KYGenWeb: Floyd County

Sept. 25, 1974

The 30-day receivership granted by Circuit Judge Hollie Conley for the debt-ridden Princess Manufacturing Company, of Auxier, has ended and bankruptcy proceedings may be next in line. Members of the David community heard last Wednesday, the report of the David Development Corporation's negotiations for the purchase from Woodrow Branham of the Town of David. The county fair, which has become a kind of institution in this, and numerous other rural Kentucky counties, concluded a four-day stand at Archer Park, Saturday. The Prestonsburg Blackcats rolled to their fourth straight win, and the Floyd County football championship, Friday night, when they defeated Wheelwright. There died: Mrs. Ora Salisbury, 88, of Hunter, Friday, at a nursing home here; Malcolm C. Scarberry, 80, of Martin, Saturday, at the McDowell Hospital; Arlie Adkins, 77, of Ivel, Saturday, at a hospital, here; Willie Hall, 89, of Bevinsville, Sunday, at a nursing home, here; Emma G. Wilson, 56, of Auxier, at the Paintsville Hospital, September 17; Silas Bryant, 60, Wednesday, at his home at Price; Elizabeth Madison, 58, of Printer, Sunday, at the McDowell Hospital; W. Arnold Maggard, of Lexington, formerly of Langley, Friday, at a Lexington hospital.

August 28, 1974

 For the ninth consecutive year, fiddlers, banjo pickers, dancers, poets, artists and artisans from the Kentucky mountains and elsewhere, will converge, this weekend, on the Jenny Wiley State Park amphitheatre, where the Kentucky Highlands Folk Festival will be held this weekend. This weekend may be the last fling of the year for those who take to the swimming pools, since the pools at both Archer Park and Jenny Wiley State Park will close at the end of Labor Day. Enrollment totals for the new school year, which began last week, show a net gain of exactly 50 pupils over the enrollment at the outset of the 1973-74 term. Prestonsburg Community College "celebrated" its 10th birthday today (Wednesday), by opening for another year of work. The Prestonsburg Black Cats opened their 1974 football season, Friday night, at Richmond, where they lost to a strong Madison Central team, 18 to 7. Born: a son, Brandon Lee, August 20, at King's Daughters Hospital, Ashland, to Mr. and Mrs. Jerry Leslie. There died: Octavia Stratton Lewis, 79, of Stanville, last Tuesday, at Mountain Manor Nursing Home, here; James E. Handshoe, 46, of Lima, O., formerly of Elm Rock, Saturday, at a Martin hospital; Herbert Thacker, 63, of Bevinsville, en route to the McDowell Hospital, Saturday; Rory Stever Tackett, 17, formerly of Martin, August 10, in a Dayton, O., hospital; Hiram Beverly, 52, of Fairborn, O., formerly of Drift, Monday, August 19, at a Martin hospital; Virginia Adams Osborn, 75, of Ashland, formerly of Prestonsburg, Thursday, at an Ashland hospital; Ora Edna Blackburn, 69, of Lancer, Friday, at Mountain Manor Nursing Home, here.

August 21, 1974

Talk by the Floyd County Recreation Board of plans for a major recreation center, near Allen, may be nearing the end of the talking stage, County Judge Henry Stumbo indicated here, Monday. Co-receivers were named, Friday, by Circuit Judge Hollie Conley, for the Princess Manufacturing Company. Funeral rites for Tillman Mullins, 36, of Price, who was decapitated, Monday, of last week by a massive roof-fall in the No. 1 mine of the Little & Adkins Mining Co. at Price, were conducted last Thursday. Registration for the fall semester at Prestonsburg Community College will begin tomorrow (Thursday). Officers of the Bureau of Vehicle Regulation issued a total of 15 citations to operators of overweight trucks in Floyd County during the period of the agency's most recent report. The Martin Coal Sales tipple, at Drift, was reduced to ruins, early Saturday morning, by a dynamite blast. There died: Bertha T. Harrington, 63, of Craynor, August 8, at a Lexington hospital; Claude Adkins, 62, of Allen, Monday, August 12, at a Martin hospital; John Earl Riley, 47, of Teaberry, Saturday, at a hospital, here; James Hall, 52, of Meally, August 10, in a Lexington hospital; Ellis Beecher Taylor, 33, formerly of Martin, Thursday, at his home in New Orleans; Love Childers, 63, of Bevinsville, last Wednesday, at U.K. Medical Center; Luther Harmon, 78, of Williamsport, August 12, at Paintsville; Mrs. Ogie Prater, 81, of Wayland, Monday, at a Martin hospital; Cora W. Boyd, 69, of Melvin, August 13, at a Pikeville hospital; Lewis Eugene Wells, 58, of Auxier, Sunday morning, at a local hospital.

August 14, 1974

The Mountain Investment Corporation, Florida-based firm which "owns' the town of Wheelwright, filed Monday, in circuit court here, a suit asking that Wheelwright officials be enjoined from enforcing ordinances adopted recently to control housing and other conditions there. A police investigation into neighbors reports of a disturbance in an apartment building at the Goble-Roberts Addition here late Monday night terminated a "pot" party and resulted in the arrest of 14 youths. R. Donald Goble, of Prestonsburg, became assistant county attorney, effective July 1. The Floyd Fiscal Court, last Wednesday, accepted the apparent low bid on reroofing of the courthouse. The bid was $33,982 submitted by Tri-State Roofing and Sheet Metal Co., of Charleston, W.Va. The United Mine Workers called, Monday, for a five-day shutdown of the nation's soft coal mines, starting next Monday. There died: Mrs. Wanda Lee Slone, 50, of Topmost, late Wednesday, at the McDowell Hospital; Hargus Dinnson Hall, 48, of New Philadelphia, O., formerly of this county, Friday afternoon, in an accident in Lafayette, Ohio; Trimble Charley Mitchell, 29, of Wheelwright, Sunday, at a Martin hospital; R. B. "Bert" Stewart, 76, last Thursday, at his home at Hindman; Melvin Keene, 61, of Wolcottville, Ind., formerly of Melvin, Tuesday, August 6, in a LaGrange, Indiana hospital; George Hancock, 61, of Columbus, O., formerly of Garrett, August 6, in a Columbus, hospital; Mrs. Maude Billips, 73, of Martin, last Wednesday, victim of a heart attack; Benny Boyd, 77, August 6, at his home at Dana; Miss Sherry Lynn Cole, 20, August 7, at her home at Melvin; Mrs. Joan Hunter Webb, 68, of Auxier, Friday, at a Paintsville hospital; Joe Paris Poe, 41, of Abbott Creek, Thursday, at his home on Big Branch.

July 31, 1974

Bids will be opened by the Floyd County Board of Education, today (Wednesday), for construction of a physical education building to serve the Martin Elementary School. At the same time, bids will also be let for renovation work on the old Martin High School building. Medical Alcohol Emergency Detoxification Services (MAED), through an affiliation agreement between Mountain Comprehensive Care and Highlands Regional Medical Center, will provide a three-bed unit at Highlands Regional, to deal exclusively with the health problems of excessively intoxicated persons who normally would be admitted to the "drunk tanks" of county jails, where adequate medical facilities are not available. State Police continued, this week, the investigation into the armed robbery, early last Thursday morning, of Mrs. Beatrice Adams Collins, widow of Dr. M. M. Collins, at her Lackey home, and the identities of at least three men were being sought in the case. Solid waste disposal will get the lion's share of the $425,190 revenue sharing budget adopted last Friday by the Floyd Fiscal Court, and approved by State Finance Officer D. M. Magill. A total of $188,000 was allocated for the founding of a waste disposal program, designed to serve every section of the county. Richard E. Fitzpatrick, Prestonsburg attorney, Tuesday, became Floyd County's first juvenile court judge. Miss Kathalene Casebolt, 16-year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Forest Casebolt, of Williamsport, was named Miss Big Sandy RECC of 1974. Born: here to Mr. and Mrs. Frank McGuire Jr., of the Auxier Road, a son, Adam Ryan, May 31, at the Pikeville Methodist Hospital; to Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Ratliff, of Wayland, a daughter, Nikki Lynn, July 14, at Highlands Regional Medical Center. There died: Jack Johnson, 75, of Orkney, at a nursing home, here, Friday; Willie Smith, 31, of Rochester, Ind., at his home there, Friday; Mrs. Lizzie Kidd, 65, of Stanville, at a hospital, here, Saturday; Lonzo (Lonnie) Kiser, 92, of Topmost, at Mountain Manor Nursing Home, Saturday; William P. Jenkins, of Summit Station, O., formerly of Wayland, at Mt. Carmel Hospital, last Tuesday; Frank Martin, 89, of Mousie, at a Lexington hospital, Saturday; Stella Mae Thornsbury, 59, of Melvin, at the McDowell hospital, Sunday; Samuel Green Conn, 51, of Detroit, Mich., formerly of this county, in Detroit, Sunday.

June 12, 1974

Prestonsburg�s City Council may send representatives to the next session of the Floyd Fiscal Court to seek county help toward the founding and maintenance of a dog pound, which would serve both the city and the county...Work has begun for the 1974 Tenth Anniversary season of the Jenny Wiley Summer Music Theatre, which will offer three musical productions this season...The Federal Insurance Administration is accelerating the process of identifying and notifying the approximately 12,000 non-participating communities of their flood prone status, and Floyd County is among the non-participants...Born: to Mr. and Mrs. Darrell Sheridan Bailey, of Frankfort, a son, Joseph William, May 14, at Frankfort; to Mr. and Mrs. Larry V. Bentley, of Garrett, a son, May 31, at McDowell; to Mr. and Mrs. Barry Click, of Maytown, a son, William Christopher, June 5, at Prestonsburg...There died: Zeer Chaffins, 78, of Mousie, June 3, at Martin; Mrs. Janet Conn Hall, 34, of Corn Fork, last Saturday, here; Dennis M. Conley, former Floyd resident, June 3, in Wabash, Ind.; Mrs. Laura Spurlock, 80, of Hunter, June 5, here; Tolva Leedy, 59, of Stanville, last Wednesday, at Martin; Mrs. Goldie Mae Collins, 50, Friday, at her home at Garrett; Mrs. Eunice Conn, 59, of Banner, Monday, at Pikeville; Bert Davis, 40, of Hippo, last Tuesday, here; Mrs. Effie Hager Litz, 67, of Auxier, June 5, at Highlands Regional Medical Center; Mark Wicker, 31, formerly of Garrett, last Saturday, in Indiana; Mrs. Flora L. Scott, 84, of Martin, last Friday, here; Harry H. Crisp, 74, of Martin, Sunday, here; Leamon T. Clevenger, 66, formerly of Allen, last Thursday, at Jackson, Michigan.

April 24, 1974

Commonwealth�s Attorney Harold J. Stumbo, said, Tuesday morning, that the investigation into the gunshot deaths, Sunday night, of Mrs. Nan Wallen Ousley, 62, at her West Prestonsburg home, and of her estranged husband, the Rev. John Wesley Ousley, 63, at the home of his daughter on Buck�s Branch, near Martin, has not been completed...The Appalachian Research and Defense Fund, last week, filed, on behalf of seven environmental protection and sportsmen�s groups, a petition asking the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers to issue regulations �designed to correct ongoing and future destruction� of Corps controlled water resource projects, by pollution from coal mining, particularly strip-mining...The outlook for teaching positions in the Floyd School System, next school year, is gloomier than last, Superintendent of Schools Charles Clark, said Monday...Born: to Mr. and Mrs. Robert Doyle Howard, of Winchester, formerly of Prestonsburg and Allen, a daughter, April 18, at Lexington; to Mr. and Mrs. Ronnie Miller, of Prestonsburg, a son, James Ray, April 13; to Mr. and Mrs. Lee Kidd Jr., of Betsy Layne, a son, David Lee, April 8; to Mr. and Mrs. Allen E. Harris, of Prestonsburg, a daughter, Jerrie Lynn, April 11; to Mr. and Mrs. Bryce Conn, of Prestonsburg, a daughter, Anna Louise, April 13; to Mr. and Mrs. Oval Pack, of Weeksbury, a son, April 10; to Mr. and Mrs. Okie Thompson, of Grethel, a son, April 14...There died: Mrs. Bossie Martin Hall, 75, former Wayland resident, at her home in Somerset; Ulysses Crum, 57, formerly of Dwale, April 15, at Lenoir, N.C.; Mrs. Oma W. Litteral, 67, formerly of Lackey, April 15, at Marion, O.; Harry Lee Sparkman, 85, of Hueysville, Thursday, at Martin; Mrs. Shannon Gayheart, 73, of Garner, April 14, in Virginia; Silver (Buster) Jones, 49, of East McDowell, last Wednesday, at McDowell Appalachian Regional Hospital.

February 27, 1974

County Superintendent Charles Clark said, last week, that any notions he might have entertained about installing a central distribution point of gasoline for school bus use during the fuel crisis, have been abandoned, and that buses will continue to depend upon private service station operators...Damage which may run as high as $60,000 was caused by a Sunday midnight fire at Parkway Motors, Inc., on South Lake Drive, here...Roger Powers, 26, of Auxier, was killed, Tuesday afternoon, in an accident at a coal loading operation at Water Gap...Four men were arrested during the week in liquor raids in the Mud Creek and Left Beaver sections of the county...Born: to Mr. and Mrs. James Keathley, of Prestonsburg, a son, Robert Lee, Feb. 15; to Mr. and Mrs. Paul Daniel Collins, of Honaker, a daughter, Paula Arlene, Feb. 13; to Mr. and Mrs. Ronaldo Frasure, of Hueysville, a daughter, Faith Earleeen, Feb. 18; to Mr. and Mrs. Verdell Johnson, a daughter, Feb. 11; to Mr. and Mrs. Johnie D. Patton, of Weeksbury, a daughter, Feb. 6; to Mr. and Mrs. James Bailey Hall Jr., of Wheelwright, a daughter, Feb. 7; to Mr. and Mrs. Jimmy D. Hall, of McDowell, a son, Feb. 9...There died: John N. Hamilton, 89, formerly of Prestonsburg, and a former Floyd County Attorney, last Thursday, at Lexington; Mrs. Jemima Moore, 93, of Hippo, Thursday, in Ohio; Clifford S. Daniels, 60, formerly of Drift, Monday, in Trenton, Mich.; George Castle, 70, of Weeksbury, Sunday, at McDowell Appalachian Regional Hospital; Mrs. Anna S. Burchett, 84, of Prestonsburg, Feb. 18, here; Mrs. Maude P. Hatton, 73, Hueysville native, Monday, at Plymouth, O.; William James King, 82, Wednesday, at his home at Martin; Mody Hoover, 63, Monday, at his home at Garrett; Mrs. Thelma Geraldine Danflous, 58, of Prestonsburg, Feb. 19, at Lexington; Sam K. Hatcher, 59, of Prestonsburg, Monday, while at work near Sugar Loaf.

February 20, 1974

Area service station operators were less than optimistic, this week, as problems of inadequate gasoline supplies lingered, despite the return to near-normal truck traffic...County Judge Henry Stumbo listed solid waste disposal as the most pressing of this county�s problems at a meeting, Monday night, of the Big Sandy Area Development Council at May Lodge...The gunshot death, last Tuesday night, of a Wayland man, may have resulted from his playing �Russian roulette,� officials said following an investigation...The Prestonsburg Area Chamber of Commerce, last week, elected Ronald H. Frasure, Prestonsburg businessman, as its president, succeeding Robert V. May Jr....Born: to Mr. and Mrs. Gorman Shepherd, of Hueysville, a son, Ryan Ellis, Jan. 2, at Methodist Hospital, Pikeville...There died: Henry Pratt, native of Garrett, Feb. 2, at Cynthiana; Isaac N. Hall, Jr., 48, formerly of Banner, Monday, at Lexington; John Fannin, 57, of Martin, Sunday, at Martin; Miah Spradlin, 60, of Ivel, Friday, at Pikeville; Noah Hopper, formerly of this county, Sunday, at Hanging Rock, Ohio.

January 16, 1974

Although the town of Martin was perhaps the county�s most dramatic flood scene, with almost two feet of Beaver Creek water running down its main street, last week�s heavy rains brought considerable damage to dozens of hollows and creeks...With a budget of $377,882 set for 1974 by the retiring city council, last month, Mayor William O. Goebel Jr., said last week there is �no way� for the city of Prestonsburg to reduce the city�s occupational tax, the city�s biggest single source of revenue...The Kentucky�s �74 Bicentennial commemorative license tags for this county have been delivered to the Floyd County Bicentennial Committee, and are available to residents desiring to purchase them, according to an announcement made, Monday, by Paul P. Hughes, chairman of license plate sales for Floyd County...The Mountain Comprehensive Care Center will open bids at 10 a.m., Monday, on renovation of the ground floor of the old Prestonsburg General Hospital building which was purchased, last year, by the Mountain Mental Health-Mental Retardation Holding Corporation...Three Mud Creek men who were jailed here, during the weekend, by Sheriff Joe Wheeler Lewis, Deputy Sheriff Green Slone and State Police Detective Gary Rose, are accused of arson in the burning, last Friday night, at Teaberry, of a dwelling owned by Homer Hamilton...Born: to Mr. and Mrs. Ellis Page, of East McDowell, a son, Jan. 1; to Mr. and Mrs. Ishmael Akers, of Grethel, a son, Jan. 2; to Mr. and Mrs. John Perkins, of Bypro, a son, Jan. 6; to Mr. and Mrs. Vernon Fouts, of Halo, a son, Jan. 5...There died: Miss Annette Crawford, 20, Friday, at the home of her parents at Melvin; James Hughes, 82, of Hueysville, Saturday, at Our Lady of the Way Hospital, Martin; Claude C. Napier, 50, formerly of Garrett, Jan. 8, in Dayton, O.; Mrs. Margaret Dale DeBord, 75, last Monday, at her home at Tram; Mrs. Belle Gayheart Stumbo, 94, of McDowell, Monday, at Highlands Regional Medical Center; Mrs. Mattie S. Wilbur, 91, Monday, Jan. 7, at her home at Martin; Mrs. Nannie H. Bowling, 86, of Pike County, formerly of Prestonsburg, Friday, at Highlands Regional Medical Center; Mrs. Myrtle Woods, 75, of Martin, Jan. 7, at Highlands Regional Medical Center; John Robinson, 66, Saturday, at his home at Langley; James L. Ousley, 81, of Risner, Monday, at Highlands Regional Medical Center.

October 31, 1973

Speaking at the Democratic rally here, Saturday night, Adj. Gen. Richard Frymire told of plans for the construction, in the Prestonsburg vicinity, of a National Guard armory which will cost between $400,000 and $600,000...With the strike voted by union employees of the Kentucky West Virginia Gas Company a virutal certainty at 12:01 this (Wednesday) morning, the company set into motion the machinery to affect an orderly shutdown of its operations...One of Prestonsburg�s older residences was extensively damaged, Friday morning, when fire broke out in a second story room of the home of Mrs. Sally Gatewood Clark, on South Arnold Avenue...There died: Roy Gibson, 32, of Blue River, Thursday, in a head-on collision at Lancer; Mrs. Louise Johnson, 57, of Melvin, October 27 at Our Lady of the Way Hospital, Martin; Mrs. Artie Allen Hicks, 71, native of this county, Friday, at Toledo, O.; Mrs. Maggie Parsons, 73, of Justell, Wednesday, at Lexington; Emmitt Jones, 67, of Teaberry, Friday at Methodist Hospital, Pikeville; Mrs. Virgie Osborne, 68, Thursday, at her home at East McDowell; Mrs. Iva Dell Hall, 68, of Dema, Thursday, at McDowell Appalachian Regional Hospital; Warnie Collins, 66, of Endicott, Friday, at Highlands Regional Medical Center; Walter Prater, 66, of the Abbott Road, Thursday, at Paintsville; Curley G. Moore, 49, of East McDowell, Thursday, at Martin; Marion Setser, 92, of Prestonsburg, last Tuesday, here.

October 3, 1973

In an all-day hearing, held at Prestonsburg Community College here, Wednesday, representatives of the Environmental Protection Agency heard the testimony of area residents and environmentalists criticizing the state�s failure to enforce regulations concerning the discharge of waste water into streams...Two months ago, County Judge Henry Stumbo expressed the hope that the county�s solid waste disposal program would be a reality this month. Now, he doesn�t know. Among other problems, there�s the one of landfill sites�and he�s careful to emphasize that he is not speaking of �a plain old garbage dump�...The car of Sheriff Frank Leslie wrecked on Cow Mountain early Sunday night, while he was chasing another auto, and he sufffered a mangled left arm and severe loss of blood...The Parkway Water Association�s work of two years toward a water distribution system along a four-mile stretch of the Mountain Parkway on Middle Creek, resulted this week in advertising for contractors� bids on construction...Born: to Dr. and Mrs. Tom O. McGuire Jr., a daughter, Emily Elizabeth, September 20, at Springfield, Illinois; to Mr. and Mrs. Demoris Martin, of Minnie, a son, Matthew Keene, September 12, at Lexington; to Mr. and Mrs. Franklin L. Kohler of Weeksbury, a son, September 18; to Mr. and Mrs. Ray D. Isaac, of Bevinsville, a son, September 20...There died: Mrs. Fay Henderson, 48, of Boldman, Thursday, at the Methodist Hospital, Pikeville; Mrs. Susie Ousley, 61, of Martin, Saturday, at the McDowell Appalachian Regional Hospital; Morna Wallen Lafferty of Prestonsburg, Thursday, at a Lexington hospital; Miss Nancy Turner of Harold, September 22, at Our Lady of the Way hospital, Martin; Mrs. Myrtle Simmons McGuire, 79, of West Prestonsburg, Monday, at Highlands Regional Medical Center.

August 8, 1973)

A new attempt at reviving the long-dormant Floyd County Comprehensive Health Program was begun this week, as preliminary work was being done toward formulating a workable program...Employees of the U.S. Shoe Company plant here voted last Friday, by a better than 2-to-1 margin, not to affiliate themselves with the Boot & Shoe Workers� Union...Last Thursday night�s meeting of the City Council named Assistant City Clerk Beverly M. Hackworth to assume the duties of City Clerk...A loaded coal truck plowed into the back of a car in front of the First National Bank here Monday morning, �totaling� the auto and injuring its five occupants, Estill Newsome, his wife and three children...Resurfacing of US 23 between Prestonsburg and Auxier began recently...Miss Jane Ellen Wright, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Clifford E. Wright, of Prestonsburg, became the bride of Mr. David Lawrence Shrout, son of Mr. and Mrs. Clyde R. Shrout of Mt. Sterling, in a ceremony solemnized August 4, at the Irene Cole Memorial Baptist Church, here...The Martin Braves, of the Martin-Maytown Little League, won first place in the play-off games, August 4, at Maytown, defeating the Maytown Cubs, 14-6...Betsy Layne cheerleaders, Jane Ann Steele, Hollie Hall, Beata Clark, Melinda Damron, Gwen Clark, Kay Blackburn, and Pauletta Smith, will perform at the State Fair in Louisville, August 23...There died: Estill Patrick, 49, of Lagrange, Ind., formerly of Knott County, July 24, in a Kendallville hospital; Bruce Hackworth, 77, of Abbott, July 30, at a hospital here; James H. Harmon, 79, of Prestonsburg, Thursday, at a hospital here; Edgille Baldridge, 60, of Hueysville, July 23, at a Martin hospital; Melvin Conn, 86, of Printer, July 23, at a Paintsville rest home; Howard Terry, 57, of Lagrange, O., formerly of Knott County, recently at Elyria Memorial Hospital; Oscar Combs, 79, July 30, at his home at Raven; James R. Baisden, 79, of Prestonsburg, at the Paintsville Hospital; Floyd Bryant, 92, July 21, at his home at Martin; Patrick Hall, 78, of Galveston, July 26, at the McDowell Hospital; John Nelson Stratton, 84, July 30, at his home at Ivel; Mrs. Cora C. Cook, 69, Sunday, at her home at Buckingham; Mrs. Virgie N. Slone, 40, Thursday, at her home at Mousie.

July 25, 1973

Joe Hobson, attorney for The Bank Josephine, announced Tuesday, that the majority interest in the bank has been purchased from the Harkins family and others by E. R. McGuire, of Ashland, his two sons, and others, including John C. C. Mayo, of Ashland, and Harry LaViers, of Paintsville...The Floyd County school system will lose approximately $217,000 in Title I funds this year, and as a consequence 21 teaching positions will of necessity be eliminated...A decision on the direction the investigation into the shooting death here, July 12, of Dr. George P. Archer will take was expected to be reached at a meeting, Tuesday, of officers and officials engaged in the probe...Dr. Claude L. Allen of Langley and Martin, was named chairman of the Floyd County Board of Health last week...Mrs. Judith D. Archer, 46, wife of William T. Archer, and city clerk of Prestonsburg for 27 years, was found dead at her South Arnold Avenue home here, early last Friday morning, victim of a revolver bullet...Miss Jane Carter Webb, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Virgil A. Webb, of Prestonsburg, and Capt. Robert Joseph Perry were married July 7, in the First United Methodist Church, here...There died: Mrs. Lura H. Dooley, 52, Wednesday; Carl Hall, 49, of Milan, Michigan, July 17, in Ann Arbor, Michigan; Fletcher May, 58, of Langley, Friday, at the Highlands Medical Center.

