Juveniles Charged for Shooting Horses
Hearing Set to Determine Whether to Try Teens as Adults in the Case

by JoBeth Wampler
Staff Reporter 
  Two male juveniles have been arrested and charged in the January 25 shooting of seven horses belonging to a Breaks Stable horse owner, according to Detective Richard Ray of the Pike County Sheriff's Office.
  The two Pike County high school students, who were 17 years of age at the time of the shooting, face misdemeanor animal cruelty and felony criminal mischief charges.
  Both boys have allegedly signed affidavits, admitting their guilt, according to the Appalachian News Express, a Pikeville, Ky., newspaper.
  They were transported to the Breathitt County Juvenile Detention Center in Jackson, Ky., on January 31, where they await a hearing in the case.
  A hearing has reportedly been set for Friday, when it will be determined whether the youths will be tried as adults.
  Three horses were killed in the shooting and four others are still recovering from injuries sustained after they were shot – some of them multiple times.
  Trish Hayes, who brings the horses to the stable operated at the Breaks Interstate Park every summer, was alerted by a friend the day after the shooting that something was wrong with her horses when the friend called her to tell her the herd had been moving and come down the mountain sweaty and agitated. She also reported it appeared some of the horses were bleeding.
  Hayes said she went to the home, about six miles away, at the edge of dark to find a bloody trail of hoof prints leading to the herd. Tire marks indicated the shooter apparently gained access to the site by vehicle. Hayes said as she followed the bloody trail, she found some of the horses which had fallen. One had been shot in the gut, another, in the head and one, through the eyes.
  Hayes said her herd – 28 horses in all – were wintering on a strip job site at Beaver, Ky., just outside of Elkhorn City, Ky., when seven of them were shot.
  One horse, she said, had about 15 rounds in it; and another was shot six times. One was shot in the throat and may not live, she added.
  Minx, Odie and Ghost died and Blondie and Moody Blues are still touch and go as to whether they will survive, Hayes said. Two others, Red and Sparky, were also shot, but are expected to survive.
  Hayes complimented the efforts of Pike County, Ky., veterinarian Joey Collins for his efforts to help the horses wounded in the shootings.
  She said the horses have wintered at the Beaver location for the past 17 years.
  Ray said the area where the horses were being pastured also used to be a landfill, which has since been reclaimed and turned into pastureland.
  "A lot of people in the community are outraged," Hayes added. "I've never seen anything like this . . . it's beyond cruel."
  The investigation was conducted by Ray and Chief Deputy Melvin Sayers of the Pike County Sheriff's Office.

Approval Given on Renovation Feasibility Studies
Whitewood, Harman Buildings Targeted

by Cathy St. Clair
News Editor  
  Projects at two former school buildings in Buchanan County – one at Whitewood and the other at Harman – were given the green light, allowing their sponsors to apply for planning grants to determine the feasibility of renovating the buildings for other uses.
  Belinda Honaker and Judy Horn, of Buchanan Youth Outreach, were given the authority to apply for a $25,000 feasibility and architectural design study grant to look at developing the old Whitewood school as an assisted living facility.
  People Inc. Director Rob Goldsmith was given the green light to apply for a planning grant to look at converting the old Harman Elementary School into apartments for the elderly.
  In discussing the Whitewood project, Honaker noted that planners are looking to restore, preserve and to bring jobs to the facility by making it an assisted living home. She asked that the board of supervisors agree to be the grant recipient and she asked for the county’s support of the project, which she added would help BCYO in obtaining future funding for the project.
  County Administrator W.J. Caudill expressed concern about the impact any planning grant received might have on the cap the county is under related to Community Development Block Grant funding, however, Louis Ballenberger, of the Cumberland Plateau Planning District, noted that planning grants are not considered toward the cap amount allowed to any one county for CDBG funding.
  Honaker noted that BCYO had received some private donations and she added that there are other areas from which funds are being sought, including through the General Assembly. She noted the group is also working on an application to submit to the Thompson Foundation. Additionally, she said there were possibilities that tax credits might be available through the Historical Resources Commission. Rural Development has also visited the school and done a walk-through there, Honaker explained.
  Garden Supervisor Buddy Fuller noted that People Inc. had previously done a study on the Whitewood school and he suggested that Honaker and Horn check with Goldsmith to determine the results of that.
  He said as he recalled, workforce housing was what the People Inc. study recommended, however, he said the community didn’t support that use of the building, and consequently People Inc. dropped the project.
  In fact, however, the project discussed publicly at that time was for low income housing to be developed in the school and People Inc. did drop the project after the community opposed that use for the building.
  Fuller wished Honaker and Horn luck in the project and he made the motion to authorize the application for the planning grant on behalf of Buchanan Youth Outreach. Rocklick Supervisor David Ratliff made the second. The vote was unanimous.
  On the Harman school project, Goldsmith approached the board to suggest the old Harman school might be renovated to provide apartment housing for the elderly.
  He said the Harman study would focus on architectural work needed, and a market study to determine interest, as well as need.
  Additionally, he said, People Inc. representatives would talk to people in the Harman community to determine if its proposed use as apartments for the elderly was something acceptable to people there.
  Funding for the planning study, Goldsmith said -- if granted -- would come from the Community Development Block Grant fund. He added that the study grant application would not impact the county’s ability to apply for other planning grants, nor would it factor into a block grant cap under which the county falls.
  The motion to seek the planning grant for the Harman project was made by Ratliff. Fuller seconded the motion and the vote was unanimous.

County, BSSWCD Deal on Knox Property Tabled

by Cathy St. Clair
News Editor  
  A deal between the county and the Big Sandy Soil and Water Conservation District regarding property in the Knox District has apparently fallen through again.
  A public hearing had been scheduled to consider the transfer of two tracts of property to Big Sandy including .479 acres known as the "voting precinct" property and another .90 acre section of land on the D.A. Justus school property. The hearing had been set for 11:15 a.m. on Monday during the regular board of supervisors meeting, however, it was not held.
  As board members prepared to open the public hearing, Garden Supervisor Buddy Fuller made a motion to table the matter and Hurricane Supervisor William P. Harris seconded it.
  Big Sandy Soil and Water Conservation District Director Bobby Hall noted the deal had fallen through for the third time and he blamed Knox Supervisor Pat Justus.
  "This has been going on since 2000," he said.
  North Grundy Chairman Carroll Branham agreed to appoint a committee comprised of himself, Justus, Assistant County Attorney Lee Moise and County Administrator W.J. Caudill to meet with the Big Sandy board to reach an agreement.
  The two were expected to meet as early as Wednesday.