The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: http://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1182554
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Glezen Center St., Petersburg Free Admission, Silent Auction Bake Sale (for Pike Co. CASA) & Concessions ( for Road Riders for Jesus) C ra ft & V e n do r F a i r The drivers of two vehi- cles escaped injury in a near head-on last Wednesday on Highway 64. Amanda K. Nowark, 27, of 4930 S. CR 450 E., Win- slow, told Pike County Depu- ty Cody Jones she fell asleep and went across the cen- terline. Deputy Jones said Nowark's 2016 Mazda hit the front left quarter pan- el of Melissa K. Hathaway's 2015 Toyota Corolla. Hatha- way, 38, of 1947 E. CR 100 S., Winslow, was driving west at about 7:14 p.m. near CR 100 W. Deputy Jones said both Nowark and Hathaway re- fused medical treatment. Both vehicles had to be towed from the scene and damage was estimated at be- tween $ ,5000 to $10,000. No citations were issued. A Washington man was injured last Friday morning after his 2006 Chevrolet Sil- verado crashed into a tree along Highway 257 north of Otwell. Johnny R. Blackmon, 28, of 108 W. Illinois St., Wash- ington, was driving south on Highway 257, near CR 550 N., when he ran off the right side of the road and then swerved back to the left, crossing Highway 257 and striking a tree, accord- ing to Pike County Deputy Sheriff Brad Jenkins. According to Jenkins' report, Blackman said he passed out, causing him to run off the road. Blackman was taken to the hospital complaining of chest pain from the 8:10 a.m. crash. His truck sus- tained an estimated $5,000 to $10,000 damage. Three escape injury in separate accidents By Andy Heuring A Petersburg man was ar- rested on burglary, theft and drug charges, and his wife on drug charges, after an anonymous tip about a July burglary. Todd Hawthorne, 39, and Jennifer Hawthorne, 36, of 1406 E. Spruce St., Peters- burg, were arrested Monday night after police were given a tip that Todd had broken into Win Production, LLC, formerly Weisheit Farms, and stole about $7,500 of tools, including a welder. Pike County Sheriff Kent Johnson said police received an anonymous tip from someone who had heard Hawthorne bragging about stealing the equipment from the Weisheit farm. Johnson said Depu- ty Mike Willis obtained a search warrant for Haw- thorne's residence. Depu- ty Willis, Petersburg Po- lice Chief Chuck Baumgart and Petersburg Patrolman Bryce Manning executed the warrant at Hawthorne's residence Monday evening. Sheriff Johnson said they located about $7,500 of tools, including a welder. He add- ed, Hawthorne then admit- ted he had stolen the tools and said others were in- volved, but he would not give police any names. Johnson said while po- lice were searching the res- idence, they found about a half gram of meth and a small amount of marijuana. During the search, Haw- thorne's wife came home. Sheriff Johnson said she was mirandized and questioned. He said she had no knowl- edge of the tools, but admit- ted using meth. Both were taken into cus- tody. Todd was preliminari- ly charged with burglary, a Level 5 felony; theft great- er than $750, a level 6 felo- ny; maintaining a common nuisance and possession of meth, both level 6 felonies and possession of parapher- nalia and marijuana. Jennifer was preliminarily charged with maintaining a common nuisance and pos- session of meth, both level 6 felonies and possession of marijuana. The theft from Weisheit Farms was reported on Ju- ly 18. Tip leads to recovered stolen property, meth arrest BLACKBURN Continued from page 1 so over the next two to three years, but he didn't think driving coal trucks over it would be a problem. The county filled in the cracks and then reopened the road to coal trucks on Monday. Flint said in the future they will probably remove the blacktop and put down shale to level out the road. Then put rock on top of the shale and blacktop over that. "I don't know how soon we are going to be doing that," said Nelson. He said he drove over the sunken area at about 30 mph and didn't have any problems. "It isn't a problem. It just isn't the way it used to be," said Nelson. Nelson said they were able to locate some IPL maps of old mine works in the area. He said it appears it was the Blackburn #1 Mine that went under the Black- burn Road in that location. According to the map, the mine opened in 2019. "I'm amazed at how many little mines there were in this ar- ea," said Nelson. In other business, the commissioners opened 2020 material bids for supplies at the Highway Department. The received bids for pipe culverts, rock, sand, grav- el, hot mix asphalt and cold mix asphalt from the follow- ing companies: Wallers Me- ter, Inc., Metal Culverts, Inc., Rogers Group, Inc., Cave Quarries, JH Rudolph, Southern Indiana Supply, Bradford Supply Company and Civilcon. The Commissioners also approved the Health Depart- ment changing their hours. Health Nurse Amy Glad- ish requested and received approval from the commis- sioners to expand the Health Department hours. She said new vaccine requirements are creating a need to be open more hours. The new hours are: Monday-Thurs- day 8 a.m. to 5p.m. and Fri- day 8 to 11 a.m. The commissioners ta- bled taking action on the county's contract with Trin- ity Ambulance Service. Pike County has a five-year con- tract with Trinity Ambu- lance Service, located near the intersection of Highway 64 and 61 in Arthur. Pike County leases space for an ambulance and crew to be stationed there. Owner Cory Whitehead told the commissioners he did not want to renegotiate a contract for less than a five-year extension. Howev- er, Pike County EMS Direc- tor Chris Young said, "I'm not overly excited about five years." "I just want to be clear, you won't enter into any- thing less than five years? " asked Commissioner Flint. "No, I feel like we need to stay at five years," said Whitehead. Whitehead added he had a couple of realtors approach him about the county buying it from him. He indicated he might be interested in that, but he wanted five years so he could plan for the future. Flint asked again, "You won't entertain an out clause of 60 to 90 days. I just want to be sure we know where every- one stands on this," said Flint. "Do we want