June 13, 1973

The village of Emma will soon see the beginning of a modern highway-type bridge, to take the place of the 45-year-old �swinging bridge� which spans the Big Sandy there, to connect the town with US 23...Congressman Carl D. Perkins announced in Washington, last week, that the House Education and Labor Committee, which he heads, will hold hearings in this county, June 22, and possibly on the following day, to hear the testimony of black lung applicants who have been denied benefits by the Social Security Administration...Retirement of Dr. Russell L. Hall, as health officer heading both the Floyd and Martin county Health Departments, became effective May 10...A single car accident, early Sunday morning, near Bonanza, claimed the life of the vehicle�s only occupant, 22-year-old Billy Monroe Howell, of Abbott Creek...Miki Jane Little, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Mike Little, of Melvin, will represent Floyd County in the Miss Kentucky Pageant, to be held July 12-14 in Louisville...Timmy Crawford, son of Mr. and Mrs. Manis Crawford, of Melvin, and Mike Armour, son of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Armour, of Wheelwright, will attend the 30th annual convention of Key Club International in Chicago, July 1-4...There died: Mrs. Hattie R. Reynolds, 73, of Dayton, O., formerly of Pike County, Sunday, in a Dayton hospital.

May 30, 1973

Floyd County was spared its daily threat of rain until 3 p.m., election day, but the bright weather failed to bring the voters out to the polling places in great numbers...In some parts of the country Memorial Day travelers were warned they might have to shop around for enough gasoline for the drive home, but not so in this county...If the federal government persists in its policy of refusing help to municipal water systems, three proposed rural systems in the Prestonsburg vicinity may have to find a water supplier other than Prestonsburg...Born: to Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Neal, of Garrett, a son, May 15; to Mr. and Mrs. Robert Newsome Jr., of Hi Hat, a daughter, May 16; to Mr. and Mrs. Danny Bryant, of Estill, a son, May 20...There died: Jobe Hughes, 53, Thursday, at his home at Hippo; Mrs. Mindy Newsome Hamilton, 84, Thursday, at her home, at Teaberry; Mrs. Shelba Jean Crager, 34, formerly of Garrett, Tuesday, at Garrett, Ind.; Lee T. Lewis, 74, Thursday, at home on Cow Creek; Edward William (Bill) Ackerman, 53, of Prestonsburg, last Friday, at Highlands Regional Medical Center; Gordon W. Branham Sr., 57, of Wheelwright, Thursday, at the Pikeville Methodist Hospital; Estill Jarvis, 47, of Banner, Tuesday, at Highlands Regional Medical Center.

May 23, 1973

A levee in the upper area of Dewey Lake, designed along the lines of a miniature dam, has been suggested as the primary hope of reducing sedimentation of the main part of the lake, and of preventing a yearly collection of unsightly debris along the shores of the impoundment...Negotiations toward a settlement of differences between members of the Floyd County Election Board, as it faces the task of preparing for next Tuesday�s primary, ended Friday in a lawsuit...Work on construction of the Regional Development Disabilities Center for Mountain Comprehensive Care Center, north of Prestonsburg, is near, Richard Stai executive director of M.C.C.C. said this week...Five hundred thirty-one seniors will receive their diplomas this week and next, at graduation exercises at the county�s five high schools...Born: to Mr. and Mrs. Albert R. Osborne, of Hunter, a son, May 10; to Mr. and Mrs. Bobby D. Hobson, of East McDowell, a son, May 10; to Mr. and Mrs. Jim Caldwell, of Prestonsburg, a son, Jim Morgan, May 14; to Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Osborne, of Hite, a son, Antony Todd, May 10...Married: Miss Sharon Kaye Rice and Mr. Roger Tee Watkins, March 23, at the Little Paint Church of God...There died: William George Post, 63, of Langley, Friday, at the Our Lady of the Way Hospital, Martin; Burt Hall, 63, of Banner, Saturday, at Highlands Regional Medical Center (HRMC); Mrs. Jennie McCary, 58, of Wheelwright, Saturday, at Williamson, W. Va.; Elbert Powers Jr., 44, of Auxier, Friday, at Pikeville; Jeanella O. Campbell, 66, of Weeksbury, Saturday; Lacy P. Smith, 66, May 8, at his home at Endicott; Clifford R. Halstead, 71, of Prestonsburg, Sunday, at HRMC; Virgil Bray, 35, of Drift, Saturday, at home; Mrs. Ella Newsome, 66, of Teaberry, Wednesday, at McDowell Appalachian Regional Hospital; Robert Henson, 36, formerly of Floyd County, Sunday, at Ashtabula, Ohio.

May 16, 1973

Making the transition, from the old election law to the new, has Floyd County�s election board split squarely down the middle, with two precinct officer lists possible, and the acceptability of both hanging in doubt...The four-lane bridge spanning the Big Sandy at Allen is about 85 percent complete, and should be open to trafffic within six weeks...The Parkway Water Association, which will provide water service to homes and businesses in a three-mile-long area up Middle Creek, from Clark School, is ready for final plans...Three Floyd County residents were among 45 persons awarded Doctor of Dental Medicine degrees from the University of Kentucky, May 12. They are Kenneth R. Martin of Estill, Carl Edmond Tackett, of Prestonsburg, and Ralph Darrell Johnson, of Garrett...There died: Jim Prater, 81, of West Prestonsburg, Monday, at Highlands Regional Medical Center; Mrs. Sarah Blackburn Mullett, 48, of Weeksbury, April 28, at home; Mrs. Eva Samons, 58, Friday, at her home at Martin; Kelly Wicker, 67, of Mousie, Monday, at the McDowell Hospital; Emert Bentley, 54, of East McDowell, Wednesday, at Methodist Hospital, Pikeville; Marvin Clark, formerly of this county, April 18, in Albuquerque, New Mexico; Jay Johnson, 88, of Melvin, May 3, at home; Vailis Chaffins, 71, of Wheelwright, May 4, here; Theodore (Ted) Day, 52, of Bypro, Wednesday, at Our Lady of the Way Hospital, Martin.

May 9, 1973

Results of the wage hearing, held here recently, gives the Floyd County Board of Education hope that contractrors� bids on the proposal Garth Vocational School addition will fall within architects� estimates, and the board has authorized readvertising of the work....The Prestonsburg water plant has had its water intake mechanism clogged with coal, sand and other debris from upstream Big Sandy River sources an average of every eight days since March 9...Plans for the proposed municipal building here were accepted, last Thursday, by the Prestonsburg City Council, and advertising for construction bids was authorized...Miss Linda L. Godsey, Prestonsburg High School junior, was named Floyd County Music Festival Queen, Saturday, following the festival parade...Born: to Mr. and Mrs. Ronnie Castle, of Hueysville, a son, April 16...There died: Wilson (Red) Phillips, 69, of Prestonsburg, Tuesday, at Highlands Medical Center; Isom B. Slone, 79, Wednesday, at his home at Martin; Mrs. Eliza Mosley, 84, formerly of Weeksbury, Monday, at Ypsilanti, Mich.; Cevester Reynolds, 68, of Prestonsburg, Saturday, at Our Lady of the Way Hospital, Martin; Mrs. Louvada May Burke, 86, of Prestonsburg, Tuesday, at the Highlands Medical Center; Mrs. Annie Stumbo, 87, Drift native, Friday, at Ashland; Mrs. Dixie Pack Warren, 54, of Ashland, formerly of Floyd County, Sunday here; Mrs. Mary C. Hall, 88, Monday, at her home at Dwale.

May 2, 1973

County Attorney James R. Allen said, this week, that Floyd County and the City of Martin, will move, soon, to acquire easements for the $3 million stream improvement project in the Martin area...A limited area of stripmined properties in Floyd County was inspected during a tour made, Monday, by environmental protection officials, and one such operation was suspended...Five high school girls representing Allen Central, Betsy Layne, McDowell, Prestonsburg and Wheelwright, will vie, here, Saturday, for the title of Floyd County Music Festival Queen. They are Teresa L. Osborne, Gwen Clark, Linda Godsey, Jill Newsome, and Karen Hamby...The national list of crimes is long, and Floyd County�s own, isn�t short. And now this county has recorded a brand-new infraction to its category. The innovation was recorded at the county jail, last Friday, when an upper Right Beaver Creek man was booked by Deputy Sheriff Sollie Holbrook on a charge of drinking beer in church...Phillip A. Haywood, of Prestonsburg, was honored at Eastern Kentucky University�s Honors Day Program, last Sunday, as the outstanding male physical education major...There died: Sam Bradley, 74, of Servia, Ind., formerly of Magoffin County, Wednesday, in a North Manchester, Ind. hospital; John M. Porter, 47, of Prestonsburg, Saturday, at a Pikeville hospital; Mrs. Maudie Hamilton, 77, Tuesday, at her home at East McDowell; Andy Lee Newsome, 76, of Masontown, Pa., formerly of this county, February 20; Mrs. Emma C. McSurely, 65, of Tippecanoe, Ind., formerly of Floyd County, Sunday, in Indiana; Mrs. Phoeba P. Crisp, 79, of Martin, Wednesday, at a nursing home, here; Mrs. Martha M. Smith, 78, Monday, at her West Prestonsburg home; William S. Branham, 80, Sunday, at his home at Martin.

April 18, 1973

Floyd County�s share of Rural Secondary highway funds for the fiscal 1973-74, beginning July 1, is $393,985, it was announced, last Friday...Sunny skies and relatively mild temperatures helped make this year�s ninth annual Mountain Dew Festival one of the most successful ever, with a record number of participating students...Wind damage, sustained last Thursday, temporarily interrupted expansion and renovation of Jenny Wiley boat dock...W. L. Wells and R. M. Henderson, founders of the Princess Manufacturing Company at Auxier, have sold their interest in the company to Executive Wardrobes Inc., of Concord, N.C....Floyd County spelling bee winners were Jackie Jarrell, champion, and Valerie Ratlifff, runnerup...There died: Mrs. Mary C. Hobson, 84, Tuesday, at her home at McDowell; George W. Newman, 63, of Hi Hat, Saturday, at his home; Eleanor Owens Starline, of Vandalia, O., formerly of this county, April 2, in Ohio; Craig Hamilton, 80, of Craynor, Saturday, at the McDowell Appalachian Regional Hospital; Alton Otto Frazier, 57, formerly of Martin, April 8, in a Dayton, O., hospital; Johnny Hale, 54, formerly of Prestonsburg, at his home in Lexington, April 4; Harold Lloyd Moore, 42, found dead near his home at East McDowell.

April 11, 1973

Purchase of acreage for an athletic field at Allen Central High School, and a move to change the site of proposed Phase II construction there, were approved by the Floyd County Board of Education at its meeting here, Saturday...A ready-made plant in Prestonsburg became available, Friday, when Irvin Industries Inc., offered to sub-lease the long-vacant building in West Prestonsburg, which formerly housed Kentucky Appalachian Industries...A Mud Creek man who was named in a warrant, procured Tuesday, by Deputy Sheriffs Dester Hamilton and Ralph Howell, charging him with shooting and wounding with intent to kill, retaliated later by swearing out warrants for the officers� arrest, accusing them of shooting into his trailer-home and into his auto...Born: to Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Brown, a daughter, Trudy Dawn, March 30, at Point Pleasant, W.Va.; to Mr. and Mrs. James R. Allen, of Prestonsburg, a daughter, Robyn Lynne, March 30, at Ashland; to Mr. and Mrs. Stewart Ray Horne, of Little Paint, a son, March 26, at Highlands Regional Medical Center; to Mr. and Mrs. Stuart E. Stephens, of the Goble-Roberts Addition, a son, Ray Eugene, April 6, at the Methodist Hospital, Pikeville...There died: Elizabeth Allen Cadenhead, 73, formerly of Prestonsburg, April 4, at Vero Beach, Fla.; John Warix, 72, of Prestonsburg, Saturday, at Orlando, Fla.; Mrs. Sallie Conley Martin, 72, of Estill, Sunday, at Our Lady of the Way Hospital, Martin; Silas Hunter, 86, of Honaker, Tuesday; Edward Griffith, 69, of Lackey, Saturday, at Our Lady of the Way; Mrs. Dollie Rice Terry, 68, Friday, at her home at Martin; Thomas Luther Spradlin, 38, formerly of Prestonsburg, March 10, at Sinai Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland.

March 14, 1973

Floyd County�s own McDowell High School Daredevils, flirted with disaster through two games, hung on to survive, and wound up, last Saturday night, with an easy victory over Martin County�s Sheldon Clark High to win the 15th regional crown, and a place in the �Sweet Sixteen� lineup at the state basketball tournament at Freedom Hall, Louisville...Floyd Countians can get flood insurance, if certain governmental requirements are met, County Attorney James R. Allen has been told, in response to his recent inquiry, made to the Department of Insurance, Frankfort...An auto mishap, involving three vehicles on U. S. 23, near Emma, Sunday afternoon, left Charles Reed, of Lexington, formerly of Price, critically injured...Born: to Mr. and Mrs. Thomas E. Walker, of Huntington, W.Va.; a son, Garrett Carl, Feb. 14; to Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Jackson, of Garrett, a son, Feb. 28; to Mr. and Mrs. Bobby Damron, of Grethel, a son, March 1; to Mr. and Mrs. Robert Hopkins, of McDowell, a son, March 3...There died: Mrs. Maudie Slone, 82, of Manton, Wednesday; Edgel Whitaker, 52, formerly of Prestonsburg, Thursday, at Galion, O.; Mrs. Millie M. Jarrell, 70, of Dana, March 2, at Highlands Regional Medical Center; Mrs. Lula Sparks Adams, 87, of Brainard, Sunday, at Martin; Mrs. Virgie Newsome Moore, 78, of East McDowell, Sunday, at McDowell Appalachian Regional Hospital; Taylor Risner, 73, of Risner, Thursday, at Our Lady of the Way Hospital, Martin; Mrs. Nannie Boyd, 80, of Stanville, Friday, at Martin; Elder George Wright, 83, of Martin, Monday, at Our Lady of the Way Hospital; Jake Slone, 82, of Handshoe, Monday, at Martin; Ora Crace Caudill, 68, Saturday, at her home at Estill.

February 28, 1973

The Third Street building, here, housing The Floyd County Times plant, was destroyed by fire, with almost all its contents, shortly after midnight, Friday...The Prestonsburg Kiwanis Club last week initiated a movement to protect the environment of Floyd County�not from stripminers or other industry�but from people who litter the streams and highways of the county...Two commercial fishermen had marketed almost 10,000 pounds of �rough� fish when they ended their operations at Dewey Lake last Friday...The nation�s second highest court has affirmed that union coal miners in seven districts have the right to elect their own officials, the UMWA said today...Floyd County Democratic leaders were in Frankfort, last weekend, for a state Democratic fund-raising seminar. They are Woodrow Burchett, Henry Stumbo, James Allen, Jim Hammond, Barkley Sturgill, and Chester Layne...Born: a daughter, Jacqueline Denice, December 30, to Mr. and Mrs. James Crowe, of Springfield, O. Mrs. Crowe is the former Judy D. Howard, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Alex Howard, of Prestonsburg...There died: Mrs. Fannie M. Tackett, 70, of Grethel, Sunday, at a Pikeville hospital; Mrs. Lizzie S. Miller, 45, of Blue River, Thursday, at a hospital here; Darrell Fitch, 17, of Martin, February 19, at a hospital there; Mrs. Lula K. Hubbard, 93, Sunday, at her home near Patriot, Ohio.

February 21, 1973

Floyd Superintendent of Schools Charles Clark expressed surprise and some indignation, this week, that the Floyd school system was mentioned last week, by the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, as one that had failed to comply with desegration requirements. Clark said, �We were fully integrated...in 1965.�...Ten of the 16 children of Mrs. Otela Smiley and the late Vyron Smiley, have achieved college degrees, three others are continuing with college work and another is headed for college next year...A three-state alert of law enforcement officers followed the holdup, here, early last Sunday evening, of the Kroger Store and the getaway of three men and a woman with an estimated $1,800 in cash...Paul Patton, president of a major Pike County coal company, in a speech at Eastern Kentucky University, last Thursday, said there is really no energy crisis, such as is claimed by oil and gas company representatives...Harry James Martin, son of Mrs. Nell Martin Campbell, of Garrett, has been awarded the Gibbons Award, and $100, for the Most Oustanding Surgical Student in Auburn University�s Large Animal Clinic, where he is concluding his training in veterinary medicine...Born: A daughter, Tamatha Kay, their first child, to Mr. and Mrs. Ermon Leo Tackett, on February 1, at the Highlands Regional Medical Center...There died: Mrs. Nolie Newsom, 71, of Warsaw, Ind., formerly of this county, Sunday, in a hospital there; Mrs. May Dillon Wallen, 82, of Prestonsburg, at her home, Sunday; Donald Gene Hall, 28, of Huntington, Ind., formerly of Halo, Friday, in a car-truck collision in Huntington.

(February 7, 1973

Work already underway, or to be initiated in this county this year, by South Central Bell in a program designed to afford better telephone service will involve expenditure of almost $2 million, telephone company manager, Phill O. Scott, said last week...The Mud Creek Health Project, a �bootstrap� operation undertaken by residents of that section of the county, without federal funding, will open next Tuesday...Glenn S. Anderson Sr., ended almost 29 years of work with the Kentucky Employment Service, last Wednesday, when he retired...Chuck Roast cost just 69� per pound and five 32-oz. bottles of Coke cost just $1...Two former Floyd County residents were among those graduated from the Kentucky State Police Academy in Frankfort, last Friday. They are Larry Prater and James Stephens...There died: Lee Salisbury, 83, formerly of Hunter, in a car crash last Wednesday at Plant City, Fla.; Mrs. Annie Collins Belcher, 23, formerly of Garrett, in a car accident, Sunday, in Kendallville, Indiana; Preston Fields, 52, brother of Tom Fields, of Prestonsburg, in a car accident in Florida, Feb. 2; Mrs. Betty S. Slone, 85, of Akron, Indiana, formerly of this county, Jan. 26 in a Warsaw, Ind. hospital; Mrs. Vina E. Leslie, 80, of Stanville, Jan. 12, in a Pikeville nursing home; William Bailey, 71, of Melvin, Thursday, at a Martin hospital; Sherman J. Centers, 79, of Auxier, Jan. 30, at a hospital here; Mrs. Fannie H. Guerin, 57, of Pikeville, formerly of Prestonsburg, Jan. 28, in Pikeville; Carl C. Conley, 76, of Loveland, O., native of Bonanza, Jan. 17, in a Cincinnati hospital; Mrs. Judy M. Irick, 65, Jan. 22, at her home at Betsy Layne; Mrs. Mattie E. Hall, 71, of Hall, Jan. 26 in Jenkins; Jim Ousley, 70, of West Prestonsburg, Thursday, at a Paintsville hospital; Mrs. Renda C. Stumbo, 68, of Flat River, Mo., formerly of this county, Jan. 12, at Bonne Terre (Mo.) Hospital; Sammie Bays, Jr., 56, of Warsaw, Ind., formerly of Prestonsburg, Jan. 17, near his home in Warsaw; Mrs. Georgie W. Horn, 72, of Prestonsburg, died Sunday, at a nursing home here; H. B. Spurlock Jr., 51, of Springfield, O., formerly of Prestonsburg, Saturday, in Springfield.

January 31, 1973

A number of familiar �alphabetical� programs�OEO, for one�will be prime casualties, if the budget proposed to the Congress, Monday, by President Nixon is adopted...The fuel shortage is so real, that the city of Prestonsburg has been warned by the Kentucky West Virginia Gas Company, against using more gas than the maximum called for in its contract...Workmen�s compensation rates for coal mines, approved Monday, by the State Insurance Department, retroactive to Jan. 1, are more than double the rates existing before that date...When the Floyd Fiscal Court, last week, budgeted $98,000 of the total of $194,780 in revenue-sharing funds received for 1972 to the county�s solid waste disposal program, it also took preliminary steps to set the program in motion...Born: to Mr. and Mrs. Clifton Branham Jr., formerly of Floyd County, a daughter, Kimberly Dawn, Jan. 17, at Stuart, Fla.; to Mr. and Mrs. John Kevin Shannon, a son, John Christian, Jan. 21, at Bethesda, Maryland...There died: T. R. (Tony) Ranier, 90, of Prestonsburg, last Thursday, at the Highlands Regional Medical Center; Orville Tackett, 60, of Willard, O., formerly of Floyd County, January 21, at home; William C. Endicott, 82, of Endicott, Sunday, at home; Mrs. Eva Spradlin Igo, 49, formerly of Wayland, January 22, at a Lexington hospital; Ralph DeBord, 51, of Raleigh, N.C., formerly of this county, Friday, at Raleigh; Mrs. J. Martin, 83, of Prater Creek, Friday, at Highlands Regional Medical Center.

January 17, 1973

Floyd County law enforcement has made no improvement since the September grand jury hit at the crime situation and, if anything, has become worse, the January grand jury reported to Circuit Judge Hollie Conley at its adjournment, last Tuesday...Construction of Beaver Elkhorn Water District water mains, from Allen to Wayland, on Right Beaver Creek, and to Clear Creek, on Left Beaver, should be completed within the next 45 days...�Meals on Wheels,� a non-profit organization, is scheduled to begin delivering low-cost, nutritious meals to many of the county�s home-bound, elderly, handicapped, or convalescing...Mr. and Mrs. Tom James held their annual �Old Christmas� party at their home, here, Sunday, afternoon, January 7...Miss Dallas Fay Sammons, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Dallas D. Sammons, of the Auxier Road, is among the 245 members of the Morehead State University Band, who will represent Kentucky at the Presidential Inaguration in Washington, D.C., Saturday...Born: Their second child, a daughter, Monica Grace, on Dec. 16, to Sergeant and Mrs. Elman Blair, in Phoenix, Arizona; a daughter, Catherine Lynn, on December 22, to Mr. and Mrs. Donald L. George, of Findlay, O.; their first child, a daughter, Kelly Elizabeth, on January 16, to Dr. and Mrs. Norris McCormick Langford Jr., in Richmond, Va...There died: Mrs. Arkie Williams, 66, of Halo, last Thursday, at the McDowell Hospital; Lewis P. Montgomery, 60, of Prestonsburg, January 9, at a hospital here; Mrs. Zella E. Frisby, 79, of Wayland, Wednesday, at a hospital here; Mrs. Julia Hunt Garrett, 87, of Stanville, December 16; Theop D. Salmons, 98, former police judge at Allen, Monday, at a nursing home, here.

January 10, 1973

The Floyd Fiscal Court cannot, under the new home rule law, enact legislation to protect landowners, from provisions of the old �broad form� deeds, the Attorney General�s office said this week...A number of burglaries in the county marred the first week of the new year, and continued a rash of similar crimes, which began over the holidays...The move recently initiated by the City of Allen to annex territory occupied by the area known as New Allen, met last week, with opposition from 330 New Allen residents...A Winter Weekend for Artists and Photographers will be held at Jenny Wiley State Park, January 26-27...Born: A son, Michael Ray Dunfee Jr., to Mr. and Mrs. Michael Ray Dunfee, of Garrett, on Dec. 9; a daughter, Monica Grace, to Sgt. and Mrs. Elman Blair on December 16, in Phoenix, Arizona; a daughter, to Mr. and Mrs. Danny Slone, of Garrett, Jan. 1; a son to Mr. and Mrs. Solomon Mullins, of Hall, Jan. 5, and a son to Mr. and Mrs. Orville Parsons of Harold, on Jan. 7...There died: Russell Sizemore, 85, Sunday, at his home in West Prestonsburg; Mrs. Sadie S. Hicks, 65, of David, Sunday, in a Lexington hospital; Willie King, 81, Friday, at his home at Melvin; William H. Jones Jr., 58, January 1, at his home, here; Mrs. Aggie H. Estepp, 88, Monday, at her home here; Mrs. Kansa C. Samons, 70, of Martin, Sunday, at a Martin hospital; Robert Lee Osborne, 58, of Tipp City, O., formerly of Melvin, Jan. 2, at a Dayton, O., hospital; Mrs. Linda A. Hunter, 80, Thursday, at her home in Martin; W. L. Bentley, formerly of this county, Dec. 29, in Dallas, Texas; Frank Hall, 54, Thursday, at his home at Harold; Mrs. Roxie C. McGuire, 74, Wednesday, at her home in Allen; Ballard McGuire, 76, of Allen, late Wednesday, at a hospital, here.

