The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: http://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/993587
A-2 Front Wednesday, June 13, 2018 The Press-Dispatch COUNCIL Continued from page 1 WINSLOW Continued from page 1 SKILLED NURSING AND SO MUCH MORE Having a parent in a safe, comfortable place with highly trained medical sta nearby and activities to keep them engaged can go a long way in reducing the amount of time you spend worrying. at's why we're here. Schedule your visit today. 801 East Illinois Street • Petersburg, IN 47567 812-302-8164 • ambermanorhc.com • $5281'7+(&/2&.,1',9,'8$/ &$5(62:+(1,7ѡ67,0(725(67 <28&$15(67$6685(' By Andy Heuring A rural Petersburg man was arrested on charges of meth possession and theft, after police stopped him for stealing chairs from the Dol- lar General store. Eric L. Carter, 44, of rural Petersburg was arrested by Petersburg Police Cpl. Kyle Mills after fellow Petersburg policeman Chad McClellan, who was off duty, radioed Cpl. Mills that someone had stolen chairs from the Dollar General Store. According to Cpl. Mills' police report a Dollar Gen- eral Store employee was out- side the store on her lunch break in her car and saw a man throw chairs in his car. She then went inside the store and talked to the ca- shier, asking if they had sold any chairs. She told them a man in a gray car put chairs in his car and then she watched to see if he came back to pay for the chairs. When he didn't, they spoke to Sgt. McClellan who was off duty and in line at the counter of the Dollar Gener- al Store. McClellan notified Cpl. Mills who was on patrol and located Carter and pulled his car over. Cpl. Mills said when he talked with Carter he asked to see his receipt, which Carter agreed to show them, but the chairs were not on the receipt. Mills said Cart- er told him he could not pro- vide a receipt and admitted he stole the chairs. Mills' report stated Cart- er said he would go back and pay double for the chairs. It also stated one of the chairs was in the back seat. During a search of Cart- er's car, police located a clear plastic container in the center console that had a crystal-like substance which field-tested positive for meth. Other items lo- cated in the truck includ- ed shoe strings and phone chargers that were not on the receipt, according Mills' report. Items not on the re- ceipt, but found in Carter's car totaled $75, according to Mills' report. Carter was taken into cus- tody on preliminary charg- es of possession of meth and theft. Carter charged with meth possession, theft By James Capozella A contact from Deputy Ad- am Thompson on June 6 re- sulted in the arrest of Leon- ard D. Hill on the charge of failure to re-register as a sex offender (prior). Deputy Ja- son McKinney reported that Hill was in the Pike County Probation Office and had stated to them that he had been staying at other peo- ple's homes for the last two months and had not regis- tered as a sex offender. Deputy Thompson brought Mr. Hill to the Pike County Security Center on his own free will so depu- ty McKinney could ask Hill why he had not registered for the last two months. Hill was read his Miranda Warn- ing and signed the advice of Rights. In the interview Hill stat- ed that he was staying at people's houses including Candice Parks in the North- side Trailer Park in Peters- burg and also with Rita Tra- vis at her home according to the report. Asked if he understood that he was required to reg- ister as a sex offender every time he moved to a new res- idence and he stated he did. Asked why he had not done so, Hill stated he just didn't. Hill said he wanted to go up North to live with his un- cle and get away from Pike County, according to the re- port. Hill was then placed in handcuffs and informed that he was being charged with failure to register as a sex of- fender (prior). Hill charged with failure to register as sex offender County Health Department and they needed to do some- thing about an abandoned house on Lafayette Street. He said the house's base- ment is filled with water and is a health hazard. OUT-OF-TOWN DOGS Animal Control Officer Billy Joe Marshall said he is having trouble with dogs from outside of Winslow being in the town. He said he has caught four or five dogs recently and no one has claimed them. He start- ed looking for people who would take them. Marshall said he had people willing to take the dogs, but they didn't want to pay fees. He asked the council if these people should have to pay the fees. Councilman Strobel, who used to be the Animal Con- trol Officer, said they would have to purchase a dog li- cense and pay a fee to get them. He said pet owners were usually more than agree- able to pay the fees because they were glad the animal had been found. Marshall said no one has claimed these animals. How- ever, other