Banner Graphic, Volume 22, Number 178, Greencastle, Putnam County, 31 March 1992 — Page 1

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The newest appointee to the Greencastle School Board, Marilynn Sturgeon (left), is congratulated by Greencastle Township Trustee Thelma Bumgardner following Monday afternoon's action of the township advisory committee. Mrs. Sturgeon will succeed present advisory board appointee Dorothy Brown, whose four-year school board term will expire June 30. (Ban-ner-Graphic photo by Joe Thomas).

Marilynn Sturgeon appointed to Greencastle School Board

By JOE THOMAS Banner*Graphic Assistant Editor Lifelong Greencastle resident Marilynn Sturgeon has been selected to replace GCSC School Board member Dorothy Brown, effective July 1, it was announced Monday afternoon. She was appointed to a four-year term on the board by the Greencastle Township Advisory Board. “YOU JUST GET to talking and you want to know if there is someone out there who can really do something for the schools,” said Thelma Bumgardner, Greencastle Township trustee. “It’s nice to spread it around and to get new people,” she added, explaining why the advisory board voted the replace Mrs. Brown after one term. Township Advisory Board member Austin Kircher said Mrs. Sturgeon was his pick for the position. He said he called her in late February and asked her if she would be interested in serving on the school board. “I felt she represented the kind of person we need on the school

Library Board still pondering adjacent property

By LISA MEYER Banner-Graphic Staff Writer As the Putnam County Public Library Board approved its monthly claims Monday night, the board was also approving another step in its building expansion project Among the claims was a $250 fee for Max Boots of Crawfordsville to appraise some property east of the library. That property contains the former Tzouanakis house, now the office of Alan Stanley and Associates engineers. THAT PROPERTY is among adjacent locations the library board has mentioned as it considers expanding the existing Carnegie building, which was constructed in 1902.

Board president Suzanne Bates said that the board had discussed the appraisal move in a recent executive session. She pointed out that the appraisal did not include the nearby Presbyterian Church property, which Boots has already

Silence of (March) lambs

Variable cloudiness, breezy and colder overnight with a 40 . percent chance of light snow and C lows in the upper 20s. Mostly cloudy and cold Wednesday with April Fool’s Day snow flurries possible and a high of 35 to 40 degrees. Indiana Extended Forecast Thursday through Saturday. Clear and unseasonably cold Thursday. Partly cloudy and wanner Friday and Saturday with a chance of rain or snow north and rain south. Daily highs will range from the middle 30s to middle 40s Thursday, warm-

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board,” Kircher said. “She has a good, level head on her and she’ll do what we need done on that board.” MRS. BUMGARDNER said she and her advisory board have been working on their appointment for about six months. She said the advisory board received and reviewed as many as five resumes from potential candidates. However, neither Mrs. Bumgardner nor the board ever received any communication from Mrs. Brown, Mrs. Bumgardner said. Kircher recalled contacting Mrs. Sturgeon about the seat on the appointed school board. “She told me she wanted a week to think about it,” Kircher said. “In. a little less than a week, she called me back ..." advising him of her willingness to serve. THE ADVISORY board, composed of Kircher, Bob Abright and Paul Gould, voted unanimously to appoint Mrs. Sturgeon. Under the Greencastle school system’s charter, the township appoints two board members, while the Greencastle City Council ap-

appraised at the request of the library board. Negotiations between Presbyterian Church representatives and the library board for purchase of the church property are continuing. The library board voted last year to pursue the purchase of that property, southeast of the library, after a fire on Aug. 29, 1990 destroyed the church building. Only the church’s Christian education center remains at the site. The Presbyterians will be moving later this year to a facility presently under construction along Round Bam Road. EXPANSION OF the small library has been a recurring topic of the library board in recent years, as has the funding of a building project. Looking toward the project’s future funding, board member Carroll Fordice said he was concerned that sdme recent disagreement between the county and Greencastle city officials on funding a county jail building project might have negative repercussions on the library project

ing to the 40s to 50s by Saturday. Lows will range from the teens to middle 20s Thursday morning, warming to the upper 20s to middle 30s by Saturday morning. Abby AS Calendar AS Classifieds AB,A9 Comics A 4 Crossword A 9 Hekrise AS Horoscope A 9 Obituaries AlO People A 4 Sports A7,AB Theaters AlO

