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Since 1882 ~ Successor to The Poseyville News and The New Harmony Times • New Harmony, IN Posey County’s locally-owned newspaper
Tuesday September 13, 2011
(USPS 439-500)
Volume 131 Edition 38
Posey Humane Society latest to be hit by theft By Dave Pearce The Posey County Humane Society appears to have been the latest victim of theft from an “inside” source. According to information provided over the weekend by Posey County Humane Society Acting Director Sarah Appel and Posey County Prosecutor Travis Clowers, an arrest warrant has been issued for former Posey County Humane Society worker Ryan Nader. The warrant was issued after it was discovered that several items were missing from the Leonard Road site. The warrant calls for Nader’s arrest on three felony counts. Nader was the only full-time shelter worker for about two years. “For 20 months of that time, he did exceptional work,” Appel explained. “But just after the first of this year, there was a drastic change in behavior. We’d address the issue with him and work performance would im-
prove for a short time. Then he’d backslide. His position with us was in jeopardy already.” But Appel said the final straw came when a surveillance camera at her optometrist office caught Nader in the act of stealing money from the office. He was fired from the Posey Humane Society on the same day. “After his release, we began finding issues and items missing from the shelter. We did not go to the press immediately because we had filed charges with the prosecutor and there was an investigation underway,” Appel explained. “However, this weekend when we took our food booth down to River Days and started to set up, we discovered our booth had been sabotaged (at least that’s the way it feels to me) and the power cable (somewhere between 40 and 50 feet of copper wire) had been disconnected at the box and removed. We have evidence that he (Nader) recycled copper at Fligeltaub and it is assumed at this
point that it was from the booth.” According to information on the Posey County Humane Society Webpage, with the expansion to the Leonard Road facility, the organization had planned to continue to expand the facilities with the goal to accept dogs. A limited number of dogs are currently accepted at the Mount Vernon facility. “We were working toward an expansion as we had received an extremely generous donation of kennels (from an anonymous source) that would have made the living situation for dogs a much more humane, healthy environment while waiting for adoption,” she explained. “Unfortunately, those kennels were too large for the current facility, but worthy of considering an expanded area.” The highgrade stainless steel was being stored in a large trailer located at the Leonard Road site. Appel said plans have been underway for several months for an expansion to the facil-
ity and that design work and concrete/gravel work designs was about to get underway. Then Appel said recently she and another board member had gone out to the facility to get some other items out of the trailer only to discover that all the high-grade stainless steel was missing. Appel said the stainless steel had been in storage for over six years and that there is photographed evidence that Nader had “recycled” all of the panels at the Fligeltaub site in Evansville. After doing some checking, Appel discovered that to replace the stainless steel that was missing with similar kenneling, the cost would be over $32,000. “The prosecutor has obtained photo documentation to support the accusations that Nader took all 38 panels to Fligeltaub and
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Mount Vernon Barge holds ‘Christening of Three’ ‘Judge Lynch’ By Dave Pearce On Thursday afternoon, over 200 were on hand at the Southwind Maritime Center in Mount Vernon to celebrate the christening of three new boats now in service at Mount Vernon Barge, better known as TPG Mt. Vernon Marine, LLC (dba: Mt. Vernon Barge Service). The MV Marla Diane, MV Sidney Rene, and MV Brandi Ann and their namesakes were on hand as Mount Vernon Barge president Don Miller welcomed the many guests as well as the Mount Vernon High School band under the direction of Scott Dallas. “This is a great day for this little company,” Miller said while opening the ceremonies. “This is the first time we have had a boat christening because I was in the eighth grade the last time we bought a boat.” But the company has done well, especially over the course of the past four years when the number of employees has increased from 35 to around 110. This is the company’s 49th year and the fifth under the ownership of TPG. Miller complimented several businesses located at the port for their loyalty. Some of those included Alliance Coal and Consolidated Grain and Barge, to name just a couple. “We have a great group of customers here and we are very proud of the relationship we have fostered with them,” Miller said. “I also want to thank our management team, quite possibly the greatest one in the Maritime Industry.” Miller also recognized Indiana Port Commission member Bud Farmer as well as Southwind Maritime Port Director Phil Wilzbacher. Miller also recognized members of his family as well as other members of the Mount Vernon staff. “Mount Vernon Barge has provided some very vital logistical services, which included barge movement and barge fleeting,” Wilzbacher said while congratulating the company. “It has helped make Mount Vernon what it is today. It is interesting to note that because of the type of services Mount Vernon Barge provided and hustled to get, today Mount Vernon is ranked the eighth largest port on the U.S. inland waterway. This is a very large river transportation facility here at the port as well as the other industries in the Mount Vernon area that Mount Vernon Barge is providing services to. It is great to see that Mount Vernon Barge is continuing to grow and expand.” Wilzbacher also pointed out that Mt. Vernon Barge’s growth has come at a time of economic downturn in many other businesses. “In spite of the brutal business environment, the people at Mount Vernon Barge have worked very hard in driving the company forward,” Wilzbacher continued. “This type of growth is indicative of businesses here in the Mount Vernon area. Companies are finding ways to grow despite of tough economic conditions.” Wilzbacher accented his remarks by telling those in attendance the
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ThePCN
movie to be shown free at Kunstfest
Mount Vernon Barge President Don Miller flinches as his daughter, Brandi christens the ship named in her honor on Thursday at the Southwind Maritime Center. Photo by Dave Pearce
Annual Ag breakfast set for tomorrow The Posey County, Purdue Extension Service will host a program titled “Agricultural Outlook 2012” on Wednesday, September 14 at the Posey County Fairgrounds Community Center. The program will begin with breakfast at 6:30 a.m. CT, followed by the program. This event is free to the public and is designed to help farmers, land owners, input suppliers, and those interested in agriculture make better business decisions in the coming year. The program will be presented by Dr. Chris Hurt, an Agricultural Economist from the Purdue campus. U.S. farmers are facing disappointing corn and soybean yields this fall as late planting was followed by extreme July heat and dryness. Demand remains strong for grains, soybeans, and food around the world with limited supplies. This means prices will be high. The program will help answer “How high?” The volume of corn used for ethanol is expected to set new records in 2012; however, some believe there won’t be enough corn this fall to meet all the demands and that EPA should consider reducing government ethanol mandates. In addition, China continues to excite the corn market with purchases for a second year with prospects for longer-term buying relationships with the U.S. Increasing attention is being given to the general economy with growing fears of a double-dip recession.
