SPECIAL WINTER SPORTS PREVIEWS INSIDE!
“Our liberties we prize, and our rights we will maintain.” Since 1882 ~ Successor to The Poseyville News and The New Harmony Times • New Harmony, IN
Tuesday November 22, 2011
Posey County’s locally-owned newspaper
$1.00
(USPS 439-500)
Volume 131 Edition 48
Future of New Harmony bridge causes troubled waters By Valerie Werkmeister A meeting about the fate of the Wabash River bridge in New Harmony may have left more questions than answers. While it’s clear the bridge is important, it’s not clear how to save the bridge. A public meeting was held last Thursday evening that brought a large gathering of people that included Posey County officials, State of Indiana officials and a few State of Illinois officials together with members of the White County Bridge Commission at the Rapp Granary in New Harmony. Posey County Commissioner Jim Alsop facilitated the meeting and explained the purpose of the meeting was to discuss the new option for the bridge. “We’ve been on this road for a number of years. We’ve been sitting in the middle for a number of years. Its time to move in one direction or the other. We don’t know what
that’s going to be yet, we have to sit down and decide what that is,” Alsop said. The Wabash Bridge was built in 192930 and is privately owned by the Wabash County Bridge Commission, a three-member panel appointed by Congress. Funding for the commission is limited and the bridge is in need of approximately $8 million to rehabilitate it. Since it is a privately owned entity, the commission is unable to seek out government assistance or grants. Thus, it would seem the only solution is to transfer the ownership of the bridge. Therein lies the problem. Neither Posey County, the State of Indiana or the State of Illinois officials are rushing to the front of the line to declare ownership. “The bridge is important to the community in New Harmony. The bridge is important to the businesses in New Harmony. The bridge is important to tourism. It’s also important to
the people in the State of Illinois. It’s important for medical services who cross the bridge to go to our hospitals. People of Illinois also cross the bridge to come to work. We have to take a look and see if we can find a viable option for the bridge,” Alsop said. Taking over the bridge comes with a hefty price tag, one that none of the entities are sure they can handle on their own. State or federally-funded grants often require matching funds in order to qualify. To help locate matching funds, the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) drafted a proposal to the Posey County Commissioners. INDOT would transfer 35 miles of low-traffic highways to Posey County in exchange for $2.7 million. Alsop explained the proposal is not one the commissioners are ‘crazy about’. “The $2.7 million is a one time deal. Ten years from now, we still have to maintain
those roads, fill the potholes and mow the shoulders. It’s difficult for me to make that commitment for the 26,000 people in Posey County,” Alsop said. Alsop further added that the commissioners asked their highway superintendant, Steve Schenk, to put together estimated costs to the county if they did take over the roads. He estimated that it would cost the county $1 million in the first year. They would need to purchase new trucks with salt beds and salt spreaders. They would also need to hire additional employees and purchase new mowers. Posey County currently has 13 bridges that require care at a total estimated cost of $10 million. Alsop also explained that they would not be able to secure liability insurance on the bridge in its current condition. Members of the White County Bridge Commission
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Ungethiems have a little added incentive this Thanksgiving By Dave Pearce There are certain words that we learn as young children that are inappropriate. When it comes to profanity, it is the “F” word. When it comes to racism, it is the “N” word. But when it comes to health issues, it is the “C” word. When the Rob Ungethiem family sits down for Thanksgiving dinner this year, there will be reasons to be thankful for all members of the family who sit around the table. Rob is a survivor now for three years of lung cancer. But while Ungethiem has undergone the pain and duress that go with the terrible disease, he knows that his families’ lives have all been changed since that day, back in 2009, when he visited an Evansville doctor for chronic shoulder pain. “My left shoulder started hurting really bad and I let it go for a long time,” Ungethiem said. “I thought I might have just thrown it out throwing a football or a baseball. My wife kept telling me to go to the doctor but I didn’t really even have a family physician.” The 45-year-old Ungethiem, with wife Julie (Andry) and children Cody, Rachel, and Logan seemingly was in the prime of his life and had everything going his way. He works at SABIC in Mount Vernon and Julie is a special education teacher’s assistant in Mount Vernon. They live in a beautiful home in a rural Posey County neighborhood and the children excel both academically and athletically. “Finally, she got me to go to the doctor and he did a chest xray and noticed all the fluid on my left lung,” Ungethiem said. “He said we needed to drain the fluid and as soon as he did that, I felt better instantly.” Ungethiem recalls sleeping in a chair to get relief from the nagging pain in his shoulder. He says he tried about everything but once at the doctor, he learned that the fluid was pushing on a nerve, causing all the pain and discomfort. “They tested the fluid and that’s when it came back positive for Adenocarcinoma,” wife Julie explained. “It is lung cancer in a non-smoker. And it’s not so uncommon anymore. It is the sixth most common cause of cancer death in the United States…non-smoker lung cancer.” Julie said the stigma attached with lung cancer has caused lung cancer research to lag far behind other cancers. She said that the public, in general, is reluctant to give to lung
Blood drive set
There will be a blood drive in honor of Ivan Alsop at the Old Ribeyre Gymnasium on Saturday, Dec. 10 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Alsop was recently diagnosed with a form of cancer.
