T
P C N SINCE 1882 Successor to The Poseyville News & New Harmony Times POSEY COUNTY’S ONLY LOCALLY OWNED AND OPERATED NEWSPAPER
Volume 140 Edition 14
Tuesday, April 7, 2020
$1.00
County officials making headway in sewer dilemma By Lois Mittino Gray Since they were unable to conduct a public meeting as planned on March 26, County Councilman Aaron Wilson and Jim Kovacs, Senior Project Manager, Wessler Engineering, would like to quell incorrect rumors and rein in gossip about things going on with the Regional Sewer District and its two main planned projects. One of them involves applying for an Office of Community and Rural Affairs (OCRA) grant this fall for the Wadesville-Blairsville area. “We want to get the message out there with correct facts. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity with the state to get up to $8 million in grant money. We just don’t get grant money
from the state that often and I would hate to pass it by,” Wilson explained. Since they could not have the spring meeting, they will still need to have two public hearings to get comments before applying for the grant. “We might do something virtual in the future. We originally thought about going to South Terrace School and record something on their YouTube Channel, but that can’t work out now with the schools closed. We’ll figure out something for the public hearings to go on and take email questions and comments, too,” Wilson said assuredly. South Terrace Elementary School figures prominently in the grant request. Wadesville and Blairsville have been dealing with un-
sanitary conditions since the early 1980s when County Health staff were asked for assistance. Wilson noted that 47 houses around South Terrace School tested high at that time for levels of E.coli bacteria. If coliform bacteria is present, the risk of contracting a water-borne illness is increased. Although total coliforms can come from sources other than fecal matter, a positive total coliform sample should be considered an indication of pollution. Discussion through the years ranged from closing the school premises as unhealthy to getting sewer lines installed. Until now, no solution was considered cost reasonable. The proposed grant would address these issues and provide new sewer lines and a sewage treatment plant. Once the school is
connected to the centralized sewer system, the fears related to the sewage on the playground will be eliminated. About 15 years ago, the Wadesville-Blairsville Sewer District was created to address these lingering issues with septic systems. In 2016, the County Council voted down making the grant request. Undaunted, Wilson and others met about three years ago and formed the new Regional Sewer District, from the former one, with the goal to improve county sanitary treatment. In January 2018, the Posey County Regional Sewer district was formally established by the
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Thompson faces iconic challenges in first year at the Mount Vernon helm
North Posey School officials face issues as they arise, look to life beyond the crisis
By Lois Mittino Gray After Tom Kopatich retired as Mount Vernon School Superintendent, a young powerhouse took over the vacant position on July 1 of last year. Little did he realize that the school year ahead was going to be an incredible challenge for any superintendent, even the most time-tempered one. First-year Superintendent Matt Thompson has managed to stay positive through this coronavirus crisis that resulted in an announcement last week from the Governor that all schools will not reopen this semester and learning will be online. “I don’t like not having the kids in the buildings anymore, but we’ve made good progress on many things this year, and I am looking forward to a great next year,” he said optimistically. Thompson cited two areas where progress was made in “great strides.” The first is an increased presence on social media, with an emphasis on marketing what the school district has to offer. “With school choice being an option in Indiana, we are competing for students. We have a marketing video online that shows prospective parents and students what we do here. We also give parents of our own students insight into what we have been doing in posted updates. This can help answer the ‘what did you do today at school’ question that kids like to answer ‘nothing’ to.” The new superintendent points out that the second area of progress is not as visible to the public, but still very important in making strides to move forward. “We have been busy revamping curriculum to hit required standards for every grade level. We will continue to do that this year to the best we can do,” he emphasized. “We will develop online lessons to finish up the year, but this won’t be the last of it. We need to do work this summer to plan for more continuous online learning.” Although a lot of actual building construction is not in the immediate future, Thompson said they have already started making aesthetic improvements around some facilities. “We started by painting the main hallways of the high school. They used to be a plain brown color, but we are painting them in school colors of maroon and gray and they look sharp,” he observed. In athletic facilities, Thompson said they plan to rescreen the basketball floor at the high school that “will make the colors pop.” The former conference name, “Big Eight” will be removed from both free throw lines, now that the school has moved into the Pocket Athletic Conference. The junior high school wrestling room will be outfitted with new mats and concrete
