75¢TUESDAY, AUgUST 30, 2016 VOLUME 62 nUMBER 17 FORT BRAnCH, InDIAnA 47648-0070 (USPS #205-620)

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Fort Branch, Owensville and Haubstadt

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Tuesday, November 12, 2013 volume 59 Number 28 ForT braNch, INdIaNa 47648-0070 (usPs #205-620)

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Commissioners to vote on fairgrounds December 3By Alden HeuringEditor, South Gibson Star-Timeseditor@sgstartimes.com

People have been talking about the $8.6 million fairgrounds renovation project, pro-posed by the Gibson County Fair Board. The county commissioners said they’d vote on whether to support the project at their December 3 meeting.

“I know myself I’m still getting a lot of people stopping me and calling me about questions on that,” commissioner president Gerald Bledsoe said. “There’s a lot of people concerned on this both ways. On December 3 we’ll vote on it.”

Citizens who want their voices heard or questions answered on the issue should con-tact the commissioners at 385-8260 before the December 3 meeting, which will start at 8 a.m. in the Princeton North Annex. Com-missioner Alan Douglas, who is also a mem-ber of the fair board, has chosen to abstain from voting or public discussion on the is-sue, so the remaining two commissioners, Gerald Bledsoe and Steve Bottoms, will be the ones making the vote.

If the project is approved by the commis-sioners, the fair board will make a final re-quest to the Gibson County redevelopment commission for the $8.6 million in TIF mon-ey the fair board wants to use to pay for the renovations. The Patoka and Union Town-ship TIF fund is estimated by the redevelop-ment commission to contain only $1.4 mil-lion as of February 2014, so the fair board intends to sell bonds to spread out the cost of the project.

other business• The Gibson County emergency man-

agement department was recognized for excellence by the Indiana Department of Homeland Security. The department has re-ceived similar recognition seven of the last eight years, and will be receiving a perfor-mance grant for training, travel, and equip-ment, to be added to the EMA budget for the year. Read more about the Gibson County EMA award elsewhere in this issue.

• The commissioners approved Beam, Longest and Neff, LLC out of Indianapolis to work on Bridge #235 on Coal Mine Road. The bridge work is estimated to begin next summer.

• The commissioners approved CLR out of Vincennes to reconstruct Bridge #45 on the Gibson-Posey line. The bridge burned down last summer. Work on the bridge will begin in the winter, and finish by April 2014. CLR bid $325,000 on the project, which beat the second-lowest bid of $440,000.

• The commissioners appointed Cybil Davis to the Owensville-Montgomery Town-ship library board. Davis replaces Margo English, who took over as Owensville librar-ian last week.

• The county paid claims as follows: Coun-

By Andrea PrestonStaff writer, South Gibson Star-Timesapreston@sgstartimes.com

It’s likely an impossible feat to find a South Gibson resident who hasn’t benefit-ed from the tireless work of Marlene Obert.

From pushing her scores of Gibson Southern High School business students to achieve their very best; to advocating and fundraising for the preservation of the home of the Fort Branch Twigs, to even helping drive Gibson County’s economic engine, Obert had a hand in it all.

And all because she cared.“She literally would do anything for South

Gibson, Gibson Southern and kids at large,” said Dr. Stacey Humbaugh, superintendent

of the South Gibson School Corporation. “She served on var-ious community boards – all to help improve the quali-ty of life in Gibson County.”

Obert, 71, passed away Saturday, Nov. 9, after an extended illness. See obituary on page A-3.

For nearly a half-century, Obert worked tirelessly doing what she loved – molding her busi-ness students, whom she often referred to

as her children, for success.“I was fortunate enough to have her as a

teacher and later call her a colleague. I’m also blessed to say that she was a family friend,” said Jon Adams, Gibson Southern’s athletic director. “I remember vividly her coming to my graduation party many years ago and being one of the first to congratu-late me after I was named athletic director. Marlene was always proud of her former stu-dents and loved being a Titan!”

The Snake Run native attended Holy Cross Catholic School and graduated from Fort Branch High School in 1960. She earned a bachelor’s degree in business ed-ucation from Evansville College.

Obert returned to Fort Branch in 1964 and began her first and only teaching job.

While teaching business classes at Fort Branch High School, Obert worked on her master’s degree and two years later, in 1966, earned it from Indiana University.

