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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 29
Tuesday, July 21, 2020
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Works board takes steps to avoid spread of COVID-19
By Lois Mittino Gray That pesty, testy COVID contamination of employees issue reared up again at the Mount Vernon Board of Works July 16, meeting and members took definitive action to fight the numbers. Board members passed a mandate to require testing of all city employees, who were out of the State of Indiana for five consecutive days, to be tested for COVID. If the test is negative, they may return to work. If positive, they must quarantine for 14 days. All missed time off from work waiting for test results and isolating will be paid for at the usual rate of pay. According to the new Indiana numbers as you can see Posey County is reporting 11 new cases of COVID-19 in Posey County residents. This brings the county total to 102 cases. Only six
of these cases are associated with 11 that are in the Cynthiana area. The other five new cases are throughout the county. These individuals have been placed on strict home isolation. Anyone identified as a close contact to these cases will be placed on a 14 day home quarantine.. Some 62 remain on strict isolation and none are hospitalized. There have been no reported deaths and at least 40 are no longer ill, and have met all CDC guidelines to be released from isolation. The COVID-19 virus is wide-spread throughout Indiana and our area. The potential of being exposed to this virus is high. However, even with the reported cases, the percentage of residents infected remains at less than one-half of only one perxcent of Posey County residents.
The Posey County Health Department recommends social distancing and hand washing as the primary ways of helping contain the virus. Masks are encouraged by the department and if you are ill, please stay at home. Please contact the health department at 812838-1328 with any questions. Board member Andy Hoehn opened the discussion by stating, “There are now 75 (102 as of Sunday evening) positive cases in Posey County and Florida is going crazy, and so is Dallas and Houston. I feel the city needs to move toward more testing of employees who are coming back from vacation, especially at hot spots. In this electronic age, they can work from home in an effort to protect employees internally. If one comes back infected, we will have to quarantine
all contacts and one case could potentially take out an entire department,” he observed. Mayor Curtis stated some offices could work from home, but the police, fire, street, water, and wastewater can’t really work from home and agreed for testing. Board member David Dodd said he, too, agreed with testing returnees, but asked what parameters would define these ‘hot spots.’ Hoehn remarked that these intense viral concentrations could change weekly, as Ohio is now on the rise. He suggested anywhere out of Indiana should be tested. Dodd and the Mayor agreed that would simplify things. Discussion then turned to varying wait time
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Poseyville to enforce lawn laws By Lynda Baker Poseyville Town Marshal Charles Carter and Town Attorney William Bender have been working in tandem to clean up the town. Two new ordinances were introduced and approved by the Council last Tuesday. The first ordinance reduced the height of acceptable lawn length from the 12 inches set forth in a 1997 ordinance to nine inches. It also gives residents one hour to remove any grass clippings or yard waste from town streets, as such debris is considered a safety hazard and clogs up town storm drainage systems. The second modifies a 1997 ordinance regarding trash and garbage, as well as littering within town limits. Both ordinances are in the process of publication and will be enforceable by the Marshal’s office within 90 days thereafter. In the event it becomes necessary for town crews to perform any clean up work, the offending entity or resident will be billed for such services, along with any and all fines and penalties assessed against the property. Carter also informed the Council that he has received several complaints regarding chickens and feral cats roaming the town. He is looking into these matters and has concerns that they will draw coyotes into town. Council President Bruce Baker reminded everyone that the town has an ordinance against feeding feral cats. Town Clerk Christy Foster presented a gas tracker, which reflected a reduction from 1.78 to .0921,
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Covid-19 plays havoc with NPSC
By Lynda Baker A brief meeting of the North Posey School Board was held Monday, July 13, 2020. The main topic of the meeting was the approval of the COVID-19 school opening. The Board discussed extended resolutions of the School Board’s policies, which have been added to assist area schools in dealing with virus related issues, and to make sure that all North Posey schools are in compliance with Governor Holcomb’s state guidelines. The Board discussed a continuous North Posey graduates from Friday evening are, front row, left to right, Haley Wilson, Emily Abernathy, learning plan in the event of a school Sophia Martin, Megan Brenton, and Emily Fortune . In back are Grant Allyn, Camden Bender, Logan shutdown, which was prepared with Wunderlich, Cole Koester, Johnson Koester, Sam Muensterman and Raice Straub. Photo by Heather Allyn the assistance and approval of the Posey County Health Department and Mount Vernon’s School District. There is flexibility in the plan to comply with any changes Governor Holcomb may present in the future, along with recommendations that may be made by the Indiana School Board Superintendent’s Association, the Indiana Department of Education, the CDC and/or the Posey County Health Department, as more is learned about the virus. Board Member Vince Oakley asked whether this information had been pushed out to area parents and students. Superintendent Todd Camp indicated that the plan had been posted on the District’s website and had been released to the newspaper. He added that any changes to the plan would also be dated, posted and published for everyone’s convenience. Camp also presented a 111-page teacher evaluation plan, required by law, which was prepared by Dr. Angela Bender and the evaluation commitAnna Weis, Myra Schutz, Lauren Valier, and Emma Yarber pose for a picture in their cap and gown Continued on Page A7 following the Mount Vernon Class of 2020 Graduation Ceremony. Photo Submitted
It will not always be summer, build a barn... Uhde Family barn treasure celebrates 100 years
By Lois Mittino Gray Woody McFadin Jr., and his wife, Theresa were looking forward to hosting a big birthday bash, complete with food and music, to celebrate the centennial of their beautiful barn. While COVID took that planned hoopla away, the structure quietly shines in the sun on a hill on the “Uhde Homeplace” looking fabulous at 100 years old this month. Inscribed on the wood of an original inside wall is the completion date of July, 1920. Interestingly, Theresa points out that the capital ‘J’ of July is written backwards. The couple is the fifth generation of Uhde descendants who have lived and raised a fam-
(USPS 439-500)
ily at the homesite. Their three grown children housed their 4-H sheep and goats in the old stalls and now their grandchildren do, too. It was used as recently as last year for their 4-H animal projects, but this year’s fair was cancelled. When you walk into the barn’s dimly lit interior, it smells of fragrant dried hay, musty earthen floors, old wood, and memories of decades of children playing in the hay loft upstairs and carving their initials into the sturdy walls. The eye-catching pass-through gambrel roofed barn was built by Woody’s grandfather Herman and his wife, Christine (Rocker) Uhde when she inherited some money upon her parents’ death. In the fall of 1917, trees were cut right off the family farm, south of the barn location, and loaded onto wagons to be cut at the Grimm Sawmill. From there, the wood was taken into town to the Luhring Lumber Company and then brought back to the farm to season in the sun in the field next to the orchard. A crew was hired to build the 35 by 45 foot barn and work started in the Spring of 1918. The head carpenter was paid 80 cents an hour and workers twenty cents an hour. In an old ledger posting that Theresa thumbed through dated April 1920, laborers were paid higher wages of 30 cents to 60 cents an hour, depending on
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Woody Jr. And Theresa McFadin stand before the 100 year old birthday barn.