The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: http://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1168989
The Press-Dispatch Wednesday, September 18, 2019 A-3 LOCAL Call: 812-354-8500 Email: news@pressdispatch.net or bring in a hard copy: 820 E. Poplar Street, Petersburg NEWS BRIEFS Mock helicopter crash set for today Various emergency response teams and equipment will converge on the Petersburg Fire Department fa- cility on Illinois Street Wednesday, September 18 be- ginning at 9 a.m. The drill will focus on a helicopter crash and associated Haz-Mat and medical emergen- cy operations. The exercise is being conducted by the Pike County Emergency Management, EMS, local fire departments, police and first responders through the Pike County Local Emergency Planning Committee. The activities associated with the exercise will contin- ue into the afternoon. Sept. 24 National Voter Registration Day On September 24, Americans will celebrate National Voter Registration Day with a massive 50 -state effort to register voters before Election Day this November. The Pike County Public Library will be conducting a "Register Now, Vote Later" event on Tuesday, Sept. 24, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Petersburg Branch. For more information, contact Carly Tegmeyer at 812- 354-6257. Seeking Tiny Mr. and Miss contestants for Buffalo Trace Festival The Buffalo Trace Festival baby contest is seeking contestants for the Tiny Mr. and Miss baby contest, ages 0 -3. There is no entry fee. There will be a boy and girl category/overall winner. There will be a win- ner and first runner-up for Mr. and Miss. Must sub- mit a color 5x7 photo to Petersburg City Hall by Mon- day, Sept. 23. Photo must have child's name, informa- tion and contact information for the parent. The festi- val will be September 27-28. FAFSA Financial Aid meeting Sept. 25 Seniors and parents of seniors need to mark their calendars to attend the Financial Aid night on Wednes- day, Sept. 25 at 6:30 p.m. This event is hosted by the Pike Central Guidance Office. Stan Werne will be there representing the Indiana Student Financial Aid Associ- ation. He will go through the processes to file for Fed- eral and State Financial Aid and he will go over the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid). Blood Drive at Otwell Elementary School Sept. 27 The American Red Cross is needing blood dona- tions to help support victims of Hurricane Dorian. They have several blood drives set up in southern In- diana and Illinois. On Friday, September 27, they will be at the Otwell Miller Academy from 2 to 7 p.m. Buffalo Trace Festival Classic Car Cruise-In set for Sept. 28 The Buffalo Trace Festival Classic Car Cruise-In will be Saturday, Sept. 28 in front of the Petersburg First United Methodist Church, 801 Walnut Street. Registration will begin at 9 a.m., with Cruise-In time from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Each entry will receive a Buf- falo Trace Festival dash plaque. Each vehicle must be registered separate. Upcoming event? We want to know! Do you have an upcoming event? Send it to news@ pressdispatch.net or call 812-354-8500. 1242 Main Street • Monroe City • 812-743-2393 Friday, Sept. 20 • 5:30-7:30p.m. - Spaghetti Dinner Food Booths - Open Vendors and Inflatables Available • 6:00-9:00 p.m. - Dodgeball Tour- nament (for all ages) ALL WEEKEND Rides and Inflatables, Music, Vendors, Walnut Grove Homemade Ice Cream, Sandwiches, Cold Drinks, Reed Family Funnel Cakes, Coneys, Country Store, Thrift Store and More. For more information, call 812-743-2393 or Jerry Coonrod 812-887-4182 To be in the parade, call Donetta Cardinal 812-890-9681 To be a vendor, call Marlis Day 812-890-1736 To participate in queen contest, call Jenn Candler 812-677-1217 To participate in the Dodgeball Tournament, call Lynette Benton 217-246-5051 Saturday, Sept. 21 • 9:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. - BBQ by Cow Muck Cookers • 10:30 a.m. - Pet Parade • 2:00-4:00 p.m. - Queen Pageants • 7:00-9:00 p.m. - Music in the gym • AT DARK - Fireworks Sunday, Sept. 22 • 10:30a.m. - Church Service • 11:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m. - Jeff Black Fish Fry • 2:00 p.m. - Parade • 3:00 p.m. - South Knox HS Band Concert September 19 • 5:30pm at Enhancing Lives Through Innovative Healthcare From recovery care and wellness to management 309 West Pike Ave., Petersburg CAR SHOW FREE FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY Otwell Miller Academy playground set to open to students later this week By Dennis Marshall The final piece of new playground equipment has been assembled at the Ot- well Miller Academy. OMA director Rich Padgett informed the school board the equip- ment is scheduled