Two Crothersville men were arrested on a variety of drug charges last Wednesday after routine probation department visit found them making methamphetamine.

Korey L. Sparrow, 26, and Jaron A. Mullins, 22, were arrested at a mobile home at 5139 S County Road 1000 E, Crothersville shortly after 10 p.m. last Wednesday, Aug. 25.
Crothersville Chief of Police Vurlin McIntosh said that Crothersville officer Richard Hansler was assisting the Scott County Probation Department with a probation inspection at the Sparrow home.
“When entering the trailer the officers found an active meth lab. They immediately exited and called for the Haz Mat Team and obtained a search warrant to re-enter the residence,” said McIntosh.
The Indiana State Police Haz-Mat team responded to remove the active meth lab, he said.
Sparrow was arrested for maintaining a common nuisance, possession of paraphernalia, possession of hypodermic syringe, and manufacturing methamphetamine. Probation violation charges are pending in Scott County, McIntosh said/
Mullins was arrested for visiting a common nuisance, manufacturing methamphetanmine, possession hypodermic syringes, possession of precursors.
Both were booked into Jackson County Jail where they remain on a $50,000 bond.

Sheriff Marc Lahrman accepts expired pharmaceuticals from Alice Burke of Crothersville during Saturday’s “Recycle-Mania” held at the Dollar General Store parking lot.
Over five gallons of expired prescription pills were turned in for proper disposal, according to Debbie Hackman, director of Jackson County Recycling District which sponsored the event.
Around 46 area residents showed up to recycle electronics, pharmaceuticals, household hazardous waste and have documents shredded during the four-hour recycling event.
—photo courtesy Debbie Hackman

The fall Greater Crothersville Community Wide Yard Sales will be held on Saturday, Oct. 2, according to Curt Kovener, editor of the Crothersville Times, the sponsor of the twice-yearly affair.
Area residents can clean out their closets, garages and storage buildings and turn unused merchandise into cash during the event.
The Times will advertise free a list of yard sale locations.
To take advantage of the no cost advertising, simply call the newspaper office at 793-2188 with your name and yard sale location. “Please speak slowly and distinctly as the newspaper’s electronic secretary is old and may not hear your name and address correctly,” said the editor. For those online, the information can be e-mailed to ctimes@verizon.net.
All yard sales will be published on Wednesday, Sept. 29. The deadline for submitting advertising is 5 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 24.

A Great Spangled Fritillary butterfly and a Bumble bee share nectar from a purple Cone Flower in the late afternoon sun in a garden in southern Indiana.
—photo by John Sheckler

The Jackson County Health Department recently announced that the use of “tire chips” as the aggregate in onsite sewage systems has resumed.
“The lack of availability of tire chips caused their use to be discontinued for the past two years,” said Larry Miller, Environmental Health Specialist of the county health department.
This year, CCE Inc of New Albany began producing Rubber Rok™ brand of tire chips for use as an aggregate, he said.
“An average septic system will require approximately 2,500 discarded tires,” said Miller. “Testing of the septic systems that were installed in the past using tire chips show positive results and continue to work as well as stone.”
Discarded tires have always been an environmental problem. Recycling them for onsite sewage system use is a win-win for homeowners and the environment, he said.

The Monday, Sept. 6 Labor Day holiday will postpone by a day the weekly trash and bi-weekly recycling pick up in Crothersville.
Rumpke will collect trash and recyclables on Wednesday, Sept. 8, according to town hall officals.

Fourteen-year-old Owen Payne (#42) leads 11-year old Benny Royer (20) over one of the jumps at the High Fly MX Park south of Crothersville. The facility had a well attended practice day last Saturday. A full race program is scheduled for this Sunday, Aug. 22, with additional races planned for Sept. 12, 26 and Oct. 10.

