The Henry County Council passed a first vote Wednesday to increase the excise and wheel tax ordinances. There was a great amount of discussion involved because in some cases, the taxes would be doubled. The current excise tax is $25 for passenger vehicles and light trucks. The proposed ordinance will increase that to $40. The wheel tax applies to heavier trucks, trailers and recreational vehicles (RVs). That tax could go up to $80 in some instances. Council member Clay Morgan explained that the tax increases are being proposed so that Henry County can take advantage of another matching fund program from the state. The proposed ordinances require the council to reevaluate the tax rates if the state program ends. "Basically, we're in a situation where we are being bribed by the state government with our own money. We have the opportunity to receive $1 million extra to fix the county roads," Morgan said. Council member Steve Dugger said the tax will especially impact his family business, but he supported the increase. Dugger said it will be a good thing for the county. "Right now, it costs $903,000 a year to cover Henry County and New Castle roads. If we go ahead and approve this tax, next year we'll have around $2,615,000 after the state matches our money to help with new roads," Dugger said. Mike Thalls, another member of the council, added that this tax was not something that the council wanted to do, but was necessary if the county wanted to take advantage of the state giving them an extra million dollars. It's not a position the council enjoys being in, but it's the only way to fix "the terribly, terrible roads," Thalls said. "A lot of people aren't going to like this, but you pay us to do what's best for this country," Thalls added. The ordinance increases passed 5-1, with council member Harold Griffin voting against. Griffin said the majority of his constituents don't want the increase because they already feel like they are being taxed to death. "As great as it might be, I can't support it. I'm sorry," Griffin said. The council will meet at 6 p.m. Monday for a second vote on the tax ordinances because they weren't approved unanimously. If approved, the tax increases will take effect Jan. 1, 2017. The meeting will take place on the second floor of the Henry County Courthouse, 101 S. Main St., New Castle.
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Campers at the Henry County Sheriff's Office Youth Camp had a chance to participate in and learn how court trials work on their final day of camp Thursday. The court simulation was a continuance of a mock car accident that took place Monday at Memorial Park, only this time, children learned about the legal ramifications of such a scenario. At the trial, allegedly drunk driver Clark Howard, a fictitious character created for the event and played by New Castle Police Captain David Carnes, stood trial for one count of operating a vehicle while intoxicated and causing death and three counts of operating while intoxicated and injuring others. Present at the hearing were the prosecutor, a defense attorney and a judge, just like there would be in a normal trial. Six children were chosen at random to sit on the jury and decide if Howard was innocent or guilty. Henry County Deputy Prosecutor Christi Brock explained a few terms to the kids before the trial started so they could have a better understanding of what was going on. "As a prosecutor, I represent the state and I protect all of your voices to make sure you all live happy lives. This also means that I protect everyone else to make sure you don't infringe on their happy lives," Brock said. Real-life Henry County Prosecutor Joe Bergacs, who portrayed Howard's defense attorney, informed the jury that they needed to make sure, without shadow of a doubt, that they believed Howard was guilty of his crimes. This meant that if the children did not believe he had alcohol in his system and caused injury and death, they should not convict him. As the trial was underfoot, the children heard both Brock and Bergacs as they questioned Henry County Sheriff's Sgt. Landon Dean, fictitious coroner and real-life Henry County Sheriff's Chaplain Bill Palmer and Henry County Sheriff's Deputy Mike Rossiter. Ultimately, it was Howard the children really paid attention to as he was the final speaker. Monica Brumley, 12, who has attended sheriff's camp for the last four years, thought Howard's statement was fishy. "When he was telling everyone his side of the story, he said that he swerved across the road to miss hitting a dog. We were all there on Monday and I don't remember seeing a dog," Brumley said. Howard told everyone that he was diabetic and when he swerved to miss the dog in the road, he had a diabetic attack, which caused him to continue to swerve. "That just did not make sense to me," Brumley said. The trial ended with both the prosecutor and defense attorney giving their closing statements, trying to convince the six jurors that their side was correct. After a quick recess, the children came back with their decision that Howard was guilty. Fictional judge and real-life local attorney Tony Saunders decided Howard would receive the maximum 30 year sentence for his crimes. "I don't have anything better to do any way," Howard said after he was sentenced, pounding his fists on the table. The room erupted with laughter and Brumley said things like that are what make her want to keep coming back to camp each year. "Every year we all always have a lot of fun," she said. The Henry County Council