Stories from Wednesday, October 4, 2006

SWITZ CITY -- A Lyons couple put real faces on the Greene County drug problem and told of their remarkable road back from years of illicit drug use, crime and neglect of their only child. Todd and Christy Johnson -- by their own admission -- are recovering drug addicts...

The Linton JV football teams defeated North Daviess, 35-6, Monday night in Elnora. The Miners scored on their opening drive when Evan Magni took the ball in the end zone from three yards out to give Linton a 6-0 lead. The Cougars took the kick off and was driving down the field until Brian Sparks picked off the North Daviess quarterback, which led to an eight play, 74-yard drive that ended with Caleb Bridges scoring from 25 yards away. Magni added the 2-point run to put Linton up, 14-0...

Clay City bounced back from its loss at Shakamak Monday, defeating visiting Eastern Greene 25-22, 25-22, 25-20 in a Southwestern Indiana Athletic Conference volleyball match Tuesday night. The victory was the 13th in 18 matches for the Lady Eels, who improved to 3-2 in the SWIAC...

GREENWOOD -- Linton's doubles team of Jack Busenburg and George Fritch took a loss in the first round of the doubles tournament to Morristown's Elliott Shannon and Shane Stout, 6-3, 6-4, to conclude their season at 2-14. "They gave themselves a chance," said Linton coach Brad McKinney. "We had plenty of chances to win. It was a close match with two evenly matched team. Sometimes we worry about getting up there and being overpowered and it wasn't that way at all. It was close throughout."...

Pairings for the Indiana High School Athletic Association's annual football state tournament were drawn at IHSAA headquarters in Indianapolis Tuesday night. In Class A Sectional 40, Eastern Greene (0-7) will begin play at Perry Central (5-1). The Commodores, currently ranked No. 7 in Class A, are the defending sectional champs. All first-round sectional games are scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 20, local time...

Linton football coach Steve Weber had his ideal sectional bracket already in his head and on Tuesday, he found out that he was somewhat right. Starting on Oct. 20, 314 prep football teams in the state will compete in their respected class and for the Miners, their road to the RCA Dome will begin with a bus ride to Oakland City when Linton takes on Southwest Seven Conference rivals Wood Memorial to open the 2006 sectional...

Charles D. Stark, 89 of Linton, died at 10:50 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2006 at the Linton Nursing & Rehab Center. Arrangements are pending at Welch & Cornett Funeral Home in Linton.

Ruth Ann Love, 64 of Linton, died at 6:06 a.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2006 at Glenburn Home in Linton. She was born in Worthington on Oct. 11, 1941, the daughter of Morton G. and Fredia (Funkhouser) Talley. She was a member of the Olive Branch Baptist Church in Linton where she was a member of the Mission Circle, and she was also a member of the Country Corner Home Extension Club where she formerly served as President. She was a homemaker...

Paul Joshua Edelman, 88, of Bloomfield, passed away on Tuesday., Oct. 3, 2006 at Bedford Hospitality House. He was born Nov. 2, 1917, in Jasonville, the son of Samuel and Mary Louise (Ansorage) Edelman. He ran a dragline and managed the Bloomfield gravel pit, was a truck driver and was a farmer. He was a member of the Seventh Day Adventist Church in Bloomfield and was an Army veteran of World War II...

Auline S. Cunningham, 99, of Linton, passed away at 12:40 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 2, 2006, at Good Samaritan Hospital in Vincennes. She was born July 8, 1907, in Oblong, Ill., the daughter of Edward and Ollie Bell (Williams) Rieber. She was a homemaker. She and her husband owned and operated Cunningham Grocery in Linton for several years. She was a member of the Westside Church of Christ in Sullivan...

Mary Katherine Burton, 85, of Mitchell passed away Sunday, Oct. 1, 2006 at Westview Nursing and Rehab Center in Bedford. She was born May 12, 1921, in Orange County, to Harry and Julia D. (Martin) Burton. She married Wilbur Franklin Burton on Sept. 12, 1941, and he preceded her in death on Oct. 1, 2002...

The Apple Festival has a rich tradition in the Bloomfield community, but it also serves as a reminder of those who worked hard to make it what it is today. Both the late Randy Walker and Russell Basye had their own impact on the festival, explained Leroy Barnhill, president of the Apple Festival committee...

A salary increase requested by Greene County Solid Waste Management Director Debbie Haseman for the recycling center staff was denied Tuesday by the SWMD Board of Directors. The 2007 budget had $1,000 increases built in for the recycling center staff. At a September meeting, county Commissioner Bart Beard and County Councilman Butch Brown suggested keeping the increase to $500, which is what county employees received last year...

A county police officer and the deputy prosecutor who worked on the case of a Lyons couple arrested about two years ago on multiple drug charges were the first to hug Todd and Christy Johnson after they finished delivering an emotional talk Tuesday night...

The city of Linton is in the process of creating a comprehensive plan for guiding growth and development of the community and part of that process will include a series of open houses to allow community members to review the plan. The first public open house will be Oct. 11 from 5-9 p.m. at the Roy Clark Community Building in Linton's Humphreys Park...

The readdressing issue was discussed at Tuesday's meeting of the Greene County Board of Commissioners. Bill Sipes and Eric Lowery of WTH Engineering presented a proposal defining the scope of products and services WTH can provide for the readdressing process. Lowery gave background information on the proposal and explained the different phases outlined for the project...

Child abuse and neglect is real in Greene County. The professionals who deal first-hand with the problem every day agree and say much work needs to be done. The county ranks first in the state in substantiated abuse and neglect cases on a per capita basis, based on statistics that were released in January...

First-round sectional pairings Oct. 20 in the 34th Indiana High School Athletic Association football tournament (All games 7 p.m., local, or as determined by host schools. The second team listed for each game is the host unless both schools agree to switch the site):...