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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 July 24, 2012
$1.00
Volume 132 Edition 30
Dad guilty of Valentine’s Day murder of infant son By Dave Pearce It took a jury just about an hour on Friday to find Timothy Alexander “Alex” Lear, 25, guilty of murdering his 4-month-old son, Bryson James Clardy, in February of 2011. Lear was also found guilty of the charge of neglect of a dependent resulting in death and battery on a child resulting in death, both Class A felonies. According to testimony at the trial, 13 separate injuries were documented on the infant, including brain damage and bruises that medical experts had testified were from somebody holding and squeezing the baby tightly, as well as a bruise on his forehead, a fist-sized bruise on the stomach and a spiral frac-
Timothy Alexander “Alex” Lear
ture of the arm, consistent with arm twisting. Posey County Prosecutor Travis Clowers remained somber following the trial telling one reporter that the only satisfaction that comes from a situation such as this is “to hug the child’s mother and grandmother and let them know that justice will be served.” A jury of seven women and five men served in the trial where jury selection began on Monday of this week in Posey Circuit Court. According to Mount Vernon Police Chief Grant Beloat, on the evening of Feb. 14, 2011, at approximately 7:20 p.m., the Mount Vernon Police Department responded to Apt. No. 53 at Green
Valley Apartments on the north side of the town. Beloat said the Posey County EMS and the Mount Vernon Fire Department also responded to the call. “The call was in response to the call that a four-month-old child who was not breathing and was unresponsive,” Beloat said. “The child received medical attention and was transported to Deaconess Hospital in Evansville at approximately 8:03 p.m. The child received medical attention at that facility and was then transferred to Deaconess Gateway Hospital in Warrick County where at approximately 11:45, the child was pronounced dead.” Lear had been babysitting for his child and another three-year-old
child of the woman on the date of the death while the mother was at work. The other child had left the residence at some prior time that day. Beloat continued that local officials had been working with the office of the Warrick County Coroner and former Mount Vernon resident Eddie Goff. An autopsy was conducted and it was determined that the cause of death was a homicide. Goff indicated that the child had a fractured upper arm, brain swelling and multiple other bruises. “Upon investigation, my deputies found that there was significant cause to perform an autopsy on this
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Drought brings Posey ‘natural disaster’ title Kiwanis golf scheduled Poseyville Kiwanis will be holding it’s annual golf scramble on the last Saturday in July. If you would like to take part check out the web page or contact a member.
NP 30th Class Reunion North Posey Class of 1982 will hold a 30th Reunion on Sat., Aug. 11 from 7 p.m. - 11 p.m. at RiRa’s on Evansville’s Riverfront one block west of Casino Aztar. Cost is $27.50 per person. RSVP and questions please contact Robb Webb at rob_webb@ floridalift.com, Jerri (Hill) Hatfield at j.hatfield@insightbb.com
Free supplies/hair cut Posey County students can come to Project Notebook on Saturday, July 28 from 1 - 3 p.m. at Zion Lippe UCC located at 9000 Copperline Road, Mount Vernon, Ind. (the corner of Copperline and Ford Rd) for free school supplies and hair cuts. Call 985-2437 for directions. No early birds please.
Poseyville Blood Drive A blood drive will be held Thursday, July 26, 2 to 7 p.m. at the Poseyville Community Center. Anyone donating blood will receiving a $10 gift certificate from Kentucky Fried Chicken.
Historical Society meeting set The Posey County Historical Society will meet for its regular monthly meeting on Saturday, July 28. The meeting will take place at 10 a.m. at the PCHS Headquarters, Room 4 at Hedges Central. Members are expected and visitors are welcome. The room will be open for genealogical research and for browsing the collection from 8:30 a.m. to meeting time.
Adsisory board to meet The Posey County Community Corrections Advisory Board meets on Monday, September 10 and Monday, November 19 (due to Veteran’s Day). The PCCCAB normally meets on the second Monday of every odd month at noon at 208 Main Street, Second Floor, in Mount Vernon, Ind. For more information, please call (812) 838-1327.
PHS recipe book planned The Posey Humane Society is collecting recipes for a book that will be sold to help raise money for care of the animals at the shelter. The group is hoping to get a wide variety of recipes. Unfortunately, the response has been low so far. Interested individuals are encouraged to pick out a few favorites and send them to news1@poseycountynews.com. The recipes may be as fancy or as simple as you like. Employees of the Posey County News will make sure they get to the right person. All the ‘usual’ categories will be included as well as ‘This and That” which will include recipes for pet treats or other ideas. If you can, please send them in by Tuesday evening or Wednesday morning.
