Video summary
In Prestonburg and Pikeville, local law enforcement recently recovered over half a million dollars worth of stolen copper, leading to the arrest of two men facing felony charges. Kentucky State Police were alerted that a shipment of copper stolen in Illinois was being transported to a warehouse on Riverside Drive, prompting Detective Dennis Hutchinson to investigate. Upon arrival, one suspect fled but was later apprehended with the aid of a K-9 unit, while the truck driver claimed he was merely hired to transport the goods to California. Investigators discovered that the shipping documents provided were fraudulent and that magnetic stickers had been used to conceal the vehicle's true Department of Transportation number, resulting in both men being charged with receiving stolen property over $10,000 and fleeing police, with the copper valued at approximately $586,000.
Meanwhile, downtown Pikeville celebrated its seventh annual Pride festival, an event that brought thousands of people together to promote inclusivity despite some religious protests. The festival highlighted the community's growth and resilience, with organizers emphasizing that the event is open to everyone regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. Sarah Ratliff, the Vice President of Pikeville Pride, spoke about the importance of visibility and facing harassment, noting that the festival has evolved into a wholesome celebration for neighbors and families alike. She argued that negative criticisms from a small minority do not reflect the overwhelming support shown by attendees who gather to celebrate legal marriage equality and freedom from discrimination in housing and employment.
The broadcast also covered various local achievements and community milestones, including a surprise 60th-anniversary celebration for Sandra Shepard at Big Sandy RECCC. After six decades of dedicated service, Shepard was honored with a dinner at the Country Music Highway Museum where colleagues presented her with a custom quilt made from contributions by friends and family. Her coworkers described her as an inspiration who consistently goes above and beyond to help others, while Shepard herself expressed gratitude for the surprise and credited her longevity in the workforce to simply keeping moving forward and doing whatever needs to be done. Additionally, the program featured updates on high school sports results, including victories for Martin County girls and Pikeville boys in regional soccer tournaments, and promoted an upcoming Friday night football game between Belfry and Pikeville.
The episode concluded with a message from Ned Pillarsdorf, a pro bono attorney advocating for vulnerable individuals and at-risk children, who is now expanding his legal efforts to Washington. Throughout the broadcast, the hosts emphasized the importance of staying connected to local roots, encouraging listeners to consider switching back to Appalachian Wireless for better service and savings without losing their local numbers. The segment wrapped up with reminders for viewers to follow Mountaintop News on social media platforms and tune in daily at 6 p.m. for more updates on sports, weather, and community stories that highlight the strength and spirit of the region.
Read the full video transcript
Police recover over half a million
dollars worth of stolen copper in
Prestonburg and Pikeville Pride
celebrates its seventh year in downtown
Pikeville. I'm Jerry Scott and this is
the Mountaintop Daily.
[music]
Two California men are facing felony
charges after police say they were
caught in Prestonburg with more than
half a million dollars worth of stolen
copper. Kentucky State Police were
alerted Thursday that a shipment of
copper stolen in Illinois was being
tracked to a warehouse on Riverside
Drive. Preston police detective Dennis
Hutchinson went to the warehouse and
says one man fled. 24year-old
Christopher Michael Delgado was later
found with the help of a K-9 and
arrested. Police say the truck driver
identified as 43-year-old Haz Gasparin
claimed he had been hired to pick up the
shipment and take it to California.
Investigators say the bills of lighting
he provided were fraudulent and magnetic
stickers on the truck were allegedly
being used to conceal its true DOT
number. Police say the copper was worth
about $586,000.
Both men are charged with receiving
stolen property over $10,000. Delgado
also faces the charge of fleeing police.
They are being held in the Floyd County
Detention Center on $250,000 cash bonds.
Pikeville Pride took place Saturday,
bringing a couple thousand people to
downtown Pikeville to celebrate
inclusivity, as well as a few people who
came to protest on religious grounds.
Nick went to the event and spoke with
one of the organizers about what they
see as the celebration's deeper meaning.
On Saturday, September 12th, the 7th
annual Pikeville Pride Festival took
place on Main Street. Members and
supporters of the LGBT community spent
the day socializing, shopping, and
speaking out for recognition. Pikeville
Pride Vice President Sarah Ratliff tells
us more about being involved with the
festival and what it means to look past
the negative criticisms.
>> Hey, it's awesome. Uh, you know, the
last few days have been pretty
stressful. Um, I think anybody who
follows our social medias or any local
news sources around here who have shared
anything about ours have seen how some
of the community has responded. Um, and
we're still here. We're having a great
day. The rain's held off. The, you know,
tons of people here having a good time
and loving on each other and just a
great day. It's different for everybody.
Uh, we kind of have to worry about our
own safety levels um, when it comes to
harassment and treatment from others.
Um, for me, [cheering] I don't care what
anybody else thinks. I don't care what
anybody else thinks about me or what I'm
doing, unless you're paying my bills. I
don't care. So, I just try to get as
many people
to pick up that feeling as they go along
the way. And we do that by having these
events, right? So, being here and being
visible myself, being willing to be a
target, uh, shows others that this is
okay and you can do this here. Over the
years, Pikeville Pride has grown to
include more than just those in the gay
community. Ratliff says it's a place for
anyone to go downtown and enjoy a
wholesome free festival.
>> It's just awesome to see how much we
grow, how many people really support us,
and how many people want to be here, and
it just grows every year. And so, it
tells me that like the people who were
the naysayers and the Facebook comments,
they're a small minority. You don't have
to be gay to go to Pride. this is just a
time for us to be like, "Hey, it's cool
that we can get married legally and we
can't be discriminated against uh when
it comes to housing or employment, you
know, that's that's it. That's all
that's all this is. So, we love to see
our friends and family show up and our
neighbors just to have a good day. I
mean, I think about it as like a little
hillbilly days. It's a festival. It's a
free festival. Why would you not go?"