She transferred to Gibson Southern’s business department when the new high school opened in August 1974. The 2013-2014 school year marked a milestone in Ob-ert’s in career – her 50th year of teaching. According to South Gibson officials, she was able to teach for eight days.

“This summer, she had fought back from her illness. She wanted to teach. I think that was her heart and soul. She never com-plained. She never had a bad day,” Dr. Hum-baugh said.

Obert’s impact extended beyond the

Toyota perimeter road repaving requested

Gibson County Redevelopment Commis-sion reviews requests for TIF funds twice a year, once in July and once in December. At the redevelopment board’s regular meeting last week, the county commissioners sub-mitted a request for the repaving of Toyo-ta’s perimeter roads in 2014.

“We are milling out the old and paving back in. There’s a lot of troubled areas with electric wires under the pavement,” com-missioner Gerald Bledsoe said about the re-quest. “We’re not doing the shoulders, just milling out the three lanes. But we can get into all that in 2014. We just wanted to get it on the list. It’s in pretty bad shape.”

If the redevelopment commission ap-proves the project, it would cost $2 million. Segments of seven roads would be paved: CR350S, CR100E, CR525S, CR25E, Tu-lip Tree Drive, CR425S, and CR500S. The county commissioners would bid the proj-ect, and the county highway department would oversee it.

The next meeting of the Gibson Coun-ty Redevelopment Commission will begin at 6 p.m. on December 2 in the Princeton North Annex.

Marlene Obert, longtime teacher, community leader, dies

Marlene Obert

Haubstadt approves library parking and lighting

Your guide to Gibson County TIF money

Council approves water rate increaseBy James CapozellaStaff writer, South Gibson Star-Timesapreston@sgstartimes.com

The Haubstadt Town Council took a broom to nearly every leaf out there Monday night, starting the fall season with sweep-ing decisions that secured library parking and lighting, a small graduated water rate increase, a new fire engine and several oth-er projects and needs in town.

Council President Kenny Reinbrecht opened the regular Monday night meeting following the public hearing with the unan-imous passage of a water rate increase in three stages. The first increase is five per-cent beginning this month, then an addi-tional five percent beginning in June and then the third in July of 2015. The increas-es reflect the changes in cost passed on by Evansville Water, the town’s supplier.

Bids were approved for concrete, grad-ing and lighting for the recently completed Haubstadt branch library building. A & T Concrete offered a bid at the cost of $85 per yard for 350 yards with options. Ambrose Construction of Haubstadt, and Naas and Sons had bids for at-cost work for grading and rock. There will be four inches of stone and six inches of fiberized concrete.

Reinbracht said he would look into deco-rative street lighting from Vectren and de-termine the cost to purchase, install and op-erate lantern type decorative street lights.

The 30 parking spots on the library site would require about eight lamps, which probably will cost about $100 a year each to operate. Estimated cost for the lights should be less than $10,000 and would be a start in downtown lighting for Haubstadt, according to councilman Mike Ballard.

Haubstadt Street Superintendent Bry-on Will said he thought concrete could be poured late in the year, but questioned how long it would take Vectren and would the de-lay push the project into weather that would stop construction until spring.

The council also voted unanimously to ap-prove a lease-to-own agreement for a multi-purpose fire engine with $100,000 down and the cost to be between $400,000 and $500,000. Delivery is said to be by 2015, but possibly earlier. Assistant Fire Chief Zack Meyer said the new unit will be mod-eled off a Vincennes truck, but contain just four seats instead of six. The truck can be utilized for all types of calls and will be equipped with extrication tools from anoth-er truck. Meyer said the new truck could have the equipment mounted and be ready for service in one week.

Three Haubstadt volunteer firemen will receive 25-year pins in a 6 p.m., November 20, ceremony and dinner conducted by the Indiana Volunteer Firemen Association. Haubstadt Town Council members were in-vited and plan to attend. Those to be hon-ored with 25-year pins are Gary Daily, To-

ny Hipp and Don Hirsch.In other fire department business, Meyer

reported a turn down in engine runs from last October (17) to this month (10). The department responded to 3 fires and 3 ac-cidents during the period. Meyer said the main light bar for the first out engine need-ed replaced since parts were out of stock due to age. A new replacement was approved at about $3,000.

