Bath County
Citizens urged to get tough on,drugs and dealers
prosecutors and judges
can't stop it without a
commitment from you,"
State Police Det. Larry
Bowling told the crowd.
As citizens filed into the
Bath County High School
gymnasium, they were
given pencils and slips of
paper whose significance
became clear later•
Perhaps the most dra-
By George Lewis
News Reporter
george@lthconewsoudook.com
Members of the judicia-
ry and law enforcement
. urged about 400 citizens
at an anti-drug rally
Sunday evening to take
'. a tough-love approach in
combating illegal drugs•
'%aw enforcement,
Photo by George Lew/s
Dwayne Depp, former commander of the Morehead
KSP post, recounted the number of drug-overdose
deaths in the county, 37 in the last 3 years
matic message of the eve-
ning came from 24-year-
old Megan McGlothen,
who recounted her drug
experience that ranged
from experimentation
with alcohol and mari-
juana to drug addiction,
rehab and now recovery.
McGlothen said she
drank a little in high
school but graduated with
a perfect 4.0 grade-point
average and received an
academic scholarship to
Morehead State Univer-
sity.
Shortly after she ar-
rived on the MSU cam-
pus, a boy invited her to
a fraternity party, where
she smoked marijuana
for the first time.
Pot led to opiates, Oxy-
contin in particular, col-
lege fell by the wayside
and thus McGlothen be-
gan her descent into full-
blown addiction and the
accompanying turmoil
and heartache.
McGlothen said she
fuelled her addiction by
doctor shopping and deal-
ing narcotics•
'2VIy parents were my
biggest enablers," she
confided. Her mother,she
said, became addicted to
alcohol and drugs rela-
tively late in life, and her
father, although loving
and free from addiction,
"had no idea how to love
a drug addict•"
"ere's a fine line be-
tween loving someone and
enabling someone."
Megan McGlothen
"There's a fine line be-
tween loving s®meone
and enabling someone,"
she said.
Her father talked her
into a detoxification pro-
gram, which she com-
pleted; then, after three
months of relapse, she
rallied with the help of
friends and now has been
drug-free since Dec. 2,
2009.
The crowd gave Mc-
Glothen a standing ova-
Photo by George Lew/s
Megan McGIothen, a recovering drug addict, brought
her personalized message to the crowd, which gave
her a standing ovation.
tion. use tough love."
Bath County Circuit One night in jail isn't
Judge Beth Maze fol- enough, she said, and
lowed by urging those neither is a short stay in
with family members rehab.
who steal to buy drugs: "If they've been addict-
"Have them arrested the ed for a year, they need
first time they steal from to spend a year in rehab,"
you• Don't be afraid to See DRUGS Page 10
i " i i i I liB I
Leadingham's, Possum Plight Continues
By George Lewis
News Reporter
george@k.com
Two civil actions
filed recently in
Bath CircUit Court
extend the question
of whethe a teacher
will be fired or rein-
stated wih back pay
after ' •
releasing to an
animal-rights'group
the names of middle-
school students who
supposedly tortured
and killed a mother
opossum and her ba-
bies on school prop-
erty.
The Bath County
School Board and Su-
perintendent Nancy
Hutchinson ask in
their suit that the
tribunal's order re-
instating Lorraine
Leadingham be void-
ed and her termina-
tion be reinstated be-
cause the tribunal's
decision "was arbi-
trary and not sup-
ported by mitigating
circumstances."
