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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 32
Tuesday, August 11, 2020
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Wind turbine talk resurfaces By Lois Mittino Gray New discussion on the county wind turbine ordinance was blowing around the Hovey House again at the August 4, meeting of the Posey County Commissioners. The topic resurfaced with a letter written to the commissioners, dated July 24, by Erin Bauer, an attorney hired to represent a community interest group called PoCo Wind. The group has publicly expressed concerns about the safety of the wind turbine project proposed by RWE Renewables (formerly E.ON) in Posey and Gibson Counties. Of prime interest is a tall turbine’s effect on the reliability of the NexRad Doppler Radar, located in Owensville, to monitor storm events in our region of ‘Tornado Alley.’ Bauer attended the meeting to address the Commissioners and update them on a national report publicly released since the commissioners passed the wind ordinance several months ago. A copy was sent to the commissioners of the “Joint Study on the Impact of Wind Farms on Weather Radars and Military Opera-
tion”, submitted to congressional committees by the United States Air Force, in October of 2019. After analysis of radar events and weather miscalls, the report defines four zones of wind turbine build locations. A “No Build Zone” (never acceptable), a “Mitigation Zone” (high impact zone), a “Consultation Zone” (moderate impact zone) and a “Notification Zone” are described in it. At issue is the wording in the present county ordinance, which stipulates no erecting of wind turbines in the “No Build” zone. Bauer said PoCo Wind is requesting that the Commissioners amend the ordinance to also stipulate not erecting them in the “Mitigation Zone” and the “Consultation Zone” as both zones were shown to impact the effectiveness of the NexRad Radar. Citing examples from the report, she described one from 2018 in Illinois where the ‘ghost echoes’ from the blades left the radar inactive for 15 minutes. “Fif-
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Posey woman dies in plant mishap Special to the News The female victim of the accident that occurred at the Green Plains Plant on Friday, has been identified as 53-year-old Kimberly Stroud of Eastern Posey County. An Autopsy was performed on Saturday morning, August 8, 2020, at the Posey County Coroner’s Office. Preliminary results are pending at this time, however, Posey County Coroner Bill Denning indicated that the manner of death is accidental. The plant is located at 8999 West Franklin Road in rural Mount Vernon. The plant sits on 273 acres. The plant employs 52 people. Green Plains was formed in June
2004 to construct and operate dry mill, fuel-grade ethanol production plants. Ethanol is a renewable, environmentally clean fuel source that is produced at numerous facilities in the United States, mostly in the Midwest. In the U.S., ethanol is produced primarily from corn and then blended with unleaded gasoline in varying percentages. The ethanol industry in the U.S. has grown significantly over the last few years as its use reduces harmful auto emissions, enhances octane ratings of the gasoline with which it Using the Posey County Court House as a backdrop, Mount is blended, offers consumers a costeffective choice, and decreases the Vernon resident James See exercises his rights to free speech on
Kim Stroud
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Sunday afternoon. See said he exercises his rights because he loves his country. Photo by Dave Pearce
New testing site to open By Lois Mittino Gray The Posey County Health Department has finally found a location for its new COVID-19 testing site in Mount Vernon. Posey County Health Nurse Martye Fitts announced at the last County Commissioners meeting that the testing site will be on the parking lot of the old city water building at 232 West Second Street, across the street from Half Moon Saloon. Although not sure about the exact opening date, Fitts speculated it should be open by early September. The site will operate five days a week for ten months, thanks to a grant made possible by the Indiana Department of Health. The County Health Department will be partnering with Deaconess Clinic to offer the testing. Emergency Preparedness Coordinator Donnie Martin said the county received a $100,000 grant to set up the testing site. The amount
given to a county is based on population and Posey qualified for the $100,000 amount in the 1-69,990 resident category. Counties with high populations were eligible for $200,000. Martin read through a list of supplies coming to the county through the grant, including the tents used on the parking lot. There are coolers, printers, labelmakers, clipboards, two I-Pads, 1,040 gallons of sanitizer, and 1,040 each of face shields, gowns and gloves. There are 52,000 surgical masks on the supply materials list. Persons wishing to be tested are encouraged to make an appointment for testing through Deaconess, but drive-ups will be accepted, too. Persons do not need to be symptomatic to be eligible for testing. For example, Mount Vernon just recently mandated that all of
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New Harmony resident Judy Berry enjoys a few of the many Surprise Lillies that have popped up around Posey County this week. It has been a banner year for the lillies around the county as warm and wet conditions are perfect for the plants. Photo by Dave Pearce
Weinermobile stumps for dogs
Posey County Humane Society benefits from Oscar Mayer weinermobile visit By Lois Mittino Gray “You guys wanna’ be a hot dog?” Tommy Salami asks, as a group of children excitedly arrive to see the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile parked in front of the Posey County Humane Society Building in Mount Vernon. Tommy is holding a huge cut-out of a hot dog that kids can look through to have a photo taken. “Say Cheesiewienie,” he says, as the children smile. The eye-popping orange and yellow vehicle was at the Humane Society on Tuesday, August 4 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Visitors received a replica wiener whistle, peeked inside,
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and looked at outdoor displays. One even measured how many hot dogs high they are next to a height ruler. Tommy Salami, aka Tommy Dieken, is an official Oscar Mayer ambassador, along with his sidekick, All-American Ashley Ferrara. The duo, both 22 years old, visited the Evansville area for a week taking the Wienermobile to sites all around the Tri-State, helping to raise money for the places they visit. The PCHS twohour visit on Tuesday was the only scheduled Posey County stop. This week was just the first stint as ambassadors for the touring team as they start out on a full year working together. They met three weeks ago when they attended ‘Hot Dog High’ training in Madison ,Wisconsin, the company’s headquarters. For two weeks, the newbies learned how to meet the public and represent the company. They were also trained by members of the Madison County Police Department on how to drive the unusual vehicle. “It’s so easy to drive really. It makes great turns,” Tommy gushed. “We’re so lucky nothing has gone wrong with her this first week,”
Tommy Salami and All-American Ashley With Koda, a two month old, Lab-Pit Bull mix available for adoption from the Humane Society. Photo by Lois Mittino Gray As we talked, I pointed out that cause she’s so beautiful and photoge“We’re just lovin’ this. It’s the both ambassadors referred to the ve- nic,” earning points with Ashley. The best job in the whole world,” Tommy hicle as a her. Ashley smiled and said, pair nicknamed her “OI” from her li- said exuberantly. Tommy hails from “She’s female, since she’s so reli- cense plate “O I Wish” from the first Continued on Page A5 able.” Tommy added, “It’s also be- words of the famous hot dog jingle.