to open for students on recess lat- er this week after the con- crete cures and the school gets some ground covered around the play set. Padgett said the new equipment was approxi- mately $18,000, with a few more thousand going to pay for the assembly. OMA will no longer have to bus students to the Ot- well Community Center for recess, but students will still go there for physical educa- tion courses. The board also discussed a potential partnership with Old National Bank to get a credit card processing ma- chine at the school. "We wanted to do this so that people can come and pay for book fees, the lunch program and things like this," Padgett said. "It is sup- posed to be revenue neutral. There is some small costs and we are still working that out. We are going to survey our parents during parent- teacher conferences to see if it's something we definitely want to move forward with." Padgett also informed the board OMA's lunch and breakfast programs had re- ceived certification from the USDA on Sept. 3. Be- coming USDA certified is a pretty in-depth process and some of the criteria in- cluded the nutritional val- ues of meal, number of veg- etables in each meal, differ- ent color of vegetables in each meal and the amount of meat served in each meal. "They had to take all of the nutritional values of every single item that you serve and make sure that you're within a calorie range, meat range, fruit and vegetable range, grain range and all of the rest of the way across," Padgett said. Now that the school is cer- tified by the USDA, those who are eligible can take ad- vantage of free and reduced meals. Padgett estimated about 50 percent of OMA's stu- dents would be eligible for free or reduced meals. The USDA did not approve OMA for the month of August. "So now we have to eat that cost," Padgett said. "We thought that if we charged our free and reduced kids, and then got approved, we would have to offer refunds. We rolled the dice. That's an expense that we may ask the parents for help with." Padgett said the cost was $7,000, but that number in- cluded a lot of startup sup- plies for the beginning of the year. School Board holds 2020 budget hearing, adoption meeting set for Oct. 8 By Dennis Marshall The Pike County School Board held its 2020 budget hearing and set an adoption meeting for Tuesday, Oct. 8, at 7 p.m. The total advertised bud- get for 2020 is $27,591,229 with an advertised educa- tion fund of $15,370,669, an advertised debt service fund of $1,756,637, an ad- vertised school pension debt fund of $289,133 and an ad- vertised operations fund of $10,174,790. The 2020 advertised levy is $11,843,00 with an adver- tised rate of 2.3686. For comparison, the total advertised budget in 2019 was $25,234,024, the adver tised levy was $ 8,347,987 and the advertised rate was 1.4265. OTHER ACTIONS: • Approved the second reading of bylaws and pol- icy manual. "This is a big deal because we finally have a full manual that has been read and approved in the past nine months," Superin- tendent Suzanne Blake said. • Accepted a $100 do- nation from Casey's Foods for the seventh and eighth- grade cheerleaders. The do- nation will be used towards clothing, uniforms and other expenses for the team. • Accepted a $225 dona- tion from German American Bancorp. The donation will be used towards Pike Cen- tral High School 2019 -2010 calendar magnets. • Accepted a $200 dona- tion from the Dubois Pike Federal Credit Union. This award was made to Mrs. Mi- chelle LeMond. • Accepted a $500 dona- tion from German American Bancorp as a back to school luncheon sponsor. • Approved a fund rais- ing activity application from the middle school robotics team to sell dinner rolls and gift cards for Texas Road- house in the months of Sep- tember and October. The funds raised will be used to pay for entry fees into local, state and national competi- tions. • Approved a fund rais- ing activity application from the Pike Central Fellowship of Christian Athletes to sell Yankee Candles and other Yankee Candles products to for funds this school year. • Approved a fund rais- ing activity application from the Pike Central cheerlead- ers to have a booth on Fri- day, Sep. 27 and Saturday, Sep. 28, at the Buffalo Trace Festival. The cheerleaders will be selling homemade ice cream and cookies to help pay for expenses like warmups, backpacks and shoes. • Approved a fund rais- ing activity application from Petersburg Elementary Principal Rick King to have a hat day. Student and staff member will be asked to do- nate $1 to be able to wear a hat on hat day. • Approved the first read- ing of test security policy for ISTEP+ and IREAD-3 test- ing. • Approved the purchase of an activity bus. The pro- jected cost is between Continued on page 5