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Martin County Middle Cards baseball opens 1-1
BY BRITTNI MCCOY MOUNTAIN CITIZEN Martin County Middle School opened its baseball season with a split in its first two games. The Cards took down Belfry 6-1 on March 19 before falling to Adams 10-1 on March 23 to begin the year 1-1. Kooper Sturgill set the tone in the opener, going 2-for-2 with a…
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When the roads ran coal black
A patch of spilled coal on a Martin County roadway Monday was enough to stop more than traffic. It stirred memories. For those who have lived here long enough, coal scattered on the pavement was once no sight at all. It was ordinary. Coal trucks rumbled the roads daily. Loose chunks bounced from overloaded beds.…
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Frontier Housing fails to deliver jobs, says EDA chair
BY ROGER SMITH MOUNTAIN CITIZEN INEZ — Nine months after Frontier Housing leased the speculative building at the Eastern Kentucky Business Park in Debord, Martin County Economic Development Authority Chairman James Ayers said the project has produced neither the jobs nor the activity the board was led to expect. Speaking at the EDA’s March 11…
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Murder trial set May 4 in killing of West Virginia trooper
BY ANNIE HOLLER MOUNTAIN CITIZEN WILLIAMSON, W.Va. — A Matewan man accused in the 2023 killing of a West Virginia State Police sergeant is scheduled to stand trial May 4 in Mingo County Circuit Court after a case marked by delays, a failed venue-change effort and a mistrial last year. Timothy Kennedy Jr., 32, has…
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Tomahawk man gets two-year prison sentence in stolen ATV case
BY ROGER SMITH MOUNTAIN CITIZEN INEZ — A Tomahawk man was sentenced March 19 in Martin Circuit Court to two years in prison for his role in a stolen ATV case dating back to 2023. Rush Fraley, 49, pleaded guilty Feb. 5 to receiving stolen property valued at $1,000 to $10,000/complicity, a Class D felony.…
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Lovely man draws six-year prison sentence in fentanyl case
BY ROGER SMITH MOUNTAIN CITIZEN INEZ — A Martin County man drew a six-year prison sentence March 19 in Martin Circuit Court after pleading guilty to a fentanyl trafficking charge. Henry Butcher, 27, of Lovely, received the sentence after pleading guilty Feb. 5, 2026, to first-degree trafficking in a controlled substance (over 2 grams of…
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Martin County arrest report
CITIZEN STAFF REPORT INEZ — Martin County Sheriff John Kirk’s Office reported the following arrests: Erin A. Kugel, 23, was arrested March 21 on Long Branch Road in Lovely on a bench warrant from Magoffin District Court. Deputy JC Kirk served the warrant at 6:50 p.m. Ashley R. Salmons, 34, of Tomahawk, was arrested March…
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Coal truck spills load in Inez
Traffic control underway Monday at the KY-645 ramp near Coldwater in Inez after a coal truck lost some of its load on the roadway. (Citizen photo by Roger Smith)
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Family still seeks answers in unsolved homicide of Melissa Wolford
BY ANNIE HOLLER MOUNTAIN CITIZEN PHELPS — More than two years after a hunter found 42-year-old Melissa Wolford slain near her burned pickup truck in a Pike County hollow, her family is still searching for answers. In the quiet, close-knit community of Phelps, where homes in the hills can sit a mile apart and generations…
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State awards replacement of Mollett Branch bridge
BY ROGER SMITH MOUNTAIN CITIZEN TOMAHAWK — A narrow one-lane bridge over Rockhouse Fork in Tomahawk that officials say is unsafe for emergency vehicles is slated for replacement at no cost to Martin County. The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet notified Martin County Judge/Executive Lon Lafferty in a letter that the Mollett Branch bridge “has been awarded…
