We're "ON" It! - The Owen News

In a continued effort to prioritize the safety of students and staff, Spencer-Owen Community Schools (S-OCS) is proud to announce the implementation of the new Safe Visitor Management System, known as KID Account. This innovative system is now in place at all school buildings within the district and is designed to manage all visitors, parents and students with the highest standards of safety and accountability.

The KID Account system brings several new features to S-OCS campuses, including instant national sex offender screenings, visitor badge printing and electronic hall passes. These updates will streamline the check-in process while significantly enhancing the district's ability to monitor who is in each building at all times.

As part of this new procedure, all parents and visitors will now be required to present a valid driver's license upon entering any S-OCS building. This identification will be scanned through the KID Account system to ensure the visitor passes the screening requirements. Individuals without a valid driver's license can be entered manually into the system. Upon approval, school administration will authorize access to the building and issue a visitor badge.

Superintendent Andy Cline and building leaders across the district are united in their commitment to protecting the school community.

"The safety of our students and staff is our top priority," Cline said. "Implementing this system allows us to provide a more secure environment without compromising the welcoming atmosphere we value so deeply."

To help make visits to our schools more convenient for families, parents and guardians may still complete a Volunteer Background Form for the current school year. Once approved, this form grants them automatic access and a preprinted visitor badge for quicker entry during future visits. This process is ideal for frequent visitors, such as parent volunteers and chaperones.

The district encourages all parents and guardians to participate in this background process as a way to support school safety while maintaining ease of access.

"We are committed to creating a secure, respectful and positive learning environment," said MCES Principal Matt Cazzell. "Our new visitor management system is just one of the many ways we are working to make that vision a reality."

If parents have any questions about the new system or need assistance with the background form, they are encouraged to contact their child's building principal directly:

• Owen Valley High School: Principal Robert Boltinghouse, 812-829-2266

• Owen Valley Middle School: Principal Tom Arthur, 812-829-2249

• McCormick's Creek Elementary School: Principal Matt Cazzell, 812-828-6000

• Spencer Elementary School: Principal Brittany Greene, 812-829-2253

• Gosport Elementary School: Principal Carol Watson, 812-879-4694

• Patricksburg Elementary School: Principal Dr. Mike Robison, 812-859-4525

Spencer-Owen Community Schools remains steadfast in its mission to foster a safe, supportive and enriching educational environment for all students. The introduction of the KID Account system marks another meaningful step forward in that commitment.

Veteran police officer Terry Sips was recently selected to serve as the next Chief of Police for the Spencer Police Department (SPD).

Sips, a 1986 graduate of Owen Valley High School and 20-year veteran of the United States Marine Corps, assumes the new role following the retirement of former police chief Richard Foutch.

The announcement was made during the July 7 meeting of the Spencer Town Council.

"We had four very good candidates (for the position)," explained council member Evan McKalip, noting all four of the candidates were current officers with the Spencer Police Department. "It was honestly a difficult decision – great candidates all around – and I truly appreciate the work each of you do."

Sips began his career with the SPD in December of 2006, forty years after his dad, Gary Sips, began his long tenure with the department in 1966.

The elder Sips retired from the SPD in 1992 after serving the community for 26 years, including 18 years in the same role his son recently assumed, making the pair the first known father-son duo to lead the department as chief of police.

"It's truly an honor. I grew up around the department and had always wanted to be a police officer," Sips said. "Tony Stevens was my mentor, Mike Hendricks and Joe Pettijohn were my firearms instructors, and Jim Witmer from the Bloomington Police Department was my physical tactics instructor. I've had some great officers, including my dad, help me along the way."

A graduate of the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy (ILEA), Sips has furthered his law enforcement career by serving as a physical tactics instructor, taser instructor and pepper spray instructor. In June of 2024, he was promoted to the rank of sergeant, a position he held until his recent hiring as chief of police.

During his time at the ILEA, Sips was voted class president by his peers, gave the graduation speech and was selected as the Herman H. Freed Award recipient.

Established in 2004 and named in honor of Major Herman Freed, the first executive director of the law enforcement academy, the award is presented to a student who demonstrates the qualities of: Integrity, Loyalty, Ethics and Attitude. The basic class students determine the award winner by vote, though the top vote recipient must also meet the approval of the ILEA staff and must not have failed any academic or practical component of the basic course.

Sips will oversee a department of 10 full-time officers and seven reserve officers and has his sights set on increasing the SPD's use of advancements in information technology (IT) and communication systems, among other goals.

