Since 1882 ~ Successor to The Poseyville News and The New Harmony Times • New Harmony, IN
“Our lib “O liberties ti we prize, i and d our rights i ht we will ill maintain.” i t i ” Tuesday, June 24, 2014
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(USPS S4 439-500) 39 5 0 0) Volume 134 Edition 25
Price of Posey ambulance services to go up By Valerie Werkmeister Posey County EMS Director Chuck Thompson proposed an increase to the county’s billing rates on ambulance services. According to Thompson, the county’s billing service noted that Posey County’s rates are the lowest in the area. The proposed rate increases are as follows: The Advanced Life Support 2 (ALS2) calls will increase from $600 to $900. The Advanced Life Support non-emergency (ALS) calls will increase from $450 to $675 and the Basic Life Support (BLS) calls will increase from $300 to $450. Commissioners questioned rates of other surrounding counties. Thompson stated that ALS2 rate from almost any other service in the surrounding area is $1,300. Thompson stated AMR Ambulance Service in Evansville also charges a minimum of $700 for calls they respond to and the patient refuses transport to the hospital. Posey County does not
charge for refusals. Gibson County currently charges $800 for ALS calls. Thompson stated he didn’t want to increase the rates too high all at once. He would like to increase the rates as proposed and then revisit the measure next year to see if another increase is warranted. “If we’re going to do it, we ought to do it enough so that we don’t have to revisit this again for a long time,” Commissioner Jerry Walden said. Commissioners instructed Thompson to give the proposal to their executive assistant, Keely Winiger, to work on updating the new ordinance before it will be approved. Thompson informed commissioners he may have found another option to replace the back-up ambulance. He found a used 2002 Ford with a 7.3 liter engine and 40,000 miles at a cost of $30,000. The ambulance is red and if they wanted
it to look like the other county ambulances, the cost to repaint it would be $13,000. Thompson felt this might be a better option to replace the back-up unit and they could proceed with a remount on another unit next year. Thompson intends to have a mechanic inspect this ambulance to ensure it passes specifications. Commissioner Jim Alsop gave Thompson authorization to purchase it if the mechanic is satisfied with the truck. Commissioners Carl Schmitz and Jerry Walden agreed. They opted not to spend the additional funds to repaint the entire truck and will instead, just put lettering on it. Thompson also informed commissioners he had received a $3,975 grant from the Indiana Homeland Security Foundation to purchase new radios for all of the county ambu-
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Administrators at NP rewarded for efforts By Valerie Werkmeister The North Posey Superintendent and assistant superintendent were given raises and stipend increases during the MSD of North Posey School Board meeting on Monday, June 9. The board approved a $3,150 per year increase to Superintendent Dr. Todd Camp’s salary bringing his annual salary to $115,650. They also increased his stipend from $2,812.50 to $3,000 with half being paid this month and the remaining half paid in March 2015. In addition, the corporation will increase its contribution to Camp’s annuity from $3,000 to $4,000. His contract was renewed for the next three years. Camp also receives medical insurance that only costs him $1 as well as a $600 per year cell phone allowance. Dr. Angie Wannemuehler’s contract was renewed for a two-year term with a rollover provision after each year. Her salary increased to $86,987 and she will receive a $1,000 stipend this month. Camp recognized Dalton Epley and Boy Scout Troop 387 for their improvement work at North Elementary School. (NES) Epley chose to add sidewalks around the side and front of the building as his Eagle Scout project. The board expressed their thanks and appreciation to Epley for the work. The board approved the following: Rob Johnson, Frank Smith and Jim Tharp stand in front of Tharp’s latest project, a Viking in Smith’s • A request by Marilyn Rogers to take the Health Occupations Students yard. Johnson’ Tree Service was going to remove the tree when his daughter, Miranda, suggested they Continued on Page A11 allow Tharp to work his magic on the tree. Smith came up with the Viking idea. Photo by Dave Pearce
Mount Vernon textbook prices increase, band honored By Lois Mittino Gray Parents of Mount Vernon Junior High School students will see almost a 25 percent price increase in textbook rental for next school year while prices in grades 3-5 will actually go down. The Mount Vernon School Board approved textbook rental prices as recommended by Director of Business Loren Evans at the June 16 meeting. Evans explained the fluctuating costs are the result of Language Arts book adoptions for the coming year. “These books are usually very expensive and at the junior high
school level, they are now digital which adds to the cost,” Evans explained. Rental for seventh grade books will be $127.27 which is a 24 percent increase from last year. Eighth grade is slightly higher at $129.79, up 26 percent. The highest fees are grade one at $129.89. This is an 8.5 percent increase from last year. Grade 2 is $114.78, up 8.75 percent. Kindergarten books are $87.44 which is up around seven percent. Grades 3-5 fees are 2-3 percent less because the series adopted for Language Arts this time cost less.
