Dismissal

Any basketball coach will tell you that two years isn't much time to rebuild a program, and some local high school coaches said that's what is so unusual about Kentucky's decision to dismiss Billy Gillispie. Gillispie was fired less than two years after coming to Lexington, and those high school coaches said that probably isn't long enough. However, they also said it was clear that the factors leading to Gillispie's ouster went well beyond the performance of the program. "The public relations aspect probably was the thing the UK administration didn't like," Casey County girls coach Randy Salyers said.

Rape and sodomy charges were dismissed against a Winchester man Wednesday after police found several inconsistencies in the victim's story. Jeremy Asher, 28, of 1575 White Conkwright Road, was arrested for first-degree rape and two counts of first-degree sodomy Feb. 9 after the 17-year-old girl and her parents went to police. Asher was scheduled for a preliminary hearing Wednesday afternoon in Clark District Court but County Attorney Brian Thomas moved to amend all charges to sexual misconduct and then dismiss them, provided Asher stipulate that there was probable cause.

Jerry Curtis, accused on Dec. 18 of hitting a seven-year-old child with his truck, pled guilty in Boyle District Court Wednesday to driving under the influence of intoxicants, while a felony charge of first-degree assault was thrown out. According to Curtis' Attorney Matt Walter, a grand jury failed to indict Curtis on the assault charge based on evidence and an eyewitness account. "Upon hearing the proof, the grand jury decided it was no fault of Mr. Curtis'," said Walter.

Both cases pending against developers of the Forest Brook subdivision and golf course in Wilmore were dismissed in Jessamine County circuit court Feb. 6 by Circuit Judge Hunter Daugherty, meaning the development can move forward after more than a two-year delay. The defendant in the cases, Hal Snowden Jr., owner of Roseglade Farm in Wilmore, had sued the city in 2006 and 2007 for illegal annexation practices in incorporating approximately one mile's worth of properties from the Wilmore city limits to the Forest Brook property just north of Wilmore.

The Clark County School District's inclement weather plan was provided to the Sun last week. This is the actual policy statement verbatim. Kentucky Department of Education regulations allow up to five hours of dismissal per year for inclement weather in increments of one or two hours only. For the past several years, Clark County has not used the option of delaying the opening of schools; however, the board and administration believe this alternative may reduce the number of days missed due to inclement weather.

LEXINGTON - A federal judge has tossed out a lawsuit filed by a Garrard County woman who alleged state social workers violated her civil rights by taking her teenage daughter from her. Senior U.S. District Judge Joseph M. Hood dismissed Tammy Carpenter's complaint against the Cabinet for Health and Family Services and social workers in the Department of Community Based Services' Garrard County office. In dismissing the case, Hood wrote that state agencies are immune from such legal actions.

A formal complaint filed by a local man against a Danville police officer has been shot down after an internal investigation by the police department. Kerry Kenley filed the complaint Sept. 8 against Officer Chris Matano after a Labor Day incident. Kenley said he and his son had been dove hunting on property on East Main Street and were returning to town when they were followed by Danville police. Kenley voluntarily pulled his truck over in front of Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church on Main Street and got out and said that's when Officer Matano leveled a weapon at him in excessive fashion.

At the last regular Boyle County Fiscal Court meeting, the court decided to file a letter of intent to dismiss a member of the Boyle County Emergency Medical Services. After a personnel hearing Tuesday, a decision was made to dismiss EMS member Kevin Carpenter. Boyle County Judge-Executive Harold McKinney made the announcement Tuesday night at the Boyle County Fiscal Court meeting. The personnel committee consists of McKinney and two magistrates. No details were released about why Carpenter was dismissed.

Attorneys for murder suspect Lewis "Buck" Ballard want a judge to dismiss the indictment, claiming there isn't enough specific information listed about the alleged incidents. Ballard, 48, is accused of killing and sodomizing 6-year-old Wesley Mullins of Winchester last summer in Paris. Ballard was a roommate with Mullins' grandfather for three years. The boy was killed on Aug. 4, 2007 by blunt force injuries and was found in the garage behind his grandfather's home. Ballard's attorney, LaMer Kyle-Griffiths, filed a motion earlier this month to have the indictment dismissed because it does not contain enough specific information about the alleged incidents.