The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: http://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/668770
75¢ Wednesday, April 20, 2016 Volume 147 Number 16 Phone (812) 354-8500 Petersburg, IN 47567-0068 (USPS 604-34012) Four sections 36 pages Three inserts See FUNDING on page 2 Local ........ A1-10 Sports .........B1-8 Classifi eds .. B9-11 Church ........C1-3 School.........C4-5 History ........... C6 Opinion .......D1-2 Home Life....D3-7 Obituaries....... D8 WHAT'S INSIDE: CONNECT WITH US: NetEdition ...pressdispatch.net/edition Facebook.....facebook.com/pressdispatch E-Mail .........news@pressdispatch.net Phone:.................. 812-354-8500 Fax: ...................... 812-354-2014 E-Mail . editor@pressdispatch.net NEWS TIPS: PIKE PUBLISHING See CHARTER on page 2 See ELECTION on page 3 Approval committee recommends refining application for subsequent year By Ed Cahill The Friends of Otwell Elementary re- ceived a setback last week when its propos- al to establish a charter school in the east- ern Pike County community for the 2016 - 17 school year was rejected by Ball State University. In a letter dated Thursday, April 14, Dr. Robert Marra, executive director of Ball State University's Office of Charter Schools, informed Friends of Otwell Ele- mentary vice-president Bob Rhodes – who also serves as chairman of the group's char- ter writing committee – that "OCS has com- pleted its evaluation of the proposal and has made the determination not to accept the proposal." "OCS encourages you to reevaluate your current proposal and resubmit a proposal during the next review cycle," Dr. Marra wrote. According to Ball State University's Of- fice of Charter Schools executive coordina- tor Marriette Siler, copies of Dr. Marra's let- ter were sent via e-mail and regular mail to the Friends of Otwell Elementary. In addition, Siler reported that Dr. Mar- ra had contacted Rhodes by telephone on Thursday, April 18, to inform him that the group's proposal had not been accepted. "Dr. Marra and I have talked recently, that is for sure," Rhodes said when contact- ed by The Press-Dispatch on Thursday, April 14. "And we did talk about the current po- sition of our application. I have not, at this point, gotten all the information in writ- ing that he gave me, so I'm not prepared to make any comments about it at this point and time." "There are a lot of things that are cur- rently (percolating) and I'm not at liberty to talk any more about details, at least un- til we manage to sort out a few things here ourselves," Rhodes added. "That process is taking place now." However, a press release issued to The Press-Dispatch by the Friends of Otwell Elementary on Saturday, April 16, con- firmed that Ball State University had in- formed Rhodes "that the charter may not be allowed to progress to the public hearing phase" following the review board's inter- view of Friends of Otwell Elementary rep- resentatives on Wednesday, April 6. "Citing weak financial support, insuffi- cient special education programs, and oth- er minor deficiencies, the Ball State approv- al committee desires to postpone the ap- proval of the Otwell group's charter, pre- ferring to work with the group to improve its application for the subsequent year," the press release stated. The press release further stated that Ball State University's decision disappoint- ed supporters of the Friends of Otwell Ele- mentary "but has not stopped their efforts to see a school continue in the Otwell com- munity" after Otwell Elementary School is closed at the end of the 2015 -16 school year. "For our part, we feel the overall result, though painful, will hopefully have a posi- tive effect on our search for some common ground between the school board and our membership," Friends of Otwell Elemen- tary president Mike Houtsch said. "First and most importantly, we need to spread the word that we still intend to open our day care and preschool operation this year. Charter school proposal denied By Andy Heuring Mother's Day weekend in Petersburg will be a busy and fun time. The 2016 A zalea Blossom Festival is set for Friday and Sat- urday and it coincides with the City-wide Yard Sale on Saturday. The midway will open at 5 p.m. on Fri- day, May 6, with musical entertainment by local bands. There will be children's rides and attractions, as well as numerous food vendors. Saturday starts early, many of the yard sales will open at the break of day. Typi- cally, there have been about 40 yard sales in and around Petersburg. Anyone adver- tising their yard sale in The Press-Dispatch will have their location published on a map with all the participating yard sales. The Deaconess Mammogram Bus will be at the Tri-Cap building on Illinois St. offer- ing free mammograms from 8:30 to 10 :30 a.m. The Air Evac helicopter will also be on display at Tri-Cap. The Color Fun Run begins at 9:30 a.m. at Tri-Cap. The 5k race will have partici- pants running through a shower of colors. On Main St., activities will begin at 10 a.m. with the Timeless Classics Car Show on First Methodist Church's parking lot. It will run until 2 p.m. At 10 :30 a.m., there will be a free begin- ner yoga class led by Beth Schilling on the Main Stage, which will be located near the intersection of Walnut and Eighth St. The Miss A zalea Blossom Pageant is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. The pageant is for girls ages 5 -8 years old. Festival rides will start at noon on Sat- urday. Children's activities, including face painting and games, will run from noon to 4 p.m. on the Courthouse lawn. Silly Safari's Children's Animal Show is scheduled for 1 p.m. on the Main Stage. It is a comedic informational interactive ani- mal educational program featuring animals ranging from puppies to an alligator. Saturday afternoon and evening will see the focus shift to musical entertainment. The