Special VETERANS DAY Feature
“Our liberties we prize, and our rights we will maintain.”
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Since 1882 ~ Successor to The Poseyville News and The New Harmony Times • New Harmony, IN Posey County’s locally-owned newspaper
Tuesday November 6, 2012
Volume 135 Edition 45
Another conviction secured from drug raid Bell ringers needed It’s time for the annual Salvation Army Red Kettle Campaign. Volunteers will be ringing bells on December 1, 8, and 15 in Mount Vernon and Poseyville. The group still need lots of bell ringers. This is a great community service project, or just a great way to get together with some friends and make a difference in Posey County. All funds collected are used directly to help local families. Call Beth Russell at 812-838-6875 to reserve your time to ring a bell.
Relay Christmas Bazaar set The North Posey Relay Christmas Bazaar will be held on November 17 from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. at North Elementary School in Poseyville. Santa will be available from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. for pictures. Come shop the many vendors, eat lunch and visit with Santa.
By Dave Pearce On the heels of “Operation Fair Warning,” one of a couple of remaining defendants from “Operation Heat Wave” faced trial in Posey Superior Court this week. Floyd “Junie” Stewart, 59, of Mount Vernon, was found guilty of two charges of dealing in Cocaine, more than three grams, on Friday. Stewart was arrested during the first wave of drug arrests that occurred just months following the election of Prosecutor Travis Clowers and Sheriff Greg Oeth. Clowers had nothing but praise for the work of all law enforcement organizations involved in the drug arrests for their thorough-
Floyd Stewart ness and their accuracy in building such a strong case. The result of the hard work was reflected in the amount of time the jury took
to convict Stewart on both charges against him. The jury was out about 14 minutes. “This is one of our biggest cases that came about as the result of the first raid,” Clowers said. “There are only a couple of them still pending and this was one that we believe was a major player of cocaine in our area.” Clowers went on to say that testimony from FBI agent Bill Gray as well as Posey County Drug Task Force members Kenny Rose and Jeremy Fortune as well as a confidential informant helped create a solid case to present to the jury. State Police Officer/FBI Special Agent Loren Brooks also contributed significantly to the case.
“The interesting thing is that the jury was out only 14 minutes,” Clowers said. “That is really fast. Our law enforcement officers and I imagine, the defendant himself, were all surprised that a verdict in a case as serious as this was returned this quickly.” Clowers said the quick decision is a testament to the citizens of Posey County that local law enforcement put together a very strong case. “We presented the strong case that law enforcement had put together,” Clowers said. “A Posey County jury was ready to convict based on the strength of the evi-
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Girl Scouts collect coats New Harmony Girl Scout Troop 151 is collecting gently used coats for the Clayton’s Coat-a-Kid Program. There will be collection boxes set up at the following New Harmony locations: Old Mill Mart, Marathon, Chris’ Pharmacy and New Harmony Healthcare. The boxes will be there Nov. 5 through Nov. 30. Please help our girls meet their goal.
St. Phillips card party set The Saint Philip Ladies Club will hold a Card Party on Wednesday, November 7, 2012, at the Saint Philip Center at 6:30 p.m. The doors open at 6 p.m. The party features a red, white and green floral quilt, special raffle, Chinese auction, half pot raffle, theme basket raffle, tasting table and kitchen fare with chicken salad and ham salad sandwiches, breadsticks, fruit and veggies. For tickets or info, call Jennifer at 499-8682, Sherry at 985-9174, or Jackie at 673-2188.
Chamber hosts seminar On November 13, 2012, the Chamber of Commerce of Southwest Indiana, Small Business Development Center and Workone will host a seminar about ways to, “Grow Your Business.” The seminar will be held at Western Hills Country Club beginning at 7:30 a.m. Join area business leaders to learn about resources that can help your business grow. Please RSVP to Brittaney Johnson at 812-838-3639.
Veterans Day ceremony set Owen Dunn Post 5 of The American Legion will hold its annual Veterans Day ceremony on the east lawn of the post home at 203 Walnut Street in Mount Vernon, Sunday, November 11 at 11 a.m. Unit 5 Auxiliary will provide refreshments after the ceremony.
Demo Club to meet The Posey County Democratic Women’s Club will meet at Democrat Headquarters on Thursday, Nov. 15 at 7 p.m. Everyone is invited to attend The agenda will include the election of officers for the coming year.
Sponsors sought for singers If you enjoyed last spring’s performance of “Calling All Dawns,” you will have an opportunity to hear it again, twelve times, on Saturday, Nov. 10 in the choir room at Mount Vernon Senior High School. The Mount Vernon Senior High School Vocal Music Dept. will host a Sing-A-Thon in support of its upcoming trip to New York City’s Avery Fisher Hall and their performance of “Calling All Dawns.” Vocal Music director Dana Taylor notes, “we are thrilled at the opportunity to sing “Calling All Dawns” in New York but knew that we would need to create opportunities for students to raise funds to pay for the trip. The singa-thon was an easy choice and will show the community how dedicated the students are to making the trip possible”.