A bid of $36,900 for a metal deck to com-plete the second floor of the new fire station was approved by the council after present-ed by Superintendent Bryon Will. He said the design, which includes a fold down lad-der, would make the area safer and is cheap-er than a set of external stairs. Will was in-strumental in obtaining bids for the grad-ing and concrete work around the library.

He also informed the council about four leaky hydrants that would fail this winter. He asked to replace the four east side hy-drants at a cost of $4,000 each, which was approved. Also approved was a renovation of a 120-foot section of storm sewer on the southside of the library at a cost of $3,000. Another smaller section on Elm St. at a cost of $1,500 was also approved.

Haubstadt Town Marshal Glenn Munni-er informed the council about the police de-partment’s transition to new weapons and requested an additional 4,000 rounds be purchased from Keeslers (1,000 rounds) and Right to Bear Arms (4,000 rounds). He also reported there was a steering sys-tem recall on the town’s Ford Crown Vic-

By Alden HeuringEditor, South Gibson Star-Timeseditor@sgstartimes.com

With the Gibson County Fair Board re-questing $8.6 million from the Patoka-Union Township Tax Increment Financing fund for a renovation project, many peo-ple have made their opinions known on the project, the fair board, and the proper use of TIF money. But what is TIF money, any-way? Where does it come from? How is it supposed to be used?

Todd Mosby, the president and CEO of the Gibson County Economic Development Corporation, has had years of experience with the TIF system, and shared his exper-tise on the subject.

“TIF stands for Tax Increment Financ-ing,” Mosby said. “In Gibson County’s case, we have two TIF districts. One is in the Ow-ensville area, where the Gibson County

coal mine is, and the other is Toyota’s. Toy-ota’s TIF district is called the Patoka-Union Township district. The majority of Toyota’s district sits in Patoka Township, but it lays in both townships.”

Mosby said it’s a mistake to think Toyota TIF money should only be used inside Pa-toka and Union Townships, as residents of Patoka and Union Township do not pay in-to the TIF fund at all.

“That’s somewhat of a misnomer. Every-one benefits, even though the district is in those particular townships. When taxes are paid to the county, the county’s funds are used throughout the entire county,” he said. “Although Toyota’s TIF district sits in those townships, there are only two taxpayers in the TIF district: Toyota and Vuteq. What feeds that TIF district are Toyota’s proper-ty taxes and Vuteq’s property taxes.”

Similarly, in the Owensville TIF district, the only taxpayer is Gibson County Coal,

Mosby said. While all residents of Gibson County who own property pay property tax-es, the property taxes of the average person don’t go into a TIF fund. Only property taxes paid by the Toyota and Vuteq corporations go into the Patoka-Union TIF fund, and only property taxes paid by Gibson County Coal go into the Owensville TIF fund.

So, Patoka-Union TIF money is property tax money paid by Toyota and Vuteq. The money isn’t taken from individuals, but rath-er comes out of the corporate pockets of Toy-ota and Vuteq. What, then, should the mon-ey be used for? The Gibson County Rede-velopment Commission handles requests for TIF funds, and has set specific criteria for the merit of requests. The commission reviews requests twice a year, once in De-cember and once in July. Requests made since the last review are compared to each other, and the requests that best meet the

Honoring our VeteransSouth Gibson VFW chaplain Ed Reinhart speaks at Wednesday’s Veterans Day ceremony at St. James Church. Vet-

erans Day ceremonies continued on Monday this week. Look in next week’s issue for more photos and coverage. Alden Heuring photo.

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New faces at local schools

Hopkins Park gets money, muscle

TITANS SQUASH REBELS, 48-14

MARIJUANA USE CAN LEAD TO:

See FLOOD on page 3

Schizophreniaand psychosis in adults2

Decline in IQthat doesn’t come back2

Impairedreasoning, judgment

and clarity of thought2

Later use of harder drugs like

meth or heroin2

Kids who use marijuana

before 15 are

MORE LIKELY

to become addicted adults1

AFTER THE INCIDENT:REASON FOR HOPE?

See MEMBER on page 2

See ROADS on page 3 See TRUCKS on page 3

By Brian Paul Kaufman and Keanan AlstattSG Star-Times Editoreditor@sgstartimes.com

The fallout continued. But in a way, it could be for the best.

