 Tonight on EKB Evening News at 6, a former public official learns his fate. Good evening. I'm Cindy Mae Johnson. And I'm Gary Sloan. Eight months after he was indicted, a federal jury has delivered a verdict to former state representative W. Keith Hall. That verdict? Guilty. Hall was convicted on a single charge of bribery, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines. Hall has been convicted of paying former mine inspector Kelly Shortridge $46,000 to overlook violations at Hall's mines. During testimony, Hall admitted to giving Shortridge money, but it said he thought it was donating to the Middle League and accused Shortridge of scamming him before the jury was given the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ken Taylor pointed to the number of instances. Hall gave money to Shortridge and said his guilt was apparent. However, Hall's attorney, Brent Caldwell, told jurors that if Hall thought he was doing anything illegal, he would not have paid by check because that left a paper trail. The jury, however, did not buy that argument. Afterwards, Caldwell said he was disappointed. Any time you lose, and your clients convicted you, you're very disappointed, yes. We felt like there was sufficient evidence for the jury to return to a non-guilty verdict. And unfortunately, they disagreed with it. So we're very disappointed about that. Hall will be sentenced September 17th and continues to be free on bond. In a landmark decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled today that state bans against same-sex marriage are unconstitutional, making same-sex marriage legal in all 50 states. In response, Kentucky Governor Stephen Beshear issued a letter to all 120 county clerks saying same-sex marriages performed in other states will now be recognized by Kentucky effective immediately. He also directed the Kentucky Department of Libraries and Archives to create a gender-neutral marriage license application and disseminate it to clerks today. EKB News reporter Shelby Steele spoke to supporters of same-sex marriage today to get their reactions. Today, the United States Supreme Court issued the final statement on same-sex marriage. Now all 50 states will allow marriage equality. The president of differing sexualities alliance at the University of Pikeville says she is overwhelmed by the decision of the Supreme Court and happy that her sister will be able to get married in August. One thing that initiated that sort of support that I have for people that have differing sexualities would be witnessing my sister being treated differently. And it's surprised me at first to know that someone, even though it has nothing to do with their life choices, would treat someone differently, whether that be abuse physically, mentally or emotionally. Members of the community consider today a good day by saying love will always prevail. It's about love and it's about rights, you know, loving the person that you want. That was our right long before the Supreme Court's ruling today. The world has seen enough hate lately. I think it's time that we let love, you know, have the day. Gibson shares some advice for those who may be struggling with their sexualities and says to never feel alone. Don't think that you're in the wrong. If anything, if you're struggling with, you know, identifying in a certain way, do not feel that you are different or you're the only one. Talk to someone. Do not feel like you are the only person in the dark. If you feel like you're in the dark, just know to be comfortable and try to be comfortable in your own skin, because it's the only skin you have. At this time, no one has filed for a same-sex marriage license in Floyd or Johnson counties. And one couple has filed in Pie County. Reporting for EKB Evening News at 6, I'm Shelby Steele. Kentucky Power has agreed to a settlement in its right case before the Kentucky Public Service Commission. Under the settlement, the utility was granted about two-thirds of the increase it was seeking. Customers now paying an average of $125 a month can expect to see their bills go up to $132. In addition, the PSC also approved a 15-cent monthly surcharge to be used for economic development efforts in the 20 counties where Kentucky Power operates. That money will be matched by shareholder dollars up to $600,000. A Knox County woman charged last week with coordinating a multi-state pill ring has been formally indicted by a federal grand jury yesterday. Fifty-seven-year-old Donna Sue Sexton of Sassafras is charged with one count of conspiring to distribute oxycodone. During a hearing last week, hazard police detective Russell Dishner accused Sexton of taking groups of people to Florida, paying clinic, collecting their prescriptions, then distributing the drugs after the prescriptions were filled. If convicted, she faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and $1 million in fines. Unemployment rates fell in 119 counties across the state in May. Russell County in South Central Kentucky was the only one to post a higher figure. Jobless rates were lowest in Central Kentucky counties, with Woodford County posting the state's best rate 3.8 percent. Counties with the highest jobless numbers were concentrated in eastern Kentucky, with rates two and three times higher than other areas of the state. MacGuffin County had the state's highest unemployment rate at 12.7 percent. In the immediate region, Nott County was next on the list