December 20, 1972

Thursday, a mini-fleet of pickup trucks and carry-alls will take �Santa Claus� to 2,000 of the county�s children who normally receive little or nothing in the way of Christmas gifts...Floyd county Democrats in one of their most harmonious county conventions recently re-elected W. W. Burchett, Prestonsburg attorney, county chairman for a second four-year term...The Floyd County Junior Chamber of Commerce has named Hershel Joseph, of Prestonsburg, as the Outstanding Young Man of the Year in Floyd County...Senators John Sherman Cooper and Marlow Cook announced last week that the Big Sandy Area Community Action Program will receive a $100,002 general community programming grant...High school basketball tournaments have proved to be good business in the 15th Region with proceeds of $12,677 realized thus far as Floyd county�s share...The Rev. and Mrs. Leroy Gibson will observe their 25th anniversary at their home here, Dec. 24...Mr. and Mrs. E. L. Bierman announce the marriage of their daughter, Karen Lee, to Solomon Jefferson Bingham, son of Mr. and Mrs. Carl Bingham of the Auxier Road, Dec. 4...Born: a daughter, to Mr. and Mrs. Jimmie Skeans, of Melvin, Dec. 13; a daughter, Mr. and Mrs. Bill Whitaker, of Gunlock, Dec. 15; a son to Mr. and Mrs. Nollie Hamilton, of Teaberry, Dec. 17...There died: Mrs. Leta W. Steele, 91, of Betsy Layne at a Pikeville Hospital, Thursday; Mrs. Josephine H. Lewis, 73, Sunday, at her home at Martin; Mrs. Mary Gibson Patton, formerly of Lackey, Sunday, at a Peewee Valley Hospital; Mrs. Julia Garrett, 87, of Stanville, Saturday, at the home of a daughter, Mrs. Dama Crider; Grant Akers, 67, of Betsy Layne, Monday, at his home; Mike Crum, 81, of Wayland, Thursday, at the McDowell hospital; Mrs. Amalea Perry, 35, of Kendalville, Ind., formerly of this county, Friday; David Banner Leslie, II, 61, of Prestonsburg, Thursday, at a nursing home here; Harvey E. Underwood, formerly of Prestonsburg, November 29, in Richwood, W. Va.; Mrs. Martha E. Collins, 98, of Chicago, Ill., formerly of this county, Monday, in Chicago; Mrs. Mary E. Harris, 72, of Prestonsburg, Wednesday, at the Paintsville Hospital; Mrs. Marie Jones, 50, of McDowell, at her home, Friday; Sammy Lee Wright, 25, native of Drift, in Pike county, December 10.

December 13, 1972

Between January 15 and April 1, next year, the Social Security Administration will establish an office in Prestonsburg...Three alarms and the threats of pranksters kept Prestonsburg firemen busier than usual last week...With Prestonsburg�s secondary sewage treatment plant ready for final approval, City Council members learned Thursday night of a federal grant which will cover 75 percent of the cost...Floyd county and its four incorporated population centers received this week a total of $161,527 in federal revenues sharing funds..Ernest DeCoursey, of Estill, a reclamation inspector for the Kentucky Department of Natural Resources, has received an award from the department...Efforts are being made to bring to Floyd county the �Meals on Wheels� program...The lighting of 2,000 candles will be a feature of the �Birthday Party for Christ� to be held at the parking lot opposite the courthouse here, Dec. 22...There died: Mrs. Geneva Johnson, 41, of Huntington, Indiana, formerly of Garrett, Wednesday; Mrs. Anna Akers, 77, of Drift, December 2, at a Martin hospital; Dayton Joseph, 57, of Prestonsburg, Sunday, at the Prestonsburg General Hospital; Mrs. Dixie Holt, 52, of Robinette, W. Va.,formerly of this county, Dec. 1; Mrs. Amma Burchett, of Ivel, Thursday, at a hospital, here; Mrs. Anna H. Feiler, 78, of Prestonsburg, Wednesday, at a nursing home, here; Mrs. Minnie Hale, of Lexington, formerly of Prestonsburg, Dec. 2, at a Lexington hospital; Mrs. Lulie S. Hatfield, 74, of Water Gap, Saturday, at a Prestonsburg hospital; Milford Crafts, 58, of Pritchard, W. Va., formerly of Prestonsburg, Monday, in Huntington; Ray Damron Compton, 59, of Claypool, Indiana, formerly of Spurlock, November 28, at his home; Silas Howard, 76, of Silver Lake, Ind., formerly of this area, Friday, in Warsaw, Indiana.

November 15, 1972)

Groundbreaking for St. James� Episcopal Church were held here last Wednesday afternoon...The Floyd Circuit Court began its November criminal term Monday, two days after the conclusion of a civil session during which several cases involving rights-of-way for new US 23 in this county were heard...The newly organized Transportation Committee of the Big Sandy Area Development Committee met, last Thursday, to organize and develop strategies for expediting the four-laning and completion of U.S. 23...Prestonsburg, last Thursday, became the only eastern Kentucky municipality to be accorded a reduction in fire insurance rates this year...Terry Kinzer, formerly of Allen, recently won the Canadian National Championship in professional motorcycle hillcimbing...The gunshot death, Monday afternoon, of eight-year-old Darwin Douglas Burchett, former Floyd boy, at Abbey Branch, near Phelps, Pike County, is being investigated, authorities said Tuesday...H. Devaughn Pratt, of Lexington, father of Dr. William D. Pratt, of McDowell, died at General Hospital in Louisville, of gunshot wounds sustained, Thursday afternoon, when he was shot in the back and robbed, while walking to his car at Churchill Downs...There died: Frank Blackburn, 75, former Prestonsburg policeman, Monday, at the Prestonsburg General Hospital; Miss Virgie Baldridge, 83, of East Point, Wednesday, at the Mountain Manor Nursing Home here; Thomas E. (Bobby) Terry, 46, of San Antonio, Texas, formerly of Lackey, Tuesday, in a San Antonio hospital; Ira Cecil Smith, 54, of Garrett, Friday, at Our Lady of the Way Hospital; Mrs. Lillie C. Patrick, 64, of Hager Hill, Sunday, at her home; Noah Robert Nichols, 56, of Banner, Thursday, at the Prestonsburg General Hospital; Frank Gibson, 47, of West Prestonsburg, November 2, at Veterans� Hospital in Ann Arbor, Michigan; Mrs. Regina E. Ranier, 72, of Prestonsburg, Saturday, at Prestonsburg General Hospital; Clyde Tackett, 37, of Harold, Wednesday, at the Pikeville Methodist Hospital; Bud Hall, 55-year-old Floyd County native, Monday, at his home at Greasy Creek.

November 1, 1972

A heavy vote is in prospect for Floyd County next Tuesday, but it will not be either Richard M. Nixon or George McGovern who will bring the voters out. A school election will be the �hot� races in this election...Three homes on Town Branch, across the river from Prestonsburg, have burned within recent weeks, and arson is suspected...Arson and theft are suspected in the destruction by fire, Monday afternoon, of the electric power substation at the No. 2 mine of the Patsy Development Company, near David...Born: to Mr. and Mrs. Roger Gayheart, of East McDowell, a son, Oct. 16; to Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth L. King, of Bevinsville, a daughter, Oct. 19; to Mr. and Mrs. Conley Moren, of Martin, a son, Oct. 21; to Mr. and Mrs. John A. Clark, of the Abbott Road, a son, John Bryan, Oct. 25...There died: Mrs. Inez Cottrell Hobson, 75, last Wednesday here; James B. Cole, 71, of Langley, Wednesday, at Our Lady of the Way Hospital, Martin; Steven M. Akers, 78, of Ligon, last Monday, at McDowell Appalachian Regional Hospital (MARH); Naaman H. Slone, 77, of Prestonsburg, Tuesday, at Pikeville; Mrs. Georgia Lee DeRossett, 75, of Martin, Monday, at Our Lady of the Way; Ellis (Bud) Bentley, 68, of Garrett, Friday, at Our Lady of the Way; Pearl Fraley, 69, of Tram, Tuesday, at Prestonsburg General Hospital; Mrs. Dollie C. Caudill, 76, of Prestonsburg, last Tuesday, here.

October 25, 1972

The hearing held here, last Thursday, by the Kentucky Water Pollution Control Commission, gave residents of this section an opportunity to let the Commission, know they aren�t satisfied with the job it is doing, and it afforded the Commission an opportunity to explain classifications...The President has committed $640,000 to date from his Disaster Relief Fund to help Kentucky residents and communities recover from the effects of last April�s flooding, and Floyd County�s was the largest, with $103,000...Thousands of persons jammed Prestonsburg street and sidewalks, Saturday, to witness the observance of Red, White and Blue Day...Two murder trials are expected to be heard during the coming term of the Floyd Circuit Court, which will convene November 13...The 92nd Congress, before adjournment last week, passed a welfare Social Security bill which will raise Social Security taxes from the present 5.2 percent on the first $9,000 a year of earnings to 5.85 on the first $10,800 of earnings in 1973...The Prestonsburg Blackcats assured themselves a winning season, Friday night, by blanking the Hazard Bulldogs, 27-0...There died: Pfc. Marvin R. Hicks, 22, native of this county in a car accident in Marion, Ohio, Sunday; Dolly Howard Marsillett, 81, of Prestonsburg, Saturday, at the Mountain Manor Nursing Home; Bertha Eva Herrell, 66, of Martin, last Thursday, at the McDowell Hospital; Crit Wicker, 71, of Garrett, Sunday, at his home; William N. Stratton, native of Banner, last Thursday, in Ashland; Eliza Smallwood, 86, Friday, at her home at Wheelwright; Thomas Russell Wells, 72, of Auxier, last Wednesday, at the McDowell Hospital; Commodore Reed, 66, of Hueysville, Monday, at a Pikeville hospital; and Lucinda D. Branham, 74, of Water Gap, at her home.

October 18, 1972

What has become perhaps Kentucky�s most unusual event will be staged here, Saturday, for the third consecutive year as thousands join to observe Red, White and Blue Day...Raids on Mud Creek and Left Beaver Creek, last Friday, netted 87 cases of beer and 202 bottles of whiskey, wine, gin and vodka, and one prisoner...Weeksbury community leaders were presented, recently, at Ashland, signs proclaiming the former mining town winner of third place in the Northeast Kentucky Rual Community Development contest...The Goins Brothers Country Music Show headed by Melvin Goins, of West Prestonsburg, and Ray Goins, of Pikeville, will appear on the Grand Ole Opry�s Early Bird Bluegrass Show in Nashville...Franklin Brooks Bentley, 31, formerly of Garrett, was killed in Detroit, Michigan, last Wednesday, victim of a gunshot wound...Bobby Hall, 49, well-known McDowell man, was killed shortly after noon Monday when the truck he was driving was struck by a C&O coal train near the Hite preparation plant...George Shell, 53-year-old Cliff man, was killed when struck by a coal train, here, last Saturday...There died: John Lemaster, 80, of Whitehouse, October 10; Mrs. Alva Jean Newsome, 42, of Teaberry, October 11; Mrs. Cynthia E. Howard, 87, last Tuesday, at her home in Garrett; Frank D. Taylor, 39, of Ashland, October 1; Bruce Stanley, 76, of Ligon, last Friday, at the Prestonsburg General Hospital; Walter Sherman Woods, 58, of Weeksbury, Thursday, at the McDowell Hospital; Mrs. Melvina Newsome Mosley, 80, of Melvin, at her home, Monday; Jake Hamilton, 70, of Stanville, Sunday, at a Pikeville hospital; Mrs. America Moore, 78, formerly of Weeksbury, last Tuesday, in Napoleon, Ohio.

October 4, 1972

Gov. Wendell Ford asked a group of representatives from various industries, in a speech at May Lodge, last Wednesday night, for �the opportunity prove to industry that the talent, skills, knowledge and personnel are all here.�...Success of the Floyd County Fair which ended here September 23, was reflected not only in public interest but also in the 1,989 exhibits entered...Veterans Day, which annually brings to Prestonsburg the biggest crowds to gather for any Floyd County event, will be held here Saturday, October 21...The Floyd Circuit Court ended its criminal term, last week, after a session which saw no major trials, and not a defendant sentenced to the state reformatory...H.D. Fitzpatrick Jr., of Prestonsbburg, has been named commissioner of the Kentucky Soil and Water Conservation Commission... Representative Carl D. Perkins took sharp issue last week with the formula for allocating funds under the Administration�s revenue sharing bill...During July 9, 113 low-income persons in Floyd County received food stamps valued at $243,455, the Department of Economic Security announced last Friday...There died: Mrs. Girlie Henderson, 50, of East McDowell, Sunday, at her home; Mrs. Daisy D. Ross, 81, of Hi Hat, last Wednesday, at the McDowell Hospital; Everett Hamilton, 76, of Rush, a native of this county, Tuesday, in an Ashland hospital; Mrs. Mabel C. Skeens, 69, of Dwale, Saturday, at a Lexington hospital; Zion Hamilton Parsons, 70, of Huntington, formerly of Grethel, last Tuesday, in a Huntington hospital; Johnny S. Reatherford, 36, of Prestonsburg, Monday, at the Prestonsburg General Hospital; Dewey Morgan Lawson, 66, of East Point, Wednesday, in a Pikeville hospital.

September 20, 1972

The Island Creek Coal Company ended, last Monday, its coal mining operation in this county, closing at Wheelwright. Price Mines are idling 310 employees...Prestonsburg Community College, with an enrollment of 457, reports a 12 percent student increase over last year...The memorial to Cochrane Dorsey, who was killed at Danville, last September, was unveiled at the Community Methodist Church here, Sept. 11. Young Dorsey�s father, the Rev. Harold W. Dorsey, served the church as pastor, without pay, in its early years while he was pastor of the First Methodist Church here. A suit for $100,000 has been filed here by Mr. and Mrs. Chester Layne, against the Department of Highways and Greer Bros. and Young, construction contractors on US 23. Plaintiffs claim that right-of-way acquired by the state did not include underlying coal that was removed...Married: Miss Shirley Faye Cornett, of Cliff, and Mr. Ira Joe Tussey, of David, Aug. 5, at Highland Avenue Freewill Baptist Church, here; Miss Tonda Layne Hall, of Price, and Mr. Gary Houston McCoy, of Burton, September 16, at the Wheelwright Freewill Baptist Church; Miss Freida Joyce Nelson, of Dwale, and Mr. Ellery O. Owens, of Prestonsburg, Sept. 16, at Clintwood, Va....There died: Richard J. Hatton, 24, of North Hollywood. Calif., formerly of Prestonsburg, in a truck-motorcycle collison in North Hollywood; Rhodina H. Mullins, 76, formerly of this county, at a Trenton, Mich. hospital, Tuesday, last week; Fred Adams, 88, of Martin, Friday, at a nursing home here; Hatch Branham, 65, of Martin, Friday, at U.K. Medical Center, Lexington; Clarence Edward Vaule, 31, of McDowell, Monday at a Martin hospital; Monroe Slone, 67, of Langley, Monday, at McDowell Hospital; Ellis Ratliff, 62, of Langley, last Thursday, at McDowell Hospital; William H. Childers Jr., 48, of St. Petersburg, Fla., formerly of Garrett, Aug. 28, in a St. Petersburg hospital; Lillian H. Banks, 39, former Wayland teacher, Monday, at a hospital here; Cora L. Reinsmith, 72, formerly of Mare Creek, Monday, in a Columbus, Ohio, hospital; Elizabeth Skeens Wright, 76, of Louisa, formerly of Dock, last Monday.

September 6, 1972

In a scathing denunication of stripmining practices in Eastern Kentucky, and official neglect of the enforcement of surface mining regulations, Gov. Wendell Ford, last Wednesday, took the strongest stand of any Kentucky governor on the controversial mining subject and at the same time suspended the permits of seven strip-mining operations in Pike County...Miss Miki Jane Little, 19-year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Mike Little, of Melvin, was crowned Miss Floyd County of 1973, last Sunday night...As of Monday afternoon only two traffic accidents had been reported for the county, despite the usual heavy flow of Labor Day weekend traffic. Bruce Branham was seriously injured in an accident on the Abbott Creek road, Saturday, and Ricky Reynolds, of Allen, suffered a chipped vertebra in an accident at the Ball Alley curve near here...The mining town of David may have produced its last car of coal, it was said this week, as all machinery of the Patsy Development Company was being pulled from the workings. Closing of the operation idles 90 workers...Construction is scheduled for completion, next summer, on Boyd F. Reed Hall at Morehead State University. Mr. Reed, executive vice-president of the Turner Elkhorn Mining Co., is being honored for his more than 15 years of service on the MSU Board of Regents and for his civic and business contribution to Eastern Kentucky...There died: Frank Hammonds, 68-year-old teacher, of Water Gap, last Friday, at the Prestonsburg General Hospital; Mrs. Betty G. Terry, 36, of Castalia, O., formerly of Lackey, last Wednesday, in a Sandusky, O., hospital; Robie Kilgore, 32, of West Prestonsburg, last Friday afternoon, at his home; Ellis Patrick, 69, of Pyramid, last Thursday, at the Prestonsburg General Hospital; Ernest Holstead, 73, of Robinson Creek, last Thursday, at the Methodist Hospital, Pikeville; Mrs. Berniece Deloris Endicott Thompson, 45, of West Liberty, formerly of this county, last Friday, at a Morehead Hospital.

August 16, 1972

Total crime in Floyd County rose last year, above the number of offenses recorded in 1970, as did Kentucky as a whole, according to the Department of Public Safety�s recently released �Crime in Kentucky�...George D. Barker became manager of Jenny Wiley State Park last Wednesday...Bobby Watson, who repairs automobiles here, during working hours, and races them for sport, cash and fame, last Saturday, took over second place in the 1972 Automobile Racing Club of America standings with his victory at the Fairgrounds Motor Speedway�s 100-mile event at Louisville...Working alone, State Trooper Gary Rose, last Thursday morning, confiscated one of the heaviest loads of intoxicants to be overtaken on their way to Floyd consumers, when he arrested two men and captured 450 cases of beer and seven cases of whiskey, on KY 122 at Minnie...Barkley Sturgill, former Floyd County Attorney and a member of the state Public Service Commission, will be honored at the seventh annual Southeastern Kentucky Homecoming, to be held at Booneville, Sunday, September 17...Miss Pamela Spradlin, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Roger Spradlin, of Prestonsburg, and Mr. John Paul Leslie, son of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Leslie, of Emma, were united in marriage in a double-ring ceremony performed August 5, at the Community United Methodist Church here...An injunction issued, last Thursday, by Fayette Circuit Judge L. T. Grant prohibits Dare To Be Great, a Florida-based self-improvement program, from further activities in Kentucky at this time...Joint funeral rites were held, Saturday for a Middletown, O. couple who were found dead, August 8, of bullet wounds. The victims were Oscar Mills, 59, formerly of Auxier, and his wife, 56-year-old Jewel Reid Mills...There died: Mrs. Bertha Thornsbury, 54, of Melvin, in an automobile accident, Sunday, in Lewisburg, Ohio; Jesse Elliott, 69, of Betsy Layne, who pioneered school band instruction in this county, last Wednesday, at a Pikeville hospital; Mrs. Rhoda T. Hamilton, 49, of Teaberry, last Tuesday, in a Pikeville nursing home; Mrs. Kathryn M. Grabner, 44, of Monroeville, Ind., formerly of Eastern, August 3, in Ft. Wayne, Ind.; Liberty Hayes, 80, of Columbus, Ind., formerly of Martin, August 6, in an Oklahoma hospital; Fred Music, 72, of East Point, last Sunday; Jarvey Caudill, 71, of Lackey, last Monday, at Prestonsburg General Hospital; William Paul Wilson, 45, of Las Vegas, Nev., formerly of Martin, Friday; Mrs. Lillie H. Sweet, 47, of Albion, Mich., formerly of Teaberry, Saturday, in Waverly, O.; Mrs. Elizabeth H. Burchett, 75, of Prestonsburg, Tuesday, at the Mountain Manor Nursing Home; Ellis Thornsbury, of Topmost, formerly of Wheelwright, August 5, at the McDowell Hospital; Elijah Hall, 72, of Galveston, last Wednesday, at his home; Fred Pelfrey, 63, of Huntington, W. Va., Wednesday night at his home; Fred Pelfrey, 63, of Huntington, W. Va., Wednesday night, at his home; Frank J. Childers, 59, of Hellier, native of this county, Sunday, in a Huntington Hospital; Saul Maggard, 89, August 4, at his home in Salyersville. 

August 9, 1972

Four regions, composed mainly of eastern Kentucky counties, will see the first implementation of the new Regional Organization of Providing Educational Services (ROPES) in the state, and Region 11, one of these four, will have its headquarters in Prestonsburg...Charles Clark took the oath of office of superintendent of Floyd County Schools at Saturday�s meeting of the Floyd County Board of Education, for his fourth four-year-term and thus began his 13th year in the office...An attempt, last Wednesday, by a custodian at Prestonsburg Community College to sell to a faculty-member a laboratory item triggered an investigation which resulted in one arrest, the recovery of an estimated $1,500 worth of college property and the issuance of a warrant for a second man...Broadway and Metropolitan Opera star Christine Johnson returns to the stage this week at the Jenny Wiley Summer Music Theatre to recreate her most memorable role as Nettie Fowler in the musical, �Carousel�...There died: Mrs. Claudia F. Leete, 74, formerly of Prestonsburg, Thursday, at King�s Daughters� Hospital in Ashland; Goldia Mae Fraley, 52, formerly of Floyd County, last Saturday, at Portland, Ind.; Wilson Crisp, 85, of Martin, Friday, at Mountain Manor Nursing Home here; Henry A. Robinson, 57, of Water Gap, last Wednesday, at the U.K. Medical Center, Lexington.

August 2, 1972

Comprehensive Health Care Inc., has $104,800 to finance planning of a new comprehensive health program for this county, if acceptable to the Office of Economic Opportunity and its Office of Health Affairs, but it has no planner, and may not have one for months to come...While the state of Kentucky continues with planning for a major camping facility in the Goble Branch area of Dewey Lake, with no work done after two years, the U.S. Corps of Engineers has developed a similar area at German, 15 miles upstream, which is attracting an estimated 180 persons a day during the week, and 300 or more daily on Saturdays and Sundays...Miss Sharon O�Quinn, 17, of Garrett, was named �Miss Big Sandy RECC, 1972� at the recent annual membership meeting at Paintsville...�Big� movies showing locally included �Catch 22� and �The Godfather.� Also, lest we forget, the blockbuster, �Ben,� sequel to �Willard,� a movie about intelligent and murderous culvert rats, was playing at a theatre here...Born: to Mr. and Mrs. Chalmer Howard, a daughter, Ginger Kay, July 22, at the Methodist Hospital, Pikeville...There died: Mrs. Vivian Frasure, 44, formerly of Garrett, in Wayne, Mich.; Norman B. Hamilton, 37, formerly of Banner, Monday, at Brockport, N.Y., of injuries suffered two weeks earlier in an auto mishap; Mrs. Evelyn Gibson Slone, 77, of Blue River, last Tuesday; Elder K. Lewis, 78, of Banner, Wednesday, at Pikeville Methodist Hospital; Clint Patton, 67, formerly of Martin, Tuesday, at home at Hamilton, O.; Frank Skeens, 78, of Dwale, Wednesday, at the Paintsville Hospital; Mrs. Eliza Jane Coburn, 82, formerly of Garrett, Wednesday, at Kendallville, Ind.; Fred Daniels, 67, Friday, at Harold; Nero Shepherd, 56, of Water Gap, Tuesday, at Lexington; Henry Bentley, 97, of Virgie, formerly of Floyd County, Friday; Lewis Bolen, 58, of Garrett, Saturday, at Our Lady of the Way Hospital, Martin; Savage W. Allen, 61, of Covington, native of Prestonsburg, Monday, at a Covington hospital; Alex Prater, 78, of Alger, O., native of Hueysville, July 23, at Kenton, Ohio.

July 26, 1972

Construction of the Prestonsburg Clinic is expected to begin here within the next two weeks and the deadline for its completion has been set for next June 1, Dr. George P. Archer, one of the doctor-members of the corporation financing the structure, said this week...The drowning, late last Thursday afternoon, of Gary Deane Tackett, 17-year-old Beaver youth, was the second of the season at Dewey Lake...Arson is suspected in the destruction, by fire last Friday night, of a wrecker owned by Deputy Sheriff James Bartley, of Melvin...Born: to Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Hamilton, of Piketon, O., formerly of Beaver, a daughter, Katrina Kaye, July 9; to Mr. and Mrs. Clifton E. Bartley, of Harold, a daughter, July 11; and to Mr. and Mrs. Bobby S. Slone, of McDowell, a daughter, July 11; to Mr. and Mrs. Earn Newsome, of Garrett, a son, July 12...There died: The Rev. Guy Coffman, 87, former pastor of the Prestonsburg and Wheelwright Methodist Churches and a former principal of the Prestonsburg elementary school, Friday, at his Ashland home; Jake Thompson, formerly of Langley, July 10, in Huntington, W.Va.; Curtis Haywood, 53, formerly of Prestonsburg, July 18, at his home at Columbus, O.; Mrs. Kate Mullins, 72, formerly of Garrett, July 17, at Greenfield, O.; Robert Sidney Hayes, 86, native of Lackey, Thursday; Henry Leonard May, 75, Thursday, at his home at Langley; Sam Musick, 65, of Auxier, Wednesday, at McDowell Appalachian Regional Hospital; W. M. (Will) Allen, 89, of Lackey, Thursday, at the McDowell Appalachian Regional Hospital; Mrs. Nellie M. Rice, 54, formerly of Emma, Thursday, at home in Cleveland, O.; Mrs. Emma Lou Akers Layne, 82, formerly of Harold, Monday, at her home in Huntington, West Virginia.

