The Press-Dispatch

The Press-Dispatch Wednesday, September 16, 2020 A-3 LOCAL Call: 812-354-8500 Email: news@pressdispatch.net or bring in a hard copy: 820 E. Poplar Street, Petersburg Ana Santacruz, MD Psychiatry Ana Santacruz, MD, a board-certified psychiatrist, offers convenient and compassionate telemedicine appointments on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at Gibson General's Fort Branch Rural Health Clinic. Looking for an expert in behavioral & mental health? To schedule an appointment with Dr. Santacruz, call 812-615-5071. I desire more effective use of county funds. Nobody will work harder for our community! PAID FOR BY CANDIDATE EVANS nathan f o r c o u n t y c o u n c i l Pro god, pro life, pro gun NEWS BRIEFS Pike County Chamber conducts Coffee Connections event this Thursday The Pike County Chamber of Commerce will be hav- ing a Coffee Connections, sponsored by Thryv, on Thurs- day, Sept. 17 at 7:45 a.m. at the Pike County Courthouse auditorium. This is a free networking event. To register, call 812-354-8155 or email to chamber@pikecounty.in.gov. Prides Creek Conservancy District board meets this Thursday The Prides Creek Conservancy District Board will have their third quarterly meeting on Thursday, Sept. 17 at 6 p.m. at 1036 E. CR 400 N., Petersburg. Phase II of the ERI Grant now open More than $24,000 will be on the table for qualifying applicants. Phase II is specifi cally for "medium to long- term recovery." Funds are not for reimbursement to agencies of loss of revenue due to COVID-19; rather, they are to help with moving forward in your work, re-building the com- munity and serving clients in need during these trying times. Thinking creatively and outside the box of how to still serve our community and those in need due to the COVID-19 pandemic. To receive an application or to ask any questions, con- tact UW director Krista Robinette at 812-582-9781 or unit- edwaypike@frontier.com. Memorial Hospital hosting car seat clinic Memorial Hospital's Trauma Services and Women and Infant Services, with support and funding from the Auto- motive Safety Program at IU School of Medicine, will be giving away a limited number of child car seats and boost- er seats at a Car Seat Clinic on Saturday, Sept. 26, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The event will take place in the Medical Arts Building parking lot, located at 721 W. 13th Street in Jasper. Certifi ed Indiana Child Passenger Safety Techni- cians will also be on hand to teach correct installation of the seat in your vehicle. An appointment time must be scheduled, and the child for whom the seat is for must be present on the day of the drive-thru clinic. Adult face masks will be required. To schedule an appointment, call Memorial Hospital at 812- 996 -0406 or e-mail vstuffl e@mhhcc.org. The rain out date for this event is Saturday, Oct. 3. All Pike County residents are eligible to participate. READER GUIDE Subscriptions: Change of address: subscribers changing addresses will please give old address as well as new one along with phone number. We cannot guarantee prompt change unless this is done. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Press-Dispatch., P.O. Box 68, Petersburg, IN 47567-0068 or e-mail to subscribe@ pressdispatch.net. Subscription rates: One year: $35 for Pike County and all 475/476 zip codes; $38 in the state of Indiana; $55 elsewhere in the USA. Paid in advance. Subscriptions taken after noon on Friday will not receive a paper until the second edition after their subscription date. About us: Andy Heuring and John B. Heuring, Publishers Andy Heuring, Editor John B. Heuring, Adv. Mgr. Eric Gogel, Production Mgr. Monica Sinclair, Offi ce Mgr. Cindy Petty, Adv. Sales Pam Lemond, Adv. Sales Kate Lindsey, Adv. Designer • • • Published every Wednesday by the Pike County Publishing Co. Phone: 812-354-8500 820 E. Poplar St., P.O. Box 68, Petersburg, IN 47567-0068 • • • Entered in the Post Offi ce in Petersburg, Indiana for transmission through the mails as Periodical Mail, postage paid at Petersburg, Indiana – published weekly. (USPS 205-620) Contact us: Phone: ..........................................................................812-354-8500 Fax: .............................................................................. 812-354-2014 E-mail: Andy Heuring, Editor editor@pressdispatch.net Advertising ads@pressdispatch.net General News news@pressdispatch.net Circulation subscribe@pressdispatch.net Skinner celebrates 90th birthday A card shower is being planned for Richard Lee Skin- ner, formerly of Pike County, who will be turning 90 on Sep- tember 20. Cards may be sent to: 726 W. Oak Street, Oak- land City, IN 47660. Charger Brigade performs at halftime Very few Pike Central Charger Brigade fans get to see or hear their performance now that COVID-19 pre- cautions have limited spectators at all school events. This one chance went to a few who had tickets for the Friday gridiron contest between Pocket Athletic Conference foe Southridge and the Pike Central Chargers. James Capozella photos Mariah Recker is a part of the Pike Central Charger Brigade and played trumpet in front of the COVID-19 pandemic-limited crowd attending Friday's Charger football game. Alana Hambrick is a part of the color