The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1150091
The Press-Dispatch Wednesday, July 31, 2019 C-11 EAST GIBSON NEWS Submit school news: Email: egnews@ pressdispatch.net Deadline: Noon on Friday Work continues on US-41/64 interchange The Indiana Department of Transportation announces the next phase in the ramp rehabili- tation project at the interchange of U.S. 41 and Indiana 64 in Princeton. Beginning on or around Mon- day, July 29, contract crews will close the loop from northbound U.S. 41 to westbound S.R. 64 for pavement rehabilitation. During this operation, all motorists will be asked to use the remaining open ramps to maneuver around the closure. Pavement rehabili- tation is expected to take about a week, dependent upon weath- er conditions. Inclement weath- er could cause the project to be delayed. INDOT urges drivers to slow down and stay alert near crews. GSH NURSE DISCUSSES LOCAL HUMAN TRAFFICKING By Janice Barniak Emergency room nurse man- ager Penny Culp told the story to a group of citizens at Oakland City Columbia Township Public Library last week of a 17-year- old human trafficking victim, who showed up in the Vincennes Good Samaritan Hospital. She was speaking out to help increase the number of cases the public can stop through identification. In 2018, Culp said the hospital identified 18 possible cases of hu- man trafficking. As for the 17-year-old, the fos- ter runaway presented in the emergency room with only a ho- tel room key, and that room key was for a nicer hotel in the area. She had none of her own IDs; the people who abducted her left her to die in the hotel room after her illness progressed past the point she was of use to them. By that time, she'd already been abducted, sold into a Texas traf- ficking ring and came through Indiana on the way to Michigan, where she likely would have been sold again. Culp said that with the excep- tion of drugs, human trafficking is the fastest growing criminal in- dustry in the United States. "I have no doubt it happens here, given you have I-69," she said. Adding to that, she said Chica- go and St. Louis are both in the top 20 cities for human traffick- ing. The people who sell the wom- en tend to own four to six girls, (many are underage), and aver- age $150,000 to $200,000 a year in the $ 9.5 billion industry. Red flags for healthcare work- ers include complicated reproduc- tive histories that include, for ex- ample, having delivered children that have since died and multiple STDs, as well as having implant- ed GPS devices in the webbing of the fingers or worn as an anklet with inadequate explanations as to the reason for the device. People being trafficked often have another person who speaks for them or are instructed to fol- low a specific script. When a person is asked about their medical history, for exam- ple, and they look to the other per- son for guidance before answer- ing, that can be a sign of abuse, as can poor hygiene, lack of eye contact and malnutrition. Barcodes or initials of another person on the back of the neck, inside the lip or across the col- larbone are another sign, as are burn scars from electric cattle prods. Trafficked people move often and are kept isolated from the out- side world. A person who said they lived in Princeton, for example, but didn't know what Taco Tierra was would be showing signs of being isolat- ed, Culp said. PROTECTING YOUNG PEOPLE A nurse who was practicing to give a talk on human traffick- ing presented the talk in front of her daughter, who recognized the signs of grooming as matching an adult man who had been heavily at- tentive of the preteen girls in her friend circle. While girls are often targets, young men can also been subject to grooming. The app Tik Tok is on many young people's phones and is one method recruiters use to find young people. Other social media sites are al- so used. "Kids don't think that if they post, for example, that they're frustrated with a parent that, that might make them a potential tar- get for traffickers," she said. Traffickers tend to target young people from underprivileged back- grounds, troubled home lives, with untreated mental health issues or who have low self-esteem. A recruiter will pretend to be the target's boyfriend or best friend, and will spend money on the tar- get, become a confidant listening to family troubles, and will slow- ly isolate them from other support systems. They tend to offer com- pliments, a safe place to sleep, food and a sense of belonging. When the target feels comfort- able, they are taken from what they know, and subjected to an unfamil- iar environment without any sup- port, and held with the threat of violence. The young people generally don't know who to trust because consumers have to be well-to-do to afford the services of the human trafficker, and therefore can come from professions that would typi- cally be positions of trust, such as the legal profession. While most people think of the image of a person tied up with chains or rope when they think of human trafficking, Culp said it would be more accurate to picture teens or preteens dressed provoca- tively out in places