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Ba NEWS TIPS Phone: ���������������������812-354-8500 Email ����� editor@pressdispatch�net INSIDE Local ����������������� A1-8 Sports �����������������B1-5 History �������������������B7 Opinion �������������B6-8 Church �������������� C1-3 School ���������������� C4-5 Classifieds �����������D1-2 Legal Notices ����������D2 Obituaries ����������� D3-5 Home Life ����������� D5-8 East Gibson ��������� D7 USPS 604-34012 WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2020 PIKE PUBLISHING VOLUME 150, NUMBER 42 $1.00 32 PAGES FOUR SECTIONS TWO INSERTS PETERSBURG, IN 47567-0068 You can save $ 3 off the price of your yearly subscription, during The Press-Dispatch Bargain Period, whether it is $ 37 for both the print + NetEdition, $ 32 for the print only subscription or $ 32 for the NetEdi- tion only version. The Press-Dispatch has been keep- ing the residents of Pike County in- formed about what is happening in their community since March of 1898. Whether it is keeping up with news you need to know about, such as how much and why your water rates and tax rates are going up, or just news you want to know about, like how did the neighbor's child do in his tennis match last week, The Press-Dispatch is the place to fi nd out. If you live in Indiana, but outside 475 or 476 zip codes, it is available in print and NetEdition for $40, print on- ly $ 35 or NetEdition only $ 32. If you live out of state, it is available in print and NetEdition for $57, print only for $52 or NetEdition only for $ 32. Out-of-state customers no lon- ger have to wait for the mail to ar- rive with the NetEdition sent to your smart phone, tablet or computer at 6 a.m. every Wednesday morning. Subscribers and neighbors have received a fl yer explaining the Oc- tober Bargain Period savings. Get it while it's hot. The deal goes away after October 31. There is no better time than now to get the best source of Pike Coun- ty news for the last 122 years than now. You can mail in the form or call 812-354-8500. Customers wanting the NetEdition need to include their email address and a password with a minimum of seven characters. Still time to save $ 3 during October Bargain Period Winslow hydrants fl ushed Nathan DeWeese and Norm Sweet fl ush a fi re hydrant along Collins St. in Winslow. They fl ushed hydrants on Thursday and Friday last week. Flushing the hydrants helps clean sediment out of the water lines. Check delivered by US Secretary of Commerce By Andy Heuring Petersburg and Pike County got a big boost, a $4.2 million boost to help pay for a new water plant. U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wil- bur Ross traveled to Petersburg to hand the check himself to Peters- burg Mayor R.C. Klipsch. Ross, a member of President Donald Trump's cabinet, a frequent guest of national news shows, spoke for about 10 minutes on the grant. It will be used to improve and expand the Petersburg water sys- tem to support existing businesses and attract new business. The EDA grant, to be located in a Tax Cuts and Jobs Act Opportunity Zone, will be matched with $2.8 million in lo- cal funds and is expected to create or retain nearly 100 jobs and spur $19.6 million in private investment. "The Trump Administration is working tirelessly to champion ar- eas around the country that have been adversely impacted by fl uctu- ations in the coal industry," said Sec- retary of Commerce Wilbur Ross. "This EDA investment will provide the water infrastructure Petersburg needs to spur business expansion and growth, and the project's loca- tion in an Opportunity Zone will at- tract additional investment to the re- gion." "EDA encourages investment in Opportunity Zones to not only en- hance return on investment for busi- ness interests, but also encourage the public/private partnerships needed to drive investment to dis- tressed communities," said Dana Gartzke, Performing the Delegat- ed Duties of the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Devel- opment. "Updated water infrastruc- ture is essential for business devel- opment and will attract other trans- formative investment to Petersburg and Pike County." "This collaboration will bring sig- nifi cant upgrades to the water sys- tems of Petersburg," said Governor Eric Holcomb. "I appreciate this in- vestment not only in Indiana's infra- City receives $4.2 million for water plant This is the second in a two-part se- ries on the arrest of Edward Fox for the murder of his estranged wife, Sha- ron Fox. By Andy Heuring Edward Fox was arrested on Mon- day, October 5 on one count of mur- der; a count of burglary, where se- rious bodily injury occurs, a level 1 felony; and a count of burglary, a lev- el 4 felony. Investigators used high tech tools including geo-location da- ta from his cellphone and data from his CPAP machine in