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News from the VU Newscenter
Fatal Tree Accident A
man was killed Friday afternoon while attempting to cut a tree down just north of Vincennes. Authorities say
46-year old Robert Wittenmyer of Emison was crushed by a tree that he and another man were cutting down on property owned
by James Lee on Old US 41. The tree reportedly fell the wrong way landing on Wittenmyer. Knox County Coroner’s
office says Wittenmyer died of a massive head injury. The Knox County Sheriff’s Office and Vincennes Township Fire
Department investigated the incident. GSH Emergency Room Fire Evacuation
Good Smaritan Hospital’s emergency room was evacuated briefly on
Friday—after fire crews were dispatched to a report of smoke in the E.R. around 2:45pm.Firefighters discovered smoke in
the ambulance garage and entry way to the ER, then gained access to the attic space where they found smoldering material which
extended to the roof.Fire crews remained on the scene for about 2 hours.The emergency room was reopened
around 5pm.No injuries were reported. Fire investigators ruled the cause of the fire as accidental.
Damage
is estimated between $10,000 and $15,000 dollars.
COPS
Cycling for Cops Friday marks day five of the "Cops Cycling for Indiana Cops". C-O-P-S
stands for "concerns of police survivors". The ride consists of Indiana police officers, along with friends, family
and survivors, bicycling 878 miles around the state to honor officers who died in the line of duty. The ride began Monday
in Indianapolis and ends in the Circle City on August 7th at the Heroes section of Crown Hill cemetery.
Master trooper
Rich Crawford says the group will be biking from Huntingburg to Vincennes today (Friday).
Crawford says So Far, the
Weather has been good for the most part. Indiana State Police Lieutenant Gary Dudley
and retired Lake County Sheriff‘s Department Chief Gary Martin were killed in a wreck during the 2006 cops ride. Dudley‘s
widow, Carolyn, is now co-president of Indiana Cops. His brother, Dan Dudley, is one of the cyclists in this year‘s
ride.
Lawrence Co. Health
Dept. Showcasing Renovated Facilities The Lawrence County, Illinois
Health Department is inviting the public to an open house Sunday to show-off it's newly remodeled facilities.
Public
Health Administrator Phyllis Wells says offices which once were strung out through out the building are now centrally located.
Wells says the remodeling also included new office space for Doctors and Nurses who operate the
Rural Health Clinic. She says a total of 9 examination rooms were added to see patients.
Wells says the open house will
be held from 1-to-3 pm Central time Sunday. Tours will be available and refreshments will be served.
Wells says there
will also be a coloring contest for children. Daviess Co. Arrests Daviess Co. Sheriff's deputies arrested 21-year old Joshua Owen Padgett of Petersburg
Wednesday on a petition to revoke a suspended sentence for conspiracy to commit forgery.
He was booked into the Daviess
Co. Jail on 25-thousand dollars bond. 47-year old Laura Ann Wagner of Washington was arrested for public intoxication
and disorderly conduct Wednesday by Washington Police. 69-year
old Joan Lorene Smith of Vincennes was arrested by Indiana State Police on Thursday for operating a vehicle while intoxicated.
She was booked into the Daviess Co. Security Center on a 2-thousand dollar bond. Former EMT Charged with Sexual Misconduct of Patient A former
Terre Haute emergency medical technician wanted for sexual misconduct and theft turned himself into the Putnam county sheriff‘s
department thursday.
27-year old jason jordan allegedly touched a female patient inappropriately and also removed several
pictures from her cell phone.
The 26-year old woman complained about Jordan‘s alleged actions during the trip from
Brazil to Indianapolis on july 12th. Mother & Son Arrested for Murder Plot of Rape Victim A
mother and son in Monroe County are accused of a murder plot against a rape victim.
Jason Bridgewater and Linda Littrell
allegedly concocted a plan to have a man inject the woman Bridgewater is charged with raping--with a lethal mix of drugs so
she could not testify against him in his upcoming trial.
If that didn’t work, police say the pair had a back-up
plan to shoot her.
