May 9, 2008

A Magoffin County, Kentucky, man has died as a result of an all-terrain vehicle accident. 51-year-old David Stephens was riding his ATV on Big Pricy Creek Road Sunday when he apparently went off the road and onto an embankment. The ATV then flipped back onto the road, according to the Big Sandy News. He died from severe head injuries.

The following day, four area teen-agers were sent to the hospital as a result of injuries sustained in two separate ATV accidents. The Williamson Daily News reports that three teens were injured when the ATV they were riding wrecked on a slate dump at Marrowbone near Kermit, West Virginia. The male rider was thrown clear as the ATV flipped going up a steep grade, but the two female riders suffered injuries from impact with the vehicle. They were airlifted to an area hospital. In Pike County, Kentucky, a 16-year-old male from Regina was riding an ATV on Kentucky 3418 and collided with a pickup truck. The young man, Brian Adams, was ejected from the ATV and was airlifted to a hospital.

The Big Sandy News took the opportunity provided by the recent ATV accidents to remind readers of the potential effects of ignoring safety practices. The Kentucky State Police, stressing the importance of wearing a helmet, report that of 29 ATV-related deaths last year, 21 victims were not wearing a helmet. KSP also warns that youngsters should not be operating ATVs that are rated for adult use, and it is against the law to operate an ATV on roadways except to cross the road or for agricultural purposes.

The Dickenson County, Virginia, board of supervisors is facing minus signs. The board is holding budget workshops to figure out how to deflect some of the county’s growing deficit. According to the Coalfield Progress, this looks to be the sixth straight year the county has had a deficit. The total indebtedness appears to be well over two million dollars. County administrator Mark Vanover said – quote – The key is to tighten our belt and have good financial management every day of the week – end quote.

A former candidate for judge-executive in Knott County, Kentucky, has been sentenced to almost six years in federal prison. The Lexington Herald-Leader reports that James Tonto Combs of Mallie confessed to conspiracy to sell 85,000 doses of pain pills. US District Judge Gregory Van Tatenhove also found Combs guilty of trying to intimidate and bribe a key witness. The 71-month sentence was the maximum allowable.

In neighboring Floyd County, a man from the McDowell community was arrested this week after officers allegedly found 8,000 dollars worth of pills in his home. In a search of the house on Kentucky 680, Operation UNITE officers reportedly found 777 pills, including Xanax, methadone, oxycodone, hydrocone, diazepam and Klonopin.

It all apparently started at the Hog Wild Saloon in Kingsport and went downhill from there. The Bristol Herald-Courier reports that a man is accused of biting off his fiancee’s lower lip – make that former fiancée. The couple reportedly got into an argument at the bar and continued it at home, where the man allegedly bit off about a third of the woman’s lower lip. Surgeons were unable to reattach the lip, but she did have plastic surgery to reconstruct it. We’ll just keep our mouth shut on that one.