Summer approaches.

Memorial Day rescue in Ellison’s Cave involved over 100 people – including 80 expert cavers from Walker, Hamilton, Nashville, Knoxville, Huntsville, and Atlanta. Crews hauled equipment thousands of feet into the cave to treat the man once he was found; afterwards it took over five hours to get all the rescuers and material out.

The trapped man’s name has now been released to the media: Dwight Kempf.

Mr. Kempf’s wife flew in to be with him in the hospital. She released a statement yesterday saying the family is “extremely grateful” for the rescue, and Dwight is “doing as well as can be expected” considering what happened.

Channel 9 went to Pettyjohn’s Cave near Ellison’s Tuesday to see what the cave system is like inside and get some caving information/advice from Walker County Emergency Services.   

WQCH Radio, 05/28/13: “WALKER COUNTY FIRE AND RESCUE WORKED AN INCREDIBLE 48 HOUR ‘MARATHON’ DURING THE MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND. IN ADDITION TO THE CAVE RESCUE AT PIGEON MOUNTAIN, THERE WERE ALSO SEVERAL FIRES AND A SEACH AND RESCUE FOR A SNAKE-BITE VICTIM.

“FIRE CHIEF RANDY CAMP SAID THE SNAKE-BITE CALL CAME IN AT 8:30 SUNDAY MORNING. THE VICTIM, A KNOXVILLE MAN IN HIS 20’s, WAS LOST IN THE WOODS OFF OLD MINERAL SPRINGS ROAD JUST OUTSIDE LAFAYETTE. CHIEF CAMP SAID THEY TRIED TO GET A GPS FIX ON HIS CELL PHONE, BUT IT WENT DEAD BEFORE THAT WAS ACCOMPLISHED.

“A STATE PATROL HELICOPTER WAS ALSO CALLED TO JOIN THE SEARCH FROM THE AIR. THE MAN MANAGED TO WANDER OUT OF THE WOODS AT AROUND 3 PM AND LIFEFORCE WAS CALLED TO TRANSPORT HIM TO ERLANGER. HE HAD A COUPLE OF PUNCTURE WOUNDS BUT COULD NOT IDENTIFY THE TYPE OF SNAKE THAT BIT HIM.

Thanks to all the volunteers and employees of Walker County Emergency Services and other groups involved in keeping the community safe even during holidays.   

“Happy” may not be the proper greeting on a day intended for mourning and remembering, but hopefully your Memorial Day was pleasant and purposeful.

Local news from the last few days:

Sunday afternoon around 4 PM, one man in a group of four exploring Ellison’s Cave in Pigeon Mountain fell 30 or 40 feet and was separated from the rest of his group. Rescuers were called in around 6, but due to the deep location local cave teams were unable to rescue him. Cave/rescue groups from out of state were called in to assist, but getting here and getting to the man’s location took hours.

The spelunker was reached, found alive, some 800 down in the cave Monday morning. He was reportedly given a blood transfusion inside the cave, and finally extracted around 1:30 PM and flown to Erlanger for treatment. Rescue workers described his injuries as a broken femur, broken ribs, and fractured skull. He hasn’t been named but was identified as a 54-year-old “experienced caver” from Pennsylvania.

Ellison’s Cave is one of the deepest caverns in the world, and the deepest in the Southeast. It’s a legendary challenge for cavers, but has taken the lives of several who had accidents inside – including two college students in 2011 and another individual just one year earlier. This latest accident prompts many to wonder if access to the state-owned cave should be restricted or controlled somehow to limit future accidents.           

LPD Chief Benjie Clift says the tasering last Thursday at LHS has been investigated; use of force “was justified” against two fighting students. The girls, age 16 and 17, face a single misdemeanor charge each. The older may be tried as an adult.

An unusually thorough CatWalkChatt article about the tasing provides details about the girls’ conflict, noting that both girls involved are good students and this was a first for them both.

Per the linked piece, school resource officer Billy Mullis used the taser not because of the fighters being girls or some suggested inability to break up the fight, but because he was concerned about the potential for injury with the fight on concrete. Article also claims LHS security cameras didn’t catch any of the conflict, and Mullis’ taser doesn’t have standard recording equipment because it was purchased with donated funds. That means student created video is the only record.

Two female LHS students were tased yesterday by SRO Billy Mullis during lunchroom fight. They’re reportedly both juniors.

Student-shot video of the incident is unfortunately too short to get a lot of context on the fight. According to an eyewitness, Officer Mullis yelled “break it up” twice before the clip begins, and the girl in purple was the only one tased.

LU contacted Officer Mullis and LHS Principal Culberson for a statement on the incident. If they add anything to this, it’ll be posted on LU Facebook and shared here next Monday.     

As of 10 PM on Friday May 24th, neither Officer Mullis nor LHS principal Culberson have responded to LU e-mails. However, LPD chief Benjie Clift and School Superintendent Raines have both made comments to local media saying the tasing was justified. Check LU Facebook or Monday’s Daily Update for more details.