Elnora
Festival this Weekend The Elnora Quas-Qui-Centennial is
this weekend.
The festival celebrating elnora's 125th anniversary will begin at 5 p.m. this afternoon with the "Best
Beard Contest".
The home town pride parade will follow the beard contest at 5:30 p.m.
The activities will continue
through Sunday with a variety of old-fashioned contests and events. Elnora was incorporated in 1885. Kids Triathalon Saturday The
2nd annual Kids Triathlon will be held tomorrow (Saturday) at Gregg Park in Vincennes.
Jennifer Holscher with the YMCA
says the Kids Triathlon was a thought conceived from the SIS Women's TRYathlon.
She says the goal of the event is to
get kids active and increase awareness of healthy nutrition.
There are three different divisions for the event: A Family
Division, Sprint Kids Division, and Iron Kids Division. The Family Division consists of a 50-meter swim, half-mile bike ride
and quarter-mile run. Sprint Kids includes a 100-meter swim, 2-mile bike ride and .75-mile run.
Those participating
in the Iron Kids will be swimming 200 meters, biking 4-miles and running 1.5 miles. All events take place at Gregg Park and
Rainbow Beach, however the Iron Kids bicycle route does leave the park.
So far, 107 kids have signed up to compete.
Registration begins at 7 a.m. Saturday with the event starting at 8 a.m.
Proceeds will benefit YMCA Youth programs.
Indy Airport to Allow Fee for Faster Security Check Indianapolis
International Airport will become the only airport in the country to let travelers pay to get through security faster.
Indy was one of several airports which used to offer "registered traveler" programs, in which fliers paid a fee
to receive a biometric identification card which gave them a higher security clearance.
Indy‘s program ended last
june when the company which manufactured the cards and screeners went out of business. Budget Cuts Bring Layoffs in State Health Care Budget shortfalls are
forcing local governments to lay off workers, slash critical programs and raise taxes. the ripple effect carries down to businesses
and working families.
Without additional funding, state budget actions could cost the u-s economy 900-thousand public-
and private-sector jobs.
State-mandated budget cuts are having a dramatic impact on Indiana.
Budget shortfalls
have forced downsizing at Richmond state hospital, along with facilities in Logansport, Madison and Evansville.
These
cuts and staff reductions are projected to be complete by March 2011.
The cities of Indianapolis, Fort Wayne and Gary
--also dealing with major budge reductions.
AFSCME is pushing congress to support the federal medical assistance percentage
extension, a stimulus program that assists state and local governments with public health funding.
Fatal Crash Kentucky State Police continue to investigate an accident that happened Tuesday evening that took the life
of a Jasper woman and left a Jasper doctor in the hospital.
The investigation revealed that 81 year old Dr. Thomas Eversman
was traveling ten miles south of Owensboro when for unknown reasons lost control of his car--entered the median and struck
a southbound semi driven by 34 year old Matt Peaugh (pew) of Radcliff, Kentucky.
The impact Eversman's vehicle into
the median as it burst into flames. Eversman was ejected from the vehicle and was airlifted to Saint Mary's Hospital in Evansville.
His wife and passenger, 74 year old Mary Eversman was pronounced dead at the scene.
The truck driver was not injured.
Knox
County Arrest Log 19-year-old Kevin O' Connor of Bicknell was arrested on Wednesday and charged with three counts of forgery and three
counts of theft. He was taken to the Knox County Jail where bond was set at ten-thousand dollars. A
Vincennes woman is facing charges in Daviess County after her Wednesday arrest. Authorities report that 61-year-old
Joann Lorene Smith was arrested for operating a vehicle while intoxicated in the Washington area. She was taken to the Daviess
County Security Center where bond was set at two thousand dollars.
A Wheatland man was
jailed in Knox County and charged with meth possession. Bond for 19-year-old Ryan Shoulders was set at 65-hundred dollars.
52-year-old
Jimmie Burden of Vincennes was taken into custody at 1st and Harrison after testing point one-six-blood alcohol content. Burden
was lodged in the Knox County Jail on five-thousand dollars bond.
