Car & Pulaski school bus collide

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May 18, 2009

By TRICIA NEAL, CJ Staff Writer The Commonwealth Journal Mon May 18, 2009, 09:51 PM EDT

Somerset — Pulaski County Schools Superintendent Tim Eaton surveyed the scene of a school bus crash on North Ky. 1247 yesterday afternoon with a blend of worry and relief in his eyes.

He checked on the Pulaski County High School students, most of whom were standing in front of Campground Baptist Church wiping tears from their eyes, waiting for friends or relatives to take them home. He talked with the school bus driver and emergency personnel. He made a few calls on his cell phone.

And, in the end, he surmised, “It could have been much worse.”

The 3:23 p.m. collision sent four individuals to area hospitals. One student, 15-year-old Chris Letner, was airlifted to the University of Kentucky Medical Center with a rib injury. Another student, 19-year-old Tim Lewis, the bus driver, 52-year-old Dorothy Ratcliff of Waynesburg, and the driver of the vehicle that struck the bus — were transported to Lake Cumberland Regional Hospital for treatment of various injuries. Even more of the 30 students onboard sustained nose bleeds, bumped heads, and other minor injuries.

The bus full of high school students — all counting down four days until summer break — was on its way to Eubank Elementary School, where they would board other buses to get home.

The Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department says Ratcliff was traveling north on North Ky. 1247 when she was sideswiped by a southbound Chrysler passenger car being driven by 39-year-old Michelle Bland of Somerset.

“We barely felt a little tap,” said 16-year-old Steven McQueen, one of the bus passengers.

Other students described the impact as feeling as if the bus had hit a pothole or a speed bump.

Following the impact with the car, the bus left the roadway, striking a line of large pine trees.

“We looked, and there was a tree dead-on,” McQueen said.

“We only had two or three seconds to brace ourselves before the impact.”

Students say the bus was making a noise and that fluid was leaking from under the hood immediately following the collision.

McQueen and several of his friends, including 15-year-old Kyle Sowders and 16-year-old Johnathon Smith, opened the emergency exit door at the rear of the bus and led others out — fearing that the bus would catch on fire.

Bus passenger Ralph Letner, 17, the brother of the airlifted victim, gave Ratcliff credit for attempting to avoid the collision and for keeping the incident from being potentially worse.

Letner said the bus began to tip over after it hit the car, but that Ratcliff swerved to keep it from landing on its side.

Eaton said most of the students had arranged to be picked up from the site of the wreck on their own following the incident. Those who did not have transportation were taken to Eubank Elementary School on a different bus.

Bland was extricated from her vehicle by members of the Science Hill Volunteer Fire Department and Pulaski County Public Safety Director Tiger Robinson.

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Pulaski carries Girdler to win

In the weeks leading up to Tuesday’s primary election, it was impossible to miss the colorful signs dotting nearly every Pulaski roadway. The names in the race for the 15th State Senatorial District seat popped out: A.C. Donahue. Chris Girdler. Mark Polston.

Once citizens hit the ballots, however, the results mirrored the dimensions of the signs themselves: Chris Girdler stood the tallest.

Girdler, deputy district director for Congressman Harold “Hal” Rogers, ran away with the votes inside Pulaski County’s borders, earning 3,926 votes for 62.05 percent of the total number cast.

That number more than doubled the next highest vote-getter, businessman Mark Polston, who raked in 1,624 votes for 25.67 percent.

However, Polston — who owns Classic Carpet, a home-flooring business located just off the southern 914 bypass — can claim a moral victory ... three of them, in fact. In all three counties in the district other than Pulaski — those being Adair, Casey, and Russell Counties — Polston actually edged out Girdler.

In Adair, Polston beat Girdler 629 to 394. In Casey County, it was 538 to 417, and in Russell, it was 1,862 to 1,038.

Polston said he just “couldn’t pull it out with the numbers” and that “the machine worked for” Girdler in Pulaski County.

“I think that was their strategy — I think they had a Pulaski County strategy all along,” said Polston. “They played the political game well.”

Polston said the difference between his and Girdler’s campaigns was that “mine was a very, very grass roots campaign,” he said. “I did not have a political machine behind me. I understand how this process works, and in this instance, he prevailed.”

As for why Girdler didn’t take three of four counties, the winning candidate — since there are no Democrats in the race, winning the Republican primary was effectively a final victory for Girdler — said he didn’t have an answer for that.

However, “I believe things happen for a reason and I hope the long and strenuous campaign will only heighten my desire to move beyond the bitterness and partisanship of the recent past,” said Girdler.

“Regionalism is a goal of mine, and I look forward to helping all four counties,” he added, noting that he campaigned heavily in each of them.

Sen. Vernie McGaha, the long-time state senator whose seat the candidates were vying for, actually supported Polston after Liberty’s Todd Hoskins dropped out of the race earlier this month.

Donahue, a local attorney, got 556 votes in Pulaski County, 8.79 percent of the vote. He only received 145 votes in Russell County, 74 in Adair County, and 75 in Casey County, where hometown candidate Hoskins almost matched him with 71 votes despite no longer being officially in the race.

Polston said he’s “still digesting” what happened, and though “the process has been a very good experience for me,” he wouldn’t commit to running again in the future. “I wouldn’t shut the door to anything, but I’m not opening any doors either.”

Still, “I think I got a lot of people involved in the process that had not been involved before and would not have been otherwise,” he said. “A lot of people got out and worked really hard, got motivated to talk to friends and neighbors. I think a lot of people became involved through this campaign that are going to be involved for a long time.”

Girdler stressed his “positive message” and said that Rogers is a “mentor and good friend” that he would turn to for advice in dealing with a frequently combative legislative body in Frankfort, one for which Girdler hopes to help change the culture.

Girdler said that he was “confident and optimistic” during the day Tuesday because he’d “worked extremely hard.” Nevertheless, the realization that he’d won gave him “chill bumps,” he said.

“I’m absolutely honored,” said Girdler. “The position of state senator is more than an honor, more than an office. It’s a charge to keep, and I will give it my all.

“I pledge to be the people’s state senator,” he added. “I look forward to working with everyone to move this region forward.”

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