By Valerie Werkmeister Posey County learned last week from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) that it has been designated as one of 36 counties throughout the state that has been declared a natural disaster area due to the drought. Posey County Commissioner Jim Alsop made the announcement during the July 17 commissioner's meeting. According to a press release issued by the Indiana Farm Service Agency, (FSA) all qualified farm operators in the designated areas are elgibile for low interest emergency loans from the FSA. Farmers have eight months from the date of the declaration to apply for loans to help cover part of their actual losses caused by the drought. The FSA will consider each loan application on its own merits, taking into account the extent of the losses, security available and replayment ability. There are also a variety of other programs that may help eligible farmers to recover from adversity. "The Summer of 2012 will not be long forgotten by those producers and their families that were negatively impacted by severe dry weather. USDA is here to assist," said Julia A. Wickard, State Executive Director of USDA's Farm Service Agency in Indiana. Posey County Building CommisMount Vernon resident Sam Heckman stands in one of his grandfather’s Posey County cornfields sioner, Ed Battieger and attorney this week. Most years in late July, the corn would be nearly twice Heckman’s height but with this year’s Continued on Page A4 drought, farmers are anticipating a harvest of somewhere between 25 and 35 percent.
Mount Vernon ISTEP scores bring mixed reviews
By Pam Robinson Jody Pfister, Director of Curriculum and Instruction for the MSD of Mount Vernon, provided an overview of ISTEP, ECA and IREAD district test scores at the Monday, July 16, meeting of the Mount Vernon School Board. ISTEP evaluates 3rd through 8th graders in mathematics and English and language arts as well as science (in grades 4 and 6) and social studies (in grades 5 and 7); ECA evaluates the Algebra I and English 10 skills of high school sophomores; IREAD, a new test this year for 3rd graders, evaluates their reading readiness. Third graders must pass the IREAD exam before they can advance to 4th grade. Pfister noted cause for celebration and room for
improvement in the school district. Marrs Elementary School has, perhaps, the most reason to celebrate. As Pfister highlighted, Marrs has ranked 13th in the state on ISTEP out of over 1500 schools in Indiana. In addition, 97.8 percent of the school district’s third graders passed the IREAD exam, or 133 out of 136 students. On the other hand, West fell below the state average in English and language arts. To help students improve, Pfister said that teachers would set goals and strategies to raise scores in English and language arts and that a curriculum coach has been hired for West through Title I grant funding to target English and language arts instruction. In addition, another special education
teacher assistant has been hired for West. Pfister drew attention to better serving special education students with testing known as IMAST. “Special education students have the ability to take an alternate test called IMAST when they take ISTEP,” she explained. “At West, I think we underserved our special education population. We need to look again at our special education students and see if in our conferences with parents, we can suggest they take an IMAST test if it’s the child’s best interest. West has a very low number taking IMAST, especially considering the enrollment numbers.” Pfister stressed that passing an IMAST test carries the same weight
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Blaffer Foundation continues to help supply needs New Harmony, Indiana –The Robert Lee Blaffer Foundation, Inc. recently awarded a total of twenty-one (21) grants to Tri-State not-for-profit organizations, making more than $130,000 available in funds, plus in-kind services. According to Laurel Vaughn, secretary of the Foundation’s board of trustees, the funded programs were selected because they meet the Foundation’s purpose to preserve, promote and support, financially and otherwise, the various historical and educational attributes of the Town of New Harmony, and the part of Posey County that is immediately adjacent to and historically or culturally related to the Town. The Foundation’s board of directors reviewed grant applications at its annual meeting and approved the following awards: Children’s Center for Dance Education, $2,500, to present the Nutcracker and The Color of Mozart in New Harmony; Dulcimer Chautauqua on the Wabash, $4,000, plus an in-kind donation for the group’s annual conference in New Harmony; Family Matters of Posey County, $500, to sustain its program; Hoosier Salon Patrons Association, $1,000, for the Children’s Outreach Program of the Hoosier Salon New Harmony Gallery; Indiana State Museums and Historic Sites, $15,000, to upgrade stage at Thrall’s Opera House;
Junior Achievement of Southwest Indiana, $1,600, preparing students in Posey Co. Schools for readiness skills. New Harmony Artists’ Guild, an in-kind donation; New Harmony Business Associates, $4,000, to support Kunstfest, Christmas in New Harmony and Arts in Harmony; New Harmony Ministerial Association, $1,000, to support the Summer Youth Program; New Harmony Project, $12,500, plus an in-kind donation to support its annual conference in New Harmony; Jane B. Owen Annual Scholarship, $1,000, presented to a New Harmony high school graduating senior: Abby Deckard Rapp Granary-Owen Foundation, $10,000, to improve main entrance and parking; Ribeyre Gymnasium Restoration Group, $10,000, ADA compliance at Main Street entrance; Tales and Scales, $2,000, to support performances in Posey County; Town of New Harmony, $2,500, to support tree project Town of New Harmony, $8,500, second year of a three-year grant, to
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as passing an ISTEP test. Students taking IMAST must demonstrate competency in knowledge areas the same as students taking ISTEP. The difference lies in test material presentation. Students taking IMAST may choose, for example, from three possible answers on multiple choice questions whereas students taking ISTEP choose from four possible answers. Likewise, instructions may be simplified on an IMAST test. Pfister pointed out that when scores disappoint, the school district “rallies the troops,” and the public can expect to see a significant gain in scores the next testing period.
Retrospective ................. A4 Legals........................... B5-6 Classifieds .................. B7-8
Continued on Page A3 Go to www.poseycountynews.com
Community ........... A5 Social ...................... A6 Deaths.................... A3 Sports ................... B1-5 School.................... A8 Bus/Ag.................... A9
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