Wheelchair

A Stanford woman is suing a Danville bus operator and nursing home alleging that their employees caused her to break a leg and suffer other injuries when they dropped her in her wheelchair as they tried to load her on a bus. Brenda Young filed the complaint last week in Boyle Circuit Court. It names Blue Grass Community Action Partnership and Kindred Healthcare as defendants and seeks an unspecified amount of damages.  Kindred operates Danville Centre for Health and Rehabilitation, where Young was living and receiving medical care, and which contracted with the non-profit Blue Grass Community Action Partnership to provide bus service to its residents.

Tenia Johnson turns the car off and pops the trunk. It must be reflex after all these years. Johnson's routine to transport her son is more complicated than most parents could imagine; the Rubik's Cube look of it makes tedious complaints about car seats seem like tic-tac-toe. After breaking it down and taking the wheels off, the wheelchair barely fits in the trunk of the Corolla - and it's just as much work getting it back out again when she reaches her destination. It's this mother's daily struggle that has the community of Warner Elementary School in Nicholasville set on raising the funds to buy her a wheelchair van. Braden Petrucci celebrated his seventh birthday Feb. 4; he's faced a challenging seven years that started 13 weeks early in 2006.

A man who crashed into a motorized wheelchair while running from the police this summer was sentenced to probation, provided he completes a drug treatment program. Shelby W. Banks, 29, of Paris, was facing four years in prison after pleading guilty to multiple charges last month for the summer pursuit. In October, Banks pleaded guilty to all charges including two counts of possession of a controlled substance, fleeing or evading police, wanton endangerment, possession of marijuana and driving on a suspended operator's license.

Come rain, sleet, snow or sun, Bill Weaver plans to be ready in the mornings with his U.S. Postal Service cap and mail bag. The 79-year-old is the first honorary postal carrier for Danville Centre for Health and Rehabilitation. He was sworn in by the officials Tuesday at the post office on Main Street. They gave Weaver a cap, mail bag and sticker for the back of his wheelchair. "I've enjoyed it so far," he said. Weaver's daughter had asked the nursing home staff if they could find a way for Weaver to help out, and activities' director Julie Maxberry had a plan.

It's back to school in Clark County! Pick up today's Sun to find out what students did after their summer break. Plus, find out more about the tax rate recently approved by the Clark County Public Library Board, and the latest update on a court case involving a driver who struck another man in a wheelchair while fleeing police.

Members of The Generations Center Advisory Council and other seniors were on hand to see the new 18-passenger bus when it was delivered to the center this week, left photo. The bus was funded by a $38,000 federal grant through Congressman Ben Chandler's office and $4,500 in state and local matching funds. The bus, which has a wheelchair lift and will hold two wheelchairs, will be used to transport seniors to and from the center, to doctor's appointments and other events.

Val Gallutia was sticking by his students as they stuck him to the wall Friday afternoon. Students at Warner Elementary School took turns applying duct tape that held the principal against the wall of his school's cafeteria. The spectacle was the result of a fundraiser that brought in about $1,000 to help buy a wheelchair van for a student. First-grader Braden Petrucci suffers from cerebral palsy and is confined to a wheelchair with very limited speech capabilities. The school-wide fundraising is aimed to buy the van for Braden's mother, Tenia Johnson, who currently has to assemble and disassemble her son's wheelchair each time they travel anywhere, storing it in the trunk of her Toyota Corolla.

A Paris man will likely be sentenced to four years in prison after running from police and hitting a man in his motorized wheelchair in the process. Shelby Banks, 29, pleaded guilty Monday morning to first-degree fleeing or evading police, first-degree wanton endangerment, first-degree possession of a controlled substance (two counts), driving on a suspended operator's license and possession of marijuana, less than eight ounces, for the July 22 incident in Winchester. The plea agreement calls for the sentences on all charges to be served together for a total sentence of four years.

LANCASTER - Ohmer Portwood hasn't driven a vehicle in six years. But on Dec. 4 he was cited for reckless driving. On April 22, he's scheduled for trial in Garrard District Court on charges that have since been amended to disregarding traffic regulation by a pedestrian. Portwood, 69, gets around town via electric wheelchair, his only personal means of transportation. On Dec. 4, Lancaster police cited him for traveling north in the southbound lane of U.S. 27 and backing up traffic.

Plight of coroner's office I would like to voice my opinion concerning the information about the coroner's office. I think it is terrible to spend millions of dollars to build the big new hospital and not even have a morgue for families' loved ones. Hattie Fountain Winchester Thank you to newspaper carrier I'm writing to tell you I have the best paper people you have had. They are polite. I am in a wheelchair and they bring my paper to me. I enjoy my paper.

