SINCE 1882 Successor to The Poseyville News & New Harmony Times POSEY COUNTY’S ONLY LOCALLY OWNED AND OPERATED NEWSPAPER
Tuesday, November 15, 2016
Volume 136 Edition 46
GOP dominates national elections, scores well here
Posey County treasurer Justin White watches as GOP Chairman Greg Newman reads off vote totals at GOP headquarters on Tuesday evening. Photo by Dave Pearce
By Dave Pearce As Tuesday evening wore on into Wednesday morning, most of the United States was surprised to learn that presidential candidate Donald Trump win the United States presidency. Trump won despite being a heavy underdog, trailing in nearly every poll and in some by as many as 10 points heading into Tuesday’s voting. Trump won in convincing fashion, hitting the necessary 270 Electoral votes somewhere around 2:30 a.m. on Wednesday. Trump took over 57 percent of the vote in Posey County to Hillary Clinton’s 27 percent. Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson got over four percent of Posey County’s votes. Locally, Posey County voters had already been subjected to the shock earlier in the evening as votes had been tabulated and results released by around 9 p.m. Posey County followed the national trend as the GOP gained
a 5-2 advantage in the Posey County Council while the Democrats did regain control of the Posey County Commissioners as Posey County Coroner Jay Price narrowly defeated incumbent Jerry Walden by a count of 6,386 to 5,807. That was about the only bright spots for the Democrats in this year’s election as nearly twice as many Republicans voted a straight party ticket. There were 2,812 straight party Republican ballots to 1,430 straight party democratic ballots. That came as a shock to those who follow Posey County politics closely as there are more residents registered as Democrats than there are Republicans. Perhaps the biggest surprise on the local level came where Republicans Heather Allyn and Aaron Wilson finished 1-2 in the race for three seats up for election on the Posey County
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Posey County Democratic Chairman Ed Adams breaks the news to party backers at Democratic headquarters in Mount Vernon on Tuesday evening. Photo by Dave Pearce
Info meeting will introduce medical center to Poseyville
An architect’s drawing of the new Regional Medical Center plan set to open in Poseyville.
By Valerie Werkmeister In the quiet town of Poseyville, a new medical center will soon be moving into the city limits. The entity will be known as the Regional Medical Center and plans to serve the North Posey and surrounding area including south Gibson County. A representative of the Poseyville Medical Foundation, Inc., explained the entity will be not-forprofit and is classified as a 501 C3 charity. Tax donations will be needed and appreciated to help make the medical center a success. The 3,596 square feet facility will reside at 40 West Fletchall Street, currently occupied by an abandoned home and outbuilding across from North Elementary School. Both the home and outbuilding will be razed to make room for the new structure as well as 13 parking spaces. The property was donated to the medical foundation that will retain ownership. The foundation will lease the facility to two doctors that have agreed to practice at the facility. The family practice doctors’ names are not being released now until legal paperwork has been completed.
CountryMark has contributed an average of $270,000 per year in community donations. To answer Councilman David Pearce’s question, it was stated, Habitat for Humanity has received $80,000 over the past two years of that $270,000. Council Attorney Beth McFadin Higgins stated a site visit could be arranged by contacting her. Councilman Pearce expressed his interest on the spot. The next step is to prepare an incentive package for the project once Umbaugh and Associates reviews the project proposal. At their December 6 meeting, council members will consider the incentive package and will score the project to determine if it qualifies for the requested tax abatement. In the meantime, Gentil explained, company representatives would stay in touch
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Briefly Red Kettle Campaign seeks volunteers It’s time for the Red Kettle Campaign, and we need volunteers to ring the bells. We will be ringing on Saturday, November 25, and December 3, 10, and 17 at three locations in Mount Vernon and one in Poseyville. When you’re a bell ringer for The Salvation Army you’re helping to collect donations for the people in need within your community. Red Kettle funds provide everything from food and shelter for the homeless and victims of disaster, to after-school care and programs for underprivileged children. We hope you will consider volunteering for a shift as a bell ringer. You can sign up now to ring by yourself or with a group. Simply go to the website – www.registertoring.org – and find the location and time that works for you. The website also has lots of information about the history of the Red Kettle Campaign and how funds are used in the community. Wilkinson retirement open house scheduled for November 20 There will be a retirement open house on November 20, 2016 from 2-4 p.m. at the Rapp Owen Granary for Rose Wilkinson. No gifts please, just good wishes. NH Ministerial Association to host Thanksgiving Eve service The New Harmony Ministerial Association is having is annual Thanksgiving Eve services at the Nazarene Church on Wednesday, November 23 at 7 p.m. The New Harmony Choir will be singing and all donations collected go to the New Harmony Food Pantry. All the churches in town come together for this celebration. We are hopeful that everyone can come and join in for this evening of Thanks. Caborn School to be the focus of Historical Meeting Carl Dick will present a program centered on the Caborn School at the meeting of The Posey County Historical Society on Saturday, November 19. The meeting will begin at 10 a.m. in the Training Room of the Police and Fire Station in Mount Vernon. Everyone is invited to attend the meeting. This meeting, the last of this year, will provide an opportune time for new members to join the Society for the 2017 year.
