The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1143439
The Press-Dispatch Opinion | East Gibson Wednesday, July 17, 2019 B- 5 Court Report FELONY Pike County Circuit Court Sheronda Dillard charged with failure to return to law- ful detention, a level 6 felony. Jorden Alexis Leigh King charged with count I main- taining a common nuisance, a level 6 felony, and count II contributing to the delinquen- cy of a minor. TRAFFIC AND MISDEMEANOR Pike County Circuit Court Nathaniel J. Penrod charged with carrying a handgun without a license. Brandon L. Miller charged with possession of marijuana. Jermaine D. Goodgame charged with possession of marijuana. Thomas Lindauer charged with driving while suspend- ed. CIVIL Pike County Circuit Court Tri-State Orthopaedics Surgeons, Inc. sues Michael Montgomery on complaint. Jefferson Capital Systems, LLC sues Dawn Arnold on complaint. Midland Funding, LLC sues Peggy Newton on com- plaint. OneMain Financial Group, Inc. sues Gregory Davis and Jodi Davis on complaint. United States of Ameri- ca, acting through the Rural Housing Service sues Rosetta M. Risley and Citizens State Bank on complaint. Megan Anvoots sues Jo- seph Anvoots III for dissolu- tion of marriage. INFRACTIONS Pike County Circuit Court Eriah R. Stephens charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. Alexander J. Ibey charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. Mark C. Joseph charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. Christina M. Cheeks charged with speeding, ex- ceeding 70 mph. Douglas M. Klem charged with speeding, exceeding 55 mph. Holly L. Smith charged with count I operating a mo- tor vehicle without financial responsibility, count II pur- chasing tobacco for a minor, count III failure to register and count IV allowing unli- censed individual to operate vehicle on highway. Brandi N. Brumbarger charged with speeding, ex- ceeding 70 mph. Kassie R. Carroll charged with speeding, exceeding 55 mph. John B. Lawyer charged with speeding. Nathaniel J. Graham charged with speeding, ex- ceeding 70 mph. Julie N. Hawes charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. Devin T. Odell charged with seatbelt violation. Jmaria K. Miles charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. Tyler T. Anders charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. Richard L. Whittington charged with speeding, ex- ceeding 55 mph. Benjamin F. Tanner charged with speeding. Phyllis K. Warren charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. Ryan C. Valentine charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. Tiffany R. Clark charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. Venord J. Henry charged with speeding, exceeding 30 mph. Harold G. Abbott charged with speeding, exceeding 55 mph. Latricia Phillips charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. Zane V. Backes charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. Christine A. Schutte charged with speeding, ex- ceeding 70 mph. Corbin M. Vaughn charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. Erin B. Stuart charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. Boubacar T. Bah charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. Constance N. Preston charged with speeding, ex- ceeding 70 mph. Aaron M. King charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. Lukas L. Euler charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. Carol R. Phillips charged with speeding. Claire E. Malone charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. Teresa R. Corlett charged with speeding. Joaquin Casarez charged with disregarding lighted signal. Eli G. Eck charged with seatbelt violation. James D. Crow charged with speeding, exceeding 55 mph. Continued from page 4 FLAG Continued from page 4 FAITH the Declaration of Indepen- dence that Benjamin Frank- lin signed. The truth and power of those principles of freedom is what made us and makes us great, despite the pres- ence of evil. Let's not make the grave error of thinking that what needs to be eliminated are the principles rather than the evil. Technology and the inter- net give us unprecedented power to seek truth. Amer- ica's youth should be using these tools to look for it, to use their own power to think for themselves, not be se- duced by the distortions of confused demagogues. Star Parker is a author and president of CURE, Center for Urban Renewal and Educa- tion. Contact her at www.ur- bancure.org. its ethnics. The promises of God re- main sure and that which He has stated, He will bring to pass. Faith is something that cannot be purchased or passed on to the next genera- tion. Faith comes from within each individual through the act of trusting God to bring about what He has declared He will accomplish! The essence of Paul's state- ment of faith is found