Video summary
In the Amber Spradlin murder case, a pre-trial hearing focused on bond reduction and a controversial request for work release for the accused defendant, MK McKenna. Judge Eddie Coleman ruled that all DNA testing must be completed within thirty days to allow defense experts time for review before the January trial, while also modifying the bond conditions from five hundred thousand dollars in cash to one million dollars in property. Commonwealth Attorney Brent Turner explained that the prosecution opposes the work release request because it lacks specific details regarding where the defendant would go or what job he would perform. Turner expressed skepticism about McKenna's sudden desire to enter the workforce, noting his lack of prior work history and warning against the possibility of a fabricated arrangement designed merely to allow him out of custody. The defense is scheduled to present their proposal privately to the judge, followed by a response period from the prosecution before a final decision is made, with the next hearing set for October 30th to address the status of the DNA testing.
Separately, a federal lawsuit involving Elizabeth Jones and the Jenkins Independent School District appears to be nearing a resolution in her favor. Jones had sued the district in January after being banned from school property and activities due to social media posts regarding students and athletics, alleging violations of her First Amendment rights. A federal judge previously granted her a preliminary injunction, acknowledging that she was likely to succeed on her retaliation claim and ordering the district to stop enforcing no-trespass orders against her. The parties have now jointly requested an agreed-upon permanent injunction that would permanently bar the district from enforcing these orders and dismiss remaining claims, though the case is not officially concluded until a judge approves the agreement. This legal victory highlights the ongoing efforts to protect free speech rights within educational settings and potentially sets a precedent for similar disputes involving student expression and parental involvement.
The broadcast also covered local sports updates, highlighting the achievements of the Pike Central High School Marching Band as they prepare for national competition. After winning first place in their initial season competition, the band expressed confidence in their abilities while acknowledging room for growth, particularly with the addition of a fourth movement to their show and improvements to their backdrops and production elements. Director Jason Johnson noted that students have tightened their performances, improved their marching precision, and enhanced their visual aspects during rehearsals. Individual accolades included awards for best soloist and percussionist, with team members attributing their success to a strong group dynamic and the belief that they delivered a high-quality performance despite early in the season. The band is set to compete again this weekend in Citizenville, West Virginia, where they aim to further elevate their show before facing their biggest challenge yet at nationals.
The program concluded with brief segments on upcoming sports events, including a Sideline broadcast featuring predictions and interviews with coaches like Wes Hagar of the Pricensburg Black Cats, and coverage of rival matchups between Super 7 teams Belelfrey and Pikepool. Additionally, the video featured a commercial for Appalachian Wireless, promoting their 5G network and local customer service, followed by a tribute to attorney Ned Pillarsdorf, who advocates for vulnerable populations in courtrooms and classrooms. These segments rounded out the daily news update, providing viewers with essential information on legal developments, educational achievements, and community sports activities across the region.
Read the full video transcript
An accused killer asks for work release
while awaiting trial. And a Jenkins
woman has all but won her First
Amendment lawsuit against her school
board. I'm Nick Colum and this is the
Mountaintop Daily.
The defendants in the Amber Sprdlin
murder case were back in court today
with the most controversial topic
discussed being a request to allow the
man accused of killing her to be granted
work release while awaiting trial. Robin
was in the courtroom for today's
proceedings and brings us an update. A
pre-trial hearing was held today in the
Amber Sprdlin case concerning a motion
for bond reduction for MK McKini and the
possibility of work release. The first
issue Judge Eddie Coleman wanted to
discuss though was the status of the DNA
testing. After Commonwealth Attorney
Brent Turner gave an update, the judge
decided he is going to issue a court
order that all testing be done in 30
days so that the defense's experts have
time to review it before the trial in
January. Judge Coleman did agree to
modify the bond, dropping the 500,000 in
cash so that it's now just 1 million in
property. Turner gave us a summary of
the judge's ruling on the request for
work release. There also is the matter
of the uh request from MK McKenna to
have work release uh which we of course
oppose and the judge has set forth a
procedure to deal with that where the
defense is going to provide some details
about what exactly it is they're
proposing uh to the judge to review in
private and then we'll have a chance to
respond to that and then uh the judge
will decide whether or not he's going to
grant him any kind of work place. Uh the
request did not specify where he would
be going. And I think that's what I
talked about today is um you know, he's
not worked before that I'm aware of. And
uh for him to suddenly have this
ambition to get in the workforce kind of
looks uh off to me. And we want to know
what it is he's proposing to do and
whether this is a real job or some sort
of madeup thing with a family business
or whatever. uh to to be used as an
excuse for him to just get out of the
house. Uh that would not be appropriate
and we would oppose that.
