The rising sun recorder:the ohio county news 8 20 15

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theRISING SUNrecorder & theOHIO COUNTYnews Issue No. 34

Thursday, August 20, 2015

www.theohiocountynews.com

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REGATTA: RIVER RACING DRAWS HUNDREDS

DEBBIE COLE PHOTO

Powerboat Nationals crew appear to easily manage driver’s boats as they prepare for the SST120 Intergalactic Championship Event at the Third Annual Rising Sun Regatta Saturday, Aug. 15. The Powerboat Nationals featured some of the most powerful outboard engines in water racing this past weekend at Rising Sun.

DEBBIE COLE PHOTO

Fans and crew members found shady spots as the Rising Sun Regatta brought several hundred Powerboat National Fans to the banks of the Ohio River this past weekend. Powerboat Nationals’ features some of the most powerful outboard engines in water racPAUL KEMIEL PHOTOGRAPHICS ing on a less than a mile rectanMark Schmerbauch captures the Powerboat Nationals series National Championship in the SST45 class gular course, averaging 115 miles as he competes with second place finisher R.J. West on the Ohio River at the Rising Sun Regatta Sunday per hour. afternoon, Aug. 16. See today’s sports section for complete results.

DEBBIE COLE PHOTO

A Powerboat Nationals official watches participants in the Rising Sun Regatta from the Ohio River bank. Most powerboats can start from a dead engine and reach 100 mph in six seconds.

Rising Sun bids goodbye to third K-9 Casino seeks hotel BY CHANDRA L. MATTINGLY Staff Reporter Whether Rising Sun Police K-9 Joey ever saved his handler's life is unknown. But in thousands of deployments in his eight years of service, the police dog did save lives. Joey, retired from the force Dec. 31, 2014, turned 10 in January. Sadly, the dog was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in June and was humanely euthanized Friday, July 31, said his handler, Rising Sun Police Officer Rodney Rimstidt. “I can't say how many actual bad guy takes there were,” said Rimstidt. But in locating suspects during burglaries in progress and tracking other wanted persons, the dog may have prevented assaults on police officers or others. “That's one of those things you never know,” said Rimstidt. In any case, Joey is credited with saving lives when he tracked missing individuals. His first working track was Feb. 14, 2007, just days after he and Rimstidt graduated from training at Vohne Liche Kennels in Dever, Ind. The city had purchased Joey from there in December 2006. Rimstidt and Joey, just 2 years old, were dispatched at about 6 p.m. that Valentine's Day to Wolf Ridge Road in Bennington to search for Marshall Wilkerson, said Rimstidt. The 42-year-old man had been missing since noon on a blustery19-degree day. Starting into the woods from tennis shoe tracks in the snow, Joey followed the track about a mile, locating an unresponsive Wilkerson in a ravine some 40 minutes later. Carried from the scene, then AirCared, the Cincinnati resident was treated for severe hypothermia, according to an Indiana Conservation Officers' news release at the time. “Another missing person deployment that stands out in my mind occurred on Brown Road near the Switzerland/Ohio County line,” said Rimstidt. Not quite a year later, the January 2008 search involved a young woman who had walked away from a 3:30 a.m. vehicle accident. Called in at 10 a.m., Joey followed the trail for about half an hour, locating the apparently confused and injured woman in a cabin, according to Rimstidt's report at the time. It appeared she had broken a window to go inside, and, wrapped in a blanket, she told the officer she had taken a hot bath because she was cold. She was taken by ambulance to a

alerted to a hot water heater in a utility closet. “I knew that there was no way drugs could have been concealed there. I was wrong. Between the hot water heater and the wall was two ounces of marijuana,” said Rimstidt. According to a press release from the Dearborn County Prosecutor's Office, the Dearborn County Special Crimes Unit, to which Rimstidt is assigned, also found marijuana-growing operations at Lowery's properties. In the other, in March 2010, Rimstidt conducted a “free air sniff” at the public entrance to a building at Willow Trace Apartments, Rising Sun, he reported. Joey pulled him to a specific door, alerting for drugs, and after a search warrant was obtained, marijuana, oxycontin and morphine were recovered, reported Rimstidt. Meanwhile, he and Joey participated in K-9 Olympics at the Vohne Liche Kennels, getting a first place in 2008 SUBMITTED PHOTO in the Narcotic Rising Sun Police Officer Rodney Rimstidt and K-9 Joey Scramble, a third were the third K-9 team the department had. Retired in place in Narcotic December, Joey had to be euthanized in June. Team overall in 2009, and a second hospital, where she later was reported in place in Narcotic Residential in 2011. fair condition. Joey last competed in 2013. Between February 2007 and December 31, 2014, Rising Sun's K-9 team Two narcotic searches also stand out in Rimstidt's memory: in one, at James was deployed thousands of times to asLowery's residence in July 2010, Joey See JOEY, Page 2

Drug finds

rent suspension

Funds could be redirected to ferry, restaurants BY CHANDRA L. MATTINGLY Staff Reporter

Who's who, then & now Rising Sun Ohio County First, October 2011: David Hewitt, president; Steve Slack, Mark Guard, Jeannie Liggett, Bill Marksberry, Rae Baker Gipson and Steve King RSOCF August 2015: April Hautman, president Jim McDaniel, Tom McKay, Rae Baker Gipson, Sara Hoffman, Mark Guard. Rising Sun Regional Foundation, October 2011: Marianne Wiggers, David Brown, Dennis Elliott, Sissy Potter, Randy Eaglin, Robert Rogers and E. George Ammerman. RSRF, August 2015: Jerry Smith, president; Dennis Elliott, Sissy Potter, David Brown, Stan Wiedeman, Cindy Rottinghaus and Jeff French.

Should Rising Star Casino be relieved of lease payments for a secondary hotel for five years? That's the request Full House Resorts, the casino owner, has made of Rising Sun Ohio County First. RSOCF built the hotel, now known as The Lodge, with a loan from the Rising Sun Regional Foundation. The 104-room hotel, built on what initially was casino property, was leased to the casino in August 2013. The casino pays $77,500 per month for the hotel, which RSOCF uses to repay the RSRF. Its proposed hotel lease/purchase agreement would suspend payments to- July 1, according to the proward the principal, which posed amendment. The casistood at $6,539,028 as of See RENT, Page 8

Murder trial begins Jury selection began Tuesday, Aug. 18, for the murder trial of Danielle Green. The trial is expected to last up to three weeks. Danielle Marie Green, 42,

of 9893 Hartford Pike, Ohio County, is charged with the murder of her ex-husband Raymond Green, 62. After her

WEATHER

INSIDE today

TODAY AM Showers HIGH .....78 LOW.....56 Friday Partly Cloudy HIGH .....81 LOW....57 Saturday Partly Cloudy HIGH .....85 LOW....61 Sunday PM Thunderstorms HIGH .....86 LOW....62 Monday Mostly Sunny HIGH .....80 LOW....56

See TRIAL, Page 8

COMMUNITY OBITS/LEGALS SPORTS

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Copyright Register Publications, 2015

182nd Year, No 34

www.ohiocounty news.com


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