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Obituary for Bobette Jennings Wood

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Obituary for Bobette Jennings Wood

by Mason Brothers Funeral Homes-Evansville, Ind.

Bobette (Jennings) Wood, a long-time resident of the Evansville-Henderson area died March 15, 2019, at Good Samaritan Nursing Home. Born in 1932, Bobette loved children and worked in childcare services much of her life. “Bobbie” was also a prolific painter and artist. Over the years, she produced many oil paintings and gave them out of love to her family and friends. Bobette loved all kinds of music and danced and sang along whenever she could. Mother was full of love and lived to spread that love to others who were lucky enough to meet and be around her.

In her last years, she attended Cleaves Memorial C.M.E. Church. She was treated with much love from this church. Her attendance brought her joy and peace.

While married to John Burley Scales, Bobette had three children: John Erick, Rebecca Joan, and Burley Jane. She later married Virgil Wood and had a happy marriage with him for many years.

She is preceded in death by her parents: Edward and Delia Jennings; her sister: Joann Payne; and a brother: Edward Jennings.

In addition to her three children, Bobette is survived by two grandsons: John Michael Scales and Joshua Allen Scales; three great-grandchildren; as well as nieces and nephews.

VANDERBURGH COUNTY RECENT BOOKING RECORDS

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http://www.vanderburghsheriff.com/recent-booking-records.aspx

IS IT TRUE MARCH 20,2019

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We hope that today’s “IS IT TRUE” 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?
IS IT TRUE at Monday’s City Council meeting Finance Chairman Jonathan Weaver said; “as of February 29, 2019, the City’s General Fund has a deficit of more than $10 million dollars”?
IS IT TRUE if your CEO of a for-profit Corporation and you just found out that your company has a $10 million dollars deficit we bet you would immediately fire the Controller of his Corporation?  …all we heard from the Mayor of Evansville concerning this $10 million dollars deficit issue are crickets?
IS IT TRUE OldMustangMan posted this comment on Facebook that was made by the “Deputy Mayor” of Evansville?  …the “Deputy Mayor’ of Evansville said;  “Wait for a sec……let’s wait to criticize before the article is updated with comments from the Administration. For the record, the 2017 audit was a “clean” audit by the SBOA. The comment of “overdrawn accounts” has been included by the SBOA for decades at least since 1997. This Administration has put together a corrective action plan to fix the issue that has been occurring for decades, across multiple Administrations and City Councils.”
IS IT TRUE that it has not always been the subject of local mainstream media that the City of Evansville has consistently run negative balances in several key accounts and the hole is getting deeper? …according to some Facebook posts by Deputy Mayor Steve Schaffer, this sort of deficient accounting practice has been going on since 2001 and that being the case the old “we have always done things wrong so that makes us right” argument is being floated on social media? …most of us grew up with parents that taught us that just because Johnny smoke pot doesn’t mean it is okay to smoke pot? …the same idiocy follows that just because Johnny is up to his eyeballs in debt doesn’t mean it is okay to perpetually run accounts with negative balances? …the City of Evansville General Fund now has a negative balance of $10,025,916 which is about the same depth that the hole was last year?…the Downtown Master TIF has dropped over $2 million to a negative balance of $1,272,577 from a positive balance of $758,000 at this time last year?…perhaps the most insulting and damaging negative balance that went $256,000 deeper into the red since last year with a balance of NEGATIVE $3,876,935?…what is most disturbing is that the City of Evansville has managed to keep this situation out of the limelight?
IS IT TRUE that the CCO warned about the pending deficit spending disaster of the City of Evansville for several years?…former Councilman John Friend, CPA also warned that this was deficit spending disaster was coming for many years? …it seems that the only member of the current City Council who recognizes and admits to these deficiencies is At-Large Councilman and City Council Finance Chairman, Jonathan Weaver?…we wonder what our former banker Mayor Lloyd Winnecke thinks of a city that overdraws its accounts by over $10 million and keeps on spending like there is no tomorrow?
IS IT TRUE that the secrets about the appraisals surrounding the former CVS on North Main that was leased by DaVita Dialysis Center for $1,600 per month is maddening?…by connecting the statements of DMD Director Kelley Course, it can be surmised that the City of Evansville and DaVita Dialysis Center have spent about $2 million dollars to purchase and refurbish this building?  …this building is now on sale and bids are being solicited based on the value of the building based on the cash income method?…income real estate is often valued based on the CAP rate which in Evansville is between 8 and 12 times the annual gross revenue potential?…the lease rate of $1.600 per month at a CAP rate of 10 would yield a value of only $192,000 for this building that supposedly has over $2 million in it?…there is actually a bidder that has offered $178,000 which is on the low end of the CAP rate expectation so this offer needs to be taken seriously?…the fact that the City of Evansville paid over $535,000 for this vacant building and according to the DMD Director Kelly Course DaVita Dialysis Center reportedly added another $1.5 million after they leased it from the DMD is irrelevant? …it sounds like the viability of income property in Jimtown has not changed much in 50 years since the manufacturing base left town?…investing in Evansville as if it was a high-cost coastal enclave has and will always lead to losses and this time the taxpayers of Evansville were fleeced again by their own government?  …bottom line the investments of the City of Evansville in the Jimtown CVS was just plain old dumb?
IS IT TRUE yesterday one of our posters named Frank Lee made the following statement concerning the Overdrawn City of Evansville Accounts?  ….he said; “How can the City have overdrawn accounts because they lump about 90 Funds into a single Bank Account, so the City uses the money from other Funds to prop up the overdrawn ones?”
IS IT TRUE that we are pleased and grateful that the minds of sanity came together to change some unreasonable rules that would have made the Rathbone follow the fate of the McCurdy due to a downright silly parking situation?…now that the dumb law has been corrected as it should have long long ago the Rathbone can once again be utilized for housing as it has been for many years?…the parklike grounds will be preserved in a part of the City of Evansville that is not famous for parklike anything?…this is a situation where the local government did the right thing after doing the wrong thing and we commend them for doing so?
IS IT TRUE we are very surprised that the only CPA on the Evansville City Council didn’t publically speak out against the out of control deficit spending habits of the Winnecke Administration?
IS IT TRUE here’s the video and agenda from yesterdays morning ERC meeting (March 19, 2019)?  … the 800 North Main Street building briefly discussed?   …please start playing the attached Video at 8:30 to learn what was said about this building?

