South Gibson Star-Times

Front Tuesday, October 18, 2022 South Gibson Star-Times A-2 Something Newsworthy? Email editor@sgstartimes.com Several soups, sandwiches, drinks and desserts to choose from. Union Community Church SATURDAY, OCTOBER 22 5-8pm (EST) • 4-7pm (CST) Thanks in advance for your support! suggested donations $ 5 per Adult $ 10 for Families Money raised will help local charity Questions Pastor Kevin 812-664-5454 • Angela Christie 812-664-5970 3082 N. CR 850 W., Hazleton ALBERTA "BERT" L. CONNER Alberta "Bert" L. Conner, 88, of Fort Branch, passed away on Oct. 9, 2022, at Transcedent Health Care in Owensville. She was born to the late Raymond and Ellen ( Wiseman) Neufelder on Oct. 27, 1933, in Fort Branch. Bert was a member of Holy Cross Catholic Church and the VFW post #2714 Women's Auxiliary. She was the office manager at Holi- day Foods in Fort Branch, worked at Fulton laun- dromat in Princeton, sold jewelry, had her own spray tanning business. Besides her parents, she is preceded in death by her stepmother, Lillian Neufelder; in-laws, John and Mary Conner; husband of 72 years, Jerald Conner; son, Jeffrey Conner; daugh- ter, Theresa Conner; siblings, Marietta Jones, Neda Atterbury, Rosemary Neufelder Raymond "Bud" Neufelder, and Robert "Logan" Neufelder; William "Bill" Neufelder,Charles Neufelder; sons-in-law, Brett French, and Bill Rein- hart; and great grandson, Zachary Bailey. Bert is survived by her 5 children, Micki (Ron) Lemke of Parkersburg, IL, Vicki Reinhart of Baker, L A, Cindy ( Jim) Martin of Fort Branch, Vanessa (Danny) Huntzinger of Huntingburg, and Jackie (Randy) Whea- ton of Fort Branch; broth- ers, Leo ( Judy) Neufelder of Fort Branch and Darwin (Carolyn) Neufelder of Fort Branch; 19 grandchildren, 33 great-grandchildren, and 17 great-great-grand- children. Services were Satur- day, Oct. 15, 2022, at 4 p.m. at Stodghill Funeral Home with Pastor Steve Akins officiating. Visita- tion was on Saturday, Oct. 15, 2022, from noon until service time. She will be cremated and entombed in the Holy Cross Mausoleum at a later date. Donations in her honor can be made to the American Cancer Soci- ety or to Chemo Buddies. Expressions of sympathy can be made at stodghillfu- neralhome.com. DONALD HENRY JOST Donald Henry Jost, 83, of Haubstadt, IN, left this Earth to be with the Lord on October 11, 2022. He was born to the late Dan and Olivia (Scheller) Jost on April 13, 1939, in Haub- stadt, IN besides his parents he is preceded in death by his wife, Carolyn ( Thompson) Jost and siblings; Marvin, William and Oscar Jost and Sister Rachel Jost. Don was a faithful member of Sts. Peter and Paul Catho- lic Church, The Knights of St. John, The Right to Life, American Legion post #194. Drafted during the Cold War he enjoyed his time and expe- rience faithfully serving our country overseas in the United States Army. Known as a generous man he has donated to many char- ities, worked for The Lord's Pantry and was a solid source for advice that would never fail. Many children in the community will know him by the many custom built barn toy boxes he fabricated and donated to the Die Kirche Auktion. The surrounding counties and local communi- ties are decorated with many of the desirable custom homes lovingly built by Don Jost Construction Inc. which he founded in 1979. He will be lovingly remem- bered as an excellent provider, strong father and proud grand- father with a strong devotion to his family and faith. Being one that loves a challenge he proved through his life and by example you can accomplish anything. He is survived by his chil- dren, Donald Jost, Jr. of Haub- stadt, IN, Terry (Nicki) Jost of Haubstadt, IN, Marie (Tom) Cochran of Haubstadt, IN, Aaron (Misti) Jost of Evans- ville, IN, Rebecka ( Joseph) Wortman of Evansville, IN, Sarah ( Jeremiah) Rigg of Haubstadt, IN, Ruth Jost of Evansville, IN, and Kevin ( Whitney) Jost of Evansville, IN; siblings, John Jost of Salt Lake City, UT and Mary Jane (Tom) Thompson of Haub- stadt, IN; 13 grandchildren, 4 great grandchildren, and one great grandchild on the way. A Mass of Christian Burial will be on Monday, October Obituaries 17, 2022, at 11:00 a.m. at Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Church with Father Andrew Thomas as celebrant. Visi- tation was Sunday, Octo- ber 16, 2022, from 4:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. at Stodghill Funeral Home in Fort Branch and again on Monday, October 17, 2022, from 9:00 a.m. until mass time at Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Church. Rosary services were Sunday, Octo- ber 16, 2022, at 3:30 p.m. performed by the Knights of St. John at Stodghill Funeral Home. Military Honors were performed by the Veterans of Gibson County at Sts. Peter and Paul Ceme- tery following mass. Donations can be made to the Knights of St. John or to Right to Life. Expressions of