September 29, 2015 - The Posey County News

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SEE PAGE A12 FOR AUTUMNFEST PHOTOS Successor to The Poseyville News & New Harmony Times

LOCALLY OWNED AND OPERATED SINCE 1882

E, “OUR LIBERTIES WE PRIZ L MAINTAIN.” AND OUR RIGHTS WE WIL Posey County’s ONLY Locally Owned Newspaper.

Tuesday, September 29, 2015

$1.00

(USPS S 439 439-500) 9 500))

Volume 135 Edition 39

Police seek public help for leads on CSB robbery Footage of suspect inside the bank is available on Posey County News Facebook By Dave Pearce The Posey County News was the first on the scene at Thursday morning’s robbery of the Community State Bank branch in Cynthiana. According to Posey County Sheriff Greg Oeth, a man entered the bank, approached one of the tellers and handed her a note demanding money. The man left on foot carrying an undisclosed amount of cash, which included bait money, in a vinyl bag with the word ‘Sharp’ printed on it. The suspect indicated he had a gun and should be considered armed and dangerous. No one was injured during the robbery. At the time of the robbery, the suspect was described as a white male of about 6-feet tall or slightly taller with a tattoo below his right eye, a circle-type tattoo on the left side of neck, and wearing a light tan plain baseball cap; a military green jacket; dark pants; and sunglasses. However, over the weekend, in a conver-

Briefly Stewartsville UMC Chowder to be held October 3 Stewartsville United Methodist Church will be holding its annual chowder Saturday, October 3. Serving will begin at 4 p.m. Bring your container for carry-out or dine in the basement where chowder, hot dogs, hamburgers, pie, cake, and drinks will be served. Whole pies and cakes will also be available. Mark your calendar and make plans to get some of the best chowder in Posey County. Price will be $16 per gallon.

Fall Rummage Sale to be held in Posey County There will be an indoor rummage sale held at the Posey County Community Center on the Posey County 4-H Fairgrounds on Saturday, October 17 from 8 a.m. till noon. There is still vendor booth space available for $25 for two, eight foot tables (provided). For more information or to sign up as a vendor, please contact the Purdue Extension office at: 812-838-1331 or by e-mail at: neufelde@purdue.edu.

Cynthiana High School sets reunion date Cynthiana High School Reunion for the classes of the 1940s and the 1950s will be held on October 10, 2015, at noon at Wolf’s Bar-B-Q on First Avenue in Evansville, Ind. For reservations contact Sissy Crowder Coleman at 812-874-3286, Biddy (Gwaltney) Steckler at 812-963-3286 or Mary Kay Boyle at 812-422-4043.

NP Class of 1965 schedules 50th reunion The North Posey Class of 1965 will hold their 50th class reunion on October 10, 2015 at the Red Wagon Restaurant in Poseyville. Meet and greet begins at 5:30 p.m., with dinner at 6 p.m. Classmate addresses are needed for the following: Don B. Willis, Eileen Barton Young, Sherry Cremeens Humston, Sheila Smith Majors, Bob Ingle, Jane and Janice Williams, and Judy Parsons. Please contact Jane Koch at 812-874-3203 if you know the addresses of these classmates.

New Harmony celebrates Arbor Day Join members of the New Harmony Parks and Recreation/Tree Board along with the local Boy Scouts in celebrating Arbor Day in Murphy Park. The celebration will be held on Saturday, October 17, 2015 at 10 a.m. At that time, the scouts will present the colors and the board will present the town with a River Birch in honor of Arbor Day. Also, winners of the Arbor Day Poster Contest from North Elementary will be announced and presented with awards. Come join in the festivities and in honoring Arbor Day.

sation with Oeth, he suggested that there were several perspectives from the tellers in the bank and that the man could be perhaps as tall as 6-feet-5 and that the alleged tattoo on the neck could have been drawn there and may not be a tattoo at all. “The video that we have indicates there is a marking on the neck,” Oeth indicated over the weekend. “However, the footage of that portion of the neck is dark and looks like it could even have been shoe polish put on the neck to hide a tattoo.” Oeth said actual footage of the man inside the bank would be allowed to be posted on the Posey County News website and Facebook page on Monday and the public is asked to look carefully at the footage and provide any possible leads to local law enforcement. Anyone with information is encouraged Members of several law enforcement agencies were on hand Thursday morning to contact the Indiana State Police, the Posey County Sheriff’s Office or the Cyn- around 10 a.m. as CSB State Bank in Cynthiana following a robbery at the branch. thiana Town Marshall. Photo by Theresa Bratcher

MV teachers, board come to agreement By Lois Mittino Gray Members of the Mount Vernon School Board and Staci Reese, NEA Mount Vernon President, signed a two-year contract at the September 21 board meeting. “We are truly blessed to have great teachers with good discussion who are fully informed what is going on. We’ve been through the process and just finished up last week,” noted School Superintendent Tom Kopatich. The new agreement provides for a two percent increase over the twoyear period and adds an extra day of paid work, making a 183 day school year. The increase will roughly be about one-half percent this year and the remaining one-and-a-half percent next year. According to the new pay compensation model, a set amount of money for the raises will be distributed according to how many ‘shares’ each teacher receives. Younger teachers will receive a higher raise with more ‘shares’ in the plan than veteran teachers. Reese said this was a point of contention for some teachers. Kopatich said the extra work day will be right after Christmas break and the teachers will get the day before Thanksgiving off this year as requested. In other personnel matters, the retirement of Tim Hulsey as a Teacher Assistant/Printer was accepted effective at the end of the school year. Courtney Rudibaugh was hired as a high school food service worker 2.25

