Wrinkle in Time: Construction of I-64 bridge over Wabash is being planned by IN, IL

50 Years Ago
December 26, 1961
• The home of Mr. and Mrs. Erwin L. Daws on Canal Street, and the First Christian Church on East Fifth Street were the top winners of the Mount Vernon Christmas Exterior Decorations contest.
• Construction of a proposed Interstate 64 bridge across the Wabash River is being planned by the Indiana Commission and the Illinois State Division of Highways. Advertisement for the project will appear in papers this week.
• Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad crews worked through bitterly cold morning hours to clear away 100 tons of bent and twisted steel wreckage, the result of four empty 25-ton boxcars overturning on Wednesday near the Mid-South Chemical Corp. plant.
• Two Evansville men cheated death when their outboard motorboat capsized in the freezing waters of the Ohio River near Ford Road. Both men were admitted to the hospital for exposure.
• Clayton C. Lenfers, 65, is retiring after 43 years of service in the Mount Vernon area for Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad.
• Area births: Bradley, son of Mr. and Mrs. Gail Compton; Gary Wayne, son of Mr. and Mrs. James A. Norman; Andrew Gareth, son of Mr. and Mrs. David M. Keck.
• Area deaths: Daisy Pritchard Carroll, 73; Minnie Neu, 79; Louis J. Fuelling, 64; Conness Northern, 61; Katherine Gonnerman Espenschied, 83.

25 Years Ago
December 23, 1986
• Thus far, the police chief is pleased with the newly installed 911 emergency telephone equipment, but stresses that administrative calls should not be placed to 911.
• The Parks and Recreation Department requested a $15,000 emergency fund transfer to pay for a furnace that heats the skating rink. The move was approved by the Mount Vernon City Council.
• Donald and Eleanor Uhde and Sheryl Seib will be attending the American Farm Bureau national meeting in California as Indiana delegates.
• A new statewide testing program, called ISTEP, will be put to use in local schools next year to grade students on learning proficiencies.
• A residential group home on East Water Street is slated to be open Jan. 5 by the Posey County Rehabilitation Center.
• Area deaths: Sam Johnson Bourne, 79; Mamie R. Long, 81; Addie F. Turber, 95.

10 Years Ago
December 26, 2001
• The teachers of the Metropolitan School District of Mount Vernon have had their contract settled, and while insurance premiums went up by 36 percent, teachers will have no pay increase this year.
• In Posey County Superior Court, Jeffrey D. Washington, 32, was charged with the murder of his former girlfriend.
• Area deaths: Clara L. Douthitt, 63; Donald D. Schroeder, 35; Juanita Rogers, 86.