The Indiana Department of Transportation plans to close State Road 256 at its Muscatatuck River bridge located 1.92 miles east of S.R. 39 near Austin along the Scott-Washington County line.
Contracted crews will be onsite beginning Monday to set barricades and begin making minor repairs in advance of installing a thin bridge deck overlay.
Motorists will be detoured around the S.R. 256 closure via Interstate 65, S.R. 56 and S.R. 39.
Ragle Inc. is the state’s contractor for this $300,000 2-bridge project. The Evansville contractor will place a 3/8-inch polymeric overlay atop the Muscatatuck River bridge’s deck—restoring the driving surface, sealing it from weather degradation and ultra violet ray damage.
In addition, approaches to the bridge will be milled and repaved.
INDOT officials anticipate S.R. 256 reopening to traffic later in the month.
A deck overlay at the S.R. 258 White River bridge in Jackson County has recently been completed near Seymour under this contract.
Indiana Department of Transportation maintenance crews will chip seal 40 lane miles of State Road 160 in Washington and Scott counties next week—weather permitting—placing surface treatment material on the east-west highway between Salem and Henryville.
On Monday and Tuesday (AUGUST 14 & 15), pavement preservation operations will proceed along the eastbound lane of S.R. 160 from S.R. 60 to Interstate 65. Wednesday and Thursday (AUGUST 16 & 17), chip seal will be placed in the westbound lane from I-65 to S.R. 60.
Flaggers will be onsite to direct motorists around crews and equipment.
The S.R. 160 chip seal will coat the highway’s surface with liquid asphalt—sealing pavement cracks and protecting the roadbed from harmful ultraviolet rays. Small chips of limestone will be used to “choke” the asphalt’s fluidity and minimize adhesion to tires. These aggregate chips also restore surface friction—optimizing maneuverability and stopping capabilities.
Chip seal applications are highly cost-effective as a pavement preservation measure. Every $1 spent saves $6 to $14 in subsequent expenditures.
On yesterday’s date shortly after 2:15 pm, Troopers Jackie Smith, Andrew Taylor, Brandon Farias, Carey Huls and Katrina Smith from the Indiana State Police Post at Sellersburg served an arrest warrant on Jamie Ray Scheckles, 33, from 1612 East Oak Street in New Albany.
The arrest warrant was out of Clark County, IN for a Probation Violation.
This was followed by the arrest of three others who were charged with:
1: JAMIE RAY SHECKLES, 33, from 1612 East Oak Street in New Albany, Clark County Jail.
Dealing in a Controlled Substance(Cocaine) – Level 2 Felony
Possession of Cocaine – Level 6 Felony
Dealing in a Controlled Substance (Meth) – Level 2 Felony
Possession of Methamphetamine – Level 5 Felony
Possession of Schedule I,II, III, IV, V, Controlled Substance, – Level 6 Felony
Controlled Substance, Dealing Marijuana – Class A Misdemeanor
Possession of Marijuana – Class B Misdemeanor
Possession of Paraphernalia – Class B Misdemeanor
Maintaining a Common Nuisance – Class 6 Felony
2: BRITTANY LYNN PRATHER, 26, from 1612 East Oak Street in New Albany, Floyd County Jail.
Dealing in a Controlled Substance(Cocaine) – Level 2 Felony
Possession of Cocaine – Level 6 Felony
Dealing in Controlled Substance (Meth) – Level 2 Felony
Possession of Methamphetamine – Level 5 Felony
Possession of Schedule I,II, III, IV, V, Controlled Substance – Level 6 Felony
Controlled Substance, Dealing Marijuana – Class A Misdemeanor
Possession of Marijuana – Class B Misdemeanor
Possession of Paraphernalia – Class B Misdemeanor
Maintaining a Common Nuisance – Class 6 Felony
3: KEVIN MARTIN, 34, from 1612 East Oak Street in New Albany, Floyd County Jail.
