Indiana Weekend Digest

AP-Indiana stories for the weekend of Jan. 18-19. May be updated. Members using Exchange stories should retain the bylines and newspaper credit lines. If you have questions, please contact the AP-Indiana bureau at 317-639-5501, 800-382-1582 or [email protected].

SATURDAY EXCHANGES:

EXCHANGE-BARBER TURNS 90

EVANSVILLE, Ind. — With the kind of practiced ease and efficiency that only decades of experience can impart, he addresses his subject like a painter to his canvas. A few flicks of the scissors here, a buzz of the clippers there, a few calculated spins of the chair to get in just the right position ... and it's over, almost as soon as it started. He produces a blue handled mirror, seemingly out of nowhere, letting the man in the chair see his reflection. "Pick out the bad spots, and we'll clean it up," he says. There aren't any bad spots. There probably never are. It's his 90th birthday, and George Henson is thrilled to be doing what he's been doing for more than 65 years — cutting hair at VIP Barber Shop on Washington Avenue. By Michael Doyle. Evansville Courier & Press. SENT: 1,180 words, photos requested.

EXCHANGE-SUICIDE PREVENTION SONG

JEFFERSONVILLE, Ind. — For local musician Jackson Snelling, songwriting has been an outlet for addressing difficult topics and losses he has faced in his own life. With a new song and music video, he hopes to help others by bringing awareness to an important issue. Jackson, 17, recently released a music video for his song "If I Only Knew," which addresses suicide prevention and mental health. The video takes place in a church, and as people sit in the pews, they hold up photos of those who have been lost to suicide, including their own friends and family. Jackson is a student at Austin High School in Scott County, and he started writing and singing his own music in 2018. "If I Only Knew" was written about his friend, Alex, who died from suicide at age 14 in 2017. When Jackson sang at Alex's funeral, it was a tough and heart-wrenching experience — one he said he never wants to face again. By Brooke McAfee. News and Tribune. SENT: 1,300 words, photos requested.

SUNDAY EXCHANGES:

EXCHANGE-BIRDSEYE'S MULTITASKING MARSHAL

BIRDSEYE, Ind. — In a very real sense, Birdseye’s 6-foot-6, 285-pound town marshal has taken a family business built around public service and supersized it. Benton Stroud, 32, polices the Town of Birdseye part time and earns most of his keep as a correctional police officer at the Branchville Correctional Facility. There, the married father of two specializes in parole skips, internal affairs work and quelling gang activity. Benton also serves on the English Volunteer Fire Department and is an EMT, having gravitated to that last bit thanks to a cousin who is a paramedic. And, since Benton’s Windy Hill Farms home was his grandparents’ homestead and he grew up farming and raising cattle, he does some of that, too. But settling in as Birdseye’s town marshal has been more of a prickly path than a picnic. By Bill Powell. The Herald. SENT: 1,350 words, photos requested.

EXCHANGE-SENSORY BAGS-KIDS WITH AUTISM

CROWN POINT, Ind. — A few months ago, Matt Kodicek saw a Facebook post about firefighter paramedic Eric Henry in Springboro, Ohio. The Clearcreek Fire District firefighter brought sensory bags to the department to help respond to calls where there are children who have autism, a cause close to Henry because his sister is on the spectrum. When Kodicek saw the post, he thought of his son, Ben, who also is on the spectrum. Once he saw Henry's post, he knew he wanted to bring something similar to Crown Point Fire Rescue — thus, Ben's Blue Bags was born. The sensory bags include headphones, a dry erase board with a feelings chart, fidget spinners and various sensory toys. "I've had a couple calls in the last year where I've had a child that is autistic and needed something that maybe calmed them down or helped them through it because you're taking their caregiver away to treat them," he said. By Mary Freda. The Times. SENT: 630 words, photos requested.