Video summary
A Floyd County woman named Gretchen Bevans is preparing to plead guilty in a federal drug distribution case following an arrest at a Pikeville motel room in April. Police discovered significant quantities of methamphetamine, fentanyl, cocaine, and pills during the raid, leading to her indictment by a federal grand jury for distributing meth and possessing both drugs with intent to distribute. Bevans, who previously served a 45-month sentence for a 2018 conspiracy charge, has requested a plea agreement that would allow her to plead guilty to possession with intent while dropping the distribution charge; however, due to her prior conviction, she now faces a minimum sentence of ten years and a maximum of life in prison upon sentencing later this week.
In a heartwarming community effort, the Valley Vet Clinic in Robinson Creek is providing formal attire to students who cannot afford homecoming or prom dresses for the fourth consecutive year. After the first flood in the area highlighted financial struggles for many families, clinic owner Robin initiated a project that has grown into a massive community-supported initiative involving donations of brand-new and gently used dresses, shoes, jewelry, accessories, makeup, and flowers. The clinic offers a private space where students can try on various sizes ranging from double zeros to 4X, ensuring that no student is left out due to lack of funds, while also providing donated suits and ties for male students attending graduations or special banquets.
The Pikeville Area Family YMCA has received a substantial boost to its fitness center through a major donation of over 700 pieces of exercise equipment from Humana, valued at more than $100,000. This generous gift comes from Humana's decision to donate equipment from a closing corporate fitness office rather than selling it, providing a timely solution for the YMCA which has faced recent financial challenges. Executive Director Clifton Hatfield explains that the new inventory includes stair climbers, free weights, and unique machines that will replace worn-out items, allowing the facility to expand its offerings and better serve its members and the local community. Staff are currently working to reconfigure the gym space to accommodate the new equipment while removing dated pieces, ensuring the donation maximizes the health benefits available to everyone in the area.
The broadcast also covered upcoming regional soccer tournaments featuring matches between local teams like Pikeville, Prestonburg, and Martin County, as well as a volleyball game between the Pikeville Panthers and Eastridge Lady Warriors. Additionally, the segment highlighted the work of attorney Ned Pillarsdorf, who advocates for vulnerable populations in courtrooms and classrooms before bringing his legal fight to Washington, alongside an advertisement encouraging viewers to switch to local Appalachian Wireless for better connectivity. These stories collectively illustrate a mix of serious legal proceedings, compassionate community support, athletic competition, and civic engagement within the Mountaintop region.
Read the full video transcript
A Floyd County woman is expected to
plead guilty in a federal drug case. And
a Pike County veterinary clinic helps
teens out with homecoming dresses. I'm
Nick Colum and this is the Mountaintop
Daily.
A Floyd County woman who was arrested
for allegedly distributing drugs from a
Pikeville motel room is expected to
plead guilty later this week.
47-year-old Gretchen Bevans of David,
also known as Gretchen Woodruff, was
arrested back in April when police
raided her room at Comfort Suites and
discovered more than 50 grams of meth,
more than 40 grams of fentinyl, and
smaller amounts of pills and cocaine.
She was later indicted by a federal
grand jury on charges of distributing
meth, and possession of meth and
fentinyl with the intent to distribute.
Last week, she asked that she be allowed
to change her plea in accordance with a
plea agreement reached with prosecutors.
A copy of the signed plea agreement
shows she plans to plead guilty to the
possession with intent charge in
exchange for the other charge being
dropped.
Bevans previously plead guilty in a 2018
case charging her with conspiracy to
distribute meth. She received a 45month
sentence for that conviction. Because of
that conviction, she now faces a minimum
sentence of 10 years and a maximum of
life in prison when she is sentenced in
the current case.
A Pike County veterinary clinic is doing
its part to make sure that no student is
left out of homecoming or prom due to
not being able to afford appropriate
attire. Robin went to the clinic today
to learn more. For the fourth year in a
row, Valley Vet Clinic in Robinson Creek
is giving away formal dresses to those
who can't afford their own. In 22, after
the first flood for this area, we knew
that it would be financially strapping
for some parents to send um kids to prom
and to homecoming and things. And so, we
just had it on our heart to try to make
a way available that these kids could go
to um homecomings and proms and it not
be a big financial stress on the family.
And so we put out a call for the
community to respond and they have
responded phenomenally over and over and
over again. And so it started out doing
prom dresses. Um we were able to make
those available for the prom of 23. And
then we just had so many donations keep
coming in, keep coming in that we've now
gotten a collection of shorter dresses,
which is typically what these girls will
wear to homecoming. And so that's kind
of what we have out and available right
now. Um many of these dresses are brand
new. They still have tags on them. Um,
and some of these dresses are four,
five, $600 dresses that have been
donated. Um, we have shoes, we have
jewelry, we have accessories like
purses. Um, we have some makeup that's
been donated, flowers, you name it.
We've kind of had all that brought in.