guard that compliments the Pike Central Charger Brigade. Hambrick and her classmates had a rare opportuni- ty to perform on Friday at the Charger football game. County sees single biggest one-day increase in COVID cases By Andy Heuring Pike County's COVID-19 cases have increased to 128, as they had the single biggest one-day increase on Sept. 11, when seven new cases were reported. Last week, from September 5 to 7, there were no cases reported, then on Sept. 8 there was one new case and two new cases on Sept. 9 and 10, both before the seven-case spike on the 11th. There was just one case on the 12th, none on the 13th and two on the 14th. "It just varies when the tests are done and when the results are returned," said Pike County Health Nurse about the spike of seven cas- es on the 11th. She said dif- ferent testing sites vary in the time it takes to get a result. "We are doing good. We are a lot better in our num- ber of currently active cases." She said there are currently 27 active cases and a total of eight people out of the 128 to- tal cases who have been hos- pitalized. Pike County, which only a few weeks ago had a high positivity rate and was in the red zone as one of the highest positivity rates in Indiana, has now dropped to the lowest category. Cur- rently, there are no counties in the red category, which means they have 200 or more new cases per 100,000 people or a positivity rate of more than 15 percent. Pike County peaked at 17 percent a few weeks back. That has dropped to 4.4 percent in the last seven days. Statewide, the number of new cases, deaths and hos- pitalizations is also drop- ping. On Sept. 14, the latest update for new cases on the state website showed 753 new cases. There were 1,271 new cases on September 10. Deaths over the last four days were: seven, four, 10 and fi ve, down dramatically from the peak during mid-April to mid-May when they ranged from 32 to 50 deaths a day. Hospitalizations have also dropped in recent weeks. At the peak in April, there were 1,799 people in the hospi- tal. That steadily fell to 617 on June 26. It then started an upward trend to 1,009 on August 5. That number fell to 731 on Sept. 12 and had a slight rise to 809 on Sept. 14. Gladish said Pike County is still on track to get a local testing site opened in the fi rst of October. An employment ad seeking staff for the test- ing site is in this issue of The Press-Dispatch. The testing site will have night and Saturday hours, and there will be no out-of- pocket costs to those being tested. Salvation Army starting to fundraise early For the fi rst time in 130 years, The Salvation Army is starting its annual holiday fundraising campaign early across the coun- try in order to rescue Christ- mas. The funds raised through our iconic red kettles are at risk this year due to COVID-19 while requests for services are at an all-time high. Based on the increase in ser- vices already provided in re- sponse to the pandemic, we could serve up to 155 percent more people in 2020 with Christ- mas assistance, including put- ting food on the table, pay- ing bills, providing shelter and helping place gifts under the tree – assuming the resources are available. Across the Indi- ana Division, we served 68,000 people last Christmas. If we see the same level of increased re- quests for service, that would mean 105,000 people who need our help this holiday season. At the same time, due to the closing of retail stores, consum- ers carrying less cash and coins, and the decline in foot traffi c, The Salvation Army could see up to a 50 percent decrease in funds raised nationally through the red kettles, which would lim- it their capability to provide ser- vices for the most vulnerable. To put this in perspective, last year $126 million was raised national- ly through about 30,000 red ket- tles. More than $2.7 million was raised in red kettles across In- diana. Since March, The Salvation Army Indiana Division has pro- vided more than 62,000 meals, 5,200 nights of safe shelter, and emotional and spiritual support to over 10,000 people in need. Now more than ever, they're making it safer and simpler to donate in order to support the most vulnerable in Indiana: The best way to ensure that these vi- tal services continue is to enlist in Love's Army with a sustaining monthly gift of $25 per month. To help ensure the safety of bell ringers, donors and part- ners, The Salvation Army has adopted nationally mandated safety protocols. Donate digitally with Apple Pay or Google Pay at any red kettle in Indiana. Ask Amazon Alexa to donate by saying, "Alexa, donate to The Salvation Army," then specify- ing the amount. Give any amount by texting "HOOSIER" to 24365. Talk to your local Salvation Army about how you can create a Virtual Red Kettle and raise money online to support local programs. Donate physical gifts in bulk. Adopt additional Angels to give hope and joy to kids and families in need through The Salvation Army's Angel Tree program. Every donation provides help and hope to those in need, and all gifts stay within the community in which they are given. Visit SalvationArmyIndi- ana.org/Rescue-Christmas to donate or learn more about how you can help The Salvation Ar- my rescue Christmas this year.

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