July 19, 1972

State Police, and ABC Agent Arvel Nelson, estimated, following a wholesale sweep of bootleg liquor outlets over the weekend, that they had confiscated $6,120 worth of illegal intoxicants...Weeksbury and Auxier shared in the honors at the annual Awards Night held Saturday, at Ashland, by the Northeastern Kentucky Rural Community Development Association... Announce-ment by Congressman Carl D. Perkins that the Appalachian Regional Commission has approved a grant of $264,000 for enlargement of the Garth Vocational School was made, Friday...The Department of Economic Security announced, last week, that during May, 9,034 low-income persons in Floyd County received food stamps valued at $230,726...Round steak was 98 cents a pound; you could get four loaves of bread for $1.00, or a two-year-old Volkswagen Bug for $1,495...Born: a son, Derrik Michael, to Mr. and Mrs. Greene Edgar Tussey, of Cincinnati, formerly of Prestonsburg, on July 5...There died: Ronald Kelson (Ronnie) Harris, 25, of Ypsilanti, Mich., formerly of Prestonsburg, last Friday, in an auto mishap at Ann Arbor, Mich.; Floyd D. Sexton, 66, of Ormond Beach, Fla., formerly of Wayland, June 30, in Daytona Beach, Fla.; Elizabeth Cope Allen, 82, of Ashland, formerly of Prestonsburg, Wednesday at King�s Daughters� Nursing Home in Ashland; Miss Delphia Bailey, 68, of Handshoe, Saturday, at Mountain Manor Nursing Home here; Mrs. Letha Patton Layne, 47, of East Point, July 9, at the Prestonsburg General Hospital; Mrs. Corinne R. Jackson, 73, of Betsy Layne, Tuesday evening, at her home; Martin Case, 88, of Garrett, Monday, at the McDowell Hospital; Mrs. Cassie Hale, 70, of Manton, July 7, at the McDowell Hospital; Henry Moore, 69, well-known East McDowell merchant, Monday afternoon, at Central Baptist Hospital, Lexington; Anton Slone, 62, of Dema, Sunday; Curtis Haywood, of Columbus, O., formerly of the Prestonsburg area, Tuesday morning, in Columbus.

June 28, 1972

A Tinker Fork of Mud Creek strip-mine operation, operated by a Pike county man, was closed down, Monday, when a reported 200 persons from the area joined in a demonstration...The Kentucky Department of Parks surrendered its lease on the German Bridge camp area, effective June 16, and the U.S.Corps of Engineers immediately began work to provide camping facilities there in more attractive surroundings...The Patsy Development Company Inc., closed its two mines at David, June 16, but Ralph T. Huffman, Falls Branch, Tenn., president of the company, is hopeful that operations can be resumed early in August...Trustees of the University of Kentucky, last Thursday, filed, for UK�s Prestonsburg Community College, suits in Floyd Quarterly Court, to acquire by condemnation proceedings approximately five acres of land which, it is claimed, the college needs for its campus...Born: to Mr. and Mrs. James Hall, of Melvin, a daughter, June 8; to Mr. and Mrs. Rabon Dye, of Orkney, a son, June 9...There died: Mrs. Sarah Bailey, 59, Tuesday, at her home at Hueysville; Ed Hall, 83, Friday, at his home at Drift; Duran W. Hamilton, 84, of Ligon, Tuesday, at McDowell Appalachian Regional Hospital; Lola Viola Burke, 60, of Stanville, Thursday, at Mt. Manor Nursing Home; Billie Green, 80, Thursday, at his home at Handshoe; Sam Click, 71, of Weeksbury, Saturday, at Mountain Manor.

(June 21, 1972

The greatest crowd ever to attend an eastern Kentucky event of any kind, is expected to witness, next Saturday and Sunday, the second annual Dewey Lake Regatta...The office of Congressman Carl D. Perkins, last week, notified The Times that another $200,000 has been appropriated for construction of the Martin local flood protection project...Citing recent controversy over the possibility of Appalachian Regional Hospitals undertaking a black lung program in the Appalachian region, ARH last week withdrew its preliminary proposal for federal grants to develop the project...Two recent Prestonsburg high school graduates are among the first six candidates for the 1972 title of Miss Big Sandy RECC. They are Miss Sarah Elizabeth DeRossett, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Silas DeRossett, of the Bull Creek Road, and Miss Debbie Ann Buckley, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John K. Buckley, of West Prestonsburg...The average family income in Floyd County in 1969 was $4,878, according to a report of the 1970 census...Born: A daughter, to Mr. and Mrs. Buster Spears, of Hi Hat, May 30; a daughter to Mr. and Mrs. Gregory R. Jones, of East McDowell, May 31; a daughter to Mr. and Mrs. Terry Lee Akers, of Martin, June 1...There died: George W. Allen, 86, of Langley, Wednesday, at the Mountain Manor Nursing Home, here; James McKinley Frasure, 75, of Martin, at a Martin hospital, Friday; Lee L. Hall, 82, of East McDowell, at a Paintsville nursing home, Saturday; Mrs. Mary F. Wallace, 82, of Louisa, formerly of Wayland, June 13, in Louisa; Lloyd Caudill, 66, of Allen, at a Martin hospital, Tuesday; Mrs. Minnie Saler, 75, of Pikeville, native of this county, last Monday, in Pikeville; Mrs. Martha Keen, 95, of Wayland, Sunday, at a Martin hospital; Mrs. Eva B. Collins, 79, formerly of this county, Thursday, in an Ashland hospital; Mrs. Cora Osborne Adkins, 75, Saturday, at her home at Harold; Dave Webb, 74, of East Point, Thursday, at the McDowell Hospital; Mrs. Rebecca Robinson, 81, of Martin, Tuesday, at a hospital there; Mrs. Tilda Gibson, 53, of Estill, Sunday, at a Martin hospital.

June 14, 1972)

The body of James Clayton Conley, 35, was found, last Wednesday, on Steele�s Creek, near Wayland. He had been shot in the head at least five times, and his murder is believed to be linked to that of Deputy Sheriff Lawrence Conley, at Garrett, about two months ago...Laura Spradlin Robinette, 58, was shot and killed at West Prestonsburg, last Saturday. Her husband is in jail here...Between 600 and 700 were guests, Saturday, of the U.S. Shoe Corporation, at open house held at its plant near Lancer...Two Floyd men�Roger A. Akers, of Drift, and Daniel W. Spurlock, of Prestonsburg, received their Doctor of Medicine degree, June 3, from the University of Kentucky College of Medicine...Married: Miss Rita Crum, Cardington, to Pfc. Jimmy H. Castle, of Harold, May 2...Born: to Mr. and Mrs. Charles W. Hart Jr., of Anchorage, Ky., on June 10, at a Louisville hospital their first child, a daughter�Heather Bur-chett...There died: T. J. (Tom) Turner, 76, formerly of Hueysville, June 6, at a Pikeville hospital; Mrs. Nora Hunt, 82, of Justell, at a nursing home here, last Wednesday; Mrs. Janice Halbert Bagby, 36, formerly of Printer, Saturday, at a Detroit hospital; Okie Wilcox, 67, Saturday, at her home at East Point; Mrs. Ida Castle, 91, of Prestonsburg, Friday, in a Johnson County nursing home; Mrs. Dona Little, 79, of Price, Saturday, at the McDowell Hospital; Darvin Gibson, 57, of Winona Lake, Ind., formerly of Prestonsburg, Sunday at a Ft. Wayne, Ind., hospital; Russell Dixon, 54, formerly of Auxier, Sunday, at Veterans Hospital, Huntington, W. Va.

June 7, 1972

The U.S. Bureau of Mines, in Washington, last week, said three of Kentucky�s 23 potentially hazardous coal-waste dams are in Floyd County, but the Bureau�s office chief, here, said he knows of no such dam...Staffing of the Floyd County school system for the coming school year involved the employment by the Board of Education, last Saturday, of upward of 500 persons, with bus drivers, cooks and janitors yet to be named...James Arville Duff, of Hueysville, took the oath of office as member of the Floyd County Board of Education at Saturday�s meeting of the board, succeeding Ross �Bud� Cooley, who resigned because of ill health..Vance Volkswagen this week advertised a VW Type 3 sedan at a list price of $2,399...One current movie showing around these parts 30 years ago was �Two-Lane Blacktop,� with singer James Taylor...Born: to Mr. and Mrs. Town Hall, of Craynor, a son, May 23; to Mr. and Mrs. Michael Lawson, of Drift, a son, May 27...There died: Mrs. June Slone, 49, of Fla.; Suzanna Whitaker Slone, 88, Thursday, here; James Harrison Hunter, 83, Saturday, at Our Lady of the Way Hospital, Martin; Elizabeth Wallen, 80, of Garrett, Sunday, at Our Lady of the Way Hospital; Ed Johnson, 82, Monday, at his home at Kite; Mrs. Nora Mann, 83, Monday, in Lexington; Mrs. Hattie B. King, 64, of Prestonsburg, Saturday, at Prestonsburg General Hospital; Mrs. Bessie Horn, 73, of Ligon, Wednesday, at McDowell Appalachian Regional Hospital; Bill Steele, 72, of Mousie, Saturday, at McDowell Appalachian Regional Hospital.

May 31, 1972

The new black lung law may send into Floyd, and other Kentucky mining counties, an unprecedented flow of federal funds, beginning within the next four months, it was predicted this week...This year�s, commencement at four Floyd County high schools�Wayland, Garrett, Maytown and Martin�has been more poignant than usual, because these high schools were having their last graduation exercises, and next year, will be merged in the new high school at Eastern...Fewer than one of every five eligible voters in the county showed up at the polls at last Tuesday�s primary election, which was perhaps the county�s dullest...A drop of 1.5 million tons in Kentucky�s coal production for the month of April, the first month of the collection of the new severance tax, has been reported by The Courier-Journal...Eighteen-year-old Glenn Edward Tackett, of Melvin, last Thursday, became the first person to drown in Dewey Lake since 1970...According to one knowledgeable forecast, the 1974 General Assembly will prohibit strip mining in eastern Kentucky, unless major improvements are made in pollution control and reclamation during the next two years..There died: Mrs. Mary E. Minix, 72, Floyd County native, Friday, at her home at Paintsville; Ova Blankenship, 42, of Weeksbury, Monday, en route to McDowell Appalachian Regional Hospital; Ola L. Newsome, 63, of McDowell, Saturday, at Our Lady of the Way Hospital, Martin.

May 3, 1972

Floyd county�s annual Music Festival will be staged here, Saturday, with an array of schoolgirl beauties and marching bands...Employees of the Prestonsburg Shoe Company (U.S. Shoe) last Thursday, turned down the attempt at unionization of the plant by a vote of 156 to 107...After meeting here, Monday morning, County Judge Henry Stumbo and the county�s four magistrates announced plans for what is hoped to be a countywide cleanup effort through the remainder of this month ... Floyd County�s fourth annual elementary track and field day will be held at the high school football field, here, May 20, with approximately 400 youths expected to be competing for trophies and ribbons...Charter sight for the new East Floyd Kiwanis Club, of Harold, will be held at May Lodge, May 11...Mrs. Linda Sue Honeycutt, 22, of Flat Gap, was killed, Monday, and her husband and daughter injured in a two-car crash on U.S. 23, about two miles south of Paintsville...Births: A daughter to Mr. and Mrs. Marcus Sparkman, of Dema, April 18; a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Rudolph Newsome, of Ligon, April 20; a daughter to Mr. and Mrs. Terry Hall, of McDowell, April 21...There died: Alex Allen, 81, of Wayland, last Wednesday at the McDowell Hospital; Samuel Joseph Click, 61 of Oak Hill, O., formerly of Ivel, April 19, at a Gallipolis hospital; Mrs. Virgie Caudill, 63, of Lackey, Friday, at a Martin hospital; Herstone Mayo, 60, of Martin, last Saturday, at a Pikeville hospital; Mrs. Bossie Mosley, 52, of Sugar Loaf, Saturday, at a nursing home here.

April 20, 1972

Last week�s flood damage to Floyd County roads and bridges alone was estimated, Monday, by County Judge Henry Stumbo and the county�s four magistrates, at $88,600...The only tangible clue to the shotgun assassination, last Wednesday night, of Deputy Sheriff Lawrence Conley, is an empty shotgun shell found at the slaying scene at Garrett...Named winner of the county spelling bee held here April 8, was Barbara Bradbury, 12-year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Bradbury. Runnerup, Jackie D. Jarrell, is the nine-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. Jack Jarrell, of Dana, and brother of last year�s champion speller...Paul E. Hayes, 49, well-known Prestonsburg attorney, and former state representative, was killed, late Monday night, in an auto accident, three miles east of Salyersville...Miss Sally Music, senior at Prestonsburg High School, was presented the Good Citizenship pin by John Graham Chapter, D.A.R., April 11...Lt. Com. Bobby E. Stratton, a native of Betsy Layne, will be among those aboard the USS Ticonderoga, awaiting the splashdown of Apollo 16...Robert Hicks, Jr., formerly of Wayland, has been appointed Associate Administrator of Valley Doctors� Hospital, North Hollywood, Calif...There died: Lonnie T. May, 75, father of Russell E. May, April 11, in Portsmouth, O.; Arvil Hall, 79, of Price, last Thursday, at the McDowell Hospital; Mrs. Sally Clifton Miller, 58, last Thursday, at the Prestonsburg General Hospital; Mrs. Lissie Samons, 80, of Martin, Wednesday, at a Martin hospital; Albert Hall, 75, formerly of Water Gap, Tuesday, April 11, at his home near Claypool, Ind.; Mrs. Louisa Marshall Whitaker, 96, of West Prestonsburg, last Tuesday, at the home of a daughter, Mrs. Oscar Richardson; Mrs. Dodie Rogers, 43, of Galveston, Wednesday, at the Methodist Hospital, Pikeville; Robert (Jack) Worland, of Montgomery, W.Va., formerly of Prestonsburg, Sunday.

April 6, 1972

Exterior work on the new Highlands Regional Hospital, near Auxier, was being completed this week...Documation Inc., the brain-child of Ray Halbert, a native of Langley, has outgrown its Melbourne, Fla., quarters and will be the first tenant in a new 160-acre industrial park at Palm Bay, Fla., with a 28,000 square-foot plant...The precinct committeemen elected earlier, at precinct meetings by Floyd County Republicans, met here, Saturday, and unanimously elected Linzie Hunt, of Cow Creek, G.O.P. chairman of the county. Mrs. Gormon Collins was elected chairwoman..The holiday supply of whiskey and beer coming into this county was materially reduced last week by raids staged by state police troopers and deputy sheriffs...With a lull in crimes of violence evident, Circuit Judge Hollie Conley reviewed, for the benefit of the grand jury, another area of criminal offenses. This crime, he said, is against the environment�the pollution of streams, the cluttering of the landscape with garbage, and, in particular, the great number of junk cars to be seen in the county...Miss Judy Calhoun, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Tom Calhoun, of Prestonsburg, was married to Mr. Marvin D. Chaney, son of Mrs. Lula Chaney, of Wilmington, O., and the late Leroy Chaney, February 18, at the Grace Baptist Church in Dayton, O....Buddy Martin, junior guard from Wayland, received two awards�most valuable player and best defensive player�during the annual Tip-Off Banquet held recently at Clemson University...There died: Joe Patton, 103, of Langley, Thursday, at the Mountain Manor Nursing Home here; Mrs. Ella O. Hayes, 66, of Betsy Layne, Thursday, at the Methodist Hospital, Pikeville; Mrs. Annie S. Hall, 74, of Claypool, Ind., formerly of Water Gap; at her home; John C. Scott, 64, of Wheelwright, Saturday, at the McDowell Hospital; Mrs. Rebecca G. Bingham, 77, of Louisville, formerly of Lancer, Thursday, in a Louisville hospital; Troy Henson, 60, Thursday, at his home at Ligon; Morris Petry, 58, of Columbus, Ohio, formerly of Garrett, March 27, in a Columbus hospital; Isaac (Ike) Lee Hall, 59, of Dana, Monday at a Martin hospital; Mrs. Judy M. Tackett, 70, of Price, last Tuesday, at the McDowell Hospital; Verner Taylor, 69, of Betsy Layne, last Tuesday, at a Martin hospital; Goldie Lee Layne, 79, of Lancer, last Wednesday at a nursing home here.

March 30, 1972

The ascendancy of surface mining in Floyd County was marked in 1971, although it was a year which saw the county lose almost a million tons in coal production...Both the North and South (of Floyd county) lost in the legislative battle at Frankfort on redistricting...Dedication of the new sanctuary and educational building of the Irene Cole Memorial Baptist Church will be made at the 11 a.m. worship service, Easter Sunday...Appellate Judge Edward P. Hill, formerly of Prestonsburg, last week announced his decision not to seek re-election to the Court of Appeals bench...The Island Creek Coal Company was reported, Tuesday, as moving toward closing out operation of its Spurlock mining operation at Printer, on Left Beaver Creek...Frank H. Layne, Prestonsburg insurance man, last Friday won in Prestonsburg police court, his legal battle with the City of Prestonsburg over the collection of two parking meter fines...Juries of the Floyd Circuit Court, last week, awarded landowners a total of $225,000 for US 23 right-of-way over three tracts of land...There died: Everett Borders, 24, of Ulysses, Tuesday morning, at the Prestonsburg General Hospital, of injuries received in an auto accident at Allen; Mrs. Erma A. Setser, 67, of Auxier, Tuesday, at the Prestonsburg General Hospital; Mrs. Tressie Justice, 54, of R. 1, Harold, Thursday, at the Methodist Hospital, Pikeville; Thomas B. Connors Jr., 46, native of Lackey, March 17 in St. Mary�s O.; James (Jim) Campbell, 70, of West Prestonsburg, last Thursday at a Paintsville hospital; Mrs. Maggie S. Collins, 74, of Spradlin�s Branch near Cliff, Sunday, at the Prestonsburg Hospital; Cluett Messer, 62, Thursday, at his home at Estill; Mrs. Angeline Johnson, 89, Thursday, at her home at Kite; Mrs. Clara S. Amos, 67, of Dwarf, last Wednesday, at a Martin hospital; Benjamin Akers, 93, at his home at Dana, Sunday; Crittie Woods, 66, Friday at the home of his brother, Frankie Woods, on Cow Creek; Sidney Nickels, 81, of Dema, last Wednesday, at the McDowell Hospital; Vesta Loraine Franklin, 74, March 20, in Kingsport, Tenn.; Noah Moore, 70, of Wellsburg, W.Va., formerly of Wayland, February 16; Mrs. Anna C. DeRossett, 89, of Water Gap, Sunday, at the Prestonsburg Hospital.

March 23, 1972

A temporary restraining order has been issued by U.S. District Judge Bernard T. Moynihan to require striking workers of the Island Creek Coal Company in this county, to follow grievance procedures in the labor contract, and return to work pending settlement of such grievances...Floyd County is threatened with a measles epidemic...Groundbreaking for the new bridge spanning the Big Sandy at Emma is expected in early May, Miss Flo Weddington, moving spirit in the drive for the facility, said last week...The location for the first of 10 or more test wells to be drilled in Floyd and five other counties of the area this year, in a huge program of exploration for oil and gas, has been made by a Houston, Texas company, it was said here last week...John H. Keenon, of Prestonsburg, who is taking early retirement, will be succeeded as superintendent of compressor stations for Kentucky West Virginia Gas Company by Calvin P. Herrick Jr., also of Prestonsburg...The appointment of Hubert G. Frye as postmaster at Martin was announced, Friday...Born: A daughter, Elizabeth Anne, to Mr. and Mrs. William J. Baird, II, of Pikeville, on March 17. Mrs. Baird is the former Katherine Elizabeth Roberts, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. E. D. Roberts...There died: Mrs. Myrtle Allen, 75, of Coal Run, Tuesday, at a nursing home here; Jesse Green Blankenship, 66, of Tram, Wednesday; John Duff, 57, of Plymouth, O., formerly of Hueysville, Friday, in a Willard, Ohio, hospital; Mrs. Sadie Smith, 62, of Weeksbury, Friday, at McDowell Hospital; Tilden Carver, 81, of Dema, last Tuesday, at a nursing home here; Mrs. Martelia Samons, 89, last Wednesday, at her home at Martin; Canton Combs, 67, of Raven, last Friday, at the McDowell Hospital; Johnny Goble, 80, of Prestonsburg, last Wednesday at the Prestonsburg General Hospital; Mrs. Leona May, 75, of Whitaker, Monday, at a nursing home here.

March 16, 1972

Flood control dams in the Big Sandy River watershed saved the valley an estimated $1,466,000 flood damage during late February, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said this week...�Surface mining is not a problem at Dewey Lake at this time, and the lake is not in bad shape at all,� James Lynch, of the Huntington district office, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, said last Friday. More than a year ago, a Kentucky Parks official reported 60 or more surface mining operations in the Johns Creek (Dewey Lake) watershed...Before a plumber could arrive and repair a gas leak detected earlier in the day, the home of Mrs. Liddie Miller on Highland Avenue here �blew up� last Thursday afternoon...Miss Susie Meador, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John H. Meador, of Prestonsburg, won the title of Junior Secretary of 1972 in the state conference of PBS, held recently at Cumberland Falls...Born: A daughter, Kristi Lynn, on February 25, to Mr. and Mrs. William Jarvis May, of Prestonsburg; a son, William Ronald, on March 9 to Mr. and Mrs. Ronnie Newsome, of Water Gap...There died: George W. Hale, Sr., 77, of Kermit, W. Va., formerly employed by the First National Bank here; Cesco Slone, 76, of Wayland, Sunday, at a Martin hospital; Mrs. Callie Paige, 94, of Dwale, Sunday, at a Martin hospital; Woodrow Meade, 54, of Prestonsburg, Saturday, at the Prestonsburg General Hospital; Fred Cottrell Burchett, 60, native of Prestonsburg, Friday, at Kent, O.; Mrs. Martha A. Bentley, 53, of Albion, Ind., formerly of the Hi Hat area, last Tuesday, in a Columbia City, Ind., hospital; Floyd Hampton, 61, of Puncheon, last Wednesday, in a Jenkins hospital; Mrs. Victoria Hall, 68, last Tuesday, at her home at Topmost; Farley Gibson, 49, formerly of West Prestonsburg, February 14, in Ypsilanti, Mich.; C.C. Lum Parker, 66, Friday, at his home at Minnie; Mrs. Mary Alice Hall, 93, of Catlettsburg, formerly of this county, last Tuesday, at King�s Daughters� Hospital, Ashland.

March 9, 1972

Every coal-slag dam in Eastern Kentucky has been inspected by personnel of the U.S. Bureau of Mines since the Logan County, W.Va. disaster, and not one has been found to be unsafe...The designation of the consolidated high school at Eastern, as the Allen Central High School is in honor of Dr. J.H. Allen, of Langley, who has served a total of 32 years as a member of the Floyd County Board of Education...Betsy Layne High School�s Bobcats, the winningest team in these parts, and Maytown�s Wildcats will represent the 58th district in the 15th regional tournament, which begins tonight at the Prestonsburg High School gym...Craig Nelson Hall, 18-year-old Prestonsburg Community College student from Wheelwrght, was killed in an auto accident near Martin, last Wednesday. He was a son of Belvie and Ella Jane Fain Hall...Doris Ann Wells, 21, daughter of Homer Wells Jr. and Ethel Bowling Wells, of Bonanza, and Damita Jo George, 17, daughter of James Earl George, of the Auxier Road, and Mrs. Pauline Lafferty, in Indiana, were killed last Saturday night in a head-on collision with a car driven by Lawrence Edward Little, 35, of Dayton, O., who also was killed...Others who died: Mrs. Myra Gayheart, 86, of McDowell, at the McDowell Hospital, last Wednesday; Mrs. Linda L. King, 30, of Sault Sainte Marie, Mich., Saturday, in a hospital there; Mrs. Alice Osborne, 88, of East Point, last Wednesday, at a nursing home here; Ernest J. (Whitey) Ratliff, 66, of Greenup, formerly of this county, Monday, in a Russell hospital; Watt Freeman, 86, of East Point, last Tuesday, in a Paintsville hospital; John Bascom Clark, 82, well-known Prestonsburg attorney, Saturday, at the Methodist Hospital in Pikeville.

