Missouri man arrested on a warrant, ISTEP solutions may cause more questions, BZA approves race track in Daviess County, bird flu testing to continue in Dubois County for several weeks…
ARRESTS
-The Daviess County Sheriff’s Department arrested 48-year-old James E. Bowzer of St. Charles Missouri on Friday. He was wanted on a petition to review a suspended sentence. Bond was posted.
-Two Vincennes Women were arrested Friday morning by State Police after narcotics were found in their vehicle. 27-year-old Sadie Fields and 33-year-old Dara Kay McMain are charged with possession of cocaine and methamphetamine. Bond was set at 5-thousand dollars bond each.
WASHINGTON SCHOOL BOARD
As the current ISTEP trouble continues for area schools, the governor’s signing of two bills this week concerning last year’s result means more questions. One bill spares teachers from having merit pay docked due to this year’s low test scores, which plunged because of difficult new standards. The other prevents a drop in school A-F letter grades for the same reason.
Washington Community Schools Superintendent Dr. Dan Roach told us on Friday that one issue will be whether schools will use the last two rounds of ISTEP to determine teacher raises and letter grades. He says there are lots of unknowns in the various scenarios that could play out.
The next ISTEP is just around the corner, and schools still don’t have enough information to prepare students for it.
BZA TRACK
The Board of Zoning Appeals approved a conditional use permit Thursday night for the operation of race track in northeastern Daviess County.
The Washington Times Herald says some area residents against, the track to be operated by Parsons Motorsports, expressed their opposition to the plan and presented a petition with 125 signatures against the idea. They cited noise, dust and property value losses and some of the reasons not wanting it.
In the end the board voted 4 to 1 to allow the track with several stipulations. Some included: putting in place dust control measures, operations must only be from 8-am to 8-pm. . Practice for non race events could only be from 10 to 6. The track would be limited to 8 races a year and the owner has to stay up on all permits. No races or practices during holidays except for Labor Day and no use of the track on Sundays would be permitted exempting when a race is on Sunday.
BIRD FLU UPDATE
Although tests in the Dubois County avian influenza incident continue to prove negative, much more work must still be completed before the event can be considered over. That’s according to Indiana State Veterinarian Bret D. Marsh.
Marsh they are mindful that the situation could change and continued testing and surveillance are vital for the next few weeks.
Weekly testing and monitoring of commercial poultry farms in the 10-kilometer control area will continue for several weeks as Indiana moves through the process to be declared avian flu-free.
Depopulation of the affected farms concluded Wednesday evening. Disposal of the turkeys, via indoor composting, will be followed by thorough cleaning and disinfection of all barns on the 10 infected sites.