This program will outline the reasons why the economy is growing slowly and make predictions for future growth, interest rates, and inflation. A short discussion of the Federal government debt situation will also be featured. The livestock sector faces another year of extremely high feed costs. Yet some animal product prices have also risen sharply over the past year. Some of the animal species can afford these record feed prices, others may face losses in 2012. Regardless, consumers are experiencing the highest costs ever to feed their families. Crop prices are up, but so are input costs for 2012. This program will outline which inputs are headed higher and how that may affect margins for 2012 and 2013. The battle for acres is underway this fall as producers consider seeding winter wheat. The program will demonstrate the economic implications of that battle by showing which crops are currently bidding most aggressively for the limited acres. Land values and rents are expected to move higher again in 2012, but by how much and how high can land values and rents rise before they are too high? What are the driving factors to be watching? These and other topics will be covered. If you need a reasonable accommodation to participate in this program, prior to the meeting, contact Jon Neufelder at: (812) 838-1331.
River Days Little Miss and Mister Court--second runner up Natalie King, first runner up Emma-Sue McDurmon, Little Miss Haley Duffey, Little Mister Jackson O’Daniel, first runner up David Jones, and second runner up Ethan Yarber. Photo by Terri Koch
Inside this issue... Retrospective ................. A4 Legals .............................. B8 Classifieds ................. B9-10
By Pam Robinson Cecil B. DeMille would be proud. The Honorable James M. Redwine, Posey County Circuit Court Judge, and his wife Peg have brought together, if not a cast of thousands, a cast of dozens of well-known Posey Countians for the production of the 20-minute movie “JUDGE LYNCH!.” Based on Judge Redwine’s historical novel bearing the same name, “JUDGE LYNCH!” will be shown free to the public this coming Saturday and Sunday during Kunstfest at Harmonie Haus Cinema in New Harmony. Movie show times are Saturday, September 17, at 10:30 a.m., 1 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. as well as Sunday, September 18, at 10:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. The movie (and novel) presents a shameful chapter in Posey County history. It chronicles the heinous October 1878 murders of seven African American men—four of them lynched on the court house lawn—causing the exodus of African Americans from Posey County in October and November 1878. Already, the movie has met with great interest and success in Judge Redwine’s hometown of Pawhuska, Okla., where his novel continues to sell well. In fact, the movie’s debut came about at the Annual Ben Johnson Film Festival this past June in response to the request of festival organizers. “JUDGE LYNCH!” is a first for JPeg Ranch Productions. None of the participants had ever made a movie. Still the Redwines marvel that everyone involved with the production, completed in April and May this year, worked only for food catered by Shawnna and Heath Rigsby. Relying on his prior experience filming sports events, Rodney Fetcher did all the camera work and editing on location in Posey County. Scenes were filmed at the Greathouse Farm, JPeg Ranch, Hovey House, Old Pioneer Village in Solitude, old Posey County Jail, Posey County Courthouse and Robin Hill. One of the Redwines’ seven grandchildren, college sophomore Alec Ricketts, did all the still photography. In addition, one of the Judge’s brothers, C.E. Redwine, drew on his expertise as a university music professor to compose the original soundtrack performed by three Oklahoma musicians—Steve Burroughs, Ginger Randolph and Denny Wade. Readers will surely recognize at least one member of the star-studded cast of Posey County (and a few Vanderburgh County) citizens: Elaine Bebout, Billy Joe Bebout, David Belcher, Tammy Bergstrom, Sam Blankenship, Shirley Blankenship, Carrie Bradley, Pat Cardin, Bill Etherton, Judy Etherton, Darlene Fisher, Jim Fisher, Dan
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Go to www.poseycountynews.com Community ........... A5 Social ...................... A6 Deaths ................... A3 Sports .................. B1-8 School................. A11 Bus./Ag ................ A10
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