The Press-Dispatch
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Local ........ A1-12 Sports .........B1-9 Classifi eds B10-12 Church ........C1-3 Home Life....C4-6 Obituaries....... C7 School.........C8-9 E. Gibson ...... C10 Opinion .. C11-12 WHAT'S INSIDE: CONNECT WITH US: NetEdition ...pressdispatch.net/edition Facebook.....facebook.com/pressdispatch E-Mail .........news@pressdispatch.net Phone:.................. 812-354-8500 Fax: ...................... 812-354-2014 E-Mail . editor@pressdispatch.net NEWS TIPS: PIKE PUBLISHING See BUILDINGS on page 2 See THEFT on page 2 Wednesday, October 10, 2018 Volume 148 Number 41 Phone (812) 354-8500 Petersburg, IN 47567-0068 (USPS 604-34012) $ 1 Three sections 40 pages Five inserts The Press-Dispatch October Bargain Period is underway. You can save $ 3 off the price of your yearly subscription, whether it is $ 33 for both the print + NetEdi- tion, $28 for the print only sub- scription or $ 32 for the NetEdi- tion only version. The Press-Dispatch has been keeping the residents of Pike County informed about what is happening in their community since March of 1898. The fami- ly-owned publication, which now spans five generations, continues to provide award winning cov- erage of the events and happen- ings of Pike County. Whether it is keeping up with news you need to know about, such as how much and why your water rates and tax rates are going up, or just news you want to know about, like how did the neighbor's child do in his tennis match last week, The Press- Dispatch is the place to find out. This year, The Press-Dispatch received 28 awards from the Hoo- sier State Press Association Foun- dation's Better Newspaper Con- test for news and advertising. If you live in Indiana but outside 475 or 476 zip codes, it is available in print and NetEdition for $ 36, print only $ 31 or NetEdition on- ly $ 32. If you live out of state, it is available in print and NetEdition for $53, print only for $48 or NetE- dition only for $ 32. Out of state customers no lon- ger have to wait for the mail to ar- rive with the NetEdition on your smart phone, tablet or computer at 6 a.m. every morning. You can read all the news from home about your friends and neighbors with your Wednesday morning coffee. Subscribers and neighbors have received a flyer explaining the October Bargain Period sav- ings. Get it while it's hot. The deal goes away after November 3. So there no better time than now to get the best source of Pike County news for the last 116 years than now. You can either mail in the form or call 812-354-8500. Customers wanting the NetEdi- tion need to include their email ad- dress and a password with a mini- mum of seven characters. Save up to $5 during October bargain period WHS Alumni Weekend Steve Nichols (front) of Austin, Texas, and Jim Dickerson, of Petersburg, look at pictures of Winslow High School basketball teams and visit with each other during the triennial Winslow High School Alumni weekend. Displays in the Winslow gym and a chili supper in the cafeteria were provided on Friday evening. See additional photos on page 9. By Andy Heuring A Petersburg man is in the hos- pital with life-threatening injuries and his passenger suffered a bro- ken arm in a four-wheeler crash Sunday evening. Terry Jones, 56, of Doane Lane, Petersburg, suffered head, rib and lung injuries in the crash, while Candace Parks, 39, believed to be of the same address, suffered head and arm injuries. Conservation Officer Kend- rick Fuhrman said Parks was re- leased from the hospital on Mon- day morning, but Jones had life- threatening injuries. A spokes- man with Deaconess Hospital said Tuesday afternoon Jones was in critical condition. Officer Fuhrman said the acci- dent is believed to have occurred at about 8:19 p.m. Sunday. He said central dispatch got two calls. The first was at 8:19 p.m. Sunday re- porting the crash from residents who lived near where the crash oc- curred on CR 475 N., near its inter- section with CR 275 E. However, when police arrived, no one was on the scene. Officer Fuhrman said family had picked the crash victims up and taken them to a residence on Doane Lane and the ambulance was disregarded. How- ever, at 11:09 p.m., central dis- patch got a second 911 call ask- ing for an ambulance, telling them Jones and Parks had been in the four-wheeler accident and Jones' condition was deteriorating. They were transported by am- bulance to the Petersburg El- ementary School, where both where then transported to Dea- coness Hospital in Evansville on separate flights. Officer Fuhrman said the crash happened when Jones was driving a 2012 Honda TR X Utility four- wheeler west on CR 475 N., and hit a dog that ran in front of him, causing the four-wheeler to over- turn. Fuhrman said neither Jones nor Parks were wearing helmets or any safety gear. He said the four-wheeler was not