The New Washington High School Cheerleaders are hosting Weekly Tumbling Camp every Monday night from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. in the New Washington High School gymnasium.
    Last school year over 100 tumblers participated. Classes are for any student grades pre-kindergarten through 12^th grade. The cost is only $35 a month.
    Classes will be taught by Jason Kendall and staff from Southern Indiana Cheer and Dance in Scottsburg. New tumbling equipment will be available.
    Classes will begin on September 10 and continue throughout the school year. Information packets have been sent home with New Washington students or can be obtained from the New Washington Elementary of Middle/High School Offices.
    If you are interested or would like more information please contact New Washington Head Cheerleading Coach Emily Oliver-Jones at eoliver@gcs.k12.in.us or 293-3368, ext. 234.

    Charlestown High School Athletic Director David Null has announced the ticket prices for CHS regular season athletic events.
    Tickets at the Door
    $5 for varsity football, boys varsity/jv basketball and girls varsity/jv basketball.
    $4 for all other varsity, jv and freshmen athletic events.
    Tickets for post season tournaments, girls basketball holiday tournament, wrestling jv invitational and wrestling MSC Duals will be announced at a later date.
    Tickets in Advance
    Charlestown students (K-12) may purchase an All-Sports Pass from the athletic office for $30. The pass permits students admission to all regular season home athletic contests. The Pirate Pride Booster Club will also give a t-shirt to all students who purchase an All-Sports Pass.
    New this year: Adults may pay $37.50 in advance for a Discount Punch Pass good for 10 admissions to any regular season home athletic contest. Discount Punch Passes will be available at the door/gate of any home athletic contest or they may be purchased in the athletic office from 8 a.m to 4 p.m. Punch Passes will be available throughout the year, additional passes may be purchased as needed. Punches not used this year may be carried over to next year.
    Back by popular demand of the loyal Charlestown Pirate fans is the Adult All-Sports Pass and the Senior Citizen All-Sports Pass. The Adult All-Sports Pass will be available for $70 while the Senior Citizen All-Sports Pass will be $50. Fans who have already purchased a Discount Punch Pass and would like to trade it in on an All-Sports Pass may do so by presenting your punch pass to the athletic secretary and trading it in. You will receive a $37.50 credit towards your All-Sports Pass.

    The Charlestown Chamber of Commerce is proud to announce a repeat of a sellout! The tours of the Ammunition Plant/River Ridge Commerce Center were wildly popular when first presented in conjunction with Founders Day. A waiting list of several hundred people was created just in case the opportunity was offered again. And now another day of tours is offered.
    On Saturday, September 8, tours will be offered at 9:30 and 11 a.m. and 12:30, 2, 3:30 and 5 p.m. This will be the same tour which was presented during Founders Day and last approximately one hour and 15 minutes. Tickets for the bus tour are priced at $10 for adults, $8 for seniors 65 and over and $5 for children 12 and under. Children must be accompanied by an adult. Each ticket is valid for a specific tour time. Parking will be at the Charlestown Business Center (formerly 703 Administration Building) at the corner of Highways 62 and 3, and the tour will begin there.
    All people who signed the waiting list have been contacted and given the first opportunity to purchase tickets. Other members of the public are invited to participate up to the limit of seats available. Tickets may be purchased at the Charlestown Library, 51 Clark Road in Charlestown.
    Sponsors for bus activities are currently being accepted. Sponsors will be recognized on posters at the tour site and receive free advertising sing on the Chamber Charlestown web site, http://www.charlestown-in.com. Sponsorships cost $100 for Chamber members and $150 for non-members. If you would like to be a sponsor for these activities, please call Ron Repp at 812-256-9360.
    The Indiana Army Ammunition Plant has been a major factor in the history of Charlestown. During initial plant construction in 1940/1941, there were thousands of construction workers employed at the site, which originally consisted of two separate facilities, the Indiana Ordnance Works built and operated by DuPont and the Hoosier Ordnance Plant, operated by Goodyear. Many of these workers stayed on to work as operators of the plants, producing bagged charges for large caliber artillery (HOP) and single base propellant and rifle powder (IOW) for World War II. The approximately one million pounds per day of propellant produced there was critical to the efforts of the US and its allies in World War II, and the plant required the services of more than 20,000 people to operate. Functioning as a self-contained city, the plants produced their own water, power and steam; machine shops and other facilities could make any part required to keep the plants in production.
    A major expansion of housing opportunities was required in the region, and many temporary residential buildings were built in Charlestown to house workers as a replacement for the tent camps that existed in backyards throughout the region. Deactivated after World War II, the plant was reactivated during the Korean Conflict, deactivated again until needed for support of the Vietnam War and then operated in a limited capacity until no longer needed. It is now a major industrial park, the River Ridge Commerce Center.
    As a result of that conversion, the old Ammunition Plant is rapidly disappearing. Several facilities which were seen on the tour in June have been demolished. This will be the last chance to see much of this historic facility. Stop by the library and purchase tickets at the earliest opportunity.

    A mosquito group found in Clark County has tested positive for West Nile virus. This is the time this year that a positive test has been reported for the virus in Clark County.
    Health officials are asking Clark County residents to:
    Be Smart-Take special precautions when outdoors between dusk and dawn, when mosquitos are most active;
    Be Safe-Use insect repellant containing DEET; and
    Be Certain-Make sure your property is free of any standing water, which could be breeding grounds for the mosquitos that carry the virus. Check flower pots, buckets, old tires and clogged gutters.
    Another place where large numbers of disease-carrying mosquitos breed is in accumulation of sewage water. Homeowners should repair all malfunctioning septic systems that are discharging to the surface.
    "This does not come as a surprise," said Kevin R. Burke, M.D., local health officer for the Clark County Health Department.
    "West Nile virus was present in the county last year, and we were certainly expecting to see it again this year."
    West Nile virus is transmitted to a human by a mosquito that has first bitten an infected bird. A person who is bitted by an infected mosquito may show symptoms from three to 15 days after the bite.
    Most people who get infected with West Nile virus have either no symptoms or mild symptoms. A few individuals will have a more severe form of the disease, encephalitis (inflamation of the brain) or meningitis (inflammation of the tissues that cover the brain and spinal cord). West Nile virus can have these symptoms: high fever, headache stiff neck, muscle weakness or paralysis, and confusion.
    Most people have very mild disease. Although the virus has been reported in people ranging in age from nine months to 99 years old, severe disease has been most often present in individuals over 50 years old or those with weakened immune systems. In 2006, there were 80 human cases of West Nile virus in Indiana, including five deaths. Daily updates on positive results for West Nile virus and a virus surveillance map are available on the State Department of Health’s Web site, at www.in.gov/isdh, by clicking on the mosquito image on the homepage.