The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: http://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1116805
A-2 Front Wednesday, May 15, 2019 The Press-Dispatch yeah, it's that fast! net edition Z M www.PressDispatch.net/Subscribe The Press-Dispatch. No matter where you live. HUNT Continued from page 1 Fourth grade historians Asher Cassada fills out his biography log as he questions Jacob Harker about Milton Bradley, the historical character Harker portrays during a live wax museum event at Petersburg Elementary School on Tuesday. The event was the final part of a fourth grade, two- week social studies project in which students picked a person of historical significance and learned about their childhood, their education, their historical con- tribution and other important facts. Then they por- trayed the characters for the other school children in the cafeteria on Tuesday. Other classes were invited to visit them, and ask questions about their characters. Below, several of the historical characters por- trayed were, front row from left: Avery Meece, Poca- hontas; Kylie Meyer, Simone Biles; Brodey Daffron, Niel Arstrong; Daegan Knepp, Annie Oakley; Karly Gideon, Eleanor Roosevelt and Shawn Condra, Lou- is Armstrong. Back row, from left: Brittain Cummins, Milton Hershey; Jessa Ridao, Jane Goodall; Mackenzie Aus- tin, Betsy Ross; Brady Cooper, George Washington; Ian Shoultz, Thomas Edison and Levi Burkemper, Larry Bird. no answer from Hunt, she posted the dogs' pictures on Facebook and that they were missing. "It went viral," said Christianson. A Pike County resident, Toni Parker, saw the Face- book posts about the dogs. Jordan Hunt had gotten his truck hung up near her house and she invited him in. Parker sent a video of the dogs to Koutz telling her that her dogs were there. Parker saw Hunt out in the field with the dogs and a little later, she heard gun shots and ran out to the woods. She saw smoke and Hunt running away. Koutz and police were on the way to Parker's resi- dence when she received the call from Parker telling her Hunt had shot the dogs. Christianson asserted the dogs were Koutz's life and Hunt killed them to in- timidate her into taking him back as a boyfriend. The trial started on Wednesday with jury se- lection. A jury was seated by 1:30 p.m. They broke for lunch until 2:45 p.m., when Christianson and Hunt's at- torney Dawnya Taylor pre- sented opening arguments. Taylor didn't go into spe- cifics of the case. She told the jury they were "fact find- ers." She asked the jury to listen to witnesses and care- fully weigh what they were saying. "Just because the state says 'here is the evi- dence,' it doesn't' mean you have to look at it the way they want you to," said Tay- lor. Thursday, the court heard from Koutz, Parker and Evansville Police Det. Nick Hendrickson. The state rested their case Thursday morning. The defense did not pres- ent any witnesses. Clos- ing arguments were pre- sented Thursday afternoon and the case went to the ju- ry at about 5 p.m. The jury returned their verdicts at about 7:30 p.m. Jurors found Hunt not guilty of intimidation and guilty of killing a domes- tic animal and domestic vi- olence. Both counts he was con- victed of were level 6 felo- nies. They have a maximum sentence range of four years. "Basically no one does this except for a person try- ing to send a message to someone. I respect the jury. I'm grateful he (Hunt) will have a felony record. He doesn't face actual prison time. He will be a convicted felon on those animal cruel- ty charges," said Christian- son. Taylor did not respond to The Press-Dispatch's request for comment on the trial. Hunt has been in jail since he was arrested on Septem- ber 26, 2018. He will receive two for one good credit for those months served. So it is unlikely he will receive addi- tional time than what he has already served. Hunt still has theft and burglary charges pend- ing on him in Vanderburgh County. So after his sen- tencing in Pike County, which is scheduled for 9 a.m. Wednesday, June 10, Hunt will be transferred to the custody of Vanderburgh County unless he pays the $10,000 bond they have on him. ELECTION Continued from page 1 and Tricia Claridge are leg- acy candidates for this po- sition. Jenkins is the son of Bertis and Claridge is the daughter of former city councilman Bill Fears. Mayor R.C. Klipsch so far is unopposed as he seeks a second term. Tammy Selby, a Demo- crat, is also unopposed and seeking re-election as clerk- treasurer. Three incumbent city councilmen are also unop- posed so far. They are Re- publicans Gary Leavitt in Dist. 1 and John Melhiser in Dist. 2. Democrat Brian VanMeter in Dist. 4 is also unopposed. Both parties have until June 30 to appoint a candi- date to vacant spots on the ballot. Also, a minor party candidate or independent can file their petition of can- didacy with 15 signatures of registered voters until July 1. The last day to register to vote is October 7 and the first day to vote absentee is October 8. The election is scheduled for Tuesday, November 4. apartment and located Hat- field-Lee, Petry and Roach in the apartment. Police said while they were detain- ing these three, they heard what sounded like another person trying to run out the back door. Sgt. Seger and Trooper Boeckman were at the back door and saw Shal- abi run out it. They took her into custody. According to the affidavit, police found about 5.4 grams of a white crystal substance that field tested positive for meth, along with a glass smoking device with burnt crystal residue in it, multiple syringes in a bag, a piece of paper