"The latest technological advancements will allow us to link with other departments and other agencies, both federal and state, to obtain a lot more information that will enable us to identify suspects, vehicles, stolen property and other things more quickly," Sips explained. "This doesn't necessarily replace other tried and true methods of police work, but it can help us be more efficient and aid in investigations. We want to keep up with current law enforcement trends."

While the overall crime rate in and around Spencer is nowhere near that of larger metropolitan areas, the SPD deals with almost daily instances of illegal drug offenses, domestic violence and property crimes such as theft.

"Unfortunately, domestic reports and property crime are the biggest issues we deal with locally, along with the meth and other drug offenses," Sips said.

Spencer's newest police chief hopes to use the experience he has gained from his years of military and law enforcement service to lead the next generation of officers in the department.

"We want our officers to be people of character and integrity; the kind of officers you would want to have protecting your family and your property," Sips said. "I believe we have that here, and I'm looking forward to leading this department and continuing to serve our citizens."

Sips and his wife, Shanel, make their home north of Spencer. The couple has five children between them and recently welcomed their first grandchild.

When Steve Withem pitched the idea of VentFest in 2019 at a Spencer Main Street meeting, the room fell silent.

"I said, 'I want to do a ventriloquist festival in Spencer, Indiana.' Dead silence. Finally, one of the board members spoke up and said, 'Are you serious?' And I said yes. More silence. Finally another board member spoke up and said, 'Well, you know, if Steve's willing to really put this together and run with it, and make sure Spencer Main Street, Inc. doesn't take a terrible bath on it, well, maybe we should give him an opportunity,'" Withem recalled, adding that he had the idea for it five to six years prior.

And run with it he did.

He attended the annual Vent Haven Ventriloquist Convention in Cincinnati later that year and put together the inaugural festival for June of 2020. Except the COVID-19 pandemic prevented it.

He tried again for 2021, but pandemic-era travel restrictions prevented international ventriloquists from joining the show. This left the festival delayed until 2022.

Jay Johnson, the only ventriloquist to be nominated for and win a Tony Award, headlined the inaugural festival.

"That gave us credibility," Withem said. "And now, I've got performers wanting to come here."

The festival has brought world-renowned ventriloquists to the stage of the Tivoli Theatre, including Ronn Lucas, Willie Tyler and Steve O. Schuling, to name a few. In fact, Lucas, who performed for six U.S. presidents and was the first ventriloquist to headline his own act in Las Vegas, has been called the best ventriloquist in the world by The New York Times.

As word has spread, those who perform recruit their friends within the ventriloquism community, and past performers come back to help out from year to year. For example, Schuling performed in 2023 and has come back each year to volunteer for the festival.

"We're building a real family of ventriloquists, something special here. The international ventriloquism world is taking notice of Spencer, Indiana," Withem said. "We've already got some legendary talent lined up for next year."

He said that it becomes easier to get ventriloquists to say 'yes,' making his job as festival director easier year after year.

"The word's out among the vent community. I'm tickled pink about that, you know that they want to come to Spencer, Indiana. To be down there at the convention and hear how people who have been here talk so lovingly and glowingly about Spencer and the Tivoli Theatre and what we're creating here, it does my little heart good," Withem said.

And Withem has discovered up-and-coming talent along the way, like Melissa Graham, who started her ventriloquism journey in 2018.

Graham is from Panama and worked in a clinic.

"We get a lot of children that come in for treatment, and they get shots every day. I used to watch these kids come in and be very nervous because they knew they were going to get shots," Graham said.

She wanted to find a way to make children feel more comfortable. And then one day, she saw a performance by Darcie Lynne on America's Got Talent, which Lynne won in 2017. Graham had the idea to use puppetry and ventriloquism to help put the children entering the clinic at ease.

Graham pursued learning the art form on her own, and she is the only ventriloquist in Panama.

"It's great in the sense to know that I am kind of pioneering ventriloquism in Panama, and it's such an honor to be able to bring this art form to people around me in my country," Graham said. "It's also a little isolating in the sense that there's no one else who I can get support from. But that's what's so amazing about this community that I've been able to find here in the U.S., because I've been able to learn so much from them."

Australian ventriloquist Glenn Pearce was also at the table while Graham was being interviewed.

"Puppets are therapy," he said.

Graham's performance is called The Alpacachino Show.

"It all kind of started because I just really love puns. My puppet is an alpaca," she said.

