The Press-Dispatch

B-2 Wednesday, November 18, 2020 The Press-Dispatch By Andy Heuring A Pike County pastor's wife has been sentenced to 30 days in jail and two years of proba- tion after she pleaded guilty to stealing money from a youth group's bank account. Crystal Benefiel, 38, of 6187 SR 56, Winslow, pleaded guilty to a charge of theft, a level 6 felony, in exchange for her plea, the state dropped the charges of obstruction of jus- tice, a level 6 felony, and false informing, a class B misde- meanor. According to a probable cause affidavit, Benefiel had money transferred out of the Mt. Olive General Baptist Church's youth group account into a PayPal account set up on her young child's email ad- dress. The youth group was called the God Squad. The af- fidavit states between April 20, 2018, and June 15, 2019, several transactions took place which put money into Benefiel's PayPal account. It also states the God Squad's debit card was used at the Drury Plaza Hotel in St. Lou- is, Mo., between May 28, 2018, and June 1, 2018, but the God Squad did not have any trips during this time. The plea agreement called for Benefiel to receive a two- year sentence to be suspend- ed to probation. She was giv- en one day good time credit and one actual day credit for time served. Benefiel was ordered to serve 30 day in the Pike Coun- ty Jail, "to be served as 10 con- secutive weekends in jail," starting on November 6. Benefiel sentenced to 30 days for theft from youth group bank account By Andy Heuring A rural winslow man was ar- rested for drunken driving af- ter police stopped for having a suspended driver's license. Donald C. Phillips, 60, of 12 N. CR 175 E., Winslow, was ar- rested by Indiana State Troop- er Brayden Angermeier last Sunday afternoon in Winslow. Angermeier said he was driving north on Highway 61 when he ran the license plate on a tan pickup truck that was also driving north. Angermei- er said the truck turned into the Igloo parking lot before he got a return on the license plate. He said he continued driving north, then got the re- turn that showed Phillips was the owner of the truck and his license was suspended. Angermeier then turned around and saw the truck again driving north on High- way 61, and stopped it. According to his report, while talking with Phillips, he noticed poor dexterity as Phillips retrieved his license. Phillips then failed field sobri- ety tests and was taken to the Daviess Community Hospi- tal, where he tested 0.22 per- cent for blood alcohol content, which is just less than three times the legal limit of 0.08 percent in Indiana. Angermeier's report stat- ed Phillips eventually said he went to a bar in Princeton and was drinking while he watched a football game. He was charged with oper- ating a vehicle while intoxicat- ed, prior conviction in the last five years. Phillips arrested for OVWI Zeke Baylor–Deacon Jenkins Coach Bolton–Joshua Harker Gabriella Montez–Xavery Weisman Taylor McKessie–Ella Hartke Sharpay Evans–Jayla Harris Martha Cox–L.J. Deffendoll Kelsi Nielsen–Makynna Sat- terfield Ms. Darbus–Emma Hunt Ms. Tenny–Riley Russell Science Decathlon Modera- tor–Kaitlyn Clark Ripper (cool skater dude that plays cello) –Avery Smith James (off pitch singer) – Llinkyn Knust Susan (pop star wanna be) – Easton Bailey Cathy (Ethel Merman wanna be) –Kynlee Jackson Cyndra (opera star) –Jordan Minnis-Bradfield Sound Technician–Cain Rus- sell Lighting Technician–Carter Blackwell, Nolan Bailey Backstage Helper/Cos- tumes–Emma Farmer? Ensemble ( Jocks, Braini- acs, Thespians, Skater Dudes, Cheerleaders) –Amelia Ad- ams, Ellie Arnold, Faye Bar- ber, Easton Bailey, Jordan Bradfield, Sydney Burdette, Jackson Burkhart, Kaitlyn Clark, Tyler Collins, Caleigh Cox, Eva Cox, Callie Craig, Mikey Dunn, Sallie Eisenhau- er, Steven Ennis, Kady Gide- on, Landon Harvey, Macy Hill, Kynlee Jackson, Carley John- son, Llinkyn Knust, Trinity LeMond, Lillian Mann, Re- gina Martin, Braxton Max- ey, Alyssa McCutchan, Avery Meece, Kylie Meyer, Ava Mill- er, Brena Potts, Jessa Ridao, Riley Russell, Jacoby Smith, Joshua Smith, Channing Sor- gius, Lila Taylor, Magdalen Thompson, Brylee Walker, Zo- ey Wethington, Calleigh Wib- beler and Sadie Willis. VFW Honor Guard performs Veterans Day ceremony Petersburg Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3587 had their honor guard on the courthouse lawn in front of the war memorial on Veterans Day. The unit performed the 21-gun salute and "Taps" following a short presentation by squad commander D.R. Minnis. The color guard included Don Southwood and Reno Richardson, and the ri- flemen were (l to r): Tim Harden, Jim Freeland, Jim White, Jamie English, Mike Howard, Steve Pride and Jim Capzoella. Joe Musgrave played "Taps" and Joe Cummings was the echo bugler. 