Wednesday, February 22, 2023
NOTEBOOK:
The Shelbyville Board of Public Works and Safety yesterday issued three continuances regarding nuisance properties. Cora Cutsinger, the owner of a rental at 135 Walker Street, was given 30 days to deal with continual issues regarding the tenants’ upkeep of the property and their pending eviction. “It’s been a nightmare,” Cutsinger said. The owner of 333 E. Mechanic St., who had mostly cleaned up the cited area, was given two weeks to finish. The resident of 145 Walker Street, who had also mostly cleaned up the matter, was given a one-week continuance.
Registration is underway for the March 11 Crop & Craft Day, presented by Delta Theta Tau Sorority, Zeta Lambda chapter, from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. in Shelbyville’s St. Vincent DePaul Parish Hall, 4218 E. Michigan Rd. The event, held twice a year, generates funding to provide scholarships to a senior in each of the five county high schools through the Shelby County Scholarship Fund and donations to multiple non-profit organizations in the county. March 6 is the deadline to register for $30 to attend the daylong event to scrapbook and work on your craft. The fee then increases to $35. A light breakfast and lunch will be provided. Vendors will be on-site and gift baskets will be raffled (License #14595). The registration form is available on Facebook, Delta Theta Tau, Zeta Lambda chapter.
HOOSIER NEWS: A bill that would undo the effect of an Indiana Supreme Court decision passed the House on Monday. The Supreme Court ruled that Duke Energy couldn’t recover the cost of cleaning up its coal ash waste after the fact. Coal ash is what’s leftover when you burn coal. Duke had already built those costs into its rates, but asked for another rate increase in 2019 when cleanup ended up being more pricey than it thought. The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission approved the increase, but the court called it “retroactive ratemaking” — which is illegal. Rep. Ed Soliday (R-Valparaiso) disagrees with the ruling and said the court should have deferred to the agency. He authored a bill that would let utilities to recoup a number of “unexpected” additional costs from its customers — as long as the IURC approves. But some worry allowing utilities to do this will mean higher electric bills for Indiana residents and businesses. Rep. Matt Pierce (D-Bloomington) said this bill sends a strong message to the IURC that they are expected to approve these requests — and its unlikely the agency would feel comfortable saying no. The bill now moves to the state Senate for consideration. (Indiana Public Media)
NATIONAL NEWS: A visitor at an art fair in Miami knocked over a $42,000 balloon dog sculpture by Jeff Koons, causing it to shatter into over 100 pieces and resulting in what some have joked was the fifth-worst outcome for a balloon on U.S. soil in the past two weeks. The person who broke the statue tapped on it with her finger, leading to the slip. Thousands of the sculptures exist around the world, and some are over 10 feet tall, and now the number of 40-by-48-by-16 cm “Balloon Dog (Blue)” sculptures that exist has decreased from 799 to 798. The remains of the balloon dog are in a box awaiting review from an insurance company. (New York Times/USA Today/Numlock)
SHELBY COUNTY PEOPLE & PLACES: SUSIE KENNEDY RHODES
Mr. and Mrs. John W. Rhodes lived at 141 West Hendricks Street. An 85-foot iron fence that once stood in front of their home was donated to the scrap pile to benefit the war effort in 1942.
Editor’s note: In the mid- to late 1940s, The Shelbyville Republican published a series of articles by Ave Lewis and Hortense Montgomery covering community people and places. Below is one of those features.
“Crossword puzzles, and I'll bet you've never had that one before.”
That was the answer given by Mrs. Susie Kennedy Rhodes to a “stock” question about hobbies in a talk this week. Mrs. Rhodes subscribes to and buys all the crossword puzzle books she can locate and never finds them tiresome or irritating. Maybe because she long ago passed the stage of pencil chewing and mumbling over a four-letter word “old Norse work” or something just as simple. A teacher in Shelbyville schools for some years, Mrs. Rhodes estimates that at some time or other she has taught about half the people she meets in a casual walk downtown. And unexpectedly meeting a long-ago pupil and remembering him or her and being remembered is a high point in any day for her. She likes school teaching and she likes people.