registered. The accident remains under in- vestigation. Refuge Appreciation Day prep Refuge volunteers installed the railings on the newly creat- ed boardwalk at Buck's Marsh on the Patoka River National Wildlife Refuge. The trail head begins from a parking lot lo- cated off of Hwy 57 N. and Base Road. The Patoka River Na- tional Wildlife Refuge Appreciation Day is Oct. 13 at Wirth Park in Oakland City. See related article on page 2. Jones suffers life threatening injuries in 4-wheeler crash Save $3 on your subscription! now through OCt. 31 • See page 11 for full details Council updated on two major building proposals By Andy Heuring County councilmen were updated on two proposed building projects and got differ- ent prognoses on them. Pike County Librarian Stephanie Rawl- ins told the council the Petersburg Branch Library, built in 2011, is woefully under- sized for how she and the county would like to use it. She said according to the state library's algorithm, Pike County is 3,800 square feet undersized. She said when she walked into the Pe- tersburg Library to fill out a job application there was nowhere for her to sit. She said when she first saw the library she knew immediately "off the top of my head" we needed to make changes. Rawlins said she moved out three stacks of books and cre- ated a conversation area. "It is so popular," said Rawlins. She said she went to numerous venues to ask people about what they wanted in a li- brary while developing a strategic plan. She said she and the plan call for an area "to be the community's living room." She said some of the additions would be to move the children's area, create an ar- ea for teens and put a large screen T V and gaming computer in it. She also proposed a maker space where they would rent a CNC machine short-term, and other high tech- nology manufacturing machines. She also proposed a radio station studio with smart boards and all kinds of technology in our library. She proposed another room as a meeting room for families doing super- vised visits. She said many families are al- ready using the library for this and the chil- dren have to be in the room for four hours with nothing to play with. The plan calls for them to add 3,200 square feet to the building and extend the parking area along that addition. The estimated cost of the improvements are $ 618,000. However Rawlins said the li- brary could do it without raising taxes. She showed the council paperwork showing the Pike County Library, which is a separate taxing unit, has a surplus of $230,435.34. The Library Improvement Reserve fund has $136,684.20 and the Operating Fund has a surplus of $452,759.19 for a total sur- plus of $ 819,878.30. She said she has shown the plans to oth- er library directors and regional directors. "Their response is 'wow'. Pike County can have this without new taxes." She told the council she has tried to put 10 percent of her operating budget into the Rainy Day fund the last two years. Councilman Dennis Bishop asked, "Does the DLGF (Department of Local Finance and Government) put any constraints on you as far as you have this balance that con- tinues to grow? " "Yes, they have asked me what we are go- ing to do with it," said Rawlins. "So they have told you if you don't use Contractor arrested for felony theft over $80,000 payment By Andy Heuring A Bedford contractor was arrested last week in Pike County on a Level 5 felony charge of theft after he took $ 80,000 from a local couple to build a house and never started construction. David Lee Kennedy, 52, of Bedford is ac- cused of taking a $70,000 down payment from Ryan and Chelsa Knepp to construct a 2,865 square foot home on the Cart Road (CR350N) near Petersburg. According to the probable cause affidavit compiled by Dave Capehart, who investigated the mat- ter, the Knepps wrote a $70,000 check to the BloomBank on February 26, 2018, which then issued a cashier's check to Kennedy. They had also written a $10,000 check to Kennedy on February 5. The Knepps said they were told Kenne- dy would start on their home within three to four weeks after receiving the first draw. Four weeks would have been March 26. Twelve weeks later, no work had started. Ryan Knepp called Kennedy numerous times and discussed cancelling the con- tract, but on June 2, dirt moving equipment was moved to the job site. Then on June 8, a subcontractor for the septic system installed the system. The affidavit states the subcontractor, Gary Knepp, told the Knepps he hadn't been paid, and Kennedy repeatedly told him his accountant "is on it." Another subcontractor, James Day, said he hadn't been paid for the driveway work he did. A block company said they delivered blocks but hadn't been paid. The affidavit said Kennedy and his crew started work on the footer for the basement and poured the footer on July 18, 2018. However, as of August 3, work David Kennedy