SINCE 1882 Successor to The Poseyville News & New Harmony Times POSEY COUNTY’S ONLY LOCALLY OWNED AND OPERATED NEWSPAPER
Tuesday, August 9, 2016
Briefly MV Elks to hold Party on the Patio Mount Vernon Elks Lodge 277 will hold a Party on the Patio on Saturday, August 20, 2016 from 6 p.m. to midnight. Grilled burgers and brats are available. Matt Sneed will provide music. There will be a Treasure Hunt drawing at 7 p.m. and a half-pot. The event is open to the public. Bring your friends and make some new ones. Get an application to join. The Elks Lodge is a non-profit fraternal organization that supports over 20 organizations in Posey County. St. Philip Church schedules annual Summer Social The St. Philip Church Summer Social will be Sat., Aug. 13 and Sun., August 14, 2016. The Social beings Saturday with a Pork Chop Dinner from 5 - 7:30 p.m. (Mass on Saturday will be at 4:30 p.m. instead of 5:30.) On Sunday Mass will be at 9:30 a.m. A chicken dinner with all the trimmings will be served from 10:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. Dine in or Drive Thru Carry-Out will be available both days. Bulk barbecue will be available for sale both days. The Social will feature Food, Quilts, Games, Theme Baskets and AirConditioned Bingo. A Cash Prize Drawing for four - $1,000 will be at 8 p.m. Sunday. St. Philip is located seven miles west of Evansville on St. Philip Road. Big Whopper-Liars contest set for September 17 It’s That Time of Year Again… We’re Looking for a Few Good Liars. The 28th Annual ‘Big Whopper - Liars’ contest is rapidly approaching. If you have a story you would like to share that’s not on the up and up or enjoy listening to some farfetched stories, the place to be is Murphy Auditorium, 419 Tavern Street in New Harmony, Ind., at 7 p.m. Saturday, September 17, 2016. Bring the entire family and join us for an exciting evening in the finest of storytelling entertainment with special guests ‘Clif the Drifter’ and other celebrities. Admission for the contest is $5 per person. So…see if you can catch a ‘Whopper’ or maybe throw one yourself. For your entry form, tickets or more information please contact: Jeff Fleming - 1-618-395-8491; Jeff Greenwell - 1-812-783-2762; or A. Scott Huck - 1-812-963-5198. Tickets will also be available at Murphy Auditorium night of show. Bicentennial Committee to meet on Aug. 10 The Mount Vernon Bicentennial Committee will be having its monthly meeting this Wednesday, August 10. The meeting will be in the Police & Fire Training room at 311 College Avenue. The meeting will start at 6 pm with the main topic being events during the River Days festival. Everyone is welcome to attend. For more information, contact Becky Higgins 812-204-7388. Christmas Gift Assistance Program accepting applications The Mount Vernon/New Harmony Ministerial Association, Posey County Christmas Gift Assistance Program sponsored by Trinity United Church of Christ is now accepting applications from families for assistance with children’s gifts during this year’s holiday season. The program is open to families that live in Posey County and have children 18 years and under (18 years must be a high school student). Applications are available at Trinity United Church of Christ, 505 Mulberry Street, Mount Vernon, Ind. The application deadline is Friday, October 21 before 2:30 p.m. No applications will be accepted after this date. If you would like to sponsor a child or children or make a donation please call Trinity United Church of Christ at 812-838-3805 or e mail trinityucc1@sbcglobal.net.
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Volume 136 Edition 32
Businessman, wife, face felony charges By Dave Pearce A Mount Vernon businessman and his wife have been arrested on four counts each of felony fraud. According to information received from Posey County Sheriff Greg Oeth, Matthew Blaine Reed and his wife, Megan Reed, were arrested in Mount Vernon on Thursday, August 4, 2016. Each of the Reeds face identical charges the offense(s) of: Count One: Fraud on a Financial Institution, a Level Five Felony; Count Two: Fraud on a Financial Institution, a Level Five
Felony; Count Three: Fraud on a Financial Institution, a Level Five Felony; and Count Four: Fraud, a Level Six Felony. Oeth said he believes the arrest and the publicity surrounding Megan Reed the case could very well lead to other victims coming forward. According to the probable cause
affidavit, the Reeds had stolen the identifications of people they had become acquainted with through a small automobile dealership they had opened about a year ago on West Fourth Matthew Reed Street in Mount Vernon. Oeth said the sheriff’s department had been contacted on mul-
tiple occasions regarding the business practices of the Reeds who were operating under the name of Reed Auto Sales, LLC. Investigators began gathering information by reading the operating agreement of Reed Auto Sales LLC with one of it’s lending institutions. The document which had been submitted to the financial institution as part of a vehicle loan application claimed that a Reed acquaintance, whose personal information
