The Washington County Sheep Association will hold its 7th annual “Midwest Hair Sheep Sale” on Saturday, October 5 at 1 p.m. EDT. The sale will be held at the Washington County Fairgrounds located on East Market Street in Salem, Indiana.
Consignments of hair sheep (registered and commercial) are being accepted for this sale. Consignment information along with a $15 per head fee is due by September 21. No late consignments will be accepted.
Last year around 200 rams and ewes from Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Ohio, Michigan and Virginia were consigned for this sale. Breeds have included Dorper, White Dorper, Katahdin, Painted Desert, Royal White, St. Croix, Barbados, and Crossbreds.
For more information, contact the president of the Washington County Sheep Association: Dave Embree, 812-755-4414, 812-216-7151 (cell), embreefarmskatahdins@gmail.com; or Purdue Extension – Washington County, 812-883-4601, washingtonces@purdue.edu . More information including the consignment form is available at the association’s website at www.wcsheep.org.
While we all know that there is no such thing as a free lunch…there is some funding available to farmers and others who apply that might enable them to do a number of things on their farm to try a new way of accomplishing a farm task, reducing environmental impact, growing a new crop, conducting research or an educational program, learning more about a particular issue, becoming more energy efficient, adding value to a raw farm product, developing a local food system, etc.
On the evenings of Wednesday, September 25 and October 2 (6:30- 8:30 pm) there will be free, live interactive webinars collectively entitled Funding Opportunities for Farmers and Others at the Washington County Government Building Meeting Room (806 Martinsburg Rd., Salem) which will provide basic introduction into some of the current grants, loans and cost share opportunities that are available, applicant eligibility and how to apply for funding. Each session will cover different sources and types of funding.
It is hoped that this online training series will help farmers and others identify sources of funding (grants, loans and cost share) that could be available to them to help take their ag related project from dream to reality.
It is recommended that participants viewing from home or office log in to the site ahead of time to assess their connection and to make sure they have downloaded any necessary software ahead of time.
For information on how to take part in one or both session of this webinar series from home or at the Washington County Government Building please contact the Purdue Extension – Washington County office at 812-883-4601 or by e-mail at dhowellw@purdue.edu.
Any agricultural producer who applies restricted use pesticides or manure/fertilizer from a confined feeding operation to his or her own property must have a private applicators license. To obtain a pesticide applicators license passing the CORE exam through the Office of the Indiana State Chemist is required. To obtain a fertilizer applicator license passing the Category 14 exam is required.
Purdue Extension – Washington and Orange Counties are partnering to offer training for the Category 14 exam and the opportunity to take the CORE and/or Category 14 exams in southern Indiana on Wednesday, October 16 at the Orange County Community Center (1075 N. Sandy Hook Rd., Paoli, IN 47454). Category 14 training will be from 10 am – 12 pm with both exams beginning at 1 pm. There is no fee for attending the training or taking the exams.
Pre-registration is preferred, as 30 people must be registered for exams prior to Monday, October 14 in order for the State Chemist’s Office to travel to this area. For study materials, to register or for more information contact the Purdue Extension – Washington County office at 812-883-4601 or by e-mail at dhowellw@purdue.edu prior to Monday, October 14.
If you want to sharpen your gardening skills and you have an interest in sharing your knowledge with others, Purdue University has the ideal program for you.
Beginning Monday, January 6th, 2014, a Purdue Master Gardener Program training series will be offered for residents of Harrison, Washington and Scott Counties and surrounding areas. The Purdue Master Gardener Program is a volunteer training program that provides a learning framework for participants to increase their knowledge on a wide variety of horticultural subjects. In turn, participants volunteer, representing Purdue University. As volunteers, participants grow by sharing knowledge while providing leadership and service in educational gardening activities within their communities.
Training will be held on Mondays, January 6 through March 31, at two locations. Participants will have the option of an afternoon training from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm at the Harrison County Extension Office in Corydon (247 Atwood St.) or during the evening from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm at the Washington County Government Building Meeting Room in Salem (806 Martinsburg Rd.) Participants will be exposed to a wide range of subjects including soil and plant science, diagnosis of plant problems, pesticide safety, and the culture of vegetable, flower, landscape and fruit plants.