points two members. The Madison Township Advisory Board appoints the fifth member of the board. Last year, Mrs. Bumgardner announced the reappointment of Bayard Allen, who will be the lon-gest-serving school board member in GCSC history by the end of his current term. COINCIDENTALLY, Alien’s father, Bayard Allen Sr., served on the school board with Mrs. Sturgeon’s mother, Eleanor Ballard, in the late 1950 s and early 19605, Mrs. Sturgeon said. They were part of the school board that built Greencastle High School in 195859. Mrs. Sturgeon’s father, the late Walter Ballard, served as mayor of Greencastle from 1944 until 1949, Mrs. Sturgeon said. “Education .is coming to the forefront, what with the national government acting on it,” Mrs. Sturgeon said, an apparent reference to President Bush’s America 2000 initiative and the six national education goals agreed upon by the president at the 50 Col. 3, back page, this section

After Hours at Walden Inn The Greencastle Chamber of Commerce will have its Business After Hours meeting from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 31 (tonight) at the Walden Inn. Hosting the social gathering for Chamber members and guests will be Pershing and Co. and Greencastle Decorating.

As a resident of northern Putnam County, Fordice said he feels Greencastle’s rejection of sharing its County Economic Development Income Tax money with the county to build a jail may lead to a countywide rejection of property taxes to build a library. The additional property tax burden to fund a jail project may make a library project financed by property taxes, unbearable to taxpayers, he said.

No permission at second residence

By JOE THOMAS Banner-Graphic Assistant Editor The second person mentioned by accused baby shaker Jeffrey Scott Carr as offering a potential incounty residence should he be released from Putnam County Jail on bond has said Carr did not receive her permission to stay with her. Judy Carrico, Roachdale, told the Banner-Graphic Monday night that neither Carr nor anyone in his family had even talked with her about Carr staying at her home pending his jury trial. CARR IS CURRENTLY being held in jail on $250,000 bond on a charge of aggravated battery. He allegedly shook an eight-month-old baby boy on March 1, causing the

30-inmate cap proving costly, sheriff reports

By ANGIE HOWLAND Banner-Graphic Staff Writer The Putnam County Jail is a little quieter these days as the population hovers around 30 inmates instead of the usual 50. Those numbers have not declined over the last three weeks because of fewer crimes being committed but because of Putnam County inmates being housed in neighboring county jails at Putnam County’s expense. Sheriff Richard Lyon told County Commissioners Gene Beck, Don Walton and Dennis O’Hair Monday morning that the county can expect to pay about SIO,OOO- - a month in room and board to the neighboring counties that are housing Putnam County prisoners. CURRENTLY, THE county owes Hendricks, Morgan and Owen counties close to $5,000 for nine prisoners being housed in those three facilities for about three weeks. Costs at the jails range from $35 to S4O a day, Lyon said. Some inmates that have already been sentenced or do not have any court dates in the near future are being sent to neighboring county jails to try and keep the jail’s inmate population to 30. THAT 30-INMATE cap on the 52-year old jail was recommended by the commissioners earlier this month as a second “good-faith effort” to plaintiffs who filed a

Gang activity discussion on P.LE. breakfast menu

The last siring breakfast of the P.I.E. Coalition is set for 7-8 a.m. Friday, April 3 at the Double Decker restaurant. Earl Williams, superintendent of South Putnam schools, is scheduled to talk about gang activities.

Fordice said he is leaning toward building two sub-libraries out in the county rather than expand the Greencastle facility. A library in Cloverdale and a library in the northern part of the county could better serve the patrons of the county, he said. “IF THE TAXPAYERS in the outer rim are going to pay taxes, they should get service,” Fordice said. Board member Dan Doan agreed that the library project could fall victim to the CEDIT squabble, but he added that the library should not get involved in what seems to be a “county-city barnyard basketball game.” Board member Betty Easton and Mrs. Bates added that they are in favor of expanding a central library for the county, while board member Kirby pointed out that book stock for branch libraries could be costly. LIBRARY DIRECTOR Ellen Sedlack said that all of the board members comments bear consideration by the board.

