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OBITUARY Of BETTY JO GEER
OBITUARY Of BETTY JO GEER
by Koehler Funeral Homes, Chandler and Boonville
Chandler, IN- Betty Jo Geer, 75 of Chandler, Indiana passed away on Wednesday, May 1, 2019 at Woodmont Health Campus after being lifted up and loved by her close friends and amazing caregivers for the past two years.
Betty was born on November 14, 1943 to the late John and Mary (Delano) Francis.
Betty was preceded in death by her brothers, parents, and husband, Alvie Ray Geer.
Betty is survived by her nieces, Vicki, Debbie, Cindy, Sharon and their families.
She was a long-time member and Sunday school helper at Cypress Baptist Church in Boonville, Indiana who invited everyone she met to visit her church family. Betty loved taking care of many Warrick County families as a housekeeper and later in life as a Home Instead Care Giver. Betty loved listening to gospel music, playing card games, and visiting with friends.
Services will be 10 A.M. on Saturday, May 4, 2019 at Koehler Funeral Home, Perigo Chapel in Chandler, Indiana with Rev. Glen Flowers officiating. Burial will be at Greenwood Cemetery in Chandler, Indiana.
Visitation will be from 4 P.M. until 8 P.M. on Friday, May 3, 2019 at the funeral home and from 9 A.M. until the time of service on Saturday.
Memorial contributions can be made to Gilda’s Club Evansville to aide community members struggling with cancer.
To send flowers to the family of Betty Jo Geer, please visit Tribute Store.
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Breaking News: Clark County Judges Among 5 Shot, Wounded in Indianapolis
IL for www.theindianalawyer.com
Indianapolis police say, five people, including two judges from a southern Indiana county, were shot and wounded in three overnight shootings.
Police spokeswoman Officer Genae Cook says two Clark County judges were shot early Wednesday in the parking lot of a downtown Indianapolis White Castle restaurant. One of the men was hospitalized in critical condition and the other was in stable condition. The News and Tribune report the wounded judges are Brad Jacobs of Clark Circuit Court 2 and Drew Adams of Clark Circuit Court 1.
Cook said the men were attending a judicial conference in Indianapolis when they were shot following a disturbance at a nearby bar. She said detectives found no evidence suggesting they were targeted because they are judges.
The Indiana Supreme Court released a statement Wednesday morning following news of the shooting.
“Indiana Chief Justice Loretta Rush received terrible news this morning that two Indiana judicial officers were victims of a shooting overnight,†the high court said. “The Indiana Judicial Branch holds educational conferences throughout the year and judges from across the state are in Indianapolis for one of the continuing education learning sessions that begins today. Chief Justice Rush expressed her deep sadness upon learning of this violence and is meeting with the victims’ families.â€
Police said three other people were shot early Wednesday in two separate shootings. One of those victims was in good condition, while the conditions of the two others were not immediately available.
Future IS IT TRUE lead contamination
EVANSVILLE, Ind. — A new health report on lead and arsenic contaminated soil in Evansville says Vanderburgh County children have higher blood lead levels compared to statewide numbers.
A public health assessment by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), a federal public health agency, said Vanderburgh’s high blood lead levels in children indicate there is a higher exposure to lead and that it is a health hazard.
It casts the high blood lead levels as an environmental justice issue, linking risk of exposure in some of the city’s most affected areas to aging housing, poverty and race.
IS IT TRUE that on July 28, 2019, we posted an article covering  A new health report on lead and arsenic-contaminated soil in Evansville that says Vanderburgh County children have higher blood lead levels compared to statewide numbers?  …that a public health assessment by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), a federal public health agency, said Vanderburgh’s high blood lead levels in children indicate there is a higher exposure to lead and that it is a health hazard. … that It casts the high blood lead levels as an environmental justice issue, linking risk of exposure in some of the city’s most affected areas to aging housing, poverty, and race.  …that more than 64 percent of residents in the Jacobsville contamination site live in older housing where there can be lead in paint and plumbing.  …that nearly 21 percent of the population there lives in poverty?