Materials and expenses for the program range from $165 – $190 per participant, depending on material format selected. This fee covers such items as reference notebooks, mailings and name badges. These materials all become part of the Master Gardener’s personal collection. All registrations are due by December 1st! If you register for the class by November 1st, you will receive a discount of $15 on your registration fees.
While the class will be encouraged to create new educational outreach programs, there are already plenty of opportunities for which volunteers are needed. Some of these projects include the staffing information booths at gardening events and the county fair, teaching public education classes, speaking to local clubs and organizations, assisting with the community garden and hands-on demonstration gardens.
The Good Earth Master Gardeners organization in Washington County is offering scholarships for Washington County residents to become a part of the Master Gardener program.
If you would like an application to join our league of volunteers or have questions about the program, contact Purdue Extension – Washington County at 812-883-4601 or email dhowellw@purdue.edu.
On September 10, 2013, Trooper Nathan Teusch, from the Indiana State Police Post at Sellersburg began an investigation after a male subject, business owner, in Harrison County, contacted the Indiana State Police and requested an investigation for theft.
The victim was allegedly employing David W. Haycraft, 48, and his wife Vanessa D. Haycraft, 50, both from Palmyra in Harrison County. During their alleged employment, the Haycraft’s had allegedly stolen a check from their employer and cashed it at the Sam’s Club in Clarksville, IN for over $600.00.
Trooper Teusch was able to complete the investigation and turned it in to the Clark County Prosecutor’s Office for arrest warrants. On September 24th, arrest warrants were issued out of the Clark County Circuit Court #4. David W.Haycraft was charged with Forgery, C Felony; Check Fraud, D Felony; Theft, D Felony; Fraud on a Financial Institution, C Felony and False Informing, B Misdemeanor. Vanessa D. Haycraft was charged with Forgery, C Felony; Check Fraud, D Felony; Theft, D Felony; Fraud on a Financial Institution, C Felony and False Informing, B Misdemeanor.
In the evening hours of September 24th, troopers from the Indiana State Police Post at Sellersburg arrested David and Vanessa Haycraft as they were leaving their residence in Palmyra. They were both transported to and incarcerated at the Clark County Jail.
Washington County Assessor Jason Cockerill’s hard work is being recognized across the state.
This month, he has been named Indiana Assessor of the Year, Southeast District Assessor of the Year and has been assigned to the Association of Indiana Counties (AIC) Legislative Committee, as well as being named Outstanding County Assessor.
Jason Cockerill is one of the youngest assessors in IndianaPictured from left to right: Assessors’ Association President Judy Sharp, Monroe County Assessor; 2013 Outstanding County Assessor Award recipient Jason Cockerill, Washington County Assessor; and AIC President Penny Lukenbill, Marshall County Auditor.
Cockerill was nominated for the Indiana Assessor of the Year award by the southeast district assessor’s for giving significant time to the betterment of the Indiana County Assessor’s Association.
District members voted to give him the nomination and all the county assessor’s in the state voted in the election to award him the title of assessor of the year.
The Association of Indiana Counties (AIC) announced Wednesday that Washington County Assessor Jason Cockerill received the 2013 Outstanding County Assessor Award. The award recognized his contributions made to county government throughout his years of public service.
Cockerill began serving Washington County as Assessor in 2008.
Prior to becoming the County Assessor, Cockerill worked with the Family and Social Services Administration. He also worked in the Washington County Prosecutor’s Office. Cockerill currently serves as Indiana’s Representative to the International Association of Assessing Officers. He is the district president for the Indiana county Assessors Board of Directors for the Southeast District, and is a member of the AIC Legislative Committee and the AIC Awards Committee.
AIC presented the award during its Annual Conference, the state’s largest gathering of county officials. The four-day conference included an array of workshops and breakout sessions designed specifically for county officeholders. Officials met in Switzerland County along with representatives from public agencies and private entities. Conference topics addressed a variety of issues concerning local governments, including: how federal health care reform affects counties, government administration, funding county services, and taking full advantage of road dollars.