with a crystal-like sub- stance on it in the kitchen, a wooden box containing a blue tourniquet and alcohol swabs, digital scales, a glass plate with a small amount of crystal-like substance on it, a glass smoking device with burnt residue in it, and a crystal-like substance in a pill container. A level 5 felony is punish- able by a standard sentence of three years, with a range of one to six years. METH BUST Continued from page 1 WINSLOW Continued from page 1 weedeat the ditch? " asked Brewster. "It isn't owned by the town," said Lamb. Strobel said if the home- owner has to trim the ditch- es, then they should be able to do whatever they want with the property. Strobel added there are people on fixed incomes and with health problems who can't afford or aren't able to trim along the ditches. Popp and Lamb said if the town does it for a cou- ple of people, it would only be fair to do it for everyone. Lamb said the town is facing a $50,000 cut in their budget for this year. "We have other priorities we need to focus on," said Popp. Brewster said the town has trimmed the grass along ditches in town for years along the town's right of way. "If you want to go by the book and go by the num- bers then fine, but the town helps people in town," said Strobel. "We are trying to recover a huge loss, so we don't have to raise rates," said Popp. "We aren't trying to be heartless. We are having to deal with a $50,000 cut in our budget this year," said Lamb. Strobel said that was on- ly because they asked for a huge increase in the budget this year. Lamb said that was not correct. She said the previ- ous town council had asked for a big increase, but they not only didn't get the in- crease, they actually got $50,000 less than the town received in 2018. "I was at a meeting not too long ago, you were handing out money like it was Christ- mas," said Strobel. Lamb again said Strobel was wrong. "We didn't hand out mon- ey to anyone. I let the ball- park have heat in the gym. The is the only thing we gave them. We asked for a wish list from different groups. I didn't give them anything. Just because I asked them what they want- ed doesn't mean we gave it to them," said Lamb. Strobel, "I just said you of- fered it to them." "You said I gave out mon- ey like it was Christmas," said Lamb. Eventually Popp said, "Enough, quit raising your voice. There are other proj- ects that are more of a pri- ority." Lamb said, "We aren't trying to be cold-hearted. If people need help weedeat- ing, we will get them help," said Lamb. Strobel left the meeting. At one point, when Stro- bel asked Brewster what he thought about it, Brewster responded, "I'm not getting into this stupid argument." WINSLOW TO HIRE POLICE OFFICER Councilmen agreed to ad- vertise for a new police offi- cer. Popp said he had been talking with current Town Marshal Steve English, who is recovering from surgery in a nursing home. Popp said they aren't trying to force English out. Instead, he said the idea is that they would hire an officer who could train under English, who will turn 65 next year. The other councilmen said they liked that idea. The topic came up as resi- dents complained about peo- ple speeding on Lafayette and Union sts. in Winslow. Councilman Lamb asked residents along Lafayette St. about putting stop signs on it. She said the problem is one intersection is over a blind hill. The others would be consecutive blocks. Joey Wells said, "The problem with stop signs is the people who are speed- ing probably aren't going to stop for the signs anyway." He asked if the town could get a deputy sheriff on the weekend to sit on a couple of the stops on Lafayette St. Wells said one teen was yell- ing and cursing at residents along the street, as well as speeding. Other resident concerns included paving of a small section in the baseball park. Wells asked if that couldn't have been used to fix some potholes and prob- lems in other streets. Brewster said the paving company didn't really ask the town about it. He said they got done the work they were contracted to do and had some left over, and went there and put it down. Brewster said there were some problems with the company paving over clea- nouts and they got hot mix asphalt into a man hole. Both had to be cleaned out. Another concern was along Lafayette Street, about a block west of Col- lins Street. Water is washing out under the road, causing about 18 inches of the side of the road to cave in. Councilmen said they would have a crew look into it and take care of it. In other business, the council hired Ripstra Law Firm of Jasper to do legal work for the town on "clean- ing up some old ordinanc- es." Popp said their current at- torney Kerry Aldridge had not responded to phone calls or texts. Popp said he talked with several lawyers and law firms. A fter reviewing re- sumes and proposals, they chose Ripstra. Lamb said she liked Ripstra because they had experience deal- ing with municipalities. The rate for Ripstra was $150 an hour. TRASH PICK-UP DURING SPRING CLEAN-UP Councilmen said town employees will do curbside pickup of trash and items to be taken to the Advanced Disposal Landfill during the Pike County Spring Clean- up. Lamb asked for people to not call town hall. Instead, she said they should move their trash to the curbside before 8 a.m. on Thursday and Friday, and town em- ployees will be around to pick it up. "We are not going to go onto people's property," said Lamb. They voted to pay claims of $ 97,158.68. Winslow scheduled a spe- cial meeting at 7 p.m. Tues- day, May 28. Popp said it was to discuss right-of-way issues and the 2020 budget.