meeting got a little heated Wednesday when discussion started whether to set aside potential tax revenue for one specific project. Ultimately, the council pledged $511,000 of future Food and Beverage Tax funds over the next five years to extend the Wilbur Wright Trail. According to Jeff Ray, trails coordinator for Healthy Communities of Henry County, the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) is offering an 80/20 match in federal funds for local projects. For every $20 the county puts toward the trail expansion project, INDOT could potentially provide another $80 in funding. The Henry County Council "irrevocably" committed half a million dollars of future Food and Beverage Tax revenue to the project so Ray could apply for this year's grant. The letter of support stated that the money would be "received and available for the match by Dec. 31, 2021." "It would be foolish as a county to turn down matching money, especially to the tune of 80/20," said council president Nate LaMar. County attorney Joel Harvey said the food and beverage tax brought in about $577,000 last year and is projected to bring in more money than that next year. The increase of funds is not the issue, though. By signing the letter of support, the Henry County Council is giving the trail expansion project priority over other future community projects, Harvey said. Harvey pointed out that the letter would specifically commit funds to the trail project and there might not be as much money for other community projects to use in the future. Some city and the council officials took issue with the decision as well. Mayor Greg York was the first one up to the podium to express concerns. "If we're getting in line for money from the future, I'm going to need a million dollars for the next five years," York said. "In the next two months, we're going to have 1,100 families coming to town playing baseball... I've got the number one income that's going to feed food and beverage. You can take all these other projects and times that by 10 and they won't bring in what this sports complex is going to bring in." County council member Robin Fleming told everyone that she loved the trail and she used it all the time, but she agreed with York. "I will not support something that's going outside the process that we've established as a safeguard," Fleming said. Food and beverage tax dollars are designed to be used to promote tourism and economic development within the county. The Capital Improvements Committee is tasked with vetting project applications. The council takes recommendations from the committee and grants final approval of project funding. Healthy Communities of Henry County went through the application process this year and was denied. Henry County Surveyor Steve Rest worried that the county could be on the hook for millions of dollars if something happened and the project doesn't get completed. The council approved the letter of support with a 4-2 vote. Fleming and fellow council member Clay Morgan voted against it. The Henry County Council also approved the full list of recommendations for this year's Food and Beverage Tax grants, with Morgan voting against it. A list of projects and the amounts suggested they receive were previously published in The Courier-Times. The Henry County Sheriff's Office camp had a little change of plans Wednesday morning as rainy weather came in. The campers were originally supposed to meet the Henry County Sheriff's Department Dive Team and the Department of Natural Resources at Summit Lake, but rain hindered those activities. Instead, campers split into two groups at Memorial Park so the dive team and DNR could show them how their respective branches of government work. According to sheriff's deputy Dustin Miller, a four-year member of the team dive team, divers are certified in regular, advanced, ice and rescue diving. "The more diving training we can get, the better. We'll do everything we can to improve," said Miller. The team dives whenever, wherever and in whatever body of water that they are needed in. "We get called out when there has been a body reportedly found in a lake and it has sunk to the bottom," said Miller. "We also come out to retrieve cars that have drove off and sunk into lakes as well." The kids learned that the divers have to plan out every dive before they descend into the water because if they don't, they could injure themselves. "After you've been down so deep for so long, you have to do a safety stop," said deputy Mike Rossiter. "A three-minute stop with a 15-foot ascend is normally enough time to let our bodies adjust to the nitrogen." One of the biggest lessons the campers learned was that the divers can not panic under water. This is why the divers go through weeks of training in a pool before they can go into open waters. They have multiple backup plans in place in case something does go wrong, but panicking under water can be extremely dangerous. After a few questions, the campers walked outside to learn how to safely participate in archery. "Each child has the opportunity to shoot a bow and arrow five times. They have the chance to do this only after they learn the safety whistles," said Joe Young, who has been with DNR for four years and has been volunteering at the camp that entire time as well. According to Young, archery is something all kids can get involved in. "It's not like basketball or football, pretty much everyone can participate and have fun with archery," he said. DNR not only has jurisdiction over their regular duties, but they can