WQCH Radio, 05/23/13: “LAFAYETTE HIGH SCHOOL’S GRAD RATE FOR 2012 IS 74.67 PERCENT. THAT’S BETTER THAN THE STATE AVERAGE AND IMPROVED BY 2.7-PERCENT FROM THE YEAR BEFORE.

“RIDGELAND HIGH WAS BELOW THE STATE AVERAGE, WITH A GRAD RATE OF 65.45 PERCENT. THAT IMPROVED BY JUST OVER 1-PERCENT FROM THE YEAR BEFORE. ..THE GRAD RATE AT RINGGOLD HIGH IS 83 PERCENT, AND CHATTOOGA HIGH SCHOOL’S RATE IS ALMOST 90 PERCENT.

“THIS IS THE SECOND YEAR THAT GEORGIA GRADUATION RATES HAVE BEEN CALCULATED BY A MORE RIGOROUS METHOD. THE PREVIOUS METHOD GAVE WHAT STATE OFFICIALS NOW SAY WAS AN ‘INFLATED’ VIEW OF GRADUATION RATES.”

Chickamauga and Trion have the highest graduation rates in all of Georgia:

“Eight school systems posted graduation rates above 90 percent. Chickamauga City Schools and its 112 graduates had the highest rate of 99.1 percent, followed closely by Trion City Schools with its 89 graduates and rate of 98.9 percent. On the other end, three school systems were among those with graduation rates below 50 percent. They were Randolph County with 49.3 percent; Talbot County with 45.5 percent; and Twiggs County with 45.3 percent.

Trion and Chickamauga can poach good athletes/students from the surrounding communities and dump underperformers back into the county systems that surround them… They have some inherent advantages the county-wide systems don’t have; “public schools” with some of the advantages private schools have when it comes to selectivity and exclusivity.

Press release from GA Department of Education touts a 2% rise in graduation state-wide, from 67.4% to 69.7%. Improvement is good, but it still means three out of every ten kids who enter 9th grade never finish school. Georgia now spends $9,253 per student per year.   

Flood damage: Chattooga County estimates thirty homes were damaged in their community during last weekend’s flooding. Most of them were trailers parked on a campground where people were living.

So far there are no reports of damage in Walker County, although it seems a few homes were flooded over the weekend south of LaFayette. No official statements will be made until the flood reaches Chickamauga.   

Commissioner Heiskell wants to create a new court system in Walker County to handle codes enforcement. She claims the county can’t enforce codes because it requires a court order, and the traditional courts aren’t fast enough to suit her.

If we can’t enforce codes, why do we have a codes enforcement department? She says there’s one guy, but in 2011 the codes department budget was over $400,000. Where’s all that money going, and what does the codes department do NOW besides erect campaign signs and drive around all day?

Another article says Heiskell wants State Judge Billy Mullinax to appoint retired State Judge Donnie Peppers to the new court. Peppers stepped down in 2011 but has stayed on the county payroll for reasons not yet made clear by Peppers or Heiskell. (Mullinax represented Peppers in his 2007 DUI; a mugshot from that incident was included in the TFP report and shared here for posterity.)

Walker County’s codes were implemented several decades ago when Commissioner Heiskell was the County Administrator; she played a role in their composition and in pushing voters to approve them. She also created Walker County Police, the agency responsible for enforcing the apparently unenforcible laws. So in essence, Bebe will create a court whose budget is set by her so a judge paid by her can make rulings about her laws, for her police department to enforce.

In England the queen just waves at people..   

Saturday night or early Sunday, thieves broke into fourteen storage units at LaFayette Rentals on North Main. Those are the storage barns next to Restaurant Enterprises.

Same thing happened on the same night in Catoosa. Might be a link y’think?   

Heavy rains over the last two days have closed roads in Chattooga County (Walker County apparently doesn’t officially ever close roads) and put Walker County Schools on a two-hour delay. Trion officially received 4″ of rainfall between 8 AM and 4 PM; LaFayette got over 3 inches for the day, and Rock Spring measured about 1 1/2. Some unofficially measured eight or nine inches on their home rain gauges.   

Walker County was briefly under a “State of Emergency” on Sunday afternoon. Two families were evacuated during that time. So far there are no official reports of any homes damaged, only downed fences, drowned pastures, and washed-out driveways.   

In Chattooga County, a rescue worker was sucked through a culvert while trying to help residents evacuate near West Halls Valley Rd. He came out the other side and was rescued, taken to Redmond Hospital in Rome, and is believed to be OK. Thank God he didn’t get stuck. A total of five families were evacuated from the West Halls Valley Rd. area in Chattooga, which is where the worst flooding in our area was seen.   

The photo above is from the Halls Valley Road / Lee School Road area in Walker County. Check LU Facebook for more flood photos.

Music on the Square in downtown LaFayette was held on Saturday before most of the heavy rains fell. The third-annual event appears to have been a success; no official word yet on attendance numbers. A complimentary (or possibly competing) event on Chattanooga Street seemed to be lightly attended.