After pleading guilty to a marijuana possession charge, Madison Will was sentenced to six months probation — since she’s a first-time offender with no criminal history. Her punishment includes tak-ing a tour of the county jail. She’s required to un-dergo drug screening during her probationary pe-riod, and if she gets through the six months with-out getting in trouble, the possession charge will be dropped from her record.

Gibson County Circuit Court Judge Jeffrey F. Meade is also requiring her to write a two-page paper about the effects of marijuana, and she must include a recent study of the effects on the brain. “I want you to learn something,” said Judge Meade during the court hearing. “If you are going to en-gage in this type of activity, I want you to be in-formed on what you are doing to yourself.”

Parri O. Black, president and CEO of Youth First, knows the research — and how these types of events can actually be “an opportunity for re-demption,” she said.

Founded by an Evansville physician, Youth First uses what she calls an evidence-based approach to drug and alcohol prevention. There are a lot of things that are done in the name of prevention, but some just don’t work, said Black. Assembly speak-ers, scaring kids with movies of bloody car wrecks or parking a badly-damaged car in front of a high school unfortunately don’t have long-term impact because kids say to themselves “It won’t happen to me,” she said.

Rather, Youth First believes it’s important to ad-dress the risk factors that can lead to substance abuse and “protecting factors” that prevent it.

As an example of a successful approach, she described a young man who got involved with the wrong crowd and started using marijuana. As a re-sult, he became less and less interested in school and spent more time with people who weren’t mo-tivated.

Fortunately, he was directed to a Youth First so-cial worker, who helped provide motivation and en-couragement. After an interview and recommen-dations, he was also enrolled in a semester-long small group program at his high school called “Re-connecting Youth.” During the course, the young man engaged with his peers, learned that not ev-

See HOPE on page 2

MADELINE COX CHOSEN AS MISS GIBSON COUNTY 2016Here’s a statement released

by the Gibson County Fair Board:

Madison Will, reigning Miss Gibson County, informed the Gibson County Fair Board on August 22 that she would be re-linquishing her crown and title as Miss Gibson County 2016.

The Gibson County Fair Board wishes Madison Will the best as she returns to school at the University of Southern Indiana and focuses on her fu-

ture.The Gibson County Fair

Board would like to announce that Madeline Cox has been selected to represent Gibson County at the Indiana State Fair Queen Pageant held in Indianapolis on January 6-8, 2017. Madeline will assume the duties of Miss Gibson Coun-ty immediately, with her first event being the Labor Day Pa-rade to be held September 5 in Boonville.

A public meet and greet is be-ing planned by the Fair Board to meet Madeline Cox — and a ceremony will be held at that time to crown Madeline as 2016 Miss Gibson County.

Madeline Cox was second runner-up at the Miss Gibson County pageant, first runner-up Kiersten Brittingham de-clined the opportunity as Kier-sten had made other commit-ments that would be a sched-uling conflict.

State road money headed to Gibson County and Fort BranchBy Brian Paul KaufmanSG Star-Times Editoreditor@sgstartimes.com

The map has proven its worth — and then some.

Gibson County Commission-er Gerald Bledsoe received word last Tuesday that the county will receive $1 million in state match-ing funds for road work — in large measure thanks to the Gib-son County Pavement Manage-ment Plan 2016-2020 created by County Engineer John Umple-by and Geographic Information Systems Director John E. Howe.

In just eight weeks, Umpleby and Howe pulled together a five-year plan to qualify for a state Community Crossings Grant, something that’s never been cre-ated by Gibson County before. County Commissioner Gerald Bledsoe promptly taped the map to his office wall and uses it near-ly everyday.

“After all that hard work, that’s just fantastic,” said Bled-soe, just moments after learning of the bounty.

There was also some cele-brating going on in Fort Branch. Right on deadline, clerk-treasur-er Stacey Elpers submitted an application for the grant as well, hoping she could garner badly-needed road funds for her com-munity.

After receiving an email from INDOT announcing the grant awards, the Star-Times had the pleasure of informing Elpers that Fort Branch was on the list to the tune of $105,158.22 — ev-ery penny she had requested. “Really?!” said Elpers. “That is awesome!”

