In July of 2021, Indiana State Police Master Trooper Detective Brian Maudlin of the Putnamville State Police Post began an investigation into the former president and treasurer of the Cloverdale Community Youth League. 

During his investigation, it was discovered that both individuals had allegedly deprived the Cloverdale Community Youth League of over $21,848.51. 

Stephen D. Caulkins, age 41, of Cloverdale, was the president, and Amber D. Caulkins, age 37, of Cloverdale, was the treasurer for the Cloverdale Community Youth League, from 2018 through 2020. 

During their duties as the president and treasurer, they allegedly were not depositing funds into the bank accounts, in order to benefit in self-gain.

After reviewing the investigation, the Putnam County Prosecutor Timothy Bookwalter issued a summons for both parties to appear in Superior Court on October 27, 2021, at 9:00 a.m.

Summons and Charges:  

Stephen D. Caulkins, 41, Cloverdale, IN

• Theft, Class 6 Felony
• Conspiracy to commit theft, Class 6 Felony

Amber D. Caulkins, 37, Cloverdale, IN

• Theft, Class 6 Felony 
• Conspiracy to commit theft, Class 6 Felony 

Under the law, criminal charges are merely accusations and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

On Wednesday, September 1, 2021, Detectives Tim Cummins and Ian Matthews from the Indiana State Police Bloomington Post along with several other Troopers including Indiana State Police SWAT served search warrants in Indianapolis regarding the homicide investigation of Angela M. Weisheit, which started in November of 2020 after her body was found in Brown County. 

The investigation has led to the following arrests and pending charges,

Paul S. Fox, 64, Indianapolis   

• Murder (Level 1 Felony)

Candy A. Lopez Ortega, 28, Indianapolis 

• Assisting a Criminal (Level 5 Felony)

Both individuals were incarcerated at Brown County Jail and the Indiana State Police was assisted by the Brown County Sheriffs Department, Brown County Prosecutor’s Office, and the Indianapolis Metro Police Department Homicide Division. 

November 21, 2020, at approximately 12:30 p.m., the Indiana State Police Bloomington Post was asked by the Brown County Sheriff’s Department to conduct a homicide investigation in their county. A 9-1-1 call was received by the sheriff’s department in reference to a deceased body being located near Bean Blossom Road and Bell Road.

While it’s early in the investigation, detectives do believe this is an isolated incident and there is no danger to the public. The identity of the victim is being withheld until positive identification can be made and until an autopsy is conducted to determine the exact cause of death.  

The investigation is being conducted by Indiana State Police detectives Tim Cummings, Ian Matthews, and First Sergeant Paul Suding, with the assistance of crime scene technicians Sergeant Jan Kruse and Darrell Terrell of the Bloomington State Police Post. 

The Brown County Coroner’s Office is also assisting. The investigation is ongoing and this is all the information currently available for release.  

Assisting Agencies: Brown County Sheriff’s Department and the Brown County Coroner’s Office

On August 31, 2021, Sergeant Robbie Lambert, Master Trooper Trey Lytton, Trooper Kaitlyn Green, and her K9 partner Drogos, Trooper Jonathon Villanueva, and Trooper Connor Giesler of the Indiana State Police All Crimes Policing Squad at the Jasper Post served a search warrant at 9953 S CR 540 E, Marengo, IN.

At the residence, Troopers found a male and female-identified as Terry and Kimberly Mosson. 

During a search of the residence, officers located numerous smoking devices, a mirror with a crystal substance on it, and a loose crystal substance on the floor of the home. The crystal substance on the mirror and the floor are both believed to be methamphetamine.

Officers also located approximately 72.10 grams of what is believed to be marijuana, approximately 511.40 grams of psilocybin mushrooms, $457 in US currency, a 12-gauge shotgun, a plastic bag containing a large amount of a crystal substance, a digital scale, and a Smith and Wesson .380 handgun.  

