The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: http://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1275803
Pike County 4-h 2020 PAGE A10 Wednesday, august 5, 2020 PIKE PUBLISHING VOLuMe 150, nuMBeR 32 $1.00 24 Pages tWO seCtIOns tWO InseRts PeteRsBuRg, In 47567-0068 NEWS TIPS Phone: ���������������������812-354-8500 Email ����� editor@pressdispatch�net INSIDE THIS ISSUE Local ����������������������������� A1-B1 Classifieds ������������������������� A7-9 Sports ���������������������������������� B1 Church ���������������������������� B2-4 History ��������������������������������� B5 Home Life ��������������������������B6-8 Obituaries ����������������������������� B8 Opinion ������������������������B10-11 USPS 604-34012 Velpen man injured in motorcycle crash A Velpen man was injured Tues- day evening when he crashed a mo- torcycle on Half-Mile Hill. Jacob Dudenhoeffer, 20, of 10422 E. CR 250 S., Velpen, was riding a black 2007 Suzuki GSXR1000 north on Highway 61 when he lost control. Pike County Deputy Sheriff Paul Collier said police were called af- ter motorists reported seeing a mo- torcycle in the ditch along Highway 61 on Half-Mile Hill. Deputy Collier and Petersburg Officer Bryce Man- ning, State Trooper Hunter Man- ning and Petersburg Fire Depart- ment members searched the area and found a scratched helmet, but were unable to locate anyone. The motorcycle had no license plate. Deputy Collier, in his report, stat- ed he received information that the rider was at Memorial Hospital in Jasper. Collier went to the hospital and found Dudenhoeffer, who had "road rash on his left arm" and knee pain. Dudenhoeffer told Deputy Col- lier he was riding and hit two small bumps in the road, and lost control. Collier said they were able to tell the motorcycle crashed on its left side and slid about 220 feet. Dudenhoeffer agreed to take a chemical test and was negative for alcohol or drugs. He was cited for not having regis- tration or insurance. OMA students can receive free meals Otwell Miller Academy is par- ticipating in the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Pro- grams called the Community Eligi- bility Provision (CEP) for the 2020 - 2021 school year. All enrolled students of Otwell Miller Academy are eligible to re- ceive a healthy breakfast and lunch at school at no charge each day of the 2020 -2021 school year. No further action is required of you. Your child(ren) will be able to participate in these meal programs without having to pay a fee or sub- mit an application. For assistance, contact the school at 812-354-0800. Petersburg Assistant Fire Chief Jon Craig and off-duty Deputy Sheriff Jason McKinney set a wrecked motorcycle upright. It was found damaged along Highway 61 just north of Charger Mine entrance near Pike Central High School. A scuffed helmet was found as well. Police and emergency person- nel searched the area but didn't find anyone. Jacob Dudenhoeffer, 20, of Velpen was later located at Memorial Hospital in Jasper. House of Mercy distributes back-to-school kits Lacey Murray hands a back-to-school kit to Madison Richardson on Saturday morning. The House of Mercy put together free back-to-school kits, with nearly all of the items listed on the back-to-school list by Pike County schools included. See ad- ditional photos on page B-1. Heath dept. attempts to develop local testing site By Andy Heuring As Pike County's COVID-19 cases increased by 50 percent in the last week, the Health Dept. told county commissioners they are seeking a grant to set up a local testing site. Pike County's positive tests in- creased from 32 last Tuesday to 47 by yesterday afternoon. This in- crease comes during the first week of Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb's mask mandate. Pike County Health Nurse Amy Gladish said there are 24 active cas- es in Pike County and two people have been hospitalized. They are the first two in Pike County to be hospitalized. Gladish said most are either asymptomatic or are having light symptoms. In past weeks, Gladish has said most of the cases were from people who had traveled out of state. How- ever, she said in the last week, some of the cases have come from contact with someone who tested positive. Gladish said the good part of that is they now know the source instead of having no idea of the source. On Monday, there were 833 new cases in Indiana. This is down from a peak of 976 on July 31. The high- est number of new cases in one day was on 997 on July 23. Deaths in In- diana have remained fairly steady for the last month. On June 24, there were 10 deaths reported. Since