The South Gibson Star-Times serves the towns of Haubstadt, Owensville and Fort Branch.
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1433249
VETERAN'S VOICE VETERAN'S VOICE DOWN ON THE FARM LIBRARY NEWS PET OF THE WEEK Gibson County Animal Services This is Boomer. He is approximately one year old and is working on his manners. Overall, he is a very sweet boy! If you are interested in Boomer, contact Gibson Coun- ty Animal Services at 812-386 -8079 or visit them at 2839 N. County Road 175 E., Princeton, behind Toyota. You can also email them at gcas175@sit-co.net or visit their website: www.gcasonline.org. BOOMER THE CENTER ACTIVITIES The Center for Seniors in Gibson County is open. Cof- fee and donuts are being provided daily at the coffee bar. It is a fellowship, social time for seniors. Hand sanitizer is required for all visitors. Anyone need- ing assistance or a ride can call 812-385 -8818. The current schedule is Bingo for prizes and fun at 9:30 a.m. on Mondays, exercise class at 9 a.m. on Tuesdays, Quilters at 1 p.m. on Wednesdays, Bible Study at 10 a.m. and painting class at 1 p.m. on Thursdays (supplies will be provided), exercise at 9 a.m. on Fridays. Meal delivery for those who are homebound from SWIR- CA will continue at this time. To sign up for home deliv- ery, call 812-464-7817. The Center offers a food pantry every second and fourth Wednesday from 1 to 3 p.m. MENU Tuesday, Nov. 30 : Meatloaf, scalloped potatoes, peas, roll and dessert. Meals available on-site for seniors 55 and older. Call the Center by noon the day before at 812-385 -2897. SWIRCA MENU FOR DELIVERY Tuesday, Nov. 30 : Smoked sausage, red skinned pota- toes, squash medley, dinner roll, snack cake and milk. MORE INFORMATION SWIRCA meals are available for delivery to housebound senior citizens (60 and older) in Gibson County. Meals are provided on a donation basis, whatever you can afford to contribute. There is no set fee or charge. A suggested do- nation is $ 3.50 per meal. Cash and check or food stamps are accepted. Meat/Entrée portions are 2.5 to 3 oz. Vegetables and salads and desserts are half cup servings. Margarine is 1 teaspoon. Bread is one slice. Milk is a half pint. Casse- roles are 8 oz. This program is operated by the SWIRCA and More Nutrition Program, 16 W. Virginia St. and Evansville. The number to call for information or to order meal deliver is 812-464-7807. Note that the soup and sandwich is only for our congre- gate site clients. It is an alternative option to the hot meal. No special orders. Call 812-464-7807 to order at least one day ahead. FORT BRANCH AND HAUBSTADT Fort Branch Hours: Monday, Wednesday, Thursday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday 1 to 7 p.m. and Friday 1- 5 p.m. Also open 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on first and third Saturday of the month. Haubstadt Hours: Monday and Wednesday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday and Friday 1 to 5 p.m. and Thursday 1 to 7 p.m., also open 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the second and fourth Satur- day of the month. We have some spots available for our Senior Exercise classes at Fort Branch — Touch BASE. This class meets Tues- days and Thursdays, with chair yoga on Wednesdays. Classes begin at 12:30 p.m. at Fort Branch and are 45 minutes to an hour long. If you are interested, call us at 812- 753-4212 and we can give you more info. Even if you don't have a library card with us, you are more than welcome at any programs we have — bring a friend. Have you heard about 1000 Books Be- fore Kindergarten? This is a program for children from birth until they start kindergarten to instill a love of reading. Come into either location to sign up your child today and get your first reading log. Be sure to sign up for our monthly email newsletter for our new segment– Kim's Column. This is a featurette by our newest staff member, Kim, who will give some recommended reads each month from books that are in the library. To see some of these hidden gems, go to the bot- tom of our website at fortbranchlibrary. com and put in your email. Grab-and-Go is still available. You can call us to put in requests or log in to the catalog and shop for them yourself, choosing which library you would like to pick up from. If you have issues fig- uring this out, please call either library and we'd be happy to walk you through it. We gather the books you request and you can choose to either be called, texted, or emailed when they are ready to pick up. Have questions? Call us at 812-753- 4212 or text us at 812-649 -1084 and we'd be happy to answer them for you. All pro- grams are free. We hope to see you soon. OWENSVILLE CARNEGIE Public Library hours Hours: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday. Check out our website at owensvillelibrary.org. There will be a Christmas parade and festival on the library grounds on Dec. 5 at 3 p.m. Library Board meetings are the sec- ond Tuesday of the month at 5 p.m. at the Owensville Town Hall. So many books, so little time. OAKLAND CITY COLUMBIA TOWNSHIP Public Library hours Monday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Tuesday 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Wednesday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Thursday 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Friday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Saturday 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Closed Sunday. Russian troops and local agriculture By Hans Schmitz Purdue Extension Educator hschmitz@purdue.edu The agricultural news agencies re- cently reported on the surge of troops amassing in