And so this has definitely been a
communitywide project. We are just kind
of housing things. Um, and so we're
blessed to be able to do that. But it's
really been the community loving on each
other that's made it possible. And so
they're able to come in and look at
these anytime that we're here. The girls
can come in. We'll give them um a room
in there by themselves where they can
have some privacy. We've got some full
length mirrors they're welcome to try
on. And we do ask that the student be
present so they can try on because sizes
run funny on formal wear. Um but we do
have a variety of sizes. Um teeny tiny
little dresses. Um I think some of these
are double zeros all the way up to 4X.
We also have a little bit of men's wear
available too. We've had some suits and
ties and some dress shirts donated. Um,
and so those are available for the guys
to come get, not just for homecoming or
prom, but if they need something for
graduation or a special banquet or
something like that, we've got those
available at no charge as well.
>> Valley Vet Clinic is located at 43
Compton Drive. Students are invited to
stop by anytime during business hours.
Reporting from Mountaintop News, I'm
Robin Tilman.
Coming up after the break, the Pikeville
area family YMCA has received a major
donation of fitness equipment. We'll
tell you about it when the Mountaintop
Daily continues. But first, sports and
weather. How's it going everybody? I'm
Jackson Lucas and this is your Mountain
Top Sports Recap.
Soccer around the Coldfields is picking
up as the 15th Region All Tournament has
hit the semi-finals. On the boys side,
we have Paysville versus Pike Central
and Prestonburg versus Pikeville with
[music] both games taking place on
September 10th. Making our way over to
the girls bracket, we have Martin County
versus Belelfrey and Prestonburg [music]
versus Pike Central. These games will be
played on September 9th. Join us tonight
on our Facebook or the Mountaintop app
for our volleyball game of the week
between the Pikeville Panthers and the
Eastridge Lady Warriors. [music] With
game time set for 7:30 this Friday, we
will have the Pikeville vers Central
game time set for 7:30. That's your
Mountaintop [music] sports recap. For
the latest in sports, be sure to follow
Mountaintop Sports on Facebook,
Instagram, and X, or visit
mountain-topsports.com.
Ned [music] Pillarsdorf fights for the
underdog in courtrooms where he
advocates for the [music] most
vulnerable. And in classrooms where
atrisisk kids get a second chance,
Ned doesn't [music] just talk about
things. Ned shows up and people notice.
He's the best pro bono attorney [music]
in the nation.
Now he's bringing his fight to
Washington.
>> I'm Ned Pillarsf and I approve this
message.
Are you still stuck with a wireless
carrier that just doesn't get [music]
you? You know, you call for help, nobody
knows your name, and they definitely
don't know where you're from. Well,
maybe it's time to come back home to
someone who does. Switching back to
Apple, it's never [music] been easier.
You can keep your number with no awkward
breakup and no starting over. Just great
savings on [music] an advanced 5G
network with local people. Keep your
number, keep it local, and keep it
connected. So, come back home because we
are you. We are Appalachin Wireless.
The Pikeville Area Family YMCA has seen
a major boost to its fitness center as
Humana donated more than 700 pieces of
exercise equipment to the facility. I
went to the Y today to learn more about
the donation. Thanks to a longtime
partnership with Humanana, the Pikeville
area family YMCA was gifted thousands of
dollars worth of new equipment. New
stair climbers, free weights, and some
more unique machines will be replacing
worn out equipment and will soon be
available for use. Executive director
Clifton Hatfield tells us more.
>> We've been a partner with Humanana for a
long time now. uh they've helped us with
some other events in the past and just
so happens the timing was they were
closing down one of their uh corporate
fitness offices and instead of trying to
go through the process of of find
someone to purchase that equipment they
reach out to some organizations such as
the Y and there's a couple others
organizations I think around Hazard and
areas um to see if they could use that
equipment and and rank frankly you know
we've kind of hit a little bit of
financial struggle here the last little
bit um with some things going on and so
this was a great opportunity for us to
uh uh to get this generous donation from
Humanana. Um it's going to allow us to
take out some of the equipment that's
been, you know, been very good to us,
but is getting a little bit worn and
dated. So, we're going to be able to
replace some of those items uh to give
our members and the community some some
new pieces to use while adding some
additional pieces that's going to be
very beneficial for our members.
>> Staff at the YMCA are currently in the
process of making additional space to
house all the new equipment. Hatfield
estimates the value of everything
donated from Humanana to be valued at
over $100,000.
>> Uh so we are in a process of of creating
some space for that. Um an official
announcement has not been made yet. Um
so I don't want to give out too much
information, but we're going to have uh
a lot of space where we can use this
equipment. Um we're going to be able to
space out some of our equipment where
it's not so tight in our current weight
room. Uh we'll be able to take out some
new piece put in some new pieces while
taking out some of the old pieces and
replacing with some of what you see
here. So, um, I don't want to give out
too much information yet, but we we've
got some plans in the works for that.
Honestly, I've not really looked at at
the prices of a lot of it. We have been
looking at some new equipment, but I
would say you are probably in the close
to to
100,000 or more. Um, if you wanted to
purchase every piece of equipment that
they donated to us, it would be close to
that 100,000 mark. And so, that's why I
say we are just so grateful. Uh, we
appreciate Humanana for thinking about
the YMCA and and we're going to make
sure that this equipment gets to our
members. That way we can uh provide a
service to our members and our community
as much as we can.
>> 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.