The South Gibson Star-Times serves the towns of Haubstadt, Owensville and Fort Branch.
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1477073
NEWS TIPS Phone: ������������� 812-753-3553 Email ����editor@sgstartimes�com INSIDE Local �����������A4-8 Church �������� A6-7 Sports ���������� B1-3 Opinion ���������� B4 History ������������ B5 Classifieds ������� B6 Home Life �������� B7 Two Sections • One Insert Fort Branch, IN 47648-0070 (USPS #205-620) $1.00 16 PAGES TWO SECTIONS TUESDAY, AUGUST 23, 2022 VOLUME 68, NUMBER 8 South Gibson SPORTS B8 Lady Titan soccer improves to 3-0 with win over Boonville GCHD: COVID patients have stopped isolating By Janice Barniak Star-Times Editor editor@sgstartimes.com According to Gibson County Health Dept. Direc- tor Diane Hornby the county is seeing a high number of COVID positive cases right now, but even after testing positive many people are not staying home. There were more than 640 cases reported in July, she added. "But we know that's not complete due to home tests...If you're sickly you need to stay home." She said people know what the symp- toms of COVID are now. "We're finding people are not isolating anymore at all. They're just going out knowing they're positive," she said, adding it's caus- ing spread in the communi- ty. Some people are seeing their third COVID case. She gave five tests that morning before showing up for the 9 a.m. County Council meet- ing. Three of those were positive. "Obviously you're just go- ing to keep getting it," she said. The one positive side to the negative situation is some people are having milder cases. "I know we're tired of it, and no one is more tired of it than we are (at the health department,)" she said. Library acknowledges service of local soldier killed in action By Janice Barniak Star-Times Editor editor@sgstartimes.com Descendants of the Smith and Crooks families of Craw- leyville and Owensville came together Saturday to remem- ber World War II soldier Dar- win Prentice "Bud" Smith, son of Mackie Manford and Edna Mae (Crooks) Smith. His descendants came from as far away as Arizona to attend the librar y's ac- knowledgment of the soldier and for the librar y to accept the impor tant documents of the young man's life. Years ago, nephew Gar y Miller was back from Arizo- na visiting his parents in a nursing home when he de- cided to go back to the old family homestead. He found impor tant Smith documents in a tr unk, most notably the letters of his uncle, Dar win "Bud" Smith. He read and re-read his uncle's letters, and the fam- ily eventually decided to do- nate Smith's last letter, his funeral flag, his Purple Hear t and pictures in a shadowbox to Owensville Carnegie Pub- lic Librar y Saturday, where Smith's name is on the vet- Jail bids come in higher than expected Total estimated at $30.3M By Janice Barniak Star-Times Editor editor@sgstartimes.com Gibson County Commis- sioners approved a guaran- teed maximum price of just more than $30.3 million to build a new county jail and Sheriff's Office. "That is below your avail- able proceeds to finance," said Jeremy Kunz, of project designer Garmong, who pre- sented the bid packages. The numbers have been provided to the bond coun- sel, he added. The county has already bid on their most volatile costs, for example, steel, which has gone up in price significantly since the coun- Owensville hires new library director By Janice Barniak Star-Times Editor editor@sgstartimes.com Owensville Librar y Board hired Owensville native Kyle Evans to take on the role of librar y director after the res- ignation of longtime director Margo English. Evans taught middle school in Evansville the last few years, and earned a master's degree in librar y science from Indiana Univer- sity. "I found my favorite part of being a middle school teacher was the media liter- acy," he said. He volunteered at the li- brar y to learn the ropes be- fore applying to the job after Nephew Gar y Miller of Arizona discusses the short life of his uncle Dar win "Bud" Smith, who was killed in action and received the Purple Heart during World War II. The family kept this photo of Dar win Smith which they donated to Owensville Carnegie Public Librar y Saturday. See ACTION on page 2 See HIRE on page 2 See JAIL on page 2 Local artist publishes children's book Local artist Nancy Bittner Van Nielen's new children's book "Pria's Pawprints" is the personal journey of a dog that doesn't like to be out in the world, who learns to over- come her fears as she travels with a militar y family seeing the world. Nielen didn't set out to write a book, she only wanted to il- lustrate children's books, but needed a portfolio of illustra- tions to show potential pub- lishers, so she began drawing her son's family dog, Pria, in a series of illustrations. "I wanted to have complicat- ed illustrations," she said. She began drawing the dog in locales around the world. "It's a true stor y. Pria was my son's dog. He's in the mil- itar y, and the places in the book are all these places he lived," she said. Each page has a different place and while some are fa- mous like Nashville, Tenn., and New Orleans, La., and Norfolk, Va., Neilsen also has smaller places, includ- ing Haubstadt and, the final destination in the book, the ver y-rural Mark, Ill. When her son moved to Japan during the pandemic, he was not going to be able to take the by-then older dog, especially with the quarantine the family would undergo post-arrival. The family found a divorced Local author Nancy Bittner Van Nielen displays the children's book she wrote now avail- able for sale at The Brickhouse in Fort Branch, where part of the proceeds will support the Fort Branch Public Li- brar y construction project. See ARTIST on page 2 Dar win Smith, likely killed during the Battle of the Bulge, is buried with 7700 US soldiers in Bel- gium. A letter to the family in 1949 to explain where Smith was buried read, "This is to inform you that the remains of your loved one have been permanent- ly interred, as recorded above, side by side with comrades who also gave their lives for their coun- tr y. Customar y militar y funeral ser vices were conducted over the grave at the time of burial."