This Copy Reserved Especially For:
WEST MAKES NAME FOR HERSELF... PAGE B7 Inside This Week: Obits ............ A2, A4 Retro ....................A4 Church .................A5
T
Opinion ................A8 Jump ....................A9 Sports .....B1, B2, B4
Court News .........B5 Legals ...................B5 LifeStyle...............B7
Bus Dir .................B8 Classifieds............B9
SINCE 1882 Successor to The Poseyville News & New Harmony Times
P C N $1.00
Tuesday, January 12, 2021
Volume 141 Edition 2
Solar plant clears first hurdle, 6-0 By Trisha L. Lopez The Posey County Council voted 6-0 to grant a preliminary approval for a 10-year, 100 percent personal property tax abatement and a preliminary Economic Revitalization Area resolution for a 2,400 acre, 300 megawatt solar power farm project slated to be located primarily in Marrs Township. Council Vice President Stefani Miller abstained from voting due to a conflict of interest. Council members heard details about the proposed project, which has yet to reach the permit stage with the Posey County Area Plan Commission, from project attorneys. Some residents in attendance and their attorneys wore yellow stickers with the words “No Solar Industrial Plants” to Jake Meinschein, Brian Goebel, Misty Bishop, and Jessica Lawrence mark their objections to the project. Although no official braved frigid temperatures Tuesday morning to protest Industrial Solar time was scheduled for public discussion, the council alPower Plants in Posey County. A motion to allow the next step was ap- lowed an attorney representing some of the project’s opponents, a group of residents whose homes adjoin the proproved by the Council. Photo by Trish Lopez
posed site, and one area resident in favor of the project to briefly share their thoughts. A group of about six residents stood outside Hovey House during the meeting, holding signs opposing the project. Posey County’s red Covid designation forced the council to limit the number of meeting attendees to 25, a number that was reached well before the meeting’s 9 a.m. start time, forcing a few to wait in the hall outside the main meeting room and others to remain outdoors. A joint venture between the nation’s largest private solar energy facilities owner Capital Dynamics and Tenaska, the proposed solar farm represents a $225 million investment in Posey County. Company reps have secured leases with 65 Marrs Township landowners to house the 12-foot high solar arrays, an operations and maintenance building, inverters and access roads. Tenaska reps anticipate construc-
Continued on Page A3
Original wording stays MV CVS chosen COVID protector as silence dominates solar public hearing
President Bill Collins By Lois Mittino Gray After a somewhat tense election of new officers for 2021, the Posey County Commissioners filled their first meeting of the year with board and department head appointments. The January 5, meeting was conducted with many participants attending by phone link, while the three commissioners, the county auditor, and a few others worked live from the Hovey House. Brand new commissioner Bill Collins started the ball rolling with a motion to reappoint Joe Harrison as the Commissioner’s Attorney for the year. After approval, Harrison conducted the election of officers. Posey County Commissioner President Carl Schmitz made a motion to appoint Collins as the President for 2021. Collins seconded the motion. The motion carried with a vote of 2-1, with more-experienced Commissioner Randy Thornburg voting against it. Schmitz made a motion to appoint Thornburg as Commissioner Vice President, which Collins seconded, and the motion carried with a vote of 3-0. After passing the gavel over to Collins, the newly-elected president opened his first public hearing. It was advertised to hear public comment on word-
ing to amend Chapter 153 of the Posey County ordinance on wind and solar energy. With no one present or on the phone to speak, Collins closed the public hearing. Thornburg made a motion to reject the wording suggested by the Area Plan Commission when they sent the ordinance back to the Commissioners after review. The Commissioners passed the motion unanimously to keep the original wording in place, as was agreed upon at the August 18, meeting, and sent to the APC. The Commissioners want to add mitigation and consultation zones to the list of ‘no build’ areas to ensure that the rotating wind turbines will not interfere with the Doppler Radar in Owensville. Many persons were reappointed to one year terms on boards they are presently serving on, with terms expiring December 31, 2021. They include ABC Board - Keith Weedman; ADA Compliance Board - Carol Redman, Ed Battieger, Vicki Peerman, Judy Heberer and Nancy Hoehn; Board of Review - Billie Rae Butler and Don Oeth; Coliseum Board - Jeffrey Woodford, Ed Battieger, Jeff Greenwell, and Mindy Bourne; District Ten Board - Jeremy Fortune; and Compton Ditch and Repair Board - Ronald Eimer for a one year term and Eric Wiseman for a two year term. Other board appointments for one year are Andy Logan - EMA Advisory Board; Michele Hudson and Carl Schmitz reappointed to Economic Development of Southwestern Indiana; and Kay Kilgore for Visit Posey County. Ralph Weinzapfel was reappointed to the Wabash River Heritage Corridor with Carrie Parameter as the alternate. Other one year reappointments in-
Continued on Page A9
By Lois Mittino Gray For the first time in Posey County, willing persons rolled up their sleeves for a COVID-19 vaccination at a public clinic by appointment. Sixty inoculations in two days were delivered to persons over 80 years old on Thursday and Friday, January 7 and 8 at the CVS Pharmacy in Mount Vernon. The CVS, located at 700 East Fourth Street, is one of only two in Indiana authorized by the Governor’s mandate as a public clinic to deliver the vaccine. The other is a CVS in Newton County. Both locations were chosen because they do not have a hospital within their county limits. “We just found out last Monday afternoon that we were selected. We had a few days to get it all together and prepare and things were hectic. I think the initial two days really went well though, and everyone on the team was pleased,” observed Pharmacy Manager Jim Culley. “We’re all set now to keep vaccinations going and it’s going to be a real blessing to everyone. Each week we’ll be sent new vaccines for the designated group, to be administered by appointment.” Culley said the goal will be to do around twenty inoculations a day with
Barbara Owens of Mount Vernon receives the first administered COVID vaccine from Pharmacist Jim Culley at the Mount Vernon CVS. Photo by Josh Koch the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. There are ten doses per vial, so two will be used daily. He noted once the vial is opened, it is efficacious for six hours. Shots are given about ten to fifteen minutes apart to be able to watch recipients for any reactions. Sitting in a chair at the pharmacy during her observation period, 92-year-old Mount Vernon resident
Mary Cox commented, “I’ve been getting shots for over forty years and this one didn’t hurt at all.” Sara Morton, of Point Township, thought it stung a little bit. Both local ladies agreed they felt just fine, with no after-effects, such as dizziness or nausea, and were waiting for their ‘all clear’ to go.
