The Press-Dispatch
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saturday, sePteMber 14 30+ sales see Page b-9 for listings & MaP Petersburg Main st. City-Wide yard sale & Car Petersburg fest Three sections 34 pages Six inserts 75¢ Wednesday, September 11, 2013 Volume 145 Number 37 Phone (812) 354-8500 Petersburg, IN 47567-0068 (USPS 604-340) Board releases document on Fears' dismissal By Ed Cahill Teacher evaluations performed by former Otwell Elementary School principal Rick Fears during the 2012-13 school year "lack credibility and validity," according to a finding-of-fact document released by the Pike County School Corporation on Wednesday, Sept. 4. "Rick Fears as principal of the Otwell School neglected his obligation to comply with the Pike County School Corporation's requirements for the evaluation of teachers through the RISE Program by entering information unsubstantiated and often incorrect data in the evaluation reports that provided the school at best questionable teacher evaluations and at worst no meaningful way to accurately evaluate and compare teachers," states the findings-of-fact adopted unanimously by the Corporation's Board of School Trustees during a special meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 3. The document then states that the teacher evaluations performed by Fears "lack credibility and validity." "The dates could not be substantiated and in one particular instance contained clearly false information," it states. In addition, the document claimed Fears falsified attendance records for 15 students (by allegedly changing them from "absent" to "present" to make Otwell's attendance rate appear better) and that he released and publicized IRead 3 test results for students Continued on page 6 Fire destroys CountryMark building A fast moving fire destroyed a oil production building owned by CountryMark on Cart Road, Monday evening. Petersburg Fire Chief Rich Coan said workers told him they had left the building at 7 p.m. and the call came into the central dispatch at about 7:15 p.m. "They weren't gone more than 15 minutes," said Coan about the fire spreading quickly. He said the cause of the fire was unknown. There was a service truck, a couple of ATVs and several barrels of oil in the building. "I don't know if any of the barrels of oil ever caught fire," said Coan. Petersburg was assisted by Patoka Township and Union Fire Departments. They were on the scene until about 11 p.m. Car Fest, city-wide yard sale, Spurgeon Fest Saturday By Andy Heuring More than 30 yard sales are planned for the Petersburg City-wide Yard Sale and about 75 cars are expected for the Main St. Car Fest. Both are scheduled for Saturday morning. Also in Petersburg is a VFW benefit pork chop dinner from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Spurgeon is also having the Spurgeon Fest, which will feature musical entertainment, kids' games, karaoke, inflatables, and breakfast and dinner in Jordan Park. The following week there is a giant kids' safety festival scheduled for Thursday, September 19, at the Winslow Community Center and the Winslow Fall Festival on Saturday, September 21. Main St. Carfest and City-wide Yard Sale, Sept. 14 The Main St. Car Fest in Petersburg is set for Saturday, September 14. The car show will be located on Walnut and Eighth sts., next to the courthouse. There will be a minimum of 25 trophies awarded in numerous categories, including People's Choice and Best of Show. The trophies are sponsored by local businesses. The first 50 entries will receive dash plaques. Registration is from 9 a.m. to noon, with the show running from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Early registration is $8 and second car $5. Day of the event registration is $10. Vendors are encouraged to participate. There is no fee for booths. For more information about the Main St. Car Fest, call Carla Brown at 354-8541, Marge Leavitt at 354-9372 or John Heuring at 354-8500. Proceeds from the Car Fest go toward funding free carriage rides and prize money for the Christmas parades. The City-wide Yard Sale is also set for Saturday, September 14. All residents are encouraged to participate and non-residents can set up on Main St. or around the courthouse. Individuals are asked to get permission from merchants if they set up in front of their business. More than 30 yard sales are planned for Saturday. A map of their locations is in the Classified Ads section. Both events are sponsored by the Petersburg Business and Professionals Association. Spurgeon Fest featuring music and games Spurgeon is trying to build on the success of their 