in his letter to the Church at Rome, "As it is written: "How beau- tiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things! " But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, "Lord, who has believed our report? " So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. What have you heard about God, today; has it generated faith? If not, you might be try- ing to drink from a dry well. Think about it! To the Editor: Christians must open their eyes and speak up with a loud voice. Transgenderism is noth- ing more than a sinful, evil, perverted, disgusting exper- iment to get attention, and to spread a lie that many are bowing to. They may change their out- ward appearance with wild makeup, bright flashy clothes, and even have surgeries to change their natural bodies, but they cannot change their DNA or their chromosomes. Open your eyes, Chris- tians. This is just part of the evil, disgusting, sinful LG- BTQ+ agenda to use discrimi- nation as an excuse or reason to make it all normal and to try to cause the "straight and Christian" communities to look bad. What was an abomination in the Old Testament(Leviticus 20 :13), is still an abomination in 2019. Christians must stand up with a loud voice and show our displeasure of the sin, but not the person. We must show these lost souls the love of Jesus. We need pastors who preach that Hell is still hot, that Heaven is still real, that sin is still wrong, that the Bible is God's word, and that Jesus is the on- ly way of salvation. Verdayne Miley Petersburg, Ind. Letter to the Editor Transgenderism East Gibson Habitat celebrates building Madison family a home Housing still a challenge for many low-income renters looking to buy By Janice Barniak Spouses Amanda and Nathan Madison stood with children, Addi- son, 15, Alise, 14, Ethan, 6, and Kin- ley, 5, in the living room of their new Habitat for Humanity house, filled with the volunteers who helped build it. "We just want to say thank you to the community and the volunteers... we just want to appreciate and thank everybody that participated. We are really blessed to have this home." Their home is the fifth Habitat house on the nearly-full Madison Street subdivision property in Princ- eton, where families who might not otherwise be able to afford a home have found not just shelter but a small community. The houses aren't free; they're built for approximately $55 per square foot, and appraise for about $115 per square foot. The families pay the costs back to Habitat, and the non-profit finances no-interest loans on their buildings. While only four children will live in the Madison family full-time, the family actually has seven children, and spent considerable time pursu- ing traditional paths to home own- ership before applying for a Habi- tat home. Before their approval, they were living in a mobile home inherited from a family member that was fall- ing down around them. They were unable to find an affordable three- bedroom home or apartment to squeeze the family into, despite both parents working, Nathan as a main- tenance person for Princeton Com- munity Middle School and Amanda driving a bus for the North Gibson district. The Madisons consider them- selves blessed to have the home, but not being able to afford housing is far from unique among local families. According to Harvard's annual State of the Nation's Housing report, homeownership rates among young adults today are lower than in 1988, when the study first started. The housing report describes a perfect storm of soaring housing costs, with the median rent cost ris- ing 20 percent faster than inflation between 1990 and 2016, with median home prices rising 41 percent faster than inflation. Some of that increase, the study said, was due to better housing— housing with plumbing and central heat and air, for example—but it's also due to rising land prices, the study said. If incomes had kept pace with economic growth over the past 30 years, the study said that those in- comes would have matched rising housing costs; however, currently lower cost homes for single families have become especially scarce, with very tight inventories of houses for sale, mostly in cities. Adding to the stress on lower in- come families who would like to own homes is a higher cost of renting, which makes saving a down pay- ment more difficult. Locally, Gibson County Eco- nomic Development Director Paul Waters has called housing one of the most pressing needs to be ad- dressed during his term as director, citing a local manufacturing indus- try that needs more workers, work- ers who need places to live, as ma- ny are commuting out of Evansville and Mount Carmel to work at Toyo- ta Motor Manufacturing and its sub- sidiaries. To that end, Gibson County Re- development Board has supported apartment complexes and housing developments, but