sympathy can be made at stodghillfuneralhome.com. manager. He went to Army materials command — in email and in person — and no one wanted to be involved. He notified Commander James Smith and Lt. Comdr. Duncan Bullock by email and in-person. By this time it was October 2020, a year since he began in the new position, and no one was fixing the poten- tially explosive safety issues, he said. Finally he filed an OSHA complaint, essentially going to an outside-the-Army structure to ensure an inves- tigation, a move he believed would end his career. "I knew they were going to fire me. They took my computer and phone and escorted me out with secu- rity," he said. They may not have real- ized he had backed up the information, keeping emails and photos to prove his case. His security clearance was pulled, he said, and he started a new civilian job last week. He believed rules against firing whistleblowers would end up shielding him, and he hired an attorney. OSHA told him they contacted the employer and believed the hazards had been abated. He disagreed. He elevated the complaint to the Office of the Special Counsel. Since filing with OSHA he's spent $ 35,000 in legal fees, and been offered $ 85,000 to settle, or the option to take two weeks suspension if he would agree that he could not appeal to another authority outside the military. He did not take the settlement. He hasn't been offered what he wants, which is to be reinstated to his position. He's 20 years into a 30 -year retirement, he said. Over the course of the lawsuit, he said he put attor- ney fees on credit cards during the time he was unemployed. It took a toll on his marriage as his wife Laura Ward believed he'd be better to take the $ 85,000 when it was offered. His wife wrote a letter to the military describing depression and sleeping issues, calling him quick to anger, on guard, no longer positive and often defensive. "Well, it sucks being retal- iated against for not wanting to see people die," he said. He said he was willing to risk his career because the kind of issues he identified were the same issues that were identified as causing a March 2013 pyrotechnics explosion at Crane Army Ammunitions, an explosion that sent six people to the hospital. Crane had another fire in July of this year, and a fire- fighter friend sent him a picture of the blaze, which was under investigation. He now teaches safety as a professor at Indiana Univer- sity, and takes deployments to jobs far away from his family in Haubstadt. "I've been very distraught. I sought counseling for the first time in my life." The Office of Special Council letter, dated Oct. 11, thanked Ward. "I thank Mr. Ward for bringing these important safety allegations—many of which were substantiated— to OSC's attention," wrote Henry Kerner in his letter to the president. Kerner wrote in the letter he'd sent copies of the letter to the Senate and House members on the Committees on the Armed Forces. "This matter is now closed," Kerner wrote. For Ward, waiting to see if his allegations of being retaliated against as a whis- tleblower will be addressed, the matter doesn't feel closed. "I never thought I'd get fired for doing my job well," he said. WARD Continued from page 1 Many deer incidents in accident reports •According to a report by Gibson County Sheriff's Office, Steven Uppen- camp, 65, of Oakland City, did not see Amanda Hayes, 29, of Petersburg when they collided at the corner of Lincoln and Columbia in Oakland City Oct. 11. Uppencamp had damage to his front bumper on his Ford F150 ; Hayes was transported to St. Vincent for head, neck and left arm injury and had damage to the driver's side of her Chevy Traverse. •Ella Nelson told police she was blinded by an opposite passing vehicle's LED lights Oct. 8 in Francisco, caus- ing her to drive her Honda Cr-V into a concrete culvert, breaking the front axle and deploying airbags before coming to est at CR 550E and CR 500S. •Todd Persinger, 31, of Chandler, struck a deer in Haubstadt on South Oak Ridge Estates in his Honda Civic at 4:05 a.m. Oct. 11. •Meghan Reinhart, 21, of Princeton, stuck a deer in her Toyota Corolla at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 10 on CR 400 S in Owensville. •Drivers Marvin Fisher, of Princeton, and McKinzy Lockwood, of Fort Branch, were both backing out of parking spaces at the Carriage Inn at 1:33 p.m. Oct. 7, when they backed into each other. •Driver Kimberly Drennan, 63, of Fort Branch, was turning north onto US -41 from Strain Street in Fort Branch when Steven Benton, 49, of Clanton, Ala., in a Kenworth Semi-truck moved from the right to left lane and stuck Dren- nan, according to Drennan. According to Benton, Drennan pulled out of the median and stuck his vehicle. Neither was injured; both vehicles were damaged. •Vickie Bruce, 48, of Patoka, hit a deer on Oct. 6 on Old US -41 at CR 225 N in