where they typ- ically would not be at night—up- scale hotels and neighborhoods, for example. "You're looking for kids who are going to school with our kids," she said. The traffickers might initial- ly tell the targets they're just go- ing to go on dates, with nothing expected from them, before they are drugged and abused. Once the child is recruited, the traffickers keep them quiet with threats of violence, by shaming them about what has happened and telling them they could be ar- rested for prostitution if they tell their story. Thirty percent of trafficking vic- tims will show up in an emergency room, Culp said, making it very im- portant that emergency room per- sonnel be able to identify them between the well over 100 people they might see in a day at a hospi- tal like Good Samaritan. She encouraged others in the community to call the police if they suspect trafficking, however, to help that other 70 percent. To re- port anonymously, the human traf- ficking hotline is 1-888 -3737-888. "If you're wrong, that's a good day," Culp said. 8–7 . Mon. 8–noon . Tues. 10–7 . Wed. 8–5 . Thur. 8–5 . Fri. DON'T FORGET YOUR BACK TO SCHOOL EYE EXAMS Now Locally Owned and Operated Dr. Clint Shoultz 715 S. 9th St., Petersburg 812-354-9400 The Experts Are More Affordable Than You Might Think. Whether you're looking for a quick replacement or the benefits of an advanced, high-efficiency system, Carrier has the solution to fit your budget and comfort needs. ©Carrier Corporation 12/2016. HIGH EFFICIENCY COMFORT YOUR WAY PH: 812-743-2382 HEATING & AIR-CONDITIONING Perry ' s LLC Serving the area since 1950. Perry ' s Perry ' s 303 Breckinridge Rd, Monroe City Email: perryshvac@gmail.com Craig Perry Vance Perry Chase Perry Small funding increase proposed for Hopkins Park By Janice Barniak Gibson County's Park Board requested a $5,000 increase this year in County Council budget meetings recently to cover as- pects of the legal process and permitting process on the road to improving Hopkins Park. The Francisco-area Hopkins Family Park plans a lake and a bathroom facility, which will re- quire water and power, increas- ing some costs, though much of the project is grant-funded. Hopkins Family Park is the on- ly county-operated park. Highway department requests raises in 2020 By Janice Barniak Gibson County Highway De- partment presented a 2020 bud- get to the Gibson County Coun- cil recently that would equalize pay across several different po- sitions, and offer an estimated $1 an hour pay bump across the board if approved (though often those pay raises are less than requested). The pay equalization was a subject Highway Supervisor Chuck Lewis brought up earli- er this year. In the highway de- partment, workers are paid ac- cording to what job they're do- ing, and the jobs have to be as- signed according to certain rules that make scheduling and accounting difficult for the de- partment, as a person could do several different jobs at differ- ent pays in the course of a week. Lewis aimed to simplify the scheduling by bringing up some of the lowest paid work- ers all into one classification. "We want to get this all lev- eled out, because the guys are worth it, and it is an accounting nightmare for anyone. When they work out of classification, it can be 12 cents an hour dif- ference," he said. He also estimated $10,000 in overtime in the budget for the year, whereas in years past, that would have been comp time. Finally, Lewis said the state has doubled the stipend for county engineers, which Gib- son County has (Matt Holden). He asked that half of the in- crease go directly to Holden, which would bump his pay by $10,000. Commissioner Gerald Bled- soe spoke in favor of raising Holden's pay, saying that there are few civil engineers in the county, and it is difficult to at- tract civil engineers to the area. "The average pay of engi- neers we have (in the coun- ty),—Matt was the lowest at the time we hired him," Bled- soe said. Gibson County SWCD looks at impact of overtime By Janice Barniak In budget meetings recently, the Gibson County Council got their first look at what depart- ment heads anticipate this year's budget will require. For the Soil and Water Conser- vation District, director Matt Mi- chel estimated a $ 6,400 salary increase, plus another $15,000 to cover hours previously worked as comp time that will now be overtime. The county has moved to- wards doing overtime instead of comp time for employees, leav- ing the highway department, for example, encouraging their em- ployees to either take their time or have it paid out this year. Commissioner Steve Bottoms questioned the high number to compensate overtime. "If you can't pay it, you don't perk it," Bottoms said. "If you want us to keep using comp time, we'll use comp time. If you want us to use overtime, we'll use overtime," said Michel. "There's another option," said Bottoms, which would be to work fewer hours. "You want us to impede our work? " Michel asked, a question Bottoms did not answer. The SWCD has looked at ways to track employee time better when they're out of the office and in the field, by using apps on the employees' phones.