Final service held at historic church
CUMBERLAND — Members of the St. John United Church of Christ gathered for the final service Sunday at the historic church in Cumberland.
The 101-year-old structure at German Church Road and Washington Street has been at the center of controversy for months, with church leaders saying they no longer can afford upkeep on the aging building they plan to raze and town officials struggling to preserve the structure.
Sunday marked a final chapter for the church, whose members are preparing to move to a new building and sell the land.
DNR: Hunter died after fall from tree
GREENFIELD — A Greenfield man was found dead after he fell 18 feet while trying to remove hunting equipment from a rotted tree, officials said.
Search crews were called to a home in the 5300 block of South County Road 575E around 10:30 p.m. Oct. 3 after Robert Smith, 59, did not return from the woods where he had gone to work on his tree stands that afternoon, according to a release from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.
Smith had been combing his neighbor’s 40-acre property, removing and repositioning hunting tree stands around the grounds, officers said. They believe Smith was about 18 feet in the air when the tree he was working in collapsed and crashed to the ground.
Parents of 5 defied police order to vacate
GREENFIELD — Two Greenfield parents charged with neglect used drugs in front of their children, calling it “grown-up medicine that little kids can’t take” — except when they encouraged their 9-year-old son to try their marijuana, court records state.
Michelle Wilson, 33, and Craig Corbett, 37, each face five felony counts of neglect of a dependent — one charge for each of their five young children. Reports state that allegations of abuse include physical — food deprivation and beatings with belts and coat hangers — and emotional — threatening to kill the children.
Police were first called to the couple’s home in the 200 block of Gaslite Lane in Greenfield in September, where Department of Child Services workers had discovered Wilson, Corbett and their five children — all 9 years old and younger — were living in an apartment that was infested with cockroaches, soiled with animal waste and filled with piles of garbage.
Plans set for county’s first Habitat home
GREENFIELD – Habitat for Humanity of Central Indiana has announced it will build its first home in Greenfield in 2016.
The group purchased a lot in the 400 block of Virginia Court in Greenfield, and organization leaders say construction could begin as early as next spring. The homeowner will be Trish Botta, an Upland native who has been living with her sister in New Palestine for two years while trying to find an affordable home in Central Indiana.
Habitat for Humanity calls itself a Christian ministry dedicated to providing housing to those who might not be able to afford a traditional mortgage. By helping those who qualify for home ownership, the nonprofit’s hope is to increase self-sufficiency, officials said.