>> The next pre-trial hearing will be on
October 30th at 10 a.m. and will focus
on the status of the DNA testing.
Reporting for Mountaintop News, I'm
Robin Tilman.
>> A federal lawsuit involving a Jenkins
Independent School District parent and
the school district could be nearing a
resolution in the parents favor.
Elizabeth Jones sued the district in
January, alleging her First Amendment
rights were violated when she was banned
from school property and school
sponsored activities following social
media posts about students and school
athletics. In July, a federal judge
granted Jones a preliminary injunction,
finding she had plausibly shown she was
likely to succeed on her First Amendment
retaliation claim and ordering the
district to stop enforcing the no
trespass orders against her. The parties
have now jointly asked the court to
enter an agreed permanent injunction and
final judgment.
The proposed agreement would permanently
bar the district from enforcing either
no trespass order against Jones and
dismiss the remaining claims. The
proposed agreement has not yet been
approved by the judge, so the case is
not yet officially concluded. Coming up
after the break, the Pike Central
Marching Band is back in action this
weekend as they continue to prepare for
national competition. We'll talk with
the band director when the Mountaintop
Daily continues. But first, sports and
weather.
How's it going everybody? I'm Garrett
Markham and this is your Mountaintop
Sports Recap.
Sideline with Zack Acres and Denny Pal
is tonight at Buffalo Wild Wings with a
6:30 start time. Tune in to hear last
week's scores, our predictions for this
week, as well as hear from Pritsensburg
head coach Wes Hagar. Hagar is coming
off a big win against Eastridge to
improve his squad to three and one. The
Black Cats are gearing up to face off
against the Hawks of Pike Central. Super
7 number two ranked Belelfrey will
travel along the US19 to meet rival
number one ranked Pikepool tomorrow
night. We are expecting a packed house
for this one, but if you can't make it,
be sure to tune in to our Facebook page
or the Mountaintop TV app to see the
action live. We will go live at 6:30 for
our pregame hell podcast with kickoff
following right after. That's your
Mountaintop Sports Recap. For the latest
in sports, be sure to follow Mountain
Talk Sports on Facebook, Instagram, or
X, or visit mountain-topsports.com.
Ned Pillarsdorf fights for the underdog
in courtrooms where he advocates for the
most vulnerable and in classrooms where
atrisisk 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.
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The Pike County Central High School
Marching Band has achieved a level of
renown as one of the most successful
bands in the region. Now they are
beginning another year of competition,
all leading up to their biggest
challenge yet, national competition. I
visited the school today to learn more
about this year's schedule. Now that
Pike Central High School's marching band
has finished first in their first
competition of the season, they have
high hopes for the other upcoming shows.
After spending most of the summer
practicing music and refining field
formations, they are going into this
marching season with much confidence.
Director of bands Jason Johnson tells us
more. Uh within our class, we won first
place, got second place color guard and
first place percussion, and topped it
all off with a best soloist award for
Mr. Hunter Allen. It was a great success
for us to go the first time out and to
score so well and to be very competitive
that we know we still have a lot of room
to grow. Even though we scored very
high, we know that this is not the top
product. We only performed three out of
our four movements of our show. And this
coming weekend in Citizenville, West
Virginia, we're going to add the fourth
movement, at least part of the fourth
movement to the show. So, we're still
adding and growing the show and the
elements to the show. But not only that,
we still have more to do with our
backdrops and just the entire production
will be elevated. Our students every
rehearsal are tightening up what they
do. They're playing better. They're
marching better and better. And the
visual aspect of the show keeps
increasing. So, we're excited about what
the future holds for us. Not only did
the marching band win, but two students
won best percussionist and best soloist.
They shared their thoughts on how they
plan on improving in future
competitions. Performing on a field, it
felt like just it felt bizarre. Like it
felt like we knew we was going to place
good. I feel like that like I could
speak for everybody saying that like we
knew that we had a good show on the
field. It makes me feel great just like
being able to upgrade show that we've
come a long way. We've bettered
ourselves as a group. I feel like the
drum line's gotten a lot better and
tighter, too. Especially holding down
two snares and making them sound like
one.
>> It was very surprising
uh just because we have so many soloists
in our class and in our show
specifically, we have four soloists in
our show alone and not including all the
seven bands in our class. But I feel
like um because we're just just this far
in, just this early in the show, we're
going to
definitely go places uh later in
November.
>> 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.