The Press-Dispatch
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75¢ Four sections 32 pages Five inserts Local ........ A1-10 Fair................. A8 Sports .........B1-3 Classifi eds .... B5-8 Church ........C1-3 History ........C4-5 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 Wednesday, July 20, 2016 Volume 147 Number 28 Phone (812) 354-8500 Petersburg, IN 47567-0068 (USPS 604-34012) See PAGEANT on page 4 See PAVING on page 10 The Fourth of July summer sav- ings continues. Receive$4 off the regular price of a one-year sub- scription through July. It is offered on new and renew- al subscriptions. An ad on page C-6 contains a subscription form, and you will receive a flyer in your mail with information and a subscription form, or you may subscribe by phone with Visa, MasterCard, Discover or American Express. Call 812-354-8500 or stop in the office at 820 E. Poplar St., Peters- burg. SAVE $ 4 ON YOUR SUBSCRIPTION! By James Capozella Alivia Jean Cummings, presiding 2015 Miss Pike County, crowned Kaylee Gray as 2016 Miss Pike County this past Tuesday night in front of a large and vocal crowd at the 4-H Fair Amphitheater. Cummings was assisted by Paige Bastin, 2015 Miss Conge- niality, who was part of the 2015 Miss Pike County Queen's court. Gray is the daughter of Mike and An- gie Gray, of Velpen. She was sponsored by Goller Landscape and Design. Saman- tha Halbrader, the daughter of Randy and Krista Halbrader, was named first runner- up. Samantha was sponsored by Troutman Family Dentistry. Kimberly McCammon, daughter of Hel- en and Kevin Abell, was the second runner- up. Her sponsor was the Fish Hut. Ivy Sullivan, daughter of Kevin and Misty Sullivan, won the photogenic award. She was sponsored by General Rental and Sales. Cheyanna Padgett, daughter of Jeff and Denise Padgett, won the Director's Award. Kaylee Gray is 2016 Miss Pike Co. By Ed Cahill The Pike County School Corporation's Board of Trustees voted unanimously to name former Otwell Elementary School principal Mindy Hill-Keeker as principal at Pike Central Middle School during its reg- ular monthly meeting on Monday, July 18. Hill-Keeker, who served as principal at Otwell Elementary School for the past two school years, had spent the previous two years as an assistant principal and athletic director at the middle school. A fter the school board voted to accept the recommendation by Pike County Schools Superintendent Suzanne Blake to appoint Hill-Keeker as Pike Central Middle School principal, Blake asked Hill-Keeker if she had anything to say. "I'm just excited to get started, and I ap- preciate the opportunity," Hill-Keeker said. "I moved everything into my office today, so I'm ready to go." Hill-Keeker, 37, graduated from Pike Central High School in 1997. She and her husband, Jason, live in Otwell with their five children: two daughters – Kaesha, 17, who will be a junior at Pike Central High School, and Shelby, 11, who will be a sixth grader at Pike Central Middle School; and three sons – Clay, 12, who will be a sixth grader at Pike Central Middle School; Braxton, 11, who will be a fifth grader at Petersburg Elementary School; and Eli, 7, who will be a first grader at Petersburg El- ementary School. Prior to serving as assistant principal and athletic director at Pike Central Mid- dle School, Hill-Keeker taught high school math for 10 years – six years at Washing- ton followed by four years at Pike Central. Following Monday night's meeting, Hill-Keeker said that she was "very excit- ed" to be returning to Pike Central Mid- dle School. "I feel comfortable going there, because I've been there before," Hill-Keeker said. "There are some changes that have been made since I left, so I will have to get used to those. But I feel comfortable because I know most of the staff and I've worked with them. I just feel like it's a good fit." Hill-Keeker noted that two of her chil- dren – Shelby and Clay – will be following her to the middle school, where both will be in sixth grade. "They're kind of, like, 'You mean to tell me we're still going to be stuck with you? '" Hill-Keeker said with a laugh. Hill-Keeker said that the two years she served as principal at Otwell Elementary Mindy Keeker named Middle School principal Kaylee Gray was crowned 2016 Miss Pike County on Tuesday evening. Pokemon Go comes to Petersburg By Alden Heuring Pokemon, the cultural phenomenon that swept the United States in the 1990s, has remained a part of American life since its first video-game release, but the creature- collecting game has taken on a new, local dimension with its latest incarnation. Poke- mon Go, a mobile app that generates Poke- mon for you to catch and raise while you travel, is bringing Pokemon trainers to- gether out in the open in nearly every city and town across the nation—and Peters- burg is no exception. Local trainers are gathering around town to catch Pokemon, resupply at lo- cal Pokestops, and battle for control of Pe- tersburg's Gyms. They're taking walks in groups and carpooling for leisurely cruis- es up and down Main Street. But wait, what's a Pokemon again? And why is any of this impor- tant? Let's go back to the year 1996 for the answers. The