Ninety-nine southern Indiana cities, towns and counties are set to receive a combined $49 mil-lion to improve local roads and bridges through the fund, ac-cording to INDOT.

“Both large and small commu-nities in Southern Indiana dem-onstrated strong commitments to modernizing their roads and bridges and identified match-ing funds,” said INDOT Com-missioner Brandye Hendrick-son in a press release. “INDOT is pleased to award all of these funding requests within the pro-gram’s limit of $1 million per community.”

The local road and bridge matching grant fund was created by the Indiana General Assem-bly and signed into law by Gover-nor Mike Pence in March 2016. The grant program provides ap-proximately $160 million in fund-ing this year available to all Indi-ana cities, towns and counties on a 50/50 matching basis. Prince-ton, Pike County and Petersburg also received matching money. Petersburg got $84,195. Princ-

Marilyn Holz, financial secretary for Daughters of Isabella in Haubstadt, and the group’s re-gent, Becky Meyer (far right), honored long time member Mary Lou Pruitt this past Tuesday. Pruitt has been part of the group since 1936 — 80 years. Brian Paul Kaufman photo

Huge ‘Trucks 4 Kids’ event set to help area familiesBy Brian Paul KaufmanSG Star-Times Editoreditor@sgstartimes.com

When Trucks 4 Kids rum-bles onto the Gibson County Fairgrounds Sept. 9-11, there will be plenty of sound and fu-ry from the mean machines competing there.

But at its heart, the event is all about supporting 15 or so brave kids and their fam-ilies battling childhood dis-ease and injury, according to organizer Chris Buck.

Over three years ago, Buck, a self-proclaimed “big diesel guy,” wondered aloud to his wife whether he could someday host a benefit truck show. By the time the first one was over and with a lot of community help, the effort had raised $7,250 for Riley Hospital Children’s Health.

Through a chance meeting at a ballpark with the dad of a suffering child, Buck was led to create the Lil’ Buddies Pro-gram, the focus of Trucks 4 Kids’ fundraising efforts now. Rather than try to pay medi-cal expenses, the program’s goal is make life just a lit-tle easier for the families in these challenging situations, such as providing transpor-tation, food, lodging and gas. “Everything else associated with the struggle or journey,” he said.

And sometimes, it’s as sim-ple as a cash gift card from Casey’s. Another time, it was renting a moving van for a family who had practically taken up residence at St. Ju-de Hospital in Memphis for a year after their child’s bone marrow transplant didn’t go as well as hoped. In anoth-er instance, they paid for a child’s funeral.

Not long ago, the group do-nated $500 toward the cost of a service/companion dog for a Petersburg boy left with a crippling brain injury after he was hit by a pickup truck.

Other cases are more fa-miliar. Trucks 4 Kids has helped the family of Haub-stadt’s Laynie Speicher, who recently celebrated the two-year anniversary of her kid-ney transplant, donated by her Aunt Cindy. “Laynie’s do-ing very well,” said Buck.

And they still honor the memory of Fort Branch’s Hailee Elizabeth Cunning-ham, who passed away on March 16, 2014, from a rare childhood tumor.

“We want people to remem-ber how much (she), all these

Haubstadt women’s group honors 80-year member Mary Lou Pruitt By Brian Paul KaufmanSG Star-Times Editoreditor@sgstartimes.com

What do you do when your old-est, living member is no longer able to attend meetings?

You bring a very special meeting to her — and honor her for her 80 years of faithfulness.

And so it was that some Daugh-ters of Isabella from Circle 151 in Haubstadt gathered with their be-loved Mary Lou Pruitt at RiverO-aks Health Care in Princeton last Tuesday.

Pruitt first joined the group when she was just 16. It was the same year that Gone with the Wind was published and Jesse Owens ran in the Olympics in Hitler’s Ber-lin. She’ll soon be 96.

Fort Branch’s Becky Meyer, the group’s regent, and Marilyn Holz, financial secretary, were among those on hand to honor Pruitt — and present her with a custom-in-

scribed, glass-encased clock.Her daughter, Karen, and Kar-

en’s husband, Ed Kyle, were there and other friends came from Fer-dinand, Ind., to share the moment, memories and some coffee. She al-so had a son named George who passed away in April of 2014. Her husband, George, was well known in Haubstadt, where the couple lived — and sang in the men’s choir at Sts. Peter and Paul, ac-cording to Ann Minnis, who’s al-so a member.

