The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: http://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/120907
A-2 Wednesday, April 10, 2013 The Press-Dispatch H $400,000 match for Stellar Bradsasse named Peabody Energy Leader in Education, awarded $1,000 Marilyn Brandsasse, of Otwell Elementary School, was named a Peabody Energy Leader in Education for the 2012-13 school year, and received a $1,000 check for her compassion and commitment to students. Brandsasse, Otwell���s art and music teacher, who will retire in May, believes in keeping her curriculum interesting, exciting and fun. She feels teaching with a vibrant approach will help her student���s young minds readily absorb and retain the information she presents. Outside the classroom, she encourages and recognizes good attendance by chairing Otwell���s school attendance program. In addition, she produces the school���s annual Christmas program and organized a school-wide fundraiser to benefit the victims of the Japanese tsunami. Brandsasse has also served on the Pike County Commission for Arts Promotion and Education and on the Board of Trustees for the Pike County Public Library. The Peabody Leaders in Education Program rewards dedicated education professionals���from teachers and coaches to librarians and counselors���who inspire and motivate youth to succeed. Award recipients are selected throughout the school year by a committee of top educators and business leaders. ���Outst a nding educa tors, like Marilyn Brandsasse, are heroes who help students find their true potential to succeed,��� said Greg Boyce, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Peabody Energy. We are pleased to honor Marilyn as a Peabody Energy Leader in education and we thank her for working to diligently to transform the lives of her students.��� The 2012-13 Peabody Leaders in Education program is continuing to accept nominations and is open to education professionals of public, private and independent schools in desig- nated communities where Peabody Energy employees live and work. Nominations may be made at www.PeabodyEnergyLeadersinEducation.org. More information is available at the Peabody Energy Leaders Facebook page. Brandsasse has taught at OES for 14 years in the art and music area. She composed the words and lyrics for our National Blue Ribbon and Four Star songs the students performed at the community celebrations and when Dr. Tony Bennett, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, visited OES. She is very creative and talented in these areas and the students have benefitted greatly from her instruction. ���As her principal for the past eight years, it has been a privilege to work with Mrs. Brandsasse and observe her positive influence on the students in art, music and other aspects of the school culture,��� said OES Principal Rick Fears. H Winslow raises water rates Councilman Gerald ���Buck��� Ashby. Bolin said he and Tisdale talked about it. ���I didn���t see much choice because we have to be covered by a certified operator,��� said Tisdale. ���It was either that or we close the door,��� said Bolin. ���If you don���t like it, we can close the door (to the plant),��� added Bolin. ���I just wondered how it came about,��� said Ashby. ���We weren���t sure how to go about it. We had to have someone today,��� said Bolin of the move done outside the meeting. Winslow did not have their second meeting of March because they didn���t have a quorem. So Monday���s meeting was the first in a month. In other business, councilmen questioned their Health Savings Accounts. The town makes a contribution of $2,500 each year in January to an employee���s health savings account. ���I���m sort of concerned about our HSA, when they (an employee) resigns or there is a change. I want to know about protecting the town from not losing the $2,500. I would like to see if someone quits or is fired, if the $2,500 is paid in,��� said Tisdale. Clerk-Treasurer Bennett said she had emailed the insurance agent and was told basically there was nothing that could be done. Bennett said it would be virtually impossible to manage it. She gave the example of Steve English, who had surgery at the beginning of the year. ���That money is already spent. You can���t ask him to pay it back.��� ���I guess the insurance told us nothing about this and we just went for it,��� said Tisdale. Bennett suggested the council review all of their salary ordinances. Councilmen agreed to have them reviewed. ��� John Gayhart, who lives on Pearl St., asked the council if a culvert he found in the weeds at the mud derby track could be installed. Gayhart said he didn���t understand why he had to pay for the culvert on a road he claimed was a city street. Superintendent Smith said he would take a look at the culvert and see if it would work. The next meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m., Monday, April 22, in Town Hall. put in a disc golf course recently and paid more for the design of it than Pike County is going to pay for the entire course. Prevo has volunteered his services. It was approved by a 7-0 vote. In other business, Commissioner Assistant Melissa Bryant warned the council the control panel for the courthouse heating and air conditioning system had gone out. It operates, but it has to be controlled manually, so the temperature control is sporadic. She said estimates range from $10,000 to $25,000 to fix it. Lisa Gelhausen, of Indiana Region 15, told the council Pike County���s dues for 2013 would be $5,780.25. She explained it is based on 45 cents per capita and Pike County���s population is listed as 12,845 in the 2010 census. She said Indiana Region 15 helped the county and towns in the county write and administer grants, securing more than $1 million in grants last year. The next council meeting is scheduled for 8:30 a.m., Tuesday, May 14. H Murder suspect captured Friday Continued from page 1 ents could drop their children off at the school if they had to go to work. ���Once we had delayed school, then about an hour later we were notified police had caught him, but we didn���t feel like we could reverse the two hour delay. So we called parents and let them know there was no longer a risk.