Banner Graphic, Volume 20, Number 91, Greencastle, Putnam County, 20 December 1989 — Page 1

Greencastle, Putnam County, Wednesday. December

New state law may make Health Board ranks more flexible

By BECKY IGO Banner-Graphic News Editor As of Jan. 1, there will be a new Putnam County Board of Health. Most likely, however, the membership will be made up of the same individuals who currently serve. BUT, ACCORDING to a new statute which goes into effect Jan. 1, the county commissioners do have a right to appoint or reappoint members to the local health board. Acknowledgement of the new statute occurred during Monday night’s commissioners’ meeting, as John Carson, Gene Beck and Don Walton looked to county attorney Bob Lowe for a legal interpretation. Basically, the new statute provides for more flexibility in who can be named to serve on county health boards. PREVIOUSLY, state law called for county boards of health to include two licensed physicians. A third member must be a licensed dentist, while the fourth must be a licensed veterinarian. The fifth member, according to the previous statute, must be a school superintendent, while two lay persons round out the sevenmember board. But beginning Jan. 1, the new statute calls for two appointees “knowledgeable in public health” with at least two of those members being “licensed to practice medicine.” TWO OTHER appointees must be selected from a category of professionals, which includes: A registered nurse. A registered pharmacist —A licensed dentist. A hospital administrator. A social worker. An attorney with expertise in health matters.

Indiana needs to triple spending on county roads, bridges:Walton

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) Repair and maintenance work needed on more than 60 percent of Indiana’s county roads and half of the county bridges would cost the state three times the amount of money it now spends annually on county roads and bridges, a new study says. The study released Tuesday by The Road Information Program recommended the state spend $3.7 billion, or $337 million annually, between now and 2000 to rebuild or rehabilitate county roads and bridges. A total of $101.4 million was spent on county roads and bridges

. Worst is yet to come Snow likely overnight with a one- or two-inch accumulation possible. Continued very cold with tow zero to 5 below. Chance of snow 60 percent. Winds becoming northwesterly at 10-15 mph. Bitterly cold Thursday. Variable cloudiness with a 30 percent chance of snow showers. High Thursday five above, falling to 5 below by evening. Indiana Extended Forecast Extremely cold Friday through Sunday. Snow showers possible in the north on Friday and early Saturday. Highs 5 below to 5 above Friday; lows 10 to 15 below. Highs zero to 5 above Saturday; tows 10 to 15 below. Highs 10 to 15 Sunday; lows near 5 below. Partly cloudy in the south on Friday and mostly clear statewide on Saturday.

Courthouse to be closed In observance of Christmas, the Putnam County Courthouse will be closed Monday and Tuesday. Courthouse offices will resume normal working hours beginning Wednesday morning.

—A school superintendent A licensed veterinarian. A professional engineer. Or, an environmental scientist. ONCE MORE, TWO appointees must be members of the general public, while the seventh member can be selected from either category. Lowe did advise that, according to the new statute, the commissioners are required to appoint a local board of health by Jan. 1. “You could use some of the same people,” he added, saying he was not suggesting anyone be removed. It was later noted by Walton that the individuals must again evenly represent both political parties. LOWE AGREED. “There must be either four Democrats and three Republicans, or four Republicans and three Democrats,” he pointed out. In addition, Lowe said the mem - bers appointed Jan. 1 will take office at that time and begin fouryear terms as of that dale. Presently serving on the board are Dr. Greg Larkin and Dr. Robert Heavin, both licensed physicians. Dr. Don Brattain, a veterinarian and current board president, also serves, while Dr. Tom Graffis, a dentist, is also a member. Col. 4, back page, this section

in fiscal 1987, the last year for which full data are available, the study said. “WE ARE IN desperate need of road funding,” said Don Walton of Cloverdale, a Putnam County commissioner and president of the Association of Indiana Counties. Walton said county officials would like to see 25 percent of the state’s lottery proceeds devoted to cities, towns and counties and to halt the diversion of $42 million annually in motor vehicle highway funds to the operating budget of the Indiana State Police. Leon Beaty, a Shelby County highway contractor and member of

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Index Abby AS Calendar A 4 Classified 84, B 5 Comics A 4 Crossword B 5 Farm B 6 Hetoise AS Horoscope B 5 Obituaries A 8 People A 6 Sports 81J82J83.84 TV A 7 Theaters AS

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Sticky fingers and smiling faces are the order of the day for a class at Peace Lutheran Preschool, where youngsters’ pre-Christmas thoughts were occupied

City to take effort door to door

By ERIC BERNSEE Banner-Graphic Editor Like the Avon lady or the Fuller Brush man, members of the Greencastle City Council will soon be going door to door. The Council won’t be peddling any wares just hows and whys as it sells Greater East Side residents on the possibility of a sewer separation project in Commercial Place. Members of the Council Tuesday night agreed to personally carry in-

the Build Indiana Council, said the state might also consider raising the gasoline tax 5 cents a gallon, with proceeds going to county road and bridge maintenance. Other states in the Midwest have done that to help local road projects, he said. GOV. EVAN BAYH has said he favors using some of the lottery revenues for road and bridge improvements for the state and county road networks. However, Bayh and legislative leaders of both parties have made it clear they won’t support a tax increase. The study also recommends the Col. 1, back page, this section

It’s truly the season of miracles ...