Continued on Page A9
Arrest made in Mount Vernon assault By Trisha L. Lopez A Mount Vernon man was arrested following a shooting at his home at 418 West Fourth Street on Tuesday, Jan. 4. The suspect, 45-year-old Michael M. Russell, was taken into custody after police were called to the scene at 12:21 p.m. and found Jefferson Hodges bloody and suffering from an apparent gunshot wound. Hodges, the uncle of Russell’s girlfriend, had been staying with Russell for about three weeks, according to police documents. Hodges was taken to Deaconness Midtown Hospital in Evansville where he was treated for a gunshot wound to the thigh. He was listed in stable condition.
Michael M. Russell Russell told police that he and Hodges had gotten into an argument
that turned violent earlier in the day about Russell’s unhappiness with Hodges’ living arrangements. According to police documents, Russell said that the gun belonged to his girlfriend. Russell was unclear on the exact timeline and details in his statement to police. Police documents show that a friend of Hodges called police after receiving a call from Hodges who said he’d been shot and “needed help.” Mount Vernon Detective Benjamin Bohleber questioned Russell at the Mount Vernon Police Department following the incident. Russell told Bohleber that he was “irritated” and
Continued on Page A9
Gries embraces ‘normal’ in abnormal year Ten-year teacher strives to keep families involved
Jennifer Gries
(USPS 439-500)
By Lois Mittino Gray Tomorrow, on January 13, the eighteen four-year old students in Jennifer Gries’ pre-K class at Saint Wendel School will celebrate 100 days of learning. They will show off their newly- acquired math skills by carefully counting out 100 Fruit Loops before devouring them down. They will wear hundred day hats proclaiming for all to see, “I am 100 days smarter.” The numeral 100 will be the star of the day, as the excited students ‘party on.’ “Pandemic or not, we need to make school as normal as possible for our students. We celebrate all holidays, like Halloween and Christmas. It’s just the parents who cannot attend with us,” Gries explained. To let parents in on the fun, she videos events and puts them on her homeroom app for parents to see. The merriment will also be posted on
the school’s Facebook page by Principal Hallie Scheu. During Christmas, Santa Claus visited safely outside the classroom window. “Students put their hands on the window glass to touch fingertips with him. They were so delighted and I was, too. It’s our mission to keep them healthy and happy while learning,” she said. “I was worried at the beginning of the school year how these younger children would do with masks and social distancing. They are doing great and I am so proud of them. They are so adaptable and just want to be loved and accepted. We encourage them to line up and sit facing forward and not get in each other’s faces. We are really trying to keep them safe.” Gries and her students eat lunch together in their classroom. They can take
their masks off when eating and drinking and afternoon resting, if they stay in their own ‘bubble.’ Other than that, they have to keep their masks on, even outside at recess. “We realized recess is when they most bump into each other and get up in each other’s faces, sometimes talking and laughing and spitting. My students are consistent all day wearing them and have not missed a beat. I have had no one in my class sick,” she reported with pride. This dedicated teacher has been teaching Pre-K and preschool classes at the parochial school for ten years, since 2011. Her career in early childhood education began as a Pre-K assistant at Holy Redeemer School in 2004. “I was gifted in having amazing mentors and team leaders while I was there. I attended training classes through the Catholic diocese and was ‘grandfathered’ in at a
time when a degree wasn’t required to teach ABC’s, numbers and how to write your name. Professional development classes have helped me gain experience learning each year.” Gries, a North Posey High School Viking, is married to her high school sweetheart, Randy. She is a member of the Class of 1983, while Randy was a year ahead in the Class of 1982. “Oh yeah, we dated since I was fifteen and he was 16. We went to the proms together and the whole deal. It was wonderful,” she reminisced. Randy is a project manager in HVAC with Trane Heating and Air. The couple, who reside in Saint Wendel, has two daughters, Jenae Springer and Jacklyn Gries. Gries remembers first starting out at Saint Wendel ten years ago with pre-
Continued on Page A5