The Press-Dispatch

The Press-Dispatch Wednesday, November 18, 2020 A-3 LOCAL Call: 812-354-8500 Email: news@pressdispatch.net or bring in a hard copy: 820 E. Poplar Street, Petersburg Rural Winslow house heavily damaged in fire By Andy Heuring Fire made a rural Winslow house unlivable last Monday night. Tabitha and Bruce Brownell's residence, at the intersection of County Roads 100 S. and 175 E., suffered heavy dam- age. Patoka Fire Chief Brandon Tru- itt said when firemen arrived, there was heavy fire coming from the at- tached garage. Petersburg and Jef- ferson Township Fire assisted with tankers and manpower. Truitt said the Brownells were up watching television about 7:30 p.m. and heard a noise, and thought it might their teen daughter. Bruce went to check on her. It wasn't her, so he checked on the garage, and when he did, he could feel the door was hot. When he opened the door, he saw flames. He ran and got the family out of the house, and called 911. Truitt said they were able to limit the fire damage to the garage, bed- room and kitchen, which were lo- cated near the garage. However, heavy smoke and water damage was throughout the house. Truitt said it appeared the fire started in a refrigerator or deep freeze in the garage. Patoka also responded to a fire at Tamara McCandless' residence on CR 225 E. Truitt said it looked like burning wood in a woodburner had popped and an ember from that land- ed on the floor, causing a smoldering fire. He said McCandless had it most- ly out when the fire department ar- rived. Truitt said they used a thermal camera to check for any hot spots in the residence. They also installed a smoke detector in the residence. Patoka and other departments have free smoke detectors they will install. Call the fire department if you need one. Commissioners open supply bids, honor Roger Ham By Andy Heuring Pike County Commissioners opened material and supply bids for 2021, set their 2021 meeting schedule, set the holiday calendar for 2021 and honored a 43-year employee during their Mon- day morning meeting. County attorney Val Fleig opened bids from numerous companies for paving materials, pipes and culverts and rock. Bidders included Cave Quarries bidding on bituminous hot mix and rock, E&B Paving, Inc. bid on hot mix; JH Rudolph and Co., the Dale plant, bid on hot mix. Southern Indiana Supply bid on various sizes of culvert pipes, Metal Culverts, Inc. bid on culvert pipes and Asphalt Materi- als, Inc. bid on different grades of liq- uid asphalt. The Rogers Group bid on various sizes and types of rock, as did Mulzer Crushed Stone. All the bids were taken under advisement by the commissioners to be reviewed. Commissioners voted to set their meeting dates for 2021. They will meet on the first and third Mondays of each month at 8:30 a.m., with the following exceptions: The January 4 meeting will start at 6:30 p.m. instead of 8:30 a.m. Also in the month of July, there will only be one meeting. It will be at 8:30 a.m. on the second Monday, July 12, instead of the first Monday. Commissioners voted to set their holiday calendar. The paid holidays for county employees include: New Years Day, Friday, Jan. 1 Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Mon- day, Jan. 18 Presidents Day, Monday, Feb. 15 Memorial Day, Monday, May 31 Independence Day observed Mon- day, July 5 Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 6 Columbus Day, Monday, Oct. 11 Veterans Day, Thursday, Nov. 11 Thanksgiving, Thursday and Fri- day, Nov. 25 and 26 Christmas Eve, Friday, Dec. 25 Christmas Day, observed Monday, Dec. 27 New Year's Eve, Friday, Dec. 31. The commissioners also approved four contracts with Malcon, a con- sulting firm that does auditing of the County Highway Department, EMS, Title IV-D and Clerk's office, to see they are getting all the refunds from federal and state claims. According to the contract, Malcon gets a set amount and any refunds over that amount go to the county. County auditor Judy Wood said Pike County had received more than $ 90,000 in refunds by using Malcon. Commissioners also approved the Health Dept. getting cellphones at the COVID testing site. Pam Cosby said they need a couple of cellphones be- cause some elderly people come to the site to be tested, but haven't been on- line to register and fill out the infor- mation required. "I have used my per- sonal cellphone to help a couple, but I would rather not do that," said Cosby. She said they have enough funds to pay for the phones. HIGHWAY SUPERINTENDENT HONORED Pike County Highway Department superintendent Roger Ham was hon- ored for his 43 years and 11 months of service to the county. "It has been an honor and privilege to work with you. I have worked with you 14 years. I appreciate your dedica- tion and service. Not many people can say they have been at one location for 40 years. Thank you for your dedica- tion to the county, being called out all hours of the night," said commission- er president Mark Flint. "It has been an honor to work for you guys. The county garage is kind of like a home away from home," said Ham. "I want to personally thank you. I have worked with you eight years. I know you have been through some up- per management that wasn't so pleas- ant. I appreciate you hanging in there. A lot of people would have thrown in the towel a long time ago," said