Pike County, Ky – Pike County Emergency Management is urging residents to sign up for the new Hyper‑Reach emergency alert system as the county nears the one‑year anniversary of devastating flooding. The system sends texts, emails, and voice calls about winter storms, flash flooding, tornado warnings, shelter‑in‑place orders, and boil water advisories. Officials say about 700 people have already enrolled, and residents can sign up by calling or texting 606‑262‑5602 or registering online.

 

Magoffin County, Ky – Magoffin County deputies spent hours in a tense standoff Monday after a domestic disturbance call in the Mashfork community. Sheriff Bill Meade said Jamie Arnett went into a home on Donnie Barnett Road, brandished a gun, and threatened to kill a woman and himself. Deputies arrived and Arnett barricaded himself in a bedroom, prompting the sheriff’s office to alert nearby residents while they tried to talk him down. Meade stressed it was never a hostage situation and said Arnett even threatened to shoot at officers outside. With Arnett refusing to cooperate, the Kentucky State Police Special Response Team was called in and eventually convinced him to surrender just after midnight, with no injuries reported. Arnett is charged with burglary and is lodged in the Big Sandy Regional Detention Center.

 

Pike County, Ky – Pike District Judge Robbie Wright has delayed a bond revocation hearing for 29-year-old Terry Weston Rogers of Pikeville until Jan. 27. The court is waiting to see if Rogers qualifies for Kentucky’s Senate Bill 90 Behavioral Health Conditional Dismissal Program, which could link his cases to alcohol treatment instead of immediate incarceration. Rogers remains on bond in multiple cases, including third-degree terroristic threatening, sexual abuse and assault charges.

 

Martin County, Ky – Martin County is moving ahead with its first new elementary school in decades, with construction bids set to be opened Jan. 22, keeping the project on track to open in about two years. The 52,561-square-foot school at Holly Bush will serve about 450 students, consolidating Inez and Warfield elementary schools with four preschool classrooms and K–6 rooms under one roof. The state is providing $29.5 million of the roughly $30 million cost, leaving the local district to cover about $500,000. Superintendent Larry James said declining enrollment and Kentucky’s funding model make it harder to operate multiple underused buildings, and the move will also get Warfield students out of a floodplain campus that is difficult to upgrade.