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WEST WINS STATE CHAMPIONSHIP Inside This Week: Opinion ................A2 Obits .................... A3 Retro ....................A4
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Church/General .A5 Bus Dir .................A8 Jump ....................A9
Sports .....B1, B2, B4 Court News .B5, B8-9 Legals ........ B5, B8-9
LifeStyle...............B7 Classifieds............B9
SINCE 1882 Successor to The Poseyville News & New Harmony Times
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Tuesday, January 19, 2021
Volume 141 Edition 3
Current North Posey School Board opens under new counsel By Dave Pearce After over 30 years of representation by Poseyville attorney Bill Bender, the North Posey School Board chose another Posey County resident to represent the board during their meeting on January 11, 2021. Bender announced last year that he would be retiring from the position. Josh Orem is an associate attorney with the law firm of Steven K. Deig, LLC., of Evansville. He is a North Posey High School graduate and lives in rural Posey County. He practices in the areas of family law, estate plan-
ning, civil litigation, and criminal defense. Orem did his undergraduate work at the University of Southern Indiana where he graduated Magna Cum Laude in 2010. He then graduated from Indiana University, Robert H. McKinney School of Law in 2014. He is a member of the Evansville Bar Association, has been appointed public counsel in CHINS and TPR in Posey County Circuit Court. He has been admitted to the Supreme Court of the State of Indiana and is a member of Christian Fellowship Church. Marsha Evans led newly-elected
board members Larry Kahle, Vincent Oakley, and Amy Will in the Oath of Office. They recited the Oath together and signed the appropriate paperwork. Evans notarized each member’s Oath of Office form. Interim Associate Superintendent Michael Galvin turned the meeting over to Orem, to reorganize the School Board and lead the elections. Geoff Gentil was elected to serve as president for this calendar year while Greg Schmitt was elected Vicea President. Amy Will was elected as Secretary.
Orem asked the members to appoint a treasurer and deputy treasurer for the District and members appointed Carol Lupfer as District Treasurer and Jayme Bender as District Deputy Treasurer. Board member Vince Oakley then asked the board to approve his nomination to appoint Geoff Gentil as President of the Board of Finance and Larry Kahle as Treasurer of the Board of Finance. Amy Will was selected as Policy Liaison and Vince Oakley as
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Josh Orem
Local solar opponents continue to seek their day in the sun By Trisha Lopez Opponents of the proposed 2,400-acre solar farm located primarily in Marrs Township gathered outside of Hovey House, many carrying signs reading “No Industrial Solar Power Plants,” waiting for Thursday’s Posey County Area Plan Commission meeting. This could have been a practice run for the February meeting of the APC if, indeed, applications for the solar companies are actually made. As of meeting time, the APC had received no applications from the companies so there were no solar items on the meeting’s agenda. The group, called to action by the Facebook page “Stop Industrial Solar Plants in Posey County Indiana,” and word of mouth, stood in line for about an hour and a half in the 48 degree temperatures, most lingering as a light rain began to fall and the winds picked up. A family with three young children held signs along the road, ready to make their voices heard to county officials and all passersby. All but their appointed attorney were denied entry to the meeting itself. Covid red designation restricted the meeting to 25 total attendees. Area Plan President Mark Seib, with a police officer standing behind him, told waiting residents at the building’s side door that the room was full but he would allow the group’s attorney in as a representative to address their concerns. He offered the same opportunity to anyone present who was in favor of the proposed solar farm. No one came forward. Many residents complained outside, arguing that the meeting couldn’t truly be considered public if the public wasn’t allowed to view proceedings. They asked about Protestors in line in front of Hovey House during the January Area Plan Commission meeting. Photo by Trish Lopez
Tresslar demolition to be done expediently By Lois Mittino Gray Plans call for the deteriorating Tresslar Building to come down in the dark of night for safety’s sake, possibly as soon as next week. Mayor Bill Curtis told members of the Mount Vernon Board of Works some details about the major city project at their January 14, Zoom meeting. “The Klenck Company wants to get started on the demolition right away, so taking it down is on the fast track. They want to get it down and haul it away.” Evansville-based Klenck Company’s bid for $335,000 to demolish the eyesore, also called the 1888 Main Building Project, was awarded to the business at the December 17, meeting. Since then, they signed contracts and submitted their ten day permit to IDEM and should have action within the week. Bonds for the demolition have been procured. “I took my last tour on the inside of the building with five Klenk representatives earlier in the week. I hope it’s my last one,” the Mayor informed the board. He said plans are in line to have as little disruption as possible on the scene at the busy intersection of Fourth and Main Streets. “They will be starting on the Bud’s Hardware side first and taking out the shared wall and the building next to it, so as to create a passageway between the two buildings. The “breezeway” will be used for the debris containers and to keep Bud’s safe. Curtis added the hand work is what will take time, the actual work of taking the building down will probably go fast. He predicted they