Wadesville man faces charges after man, 26, dies in his home Special to the News The Posey County Sheriff’s Department and the Posey County Coroner are investigating the death of a Poseyville man at a residence in Wadesville. Sunday morning, June 22, 2014, at approximately 4:22 a.m., the Posey County 911 Dispatch Center received a call reporting a medical emergency at a residence on Princeton Street in Wadesville. Emergency Medical Services responded along with Wadesville Fire Department. Upon arrival, first responders found Brandon M. Duncan, age 26, unresponsive and not breathing. Resuscitation efforts failed to revive Duncan, and he was pronounced dead at the scene by the Coroner’s Office. During the scene investigation deputies located several items associated with illegal drug activity. Further investigation revealed the
presence of Methamphetamine and Marijuana. The rental home was under the control of Lonnie Eugene Eagleson II. Deputies took Eagleson into custody and transported him to the Posey County Jail. Eagleson, age 32, was preliminarily charged with Dealing Methamphetamine over three grams, Possession of Marijuana, and Maintaining a Common Nuisance. Posey County Sheriff Greg Oeth has submitted a preliminary case file to Prosecutor Travis Clowers, as the investigation continues. Posey County Coroner Jay Price has ordered an autopsy on the body of Brandon Duncan. That examination was to have taken place on Monday, June 23, at the morgue in Vanderburgh County. Results of that autopsy were not available at press time.
Poseyville Autumnfest to be held September 27-28 The Poseyville Autumnfest will be held on the last full weekend of September on the 27 and 28. This year’s theme is Posey County, a tale of two centuries. Posey County is 200 years old this year, so come enjoy the festivities. Again this year, entertainment on Saturday evening will be the Hot Rod Lincoln Band.
Retrospective ...... A 4 Legals ...................B 5 Classifieds ...... B9-10 Community ......... A 7
Grade 3 fees are $91.94, Grade 4 is $89 and Grade 5 is $91. Grade 6 is $121. 15 which is up 3 percent. Students in grades K-8 are also charged an additional ten dollar Art fee per year which is not included in these figures. Athletic fees are separate, too. High school book fees are dependent on course selection. Evans said that his calculations of rental fees are based on six years of use for each book. Textbooks are rotated every six years for each subject as mandated by the state. In other board action: • A contract was signed with
Family Matters to provide nine parent educational training sessions throughout the school year for $5,000. School Superintendent Tom Kopatich said that the Lights On After School Program that they provide is valuable and wellattended. • In personnel matters, the board welcomed back Linda Englert as a teacher assistant in special education at Marrs Elementary She taught science for the district for 33 years before retiring in 2013. She’s been subbing this year, but decided to come back full time. Eric Chamberlain was hired as a teacher as-
sistant in remediation and Frehley Woods as a teacher assistant in the computer lab. Both will be assigned to West Elementary. Lucy Steinhart will be a cheerleader sponsor at the senior high school where she is a social studies teacher. Stephen Loehr will replace Larry Zoller as the Aquatics Director at the junior high school and as head coach of the boys’ and girls’ swim teams at the high school. His resignation as assistant swim coach was accepted. A resignation from cafeteria worker Roxanna Spence
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Commission: Midwest could break ground in mid-October By Valerie Werkmeister Members of the Posey County Redevelopment Commission met Tuesday, June 17, to hear updates on the Midwest Fertilizer Plant project. They questioned John Taylor of the Posey County Economic Development Partnership in regards to a recent meeting with officials from Pakistan. According to Taylor, Midwest Fertilizer has received its air permit. They are currently on a 105-day comment period regarding that permit. The only people who may comment at this time are those who spoke during the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) meeting held earlier this spring. In earlier meetings, Taylor had stated the company hoped to be able to break ground this summer. It seems that date has been pushed back as the company is still working to secure its funding. “Although they didn’t directly say this, I think we’re going to see them have their financing in place by midOctober and we’ll have our ground-breaking sometime in October and construction, if not in December, I think the beginning of next year,” Taylor said. Taylor claims the project is still moving forward despite admitting that the company would like the county to provide additional incentives than it first agreed to. “We’ve only had one meeting with the company in terms of re-negotiating the incentives. We are really nowhere right now. We obviously know they want more of the incentive. The original incentive was at 90 percent of the TIF and now we’re at 62 percent of the TIF and they’d obviously like to get back closer to the 90 percent. I don’t know if we can get there, but we won’t worry about the gap. We will get this thing done and we will get this off the ground and have it operational,” Taylor said. Redevelopment Commission president George
Deaths .............. ...A3 Church ................ A 8 Social .................. A 5 School ................. A 6
Postletheweight asked Taylor about the disturbance of possible Indian artifacts that might be within the area of the proposed site. Taylor emphatically stated that the company would not disturb any part of the property where artifacts may have been found. There are Indian mounds in the area that are still undisturbed and there are state and federal laws that protect the specific location of those sites. Taylor stated he would not be discussing that location. Taylor did acknowledge that the position of the building must move in order to stay out of the way of the Indian burial mounds in the area. The company investment is changing due to the increased cost as well as the increase of cost in the manufacturing equipment. Taylor stated this is the single largest investment Pakistan has ever made in the United States. He anticipates Posey County will receive visits from Washington, D.C. officials at the ground-breaking ceremony. Postletheweight also asked if the redevelopment commission should be proactive in establishing other TIF districts in the northern part of the county. Taylor stated he is only concentrating his efforts on projects within the current TIF designated areas. He did acknowledge that Poseyville is located in an ideal situation if I-69 is extended to Bloomington. The town sits on the edge of I-64 and its proximity to I-69 would make it appealing to large industry. Taylor also explained that much of his work must be discreet in nature and not discussed publicly. Many large corporations do not like to publicly announce their expansion plans until details have been finalized for fear that competitors will gain an edge. Finally, the commission discussed its budget, or lack thereof. Until the Midwest Fertilizer plant bonds are
Sports ............... B 3 - 4 Bus/Ag ................ A 6 Opinion ............... A 2 TV Guide........ A9-10
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