The South Gibson Star-Times serves the towns of Haubstadt, Owensville and Fort Branch.
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1479458
chanan stopped fighting back, they ordered him to leave, and the man asked for his gun back, and the woman hit him with it again. Buchanan was then chased out of the residence, accord- ing to the affidavit. When away from the scene, Buchanan called 911 reporting he'd been stabbed and needed help. The couple said once they heard police sirens they put the weapon in the grass. When police approached Buchanan, he said his neigh- bors took his weapon off the top of the refrigerator, held him at gunpoint, forced him into their house, and attacked him. Buchanan said he had not had sex with the wom- an, then, when police said they would be collecting physical evidence from her and him, Buchanan said they'd slept together in the past. When asked if his prints would be on the gun, Bu- chanan said they would because his stepfather showed him the gun the week before. The stepfather said he had not shown the weapon, and added the neighbors had not been in their home. A-2 Tuesday, September 20, 2022 South Gibson Star-Times down at the empty spaces in the building and said, "there's a place right there." Then Reinbrecht jumped in and said he'd be happy to rent it to him. "It's a dream," said Jim. "It's his life dream," added Debbie. Suppor ting that life dream brought Debbie out of re- tirement, and, on Friday, brought a host of family out for a soft-opening practice r un of 13 large pizzas on the restaurant's handmade cracker cr ust topped with Dewig Meats from Haub- stadt. The Warners say they'll specialize in a variety of strombolis, thin crust pizza with generous toppings, and, because they noticed many area restaurants are closed Mondays, they've decided to be open that day to accommo- date Monday Night Football pizza orders. "We're a team. We worked together for 31 years," Debbie said. "I'm just hoping I'm not too old," joked Warner. appointments. Then last year I began listening to the presi- dent, and became concerned for my grandchildren and great-grandchildren, about the direction the country was headed in, and I decided to run for Clerk of the Circuit Court." She said the varied career path taught her a lot—in real es- tate she learned how much Gib- son County needs single-family homes, for example. Eight years as auditor gave her insight into the county budget, and five years she came in under bud- get. Also during that time she received the excellence in coun- ty government award from the Indiana Association of Counties. Being a Gibson General Hospi- tal trustee and Chief Financial Officer for Gibson County Rede- velopment Commission, a posi- tion put on the County Auditor in June 2014, brought her to un- derstand some of the major local economic influences. Later in her career, she was in a group of 20 women called the Lugar Group, which spent time learning about politics by going to the Capital Building, meeting state representatives and senators, and even seeing how corporate decisions trickle into government and vice versa. Her 14 years of managerial experience taught her flexibility and how to overcome obstacles. She said she remembers, for example, at Johnson Con- trols when a snowstorm shut down the state of Kentucky. "We couldn't mobilize parts to get them to the plant in Vincennes. So I used my con- nections in Tennessee and Kentucky to get a helicopter to land at a truck stop in Ken- tucky, and got a waitress who had people with four-wheelers to unload parts off a truck and onto the helicopter that flew to a local airport that then flew to Vincennes," she said. She said the Auditor's office went paperless, and made re- cords available online, which turned out to be a godsend when COVID shut down many offices. While serving as Auditor, she completed a two-year program through Ball State University, and received a Certified Public Manager designation. As for politics, she said she's conser vative, and would invite voters to see if her be- liefs align with theirs. "I believe in government transparency," she said. "I believe in closed borders...I believe in the Supreme Court overturning Roe vs. Wade, and letting the people of each state decide on the ballot what they want." She's concerned about drugs and crime in southern Indiana. As for the Clerk position, she believes the most import- ant part will be listening to the employees in the office, who have been there for decades, to hear how they think the area could be improved, and then implement those changes. She said she would take seriously concerns about elec- tion safety and voting. "We want to continue to do things the right way," she said. Personally she's been mar- ried 36 years, and has four children, 12 grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren. "No one in my family ever ran for office or even stuck a political sign in their yard be- fore