Top Ten of 2022

Happy New Year! As we all look toward what 2023 could bring for the community, it’s time for our annual tradition of looking at the top stories from the past year. In 2022, Magoffin County had some incredible highs and devastating lows, so please join us as we look back at the biggest stories we covered last year.

1. Magoffin County 5^th/6^th Football Team goes to state

The fifth and sixth-grade team compiled a 15-1 record in the 2022 season, capturing a conference championship and claiming a win in the Kentucky Middle School Football Association 6^th Grade State Playoffs. Over the past two seasons, the team held a 27-1 record and we are told this was the first football team from Magoffin County to compete in state playoffs.

2. Company moving HQ to Industrial Park

Emerald Energy pledged to move its headquarters to Magoffin County’s industrial park, making the announcement in November of a $1.4 million investment to build a 10,000-square-foot facility on five acres located off Gifford Road in Salyersville. Construction is set to begin in early 2024 and be completed by the start of 2025, which will provide at least 25 full-time jobs. The Magoffin County Fiscal Court purchased the industrial park in June 2010, with Judge/Executive Matt Wireman and his administration in talks with Emerald Energy since 2019.

The company’s announcement followed a selection by Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet Secretary Rebecca Goodman for $1 million in funding to Magoffin County Fiscal Court through the Abandoned Mine Land Economic Revitalization (AMLER) program to construct a Build-Ready certified site at the Gifford Road Industrial Park.

The industrial park is located off the Gifford Road exit on the Mountain Parkway west of Salyersville.

3. Carter Conley honored in National Memorial Service

The late Magoffin County Rescue Squad Captain Carter Conley was honored in the National EMS Memorial Service, which is held annually in Washington, D.C., and honors first responders killed in the line of duty, including if they died as a result of COVID-19 if they contracted the virus while also actively responding to calls, with 72 honorees remembered at the event.

During the service, Conley’s son, Robert Conley, was given a flag that had been flown over the U.S. capitol and a medallion with Carter’s name on it, and his name, photo, and general information were presented to those in attendance.

Conley was instrumental in the formation of the Magoffin County Rescue Squad, serving as a founding member and the captain until his death in September 2021 after a lengthy battle with COVID-19.

Also notable from 2022, Magoffin County Judge/Executive Matt Wireman handed over the keys to a new truck for the rescue squad in February. Conley had been working with the fiscal court for years to try to find a way to get a new truck for the squad, with the pandemic delaying the delivery of the truck for months, eventually coming in after Conley’s death.

4. Remembering people who died in 2022

• James Melvin Rudd, age 90, passed away on March 16, 2022. Rudd served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, and he was one of five prisoners of war out of 42 to survive the atrocity known as the Hill 303 Massacre, which occurred on August 17, 1950.
• Robert H. (Bob) Salyer, 88, passed away on April 1, 2022, after a courageous fifteen-year battle with Parkinson’s disease. Salyer came to Salyersville National Bank in December 1985 to fill the position of Executive Vice President and Head of Lending, he served in that capacity until he resigned in March 1990
• Brent Handshoe, 50, passed away on April 13, 2022. Handshoe was one of the founding members and assistant fire chief of the South Magoffin Volunteer Fire Department.
• Ronald Mills, 79, passed away on April 19, 2022, and was remembered as having an integral part in starting football in Magoffin County. Coach Mills was one of five people who started the first football program in Magoffin County with a non-school-sponsored team called the Hawks in 1986. The next year the school system adopted the football program and he was one of the first coaches.
• Wayne Allen, 72, passed away on September 10, 2022. Allen was one of the founding members of the Middle Fork Volunteer Fire Department.
• Marcella Howard, 75, passed away on September 18, 2022. Howard was the first female to hold the role of the mayor of Salyersville, taking over the position after her husband resigned. To this date, she is still the only woman to have held the title of Salyersville mayor. Her son, Stanley Howard, took office this month for the same position.
• Patchell Salyer, 59, passed away on November 21, 2022. Salyer was a longtime employee of the Herald Whitaker Middle School.

5. Groundbreaking ceremony held for new career and tech building

On September 9, 2022, officials broke ground on the construction of the new vocational building. The new career and tech building will be located on the Magoffin County High School campus and will have state-of-the-art facilities for students to learn many different trades.

The construction is made possible by a $5 million donation from Scotty B. Patrick, which made the district eligible for grant money to cover the rest of the costs.

6. Record-breaking gas prices

Prices of natural resources seemingly skyrocketed this past year, with gas topping $4.59 a gallon in June at local gas stations. In October, a local pastor circulated a petition concerning gas prices in Magoffin being higher than in surrounding areas, gaining the attention of the attorney general’s and governor’s offices. For some time, Magoffin County gas stations’ prices matched nearby counties but have since seen approximately a 10-cent increase compared to surrounding areas, yet, again.

Electricity costs also saw a hefty spike last February, with power companies attributing the rising cost of fuel to the increase.

7. Floyd County police shooting

While the incident didn’t happen in Magoffin County, it definitely affected people here. In July, while responding to a domestic call in the Allen community, three Floyd County Sheriff Department officers and one K9 unit were killed in the line of duty. Kolton Risner, a sixth grader at Salyersville Grade School, sold bracelets to raise money for the families of the fallen officers, and Independent Signs sold hats and decals for the police force to replace and train a new K9 unit. Similarly, the Salyersville Masonic Lodge held a fundraiser horse show, donating proceeds to families of the fallen officers, as well.

8. Bus wreck

On November 14, a Magoffin County Schools bus went over an embankment, striking and cutting a utility pole in half and landing on its side. The bus driver and 18 students were all taken to hospitals. After four days, six students and the driver remained hospitalized, some with very severe injuries.

At press time, a lawsuit has been filed by an attorney for two of the students’ families against the Magoffin County Board of Education and the driver of the bus, with more cases expected.

9. Driver in fatal DUI case sentenced to 40 years

In September, a judge in Fayette County court accepted the prosecution’s recommendation to give Tammy Rodriguez, 45, of Louisville, 20 years in prison for each murder charge, to run concurrently for the 40-year term. She will be eligible for parole after 20 years.

Two years prior to the sentencing, Rodriguez was reportedly chased by the Winchester Police Department on I-75, when she made a sudden U-turn and began driving the wrong way on the interstate, inevitably hitting two other vehicles.

Rodriguez’s sister, Debbie Lynn Bevins, 35, of Pikeville, died at the scene of the wreck, and sisters Taylor Blevins, 26, and Caitlyn Bailey, 20, both of Georgetown and originally from Magoffin County, were also killed in the wreck.

10. Editor’s favorite features

While hard to choose just one, there were several stories that had a lasting impact on us here in the SI office:

• In March, we talked to Kara Poe, the MCHS student who served as a U.S. Senate page in Washington, D.C., hearing about the prestigious program and her time there. Expect big things from Ms. Poe!
• Carol Hall has donated more than 18 gallons – 143 individual donations – of blood over the past 43 years, starting when her mom was sick in the hospital and needed a blood transfusion, and missing very few local blood drives since.
• While she was being honored as one of the healthcare pioneers for Founder’s Day, Mildred Sizemore sat down with us to detail her long and quite interesting medical career. It was a privilege telling her story and we hope you snagged a copy of the August 25 paper for the full story.