to table this and talk about it more? " asked Commissioner Nel- son. The commissioners then voted to table the matter. They also voted to change their December 16 meeting from a 6:30 p.m. meeting to an 8:30 a.m. meeting. The next commissioners' meeting is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Monday, Novem- ber 18. this round of Community Crossing paving was com- plete. The water treatment plant bidding will probably now be done in the spring, along with the wastewater treat- ment plant improvements. The USDA Rural Develop- ment project for wastewater is a $7.5 million grant, prob- ably the largest grant of its type ever given by the fed- eral government, according to Klipsch. The 900 customers would normally share the expense of updating the system, had it not been for the grant, according to Klipsch, who said it was an "unbelievable" amount. He said the projects now under way will wrap up in four or five years and ben- efit the community for de- cades in the future. City superintendent Ross Elmore explained that work- ers were attempting to lo- cate water line valves that control a loop serving the li- brary addition. He said work has been halted on the sprin- kler system due to low wa- ter pressure and that the city was attempting to lo- cate valves, but had not yet determined how to increase the flow without a new line. The city also spent a good deal of time with clean up af- ter the recent storm, accord- ing to Elmore. Elmore also reported that the new fire engine was in the process of being outfit- ted and lettered. He said the fire department had assisted in the Oakland City house fire and that the trees and shrubbery were a problem at that scene. Elmore said that abandoned houses like that one needed to be taken down to lessen the danger to other nearby residents and structures. The council approved the purchase of a 2020 Dodge Charger patrol car since no 2019s were available, ac- cording to Klipsch. It will re- place the car totaled by for- mer Petersburg patrolman Isaac Salters on August 25. Salters crashed his patrol car into a utility pole and then overturned in a field on Highway 61 in Knox Coun- ty. He was charged with offi- cial misconduct, operating a vehicle while intoxicated en- dangering a person and op- erating with a schedule I or II controlled substance. Salt- ers resigned following the crash and the Petersburg Board of Public Works hired Bryce Manning to replace Salters on September 3. Klipsch said they would replace the patrol car and then consider a Durango for the chief of police. There was some discussion by Councilman John Melhiser about going to another SUV and also whether the city could use a van rather than an SUV, such as the chief's Explorer, to handle various water and sewer equipment. Police Chief Chuck Baumgart and code en- forcement officer Kyle Mills were not in attendance, but Klipsch said Mills was work- ing on several ongoing prop- erty and vehicle issues in the city. Baumgart was working on a search warrant and was unable to attend. That Mon- day evening warrant result- ed in the recovery of proper- ty stolen back in July from the former Weisheit Farms, now owned by Win Produc- tions, LLC. By Andy Heuring A rural Winslow woman is being charged with arson, a level 4 felony, and neglect of a dependent, following a house trailer fire on October 26 near Ayrshire. Laura Vest, 34, of 414 W. Factory St., Winslow, is ac- cused of setting her ex-boy- friend Jeremy McCandless' house trailer on fire after she got upset when she saw him with his ex-wife in his trailer. Jeremy and Misty Mc- Candless told police Vest came to his trailer and when she saw Misty was there, she became upset. At one point, they said she told them she was going to burn down his trailer with him in it. They said she left and then a while later, they no- ticed the trailer was on fire. Jeremy and Misty attempt- ed to put out the fire, but it rekindled and the Patoka Township Fire Department was called to extinguish the blaze. While there, Jeremy began interfering with fire- fighters and was eventually arrested on a charge of pub- lic intoxication. A police re- port said he later changed his story and said he didn't want Vest to get into trouble because she had children to take care of. In an oral probable cause hearing, Deputy State Fire Marshal Matt Wells said he was contacted by Sheriff's Sgt. Buck Seger about the fire. Wells said he interviewed Jeremy about the fire, Jere- my estimated the trailer's value at $ 8,000. Wells said it was "most likely a total loss." Wells said when he inter- viewed Misty, she said Vest came into the trailer on Oct. 26 and became angry and they "exchanged words." Then Vest said, "I'm going to kill you." Wells said the fire was started by a couch cush- ion that was set on fire and placed under the added on wooden deck of the trailer. Wells also interviewed Jessica Miller, a friend of Vest. Miller told him Vest had come to her house and while she was there, pulled her aside and said she had "done something really bad. I set my husband's house on fire." Miller also said Vest's daughter said her mother had set a chair on fire under the trailer. Wells said this was con- sistent with evidence at the scene. Wells then interviewed Vest on Halloween while she was in a Care Bear costume getting ready to go trick or treating with her daughter. Wells testified Vest said when she saw Misty at Jere- my's trailer, she had "a mo- ment of insanity." He said she admitted to setting the fire. She said she took a cushion from a chair, set it on fire and put it under the trailer. Vest was not taken in- to custody. Wells said she was in the middle of a fami- ly activity, so he didn't arrest her then. A fter the probable cause hearing on Friday af- ternoon, Vest was arrested on a warrant. Vest charged with arson, neglect in trailer fire Biscuits and gravy benefit for Travis family Dana Travis delivers an order of biscuits and gravy to Russell Henson and Raymond Mills at the Igloo Saturday morning. Travis is the sister of Ronnie Travis, who along with his wife and seven children, lost their home to a fire last Monday night. Dana, with help from several friends including Heather Smith, Di- ane Parker and Igloo owner Chris Hornby, had a benefit breakfast for the Travis family.