Dubois County Sheriffs Department and the Huntingburg Police Department assisted at the scene.

Terry and Kimberly Mosson were transported to the Orange County Jail and charged with the following:

1. Dealing in Methamphetamine, Level 2 Felony
2. Dealing in a Schedule I Controlled Substance, Level 2 Felony
3. Possession of Methamphetamine, Level 3 Felony
4. Possession of a Handgun by a Serious Violent Felon, Level 4 Felony
5. Cultivating Marijuana, Level 6 Felony
6. Dealing in Marijuana, Level 6 Felony
7. Maintaining a Common Nuisance, Level 6 Felony
8. Possession of Marijuana, Level 6 Felony
9. Possession of a Controlled Substance, Class A Misdemeanor

All suspects are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law. 

In about 49 days, E&B Paving Inc. will have completed perhaps the largest roundabout in Southern Indiana and would have finished it sooner had there not been a design change and inclement weather. 

The project, which has been the subject of a lot of talks around town, is expected to be finished next week and hopefully open by Friday, Sept. 10.

This afternoon, Salem School Corporatin’s administration released information that would require all students to wear masks when they return to school on Sept. 7. 

All three schools have been at home doing virtual classes due to the high amount of absenteeism due to contact tracing putting almost 30 percent of the students into quarantine at home. 

Students return to school next week for Salem and West Washington Schools. East Washington Elementary School went to virtual mode earlier this week and is expected to return to in-person class next Tuesday. 

At Salem’s special board meeting Monday evening, the board stopped short of voting for a mask mandate but said to look for it.

Gov. Eric Holcomb’s executive order that was released on Wednesday afternoon likely helped push that forward. 

The Indiana Department of Health has issued modified quarantine provisions for Indiana schools and daycares that will limit quarantines if students are wearing masks. 

As one parent said at the board’s meeting Monday night, “If masks keep the kids in school, then vote them in now. Right now.”

A list of updated quarantine guidance and procedures was released this afternoon for Salem Community Schools.. 

“The goal of Salem Community Schools and the SCS Board is to provide a safe, in-person learning environment for all students,” the document read. 

“In order to minimize the number of students being quarantined from school due to “close contact” with someone identified as a positive COVID-19, SCS will utilize the following guidelines–all individuals in the school are required to wear a mask,” it read. 

“In addition to those guidelines, SCS will also implement the mitigation strategies listed below:

Identification of close contacts and quarantining.

A close contact is designated as anyone who has been within three feet of a COVID-19 person for at least 15 minutes during a 24-hour period.

Any individual who is a close contact will be notified by the school.

Executive Order 21-24 signed by Governor Holcomb states schools that have mask requirements will not have to quarantine students if the students are wearing a mask properly and consistently throughout the day–this does not pertain to extra curricular activities.

An individual who does have to quarantine could return in 7 days with a negative test by a provider (doctor or clinic) between days 5-7.

The West Washington School Board voted unanimously last night (Wednesday, Sept. 1) to implement a mask policy for all students in grades K-12 beginning Tuesday, Sept. 7 when students will be returning from a two-week break doing virtual learning. 

A change in the state’s rules earlier Wednesday gave a boost to the concept of mask-wearing in schools around Indiana that had not previously required it. 

Gov. Eric Holcomb issued a new executive order that changes the rules in regards to quarantining, which will reduce the absences many local schools have faced over the first few weeks of a new school year due to contact tracing. 

It states:

For K-12 schools that have and consistently enforce a face-covering requirement for children, students, teachers, staff, and others present, close contacts are not required to quarantine and may continue to attend school as long as they are asymptomatic. The close contacts should monitor daily for
symptoms of COVID-19. Any symptoms of COVID-19 must prompt immediate removal of the symptomatic individual from the school environment. The individual should seek testing and isolate. This exception to quarantine only applies in the classroom setting and does not apply to extracurriculars,
athletics, etc.