Val Gallutia was sticking by his students as they stuck him to the wall Friday afternoon. Students at Warner Elementary School took turns applying duct tape that held the principal against the wall of his school's cafeteria. The spectacle was the result of a fundraiser that brought in about $1,000 to help buy a wheelchair van for a student. First-grader Braden Petrucci suffers from cerebral palsy and is confined to a wheelchair with very limited speech capabilities. The school-wide fundraising is aimed to buy the van for Braden's mother, Tenia Johnson, who currently has to assemble and disassemble her son's wheelchair each time they travel anywhere, storing it in the trunk of her Toyota Corolla.

Tenia Johnson turns the car off and pops the trunk. It must be reflex after all these years. Johnson's routine to transport her son is more complicated than most parents could imagine; the Rubik's Cube look of it makes tedious complaints about car seats seem like tic-tac-toe. After breaking it down and taking the wheels off, the wheelchair barely fits in the trunk of the Corolla - and it's just as much work getting it back out again when she reaches her destination. It's this mother's daily struggle that has the community of Warner Elementary School in Nicholasville set on raising the funds to buy her a wheelchair van. Braden Petrucci celebrated his seventh birthday Feb. 4; he's faced a challenging seven years that started 13 weeks early in 2006.

Plight of coroner's office I would like to voice my opinion concerning the information about the coroner's office. I think it is terrible to spend millions of dollars to build the big new hospital and not even have a morgue for families' loved ones. Hattie Fountain Winchester Thank you to newspaper carrier I'm writing to tell you I have the best paper people you have had. They are polite. I am in a wheelchair and they bring my paper to me. I enjoy my paper.

A Stanford woman is suing a Danville bus operator and nursing home alleging that their employees caused her to break a leg and suffer other injuries when they dropped her in her wheelchair as they tried to load her on a bus. Brenda Young filed the complaint last week in Boyle Circuit Court. It names Blue Grass Community Action Partnership and Kindred Healthcare as defendants and seeks an unspecified amount of damages.  Kindred operates Danville Centre for Health and Rehabilitation, where Young was living and receiving medical care, and which contracted with the non-profit Blue Grass Community Action Partnership to provide bus service to its residents.

After being inducted into an international hall of fame last year, Nicholasville's Len Kirschbaum has received several more martial-arts honors this fall as he spreads the crafts he has practiced for 50 years. Kirschbaum, a grand master in Original Taekwon-Do and the owner of Main Event Martial Arts Academy, was inducted to a hall of honors for the Black Dragon Fighting Society in October. He received a lifetime achievement award and was promoted to a 10th-degree black belt in November.

For most children, a playground is a place where their imaginations are free to roam. They can enjoy swinging on the swing set to see if they can touch the sky or act silly by hanging upside down from the monkey bars. It’s easy to pretend to be Superman or Wonder Woman at the playground. But for kids with special needs, like the majority who reside at Galilean Children’s Home, a playground is a place that has been out of bounds and off limits because of the myriad physical and mental handicaps they live with.

CRAB ORCHARD ? Charles Mullins can still walk but not very far before he gets worn out. Even the couple of blocks between his house and Main Street are too much for his one remaining good lung. And so, Mullins uses his powered wheelchair to get around town. But using his wheelchair causes problems as well. Mullins says bad sidewalk conditions in Crab Orchard create problems for him on a daily basis, problems he has to handle himself. "I ain't got nobody and if I don't manage things myself, who's going to manage them for me?"

A man who crashed into a motorized wheelchair while running from the police this summer was sentenced to probation, provided he completes a drug treatment program. Shelby W. Banks, 29, of Paris, was facing four years in prison after pleading guilty to multiple charges last month for the summer pursuit. In October, Banks pleaded guilty to all charges including two counts of possession of a controlled substance, fleeing or evading police, wanton endangerment, possession of marijuana and driving on a suspended operator's license.

A Paris man will likely be sentenced to four years in prison after running from police and hitting a man in his motorized wheelchair in the process. Shelby Banks, 29, pleaded guilty Monday morning to first-degree fleeing or evading police, first-degree wanton endangerment, first-degree possession of a controlled substance (two counts), driving on a suspended operator's license and possession of marijuana, less than eight ounces, for the July 22 incident in Winchester. The plea agreement calls for the sentences on all charges to be served together for a total sentence of four years.

It's back to school in Clark County! Pick up today's Sun to find out what students did after their summer break. Plus, find out more about the tax rate recently approved by the Clark County Public Library Board, and the latest update on a court case involving a driver who struck another man in a wheelchair while fleeing police.