their investi- gation. His estranged wife's body was found at the bottom of a staircase in the basement of her house on Sunday, July 19. Pike County Dep- uty Sheriff Jared Simmons went to Fox's house after Edward called 911 to tell police his son had not heard from Sharon for several days. Police interviewed Fox after he request- ed to talk to the investigating offi - cer, Indiana State Police Det. Tobi- as Odom. Things started to 'go south' for Fox in that fi rst interview. During the fi rst interview, Fox pushed and scuffl ed with Det. Odom and Peters- burg Police Cpl. Kyle Mills when they attempted to take possession of his cellphone. Fox was arrested on charges of resisting law enforce- ment and obstruction of justice. It continued to get worse as po- lice interviewed him on four occa- sions. Each time, they would follow up with Fox, after they found some- thing he told them in the prior inter- view was incorrect. A 19 -page probable cause affi da- vit states, "The full series of four in- terviews in the week after discov- ery of Sharon's body, was necessi- tated by Edward Fox concealing ma- terial facts, omitting material facts or fabricating details. Each succes- sive interview sought to clean up false statements Edward had made in the previous interview, essential- ly by Edward's admission to the de- ception and then again being deceit- ful in trying to explain the conceal- ment or omission." According to the affi davit, police knew fairly early that Fox was lying to them about not knowing Sharon had died until after her body was found by police. He had told them he had seen Sha- ron's feet up on the stairs from a win- dow. But when they talked with Dep- uty Simmons, who found the body, he could only see Sharon's head and top of her body from the window. During an interview with Fox's son, Robert, police were told Ed- ward had called Robert from jail and asked him to cancel an appointment. See MURDER on page 5 See GR ANT on page 2 See COVID-19 on page 3 Months of investigation led to arrest of Fox for the murder of his ex-wife See ELECTION on page 3 By Andy Heuring Early voting continues at a brisk pace. As of Tuesday afternoon more than 536 people had voted in the Clerk's offi ce on the second fl oor of the courthouse. Voting started on Tuesday, October 6 with a bang. About 130 people made their way to the Clerk's offi ce to vote on the fi rst day. It has continued on with near- ly 100 voters a day since. Even more than that with vote by mail included. Clerk Lana Griffi th said on Tuesday, her offi ce had already received 455 mail-in ballots back from voters. Tuesday was also the fi rst day for the satellite voting center to be used in Pike County. It was open from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. in Spurgeon at Wirth Park. The satellite voting center will also be available on Tuesday, Octo- ber 20, from 3 to 8 p.m., at the Union Community Building, and then on Saturdays at the Winslow Commu- nity Center, from 8 a.m. to noon. Any registered voter from any precinct may vote at the satellite voting cen- ters. The Clerk's offi ce will be open for early voting from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday throughout October. It will be open from 8 a.m. to noon for early voting on Monday, November 2. Election Day is Tuesday, Novem- ber 3. Instead of there being polls at nearly all the 18 precincts in Pike County, there will be three voting centers in Pike County. They will be located at Gospel Center Church in Petersburg, Winslow Community Center and Otwell Community Cen- ter from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Any reg- istered voter can vote at any of the sites. Griffi th said they now have a com- puterized poll pad that logs when someone votes at any of the voting Early voting exceeds 450 ballots cast COVID-19 test site opens as deaths rise to eight By Andy Heuring A drive-in COVID testing site on the Petersburg Moose parking lot opened Tuesday at 4 p.m. as the pan- demic death toll continued to rise in Pike County. On Tuesday, it hit eight with one new death. Those numbers could continue to climb as 101 peo- ple at Amber Manor Care Center have tested positive for COVID-19. As of Tuesday, a total of 50 residents and 51 employees at Amber Manor had tested positive. There were 38 active residents and 19 active cases among employ- ees. Pike County's total number of positives climbed to 292 with seven new cases on Tuesday. A week ago Pike County on the metrics map of Indiana was moved to the worst rat- Ross presents $4.2 million grant in person Wilbur Ross, U.S. Secretary of Commerce, presents a $4.2 million check to Petersburg Mayor R. C. Klipsch last Wednesday during a ceremony in the Pike County Courthouse. Ross is a member of President Donald Trump's cabinet.

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