskin says this has become a huge problem for the county. We have a problem that I inherited from the last administration and we don't have enough money to pay the county's bills. And at the end of this month, June, we will be short of a million seven hundred thousand. And we've looked at the numbers and the only solution we've found that will happen is to raise one percent on the occupational tax. Deskin says the only option for the Fiscal Court right now is to implement an occupational tax on the county. He adds if not, the county has a greater consequence. If we don't do that, we'll have to lay off employees and virtually we'll shut the county down and I don't want to do that. And like I say, I work for the county and I want to do the best I can for them. Deskin's adds that you have to pay taxes regardless and the occupational tax is so small it won't even make a difference to your pocket. Do you pay any federal taxes? Do you pay any state taxes? Well, the county has got no income from that. So we'll have one percent of the occupational taxes. The occupational tax will generate millions in revenue to pay for programs that have been cut due to a low budget in previous years. That will be somewhere about four million dollars income. And it'll take two or three years to get everything settled out again because the last administration didn't buy any equipment in eight years for the solid waste. The regular scheduled fiscal court meeting began at 5.30. EKB will bring you the results during tomorrow's newscast. For EKB Evening News at 6, I'm Shelby Steele. The occupational tax proposal is sure to draw a lot of attention but also raises a lot of questions. EKB news reporter Shannon Deskin sat down with county officials today to get answers. One of the most heated topics going into tonight's Pye County fiscal court meeting was the one percent occupational tax proposed by the judge executives office to offset the 1.7 million dollar shortfall that the county is facing. But it seems there are several misconceptions about the proposed tax that are keeping many county residents from supporting it. Assistant Pike County attorney John Doug Hayes told us that many residents are under the assumption the occupational tax would apply to everyone across the board, which is not the case at all. This occupational tax is on earnings. It would not be a tax on any form of social security benefits. It would not affect those recipients at all. It would not apply to any pension benefits. For example, a state retirement, a federal government retirement, or any other pension plan. Those benefits are not earned. They've already been earned. A UMWA pension, for example. We have many pensioners out in this county on that. That would not be subject to this tax. It's only earned income. Hayes said another misconception about the proposed occupational tax is that someone already working inside the Pikeville City limits and paying their occupational tax would be double taxed. No one else who is earning money within the corporate limits of the city of Pikeville will be assessed not one red cent more if they're paying one percent or more. And the city's tax is two percent. In addition to the city of Pikeville, the city of Coal Run and Elkhorn City also have similar occupational taxes or fees which serve as additional revenue streams for local government. Officials in the Pike County Judge Executives Office hope to be able to say the same thing about Pike County after tonight's meeting. For EKB Evening News at 6, I'm Shannon Deskins. With the effort to forlain the entire mountain parkway still in its earliest stages, House Speaker Greg Stombo today proposed extending the highway another 140 miles from Prestonsburg to Beckley, West Virginia. Stombo outlined his proposal in a letter to the governors and congressional delegations of both states saying such a highway would open up the region to jobs and tourists. The project will cost an estimated $8 to $10 billion. Well, coming up, we'll tell you why you could soon be seeing purple in one area community. And Gary, do you know how to spell success? Yes. K-E-A-T-O-N. We'll be back in two minutes. Last week, we brought you the story of 14-year-old Christ Central student Paul Keaton whose spelling prowess earned him a spot in the finals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee. He finished eighth. Last night, a celebration was held in honor of Keaton's success, which apparently runs in the family. An era of spelling. That's what some at Christ Central School are calling the time period that the Keaton siblings attended the school. During this time, Emily Keaton won first place in multiple spelling bees and finished her spelling career in the Scripps National Spelling Bee as a semifinalist in 2012. More recently, her brother Paul was a cause for celebration at Christ Central on Monday evening since he made the finals in this year's National Spelling Bee competition and finished eighth. One administrator was bursting with pride over Paul and Emily's success. Tonight, we're just here to let off all the stress and celebrate and just enjoy our accomplishments. The Bible says rejoice with those who rejoice and we're here to rejoice and that's what we're doing. The Keatons were thrown a celebratory reception in honor of Paul's recent accomplishments. His sister mentioned how he gained the knowledge that he used during the bee. I thought I was going to train him up but I haven't really had much time to. So I think I give him that. He's not had much of a coach and he's done very well. I couldn't be more proud of the way Paul has competed. You know, everybody wants to win in a way but I think it's more important that he kept his character throughout the competition and he behaved himself well. He looked the best of anybody there. But Paul relates his sister's experiences as a lesson about how he handled the competition. As I was watching my sister compete in the national spelling bee and then went on to do so myself, I learned that persistence and hard work always pays off. The spelling bee has made me a better person. It's given me a good