The Press-Dispatch

February 7, 2018

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The Press-Dispatch Local Wednesday, Februar y 7, 2018 A- 5 READER GUIDE Subscriptions: Subscription rates: One year: $30 for Pike and surrounding counties and all 475 and 476 addresses; elsewhere in Indiana $33; out of state $50 Paid in advance. Change of address — subscribers changing addresses will please give their 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 subscribe@pressdispatch.net How to contact us: By Phone:............ 812-354-8500 By Fax: ................. 812-354-2014 By E-mail: General and Church News news@pressdispatch.net Sports Department sports@pressdispatch.net Advertising ads@pressdispatch.net Classified Advertising classifieds@pressdispatch.net Andy Heuring, Editor editor@pressdispatch.net Obituaries obits@pressdispatch.net Subscriptions/Circulation subscribe@pressdispatch.net Legals/Public Notices legals@pressdispatch.net Accounting Department accounting@pressdispatch.net About us: Mr. and Mrs. Frank Heuring, Pub- lishers Andrew G. Heuring, Editor John B. Heuring, Adv. Manager Cindy Petty, Advertising Sales Pam Lemond, Advertising Sales Matt Haycraft, Advertising Sales Ed Cahill, Sports Editor Eric Gogel, Production Manager Monica Sinclair, Office Manager • • • • • • Published every Wednesday by the Pike County Publishing Co. Telephone 812-354-8500 820 Poplar Street, P.O. Box 68, Petersburg, Indiana 47567 • • • • • • Entered at the Post Office in Petersburg, Indiana for transmis- sion through the mails as Periodical Mail, postage paid at Petersburg, Indiana. Published weekly. (USPS 604-340) 217 Main Street • Downtown Vincennes Monday–Saturday 10am-5pm 812-882-7603 Give her some sparkle See Our Large Selection of Rings! Valentine's Day Specials Individual Hallmark Valentines for all the special people in your life. Packages for school classrooms, Valentine's party goods and Valentine's Day gifts. 716 Main St. • 812-354-9372 • Petersburg Regular Hours: Mon.-Thurs. 9-5; Fri.-Sat. 9-6 Marge's Shop 75% OFF All Keepsake ORNAMENTS Wood Wick Candles Special Items Libs Candy, Cottage Garden, Music Boxes, Hallmark Cards, Various Sizes of White Lanterns, Ty Valentines Plush, Jewelry, Willow Tree Figurines, Assorted Signs and Precious moments. "Always" New Arrivals WILLOW TREE Beautiful Flowers and So Much More! CANDLEBERRY CANDLES Buy 1 large candle get 25% off any size candle of equal or lesser value. STUFFED ANIMALS MYLAR BALLOONS Fastened to any purchase for only $4.99 ROSES AVAILABLE Sweet Valentine's s p e c i a l s SPECIAL HOURS: Feb. 14 from 9am to 7pm 201 S. 7th St., Petersburg Mon.-Fri. 9am to 5pm Sat. 9am-12pm 1853 N. SR 57, Willisville Mon.-Sat. 10a.m.–4p.m. or by appointment marylousfloral.com | 812-582-0905 812-354-8793 804 E. ILLINOIS ST, PETERSBURG, IN (812) 354-2277 HOURS Wednesday, Thursday, Sunday: 11am - 9pm Friday & Saturday: 11am - 10pm DINE IN • CARRY OUT CATERING Your choice of 1/2 Slab, Large Brisket or Pork Chop Dinner. Served with two sides, peach or cherry cobbler and a drink. $ 14 99 ONLY SPECIAL Valentine's Day Wednesday, February 14 • 4pm-8pm Dine-In Only spectacular By Ed Cahill The Otwell Miller Academy Board of Directors voted Mon- day, Feb. 5, to begin the search for a new principal for the 2018 -19 school year. During the board's month- ly meeting, the charter elemen- tary school's current principal, Rick Fears, reminded the board that when he was approached by representatives of Friends of Ot- well Elementary, Ltd., last May, he agreed to take the position for just one year. "I've enjoyed it," Fears said. "The students, the people I work with every day here at school, and the community have been nothing but very supportive of our school. It's been a challenge, I will say that. I had many, many years in ed- ucation and I'd never started some- thing from scratch like this." "We had an excellent elementa- ry school, one of the best in the country, in this community, previ- ous to the (Pike County) School Corporation closing it, and there's no reason the Academy here can- not become such a school as that, in time," Fears continued. "You don't build a school like that over- night, but you build it in steps, and we think that the initial step has been taken now, and I certain- ly have been proud to be a part of that." Fears added that while he would be stepping down as the Otwell Miller Academy principal when his contract ends in June, he told the Friends of Otwell Elementary Board of Directors that he would still be available to assist whoever succeeds him. "I told them I would help them in a limited capacity after my direc- torship has ended, because being from this community, I want to see the school