me," she added. "My fam- ily is split between Democrats and Republicans and they're all ver y supportive. "My personal feelings are no party can have all the best candi- dates no matter how hard they try...I'm running for Clerk of the Circuit Court, and I encourage everyone to vote in November, and I'm asking for their vote. Someone told me, if you don't ask for peoples' votes you won't get them. I'm asking." worked up to vice president. After 21 years she left the bank to work in her family's print- ing business, which closed after key family members had health complications. In 1995, she came to work at the courthouse under Russell Kern, then Debbie Wethington. "I've always liked the people," she said, adding people have been the best part of the job. She's been a lifelong Pres- byterian, and currently at- tends Patoka Presbyterian, and has been a member of the Presbyterian Council. Her husband was diag- nosed with pancreatic cancer, after which they spent three year fighting it until he passed away around a year ago. "I didn't go my way and him go his way, we did about ev- er ything together," she said. "We were married for 47 years and 22 days." She said she was asked to run by a friend, and after think- ing about it, decided it would be a post that would fit her well. "I thought, why not," she said. Firstly, because she believes there are opportunities for ef- ficiencies between the courts and clerks office, but secondly to continue allowing the wom- en in the office to continue the great work they already do. As a longtime employee of the courthouse, she's proved herself a hard worker by stay- ing to finish tasks if need be, and has shown she isn't, for ex- ample, a professional politician as much as she's a person who will show up for work every day, work hard and do the job. "I think some people think just because someone's the boss they're going to sit and not do anything," she said. "I wouldn't ask anyone to do any- thing I wouldn't do." Going through her hus- band's cancer diagnosis and treatment will also make her more empathetic to em- ployees' family situations to create work-life balance and retain employees at a time when employee retention can be difficult for the pri- vate sector. She also plans to listen to the employees' suggestions, because with their experiences she believes they'll have good ideas—in fact she believes the office has gone above and be- yond in certain areas. The office has provided ex- cellent election security, for ex- ample, with the employees stay- ing up on the latest regulations. "Really the way it's done now, the girls do an awesome job. Everything's done the way it's supposed to be. If there's any changes that come up, they go to training. Everything's watched very closely," she said. The Warners brought family out for the soft opening of their pizza restaurant at Ind. 68 and US-41 in Haubstadt. The biggest hit was the barbecue chicken pizza, said Debbie Warner, co-owner of DJ's Una Pizza. Co-owner Debbie Warner made pizza during the DJ's Una Pizza soft opening Satur- day. The official opening is Oct. 1. PIZZA Continued from page 1 whose father was pressuring her for an abortion. Instead, when she was getting close to giving birth, she came to Evansville to deliver. When they received Mer- edith at the hospital, shortly after her birth, Norm and wife Carolyn were ecstatic. "See, there's really two lives saved here," he said. In October 2021 they learned Meredith was a match. Meredith Stevens re- members that day. "When I found out in Oc- tober I was a match I thought we would do it in November," she said. Instead, an open heart sur- ger y interfered, and doctors waited for Norm to recover. On April 21 of this year, doctors at Vanderbilt per- formed the kidney transplant, removing one of Meredith's kidneys and giving it to her dad. "I was only ner vous that morning, right before I went back," Meredith said. Their surgeries would be side-by- side. The transplant was suc- cessful, and now Norm said he's getting stronger ever y day, his quality of life has im- proved, he's getting his ener- gy back and he looks for ward to the idea he may someday work in his garden again. Now that he's a few months out of surger y, Meredith likes to remind him that her kidney is used to plenty of water and exercise. Norm said watching Mere- dith grow up, they felt lucky ever y day for the talented ath- lete, good student, and amaz- ing person she was. "I'm proud as can be of her. I was proud to adopt her. I am proud she saved my life...I feel like I have a new life, hon- estly," he said. "My dad, well, he's my fa- vorite person," Meredith said. KIDNEY Continued from page 1 AUDITOR Continued from page 1 WORK Continued from page 1 MAN Continued from page 1 O N L I N E • S M A RT P H O N E • TA B L E T sgstartimes.com/edition Web, Smartphone, Tablet Streamline the Headline! 812-753-3553 • 203 S. McCreary St. Fort Branch, IN • ads@sgstartimes.com