Dealing in a Controlled Substance(Cocaine) – Level 2 Felony
Possession of Cocaine – Level 6 Felony
Dealing in Controlled Substance (Meth) – Level 2 Felony
Possession of Methamphetamine – Level 5 Felony
Possession of Schedule I,II, III, IV, V, Controlled Substance – Level 6 Felony
Controlled Substance, Dealing Marijuana – Class A Misdemeanor
Possession of Marijuana – Class B Misdemeanor
Possession of Paraphernalia – Class B Misdemeanor
Maintaining a Common Nuisance – Class 6 Felony
4: TIA LANETTE EDELEN, 37, from 1612 East Oak Street in New Albany, Floyd County Jail.
Warrant, Failure to Appear
Warrant, Failure to Appear
Troopers were assisted by the Washington County Drug Task Force.
When troopers entered the home to serve the arrest warrant there were several other people in the home and drug paraphernalia was located. This lead troopers to apply for and obtain a search warrant for the residence.
A search of the residence resulted in troopers finding Heroin, Methamphetamine, Schedule I, II, III, IV and V Controlled Substances, Marijuana, Paraphernalia and over $1,200.00 in U.S. Currency. All four persons in the home were arrested.
A 36-year-old Cannelton man was back behind bars after Troopers found narcotics in his possession while trying to serve him with an arrest warrant.
Arrested and Charged was Charles A. Cronin, Jr., 36, of Cannelton, IN
Possession of Methamphetamine, Level 6 Felony
Warrant, Perry County
Domestic Battery with a Deadly Weapon, Level 5 Felony
Intimidation, Level 6 Felony
Warrant, Perry County
Dealing in a “Look-alike” Substance, Level 5 Felony
Possession of Paraphernalia, Class C Felony
Warrant, Perry County
Invasion of Privacy, Violation of a Protective Order, Class A Misdemeanor
New Charges:
Possession of Methamphetamine, Level 6 Felony
Maintaining a Common Nuisance, Level 6 Felony
Possession of Paraphernalia, Class C Misdemeanor
Members of the State Police “All Crimes Policing” unit, Sergeant George Wooten and Master Trooper Trey Lytton, attempted to serve Cronin, Jr. with multiple arrest warrants at 15370 Dexter Magnet Road.
Troopers, along with Perry County Deputy Daymion Marsh and members of Community Corrections, found Cronin inside the residence, and watched him attempt to hide an item between the cushions of the sofa he was sitting on.
As Trooper Lytton placed Cronin into custody, Deputy Marsh found a glass smoking pipe and white baggies, both with white residue. The white, crystal-like substance field tested positive as methamphetamine.
Cronin was transported to the Perry County Corrections Center where he was held on his prior warrant, as well as possession of methamphetamine and paraphernalia charges.
The Indiana State Police has released the names of four police officers who were involved in an incident that took place in Dyer on August 10, 2017. The officers involved are as follows:
1) Victor Zamora, 37, Lake County Sheriff’s Department, 13 years of service
2) Luke Schreiber, 41, St. John Police Department, 10 years of service (18 total)
3) Jacob Patzschke, 25, St. John Police Department, 1 year of service (3 total)
4) Daniel Kolodziej, 31, Dyer Police Department, 1 year of service (5 total)
The officers remain on paid administrative leave per their respective departments policies.
This incident remains under investigation by the Indiana State Police. Upon completion of the investigation, the results will be turned over to the Lake County Prosecutor’s Office for review.
On August 10, 2017, at approximately 5:38 a.m., officers with the Dyer Police Department, St. John Police Department and Lake County Sheriff’s Department were involved in a vehicle pursuit of a stolen car in the area of 9300 Sheffield Ave. in Dyer.
During the initial pursuit, the suspect vehicle struck a pedestrian in Saulk Village and continued to flee.
Indiana officers were able to locate the vehicle in Indiana and pursued the vehicle north into the gas station at the intersection of 81st and Hart Street where it struck another white vehicle before coming to rest on Hart Street, north of 81st Ave.
What occurred between the suspect and the officers is under investigation, but the interaction resulted in multiple shots being fired. The suspect died at the scene.
The suspect has been identified as Mark P. Coffey, 33, of South Chicago Heights, IL. Coffey had an active warrant for Battery/Robbery and was considered to be armed and dangerous.
Coffey also had an ankle monitoring bracelet on his person issued by the Illinois Department of Corrections.
