A Chupacabra was spotted recently in Missouri.  At least, a few people who saw it *thought* it was a Chupacabra, a mythical goat-like creature said to have glowing red eyes and might be responsible for the deaths of many farm animals from Texas to the Caribbean. Whether that‘s true or not, lore plays a pretty big role in our history and culture.  Indiana is home to a few different creatures, none with the same notoriety or ferocity as Bigfoot, The Loch Ness Monster, or the Abominable Snowman, but we do have “Oscar.”  Oscar is a really big turtle that was spotted in a small lake in Churubusco in the late 1940‘s.

Known dramatically by a wire service account as the “Beast of Busco”  more than 60 years ago, this turtle was the size of a small car.  But no one actually photographed Oscar.  In fact, deep sea divers, and an expensive attempt to drain the small lake never turned up a car-sized turtle.  But that hasn‘t stopped Churubusco from capitalizing off of the account.  Known as “Turtle-Town U.S.A.” Cherubusco holds a “Turtle Days” celebration in June.

Phil Bloom with the Department of Natural Resources says we can go deeper into Hoosier lore, and find a time before Europeans, when there was the Pukwudgie, smaller, somewhat elfin “people of the forest.”  The Pukwudgie was part of Indian lore, though there are still accounts of Pukwudgie activity today, at Mounds State Park in Anderson.

It appears the clock is ticking for Amtrak‘s Hoosier State Service between Indianapolis and Chicago. Amtrak says it needs assurances of $3 million a year in state funding by October 16th to keep the line running.

However, InDot Spokesman Will Wingfield says much of InDot‘s money is already allocated and they‘re asking localities like Indianapolis, Beech Grove, Crawfordsville, Lafayette, West Lafayette, Renssalaer and Dyer to pitch in.

Amtrak serves those localities. Wingfield says they‘re working on a short term contract to keep the service running. Amtrak says the line serves about 36-thousand riders and generates just under $900,000 annually.

Company officials add that track and service upgrades could boost ridership, but would require a significant multi-million investment every year. Wingfield says funding will have to come from taxpayers to keep the line running.

He adds any agreement would be between the state and Amtrak with financial assistance from localities.

Indiana has taken a first step toward trying to get high school students remedial math and English help before they start college.

Ivy Tech has estimated 70-percent of its students need remedial math, and other Indiana colleges say they have to bring some of their students up to speed too. Starting this year, high school sophomores who need more than two tries to pass the required end-of-course exam will take a college readiness test called AccuPlacer.

Ivy Tech associate vice president John Newby says the community college already uses the test, and has been urging schools to join them. He says he‘s reluctant to impose yet another exam on high schools, but says he believes this one can prevent a lot of problems.

Commissioner for Higher Education Teresa Lubbers says remediation is one reason for low college completion rates. She says students struggling to afford college can end up exhausting their funds or patience without earning their diploma, because they‘ve spent too much time on remedial work instead of degree requirements.

The AccuPlacer directive is a stopgap while the State Board of Education continues work on a more detailed way of identifying which students need extra help.

Indiana is once against tops when it comes to business.

The Hoosier State is on Forbes Magazine‘s 2013 list of the best states for business. Indiana has consistently been on the list, but has tumbled to 16th this year.  The study ranks states using six factors: costs, labor supply, potential growth, quality of life, government regulations and current economic climate. Virginia tops the list.

University of Indianapolis‘ Dr. Matt Will says caps on the property tax, efforts to get rid of the corporate income tax, elimination of the inventory tax and the ease of business creation in Indiana all make the state tops for business.

Will says he believes Indiana should be higher on the list.  He says Indiana‘s corporate law rivals Nevada and Delaware when it comes to business creation.

Earlier this morning, trooper Tim Denby of the Indiana State Police Special Investigations Unit arrested Renea D. White, 24, of Scottsburg, IN. Renea D. White surrendered to the Scott County Circuit Court and was charged with Five Counts of Defrauding a Financial Institution, Felony and Five Counts of Theft, Felony. The arrest came after a seven month long investigation conducted by Trooper Denby at the request of the Scott County Prosecutor, Jason Mount.

After completing the seven month long investigation, Trooper Denby found out that while Renea D. White was employed as the manager at the Centra Credit Union located in Scottsburg, IN, she allegedly ran multiple schemes to take monies which totaled over $63,000.00.

The schemes ranged from allegedly taking monies from the teller drawer to allegedly manipulating customer’s accounts. The alleged incidents took place from January 2, 2012 through January 18, 2013. Centra Credit Union has made all effected customer’s accounts whole.

Renea White was remanded to the Scott County Jail. This investigation is continuing.

Assisting Agencies, Scott County Prosecutor’s Office and the Scottsburg City Police Department.

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.

A full agenda for each part of the series can be found at http://www3.ag.purdue.edu/counties/washington/.

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.