March 2, 1972

The University of Kentucky and the advisory board of Prestonsburg Community College are ready for final negotiations with the Porter Estate heirs for an additional 10 acres of land for an expanded college campus here...Although the danger of flooding was past, at least temporarily, for the Big Sandy river valley, Dewey, Fishtrap and Pound reservoirs continued Monday to hold back a tremendous volume of water...A blaze which, last Friday, heavily damaged a building maintained by ARDF at Grethel, is said by the state fire marshal�s office to have been caused by arson...The Buffalo Creek flood disaster came near to Floyd County, last Saturday, when relatives of many who had moved to that region from the Mare Creek section of this county learned of the lives lost there...The consolidated school under construction at Eastern, will be known as the Allen Central High School, it has been announced...The last Martin High School reunion will be a feature of the 58th district basketball tournament here this week...There died: Dawson Bussey, 58, of Prestonsburg, at the home of a daughter, Mrs. Toby Howard, at Tutor Key, Saturday; Mrs. Jennie Kendrick, 82, of the Brandy Keg road, near Lancer, Friday, at the Prestonsburg General Hospital; Willard Patton Niece, 56, of Harold, Tuesday, at the McDowell Hospital; Elder Frank DeRossett Sr., 88, of Water Gap, Friday, at a Martin hospital; Peter Steven McKinney, 89, of Harold, Saturday, at a Pikeville hospital; Mrs. Laura M. Coble, 47, of Warsaw, Ind., formerly of David, February 24, in Warsaw; Mrs. Ida M. Tackett, 52, of Manton, Friday, at a nursing home here; Mrs. Cora M. Woody, 86, of Emma, last Tuesday, at a nursing home here; Johnny Adkins, 59, of Pikeville, Monday, at a nursing home there.

February 24, 1972

A grant of approximately $100,000 has been made by the Office of Economic Opportunity in finance planning of a new comprehensive health program in Floyd County within the next 12 months...Gov. Wendell Ford said last week he is seriously considering imposing a moratorium of up to 60 days on issuance of new strip-mining permits...The rugged 58th district basketball tournament will get underway at the Prestonsburg High School fieldhouse next Wednesday night, with three of the favored teams, Betsy Layne, McDowell, and Wheelwright, clustered together in the lower bracket...Governor Wendell H. Ford has moved toward construction of not one, but two, highway bridges to span the Big Sandy River in this county. In addition to the Emma bridge, first promised by Gov. Nunn, a span will be built at Banner...Anita Lou Auxier, of Emma, the third-place state winner in the 1971 Conservation Essay, received a $100 U.S. Savings Bond and an award certificate at the annual Farm Awards Luncheon in Louisville, February 19; Miss Auxier, 13, is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Michael T. Auxier...Six Floyd County students have been named to the dean�s list at Eastern Kentucky University. They are Philip A. Haywood, and Kathy L. May, both of Prestonsburg; James P. Reebes, Melvin; Robert E. Stanley, Betsy Layne; Mary K. Stickler, Drift...Born: a son, Jason Ray, first child of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Ray Branham, of Prestonsburg, at the Methodist Hospital, Pikeville, January 30...There died: Lawrence C. Thacker, 74, of Pikeville, Tuesday, February 16 at the Methodist Hospital in Pikeville; Jasper Slone, 80, at his home at Hueysville, last Tuesday; Bryan Douglas Keathley, 14, son of Walker and Thursda Dotson Keathley of Ashland, formerly of this county, February 4, in a Louisville hospital; Mrs. Anna M. Call, 60, of Harold, Monday, at the McDowell Hospital; Dick Robinson, 80, of the Spurlock Fork of Middle Creek, last Wednesday, at the Prestonsburg General Hospital; Michael Schmidt, 78, Friday, at his home at Rush; Gilbert Samons, 61, of Martin, Thursday, at a Martin hospital; Elizabeth Ann McCown, seven-year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Forrest McCown, of Melvin, last Tuesday, at U.K. Medical Center; Mrs. Lourina O. Slone, 83, of Wayland, Saturday, in a Louisa hospital; Mrs. Dora C. Green, of Sesser, Ill., formerly of the Left Beaver section of this county, Saturday, in Sesser; Mrs. Julia Miller Wallen, 53, of Water Gap, last Wednesday at the U.K. Medical Center; Mrs. Amanda C. Hunter, 88, of Estill, last Wednesday, at a Martin hospital; William R. Hall, 86, of Auxier, last Tuesday, in a nursing home here; Mrs. Ellen Flannery Salisbury, 71, of Martin, Sunday, in a Martin hospital; John Francis �Jack� Ribble, Jr., 74, Sunday, at his home in Midland, Va.; Mrs. Georgia M. Arnett, 63, of West Liberty, February 4.

February 17, 1972

Two offices on the second floor of the Hall Insurance building here were burglarized, Friday night, but what officers found in one of the offices overshadowed the breaks themselves. What they termed obscene and profane posters were found decorating the walls of one room of the Child Welfare Department offices...Possible clearing and snagging projects for Right and Left Beaver Creeks, the right fork of Middle Creek and Mud Creek, were considered by the fiscal court at its February 3 meeting...Nineteen condemnation cases for rights-of-way in construction of new US 23, between Prestonsburg and Pikeville, are on the docket of the civil term of circuit court, which will convene March 8...A Daviess County jury, last Wednesday, convicted the slayer of young Edwin Cochrane Dorsey, former Prestonsburg resident, and sentenced him to two life terms, one without parole...Jonathan Boyd, 32, of Dana, was fatally crushed between two coal scoops, inside the No. 3 mine of the Meade Coal Company at Honaker, last Friday...The strike at the American Standard plant near Paintsville is in its third week...There died: Mrs. Virdie Hall, 68, of Craynor, at her home last Wednesday; Mrs. Daisy S. Spears, 86, of Endicott, February 8, at the Prestonsburg General Hospital; Dickie Farrell Salisbury, 20, of Grass Lake, Michigan, formerly of this county, last Thursday, in a Munith, Mich. hospital; Disabled veteran, James Meade, 33, of Betsy Layne, native of Honaker; Malcolm Hobart Collins, 72, of East Point, last Wednesday, at Prestonsburg General Hospital; Rev. Homer Hale, 60, formerly of this county in Warsaw, Indiana, Jan. 9; William Moore, 60, of Drift, Saturday, at a Martin hospital; Henry Clay Smith, 74, of Endicott, Sunday, at the Methodist Hospital, Pikeville; James Elbert Green, 67, of Pikeville, formerly of this county, Sunday, at a Pikeville hospital; H.M. (Harmie) Mellon, formerly of Prestonsburg, at his home in Jeffersonville, Ind., February 11; Mrs. Pearl Murphy, 68, of Wayland, Sunday, at the McDowell Hospital; Andy Fitch, 76, of Lancer, victim of an apparent heart attack, here, Monday.

February 10, 1972

The Floyd County Board of Education expanded the grounds of the Prestonsburg Elementary School by more than half an acre Saturday through the purchase of the Ella Sturgill property on Lake Drive...Floyd county schools missed their first day of the current term Monday because of road and weather conditions, but were reopened the following day...A bomb threat received shortly before noon Sunday resulted in a search of every room and piece of equipment in the Prestonsburg General hospital by the fire and police departments and members of the Floyd County Emergency & Rescue Squad...Wayland and Feds Creek high schools were placed on probation last Saturday by the Kentucky High School Athletic Association, the result of a fight which broke out during a Jan. 22 game between the two teams...Born: to Mr. and Mrs. Glen Floyd, of Martin, a daughter, at Methodist hospital, Pikeville; to Mr. and Mrs. Paul Bryan Horn, of Prestonsburg, a son, Jan. 28, at Ashland...There died Robert Stephen Dermont, 19, of Martin, in an auto wreck last Thursday in Perry county; Mrs. Tichie Slone Warrens, 78, Friday, at home at Eastern; Mrs. Angeline Amburgey Hartley, 67, last Tuesday, at home at Betsy Layne; Mrs. Ada M. Halbert, 79, of Martin, last Tuesday, in Lexington; Mrs. Maxine Northrop, 50, of Maytown, Jan. 31, in Lexington; Silas James Scott, 62, of Martin, last Tuesday; Isaiah Davis, 70, of Hi Hat, Monday, at Lexington; Floyd Roberts, 84, of Harold, last Wednesday, at Pikeville; William Harrison Music, 83, of Auxier Road, Saturday, at Pikeville; Mrs. Elizabeth Lawson, 75, of Minnie, Monday, at McDowell.

February 3, 1972

Operations at the American Standard plant, near Paintsville, ceased Monday afternoon as picket lines formed after union employees and the company had failed to reach an agreement on a new labor contract...Garrett�s water system has been forced by stream pollution to abandon Right Beaver Creek as a source of its water supply and to rely on a reservoir fed by water from an unused coal mine, Nello Francis, water company manager, said Tuesday...Citizens of the county are being urged to attend the meeting in the county courtroom here Thursday, when Allan McElhaney, Spindletop Project specilalist in solid waste planning, will give an overview of what the solid waste disposal project proposed for Floyd County entails, and what residents can expect...Born: to Mr. and Mrs. Randel Dotson, a daughter, January 30...There died: Ray Prater, 49, last Wednesday at Toledo, O., and his father, Frank Prater, 83, of Lancer, two days later at Prestonsburg General Hospital; Mrs. Gussie Osborne, 69, of Prestonsburg, last Saturday, at Prestonsburg General Hospital; Mrs. Ollie Hamilton, 81, of Craynor, last Tuesday, at McDowell Appalachian Regional Hospital; Mrs. Nancy Jane White, 89, of Cryanor, last Tuesday, at Our Lady of the Way Hospital, Martin; Stonewall Clark, 81, last Tuesday, at his home at Gulnare; John B. Newsome, 80, last Thursday, at his home at Melvin; Dallas Layne, 91, of Harold, last Tuesday, at Pikeville; Oscar Isaac, 61, last Monday, at home at Bevinsville; Mrs. Cumine Joseph, 83, of David, January 20, at Ironton, O.; Mrs. Ida Howard, of Little Paint, Friday, at Prestonsburg General Hospital; Bill Dotson, 58, Sunday, at his home on the Middle Creek road; Charles Donell Reed, 91, a pioneer in opening the coalfields of this section and a brother of B.F. Reed, Thursday, at Our Lady of the Way Hospital, Martin; Edward Richard Bradley, 72, of Prestonsburg, Sunday, at Prestonsburg General Hospital.

January 27, 1972

The City of Prestonsburg and its municipal water and gas commission moved jointly Monday toward compliance with a Kentucky Water Pollution Control Commission directive demanding that Prestonsburg build and have in operation by December, 1975, a secondary sewage treatment plant... Congressman Carl D. Perkins wired The Times, Monday, reporting that President Nixon, in his budget submitted to the Congress, asked for an additional $200,000 for construction of the local flood protection project at Martin...Influenza has not reached epidemic proportions in this county, but it�s here, and the worst may be yet to come, it was said this week..Born: to Mr. and Mrs. Johnny Edward Webb, of Prestonsburg, a son, Johnny Edward Webb, Jr. December 10; to Mr. and Mrs. Dennis Lyons, of Paintsville, a daughter, Angela Lea, Jan. 19...There died: Mrs. Nannie Hamilton Hughes, 78, of Prestonsburg, Friday, at Prestonsburg General Hospital; Mrs. Rebecca Centers, 66, of the Auxier Road, last Thursday, here; Noah Lee Collins, 31, formerly of Printer, Jan. 6, at the Methodist Hospital, Pikeville; Mrs. Dona Wiley, 66, of Betsy Layne, last Friday, at Our Lady of the Way Hospital, Martin; Andrew Porter, 61, of Allen, last Tuesday, at General Hospital, Louisville; Samuel Howell, 77, of Toler Creek, last Wednesday at his home; Burnice Slone, 64, last Monday, at his home at East McDowell; Hasadore (Man Hoss) Martin, 88, of Drift, Friday, at the McDowell Appalachian Regional Hospital; Beckham Stumbo, 71, of Wayland, Sunday, at Veterans Hospital, Huntington, W. Va.; Rebecca H. Scutchfield, 65, of Water Gap, Tuesday at Prestonsburg General Hospital; Ollie Mullins, 46, formerly of Boldman, last Thursday at his home at Wyandotte, Michigan.

January 20, 1972

Two Prater Creek men who allege that mining of coal on their lands has created heavy damage filed suit in circuit court Tuesday, asking a total of $57,500 damages of the Greer-Ellison Coal Company...State Treasurer Drexell Davis announces the appointment of Charlotte Mullins as his chief executive officer. She is the daughter of Mrs. Oak Mullins of David, and the late Mr. Mullins...The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools has reaffirmed the academic accreditation of Prestonsburg Community College...Only two changes of state jobholders has as of this week been made in this county as a result of the transition from a Republican to a Democratic state administration�but more are on the way...Anita Lou Auxier, eighth-grade student at Betsy Layne Elementary, is the county winner of the 1971-72 Conservation Essay Contest. Second place went to Janie Beverley, Prestonsburg High School, and David Martin, Garrett High School, was the third-place winner...Born: a son, Johnny Edward Jr., December 10, at the Cabell-Huntington Hospital to Mr. and Mrs. Johnny Edward Webb, of Prestonsburg; a daughter, Melissa Ann, at Our Lady of the Way Hospital, Martin; to Mr. and Mrs. Larry Ivan Leedy, of Prestonsburg; a son, Craig Emberton, at the Methodist Hospital, Pikeville; to Mr. and Mrs. Troy W. Blackburn, of Rt. 1, Prestonsburg...There died: J.L. (Leonard) Opperheimer, 83, former Prestonsburg merchant, last Thursday, at a Dayton, O., hospital; James Ernest Compton, 58, at his home in the Goble-Roberts Addition near here, Saturday; Kathy Marie Spears, week-old daughter of Willis and Elma Honeycutt Spears, January 16; Mrs. Gladys H. Spradlin, 56, of Walbridge, O., formerly of Bonanza, last Wednesday; Otho Smith Button, 76, well-known civil and mining engineer of Pikeville; at the Methodist Hospital, Pikeville; Mrs. Sarah A. Hopkins, 80, of Lackey, last Thursday, at Our Lady of the Way Hospital, Martin; Mrs. Martha Robinson, 66, of Langley, mother of C. �Ollie� Robinson, Friday, at the U.K. Medical Center in Lexington; Mrs. Sallie W. Burchett, 89, of Cliff, last Tuesday in a Lexington hospital; William Wallen, 93, of Dwale, Monday, at Our Lady of the Way Hospital; Mrs. Virgie McCoart, 57, at her home at Melvin, Saturday.

January 13, 1972

Construction of a $500,000 medical clinic will begun this year on a three-acre tract in the northern section of Prestonsburg...Superintendent of Floyd schools, Charles Clark, has been notified by the Department of Health, Education and Welfare that the Clark Elementary School, near here, has been selected as the first Kentucky center in the national Right To Read program...Barkley J. Sturgill resigned the office of Floyd County Attorney last Thursday after he had been confinned by the Kentucky Senate as a member of the Kentucky Public Service Commission, and James Allen, young Prestonsburg attorney, was named by County Judge Henry Stumbo to fill the county post thus vacated...The Floyd County Board of Education last Saturday reemployed Charles Clark as superintendent of Floyd county schools for a record fourth four-year term...The grand jury of the Floyd circuit court in its final report last week to Circuit Judge Hollie Conley, asked for the assistance of the Attorney General�s office and the Kentucky State Police in a probe of what it termed �organized bootlegging.�...William H. May, Prestonsburg native, now of Frankfort, and George E. Evans, Jr., of Wayland and Lexington, have been named to the Kentucky State Racing Commission...Born: A daughter to Mr. and Mrs. Travis Goble, of East McDowell, Jan. 4; a daughter to Mr. and Mrs. Teddy R. Shepherd, of Hueysville, Jan. 6; a daughter to Mr. and Mrs. Russell Brewer, of Galveston, Jan. 6...There died: Roy Colvin, 73, last Wednesday at his home at Van Lear; Hansford Lackey, 65, Sunday at his home at Halo; Mrs. Lurline C. Goble, 49, of Harold, last Thursday at her home; John B. Dills, 82, of Nippa, last Wednesday, at the Paintsville Hospital; Wesley N. Martin, 73, of Allen, Saturday afternoon at a Martin hospital; Mrs. Nannie Slone, 72, of Topmost, Saturday at a Martin hospital; James McSurley, 73, of Emma, December 22, at Prestonsburg General Hospital; Mrs. Mintie G. Robinson, 92, of West Van Lear, last Tuesday at the home of a daughter, Mrs. Gayle Perkins; Sanford Parsons, 90, of Honaker, Friday at West Union, Ohio; Ralph Mullins, 55, of Dayton, O., formerly of Hueysville, in Dayton, Ohio, December 29.

December 23, 1971

A new four-lane, high-speed toll road from Prestonsburg to Ashland and on to Alexandria, Ky., as a part of an eastern Kentucky highway connection with the Cincinnati area was proposed by the FIVCO Area Development District�s board of directors...The Appalachian Research and Defense Fund, federally financed legal services agency with headquarters here, has met opposition to its request for refunding, failing to win approval of the Floyd County Bar Association and apparently incurring the disfavor of the Big Sandy Community Action Program as well...The East Kentucky Welfare Rights Program is seeking an audit of the Big Sandy Community Action Program alleging misuse of funds by Big Sandy CAP in its expenditures on the Floyd County Comprehensive Health Program...For the fifth year, the U.S. Shoe Corporation marked the Christmas season at its Prestonsburg plant by giving shoes to Floyd county churches for distribution to needy children. The future of the Combs airport is uncertain in view of Federal Judge Mac Swinford�s recent award of $46,425 for about 14 acres taken by condemnation for the airport, plus an estimated $15,000 in interest due...The northern end of Floyd County, including Prestonsburg, had only one ambulance in operation this week, as a result of failing cash income for operators...Harry T. Hill, of the Abbott road, was elected chairman of the Floyd County ASCS Committee...There died: Frances Bolling, 77, of West Prestonsburg; Albert Collins, 74, of Cliff; Teddy S. Burchett, 54, of West Prestonsburg; Darbin C. Skeans, 60, of Martin; Elzie Gene Yates, 66, of Hi Hat; Thelma Meek Harmon, 71, at Ashland; Mary Tussey, 82, of West Prestonsburg; Oakley H. Coburn, 63, of Mousie; Grace M. Reitz, 74, of Allen; Moucie Collins, 88, of Wayland; Etta Jane Cornette, 90, formerly of Cliff; and Virginia Kidd, 55, of Harold. 

December 16, 1971

Honoring a campaign promise, Gov. Wendell Ford restored to May Lodge the portrait of Ex-Governor Bert T. Combs, which had been taken down early in the Nunn Administration...Dixie, Prestonsburg�s third low-rent housing complex, will be open to tenants in January, Mrs. Judith D. Archer, executive secretary of the Municipal Housing Commission, said this week...Fifty-three Kentucky counties had neither a murder nor manslaughter case during the first nine months of the year, but Floyd, with four murder cases, was not among them...Decision by a U.S. District Court judge in the eight-year-old litigation over the acquisition of land in historic Black Bottom for the Combs airport, has encouraged other landowners there who have sought relief from state courts...Funeral rites were conducted for Emroy Vida Bartram, 54, of Martin, fatally injured last Wednesday in the Salisbury mine of the Island Creek Coal Co....There died: Virgie Lee Akers, 84, of Banner; Ollie Dillon, 61, of Water Gap; Lonie Laferty, 71, of Lima, O., formerly of Garrett; Elmer Greer, 64, of Abbott Creek; Harry Jarrell, 57, of Water Gap; Ora Compton, 75, of Virgie; Sallie Badget Hager, 91, of East Point; James Carl Hayes, 42, of Harold; and Mary Belle Jervis, 72, of Endicott.

December 9, 1971

Outgoing Commissioner of Highways B. E. King, last week, officially earmarked approximately $600,000 for the construction of a poured concrete bridge at Emma...A liquor raid staged early Saturday evening at Wayland by Floyd deputy sheriffs was accompanied by gunfire and was followed by what officers described as an attack in which rifle and pistol bullets were fired into an auto occupied by two of the deputies...Work on a solid-waste disposal plan for Floyd and Pike counties will begin, soon after Jan. 1, and is scheduled for completion within four months...The new Floyd County Comprehensive Health Service�s board of directors met last Friday to make suggested revisions in its application for interim operating funds, and since the changes were made to comply with the Office of Health Affairs suggestions, it is believed that renewal of the program will soon win approval...There died: Judge Edward P. Hill Sr., 88, former official and political leader in this county, Saturday, at Mountain Manor Nursing Home; George Prater, 88, of Garrett, Saturday at Mountain Manor Nursing Home; Amanda Langdon May, 91, Tuesday, at Mt. Manor; Gladys C. Ellison, 52, formerly of this county, Nov. 20, in Lima, O.; Tom J. Mullins, 76, of Hi Hat, Friday, at the McDowell Appalachian Regional Hospital; Basil Mullins, 71, of Auxier, Sunday at Prestonsburg General Hospital; Ruth Scalf Clark O�Neil, 90, Friday, at Manton; Jack Pearson, 28, last Wednesday, in a car wreck, near Louisa.

December 2, 1971

Gov. Wendell H. Ford has announced that he will be at May Lodge, Jenny Wiley State Park, to restore to its place on the lodge wall, the portrait of former Gov. Bert Combs that was removed early in the administration of Gov. Louie B. Nunn...Transcontinental Coal Co., Shreveport, La., has purchased holdings of the Eseer-Ellison Coal Co. in the Ivy Creek section of the county...Prestonsburg firemen joined those of Pikeville and Elkhorn City in battling a blaze at Pikeville, which on Thanksgiving Day destroyed three structures and claimed the lives of Richard Compton, 60, and Jumper Phillips, 71...Andrew Porter, 61, formerly of Allen, is in critical condition after having been hit by an auto last Thursday night in Louisville...A heat system failure in the building occupied by Department of Economic Security offices here theatened to close the offices during this week�s cold weather...There died: Clyde Branham, 26, formerly of Wheelwright; Juanita Hammonds Jenkins, 21, last week at Edgerton, O.; Henry Porter, 90, well-known Allen man at his home last Saturday; Alka Davis, 91, of Pyramid, Tuesday, at the Mountain Manor Nursing Home here; David Prater, 73, of West Prestonsburg, Saturday, at Prestonsburg General Hospital; Jonah Thornsberry, 55, of Kite, Sunday, at the McDowell Regional Hospital; John Richard Shell, 70, of Bonanza, Wednesday, at the Pikeville Methodist Hospital; John William Parsons, 76, of McDowell, Sunday at the McDowell Hospital; Mrs. Dallas Scott Azbill, 46, formerly of Hueysville, last Wednesday, in Ukiah, Calif.; Sonny Jones, 87, of Ligon, last Thursday, at the McDowell Hospital; Parmer Salisbury, 82, of Hunter, Monday, at Our Lady of the Way Hospital; Marty Scott Moore, 1 month, of Ligon, Monday.

November 25, 1971

Dr. George P. Archer, mayor of Prestonsburg, was reelected chairman of the Big Sandy Area Development Board directors last week. Floyd Conservation Officer Dalton Ray Conley has been named Kentucky�s outstanding Lake Enforcement Officer by the nine wildlife districts of the Division of Game and Fish...Yvonne S. Jones, daughter of County Judge Henry Stumbo, is the Floyd Quarterly Court�s first woman trial commissioner. She was named to the post after the recent retirement of Glenn G. Burchett...Married: Miss Donna Lavonne Mitchell, of Beaver, and Mr. Gary Lee Rice, of Betsy Layne, Oct. 30...There died: William G. Africa, 81, formerly of Prestonsburg, at a Frankfort hospital last Friday; Nealy Jane Conn, 96, of Endicott, Friday, at the home of her daughter, Mrs. H. Scalf; Mary E. Thompson, 93, Sunday, near Louisa, burial Wednesday at Martin; Lonnie Jarrell, 64, of Prestonsburg, Monday, at the UK Medical Center, Lexington; Ambrose H. Mandt, 69, former commissioner of the State Department of Mines and Minerals, and one time Floyd County coal operator, Sunday, at St. Joseph Hospital, Lexington; Kenneth Hamilton, 35, last Wednesday, at his home at Craynor.

November 18, 1971

The 45-day-old coal strike which has slowed business to a walk in mining areas of the county was ended at midnight Sunday, with the signing of a three-year contract...Dr. George P. Archer, mayor of Prestonsburg, was re-elected chairman of the Big Sandy Area Development board of directors last Friday...The first of two giant coal mining operations is scheduled for opening in Martin County next February...Residents of Martin this week resumed the legal battle to prevent the closing of Martin High School, filing with the Court of Appeals a petition for rehearing of the case...Bob Branham, son of Mr. and Mrs. Jack Branham, of Betsy Layne, has been elected president of the Student Congress at Prestonsburg Community College...Our Lady of the Way Hospital�s Sister Angelo Award was presented this year to Sister Mary Theodore Nolan...The fourth annual Turkey Bowl game is scheduled here at 11 a.m., Thanksgiving Day...There died: Ambrose H. Mandt, 69, former Commissioner of the Kentucky Department of Mines and Minerals, Sunday, in a Lexington hospital; William G. Africa, 81, of Frankfort, formerly of Prestonsburg, last Friday, in a Frankfort hospital; Nealy Jane Branham Conn, 95, Friday, at Endicott; Mary E. Thompson, 92, at her home at Louisa, Sunday; Lonnie Jarrell, 64, of Prestonsburg, last Monday in a Lexington hospital; Kenneth Hamilton, 35, at his home at Craynor, last Wednesday; Nola Horn Miller, 89, well-known West Prestonsburg woman, Saturday, victim of a sudden illness; James Henry Tufts, 81, of Pikeville, formerly of Prestonsburg, Saturday, in a nursing home there.