A new motorcycle park being developed just south of Crothersville is being geared toward youthful motorcycle riders and their families.
Scott Woolls, who is developing High Fly MX Park just south of the I-65 & US 31 interchange, said his goal is to “make the track kid and family friendly and affordable fun.”
While other tracks charge $25-$30 for a day of riding motorcycles over jumps, bumps and sharp hairpin turns, just $15 will buy youthful riders a day of thrills and sometimes an occasional spill.
“The sport has been losing young riders and I want to try to change that by making is affordable and family friendly,” said Woolls.
MX is an abbreviation of Moto Cross, a version of dirt bike racing over a circuitous track with a variety of challenging turns, dips and hills which send motorcycle and rider airborne.
While construction continues at some of the spectator areas, the riders on the track, particularly the youthful crowd, are giving the fledgling track a thumbs up.
“It’s really cool,” said 14-year-old Owen Payne of Bedford. Payne has been riding for eight years but Saturday was his first visit to the new Crothersville track. “I really like it.”
Fellow MXer, 11-year-old Benny Royer of Springville, agreed. “The track is really wide open which gives us more room to maneuver around other racers.”
A special spectator tower has been built to allow race fans (and perhaps concerned parents) a better view of nearly all of the track and its challenges.
A variety of classes from mini & peewee up to adult bike classes are run at the facility.
Spectator admission is $5 for this Sunday’s racing program.
Moto Cross riders interested in practicing and getting the feel of the new track can practice every Tuesday and Thursday for $10 from 3 p.m. to dusk.

In three years the number of students at Crothersville High School getting college credits at IVY Tech while in high school classes has doubled.
That information was explained to the board of trustees of Crothersville Community Schools by Tom Judd, Director of High School Initiatives at IVY Tech. Judd is a former high school principal at Crothersville.
In the first year (2007-08) we offered college credit for taking classes in high school there were 31 students enrolled, Judd told the board. “This past school year 65 students were taking courses for college credit.
“As a result, their parents saved over $23,000 on college tuition costs,” Judd said. “You have parents saving money and students easing into school.”
Crothersville, along with several other area schools, participate in the program that allows high school juniors and seniors to take classes in various subjects that will transfer to whichever college or university they choose to attend. This past year, 65 Crothersville students earned 205 credits.
Credits, Judd said, are at no cost to students, which saves them thousands of dollars in the long run. Using Ivy Tech’s average credit hour price of $99.65, the 65 students saved $23,678.25. Judd said to triple that number for other state schools or private colleges.
Three new classes have been added for this year, including an agriculture class, a speech class and an introduction to teaching course.
“We’ll continue to look for classes,” Judd said of new courses. “We will increase these numbers.”
School board President Dale Schmelzle wondered if students could potentially leave high school with an associate degree, and Judd said it’s a possibility in the near future.
Dual-credit classes must be taught by a certified teacher, and a student must earn a grade of a C or better for the class to count as credit. Juniors and seniors are eligible to take the classes, but qualified sophomores may also sign up with approval.
In other business the board accepted the extra-curricular coaching resignations of Savannah Mains, Daniel Hodge, Kara Hunt, Bryan Hougland, and Kourtney Howard Scifres.
The board approved hiring Alissa Sweazy as the co-class sponsor for the Class of 2013.

The deadline to register to vote or change your voter registration for the November general election is Monday, October 4.
That’s also the deadline for a voter to have a mail-in voter application postmarked.
The Jackson County Commissioners have made a change in the polling places for Vernon Township.
Voters living inside the town limits will continue voting at the school and voters in Vernon North will continue voting at Professional Heating & Cooling north of Uniontown on US 31.
However, Vernon South voters will return to voting at the Crothersville-Vernon Township Fire Station in November.
For information about voter registration, call the Jackson County Voter Registration Office, 358-6120.

A new county website will assist residents with questions of the who, what, when, where & how of county government.
The site is located at http://www.jacksoncounty.in.gov/.
“This new website will allow county residents access to a list of activities scheduled in the county, and they also may contact county offices through the site,” Duane Davis said.
Davis, the county’s Emergency Management Agency director, has been working with a committee of other county employees to provide information for the website. Other members of that group include Jeff Hubbard, the county’s human resources manager; Stan Darlage, the jail commander; J.L. Brewer, the executive director of the county’s community corrections program; J.L. McElfresh, a court security officer; and Davis’ assistant director, Robert Baldwin.
“We started working on this back in March of this year,” Davis said.
The website was developed for free by CivicPlus, a Manhattan, Kan.-based firm. That company offered a promotion for Hoosier counties earlier this year that Jackson County won, and the company will provide development, maintenance and training service for the site for free for a two-year period, Davis said.
Davis said he can post emergency notifications on the site, and those notices can be viewed by clicking on a red flashing button that will be activated.
“Local officeholders have been working throughout the spring and summer providing information about their departments for the site,” Davis said.
The website offers contact information for each county office, a staff directory and maps of the county.
The website also includes a link to county job openings.