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Relations FT HEROES Amber Manor will be selling dressing. 8"x10" pan costs only $10 All orders must be in by Friday, Nov. 20 Pick up Wednesday, Nov. 25 by 3pm Make checks payable to Kiwanis 812-354-3001 All proceeds bene t Kiwanis Children's Program! 801 East Illinois Street • Petersburg ambermanorhc.com • 812-354-3001 You can order by calling * Reservations only, call: 812-354-9259 * 242 South Hwy. 57, Petersburg THANKSGIVING DAY DINNER SERVING BUFFET INCLUDES Turkey, Roast Beef, Ham and all the Trimmings $ 12 95 PLUS DRINKS & TAX THURSDAY, NOV. 26 • 11am-3pm COVID Continued from page 1 Winslow council approves new tap fee ordinance By Grace Miller Winslow Town Council ap- proved a tap fee ordinance during their Monday, Novem- ber 9 meeting. Ordinance 2020 -11 regarding the water utility connection, use, rates and charges was passed. This ordinance amends the previ- ous ordinance, 2019 -01. The new ordinance states users who are connecting to the wa- terworks system in Winslow will be charged an initial tap fee to cover the costs of con- struction and labor. Charges for installation of a 5/8 inch and ¾ inch meter tap will include the cost of labor, materials and equipment and will not be less than $500. A user with a tap larger than a ¾ meter tap will be charged for the cost of labor, materials, power machinery, transporta- tion and overhead incurred for installing the tap and will not be less than $500. Temporary users will be charged on actu- al metered usage. The Winslow Town Board also passed Ordinance 2020 - 08, which establishes cash change and petty cash funds for Town Hall and the parks and recreation board. Both Town Hall and the parks and recreation board are to receive a cash change and petty cash fund with $150 in each. Clerk-Treasurer Stacy Mc- Candless said petty cash funds are to be used for small spending items, such as neces- sities or small housekeeping needs. The cash change funds are used to give out change to customers and should always stay at $150. The council also discussed the adoption of the town hand- book, though they decided it was not yet ready to be made official. In addition, a con- tract for the parks and recre- ation board was discussed re- garding the community cen- ter maintenance and collec- tion of funds, though it was not approved. FIRE DEPARTMENT WINDOW STICKERS The Winslow Town Board discussed the purchase of fire safety window stickers that will go in residents' windows to alert firefighters of the pres- ence of an elderly person, per- son with a disability or child in the room. The board approved the purchase of $543.60 worth of these stickers, including shipping. There are no stick- ers available at this time, and the town will alert the public when they become available. NEW STOP SIGNS GOING UP Two new stop signs are scheduled to go up this week. They will be located at the in- tersection of North St. and Public St. and the o intersec- tion of Collins and Lafayette Sts. Councilman Debra Lamb said, the signs are being in- stalled for safety purposes as both intersections are at the tops of hills on heavily trav- elled roads with limited lines of sight. POLICE CAR AND AUCTION The need for a new police vehicle in town was discussed by the Winslow Town Board. The motion was made to look for used vehicles or vehicles during the first quarter of 2021. No price range or car model type has been set. The board also discussed a future auction of town equip- ment. McCandless explained the auction will be to clear the Community Center of odds and ends the town wants to sell. There is not a set date, as the town wants to collect items and get descriptions so there can be a one-time auction. This is part of a Community Crossroads paving grant from the