Princeton Daily Clarion from Princeton, Indiana • A3

News Digest Tuesday, September 5, 20 1 7 Princeton Daily Clarion A3 Holcomb takes lap in souped-up school bus, drives pace car at Anderson Speedway Larry K. Blackard Governor grew up near Lucas Oil Raceway in Clermont pace car for the school bus Fig-ure-8. It's not the first time Holcomb has watched cars race around the oval for the Night of Thrills. "We used to come here for get-togethers at work," he said. "I say you have to come back at least twice, because the first time you don't believe what you see." Holcomb said spending a Saturday at the local racetrack is just "the ideal of having good, family fun." Rick Dawson, owner of the Anderson Speedway, said that as far as he knows, Saturday was the first time a sitting governor has taken a lap around the track.

"It's pretty cool; he's a race fan just like all of us," Dawson said. "Obviously it's an honor." Dawson did have a warning for the governor, before he stepped into a seat on the bus. "He's going to take a ride; watch out, he might get hooked," Dawson said jokingly. FORT BRANCH Larry Blackard, 76, of Fort Branch, passed away at St. Vincent's Hospital in Evansville, on Sept.

1, 2017 surrounded by his family. He was born to Clifford and Nina (White) Blackard April 15, 1941 in Fort Branch. Larry was in the U.S. Army Reserves for six years and retired from Whirlpool after 41 years of service. He is survived by his loving wife, Judith (Giordan) Blackard of Fort Branch; children Misty Workman (Lane) of Fort Branch, Stacy Brittingham (Chuck) of Francisco, Jason Blackard (Melanie) of Fort Branch; sister Peggy Bruce (Morris) of Oakland City; brothers Bill Blackard Qoanie) of Evansville, Mick Blackard (Nancy) of Haubstadt; grandchildren Kelsey Brittingham (Kyle Cummins) Emily McGowan, Taylor Kohl (Evan), Chase Brittingham, Tanner Brittingham, and Peyton Blackard; ANDERSON As Gov.

Eric Holcomb walked off the race-ready school bus after taking a couple laps around the Anderson Speedway, he was a man of few words. "Wow, oh wow," Holcomb said. Holcomb was at the track Saturday for the Night of Thrills, which included a school bus Fig-ure-8, trailer races and corkscrew races. For the longtime race fan who grew up close to Lucas Oil Raceway in Clermont, taking a lap around the short track was a no-brainer. "I'm a Hoosier and there's two things Hoosiers love: racing Photo by John P.CIeary Gov.

Eric Holcomb reacts to the action on the track Saturday at Anderson Speedway. and winning," he said. For the school bus ride, he had to settle for being a passenger. But later in the evening, he did get behind the wheel of the great grandchild Karlee McGowan; and several nieces and nephews. Funeral service is at 11 a.m.

Thursday, Sept. 7, 2017 at Stodghill Funeral Home in Fort Branch, with Pastor Bob Douglas officiating. Visitation will be from 3-8 p.m. Wednesday, at Stodghill Funeral Home and again Thursday from 9 a.m. to service time.

Burial will be in Walnut Hill Cemetery near Fort Branch following the service. Donations can be made to the Fort Branch Park. Expressions of sympathy made at stodghill funeralhome.com. Overcoming addiction The sound of infertility Indiana man talks of addiction struggles and finding new life In New York, a man's average hearing age is more than 12 years older than his actual age; in Houston it's almost 13 years older, and in Los Angeles it's over 14 years. Thaf the measurable impact of sound pollution on hearing.

But noise damages more than men's hearing. According to a recent study, even relatively low levels of sound can make men infertile yes, you heard that right especially when noise repeatedly disturbs sleep. Looking at eight years of health insurance data on more than 200,000 men ages 20 to 59, the researchers identified 3,293 men who were diagnosed with infertility. They then calculated an individual's level of noise exposure by cross-referencing ZIP codes with info from the DRS. OZAND ROIZEN National Noise Information System.

What did the guys have in common? They all were exposed to noise levels above 55 decibels (dBs) night after night. (Air conditioners come in around 60 dBs; a passing diesel truck emits 85 dBs and an emergency vehicle's siren hits 115 dBs.) So, guys, how can you keep noise from messing with your sleep cycle and your fertility? 1. Download a smartphone decibel checker; test nighttime sound levels in your bedroom. 2. Check if digital devices or appliances in your home exceed 55 dBs.

If they do, turn them down (or off), or trade them in for quieter models. 3. Install double- or triple-pane windows; seal window frames with stripping. Use double-hung, extra-heavy curtain fabric. 4.

Sleep with earplugs. (Discard foam plugs daily, and clean reusable plugs regularly.) away from where he was back then. But you can't change the past, he said you can only learn and grow from it. So that's why he's a man on a mission. It's an urgent one, too: Overdoses are continuing to take brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers and children, and Crow wants to help change that.

"I feel like if I'm open with my addiction, other people will be, too," he said. "I just feel like I'm able to help somebody out more because I've been through it, and I know what it does to families. It's not a game. This is life or death." And that's why he said events like the "Austin's Hope Overdose Awareness Rally" at Cornerstone Community Bible Church's student ministries building in Galveston are so important. Austin's Hope was founded by Mike and Tammy Boyles, who lost their son, Austin, to a heroin overdose in 2016.

Over the past year, the Crows have become friends with the Boyles, and Shane was asked to speak at the gathering. Justin Phillips, executive director of the Indianapolis based organization, Overdose Lifeline, also was to be on hand to pass out free Naloxone kits to those in attendance. For Crow, the event was to be just another avenue in which to share his story. Even if that story resonates with just one person, it'll be worth it, he said. "Addiction is a monster," he said.