According to the report:
- More than 64 percent of residents in the Jacobsville contamination site live in older housing where there can be lead in paint and plumbing.
- Nearly 21 percent of the population there lives in poverty.
- About 27 percent of people there are black, compared with 11 percent black in all of Evansville.
Nearly 7 percent of children in all of Vanderburgh County were found to have high blood lead levels compared to 4 percent statewide in 2014-2015, according to the report.
Vanderburgh County has the eighth largest population in Indiana. In the 10 most populated counties in the state, only St. Joseph County had a higher rate of blood lead levels, the report notes.
The area has been slowly undergoing cleanup through the EPA’s Superfund program as funding becomes available. Twelve years and $60 million dollars after the cleanup began, the project is still several years away from completion.
Named for the Jacobsville neighborhood between the Lloyd Expressway, First Avenue, Diamond Avenue and Garvin Street where contamination was first found, the site has grown to include a 4.5-square-mile area surrounding Downtown.
Jena Sleboda Braun, the EPA’s remedial project manager for the cleanup, said the worst properties in the heart of the Jacobsville neighborhood have already been addressed.
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“We have been working outward from there. We are finding the contamination is less intensive the further out we go,” she said.
EPA testing found residential soils in the area are contaminated with lead and arsenic partly due to air pollution from former foundries and factories operating in the area from the late 1800s up to 1990.
More than 5,000 properties have been tested so far and about 2,450 have been cleaned up, the EPA said. This includes homes, parks and daycare facilities. An estimated 300 will be tested and 400 cleaned up in 2019. Workers remove and replace the first two feet of soil where properties have tested unsafe.
Sleboda Braun said cleanup work is expected to take another five years.
It is unknown how many people may have been affected specifically by the contaminated soil, but the ATDSR considers the exposure risk high. Lead poisoning affects the brain, nervous system and kidneys.
The ATSDR says children in Jacobsville area yards who swallow soil and dust containing lead could experience slower growth and development, hearing damage and attention and learning problems. The problem extends to pregnant women who may ingest lead-contaminated soil, creating similar effects in unborn children.
There is no known safe level of lead in children’s blood, the ATSDR report said.
People exposed to arsenic in soil over long periods of time might be at a slightly increased risk of skin, liver, bladder and lung cancer, according to the report.
Vanderburgh County’s participation rate in childhood blood screenings for lead has decreased, similar to Indiana as a whole, according to the report.
However, the federal health agency noted the Vanderburgh County Health Department offers lead screening for free, along with public education programming.
The health department also received a $675,000 grant to remediate homes with lead-based paint in 2018.
In 2017, Evansville passed an ordinance bringing its powers and procedures for reporting, monitoring and preventing lead poisoning in line with the state’s, including authority to issue citations with fines.
Health Department Administrator Joe Gries did not return Courier & Press phone calls to discuss the report.
“READERS FORUM” May 1, 2019
We hope that today’s “READERS FORUMâ€Â will provoke honest and open dialogue concerning issues that we, as responsible citizens of this community, need to address in a rational and responsible way.
HERE’S WHAT’S ON OUR MIND TODAY
 It has been well documented that the Weinzapfel Administration saddled the incoming Winnecke Administration with an unholy trilogy of unfinished business.   In a couple of days, we will re-publish some classic “IS IT TRUE” that will prove to be particularly on point on how many problems that former Mayor Weinzapfel created for Mr. Winnecke when he became Mayor of Evansville. Â
WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND TODAY?
Todays “Readers’ Poll†question is: Should the City Council have known who is paying for the $3 million dollar costs to dismantle the dock at Marina Pointe before approving the move of the LST to the Tropicana area?
Please go to our link of our media partner Channel 44 News located in the upper right-hand corner of the City-County Observer so you can get the up-to-date news, weather, and sports.
If you would like to advertise on the CCO please contact us at City-County Observer@live.com
Vanderburgh County Commissioners Approve Road Paving and Repairs List
Vanderburgh County Commissioners Approve Road Paving and Repairs List
Evansville, IN-Â The Vanderburgh County Commissioners have approved the largest road paving and repairs list in more than fifteen years.Â
A total of thirty-four miles of county roadway will be repaired in 2019 at a cost of $4.9 million. These projects will be funded by INDOT Community Crossing funds, county highway funds, local road and street funds, and TIF funds.