Minnis dropped by RiverOaks later to deliver a card. “I’m sure Mary Lou got plenty of them,” she said.

Not long ago, Holz was going through the membership rolls when she discovered Pruitt’s amazing, long term commitment to the group. “It’s almost unprec-edented,” she said. “We wanted to honor her longevity.”

An arm of the Knights of Colum-

A-2 Top News Tuesday, August 30, 2016 South Gibson Star-Times

NEWS BRIEFS

Gibson Southern yearbooks have arrivedThe 2015-2016 Gibson

Southern High School yearbooks are in! Re-cently graduated se-niors, parents, and pa-trons who ordered a year-book may pick up these books from the Gibson Southern bookstore dur-ing the week of August 31 to September 2. All other

books that were ordered will be distributed to stu-dents during their lunch hours at school. A few extra books are on hand for those wishing to pur-chase one. The price for this 224-page book is $60. If you have questions, call Gibson Southern High School at 812-753-3011.

Workforce Development Boards to meet in September

The Workforce Devel-opment Board - Youth Committee will meet on Friday, Sept. 2, at 10 a.m. CT at Innovation Pointe, Evansville.

The Workforce De-

velopment Board - Out-reach Committee meet-ing scheduled for Friday, Sept. 2 has been changed to Friday, Sept. 9, at 8:30 a.m. CT at Innovation Pointe, Evansville.

Pre-order pork ribs or butts at the VFWPickup will be after 11

a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 17 at the VFW Post #2714 during the Vetfest. Or-

ders are being taken now at the Post up to Sept. 12. Ribs $22 and Pork Butts $25.

Habitat for Humanity hosts bike ride Sept. 17Gibson County’s Habi-

tat for Humanity is host-ing a bike ride on Satur-day, September 17 during Golden Heritage Days Festival. Registration the day of the ride starts at 7 a.m. Participants will depart from downtown Princeton at 8 a.m. You can register from now until August 30 to receive a free T-shirt. Late regis-

tration begins on August 31. For more information, contact Jim Stephens jim@clearchoicesbcd.com or Greg Goodson greg@gibsoncountyhabi-tat.net or download your registration form at www.gibsoncountyhabitat.com. Cost to enter is only $35 and supports the Habitat for Humanity efforts in Gibson County.

Princeton Golden Heritage Days Festival sign-ups underway

Sign ups for the Mini Miss and Little Miss Golden Heritage Days pageants are under way. Only a few spots are left. Little Miss ages are 6-8 and Mini Miss ages are 3-5. Contestants must live in Gibson County and cost to enter is only $40.

Heritage Feud is one of the most popular events at Heritage Days. It is played just like Fami-ly Feud except that the teams play for charity.

Prizes include 1st place $200, 2nd place $100 and 3rd/4th places each get $50. Only 16 teams can enter and you can play for any charity or fami-ly in need of medical as-sistance. Cost is only $30 and you only need 5 players to play, does not need to be the same play-ers both nights if you ad-vance.

Contact the Gibson County Chamber 812-385-2134 to enter these events.

Beautiful Baby and Cute Pet Contest at VFW Vetfest on Saturday, Sept. 17

Get your favorite photo (5x7 or smaller) of your beautiful baby (2 years and under) and or pho-to of your favorite pet. 1st and 2nd prizes will be awarded for the most votes….penny a vote.

The entry fee is $5 per entry. Drop off you pho-tos at the post on US 41 North, Fort Branch by Sept. 12. For more infor-mation contact Judy Wil-liamson at 812-664-1847.

Oak Grove Cemetery meeting to be Sept. 24On Saturday, Sept.

24, at 2 p.m., at the Old Union Christian Church, 11145 W. 800 S., Owens-ville, there will be a meet-ing concerning the Oak Grove Cemetery.

We look forward to and welcome new interest and input. Please plan to be in attendance. If however,

you are unable to attend, your continued support through your input and fi-nancial help is greatly ap-preciated. Any donations may be mailed to:

Yvonne Gardner, Trea-surer, Oak Grove Ceme-tery, 11145 W. 800 S., Ow-ensville, IN 47665.

