T
P C N SINCE 1882 Successor to The Poseyville News & New Harmony Times POSEY COUNTY’S ONLY LOCALLY OWNED AND OPERATED NEWSPAPER
Volume 139 Edition 37
Tuesday, September 10, 2019
$1.00
North Posey teachers make case for salary increases
North Elementary students were pulled closely into Miss Delaware Hillary May after the Miss America contestant spoke to the fifth and sixth grade classes earlier this week. Both the students and May appeared to enjoy the hug. Photo by Dave Pearce
Butler guilty of 2018 shooting Special to the News 11 shots from an M&P-15 Kyler Butler, age 29, of assault rifle directed at ocMount Vernon, appeared in cupants of another vehicle. the Posey Circuit Court on The victims were identified Thursday and pled guilty to as William Reynolds Jr., age one count of aggravated bat28, of Mount Vernon, and tery, a Level 3 felony, stemJohn Mattingly, age 41, of ming from a shooting that Mount Vernon. Mattingly occurred in January of 2018. suffered a gunshot wound, Police records show that while Reynolds was unofficers with the Mount Verharmed. non Police Department were In early February of 2018, dispatched to the area of Butler was apprehended by Sixth Street and Wood Street U.S. Marshals in Las Vein Mount Vernon on January gas, Nevada. Butler was Kyler Butler 20, 2018 in reference to shots subsequently transported to fired. It was reported that a masked gunman the Posey County Jail, where he has been held opened fire with an assault rifle from the back since his arrest on bail in the amount of $1 milseat of a white SUV. lion surety or $100,000 cash. An investigation led by Mount Vernon PoAs part of his guilty plea, Butler admitted to lice Department Chief Tony Alldredge and De- inflicting the gunshot wound to Mattingly that tective Ben Bohleber revealed that Butler was Continued on Page A9 the gunman, and he had fired approximately
By Dave Pearce Additional chairs had to be brought into the meeting room at the North Posey School Board meeting room on Monday evening. A group of district teachers appeared in support of better pay for the teachers. Several teachers read prepared letters during the public hearing and collective bargaining portion of the meeting. Though several letters were read, the theme was the same as North Posey teachers believe they are underpaid and under-appreciated. Statistics presented by the teachers showed that they might be correct. Perhaps South Terrace kindergarten teacher Cathy Morrow summed up the feelings the best in her letter to the board. “Our district has been severely affected by the lack of pay raises,” Morrow told the board. “Our children have been and are currently in classrooms with teachers who have no degrees for the subject matter or in some cases, no teaching degree at all.” Morrow went on to explain that the situa-
tion was personal for her as one of her children struggled to pass the ISTEP tests required for graduation after being under the direction of “a math teacher in his junior year who had no degree in math and that same teacher was placed in charge of teaching the math lab for students who hadn’t passed ISTEP.” Teacher after teacher read letters with a common theme. They did not go into teaching because they wanted to get rich. They went into teaching because they wished to make a difference in the lives of the children they teach. The teachers, in general, indicated they feel the district standard is declining due to the loss of qualified teachers who can make more money in nearby school systems. Some teachers with longer tenure went so far as to say they would make more money if they left the North Posey system and were rehired. Following the meeting, North Posey School Supt. Dr. Todd Camp said that no teacher has
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With fellow teachers behind her in support, long-time South Terrace Elementary teacher Donna McGinness addresses the North Posey School board during Monday night’s meeting. Photo by Dave Pearce
Golf cart violations could cost NH ‘Community’ designation By Lois Mittino Gray Dealing with golf carts on Church Street is a major concern addressed at the New Harmony Town Council’s August 13, meeting. The vehicles are not allowed on a state highway and council members fear that the town will have its “Golf Cart Community” designation pulled by the state for repeated infractions of this rule. Discussion ranged from additional signage to fines on the cart rental companies, since many of the offenders are uninformed tourists. Councilwoman Virginia Alsop began the discussion with one possible solution. She contacted a sign company that designed a proposed sign to be placed on the streets that intersect Church Street. The signs would be 8” x 8” for a total cost of $105.58 for 17 signs. Councilman Roger Wade suggested that a statement on the amount violators will be fined be added to the
bottom of the sign. Town Attorney Erin Bauer was asked to research whether this is legal or not, and if the sign can be placed on the same post as the stop signs. Wade had made and Councilman David Flanders seconded a motion that the golf cart signs be purchased. All councilmen voted against the motion, due to the request during discussion to have Attorney Bauer do some research first. Audience member Sue Krozel commented the golf cart signs are a great idea, but she suggested the lettering be red instead of green. Tom Stahl suggested that Council consider putting in a lighted stop sign at Main and Stearnmill Streets, as he often sees people running it. President Blaylock agreed to look into this. Stahl pointed out there are many speeders on south Main Street. He also noted he has seen
golf carts on the sidewalks of Church Street recently. Blaylock commented he has spoken with the two golf cart companies and has not gotten much cooperation. He continued that Council is looking into issuing fines to the rental companies, instead of the cart operator. Town Marshal Straub compared this to a rental car company being liable for violations of the person renting the car. He noted he will be adjusting the time of his shifts in the near future in hopes of taking care of these issues. • Flanders reminded residents to not put medical needles or household waste in with the recyclables. • Wade reported he has spoken with an individual regarding the overgrowth along the trails. He hopes to have more information at the next meeting. • Blaylock reported closing on the sale of the
former school property is getting closer, and he hopes to have something to report at the next meeting
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2019 Voting Info The Second Public Meeting regarding Vote Centers will be held on Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2019 at 6:30 p.m. at the Hovey House. We welcome all voters to attend. The Public Test for our voting equipment will be held on October 7 at 10 a.m.