The suit further
states that hear-
ing officer Michael
Head overstepped
his authority when
he summarily dis-
missed the charge of threatening) e-mails rescinded her firing, bunal's order over-
insubordination that to school officials, agreeing that Lead- turned.
had been levied at calling for the boys ingham violated pol- Leadingham has
Leadingham. to be charged with icies but modifying filed suit asking
"The tribunal's animal cruelty. The her punishment to that the matter be
finding of fact all school punished the suspension with pay returned to the tri-
support the school's students but not to and benefits• The bunal for another
decision to termi- the extent PETA tribunal cited her 17 hearing to clarify
nate," the suit says. would have liked• years' service to the the tribunal's inten-
The incident, which Hutchinson fired schools and her in- tion regarding Lead-
occurred in April, Leadingham in tention to help the ingham's back pay.
caused a commotion May for releasing students. In the meantime,
when PETA (People the boys' names to Leadingham's back
for the EthicalTreat- PETA. However, the in the classroom•
ment of Animals) got Leadingham ap- school board voted The district assigned
wind of it through pealed, and in Au- unanimously at its her to teach at its al-
drama and arts gust teacher most recent meeting ternative school,• a
teacher Leadingham hearing tribunal ap- to withhold Leading- position she said she
and began firing off pointed by the state ham's back pay and finds fulfilling.
hateful (some say board of education seek to have the tri-
City Partners Wit,h County
By George Lewis . pointed by the city,
News Reporter
george@lrhconewsoutlooLcorn
Owingsville City
Council considered new
ordinances and dusted
off an 01d one Monday.
The council agreed on
• - first reading to an ordi-
nance establishing an
"interlocal agreement"
with Bath County Fis-
cal Court creating a
joint city-county indus-
trial development au-
• thority.
The purpose of the de-
velopment authority is
to "acquire, retain and
develop land for indus-
trial and commercial
purposes, aid in the de-
velopment of industrial
sites, parks and subdi-
• : visions to meet indus-
trial and commercial
needs in Bath County,"
according to the in-
terlocal agreement.
The industrial 'au-
thority b3ard will be
composed of seven'
members, three ap-
three by the county,
and one jointly by the
city and county.
The council also dis-
cussed an ordinance
setting the pr0perty
tax rate for 2010.
Mayor Don Kincaid
suggested a rate of
23.8 cents per $100 as-
sessed value on all real
estate.
The council's options
are to adopt• a com-
pensating rate of 23.4
centers per $100 to
produce revenues of ap-
proximately $104,154,
or a rate allowing a
4 percent increase to,
24.3 cents, which would
yield approximately
$108,160 in reveml,
A vote on the mor's
proposal resu/led in a
tie, which-''te mayor
declined to break.
The tax ate was ta-
bled until the council's
next meeting. 5
There was new
real property for 0]0,
as deletions from he
2009 assessment ex-
ceeded additions to the
2010 assessments, ac-
cording to a letter from
Douglas K. Moore, cer-
tified public accoun-
tant.
The council also ap-
proved on first reading
an ordinance annexing
57.36 acres along 1-
64. The land is owned
by the federal govern-
ment.
An ordinance estab-
lishing a curfew for ju-
veniles was resurrect-
ed and tabled until the
ensuring their children
are off the streets from
1 a.m. until 6 a.m.
Saturday and Sun-
day and 11 p.m. to 6
a.m. Monday through
Friday.
The ordinance con-
tains exceptions to
those requirements.
The council agreed
to a one-year contract
with the Bath County
Water District that will
allow the district to
100 customers will be
affected, Kincaid said.
In other business, the
council heard an up-
date on the streetscape
project from a repre-
sentative of the Nesbitt
engineering firm.
Abbie Jones of the
firm said 10 companies
have indicated they
will bid on the project,
which is good for the
city because it • could
mean a more competi-
perform sewer-billing "tive bidding process.
services for Owings- be
ville Water-fcon-=b-pened at city hall at
council's next me eag. enience of customers 2 p.m. on Sept. 28 and
•
The ordinance, first who are served by both awarded Oct. 11.
proposedin 1998, holds the district and the Jones said if the bids
parents responsible for-water company. About come in lower than
expected, the project
could be expanded•
The council appoint-
ed Amble Kilburn to
serve as a member ot
the Parks and Recre-
ation Commission and
appointed Bayry Toy
and Kenny Williams to
the commission. Some
of those attending the
council meeting re-
marked about the large
turnout at the previous
night's anti-drug rally
at Bath County High
School (see related sto-
ries, this issue).
"This could be the
strongest front posed
against the problem,".
Kincaid said.
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