World War II Reid Cadet Nurse Corps

Members of the Reid Cadet Nurses Corps during World War II from left to right: Doris Tillson of Richmond, Mazella Knight of Greens Fork, Ruth Goebel Hellwig who lives in Woodridge, Virginia (Home for parade), Rachel Bresher of Richmond, Ceinwen Phelps Clark of Richmond, Barbara Tubesing of Richmond, Genevieve Lacey Duke of Richmond, Evelyn Eadler Alexander of Richmond, Christine Evans Roberts of Richmond and Esther Lindholm Kaucher of Centerville. Story on page 9 and 13 of subscription issue of Western Wayne News. (Photo by Ray Dickerson)

Cambridge City Selects New CCYL Commissioner

By Jenny Pugh
    The Cambridge City Town Council met in chambers on Monday, November 9, at 5:30 p.m., with town attorney, Bob Bever present. Claims payable were signed and minutes of the previous meeting were accepted.
    Guest Robin Kinnaman was present to voice his concerns about the Safe Routes to School project, which is slated to cross his property.
    Town manager Michael Stuckey presented council with quotes for upgrading the meter reading system hardware and software. Support for the current system will end next January. Minimum quote for a new handheld meter reading device and software was $5,987.94 from EJP, the town’s current provider. All other equipment will remain the same. Town employees have greatly reduced the time and effort involved in reading meters by upgrading to the touch meter reading system.
    After reviewing quotes from Pritchard’s Backhoe Service and Morgan Excavating for demolition of two properties on Church Street, Hook Ex-cavating was chosen to do the work as their quotes were the lowest. Work must be done by December 31, 2009, or there will be a per day penalty until the job is done.
    Stuckey presented the town with new figures for the water rate study if the rates are phased in over 2-3 years. All possible combinations of loans, grants and SRF funds were reviewed. It should be noted that the town is still waiting to hear if they will receive funds from the SRF or not. If a new water tank is not purchased, the old tank will need to be rehabbed and repainted within the next year or so at an approximate cost of $300,000.
    Ordinance 6-2009 was approved transferring funds.
    *Approval for transfer of two cemetery lots was approved.
    *Permission was granted for Jill King to plant a buckeye tree on the east side of the park, south of
      the swinging bridge, near the river. For more of the above story, please subscribe!

Milton Town Board Ceases Negotiations with WWRSD

By Jenny Pugh
    The Milton Town Board met at Town Hall on Tuesday, November 10, at 6:30 p.m., with council members Donna Powell, Hugh Payne Jr., Kenneth Risch, Clerk-Treasurer Terry Craig and Attorney Ron Cross present.
    Board members expressed their appreciation to town employees, Jim and Dillon Hicks, for their work cleaning up the vacant lot on the corner of SR1 and Walnut St. Several ideas for the future of the lot were discussed, but due to a lack of money it was decided not to form a committee to explore those options at this time. Instead, the lot will be filled in and seeded for now. It should be noted that the Beautification Grant, which is still more than two years down the road, will only cover the cost of streetlights.
    Ron Cross, town attorney, presented council members with the results of his negotiations with the Western Wayne Regional Sewage District (WWRSD) board. The agreement proposed by WWRSD did not provide Milton with any protection against future rate increases, did not grant a moratorium on treatment or capital rate increases, and did not provide Milton any representation on the WWRSD board. Cross recommended that the town of Milton cease negotiations with the WWRSD. Council members agreed. The process to begin negotiations with Connersville to transmit our affluent there will start at once. Options include a 20-year license agreement to run a sewer line along the railroad tracks or obtaining permanent easements along State Road One. An environmental review and some other work will need to be redone with Connersville as the new destination for our affluent. Building our own treatment facility was briefly discussed as being too costly and time consuming, and difficult for a small town such as ours to afford to properly maintain according to IDEM standards.
    Milton residents recently received an information packet in the mail containing the IDEM sewer construction permit and subsequent approval. It is standard state practice to mail these documents to all who will be affected by the project. The packet does not contain information about easements and it requires no action on the part of the recipients. It does include steps for those who wish to file a complaint about the project. More than likely, residents will receive another such information packet once the new permits are approved with Connersville. As for easements, affected homeowners will be contacted to set up meetings and get the process started.
    Another complaint was heard concerning a resident who owns chickens who make too much noise, too early in the morning. The resident in question has already received a warning letter, but the problems and the complaints have continued. Council voted to pursue the issue and file an ordinance violation against the resident.
    It was decided to have the clerk-treasurer update the town’s book of ordinances, with a new fee schedule, rather than pay to have an outside firm do so. Once the fines are updated, they will be advertised before taking effect.
    Approval was granted to purchase an automatic propane generator to be hardwired into the water treatment system at a cost of $18,500 from Williams Electric, using EDIT funds. The generator has long been needed for use during power outages. Previously the town has had to borrow a generator because it did not have one of its own.
    In other business, a hinge on the north door of the fire dept. is in the process of being repaired. Council passed a salary ordinance. A bond anticipation note was approved to pay bills incurred by the sewer project while the town is waiting to be reimbursed with the grant money. Jim Hicks updated council on the age and condition of the backhoe, dump truck and sand spreader; no action was taken, as money is tight at present. Meeting adjourned at 7:45 p.m.

Police Chase Ends in Shooting On U.S. 40

   Friday evening at approximately 9:50 p.m. an Indiana State Police Trooper attempted to stop a car for a traffic violation in the Northwest portion of Fayette County. The driver refused to stop and continued south on Fayette County Road 200 West. The vehicles speeds ranged from 30 m.p.h. to 60 m.p.h. turning on several, county roads.During this time, the suspect displayed a handgun to officers. The vehicle ended up in Henry County, turning east on U.S. 40 from Bentonville Rd.
    Shortly after turning onto U.S. 40 east, the suspect made a U-turn going back west on U.S. 40, then pulled southbound into the median and stopped. A second Connersville Trooper, two Henry County sheriff’s vehicles and a Cambridge City Police Department vehicle were on the scene. The suspect exited his vehicle, displayed a handgun and fired in the direction of the officers.
    Officers returned the fire striking the suspect. Emergency workers arrived on the scene shortly after and Lifeline was called to the scene, however, by the time they arrived, the suspect had succumbed to his injuries.
    The suspect was identified as Ryan Pruitt, 33, of Connersville. The investigation is ongoing, and at this time, it is not known why the suspect ran when the officer tried to stop him for the traffic violation.