Boasting two north Posey High School graduates, gospel quartet Union Street performed in front of a near-full North Posey High School Auditorium on Saturday evening. The group consists of Toby Hitchcock (tenor), Ryan Seaton (lead), Andrew Goldman (baritone), and Aaron McCune (bass). Photo by Dave Pearce
Lack of clarity postpones canine ordinance By Pam Robinson The Mount Vernon City Council once again voted at its Thursday night meeting to table the revised animal control ordinance. Council member Becky Higgins had served as chairperson for a committee including Dr. Sarah Appel, Ken Rudibaugh, Animal Control Officer James, and Police Chief Grant Beloat. Noting the committee had reviewed the ordinance page by page, Higgins presented suggested changes, referring to section numbers and commenting on deleted passages and one correction. Higgins herself suggested the ordinance be tabled until the next city council meeting so the third reading would include corrections. Council member Bill Curtis commented he would prefer to hear from anyone in the audience concerned with the ordinance at
that meeting, rather than in two weeks, to prevent the ordinance needing yet another revision. His comments prompted an unidentified audience member to suggest that council present discussion in laymen’s terms rather than referring to section numbers. Council member Andy Hoehn then stated a pet owner might have as many pets as he wanted as long as the pets were cared for, received veterinarian care and annual shots, and caused no offense to neighbors. Council member Curtis repeated that the City of Mount Vernon places no limit on the number of pets in a household unless someone complains about the animals lacking care. Hoehn then stated if the animal control officer were called in, fines and penalties were in place for people in violation of the ordinance. Likewise, the animal control officer might
immediately take a vicious animal. Discussion continued with City Attorney Beth McFadin Higgins clarifying that animal control complaints will be handled with common sense, much the same way law enforcement handles complaints. She added that there is no requirement that a ticket be issued. After more discussion about fines and tag prices, council member Bill Curtis interpreted audience response to mean the public would support the animal control ordinance if revised as Higgins’ committee had suggested. Audience members registered a qualified yes, stating they would also like to read the full ordinance first. Council member Curtis then suggested the ordinance be amended as presented and placed on the city website for the public to view. Council member Andy Hoehn
added that the council’s intent is to keep residential pet owners separate from commercial pet businesses. During the discussion, everyone was reminded that a county ordinance does limit the number of pets in a household. Later in the meeting, Council member Hoehn reported the animal control issue is on the docket for the next meeting of the Area Plan Commission to discuss the legal number of animals in a household. In other business: •Council passed a resolution to transfer $200,000 from the Rainy Day Fund to the General Fund. Council discussed that there are provisions that allow loans from Rainy Day and EDIT to be forgiven – no repayment. City Attorney Higgins suggested another reso-
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Port roadway improvement appears immenent Rep. Wendy McNamara (RMount Vernon) hosted a meeting this week to discuss a key infrastructure improvement for trucks heading west onto SR62 from the port in Mount Vernon. Joining her at the meeting was the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT), Ports of Indiana and the Mayor of Mount Vernon. “The traffic concerns and safety of trucks exiting the Port has been a real concern for our area,” said McNamara. “This roadway improvement is necessary and will increase the safety of vehicles travelling on
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SR 62.” INDOT is working on a proposal to connect the existing Mount Vernon Port entrance to State Street immediately to the west. The roadway improvement being considered would put a connecter lane from the Port to State Street so traffic exiting the Port would lead to an existing stop light. The project is in the preliminary design stage having just completed survey work. Initial hopes are to begin construction around March of next year. “This project is really a win-win
for the Port and local traffic,” said Rusty Fowler, INDOT Vincennes District Deputy Commissioner. “The Port will have controlled access for trucks exiting to the west coming to a stop light, which is safer than having trucks cross four lanes of traffic to head west on SR 62. “We appreciate the support and help from Rep. McNamara in helping us navigate a positive solution that is of benefit to the Port, the town of Mount Vernon, and ultimately the safety of the traveling public.”
Go to www.poseycountynews.com
Inside this issue... Retrospective ................... A4 Legals ...............................B8 Classifieds ..................... B5-7
Fowler also mentioned that the project will be primarily funded by INDOT with some funding from the Port. Discussions are ongoing “This has been a continuing issue for our community and the Port,” McNamara said. “I truly appreciate all of the hard work that the Port and INDOT have put into making this project a reality. “My goal has always been to improve the safety for our community and our local farmers in addition to boosting the economic capabilities of the Port by creating a freight corridor for outgoing trucks.”
Community ........... A5 Social ...................... A6 Deaths ................... A3 Sports ................... B1-5 Church .................. A7 Bus/Ag .................... A8
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