 “After listening to the many needs of our great citizens of Vanderburgh County through numerous road hearings, these road improvements are invaluable to the infrastructure of our community,†said Ben Shoulders, President of the Board of Commissioners.Â
The list of over 45 roads includes roads in Melody Hills subdivision, a project for which bids were opened at today’s meeting. In addition, West Haven subdivision, St. Joe Avenue, St. Wendell Road, Browning Road and Boonville New Harmony Road will all see repairs.Â
“The approved paving list provides County residents with a good mix of needed repairs within subdivisions as well as repairs to through roads that carry higher volumes of county traffic,â€Â said County Engineer John Stoll.
“This is a great day for our roads and for Vanderburgh County. We ask for the community’s patience and for motorists to be mindful of the safety of our road workers throughout this process,†Said Commissioner Shoulders.Â
Attached below is the link to the paving and repair list  for this caalendar year for Vqanderburgh County.Â
Governor Signs $34.6 Billion Dollar Budget Into Law
Governor Signs $34.6 Billion Dollar Budget Into Law
TheStatehouseFile.com
 INDIANAPOLIS — Standing with legislative leaders under the Indiana Statehouse Rotunda, Gov. Eric Holcomb signed the state’s next two-year budget into law Monday, an act that cemented a balanced budget for the eighth consecutive year.
“Our state strategy to grow continues to define how we structure ourselves,†Holcomb said about the finalized budget, a central component to much of the legislation crafted in the recently-concluded session. “We are nimble and we cannot just act, we can react to the lay of the land and, in fact, get things done.â€
The $34.6 billion budget sought to address one of the state’s largest challenges by increasing K-12 funding, with the hope that those funds bump up teacher pay. A main selling point for lawmakers has been the new $763 million added for K-12 education, which already constitutes about half the state’s spending priorities. It includes a plan initially introduced by Holcomb to use $150 million to pay down pension liabilities, freeing that money for other needs including salaries.
It also places more than $2 billion into the state’s reserves.
The budget was almost exclusively crafted by Republican lawmakers, with many provisions offered by the Democratic caucus ignored, voted down or removed at the last minute during the legislative session.
Senate President Pro Tempore Rodric Bray, R-Martinsville, and House Speaker Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, expressed their enthusiasm for the early end to the legislative session, which concluded five days ahead of schedule on Wednesday, April 24.
“We hope to finish five days early make up for one day last year,†Bosma joked, referring to 2018 when lawmakers were forced to hold a one-day special session to resolve unfinished issues including Sunday alcohol sales and emergency funding for school safety improvements.
“There are usually about 20 issues that are irresolvable without any input, and that just didn’t happen this year,†he said.
At a news conference after the signing, Holcomb outlined other legislative items that fell into his “Next Level 2019Agenda†which covers improvements to the state’s economy, infrastructure, education and career development, public health and government.
Among the legislative actions approved by Holcomb are 100-percent exemptions from state income taxes for veteran pensions, broadband internet expansion in rural areas and additional direct domestic and international flights from Indianapolis to bolster economic development.
Holcomb has also signed numerous other bills, including a firearm measure that he signed April 26 before a cheering crowd at the National Rifle Association’s annual convention. The measure, outlined in House Bill 1284, would provide civil immunity to citizens who kill or injure another person in self-defense.
But Holcomb said several bills that arrived at his desk gave him pause, including the massive gambling and casino bill and a proposal involving carbon capture and storage at certain manufacturing facilities.
 “I want to make sure I read every word of those particular bills,†Holcomb said. “They’re big, major, good economic development bills, but I want to make sure I read them for myself.â€
Asked if he planned on vetoing any legislation, Holcomb said he had no plans to do so at this time but is still reviewing bills. He has seven days to sign after the legislation reaches his desk. If he chooses to not sign a bill, it will become law by default.
Footnote: Erica Irish is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.