The Indiana State Police is being assisted by the Northwest Indiana Major Crime Task Force. The Indiana State Police Crime Scene investigators processed the scene.
IC 35-48-4-13(b)FL6 ~ MAINTAINING A COMMON NUISANCE
IC 35-42-2-2(B)(A)(A)FL6 ~ CRIMINAL RECKLESSNESS – AGGRESSIVE DRIVING RESULTING IN SERIOUS BODILY IN
IC 35-48-4-11(A)MB ~ POSSESSION MARIJUANA/HASH OIL/HASHISH OR SALVIA
IC 9-30-5-4 ~ OPERATING WHILE INTOXICATED SERIOUS INJURY
IC 9-30-5-2(A)MA ~ OPERATING A VEHICLE WHILE INTOXICATED ENDANGERING A PERSON
IC 9-30-5-1(A)MC ~ OPERATING A VEHICLE WITH A BAC OF 0.08 OR MORE
9-26-1-1.1 {B} ~ LEAVING SCENE OF OWI ACCIDENT RESULTING IN SERIOUS BODILY INJURY
“The INDOT project team alongside Walsh Construction accomplished in a few weeks what normally would take many months, and they did it while accelerating the current pace of work along the corridor,” INDOT Commissioner Joe McGuinness said.
The Indiana Finance Authority today completed the settlement transaction to terminate the contractual relationship between I-69 Development Partners and the State, reimburse the developer’s bond holders for $246 million, and return direct control of the I-69 Section 5 project to the Indiana Department of Transportation.
“The State is officially in charge of this important project,” Gov. Eric J. Holcomb said. “Our focus is to complete this crucial stretch of roadway that provides a promising path to economic growth for Hoosiers and businesses in southern Indiana.”
The IFA announced the pending settlement agreement June 16, 2017. Since that time, the financing plan to complete the transaction was approved by the IFA Board and reviewed by the State Budget Committee.
IFA Public Finance Director Dan Huge said his agency will use highway-revenue bonds to retire the developer’s private-activity bonds. Those highway-revenue bonds are rated at AA+ according to statements previously issued by S&P Global, Fitch Ratings and Moody’s Investor Services.
This rating is considerably higher and more advantageous to the State than the BBB and BBB- rating assigned to the developer’s private-activity bonds and will result in interest savings over time.
The 21-mile project between Bloomington and Martinsville is expected to be complete on or before August 2018.
To ensure the project is completed within that timeframe, INDOT has worked closely over the past month with I-69 Development Partners and advisor Walsh Construction to conduct a thorough assessment of work that has been completed and to identify milestones to keep the project on track.
“We have INDOT staff on the ground today working with a team of partners ready to complete this section of the interstate.”
INDOT re-scoped and negotiated more than a dozen subcontractor agreements to retain most of the primary and subcontractors who worked on the project under the previous arrangement.
McGuiness said retaining that experience is invaluable in moving the project forward to completion.
The Salem City Council at its regular meeting Monday night agreed to allow racing at Salem’s dirt track to continue past the 11p curfew for an extra hour on Sept. 9.
Steve Leonard spoke to the council and asked the council to consider lifting the curfew because of the popularity of the track.
The stands at Thunder Valley Raceway were filled last Saturday night for dirt track racing.
“This is our first year with the track back open. We had a race during the fair, then again on July. Starting at 7p, the heat was over 100 in the stands and many people didn’t come up until after 8:30p,” said Leonard.
The number of cars has continued to increase over the past two races and Leonard and his wife, Misty, were scrambling this past week when the stands were filled and 68 cars showed up to race.
“This is a great problem to have. Our goal is to have 100 cars,” said Misty Leonard. “We are trying hard to run four classes and get done by 11p.”
City Attorney Ryan Bower said a permit to allow the track to operate for a special event could be issued on a case by case basis.
The council voted unanimously to issue a permit for the next race on Sept. 9, which would allow Thunder Valley Raceway to operate until midnight.
Leonard said he was looking at adding a race in late October and next year hoping to run races every other Saturday.