November 11, 1971

In last Tuesday�s election for the governorship, Wendell Ford, Democrat, defeated Tom Emberton, Republican, by almost 60,000 votes, and swept into office the entire Democratic ticket...The new board of directors of Comprehensive Health Care Inc., which has the task of formulating a new program for Floyd County, held its first meeting Friday...Glenn C. Burchett retired October 30, ending 26 years in various services to the county, including eight as Magistrate in District 1, 10 as trial commissioner in the office of County Judge Henry Stumbo, four as county road foreman and four as supervisor of commodities distribution...A cash register at Jerry�s Restaurant here was looted last Thursday night of $100�the same amount taken in the first break into the restaurant three weeks earlier...The uncertainties of the president�s wage and price control program may have prevented the Floyd County Board of Education from receiving a bid on construction of a 12-room school building and two smaller construction projects last week...It was the first time the board had ever failed to receive at least one bid on such projects...Pack 146, Boy Scouts of America, was organized October 27, at Wheelwright...Floyd County senior 4-H club members who received awards at the Senior R-H Achievement meeting at Grayson, Saturday, are Beulah Patton, Reva Duff, Leslie Auxier, Myra Green, Dalton Howard, Judy Stewart, and Derek Hicks...There died: W.D. Blackburn, of Troy, Ohio, formerly of this county, Monday, in a Troy hospital; Clayborne Bailey, 84, of Betsy Layne, Tuesday, at a Salyersville nursing home; William Sexton, 86, Sunday, at his home at Hueysville; Nora Belle Nelson, 55, of Prestonsburg, at the Paintsville Hospital; Mary Elizabeth Pigman, three-year-old daughter of Everett and Wanda Collins Pigman, Monday, at their home at Dema; Dave Allen, 91, Thursday, at a Lackey nursing home; Lucy A. Ousley, 93, of Allen, last Tuesday, at King�s Daughters� Hospital in Ashland; Layne Compton, 85, of Spurlock Fork of Middle Creek, Monday, at Prestonsburg General Hospital; Walter Oliver, 58, of Lackey, Friday, at a Martin hospital; Marcus Caudill, 37, of Kendallville, Ind., formerly of Lackey, Thursday, in a Fort Wayne, Indiana hospital; Walter McKenzie, 57, of East Point, Friday, in the Paintsville Hospital.

November 4, 1971

Prestonsburg, last Saturday, may have had its greatest crowd ever when Floyd Countians of all ages, with a sprinkling of visitors, gathered for the second annual Salute to America...The Betsy Layne school�s lunchroom was destroyed by fire, Friday night, with all its contents, and pupils have been notified by Gene D. Davis, principal, that the school will be unable to provide lunches...In Tuesday�s election, Floyd County gave Lieut. Gov. Wendell H. Ford, Democrat, a majority of 4,357 in his race for Governor over Tom Emberton, Republican. In town of Martin�s election, Mayor E.P. Grigsby was re-elected, polling 186 votes to 121 for his opponent, Steve Stout...Bill Petrey, of Prestonsburg, is Kentucky�s Forest Conservationist for the year 1971, it was announced in Frankfort early last week...The Blackcats of Prestonsburg High School will wind up their 1971 football campaign here Friday night against their traditional foes, the Paintsville Tigers...Russell May, Prestonsburg artist, was a guest speaker at an artists� retreat held recently at Rough River State Park...There died: Jack Frost Wells, former basketball coach here, Monday, at the Methodist Hospital, Pikeville; Eula Mae Hall, 45, of Hi Hat, Tuesday, at a Martin hospital; Sherita Jean Harless, three-year-old daughter of James M. and Sandra Kay Morrison Harless, of Columbus, O., in a hospital there, October 21; Vesta B. Phillips, 62, of Harold�s Branch near Pikeville, Saturday, at Methodist Hospital; Carl C. Jones, 49, of Grethel, Friday, at the McDowell Hospital; Edra Walker, 58, of Wittensville, Saturday; Lewis E. Hall, 21, of Sturgis, Mich., formerly of Wayland, Saturday, in an auto collision near LaGrange, Ind.; William (Bill) Fitzpatrick, 62, of West Prestonsburg, Tuesday, at Prestonsburg General Hospital; Estill Newsome, 67, of Pikeville, last Tuesday, at the McDowell Hospital; Della M. Hamilton, 71, of Teaberry, Friday in a Martin hospital; Malinda Lafferty, 87, of Water Gap, Sunday, at Prestonsburg General Hospital; Jack Boyd, 72, of Dana, Wednesday, at the home at Dana of his daughter; Fred Luxmore, 82, of Price, last Thursday, at the McDowell Hospital.

October 28, 1971

It was announced Monday that Governor Nunn has approved the expenditure of $243,000 on a bridge across the Big Sandy at Emma...ARC funding for development of the Goble Branch camping area at Dewey Lake has been received, a parks official said this week...Work was begun Monday on the replacement of gas and water lines in downtown Prestonsburg. Some of the lines being discarded are 50 years old...There died: Miles Hughes, 53, of Hueysville, Friday night, when hit by a truck; Brenda Kay Nelson, 19, Saturday, of a gunshot wound at Dwale; Mousie Collins, 86, of Wayland, last Wednesday, at the McDowell Appalachian Hospital; Hugh Edward Sword, 71, of Dwale, Sunday, in his auto, an apparent heart victim; Lizzie Hamilton, 79, formerly of Teaberry, at an Elizabethtown, hospital last Wednesday; Grace Chatfield, 76, of Huntington, W. Va., native of Bonanza, Saturday, at a Huntington Hospital; Eva L. Naxefield, 59, of Price, Saturday, at a Lexington Hospital; Ora Huff Petry, 83, of Kermit, W. Va., last Tuesday, at a Williamson hospital.

October 21, 1971

Harry Laviers Jr., of Paintsville, flew home from Washington last Friday, with two checks totaling $8,907,000 representing settlement by the United Mine Workers of America and the Consolidation Coal Co. of the judgment awarded against them in U.S. District Court on an anti-trust action filed by the South-East Coal Company, headed by Laviers and his father, Harry Laviers Sr., also of Paintsville...Sheriff Frank Leslie said Tuesday morning he had been notified by Pikeville Post, Kentucky State Police, that its personnel was on standby basis after having received a report that a group of Ohioans was enroute to eastern Kentucky, presumably bent on closing down non-union mines...Hearing by the Public Service Commission of the protest filed by residents of Rock Fork Creek, near Garrett, to suspension of natural gas service to their homes has been continued from last Wednesday to next Tuesday...Phil G. Scott became manager of the Paintsville-Prestonsburg operation of the South Central Bell Telephone Company, effective Oct. 15. He succeeds Bill Gibson, who resigned recently...1,946 horses were vaccinated in Floyd County for VEE (horse sleeping sickness) ending Oct. 12. The program appears to have been very successful, it was said...There died: Taylor Watson, of Wheelwright, at Our Lady of the Way Hospital, Martin; Bill Smith, 83, of Prestonsburg, at Mountain Manor here; Ira Edward Stephens, 55, of Langley; Bell Dora Tackett, 84, of East McDowell, at Mountain Manor; Hazel Music Wyatt, 56, of West Prestonsburg, at Prestonsburg General Hospital; Jud Rice, 83, of East Point; Maggie Hunt Lewis, 80, at her home at Stanville; Ballard Hicks, 84, of Dema; Charles Breeding, 81, of Kite, at Martin; Ruth Levera Branham Faine, 42, at McDowell Appalachian Regional Hospital; Penn Fitzpatrick, 84, of Middle Creek, at Lexington; Asa Howell, 66, of Teaberry, at Lexington.

October 14, 1971

Two Floyd County men are among the 14 civic and industrial leaders who, last week, formed the corporation, �Our Common Heritage,� in an effort to combat the migration of the people of 32 eastern Kentucky counties to urban centers and to other states. They are Dr. George P. Archer, mayor of Prestonsburg, and B.F. Reed, of Drift, a leader in the coal mining industry...County Judge Henry Stumbo said, this week, that approximately 2.4 miles of the Frazier�s Creek road, near McDowell, will be improved by the county, with assistance by the state...Seals and Crofts, folkrock musicians, will appear here next Tuesday, in the second performance of the East Kentucky Concert Series...Suzy Martin, 19-year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. W.J. Martin, of Garrett, is Morehead State University�s 1971 Homecoming Queen...State and federal mine inspectors, Sheriff Frank Leslie, and Coroner James J. Carter were scheduled to make an on-site investigation 600 feet underground, Tuesday morning, of circumstances surrounding the death of Lawrence Goble, 29, in a Sugar Loaf Coal mine. He is thought, however, to have died by accidental electrocution...The time for Floyd County�s second �Salute to America� parade has been advanced from 10 a.m., to noon, Saturday, October 30...The Prestonsburg Blackcats downed their old grid nemesis, the Pirates of Belfry High School, here, last Friday night, 23-8, and Wheelwright swamped M. C. Napier, 39-0, in their meeting on the Virgie football field...Mr. and Mrs. B.L.C. Ratliff, of Manton, celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary September 20...There died: John M. Yost, 71, internationally known banker, of Pikeville, at his home, October 4; Myrtie Lawson, 73, of Betsy Layne, Thursday, at Methodist Hospital, Pikeville; Harold Lloyd Ousley, 32, of Peru, Indiana, native of Risner, Friday, victim of a car-truck collision in Peru; Russell W. Howard, 83, of Galion, Ohio, formerly of this county, Friday, at a Martin hospital; Enoch C. Howell, 87, of Water Gap, Monday, at a nursing home here; Anna F. Harris, 96, formerly of Prestonsburg, last Wednesday, in Ashland; Barbara Allen VanHoose, 34, formerly of Wayland, September 17, at Sandia Base, New Mexico; John Robert Branham, 16-year-old son of Mrs. Tom Branham, of Bull Creek, last Thursday; George Thornsberry, 85, of Raven, last Tuesday at the McDowell Hospital; Charles A. Goble, 59, of West Liberty, formerly of Prestonsburg, last Thursday, at UK Med Center in Lexington.

October 7, 1971

The drawdown of Dewey Lake will begin November 1, Dean Murray, Dewey Reservoir manager, announced this week. He noted that not a life has been lost there this year...The Floyd County Board of Education, which has never received any Appalachian Regional Commission funds decided at Saturday�s meeting to go to that source for assistance in expanding its vocational education program...An additional $292,000 worth of facilities for the Highlands Regional Hospital, now under construction near Auxier, is expected to be approved this week by the Economic Development Administration...The strike which has paralyzed the coal industry, continued this week, and there apparently was the dimmest of chances of an early agreement on terms of a new contract...Joe David Martin, son of Mr. and Mrs. Wesley N. Martin, of Allen, was one of six educators honored at a recent meeting of the Lexington Chapter of the National Conference of Christians and Jews, for outstanding contributions in fostering brotherhood in education. Martin is principal of Jefferson Davis elementary school in Lexington...There died: Ollie P. Ellis, 69, of Water Gap, Thursday, at Central Baptist Hospital in Lexington; Cynthia E. Allen, 57, of McDowell, Saturday, at the McDowell Hospital; Lizzie C. Hackworth, 85, Thursday, at her home at Bonanza; Dow Hunter, 51, of Drift, Sunday, at the McDowell Hospital; James Woodrow Crager, 53, last Wednesday, at his home on the Auxier road; Saloma H. Bradley, 64, of New Smyrna Beach, Florida, last Wednesday, at the McDowell hospital; Julia W. Whitaker, 75, of West Prestonsburg, last Friday, at the Methodist Hospital, Pikeville.

September 30, 1971

Four Floyd County municipalities will elect officials at the November election, but only in Martin is an election campaign looming, with two tickets competing for the vote...Floyd, a county of 35,000 population, has 27,404 persons who are eligible to vote at the November election, County Clerk C. �Ollie� Robinson said this week...Self-help skills, personal adjustment skills and other activities leading to some degree of independence will be taught to mentally retarded children at a new facility being opened in Prestonsburg....�We�re going all the way and doing whatever is necessary for us as citizens to do,� the Rev. Carl Tuttle, of McDowell, said this week in a discussion of a move spearheaded by him to get better law enforcement in the county...The Rev. Milton E. Skiff concluded his pastorate of the First Presbyterian Church here with the Sunday morning worship service, leaving that afternoon with his family for Lisbon, New York...Floyd County bands which have accepted invitations to attend Band Day at Eastern Kentucky University, are Betsy Layne, Garrett, Martin, Maytown, Prestonsburg and Wayland...The Prestonsburg High School Blackcats and the Pikeville Panthers tied 14-all at Pikeville last Friday night, while the Wheelwright Trojans trounced the Johns Creek Bearcats the same evening...There died: Spc5 Ira Charles Brank, 29, in Vietnam where he was drowned in an accident while he was on duty; Richie Tackett, four-year-old son of Andy Lee and Norma Jean Bryant Tackett, victim of accidental gunshot last Thursday; Amy B. Elkins, 72, of Dwale, Monday at Prestonsburg General Hospital; Diamond Caudill, 32, of Topmost, last Saturday of an apparent heart attack; Rutherford B. Clark, 94, at his home at Harold last Wednesday; Ceberry Harris, 83, Monday, September 20, at his home at Melvin; Mabel Meade, 47, of Kansas City, formerly of Banner, last Tuesday in Kansas City; Charles B. Meadows, 63, at his home at Cliff, last Tuesday; Beverly Osborne, 71, of East McDowell, last Thursday, victim of an apparent heart attack.

September 18, 1971

Except for Floyd County, deep mining for coal is taking a back seat to surface mining by strip and auger, a review of the coal industry in this part of Kentucky shows...The two-story building which was remodeled and renovated earlier this year at David by Boy Scouts and visiting students, became a pilot child development center this week...Work was begun here Tuesday morning by contractors on the Kentucky Power Company office-garage building which has been planned here the last two years...Both the Wheelwright Trojans and the Prestonsburg Blackcats broke into the victory column for the first time this season last Friday night, with the Trojans upsetting the favored Pikeville Panthers at Pikeville, 24 to 18, and the Blackcats downing Elkhorn City, 36-20...There died: Lula J. Hamilton, 77, Thursday, at her home at Beaver; Melissa Hackworth Yates, formerly of this county, September 8, at Warsaw, Ind.; John Henry Hatfield, 47, of Dwale, Saturday, at the Prestonsburg General Hospital; John Printer Meade, 48, of Martin, September 6, at Our Lady of the Way Hospital, Martin; Arthur Byron Ring, 63, of Garrett, Sunday, at McDowell Appalachian Regional Hospital; Willis H. �Burr� Rice, 52, Sunday, at his home at East Point; Fletcher Medley Mayo, 69, of Prestonsburg, Saturday, at Prestonsburg General Hospital; Blanche Sparks Moore, 58, of Wheelwright, Thursday, at McDowell ARH; Jackie Hall Evans, 24, formerly of Bypro, Saturday, at Detroit, Michigan.

September 9, 1971

The Floyd County Fish and Game Club�s annual fish fry, Sunday, drew its usual heavy attendance, with several states being represented...U.S. Senators Cooper and Cook announced last week that the Appalachian Regional Commission has approved a grant of $155,400 to assist in the construction of an access road to serve the Goble Branch campground and Jenny Wiley State Park...�Bootlegging in Floyd County is the most wide-open I have ever seen,� Circuit Judge Hollie Conley told the grand jury which he had empanelled, Tuesday...During July, 8,108 low-income persons in Floyd County received food stamps valued at $199,893...John David Wallen, son of Mrs. W.W. Wallen, and the late Mr. Wallen, who is a member of the Department of Surgery, University of Kentucky Medical Center, presented a paper at the Biomedical Instrument Society of America symposium in Milwaukee, Wisc., August 30...Count Basie, who has played two command performances before Queen Elizabeth, will open the East Kentucky Concert Series here, September 21...A major effort to discover new reserves of natural gas in rock formations deep in the Appalachian area will get underway this month when drilling is begun by Columbia Gas Transmission Corporation...Born: to Mr. and Mrs. Ronald R. Warfield, of Ft. Wayne, Ind., their first child, a son, Scott Ronald. Mrs. Warfield is the former Melanie Conley, daughter of Judge and Mrs. Hollie Conley...Miss Caroly Simpson, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ervin Little, of Wheelwright, will represent Prestonsburg Community College in the Apple Queen contest, Saturday in Paintsville...There died: Edwin Cochran Dorsey, shot to death on his 20th birthday Saturday, night, at Owensboro. Dorsey, a ministerial student, was the son of Dr. Harold W. Dorsey; Virgie C. George, 80, last Thursday, at her home here; Elzie Bowling, 65, of Langley, Sunday, at Central Baptist Hospital, Lexington; Hattie Mature, 75, last Thursday, at her home at Grethel; Caroline Harrington, 59, Saturday, at her home at Martin; John Fields, formerly of Wayland, in Pompano Beach, Fla.; Edyth H. Bevins, 52, of Printer, last Tuesday, at a Martin hospital; Hager Prater, 64, Sunday at his home at Garrett.

September 2, 1971

Approximately 70 grade and high school students from the Frazier�s Creek section remained out of McDowell schools, Tuesday, in a continuance of a protest by parents and pupils against road conditions there...The Highlands� heritage story, ballad, music, customs and handicrafts will be heard, seen, and enjoyed, three days this weekend at the sixth annual Kentucky Highlands Folk Festival...Eighty-six cases with 93 defendants are scheduled for trial during the circuit court criminal session which will convene here, Tuesday morning...Count Basie, acknowledged great of modern music, will open the Eastern Kentucky Concert Series here, September 21...Rhonda Gale Hall, of Betsy Layne, was crowned Miss Floyd County, 1972, at the Miss Floyd County Scholarship Pageant, held Saturday evening. She is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Walter Hall...There died: Mrs. Berty Johnson, 79, of Melvin, Monday, at the Mountain Manor Nursing Home, here; Tom �Jumper� Burchett, 76, of Knotley Hollow near here, Tuesday, at the Paintsville Hospital; Estill �Buster� Parsons, 46, formerly of Little Mud Creek, Saturday, at his home at Millard; Pearlie Hicks, 64, of Wayland, Saturday, at a Martin hospital; George W. Hall, 69, of Weeksbury, Friday, at the home of a son at Price; Tandy Hale, 87, of Martin, Sunday, at the Prestonsburg General Hospital; Roe Turner, 63, of Minnie, Friday, at the McDowell Hospital; Rose Anna Brown, 95, of Wayland, last Thursday, at the Mountain Manor Nursing Home here; G. Wesley Merritt, formerly of this county, Friday, in a Louisa hospital.

August 26, 1971

The curtain fell, Saturday night, on the Jenny Wiley Summer Music Theatre with the final performance of �Jenny Wiley!,� and there are those who wonder if future productions will be staged there...Disabled miners from Floyd and two other eastern Kentucky counties filed a lawsuit, Monday, in U.S. District Court, Washington, D.C., which could reopen almost all the black lung benefit cases which have been denied by Social Security...Seventy-seven students of the Upper Frasure�s Creek section began the new school year by playing �hooky,� and with their parents� blessing. Parents have protested the condition of the Frasure�s Creek road to the county highway department...Cato�s store will become the newest member of the Prestonsburg business community when its doors open at 9 a.m. Thursday...Ten years ago Ball Brand Mason jars sold for $1.27 a dozen, on sale at a local store...Born: a son to Mr. and Mrs. Ottis Hall, of Galveston, August 11; a son to Mr. and Mrs. Roger Dean Arnold, of Minnie, August 13; a son to Mr. and Mrs. John W. Clemons, of Topmost; a daughter, Suzanna Maria, to Mr. and Mrs. Michael Donahoe, of Ashland, August 6; a daughter, Dina Faye, to Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Conn, August 14...There died: Farmer Duff, 63, of Garrett, Sunday, at Huntington, West Virginia; Bill Osborne, 47, of Ivel, Monday, when he was crushed beneath a slatefall on Turkey Creek; Laura Clay, 78, Sunday, at her home at Ligon; Antha L. Blackburn, 65, last Tuesday, at her home at Endicott; Bert T. Hall, 75, formerly of McDowell, Monday, at his home at Greenup; Goldie Howard Stephens, 65, of Pyramid, Saturday.

August 19, 1971

Officials of the town of Martin and Floyd County agreed this week that there is a chance the flood control project which has been already partially funded for Martin could be lost...Although its actual construction still depends upon several factors�mainly, financial participation by an agency of the federal government...the open-air mall proposed for Prestonsburg�s business district edged ahead at last Thursday night�s meeting of the City Council, with businessmen and property-owners in the Court street area...The boats will be moving faster than usual, Saturday and Sunday, at Dewey Lake, when the Dewey Lake Chapter of the National Outboard Association will stage its first annual regatta...Born: to Mr. and Mrs. McDoug Whicker of Martin, a daughter, Rita Christine, July 28; to Mr. and Mrs. Kelly Slone, a daughter, Articia Moureen, August 11; to Trooper and Mrs. Danny Stumbo of Salyersville, a daughter, Angela Danette, July 26; to Mr. and Mrs. Willa Dean Elswick of Melvin, a daughter, August 4; to Mr. and Mrs. Tivis Neeley of Hueysville, a daughter, August 7; to Mr. and Mrs. Phillip Chaffins of Prestonsburg, a son, August 7...There died: Richard Prater, 89, of Brainard, Wednesday at home; Add Scott, 83, of Toler Creek, Thursday; Mary W. Newsome, 84, of West Prestonsburg, last Wednesday; Sam Adkins, 79, of Harold, Wednesday; Louie E. Griggs, 72, of Melvin, Sunday; Emma Sue Day, 73, of Prestonsburg, Thursday afternoon; John B. Sturgill, formerly of Floyd County, August 10 in Taylor, Michigan; Lena Hall, 74, of Drift, Monday; Bill Hubbard, 80, of Prestonsburg, Friday; Tom Martin, 84, of Garrett, last Wednesday; Irene C. Osborne, 67, formerly of Martin, Sunday in California.

August 12, 1971

Prospects for an open-air mall in the Court Street business district here may have appreciably dimmed with the appearance last Thursday night of only business houses at the City Council meeting scheduled for consideration of the project...Contract for construction of a two-story, six-classroom grade school building as an addition to the Martin school campus was tentatively awarded at Saturday�s meeting of the Floyd County Board of Education to Akers & Akers, Dana contractors, on the firm�s low bid of $220,000...The Floyd County Comprehensive Health Services Program may have been snatched from its deathbed by action of its board of directors here last Friday night. The board by 9-1 vote agreed for an interim committee to be formed along the lines suggested by the health Affairs Office of OEO, and it was indicated in Washington that reorganization and reactivation of the program will be started almost immediately...Born: to Mr. and Mrs. Richard Gary Hall, of Prestonsburg, a daughter, Jayne Elizabeth, July 12; to Mr. and Mrs. Ricky Rector, of Martin, a son, Robert Lee, July 27...There died: Ben Woods, 72, of Bonanza, last Thursday; Raymond Samons, 73, of Arkansas, near Martin, Aug. 3; Emma Weddington Alley, 76, of Prestonsburg, last Wednesday; Henry Jenkins, 43, of Garrett, Saturday; Willie R. Spradlin, 69, of Cliff, Saturday; Shiller King, 80, of Harold, last Thursday; Bessie E. Wells, 81, of Auxier, Aug. 3; Lilly Click Frasure, 84, of Bonanza, Saturday; Orville R. Porter, 63, of Prestonsburg, Friday; Martin V. Shepherd, 84, native of this county, July 30, at Columbus, Ohio.