at 9.3. All other counties in our coverage area had rates below 9 percent, with Johnson County coming in under 8 percent. Well, coming up, if you've got a railroad crossing on your daily commute, many of us do. There's a good chance you'll need to find another route over the next week. And last night was a celebration of local foods and arts in the Appalachian Artisan Center. We'll be back in two minutes. A number of railroad crossings throughout the region will be undergoing annual maintenance next week, leading to closures for two to three days each. Nine crossings will undergo repairs in Floyd County, and another nine will be affected in Pike County. In the event of a crossing, it affects the only route to an area where it will take place during the day, with crossings reopened at night. There's also plans in place in the event of emergency vehicles needing to cross. Local artists and farmers joined together last night at the Appalachian Artisan Center in Heinemann for an event designed to showcase some of the region's strengths. EKB news reporter Courtney Lovern went to the Art and Fork dinner and found out why those attending believe going local is in the best interest of the community. At the Appalachian Artisan Center here in Heinemann, an event on Thursday evening combines two things you wouldn't expect, art and food. We're having our first annual Art and Fork event, which is just an evening of local food, music, art, we just want to celebrate all things kind of local through our musicians, our artists and our farm producers. At $25 a ticket, locals had access to a variety of different creative products. The Appalachian Artisan Center partnered with the Community Farm Alliance to host this event and a three course meal was provided for the participants. As the evening began, guests were served appetizers and once the main course was brought out, they were served locally grown food in the form of sliders and other sides. During the event, guests could go over to two of the art canvases that were set up and try out their painting skills. This evening, we are having some community canvases. We have two set up for kind of art and food. We just want to kind of create a fun element just to kind of let people know that they can be artists too. It doesn't have to be anything superb and fancy or years of training. We just want them to kind of explore and get creative with each other and have fun this evening over some local foods. Not only is this a way to come out and try local foods, but it's a way to interact with the community in ways that you wouldn't expect. You know, being able to have Chad, who grew the stuff, sitting right across the table, you know, and to see who the producer is and who we're giving our money to, it's just really exciting. It's much better than getting it off some truck, you know, that shipped it all the way out here from California. So it makes us feel more connected to our community. It makes us healthier and it provides an income for the farmers. Jenny Williams, who is from Hazard, mentioned why events like this are important to her and the community. I can go and buy food, you know, from the grocery store and I do buy food from the grocery store. But when I give my money to a farmer that I know and love, I feel like I've done something really good. I'd rather do that and then give it to some nameless corporation someplace. The Artists and Center plans on partnering with the Heineman farmers market in the future to infuse more art and food. For EKB Evening News at 6, I'm Courtney Levin. It's time for another installment of Outdoor Adventure. This week videographers Ronnie Hilton, Charles Memms, and Dalton Daniels scale Birch Nob, high atop Pine Mountain to give us a glimpse of a mountain morning sunrise. This week we set the alarms early and headed up for the Birch Nob Observation Tower, high atop Pine Mountain. You can find the observation tower by taking Highway 631 out of Clintwood, Virginia and following the Birch Nob Observation Tower signs. A few miles out of Clintwood, you'll turn left onto Birch Nob Drive. From here you'll leave the pavement and begin on a dirt road. You'll want to take it easy going up the mountain. There are some rough spots and ruts in the road that can cause your vehicle to bottom out. Upon reaching Birch Nob, you'll have 183 steps to climb up to the Observation Tower. While the climb to the top can be exhausting, the view at the top is worth the burning legs and the shortness of breath. We arrived just before sunrise and were awestruck by the view. The sun rose above the horizon and created one of the most amazing scenes we had ever witnessed. Even though we had five cameras, it was overwhelming to try to capture the 360-degree view from the observation deck. Looking from the top of Pine Mountain, fog filled the valleys, only leaving the tops of the mountains visible. Sitting at 3,144 feet in elevation, you can view the states of Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia, Tennessee and North Carolina in the distance. A trip to the Birch Nob Observation Tower should be on everyone's to-do list. The climb up to 183 stairs is worth the spectacular view from the top of Pine Mountain. The Birch Nob Observation Tower, in my opinion, is one of the most amazing places in our region. For EKB Evening News at 6, I'm Ronnie Hilton. Wow, I'm inspired. Wow, me too. That's going to be on my bucket list. I've got to get up