people were will- ing to adopt them, but didn't want to pay the fees. Strobel and Brewster both said the fees need to be paid. CLOG THE PATOKA Councilman Strobel said Chris Clements had asked him about using the River- side Park for overflow camp- ing during the Clog the Pato- ka event. It is scheduled for Saturday, July 7. Last year the event drew 340 people. Strobel said Clements ex- pects the event to double in size this year. He said they are using Miller's Field for camping, but if that fills up Clements wanted permission to use the park. He also asked if the Li- ons Club's insurance could be used during the event. Leroy Balbach of the Lions Club said they already had their insurance set for this year and it didn't include that event. "If we had known about it earlier in the year we could have included it, but I don't think we want to this late." Balbach said he doubted they would need to use the park. "Miller's field is huge. I can't imagine them need- ing more area than that," said Balbach. Strobel and Brewster agreed the park could be used but there would have to be restrictions on it. "We don't want a bunch of fire pits put out where we are mowing," said Strobel. They said Department of Natural Resources wouldn't allow building a fire within 75 feet of the river bank. In other business, Clerk- Treasurer Stacy Worthing- ton was approved to repre- sent Winslow on the Pike County Economic Develop- ment Council. They also approved nine different water adjustments. The next Winslow meet- ing will be 9 a.m. on Mon- day, June 25 at the Winslow Town Hall. He said they complained the county was always 'second fiddle' to the other clients. Goodpaster said the other advantage of hiring a com- pany over one person is ac- cessibility. He said when the tech goes on vacation and a problem arises, you don't have anyone. But if you hire a company, someone is al- ways available. The committee's recom- mendation was to hire Ma- trix Integration. The committee was ap- pointed after two serious computer problems last year. The courthouse was hit by a ransom ware prob- lem over Labor Day week- end two years ago and about seven months later a main server that was supposed to be backing itself up failed, and it had not been backed up. "I realize it is a lot of mon- ey, but when you compare what the reliability we need. The auditor's office, com- missioners, treasurer and assessor's offices were shut down for almost two weeks. All the customers who came in to ask about information on their property couldn't get it. We couldn't pay our vendors and we were bare- ly able to pay our payroll," said Wilson. "It looks like they have do- ne a good job with this," said Councilman Dennis Bishop. Councilman Todd Meadors also compliment- ed the committee's finding and asked if there was a set number of hours in the con- tract price. Goodpaster said it just calls for whatever is needed. Auditor Wilson told the council the committee would present this informa- tion to the county commis- sioners at their next meet- ing and then make a formal requisition for funding at the next council meeting. Councilmen also vot- ed 6 -0 to approve the pur- chase of a $12,485 account- ing software for the county highway department. Mela- nie Britton told councilmen the software will allow her to track spending on road projects. She said Indiana is giving additional money to counties in the MVH funds, but each county is required to show proof more than 50 percent of the money is go- ing to actual projects. A request for the Pike County Health Department for $ 3,770 to purchase new mosquito spraying equip- ment was also approved. Councilmen asked if they al- so had pellets that could be put in standing water. The Park and Recreation Board requested transfers of $2,000 from recreation study plan and $2,000 from building repair and mainte- nance to campsite improve- ments. Jan Hollis said this was to pay Dave Henson for draw- ings of the campsites, which were constructed last year. He said the state required drawings of the sites. "Maybe you are putting the horse before the cart," said Councilman Greg Man- gin. The request was approved by a 6 -0 vote. The next council meet- ing is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, July 10 in the courthouse auditorium. Blackburn Road paved A Pike County Highway crew paves Blackburn Road last week. Highway Assistant Superintendent Josh Byrd said it was a carryover project from last year's Crossroads paving grant. He said it will proba- bly be the last paving the county does for a while this year, because the grant money for paving won't be announced until later in the year. Byrd said crews also cut back several trees along the side of the road to improve visibility. There are several residences along the road and is heavily traveled by semi-trucks hauling coal to IPL.