Saturday, April 16, 2011

One of Kentucky’s newest state lawmakers, who also serves as a high school teacher, sustained a critical head injury Tuesday morning while intervening to break up a fight between two students in the school’s cafeteria.

State Representative DeWayne Bunch (R), 49, was listed in “extremely critical” condition when he was taken to the Baptist Regional Medical Center in Corbin, Kentucky, immediately following the fight between two male teens.

Bunch was reported as being unconscious and bleeding from the ears when emergency responders arrived at Whitley County High School.

The fight, between a fifteen- and sixteen-year-old, was caught by a surveillance camera which showed Bunch being punched by the sixteen-year-old, according to the sheriff. It is not clear what started the fight, which took place in the school’s cafeteria during breakfast.

The teens have been charged with one count of first-degree assault and two counts of third-degree assault. They are both in custody at a juvenile detention center according to the sheriff.

Bunch was later transported to University of Kentucky Medical Center in Lexington, Kentucky. His family has requested no information be publicly released about his condition.

Friday, January 21, 2005

After 34 years as president of Bob Jones University, Bob Jones III announced yesterday that he will retire on May 7. He will be replaced by his son, Stephen Jones.

Jones, 65, will continue as Chairman of the Board and Chancellor. The Christian university was established by his grandfather, the evangelist Bob Jones Sr., in 1927. It has been the subject of much controversy because of its racial policies and anti-Catholicism.

When George W. Bush made a speech at the non-accredited college during his 2000 presidential campaign, many critics questioned his judgment, asking why he would support a college with an official ban on interracial dating. The ban was subsequently dropped.

Jones is an ardent supporter of Bush. In his letter congratulating the president on his reelection, Jones wrote, “Pull out all the stops and make a difference. If you have weaklings around you who do not share your biblical values, shed yourself of them.”