The Press-Dispatch
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spectacular See page A-5 for Valentine's Day gift ideas! Local ........ A1-10 Obituaries........... A7 Opinion .......A8-9 Sports .........B1-5 Classifi eds .... B6-7 Church ........C1-3 Home Life........C4-8 School......C10-11 History ......... C12 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 HEROIN on page 7 See CITY CODE on page 2 $ 1 Three sections Three inserts 30 pages Wednesday, February 7, 2018 Volume 148 Number 6 Phone (812) 354-8500 Petersburg, IN 47567-0068 (USPS 604-34012) Final segment of four-part series See ELECTION on page 2 By Andy Heuring Several names were added to the bal- lot for the Spring primary this week as the deadline to file quickly approaches. Two former Petersburg mayors, a former commissioner and a math teacher high- light the most recent filings for office in Pike County as the noon Friday, February 9 deadline approaches. Former Petersburg Mayor Jon Craig joins a crowded field in the race for Dis- trict 2 County Council. Craig makes it a three-way race on the Republican ticket, with Charles Lemond and Shawn McGil- lem who had previously filed. They are all seeking the seat now held by Greg Mangin. Mangin, who is in his second term, isn't seeking re-election due to taking a job with the federal government. Mangin said feder- al rules do not allow him to run for election. Former county commissioner Mark Flint filed to seek the District 2 Commissioner seat. Two-term commissioner Brian Davis said Monday he had decided to not seek re- election. Flint served as commissioner pri- or to moving from the Alford area to Peters- burg, which was a different district. So far, Flint is the only person to file for the posi- tion in either party. Retired state trooper and former Peters- burg Mayor Frank Coleman, and Jeffery Davis II filed to run for Sheriff. They join Pike County Sheriff's Deputies Brad Jen- kins and Kent Johnson, who have filed on the Democratic ticket. The seat is open because current Sher- iff Jeremy Britton is in his second term and there is a two-term limit on the position of Sheriff. Retired teacher Judy Gumbel has filed for Auditor on the Republican ticket. She is the only candidate on the Republican side; how- ever, Jody Hoover, who is currently the Re- corder, has filed for the Democratic nomi- nation as Auditor. The list of precinct committeemen, town- ship advisory boards and delegates to state Former mayors, math teacher file for seats The Lenten Prayer Breakfasts for 2018 are set to begin on Satur- day, February 17 for both men and women. The men's breakfasts will begin at 8 a.m., while the women's will begin at 9 a.m. They are sponsored by the Pe- tersburg Ministerial Fellowship. Proceeds from the breakfasts go to the Sam Taylor Scholarship Fund, which gives grants to high school seniors who plan on attend- ing college. The breakfast schedule is: Men Feb. 17 at Otwell United Methodist; Feb. 24 at Petersburg Free Methodist; March 3 at Main St. Presbyterian; March 10 at Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic; March 17 at First Baptist - Petersburg; March 24 at River of Life Fellowship. Women Feb. 17 at Main St. Presbyterian; Feb. 24 at Petersburg First UM; March 3 at First Baptist - Petersburg; March 10 at Petersburg Free Methodist; March 17 at Otwell United Methodist; March 24 at Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Lenten Prayer Breakfasts begin Feb. 17 Baker, Nalley injured in head-on crash Two people were injured in a head-on collision Tuesday at about noon near the Pike-Dubois County line on High- way 56. Petersburg attorney Lincoln Baker was driving a 2016 Chevrolet Colorado pickup west on Highway 56 near CR300W, when he went left of center and collided head-on with Kimberly Nalley, 53, of 2594 S. CR 800S, Oakland City, accord- ing to Master Trooper Paul Bastin. Bastin said the impact of the crash knocked Nalley's 2012 Chevrolet Traverse off the side of the road. Baker's pick- up began sliding sideways and then at the edge of the highway rolled over and came to rest on its wheels. Baker, 69, of Jasper, was taken to Memorial Hospital in Jasper complaining of head and shoulder pain. Nalley was taken to Deaconess Hospital in Evansville complaining of neck pain. Bastin said both vehicles were a total loss. He cited Baker for operating left of center. Jefferson Township Fire Department, Pike County EMS and Pike County Sheriff's Department assisted at the crash. WES twist contestants Winslow Elementary School held its annual Twist contest on Friday, Feb. 2. Above, WES kindergarten student Pip- er Thompson (right) dances with her 16-month-old sister, Quinn, during a break in the action. Ed Cahill photo Obits and Opinion moved this week This week, you'll find obituaries and the Opinion section in the A section. Pike Central High School will crown its 