child severe head injuries. The baby remains in Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis, although doctors reportedly are hopeful in their prognosis for the boy. On March 25, he asked Judge William C. Vaughn 111 to consider lowering that bond. At that hearing, he said he would live with his mother, whose address is a Bloomingdale post office box in Parke County. However, if Vaughn released him on the condition he remain in Putnam County, Carr testified he could stay with Carrico or with New Maysville resident Glenna Warren. Mrs. Warren has already said she did not give Carr permission to live her her and her husband. MONDAY NIGHT, Ms. Carrico

federal, class-action lawsuit against the county in November 1990. That lawsuit, which alleges overcrowded and unconstitutional living conditions, spurred county officials to look to build a new facility and settle the suit. But after over a year of investigation into the county’s needs for a new jail, the commissioners decided to put the project on hold for lack of a financial commitment by the City of Greencastle through the County Economic Development Income Tax. The inmate cap, however, could prove costly to the county. SHERIFF LYON told the Ban-ner-Graphic that the money to pay the neighboring counties will come out of the jail operations budget but that fund soon will run out He said he will have to approach the County Council for more money to make the payments. “This limit is to try and keep the jail out of trouble with the federal courts,” Lyon said. “But I hate having to do it because it’s just like throwing money into the street.” County Auditor Myrtle Cockrell said that money is available now, but the county is facing a tight budget the rest of the year. The “hold status” of the jail project, has also resulted in the lawsuit discussion to be taken back a notch. THE PLAINTIFFS’ attorney, Christopher Haile of the Legal Services Organization, said settling the

He will discuss problems gangs can create in communities, ways of detecting thenorigins, and strategies for dealing with them. The meeting is open to the public. Participants order from the menu.

She added that the board should also look at the finances of replacing the aging bookmobile. It was recently serviced at a local garage, she said, but it died in Russellville and would not start on Monday. The vehicle is more than 10 years old. The bookmobile staff will be going to a seminar in Ohio this summer, Mrs. Sedlack said, and they will also be attending the next library board meeting to talk about the vehicle. Estimates on purchasing a new bookmobile figure the vehicle costing about SBO,OOO. ANOTHER FUTURE expenditure to consider, she added, is a new copy machine to replace the library’s 10-year-old copier. In financial matters, the library board learned that library should make it through the first half of the year without needing a bank loan to cover cash flow. Mrs. Sedlack asked the board to transfer $15,000 from savings to checking. On Wednesday, the Col. 2, back page, this section

said, “I have two teen-age daughters. I can’t allow any guy to stay here.” She speculated that Carr used her name in court on March 25 because they knew each other from working at Ladoga Health Care. However, she said she did not know for certain why her name came up during the court hearing. Carr offered both names to Judge Vaughn during the March 25 hearing, and both Mrs. Warren and Ms. Carrico were contacted by Carr’s family several hours after the hearing. Both Mrs. Warren and Ms. Carrico say they denied their permission for Carr to stay with them. DAVID MEADOWS, invesCol. 5, back page, this section

suit will now have to be rethought “Now, we are not looking to settle,” he said. He did say that the voluntarily cap of 30 inmates in the jail is a first step in solving the problems but “the community has to ask if the facility is adequate to meet the needs of the community and the inmates.” “Everyone was in anticipation that this would be resolved but now we have to rethink the matter,” Haile said since the project has been put on hold. A pre-trial conference between the plaintiffs and defendants has been set for May 12. If a settlement is not reached, the matter could go to trial. ACCORDING TO County Attorney Robert Lowe, a trial “may run into the thousands of dollars” for the county. The attorney said that the county has an uphill battle to climb if the case goes to trial since the 52-year-old facility is simply not able to meet the needs of space that is required of a jail today. If the county loses the court battle, Lowe said the county would have to pay its attorney fees and the defendants’ fees. Lowe also said that at a trial the judge would probably order the county how to run the current jail, and “at that point we would wish that we had built a jail.” MEANWHILE, Lyon said he is Col. 2, back page, this section

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DR. 808 E. SMILEY GMA luncheon speaker

ISU business chairman to address GM A Dr. Bob Smiley, department chairman and professor of marketing at the Indiana State University School of Business, will be the guest speaker Wednesday when the Greencastle Merchants Association holds a noon luncheon meeting at Walden Inn. THE LUNCHEON is open to GMA members and non-mem-bers alike. Cost of the buffet meal is $7. Persons planning to attend are asked to make reservations by calling Merchants Association President Judy Wilson (6536418). Smiley will speak on “Beating the Wal-Marts at Their Own Game.” The ISU professor has had experience in assisting merchants in areas dominated by Wal-Mart and/or Sam’s Wholesale Club. “REST ASSURED there is an answer,” he said, “and it is one your firms can accomplish.” A Purdue University graduate who majored in consumer science and retailing, Smiley plans to outline that answer at Wednesday’s luncheon. A former assistant professor of economics at Wabash College (1973-79), Smiley is the founding president of Wabash Valley Marketing Association. He is also a licensed Indiana real estate broker.