com- missioner Ryan Coleman. " I appreciate you trusting us. I know you were apprehensive leaving the union position. I don't know how you put up with the political turmoil over the years," said commissioner Jeff Nelson. Ham, at one time, was the lead man at the highway garage, which allowed him to retain his union membership. But he agreed to become highway su- perintendent, which is a non-union ad- ministrative position. County attorney Val Fleig added, "I have dealt with Roger for longer than all of you guys, for 35 years. When I ever needed something to help me out responding to people, he was al- ways there. He went through a bunch of wars and I mean wars, and I appre- ciate it." Assistant Superintendent Josh Byrd said he had worked with Ham off and on since he was 16 years old. "We have been through a lot togeth- er," said Byrd. "There have been several adminis- trations who tried to get rid of both of us. We stood our ground." I-69 wrong way driver arrested for OVWI after crash A Michigan woman was arrested on I-69 in Pike County after she was driving the wrong way and crashed in- to another vehicle near the 42.8 -mile marker. Indiana State Police arrested Patri- cia Vanderhoff, 50, of Grand Rapids, Mich., on November 11. At about 7:30 p.m., Pike County 911 Dispatch received several calls reporting a wrong-way driver trav- eling south in the northbound lanes on I-69, near the 49 -mile marker. Mo- ments later, the driver of the wrong- way vehicle sideswiped another vehi- cle near the 42.8 -mile marker. Troop- ers located the wrong-way driver at the 42.5 mile-marker. The driver was identified as Vanderhoff. She was driv- ing a 2009 Mercury Grand Marquis. Police said Vanderhoff was trav- eling the wrong way in the passing lane on I-69 near the 42.8 mile-mark- er when she sideswiped a 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee that was traveling northbound in the driving lane. The Jeep Grand Cherokee received dam- age to the driver's side and the vehi- cle's air bag deployed. The 64-year- old female driver from Washington was transported to Daviess County Community Hospital, where she was treated for non-life-threatening inju- ries. Vanderhoff told police she was trying to get to Indianapolis from Lou- isville. Police said she displayed signs of impairment and failed field sobriety tests, but she refused to submit to a chemical test. A Pike County Sheriff's K-9 alert- ed to the presence of narcotics inside Vanderhoff's vehicle. A search of the vehicle revealed a plastic bag contain- ing over 38 Xanax pills and another plastic bag containing six Lortab pills. Vanderhoff was arrested and taken to the Pike County Jail, where she is currently being held without bond on charges of causing serious bodily in- jury when operating a vehicle while intoxicated, a level 5 felony, and oper- ating a vehicle while intoxicated, en- dangering a person, with a prior in the last seven years, and driving the wrong way on a posted one-way road- way, an infraction. NHS donates Thanksgiving dinners The Pike Central National Honor Society donated 59 Thanksgiving boxes to Somebody's Place recently. It is an annual project for the group. Left is Sophie Carnahan, Connor Young, Mallory Hunt and Amelia Bailey. Right is Stephen Kreig, Lily Willis, Jenna Meyer, Char- lotte Dudenhoeffer, Libby Stone and Hannah Woodford. 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, Office Mgr. Cindy Petty, Adv. Sales Pam Lemond, Adv. Sales Brakston Farrar, 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 Office 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 NEWS BRIEFS United Way of Pike County campaign is underway The Pike County Unit- ed Way is having their 2020 campaign fundrais- er. To donate, visit their website at www.uwpike. org or send check to: Unit- ed Way of Pike County P.O. Box 321, Petersburg, IN 47567. For more infor- maton, call 812-582-9781 or email unitedwaypike@ frontier.com. OCU offering Good Neighbor Scholarship The Oakland City Uni- versity is offering incom- ing first-time students the opportunity to apply for the Good Neighbor Scholarship. The schol- arship is open to first- time commuting students within a 60 -mile radius of campus. To request addi- tional information regard- ing the scholarship, visit: https://apply.oak.edu/reg- ister/goodneighbor or con- tact the Oakland City Uni- versity Office of Admis- sions at ocuadmit@oak. edu or call 800 -737-5125. Upcoming event? We want to know! Do you have an up- coming event? Send it to news@pressdispatch.net. Time to register for Birthday Club If you haven't submit- ted your birthday with- in the last 6 months, please register again at www.pressdispatch.net/ birthday. Entrants have a chance to win month- ly prizes from local busi- nesses and a three-month subscription to The Press-Dispatch. 435 S. US Hwy. 231, Jasper, IN 812-482-4060 Hours: Mon.-Fri. 9am to 6pm, Sat. 9am to 4pm 435 S. US Hwy. 231, 435 S. US Hwy. 231, Jasper, IN 812-482-4060 Hours: Mon.-Fri. 9am to 6pm, Sat. 9am to 4pm • Boneless Turkey Roast (white and dark meat) • Vegetarian/Plant based Holiday Roasts • Stuffi ngs (including Gluten Free varieties) • Fresh Baked Cookies • Party Platters • Pumpkin, pumpkin and more pumpkin items! • Items for those with allergies and food sensitivities

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