Share on FacebookShare on X (formerly Twitter)Share on PinterestShare on LinkedInMIDDLESBORO (WKYT) - Middlesboro Police say two people are facing charges in a child abuse case Officers say an investigation revealed Ricky North and Nichole North intentionally abused Ricky’s 5-year-old child on numerous occasions the Middlesboro Police Department says the child was subjected to torture and cruel punishment while in Ricky and Nichole’s care the two duct taped the child’s arms and legs and whipped him for coloring outside the lines on homework Ricky and Nichole North were arrested on Sunday and failure to report child dependent neglect/abuse (WYMT) - A major fire in downtown Middlesboro on Tuesday afternoon destroyed the storage building for Cardwell Furniture which is on the corner of 20th Street and Cumberland Avenue Crews worked through the night spraying water to contain the fire Some people are still in shock since the fire Executive Director of Middlesboro Main Street She said the building has meant many things to many people it’s been a lot of things that hold a lot of memories for our community,” Shoffner said She explained that just seconds after seeing smoke from the top of the building the Middlesboro Fire Department arrived to the scene “The fire started high on the third flood and within just about an hour or so the facade of the building collapsed and it was absolutely devastating to watch,” Shoffner said firefighters are still working to suppress and contain the fire Fire Chief of the Middlesboro Fire Department Robert England said the fire could have been worse if they had gotten to the scene later “This very well could have been a block burner,” England said we could have lost half a city block to a whole city block.” Mutual Aid response helped to contain the fire This includes crews and response from Bell County England said they were able to get the fire in control within an hour the Lord was looking over us and helped us keep it right here,” England said Mayor of the City of Middlesboro Boone Bowling said he is keeping the Cardwell family in his thoughts and prayers since they lost their building and everything in it “They’ve been in Middlesboro longer than I’ve been alive and probably three or four of my lifetimes,” Bowling said “If you hear something with one of those last standing true Middlesboro businesses losing something like that is just heartbreaking.” Officials say the cause of the fire has not yet been determined Shoffner said some downtown roads will stay closed for the next two days She said most downtown businesses are still operating under normal hours (LEX 18) — Two people have been arrested and charged following an investigation into child abuse according to the Middlesboro Police Department A release from the department states that Brandon Saylor and Kelly Wilburn were charged after Middlesboro police received complaints of possible child abuse which led to an investigation that concluded that the pair "did criminally abuse and neglect the four juvenile children living in their home." The release adds "additional statements from the investigation concluded that Mr Saylor was charged with "Abused or Neglected Child (4 Counts) Criminal Abuse 1st Degree- Child 12 or Under (2 Counts) Assault 4th Degree (Domestic Violence) Minor Injury Wilburn was charged with "Abused or Neglected Child (4 Counts) Criminal Abuse 1st Degree- Child 12 or Under (2 Counts) and Criminal Abuse 1st Degree." The release concludes by urging people to call 606-248-3636 if child abuse or neglect is suspected Report a typo (LEX 18) — Kentucky Transportation Cabinet District 11 reported that all four lanes are blocked on KY 74 at 19th Street from 21st Street in Middlesboro as of 10 a.m A post from the organization provided the following detour route: turn left on 19th Street to Chester Avenue Proceed to 21st Street and turn right to return to Cumberland Avenue (Highway 74)." At this time it is unknown when the road will open back up the Cardwell Furniture Store located downtown is the structure that caught fire Mayor Bowling addressed the fire on a Facebook post that read "Middlesboro suffered the devastating loss of a beloved downtown building to fire last night." Mayor Bowling continued to highlight the quick response by the firefighters and their professionalism and training He went on to thank Kentucky Utilities crews who "worked tirelessly to restore service" by 10:45 p.m "Middlesboro we are truly blessed with some of the finest employees the way our community came together is a statement to who we are." This is a developing story and LEX 18 will have more information as it becomes available Middlesboro Independent students started reading books for others to hear by calling into the Jacket Storytime Phonebook last year As a senior at Middlesboro High School (Middlesboro Independent) last year Bryce Bowling was preparing to start classes and the upcoming football season when teachers asked him to join a new literacy program they were starting where anyone could call in and hear someone reading a children’s story “The teachers really came to me and asked me if I’d like to read to the kids Bowling was part of a group of football players and cheerleaders that initially started reading books to get the program off the ground School leaders paired the readers with younger kids to read to them in person as they recorded the audio for the phone system “It was really fun for me because I got to kind of break character a little bit and just enjoy it and have fun,” Bowling said One of the lead organizers from Middlesboro High School was Nick Shoffner He said the district already had a tradition in place where football players would greet elementary school students every Friday morning so developing the reading program around that would be easy “I think the readers enjoyed it more than the listeners,” Shoffner said “You walk in that room and they’re having a blast with it.” As for how a math teacher got involved in a literacy program Shoffner said he’s part of a committee of district educators and other community members working on efforts to improve school spirit in the area The Jacket Storytime Phonebook seemed like the perfect project to encourage collaboration with students and the community “I saw what I thought the potential for this project was,” Shoffner said “and I don’t try and get my hands in everything but if I see something and I see value in it I really am intentional about getting involved and trying to make it as good as it can be.” Shoffner and Middlesboro Independent joined with Partners for Rural Impact (PRI) to start working on the phone line during the summer of 2023 The project is funded through the Innovative Approaches to Literacy grant from PRI “Our mission is to get books and technology into the hands of all the kids and their parents and families in the community,” said Doug Coots Coots said the idea developed when a team member talked about a program one of the banks in Middlesboro used to have when she was a child where kids would call and hear someone read them a story so let’s try to see if we can make that happen for ourselves,” he said an organization that has been working almost exclusively with libraries up until this point who runs LibraryCall through her consulting firm The Galecia Group said libraries mostly utilize the Dial-a-Story program and having Middlesboro Independent join has bolstered the number of books they’re able to offer through the platform “Along came Middlesboro and Doug Coots and all of a sudden some of the things that we had been hoping people would do started happening with this organization,” Ayre said The football field is where the program grew Announcements went out over the public address system at home games boosting awareness which led to a boom in calls to the phone line Coots said LibraryCall metrics show that the phone line received 360 calls last September and has averaged about 100 calls per month since our phone book was one of the most called lines in the country,” Shoffner said Community members have also promoted the program putting signs in their yards advertising the phone line student-athletes from winter and spring sports got involved and Shoffner said academic club members also joined in to read to kids Middle school and some older elementary school students began reading for the hotline as well District leaders plan to keep it going into the new school year and beyond literacy coach for Middlesboro Independent said the program provided new learning opportunities for the students involved you don’t want to read in a monotone voice and you can even use character voices,” she said “And it’s great to see them be so creative and use really different voices and really have fun with it.” and flip the perspective on it,” Bowling said of the opportunity to be a reader and be a role model for the younger kids just like the high school students he remembers interacting with as a student at Middlesboro Elementary (the students) just had a big smile on their face Anyone interested in hearing a story through the Jacket Storytime Phonebook can call (606) 752-0352 Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value" The Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) publishes Kentucky Teacher to communicate directly with the state’s 40,000 public school teachers The stories of this award-winning publication include news workable ideas for guiding students to higher levels of achievement