>> Reporting for Mountaintop News, I'm Nick
Colum.
>> Coming up after the break, we'll head to
Paysville where one woman celebrated a
major milestone at work. That's coming
up when the Mountaintop Daily continues.
But first, sports and weather.
>> How's it going everyone? I'm Olivia
Stanley and this is your Mountaintop
sports recap.
First up, if you missed any Friday night
football or the 15th region girls and
boys all classic soccer tournaments,
don't worry. We have highlights and
photos up on our Mountaintop Sports
Facebook [music] page. Mountaintown
Sports would like to congratulate Martin
County girls and Pikeville boys on
winning the 15th region all classic
Classic soccer [music] tournaments. A
huge game in the mountains for high
school football with the Pike County
Showdown. We bring you Friday, September
18th, Belfrey at Pikeville with the
Mountaintop Sports pregame starting
[music] at 6:30 p.m. and kickoff at
7:30. Watch it live on the Mountaintop
Sports [music] Facebook page or the
Mountaintop TV app. Also, listen live on
93.1 WDHR to keep you updated on the
game. I'm Olivia Stanley and that's your
Mountaintop Sports Recap. [music] For
the latest sports, be sure to follow
Mountaintop Sports on Facebook,
Instagram, and X or
mountain-shopsports.com.
Are you still stuck with a wireless
carrier that just doesn't get you? You
know, you call for help. Nobody knows
your name and they definitely don't know
where you're from. Well, maybe [music]
it's time to come back home to someone
who does. Switching back to Appalachin
Wireless, it's never been easier. You
can keep your number with no awkward
breakup [music] and no starting over.
Just great savings on an advanced 5G
network with local people. Keep your
number, [music] keep it local and keep
it connected. So, come back home because
we are you. We are Appalachin Wireless.
Ned Pillarsdorf fights for the underdog
in courtrooms [music] where he advocates
for the 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 [music] attorney
in the nation.
Now he's bringing his fight to
Washington.
>> I'm Ned Pillarsdorf and I approve this
message. A Big Sandy Reecc employee was
the focus of a celebration Friday night
as she marked 60 years of working with
the company. Big Sandy RECCC surprised
her with a dinner at the Country Music
Highway Museum to mark the occasion with
all of her co-workers in attendance.
Connor attended the celebration and got
her reaction.
>> On Friday, September 11th, the Big Sandy
RECCC celebrated the monumental
achievement of one of their employees.
Sandra Shepard has now worked with the
company for 60 years and has given her
dedication to helping the community.
Here we have Jeff Prader, president and
general manager of Big Sandy RECCC to
tell us more about Sandra.
>> Sandra uh Shepard is an employee at Big
Sandy Reecc. And tomorrow will be her
60th year of employment at one company.
um 60 years of being on the job, 60
years of working with a notfor-profit
cooperative. She cares about everyone
that works there. She cares about the
people. She cares about our purpose and
and what we strive to do as a not for
profit to to serve people as um as uh
inexpensively as we can. We were not
driven by uh profit. were driven by
service to the people in the
communities.
Sandra is a um always the first one to
work. She's always dedicated.
She's always willing to help anyone with
any task. She's the kind of person that
you think of as that's willing to go the
extra mile for anyone that needs help or
needs any kind of assistance. Everyone
in attendance has been thankful for
working with Sandra over the years and
even pitched in little momentos to make
a quilt out of for her to remember
everyone by. Here we have Robin Sloan,
accounting manager for Big Sandy RECCC
to tell us what it's been like working
with Sandra.
>> So, uh, Sandy actually started at our
main office and I worked in our branch
office when I first started at Big
Sandy. Um then I about six years later I
went to our main office to work with
Sandy and she's been my uh mentor and my
partner at work ever since. So uh she's
just got a wealth of knowledge and um I
know that she uh has seen a lot of
challenges at Big Sandy, but she's
overcome them all. She's most certainly
an inspiration. Anybody with her age and
and her health and still continues to go
makes me proud and makes me want to be
just like her. So, we made her a quilt
as it represents what reminds us of
Sandy. Um, she's a lot of things to a
lot of us and um the quilt represents uh
what it meant to each individual who
contributed to the quilt. Uh so, we
wanted her to have that so she could
remember us all by it um when she
finally goes home.
>> The celebration was kept a secret from
Sandra until the last moment to make the
surprise all the better. With a room
full of friends and family, it will sure
be something no one will forget anytime
soon. Here we have Sandra Shepherd
herself to tell us what it's been like
and her surprise to the event
>> to just get up and go and uh do what you
have to do and always always be there.
Always
be willing to do whatever has to be done
no matter how menial or how important it
is. So, you just have to keep going.
Uh, put one foot before the other and
and take steps and hopefully they'll
lead you in the right direction. I'd
actually changed into my pajamas.
And I was ready to go to bed cuz we'd
had a a long day and a tiring drive.
But, um, he convinced me that we were
going to go eat.
And I thought it's a little late for
that.
>> We always eat early. So, but he managed
to make me come in. So, so I got dressed
and not very well, but I got dressed.
So, I did put my clothes back on. Didn't
come in my pajamas.
>> Reporting for Mountaintop News, I'm
Connor Kid.
>> 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 Jerry
Scott for Mountaintop News.
>> Oh yeah.