there. Absolutely. You've got to get up really early though. I think you both, you and I have done that before. Yeah, we've done that before. Coming up, last night was a pretty big night for former Wildcats. Joe Kinzer will be in to break down how the NBA Draft went down. But first, we'll ask EKB Chief Meteorologist, Lathan Hopkins, how much rain we can expect this weekend. We'll be back in two minutes. You know, you've got me braced about the weather maybe not staying summer like. I'm not happy about that. Little taste of early spring on the way. We're going backwards. We're talking temperatures in the 70s, upper 70s compared to the upper 80s. So it's not a huge change, but you'll notice it. You'll notice it. Tomorrow and lasting through the weekend. Another thing you may notice tonight, thunderstorms. Not just yet though. The Doppler radar is still quiet across the region, but boy, that is expected to change as we make our way into the overnight hours tonight and during the day tomorrow. Satellite and radar composite showing, well, a lot of severe thunderstorm watches in effect. We've got this area of low pressure here. It is going to continue to make its way to the east and as it does so, you'll notice in western parts of the state, a cluster of showers and thunderstorms stretching from central Kentucky all the way back toward Paduca. I'm going to take the satellite and radar off and I want you to look at how many severe thunderstorm watches we have in effect right now. It is for the entire state of Kentucky. We have southern Ohio, West Virginia, all the way back to Arkansas and Oklahoma. All of these yellow boxes against severe thunderstorm watches. The one for us, well, that goes for all of eastern Kentucky, all of western West Virginia and southwest Virginia until two o'clock Saturday morning. So we got quite a while to go with this severe thunderstorm watch. Of course, any of the storms that develop, gusty winds, frequent lightning, large hail and heavy rainfall due to the fact that we picked up a lot of rain last night early this morning and more heavy rain potentially for this evening and overnight. A flash flood watch is also in effect for all of eastern Kentucky, western West Virginia and most of southwest Virginia. And this goes also until about two o'clock. If we get that heavy rain to set up, we could see this extended into a little later during the overnight hours. Of course, keep it tuned. We will keep you up to date with the latest temperatures, 88 Pikeville, 86 Preston Spurge, Paintsville, 90 and Williamson, 81 in Dorton, 87 in Widesburg. Temperatures tonight dropping back into the upper sixties, but tomorrow seventies. That's going to be a big change. Seventies. And you see on this computer forecasting model trying to pick up on an 80 or 81 degree reading across eastern Kentucky. Notice across central parts of the state and especially to the north, sixties for high temperatures. And wait till you see the seven day forecast. It's actually looking pretty nice. Before we get to that, let's talk about the pollen forecast, which is sponsored by Faith Pharmacy, Adams Plaza in Pikeville. Very low tomorrow with the showers and thunderstorms expected. And then as the nice weather returns, the pollen count will begin to jump 3.9 on Sunday, 3.8 during the day on Monday. All right. All important seven day forecast, 80% chance of those showers and storms, yet again tomorrow, 78 degrees Sunday, the pick day of the weekend, 78 sunny skies. Beautiful for late June. And then even early next week, we're talking low to mid eighties. Next best chance of rain holding off until Monday night through Tuesday night. Again, some of the storms tonight could be strong and severe. Severe thunderstorm watch, flash flood watch, both in effect. We had some good storms last night as well. We did late last night and then again early this morning, about three, four, five o'clock and we could see a repeat of that tonight. And in order to focus on the good news, we're going to look for Sunday. Sunday is looking beautiful, 78 and sunny. The humidity will not be a factor. It's perfect. Yeah, it does sound nice. It really does. Sounds great. We'll be back with sports in two minutes. Well, Joe, University of Kentucky well represented and the NBA draft. Oh, it was a big night last night for Kentucky and the Big Blue Nation. Thanks a lot, Gary. And good evening, everyone. I'm Joe Kinzer, looking for sports. The 2015 NBA draft was a big night for the Kentucky program as the Cats had six players taken, including four lottery picks. Carl Anthony Towns was taken as the number one overall pick by the Minnesota Timberwolves. They became the third top draft pick during the Coach Cal era. Sacramento snatched up Willie Collie Stein with the sixth pick. Collie Stein will team up with former Cat, DeMarcus Cousins. Trey Liles went 12th to the Utah Jazz and Phoenix chose Devon Booker. Booker will join X-Cats Eric Blesso, Archie Goodwin and Brandon Knight. Now Andrew Harrison and Dakari Johnson both were selected in the second round. Andrew was picked 44th. He went to Phoenix. However, he was later traded to the Memphis Grizzlies while Johnson was taken four picks later by Oklahoma City. Now Aaron Harrison was not drafted last night but signed a free Asia contract to the Charlotte Hornets and will compete in the NBA Summer League for an official roster spot in the fall. 24 Cats have now been drafted during Coach Cal's six-year tenure. Tug