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Martin County lands historic $26M WWATERS funding
BY ROGER SMITH MOUNTAIN CITIZEN INEZ — For years, Martin County’s water crisis was measured in indignities. Brown water in bathtubs. Buckets carried up hillsides. Faucets that could not be trusted. A community forced to document its own hardship again and again, hoping that somewhere beyond the mountains, someone in power would finally pay attention.…
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Fear lingers in the shadows of overflowing water tank
Inez resident says a rusted hilltop storage tank could trigger another disaster like the mudslide that destroyed his parents’ home. BY LISA STAYTON MOUNTAIN CITIZEN INEZ — On top of the hill above Okey Mills Jr.’s home on Turkey Creek Mountain, a rusted steel water tank leaks and overflows, sending water down the slope to…
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Martin County Judge/Executive makes plea for $10 million federal aid to replace asbestos water lines
BY ROGER SMITH MOUNTAIN CITIZEN INEZ — Martin County Judge/Executive Lon Lafferty is asking U.S. Representative Harold Rogers (R-KY-05) for a $10 million earmark in the 2025 federal budget to rid the county of asbestos concrete water lines. Asbestos lines in the Martin County Water District were installed with the original water system in Inez…
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Martin County water woes: A cry for help unanswered by Kentucky legislators (CORRECTION)
Last week, the Mountain Citizen erroneously stated in the editorial space that State Representative Bobby McCool chose to “abstain from voting” on Gov. Andy Beshear’s $12 million budget allocation for water projects in Martin County. The following article corrects the use of the terms “abstain” and “abstention” by stating Representative McCool was “absent from the…
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Martin County faces water crisis
Freezing causes countywide outage BY ROGER SMITH MOUNTAIN CITIZEN INEZ — Martin County is in the throes of a severe water crisis as crews work tirelessly around the clock to address widespread leaks in the public water system caused by sub-freezing temperatures. The emergency prompted a countywide shutdown Saturday, leaving all Martin County residents without…
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Governor’s proposed budget allocates $12 million for Martin County water
BY PHILL BARNETT MOUNTAIN CITIZEN During Gov. Andy Beshear’s Team Kentucky update Jan. 18, the governor laid out the differences in the budgets proposed by his administration and the budget proposed by the House of Representatives. Gov. Beshear’s proposed budget allocated $12 million specifically for Martin County water projects, a significant and direct investment in…
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Martin County Water Crisis: Main line break, freezing temps lead to outages
BY ROGER SMITH MOUNTAIN CITIZEN INEZ — Martin County residents have been grappling with water outages since Saturday, with the situation escalating due to freezing temperatures affecting the water supply. Outages began Saturday evening, followed by an emergency alert from the Martin County Water District at 4:25 p.m. The alert stated an 8-inch main line…