Donations sought for RGRG
The class of 1972 will be accepting donations from the community to go towards a handicap accessible water fountain to by placed in the “Old” Ribeyre Gym in memory of Benny M. Curtis. A total of $875 has already been donated, and only $425 more needs to be raised to complete the project. For more info, please contact Carol Reynolds at 483-0719. Please make all checks payable to RGRG.
Bell Ringers needed
The Salvation Army Red Kettle Campaign is ready to kick off for the 2011 holiday season. We are looking for volunteers to ring bells at various sites in Mount Vernon and Poseyville on the following dates: November 26, and December 3, 10 and 17. Two-hour shifts are available during the hours of 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. If you would like to help, please call Beth Russell at 838-6875. All funds collected are used for direct assistance in Posey County.
ThePCN
The Rob Ungethiem family, left to right, are Cody, Rachel, Rob, Logan, and Julie. cancer research because they are not aware of just how high to face what they that had to face. Initially, doctors told him the percentage is of lung cancer patients who have never he was probably looking at about another six months to live. smoked…some 15 to 20 percent. Ungethiem said his employer worked with him while he So when the results came back positive, the Evansville on- took eight rounds of the chemo that caused him to lose all cologist told the family that he would need to begin chemo- his hair and caused him to be weak and sick on “chemo” therapy right away. But before they did anything, they went days. But despite the treatments, Ungethiem had determined to a Texas Cancer Center for a second opinion. They, too, Continued on Page A7 confirmed the diagnosis and the Ungethiems returned home
Voting Districts in Marrs headed for change By Dave Pearce Posey County Commissioners are considering a couple of scenarios following the announcement at a recent commissioner’s meeting that a realignment of precincts to meet state voting statutes. The need for changes in the precincts have come about because Indiana law requires the Commissioners to establish precincts for voting purposes. This is required to be done the year after a census, and the critical piece to look at is the number of “active voters” in each precinct. Indiana law further limits the number of active voters in each precinct to 1,200. Because of the growth of Marrs Township, the number of active voters in Marrs Center has now reached 1,350. Thus, it became necessary for Marrs Center to be changed to reduce the number of active voters. Since the number of active voters in Marrs North is 1,090, nearing the 1,200 limit, an approach was taken to correct Marrs Center while also recognizing the potential for Marrs North to continue growing past the limit. The number of active voters in Marrs South is 806 so there is room for growth there. The Commissioners wanted to disrupt as few voters as possible so attention was paid to existing precinct lines. In the drawings, the dark highlighted lines are the current boundaries. Everything south of SR62 is Marrs South. Middle Mount Vernon Road, Ford Road and Barter Road provided the boundaries for Marrs Center and North. Commissioners are considering the following two scenarios. Scenario One used Ford Road as a boundary to create a new precinct. Middle Mount Vernon Road then became the boundary for
Inside this issue... Retrospective ................. A4 Legals.............................. B5 Classifieds ................. B6-7
Marrs Center and Marrs North. The problem with Scenario One is that while it did reduce the number of active voters in Marrs Center it did not reduce it enough. Marrs Center has a high density of population in the eastern part of the precinct. Since Scenario One does not solve the main problem of reducing the number of active voters, the boundary had to be moved east into the precinct to capture some of the population, which in turn means active voters. Scenario Two creates a new precinct by coming down Ford Road from to Middle Mount Vernon, then east on Middle Mount Vernon to Hartman Road, then south on Hartman Road to Wolfinger Road, east on Wolfinger to Overpass Road, south on Overpass to SR 62, then west on SR 62 to Gun Club Road. Scenario Two solves the active voter issue in Marrs Center, and at the same time brings the precincts more in line from a population standpoint. An important item taken into account by the Commissioners is the fact a voting precinct does not have to be located in the precinct. As voting centers become used more often, it will be possible for the Commissioners to centralize voting locations in Marrs, as well as other places throughout the county. The numbers on the drawings are the population of each precinct. Population plays a role in establishing county council districts. Indiana law requires the four districts to be as equal in population as possible and contiguous. In determining the population you look for what the average district would be, which in the county’s case would be 6,477 (Total 2010 county population of 25,910 divided by 4 = 6,477). You then look at the population of each district to see how much it “deviates”
from the average district. Past court cases have said you should try to get the deviation at or below 10 percent. With the current set up of the council, District 3 (Don Mattingly) has a 19 percent deviation. District 1 (Tom Schneider) is at 4 percent, District 2 (Alan Blackburn) is at 8 percent and District 4 (Tracy Ripple) is at 6percent. As you can see, District 3 needs to be adjusted. This district includes all of Marrs Center and Marrs North. This comes as no surprise considering recent population growth. The need to reduce the number of active voters for precinct purposes also helps alleviate the population requirements of the council districts. By creating a new precinct in Marrs, the County will be able to move some of the population out of District 3 and into District 2. This will also cause some of District 2 to be moved into District 1. If the precinct changes are made, then the Commissioners are considering the following changes to the council districts: Lynn Township and Black 2 would be moved from District 2 to District 1. Black 8 would be moved from District 1 to District 2, and the new Marrs precinct would be added to District 2. District 3 would then consist of Robinson Township and the newly configured precincts of Marrs Center and Marrs North. District 4 would not be changed. If these changes are adopted the deviations for each district would be: District 1 = 3 percent; District 2 = 7 percent; District 3 = 3 percent; and District 4 = 6 percent, all well within state guidelines. Commissioners will discuss the changes at their next meeting.
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