even pull people over for speeding on the road, Young explained. Normally they stick to working in their jurisdiction which is hunting, fishing regulation for state properties and off-road vehicles. "We're just like regular police, we have the power to arrest people," said Young. "The only thing we generally don't do is handle local city ordinances." Once the campers saw both presentations, they reconvened and met a few members of the Indiana National Guard. The Guard allowed them to go through an inflatable course they call the Boot Camp Challenge. The challenge allows two people to race across the course straight away, climb a wall and slide down as fast as they can. Sheriff's camp continues through Thursday and will end with a banquet and awards presentation. New Castle Police Department Patrolman James B. Nicholson, who has been with NCPD for nearly 20 years, was presented the Life Saver Award by Chief Brad Catron at Monday's meeting of the New Castle City Council. Nicholson was the second person to arrive on the scene of a deadly house fire at 2702 Sunnyside Ave. May 4. Nicholson saved Robert Perdew from the roof of the burning home. Unfortunately, Doris Perdew, 87, perished in the blaze. Robert Perdew climbed onto the roof of the burning structure to escape the flames and would not come down in spite of the urging of emergency responders below. Fortunately, Nicholson had a telescoping ladder in the trunk of his patrol car, which he used to reach Perdew and then carry him down to safety. "Some officers ask for an extra pair of shoes to work out in or extra shirt money, but J.B. wanted to buy an extension ladder," said Mayor Greg York. "The guy was not coming down. He was glued up there, petrified and scared to death, so J.B. had to go up and get him." "This award is one of the highest awards that can be given," the mayor added. Catron had nothing but praise for Nicholson. "J.B.'s a great officer. He really thinks outside the box," the chief said. "He had the forethought to ask for a ladder. He's responded to several fires over the years and when he goes to them, he thinks about the what if. He thinks about the bigger picture. He's also an EMT and is a valuable member of our department." In other news from Monday's meeting, council member Rex Peckinpaugh brought up the lack of sidewalks in some areas of town. "I propose that we make an ordinance that says every new business in town needs to have a sidewalk put in front of it, kind of like the Dollar Tree did. They did not need to actually put that sidewalk in, they did it out of the kindness of their hearts," Peckinpaugh said. The mayor pointed out that all Hoosier cities are being asked to make their sidewalks compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. "We are required to start spending $75,000 a year on these changes and the town has budgeted to start this year," York said. "Sidewalk improvements will continue in 2017 and beyond. It doesn't matter if it's from Walnut to Plum or 18th to 25th, someday it (making them handicap accessible) has to be done." Also present to weigh in on the sidewalk issue was Ransel Howard, a resident of Foster's Landing on the city's north side. Howard is paralyzed from the chest down as a result of a 2009 automobile accident. He relies on a powerchair and the city's transit system for many of his travel needs. "More sidewalk ramps, that's going to help me drastically," Howard said. Howard said he hopes no one ever has to go through what he has, but if someone does, the things the city is trying to do with sidewalks will make their lives a little easier. Also talked about at the meeting were budgets for 2017. "We're just asking each department to hold their budget down a little bit and be good stewards," York said. Henry County Sheriff's Office Youth Camp started Monday at Memorial Park.Model airplanes were seen all over the sky during the annual Wilbur Wright Birthplace Festival, which took place over the weekend. "The Henry County Wright Flyers come every year and fly their planes for everyone most of the day," said festival co-chairman Pat Malott. "They also provide airplanes for the kids to build and fly." Each year, the children receive small wooden airplanes they get to build on their own. The Flyers help construct them and once they're done, they have a competition to see who's airplane can stay in the air the longest, said Gary Bussell, president of the Henry County Wright Flyers Remote Control Club. "We've come the last couple years and it's always a lot of fun," said 8 year old Nathaniel Tussaint of New Castle. There were other events at the festival including food, homemade ice cream, crafts and live entertainment. Bussell, who has been the club's president for about 20 years, said that the planes have to be extremely accurate when they're in the air. When the planes are up, not only do they have to look like they would have in their respective time periods, but they have to fly like they did back then as well. "There are 100 points for how the plane looks and up to 100 points for how it flies," Bussell explained. "You can maneuver it [the plane] 10 different times in the air, but it better look like it did when it originally flew." Some club members are extremely serious about competitions. According to member Richard Rehbert of New Castle, people can spend thousands of dollars recreating the airplanes. Greg Hahn is one of the people who goes all out with his planes. "I built this TC665 Sky Raider from scratch. Everything on the plane works like it would have back