2018 Winter Homecom- ing Queen and Princess when the Chargers boys' basketball team hosts Heritage Hills on Saturday, Feb. 10. Homecoming festivities, re- scheduled due to bad weather, will take place following the junior var- sity game, which is scheduled to start at 6:30 p.m. The nominees for Winter Homecoming Princess include freshmen attendants Zoey Davis, Kenzie Powell and Libby Stone; sophomore attendants Aubrie Dawson and Shelby Vaughn; and junior attendants Hannah Carna- han and Madison Miller. The Winter Homecoming Queen candidates are seniors Breana Cowan, Jacy Holman, Alexis Huff and Brook Nalley. For additional information, con- tact the PCHS office at (812) 354- 8478. PC Homecoming is Saturday night By Andy Heuring Petersburg City Councilmen voted to hire a part-time Code Enforcement Officer during a 30 -minute meeting Monday. Mayor R. C. Klipsch said he had offered the job of Code Enforce- ment to Petersburg Police Cpl. Kyle Mills. However, he said the position had been a full-time posi- tion, but Mills would only be able to do the job part-time. Klipsch said Mills agreed to work 16 hours a week. Klipsch said the position, that reports directly to the mayor, would have a lot more respon- sibilities than just city code en- forcement. Along with enforcing things like nuisance ordinances, it would also deal with flood plain issues, zoning issues and unsafe buildings. Klipsch said to begin with, he wanted Mills to focus on code vi- olations. "I would be the first to admit it has been slipping," said Klipsch about code enforcement since previous Code Enforcement Officer Cullen Cook resigned to take another position. "We are going to be a little more aggressive," added Klipsch. Councilmen adopted an ordi- nance amending their Code En- forcement Officer position to be a part-time position instead of a full- time position by a 3-0 vote. Coun- cilmen Bertis Jenkins and Fran Lewis were not in attendance. "This is really good, we really need that officer, we have really been slipping," said Councilman Gary Leavitt. Klipsch also reported to the council Universal Design's find- ings on the buildings at 606 and 608 Main St. Petersburg owns one of the buildings and is in the pro- Mills hired as new City Code Enforcement officer By Andy Heuring Part IV of a series about Pike County na- tive Craig Cook, his descent into heroin ad- diction and his miraculous escape from it. Last week, shortly after recovering from an overdose induced coma, Cook was back in In- diana and attended a tent revival, where an evangelist called him out of the crowd and told Cook he had taken a vow against God. "Tonight that vow is broken," said the Evan- gelist. This week, Cook talks about his rehab and journey to being something other than "a for- mer junkie." "A fter leaving San Francisco and return- ing to Indiana, I knew I had to face the con- sequences of my past addiction." He turned himself into the Oregon au- thorities. He said having taken some time, "I came to the realization that I had to and it was the right thing to do. I had warrants in Oregon and California for various crimes, all relat- ed to feeding my addiction. I just couldn't run from it all anymore. I had to face it all," said Cook. "Fortunately, the judge in Oregon, seeing that all my legal troubles revolved around my heroin addiction, made part of my sen- tencing (sandwiched in between jail time and the halfway house and house arrest) a nine-month drug treatment program that was run by a Doctor of Psychiatry, staffed with psychologists and trained counselors." "This was another major turning point in my life." "About three months into the program, I realized how addiction had lead to other terrible thinking patterns that lead to all the secondary crime and criminal activity related to addiction. It was like they pulled on a string, it unraveled and I began to re- ally see clearly, or at least clearer for the first time in years." "They gave me some tools and I just gave it my all. I did not want to go back to the horrors of heroin. This program has prov- en to reduce addiction return rates, recid- ivism rates upon graduation." "It was a pretty intense program. Every area of our lives was examined and con- fronted. Some of the data that came from the program was interesting as well. Peo- ple who had some sort of faith interaction, no matter the religious persuasion, coupled with the program had lower return to ad- diction rates." At the end of the program, Cook was cho- sen out of 90 people to remain at the pro- gram and work as a peer counselor helping others through the nine-month program. He did this for about a year. "This was also valuable to me. I now had 18 months in a community of people focused on recovery, with accountability and it left me with a sense of accomplish- ment and purpose." Cook on journey to being something other than 'a former junkie'