South Gibson Star-Times

January 16, 2018

The South Gibson Star-Times serves the towns of Haubstadt, Owensville and Fort Branch.

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LADY TITANS VS. JASPER CANIDATES START FILLING Local ..........A1-5 Soil & Water A6-8 History ............A9 Home Life A10-12 Sports ........B1-2 School ....... B3-4 Church ...... A5-6 Opinion ..........B7 Classifi eds .......B8 WHAT'S INSIDE: PIKE PUBLISHING Phone: .............812-753-3553 Fax: .................812-753-4251 E-Mail editor@sgstartimes.com E-Mail ..........news@sgstartimes.com Facebook ....facebook.com/sgstartimes Twitter .........twitter.com/sgstartimes NEWS TIPS: CONNECT WITH US: TWO SECTIONS 20 PAGES NO INSERTS $1 TUESDAY, JAnUArY 16, 2018 VOLUME 63 nUMBEr 35 FOrT BrAnCH, InDIAnA 47648-0070 (USPS #205-620) SPORTS B-1 LOCAL A-4 Greer found guilty of child seduction By Janice Barniak SG Star-Times Editor editor@sgstartimes.com When the jury returned a verdict finding former deputy Daniel Greer guilty of child seduction, the judge went down the line of solemn fac- es—six men and six women—and asked each if "guilty" was their ver- dict. When, without looking at the defendant, the 12 answered "yes," Judge Robert Krieg assigned a sen- tencing date of 9 a.m. on Feb. 14. Greer was led from the defense table by his high school classmate and for- mer School Resource Officer train- er, Roger Ballard, to hug his family. When finished with goodbyes, the snick of the metal handcuffs closing sounded out in an emptying court- room, before Greer was escorted to jail by a group of former colleagues. Even from the beginning of jury selection for what would be a two- day trial, the core arguments of each side became apparent. Prosecuting attorney Abigail Cox looked for ju- rors that would weigh testimony in the absence of physical evidence. She also asked, if the state could prove consent didn't matter in the case of child seduction, if the per- son believed they could convict. Meanwhile, defense attorney Li- sa Moody asked jurors if they could evaluate evidence without consider- ing their personal feelings on same- sex relationships, people of different ages or relationships between peo- ple of different races. She also requested the jurors make the state prove each point of the child seduction statute. A fter eight rounds of eliminat- ing those who knew the defendant and his family, who were affiliated with the school, or who had feelings about a same-sex relationship they described as limiting their ability to be fair, the jury was chosen and the Redevelopment backs three housing projects FORT BRANCH APARTMENTS BACK FROM THE DEAD By Janice Barniak SG Star-Times Editor editor@sgstartimes.com The Gibson County Redevelop- ment Board decided Jan. 8 they will fund three new housing proj- ects, including bringing back to life, with bond financing, the South Gibson apartment project originally described as "killed" by the project's attorney. Fort Branch Apartment Complex The board already approved TIF money to fully fund costs associated with upgrading Coal Mine Road, and roughly half— $ 375,000 —of the costs as- sociated with building a road that would go toward the complex, and then be turned over to the Town of Fort Branch at the conclusion of the project. "It's our understanding that's an insufficient amount," said Board President Phil Young. When CWK, (the investment company representing investor Wayne Kinney) first approached the redevelopment commission, the company was looking to move forward as quickly as possible in a dash towards providing apart- ment-ready housing in time for the new school year. When the funding for the sec- ond road project was less than re- quested, the company decided to move on because the financing wouldn't work, but Gibson Coun- ty Economic Development wasn't ready to let go of the opportunity, and approached with a second idea they developed, with the help of the attorney Jim McDonald, which would offer an incentive package in the form of a bond. Greg Wathen, of Southwest By Janice Barniak SG Star-Times Editor editor@sgstartimes.com They won't take offense if you call them a little salty, because if anything, it's a compliment to the crews of the Gibson County High- way Department, as they take to the roads with tons of the snow melting seasoning to provide for the safety of locals and emer- gency crews required to brave the storm. Chuck Lewis, superintendent of the Highway Dept., joked Sat- urday "it's all nothing but uni- corns and kitties," as crews safe- ly got past their first big push on snow clearance, and moved from the highways to digging out the secondary county roads. In truth, however, he admits crews have a long, dangerous job. Highway crews worked from 3 a.m. Friday morning until 5 p.m. Friday afternoon—a 14-hour shift—before coming back again from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. It's for safety reasons they wrap up before dark. "They have to be really, really careful," Lewis said. "It's not as easy as you think. It's mentally exhausting and they have to stay on their toes. That's why we don't go after dark if it's not absolute- ly necessary. A fter 12-14 hours, the crew is fatigued, and