His name is Alpacachino after Al Pacino, adding to the pun of him being an alpaca.

"Alpacachino is just kind of a naughty little alpaca. He's just silly," Graham said.

She also has a jaguar puppet that she calls Jaguar Yoo in Spanish or Howard Yoo in English.

"Which is kind of a pun in Spanish because it sounds kind of like, 'How are you,'" Graham said, describing Jaguar as sleepy and grumpy. "He's just not taking anything from anyone."

Her final puppet is a pig named Saucy, which is a pun in both languages, and is fitting because Saucy has a "pageant queen" personality.

Graham described writing material in English separate from her usual content in Spanish, as not all jokes can be easily translated, whether it be because of the difference in timing, cadence, meanings or whether or not it is culturally relevant.

She was excited to perform at VentFest this year.

Authorities with the Owen County Sheriff's Department (OCSD) are investigating after a human skull was found June 29th on private property in northern Owen County.

According to Sheriff Ryan White, the skull was discovered on private property near North Cataract Road. He said cadaver dogs were deployed to search for additional human remains, though none were found.

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Investigation Details

Testing later determined the skull to be that of an adult. It has since been sent to the Indiana State Police laboratory for additional testing and DNA sampling.

"We are utilizing every resource available to us to identify those of our partner agencies," Sheriff White said.

This case remains under investigation by the OCSD. Anyone with any information is asked to contact the sheriff's department at 812-829-4874. As always, callers may remain anonymous.

Jacob Denton, 24, of Poland, was charged with Contributing to the Delinquency of a Minor, a Class A Misdemeanor, and Furnishing Alcohol to a Minor, a Class B Misdemeanor. Denton was the choir choreographer at Owen Valley High School.

The incident allegedly occurred at Denton's residence. Reports were made to Indiana State Excise Police on May 30, and Denton was arrested on June 25.

According to the probable cause affidavit, Denton allegedly "confirmed that he had some high school-aged friends over at his residence earlier in the year, though [he] initially denied any alcoholic beverages being consumed. After a few minutes, Denton admitted that the four minors had consumed some of his alcoholic beverages that evening, though they were not intended for them."

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School District Response

Spencer-Owen Community Schools has made aware of recent allegations involving a former contract employee associated with the music department. The reported incident is alleged to have occurred at a private residence, and did not take place on school property or during school hours," Superintendent Andy Cline said.

"While this individual is no longer affiliated with the district, Spencer-Owen Community Schools takes such information seriously and will cooperate fully with any investigation."

The case is currently scheduled for trial on Sept. 9.

The Owen News recently received a $15,000 grant from AARP through their Community Challenge grant process to support a new project to provide much-needed information for Owen County.

OwenDIRECT Project

The project, called OwenDIRECT, which also received a $2,000 grant from the Duke Energy Foundation, will be a web and mobile accessible software application providing a resource directory, events calendar, commercial advertising and emergency notifications for the county.

This project is part of The Owen News' efforts to provide Owen County with needed local information resources in print and on the web.

OwenDIRECT will be an Owen County product through and through.

It was designed by Leslie Nieves, an Owen News volunteer, who will be the Project Manager, and will be developed by Ethan McNeil of Peace Builders, based in Freedom. Developing the digital application will involve collaboration with the Owen County Chamber of Commerce, the Owen County Community Foundation, the Owen County Public Library, and county emergency service units.

The goal is to make information about services, resources, businesses, events and actions needed for personal safety easily available to everyone living or working in Owen County.

Basic access to OwenDIRECT will be free of charge, with customized services offered at reasonable rates.

"Our mission is to strengthen our community through news and verified information, and this is just one additional way for us to lean into that mission and close information gaps within our community," Nicole DeCriscio, Executive Editor of The Owen News, said.

"When the project is complete, OwenDIRECT is expected to be a model that can be used in other rural counties and smaller cities.

"We have been incredibly fortunate to have the support of The Owen County Community Foundation, our advertisers, our donors, our volunteers, our board members and last but not least our readers to support and grow The Owen News," DeCriscio said. "In addition to serving our community, we see OwenDIRECT as a model for other news deserts — a first step communities can take to rebuild local news and close information gaps.

The goal is for this to be something local chambers or foundations could adopt and run themselves to close the gap when there isn't a news outlet or as a central place for information when there are multiple news outlets."

Fundraising to complete the project is ongoing, and The Owen News welcomes sponsorships or donations.