Ohio County Times

OCHS teacher receives first tribunal hearing

Will it be the straw or in this case the banana that breaks the teacher’s back? That’s what a three-member tribunal — two females and one male — will decide about a veteran Ohio County High School PE teacher accused of getting “chest to chest” with a student, causing him to lose his job in October. Bruce Raley, a teacher at OCHS for nearly 28 years, petitioned to have the county’s first ever tribunal hearing after he was terminated. Raley could have chosen a closed hearing but opted to make it open to the public. The four-day hearing started last Tuesday and ended on Friday. The main witnesses for the school system were head OCHS basketball coach Paul Decker, assistant basketball coach Danny Annis, student Brock Embry (a juvenile who went public with the story) and student P. M. (initials used for juvenile.) A key witness for Raley turned out to be Carl “Peabody” Callaway, a school security guard. Raley would also testify in his own defense. Hearing officer Michael Head, an assistant attorney general, was essentially the judge overseeing the case. However, it will be the three nonlocal tribunal members — Susan Vaughn, a school administrator, Beth Dillingham, a teacher and William Pearson, a layman — who decide if Raley remains a teacher at OCHS. Superintendent Soretta Ralph sat beside veteran no-nonsense Hartford attorney A.V. Conway who argued the case for the school system. Raley, the petitioner, was represented by two polished experienced Oldham County attorneys — the bow tie wearing, pipe smoking John Frith Stewart and the silver-haired Beach Craigmyle. Both sides brought in a plethora of witnesses who testified to the actual event on Oct. 27, 2006 and others who characterized Raley’s overall “truthfulness.”

Jerry Render, a traveling farrier from Centertown holds the hoof of a walking horse after it has been shoed. Render has been a traveling farrier for 40 years. Times-News photo Dustin Bratcher

Farrier tale: Centertown man has been shoeing walking horses for 40 years

Jerry Render has driven so many Capewell nails that he received a free belt buckle in 1976. Render, a farrier, has been shoeing horses for 40 years. “I’m old enough to remember after the war when horses were $10 a piece,” Render said. After being around horses so much, Render thought he could make a living shoeing them. He started out as an apprentice under Dan Arnold in Tennessee instead of attending a horse shoeing school. “I’ve never seen anyone who went to a horse shoeing school who made it a career,” Render said. But Render made out with a little good fortune. “I was lucky enough to get hooked up with Dan who was one of the best of his time, he helped a lot of people get started,” Render said.

Lagoon ensures Horse Branch will remain open: State approves $250,000 project

Unless the Ohio County Board of Education has an unexpected change of heart or a calamity befalls the beleaguered facility, Horse Branch Elementary’s doors will again swing open this fall — and maybe for many years to come. That was the opinion expressed this week by Superintendent Soretta Ralph following a no-choice decision made earlier by the Kentucky Board of Education. “The board voted to spend $250,000 on the school’s lagoon system and the state board had no other choice but to approve that decision,” Ralph said. The expenditure would not have been approved had it not been a matter of health or safety.” But, a school’s wastewater and sewage system are considered acceptable reasons for spending money on a transitional facility and the long-standing battle over the future of the Fifth District school appears to be at least temporarily settled. “I can’t see into the future, but the new lagoon system should last for many years and unless something else happens to the school that the state board will not fund, Horse Branch Elementary could be in business many more years,” Ralph said.

Armstrong Coal making future plans for county

There will be a rebirth of an existing underground coal mine near Centertown but nobody is sure when that first breath of production will come. The Big Run Mine was closed by Peabody Coal Company in January, 2006, and has been purchased by Armstrong Coal, a newcomer in the coal mining business. David Cobb, vice president of corporate development for Armstrong, said the mine is not expected to go into production until after the company secures a market for the coal.

Fletcher returning to county Monday

Gov. Ernie Fletcher will make one last campaign visit to Ohio County before the May 22 primary. Fletcher will be providing a public forum this Monday, May 14, at the Ohio County Community Center at 11:30 a.m. Fletcher was here on April 17 for a luncheon with the Ohio County Chamber of Commerce. The visit will mark 12 trips Fletcher has made to the county in over four years.