The Outstanding County Assessor award comes from the Association of Indiana Counties. The Assessor of the Year award comes from the Indiana County Assessor’s Association.
“I’m honored to have even been nominated for this award, let alone to be chosen by my fellow assessors,” said Cockerill. “I really enjoy my job and the work I do for Washington County and the State of Indiana.”
Cockerill told WSLM this morning on Coffee Club he earned the award because of the service he and his staff give the public. “I couldn’t have done it without my staff.”
Cockerill was honored at an awards banquet at the annual summer assessor’s conference.
Indiana Senator Joe Donnelly is challenging congressional Republicans to stop flailing against the federal health care law and work with Democrats on other pressing legislation.
The freshman Democrat says Texas Republican Ted Cruz‘s 21-hour talkathon urging the Senate to defund the law accomplished nothing but to distract the chamber from more vital business, starting with the bill to extend federal spending authority beyond Monday‘s end of the fiscal year. Donnelly says it‘ll be “devastating” to the economy if a budget stalemate prompts a shutdown of government offices on Tuesday.
And Donnelly complains Cruz and other G-O-P hardliners are blocking the formation of a conference committee to iron out differences between House and Senate versions of a farm bill.
Donnelly says relitigating the health care law is not only futile but misguided. He says delaying the law, as Republicans including Indiana Senator Dan Coats and Ninth District Representative Todd Young have proposed, would delay long-awaited coverage for Hoosiers with preexisting conditions. Donnelly says Republicans should instead work with Democrats to improve pieces of the law which need fixing.
Indiana honors an Oscar winner, a bluesman, a mayor, a philanthropist and a music teacher Thursday night at the biennial Governor‘s Arts Awards.
Indianapolis-born singer-songwriter John Hiatt and director Sydney Pollack of South Bend are among this year‘s honorees for what First Lady Karen Pence calls a Hoosier version of the Kennedy Center Honors. Pence is honorary chair of the event at the Palladium in Carmel.
Pollack is being honored posthumously. Hiatt is expected to perform at the ceremony.
Also being honored are Indy‘s Cynthia Hartshorn, the longtime choir director at Tech High School; Bloomington Mayor Mark Kruzan; philanthropist Christel DeHaan; and Bloomington-based Traditional Arts Indiana, which documents and preserves Hoosier folk art.
The invitations for the event feature a watercolor rendering of the Palladium by Pence, a former art teacher. The First Lady also plays guitar, and says she‘s been playing some of Hiatt‘s songs in preparation for the ceremony.
A six-person panel from the Indiana Arts Council picked the honorees from among 80 nominations, and sent the list to Governor Mike Pence for final approval.
The attorneys general of Indiana and 39 other states and territories want the Food and Drug Administration to clamp limits on electronic cigarettes.
States complain the companies which make e-cigarettes are employing the same marketing techniques the makers of regular cigarettes were banned from using in the 1998 tobacco lawsuit settlement, from animated spokescharacters to kid-friendly flavors like chocolate and Gummi Bears.
The attorneys general want the F-D-A to impose restrictions on selling and advertising to minors similar to the limits on regular cigarettes. The F-D-A does not have explicit authority to step in, but the attorneys general argue the 2010 law giving the agency jurisdiction over “tobacco products” applies to the liquid-nicotine tubes the same as it would to a pack of Camels.
Terry Tolliver with Indiana‘s consumer protection division acknowledges there are still questions about the health risks or addictiveness of e-cigarettes, but says the F-D-A should err on the side of caution. Instead, he says there‘s currently no oversight at all.
The F-D-A has set a Halloween deadline to issue regulations, but the agency has put off action before.
The Indiana Pacers have signed star Guard/Forward Paul George to a contract extension.
Contract terms won‘t be finalized till the contract extension begins, but George is expected to receive about $80 million. Pacers President Larry Bird says George will “do the things necessary to be the face of the franchise.”
George says it was a “no-brainer” to stay with the Pacers and credited the fans as a big reason he wanted to remain a Pacer.
George was named to the 3rd All NBA team last season, 2nd All Defensive Team, as well as being named Most Improved Player.
