CNHI
RUSHVILLE —
Mark Fields of the Rush County Probation office, Rush County Sheriff’ Jeff Sherwood and RCHS assistant principal Rob Hadley, representing the Local Coordinating Council, attended Monday’s county commissioner meeting and requested a countywide ban on what is marketed as a incense and known as Spice or K2. To law enforcement personnel, the incense is known as a synthetic cannabinoid, producing a “high” much like marijuana. To those that use it, it is a means to get high and not face any legal consequences. Fields said a normal drug test can not detect Spice in an individual’s system, although their behavior is clearly altered. “There was an instance at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway this past weekend where multiple officers had to subdue an individual under the influence of K2. The person in question simply did not feel pain,” ISP trooper Mike Ooley said. When asked about its availability locally, Fields said that one known retail operation is selling it out of its back room for $30 an ounce. “I do believe it is a problem locally and it is a very dangerous substance. I’d like to see the county address this issue,” Sherwood said. Hadley said that during the 2009-2010 school year he and other administrators had to deal with individuals under the influence of the substance multiple times and that now is the time to make a stand against its use. A growing number of Indiana counties have banned the sale of the drug in recent months. Rush County officials voted Monday to draft an ordinance that will ban the sale, use and possession of Spice (K2). It is expected that the ordinance will be signed at a future meeting. In other matters, acting on the recommendation of county IT coordinator Randy Herbert, the county will take a look into power outage issues that have caused problems with county computers. “We seem to have these problems with some regularity. Generally, they occur over the weekend and [the computers] have to be reset on Monday. It has become a growing problem,” county highway superintendent Jerry Sitton said. Herbert explained that power surges are to blame and are related to possible wiring issues. He told the commissioners that there is a monitoring system that can pinpoint the problem and he will look further at finding a solution to the problem. He said that once the problem is located it is his understanding that the power company will be responsible for making necessary repairs. In a final matter, the commissioners have received numerous complaints regarding available parking in close proximity to the courthouse. The most recent complaint was that a growing number of county employees have been using prime parking spots that are available on the north and south side of the courthouse. Acting on a motion, a memo will be drafted and go out to all courthouse employees informing them of where parking is permitted during normal courthouse hours. Frank Denzler can be contacted at (765) 932-2222 ext. 106 or via e-mail at frank.denzler@rushvillerepublican.com. Visit our Web site at www.rushvillerepublican.com.