The Mountain Eagle

09/12/2025

MOUNTAIN HERITAGE BEAUTY PAGEANT TOMORROW

Just a reminder that the Mountain Heritage Festival Beauty Pageant is being held tomorrow (Saturday) at 2 p.m., in the auditorium at Letcher County Central High School. In the past, the event was most often held on Mondays. The event is a fundraiser for the Letcher County Central High School cheerleading program.

09/08/2025

DEADLINE TOMORROW FOR MOUNTAIN HERITAGE FESTIVAL PHOTO CONTEST

Have you taken a photo recently of a nice nature scene in Letcher County? Or how about a picture you took of some interesting scenery outside of Letcher County?

Do you have any good photos of a family member or friend, a sporting event, or your favorite pet?

If so, you should enter one or more of them in the Mountain Heritage Photo Contest. But you’ll need to hurry and choose the one(s) you want to enter, because the deadline for entry in this year’s contest is tomorrow night (Tuesday, September 8) at 6 p.m.

The drop-off for any photo you may wish to enter is the Harry M. Caudill Library on Main Street in Whitesburg, where entries will be accepted tomorrow from 1 p.m. until 6 p.m.
Below are the official rules and eligible categories as stated by the Mountain Heritage Festival Committee:

The annual Mountain Heritage Festival Photo Contest is being held on 9/9/25 for drop offs from 1pm-6pm-ish! We will host our drop off point for ALL PHOTOS at the Harry M Caudill Library.
We will be displaying them in Dr. Pellegrini’s business office building downtown Whitesburg, formerly Pikeville Medical Center building.
A new art category has been added to the 2025 Mountain Heritage Festival. All artists are encouraged to submit their original painting (acrylic, watercolor, charcoal, pencil, crayons, etc) on the subject of MEMORIES OF THE PAST. Artwork should depict former Mountain Heritage Festivals memories. Artwork will be displayed throughout Whitesburg in local businesses.
Rules:
• Original art
• 8 x 10 canvas size
• Sign a release form
• Turn in on time
• Open to all ages
• Painted canvas must come with a stand

MEMORIES THAT LAST A LIFETIME
There is a new photo category for the 2025 Mountain Heritage Festival and it is called MEMORIES THAT LAST A LIFETIME.
If you have any photos from previous Mountain Heritage Festivals, please enter them in the MEMORIES THAT LAST A LIFETIME category.

RULES:
• You must own the photo and sign a release stating it is your personal photo.
• Photos can be any size but are to be matted and framed.
• This category is open to all ages as long the contestant owns the photo.
• There is a $5 entry fee for each photo.
If you have any questions, please email [email protected]
Please note that all photo entries MUST be matted and framed to be considered in the judging!
Photos must be 5x7 or 8x10 max due to space concerns!
All photos will be displayed in Dr. Pellegrini’s business office building in downtown Whitesburg throughout the entire festival! We invite everyone to walk up the street and check them out once they are displayed!

Mountain Heritage Festival Photo Contest CATEGORIES
1 – Scenic: Letcher County
2 – Scenic: Outside of Letcher County
3 – Reflections Of The Past: Person, Home Scene
4 – Sports: Any
5 – Portraits: One Person or Family
6 – Still Life: Flowers, Fruits, Etc
7 – Animals: Pets
8 – Wildlife
9 – Nature
10 – Black and White
Kids(12 and under) free entry
Adults (13+) $5 per photo

09/08/2025

POLICE SAY THORNTON MAN DIES IN MOTORCYCLE CRASH

Kentucky State Police say a 30-year-old Thornton man died early Sunday in a single-motorcycle crash on KY Highway 1148, a road located between Isom and Polly.
According to a release from KSP Trooper Matt Gayheart, Jonathan Stewart was operating an off-road dirt bike in the early morning hours of Sunday when he lost control of the bike during slippery road conditions and struck a guardrail.
Trooper Gayheart said Kentucky State Police Post 13 in Hazard received a 9-1-1 call concerning the accident at 1:16 a.m. Troopers, along with emergency medical personnel responded to the scene and found Stewart lying near the bike.
Gayheart said a preliminary investigation indicates Stewart was not wearing a helmet at the time of the accident. Toxicology results are pending, he added.
The incident remains under investigation by Trooper Kevin Day.