then, even dropping bombs from the air mid flight because that's what it did in Vietnam," Hahn said. The planes stopped flying around noon Saturday due to some worry about the wind. "It only takes about two seconds of lapse judgement to drop a plane and we fly during all sorts of conditions for a competition," Bussell said. When visitors were done watching the airplanes, they could go and explore all the aspects of the Wilbur Wright Birthplace and Museum free of charge, which isn't normally the case. "Free admission to the museum was only for Friday and Saturday. This is not a state-funded museum, so all the money we make each year at the festival off of vendors and our concession stand goes to bills for the entire year," Malott said. For more information about the museum, or to make a donation, visit www.wwbirthplace.com or call (765) 332-2495. Shouts of close to two dozen girls yelling "mine" echoed throughout New Castle Fieldhouse Monday as the annual high school volleyball camp was underway. This year, though, the camp was a little different for the high school girls and head coach Matt Curts. "Every year at camp we choose a theme and this year we have decided to go with 'building a tradition and leaving a legacy,'" Curts said. The team decided on this theme because last year the Lady Trojans did not have a single senior, while this year they have four. This fall will be Curts' second season as head coach of the team and he's looking forward to it. According to Curts, the team really wants to continue with a strong tradition this year. The girls that are participating in the camp are going to be the ones to carry the team's legacy through the years and help determine the future of the program, he said. Senior outside and middle hitter Morgan Burns said she has been attending the high school's volleyball camp since she was able to start attending them. This year, the two camps are for girls in third through fifth grades and another session for sixth through eighth graders. "I love seeing the looks on their faces when we give them compliments on how they're playing," Burns said. "The year that the last New Castle team went to state, I attended the camp that summer. It meant even more to me after they made it to state that they had given me compliments that summer." Burns and her other teammates said that they really do believe that they are helping the future of New Castle volleyball by helping out at these camps. "I like to see them learning here at our camp rather than any other camps because I think they're going to learn more here than they would anywhere else," Lily Garvin said. Garvin is a sophomore setter who also started coming to the camp as soon as she was old enough. The campers love coming just as much as the high school girls love coming to help them. When Curt announced there was going to be a competitive activity, senior middle and outside hitter Avarie Powell's team really wanted to win. Powell pumped her girl's up by yelling, "Come on let's go, we aren't losing this one!" Third grader Olivia Heart said her mom encouraged her to come to camp this year. "I like being here because it's really cool getting to hang out with the high school girls," Heart said. The camp ends each day with one camper being awarded a signed volleyball from all the high school players and coaches. The recipient of the volleyball is chosen by the coaches for having the most energy and enthusiasm that day. Monday's volleyball went to 10-year-old Mattie Vaught and she was all smiles after hearing her name called. The Lady Trojans will kick off their 2016 season with a scrimmage on August 9 against Bishop Chatard High School. The regular season opener will be August 16 against Blue River Valley at the Fieldhouse. MT. SUMMIT — The Blue River Valley School Board spent a lot of discussion on book fees and policies Monday night. But parents and teachers wanting to know what textbook rental fees will be for the upcoming school year at the jr./sr. high school must wait. The high school did not have prices for all their books at Monday's meeting. The school board plans to vote on the prices once they are received in July. Despite the delay, school board members heard a second reading of the textbook rental policy and voted to adopt it during the meeting. The policy states that all extra money from textbook rentals would to be put back into an account to purchase e-books in place of an actual hardback text book. Students must return all books in good condition, the policy states. Students who destroy or don't return textbooks can be suspended from extra curricular activities until the books are returned or the school is reimbursed for the damages. The policy also allows families who receive lunch assistance to receive text book assistance. Families will have to register and reapply each year for textbook assistance. Textbook prices for Blue River Elementary School were approved at Monday's meeting. "The rental price declined slightly from last year," board member Brian Koontz said. A student and school showcase for the Indiana Reading Evaluation And Determination (IREAD), was scheduled to be presented at Monday's meeting but was postponed. IREAD is a reading assessment that measures foundational reading standards through grade three. All third graders must pass this before they can move onto the next grade. "We did intend to bring IREAD but it's been delayed and we're still hoping to do that next month when the scores are in," Superintendent Eric Creviston said. In other news, Blue River Valley schools