Nintendo Com- pany, one of the foremost video gaming cor- porations in the world (alongside Sony, Se- ga and, later, Microsoft), had just released one of its popular game franchises, Poke- mon, in the United States for the first time. The game introduced several new con- cepts to video game players: it was centered around the gameplay concepts of collection and customization, when most games at the time were either puzzles, dexterity tests, or sport simulators; it was sold as two sepa- rate versions (Red and Blue) that featured different content; and while it was a single- player game, it included connectivity me- chanics that allowed players to trade Poke- mon, compare their collections, and play against each other using their Pokemon teams. Pokemon Red and Blue were im- mensely popular and spawned a long series of games, each generation having new ver- sions, new mechanics, and new Pokemon. However, it's that final concept, connec- tivity, that makes Pokemon Go more than just the latest game in the franchise. Poke- mon Go introduces a revolutionary new way to play that transcends the collect/trade/ battle genre its ancestor created back in 1996. For 20 years, Pokemon have exist- ed only in the worlds of their respective By Andy Heuring Next week is the first day for school board candidates to file their intentions to run for office. School board candidates may file between July 27 and noon Friday, Au- gust 26 at the Pike County Clerk's Office. There are three school board seats up for election this fall. The three districts are District 3 held by Chris McKinney, District 4 held by Chris Satterfield and District 5 held by Nathan Harker. Harker and McKin- ney are both at the end of their first terms. Satterfield is finishing his third term. All the candidates said on Monday they had not decided if they would seek re-election. Candidates for school board must a have a petition with the signatures of 10 regis- tered Pike County voters. Ashley Gideon, election deputy with the clerk's office, said packets for potential candidates are avail- able in the clerk's office. District 3 includes the precincts of Jeffer- son 1 and 2 and Marion. District 4 includes Lockhart, Monroe and Patoka 2. District 5 includes Logan, Winslow and Patoka 1. Another change locally will be the vot- ing place for the precinct of Washington 1. They previously had voted at Twin Oaks Church, but that is being moved to the Gos- pel Center Church's gymnasium, where all four Petersburg precincts vote. On the state and federal level, there have been big changes. Last week, Baron Hill, who won the Democrat party's nomination for the U.S. Senate seat, announced he is withdrawing from the race. The seat is currently held by Dan Coats, who is retiring. Todd Young, who had beat- en Hill two years ago in a race for the Ninth Congressional seat, is the Republican can- didate. Hill was doing poorly in fundrais- ing and in polls against Young. According to Politico, a Washington, D.C., based po- First day for candidates to file for school board is July 27 See PRINCIPAL on page 2 See POKEMON on page 2 See CANDIDATES on page 2 Summer savings period continues By Andy Heuring Petersburg City Councilmen decided to seek nearly $170,000 in paving funds through a 50 percent match grant program being of- fered by Indiana. They also voted to purchase steel liners for their police officers' tactical vests dur- ing their Monday night meeting. Petersburg Mayor R.C. Klipsch said they originally were only go- ing to look at four streets, but the estimates came back lower than he expected so they added more streets to the list. Klipsch said because the Pike County Highway Department has agreed to do the paving instead of the city having to hire a contrac- tor, it lowered the costs. City Ser- vices Manager Brian Davis, who is also president of the Pike Coun- ty Commissioners, said the cost for a contractor to do the work would be at least double. Klipsch said the estimate of 10 projects was $169,491. Peters- burg's share of that would be 50 percent or $ 84,745. He stated IN- DOT requires it to be paid out of the Rainy Day Fund. He suggest- ed the city transfer $50,000 from their County Economic Develop- ment Income Tax funds, which has a balance of $ 600,000. He add- ed the city gets about $11,000 a month in EDIT funds. According to Klipsch, the grant program was going to allow Pe- tersburg to get almost $400,000 of paving for about $ 87,000. How- Petersburg seeks $170,000 for paving Hubbard suffers ankle injury A head-on collision at the top of a hill on a narrow rock road caused two people to have mi- nor injuries Friday afternoon. According to Pike County Deputy Sheriff Brad Jenkins, Jeffrey Hubbard, 63, of Peters- burg, was driving a 1994 Dodge van west on CR 150 N., just west of CR 700 W., at the top of a blind hill near his driveway. Tyler Ennis, 21, of Petersburg, was driving east towards Hub- bard in a 1993 truck and they crashed head-on into each other, knocking Hubbard's van back- wards and off the side of the road. Above: Deputy Jenkins and EMT Doug Mounts check on Hubbard, who suffered an ankle injury. Jenkins said Ennis had some facial cuts. Both were treated at the scene.