Braydden J. Hasenour

JASPER — A 19-year-old Jasper man was arrested Sunday afternoon following a domestic dispute on East 14th Street.

According to information obtained from the Jasper Police Department, officers were dispatched to an apartment at 420 East 14th in reference to a domestic dispute.

Upon making contact with the parties involved, officers determined a male and female had gotten into a verbal argument, which escalated to a physical altercation.

Officers determined the male subject, identified as Braydden J. Hasenour, 19, Jasper, battered and strangled the female subject. After the altercation, the female victim attempted to call 911, when Hasenour took her phone and shattered it. He was taken into custody and booked into the Dubois County Security Center on preliminary charges of domestic battery, strangulation and interference with the reporting of a crime.

INDIANAPOLIS — Dubois County sits at the fourth-lowest unemployment rate among Indiana’s 92 counties in the latest jobs report from the Indiana Department of Workforce Development.

Dubois County’s 2.7% unemployment rate is up slightly from January’s mark of 2.5% and up from the 2.4% rate in Feb. 2022. Dubois County is just behind Daviess and Hamilton County’s rates of 2.6%, Boone County’s 2.6% and Gibson County’s state-low of 2.4%. Neighboring Crawford County is among the state’s highest, at 4.6%, while Orange County is at 4%. Pike County comes in at 3.8%, while Spencer County is at 3.4%.

Across the state, Indiana’s current 3.5% rate is up slightly from 3.4% in both Jan. 2023 and in Feb. 2022.

FERDINAND — Town Manager Chris James requested council permission to go forward with planning for a total eclipse event in Ferdinand. Ferdinand will be in the path of totality for the April 8, 2024 solar eclipse. This request was made during the Tuesday, March 21 regular town council meeting.

For viewers within the path of totality, this means that the moon’s shadow will block the view of the sun resulting in a few minutes of darkness during the day time. This event is expected to attract many visitors to portions of both Dubois and Spencer counties.

James was suggesting that the town begin planning for this event and to work together with the local tourism board to see what activities they can come up with together.

The suggestion of having food trucks in place was made and for the town to begin booking portable restrooms for the expected increase of visitors for that date.

Council member Debbie Johnson made the motion that they form a committee to plan for the total eclipse event and that the community hosts a gathering for that event. Council member Ron Weyer seconded the motion. The motion passed.

Department reports

The Ferdinand Police Department took part and presented in the town safety meeting. Chief Kerri Blessinger presented the staff of the town, as well as members of the GAB with de-escalation training.

For the month of February, the fire department completed 15 runs, two were for fires and 13 were emergency medical response runs.

According to the town employees, there has been an increase in the amount of people using the park’s baseball fields for dogs to play in and are not cleaning up after their pet waste. The park board would like the park patrons to remember that the fields are not to be used in that manner and that children will soon be playing on the fields.

Other town business

The town of Ferdinand employees will be undergoing an in-depth Indiana Public Employers’ Plan (IPEP) flagger training session on Thursday, May 4.

The Forest Park Builders Club delivered the Honor and Remember flags that the town ordered in November 2022. The flags are planned to be flown at the town hall, the police department, and the fire departments. They also ordered a fifth flag to donate to the town Veteran’s Memorial.

The Honor and Remember organization and flags were created to acknowledge and honor the sacrifice of the men and women in the United States armed forces.

Nathan Held, Executive Director with Indiana 15 Regional Planning Commission presented before the board. Held was introducing himself as his new role as the executive director. He has been traveling to all the cities and towns within their six county region to introduce himself and to highlight who Indiana 15 is and what they do.

Indiana 15 Regional Planning Commission is celebrating their 50th anniversary this year. They are established as a regional planning commission under Indiana state code. They are also an economic development district under the US Department of Commerce. They are a rural planning organization through INDOT.

Indiana 15 works with their communities within their region to prioritize their needs and try to find resources to help them with those projects. Over the last 50 years, they have been successful in working with their communities to bring in over $150 Million in grant funds through 700+ projects.