had 44 transfer requests for the 2016-2017 school year. Board vice president John Cross said it was good to see some new faces in the school this year and he was looking forward to the school year's growth. The school board also transfered some of the high school's funds at the recommendation of the Indiana State Board of Accounts (SBOA). Blue River Valley High School Principal Adam Perdue suggested moving money out of the parking fund into another school fund. "We get money from the students parking tags at the beginning of the year and we are not really able to use those funds," Perdue said. "I just feel like we need to get that back into the student's hands so they will be able to utilize it. We would move the money into a different account that would allow it to be more flexible so we can use it on our students." The board passed the motion and now the school does not have to spend the money from this parking fund on more tags. The school board also awarded Perdue with a one-time $1,200 stipend that will help him pay for and cover his new expenses as a peer mentor for Todd Reagan, the new principal of Blue River Valley Elementary School. This position will only be for the upcoming school year. The BRV school corporation adopted a 'materiality threshold' Monday night, as well. This threshold is a specific amount of missing money or stolen items that requires the administration to contact the SBOA. Before Monday's meeting, there was no set guide as to what should be reported. Creviston suggested that if there was a loss of $100 cash, that should be reported to the state. If there was over $500 lost in property expenses, the school will report that as well. Creviston also noted that in a school like Blue River, petty theft was not normally an issue. Before the meeting adjourned, former teacher Kent Hanser stood up to speak. Hanser taught chemistry at Blue River Valley High School from the beginning of the 2014-2015 school year until his resignation in February. Hanser asked that the board consider that he receive a portion of the performance pay award that the state distributed to Indiana schools after his resignation. Hanser argued that the performance grant should have been paid out by the state in December. This year's payment covers the 2014-2015 school year and was delayed because ISTEP+ test results were delayed. Hanser asked that the school pay him the money he was shorted by the state of Indiana because he "did not get the pay that his performance earned and merited." Creviston said the board is discussing with its attorney how to proceed. The next Blue River Valley School Board meeting will take place at 7 p.m July 11 in the high school library. If you ask 6 year old Caden Upchurch who his favorite basketball player is, he'll tell you it's a tie between Michael Jordan and Stephen Curry. His favorite movie is "Frozen" and he loves all sports. He will also tell you basketball is his favorite sport because he looks up to the New Castle High School team and wants to be just like them one day. "I saw the big boys playing one day and I just decided I wanted to do that," Caden said. Caden is paralyzed from the waist down due to a birth defect. He suffers from Spina Bifida, which means his spinal chord didn't properly form. Despite being paralyzed, he plays basketball at the high school Fieldhouse during the summer at the camp the team puts on each year. "He just finds a way to jump in and do things and doesn't pout about it," said Jackie Duker, a nurse at Bethany Cares Home Help Agency who has been helping Caden and his family for the past three and a half years. "He really isn't shy at all. Wednesday they played shirts versus skins and he got to be on the skins team," Duker said. "He was just so excited about it, that's all we talked about the rest of the day!" Caden's mom, Dara Upchurch, said that he got involved with the basketball team last summer. "I worked at the middle school at the time and Coach (Daniel) Cox was the gym teacher there," Upchurch said. "He was more than happy to have Caden join the camp." Caden said his favorite thing about camp is playing with the big boys, especially David Froedge. Froedge is going into his senior year and has been working with Caden at the camp the last two years. "I really love being able to help him out and make him feel like he's apart of the team," Froedge said, adding that Caden came to a couple of team dinners and games during the past high school season. Froedge would sit with Caden at dinner and whenever they had time outs during the basketball games, he would go over at talk to him if he happened to be sitting on the sidelines with them. "I'm really going to miss him when I graduate next year," Froedge said. In addition to basketball, Caden also belongs to baseball and soccer teams, Duker said. The Miracle League is a local league for children with disabilities who get together and play different sports. Duker also said it's very easy to tell that playing basketball with the high school boys is his favorite thing to do. "The boys are really amazing with him and you can tell they care about him just as much as Caden cares about them. Caden's eyes light up when he comes in here," Duker said. Caden said the best part about camp is when Froedge pushes him down the court. Before leaving the gym, people will most likely hear Caden and Froedge yelling "money ball" as Caden scores a basket. "We go really fast together and sometimes he [Froedge] helps me score," Caden said. |
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