For non-classroom settings, follow the exclusion requirements as follow:

Asymptomatic individuals, unless fully vaccinated or recovered from a COVID-19 infection within the past 90 days, who are identified as a close contact of a COVID-19 case shall quarantine, including exclusion from preschools, daycare settings, employment, and public places, until:
A. 14 days after the date of last exposure;
B. 10 days after the date of last exposure, following additional precautions for days 11-14; or
C. 7 days after the date of last exposure with a negative PCR test result occurring on day 5 or later,
following additional precautions for days 8-14.

Precautions include monitoring for symptoms, wearing a mask at all times around other people, and maintaining at least six feet of distance from others at all times unless otherwise directed by state or local health authority.

Both West Washington and Salem Schools sent students home in mid-August to take virtual classes because their absentee percentage was over the state’s 20 percent threshold. 

“With the release of Governor Holcomb’s Executive Order on, the use of masks will virtually eliminate quarantines for those identified in contact tracing,” Superintendent Keith Nance wrote in a notation on the school’s return to school plan. 

“Individuals identified as a close contact will receive a phone call from the school informing the family of the contact tracing,” Nance noted. “They will NOT have to be subject to quarantine, but they will be given instructions on monitoring for symptoms and will quarantine if symptoms are present. This decision was made in an effort to keep our students in school and the school open.”

The 2021 school year began with no mask mandates from the state or local health departments and a requirement by the state that students who were sitting near someone who tested positive with Covid-19 be required to quarantine at home.

That resulted in a high number of students at home and forced some schools to move to a virtual learning plan.

The state has a rule that if a school has more than 20 percent of the students out due to any illness, they have to shut down. 

Originally when the new school year began, most schools around the US did not want to implement a mask mandate, which forced a high number of students out due to contact tracing as the Covid-19 cases rose. 

Nance also recommended that all extracurricular activities return on Monday, Sept. 6.

He said that will allow those sports under the Indiana High School Athletic Association rules to have four days of practice before a competition.

The West Washington Senators Football team (1-0) under new head coach Jeremy Lowery has missed two games — one in their conference and one not.

Their next game would be set for Friday, September 10 with Springs Valley at Art Sanders Field.

The board approved that request along with returning students to class on Tuesday, September 7. 

The return to school plan passed by the board mirrors the ones that East Washington and Salem have been working on collectively but Nance said the board made some changes to their final plan. (seen below)

Nance said many actions would remain the same as at the start of school – with masks being required on the school buses, seating charts, and households sitting together when possible. 

In the cafeteria now there will be seating charts and social distancing, and mask-wearing when not eating. 

In the classroom, there will be seating charts, social distancing, and masks for staff and students. 

Visitors will need to be approved by the building administrators, wear masks and their location inside the school will be recorded for contact tracing. 

ABSENTEE RATES

Although there will still be absences due to Covid-19 and contact tracing, those numbers should be greatly reduced under this new plan from the state. 

West Washington is addressing mitigation strategies for various percentages as follow:

Should there be a corporation-wide absentee rate of more than five percent due to Covid-19 or other illnesses, then full class and extracurricular participation will continue and masks will be required for staff and students. Full attendance at extracurricular events will continue with social distancing and masks strongly recommended. 

If there is greater than 15 percent of students absent due to Covid-19 or other illnesses, then full class and extracurricular participation will continue as normal with everyone wearing masks. The difference here is at 15 percent or greater absenteeism, the attendance at extracurricular events will be limited to 1/3 capacity with social distancing and masks required. 

If there is a situation like two weeks ago with greater than 20 percent of the students absent due to Covid-19, then the board will be required to decide if there needs to be a move to virtual instruction and the length of that time or a shutdown of extracurricular events is necessary and the length of that possible shutdown. 

There was one member of the public signed up to speak at last night’s meeting but they did not attend. 

There were no comments from the public regarding the board’s decision.