Pace offers Loans to Small Businesses Pace Community Action Agency has money available to assist small businesses expand or help individuals thinking
about starting a new one.
Bertha Proctor told members of the Knox County Chamber of Commerce yesterday that the Business
Expansion and Enterepeneurship Grant is availble in Knox, Daviess, Greene and Sullivan counties.
She says it's for businesses
with 5 or fewer employees looking to expand or start a new business. The second loan program is called the Rural Business Enterprise Grant and is available only in Knox County.
Proctor says the revolving loan fund can provide up to 30-thousand dollars for expansion of businesses with 50 employees
or less.
More information on the loan programs is available by calling Pace at 882-7927, extension 1211.
There
is a 150-dollar fee that must accompany each loan application. The fee is non-refundable. Hospital Donation Recently, Good Samaritan Hospital Foundation received a $25,000 pledge from locally owned Burkhart Insurance of Vincennes.
The donation will support the hospital’s renovation of the Critical Care and Intermediate Care units. With this
pledge, Burkhart Insurance becomes one of the first local businesses to make a contribution of this size to the Hospital Foundation.
Tony Burkhart says he bought his agency in 1986 and it was tough and the family lived on his wife's job as a respriatory
therapist. He said it felt good to give something back. Road Closing The Indiana Department of Transportation announces that State Road 48 will be closing near Shelburn
on Friday.
Working in conjunction with Peabody Coal Company officials, INDOT will be closing S.R. 48 from the junction
of U.S. Route 41 to the junction of State Road 159. The closure will allow Peabody to move mining equipment across the highway.
No through vehicle traffic will be allowed, however local residents will have access to the point of closure.
Fugitive Captured in Vincennes A Washington man, who had been the object of a manhunt has been captured.
Officials
with the Knox County Sheriff's department arrested Eddie Wayne Grisham at the Vincennes Econolodge around 3:15 Tuesday afternoon.
Grisham was wanted on a Vigo County felony warrant after his alleged involvement with two others in an armed home invasion
on June 28. Grisham was allegedly the driver of a vehicle that attempted to run down two Vigo County Sheriff's Deputies.
The third suspect has not been identified and is still at large.
Vigo County detectives took Grisham to the Vigo County
Jail Tuesday evening. He will appear in court on today.
Tip Leads to Vincennes Drug Bust Vincennes Police arrested one person and are looking for another
in connection with a drug bust at 611 North 10th Street today.
Officer Jeremy Rasico says police received an anonymous
tip of marijuana being grown in the backyard of the residence. A search warrant was obtained and officers found several marijuana
plants growing in the backyard along with some finished product, in the excess of 30 grams, that was packaged and ready
for sale inside the home. Police also confisicated several weapons including an A-K 47 Assault Rifle.
Police also arrested
one of the occupants of the home. 40-year-old Justine Stevens.
Rasico says they are also wanting to interview Stevens'
husband who was not at home at the time of search.
Wilson Resigns as CMS Principal The Vincennes Community School Board is already searching for a
new Superintendent--and now they will also be looking for a new principal at Clark Middle School.
WVUB has learned that
Principal Brian Wilson sent an email to faculty and staff this morning--informing them that he is leaving to take a position
in Jasper.
Interim Superintendent Tom Nonte confirmed Wilson's resignation--which comes as teachers and staff are moving
into the newly constructed middle school and preparing for the first academic year in the new school.
The first day of
school for students in the Vincennes school system is August 12th.
Vincennes Woman in Finals for "Mom of the Year" A Vincennes woman is preparing for the March of Dimes Indiana Mom
of the Year Celebration and Awards.
Shawna Ault and nine others are getting ready for the August 21st event to be held
in Indianapolis.
Hundreds of online submissions were sent before the 10 finalists were chosen. Criteria that was looked
at in choosing the finalists included perseverance, management and leadership.
