The Press-Dispatch
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Starts on page A-7 age of Excellence A-7 383 7 Local ........ A1-12 Sports .........B1-7 Opinion .... B8-10 Classifi eds B11-14 Church ........C1-3 Home Life........C4-8 Obituaries........... C8 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 GR ANTS on page 2 See COMMISS on page 2 See RESIGN on page 2 Three sections Two inserts 38 pages Wednesday, February 21, 2018 Volume 148 Number 8 Phone (812) 354-8500 Petersburg, IN 47567-0068 (USPS 604-34012) $ 1 Robotics demonstration Petersburg Elementary School fifth grader Eibhlin Teague shows off a robot during an ap- pearance of members of the school's robotics team at the Pike County School Corporation's Board of School Trustees during its regular monthly meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 13. See story on page 6. Ed Cahill photo By Andy Heuring Winslow Town Council had a special meeting to consider a pay raise for Clerk-Treasurer Beth Bennett. Instead, it turned into how to move forward following her and her assistant's resigna- tion. Bennett, who has been Clerk- Treasurer for the last seven years, left a letter of resignation for the council. "So we really don't have an agenda for this meeting. We are going to talk about health insur- ance," said Brewster. He was told that was the topic of the meeting by fellow councilmen Terry Stro- bel and Greg Simmons. He then asked, "Are we going to discuss that $1.78 (raise)? " "There are two letters here for us," said Strobel. Assistant Town Hall Clerk Ti- na Gayhart then handed the two sealed letters to the council. Council President Simmons read the letters from Bennett and As- sistant Clerk Jeff Bolin. Both in- formed the board of their resig- nation. Bolin on March 1 and Ben- nett on March 2. "We have major problems," said Brewster. He explained no one else knew how to do the payroll and those positions were bonded, as well as Bennett's name was on the signa- ture card at the bank for the town, as well as a couple of credit cards for various departments. Councilmen said they believed because her resignation was set for March 2, which is the next pay- roll, she would be there to do that payroll. "I would like to know why they resigned? " asked Strobel. "She kind of said that (at our last council meeting) she wanted the $1.78 or she is gone. I didn't pay much attention to her. She has been saying that for a couple of years," said Brewster. "Jeff has been wanting out of here for years. He just stuck around because of Beth," said Brewster. "I thought I had seen pret- ty much everything, but I don't think I have ever seen anything like this," said Brewster. "We are going to have to move on this quickly." Winslow resident Debbie Lamb suggested they contact Peters- burg and see if they or the coun- ty might have someone who could help them in an emergency to get the payroll out until they can get someone appointed. "If push comes to shove, I can Winslow clerk-treasurer, assistant clerk resign By Ed Cahill Pike County School Corpora- tion's Board of Trustees voted unanimously to accept three Proj- ect Lead The Way grants totaling $40,000 during its regular month- ly meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 13. Both Petersburg and Winslow elementary schools received a total award of $10,000 – $7,500 in the 2018 -19 school year and $2,500 in 2019 -2020 school year – while Pike Central High School received a total award of $20,000 – $10,000 in the 2018 -19 school year, $5,000 in the 2019 -20 school year and $5,000 in the 2020 -21 school year. The grants to Petersburg and Winslow elementary schools were awarded through a program en- titled "PLT W Launch," while the grant to Pike Central High School was awarded through a program entitled "PLT W Computer Sci- ence." According to an e-mail from the Project Lead The Way headquar- ters in Indianapolis, the grants were made possible by "gener- ous support" from Project Lead The Way's partner, Toyota USA Foundation. "I will note that the middle school has applied for a grant, but because theirs is a brand new start-up program, it comes from a separate application than what these three applied for," Pike County School Superintendent Suzanne Blake said. In addition, the school board voted unanimously to accept a $500 donation from Schott North America to the Pike Central Stu- dent Government Association for its annual Riley Dance Marathon, as well as a donation of eight new office chairs from National Office Furniture to