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THE BROWN COUNTY PRESS Serving Brown County, Ohio since 1973
Vol. 38 No. 12
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Hensley may trade testimony for deal A deal appears to be in the works in the death penalty trial of Joseph Hensley, possibly in exchange for his testimony against Dallas Tincher. Tincher is also facing the death penalty for allegedly hiring Hensley to kill John Carpenter of Aberdeen in April. At a hearing on Oct. 26, Common Pleas Judge Scott Gusweiler said “It is the Courts understanding that there have been significant discussions about resolving Mr. Hensley’s case”. Hensley was named by Brown County Prosecuting Attorney Jessica Little as a possible witness in the
Tincher trial in court papers filed last month. Neither Little or Hensley attorney Bruce Wallace had any comment regarding a possible deal. Cincinnati area attorney Eric Deters, consulted by the Press as a legal expert, said it “makes logical sense” that Hensley would have to testify against Tincher to earn any sort of deal or consideration from Little. Tinchers trial is set to begin in December. The hearing on the Hensley case was scheduled for 11:30 a.m., but shortly before it began, Gusweiler asked Wallace, Little and their cocounsels to come into his chambers. They remained there for
over 30 minutes. When they emerged and the hearing began, Gusweiler referenced the “lengthy discussions” and asked both parties if they had any objection to having the conversation on the record. Neither side objected. the hearing, During Wallace asked that pending motions filed before the court be “held in abeyance” or suspended. One of those motions was to suppress the confession Hensley to investigators. confession was That recounted in the Sept. 19 edition of the Brown County Press. Gusweiler asked Wallace “Mr. Wallace you are not desiring and you are waiving
the necessity for me to rule on the motion to suppress at this time?” “Yes, your honor, at this time”, answered Wallace. Gusweiser also clarified that he was being asked to hold motions in abeyance that asked for more money to pay for a defense expert, investigator and psychologist. Wallace said that was the case at this time as well. Gusweiler then told Wallace that he needed to provide an accounting of the expenses involved in defending Hensley to date by Nov. 30. Deters said that development is telling as well. “If rulings are being held in abeyance and defense costs CONTINUED ON PAGE 9
The Brown County Press/WAYNE GATES
Joseph Hensley listens to his attorney, Bruce Wallace, during a hearing on Sept. 26.
Brown County Hospital up for sale again BY Martha Jacob The Brown County Press It's back to the drawing board for the Brown County Board of Commissioners and the trustees of Brown County Regional HealthCARE, after the latest potential buyer of the facility decided against purchasing the hospital. The commissioners wasted no time in passing a resolution to once again solicit for bids for the sale or lease of the assets and operations of the hospital, which would assure that health care would continue for the citizens of the community. The process of selling the hospital began earlier this year, but after months of negotiations with Essent HealthCARE Inc. fell through and in late April, withdrew it's bid. In early June, the hospital went back up for sale and negotiations began with Falcon Investors, LLC, Harrison, New York. Hospital board members were hopeful as the buyout looked hopeful at the Oct. 15 board of trustees meeting. But only a week later, following the 'due diligence process' Falcon withdrew their proposal. In late May, hospital president of the board of trustees, Eric Sontag said that the hospital would continue to provide services to the community as it has for the past 58 years. "The time has come for the community to return such loyalty through the use of hospital services and locally available physicians and medical specialists," Sontag told the Brown County Press. The Brown County Hospital is not alone in its struggle to attract patients and remain viable, according to
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Index Classifieds ..Pages 19, 20 Court News......Page 16 Death Notices.........Page 7 Education...............Page 8 Opinion...........Page 4-6 Social..................Page 8 Sports ........Pages 13-15
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Rand Corporation Health Research. The Rand Corporation is a nonprofit research organization. An article released by Rand stated that nearly three-fourths of all rural hospitals are losing money and some have even been forced to file bankruptcy in recent years. It suggested that rural residents may believe that the quality of care in rural hospitals is poor or they may be uninformed about all the available services and technologies, which may be adequate for patient needs. Brown County has approximately 50,000 residents, and the Brown County Regional HealthCARE covers the county with medical facilities including: *Brown County General Hospital, Georgetown *Brown County Family Physicians, Georgetown *Brown County Surgical Group, Georgetown *Brown County Home HealthCARE, Georgetown *Bethel Regional Family HealthCARE *Mt. Orab Regional Family HealthCARE *Fayetteville Regional HealthCARE *Peak PerformanceComprehensive Rehab, Georgetown *Urgent Medical Care, Mt. Orab "We want to do the best we can do to keep good healthcare in Brown County," said Commissioner Margery Paeltz.