Tanya Hand is the State Director of the
Indiana March of Dimes and she says the "Mom of the Year" awards were established to honor and recognize the contributions
moms make everyday to the health the community and families.
Ault's story is sad but inspiring.
Ault's unborn child,
Miss Marlee was diagnosed with Fetal Hydrops and passed away at 24 weeks gestation.
Samaritan Center
Facing Tighter Budget The Budget for the Samaritan Center in Vincennes
is tighter than last year.
John Manning, CEO for the mental health center says 25 staff members were let go as part
of a reduction in force brought on by reductions in reimbursement at the state level.
Manning says the good news that
he doesn't anticipate having to lay-off anymore employees. The bad news is the remaining staff probably won't see a pay raise
for the second straight year. Manning says there are two new funding streams available to the Samaritan Center
this year.
The first is a change at the State Division of Children Services which will require DCS staff to refer children
and families in need to the local Mental Health Center instead of contracting with other private providers. The second is
a change in the state Medicaid plan which allows services for persons with Chronic and Persistent Mental Illness to be treated
locally rather than be re-hospitalized. In other business last night, The Good
Samaritan Hospital Board approved the purchase of over 221-thousand dollars in Endoscopy equipment.
The lone bid
from Pentax Medical Company came in almost 22-thousand dollars under budget and will replace older equipment with newer models.
The Hospital Board also awarded a contract to Wolfe Construction of Vincennes for 83-thousand dollars for the expansion
of the Hematologist and Oncologist office.
The additional office space will come from the shell space on the second
floor of the Hospital's Cancer pavilion. A total of 673 square feet will be added to the office.
The Hospital's Material
Management Department will also undergo a "facelift".
Garmong Construction of Terre Haute was awarded a contract
for 79 and a-half thousand dollars to do the renovation work.
Chamber
Breakfast Focuses on Soil &
Water The Knox County Soil and Water Conservation District--is not just about rural issues.
That was the message from
Troy Hinkle, the District Executive Director at the Knox County Chamber of Commerce Breakfast Bandwagon Wednesday morning.
Soil and Water Districts protect natural resources for today and the future. Hinkle says traditionally that does mean their
work takes place in agricultural areas. Some recent projects the district has worked
on include a project called "Camp Green" at the Vincennes YMCA . Trees were planted and a camp is being set up to
educate youth about various natural resources.
In addition the district has helped in the community garden program which
Hinkle says helps connect people with the soil and what it can do.
Also the district helped to construct a "Rain
Garden" near the library in Vincennes which collects rain water and keeps it from flowing out into the streets. Washington Begins Sewer Project The long awaited Combined Sewer Overflow--or CSO- project in Washington got underway Tuesday as official
groundbreaking ceremonies took place near Hawkin's Creek.
For over 20 years, the city has dealt with raw sewage mixing
with storm water and overflowing into Hawkin's Creek.
In 2007 the city was placed under an agreed order by state and
federal environmental authorities to eliminate the overflow. The estimated cost then was 63 million dollars.
In 2009
the city hired an engineer who designed a cheaper plan that is considered one of the greenest and reliable in the Midwest.
The project was then estimated to at 24 million dollars and the city aggressively went after grant funding and received nine
million to go toward the project. The rest is being paid for through a State Revolving Loan fund. Most of the
city council, city department heads and staff members, engineers, contractors and economic development officials attended
Tuesday's groundbreaking.
Council
Seeking Advice on Validity of Ordinance The Vincennes city council
is seeking the advice of the Indiana Association of Cities and Towns, or IACT, in regards to the legality of the Storm Water
Utility Ordinance that is now on the books.
The ordinance was passed by the council in June—implementing a monthly
3-dollar rate for property owners to fund repairs and maintenance to the storm water system. But Councilman Jim Streeter insists
there are amendments or add-ons to the original proposal that he wasn't aware of.
Streeter says one of those add-ons
involves the appeals process for property owners objecting their assessed rate for the utility. The ordinance states that
property owners are responsible for hiring a land surveyor to assess the property before filing an appeal. Streeter says he
was not aware of this add-on and doesn’t agree with it.