for those with modest incomes, the increased com- petition doesn't necessarily increase their ability to buy, as it can drive up home costs, and those housing projects have been aimed at those with manufacturing-level incomes in an industry that routinely adver- tises jobs starting between $17-20 per hour. Habitat has already staked out the land for their final home on Madison Street, set to go to Daniel Thomas. A fter that, the non-profit will look for an Oakland City family ready to own the home they'll build three doors down from the Oakland City-Colum- bia Township Public Library, a proj- ect that will continue the mission Di- rector Greg Goodson describes as being able to keep providing homes until every person is housed. The average age of their current core volunteer group is 73. It's a mission Habitat has pursued since the 1970s, without government funding. For more information on how to qualify or volunteer, go to GibsonCountyHabitat.com. They're also looking to acquire more proper- ty to turn into homes. While the Madison family is on- ly one family caught up in a diffi- cult housing market, the difference a safe home will make to them and their children is a large one, they said before the house was blessed, and the Rev. Floyd Edwards present- ed them with a Bible, one from his own library. "I have watched you two for years...I've watched you, I know your love for God, for one another, for your children," he said. The couple hugged their children and cried. "I always say it's not a good dedi- cation unless we have some tears," said Goodson. Volunteer and board member Lar- ry McConnell presented the family with their keys. "These are symbolic keys," he said. "They don't work yet." The group laughed, and Goodson said a blessing over the home. "Family and friends will gather for joyous times in these rooms...over the years, Nathan, Amanda and their children will know good times and challenging times. It will be a home filled with love, hope and joy." Amanda and Nathan Madison hug, surrounded by their chil- dren, after the Rev. Floyd Edwards says a blessing for their home. The Madison family cuts the ribbon to open their new home. Sue Stuckey named Chief Deputy Clerk By Janice Barniak Long-time Gibson County Clerk's Office employee Sue Stuckey be- came Chief Deputy Clerk July 8 af- ter working in the office since 1982. A post most recently held by Al- an Stackhouse, the job is essentially the same role Stuckey fills now, she said, except that should something happen where the Clerk, an elected official, was unable to perform, she would keep the office running tem- porarily until the elected official's party could caucus in a new clerk. "I really do like my job," she said. "Basically it's the same, because I'm going to be a working first deputy and most first deputies have anoth- er job too, like bookkeeper." Stuckey came to the courthouse work in a roundabout way; like ma- ny farming families, she worked at home on the farm, and didn't think about even starting to work outside it until she was 40 years old. "I can remember my youngest daughter was in the fifth grade, and she begged me not to work, because only me and one other friend had a mom who didn't work," Stuckey said. While her daughter initially feared her mom would be around less, she grew to appreciate the job and the lit- tle extras it provided the family. Stuckey has been around long enough to remember when comput- ers came on the scene and initially seemed to make everything harder, thanks to being buggy. She also re- members when it was common to handle book and type all day long before e-filing let the attorneys file briefs online. There's been a culture shift where records are concerned; these days she said people would be surprised how little people remember dates, for example, of their divorces. They might be only able to give a general idea of the time. Regardless of how the office has changed, however, Stuckey said she will keep doing what she already does. "I've turned it down before," she said. "I was assured I'd never have to hire or fire, though, and I know I'm going to retire in the future so it's good to do it now." Meanwhile, the office also hired on Kim Marvel full-time, who worked three tax seasons over in the property tax office, and was glad to be pulled in the clerk's of- fice for full-time work. She has a history in banking, is married to a Gibson County farm- er, and has three kids, two who are adults and one who will be a fresh- man at Gibson Southern this year. "Everyone has been helpful," she said. "It's much busier here all the time. At tax time, they're swamped down (in the tax office), for sever- al days in a row, but here, people are always getting married and di- vorced." Chief Deputy Clerk Sue Stuckey serves customers last week; she has worked in the office since 1982.