stay and be successful. It won't be 8 to 5, five days in week, but in any way I can help them, I will. I wish them every success in finding a successor." The motion to begin the search for a new principal by board secre- tary Emily Willis, which was sec- onded by OMA fifth grade teach- er Valerie Schoppenhorst, was ap- proved by a unanimous vote. "We do have time," Fears said after the motion passed. "I'm em- ployed until June, so we've got plenty of time to look for and find someone. I certainly won't leave them hanging if they don't have someone." Fears had been employed by the Pike County School Corporation for 23 years – the last seven years as principal at Otwell Elementary School – before being terminated by the PCSC's Board of Trustees in September 2013 after it conclud- ed that evidence presented during a seven-hour-long closed hearing supported the cancellation of his contract on the grounds of "ne- glect of duty" and "other just and good cause." In October 2013, Fears filed a wrongful termination lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Evansville, accusing the Pike County School Corporation of breach of contract and employment discrimination. In July 2014, U.S. District Judge Richard Young summarily dis- missed the lawsuit after conclud- ing that Fears' firing was "lawful, fair, and supported by substantial evidence." In other business, Fears an- nounced that, to date, Otwell Mill- er Academy had been out of school for a total of seven days due to in- clement weather. Four make-up days – Monday, Feb. 19; Monday, April 2; Thurs- day, May 24; and Friday, May 25 – are included in the school's 2017- 18 calendar, leaving a total of three days to be made up, Fears noted. "So, right now, we're looking at one day of Spring Break – maybe that Monday, and that would still give you Tuesday through Sunday for Spring Break, to take care of one day, but that still leaves us with two," Fears said. Fears said that he is hoping that the Indiana Department of Educa- tion will allow the addition of a half hour to the school day – either 30 minutes added at the end of the school day or 15 minutes added prior to the start of the school day and 15 minutes added to the end of the school day – to make up the re- maining two snow days. "That takes longer to make up your days; if I've figured correctly, it would take 12 (extended) school days to make up one day of instruc- tion," Fears said. "I sent the state an email today to see if the time added on ... would work. I don't want to give it out to the people or have the board do anything until we see if that's something that the state will agree upon." "When we've had excessive snow days in the past, they've agreed to do that," Fears ex- plained. "I don't know what their definition of excessive snow days is, so I don't know if that's some- thing they'll approve. If not, we'll probably just add on to the end of the year. There's only so many ways you can do make-up days." Fears also announced that the first window during which ISTEP testing for third, fourth and fifth graders can be conducted is sched- uled for Monday, Feb. 26, through Friday, March 9, with a second window scheduled for Monday, April 16, through Friday, May 4. In addition, Fears noted that iRead testing for third grade stu- dents will be conducted from Mon- day, March 12, through Friday, March 16. "What we plan to do here is no different than we did at the old school," Fears said. "We're trying to do some special things during this time to help our students un- derstand not only the importance of ISTEP and taking it seriously, but also that we want them to be successful – and we'll do every- thing we can to make them suc- cessful." "A lot of students in this day and age are very capable of pass- ing ISTEP," Fears added. "It's the effort they put forth. If we can do something to help prepare these children to do that, I believe that's as important sometimes as math and language arts. Because if the mind isn't there to do it, it doesn't matter how smart you are and how much you know. It's not go- ing to help. So we'll take a look at some things like a special break- fast that day for them, at the be- ginning of ISTEP. We'll do all we can to prepare them and just hope for the best." In addition, Fears informed the board that Lil HOOsiers and Otwell Miller Academy would be holding a Pre-K and Kinder- garten Round-up for the 2018 -19 school year on Tuesday, March 6. Appointments will be sched- uled from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. by calling Otwell Miller Academy at (812) 354-0800. The Round-up will also be held from 4 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. on the same day. Otwell Miller Academy