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Martin County Fiscal Court adopts $11.3M budget
BY ROGER SMITH MOUNTAIN CITIZEN INEZ — The Martin County Fiscal Court adopted an $11.3 million budget for the 2026 fiscal year during a June 18 special meeting. “It’s essentially the same budget that we had last year,” Judge/Executive Lon Lafferty said. “We wanted to be able to provide raises for our folks, but, unfortunately,
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Martin County Harvest Fest promises biggest carnival yet
BY ROGER SMITH MOUNTAIN CITIZEN INEZ — Warm weather and festivals are the perfect match. So get excited because the Martin County Harvest Festival is returning to Court Street in September with its biggest carnival yet. Set for Sept. 12 and 13, the festival will feature carnival rides, delicious food, a vendors market, live music
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Bluegrass opens summer series
BY ROGER SMITH MOUNTAIN CITIZEN INEZ — Court Street came alive with the sound of fiddles, banjos and flatfooting Friday evening as local musician Jared Goforth of Inez welcomed fellow musicians to the first Bluegrass Jam Session in a new summer series sponsored by Martin County Tourism and Recreation. The event drew musicians and spectators
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Soil Conservation District reports funding for Martin County farmers
BY ROGER SMITH MOUNTAIN CITIZEN INEZ — For three-quarters of a century, the Martin County Soil Conservation District has worked to show local farmers that every shovelful of earth can shape their future. On June 18, its chairman Tom Dials stood before the Fiscal Court with a $157,914 budget for the upcoming fiscal year. He
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Traffic stop unravels in Warfield
BY ROGER SMITH MOUNTAIN CITIZEN WARFIELD — A straightforward traffic stop spiraled into shouted threats, footraces and a daring escape from a police cruiser June 11 at Warfield Park. Deputy Steven Putman of the Martin County Sheriff’s Office first stopped Gabriel Cooper, 31, of Thelma. The deputy was sitting at Warfield City Hall when Cooper cruised past
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$1B hydropower project to create 2,300 temporary jobs
BY ROGER SMITH MOUNTAIN CITIZEN PINEVILLE — A $1 billion energy infrastructure project in Eastern Kentucky is moving forward in Bell County. Shaping Our Appalachian Region (SOAR) announced Monday that Rye Development has submitted its final license application to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for the Lewis Ridge Pumped Storage Project. The submission marks
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Kermit water flows again to East Kermit after a decade; full-scale plant revival in progress
BY ROGER SMITH MOUNTAIN CITIZEN KERMIT, W.Va. — For the first time in a decade, households in East Kermit are drinking water drawn and treated in their own town again. “On Friday, Kermit water was turned on for the first time in 10 years, back to the people of East Kermit,” Mayor Charles Sparks announced.
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Champs do not need hashtags: Martin County seniors compete in Big Sandy Senior Games
BY ROGER SMITH MOUNTAIN CITIZEN Martin County participants at this year’s Big Sandy Senior Games—the 38th—remembered how to win without a hashtag. They hauled home a truckload of metals, making sure everyone from Pikeville to Prestonsburg knew where Inez was on the map. Hosted each spring by the Big Sandy Area Development District, the Senior
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Sleigh Cancer tops last year’s fundraising total
BY ROGER SMITH MOUNTAIN CITIZEN INEZ — The second annual Sleigh Cancer Awareness Festival surpassed last year’s fundraising totals Friday in Inez. The event proved that even in the rain, Give Like Santa and the community do not back down from the fight against cancer. Matthew and Angela Ising—known as Santa and Mrs. Claus and
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Treed by ‘coons, man nabbed after wreck
BY ROGER SMITH MOUNTAIN CITIZEN INEZ — A Martin County man went to jail early Sunday morning after authorities found him perched in a tree 30 feet above the ground. The man claimed he had fled from raccoons, police said. Deputy Steven Putman of the Martin County Sheriff’s Office responded to Delong Fannin Road around
