State police arrested a Washington man overnight after a traffic stop found that he was driving under the influence.

Just before 11:25 last night, an Indiana State Police trooper saw a maroon 2007 Toyota FJ cruiser run a stop sign aft the intersection of Daviess County Roads 150 North and 450 West, just northwest of Washington. After pulling the vehicle over, the trooper noticed that the driver (67-year-old James Taylor) looked to be intoxicated. The trooper also smelled alcohol.

Taylor was taken to the Daviess County Jail, where tests found that Taylor was indeeed intoxicated with a BAC of .106%. While he was at the jail, a further search found that Taylor was carrying 30 Adderall pills in a plastic bag. Adderall is considered to be a Schedule 2 Controlled Substance according to state police.

Taylor was booked into the Daviess County Jail. He is charged for Operating While Intoxicated and Possession of a Schedule 2 Controlled Substance.

Authorities are now leading a death investigation in Orange County after a man was found severely injured.

At around 11:30 this morning, Indiana State Police troopers and Orange County Sheriff’s deputies were called to a residence in the 5400 block of West County Road 100 North in West Baden. There, police and family members found 30-year-old Franklin McCracken of West Baden inside with unknown injuries. State police say McCracken was flown to University of Louisville Hospital, where he died from his injuries.

State police say the case is being treated as a death investigation pending an autopsy on McCracken. That autopsy is set for tomorrow.

No other information is available. State police say this investigation is ongoing.

Jasper Middle School students got a glimpse of what’s coming up at the Jasper Arts Center tonight.

Joshua Kane continued his week-long stay in town with 2 shows at JMS yesterday. Both shows featured the works of Edgar Allen Poe, including a performance of Poe’s famous “The Raven”.

Kane says he got into acting in order to communicate and connect his passion with people. He says there is one thing that makes performing at the schools worth it to him:

Meanwhile, Jasper Middle School principal Dave Hubster says having these type of shows makes school better for students:

400 students in grades 6 and 7 packed into the morning show. The remaining 7th grade students and 8th graders attended the 2nd performance yesterday afternoon.

Kane was at Jasper High School on Thursday. As mentioned, he’ll be performing tonight at the Jasper Arts Center. The show, titled “Joshua Kane: The Borders of the Mind”, gets underway at 7:30 pm.

The Dubois County Leadership Academy is seeking applicants for its 2015 class.

The academy will meet with a minimum of six four-hour sessions at various locations, (a minimum of two times in Jasper, twice in Huntingburg and twice in Ferdinand) from early April to early August. P

Past class topics have included leadership essentials, problem-solving, government and public service, communications and religious and civic leadership.
The group’s steering committee has placed a focus on business principals and entrepreneurship by combining these topics to re-purpose the problem-solving session.

Each academy culminates with a graduation ceremony and the presentation of capstone projects.

Participation in the Dubois County Leadership Academy requires “buy-in” from the participant’s place of employment, as meeting times will be either in the morning or afternoon during normal business hours of operation. There will also be a commitment of personal time to work on the capstone project. If chosen as a 2015 Leadership Academy participant, a $100 fee will be due at the first meeting.

Applications may be submitted to Chris James at cjames@ferdinandindiana.org or mailed to the Town of Ferdinand, Attention: Chris James, 2065 Main Street, P.O. Box 7, Ferdinand IN 47532.

Applications must be submitted by Friday, March 27.

The Dubois County Leadership Academy is a countywide initiative sponsored by the Leadership Pillars of the Ferdinand and Jasper HomeTown Competitiveness initiatives, the City of Jasper, the City of Huntingburg and Vincennes University Jasper Campus.

A Loogootee native is among those serving aboard one of the Navy’s aircraft carriers.

Jamie Brewer is a logistics specialist aboard the Norfolk, Virginia-based aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush. The carrier is one of only 10 operational aircraft carriers in the Navy today and is also a Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.

Named for the former president, the carrier is more than 3 football fields (almost 11 hundred feet) long, 252 feet wide and weighs more than 100 thousand tons. 2 nuclear reactors power the ship, which can move through the water at speeds exceeding 35 mph.

Brewer is a 5th generation military member of her family. She says she’s proud of the work she is doing to protect America on the world’s oceans.

Brewer is one of 6 thousand crew members on the USS George H.W. Bush.

A Thursday evening crash in northern Spencer County left 1 person dead.

Just before 7:20 central time, Indiana State Police say a 1994 Subaru Legacy driven by 41-year-old Melanie Rothery of Oregon City, Oregon had stopped along the southbound shoulder of US 231 just north of County Road 2250 north near Dale. Police say Rothery then tried to pull back into traffic, cross the southbound lanes of the highway and turn east onto County Road 2250 North. As Rothery pulled off of the shoulder and back onto the highway, a southbound semi being driven by 66-year-old David Wolfkiel of Owensboro attempted to get over into the left passing lane, but could not avoid the crash. The semi hit the Subaru at a right angle, pushing it into the median.

Rothery was pronounced dead at the scene. Wolfkiel complained of leg pain, but was treated and released.

Spencer County Sheriff’s deputies, the Dale and Santa Claus Police Departments, the Carter Township Fire Department, Spencer County EMS, and the Spencer County Coroner’s office also assisted.

A project that will turn part of the former JOFCO building into workforce housing got a boost at the state level today.

This morning, the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority approved Miller-Valentine Group’s request for state housing tax credits to go ahead with the project. In all, Miller-Valentine received just under $1.2 million in tax credits and 500 thousand dollars in additional HOME funds.

TRI-CAP served as the local Community Housing Development Organization (CHDO) for the application. Miller-Valentine’s application was 1 of just 16 that were awarded the tax credits today. 52 projects in all applied for the credits.

Miller-Valentine will be turning a large part of the building into 67 workforce housing units and the city of Jasper will kick in 500 thousand dollars in tax abatements and related incentives. The project is expected to cost between 12 and 13 million dollars in all to complete. Miller-Valentine applied for the grant funding last fall.

The state also awarded 411 thousand 500 dollars to a housing project at the Monastery of Immaculate Conception in Ferdinand. That project will convert Benet Hall into apartments.