Woolseys will be performing from 4 to 6 p.m. A Gospel Sing by Charlie McCracken will perform from 6 to 8 p.m. Then, Perfect- ly Harmless will perform from 8 to 10 p.m. "We are going to have a lot of fun," said Leslie Tegmeyer, of the Pike County Cham- ber of Commerce, which is sponsoring the festival. Azalea Fest, City-wide Yard Sale coming in May Pike County 4-H Fair pageants are seeking contestants for all age groups. Deadlines to apply for the pageants of Miss Pike Coun- ty, Teen Miss Pike County, Junior Miss Pike County, Little Mister and Little Miss Pike County are Friday, April 22. •Miss Pike County pageant is for girls who will be 18 on or be- fore January 1, 2017, and no older than 22 on June 1, 2017. • Teen Miss Pike County is for girls who will be 13 on or before July 1 and not older than 16 on Ju- ly 14, 2016. • Junior Miss Pike County is for girls who must be nine on or be- fore July 1 and not older than 12 on July 1, 2016. • Little Mister and Little Miss Pike County are for children who must be five on or before July 1 and not older than eight on July 1, 2016. Entry forms may be download- ed at www.extension.purdue.edu/ pike. For more information, call 812-354-6838. By Andy Heuring Pike County Commissioners voted 3-0 to request $11,436 to help fund getting a mega site "shovel ready" certified in Pike Coun- ty during Monday night's commissioners' meeting. Ashley Willis, executive director of the Pike County Economic Development Cor- poration, said the county has the opportu- nity to partner with Solar Sources on a me- ga site. "We (Economic Development Corp.) have a private partnership with Solar Sourc- es. We have an 8,000 acre mega site. Not only is it near I-69, we have two rail provid- ers, abundant electric and utilities." Willis said they have identified a 345 acre site within the 8,000 acres to start working on getting that parcel "shovel ready" certi- fied. This means, as the name indicates, the site is nearly ready for a company to start construction. Willis said Solar Sources is contributing $17,300, WIN Energy/Hoo- sier Energy is contributing $15,000 and the $11,436 would be the county's contribution toward achieving the Shovel Ready Certifi- cation from the Indiana Office of Commu- nity and Rural A ffairs. "This is the next step," said Willis. She said site selectors, who help compa- nies search the county for suitable sites for companies, want shovel ready certification. "They are called site selectors, but in re- ality they are site eliminators," said John Mandabach, who is the vice-chair of the Library director launches search for successor Commissioners request funding industrial mega site Two more board members announce resignations By Ed Cahill Pike County Public Library's Board of Trustees authorized library director Bart Stinson to begin the search for his own re- placement during a tumultuous, two-hour long meeting held on Tuesday, April 12. Stinson, however, was the one who initi- ated the request that he be permitted to be- gin advertising for a new director. "The graduation season is coming up ... so it's kind of prime interview season," said Stinson, who was hired in August 2015 – more than 18 months after the library's pre- vious director, Sadie Oldenkamp, resigned. "So I'm just requesting the board's authori- zation to advertise for a new director." "Why would we do that when we have a director? " board member Jim Dickerson asked. "Well, it's pretty unhappy right now, on both sides, I think," Stinson replied. Stinson's request came moments after the board – on a motion by board mem- ber Sandy Ficklin, seconded by Dicker- son – voted 4-0 to dispose of a grievance filed by the library's bookkeeper and hu- man resources manager, Deb McCrary, against Stinson through what board vice- president Phil Elkins described as a "joint agreement." According to Elkins, a "joint agreement" would result in no records or notes going into either McCrary's or Stinson's person- nel files, although a confidential report will be filed in a "confidential grievance filing system" within the human resources de- See LIBR ARY on page 4 Opening Day at Winslow A member of the Play and Learn T-Ball team throws a piece of candy while participating in the opening day parade for the Winslow Sports League on Saturday, April 18. For more pictures, see Page B-7. Ed Cahill photo Post-prom action Lillie Pancake and Colton White attempt to move from pad to pad as they avoid being struck by the rotating inflatable arms during post prom activities at Pike Central late Satur- day evening. The device was one of several games and activities for students. See additional prom and post-prom photos on pages A-8 and A-9. Jeff Harting photo By Andy Heuring Nearly 140 people have already voted in Pike County in early vot- ing. It is the first time in modern history that Hoosiers have been able to have a say in the Presiden- tial primaries. In 2008, the Demo- crat primary was still in question, but this year, both the Republican and Democrat primaries are still up for grabs. Early voting continues in the Clerk's office. So far, about 80 peo- ple have voted in the office. Depu- ty Clerk Ashley Gideon said about 60 people have requested absen- tee ballots by mail and about half of those have been returned to the Clerk's Office. Gideon said the deadline to re- quest a mail-in ballot is April 25. The Clerk's office is open week- days from 8 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. for early voting now through Monday, May 3. It will be open from 8 a.m. to noon on Sat- urdays, April 23 and April 30 for early voting. There are no local races in the primary, other than for the Dem- ocrat Delegate to State Conven- tion. There are six at-large posi- tions, with the county chair be- Contestants sought for 4-H Fair pageants First time for Hoosiers to have say in both Presidential primaries