150th Anniversary celebration last year by having a Spurgeon Festival this year. It is planned for Saturday, September 14, and will feature country musician and Spurgeon native DeWayne Spaw at noon. The schedule of bands is: Fighting for a Chance at 12:30 p.m., DeWayne Spaw at 1:30 p.m., Fields of Home at 2 p.m., Brittany Pancake at 3 p.m. Karaoke from 3:30 to 5 p.m.; Matt Continued on page 2 Local woman target of energy bill scam attempt By Andy Heuring A Petersburg woman recognized a scam call Tuesday afternoon and saved herself $250. Joyce Shoultz said she got a call from someone claiming to be Duke Energy. They told her she had not paid her August bill and if she didn't take immediate action they were going to turnoff her electricity. She said they told her if she didn't go to Walgreens and get a green dot money card for $250 her electricity would be turned off this afternoon. Shoultz said she checked her checkbook and saw she paid her August bill. But when she told them that, they told her it was her September bill. She called Duke just to make sure and found out they don't call people on the phone and her bill was current. A spokesman for Duke said they have been getting reports of scammers calling people claiming to be from Duke and other utilities across the country. She said the two red flags are immediate disconnect and paying by prepaid card. "We don't operate that way." She said if a customer has a delinquent bill, they will receive a series of written notices before service is disconnected. She also said there are a number of ways customers can pay. "If you hear one of these two red flags (prepaid card and immediate disconnnect) hang up the phone." Winslow sets budget, hears reports Emergency personnel work to remove Rachel Stephens from a crash site that was down a steep embankment near Zoar. Stephens was taken by LifeFlight to Deaconess Hospital with head and back injuries Tuesday morning. Parents wreck on way to hospital By Andy Heuring Parents rushing a one-week old infant to the hospital crashed and were injured Tuesday morning when they ran up on a county paving crew near Zoar. Rachel Stephens, 30, of 8005 E. Old State Road 64, Stendal, was taken by LifeFlight to Deaconess Hospital suffering with head and back injuries. PIKE PUBLISHING Indiana Master Trooper Paul Bastin said Stephens was a passenger in a 2004 Pontiac Sunfire driven by Michael Cook, 31, of the same address. Bastin said their one-week-old infant was having trouble breathing Tuesday morning and they were driving faster than normal, heading east to get to Memorial Hospital in Jasper. When they came around a cor- WHAT'S INSIDE: Local ........A1-14 Classifieds ..B9-11 Health.........C4-5 Obituaries ......A3 Church .......C1-8 History ...........C7 Sports ........B1-5 Opinion..........C2 ner, a Pike County Highway paving crew was paving over an area where they had replaced a culvert, and Cook couldn't get stopped. Bastin said Cook skidded 130 feet on the road, and then another 156 feet off the road before hitting the ditch. Cook and the infant were taken by ambulance to Memorial Hospital in Jasper. Cook Continued on page 2 NEWS TIPS: Phone:........................354-8500 Fax: ............................354-2014 E-Mail . editor@pressdispatch.net By Andy Heuring Winslow Town Council read their proposed $329,233 budget for 2014 and were told the operating deficit for the Winslow Commnity Center had been reduced to about $3,400 at the Monday night monthly meeting. The budget will be read again at the October 14 meeting and then the council will take action on it. The proposed line item amounts for 2014 are: Rainy Day $8,333, General $211,700, Local Road and Street $12,000, Motor Vehicle Highway $49,700, Cumulative Capital Improvement $20,000, Cumulative Capital Development $7,500, EDIT $20,000. Community Center Director Henry Nelson said the Winslow Delts donated $575 to the Community Center and the Winslow Senior Center sponsored a dinner that raised $129, which was donated to the community center. Nelson said the center is $3,398.33 in the red for 2013. Donations from the Delts, Senior Citizens, as well as $259 in unsolicited donations, had helped cut the deficit to less than $3,400. Terry Strobel, during the meeting, donated $100 from Affordable Disposal and challenged all other Winslow businesses to donate to the Community Center. Water intake filtration needs work Councilman Dave Tisdale asked Utilities Superintendent Continued on page 2 CONNECT WITH US: NETedition ... pressdispatch.net/edition Facebook .... facebook.com/pressdispatch E-Mail .......... news@pressdispatch.net