09/08/2025

MAIN STREET IS SUDDENLY BRIGHTER AND PRETTIER

This new storefront in downtown Whitesburg was unveiled this weekend, bringing with it some added beauty and class to Main Street.
The name of the new store is “townies,” and is in the building formerly occupied by Hoover’s Bargain Store and later Heritage Kitchen.
A combination general store/restaurant, “townies” will serve breakfast and lunch on its menu featuring “familiar Appalachian favorites with a fresh twist.”
The business is expected to offer a variety of locally made goods, novelty snacks, and everyday essentials in a setting designed to feature community art.
An opening date has not been announced.

09/03/2025

JUDGE SEALS PART OF MOTION AFTER STINES DEFENSE RELEASES GRAND JURY TRANSCRIPT

By SAM ADAMS

Special Letcher Circuit Judge Christopher Cohron has sealed part of a document filed by defense attorneys for former Sheriff Shawn Mickey Stines, after the attorneys included the entire transcript of the grand jury testimony on which Stines was indicted for murder in a publicly accessible brief in the case.
Grand jury records are secret by law.
The defense also included a jail triage form signed by a licensed clinical social worker stating her opinion of Stines’s mental state. That social worker said Stines was “still in an active state of psychosis” on September 23, four days after he shot and killed Letcher District Judge Kevin R. Mullins. The killing was captured on security video inside the judge’s chambers. The social worker wrote that Stines was in “major depressive disorder currently.” It also says he was “combative” with jail employees and had to be pepper sprayed.
While the grand jury transcript was sealed shortly after it was released, it was filed by the defense in publicly accessible court files which were then sent to members of the media late this morning by the Administrative Office of the Courts. News stories about the contents of the medical file and the grand jury transcript had already appeared on the internet at least 20 minutes before the AOC released the briefs.
The documents were filed sometime after a motion by prosecutors to move the trial out of eastern Kentucky because of pre-trial publicity.
The grand jury transcript released by the defense included complete testimony by Kentucky State Police Detective Clayton Stamper, some of which was in direct conflict with statements made by defense attorneys in open court two weeks ago. While attorney Jeremy Bartley told Judge Cohron that there were “numerous incidents where the witness would start to answer something asked by the grand jury and it was shut down,” the transcript does not seem to support that position.
Bartley also said Stamper answered “yes” when asked by a juror whether Stines was in “sound mind,” saying the detective was not qualified to answer that and arguing that the jury would not have indicted him for murder without that answer. However, the transcript shows the question followed a lengthy set of questions about Stines’s visit to a doctor the day before the shooting, and a review of the doctor’s notes, which did not indicate a mental condition. The juror then asked whether Stines was in sound mind according to what the investigation had shown. Stamper then answered “yes.”
In addition, the grand jury testimony shows that contrary to rumors spreading over the Internet there was no indication of an inappropriate relationship between Judge Mullins and Stines’s daughter or his wife. Stamper said both had been asked that directly, and both answered there was no inappropriate relationship.
The detective also noted that the daughter’s telephone number was not stored on the judge’s phone, and phone records showed there were no phone calls or other communication between them. Jurors asked Stamper specifically about programs such as SnapChat, and he said there was no record of any communication of any kind. He said the only call from the judge’s phone to Stines’s daughter was the call made by Stines himself seconds before he pulled his service weapon from its holster and shot Mullins nine times.

