JASPER — The Greater Jasper School Board will soon be accepting applications to fill a board vacancy following the appointment of Tim Demotte to replace Art Nordhoff as the corporation’s legal counsel Monday evening.
Having served the school corporation’s attorney for the past 50-plus years, Nordhoff announced his retirement effective July 31. Demotte will assume legal counsel responsibilities on Aug. 1.
For anyone interested in filling the board vacancy, they must be at least 21 years of age and reside in Bainbridge Township. The opening will be advertised, with application made to the board for review and interviews before voting as a majority to select a new member. Demotte has served the past seven years on the board, leaving the position with a term to fill until Dec. 31, 2024.
Renovations to Jasper High School for the new Little Wildcats employee daycare project also received unanimous board approval. The project was awarded to Seufert Construction of Ferdinand at a cost of $198,000, to begin next week.
The board also approved job descriptions, a wage scale and benefits for new staff added for Little Wildcats. A lead teacher will be hired in July to assist with classroom preparations, while the total number of employees will depend on enrollment. A total of 19 children of staff members were noted from pre-registration.
Students will also see no changes to meal prices throughout the corporation during the 2023-2024 school year, as the board voted 7-0 to approve the continued costs.
The board also voted 7-0 to approve the purchase of new equipment and work benches for the CTE classrooms at Jasper High School, which come at a cost of $92,242 for equipment and $62,737 for specialized work benches from Midwest Equipment. The cost will be offset by a $50,000 grant awarded from Purdue University for microelectronics education. The school has also applied for additional grant funds from the Regional Opportunities Initiative.
Elementary students at Ireland and Jasper will begin using new science text books next school year, as the board voted 7-0 to approve adopting Scholastic Science Spin for grades K-2 and Savvas Elevate with Mystery Science for grades 3-5.
It was noted the summer central office work hours will be from 7:30 a.m to 3 p.m. from May 30 through Aug. 8, with school resuming Aug. 9.
The Greater Jasper Consolidated School Board will meet again at 7 p.m. on Monday, June 26 in the Community Room at JHS.
Members of the community awaited the arrival of the Run For The Wall riders underneath the United States flag. By Julie Smith-Frazer/ The Herald
People wave and cheer as the hundreds of bikers passed by the overpass.
An Indiana State Police Trooper leads a group of the Run For The Wall Riders on the central route to Washington DC.
The Huntingburg Fire Dept. and Carter Fire District worked together to display the flag.
A woman waves an American flag to welcome the cross country riders into the Spencer/Dubois County area.
DALE — The Huntingburg Fire Department and Carter Fire District displayed a patriotic scene with a large American Flag wavering over the U.S. 231/ I-64 overpass to cheer on hundreds of bikers making their way to Washington D.C. Community members from both Spencer and Dubois counties cheered and waved their own flags as the Run For The Wall motorcyclists passed.
The riders are a part of the 33rd Run For The Wall central route hub traveling from Ontario, California to Washington D.C. The central riders are a portion of the 1,181 of riders making this trip on either the central, midway, and southern routes from May 17 to May 27.
The mission of Run For The Wall, according to their website is “To promote healing among ALL veterans and their families and friends, to call for an accounting of all Prisoners of War and those Missing in Action (POW/MIA), to honor the memory of those Killed in Action (KIA) from all wars, and to support our military personnel all over the world.”
The first ride was held in May 1989 and started by Vietnam Veteran James Gregory. This May marks the 33rd annual Run For The Wall where Veteran and civilian riders alike make the cross country trip in recognition of those who are serving our country, who have lost their lives in service, and are missing in action. Run For The Wall is a non profit organization.
The riders will travel to pay their respects at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial (The Wall) in Washington, DC. After DC, another route is offered called the sandbox route that will then travel to the Middle East Conflicts Wall Memorial in Marseilles, Illinois.
As they are passing through the many cities and towns on their journey, local fire departments, law enforcement agencies, veterans organizations and community members come together to cheer on the riders to not only welcome them but cheer them on as they continue their ride.
To see additional photos of the ride or to read more about the Run For The Wall, visit their website at https://rftw.us/ or Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/RunForTheWall.