"It blinds you to all the good things in life. To see the different perspective of it now, you know, I can beat myself up every day for what I've done in the past, but I can't change that. My deal is to just look forward and try to help anybody that I can." would sit there and think, 'are you kidding me right I didn't take them seriously because they weren't down that road and had never been down that road." Crow said he told himself at the time that if he could just get clean, he would help others in his shoes. And that's exactly what he did. With family support and his own desire to turn his life around, he began to progress out of his addiction.

He learned to properly cope with life's tragedies, like the loss of his brother, without the use of drugs or alcohol. But even now, five years later, the choice to stay clean can still be a daily battle. It always will be, he said. "You just have to say 'not today' he said. "I'm not saying it hasn't been hard.

I'll battle it the rest of my life. I still think about it every day, but it's more of a choice for me now. I just had to totally change my whole lifestyle." Part of that change is through counseling others that are currently in their own struggles with addiction, including one of his own family members. As he described that, Crow got emotional. He said he constantly worries about that particular family member, and seeing how addiction affects loved ones gives him a greater understanding of what his mother went through with him.

'The way these drugs are nowadays, you don't know what you're taking," Crow said. "I don't want to get that phone call like I got with my brother. It's going to take him hitting rock bottom before it wakes him up, and I just hope the timing is right that I can talk to him then." And when that day comes, Crow said he'll be prepared. But until then, he prays for healing. It's that faith that has helped him overcome his own battles with addiction.

Crow is a long way and his mother wondering if she would end up losing both her sons to addiction. Justin was Shane's only sibling. And though he could have stopped abusing drugs and alcohol then, he didn't. "I constantly found myself around people that used. I was very selfish and hurt a lot of people," Crow, 39, said while sitting alongside his wife, Tami, last week in his Peru residence.

"I stole from a lot of people and physically hurt them." Completely clean for five years now, Crow said he's a different man than he was back then. But looking back at the 30 years he was addicted to drugs and alcohol, he said he still doesn't know how he's not currently in prison or dead. He said his addictions started around age 8, when he took his first sip of alcohol. As he grew, so did the addiction. He began to hang around with the wrong group of friends, and it became a living nightmare.

There were times Crow said he'd be up for several days in a row without sleep. Other times, he found himself walking around town without any idea where he was or how he got there. One night, he even woke up on a couch with a roll of money in his pocket and no recollection of where it came from. Then there were the arrests and stints in rehab that Crow said often come with drug addiction. Arrested at least 22 times, he also estimates he has seen the inside of about 30 rehab facilities.

None of them seemed to work, he said. "The most frustrating thing about me being hospitalized all those years and being in and out of centers was therapists that were never down my road," he said. "And they're going to counsel me on my addictions? I LOGANSPORT In October 2005, Shane Crow woke up face down in a ditch near a deserted highway in Washington state. The night before, he had been drinking alcohol and doing meth with a group of bikers in an RV. Crow didn't know he was actually in the company of felons who were dodging authorities by camping out in the middle of nowhere.

He just knew he wanted to get high. The sun was shining, and there was a hint of fog in the air when Crow opened his eyes. Looking around, there were no signs of the bikers or the RV. Probably believing he was dead, Crow said the group just left him there on the side of the road. He stood up and made his way to a gas station, where the attendant inside called for an ambulance.

The next thing he said he remembered was waking up in an area hospital, severely dehydrated and with a deadly concoction of drugs and alcohol in his system. It was his first overdose. He was lucky he didn't die, he said. And though he could have stopped abusing drugs and alcohol then, he didn't. There was also the time Crow was involved in an automobile crash that sent him flying partially through the windshield.

Too intoxicated to know whether he had hit or killed anyone, Crow said he remembers waking up in a padded jail cell with pieces of glass still in his face. And though he could have stopped abusing drugs and alcohol then, he didn't. Twelve years ago, Crow's little brother, Justin, died from drug addictions. He said he still remembers the phone call Public meetings set on 1-69 extension in central Indiana BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS MARTINSVILLE wood. The hour-long meetings begin at 6:30 p.m.

Three public meetings are Indiana Department of planned for state officials Transportation officials will to provide updates on the discuss details of the pro- posed route following the current Indiana 37 corridor between Martinsville and Interstate 465 in Indianapolis. The cost for buying land and building the 26-mile section is estimated at $1.5 billion. Funding and a construction timeline haven't been set. planned route for the final leg of Indiana's Interstate 69 extension that's been under construction since 2008. The meetings are scheduled for Sept.

12 at Martinsville High School, followed by Sept. 13 at Perry Meridian High School in Indianapolis and Sept. 14 at Center Grove The extension runs from High School near Green- Evansville to Bloomington. Ex-coal exec to lead top mine safety agency for the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration. The announcement came at the start of the weekend.

Our mission is to assess the positive and negative influences impacting youth in Gibson County. BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON The White House says President Donald Trump has chosen as the nation's top mine safety official the former CEO of a coal company that repeatedly clashed with federal regulators when the Obama administration tried to boost industry-wide enforcement following the deadliest U.S. mine disaster in four decades. The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports Trump nominated former Rhino Resources executive David G. Zatezalo as assistant secretary of labor 20 to 75 OFF Help us make room for fall www.caringqommunitiesgc-org VhuihfSst 121 W.

For more information. on the South side of the square (812) 386-0065 visit our website: www.caringcommunitiesgc.org or contact Diane Braun dbraunyouthfirstinc.org Convenience parking ir.