The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1158320
The Press-Dispatch East Gibson News Wednesday, August 21, 2019 C- 11 Dr. Ton Dempsey and Dr. Ray Barber Barbara Vining wins a River Friendly Farmer award Barbara Vining, of Gibson Coun- ty, is one of 47 River Friendly Farm- er Award recipients this year. This group joins the over 1,000 Indiana farmers who have received this award for their hard work in protect- ing the rivers, lakes and streams through their everyday conservation management practices. The goal is to improve soil health and water qual- ity, and restore and sustain human and wildlife habitat in Indiana's wa- tersheds. The River Friendly Farm- er (RFF) Program is a collaborative effort of governmental agencies, ag- ricultural organizations, Indiana Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCDs) and farmers. "This group of farmers under- stands the value of taking care of the land and protecting our water re- sources for years to come. I'm proud to be a part of this organization that honors farmers for their conserva- tion efforts. This event is a great op- portunity to celebrate that effort," states Roger Wenning, IASWCD Board president. This year, 47 farmers will be honored for their good production management practices at the Indi- ana State Fair at 1 p.m. on Wednes- day, August 14 in the 4-H Exhibit Hall. Lieutenant Governor Suzanne Crouch, along with Indiana Farm Bu- reau president Randy Kron, will be presenting the awards. The farmers attending the event are from the following counties: Boone, Clay, Clinton, Decatur, Dubois, Fayette, Grant, Hamilton, Hancock, Hendricks, Howard, Knox, Kosciusko, Marion, Miami, Morgan, Newton, Putnam, Scott, Starke, Swit- zerland, Tippecanoe, Vanderburgh, Washington, Wayne, Wells and Whit- ley. A complete list of the 2019 River Friendly Farmer Award recipients is located on the IASWCD website. Commissioner: No authority to regulate turbines By Janice Barniak A concerned citizen came to request commissioners legislate wind turbines Tuesday. Property owner Eldon Mossberg said he is concerned about windmills, as the land he owns is across from E.ON's windmill-leased ground on Ind. 68. He said he felt a 500 -foot set back was inadequate, and he'd like to see the set back increased. He believes by the end of the 30 -year contract, his land will be devalued by the proximi- ty of the turbines. He said he believed Gibson Coun- ty would ultimately lose out if wind turbines were built, because people would not want to build houses near- by, as well as lost employment in the coal mining sector. "We have no authority to set set- backs. There's a lot of conversation going on. We have no authority," said Commissioner Steve Bottoms. "There's nothing. It's an ongoing is - sue." August 12 saw a new be- ginning take place at Oak- land City University as the passing of the Presidential Medallion took place. Dr. Ray Barber, retiring president, handed over the medallion and keys to the of- fice to the new president, Dr. Ron Dempsey, in a ceremo- ny in the Executive Office. The ceremony began with a few words from Dr. John Dunn, OCU Chancellor and Transition Chairman. He then turned the proceeding over to Dr. Barber. Dr. Barber led the group of staff, faculty and friends in prayer. He prayed for Dr. Dempsey and Amanda, Dr. Dempsey's wife, and the continued success of Oak- land City University. He al- so expounded on his 11-year career as president. He then placed the medallion over Dr. Dempsey's neck as a symbol of transition from one president to another. It was then time for Dr. Dempsey to speak. He ex- pressed his excitement for what the future holds for the university. He said, "It's a very excit- ing place to be. I was very impressed when I was on campus for the interviews. With all the opportunities it has at Oakland City, I really think the Lord is really go- ing to bless this place." The ceremony was com- pleted with a prayer from Dr. Dempsey. Once the ceremony was completed, it was time to get to work. Dr. Dempsey headed into his new confer- ence room with his execu- tive staff, ready to start the new era at Oakland City Uni- versity. New era begins at Oakland City Univ. Fairgrounds hits record donation numbers By Janice Barniak Gibson County Fair Board member Charlie Woodruff told Gibson County Visitors and Tourism board Thursday, the fair is set to donate $54,000 to non-profits through use of facilities after a very success- ful year. Even now, Woodruff said the fair is setting up for a back-to-back, 40 -day period of paid events, from a Hutson John Deere event in the pavil- ion to the monster truck ben- efit Saturday, to Toyota grad- uation, to the Labor Day Cele- bration, with two weddings on the docket. The large weddings bring in people from out of town, with as many as 700 people attend- ing. "We've definitely grown by leaps and bounds," he said. The fairgrounds had a re- cord-breaking flea market, with about three thousand cus- tomers overall, and the most early birds Collector's Carni- val had seen, and about 50 ven- dors on the midway and build- ings at capacity. "I never thought we would be booking back to back to back," Woodroof said. "They're all paying custom- ers." The paying customers allow the board to donate the facili- ties for non-profit use. "We only look for it to get better," he said. "People are very satisfied with how they're treated. One thing we pride ourselves on is hospitality. It doesn't cost anything to be hospitable." Council looks for cuts in 2020 budget By Janice Barniak Gibson County Council moved into the editing phase of the 2020 budget Tuesday, looking at what to cut and what to keep in each de- partment's proposals for how to use funds. For the Sheriff's Office, the pro- posed budget increased for emergen- cy lights and bulletproof vests, for example, which the council kept, but as for six additional jailers and an ex- tra deputy, the council asked to see, in the next draft, two additional jail- ers and no additional deputies. The highway department also asked for two additional employees, and the council asked, in the next draft of the budget, that they be cut out. The council also had the first meet- ing with Prosecutor Michael Cochren on his office's budget—in the first rounds of meetings, he was unavail- able due to a conference he had to at- tend if Gibson County wants to get a drug court certified, which is some- thing the county has been working to- wards. In Cochren's proposed budget, the only request was requesting five per- cent raises for his staff across the board. He said, for the second year in a row, it looks like the office will come