 

http://evansville.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=2&clip_id=280

IS IT TRUE below is a link of the video of the ERC Dec. 18,2018 meeting?  …please start playing video at 3:55 to see the discussion about the DaVita Dialysis Center investing $1.5 in the 880 North Main Street building?  …during this meeting it was mentioned that DMD has 2 appraisals based on the income approach, but the appraised values are never mentioned when the video recording was on?

http://evansville.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=2&clip_id=2649

IS IT TRUE attached below is a video and agenda of the ERC March 5, 2019 meeting that concerns the opening bid for 800 N Main St?  ….please start playing the Videro at 16:30 to hear the discussion about lone bid to purchase this building?

http://evansville.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=2&clip_id=2776

Todays“Readers Poll” question is: Who do you blame for the unacceptable deficit spending of the City of Evansville?

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. We are pleased to provide obituaries from several area funeral homes at no costs.

O ver the next several weeks we shall be adding additional obituaries from other local funeral homes.  Please scroll down the paper and you shall see a listing of them.

If you would like to advertise on the CCO please contact us at City-County Observer@live.com

FOOTNOTE:  Any comments posted in this column do not represent the views or opinions of the City-County Observer or our advertisers.

 

Indiana House Passes Abortion Law

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March 14, 2019,

By Andrew Longstreth
TheStateHouseFile.com

INDIANAPOLIS—The Indiana House voted 69-25 Thursday for a bill that restricts health care providers from performing or assisting an abortion on grounds on any ethical, moral or religious objections.

Senate Bill 201, authored by Sen. Liz Brown, R-Fort Wayne, adds nurses, physician assistants, and pharmacists to current law which says physicians and their employees can decline to participate in abortions.

SB 201 also includes a prohibition on requiring certain providers to prescribe, administer, or dispense a drug that is capable of inducing an abortion.

Among those voting in opposition to SB 201 was Rep. Chris Chyung, D-Dyer, who voiced his concerns on the fairness of the bill and the necessity of an emergency exception rule.

“This bill does not have an emergency exception and would hang out to dry women who are victims of rape or incest or their lives are in immediate danger,” he said.

An emergency exception would allow patients to receive drugs that are used for abortions in cases that are life-threatening.

