-
Countywide strategic plan moves from input to action
BY ROGER SMITH MOUNTAIN CITIZEN INEZ — Martin County residents will have three more chances this spring to help shape a countywide strategic plan. Led by the University of Kentucky and Blueprint Kentucky, the effort that began is shifting from public input to action steps and final recommendations. Organizers will hold the remaining public sessions…
-
Martin County accepts sheriff’s annual fee settlement
BY ROGER SMITH MOUNTAIN CITIZEN INEZ — Martin County Fiscal Court accepted Sheriff John Kirk’s 2025 excess fees settlement during a special meeting March 26. The annual report showed the sheriff’s office ended the year with $53.23 in excess fees, no unpaid obligations and no outstanding debts. The settlement shows the office’s fee account received…
-
Martin County Fiscal Court handles bids, board appointments, business in special session
BY ROGER SMITH MOUNTAIN CITIZEN INEZ — Martin County Fiscal Court approved board appointments, awarded mowing contracts and advanced several other business items during a special meeting March 26. Magistrates approved Judge/Executive Lon Lafferty’s reappointment of John Hensley and Colby Kirk to the Martin County Utility Board. The court also approved Karen Thoma to fill…
-
Needed first step on feral horse problem
For years, Martin County has lived with a contradiction. Free-roaming horses have become part of the county’s identity. People stop to photograph them. Visitors admire them. Officials have even pointed to them as part of the county’s rural charm. At the same time, those same horses have posed a real and growing danger on public…
-
Remembering the COVID shutdown
It has been six years, but it sometimes feels like only a few weeks ago. The world stopped due to the Coronavirus pandemic, and everything came to a complete halt during the shutdown. It began in March 2020, when the COVID-19 virus began spreading throughout the United States and the world. You may not remember…
-
Martin County court docket
INEZ — Judge John T. Chafin heard the following cases March 23 and March 24 in Martin District Court: Laura Victoria Giacomoni (arraignment) — Criminal trespassing, third degree: Pleaded guilty, defendant to pay $100 fine and cost, stay off the property of Maxwell Moore, show cause 9/8/26 at 10 a.m. Paul Hinkle (motion hour) —…
-
Martin County civil suits, deeds and marriages
INEZ — Martin Circuit Clerk Denise Gauze reported 10 the civil suits filed in her office through March 26. Meanwhile, Martin County Clerk Susie Skyles reported three deeds and one marriage recorded in her office through March 25. Civil Suits Charles Davis vs. Debbie Bowes et al. Charles Davis vs. Theodore Dalton Jr. et al.…
-
District spelling bee crowns top young wordsmiths
INEZ — Martin County’s top young wordsmiths gathered Thursday in the Martin County High School auditorium for the School District Spelling Bee to compete for district honors. When the final word was spelled, Paige Stafford of Eden Elementary, a sixth-grader, claimed first place and the title of district spelling bee champion. Kennedy Mills, an eighth-grader…
-
Easter, Savannah Guthrie, Tiger Woods and you
BY DR. GLENN MOLLETTE Millions of people around the world will celebrate Easter on Sunday. When I was a child, I enjoyed watching my mother color eggs. She would boil them, let them cool and color them. Numerous family members would gather at my grandparents and we would hide and hunt Easter eggs. When I was…
-
Martin County Health Department hosts septic system refresher course
BY DOROTHY DILLON The Martin County Health Department recently hosted a Septic System Refresher Course, continuing its efforts to support community health through education and public service. The course, led by Patrick Boyd, brought together attendees from across Eastern Kentucky and provided updated information on proper septic system maintenance, emphasizing its importance in protecting local…