Gibson County CCAB meeting scheduleGibson County Com-

munity Corrections Ad-visory Board will meet

on the following dates in 2016: October 20 and De-cember 8.

Upcoming event? Let us know!If your business or orga-

nization is having a public event, the South Gibson Star-Times wants to know.

Help us inform our read-

ers about the happenings right here in South Gibson.

Email editor@sgstar-times.com or call 812-753-3553.

HOPEContinued from page 1

MEMBERContinued from page 1

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eryone was using and got ex-cited about school, she said. “His Fs turned into As and Bs.”

Youth First social work-ers are very accessible to kids, she said, “and kids soon begin to believe they can trust them and find that they help support healthy decisions.”

As it turns out, the young man actually grew up around adults who were smoking pot, but needed guidance and his own inter-nal strength to make differ-ent plans and choices. “That semester-long class gave him a big boost,” she said. “He went from a bad situa-tion to something much bet-ter with the help of people who cared about him.”

Parents who are con-cerned that their children may be using drugs can look for these signs, she said:

* Changes in their phys-ical appearance. Puffy, red and watery eyes and vomit-ing are indications. Sloppi-ness or sluggishness could also be indicators.

* Changes in personality, attitude or behavior. These could include being less communicative, more irri-table or moodiness. An “I don’t care attitude” can be a tip-off, she said.

* A change in friends — particularly one that doesn’t seem for the better.

Taken by themselves, these behaviors might de-scribe just about any teen. But when they occur togeth-er, it might mean something else is going on, she said.

The best way to re-act: “Not in an angry way, but have a comfortable, straight-forward talk and explain you want to know what’s going on,” and want to help, she said.

Parents with kids go-ing through a transition-al phase, such as moving from middle school to high school, would do well to pay a little closer attention, said Black.

Peer pressure is a com-mon reason teens will try marijuana, but sometimes they’re self medicating in an attempt to deal with anx-iety, depression or stress, she said.

Some medication: re-search shows that it dam-ages brain development — and that kids who use be-fore 15 are more likely to become addicted adults, she said. “The more we can delay use, the better,” she said. Once kids start, there’s a whole other layer of consequences, she said.

Youth First helps teens rebound and develop re-siliency, coping skills and

SORTING OUT THE CONFUSION OVER MARIJUANA AND TEENS

Kyle, an eighth grader, is busy doing what he likes to do, skateboarding and hanging out with friends. His friends don’t cause too much trouble; at least, that’s what they tell his mom. But new friends have joined the group, and some are smoking marijuana.

Kyle has already tried smoking ciga-rettes, and he didn’t like it much. The idea of pot just isn’t that appealing to him. He knows drugs are bad, but still, his friends look like they’re having fun, so why not?

His dad said he smoked weed, and he turned out okay. He has a good job. What’s the big deal? It’s legal in Colorado. It can’t be all bad, right? He’s even heard it cures cancer.

Like many teens, Kyle is wrestling with the mixed messages about marijuana and the possible dangers. He’s in the middle of that internal dialogue kids often have with themselves before deciding wheth-er to experiment.

As he contemplates the options, a win-dow of opportunity opens for him to hear facts that will help protect him in the long run and help maintain the carefree life he enjoys.

In his book “Reefer Sanity,” Kevin Sa-bet, Ph.D., describes some of the risks for youth. According to the research, mari-juana use at younger ages is linked to:

• Schizophrenia and psychosis in adults.

• A decline in IQ that doesn’t come back.

• Impaired reasoning, judgment and clarity of thought.

• Later use of harder drugs like meth, heroin and cocaine.

What can parents do? First, be curious! Read and study the issues.

Researchers have found many areas of concern. THC, the psychoactive ingredi-ent in marijuana, has increased in poten-cy since 1983, when the University of Mis-sissippi began monitoring the concentra-tion in randomly selected samples from police seizures of the drug.

Years ago, concentrations averaged be-low four percent, but now a potency of 10 to 20 percent THC is not unusual. Sabet says that’s like going from drinking one “lite” beer a day to consuming a dozen shots of vodka.

One effect of the THC concentration is the increase in emergency room vis-its. Marijuana-related ER visits have in-creased nearly 25 percent in just 17 years. Marijuana-induced symptoms include anxiety and panic attacks, paranoia and

psychosis, and respiratory and cardiovas-cular distress.

