The Press-Dispatch

March 25, 2020

The Press-Dispatch

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Local ����������� A1-8 To Go Guide �� A3 School ����������� A7 East Gibson ���� A7 Sports ������������ B1 Opinion ������� B2-3 Classifieds ��� B4-6 Church �������� C1-3 Home Life ��� C4-7 Obituaries ������ C7 History ����������� C8 WHAT'S INSIDE: Phone: ���������������������812-354-8500 Fax: ��������������������������812-354-2014 E-Mail ����editor@pressdispatch�net NEWS TIPS: PIKE PUBLISHING Wednesday, March 25, 2020 Volume 150 Number 13 Phone 812-354-8500 Petersburg, IN 47567-0068 (USPS 604-34012) $ 1 Three sections 22 pages Four inserts See EMERGENCY on page 2 See COVID-19 on page 2 See WOMEN on page 8 Behind glass: Finding a way to visit loved ones Ryken Biesterveld visits his great-grandpa, Forest Boger, through his window at Amber Manor. Residents are not al- lowed visitors at this time. Families were notified on Tuesday that visiting at the window is not prohibited. See more pho- tos from the new "The Lookout" reader-submitted photo feature on A-5. Area women doing their part to fight spread of COVID-19 By Andy Heuring COVID-19 dominates the news and conversations. A topic we hear everyday is about a shortage of masks at hospitals. A group of area la- dies are doing their part to help out the supply of masks. A local quilting guild heard about the shortage and they have now started making the masks. Kay Benjamin said a loose- ly knit group of ladies meets on the third Saturday of the month to sew, work on proj- ects, quilts and visit. Ben- jamin's granddaughter, for- mer Miss Pike County Alivia Cummings, is a nurse at Dea- coness Hospital. She told her grandmother about the short- age of masks and relayed that they have a pattern for the masks. Benjamin then spread the word to her friends and the group has gone to work on the project. Benjamin said they aren't meeting now because the Pike County History Center isn't open due to the Corona- virus. But the women are just staying home, except for trips to fabric stores to get supplies, and making masks. Marty Horrell said she has done about 30 so far. She is doing them for sever- al groups. She did a batch for Gibson General Hospital and she made some for a beau- ty school where her daugh- ter works. She is also send- ing some out to a friend, who works at a pharmacy. Horrell said she ran out of elastic, which apparently is now in short supply and high demand. So she innovated and started making the masks with tie strings. "I think some of them like the ties better be- cause they are more comfort- able." Horrell said she just started making them on Friday. She said it takes her about 30 min- utes a mask. Bobbi Biddell is also work- ing on the project. She said she made 15 for Golden Liv- ing, a nursing home she lives By Andy Heuring As COVID-19 creeps closer and closer to Pike County, numerous steps are being tak- en by government agencies and businesses to deal with it. On Monday both Gibson and Dubois Counties got their first confirmed cases. On Tuesday, a confirmed case was found in Daviess County, leaving Pike near- ly surrounded in every direction by con- firmed cases. Knox County is the county bordering county with Pike that does not have a confirmed case. According to the Indiana Department of Health statistics there are 365 positive tests for COVID-19 in Indiana and 12 deaths so far as 12,931 people have been tested for it. Those numbers were as of 10 a.m. Tuesday. Locally there still were no reports of a confirmed case of COVID-19; however that doesn't mean people are just going on with their lives. There have been numerous drastic changes in Indiana and Pike County. Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb, at about noon on Monday, issued a "stay home" ex- ecutive order. That basically tells people to stay home except for essential matters such as getting food, medicines or going to gro- cery stores. People in non-essential work are also asked to stay home. However, 'es- sential' is a wide-ranging term. Tattoo parlors, massage parlors, hair dressers and barbers are some of the few things that actually fall in the non-essential businesses. Restaurants are still allowed to stay open but only for carry-out and drive- thru. One of the things the measure does is allow for bars and food establishments ignoring the order to have their licenses revoked. SCHOOL SHUTDOWN THROUGH MAY 1 Gov. Holcomb late last week extended the school shutdown through May 1. Pike County Schools had been scheduled to go back on April 6. The extended shutdown had several implications, one of them being all state-wide testing is cancelled. Pike County Schools had already posted their schedule for eLearning through April 6. On Tuesday, officials updated that for the remainder of April. It is basically eLearning for Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays for the remaining three weeks. ELECTION MOVED TO JUNE 2 The primary election in Indiana has been moved to June 2, 2020 from its planned date of May 5. It will be on the 30th anniver- sary of the 1990 Tornado that devastated Pike County. With the change of Election Day, several other dates also are changing. The last day to change voter registration is May 4. The first day to vote absentee is Tuesday, May 5. The last day to request an absentee bal- lot by mail is Thursday, May 21. Also, the Clerk's office will be open for in-person ab- sentee voting for four hours on Saturday, May 23 and Saturday, May 30. The deadline to vote absentee is noon on Monday, June 1. The Indiana Election Board said they COVID-19 forces more closings in county Bobbi Biddle sews a protective face mask. She and several other ladies in Pike County are sewing the masks to be used by area hospitals and health care providers to help reduce an expected shortage of face masks. By Andy Heuring Pike County Commissioners had their second emergency meeting in less than a week at 1 p.m. on Monday to comply with Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb's Stay Home executive order, issued just before noon on Monday. Last week the commissioners ordered the courthouse closed to all but essential foot traffic. "I don't want close the courthouse," said Pike County Commissioner President Mark Flint. He asked each office holder about their personnel and what they could do to oper- ate on the minimum number of people in their offices. Most of the office holders said they would stagger days for employees to come in. Melanie Mosby, representing Circuit Court Judge Jeff Biesterveld who was out of town, said they had purchased software and computers so they could work from home. Clerk Lana Griffith said she planned to rotate days with her staff and have two in Commissioners deal with compliance at emergency meeting

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