work ethic and a strong base for the future. With Paul being in eighth grade, this is his last year at Christ Central since the school only has grades kindergarten through eighth. The principal spoke about the Keatons' values and how this win helps Eastern Kentucky's reputation. In a time when people think that we are illiterate or we don't have the literacy or the intelligence to move on in Eastern Kentucky, let me tell you this, we have contenders on a national arena and I am very proud of that. But as the Keatons would say, to God be the glory for they have trained and used their talents for God and they're very humbled in their efforts and all I can say is they're just a wonderful family and I've just been blessed to be a part of it. Reporting for EKB Evening News at 6, I'm Courtney Levin. Well, this morning, officers from the Pineville Police Department responded to a call that put them a little outside their comfort zone. Detective Bruce Collins was one of the officers who responded to rescue a newborn fawn. A local resident that's in a subdivision that said that they had a baby fawn that had been born in their yard the previous date. They watched the fawn, which is what you're supposed to do, they watched the fawn, the mother never did come back to the area. So that's when they called us to come up and rescue the fawn. Collins said a mother deer will normally leave a fawn for several hours at a time but will return to check on it periodically and feed it. However, they felt this morning's intervention was necessary after the mother did not return to check on the fawn. But law enforcement official stressed that residents should notify authorities any time a situation like this comes up because possessing wildlife is illegal in Kentucky. There is a charge for possession of wildlife. So that's not something that you wanna do if you do find something like this, a fawn or any other wild animal on your property, please call your local police department, the state police or the Kentucky Fish and Wildlife so that they can come out and make sure that the proper channels are taken to care for the wildlife. A Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife officer picked up the fawn earlier today and took it to a wildlife rehabilitation facility in Knot County where it will stay until it can be released back into the wild. The Mingo County Commission has declared the month of June paint the town purple month. During the month, the Williamson Women's Relay for Life team is challenging the entire Tug Valley area to go purple. Relay for Life brings together more than 3.5 million people every year nationwide to celebrate the lives of those who have battled cancer, remember loved ones lost and offer tips to fight back against the disease. The Williamson Relay for Life team is asking Mingo County residents to decorate their homes and businesses purple and wear purple to show their support. A prize will be awarded for the best display on June 15th. The Women's Club also has purple bows for sale. You can purchase a large one for $5 and a smaller one for $3. All proceeds go to the American Cancer Society. Well, coming up, Jamie Johnson will be in to tell us about some pretty high honors going to UK football players. But first, EKB Chief Meteorologist Lathan Hopkins will be in with a check on our forecast. We'll be back in two minutes. You know, today did not seem a summer like to me just because it was overcast most of the day. And about 63 degrees for most of the day. That is not what you expect on June the 2nd. Warmer temperatures on the way, but we do have another cloudy and cool day for tomorrow. The Doppler radar showing some folks even picking up on some light rain this evening, mainly right along the Kentucky West Virginia and Virginia border folks around Elkhorn City picking up on some light rain also but Cannon Dickinson counties over in Virginia picking up on some light rain as we speak. We're on the picture with the satellite and radar composite and you see just cloud cover all across the Commonwealth of Kentucky, even over into West Virginia. The thunderstorms today have been to our south, even a few severe thunderstorm warnings in parts of East Tennessee. But now some of that moisture is trying to make its way closer to our region. Now this shows the cloud cover and the rain, but what in the world is leading to these cool conditions that we've had now for two days? We go over to another version of the satellite and you can see very clearly this little area of low pressure right here, spinning right on top of the Ohio and Tennessee valleys. This is the leading cause of the cloud cover, the showers and yes, even the cooler temperatures. This thing's gonna stick around for the day tomorrow before finally moving off to the east as it does. So it will allow for some sun to make an appearance by Thursday. It's on Tate Till Thursday though. Take you outside downtown Pikeville and you see the cloud cover holding on tough. Temperatures right now 63 degrees in downtown Pikeville. The humidity is 83% winds from the north at four miles per hour. And with that area of low pressure right overhead, the barometric pressure is dropping. Temperatures elsewhere across the region, as we mentioned 63, not only in Pikeville, but a pretty popular number. Prestonsburg, Paintsville, Inez, 65 and Williamson. Notice Dorn, 55 degrees. That's where we started the morning, right into the mid fifties at the National Weather Service office in Jackson. We bottomed out at 53 this morning and only topped out at 61 degrees, some 17 degrees below average for the day. And again, temperatures will be on the cooler side for tomorrow. Satellite or what you can expect with a future radar, you can see we stay dry through the overnight hours. And tomorrow we could see a couple of showers pop up and move in the opposite direction of what we're used to. Normally we see west to east. Well, tomorrow it's gonna be the east to the west. So we'll watch that as we make our way into the day tomorrow but things should begin to calm down and the rain chance begin to drop for Thursday into Friday before increasing as we head into the weekend. What does that do to the pollen count? Well, this is also sponsored by Faith Pharmacy at the Adams Plaza in Pikeville. 