By Dave Pearce The COVID-19 of 2020 only further complicates the job of school administrators, especially in the Metropolitan School District of North Posey. Through the past three of four weeks, administration has had to make a multitude of decisions, often changing from one minute to the next, as Indiana state officials attempt to come up with the best way to deal with the COVID-19 Pandemic. But life must go on for school administrators. The school corporation announced initially that it was going to go ahead with Elearning beginning on April 6 through May 1. And despite numerous and varied decisions made at the state level, North Posey entered Elearning phase on Monday. However, the state has now cancelled school until May 1 and although there are some waiver days that have been issued, the state has made it clear that students will still be required to spend a specified number of days and hours learning before the school year can actually be considered complete. Students in the district, who have been taking advantage of meal programs outside of the school, began having meals for the week sent home with them on Monday. Students who meet the requirements will be able to pick up the meals at the high school. Cafeteria workers from all buildings will continue to be involved as they will rotate to help see that students receive proper nutrition throughout the remainder of the year. The school corporation did not meet requirements to offer summer free and reduced lunch meals. State law requires that the corporation must be at a point of at least 50 percent of the students qualifying. “But what they did do is they allowed us to have early application,” North Posey Asst. School Supt. Dr. Angela Bender explained. “Once we applied for that, we were able to begin supplying meals.” On Monday, qualifying students began receiving breakfast and lunch in a week’s supply. Students and families were required to make application for the program. A big plus is that students may complete their application when they receive their first week of meals. “It’s also important to note that we can take new applications such as families who lost their jobs over the Covid virus,” she said. “Some who previously would not have qualified now might meet the qualifications.” Students and families may pick up the meals at the main entrance at North Posey High School. The school uses Aramark and
Little Diana Stella Miller is dressed up in an Easter outfit as services will be held at home this year due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. She is the daughter of Mark and Jessica Miller.
Wadesville church service interrupted By Dave Pearce According to information provided by Wadesville General Baptist Church Pastor Steve Forister and confirmed by Posey County Sheriff Tom Latham, a small group of worshippers at the church on Sunday morning were asked to either disassemble or to move their service outdoors. The reason given was because of the current Executive Order and the Posey County Executive Order for individuals not to assemble in groups and to practice social distancing. According to
Posey County officials, the orders were issued to help prevent the spread of the Covid-19 virus in Posey County. According to Forister, the group of 11 was meeting in the sanctuary of the church when two deputies entered the church. Very few churches in the area are currently meeting in person as most have gone to online services or streaming live services as a way to continue the practice of
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Taking the lead...facing the need Pearison’s follows family tradition in helping make sure needs are met By Lynda Baker The Pearison family has always been among the first to step up to meet any need in our community, from the families’ participation in Relay for Life, the distribution of holiday gift baskets, or the support of reading programs, sports activities, emergency services or the arts. Poseyville Town Council President, Bruce Baker, indicated that they have also assisted the community in many ways that they would humbly request not be mentioned. Pearison, Inc. has always prided itself on being socially responsible. The company shreds and/or recycles much of the cardboard and other materials used in their manufacturing and shipping services. To cut down on the use of paper products and waste, the company uses online accounting services and conducts as much business as possible via email. Employees are also encouraged to recycle, as the company provides bins for recycling bottles,
(USPS 439-500)
plastics and aluminum. When the call came out for assistance by the medical community for personal protective equipment (PPE) to combat the COVID-19 virus, it was only natural for the Pearison family (Pearison Inc. and its employees) to respond quickly. Beginning March 20, 2020, Pearison Inc. shifted much of its manufacturing services to the creation of washable safety masks. By the end of March, the company had produced nearly 9,000 masks for use by medical personnel, averaging between 1600 to over 1900 masks having been produced each day. The masks are being prepared per CDC guidelines, free of charge to medical personnel and facilities. Jay and Jamie discussed creating a line of medical gowns in addition to the masks. However, after checking with the facilities for which the masks were being created, they were told that the facilities had been able to
obtain a sufficient quantity of gowns. For now, the company will not be producing medical gowns. As would be expected by this community, Pearison Inc. is also striving to protect its employees, recently releasing the following statement: “We have made it our goal to keep our employees informed and safe during this time. We have closed our showroom to the public in compliance with the Posey County Health Department’s order, employees have been instructed to stay home if they feel sick, we’ve placed more hand sanitizing stations in highly trafficked areas, implemented new cleaning procedures, and have informed staff on correct hand washing practices. We continue to monitor this health crisis and strive to make decisions to keep our employees safe.”
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Pearison employee Ronda Stratton works intensely on making masks.