Indiana Dept. of Transpor- tation. Elmore said Calcar thought they might finish as early as next Thursday. Mayor Klipsch and Coun- cilman John Melhiser asked if Petersburg would be able to keep the millings. Elmore said he thought they could, but he didn't know if they had any place to put them. He said he kept 400 tons of them from earlier paving proj- ects. Elmore said they work well for patching potholes, as long as they use them in a timely manner. He said if they keep them too long, they get dry and don't work as well. Klipsch and Melhiser sug- gested the city get as many millings as possible. Councilmen also passed a resolution that creates a bud- get line item for funds reim- bursed to Petersburg by the CARES Act. The CARES Act is federal funding to help gov- ernment entities with COVID expenses. Clerk-Treasur- er Tammy Selby said Peters- burg has already gotten the re- imbursements, but they need- ed the line item to put them in- to the budget. The resolution was passed by a 5 -0 vote. Elmore said the city com- pleted the installation of a new waterline along Cedar St., between Ninth and 10th sts. Klipsch said, years ago, a mobile home had been placed over the waterline and anoth- er structure was built over the water line. He said it wasn't learned the line was under the mobile home until it began leaking. "It just turned out the best solution was to install a new line," said Klipsch. "That must have been be- fore we had building permits," said water board member Jon Welch. The next Petersburg City Council meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Monday, Decem- ber 4. She said those need to be sub- mitted at least seven days in advance. Sporting events in Pike County, while the county is at the orange level, will be limited to 25 percent capaci- ty. However, if it moves to the red level, those events will be restricted to family only. The Governor's executive order requires masks to be worn in businesses and for businesses to have signage up requiring masks. Gladish urged people to wear masks when they are out and about, and to stay home if they are not feeling well. She said people who have gone to be tested should self-quar- antine at home until they get their test result. Gladish warned if Pike County moves to the red lev- el, it will stay there for at least two weeks. One good sta- tistic for Pike County is the death toll. The last death re- corded in Pike County due to COVID was on October 21. Pike County had only record- ed one death until Septem- ber 30. From then through the next 21 days, 17 of the 18 deaths were added to the total. There have been no deaths so far of anyone under the age of 60 in Pike County and 72 per- cent of the deaths were people more than 80 years old. Statewide, the numbers are rapidly increasing. There have been more than 5,000 new cas- es added everyday since No- vember 11, with a peak of 8,307 cases on Friday, Novem- ber 13. There have been be- tween 28 and 48 new deaths everyday in November. Hospitalizations have also soared statewide. On Novem- ber 16, there were 2,951 peo- ple in the hospital, about dou- ble the total on Oct. 15, when 1,355 people were in the hos- pital. In late June, that number had dropped to 617. "I have a feeling it is going to be a long winter," said Glad- ish. She said vaccines will prob- ably start being distributed to health care and front line workers before the end of the year. However, it might be mid-2021 before they are read- ily available to most people. Pike County's testing site at the Petersburg Moose park- ing lot is testing about 100 peo- ple per week. Pam Cosby, with the health department, urged people coming to the site to complete the online registra- tion. She said it will reduce people's wait by about 10 to 15 minutes and allow them to test more people. Testing at that site is free. People are asked to stay in their vehicles. Hours for the testing site are: Mondays, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 4 to 7 p.m.; Thursdays and Saturdays 9 a.m. to noon. It is closed on Fridays and Sundays, as well as Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. It will be open on New Year's Eve from 9 a.m. to noon. It is closed on Wednesdays and holidays.

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