The Attorney and EMS building renovation projects will be bid now that the funding source for that project is established. That project will be funded from the town’s American Rescue Plan Act funds. The project bids will be opened during the Tuesday, April 11 town council meeting.

The town considered adding the police department building repairs to the list of ARP funded projects. The town will be getting an estimate for painting the building, awnings, and doors.

The town clean up dates will be held April 4, April 5, and April 6.

The next Town of Ferdinand council meeting will be held Tuesday, April 11 at 6:30 p.m.

JASPER — Migration and immigration met along the old Buffalo Trace running through Indiana, as guest speakers David Drake and Steven Stewart spoke at the first Dubois Historical Society meeting of the year, Thursday, March 23.

“From the falls of the Ohio at Clarksville to the Wabash and Vincennes,” describes Drake and Stewart’s booklet, “The Buffalos Trace,” about the long, winding path of the Buffalo Trace taken by pioneers crossing America.

The Hoosier National Forest is home to many artifacts, both obvious and subtle. Many foundations of the old way of living lay buried within the forest. European settlers came to America to find a new way of life and living, to exercise their freedom and raise families. Traveling across the unsettled terrain was a difficult exercise, especially with the technology of the era. Pioneering wagons found the journey more lenient by tracing paths the buffalo had stamped along the earth. A good portion of the pioneering trail resides in the Hoosier forest, which Drake and Stewart have come to make new again.

It is surveyors Drake and Stewart’s intention to preserve this landmark as a heritage project. They are working at making the Buffalo Trace a national trail through the federal Hoosier Forest for hikers and visitors to novel at the path their ancestors took.

1805 is the date of the original map, Drake explained. The West Buffalo Trace was surveyed in 1805 by Jared Mansfeld, completed in October of that year, who trained surveyors in 1804 to help with the endeavor. Mansfeld used a “rectangular survey method,” as Drake described it. Drake had found written histories and the work of other surveyors still intact but was disappointed none of it was never published. That is why he and Stewart have published their booklet.

With his careered study of surveying methods, in 2013 Drake took it upon himself to perform a new survey of the old Buffalo Trace, spending several years searching for its path through the Hoosier forest. Following old maps, he walked through the Hoosier, standing on the original trail his ancestors used to cross the Ohio River. His ancestors came from Virginia, stopping in Kentucky for a couple years, then moving on to Indiana, Drake described, making their stop about 1823. In this survey, Drake covered Dubois, Crawford and Harrison counties, as the road originally brought many pioneers from great distances to many local areas.

Drake surveyed carefully, one step at a time along indentations in the land. He said the path often appears to be old, dried creeks but the giveaway is the absence of inlets and outlets. The hard, packed earth has left the trail somewhat intact, since the long road was well used, dating back to prehistory by the buffalo and Native Americans before becoming a pioneering route. Since the earth was so well packed, no new vegetation will grow, Drake explained. Drake also discovered some of the trail had been constructed into modern roadways. Artifact sites are also present along the route, Stewart explained. Native American sites and remnants of old cabins dot the area as well, giving credence to the trail.

As Stewart grew up in Orange County, he didn’t know he lived alongside significant history. He had only known the Buffalo Trace as an old road that ran by his house but was naive about how it was formed. Once he made the discovery about its deep history, he was hooked.

He enjoys that these counties have a unique feature, such as the Buffalo Trace. Because of its novelty, he is working with Drake to preserve the history. They are working to build a cultural center and national monument to the Trace. “The trail has potential for national designation,” Stewart said. Collaboration with parks and interest groups in the area can make this happen, he said.

The entire trail has not been lost to history. Drake discovered more old survey information and found communities aware of the stops along the trail. Communities are keeping the memory alive with reconstructed forts and blockhouses lining the trail’s remnants. Drake and Stewart, however, are seeking to preserve the entire trail for casual and serious historians and hikers.

While much of the trail is also in different states, Drake and Stewart are looking to preserve what they can through the Hoosier.

Drake is looking to write a larger book in the next couple of years, more thoroughly mapping the history along the trace.