to begin search for new principal By Andy Heuring A Petersburg woman was arrested after she drove through a fence and almost into a lake along Highway 61 in Campbelltown. She was one of four people ar- rested for drunken driving in Pike County last week. April D. Huffman, 44, of 2175 Main St., Lot 6, Pe- tersburg, was arrested on a charge of operating a ve- hicle while intoxicated at about 6 a.m. Sunday. Pike County Deputy Sheriff Jason McKinney said Zachary Young called 911 about a vehicle that ran through a fence at 891 S. SR 61, Winslow, went down an embankment and got hung up in the mud at the edge of the lake. McKinney said when he arrived at the scene, he saw a blue minivan hung up in the mud at the edge of the lake. He walked over to the minivan, opened the driver's door and found Huffman sit- ting in the driver's seat. Deputy McKinney said she asked him if he could push her out of the mud. While talking to Huffman, McKinney said her speech was slurred and she was having a hard time walk- ing. She failed field sobri- ety tests and was taken to the Daviess Community Hospital, where she test- ed positive for benzodiaze- pines, amphetamines and opiates. She was then taken to the Pike County Jail and prelimi- narily charged with operating a vehicle while intoxicated. Saturday evening, a Pe- tersburg teen was arrest- ed after police stopped to check on him. Logan R. Vest, 18, of 1281 E. Lake Minnis Ct., Peters- burg, was arrested on pre- liminary charges of operat- ing a vehicle while intoxicat- ed (refusal) and possession of marijuana. Pike County Deputy Sheriff Buck Seger said he was driving north on High- way 61, near the railroad tracks at the south end of Winslow, when he noticed an SUV driving south abruptly pull off the road- way and stop, still partially on Highway 61. Deputy Seger said when he approached the SUV and talked with Vest, who was driving it, he noticed the odor of marijuana. K-9 Officer Bleck, during a sniff search of the vehicle, indicated the presence of il- legal drugs. Deputy Seger said he also found a partial- ly burnt marijuana blunt and a marijuana cigarette. According to Deputy Seger's report, Vest told him they were smoking when he missed his turned, which is why he abruptly pulled over. It also stated Vest said he had smoked at a friend's house. A fter failing field sobri- ety tests, he refused to take a blood test. A juvenile pas- senger was also preliminar- ily charged with possession of marijuana. At about 11 p.m. Friday, a Worthington man was ar- rested when police noticed a vehicle sitting on CR 300 N. Deputy McKinney said he turned around and stopped to check on the ve- hicle and while behind the vehicle, noticed its engine was still running. McKinney said he knocked on the window of the vehicle, but the driver, who was slumped over the console, did not respond. A fter knocking several times, Deputy McKinney said the driver finally re- sponded. The driver was identi- fied as Jacob C. Hollen, 30, of Worthington. Deputy McKinney said when talking to Hollen, he could smell alcohol. Dep- uty Seger had K-9 Officer Bleck do a sniff search of Hollen's van and he indicat- ed on the driver's side door. When police searched the van, they found a baby food jar containing plant materi- al, which field tested posi- tive for marijuana. According to Deputy Seger's report, Hollen said he was on his way home to Worthington from Evans- ville, and he had smoked marijuana and drank earli- er in the day. He failed field sobriety tests and was taken to the Pike County Jail, where he tested 0.12 percent for blood alcohol content. Hollen was preliminarily charged with operating a vehicle while intoxicated, possession of marijuana and possession of paraphernalia. A Petersburg man was arrested for driving while intoxicated after he was stopped for speeding on I-69. Jordan W. Gosciniak, 28, of 170 N. Nichols Ave., Pe- tersburg, was stopped by Indiana State Trooper Ross Johnson near the 52-mile marker. Trooper Johnson said he observed a vehicle in front of him driving at a high rate of speed, but was unable to get a radar reading. Troop- er Johnson sped up and was finally able to get close enough to get a reading of 78 mph in a 70 zone. He stopped Gosciniak, who was driving a 2003 In- finiti Q36. He said Goscin- iak seemed extremely ner- vous and his pupils were "pinpoint." A search of his vehicle found nothing illegal. Gosciniak failed field so- briety tests and tested pos- itive for amphetamines and buprenorphine. According to a probable cause affida- vit, Gosciniak told police he was driving more than 100 mph. Four arrested for drunken driving in the past week in Pike County

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