She was born in the same block where her present home now is located at 141 West Hendricks Street. Her early life was uneventful, she says, and she attended the school which was on the site of the present Major school. "It was the only one in town," Mrs. Rhodes says, "and it just was called 'the school'." After graduating from the local high school, she taught at the old Moberly school east of Shelbyville before enrolling at the State Normal at Terre Haute. Coming back home she taught for three years, and it was during this time that she met her future husband, John W. Rhodes, whose death occurred in January 1943. Their romance started during a Shelby County Fair. Seems she and a group of friends were making the rounds of the ground when she heard a mutual friend say, "Spruce up John, I want you to meet Miss Kennedy."
That was the first of many fairs the couple attended together. Because in addition to being a teacher, Mr. Rhodes always was interested in horse racing and for many years drove on the local track. But Mrs. Rhodes' enthusiasm for his driving never was too great. She merely went because he liked her to be there. They were members of the Wi-Hub Circle for many years and Mrs. Rhodes has served as president of the organization.
She also is a member of Mary Mott Green chapter of the D.A.R., and Mrs. Roscoe O'Byrne, the present president-general of the National D.A.R., is her second cousin. Following their marriage on August 26, 1893, both Mr. and Mrs. Rhodes taught at various schools and resided for a while in Morristown where their only son, William, was born. This was followed with several years' residence in Greensburg, and they returned to Shelbyville when the son was ready for high school.
“His is the career you should be writing,” Mrs. Rhodes says. Bill was an Annapolis graduate and now is Captain William Rhodes, U.S. Navy, stationed at Norfolk, Virginia. He and his wife have a son, William Kennedy Rhodes, Jr., who soon will be Annapolis material and he naturally is the proverbial "apple" of his grandmother's eye.
Mrs. Rhodes retired from the teaching profession during the Christmas season of 1942. But she still keeps her finger in the business by acting as "reader" for the boys and girls on West Hendricks Street. That is, she aids them with memory work and various other school problems. And along with her crossword puzzles, she maintains her home, teaches a Sunday school class at her home church, the First Presbyterian, and frequently is called upon to give book reviews, readings or stories at the social gatherings she attends.
And she probably could be highly entertaining in almost any local group should she start recalling classroom antics of the people present.
This Week in Shelby County" works by George L. Stubbs Sr. are owned by the Shelby County Historical Society (Grover Center) and used with permission.
THIS DAY IN SHELBY COUNTY HISTORY
News around Shelbyville and the surrounding area as reported on or about this date in history. Selections are curated from the Shelby County Public Library Genealogy Department.
20 YEARS AGO: 2003
Don Pike, 22, a 1999 graduate of Shelbyville High School and owner of the new Don’s Pizza & Pasta, said business was slowly picking up through word-of-mouth.
A newspaper photo showed Southwestern High School sophomores Jade Wise, Jessica Kline, Brittany Johnson and Elizabeth Burbrink packing cans into boxes for the Salvation Army. Southwestern junior and senior high school students had collected 4,587 cans of donated food.
30 YEARS AGO: 1993
Shelby County Commissioners passed a resolution honoring retiring Shelby County Plan Commission member Kay Woollen for 24 years of service on the commission and on the Board of Zoning Appeals.
40 YEARS AGO: 1983
The former Boggstown school building was demolished. Plans were in the works for an addition to the new Triton Elementary School to house the students. Dick and John Hanahan, Fairland, were allowed to take a final walk through the decaying building before crews started to work.
50 YEARS AGO: 1973
Thieves took 25 stereo tapes from a van and vandalized vehicles parked at Shelbyville High School during the sectional tourney. Officers also impounded a shotgun found laying on a small island just south of the Walkerville Bridge by an 11-year-old boy, and were also called to Burger Chef Drive-in, 632 S. Harrison St., on reports that subjects there had a gun and knives, Police Chief Robert Williams said.
60 YEARS AGO: 1963
The low temperature of the day was 9 degrees below zero.
70 YEARS AGO: 1953
All rural schools would be closed due to the upcoming sectional tournament. Shelbyville pupils would be dismissed at 10:30 a.m., Superintendent W.F. Loper said.
80 YEARS AGO: 1943
A permanent ceiling was placed on the wholesale price of eggs. The freezing of wholesale egg prices came shortly after emergency ceilings were set for five fresh vegetables: tomatoes, carrots, cabbage, peas and snap beans.