The Brown County Press/SUBMITTED
PHOTO
This drawing of the proposed new intersection shows new lanes, pavement and traffic lights.
Money sought for new overpass BY Wayne Gates The Brown County Press The village of Mt. Orab is asking the state for help in upgrading the 32/68 intersection and overpass. Mayor Bruce Lunsford led a delegation to Columbus earlier this month to give a presentation on the need for a new overpass to the Ohio Department of Transportation. They were given a few minutes to present their case to the Transportation Review Advisory Council or TRAC, which approves all projects over five million dollars within the state.
Lunsford was armed with a traffic study that said the intersection is rated an “F” for traffic flow and safety according to ODOT’s own standards. An F is the lowest ranking possible. The village paid $67,000 for the study. Lunsford said the study was an expensive but necessary part of the application process. “It’s harder for them to ignore hard data based on their own standards”, Lunsford said. “Since our study showed it was an ‘F’, I would hope we’d get some priority.”
Lunsford added that the process is a slow one, and that it could be 2013 or later before construction begins if the project is approved. The proposed project is budgeted at almost six million dollars. It includes widening the overpass from two lanes to five, widening the East and West exit ramps on Route 32 to two lanes and installing traffic signals at both exit ramps. Lunsford said that while five million dollars is a lot of money, it’s a small project compared to projects costing tens of millions of dollars that TRAC routinely approves. “This solves a severe prob-
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lem (for us) for very little money in their big budget”, Lunsford said. The next step in the project would be Preliminary Engineering, which Lunsford estimated to be 600 thousand dollars in a letter he submitted to TRAC. Lunsford requested money from TRAC to fund the the Preliminary Engineering work. After the engineering, the project would require detailed design. Lunsford informed TRAC that the village plans to ask for funding for that part of the project next year. CONTINUED ON PAGE 9
New Brown County Dog Warden is on 27 indicted, most for the job and planning to make changes drug and theft charges BY Martha Jacob The Brown County Press With over 40 applicants vying for the job of Brown County Dog Warden, at least one applicant stood out from the rest, according to Brown County Commissioner Margery Paeltz. The application deadline for the position of Chief Dog Warden for Brown County was October 6, and on Oct. 25, the commissioners named Andrew Dunn to the position and David Hurst as deputy dog warden, will join John Craig, current deputy dog warden. Former dog warden Bill Frazier resigned on Sept. 23, stating that he could no longer do the job he was hired to do for the same pay, after the animal shelter lost funding which
paid the salaries of at least two employees. The shelter has been maintained by Craig and volunteers from the humane society since his departure.
"This young man (Dunn) will make an excellent dog warden," Paeltz said. "He's got a background in the military, he's a local and he seems CONTINUED ON PAGE 9
The Brown County Press/WAYNE GATES
New Deputy Dog Warden David Hurst (left) and new Dog Warden Andrew Dunn are now on the job.
BY Martha Jacob The Brown County Press Bills of indictment were found against the following 27 people for the following specified offenses by a Brown County Grand Jury on Oct. 20: *Robert P. Graves, 27, Cincinnati, is charged with burglary, theft for the entering the home of Julie Steelman with the purpose taking personal property, worth $500 or more, without her consent. the violation is a felony of the fifth degree. *Kyle Neal, 31, faces six counts of theft from an elderly person or disabled adult and forgery. On or about the 1st day of August, 2010, Neal deprived Ray Vaughn of $500 or more, a fourth degree
felony, knowingly forged a $200 check, a $235 check, a $220 check, a $240 check and a $265 at a Ripley Federal Savings Bank on Vaughn's account, a fifth degree felony. *Brandon Vaughn, 22, Kenton County Jail, indicted on two counts of forgery and one count of theft from an elderly person or disabled adult. Brandon Vaughn deprived Ray Vaughn of at least $500 or more, a felony of the fourth degree, and forged a check for $150 and another for $215, both fifth degree felonies. *Joseph A. Puckett, 24, Aberdeen, was indicted for receiving stolen property. On or about Sept. 26, 2010, Puckett received, retained or disposed of personal property CONTINUED ON PAGE 9
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BY Wayne Gates The Brown County Press