08/30/2025

UPDATED VERSION:

BABY RACCOON WAS FOUND DRUNK AS A SKUNK;
HE'S NOW AFFECTIONATELY KNOWN AS "OTIS CAMPBELL"

Whitesburg might have had a most-wanted wild turkey, but now a racc**n has said, “Hold my moonshine.”

A young racc**n was found drunk as a skunk after it crawled into a Dumpster near Kentucky Mist Moonshine Distillery in Whitesburg. It was apparently attracted to the sweet smell of fermented peaches, which the distillery soaks in distilled alcohol to make peach flavored moonshine.
The c**n soon found out it really likes moonshine-infused peaches. And like many underage drinkers, it then it found out it just can’t hold its liquor.

The racc**n, its mother, and its sibling were living under an old railroad bridge located over the North Fork of the Kentucky River, between the distillery and the Letcher County Health Department. Health department employees, who had been feeding the racc**ns, were crossing what is now a covered bridge on their way to work on a recent morning when they saw the mother racc**n acting strange. When they checked the Dumpster, they found the underage drinker lying on its back in rainwater that had pooled at the bottom.
Fearing the animal would drown, they got it out of its predicament and, believing it was sick or injured, started trying to revive it.

After health department employee MISTY COMBS WORKED TO AWAKEN THE ANIMAL, a call for help was placed to the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife. After a Fish and Wildlife officer arrived from neighboring Pike County, the racc**n was taken to veterinarian Dr. Ben Cornett who has a clinic at Isom.

Realizing the animal was drunk, Dr. Cornett treated it and kept it overnight while it sobered up. Released the next day from the “drunk tank,” the Fish and Wildlife officer took the racc**n back to Whitesburg and released it near the bridge so it could reunite with its mother.

The baby racc**n, a boy, is now known affectionately as Otis Campbell in honor of Mayberry’s legendary town drunk. No word yet on whether the c**n has visited the Dumpster again, or whether it will take itself to the jail the next time it ties one on.

NOTE: This update replaces a shortened video with the original version, and puts emphasis on the fact that health department employee MISTY COMBS was trying to AND DID save the racc**n.

08/27/2025

SCENES FROM JENKINS HOMECOMING DAYS FESTIVAL

Photographer Chris Anderson captured some nice photographs at this past Saturday’s Jenkins Homecoming Days festival. As the photos show, a heavy downpour after Saturday’s parade didn’t dampen the good time being had by Lucas Sturgill.

Other photos show Kaysen Kiser, along with his sister, Annistyn Richardson, and pals Paxton Holbrook and Haven Ramey, greeting Paw Patrol character Marshall with waves and smiles during the parade, which also featured the Jenkins Middle School and High School cheerleaders marching along Main Street and giving a stellar performance for those in attendance. The parade kicked off with young Landan Gray belting out a rousing version of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

As usual, the Homecoming Days Festival concluded Saturday night with a fireworks display. The crowd enjoying the finale included Jenkins Cross Country runners Joseph Collins and Andrew Ratliff, who spent much of their time at the festival selling hot dogs at the team’s food booth to raise money for expenses and travel.

More photos by Anderson appear in the August 27 edition of The Mountain Eagle.

08/15/2025

JUDGE GIVES LAWYERS TWO WEEKS
TO FILE BRIEFS IN STINES MURDER CASE

Special Letcher Circuit Judge Christopher Cohron has given lawyers in the Shawn Mickey Stines murder case until September 2 to file briefs before he rules on three defense motions.

Cohron, who sits on the 8th Circuit Court in Warren and Edmonton counties, was in the Letcher County Courthouse on Friday to hold a status hearing on the case.

Stines, the former sheriff, is charged with murder in the September 19, 2024, shooting of Letcher District Judge Kevin R. Mullins. The defense had filed three motions, but Cohron did not yet rule. He gave all parties in the case until September 2 to file answers and arguments.

The defense had asked that the results of a report from the state's forensic psychiatrist be released before the hearing and had asked that an evidentiary hearing be held today (August 15) to argue the other two motions, hoping using portions of that report as evidence. Cohron, however, declined to unseal the report, at least for now, and ordered it filed under seal unless he rules otherwise.