90 YEARS AGO: 1933
Everett T. Freeze, South West Street, and Ralph Brown, of near Rays Crossing, announced plans to open a new community sale business in the Meloy building at 327 East Jackson Street. Livestock and other property were welcome to be brought and auctioned, the men said.
100 YEARS AGO: 1923
A three-year-old girl who had gone missing was found near Mechanic and Noble Streets. The girl had been sent by her mother, Mrs. James Lavyer, to the home of Mr. and Mrs. Leroy Jones, but upon leaving the Jones’ residence, the girl lost her way and wandered over a few blocks. While area residents searched the river and railroad tracks area, a woman discovered the girl outside and notified police.
INCIDENTS
Thefts were reported in the 100 block of N. Walnut St., 200 block of W. South St. and 700 block of S. West St., Shelbyville.
Indecent exposure was reported in the 700 block of Lee Blvd., Shelbyville.
Burglary was reported in the 100 block of E. Jackson St., Fairland.
JAIL BOOK-INS: Taneika L. Allison, 35, hold for another jurisdiction; Edward D. Clouse, 53, public intoxication; Tony L. Eldridge, 60, house arrest violation; Cory R. Foster, 34, court order probation violation; John R. Fulkerson, 43, hold for another jurisdiction; Joanna L. Johnson, 54, OVWI; Dakota L. Sexton, 19, burglary, theft; Jamie A. Chamberlin, 38, OVWI, driving while suspended - prior; Shanna L. Gentry, 42, OVWI; Cynthia N. Vanover, 44, residential entry; Kiel A. Bensheimer, 36, possession of meth; Erin E. Wyatt, 39, domestic battery; Quinton D. Bullock, 32, hold for another jurisdcition, probation violation; Christina M. Kovats, 37, probation hold, theft, criminal trespass; Ashley D. Lillard, 36, probation violation; Benjamin A. Rhoades, 44, OVWI; Raymond R. Turner, 31, OVWI - endangerment, probation hold; Robert Wellington, 51, failure to appear, probation hold; John C. Williams, 37, possession of Sch. 1 controlled substance; Braden S. Barnard, 27, OVWI-prior.
OBITUARIES
Michael Morton Stacy, 70, entered peacefully into his final rest on Friday, February 17, 2023 at Franciscan Health Hospital in Indianapolis. Born January 5, 1953, Mike was the oldest child of O.M. Stacy and the late Tina S. Stacy of Fall Branch, Tennessee.
A U.S. Navy veteran, Michael was also a member of American Legion Post #70 in Shelbyville, as well as a member of Veterans of Foreign Wars. He also served as Past Master of the Mount Airy #226 Masonic Lodge in Rural Retreat, Virginia. He also had the highest honor available in the Boy Scouts of America as an Eagle Scout. Mike was employed and retired from General Shale Brick Corporation, after many years of service. Mike was an avid Indianapolis Colts fan and enjoyed many years of attending games and adding to his Colts room collection. He also loved the Indianapolis Indians, Cincinnati Reds, IndyCar, NASCAR, and Formula One racing.
Michael is survived by his father O.M. Stacy of Kingsport, Tennessee; son Shane Stacy of Plainfield, Illinois; brother Greg Stacy (wife Kathy) of Fall Branch, Tennessee; sister Carmela Peterson of Jonesborough, Tennessee; as well as many nieces, nephews, and grandchildren. Preceeding him in death was his mother, his wife Theresa B. Stacy, and his second wife Pam Stacy.
Mike also held in very high regard numerous faithful friends, both in Indiana and Tennessee. Special thanks are extended to sister-in-law Esther Eaton and her husband Gary for loyal support and friendship for many years, and especially during recent days.
A Celebration of Life will be held at 6 p.m. on Saturday, March 4, 2023 at Glenn E. George & Son Funeral Home, 437 Amos Road, Shelbyville, Indiana, with visitation there from 4 p.m. until the time of the service. Military rites will be conducted by the American Legion. Burial will be in Logan's Chapel Cemetery in Fall Branch, TN. Memorial services will also be held in Fall Branch TN., at Hamlett Dobson Funeral Home. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to American Legion Post #70, in care of the funeral home. Online condolences may be shared at glennegeorgeandson.com.