August 5, 1971

One of three water districts designed to afford water distribution to rural residents in as many communities of the county, drew a step nearer functional status with the appointment, Monday of the commissioners to serve the David Water District....The nationwide surplus of teachers is reflected in the Floyd County teaching situation, County Superintendent of Schools Charles Clark said this week. Ninety-eight persons, he said, have applied for teaching positions in this county and there is no place to put them... �Jenny Wiley!� a new musical with music by Benjamin Keaton, and book and lyrics by Mitch Douglas, will have its world premiere, Thursday, August 5, here at the Jenny Wiley Summer Music Theatre...Born: to Mr. and Mrs. Donald L. George, of Findlay, Ohio, a daughter, Carolyn Sue, July 23, at Findlay; to Mr. and Mrs. Gary David Berry, formerly of Martin, a daughter, Elizabeth Carol, July 19, at Central Baptist Hospital, Lexington...There died: Hazel Wallen, 55, Thursday, at her home at Garrett; Dona Hall, 79, Thursday, at her home at Wheelwright; Edna Simmons Babb, 78, of Martin, July 26, at her home; Elizabeth Johnson McCoy, 63, of Weeksbury, last Wednesday, at the U.K. Medical Center, Lexington; Ed Hampton, 72, of Martin, last Thursday, at Our Lady of the Way Hospital, Martin; Ollie Burchett, 74, native of Endicott, last Tuesday, at Gallipolis, O.; John Henderson Roberts, 67, of Prestonsburg, last Thursday, at Prestonsburg General Hospital; Ted Pemberton, 60, last Wednesday, at his home at Galveston.

July 29, 1971

The Floyd Fiscal Court, last Friday, filed suit in circuit court seeking the recovery of $25,000 damages from two contracting firms, claiming the construction of the roof of the new courthouse here is defective, both in materials and workmanship...Commissioner of Highways B. E. King was convinced last week that the community of Emma needs a new bridge to span the Big Sandy, and connect it with US 23...Irvine Slone, 47, of the Middle Creek section, lost his right arm in an automobile wreck, Sunday, on the David Road...The C&O Railway remains in operation this week despite a strike which has paralyzed four major railroads, and its continued service keeps the coal industry going in this section...Sp-4 Dennis Eugene Cline, 22, son of Mr. and Mrs. Eugene Cline, of Lowmansville, formerly of this county, is serving in Vietnam...Arnold Turner Jr., son of Mr. and Mrs. Arnold Turner, of McDowell, is one of some 20 University of Kentucky law students participating in the Fayette County Legal Aid Program this summer in Lexington...There died: Frank Hall, 27, of Galveston, last Tuesday at UK Medical Center, Lexington; James B. Click, 89, last Tuesday at his home at Langley; Ernest Conn, 52, of Martin, Saturday at the home of his nephew; Hubert Conley, 50, of Kendallville, Indiana, formerly of Garrett, last Tuesday, in New Buffalo, Michigan; Sam Jarrell, 86, of Dana, Friday, in a Martin hospital; Mary Elizabeth Bailey, 90, of Allen, last Thursday, at the Mountain Manor Nursing Home; Thomas Edward Dimick, 90, Tuesday, in Dallas, Texas; William Howard Turner, 57, of Wheelwright, Friday, in a Lexington hospital; Charlie Martin, 66, of Harold, Monday, at the Clark County Hospital in Winchester; Virginia Collins, formerly of Wayland, July 16, at her home in Mt. Sterling, Ohio

July 22, 1971

State Representative W. J. �Bill� Reynolds of Allen, who was active in the primary campaign of former Gov. Bert T. Combs, has been appointed co-chairman of the Democratic campaign committee...The Floyd County Registration and Purgation Board has listed for purgation, the names of approximately 3,000 voters...A. J. Reed, veteran chief of police at Martin, became the new police chief at Richmond, Ky., effective last Thursday...Five arrests were made in this county, Sunday, by state troopers on warrants of arrest and search warrants for intoxicating beverages...The Big Sandy Valley Crusade for Christ opened here Sunday night to the accompaniment of rolling thunder...Dr. Z. S. Dickerson Jr., native Prestonsburg man, was elected vice-president of the National Business Education Association at the NBEA convention in Chicago, recently...Born: to Mr. and Mrs. William D. Messer, of Prestonsburg, a daughter, Tracy Ann, July 11; to Mr. and Mrs. Alger Sizemore, of East McDowell, a daughter, July 14; a son to Mr. and Mrs. Wade Tackett, of McDowell, July 13; a son to Mr. and Mrs. George Parsons, of Drift, July 16; a son to Mr. and Mrs. Daryll Collins, of Price, July 18; a son to Mr. and Mrs. Glenn Frasure, of Galveston, July 18...There died: Frank Stephens, 59, of Hueysville, Saturday at the McDowell Hospital; Sarah Patton Reed, 81, of Hueysville, Saturday at a Martin hospital; Juda Hall, 75, of Prestonsburg, last Wednesday at a hospital here; Forrest Halbert, 54, formerly of Printer, in Toppenish, Wash., July 11; Joseph Nelson (Sugar Joe) Miller, 84, of West Prestonsburg, last Monday in a Pikeville hospital; Charles E. Wakeland, 52, of Chicago, Ill., formerly of Virgie, last Tuesday, at Veterans Hospital in Hines, Illinois.

July 15, 1971

A temporary restraining order to limit picketing at the Reynolds Body Company plant at Allen was granted, Friday...The release of $150,000 last week by the Office of Management and Budget, Washington, D.C., the U.S. Corps of Engineers, for the Martin stream and flood control project means that work will start there soon, it was said here, Saturday...All South Central Bell Telephone Company union workers in Kentucky will be off the job at 6 a.m. Wednesday, if the strike affecting half the nation�s telephone employees materializes as expected...The Big Sandy Valley Crusade for Christ with Dr. Ford R. Philpot, evangelist, will begin Sunday night at 7:30, at the Prestonsburg High School football stadium...The board of directors of the Floyd County Comprehensive Health Services Program took action, Saturday, which keeps alive the hope that the pilot health program here may not be the first of its kind in the United States to be terminated...New postmasters in Floyd County are Janet M. Stambaugh at Auxier, and Bennie J. Slone at East McDowell...Coffee was advertised, 2-lb. can, $1.38, margarine at 16� per pound, and chuck roast, 54� per pound...There died: M. L. (Mashell) King, 72, at his home at Kite, Wednesday; Cora Hall, 76, of Wayland, last Tuesday, at a Martin hospital; Dolly Belle Newsome, 30, of Blue River, in a Fort Wayne, Ind. hospital, last Wednesday; Rhoda E. Halbert, 65, of Printer, last Wednesday in a Martin hospital; Darrell Wayne Hinty, 41, of Albion, Mich., formerly of this county, last Wednesday in a Columbus, O. hospital; Sally Tuttle, 92, last Monday at her home at McDowell; Linzie Griffey, 79, of East Point, last Tuesday at a Paintsville hospital; Martha L. Cross, 71, of Teaberry, Saturday at Pikeville Methodist Hospital; Georgia D. Taylor, 74, last Wednesday, at her home at Ivel; Garnet V. Gibson, 58, of Prestonsburg, last Thursday at Prestonsburg General Hospital; Marvin Marshall, 79, Sunday in Jeffersonville, Ind.; H. M. Wilkinson Jr., 55, of Wheelwright, Saturday, while visiting here.

July 1, 1971

The first step toward termination of the grant, which finances the Floyd County Comprehensive Health Services Program was officially taken last week...Except for one grand larceny, the county jail register of major cases was composed entirely of traffic violations...The Fourth of July�which, for celebration purposes, will be July 5�will not be marked by any special observance here. A federal grand jury at Pikeville returned a 24-count indictment last week against Charles Finley and the Finley Coal Company, whose coal mine exploded December 30, killing 38 men...Terming state education �a legacy of unkept promises,� a National Education Association committee has declared that �significant remedial legislation is imperative for 1972.�...Two girls from Floyd County�Kim DeRossett, of Allen, and Sherry Layne, of Banner�are registered for early camping sessions at Camp Cardinal, conducted by the Wilderness Road Girl Scout Council...Tanda Kaye Ousley, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ed Ousley, celebrated her 10th birthday...Mr. and Mrs. Freddie Lee Goble, of Auxier, announced the birth of their second child, first son, Jonathan Scott, May 25...There died: Mrs. Waddle Parrett, 83, formerly of Prestonsburg, June 20 in a Lima, O. hospital; Jack Wolfe, 67, formerly of Wayland, in St. Mary�s O., June 18; Susan Calhoun Campbell, 78, of Water Gap, last Wednesday at Prestonsburg General Hospital; Mattie R. Sword, 87, Wednesday at the home of a son at Langley; Silas Collins, 72, of Garrett, last Wednesday at a Martin hospital; Virgie Castle, 67, of Lowmansville, last Wednesday at a nursing home here; Alice Larie Hall, 85, Weeksbury, at the McDowell Hospital, Sunday; Bertha Collins, 83, of Auxier, last Wednesday at a nursing home here; Abe Shepherd, 84, of Pyramid, last Thursday at Prestonsburg General Hospital

June 24, 1971

Every phase of the Floyd County Comprehensive Health Services Program, from most distant outpost to the central office at Wheelwright, remained closed this week under suspension order of the Office of Health Affairs, Washington, D.C....The Prestonsburg police court will begin the use of a jury drum and pay those serving on its juries, beginning next month, and the Floyd quarterly court will return at the same time to the use of the jury drum, it was announced this week...Floyd County�s first drowning of the year was recorded last Thursday, when Claude Baldridge, 45, of West Van Lear, drowned in Johns Creek, below Dewey Dam...Born: to Mr. and Mrs. Richard Bishop, of West Prestonsburg, a daughter, Kristy Lynn, June 3; to Mr. and Mrs. Larry Daniels, of Prestonsburg, a daughter, Kimberly Jane, June 11; to Mr. and Mrs. Tommy Newsome, of Weeksbury, a son, June 11; to Mr. and Mrs. Michael S. Edwards, of Halo, a daughter, June 11...There died: Worley Newsome, 40, of McDowell, Tuesday, at Martin; Claude R. Brummett, 69, of Wheelwright, Saturday, at Pikeville; William M. Estep, 44, of Troy, Mich., formerly of Floyd County, Monday, at Detroit; Samuel Brown, 53, of Prestonsburg, last Thursday, at Huntington; Sarah Alice Cox, 72, of Ulysses, Monday, in a Louisa hospital; Mrs. Ruby L. Adkins, 56, formerly of Auxier, Wednesday, at Ypsilanti, Mich.; George Thomas Jervis, 87, Monday, at his home at Endicott.

June 17, 1971

Commissioner of Highways B.E. King announced last Thursday, that contract for construction of 3.357 miles of four-lane US 23 from the Mountain Parkway at the mouth of Katy Friend Branch to Water Gap has been awarded...Camp Shawnee will open Sunday for three one-week camp sessions. Some 300 Scouts from southeastern Kentucky and southwestern Virginia are expected to attend... Prestonsburg police have within the week made more arrests on major offenses than all other officers operating in the county, jail records show...Three changes in Floyd county pastorates were made at the Kentucky Conference of the United Methodist Church, held in Morehead last week. They are, H. E. Pennington, to Community Methodist Church, Prestonsburg, succeeding J. A. Dickerson, who goes to Pennington�s former pastorate of Tilton and Mt. Tabor churches, in the Maysville district, R. K. Ratcliffe, Dwale, succeeding Woodrow Branham; Clark Lafferty, Wheelwright, transferred from Pike county...Two Floyd Countians�Paul Stephen Combs, of Prestonsburg, and W. Grady Stumbo, of McDowell�received the Doctor of Medicine degree, June 5, at special commencement ceremonies for 75 graduates of the UK College of Medicine. Faye Gibson Allen, wife of Quentin Allen, formerly of Prestonsburg, was the 400th graduate of the college to receive her M.D...John William Sutherland, Jr., was graduated from the University of Louisville School of Medicine last week...There died: Gertrude Mabel Branham, 75, of Prestonsburg, Friday in the Prestonsburg General Hospital; Tim Bentley, 83, of Ligon, Friday at the McDowell Hospital; James Madison Parsley, 92, of Prestonsburg, last Wednesday at the Prestonsburg General Hospital; Harold M. Bell, 24, of Beckwith, W. Va., Sunday at the Mountain Manor Nursing Home here; Elder George Cook, 72, of Dry Creek, Saturday at the Jenkins Clinic; Noah M. Porter, 78, of Auxier, Monday at Prestonsburg General Hospital; Hiram Salisbury, 90, of Printer, Thursday at the Prestonsburg Hospital; Leonard Combs, 45, of Houston, Texas, formerly of Hindman, June 5; Jim Johnson, 80, Tuesday at his home at Risner.

June 10, 1971

The Floyd County Comprehensive Health Services Program was suspended last week after the Office of Health Affairs had held that the Big Sandy Community Action Program and directors of the Health Program had failed, at a June 1 meeting in Washington, to show cause why the OEO grant financing it should not be at least temporarily withdrawn...The Floyd County Board of Education employed last Saturday 390 principals and teachers to staff the regular classrooms of the county school system...Sheriff Frank Leslie said Monday that eight persons are involved in the taking of cash and merchandise from a Cow Creek home and two Buffalo Creek stores last week...The annual anti-rabies clinic conducted by the Floyd County Health Department will begin Tuesday morning, June 15...Five students have been named to the dean�s list at Eastern Kentucky University for the fall semester. They are Susan C. Roberts, Rebecca M. Haywood, and Joe B. Vance, all of Prestonsburg; Wallace G. Cook, of Drift, and Betty S. Hutchinson, of Martin...Governor Nunn has reiterated his opposition to imposing a severance tax on coal in Kentucky, in the absence of a similar levy in other coal-producing states...There died: Mrs. Caldora Broglin, 61, of Wheelwright, at the McDowell Hospital, last Thursday; Willie J. Hall, 65, of the Lake Road near here, Sunday at the Mountain Manor Nursing Home; Mrs. Clara Pruitt King, 76, of Harold, Wednesday, in a Pikeville hospital; Miss Hattie Martin, 89, of Martin, Friday at the Mountain Manor Nursing Home, here; Lawrence Hamilton, 85, at his home at Harold, Sunday; Harris Hackworth, 86, at his home at Brainard, Tuesday; Mrs. Ecie Ellen Jackson, 84, of Cow Creek, last Tuesday at the Prestonsburg General Hospital.

June 3, 1971

Commencement exercises, beginning last week and ending this week at Floyd County�s eight high schools, will see a total of 553 seniors graduated...Unofficial returns show that Lt. Gov. Wendell H. Ford defeated former Gov. Bert T. Combs for the Democratic nomination for governor. Combs polled majorities in every Floyd County voting precinct...Floyd County�s total tax assessment at the conclusion of the first recapitulation of figures by Tax Commissioner Harry Gordon Allen, stands at $117,019,338�roughly $6 million more than the first recap of the assessment last year...Phil Damron of Weeksbury, who graduated recently from the University of Kentucky, was elected president of the Floyd County Young Democrats last Thursday...Seventeen prisoners were booked at the county jail over Memorial Day weekend...One Floyd County man lost his life in a highway accident during the holiday weekend. Bascom Moore, 52, of Price, died Sunday of injuries sustained in a wreck near Price...There died: Jerm McKenzie, 77, of Auxier, at his home; Dr. Joseph M. Ray, in Lexington; Minnie Staley, 73, of Mt. Sterling, formerly of Lackey, at St. Joseph hospital, Lexington; Green Hackworth, 72, of Goodloe, at home; Fed Hall, 87, of Grethel, at a Pikeville hospital; Gracie B. Hamilton, 75, of Hite, at McDowell Hospital; Russ Sword, 92, of Honaker, at a Martin hospital; Joe Hall, 86, of Melvin at a Prestonsburg nursing home.

May 27, 1971

A Middle Creek couple last week filed suit seeking to recover from H.D. Fitzpatrick, Prestonsburg banker, $51,000 in damages allegedly incurred, they claim, when their auto and a bull, owned by the defendant, collided on the Mountain Parkway...A gathering of an estimated 400 persons saw ground broken officially Saturday at the site of the new consolidated high school at Eastern...A drilling venture now underway in Pike County could conceivably mean an oil and gas boom in Eastern Kentucky...With roughly one-fifth of Kentucky�s voting precincts unofficially tabulated, shortly before 8 p.m., Tuesday, Lt. Gov. Wendell H. Ford held a lead of approximately 10,000 votes over ex-Governor Bert Combs for the Democratic nomination for governor...Three members of the Prestonsburg Chapter of Future Farmers of America have been accepted as State Farmers. They are Rudolph Ousley, Don Tussey, and Gary Slone...There died: Ottis Vanderpool, 57, of Lexington, formerly of McDowell, last Tuesday in a Lexington hospital; Ballard J. Herald, 76, of Prestonsburg, Saturday at Prestonsburg General Hospital; Charles Osborne, 64, of Martin, last Wednesday at Veterans Hospital in Huntington, W. Va.; William Thomas Baldridge, 52, of East Point, Wednesday at Prestonsburg General Hospital; Val F. Strahan Jr., 42, of Prestonsburg, last Tuesday at Prestonsburg General Hospital; Joe Davidson Hill, 59, of Mt. Sterling, native of Prestonsburg, Tuesday in a Mt. Sterling Hospital; Curtis Nichles, 55, formerly of this county, last Wednesday in Detroit, Mich.; Buford E. Rollins, 64, formerly of Wayland, April 27, in a Lexington nursing home.

May 20, 1971

The Floyd County Mental Health-Mental Retardation Services has received informal notice that its growth grant has been approved...Contractors� bids on construction of four-lane US 23 from the Mountain Parkway, near here, to New Allen will be opened by the Department of Highways, June 5...Among the new Kentucky postmasters appointed this week are two Floyd County women�Mrs. Nickie C. Hall, postmaster at Galveston, and Mrs. Audrey A. Newsome, at Teaberry...Prestonsburg, Allen, and Auxier out-pointed 14 other schools to win the Class AA and Class A trophies in the annual Floyd County elementary track and field day, here, last Saturday...Reported plans by two mineral exploration firms to mine coal and uranium from the scenic Red River Gorge area have evoked a stern �never, never� from state Reclamation Director Elmore Grim...There died: Johnny Dutton, 41, former Weeksbury man, Monday when his auto was struck by a train in Marion, O....There died: Francis Marion Johnson, 83, of Hall, last Thursday at the Jenkins Clinic; Miss Myra Tackett, 56, Saturday at her home at Hi Hat; James Oscar Reedy, 71, of Bevinsville, Friday at the McDowell hospital; Mrs. Malissa Thornsberry, 78, Wednesday at her home at Kite; Ival Salisbury, 56, formerly of Hunter, Saturday at his home at Plant City, Fla.; Brewie Slone, 60, formerly of Knott County, Sunday, in Marion, Ohio; Mrs. Dora Mae Burns Risner, 82, of Betsy Layne, Saturday, at a Pikeville hospital; Mrs. Lexie Wallen, 42, Thursday at her home at Garrett; Paris Conley, 77, of Abbott Creek, Saturday at a Prestonsburg hospital.

May 13, 1971

County Superintendent of Schools Charles Clark announced Monday that groundbreaking for the consolidated high school at Eastern will be held Saturday, May 22...Suit filed Monday in U.S. District Court at Pikeville by patrons of the Martin school district seeks to annul the existing temporary injunction forbidding plaintiffs to interfere with the operation of the Martin school...Floyd County�s new courthouse, which has been in service less than six years, it is in need of a new roof...Mrs. Aileen Hall, postmaster at Betsy Layne, last week became the first woman ever to be elected president of the Kentucky Chapter of the National Association of Postmasters...Miss Sherry Skeans, of McDowell High School, and a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Leonard Skeans, of Hunter, was crowned Band Day queen last Saturday...The invitation to Floyd Countians, present and past, to have a part in the building of a permanent memorial to the county�s war dead at Archer Park here was repeated this week...Graduating with distinction from Eastern Kentucky University, Sunday, were Janet Leigh Gunnell, of Prestonsburg, and Sandra Peters Ratliff, of Martin...Dr. and Mrs. Joe T. Hyden, of Martin, announced the engagement and forthcoming marriage of their daughter, Debra, to John Burke Jr., son of Mr. and Mrs. Johnny Burke, of Prestonsburg...There died: Manis Keens, 26, and eight-month-old Donna Sue Keens, last Tuesday, in a auto accident near Williamstown; Joe P. Tackett, 75, of Prestonsburg, May 3, in a nursing home here; Bryan Miller, 69, of Prestonsburg, last Thursday; Everett Williams Sr., Wayland, last Tuesday at the McDowell Hospital; Mrs. Susan Frasure, 74, of McDowell, Monday, at the McDowell Hospital; Cora McGuire Crider, 84, of Stratton Branch, Sunday at the Prestonsburg Hospital; Herbert Bradley, 61, of Claypool, Ind., formerly of this county, last Tuesday in a Goshen, Ind., hospital; Dale Vernon Slone, 30, Sunday at his home at Dema; Mrs. Nellie Goble, 41, last Thursday at her home at Dwale; Mrs. Emma Roberts Scalf, 78, of Allen, last Tuesday at the Mountain Manor Nursing Home here; John West Bryant, 73, of Teaberry, last Tuesday, at the McDowell Hospital; Silas Jones, 58, of Ligon, Monday, at the McDowell Hospital.

May 6, 1971

The threat of a crackdown on Floyd County for non-compliance with state solid waste disposal laws and regulations was at least temporarily averted here, Wednesday afternoon...The Davidson Lumber Company at the old Porter mining camp, near Lackey, was destroyed by fire at 2:30 a.m., last Friday...The sixth annual commencement activities at Prestonsburg Community College will take place Sunday, May 9...The troubled affairs of the Floyd County Comprehensive Health Services Program are expected to come in for study and possible action at a joint meeting here, Thursday evening, of its board of directors, the Big Sandy Community Action Program and the staff of the health program...Floyd county�s high schools will present their prettiest girls and their best in music here Saturday at the annual Band Day observance...There died: Cora Hall, 74, of Dry Creek, last Wednesday at a Martin hospital; Bessie Collins Woods, 79, of Endicott, last Thursday at the home of Virgil Jarvis; Joe Davidson Crisp, 85, formerly of Martin, April 10, at Lehigh Acres, Fla.; Farlin Johnson, 56, of Virgie, last Wednesday at Pikeville Methodist Hospital; Hazard Collins, 39, Monday at his home at East McDowell; Clyde Bryan Stephens, 57, of the Auxier Road, Monday, April 26; Anzie Branham, 87, Monday, at her home at Grethel; Sheridan Spradlin, 72, of Portsmouth, Ohio, formerly of this county, April 9; Lack B. Mayo, 63, of Norfolk, Va. formerly of Prestonsburg, last Friday, in a hospital here.

April 29, 1971

What this county will do with its solid waste will be given serious study at a meeting scheduled here Wednesday afternoon of the fiscal court...Constructon of Highlands Hospital near Auxier is now 40 percent complete and completion may be expected next summer...The mounting attack on those factors which pollute the environment will almost inevitably saddle Prestonsburg with the major part of the $600,000 cost of a secondary sewage treatment plant...Floyd County�s third annual elementary track and field day will be held at the high school football field here, May 15...The Kentucky Attorney General has advised that the state could accept as a gift a monolith inscribed with the ten Commandments, to be set up on the Capitol grounds in Frankfort...Whether it�s the result of fertilization or not, the fish population at Dewey Lake last year stood at a record high...Miss Lois Allen, of Martin, received the PH.D. degree from the University of Michigan, this term. She will join the staff of the Nucleic Acid Research Institute in Irvine, Calif...There died: Bessie DeRossett Daniels, 68, of the Abbott Mountain near here, last Tuesday; Francis M. Moles, 57, of Ashland, formerly of Auxier, Friday in a Huntington hospital; John Hyden, 80, of West Prestonsburg, last Monday; Silas C. Williams, 77, Monday at his home at Honaker; Dee Osborne, 60, of Ligon, victim of a heart attack, Monday; Mrs. Maxie Ham, 68, of Garrett, at a McDowell hospital, Sunday; Milford Hall, Sr. 80, of McDowell, Tuesday in a Lexington hospital; William Lee Triplett, 65, at his home at Garrett, Wednesday; Mrs. Julia Castle Hall, 106, at her home at McDowell, Monday; Carl Samons, 62, of Munith, Mich., formerly of Martin, Sunday, in Munith.

April 22, 1971

Latest reported development in the hassle-ridden Floyd County Comprehensive Health Program was the threat made last week by the entire medical staff of the program to resign...Plans for stripmining acreage on Spewing Camp may have supplied a motive for the dynamiting, early last Saturday morning, of an approach to the bridge over which traffic must pass into the creek area. The coveted Silver Beaver Award was presented to Arthur Bradbury at the annual Appreciation Dinner of Lonesome Pine Council, Boy Scouts of America, last Friday...Michael Auxier, of Emma, last week became the first Floyd Countian to be named president-elect of the Kentucky Education Association...It�s frightening,� a peace officer told The Times this week, in a discussion of the widespread use of drugs in this county...Announcement was made last week of the appointment of Mrs. Reba T. Martin as postmaster at Drift...Prestonsburg Community College�s debate team, composed of Stefan Magura, Marvin Holbrook, Phillip Meek, and Randy Clark, was awarded a trophy at the recent Kentucky Community and Junior College speech tournament...Harry Caudill, author of �Night Comes to the Cumberlands,� will speak at Pike Technology Building, Prestonsburg Community College, Tuesday, April 27...Our Lady of the Mountains School at Paintsville will no longer operate as a boarding school...There died: Omery Hall, 66, former postmaster at Hi Hat, Friday, at the UK Medical Center, Lexington; Mrs. Adam Patton, 65, of Hendersonville, Tenn., native of Hindman, in a Nashville Hospital, February 13; Arvil Hall, 49, Perry County native, in Cincinnati, O., Monday; Mary Tackett Martin, 76, of Grethel, last Tuesday, at a Pikeville hospital; Sherman Milem, 63, of Ligon, last Tuesday, in a Prestonsburg hospital; Mandy Short Watson, 73, of Raven, Tuesday, at Lackey; Ben Stewart, 69, at his home at Minnie, Saturday; Charlie Ousley, 73, of Martin, last Monday, at the McDowell Hospital; Minda Frances Hall, 59, of Clyde, O., formerly of Teaberry, Friday, in Fremont, O.; David H. Butler, 83, of Ironton, O., formerly of this county, Saturday, in an Ironton hospital; Ruth L. Conn, 66, of Ivel, last Tuesday, in a Prestonsburg hospital; Densil Flannery Stumbo, postmaster at Martin, last Tuesday, at his home in Martin.