her Jeep Grand Cherokee. •According to a Gibson County Sher- iff's Office report, it was a distraction from a child that led Craig Maikranz, 48, of Fort Branch, to crash a Chrysler Town and Country van into a parked white Freightliner owned by Julian Distribut- ing in a driveway at Mulberry and Lincoln Oct. 2. A fter the accident, Maikranz stopped the vehicle and left his information with the homeowner who was inside at the time. Fall property taxes due November 10 Mary Ann O'Neal, Gibson County Treasurer, reminds property owners that the Fall Installment of Gibson County property tax will be due on Thursday, Nov. 10. The Treasurer's Office is open daily from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. and prop- erty owners may pay ahead of the dead- line. Property owners have four options for payment. The Courthouse is open for payment in person. With the new security proce- dures in place for the Courthouse, patrons must enter the building through the South basement entrance. Patrons will pass through a security check and are asked to leave handbags and other bags in their automobiles. Mailed payments must have a Postal Service postmark on or before the due date of November 10, 2022. To ensure proper posting of their tax payment, please detach and return the payment coupon with the property owner's check. Spring and Fall Tax coupons were mailed in late April and no new coupon will be mailed for the Fall Installment. There is also a Property tax payment Drop Box available on the Northeast side of the Courthouse for patron's conve- nience. This box is checked daily and payment should include checks only, tax payment coupons, and a stamped self-ad- dressed envelope if a receipt is needed. Property Tax Payment can also be made Online by Debit or Credit Card by phoning 844-882-3395, or www. govtechtaxpro.com . Property owners must have their 18 -digit real property parcel number or their 12-digit personal property number in order to make online payment. A 2.5% service fee plus a $1.50 handling fee will apply and will be paid to the Debit/Credit Card vendor. A 5% penalty will be added if received after the November 10th due date and if received within 30 days. A 10 % penalty will be incurred if payment is received after 30 days of the due date. Curry inducted into Hall of fame Toyota Indiana President Leah Curry joined 12 other outstanding women leaders who were inducted into the 2022 class of Women in Manufac- turing Hall of Fame at a ceremony held in Atlanta, Ga. Wednes- day evening. The Hall of Fame was created in 2019 by the Women in Manufacturing Asso- ciation ( WiM) to recognize women who have made renowned contributions to the manufacturing industry with their efforts to support, promote and inspire women in manufacturing. "The 13 honorees who make up our third-ever class are a prestigious group, each of whom has made significant, lasting contributions to our industry," said WiM and Women in Manufactur- ing Education Foundation ( WiMEF) President Allison Grealis. "They are true trailblazers whose work has created opportunity for countless other women. We are honored to recognize them in this special way." Curry joins two other WiM Hall of Fame inductees from Toyota – Susan Elkington, President, Toyota Kentucky (2019) and Millie Marshall, retired President, Toyota Indiana (2021). "Early access to STEM programs that nurture a girl's interest in math and science and expose them to the appli- cation of those disciplines is extremely important. This is the key to increasing the number of women in manufactur- ing," said Curry. "The future of women in manufacturing is truly limitless." Inductees were nominated by their colleagues and industry peers and selected by a panel of WiMEF Exec- utive Committee Board Members. The inductees were chosen based on their significant contributions to the advancement of women in manufac- turing. Curry Zeta Gamma sorority cheeseball fundraiser returns Zeta Gamma Chapter met on Tuesday, October 4 at 6:30 at the United Methodist Church. Thirteen members and one guest were present for the October social and meeting. Jane Patton is the SW District Offi- cer and came as our guest. She was on a council visit that is made every 3 years. The meeting had much discussion on our upcoming cheese ball sales. Like everyone else, ingredients are more expensive. The price will have to be increased. We will make them on Saturday, November 12 and Satur- day, December 10. November orders are due by November 5. All members will take orders or call Dawn 812-632- 0342 or Jackie 812-457-2631. Plans for the 2023 National Conven- tion continue. Zeta Gamma member Mo Dix is the National Convention. It will be at the Old National Events Plaza and the Double Tree Hotel. Date is June 23-25, 2023. Next meeting is Tuesday Novem- ber 1 at 6:30.

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