Petersburg Elemen- tary School. In other business, the school board approved a request from PCSC Director of Support Servic- es Todd Harker for the purchase of a set of hydraulic lifts for the bus garage. "These lifts are capable of lift- ing a full size bus approximately 8 feet off the ground," Harker's request letter states. "Also in- cluded are adapters to accommo- date pickups and smaller equip- ment, like our mowers and trac- tors. This is an extremely nice ma- chine and I believe it will serve us well for many years to come." Ott Equipment had submitted a quoted price of $41,000 for the hy- draulic lifts. "This equipment will be pur- chased with money from the transportation fund," Harker not- ed. The school board also approved a request from Harker for the pur- chase of a new truck for the trans- Schools receive $40,000 in grants from Project Lead the Way The fourth annual Polar Plunge in Petersburg is set for this Sat- urday at Prides Creek. The event will begin at noon on Prides Creek Beach. On-site registration starts at 10 a.m. Online registration is also available at www.polar- plungein.org. Francie Smith, southern re- gional manager of Special Olym- pics Indiana, said people can sign up.the day of the event. They are hoping to set a fundraising record this year. As of late last week, the Petersburg event already had $ 32,000 in pledges. She said they hope to top $50,000 this year. Proceeds from the event go to Special Olympics. "This is an opportunity for people who care about Special Olympics to make a difference by ensuring we have the necessary funds to continue to grow and serve people with in- tellectual disabilities in Indiana," said Scott Funish, Special Olym- pics Indiana's senior director of development. "Plus, it's kind of fun to challenge yourself to go outside your comfort zone and to do something a little crazy, like jumping in a lake in the middle of winter." To participate, individuals must raise a minimum of $75 ($50 with a student ID) for Special Olympics Indiana, with awards presented to top fundraising teams and individ- uals. Participants can register as individual or gather friends, fami- ly members, co-workers or others and register as a team. The event also will include an indoor "A fter Splash Bash" at the Gospel Center Activities Building on Illinois St., where additional prizes will be awarded as partici- pants warm up with complimenta- ry food and beverages. There will be giveaways and a live auction. Spectators and guests are wel- come throughout and can take part in the A fter Splash Bash Fes- tivities for $5 fee Polar Plunge set for Saturday at Prides Creek By Andy Heuring County commissioners ap- proved the purchase of a 3/4 ton truck, renewed their liability in- surance and asked for changes to a road agreement with Pike-Gib- son Water Corp. during a 30 -min- ute meeting Tuesday morning. Commissioners approved EMS Director Chris Young purchasing a 3/4 ton Dodge Ram 250 pickup. He suggested it instead of get- ting a Ford Explorer, which the department now has. He said a Ford truck would have been more than what was put in the 2018 bud- get for a vehicle. "It seems an overkill with a 3/4 ton truck, but it is the same cast as an Explorer, but an Explorer can't pull anything," said Commission- er Jeff Nelson. Young said he currently is get- ting 16 to 17 miles per gallon with the Ford Explorer and the Dodge truck is supposed to get 14 to 15 mpg. Commissioner Ryan Coleman asked, "Do we have any experi- ence with a Dodge vehicle? " Young said the EMS didn't, but he has one as a personal vehicle and had no problems. It was approved by a 3-0 vote. Commissioners also asked for more specifics on a road agree- ment between them and Pike-Gib- son Water. The rural water corpo- ration is expanding and upgrad- ing their service in much of the northwest part of Pike County. They asked for permission to cut or bore through some of the county roads. "On some of these roads, where you are going across blacktop roads, it is kind of vague," said Da- vis. He said it was unclear to de- termine if they were going to cut the road or bore through it. "The intent is to bore through blacktop roads," said Derek Wig- gins, of Midwestern Engineers New truck approved for EMS Watch your speed Petersburg employee Alan Tegmeyer installs a new speed limit sign on Highway 61 at Maple St. near the school cross- ing. Petersburg received a grant from Duke Energy and REMC to purchase the signs with the idea of getting people to slow down in the school zone.