June happenings

As a result of last week's primary election, there will be two new members of the County Council in 2021. Newcomers Jeff DeYoung and Brian Moore joined incumbent Brett Risner as the three top vote-getters. Andrew Andree came in fourth, eight votes behind Brian Moore. (Mr Andree has served beyond the call of his office over the past couple years. He has supervised the renovations in the Court House and to the former PNC Bank building.) In the only other contested local race, Kim Grow won the nomination for Recorder. She is currently the auditor but is term-limited in that office. Complete County results are here.

 Last week much of Rensselaer (all of Rensselaer's NITCO customers) were without Internet and TV Cable when a truck knocked down a cable on Sparling Avenue. I think it was the cable that crosses the road at the Banet substation. Perhaps NITCO should consider putting it under the road instead of over it.

Newton County will not have a County Fair in 2020, nor with there be an Indiana State Fair. However, the Jasper County Fair is still on, though it will have some restrictions and changes. Animals being judged will not spend the week at the Fair but will be brought in the day of judging and taken away the same day.

This week SR 114 from the old town boundary to the Interstate will be closed. The signage was ready to put up last week.

The Genova plant changed ownership on May 29. The new owner is listed as KSR Legacy Investments Corporation on the County's GIS site. I still cannot find much on-line, though there was a recent article in the Paducah (KY) Sun. The article says the the new owner will continue manufacture under the Genova name.

Also on the east side, dirt is being moved to the south of the Eger Substation. I suspect it will be more storage units.

Last week the warning track was being put down for the new Blacker Fields. The concrete work seems to have been completed.

The Tourism Commission met Friday in a Zoom meeting. It approved a $200 sponsorship for the Weston Cemetery Walk scheduled for September 19 and a grant of $3000 to Rensselaer MainStreet for OktoberFest. OktoberFest is the only fundraiser for MainStreet and they used the proceeds for various projects. Things they are considering include a path from Potawatomie Park to the rest rooms in Iroquois Park (many people do not realize how close they are), signage for the Rensselaer Art Walk, and concrete chairs and tables that can be used for playing chess in the parks.

The Tourism Office has taken delivery of new trifold brochures advertising the County but with the lockdown and concern about transmission of the virus, it is not clear when or how they will be distributed. SouthShore is working on revising the tourism website and the local office is working on  webpages/brochure highlighting the County's nature preserves.

The Jasper Jaunt bike ride, scheduled for August, will now probably take place either in the fall or next spring. The next Tourism Commission meeting will be on July 10.

Last week one of the new crossing gates was installed on the Jefferson Street rail crossing. Perhaps this week the other will be installed.

Tulip trees are blooming, though you might not have noticed because most of the flowers are high overhead.

SJC may have to start mowing its roads soon.

Finally, the May unemployment report surprised some forecasters with a large employment gain. Looking at the graph in the report, I was amazed at how large the job loss was in April—over 20 million jobs lost.