“We, the House of Representatives, should not be in the business of punishing rape victims in my opinion. Yet this bill as written would allow this to happen,” said Chyung. “As a man weighing in on this issue, I fully recognize that my opinion means far less than any woman, so I would encourage my male colleagues to consider the same.”

The bill was voted on in the Indiana Senate on Feb. 19 and passed 39-1. It now goes back to the Senate. If they concur with the changes made in the House, it goes to Gov. Eric Holcomb for his consideration.

FOOTNOTE: Andrew Longstreth is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.

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Adopted Evansville Brothers Reunite After 71 Years

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Adopted Evansville Brothers Reunite After 71 Years

MARCH 19TH, 2019 VERONICA DEKETT INDIANA

It was an emotional reunion for these two brothers, one driving more than 15 hours to make the trip.

Mark Vance is from Evansville and drove to Virginia beach to meet his older brother.

Ron Miller was adopted at 5-years-old, and there was no guarantee he’d ever find his biological family.

When Ron left Indiana and moved to Virginia, his odds went down, but after years of searching Ronmet his brother for the very first time.

It was meeting 71 years in the making.

Mark Vance says, “Oh my god. Oh my god little brother. I told you, you never know where I‘m going to show up.”

When Ron Miller agreed to go to brunch, he had no idea his brother would be waiting around the corner.

Up until this moment, the two had never met in person.

Ron Miller says, “I knew I had a brother out there somewhere and sisters. Didn’t know where they were at though, I just felt it, you know somewhere in my heart I felt it.”

Ron and mark are just two of 18 kids. They were born in Evansville, Indiana and given up for adoption when they were babies. Mark stayed in Indiana, but Ron planted roots in Hampton Roads, Virginia after he joined the Navy at 17-years-old. It wasn’t until a month ago that they were connected through Ancestry. Com.

Nicole Miller-Strauser says, “I‘ve been waiting for this for a long time for my dad. I know how important it was for him to find his family because he was placed in an orphanage when he was a little boy.”

They spent the morning looking at pictures and swapping stories. Trying their best to make up for lost time.

Ron Miller says, “I just hate that it took 71 years to find my family.”

Mark Vance says, “I‘m just amazed, I‘m speechless. Never give up hope. If you’ve got a loved one out there, find them.”

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Victims Protection Legislation Passes Indiana House Senate Bill 551 approved 92-4

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Senate Bill 551, authored by Sen. Mark Messmer, R-Jasper, and sponsored by Rep. Wendy McNamara, R-Evansville, cleared the full House of Representatives Tuesday afternoon by a vote of 92 to 4.

With today’s passage, SB 551 has now been passed by both the House and the Senate. The bill was approved unanimously by the Senate earlier this session.

“I’m pleased to see this important legislation moving through the General Assembly,” Messmer said. “If signed into law, SB 551 would impact every Hoosier community by working to better protect and respect the privacy of victims and ensure offenders are justly punished for their actions.”

The bill makes several important changes to Indiana law with regard to victims of crimes, specifically victims of sex crimes. It allows parents to seek a protective order against persons who are making inappropriate contact or contacts with their child after one Indiana mother found herself unable to do anything after an adult sent more than 1,000 text messages to her 14-year-old daughter. SB 551 also plugs a loophole in current law that potentially allows adults to engage in inappropriate sexual relations with a person 13 or 14 years of age.

“This legislation is an important step in protecting victims of child sex crimes and domestic violence from their abusers,” McNamara said. “Those facing these dangerous, threatening situations deserve to have their rights protected, and their abusers should receive apt punishment.”

“The passage of Senate Bill 551 is a victory for crime victims and other vulnerable Hoosiers and prosecutors are happy to see it has passed both the House and Senate,” said David Powell, executive director of the Indiana Prosecuting Attorneys Council. “We would like to thank Sen. Messmer for all his hard work on this bill and Rep. McNamara for sponsoring the legislation in the House. Their leadership was vital to the success of this bill.”

SB 551 supports criminal investigations and prosecutions of child abuse cases by restricting disclosure of sensitive information about the child victim and defendant during the criminal investigation or prosecution of the case. The bill also addresses a gap in the current kidnapping and criminal confinement laws by creating an offense when the kidnapping or criminal confinement results in moderate bodily injuring to the victim.  Current law only provides for offenses that include “bodily injury” or “serious bodily injury.” The legislation also eliminates the current practice where an offender who is convicted of felony domestic battery has the ability to reduce the penalty to a misdemeanor and it toughens penalties on strangulation charges. The bill includes a provision that changes how victims of crimes are identified, doing away with the use of victim initials in official documents.