By ERIC BERNSEE Banner-Graphic Editor Face it, life’s no Norman Rockwell portrait Husbands and wives are destined to battle over the checkbook, the toilet seat and me Christmas tree. It’s a fact of life. The checkbook point is moot, what with nothing left to argue about. And it’s tough to take a stand in the toilel-seat issue now that we’re a three-bathroom family. But the Christmas tree. Ah, that’s another story. EACH YEAR I COME away, ego bruised from the inability to make a pine tree look like anything but the Leaning Tower of Pisa in our Ronco tree stand. Pine needle scratches on hands, arms and chin make me look more like the loser in a catfight than someone who’s spent an hour or two rolling around on the family room floor in a noble effort to uphold the laws of physics. But verbal abuses leave the deepest wounds. A not-so-patient family of spectators can’t take frustrations out on the tree, so they pick the next best thing. They test my patience by hanging ornaments before the tree’s past the threshold. They try my sanity by pleading that the tree be squeezed as close as possible to the wall and then complaining there’s no room to string lights and garland. LAST YEAR THEY EVEN tried to trick

for the moment, anyway by the chance to create gingerbread houses. Brandon Coffman (right) eagerly fingers the icing to add snow to the roof of his house, while

come surveys door to door to question Commercial Place residents. The income survey is part of the application process for the Community Focus Fund of the Small Cities Community Development Block Grant Program. CITY OFFICIALS HAVE targeted the Commercial Place sewer project for a $300,000 grant being sought from the Community Focus Fund. But in order to qualify for one of the 15 funded projects this year, city officials need to substan-

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DON WALTON Counties need funds

Daze Work

me. They thought: We’ll let dear old dad put up his old electric train around the tree, tell us a few “when-I-was-a-kid” stories and then finish decorating before reminiscence turns to frustration. It didn’t work. We were about one-hundredth of an inch short of train track. And squeezing the available metal together regardless of that shortage only created a derailment eve.v other time the American Flyer rounded the tree ’kin. Derailing train smashed into stacked Loxes, which pushed into teetering tree stand, w'lich sent leaning pine flying into nearby con v, smashing ornaments and crushing garland. NEEDLESS TO SAY, the train stayed in the box this year. Things are tough enough without it.

tiate the population and income range of the area to be served. That’; why Mayor Mike Harmless Tuesday night pledged to go door to door on one of the Avenues (A-G) himself as resittents are surveyed for range of income and numbers in their household. Those figures will be held confidential and kept in a sealed envelope, he said. Councilwoman Sue Murray quickly agreed to participate in the door-to-door effort to ensure its confidentiality and accuracy.

Query’s to help put drinkers ‘in tow’

By BECKY IGO Banner-Graphic News Editor While most people only talk of doing something about drunk driving, Randy and Ken Query go one better. The two men, who operate Query’s Towing Service at their Phillips 66 station in Greencastle, will again participate in “Towing Operators Working to Eliminate Drunk Driving,” otherwise known as TOWED. THE PROGRAM is a national public service campaign of TOWED Inc. and is sponsored by the Towing and Recovery Association of America.

Miranda Butler (left, rear) and Jason Lotz join others in the creative activity. (BannerGraphic photo by Gary Goodman).

AND WHEN Councilman Bob Sedlack agreed to assist “as soon as the weather breaks,” the mayor said the effort is even more urgent than that “We may have to bundle up and get out and do it," Harmless said, indicating the city’s application needs to be completed by Jan. 15 “We need this information to be very competitive for the grant.” Harmless said he expects the door-to-door survey to be conducContinued on Page A 7

The Querys’ part in TOWED begins 24 hours per day Dec. 24 through Jan. 1, peak times of the holiday season when some people are inclined to drink excessively. As a participant in TOWED, Query’s Towing Service will pick up anyone unsure of their ability to drive home. After receiving a call at the Phillips 66 station (6533087), Query or his staff will come to the location where the person is making the call. The towing service is not only offering a free vehicle tow, but will also provide a ride home for that person. “IT’S NOT THAT WE condone Col. 1, back page, this section

I mean, it’s proven fact that no Christmas tree ever grown grew straight. And no tree ever fit its stand without benefit of hacksaw and perspiration. Armed with this knowledge, we held out this year as long as possible before heading to the tree lot. Of course, it had to be the coldest day of the year as we struggled to select from the half-dozen remaining prospects. Amazingly, tempers cooled no doubt by sub-zero temperatures and a primal need to seek shelter never boiled over. We tossed an eight-footer in the back of the trucx, Leaded home and began tree surgery. A saw or two, an ax and a hammer later, the tree was wedged into its stand. We dragged it upstairs, tossed it in the comer and miracle of miracles it stood erect. Nary was heard a discouraging word. Out came the ornaments. The lights. The garland. Holy Glasnot! Maybe the tumbling of the Berlin Wall had rubbed off on us. No fighting, no bickering. Just peace on Earth, goodwill to men (or at least man). IT WAS TIME TO STAND back and admire our creation. Somebody find Norman Rockwell. Throw a log on the fire. Bring me a hot cocoa. Maestro, some Christmas music ... The seven-year-old’s voice pierced this Continued on Page A 7