Donations can still be matched toward driveway repairs at Zion Lutheran Cemetery in Pershing.
An anonymous donor is matching donations 1:1 through Jan. 31 up to $5,000.
Gifts are tax-deductible because the reorganized cemetery board’s new volunteers successfully applied to become a 501(c)3 organization through Indiana Secretary of State and the federal Internal Revenue Service.
Recently, a little over $2,000 had been contributed toward the driveway fundraiser.
Checks can be sent made payable to Lutheran Cemetery Foundation of Pershing at P.O. Box 22, Pershing, IN 47370.
After an Indiana State Police investigation, two former cemetery foundation leaders were arrested earlier this year and accused of writing checks worth more than $150,000 to themselves, according to a probable cause affidavit provided to Wayne County courts.
The suspects are each accused of theft of more than $50,000, which is a Level 5 felony charge.
A jury trial for Trisha C. Taylor of Cambridge City had been scheduled to begin Jan. 22, but during a Dec. 7 pretrial conference, Superior Court 2 Judge Gregory Horn granted Taylor’s request for more time.
Her pretrial conference is now set for 9 a.m. March 14, and the trial is to begin at 9 a.m. April 15.
During Dustin L. Taylor’s October pretrial conference, Horn also granted Taylor’s request to delay his jury trial. His pretrial conference is now set for 9:30 a.m. Jan. 18, followed by his trial at 9 a.m. March 4.
A version of this article appeared in the December 20 2023 print edition of the Western Wayne News.