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Bicentennial Torch to surge through Posey By Lois Mittino Gray City Councilwoman Becky Higgins told Mount Vernon Board of Public Works members at the August 4 meeting that “we have to move it, quick, quick, quick.” She was referring to the timeline planned for the Bicentennial Torch Relay through the city on Sunday, September 11. Higgins is the chairman of the Torch Relay Committee for Posey County. She was notified she has from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. to move the county’s 20 torch carriers from the county courthouse through New Harmony, up to the Red Wagon in Poseyville, before passing the lit torch on to Gibson County. “We need to be quick, no stalling, no falling, no stopping to chit
chat on the pass. I basically have the section from Mount Vernon to New Harmony and we must complete it in 62 minutes with 11 carriers,” she explained to the board. Pat Gosh will chair the section from New Harmony to Poseyville with nine torch carriers. The board gave permission for the first leg of the relay, the Jackson L. Higgins firetruck, to park facing North on Walnut Street, between the county courthouse and the post office Saturday night in preparation to receive the lit torch from Vanderburgh County carriPoseyville Fire Chief Sam Martin directs the action as firefighters ers about 11 a.m. Jackson Higgins will ride the truck and pass it off to fought a fire at St. Francis Church on Monday morning. Th fire was a runner on Tenth Street. Passoffs blamed on a transformer. Poseyville, Griffin, Wadesville, and New Fire Departments responded to help fight the fire. Photo Continued on Page A12 Harmony by Dave Pearce
Mount Vernon schools expect fewer students By Lois Mittino Gray The Mount Vernon School Board meeting on August 1 tied up loose ends before the new school year starts on Wednesday, August 10. Staff will return with a Back to School Kickoff Breakfast in the high school cafeteria
to begin the school year on Tuesday, August 9. Director of Business Loren Evans also presented information for review on the proposed General, Rainy Day and Capital Projects Funds 2017 budgets.
In last minute personnel matters, new teacher Madison Rasche was hired to replace Kristen Dutkiewicz as a special education teacher at the junior high school. At the senior high school, Amanda Dobleman will replace James E. Cox as a teacher as-
sistant for study hall and Brandon Spriggs will replace Sherry Henderson as a teacher assistant in the computer lab. Thelma Sebree will be the new bus attendant on route 61,
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Carner is winner of 34th Hagemann Award By Dave Pearce Historic New Harmony presented the Final Competition for the 34th Annual Hagemann Award for Musical Performance on Wednesday, August 3, 2016, at 8 p.m. at Thrall’s Opera House in New Harmony. Four Posey County musicians literally played their hearts out in an effort to earn the prize of $600 and an Alexander Scholarship (which is worth approximately $2,000) for post-high school education. The other finalists receive $300 each. Mount Vernon High School alto saxophonist Christian Carner was named the winner of this year’s competition.
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New York composer and Posey County native Philip Hagemann points to Christian Carner, far left, the winner of this year’s Hagemann Award. Finalists. left to right, are Frank Simutus III, Tabitha Wildman, Jacob Johnson, Carner, and Hagemann. Photo by Dave Pearce
‘Blue Meth House’ finally razed, more to come By Lois Mittino Gray Members of the Mount Vernon Common Council were thrilled to learn at the August 4 meeting that, “It’s Finally Gone.” Mayor Bill Curtis was referring to the ‘Big Blue’ house at 1218 Mulberry Street that was the site of a large meth making operation shut down in 2009. The contaminated structure was the subject of hot controversy in that
it was taking so long to demolish it in the quiet residential neighborhood. “We demolished it plus one more today as part of the Blight Elimination Program,” Curtis announced. “We’re going to do three more this week as soon as I go down and sign the papers on them.” Councilwoman Becky Higgins expressed concern that residents were still not cleaning up grass
clippings after mowing and they were clogging storm sewers. “I still see it as a big problem, especially after all the rain we’ve had. What can we do about this?” Mayor Curtis suggested talking to lawn service companies about it and reminding residents to clean up after mowing through the lo-
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Eight local Scouts take ‘trip of a lifetime’ By Lois Mittino Gray Imagine turning around while scuba diving and coming face to face with a Green Moray Eel. Seeing the scary secretive sea creature was a highlight for Cade Latshaw, one of eight local Boy Scouts who attended High Adventure Sea Base Camp in the Bahamas this past month. The excited octet and three leaders departed at midnight on July 21st to ride in their scout van to Louisville for their flight to Miami. From there, the group boarded a flight to Marsh Harbor in the Bahamas. For over half the boys, this jaunt was their first ride in an airplane. For some, it would be the first time to see the ocean and taste its saltwater. Upon landing, the group immediately began eight fun-filled days of scuba diving, snorkeling, and sail-
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Pictured front row, l to r are: Curtis Pate, Jacob Wiley, Kainen Haggard, and Danner Latshaw. Back row, l to r: Tommy Short, Tristan Bolte, Todd Wiley, Mrs. Chelyn Shaw, Scoutmaster Tim Wiley, Nick Wiley, Cade Latshaw, Captain Tim Shaw, and Derek Latshaw. Photo submitted