then, the number has stayed between four and 12, with the exception of a one day spike to 18 on July 29. Hospitalizations in Indiana have gone up to 980. However, 490 of those are confirmed COVID cases and 490 are probable COVID cases. They have been trending up since a low of 595 on June 26. The most since the pandemic began was 1,799 on April 13. A total of 2,794 people have died of COVID-19 in the state. Gladish and Health Dept. Inspec- tor Pam Cosby told the commission- ers Pike County is eligible for up to a $100,000 grant to open and staff a local testing site. COVID-19 case count rises to 47 in Pike County See WARR ANT on page 2 See SCHOOL on page 4 See COVID-19 on page 2 3 school board districts up for election There are three school board dis- tricts up for election this year. Districts 3, 4 and 5 will be on the ballot this fall. The deadline to file for school board is noon on Friday, August 21. Candidates must include a petition with signatures from 10 registered voters to complete their application. So far, only incumbent Chris McKinney in District 3 has formally filed to seek re-election. Steve Pot- ter, in District 5, said he is undecid- ed on seeking re-election. Chris Satterfield, in District 4, said he will be filing in the next couple of days. "I would like to do one more term. My twin daughters will be seniors and my youngest is in eighth grade. I would like to see them through the system," said Sat- terfield. By Andy Heuring The Pike County School Board approved their reopening plan by a 4-1 vote during the Wednesday night meeting. It is an 18 -page doc- ument covering how the schools will handle all the foreseeable scenarios with COVID-19 when schools open on Wednesday, August 12. Dana Deffendoll, Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Technology, went over the plan and each category. It is also posted on the school's website. Deffendoll talked about how they developed the plan. Along with nearly constant commu- nication with the state Department of Public Instruction, they reviewed parental surveys. They developed the plan to deal with three different risk levels in the schools. Those were: low-risk, which is defined as student ab- sence due to illness, less than 10 percent and at the recommendation of Pike County Health Department; moderate-risk: Student absence due to illness exceeding 10 percent, but less than 20 percent, or excessive staff absence due to illness, or on the recommendation of Pike Health Dept. in response to COVID-19 cases; high-risk: Student absence due to ill- ness exceeding 20 percent, or excessive staff absence or recommendation of health dept. The plan set up how they would deal with School board approves reopening plan By Andy Heuring A sixth search warrant was issued in the in- vestigation of the death of Sharon Fox. Pike County Prosecutor Darin McDonald requested and received a search warrant for Edward Fox's cellphone records. The warrant includes: call detail records, specialized lo- cation records and electronic records for Ed- ward's phone between April 21, 2020, and Ju- ly 21, 2020. Sharon Fox was found dead at the foot of a staircase in her home on Sunday, July 21 by Pike County Deputy Sheriff Jared Simmons. Simmons was sent to Sharon's residence after her estranged husband had called central dis- patch and requested police do a welfare check. Edward told police his son had tried to call Sharon several times and hadn't been able to get in touch for a few days. When police interviewed Edward, he re- fused to give police his cellphone. He was charged with resisting arrest and obstruc- tion of justice stemming from the incident. Then, as police continued to investigate the death, they interviewed Edward on three dif- ferent occasions. Police claim his story con- tinued to change. Indiana State Police Det. Tobias Odom said in the probable cause affi- davit, "Each interview has been prompted by discovery, through additional investigation, forensic evidence or knowledge of the scene, that Edward Fox has been untruthful in the prior interview." Det. Odom said in the first interview, Ed- ward denied "any first-hand knowledge of the circumstances of Sharon's death." The affidavit states, in the second interview, Edward admitted to police he "had viewed the body from the back door." In the third interview, Edward admitted he had "entered the house by forcing the back door open with the knife." The affidavit also states, "Fox admitted such facts after being confronted with the re- ality that cell tower location data could place Sixth search warrant issued in connection with Fox death