HUNTINGBURG — The City of Huntingburg has received a donation of land from Dubois Wood Products. This land will be used for a passenger ramp for the Spirit of Jasper train rides that will be traveling to Huntingburg this summer for two of the Dubois County Bombers games.
The city council accepted the donation to make it official during their Tuesday, May 23 city council meeting. The motion was made by council member Glen Kissling to accept the donation. Council member Tim Wehr seconded the motion. The motion was carried unanimously.
The hope is to continue the train rides from Jasper to Huntingburg. The city spoke about the possibility of building a train depot at the location in the future, if the rides increased.
The cities of Jasper and Huntingburg are partnering together to offer the Dubois County Bombers Baseball rides for the games held on June 29 and July 8. Tickets and more train ride information can be found online at https://spiritofjaspertrain.com/.
Other business
Energy Superintendent John Reutepohler began with his report on the gas utility. Another six gas services have been added over the last month. The department also replaced five services in need of replacement due to their age.
The department is also going to have to install two new antenna towers for the new sensus gas meters. Reutepohler received a preliminary quote of $8,000 per antenna tower.
On the electric utility side, three new services have been placed in Hunters Crossing. Four electric poles were replaced on County Road 1100. Two houses on highway 64 were upgraded to underground services.
Reutepohler is continuing to check with vendors on new batteries for the relays at the substation.
He introduced a grant from the Indiana Municipal Power Agency for electric meters through the Office of Energy Development. If awarded the grant, the city would pay for the meters up front and then be reimbursed.
The grant is not expected to be awarded until the end of 2023 but Reutepohler will continue to update the council.
Water Superintendent Jerry Austin presented on the distribution utility. The department has finished their spring hydrant flushing.
The water main breaks discovered during this process did set them back.
Now that the department has received their hydro excavator, it has made the process of resetting valve boxes in the roadways more simple.
Four new services were installed at Hunters Crossing this month.
Austin and Blake Lindauer attended a backflow and contamination class in Evansville and obtained their certifications. This is part of the process to start addressing backflow and contamination in house rather than using third party contractors.
On the water utility side, 80 new residential metering systems are going to be received.
Austin provided quotes on materials for three blocks worth of water main replacements in the city. The council approved the $36,584.89 for the purchase of materials from Utility Supply. This project will be funded out of the $40,000 ARPA funds for water main replacements.
The council addressed a resident’s request to be reimbursed their water metering fee when their water was shut off. The motion to credit $300 for that account for that address for the water and wastewater utility passed with one abstention.
Memorial Day services will be held on Saturday, May 27 at Veterans Memorial Park at 10 a.m. and on Monday, May 29 the VFW will be holding services at area cemeteries.
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JASPER — A Jasper woman was arrested for domestic battery following a Monday afternoon incident.
According to information obtained from the Jasper Police Department, officers were dispatched to a call for service around 3:42 p.m. Once on scene, officers found there had been a physical domestic dispute causing visible bodily injury.
Officers took Laura Amelia into custody and transported her to the Dubois County Security Center, where she was booked-in on a preliminary charge of domestic battery.
• A local woman was arrested Monday night after providing false information to JPD Officers.
The JPD says officers responded to a complaint around 10:30 p.m. at the Vine Street Loft Apartments.
Once on scene, officers spoke with the complainant, Michelle Stephens, 57, Jasper. During the course of the investigation, officers located a controlled substance on Stephens and determined she had given false information regarding the initial complaint.
Stephens was transported to the Dubois County Security Center, where she was booked in on preliminary charges of possession of a controlled substance and false informing.
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DUBOIS COUNTY — A recent study by financial website SmartAsset found Dubois County among the top 10 best locations for small business owners in the Hoosier State.
The study focused on revealing places in each state with the strongest small business presence, using IRS data to calculate small business income generated in each county, relative to countywide income. The study also examined the number of small businesses operating within each community.
The top 10 include the counties of Hamilton, Adams, Boone Daviess, Lagrange, Warrick, Dubois, St Joseph, Porter and Lake. In seventh-ranked Dubois County, small businesses account for 12.16% of local income. and generating $9,917 in income taxes. The county was ranked 1,730th best location in the nation. Dubois County reported 21.74% small business returns and a 38.97 small business index.