Other council members argue that the ordinance was passed “as amended”
which included any add-ons made to the original proposal.
Councilman Duane Chattin suggests that if any council member
is finding fault to any section of the ordinance, they should introduce an amendment to the ordinance and go from there.
The council hopes to have the legal advice from the IACT by its next meeting on August 9th. Click below to hear the complete City Council meeting from Monday night.
I-69 Feasibility Study Released The Daviess
County Economic Development Foundation has released it's I-69 Feasibility Study.
The study--commissioned and paid for
by the foundation--addresses where the I-69 interchange will come into US 50 south of Washington. Foundation Executive Director--Ron
Arnold presented the study to the Daviess County Commissioners and Washington City Council at their Monday meetings.
Arnold says the study addresses up to 20 million dollars worth of improvements
in the area with 7 million of that being new road construction.
It's the foundation's recommendation that the county,
city and property owners must work together to accomplish economic development goals within the area.
One of the proposals
in the study is that the county...the city... or both take over Business 50 and State Road 257 from the state and maintain
it. Crane Receives Grant for WestGate The US Economic Development Administration has awarded a grant to the WestGate
at Crane Authority in Crane.
The six-point-six million dollar grant will be shared with the Southern Indiana Development
Commission to help build the WestGate Academy Conference Center at the Westgate at Crane Technology Park.
Executive Director
of the Daviess County Economic Development Foundation-Ron Arnold-told the Daviess County Commissioners that the grant award
announcement came out last Friday.
The new center will include a business incubator and conference and training space
to serve tech-based start up companies.
The project is estimated to create 255 jobs and generate over ten-point-eight
million dollars in private investment.
The federal money comes from the Second Supplemental Appropriations Disaster Relief
Opportunity which was created after the 2008 flooding that affect much of the midwest and impacted area manufacturers. Unemployment Extension Filing Online Indiana residents eligible for federally funded unemployment extensions can start filing online for
the benefits Aug. 3.
The state Department of Workforce Development says about 80,000 Indiana residents will get restored
eligibility covering about 250,000 weeks of payments thanks to a federal law signed last week.
To get retroactive benefits,
out-of-work residents will have to fill out vouchers for each week of back benefits using the state's online filing system.
The state says eligible vouchers filed Aug. 3-6 will be paid within 48 hours.
The state is keeping 27 full-service WorkOne
Centers open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. those days to handle increased claims. Mistaken Identity Being Sorted Out The father
of a woman misidentified after a fatal Arizona traffic crash says the hospital mixed up the families, not the victims.
Frank Cantu says the hospital used information provided by the families to correctly determine it was 19-year-old Abby Guerra
who survived the July 18 crash — not his 21-year-old daughter, Marlena Cantu. But he says hospital staff mistakenly
came to him and said the critically injured woman was his daughter.
Frank Cantu says Guerra was then assumed to be the
woman killed at the scene.
A St. Joseph's Hospital spokesman didn't immediately return a call seeking comment Monday
night.
The Maricopa County medical examiner's office says that because of its caseload, it didn't perform an autopsy
on the woman who died until five days after the crash. A comparison of dental records showed the deceased woman was Cantu.
Cause of Fire Determined Vincennes Township Fire Chief Tim Smith says an electrical short may have ignited
a fire which damaged a home on Old Fort Knox Road Friday afternoon.
Smith says an investigator from the State Fire Marshall's
office was in Vincennes Monday to assist local officials determine the cause of the fire.
Smith says they believe to
have the cause narrowed down to some wiring in the area of the dish washer. He says he doesn't expect to have a complete report
back from the state fire investigator for at least a week.
The home owned by Todd and Sherry Rickets suffered 150--thousand
dollars damage.
The fire was fully involved by the time firefighters arrived on the scene shortly after one o' clock
friday afternoon.
No one was home at the time of the fire. One Vincennes Township Firefighter had to be transported
to Good Samaritan Hospital for a heat-related illness. VPD
Investigates Car Burglaries Vincennes Police continue to
investigate several vehicle burglaries from the weekend.