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Mount Vernon to celebrate 200th on November 17
Refinery to spend $42M By Pam Robinson Kevin Chestnut with CountryMark Refinery along with two additional company representatives discussed a $42 million project for equipment installation in its first meeting with the Posey County Council on Monday, November 7. The new equipment will improve the company’s competitiveness in gasoline and diesel production and pricing. The project will start October 2017 during the refinery’s standard shutdown. The proposal emphasized CountryMark employees receive an average hourly wage of $35 plus benefits, including tuition reimbursement and a retirement package. Chestnut said infrastructure is not part of the project. Councilman Ralph Weinzapfel noted CountryMark’s impressive community support. Figures were presented for the last five years to confirm the observation. For the last five years,
The medical foundation board of directors was formed with one representative each from Center and Smith Townships and three from Robb Township. There are plans to add two more representatives as well. Members of the foundation will be introduced during an informational meeting planned to be held at the Poseyville Community Center on Tuesday, November 22, at 6 p.m. The foundation members are very pleased to have plans underway to provide medical service to residents in the surrounding area. They felt, “this was a chance to secure medical treatment for the future and is just another way to help the town. Our goal is to ensure we have this type of medical care for Poseyville and the surrounding area into the future,” said a representative of the board who wished to remain anonymous. Architect Bud Erny designed the facility with four exam rooms, offices and a lab. In addition to parking behind the facility, there will also be onehour parking in front and two-hour parking during
Addalynne Carter took time from her drawing to smile for the camera during the ‘Meet Your Marshall’ event held last Thursday evening at the Poseyville Community Center. Photo by Theresa Bratcher
By Lois Mittino Gray The Mount Vernon Common Council invited the public to a birthday party and worked on some legal matters in a short meeting held on Thursday evening, November 10. Councilwoman Becky Higgins announced that Mayor Bill Curtis will cut the cake for the city’s 200th birthday celebration at 10 a.m. on Thursday, November 17 at the City Hall and all are welcome to attend. “I’ll make the coffee, too” Curtis said with a big smile. In legal matters, City Attorney Beth McFadin Higgins introduced the first reading of a proposed ordinance establishing salaries for the elected city officials for 2017. The salaries will be the cumulative totals taken from three funds. The mayor would earn $29,234 from the General Fund, $6,050 from the Water Utility, and $6,050 from the Sewage Util-
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Weinzapfel retires after 31 years By Lois Mittino Gray On Sunday afternoon, Connie Weinzapfel was honored at her retirement reception with the prestigious Sagamore of the Wabash Award for her 31 years of dedication to the University of Southern Indiana and the community of New Harmony. The surprised honoree was presented the award by State Senator Jim Tomes and Representative Wendy McNamara. The retiring Director of Historic New Harmony also received a proclamation from the town making it ‘Connie Weinzapfel Day’ in New Harmony on December 23 and was named a lifetime member of the Historic New Harmony Advisory Board. The advisory board hosted the reception held at the Atheneum Weinzapfel vacates the position and walks out of her HNH office in the old Elliott Home on Friday, December 30. Her immediate plans to ring in the New Year and celebrate her retirement are to “stay in bed for five days straight and not answer the phone.” After relaxing, she will begin the work of moving out of her St. Philip home into a home she recently purchased in town. “I want to enjoy New Harmony like everyone else does, without the responsibility of
Retiring Director of Historic New Harmony Connie Weinzapfel proudly displays the Sagamore of the Wabash she was presented on Sunday afternoon. She is flanked by State Representative Wendy McNamara and State Senator Jim Tomes. Photo by Theresa Bratcher working here,” she said. Leslie Townsend, director of Community Engagement for the University of Southern Indiana’s Outreach and Engagement, has been named interim director in Weinzapfel’s stead. Connie is pleased with the selection as Townsend is very familiar with the staff and “knows the nuts and
bolts about this town. She and I have worked together on projects for a long time. In the late 1990’s, we met and first collaborated on planning a workshop for about eighty elected officials from all around the country to learn about planning, zoning and
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