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“Our liberties we prize, and our rights we will maintain.” Since 1882 ~ Successor to The Poseyville News and The New Harmony Times • New Harmony, Indiana Posey County’s locally-owned newspaper
(USPS 439-500)
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Volume 129 Edition 35
Kershaw takes plea, sentencing set for Oct. 5 Mums for Relay Now through the end of August, the St. Francis Xavier and St. Paul’s Relay for Life teams are selling Hardy Mums just in time for fall. These 9-inch mums come in a variety of colors – Crimson, Orange, Pink Daisy, Purple, Red and Yellow. The mums are grown locally and are only $8 each. The flowers will be available for pick up at St. Francis in Poseyville on Sat., Sept. 4 from 7:30 – 8:30 a.m. You may place your order by contacting any Relay for Life member, call Jeri Ziliak at 8513435, Amber Oakley at 673-2318 or e-mail to rjziliak@yahoo.com.
Class of 62 meets Come to River Days in Mount Vernon, Sept. 10-12, 2010 Plan to join us at Western Hills Country Club on Friday, September 10 at 6 p.m. for an informal get together. Please call Marsha (Miller) King at 838-5160 or by e-mail kinger610@insightbb.com by Sunday, September 5 if you plan to come.
PCCF benefit auction set Join your friends at the Posey County Community Foundation for the first annual benefit auction, For Good, For Ever on October 28 at 5:30 p.m. at the Posey County Community Center. Help celebrate with foundation board members and other attendees who are committed to our community’s future. Tickets are $25 per person. Ticket includes dinner and entertainment with a cash bar. Get yours by stopping by the Foundation office, calling 812-838-0288, or online at our website
South Terrace Open South Terrace School will hold an Open House on Tuesday, September 7. Visitors may come from 6:30-8:30. Everyone is welcome.
‘Wall’ edition for sale A numbered 25th Anniversary Edition of “The Wall” will be on sale at various locations in Mount Vernon during the next few weeks. Copies are now available at Printcrafters, 304 W. Fourth St. in Mount Vernon. The cost is $43 (which includes tax).
Boat dock to be closed Because of the Vietnam Moving Wall, the Boat Dock at Mount Vernon’s Riverfront will be closed from Sept. 2 through the morning of Sept. 7. Boaters may use the Hovey Lake Boat Ramp during this time. The Boat Dock at the Riverfront in Mount Vernon will also be closed on Sept. 10, 11, and 12 during Mount Vernon River Days. On these dates, boaters may use the Boat Club Ramp at the end of Canal Street for these days only.
River Days Parade What a wonderful way to advertise your business, to promote a product, to recognize a sports team or a group of volunteers, to introduce political candidates. How can you do that? Be a part of the River Days Parade on Saturday, September 11. There is no entry fee, but the deadline is September 1...so those who want to enter must act quickly. Entry forms for the Parade are available on Page A10 of today’s Posey County News. They are available at the Posey County News-Mount Vernon office as well as in Mount Vernon at the Mayor’s Office, IGA, Wesslman’s, Dairy Queen, and Huck’s. The forms are also downloadable online at the River Days website: www. mtvernonriverdays.wikispaces. com. Black Township Fire and Rescue is sponsoring this event which will begin at 5:30 p.m. Information can be obtained from Donnie Sutton 812-2055510 or Tim Fleming 812-3070006.
By Dave Pearce According to information from Clark County, Marvin Lee Kershaw, 39, of Mount Vernon, pleaded guilty this week to voluntary manslaughter in the November 2009 death of Jon W. David, 43, and attempted voluntary manslaughter of Lisa Kershaw. Both are Class A felonies. They carry potential sentences of 20 to 50 years. He was originally charged with murder and attempted murder. The case had been moved to Clark County due to pre-trial publicity in Posey County. Posey County Prosecutor Jodi Uebelhack said that the black Corvette Kershaw was driving when
he left Posey County was well noted as hundreds of calls of a black Corvette had some in from all around the area. According to information from Uebelhack, Kershaw’s request for yet another psychiatric evaluation was denied by the judge in the case and that could have been the turning point in the case. “At that point, he realized that he was getting ready to go to trial on Monday and was ready to talk about an agreement,” Uebelhack said during a function of the Posey County Democratic Women in Poseyville this week. “We have had a lot of jury trials in Posey County this year already and I had to ask the county for $5,000 more
just to cover some basic costs of this trial there.” Uebelhack said she believes it was a victory for the state. At 4:50 a.m. Nov. 21, Mount Vernon (Ind.) Police received a 911 call from Lisa Kershaw, reporting shots fired at 420 Coronado Drive. Upon arrival officers found David’s body in a bedroom, where he’d been shot three times. Lisa Kershaw told officers she was in the bedroom with David when she saw a silhouette of a man, believed to be her former husband, Lee Kershaw, standing in the doorway, according to a probable cause affidavit. The man opened fire with a rifle. She ran into a nearby bathroom
Spiritual ‘vagabond’ Honaker takes next step By Pam Robinson The Rev. Martha Honaker of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in New Harmony has been a self-described “vagabond” on her spiritual journey. Yet, one constant has guided her way—a compassionate heart intent on leading people to healing. But she will be retiring soon and leaving New Harmony. In a former life (1969 to 1979), Honaker served as a nurse anesthetist, first in her native North Carolina, then in Anniston, Ala. She helped to bring physical healing when people were at their most vulnerable—in the operating room, or Ore. Death confronted her more often than she liked, and although raised a Methodist, she turned to the Episcopalian church to be spiritually fed by daily Communion. By 1970, she was a confirmed as an Episcopalian. Her colleagues in OR knew when she took a year’s leave for religious study, she would not return. They saw her gift of spiritual healing. In 1980, Honaker entered Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry in Ambridge, Penn. While there, she and another student ran a medical clinic to help finance their education. Three years later, she graduated from Trinity with the Master of Divinity and the faculty’s support of her ordination. She immediately started working as a lay assistant for a small church in a nearby steel mill town. Then, in 1984, she was ordained in Pittsburgh. Afterward, God led her to accept the call as rector at St. James Episcopal Church in Penn Hill, Penn., where she remained five years. Since the Episcopal church only started ordaining women in 1977, Honaker was one of the first few ordained Episcopalian priests in the United States. She was, in fact, the first woman to be ordained from her seminary, and the first ordained woman called to serve as the rector of a church in the Diocese of Pittsburgh. She recalls, “My bishop was so proud of me, he wanted me to be on every committee he could think of. I fell into it. I wanted to be a good woman priest. I wanted to make women proud. I got burned out, and I got depressed, and I couldn’t function. So I went home to North Carolina, and some friends really brought me out of that—brought me home to North Carolina and helped me to recover.” While reflecting on whether or not to return to the church, Honaker accepted another nursing position and after taking a refresher course in nursing at the University of North Carolina, she worked with oncology patients.