5.4 with a cloud cover in the rain showers tomorrow, Thursday back up, 7.3 and 8.2 in the high category by Friday. All right, seven day forecast time, 40% chance of rain tomorrow and then about a 30 to 40% chance for Thursday into Friday that will increase on Saturday and then just go back and forth between 30, 40% as we make our way into the early part of next week. Temperatures though, tomorrow in the low 70s but then back in the low 80s. So the temperatures will be a little more normal. Yeah, but you thought it was cool this morning to have two more mornings to deal with that. Wow. Made you to like jackets. Strange stuff in June. It really is, 61 degrees on June 2nd. Yeah, don't like it. It's been quite some time since we've had high temperatures that cool. Are we setting a record? I don't have to go back in the record books and check. If so, it would be a record cold high temperature. Okay. And of course, you can also check out the latest forecast tomorrow in the latest edition of the Appalachian News Express. All right, thanks, Lakey. On Friday evening, hundreds of young dancers came out to perform for a packed mountain art center audience in the annual Spring Recital presented by Prestonsburg Dance Studio, Dance, et cetera. Around a thousand audience members enjoyed the performance by dancers of all ages and experience levels. Tonight we have the Dance, et cetera, Spring Recital. Now we have four shows of this and it's like packed every show. So, you know, a lot of people think if you're not having a big show, you're not doing anything. But this is a very important event for Eastern Kentucky and this small town of Prestonsburg. A lot of people here and it's great for the economy. The recitals continued throughout the weekend. That's a lot of dancing. It is a lot of dancing. And we'll be back with sports in two minutes. Well, Jamie, it's just June, but UK football fans already getting excited. Yes, we have a new Commonwealth stadium that's taking shape day by day with new surface, new seats, new amenities. And the team getting some accolades earlier today. The Kentucky Wildcats are 95 days from the kickoff of the college football season hosting Louisiana Lafayette. And today five Wildcats were named pre-season all SEC, including sophomore place-hicker Austin McGinnis who was selected as first team all SEC. Sophomore running back Boom Williams was named third team all SEC, special teams for kick returns, junior center John Toth, linebacker Josh Forrest and defensive lineman Melvin Lewis were named fourth team honorees. The Wildcats also released their details to future football scheduling, announcing a home and home series with Southern Miss from Conference USA. The camps will host the Eagles in 2016, replacing UAB on the schedule. Kentucky will make a trip to Hattiesburg, Mississippi in 2017. It was also announced that Kentucky will face FCS opponent Austin Peay next year as well. Major League Baseball, the Cincinnati Reds take their modest three game winning streak to Philadelphia tonight for the start of a three game series with the Phillies. Reds ace Johnny Cueto will be making his 10th start tonight, but his first since May 19th at Kansas City. Cueto was scheduled to pitch against the Indians on May 24th, yet was a late scratch, which raised concerns for a possible injury. An MRI revealed Cueto simply was suffering from a sore right elbow. The Phillies have lost four straight, yet the Reds have struggled in Philadelphia going 8-21 against the Phillies on the road dating back to 2006. Game time is 7-05 tonight on Hitt City, USA 98-1, 104-3 a film. The Rockland State Baseball tournament began with a wet start as rain allowed only three games we played yesterday in Lexington. 15th Region Representative Lawrence County allowed four runs in the first and never recovered as the Bulldogs fell to Greenham County 5-3. The Musketeers advanced to the quarterfinal round action tomorrow night at 8.30 p.m. Other scores from yesterday saw North Bullet defeat Hoptail in 6-4 and Collins, the next opponent for Greenham County defeated Madison Central 5-4. Open around action continued today with Highlands defeating McCracken County 5-2 and South Warren knocked off South Laurel 5-3. Apollo and E-town are still playing at this moment. Ballard will face West Jessamine, not Central is set to take on Scott later tonight and that is sports. Are you being a little hard on the Reds? A modest three-game winning streak? But you lose nine in a row and I pay money to go and watch you in one of those nine games. Yeah. I'm gonna be a little harsh. They got to win four or five before I get back into the first round. Before it's just a streak? Yes. No longer a modest streak. Dump with it. For now. Okay. We'll be right back. Lathan, do we need to turn on the heat? It depends. I mean, it is a little on the cooler side out there tonight. 56 degrees. So maybe if you didn't make the switch back for AC to heat, you may want to think about that again tomorrow morning. 76 though for tomorrow afternoon, back in the 80s after that. I'm guilty. I turned it on in the car today. Did you really? In the car. All right, fine. Since we're gonna admit it, I did too. Good to know it. There's some good stuff tonight. Pump and Circumstance tonight, five-hole high school graduation at seven followed by a South Floyd at nine tonight. So for all you who didn't get to the graduation, watch it. If you didn't make it. Maybe you'll graduate this time. Hear your name called on television in case you didn't make it to the ceremony. Well, that would 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 also follow EKB news and EKB TV on Facebook and Twitter. We're gonna leave you tonight with a song from East Kentucky Folk Music legend, Jean Richie. She passed away last night. She was from Viper, Kentucky and has been credited with leading a revival of traditional American folk and mountain music. Jean Richie was 92. Good night. Thanks for watching.