Powell also commended the many local prosecutors who worked with lawmakers on the provisions in the bill and came to the Statehouse to testify in support earlier this session.

The bill would also task an interim study committee with looking at the issue of discovery depositions.

 

How to Avoid Being a Target for Thieves

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How to Avoid Being a Target for Thieves

MARCH 19TH, 2019 JOYLYN BUKOVAC EVANSVILLE, INDIANA

Many of us post to social media without even thinking twice, but if you are leaving town you could be inviting bad guys in. Empty homes are a target for thieves.

Everyone has their own way of preparing for going out of town, but in today’s world, you never know when danger is going to strike.

“We make sure our windows are locked because people can slip out your screens and raise a window very easily and enter your house that way,” says the homeowner, Vicky Burnett.

Homeowners can do several things to protect one of their biggest assets, like locking up all entry and exits.

Many people keep a spare key outside, but if you are packing up to head out, it’s time to bring the key inside or give it to a trusted family member, neighbor, or friend.

“Believe it or not, criminals will look around for an extended period of time looking for that key,” says Sgt. Todd Ringle.

“Our son and his family live right behind us and he comes and checks on the house every day,” says Burnett.

If you do not have a trustworthy neighbor to watch after your home while you are gone, home security systems and self-timers are the next big thing to keep criminals away.

“If you have lights or radio or television that will go on and off throughout the day, it makes it look like someone is actually inside of your home,” says Sgt. Ringle.

Besides stopping your mail and taking out your trash, there is one more way to trick burglars that may be waiting to break into your home.

“Social media always plays a role in home burglaries,” says Sgt. Ringle. “You know, Keep in mind that when you go away on vacation, the last thing you want to do is get on Facebook or Twitter and tell the world that you are away on vacation. Keep that information private.”

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First Sergeant Helmer Graduates From FBI National Academy

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Quantico Virginia–Indiana State Police First Sergeant Trevor Helmer Graduates From The FBI National Academy On March 15th.

The FBI National Academy is internationally known for its academic excellence and offers 11 weeks of advanced communication, leadership and fitness training for selected officers having proven records as professionals within their agencies. Helmer chose to study violent crimes, forensics and leadership during his stay at the academy. On average, these officers have 21 years of law enforcement experience and usually return to their agencies in executive-level positions.

Helmer is a native of Evansville and a 1987 graduate of Reitz High School. He later attended Purdue University where he received a bachelor’s degree. Helmer joined the Indiana State Police and graduated from the academy in 1995 and was assigned to the Evansville District. Helmer was promoted to the rank of sergeant to serve as a squad leader in 2003. He was responsible for supervising troopers in Warrick and Gibson Counties. In 2014, Helmer was promoted to First Sergeant and continues to serve as the DIC (District Investigative Commander) at Evansville.

Lieutenant Brad Cieslack said, “First Sergeant Helmer is a great asset, a proven leader and deserving of the opportunity to attend the FBI National Academy. We are proud of his accomplishment and look forward to having him back at the district.”

First Sergeant Helmer resides in Warrick County with his wife and a son. They have another son that recently graduated from the Indiana State Police Academy and he is assigned to the Lafayette District.

EPA Awards Grants To 21 Student Teams For Innovative Technology Projects

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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced more than $300,000 in funding for 21 teams of undergraduate and graduate students across the country through its People, Prosperity, and the Planet (P3) grants program. The teams are receiving funding to develop sustainable technologies to help solve environmental and public health challenges.

“EPA’s P3 grants program supports the next generation of scientists and engineers,” said EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler. “These students are able to take what they learn in the classroom and apply it to real-world environmental problems that require innovative solutions.”

The P3 competition challenges students to research, develop, and design innovative projects that address a myriad of environmental protection and public health issues. The Phase I teams will receive grants of up to $15,000 each to fund the proof of concept for their projects. This year’s teams are focused on topics like investigating degradation and removal mechanisms for Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in water treatment, developing inexpensive technology to reduce indoor and outdoor air pollutants from woodstoves, building a model to quantify the extent of untreated raw sewage discharges from homes, and developing a sensor that can determine low levels of lead at terminal plumbing sources such as faucets.

