One last post for the night

This was a good opinion piece from Kelly Gunning, the director of advocacy and public policy for the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) in Lexington.

Banishment of mentally ill all too common: Son also given trips; Horine case violated court order

It should come as no surprise that severely mentally-ill citizens of this country have long been targeted for relocation by some dubious law-enforcement agencies. In the case of Adam Horine, a compassionate judge, Carroll District Judge Elizabeth Chandler, could sense immediately upon interacting with him that he was not a dangerous criminal but a very ill individual pleading to go to the hospital. According to the news report, Chandler ordered an immediate mental-health examination of Horine and his transport to Eastern State Hospital. It is also noted that a social worker’s preliminary evaluation confirmed the judge’s initial read. Yet these prudent and justified acts of advocacy, according to the report and accompanying video, were soon overridden by Carrollton Police Chief Michael Willhoite and Officer Ron Dickow, who put him on a bus to Florida.

Also in The Lexington Herald-Leader today of note:

A picture of the Central Library check-out desk, 1982.

And a followup on the story of the bicyclist who was killed by an allegedly drunk driver recently:

Justice system failed family of Lexington bicyclist allegedly killed by drunk driver, widow says

Just a week before his death, Mark Hinkel said if anything ever happened to him while biking, he'd be OK with it because he'd be doing what he loved.

"I don't think he dreamed anything would happen" when he said that, his widow, Mary-Lynn Hinkel, said in a recent interview.

Mark Hinkel, 57, was at mile 99 of the Horsey Hundred 102-mile Century ride on May 23 in Scott County when he was hit by an oncoming truck whose driver allegedly was drunk. Hinkel landed on the truck bed cover, and the driver went about 3 miles with Hinkel on the cover before the truck was stopped by police. Odilon Paz-Salvador, 29, has been charged with murder.

Okay, let's put aside for a moment that this driver had no driver licence and is an illegal alien who should have been deported years ago back to his homeland. Let's look at this:

Paz-Salvador told officers after his arrest that he had nine previous DUIs, most older than five years.

The fourth DUI during a five-year period is a felony in Kentucky, but after five years, a person's DUI count resets. As a result, a driver could be charged every five years, and each time it would be the driver's first offense.

Without the five-year reset, Paz-Salvador would have been in prison, and Mark Hinkel would be alive today, Bayer said.

"The laws were not in place to protect our father, or anyone's father," Lauren Lewis said. "We cannot let another family go through what we're going through right now, because it's just unimaginable."

I hope the laws regarding driving under the influence and the 5-year reset will be changed as a result of this case. My heart goes out to the family of Mark Hinkel.

And lastly, there was a horrific accident on I-75 Southbound at the Clay's Ferry bridge. A tractor trailer caught on fire and the driver, no doubt fearing for his life, jumped from the cab, taking him off of the bridge and down below, where his body was found after the semi-truck crashed into a barrier, with flames spreading behind it for several trailer lengths. Someone shot a very chilling video of the fire. No one else was apparently hurt, which is a miracle, although the interstate was shut down for some time, there was a fire where the fuel came down off the bridge, and some of the fuel may have made it into the river, according to the Herald-Leader. The driver was from Florida. I am so sorry for his family. It was a horrible choice he had to make, and there was little chance short of a miracle that he would emerge unscathed, judging by the reports.

Wow--that's just, horrible

More on the cyclist's death the other day.

Police: 'Cold beer in cup holder' of truck that killed cyclist

Police found a "cold beer in the cup holder" of the truck that killed Lexington Lawyer Mark Hinkel during the Horsey Hundred.

Odilon Paz-Salvador told the arresting officer he had drank six beers and smoked marijuana before the fatal crash at 1235 Lemons Mill Road Saturday, according to the police report.

Hinkel, 57, was struck head on, hit the windshield of the black Dodge truck driven by Paz-Salvador. The impact, according to the police report, left "a huge hole" in the windshield. Hinkel landed, bleeding but alive, on the bed cover of the truck.

Paz-Salvador, who doesn't have a driver's license or Social Security number, drove nearly three miles with Hinkel in his truck.

A sad end to a fun event, and the perils of impaired driving

Lexington man dies after being hit by vehicle during Horsey Hundred cycling event; driver is arrested

The Horsey Hundred, sponsored by the Bluegrass Cycling Club, includes several rides of various lengths, including the Century ride, which is the longest.

Thomas said about 2,500 cyclists from throughout the U.S. and several foreign countries are participating in this year's event. She said this is the first time a fatality has occurred during the event's 38 years.

Mark Hinkel, a local attorney, was struck and killed by a driver who has been charged with murder and driving under the influence, among other charges. He did not even stop after striking the man, who wound up in the bed of his truck.

Last year there was this on an unrelated ride, also in Scott County, although that one was apparently a genuine accident:

Bicyclist hit by pickup, killed while fixing a flat in Scott County during cross-country fundraising trip

and then there's the person doing the same trek in her memory--

Lexington bicyclist readies for cross-country charity trek, inspired by rider killed in Scott County

Lexington itself is continuing to expand bike lanes. I noticed some were put in on Alexandria Drive recently, with areas where they cross the intersection marked in green (like on Southland Drive and Cooper Drive). I hope this helps for safety, although I think drivers and cyclists need to work hand in hand for that--I see far too many cyclists forgetting that they are subject to the laws that govern the road, and far too many drivers who fail to yield or share it. On the other hand, the county roads in the surrounding area are a totally different thing. A friend of mine used to ride long-distance in Woodford County. I'm not sure I'd be brave enough to tackle either roads on main thoroughfares here, or out in the country, where people often speed in their cars. When I didn't have the car, I considered getting a bike, as it's a straight stretch down Richmond Road to work, but decided it was far too dangerous. For those brave souls out there, more power to them. I'd stay in bike parks and local neighbourhoods, myself.

An exercise becomes, sadly, a reality

A bright life, a needless end

Zuckoff, an author and accomplished former Globe ­reporter, gives the same assignment to every student on the first day of feature writing class: write your own obituary. Christopher completed his on Sept. 5. It’s an exercise that allows the students to express themselves and the professor to learn about his students. Nobody could ever have imagined it to be real.

Christopher’s was an expansive, fascinating journey that never should have ended when it did. His self-penned obituary is below. It’s ­included in the hope that every motorist might think about his life and slow down. It’s included in the hope that every cyclist might think of Christopher and tame the urge to rush. It’s ­included because nobody knew Christopher better than he knew himself.

It's a very touching obituary, giving a glimpse of a young man with a lot of promise, cut down, unfortunately, when he was struck on his bike in the designated lane by a semi-truck doing a wide turn. RIP, Christopher Weigl.

What would you write in your obituary?

'Share the Road'

Means more than car drivers looking out for bikes. It means bike riders should not blow through a red light just as a pedestrian starts to cross with the green. I just almost got creamed, and that offends me when I'm obeying the traffic laws and someone else isn't.