‘Broad-band ready’ could move Posey nearer to internet By Lois Mittino Gray Would you like to get better Internet service where you live in the county? Jenna Alka reported good news heading in that direction at the Posey County Commissioner’s September 4, meeting at the Hovey House. “I am happy to announce that Posey County has received its Broadband-ready Community Certification from the state,” the Executive Director of the County Economic Development Partnership told the Commissioners. “The community needs to understand this
does not mean we will get Broadband service tomorrow. It allows us, as a community, to accept providers and partner with them to provide all areas with better and faster Internet.” To help achieve this goal, the Economic Partnership would like all residents to take a short survey on their broadband needs. “We’re trying hard to collect data to apply for grant funding. Share the word with everyone to take the survey so we can make this happen,” she encouraged. “Limited high-speed internet access is holding back our local economy and
educational opportunities. You can help move Posey County forward.” Right now, the survey can be easily found in a quarter page ad in the program book for the River Days Festival. There is a QR box in the ad that can be scanned with the camera app on an IPhone or the QR reader on an android phone to access the questions. It can also be found online at http://propoco.net. Alka said she will have copies of the code available for those attending the Mount Vernon River Days Festival, New Harmony Kunstfest,
and Poseyville Autumnfest in September. She is working on getting paper copies to libraries and schools. Commissioner Randy Thornberg asked her if she would put it in the Posey County News and on social media, to which she replied an emphatic yes. The Commissioners would like as many persons as possible to take the survey. Alka asks everyone taking the survey to consider filling in the text box at the bottom of it
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Love of community, family hoists Rapp to top Dr. Kyle Rapp is IU Medical School Alumni Association president By Lois Mittino Gray Mount Vernon family physician Dr. Kyle Rapp will preside over the Indiana University School of Medicine Alumni Board for the next two years. He was selected to take the helm of the prestigious group as Board President until 2021, after being groomed for the role as President-Elect from 2017-2019. The Alumni Board consists of 15 to 16 members, who meet quarterly in Indianapolis, where the Main Campus of IU Medical School is located. All of the other regional campuses have representatives on the board. There are currently 3,000 members of the Alumni Association, out of the over 20,000 medical school alumni still living. The IU School of Medicine graduated 340 students last year, making it the largest medical school in the country. “We reach out to alumni to keep them connected to the Medical Centers. The regional campuses often especially need volunteer facul-
(USPS 439-500)
ty. We try to be a resource for all members and keep them informed on what’s going on with the medical school,” Dr. Rapp said. The Alumni Board plans regional events for members one or two times a year to get together to socialize and network. “Here in Southwestern Indiana, we have one planned at Dusty Barn Distillery on September 19 to do bourbon tasting, listen to local musicians, and eat some catered Hawg N’Sauce barbeque,” the new president explained. “Our host that night, the distillery owner, Dr. Duane Kuhlenschmidt, is an Indiana University Medical School graduate.” Dr. Rapp would like to work on the logistics of getting the Alumni Board to come down to this area for a quarterly meeting. “I would like for them to see the new medical school regional campus that opened here in Evansville. We may be able to put that on the agenda in the near future,” he predicted. Travel and expenses for the Alumni Board is
funded in the Medical School budget through dues from members. Dr. Rapp has been a member of the Alumni Board for ten years, the same amount of time that he has served as the Posey County Chief Health Officer. He recently helped host an Open House at the new Posey County Health Office on 100 Vista Drive in Mount Vernon. “It is a great freestanding building and is much more accessible to the public. It’s easy to get in and out of onto Main Street.” A North Posey High School Class of 1991 alumnus, Dr. Rapp was graduated from Wabash College in 1995, and the Indiana School of Medicine in 1999. He completed his Family Practice residency at Deaconess Hospital in May of 2002. The next month, in June, he opened his practice in Mount Vernon at 1900 West Fourth Street.
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Dr. Kyle Rapp