Imagine getting a telephone call and the caller identifies himself as Lt. Owens with the Washington County Sheriff’s Department.

The caller further advises you that you failed to appear for mandated jury duty and the police will be coming to your house in the next two hours to arrest you unless you pay a $4,500 fine.

The Washington County Sheriff’s Department dispatch center has received 15-20 telephone calls from citizens in the past couple of hours reporting that they have received this type of telephone call.

This type of scam has continued for more than a decade and continues to be one of the most successful multipurpose intimidation imposter schemes.

Usually the deception is about failing to appear for a mandated jury duty and targets are told they are in contempt of court or have a federal warrant out for their arrest.

The caller may seem authentic, with your caller ID showing phone numbers for a courthouse or law enforcement agency and the caller may even use names of local police officers or judges.

The caller will tell you to avoid arrest, you can pay a fine in the form of a prepaid debit or gift card. The caller may ask to confirm your identity and ask for your personal information. HANG UP IMMEDIATELY without providing any information about yourself and certainly don’t run off to purchase a Green Dot Money Pak or iTunes gift card.

Authentic jury duty notifications, as well as no shows summonses are nearly always delivered by mail. In rare cases prospective jurors may be contacted by telephone by legitimate courthouse employees, but you will not be asked to provide personal information.

Legitimate police officials never give a heads-up phone call warning of an impending arrest about missing jury duty or any other infraction.

These types of scams normally occur after the courthouse has closed for the day, making it tough to verify the call.

If you have concerns, look up the courthouse phone number and verify the missed jury allegation with the jury duty coordinator or the court clerk’s office.

If you receive a telephone call after courthouse hours you can call the Washington County Sheriff’s Department at 812-883-5999 to report the telephone call and or to verify the validity of the telephone call.

Lieutenant Chris Keeton, Commander of the Indiana State Police Post at Sellersburg welcomed three new troopers to the Sellersburg District. 

The three new state troopers reported for duty Monday October 30th, to the Indiana State Police Post at Sellersburg. 

The troopers are from a class of 37 troopers who just graduated from the 77th Indiana State Police Recruit Academy on Thursday October 19th. 

During the training period the recruits received over 500 hours of classroom instruction as well as nearly 300 hours of hands-on practical and scenario based training exercises.

These troopers will now be assigned to train with veteran troopers for the next 13 weeks before receiving their own patrol cars for solo patrol. The Sellersburg District consists of Clark, Floyd, Harrison, Scott and Washington Counties.

Cameron M. Collins, 24, from Lexington, IN. Cameron is a graduate of Scottsburg High School and University of Indianapolis.

Michael D. McCutcheon, 22, from Jeffersonville, IN. He graduated from Jeffersonville High School.

Justin T. Smith, 24, from Sellersburg, IN. Justin is a graduate of Seymour High School and is currently finishing his Bachelor’s Degree at Indiana University/Purdue University at Columbus. He has a three year old daughter.

The Taste of Salem, which benefits the Salem Education Foundation Dollars for Scholars, will be Thursday, Nov. 2 at 7p at Cornerstone Hall

According to Diana Armstrong, tickets are still available at Salem Apothecary, Loy and Fordyce Insurance and Mid Southern Savings Bank. 

Tickets can also be purchased at the door. 

Tickets are $20 and proceeds go to sponsor scholarships for Salem High School graduates.

Restaurants participating this year are:

• Kim Kiefer – Kakes by Kim
• Washington Co Pork Producers
• Washington Co Lamb Producers
• Shady Patch
• Salem Apothecary
• Marion Mauck – I Do Cakes
• Pig Miracle
• Express China
• QBC Catering
• Christie’s
• Hannah’s
• Six Scoops
• El Caminos
• Robin Myers – B and R Catering
• The Destination
• Mama Rosa’s

If you feel you were robbed of an hour of sleep last March when most of the country went on Daylight saving time, here’s some good news – you get it back this Sunday. 

Daylight saving time (DST) ends at 2 a.m. on Nov. 5, and if you haven’t heard already, you need to set your clocks back (“fall back”) one hour before going to bed on Saturday.

Why do we do this? Here’s a look at why we started using DST and why we continue to do it.

How it started

We can blame New Zealand entomologist George Hudson for daylight saving time. He wanted extra hours after work to go bug hunting, according to National Geographic, so he came up with the idea of just moving the hands on the clock.

William Willett, who is the great-great grandfather of Coldplay’s Chris Martin, , arrived at the same idea a few years later and proposed moving the clock forward in the spring and back in the fall in his work, “British Summer Time.”

Willett’s idea was picked up a few years later by the Germans who used it during World War I as a way to save on coal use. Other countries would soon follow suit.

In the U.S., DST was signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson in 1918. 

Why did the U.S. do it?

The idea of setting clocks ahead in the spring was pitched as a way to help farmers with crops and harvesting. In reality, it was department stores behind the push for adjusting clocks, looking for another hour of shopping time in the afternoon and evenings.

Others have argued that DST saves energy. A 1975 study by the U.S. Department of Transportation showed that DST accounted for a savings of about one percent a day in electricity use.

While most of the country and about 40 percent of the world use DST, there are some exceptions. Two states – Arizona and Hawaii – and several territories don’t fall back or spring forward with DST.

Will we keep it?

It’s likely that most U.S. states will continue to use DST, though some state legislatures have discussed ending the practice.

In August, the Maine legislature passed a bill that would end DST.

A provision to the bill requires Maine voters to approve the change in a referendum, and the referendum could only be triggered if Massachusetts and New Hampshire agree to drop DST, also.