Wanda English Burnett, Editor

Two things were clear when the council adjourned Monday night. One, the sheriff wants more money, and two, the council says if they approve his proposed budget, the county will have more than a $220,000 deficit that will continue to accrue.

Ripley County Council members met Monday, November 24, after recessing from the regular meeting on November 17 to further discuss the sheriff’s proposed budget.
Sheriff Tom Grills and 15 members of his staff, jail, clerical and deputies, gathered once again at the meeting, some expressing their concern over the council’s two percent raise for the upcoming year - which is an across-the-board raise for all county employees.

England born world traveler John Halford says America is the greatest country on earth and he’s thankful to be a citizen.

Independence Day came for Halford on August 23 of this year when his citizenship was finalized. That day he proudly erected an American flag at his home in Olean. “I was so proud the day I went down to Halcomb’s (Halcomb Home Center) and bought the screws and put the flag up on the front porch,” Halford told The Versailles Republican.

Wanda English Burnett, Editor

“We can’t move forward because we’re constantly turning over,” Sheriff Tom Grills shared his frustration at the County Council meeting held Monday night, November 17. He was referring to the council’s decision to only give employees in the sheriff’s department a two-percent pay raise. He noted that there has been a turnover of 65 employees in the jail in the past 11 years. The past year 11 jail employees have come and gone.

The Ripley County Council had a full agenda at their November meeting. The first hour was spent reviewing the 2009 budgets for various entities. The council recessed for a LOIT (Local Option Income Tax) hearing, where they made the unanimous decision to have no additional tax under LOIT for 2009.

Several items were taken care of for the Ripley County Parks & Recreation, represented at the meeting by Julie Brancamp, park manager. They included: $425, rental deposits; $100 special event, to appropriate the donation received from Osgood Kiwanis Club; $200 from special events to appropriate donation from Osgood Lions Club for Christmas Walk; $500 from special events, to appropriate a grant received from the Ripley County Community Foundation for Christmas decorations; $441.74 was moved from liability insurance line item to gas and diesel; $1200 was moved from workman’s comp. to water and gas. All decisions were unanimous.

Wanda English Burnett, Editor

Attorney Neil Comer, representing the Ripley County Redevelopment Commission (RCRC) presented a Declaratory Resolution and Economic Development plan for the Versailles Industrial Park at the regular planning commission meeting held Wednesday, November 5.

Wanda English Burnett, Editor

When the question was posed to Jerry Gilpin at the Meet Your Candidate Night held October 27 at the South Ripley Elementary Cafeteria, about why he was running for school board at South Ripley when his children do not attend there, he had an answer. Gilpin told the crowd that his son was bullied for years and over the weekend had been hospitalized from an incident that he believes is directly related to action or lack of action, taken at South Ripley over the years.

Wanda English Burnett, Editor

While Ripley County voters put the McCain/Palin ticket on top with 7794 votes over Obama/Biden’s 4187, those figures did not hold true across the nation.

More people than ever stepped forward to cast their ballots changing the politics of the country at the highest level, placing Democrat Barack Obama in the President’s seat, with Joe Biden as Vice-President.

Wanda English Burnett, Editor

This election will go down in history for several reasons and Ripley County residents will be documented on film thanks to a New York film company that has been filming in the county producing a documentary on the voting process.

David Deschamps, one of the three producers working on The Voting Film Project, was in Versailles recently and noted that the project is shaping up nicely, thanks to Indiana being one of the swing states for the first time in many years.