Mountain Top Daily - 08/11/26

A Mingo County family wants to know who killed their dog. And a former McGuffin County teacher is sentenced for sexual enticement of a student. I'm Nick Colum and this is the Mountaintop Daily. What began as a day at the lake turned into a nightmare for one Mingo County family after they came home to find their dog missing, then discovered him dead the next day, hung by his neck. Now, the family is looking for answers. Robin spoke with them this morning. >> On August 8th, Britney Edmonson came home from a family beach day to find their beloved lab duke missing. We went to the lake and got home about 12:30, 1:00 that morning and my chocolate lab was there, but he wasn't. And that's not normal. So, I went across there's a holler, I think it's called Old Fuel Branch or oil field branch, right across the train tracks. I went over in there looking for him cuz I heard the dogs over there going crazy. Nothing. Looked on the train tracks just in case he was to have broke that boundary. Nothing. Went up to the cemetery. Nothing. Checked in all the ditches. Nothing. Edmonson explained that her property has an invisible fence and she's never had a problem before with their dogs escaping or showing aggression toward neighbors. >> Got up the next morning about 10:00, went looking again except for this time I rode all the way up to Panther Mart going into Lenor. Rode all the way to the four lane there on 119. Nothing. Checked again across the road in that little hauler. Nothing. And I was like, "Oh my gosh." Well, I was I just didn't understand. He he never has ever done this. >> It wasn't until the next evening that she came upon a gruesome scene. So then about 6:00 I made my rounds again and u put my boots on and my boys was falling about 15 seconds behind me and I had made it down to the end of the driveway and my other dog came running up the side up to my left side and I looked over and he was hanging from a power pole almost like he had been slung over the hill like I don't the way that he was sitting and he was up the way he was sitting I just don't understand how I don't understand unless some I mean it had to have been somebody doing that the way he was facing me like he was facing like he would have been running back up the hill or something. His body was hanging up from that rope. >> Edmmy said she no longer feels safe in her home. >> My kids go outside and we are outside people. We ride dirt bikes. We go to the lake. My boys play football and they're lucky that they're playing football right now because I don't even feel comfortable and I've never felt that way. Never felt unsafe letting my kids play in the front yard and now I'm just somebody will do that the I mean when we leave that's maniac behavior. That's not even if you're going to do something that horrendous when somebody's not looking what else are you capable of is how I feel. I just don't understand. He's so sweet. Even if he wasn't sweet, I just couldn't I I I just couldn't ever justify something like that. >> Any tips can be directed to the Mingo County Sheriff's Office at 304235300. Reporting from Mountaintop News, I'm Robin Tilman. >> A former McGoughen County teacher has been sentenced to 17 years in prison for enticing a student to engage in sexual activity. 44year-old Jason Back of Salersville pleaded guilty to a federal charge of online enticement back in January. In doing so, he admitted to texting a 17-year-old girl in March of 2023, sending her sexually explicit messages and making plans for him to pick her up to have sex in his car. The charge carries a sentence of anywhere between 10 years and life in prison. Prior to pronouncing his sentence, US District Judge David Bunning overruled objections by Back's attorney to findings in the presentence investigation report that his sentence should be enhanced due to his position as an authority figure over the student. He then sentenced him to 204 months in prison. Back is also charged with two counts of thirddegree rape, one count of sodomy, and two counts of procuring a minor by electronic means in McGoffen Circuit Court. A pre-trial conference in that case is set for August 20th. Coming up after the break, a Kentucky Power representative was in Pikeville today talking about data centers. We'll take you there when the Mountaintop Daily continues. But first, sports and weather. Whoa. Got to drive back to Columbus tonight because my buddy's wife just went into labor and he needs to go to the airport. It never stops. How's it going sports fans? Cody the Professor Davis here with your Mountaintop sports recap. And let's just jump into it. All right, first up, in case you missed it, we have a new story up on our website and our Facebook page with some local soccer coverage from Monday night's Johnson Central game. As the season progresses, Mountaintop Sports will continue to keep you updated with all the latest happening in your local sports. I'm really dedicated to it and so is our team. There's some good games lined up for tonight and I'm excited to share those results with you. Thankfully, I can thanks to the new KHSAA scoreboard. It actually works. We actually got some stats. It was a big win. Next up, we have a new show coming out this football season. So, be sure to tune in to Sideline with Zack Acres and Denny Paul May. They're going to break down all the action happening on your Friday nights. It's going to be a good one, and trust me, you don't want to miss it. [music] And also big shout out to Buffalo Wild Wings for making that happen. But that's going to do it for today sports fans. I'm Cody the Professor Davis and as always, thanks for watching. Ned Pillarsdorf fights for the underdog. In courtrooms, where he advocates [music] for the most vulnerable and in classrooms where at risk kids get a second chance. Ned doesn't just talk about things. Ned shows up and people notice. He's the best pro bono attorney in the nation. Now he's bringing his fight to Washington. I'm Ned Pillarsdorf and I approve this message. >> Okay, raise your hand if you've got a cracked screen or a phone that barely holds charge or a [music] tablet that's slower than a Monday morning. Yep, I thought so. So, before school starts, why not stop [music] by your local Appalachian Wireless retail location and upgrade to the latest smartphone, tablet, or smartwatch. Whether you're a student, a teacher, or just ready for something new, we've got incredible back to school deals just waiting for you. So, class is almost in session and don't wait. Come into an Appalachin Wireless retail location and start the school year connected. There's more reasons to switch and more ways to save today because we are you. We are Appalachin Wireless. >> A representative of Kentucky Power spoke to members of the Southeast Kentucky Chamber of Commerce about economic development and data centers today. I attended today's meeting to hear what he had to say. On Tuesday, August 11th, the Southeast Kentucky Chamber of Commerce invited representatives of Kentucky Power for its first members meeting following the summer hiatus. The presentation focused on the utility's role in economic development and growth while also highlighting potential benefits of data centers in the region. Director of external affairs Dalton Hatfield gives us the details. I think that uh a lot of folks um you know admittedly do not fully understand an electric utility's role in the economic development space. So being able to talk about how we are working diligently to recruit businesses to our area but also uh the safeguards that we have in place um to protect residential rateayers. Um one uh big question and and topic of discussion that we did receive was around data centers. It's a hot topic right now. We we totally uh uh anticipated that and uh so it's a good opportunity to discuss with stakeholders from our area just the uh industrial general service tariff that we have in place that was approved by the Kentucky Public Service Commission that essentially uh is residential rate payer safeguards to prevent cost shifting from data centers to residential rateayers. Hatfield wants to assure the public there are safeguards in place so residents will not be seeing rate hikes following the potential construction of future data centers. Kentucky Power wants to remain transparent and answer any questions the public may have. >> Economic growth should not cost our existing customers. So that is why you know we want to convey to the public that we do have residential rateayer safeguards in place. Uh but also, you know, we want to talk about uh data centers in general, answer the public's questions, be transparent, and uh alleviate those concerns. And, you know, we've seen uh different case studies from across the country in states that are uh a little bit farther ahead than Kentucky on in the data center space. Uh we've seen what's went right, what's went wrong. That's why Kentucky Power was one of the first utilities in the state of Kentucky to file a large load tariff with the Public Service Commission to protect our residential customers. That will do it for this edition of the Mountaintop Daily. Be sure to check us out at 6 p.m. every weekday on Mountaintop TV, the Mountaintop TV app, and the Mountaintop News Facebook page. With your Mountaintop Daily, I'm Nick Colum for Mountaintop News. >> [music]