Russia near the Ukrainian border. Such an event nearly half the world away would initially seem to have little effect on a Posey County farm. However, effects have already been seen, and potential future events can mean a lot more for farmers. First, a note on local agriculture. Crop prices are determined by global de- mand, and southwestern Indiana farm- ers are competitive in the global market with the crops they raise and deliver for export down the river. Likewise, many of the inputs that farmers use have glob- al competition. Fuel is a big expendi- ture on the farm. None is bigger than fertilizer, though, and those prices have increased astronomically. Herbicides are likewise used around the world, and Purdue Weed Science is predict- ing glyphosate and glufosinate shortag- es heading into the springtime. As in- put costs rise due to perceived or real- ized scarcity, hopefully crop prices re- main high enough to balance costs and revenues. Enter Russia onto the board. We grow wheat in southwestern Indiana. Russia is the third largest producer of wheat in the world and top exporter of wheat. In- dia and China grow more wheat but need more for their own popula- tion. Recent moves by Rus- sia have been to increase export taxes, disincentiviz- ing countries from buying large amounts of Russian wheat. Meanwhile, expec- tations exist that Russia will impose a quota on exports early next year. This cap en- sures a lot of Russian wheat is going to stay in Russia. This cap also means wheat prices at the local elevators are going to remain high. Current prices over eight dollars per bushel have not been seen since the drought year of 2012. Russian troops are on the border of Ukraine, the ninth largest producer of wheat in the world. If Russian troops cross the bor- der, essentially all Ukrainian and much of the Russian wheat crop stay in coun- try as wartime stockpiles, resulting in a push for even higher prices. Although this would favor local farmers as they sell grain, some negative local effects also have to be considered, other than the general price of wheat-based baked goods increasing slightly. If Russia crosses the border, Europe- an and American response would prob- ably occur in some way, shape, or form. Ukraine is not a member of the Europe- an Union, but destabilization that close by certainly would not be encouraged. Meanwhile, Russia exports a bunch of crude oil and natu- ral gas to Europe. Any reac- tion that Russia might see as prompting a need for retalia- tion could result in reductions of energy exports, as well as the need for more energy in- house to feed military action. This reduction in crude oil or natural gas availability would affect global markets, bring- ing those prices up across the board. Although price on a barrel of crude oil does not directly affect gas and diesel prices, an asymmetric relation- ship may exist. Yes, the United States are relatively self-sufficient producers of energy, but that does not mean glob- al market disruptions have no influence on prices. Locally, wheat markets and fuels, crude or refined, are the big two factors that put Russia in the news and got local farmers to read about it. Future actions can certainly affect other markets. Rus- sia does make the top ten countries in corn and soybean production, although the scale is much less than wheat. For more information, contact Pur- due Extension office in Posey County via hschmitz@purdue.edu or 812-838 - 1331. Adding to Santa's list Maddie and Jayda Racster tell Santa want they want for Christmas at Rural King recently. South Gibson Star-Times Home Life Tuesday, November 30, 2021 B-9 Benefits for loved ones of Veterans By George Pickersgill Gibson County Veterans Service Officer 812 385 -4522 The passing of a loved one is often a confusing and overwhelming expe- rience. When that loved one is a veter- an of our nation's armed forces, the pro- cess may likely be compounded by the myriad of benefits offered to a surviving spouse and/or children (and in some cas- es parents). To further exacerbate the sit- uation, these benefits are offered at the National and State VA levels and carry different eligibility and entitlement cri- teria. In addition to the Survivor Pension that we've discussed before, these bene- fits would include, but are not limited to: • Flag presentation • Headstones and markers • Honors and memorials • Burial Allowances • Burial in State or National Veteran cemeteries • Dependency and In- demnity Compensation (DIC) • Education and training opportunities • VA home loan guaran- tee • Health care and insur- ance Many of these benefits are directly affected by such factors as the veter- an's period(s) of service, combat service, service-connected dis- abilities and cause of death. Addition- ally, the age and marital status (remar- riage) of the beneficiary may have a di- rect impact on the benefit as well. In all cases, the veteran's character of service is a key factor and benefits are general- ly restricted to service characterized as "other than dishonorable." If you are a veteran, I beg you… take the time now to ensure that your family has a basic understanding of these issues and knows to contact me for assistance. I will con- tinue to implore you to get your affairs in order now (while the sun is shining). If you are unsure yourself, con- sider meeting with me to dis- cuss your situation and the possibilities before the pro- verbial storm hits. If you are the sur- viving spouse of a deceased veteran, I would encourage you not to try to navi- gate the bureaucracy of the VA system alone. Allow me the privilege of helping you through this process. It is my hon- or to do so.