Valley High School is doing some major work to provide new athletic facilities for their athletes and the community. There has been a number of donations, assistance from community members and countless amounts of volunteers that have come together to make this happen. Makayla Collie files this report. It's been a long time coming for Tug Valley High School as they finally get the opportunity to build new athletic facilities to help better their programs thanks to community efforts. This dream is now in progress for the upcoming sports seasons. The community has been waiting 27 years for this project to happen and when things started happening and trees started being cut and dirt started being moved, the whole community just started stepping up. People have been donating services in kind and money and this is truly going to be a product of our community. A lot of progress is being made to upgrade the athletic facilities of Tug Valley High School. We are rebuilding our football stadium, putting a crown on our field so it will drain properly, putting new sod down, that's what we're doing here today. We are surrounding it with a six-lane track so that will benefit our track team but that will also benefit the entire community as well. And a new baseball and a new softball field because that used to be part of the same football field that we're standing on and we're going to be building several tennis courts, expanding our parking and expanding all the other facilities that go along with outdoor sports. So it will benefit everyone. We want this place to be a community park. The coaching staff and players are excited about the improvements and hold high hopes for next season. And I'm just excited that we're all going to have a facility that we can be proud of and that our fans can show up and really, really enjoy their time here. Last year we were fortunate enough to make it to the semifinals and we had to go somewhere else and play and hopefully that with doing the things that we're doing now, we can host a playoff game here in the near future. Hopefully this year. It's going to be great to actually have a field where you come out and you feel like you're in a facility that's healthy to be able to play on and have a field that's great. You know, people can come to you and you're not really embarrassed of it. It's a field that's all around great. The expected completion date is mid-August where the Panthers plan to host their first home game on August 28th. For EKB Evening News at 6, I'm Michaela Colley. Good job, Michaela. Thanks a lot for that report. Despite the struggles this season by the Cincinnati Reds, Bryan Price's club is still in contention for a wild-car spot only five games back. And last night they were trying to pin another loss on the Pittsburgh Pirates. Let's go to the highlights. Top of seven, Reds down by two and there's the Todd Father. Todd Frazier, two-run blast his 24th of the season and we're not up at four all. Good to the top of eight. There's a base hit up in the middle. No brand of Phillips to the right behind the backflip, double play and the game's still tied. Five innings later, top of the 13th inning and brand of Phillips and Houston we have lift off as the Cincinnati Reds defeat the Pittsburgh Pirates five to four. Now the Reds continue their road trip action tonight as they will take on the New York Mets coverage on Hit City, USA. And finally, Brad Napier was hired today as Chapmanville Regional High School's basketball coach and Cindy he served the last three years in that capacity at Mingo Central. So you know a little bit about his work, huh? A great job he led the Miners to his first ever state tournament basketball parents last year. I'll tell you, I gotta go back though to what we just saw going on for the Tug Valley teams. That's awesome. I'll tell you what, that's 27 years long overdue and those fans, more importantly those kids, they deserve much better and I'm glad it's, you know, getting done. Yeah, absolutely. Our kudos to everybody working on that. And we'll be right back. Well, it's a chance of some thunderstorms tonight, Leithon. To say the least, a severe thunderstorm watch in effect for all of the region through two o'clock in the morning as well as a flash flood watch that's in effect through late tonight. So any of the storms that develop and move through kept it down locally heavy rainfall, frequent lightning, large hail, damaging winds, much like what we had last night. But we'll watch it and keep you up to date with the latest and of course you can find the latest forecast in tomorrow's Appalachian News Express. And that's the seven day forecast, right? That is the seven day. Great. Thanks, Leithon. Hey, I know even with storms coming, there's still stuff going on tomorrow sports wise. David Jones, former Kentucky football standout has his camp kindergarten through 10th graders at Camp Stadium at Belfrey High School. The registration begins at eight. Camp runs all day from nine to three. They're going to have hundreds of giveaways, including UK home football tickets, Alabama, Auburn, and Florida on that list. Favorite sport to follow is UK football. And even if it rains, they're on AstroTurfley, right? And if it rains heavily, lightning, they're going to take it inside Belfrey High School's gymnasium. Good deal. That will do it for tonight's EKB Evening News. Remember, you can give 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.