��� Michelle White had a long night. She and her husband Jeff had large groups of police, flashing lights and flashlights going through their yard and woods behind their house. At one point, State Police and US Marshals came to their door to check on them at about 3 a.m. ���They kept making eye contact and saying ���are you sure everything is okay? ��� ��� said White. She said she thought they were concerned the Whites might have been being held at gunpoint. She said it made her and her nine-year-old son feel much better seeing all the police were in the area. White said police even crawled through their Fiscus hits horse, sustains minor injuries By Andy Heuring A Petersburg woman sustained minor injuries when she hit a horse, and another motorist���s car was damaged when something fell out of the bed of the truck she was following. Emily Iafrate, 20, of Petersburg, was driving on Highway 356, following Jeremiah Raney���s pickup, when something fell out of the back of his truck bed and it hit the front of Iafrate���s 2000 Pontiac, according to Petersburg Police Cpl. Scott Wright. It happened at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday. Early Monday, April 1, Leann Fiscus, 45, of Knox St., Petersburg, was driving her 1997 Mercury Mountaineer east on Highway 56, west of Petersburg, near CR250W, when she hit a dark brown horse that was walking in the highway, according to Deputy Sheriff Mike Willis. The impact damaged Fiscus��� SUV enough that she couldn���t get the doors open to get out of the vehicle. She complained of head pain in the 4:30 a.m. accident that caused an estimated $10,000 to $25,000 damage. The horse was owned by Don Horrell. Opening april 20 Open t -Sa MOn 9-5 AnnuAls PerenniAls TomAToes HAnging bAskeTs crawl space under their house and went through their garage at least twice. ���We were surrounded the whole time by police,��� said White. She said Petersburg Officer Chad Tharp came by the house to check on them. White said as he was walking away that is when it hit her. ���Here he was at 3 a.m., he has a couple month old baby, and he left his family to come out here and protect my family. We just don���t appreciate these guys as much as we should,��� said White. Hardiman was held on a $70,000 cash only bond at the Pike County Jail, until Monday. He was transferred Monday afternoon to Anderson. NOW InTroduCIng Philly Beef SaNDWiCh and PulleD BBQ SaNDWiCh DiNe-iN or Carry-Out for faster se rvic head ll a a e! Continued from page 1 the project. He said it would because they have to use county census numbers instead of Winslow numbers. Town Attorney Tom Dysert warned annexation would be a long process. He said he would look into how expensive it would be and report back to the board. Town Clerk-Treasurer Beth Bennett said residents in the area already receive police protection and fire protection. Town works out deal with former superintendent to cover at water plant Council President Don Bolin said an agreement had been worked out with former Utilities Superintendent Todd Williams to use his Water Plant and Sewer Plant operator certification. Bill Arvin, who had replaced Williams last year, resigned, effective Friday, April 5. Indiana requires a certified operator to sign off on the plant. Bolin said Andy Smith would be taking Arvin���s position, but he would not be certified until May 6. So the agreement is for Williams to be the ���operator in charge��� until Smith is certified. ���I would like to know who made the decision,��� said Greg Mangin abstaining. Mangin is an engineer and said he abstained because he planned to be doing engineering on parts of the Stellar plan. Disc golf course at Prides Creek funded Councilmen voted to approve an additional appropriation for $14,500 to the Park and Recreation Board. It is to construct an 18-hole disc golf course at Prides Creek. It was presented last year to the council. The council asked for the group to seek sponsors for each hole to help fund the construction. Jan Hollis said they had sponsors for 12.5 holes, which was about $10,000. He said they hoped to get the rest of the sponsorships sold and they would reimburse the county for the $14,500. Last year, Dean Prevo, of Petersburg, helped design two courses in Evansville. He spoke to the council last year. He said the Prides Creek layout will be one of the premium courses in the Midwest and draw disc golf enthusiasts from around the country. Hollis said Dubois County C Marilyn Brandsasse, arts and music teacher at Otwell Elementary School, was honored by the Peabody Energy Leaders in Education Program with a $1,000 check for being an outstanding teacher. Maureen Moore, director of the Peabody Energy Leaders in Education Program, presented the $1,000 check, with the help of several Otwell Elementary School students including Mallory Hunt, Emma Camp, John Pauw, Hunter Capehart, Anjelina Ruiz, Jaylynn Capehart, Emma Hunt and Christian Carter. The presentation was made Monday at the school during a special surprise assembly. Continued from page 1 plan, is a senior center to be housed in the former Citizen���s State Bank. Judy Thomann, a consultant with Petersburg���s Stellar team, said getting the same level of support as last year was ���critical��� to Petersburg���s chances. She added that team members were told Petersburg came in third last year out of the 10 communities that were named finalist. Each year, two winners are named. ���We don���t want to finish third again,��� said Thomann. She said with I-69 not being developed yet, winning the Stellar Communities Program could be ���a huge boost for the community.��� Petersburg is one of six communities named as finalist this year. Councilmen discussed whether to have two letters of financial support or just one. Eventually, they decided to have both the commissioners and council write separate letters, but include the financial commitment of $133,000 a year, to be spread over three years. It was passed by a 6 0 vote, with Councilman Joe Mama���s 350 W. 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