What about pot’s impact on education? A New Zealand study conducted over 25 years found that just weekend use of mari-juana over a two year period increases the high school dropout risk. The same study found pot smokers were more than three times less likely to attend college than nonsmokers and more than four times less likely to earn a college degree.

The next step for parents: Be serious! A key risk factor of drug use for kids is par-ents who think it’s okay or probably not that harmful. It’s time to get serious about helping our kids make good choices.

Make your home a drug-free zone. Talk with your kids about the harmful conse-quences of marijuana use at early ages. Help them decide “not now; I don’t need it.”

Point your kids in the direction of oth-er activities and life habits that relieve stress, which is a common reason that kids use marijuana in the first place. Good alternatives are aerobic exercise, playing a musical instrument, art, prayer and maintaining a strong social network.

With all the confusing messages about marijuana right now, parents can help kids get on track with the facts and stay on track for the future when we choose to be both curious and serious.

This column is contributed by Davi Stein-Kiley, LCSW, school social worker for Youth First, Inc., of Evansville, a non-profit dedicated to strengthening youth and families. Youth First provides social workers at several South Gibson schools. Vicki Kirkman reaches out at Gibson Southern High School, Callie Sanders handles Fort Branch, Haubstadt, and Owensville Community Schools, Dee-na Bodine focuses on Princeton Mid-dle School and High School, and Teresa Mercer is at Wood Memorial Jr./Sr. High School. You can contact them by calling the main office at each of the schools — or by contacting Youth First at 812-421-8336. Youth First provides 37 Master’s level social workers to 56 schools in sev-en southwestern Indiana counties. Over 60,000 youth and families per year are served by Youth First’s school social work and after-school programs that prevent substance abuse, promote healthy behav-iors and maximize student success. To learn more about Youth First, visit www.youthfirstinc.org. For more information, you can also check out drugfree.org.

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bus, the local Daughters of Isabella “circle” is a Catholic women’s organization that meets monthly and supports various charities, including Gibson County Right to Life, the “After Prom” at Gibson Southern and other activi-ties. They even have a booth at Sommerfest, said Minn-is. Part service club, part so-cial gathering, the members also have guest speakers at meetings, often to raise awareness about important causes.

There are 363 circles or chapters in the U.S. and Canada, said Meyer, with 20 in Indiana. The Haub-stadt Circle has 81 mem-bers, she said.

The group has decided that from now on, they’ll pay Pruitt’s dues. “She deserves that,” said Holz.

Minnis remembers Mary Lou as a quiet member who pitched in where she could. “One important duty of each member is to pray for one an-other and the whole commu-nity,” she said. “I am sure Mary Lou was faithful to that calling.”

And 80-years worth is a lot of prayer.

self confidence, she said. “These are skills that help us throughout our lifetime as we are faced with tough choices,” she said.

Parents can help their kids deal with stress by rec-ognizing they’re under it in the first place, said Black. They can also make sure they’re eating right and get-ting enough sleep and exer-cise.

Frustration and anxiety lose their sting when adults help kids recognize that tough situations aren’t ca-lamities and skills are mas-tered over time, she said. Faith in God and prayer to Him builds hope, the oppo-site of anxiety.

Parents should also be quick to praise their kids and recognize when their doing good, she said. “Pay attention. They need posi-tive strokes.”

Just listening to their struggles without lectur-ing can also do a world of good, she said. “Be there for them.”

At the same time, parents need to set rules with appro-priate boundaries and con-sequences. “‘That’s not ac-ceptable in our home. Fol-lowing the rules is for your help and care,’ is clear com-munication,” she said.

“Those who get in trou-ble may look back and say it’s the best thing that ev-

er happened,” said Black. “Now they have the oppor-tunity to rethink their fu-ture decisions and choices.”

Back in the courtroom, Judge Meade talked about his “ratchet method” — meaning that if Will ends up in his court again, the pun-ishment will be worse than what she just received.

Judge Meade asked her if she had anything to say to her father, who was sit-ting behind her. She began to cry. Judge Meade then asked her father if she had apologized to him. “Many times,” he said.

1. From Youth First. 2. From the book “Reefer Sani-ty” by Kevin Sabet, Ph.D.