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St. Stephen’s Church Pastor Mortha Honaker will be moving to North Carolina in a few weeks. An open house celebration is being planned for her on Sept. 12 at the Ribeyre Gymnasium in New Harmony. Photo by Pam Robinson
Man seeks payment for door after police break-in By Pam Robinson The Mount Vernon City Council approved on first reading an ordinance of additional appropriations in the amount of $85,000 to pave Grant Street. City Attorney Beth McFadin-Higgins explained before the vote at the Monday, August 23, meeting that the street department had a cash balance this year in the Motor Vehicle Highway Fund II and would like to use the money for the paving. In addition, council approved on first reading the ordinance of appropriations and tax rates for the year ending Dec. 31, 2011. This ordinance
along with the ordinance resulting in the paving of Grant Street will now be published and followed by a public hearing during the regular council meeting on Monday, September 13. When the council met as the Water Utility Board, City Water Superintendent Chuck Gray reported good news as well. He said the water plant had received a good inspection report from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, or IDEM. Furthermore, he said IDEM had accepted the city’s temporary plan for sludge treatment. City Attorney Higgins verified the sludge treatment contract would receive Mayor
Tucker’s signature after the meeting. In other business: •David Wiginton of 530 W. Second St. addressed Council to request payment of $3,500 in damages resulting from the city police breaking in his front door early this year after someone reportedly called 911 and gave the wrong address—Wiginton’s address. Attorney Higgins reported to council that the city insurance carrier had denied Wiginton’s claim, citing municipal immunity. Wiginton refuses to file with the pro-
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New Harmony to revisit responder home grant By Pam Robinson The New Harmony Town Council announced its plan Thursday night to reapply for a halfmillion dollar federal grant that will provide the funds for building a new combination fire house and ambulance station on town property at the old fairgrounds east of New Harmonie Healthcare Center on Highway 66. Although the grant requires no matching funds, the Town of New Harmony would match an estimated $133,200 to cover total project costs in excess of the anticipated grant award. The application deadline for the Office of Community and Rural Affairs grant is Friday, October 22, 2010. A public hearing has been scheduled for Thursday, September 16, at 6 p.m., before the regular meeting of the town council at 7 p.m. Public input is needed regarding the grant application, and town residents are strongly encouraged to participate in the public hearing. Council moved forward also with Ordinance 2010-9 at the Thursday, August 19, meeting to annex 12 acres located between New Harmonie
Healthcare and the proposed site of the new fire house and ambulance station. Once this property owned by New Harmony Enterprises LLC is annexed, council will then proceed with the process to annex the property it already owns at the old fairgrounds. In other business: •Town residents are reminded that the street department is responsible only for picking up yard debris contained in bags, not barrels, and are asked to be conservative in the amount of yard debris set out for pick up. In addition, residents must still bag their leaves for pick up. Another spraying for mosquitoes was done on Thursday evening, August 19. •Residents were asked to report a street tree issue (decay or trimming or removing) on the Tree Management Report available at New Harmony Town Hall or the Parks Board. •Town Marshall Scott Champlin announced that all the burglaries at Chris’ Pharmacy had been solved through the cooperation of state and local law enforcement agencies: the Indi-
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to escape. The suspect followed and began striking her with the stock of the weapon, according to the affidavit. She said the man fled when she begged for her life. Lisa Kershaw was treated by Posey County EMS at the scene for minor injuries. Kershaw made his plea without agreeing to a sentence, and his sentencing date is set for Oct. 5 at 1:30 p.m. in Clark County Superior Court. “The victim’s family is relieved to not have to go to trial,” said Uebelhack. “We were able to secure verdicts of guilty on both victims, which I think is a positive outcome for the state.”
Retrospective............... A5 Community........... A7 Social..................... A6 Legals.........................B6-8 Deaths................... A3 Sports................. B1-5 Classifieds ................B8-10 School................... A6 Business................. A8
ana State Police, the Evansville-Vanderburgh County Drug Task Force, the Posey County Sherriff’s Department, the Mount Vernon Police Department, the Poseyville Police Department, the Haubstadt Police Department and the New Harmony Police Department. Champlin said the work of law enforcement directly resulted in four arrests and subsequently three additional arrests. •County Recorder Martha Breeze appeared to report the work of her office to help county residents protect themselves from property fraud. The free Property Fraud Alert, or PFA, service notifies subscribers through email or phone contact each time a document is recorded with their name on it in the recorder’s office. The subscriber must select one method of notification, either an email address or a phone number. Breeze said that several hundred county residents had signed up for the service so far. Residents may apply online at the website, www.propertyfrau-
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