in under budget, a trend he said he plans to continue in 2020, though funds, like those for expert witness- es, can vary based on the specifics to each case. "I urge you not to cut those. I don't run (the office) as though you would cut if I don't use it...I don't have that mindset," he said. Gibson County Child Support Ad- ministrator April Graper also added they would be in under budget with few changes. The County Council will look at the budget with the proposed changes as they decide how to move forward. Per- sonnel salaries and benefits are the largest percentage of the county's budget. Gibson County income tax decision tabled By Janice Barniak Gibson County Council tabled mak- ing decisions on an income tax, after an Aug. 6 public hearing brought up the issue of potentially passing a .2 tax to support the county's aging jail, cur- rently the subject of lawsuits. Passing the .2 percent tax would raise approximately $1.5 million a year; however, if passed, it could be used mostly for capital projects (a new building, for example), with 20 per- cent available for operations or pro- grams. Other ideas on how to fund the jail have included a COIT tax, which, at a .3 percent increase would raise ap- proximately the same amount, but through slightly different avenues and with fewer restrictions on using the money for operations. The county council has discussed doing one or the other, but would not do both. According to local attorney Jim McDonald, the results of a jail study by commissioners will be released hopefully this month, and those re- sults could guide what type of action the commissioners choose to address the concerns. "Until tax is passed, I don't see how we can do anything else," said Mc- Donald. "The longer we wait—there are things we can be doing." Commissioner Steve Bottoms invit- ed county council members to attend the findings meetings. "We won't be making any decisions with Craig (Pflug) gone," said Coun- cilman Bill McConnell, before the de- cision to table the tax issue. Health Dept.: Watch for lead painted products By Janice Barniak While country cute decor livens up the aisles of the area flea markets and vendor fairs, experts say to watch out for reclaimed woods that may come with a side of lead poisoning. Gibson County Health Dept. Direc- tor Diane Hornby says she's as much a fan of the country chic as anyone, but as the area public health nurse, with hundreds of lead screenings un- der her belt, she wants people to know how to identify paints that should be kept away from the younger children. Driving around town, she can point to the houses with potential problems just by looking at the paint—the rule is that while modern latex paints will peel, lead paints crack and come away in chunks. The paint is more common on houses 100 years old and older, but is now showing up in modern homes through reclaimed barn wood decor, older furniture and cheap toys that come from vending machine capsules outside restaurants. "It's all right if they're hanging (the wood) on the wall, but if it's a box you're using as a toy box, you might want to rethink that," she said. What some parents don't realize is that lead paint tastes sweet, so if, for example, a child is running a toy car across a windowsill, and gets a taste of the lead paint, they may want to keep repeating the action. For children seven and under, these paints pose a higher risk than they do to adults because of their size and the child's stage of development. Recently, the CDC lowered the threshold for following up on elevated lead to half what it used to be, Horn- by said, after seeing possible links be- tween lead and behavioral affects, and learning issues. Despite that lowering, cases of el- evated lead are going down overall; last year in Gibson County, there were only 10 cases the health department needed to follow up on, though they educate parents whose children have elevated levels even if they're lower than the "5" that they generally fol- low up on. Hornby said one reason is that low- er income children used to live most often in older homes, but now that's changed to other housing situations, for example, apartments. "Some parents, even if it's at a two or three, want a home assessment. Then some have a 12 and they won't let you in the house," Hornby said. "I could drive down the street and tell you which could be issues; it's a lot of times the porch, or around the win- dows, in the windowsills...We want them to know, if you see this kind of paint, it needs to be covered with a vi- nyl or a seal." Gibson County Health Dept. Director Diane Hornby demonstrates a lead test on Jariah Brown. Lead paint is more common on houses 100 years old and older, but is now showing up in modern homes through reclaimed barn wood decor, older furniture and cheap toys that come from vend- ing machine capsules outside restaurants. ARRESTS Woman charged with failure to appear in court, resisting arrest Deputies U.B. Smith and Michael Rose arrested 31-year old Kaylah Thomp- son on Aug. 14 after a war- rant was issued for failure to appear in court. According to the Gibson County Sheriff's Office re- port, deputies observed Thompson inside the res- idence, informed her she had a warrant and told her that she needed to come to the door. A fter giving Thomp- son several chances to come to the door, Deputy Smith warned her that she would be charged with resisting law enforcement and entry was made into the residence. Thompson was placed into custody and transported to the Gibson County Jail, where she was charged with re- sisting law enforcement and the failure to appear warrant. Assisting Deputy Smith and Rose in their investiga- tion was Oakland City Police Chief Tim Gaines and Sgt. Bruce Vanoven, of the Gibson County Sheriff's Office. Oakland City man charged with public intoxication An Oakland City man is out on bond after police arrested him on charg- es of public intoxication Aug. 18. According to the Gib- son County Sheriff's Of- fice report, at 3:50 a.m., Gibson County Central Dispatch received a 911 report of a white male wearing a dark shirt, dark shorts, and dark socks at- tempting to gain entry in- to a residence in the 300 block of West Columbia in Oakland City. Upon arriving in the area, officers discovered 24-year- old Clay Pflug, of Oakland City, walking down the middle of Mulberry Street in a severe state of intoxication. A fter a brief investigation, Deputies Loren Barchett and Bryce Jutzi placed Pflug into custody and transported him to the Gibson County Jail, where he was charged with pub- lic intoxication. He has since posted a $550 bond. Kaylah Thompson Clay Pflug