Mountain Top Media
Jenkins mayor recovering from heart attack
JENKINS, Ky. — Jenkins Mayor Todd DePriest is recovering after suffering a heart attack, the city has announced.
A statement posted on the city’s Facebook page said the mayor is receiving excellent medical care and his condition is improving.
The statement went on to say DePriest is not receiving visitors at this time and his family has asked for privacy.
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More Kentucky households burdened by utility debt
Utility debt is a growing crisis affecting rural communities across Kentucky.
The average overdue debt balance in Kentucky is $549 and more than 127,000 households in the Commonwealth are in the red, according to a new report from the advocacy group Protect Borrowers.
Aissa Canchola Banez, policy director for Protect Borrowers, said the average bill has risen considerably over the past few years and utility costs are now taking up a larger amount of families’ budgets.
“They’ve grown significantly across Appalachia and parts of the South,” Banez observed. “We know that in Kentucky, for example, energy bills have increased more than 26 percent.”
The explosion of artificial intelligence data centers, along with their high demand for energy, is sending household utility costs nationwide through the roof. Data from Protect Borrowers showed Black households are three times as likely as white households to carry overdue utility balances.
The issue is exacerbating overall debt, including medical and student loan debt, which many households also are struggling to repay. Beginning this year, the Trump administration is resuming wage garnishment for student loan borrowers who have been unable to make payments for at least nine months. Banez argued utility debt is only worsening the crisis, as borrowers face a mountain of different payments.
“These are folks who have fallen so severely behind that they are experiencing, or set to experience, being subjected to debt collection as a result,” Banez noted.
Around one in six U.S. households are currently behind on their utility bills as of late 2025, with total household energy debt reaching about $23 billion, according to the National Energy Assistance Directors Association.
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