dark- ness doesn't help." The crews did everything pos- sible in advance of the storm in the week leading up, when dire weather announcements gave them warning of the potential snow. "We had all our equipment on the ready, salt was full, and we were just waiting to see what Mother Nature brought us. As soon as things hit, we mobi- lized every unit we had," he said. Wednesday and Thursday, they checked lights, and put on new tires. One big challenge is drift- ing—some plows couldn't push through the largest drifts. Anoth- er problem was motorists out in unsafe conditions. When cars are hung up on the roads, they have to be removed before trucks can plow that area, because the drivers can't risk plowing around them. Behind the wheel of the large trucks, the snow still has a lot of force, he said. A few incidents did end with trucks in ditches, an oc- See GREER on page 3 See PROJECTS on page 12 See STATE on page 3 SALVATION See SNOW page A-2 Justin Canfield shovels snow outside his friends' business, the Donut Depot, in Fort Branch Saturday, where the business had to close due to bad weather. Kenny Dill strikes a pose over the roar of his en- gine as he clears the Wesleyan Church parking lot in Fort Branch. Gibson County Fair Queen Holly Bittner CREWS PLOW AHEAD WITH SNOW REMOVAL ANOTHER BLAST FORECASTED... According to the National Weath- er Service, locals can expect accu- mulating snow Monday followed by dangerously cold wind chills Mon- day and Tuesday night. Much of the area east of the Mississippi Riv- er will see at least an inch, with two inches possible in some locations. At this time, the greatest amounts are expected over the Evansville Tri-State. NWS adds the associ- ated arctic cold front will usher in even colder air to the region Mon- day through Tuesday night. Tem- peratures will drop into the single digits Monday night and Tuesday night, with highs Tuesday only in the teens. Wind chill readings will drop be- low zero throughout the region both nights. The coldest conditions are expected ... through the Evansville Tri-State, where the wind chill may drop as low as 15 below zero both nights. Wind chills in these areas may not climb above zero during the day Tuesday. Salary schedule amended for auditor's office Jan. 9 By Janice Barniak SG Star-Times Editor editor@sgstartimes.com The Gibson County Council amended the salary ordinance for the auditor's office Jan. 9, making the raises of the employees in the office the same as the other employees coun- ty-wide. In a meeting at the end of December, the council hosted a public meeting to discuss amending, with several members saying they weren't aware of the difference in raises giv- en. South Gibson board member Jeremy Over- ton said he had known, as the auditor had brought up in the budget meetings that she'd found a way to cover the raises without im- pacting the overall budget of the office. County employees and county union mem- bers took issue with funding the auditor's em- ployees with higher pay raises than the rest of the county. While Councilor Bill McConnell voted in favor of the amendment, he said he was more broadly against frequent amendments of the salary ordinance. "All we do is amend. We start amending in January. That needs to stop," he said. Jeremy Overton voted against amending, as he had in the late December meeting. He was the only opposing vote and the mea- sure passed. County queen wins Congeniality title at state competition By Janice Barniak SG Star-Times Editor editor@sgstartimes.com Gibson County Fair Queen Holly Bittner remembers her mother dropping her off at the dorm where the young women competing for Indi- ana State Fair Queen would camp for the weekend. "When it was all said and done, and we said our good- byes, I was tearing up. I felt like I was being dropped off for the first day of kindergar- ten," Bittner remembered. She left at the end of the weekend with a new sash and title—Indiana's Miss Congeniality. The weekend was meant to whittle 87 winners from around the state down to just one queen. A Vincennes Uni- versity student, Bittner was crowned in July at Gibson County's state fair, and had prepared a full six months for the state contest, which would be, in her mind, the last pageant in which she competed. She'd had her dress since August, and planned her fi- nal touches appearance-wise closer to time. She'd practiced her speech, about creating a chain reaction of good works to help special needs people, until she knew it well, and had submitted her resume for the interview portion of the competition. A key part of the compe- tition is the interview, and Bittner spent time having friends and mentors give her mock interview ques- tions, listening to her speech and helping her improve her modeling walk. The Thursday before the competition, she drove up to Indianapolis with her mom. "That vehicle was the fullest I'd ever seen it in my life," she said, describing all they'd packed into it. The girls rehearsed and became close over the week- end, which made it more spe- cial when the peers voted her Miss Congeniality, a ti- tle she'd also held in her first Gibson County Fair pageant in 2015.

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