Endorsement: Hands down, Greg Roution is the best candidate for Floyd County Coroner.

Disagree if you will, but to me there's little reason to dwell on political affiliation and the usual attendant ideologies when it comes to voting for coroner. 

I have not yet made Greg Roution's acquaintance, but he strikes me as qualified and professional, perfectly capable of performing the duties of coroner. 

Does it bother me, a socialist, that he's a Republican? 

Not really. So is his opponent, the one running as a (pretend) Democrat, and I know plenty about him. Folks in my significantly "blue" neighborhood know exactly what I mean, which is why you don't see many Oxendine signs here, even if he's planted dozens of them quite illegally in public rights-of-way.  

This matters little in the end, because comparing the two candidates, I find that Roution's presentation speaks to competence and integrity.  

That works for me. Greg Roution is the best candidate, so please join me in voting for him.

I’m running for the Floyd County Coroner in 2020. Just a bit about me.

# I have lived in Floyd Knobs for the last 24 years.
# Married with three great kids.
# I’m retired from U.S. Army & Kentucky National Guard with 20+ years, as a First Sergeant, Combat Medic.
# I have been an registered nurse for 21 years working at Norton Healthcare.
# Now I’m the Forensic coordinator running the Sexual Assault Program for the last seven years at Norton Healthcare as an Forensic nurse.
# I have worked with The Louisville Metro Police Dept as a forensic nurse.
# I have attended multiple classes on sexual assault training, strangulation, gunshot and human trafficking.

I would appreciate your confidence as being elected as the next coroner and if you have any questions please reach out to me. Feel free to share this page with your friends.

Steve Burks is the new Floyd County coroner.

If memory serves, the state of Indiana does not demand medical qualifications to serve as coroner. The job is primarily administrative in nature. Congratulations to Steve Burks for winning the caucus; if Steve is reading, perhaps once he's settled into the position we can chat more about what a coroner does and I'll explain it here. 

Please click through, read the piece and have a look at what The Aggregate is doing.

BREAKING: Floyd County Has New Coroner, by Nick Vaughn (The Aggregate)

The Floyd County Republican Party held a caucus to fill the vacant position on Monday, May 20th. The position was vacated due to the death of Coroner David Moore in late April. Moore was elected Coroner in 2016, but prior to that he had served in the Marine Reserves, as a police officer in Summit County, and as Chaplain to the Greenville Township Volunteer Fire Department ...

 ... On the first ballot, a majority was reached. With 17 votes, Steve Burks was elected Coroner. Burks served on the Floyd County Council and as the New Albany Township Trustee prior to his election. After being announced the winner, Burks had this to say “I am ready to get in office and work with everyone who is already there. I am focused on serving the people. That’s the biggest thing.”

The coroner surveys employment opportunities: "I investigate death, that is my job. I am surrounded by freaking incompetence."

As an observer on Twitter pithily wrote, "(It) might be relevant to note Ms. Knable is a candidate for County Council."

I'll add: As a Democrat.

Damn -- that Adam fellow already scrubbed her clean. Meanwhile, the reporter can't go wrong with such strong material.

Floyd County Coroner: 'I am surrounded by freaking incompetence'; council denies funding request, by Chris Morris (CNHI Utica)

NEW ALBANY — They came and asked the Floyd County Council for $35,000 to get them through the remainder of the year. They would have settled for $6,645 to get them current with their bills.

But all Floyd County Coroner Leslie Knable and Deputy Coroner Stefanie House left with was an appointment to meet with two council members, and Auditor Scott Clark, to try and clear up outstanding bills and other issues associated with their budget ...

... Knable and House also questioned why the council always seems to give the coroner's a "hard time" when additional appropriations are requested.

YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH!

"You are asking us who is dropping the ball. That is your job," she said. "I investigate death, that is my job. I am surrounded by freaking incompetence."

Knock three times on the ceiling if you need me.

I'm not amused by impaired driving at almost three times the legal blood alcohol limit. However, when I saw the news article and home address of the arrested driver, it immediately registered raised eyebrows: Why, that's on my block -- but which house?

Turns out the deputy coroner lives at the funeral home on the corner.

Appropriate, perhaps, in the sense of being unable to avoid taking one's home job with you.

Deputy Floyd County coroner to face drunken driving charges; Floyd County official preliminarily charged in Sunday arrest, by Gary Popp ('Bamanator)

A Floyd County Deputy Coroner was charged with several counts of drunken driving Sunday.

Howard J. Rainey, 53, of 1217 E. Spring St. in New Albany, was arrested following a traffic stop made by Indiana State Police.

Open thread: County offices up for grabs include Treasurer, Recorder, Coroner and Surveyor.

The pre-election saga continues as we look at the local races on next week’s ballot.

NAC’s pants-down editorial board still hasn’t been able to reach consensus on how many hallucinogenic drugs it would take to envision Sarah Palin in the Oval Office, so we're randomly tossing out these local contests for discussion.

Previous entries are ...

Open thread: Elections for County Council (at-large) ... and is it relevant for us to know who the candidates support for President?

Open thread: Elections for County Commissioners.

Open thread: Elections for Floyd County Superior Court 2 & 3.

First up today are the remaining county offices, in no particular order: Treasurer, Recorder, Coroner and Surveyor. As before, the Tribune's hard work is more than sufficient to set the table. The newspaper’s questions and answers are extensive, and there’s much to be digested. To avoid the senior editor's initial confusion, know that the current Treasurer's running for Recorder, and the current Recorder is running for Treasurer.

That was easy, wasn't it? All I know for sure at this juncture is that I'll be voting for John Click for Coroner, because it's never a good idea to annoy the person who cares for your teeth, although I'm not sure how far the analogy should be extended ... nah, never mind.

ELECTION Q&A: Floyd County Treasurer
Linda Berger (R)
Betty Buechler (D)

ELECTION Q&A: Floyd County Recorder
Darlene McCoy (D)
Lois Endris (R)

ELECTION Q&A: Floyd County Coroner
Leslie Knable (D)
John Click (R)

ELECTION Q&A: Floyd County Surveyor
Bill Gibson (R - incumbent)
Thomas Boofter (D)

The yard signs of candidates for coroner -- and whether any of it matters.

Although I haven’t discussed it with Bluegill, it would seem appropriate to devote at least part of the week to a consideration of the local races on next week’s ballot.

As a toss-up, and in an effort to begin the week on a local note, here are just a couple of idle observations. First, with regard to Greg Balmer’s run for coroner, here are two of his yard signs:


Strictly speaking, isn’t Balmer the unelected incumbent by virtue of being selected by a Democratic caucus to fill out the term of his wife, who died unexpectedly in 2006? As such, he’s not really up for re-election, is he?

One of the candidates Balmer defeated in the 2006 party caucus was Leslie Knable, but you wouldn’t know it by the yard signs, which refer to her as "Dr. Knable."

(photo will be added later today)

Am I mistaken to be annoyed by the use of her professional title in this fashion, to the exclusion of her given name?

It might surprise you to learn that in the coroner’s race, I’m supporting a Republican: John Click, a longtime friend and customer, and my dentist. The Tribune's candidate Q & A for Balmer and Knable is here, but there is none for Click because his race is uncontested.