might even be finished in January. “Let’s hope the weather is accommodating. Rock on…” Board Member Andy Hoehn cheered. In department reports and other board action: • Police Chief Tony Alldredge presented two requests for officer training, which were both unanimously approved. Officer Korben Sellers will attend Death Homicide Investigation Class in Fruitland Park, Fla., from February 21-27. Thomas Clowers, with the Prosecutor’s Office, will pay for the class and hotel, the city credit card was approved to cover his meals. The Chief said Clowers is also sending detectives from the Posey County Sheriff’s Office and the Indiana State Police to the class. Officer Leo Gonzales will attend Physical Tactics Instructor Training, January 31 through February 5 in Plainfield, Indiana. He was approved to use the credit card for food and hotel, and permission to use his city vehicle for travel. Alldredge concluded his report by stating in the last two weeks, they took 183 calls. Hoehn asked if his department apprehended a suspect in the recent spate of break-ins of abandoned houses and garages. Alldredge replied in the affirmative. Hoehn inquired if he thought they “got all of them, or the right one? Have the complaints dropped?” Alldredge replied yes, quite a bit and added they are back to a normal level.
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MV man faces myriad of felony sex charges Special to the News Posey County Sheriff Tom Latham said on January 15, 2021 at approximately 2 a.m., Posey County Sheriff’s Office Deputies were notified of a domestic disturbance complaint northeast of Mount Vernon. While deputies were on a separate complaint, officers of the Mount Vernon Police Department reColin Weatherford sponded to assist. Officials spoke with both the alleged suspect, 27-year-old Colin Weatherford of Mount Vernon,
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Well-traveled teacher lands at MVJHS It’s good to be in Indiana, small town and all
Amelie Julian
(USPS 439-500)
By Lois Mittino Gray Imagine starting out a teaching career on a tiny Alaskan island, only accessible by boat or bush plane. Popof Island in the Aleutians is a place where howling winds can get up to 90 miles per hour during a long night of total darkness in winter. For some, this does not sound like an ideal teaching position, but for Amelie Julian, it was an exciting and adventurous way to start down the education path. Amelie and her family spent many hours outdoors hiking and camping and visiting national parks while she was growing up in the Arizona “mountain town” of Flagstaff. After graduating from Flagstaff’s Northern Arizona University in 2013, she remembered how much she loved visiting her uncle stationed in Alaska in her younger days and decided to apply for openings in the
‘Last Frontier.’ With her credentials in education, she hired on to teach Kindergarten/First Grade at Sandy Point School on the west end of the island. The small school had around a hundred students, pre-K through twelfth grade. It was here she met her husband, Nate, an Evansville native who taught all grade seven-12 science classes at the island school. What was it like in that remote locale? “There were no bears or large wildlife on the small island. Our house was by the beach, so we saw marine life, such as whales and many sea birds, like puffins. We had none of the legendary insect swarms of summer in Alaska,” she explained. “The winds blow them all away. In the interior of the state, the bugs are out of control. We didn’t have as much snow as you might think either; it was mainly rain and those powerful
winds.” One interesting aspect of teaching in such a small, isolated community was flying to basketball games. “We had maybe six-seven students on a team and that’s all we would have for them to do. We would fly to other schools in charter planes. I went as a chaperone on some trips and the girls would sleep overnight on a classroom floor. It was all paid for by the school, so we had to have a lot of fundraisers.” Amelie and Nate have one daughter, Sagan, (named after Carl), and when she was about one-and-one-halfyears-old, they decided to move back to Nate’s hometown. “We were too far from medical centers and had to call the Coast Guard if there was an emergency. It was a wonderful few years, but we came back to Indiana and nearby family.”
Settling in Mount Vernon and raising Sagan, Amelie was pleased to learn of an opening in the local MV district last spring. She applied and received the position of Sixth Grade Language Arts teacher at the junior high school, replacing Katie Bushard. “I just love that upper elementarymiddle school age group. They are still young enough to have a high interest and excitement to learn and are so much fun. They have great conversations,” she observed. Julian feels the school and staff are very welcoming, especially the other sixth grade Language Arts teacher, Susan Tucker. She is also very impressed with how well her students follow COVID-19 guidelines, wearing masks and socially distancing. Books are very important to Ame-
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