April 15, 1971

On successive days last week, the campaign for the Democratic nomination for governor centered on Prestonsburg and Floyd county, with Ex-Governor Bert T. Combs speaking at a fundraising dinner Friday night, and Lieut. Gov. Wendell Ford appearing at the same type of function, the following evening...The seventh annual Mountain Dew Festival ended here, Saturday evening. Prestonsburg Community College won the coveted Brown Jug Award for the second consecutive year with 280 points...The Floyd Circuit Court grand jury wound up its session with an extra day of work, Monday and reported 42 indictments voted, including one for murder, two for involuntary manslaughter and four for illegal possession of narcotics...Belinda Jarrell, eighth grade pupil at Prater Elementary School the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Jackie Jarrell, of Dana, is the Floyd County spelling champion. Valerie Ratliff, fifth grade student at Prestonsburg Elementary, the daughter of Mrs. Lois Ratliff, of Prestonsburg, is runnerup...Marvin Music Sr., has been nominated by the Floyd County Mental Health-Mental Retardation Association to the Region II Board...The temporary injunction issued against two poverty organizations which no longer are active in this county�the Appalachian Volunteers, and the Volunteers in Service to America�was dissolved last Friday...Miss Della Lou Burke, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Hern Burke, of Prestonsburg, will represent the Seventh District Kentucky Federation of Woman�s Clubs, for the second year in the student sewing contest...Selected to attend the annual Kentucky 4-H Older Youth Conference in Washington, D.C., April 10, are Janie Bailey, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Sid Bailey, of Langley; Teresa Osborne, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Shelby Draughn, of Garrett...Robert D. McAninch, Jr., has been named by the Prestonsburg Community College Student Congress as �Great Teacher�...There died: Wiley J. Jones, 67, of Langley, last Thursday at the Methodist Hospital, Pikeville; Willie Johnson, 77, of Halo, Saturday at the Methodist Hospital, Pikeville; Gracie Adkins, 73, of Hueysville, last Tuesday at a Martin Hospital; Claude Combs, 75, last Monday at his home at River; James Madison Jones, 71, formelry of this county, Tuesday, March 30, in Ohio; Elbert Cox, 77, of Garrett, Wednesday at a Martin hospital; Charlie Newsome, 76, of Melvin, Wednesday at the McDowell hospital; Taylor Hall, 75, of McDowell, Friday in Hot Springs, Arkansas; Mrs. Berthia Ritchie, 64, of Wayland, last Tuesday in a Martin hospital.

April 8, 1971

In the glare of television cameras, directors of the Floyd County Comprehensive Health Services Program began Monday night, the work of developing an effective program, and meeting charges leveled at members by Frank Carlucci, director of the Office of Economic Opportunity...The lone murder case to be investigated, the problem of pollution and the county�s whiskey traffic were targets of Circuit Judge Hollie Conley in his instructions to the grand jury Monday morning when circuit court opened its April criminal term...The Floyd County Board of Education at its Saturday meeting accepted plans for the seven-room Martin school building, subject to approval by the State Department of Education�s Division of Buildings and Grounds...The movie �Love Story� was causing much wailing and gnashing of teeth as audiences packed the theatre here for the second week in a row...There died: William Bailey, 70, of Eastern, last Wednesday at McDowell; Silas Crum, 58, of Martin, Sunday at McDowell; George (Judge) Bush, 72, of Martin, last Tuesday here; Stella May Bloomer Cline, 71, of Lancer, Sunday here; George Webb, 70, of Wayland, Sunday at McDowell; Samuel Arthur Bentley, 66, of Lackey, Monday; Minday Lawson, 63, of Honaker, last Tuesday here; Bessie Elizabeth Hall, 49, of Grethel, Sunday at Pikeville; W. L. (Will) Akers, 77, of Dana, Monday at home; Susie A. Kidd, 72, of Lorain, O., formerly of this county, Friday at Amherst, O.; Mike Bakay, 67, of Weeksbury, last Wednesday at McDowell; Joseph S. Dingus, 90, formerly of this county, March 27 in Orlando,Fla.; Bascom Conley, 77, of Martin, Monday at Martin; Pete Hammonds, 72, of Allen, Monday at Martin.

April 1, 1971

A gathering which crowded P.A.C.E. headquarters at Allen, Sunday afternoon, heard talks and testimony which condemned some area hospitals in particular, and the medical profession in general...There were 7590 low-income persons in Floyd County�roughly, 20 percent of the county�s population�receiving aid through the U.S. Department of Agriculture�s food stamp program in January as compared to 7285 in December, the USDA�s Food and Nutrition Service reports...Floyd County�s schools, this year, have experienced the smallest drop in pupil enrollment in the last seven years, but the figures indicate that no new teachers will be required for next year...Reinstatement Monday by President Nixon of the Davis-Bacon Act is believed to have cleared the way for the Kentucky Department of Highways to proceed on schedule with advertising for bids on construction of the sector of new US 23 between Prestonsburg and Allen...Born: to Mr. and Mrs. Doug Salyers, a daughter, Stephanie Dawn, March 27 at Prestonsburg General Hospital...There died: James Lawrence Spears Sr., 79, of Harold, Tuesday; Mrs. Goldie Gertrude Allen, 73, of Minnie, last Monday; Homer Whitaker, 57, of Hueysville, Friday; Jessie M. Sparks Baldridge, 58, of Price, Monday; Rosa Belle Lewis, 82, of Banner, Sunday; Mrs. Arrena Hicks Davis, of Pyramid, 82, last Tuesday; Mrs. Louise Alley Martin, 80, of Lexington, formerly of Grethel, last Saturday; Mrs. Minnie Evans, 68, of Grethel, last Tuesday; Elder Pink Osborne, 85, of East McDowell, Monday; James W. Alley, 78, of Prestonsburg, Sunday; Mrs. Cordova Sparks Tallent, 78, of Estill, last Wednesday; Pete Hammonds, 72, of Allen, Monday.

March 25, 1971

A fire last Tuesday damaged a section of the historic Garfield Place, Prestonsburg home of Mrs. Claude P. Stephens. Students from the nearby grade school pitched in to help remove the many antiques and items of historic interest from within the structure...Bids on construction of a five-story, 32-unit housing facility for the elderly at Martin have for the second time been rejected as too high...McDowell High School�s Daredevils upheld the prestige of 15th Region basketball in strong fashion at last week�s Kentucky state high school tournament which was won for the second year in a row by Male of Louisville. The Floyd County team missed a place in the semi-finals by an eyelash in its overtime game against Anderson County...Coffee was $1.49 for a 5-lb. bag in grocery ads this week...Born: to Mr. and Mrs. Jim Carter, of Prestonsburg, a daughter, Susan Raye, March 10; to Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Jones, of Melvin, a son, March 10...There died; Tony Calhoun, 46, of Water Gap, last Thursday; Alpha (Speck) Mullins, 71, of Drift, Friday; Paul C. (Cute) Hager, 59, of Auxier, Monday; Johnnie Stegall, 66, of Hi Hat, Saturday; Mrs. Icie M. Damron, 47, of Long Beach, Calif.; formerly of Weeksbury, Tuesday; John (Spider) Dillon, 68, of Water Gap, Saturday.

March 18, 1971

Prestonsburg High School, Monday morning, had the first bomb scare experienced in the Floyd school system when a threat was received by telephone. The building was quickly evacuated and a search made before classwork was resumed...Coach Pete Grigsby�s McDowell team, ranked among the top 10 in the state all season, proved its mettle by defeating Maytown in the district meet here, and then easily downing Pikeville High in the 15th region playoffs at Johnson Central, Paintsville, last Saturday night, 82 to 52...A continuing drive to raise the $25,000 necessary for the completion of the Floyd County War Memorial at Archer Park here will be taken to every part of the county, Estill Lee Carter, chairman of the fund-raising committee, said Monday...New Proposals to regulate surface-mine drainage, blasting, and coal prospecting were announced by Elmore Grim, director of the Reclamation Division of the state Department of Natural Resources...Spec. Four Gary Shepherd, son of Mr. and Mrs. Columbus Shepherd, of David, recently received the Army Commendation Medal in Vietnam...There died: Mrs. Nancy Johnson Bryant, 86, of Hi Hat, Tuesday at a nursing home here; Mrs. Anna Short Fitzpatrick, 71, of Flatwoods, formerly of Prestonsburg, at a hospital here, Saturday; Mrs. Vera Alma Damron, 45, of Harold, at a Pikeville hospital, Wednesday; Vernon Bates, 21, of Puncheon, was electrocuted Saturday while climbing a utility pole; W. L. (Dock) Hamilton, 72, of Ashland, O., formerly of Honaker, in Ashland Saturday; Milt Lewis, 72, of Betsy Layne, Wednesday at Pikeville; Walter Hamilton, 37, of Teaberry, Saturday at his home; Miles M. Branham, 80, of Prestonsburg, Saturday at a Pikeville hospital; Mrs. Cleo Mae Wilson, 50, of Wayland, Tuesday at a Martin hospital; Mrs. Donna Ratliff, 74, of Risner, Sunday at home.

March 11, 1971

The McDowell Daredevils won the 58th district basketball tournament here last Saturday night, 79 to 68, over their strongest Floyd County rivals, the Maytown Wildcats. In this county for a series of meetings last week, Dr. Leon Cooper, Washington, D.C., said that the Floyd County Health Services Program �will have to be changed very much, or it will not be funded after August 1.�...The Floyd County Board of Education had assembled for its monthly meeting last Saturday afternoon and was presumably ready to accept architect�s plans for a seven-room gradeschool building at Martin, when a temporary restraining order barred any immediate action on the proposed structure...Floyd County may not be split, after all, in the redistricting of Kentucky�s House districts at the current special session of the General Assembly...Grady Stumbo, of McDowell, who had to fight to get into the University of Kentucky�s College of Medicine, now is a leader of UK Medical students and is the co-founder and a director of the Appalachian Program of the Student American Medical Association there...In Lexington last week, Ervin Akers, Dana contractor, was the recipient of an honorary doctor of engineering degree...The Postal Service has proposed rate increases which would put the postal system on a sound financial basis...There were 7,285 low-income people in Floyd County on the U.S. Department of Agriculture�s Food Stamp Program in December, as compared to 4,726 receiving assistance during the same period a year earlier...Detective Sgt. J. E. Combs retired Monday from the Kentucky State Police after 32 years of service...There died: Michael Dean Brown, 27, Democratic candidate for Clerk of the Court of Appeals, died Sunday at Our Lady of the Way Hospital, Martin, the apparent victim of injuries suffered in an auto accident near Wayland; Mrs. Amy Lee Hall Turner, 41, of Drift, last Wednesday in Bethesda, Md.; Mrs. Eliza Patton Allen, 89, Saturday at her home at Garrett; Mrs. Margaret Johnson Puckett, 82, of Wayland, Saturday in a Martin hospital; Charlie Salisbury, 84, at his home at Hunter, Friday; Mrs. Olive Mae Everage, 52, of Martin, in a McDowell hospital last Wednesday; Ellis Conley, 83, of Waverly, O., veteran Floyd County teacher, Monday in a Columbus, O. hospital; Harve McKinney, 67, of Printer, in a Martin hospital Tuesday; Mrs. Lydia Meade, 82, of Hi Hat, Sunday in a McDowell hospital.

March 4, 1971

The National Steel Corporation has acquired Evans Industries of Kentucky and its associated companies, it was announced last week. Approximately 5,000 tons of 12-inch pipe were being unloaded at Martin this week in anticipation of the beginning of work next week on the laying of water mains for the Beaver-Elkhorn Water District into both Beaver Creek sections and the area between Allen and Martin...The Supreme Court declined Monday to hear the appeal filed by Appalachian Volunteers Inc., and Volunteers in Service to Americans (VISTA) from this county from the decision of lower federal courts on the status of a Kentucky court injunction against them...The discharge of Dr. Arnold Schecter as director of the Floyd County Comprehensive Health Program was approved last Thursday by the Office of Health Affairs...There died: Lee B. Osborne Jr., of Indianapolis, Ind., formerly of East McDowell, January 27; Johnnie Mullins, 47, of Dema, Thursday, after a long illness; Harlis Conley, 54, of Iselin, N.J., formerly of Garrett, February 20 in Iselin; Lizzie Walters, 82, of Lancer, in a Prestonsburg hospital, Monday; Turner Vance Jr., 48, of Bypro, Tuesday while inspecting a mine at Grethel; Eugene Hall, 27, of Beaver, Thursday in a mining accident at East McDowell; Crockett Branham, 65, of Wheelwright, Wednesday in a Louisville Hospital; James Kidd, 75, of Harold, last Thursday; Miss Goldie Elkins, 68, of Prestonsburg, Wednesday at Mountain Manor Nursing Home.

February 25, 1971

The Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO) last week approved a $984,740 grant to the embattled Floyd County Comprehensive Health Services Program to fund its operation from last September till July, this year...Prestonsburg�s City Council last Thursday evening approved a contract with George Lee Shannon, Prestonsburg architect, authorizing him to proceed with plans for a city hall to cost not more than $300,000...When Floyd county�s eight high school basketball teams hit the tournament trail, beginning next Wednesday evening at the Prestonsburg fieldhouse, it will have in opposite brackets McDowell with 6-10 sophomore Steve Smith, and Maytown with talented Pat Tallent...Misses Mary and Ann Reed of Drift, daughters of Mr. and Mrs. B. A. Reed, are among the Georgetown College students who qualified for the honor roll there during the first semester...Lt. Col. Ronald H. Smiley, son of Mrs. Otelia S. Smiley, of Prestonsburg, and the late V. A. Smiley, received the Meritorious Service Medal at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas, recently...One of the most highly regarded members of the Columbus College (Ga.) basketball team is Morton Adkins Jr., son of Mr. and Mrs. Morton Adkins, of Langley...Country music vocalist Loretta Lynn and an all-star cast will present a benefit performance on behalf of the families of 38 miners killed in a mine explosion near Hyden, December 30...Born: To Mr. and Mrs. Paul Hunt Thompson of Prestonsburg, their first child, a son, Paul Norman, Saturday; to Mr. and Mrs. Willard Caudill, of Marion, O.; their first child, a daughter, Denise...There died: Terry Lamar Moore, whose body was recovered early Wednesday morning by members of the Floyd County Emergency and Rescue Squad and fellow workers several hours ater a mining accident Tuesday evening...Robert Lee Shepherd, 59, specialist in horticulture for the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture and former Floyd teacher, died last Thursday in Lexington; Mrs. Esta Boyd Pomeroy, 62, formerly of this county, was shot and killed February 8 by two holdup men at the store she and her husband operated in Cincinnati; Mrs. Ginevra Williams James, 80, of Prestonsburg, died Friday; James Younce, 54, of Melvin, died at a McDowell hospital; Mrs. Susie Adkins, 62, of Sydney, O., formerly of Langley, Thursday; Mrs. Louisa Gunnells, 87, at her home at Stanville Thursday; Oscar B. Fraley, 66, of Betsy Layne, in Pikeville, Feb. 10; A. Reed, 75, of Paintsville, Saturday; Nick L. Damron, 59, of Pike County, Thursday.

February 18, 1971

Official 1970 U.S. Bureau of the Census figures released this week show that Floyd County suffered a population loss of 13.8 percent between the 1960 census and last year�s head-count...Last Wednesday�s meeting at Paintsville of the executive and planning committees of the Floyd County Comprehensive Health Services Program with Big Sandy CAP and representatives of two state agencies developed on occasion into what was described as a �shouting match�...Schools of the county were open again Tuesday after 12 of the 15 teaching days in the last three weeks have been lost because of snowfall and icy roads...Born: to Mr. and Mrs. Bobby Ray Damron of Tram, a son, Jan.30; to Mr. and Mrs. Bill J. Tussey, a son, James Brent, Feb. 5 at Central Baptist Hospital, Lexington...There died: John Morgan Rainey, 60, of the Goble-Roberts Addition, Prestonsburg, last Wednesday at Lexington; Wilburn Johnson, 48, of Teaberry, Feb. 7 at Lexington; Carl Comstock, 75, of Louisville, formerly of Allen, Saturday at Louisville; Asa Carl Treadway, 80, Wednesday at his home at Melvin; Mrs. Martha M. Reffitt, 72, of Blue River, Saturday at Prestonsburg; Sol DeRossett, 74, of Water Gap, Sunday at Prestonsburg; Charlie Jones, 70, of Hueysville, Feb. 8 at Martin; Mrs. Booksy Cordial, 74, of Wayland, Sunday at McDowell Appalachian Regional Hospital; Bee Reynolds, 65, of Ligon, Wednesday, Feb. 10 at McDowell Appalachian Regional Hospital; James A. Baldridge, 68, of East Point, Sunday at Prestonsburg.

February 11, 1971

Special Judge Major Gardner will preside here Friday morning at the hearing of the suit filed last August 4 by Martin citizens seeking a mandatory injunction to require the Floyd County Board of Education to begin construction of an 18-room grade school building and gymnasium at Martin...The first Floyd County mine fatality of the year was recorded last Wednesday morning when Lonnie Jones Jr., 43, of Hi Hat was killed in the No. 2 mine of the Island Creek Coal Company as Price...There died: Eddie Greer, 63, of Martin; Rev. Dillard Reed, 74, of Lackey; Crockett Mullins, 63, of Bypro; Josephine Hereford Pack, 68, formerly of Prestonsburg; Lewis Branham, 75, of Prestonsburg; Harmon Synder, 62, of Hi Hat; Arthur Isaac, 53, of Wheelwright; Brooks Sydney Bryant, 48, of Hi Hat; Mrs. Edna Phillips Younce, 90, of Water Gap; Milt Holbrook, 85, of West Prestonsburg; Pink Akers, 63, of East McDowell; William Turner, 89, of Minnie; Mrs. Sally Ann Hicks, 73, of Wayland; S. M. (Monroe) Ousley,81, of Martin; Margaret Harmon Dixon, 83, of Prestonsburg; Herbert Hicks, 65, of Louisa; Banner Woods, 89, of Endicott.

February 4, 1971

Congressman Carl D. Perkins announced last week that the federal budget for 1972 includes an appropriation of $850,000 for the Martin stream project... Fire caused considerable damage to Strahan�s Studio here last Wednesday... Elder Goble has announced his retirement as executive director of the County A.S.C. Committee after 30 years work there. Virginia Howard succeeds him... Dr. Arnold Schecter was ousted Jan. 25 as director of the Floyd County Comprehensive Health Program... Born: to Mr. and Mrs. Bun Montgomery Jr. at Mt. Sterling, Dec. 10, their second child, first daughter, Julie Carol... There died: Chad Balton, 77, formerly of Martin, last Wednesday in a Xenia, Ohio, hospital; Elba Case, 45, of Honaker, Saturday at Veterans Hospital, Huntington, W. Va.; James Raymond Crisp, 22, of Drift, former radio announcer, here, at the U.K. Medical Center last Thursday.

(January 28, 1971

Striking employees of the Island Creek Coal Company at Wheelwright, Price and Spurlock returned to work at 12:01 Monday morning and thereby evaded what might have been heavy fines for contempt of court... Completion of Prestonsburg�s third low-rent housing complex has been delayed by four to five months because of financial difficulties encountered by the low bidder on the project, and now it appears the work will not be finished before May... Representatives of the Big Sandy Community Action Program and the Floyd County Comprehensive Health Services Program were told in Washington last week by the Office of Economic Opportunity that the pilot health program will be funded for the period, Nov. 1, 1970 through July 31, this year, but that the funds so promised � approximately $800,000 � will not arrive immediately... Born: to Mr. and Mrs. Aaron DeRossett, of Allen, a daughter, Aaronda Kay, Jan. 5 at the Methodist Hospital, Pikeville; to Mr. and Mrs. Ivan Green, of Orkney, a daughter, Jan. 15; to Mr. and Mrs. Town Hall, of Craynor, a son, Jan. 15; to Mr. and Mrs. William C. Estep, of Auxier, a son, William Samuel, Jan. 17 at Prestonsburg General Hospital; to Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Thompson, a daughter, Alisha Renee, Jan. 21 at Portsmouth, O.; to Mr. and Mrs. Sammy Ealey Jr., of Warsaw, Ind., a daughter, Michelle Lee, Jan. 18... There died: Virgie McCombs Davidson, 78, formerly of Prestonsburg, Friday at Pikeville; Thelma Wright, 57, Sunday at her home at Hi Hat; Pearlie Akers, 68, formerly of this section, last Thursday in Ravenna, O.; Gladys Flannery Sole, 61, Floyd native, Saturday at Clearwater, Fla.; Harrison Hunley, 81, of Betsy Layne, last Thursday here; Samuel L. Wells, 77, former city councilman here, last Wednesday; Leroy Combs, 60, formerly of Prestonsburg, last Wednesday in Dallas, Texas; Clyde Howell, 49, formerly of Estill, last Tuesday at his home in Anderson, Ind.; Sondra Lynn Adkins, 5, of Printer, last Tuesday; Verdie Mae Kidd, 50, of Grethel, last Wednesday at Pikeville; Myrtle McKinney, 88, of Harold, Friday at Pikeville; Isabel �Sis� Brown, 96, of McDowell, last Thursday in Chillicothe, O.; Dora B. Gibson, 74, of David, last Thursday at Martin; Charles L. �Buck� Osborne, 56, of Martin, last Tuesday there.

January 21, 1971

A sewer system and sewage disposal plant to serve the same area of the county into which the Beaver-Elkhorn Water District will lay 82 miles of water mains within the next 18 months is envisioned in an application for federal funds filed Jan. 10, J.C. Wells, of Estill, leader in the huge improvement program, said this week...The Island Creek Coal Company filed separate petitions Monday, for restraining orders against two local unions representing almost 500 of its striking employees...A gathering of Floyd Democrats which packed the county courtroom here last Friday night named County Clerk C. �Ollie� Robinson chairman of the Bert Combs campaign for governor in this county, with Circuit Clerk Frank DeRossett and Jailer Lawrence Hale as co-chairman...Development of a War Memorial area at Archer Park here has advanced to the point that work may be begun soon on the bronze plaque bearing the names of Floyd County�s war dead...Born: to Mr. and Mrs. Jack Stumbo, of Prestonsburg, a son, David Hill, January 2 in Lexington; to Mr. and Mrs. Paul Slone, of Prestonsburg, a son, Kevin Lee, December 14 in Lexington; to Mr. and Mrs. Paul D. Stepp, of Louisville, a son, Brian Douglas, December 21; to Mr. and Mrs. Jerry Rayal, of Ada, O., a daughter, Trecia Renna, December 28; to Mr. and Mrs. Palmer Hall, of Orkney, a daughter, Jan. 7; to Mr. and Mrs. Barry Auxier, of East McDowell, a daughter, Jan. 9...There died: Florence Brown Spradlin, 84, of Prestonsburg, Sunday; Mrs. Minnie Amburgey, 79, of Martin, last Monday at Sydney, O.; Rosie Collins Wells, 87, of Auxier, Jan. 7; Elder Henry Porter, 71, of Allen, Saturday; Mrs. Edith Huffman, 68, of Orkney, Thursday; John �Long John� Shepherd, 62, of David, last Friday; Johnny Slone, 59, of Hueysville, last Tuesday at Martin.

January 14, 1971

A tentative agreement reached Monday between two mine locals at mines of the Patsy Development Co. of David, may have ended a work stoppage there which also had spread to mines of the Island Creek Coal Company on Left Beaver Creek and idled more than 700 workers... Commonwealth Attorney Harold J. Stumbo said Monday that he is inviting all peace officers to meet with him at his office in the courthouse next Wednesday in an effort to establish coordination and cooperation between the court and enforcement officers... There died: Dollie Belcher, 63 of Garrett; Rachel Slone, 90, of Pippa Passes; Rev. Steve Walker, 95, of West Prestonsburg; Leon Moore, 52, of Wheelwright; Virgie P. Maynard, 73, formerly of Floyd County; and Henry B. Robinson, 83, of Martin.