The defense also asked Friday that the judge set a $50,000 cash or property bond for the sheriff, but the judge also put that motion on hold until after September 2. He did the same with a third motion by the defense asking that the murder indictment against Stines be dismissed. The judge seemed skeptical of the defense argument that Stines was not a danger to himself or others and should be given an affordable bond.

Stines was caught on a security camera stalking Judge Mullins around the desk in his chambers and shooting him repeatedly. Several of the shots were fired as the judge lay on the floor under his desk.

Stines is being held in the Leslie County Detention Center until trial. He was brought in to the Letcher County Courthouse for the hearing.

08/14/2025

MAN DIED IN HOSPITAL 3 DAYS
AFTER BEING SHOT BY POLICE

A Kingscreek man shot by police on July 26 is dead.

Julian Lee Smith, 24, died July 29 at Johnson City Medical Center in Tennessee three days after he was shot during an encounter with police. Police had said the day after the shooting that Smith was in stable condition and did not announce his death. His funeral was handled by Hindman Funeral Services, which did not send an obituary to the newspaper.

Smith was shot at least four times on Saturday night, July 26, when police say he pointed a pistol and fired at them.

Read the complete story at

A Kingscreek man shot by police on July 26 is dead. Julian Lee Smith, 24, died July 29 at Johnson City Medical Center in Tennessee three days after he was shot during an encounter with police. Police had said the day after the shooting that Smith was in stable condition and did not announce his deat...

08/14/2025

MAN ACCUSED OF STEALING COP CAR ARRESTED IN LETCHER COUNTY

Kentucky State Police have arrested a man in Letcher County who is accused of stealing a Perry County Sheriff’s Cruiser on Wednesday. The missing cruiser was also recovered here.

Trooper Brandon Watts arrested Christopher Combs, 30, of Perry County, on Buck Creek after a foot chase earlier today (August 14).

Police recovered the missing police car shortly afterward, also on Buck Creek.

Combs is in the Letcher County Jail charged with first-degree trafficking in a controlled substance (first offense, equal to or more than 2 grams), Possession of drug paraphernalia, second-degree possession of a controlled substance (drug unspecified), first-degree fleeing or evading police, speeding 28 miles per hour or more over the limit, first-degree wanton endangerment, no registration plates, being a persistent felony offender II, menacing, and public intoxication (controlled substance).

The Perry County Advocate is reporting Perry County deputies arrested Combs on an indictment warrant on Wednesday and found more than 40 grams of methamphetamine and several thousand dollars in cash during the investigation.

The deputy transporting Combs in the back of an agency-owned black Dodge Charger police cruiser and was in Perry County Park when Combs escaped from his handcuffs, slipped into the driver’s seat and drove away.

08/06/2025

DEFENSE ASKS THAT STINES'S PSYCHOLOGICAL
TEST BE RELEASED BEFORE AUGUST 15 HEARING

A hearing has been set for Friday, August 15, for a judge to determine whether former Sheriff Mickey Stines should be released on bond, and whether the murder indictment against him should be dismissed.

In a motion filed after Eagle press time on Tuesday, the defense attorney for Stines asked that a psychological report on Stines be unsealed before the hearing so it can use “portions” of the report at the hearing “to support his defense and ensure the court has a full and fair understanding of the relevant facts.”

Stines is facing a charge of Murder in the shooting death of District Judge Kevin R. Mullins on September 19, 2024, in the judge’s chambers in the Letcher County Courthouse.

Judge Christopher Cohron of the 8th Circuit in Warren and Edmonson County has been appointed special judge in the case and has said he would hold any bond hearing in the case in Letcher County. While the hearing is on the docket for Letcher Circuit Court, there is no room assigned for it, and it was not clear whether the hearing will be conducted here or in Bowling Green.