“We are not trying to compete with other tracks in the area. Years ago they raced here on Friday nights. But it has worked out better to do these on Saturday nights. If we could work our schedule around other tracks, maybe we could draw fans in to a racing weekend here in Salem. We have the fans support of this.”
Thunder Valley Race (in many forms) has been part of the community since 1916.
The Leonards took over management of the track this year and have made major changes. Much of that was erased in May during the flood and caused much more time and money to be invested into the track to get it ready for the racing season which began during the Washington County Fair.
“If there is a problem with a certain class of car, we can make some adjustments to the rules and take care of that,” Leonard said. “We invite you all to come out to a race and see for yourselves what we’ve got here.”
OTHER BUSINESS
Salem Parks and Recreation Director Denise Newkirk presented each council member with a packet of information for the youth sports programs, indicating that the programs have had another successful year, including the current youth football programs which drafted teams this week.
Newkirk will be retiring at the end of the year and the city is exploring options to keep the programs going with minimal cost.
Salem Mayor Troy Merry said they were looking at options for the programs, including volunteer staff, moving the responsibility to another department or utilizing management from the Washington County Family YMCA.
“The only cut we’re planning on making is to take the salary and not replace someone in that position,” said Merry. ”
Newkirk said the Meyer’s Memorial Pool had over 60 pool parties scheduled this summer and had a full round of swimming lessons. The youth softball and baseball programs are wildly successful along with the youth football programs.
“These programs are excellent recreation for our youth but it’s also a feeder program for the schools,” Newkirk said. “I have two daughters who were in softball, went on to play in high school and also played in college.”
She also pointed out that the three current high school football coaches in Washington County were products of the Parks and Recs programs when they were youth.
“I understand the need for cuts,” said Newkirk, referring to the extra burdens put on the City of Salem due to the flooding in May and the lack of Flood Relief funding on a state and federal level.”
Mayor Merry said he did not want to take anything away from the kids.
WASTEWATER GRANT SUBMISSION
The May flooding devastated the city’s wastewater treatment plant and a rural grant from federal funds has been prepared and will be submitted in early September.
Amy Miller of Conservation Grants Management said the grant would be for $550,000 with a $500,000 match from the city.
She said the city should know if they received the grant by mid-October.
Council member Steve Crane asked what the odds were of receiving the funds.
“Good,” Miller said. “These are hard to get, but you have a lot of political eyes on you.”
Miller suggested to the council that they obtain letters of support from the community for the grant and include them with the submission.
SALEM AIRPORT EXPANSION
John Mead, attorney for the Salem Municipal Air Board, asked the council for permission not to repay a $20,000 payment the city made a few years ago into a fund to offset costs of construction of a new runway at the airport.
The airport is in the middle of expansions that will ultimately see a 5,000 foot runway, allowing larger planes to land in the community and hopefully attract more and different businesses.
Mead prepared a resolution for the city and said he was going to make a similar request of the county government this week.
Mayor Merry said he wanted to point out this was not new money being spent on the airport. “This is not additional taxpayer money. We can’t support the airport anymore. We have to fix water and sewer lines after the flood.”
The council unanimously voted to allow release the obligation to repay the money.
BOARD OF WORKS
In the earlier Board of Works meeting, Larry Shanks appeared to challenge the city’s open burning ban.
Typically this is restricted to cooking fires 3 foot square by 3 feet tall.
Shanks was working to clean up property and burnt some brush. He was approached by the Salem Fire Department and asked not to do that in the city limits.
Shanks was upset because he said others in the area were burning as well.
“I just want to make sure everyone that’s doing this is approached and it’s enforced,” he said.
The fine can be up to $2500, according to Ryan Bower.
The city also discussed an ordinance from last year about those mowing near city streets and discharging grass clippings on the road. There is a $25 fine for that.
Bower said there is an exception for burning within the city limits. If someone receives permission from the Commissioner of IDEM to clear land and burn brush if you are changing the use of the land.
Diana Campbell also spoke to the board regarding a visibility problem near Standish Street in Salem.
She said the problem has existed since last November and causes a visibility problem when vehicles are pulling out. Several bushes need to be trimmed by a homeowner and the city is working with that person to trim those bushes.
Mayor Merry said he hoped to resolve the issue in the next week.