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Mount Vernon School Board President Heather Allyn signs the teacher contract as Board Member Clarence Nelson and NEA President Staci Reese look on. Photo by Lois Mittino Gray

House guilty of all 16 By Dave Pearce “First and foremost, Joelle is Absolute silence and no reaction back with her family,” said Posey on either side. County Prosecutor Travis Clowers That’s how Posey following the trial. “Her County Prosecutor Trafamily spent many sleepvis Clowers described less nights praying that the courtroom when the she would make it home verdict was read in this safe. She is with her famweek’s trial in Posey ily and her children and County. we are happy about that. Stewartsville resident But the second thing is Ricky House, 38, was the man who did these Ricky House, Jr. found guilty of all 16 terrible things has been charges that were brought against held accountable for what he did to him in Posey Circuit Court this Joelle.” week. An alleged accomplice, KenThe jury found House guilty of The 2015 Poseyville Autumnfest Princess court from left to right dra Tooley, 45, of the same address, 14 felonies and two misdemeanors, are: Destiney Brandenstien, Miss Congeniality; Hayley Gengle- is scheduled to face similar charges including six counts of rape and one bauch, 2015 Princess; and Peyton Nelson, Top Sponsor. See more when she has her day in court next Continued on Page A11 photos from Autumnfest on page A12. Photo by Theresa Bratcher month.

United Way kick-off stresses early giving Special to the News About 60 local community leaders and volunteers gathered at the CountryMark Pavilion in Mount Vernon, Ind., on September 23 to kick off the United Way of Posey County campaign. Breakfast was provided by Fifth Third Bank. Jackie Verville gave the invoca-

tion. Dan Ritter, United Way of Posey County President, welcomed everyone to the kickoff and thanked the agencies for all they do for the community. He said that the United Way has a great impact on the community. Elizabeth Baier, Executive Di-

rector of the United Way of Posey County since 1982, discussed the matching grant that is available in this campaign. Any new contribution of $100 or more will be matched and the increase of contributions in the amount of $100 or more will have the increase matched. The match will be used

to provide social workers at the Mount Vernon and North Posey school districts to help increase graduation rates and reduce suspension and expulsion rates and alcohol and drug use among students. She said “By helping young people

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Little Kennedy steals hearts, fights cancer

G.E. Retirement Luncheon set for October 13 The annual G.E. Retirement Luncheon will be held October 13, 2015 at 11:30 a.m., at Red Wagon in Poseyville. The featured speaker will share information concerning the General Electric insurance cancellation.

Retrospective........A4 Legals...............B9-10 Classifieds ........ B 5 - 6 Community...........A5

Kennedy Thompson

By Lois Mittino Gray Kennedy Thompson runs around the USI gazebo and plays with her bubbles as exuberantly as any two-and-a-half-year-old toddler can. Her mother runs to keep up with the lively cutie who, two years earlier at seven-months-old, received the heartbreaking diagnosis of stage four neuroblastoma cancer. With the skills of the Pediatric Cancer doctors at Riley Children’s Hospital, Kennedy was found to have two large tumors. One was in her abdomen and one was in her calf. “We started with eight to nine rounds of chemotherapy, but it did not do too much for her and just shrunk the tumor in her abdomen a little. She had both tumors surgically removed. Now she gets no chemotherapy and we just watch her and take her up for scans every three to six months to assess progress on the growth of other spots,” explained Barbara Johnson, who is her aunt, adopted mother, and caretaker rolled into one loving package. Johnson is taking her charge up to Riley Hospital this week to assess the need for an orthotic

Deaths .................... A3 Church...................A7 Social .....................A6 School .................A8

Sports ...... .........B1-5 Bus/Ag .................A9 Opinion ................A2 TV Guide...........B7-8

insert in her shoe as the tumor was removed from her left calf muscle. As a result, Kennedy arches her foot and curls her toes so as not to fall when she runs, jumps, hops and does the same as any child her age. Johnson, wearing a ‘Hearts for Kennedy’ tee shirt, created a Facebook page with the same slogan as a fundraiser to help with the initial expenses during treatment. “We raised enough for gas, diapers, formula and other necessities. I stayed with my sister Brenda in Indianapolis during that time,” she said. Now she is raising money to help with cancer research. Doctors warned Barbara and grandparents Randy and Sheril Johnson, who care for Kennedy in their McCutchanville home, that the baby might have developmental delays, improper tooth formation and hearing problems. “She has none of that. She has impeccable hearing and she’s off the charts in every positive way. She has a fantastic appetite,” said Johnson, beaming with pleasure

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