Saturday morning at 3:40-am, police responded to the area of
Short and Chicago Avenue where a resident reported a two males inside a vehicle. The two ran west on New Albany after they
were confronted by the resident.
Police checked the area and discovered that 19 vehicles had been burglarized along Chicago,
New Albany and Minneapolis Avenues west of 2nd and east of Oliphant Avenue. Some were also parked in the Gemtron Parking lot.
The fleeing suspects were juveniles and were later taken into custody and charged with resisting law enforcement and minor
consuming. Some of the stolen items from the vehicles were found and police believe other larger items may have been hidden
in the area.
Anyone with any information on the stolen items should call police at 882-1630. Bicknell Man Arrested for Domestic
Battery A Bicknell man is facing charges of domestic battery
following a weekend incident.
25-year-old Jason Goodman was arrested Saturday morning at 1:30-am on East 2nd in Vincennes.
He was being held in the Knox County Jail. Evansville Catholic Diocese Sued
over Alleged Rape Cover-Up A civil lawsuit claims the
Evansville Catholic Diocese and others tried to cover up a 2007 rape of a 23-year-old mentally handicapped woman.
The
Washington Times-Herald reports that the lawsuit was filed last year in Daviess County Circuit Court. The lawsuit claims the
woman was assaulted during an abstinence youth retreat at the former St. Mary's School.
The church, in its response to
the suit, has denied the claims and says the sex was consensual. Diocese Spokesman Paul Leingang says its response to the
lawsuit was its only public comment.
A 27-year-old man pleaded guilty to rape in the case in 2009 and was deported to
El Salvador in January.
The lawsuit also claims officials advised the woman to use the morning-after contraceptive pill.
The church denies that claim. U of E Soccer
Player Mistaken for Accident Fatality Women's soccer players from the University of Evansville in Indiana who planned to travel to Arizona for a teammate's
funeral are dealing with a rollercoaster of emotions following word she's alive.
John Stanley, athletics director at
the Indiana school, tells The Associated Press on Sunday that the players were grief-stricken when told last week that 19-year-old
Abby Guerra had been killed in an Arizona traffic crash.
Stanley says Guerra's teammates had expected to attend her funeral
Monday. Now, he says, they're in Phoenix to support her and her family.
Guerra's friend, 21-year-old Marlena Cantu, actually
died in the crash. The mix-up was discovered Saturday.
Guerra is a nursing major and this fall was scheduled to begin
her sophomore year. SR
358 Closing State Road 358 in Daviess and Knox
Counties will close Monday for pipe replacement.
INDOT says 358 between 57 and 67 will shut down at 7-am Monday and be
closed until 3-pm Wednesday.
Local traffic will have access to the point of closure. The official detour uses State Roads
67, 58 and 57.
The work is subject to change depending on the weather. Daviess Co. Meetings Tonight The Daviess
County Commissioners will meet in regular session at 5-pm this evening.
On their agenda is discussion of an I69 feasability
study and discussion of a contract for the tech park road construction.
Again the commissioners meet at 5-pm at the
courthouse.
The Washington City Council also meets tonight.
The council is set to discuss several ordinances
including one concerning compensation and another concerning transferring owner ship of an emergency vehicle from the city
to Crawford County Indiana.
The city council meets at 6:30 at City Hall in Washington. West Nile Mosquitoes Still
Found in Indiana For the ninth year in a row, West Nile mosquitoes are buzzing around Indiana.
State Department of Health epidemiologist
Jennifer House says positive mosquito pools have been detected in Allen, Hamilton, Marion and Montgomery counties. It's just
a matter of time before the virus shows up statewide. The virus entered the country in 1999 and Indiana in 2002.
West Nile Virus usually causes a mild form of the illness, which can include fever, headache, body aches, swollen lymph
glands, or a rash. However, a small number of people develop a more severe form of the disease with encephalitis or meningitis
and other neurological syndromes, muscle paralasys and the virus has caused death.
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