Grantees include student teams from the following universities:

  • Brown University – Providence, R.I.
    • Magnetic Nanocomposites for Water Remediation
  • Cornell University – Ithaca, N.Y.
    •  AguaClara’s Ram Pump for Zero Electricity Drinking Water Treatment
  • New Jersey Institute of Technology – Newark, N.J.
    • Development of Reactive Nanobubble Systems for Efficient and Scalable Harmful Algae and Cyanotoxin Removal
    • Reactive Electrochemical Membrane (REM) Filtration for PFOA/PFOS Removal
  • Drexel University – Philadelphia, Pa.
    •  Mapping Air Quality with Kite-Based Sensors
  • Carnegie Mellon University – Pittsburgh, Pa.
    • Iron-TAML/Peroxide Cyanotoxin Degradation
  • Widener University – Chester, Pa.
    • Developing Low-Cost Wireless Device for Real Time Monitoring of Lead Levels in Drinking Water
  • Virginia Wesleyan University – Norfolk, Va.
    • Vericompost from Phytoremediation of Stormwater
  • The University of Alabama – Tuscaloosa, Ala.
    •  Modeling Straight Pipe Prevalence in Rural Alabama
  • University of Central Florida – Orlando, Fla.
    • A Biopolymer-based Simple Lead Check in Tap Water
    • OSMOsis – Driven Reclamation of Water (OSMODRAW)
  • East Tennessee State University – Johnson City, Tenn.
    • Mesoporous Adsorbents for Perfluorinated Compounds
  • Miami University – Oxford, Ohio
    • Synthesis and Characterization of Fluorinated Hydrocarbon Anion Exchange Resins for the Extraction of Perfluorinated Chemicals
    •  UV-LED Photocatalytic Fuel Vapor Emissions Control
  • University of Saint Thomas – St Paul, Minn.
    • Soil amendments for enhanced phosphorus retention: Implications for green infrastructure design
  • Illinois State University – Normal, Ill.
    •  Recycled Glass: Cement/Fly Ash Substitute in CLSM
  • Southern Illinois University – Carbondale, Ill.
    • PFASs Removal by Photocatalysis for Water Reuse
  • The University of Texas at San Antonio – San Antonio, Texas
    • Molecular Tools to Predict Cyanobacteria Toxin Production
  • University of California Riverside – Riverside, Calif.,
    • Multi-Sensor Fusion for Low-Cost, Automated Woodstoves
    • A Green Chemistry Approach to Pulping Hemp as an Industrially Relevant Renewable Fiber for Construction
  • University of Oregon – Eugene, Ore.
    • Sanitary Green Space: A Closed-looped sanitation system for growing green communities

The Phase I recipients will attend the TechConnect World Innovation Conference and Expo in Boston, Mass., on June 17-18, 2019, to showcase their research. They can then apply for a Phase II grant that provides funding up to $100,000 to further the project design.

These students, who represent the future workforce in diverse scientific and engineering fields, are following in the footsteps of other P3 teams. Some of these teams have gone on to start businesses based on ideas and products developed through their P3 project. In 2018, a previous P3 Phase I awardee from Oklahoma State University (OSU) leveraged P3 funding to initiate their research to develop a cost-effective approach to enhance energy efficiency in wastewater treatment. In furthering their P3 project, OSU transformed the research into a business plan and won the Queen’s Entrepreneurs’ Competition with its startup business plan for Contraire, a predictive analysis control system designed to provide near real-time wastewater test measurements. Amongst 15 other teams, OSU pitched their business plan to a panel of Canadian business leaders and received multiple inquiries from investors.

To learn more about the P3 projects, visit: https://cfpub.epa.gov/ncer_abstracts/index.cfm/fuseaction/recipients.display/rfa_id/639/records_per_page/ALL

SOUTHWEST INDIANA CHAMBER HOSTS THE ANNUAL LUNCH WITH THE LT. GOVERNOR

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The Southwest Indiana Chamber will host Lunch with the Lt. Governor

from 11:30am to 1:00pm at TROPICANA on March 22, 2019.

Lt. Governor Suzanne Crouch will report to the business community. Suzanne built her extensive career in state and local government as a state representative for Vanderburgh and Warrick Counties, a Vanderburgh County commissioner, and as Vanderburgh County auditor. Local community leaders with an interest in agriculture, community, defense and tourism development will be in attendance fro this event.

Sponsors for this event are Presenting: Vectren – A Centerpoint Energy Company and Gold: Old National Bank.

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