The Press-Dispatch
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Local ...........A1-8 Sports .........B1-3 Classifi eds ..B4-7 East Gibson .... B8 Church ........C1-3 Home Life....C4-8 Obituaries....... C9 History ......... C10 Opinion .. C11-12 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 BUSES on page 2 Wednesday, August 15, 2018 Volume 148 Number 32 Phone (812) 354-8500 Petersburg, IN 47567-0068 (USPS 604-34012) $ 1 Three sections 28 pages Six inserts See DETOUR on page 2 Book rental fee payment Pike Central High School attendance clerk Jamie Jones (left) prepares to collect book rental fees from Melissa Brock (second from left) as daughters Emma Brock (second from right) and Kalin Brock (far right), an incoming junior, look on during the first day of registration on Wednesday, Aug. 1. The first day of school for students is Wednesday, Aug. 8. Ed Cahill photo Schools back in session; stop for school buses Pike County schools started back to school today and most school districts in Indiana start some time this week or next, and Indiana State Police would like to re- mind everyone the importance of watching for students and for stopping for school bus- es while they are loading and/or unload- ing children. Sgt. Todd Ringle, of the Indiana State Po- lice, said they receive complaints almost daily from school bus drivers, parents and concerned citizens about motorists not stopping for school buses when required. Distracted driving is no doubt a contribut- ing factor, so troopers want to remind all motorists the importance of avoiding dis- tractions while driving, especially near schools. School bus drivers will activate the bus- es flashing amber/yellow lights when pre- paring to stop to load and/or unload chil- dren. When motorists observe the flash- ing amber/yellow lights, they should slow down and prepare to stop. Once the school bus stops and the red flashing lights are ac- tivated and the stop arm is extended, mo- torists are required to stop and not pass the school bus. Ringle added, "Many motorists are con- fused when they are required to stop. Be- low are a few examples to help motorists understand when they are required by law to stop. 1) Two-lane roadways, which include most state highways, county roads and most city streets If a school bus stops on a two-lane road, and the red flashing lights are activated and the stop arm is extended, all motor- ists must stop. 2) Multi-lane roadways with no barrier between lanes When a school bus stops on a multi-lane roadway without a barrier, and the red flashing lights are activated and the stop arm is extended, all motorists must stop. 3)Multi-lane roadway with a grassy and or concrete barrier By Andy Heuring County Commissioners approved a $7,500 a month contract for maintenance and protection of their computer systems county-wide. They also were told there will be two long-term state highway closures in the future, during their Monday morn- ing meeting. "I'm comfortable with MATRIX," said Commissioner Jeff Nelson. "I am, too," agreed Commissioner Ryan Coleman about signing a contract with MA- TRIX that calls for them to provide "man- aged, proactive support" for eight servers, seven network switches, seven security ap- pliances, five wireless APs, support on Of- fice 365, four backup appliances, help desk for 126 users, 134 devices and users for AV/ UTM and vCIO. In the last two years, Pike County's com- puter system was hacked by a ransomware attack on Labor Day weekend and a few months later, their backups were failing de- spite sending notices they were working. It wasn't learned the backups were failing until a hard drive failed and they couldn't find the backups. This failure nearly shutdown the court- house. Since then, the county formed a com- mittee to determine if they should hire a full-time technology person to manage all the systems in the courthouse or contract a firm to do it for them. The committee came back and recom- mended MATRIX Integration of Jasper at a price of $7,469 a month. The initial contract is set to run from Au- gust 15, 2018, to December 31, 2019. Orig- inally, since they would have been approv- ing it mid-year, it was going to run August to August, but Auditor Ron Wilson asked it to run from January 1 to December 31. So the first contract will be for 17 months to get it back on a year-to-year basis. The contact with MATRIX was approved by a 2-0 vote. Commissioner Brian Davis was not at the meeting. Unofficial detour for 25-day closure of Highway 64 Commissioners approved an unofficial detour for Highway 64 between Line Road and Gibson County line. Highway Super- intendent Roger Ham said the Indiana De- partment of Transportation notified him they will be replacing a small bridge struc- ture on Highway 64 that is 3.75 miles east of Highway 57. They requested the county determine the best "unofficial detour." IN- DOT will only issue an official detour on state highways. However, they recommend Pike County declare an unofficial detour on county roads to control the large amount of traffic on the county roads it will create. Ham said after looking at the area and consulting with Gibson County's High- way Superintendent, they preferred hav- ing traffic use the loop north of Highway 64 by using CR 100 W. to go north about a half mile to CR 475 S., then turn west for about a half-mile, then turn south on CR 175 W. PES to host open house Aug. 14 Petersburg Elementary School will have an open house on Tuesday, Aug. 14 from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m., for all grade levels. Parents/guardians are invited to visit the school and their child's classroom. Visitors may come and go anytime between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. Commissioners sign MATRIX Integration contract West Nile Virus has been found in mos- quitoes collected from Pike County. Pike County Health Nurse Amy Gladish said there are no known cases of West Nile Virus in humans in Indiana so far. Howev- er, she said mosquitoes from several coun- ties throughout Indiana have tested posi- tive for West Nile Virus, which she added is not uncommon. Gladish explained the Indiana Depart- ment of Health has mosquito traps through- out Indiana, including in Pike County. They collect the mosquitoes, then crush them and test the whole pool of mosquitoes. If one mosquito in that pool has West Nile, it will show the whole pool as infected. She did not know when the mosquitoes that tested positive had been trapped. West Nile Virus has symptoms similar to the flu, but more severe. TIPS TO HELP AVOID MOSQUITO-BORNE DISEASES AND REDUCE MOSQUITO POPULATIONS • Avoid being outdoors when mosquitoes are active (especially late afternoon, dusk to dawn and early morning); • Apply an EPA-registered insect repel- lent containing DEET, picaridin, IR3535, oil of lemon eucalyptus or para-menthane- diol to clothes and exposed skin; • Cover exposed skin by wearing a hat, long sleeves and long pants in places where mosquitoes are especially active, such as wooded areas; • Install or repair screens on windows and doors to keep mosquitoes out of the home. • Remove any amount of standing water in or near your home. Discard old tires, tin cans, ceramic pots or other containers that can hold water. • Drill holes in the bottom of recycling tubs left outdoors. • Repair failed septic systems. • Keep grass cut short or shrubs trimmed • Clean clogged roof gutters • Flush fountains and birdbaths once a week • Aerate ornamental pools or stock them with fish. West Nile Virus found in Pike Co. mosquitoes By Andy Heuring The school board positions for Districts 1 and 2 are apparently drawing little to no in- terest. So far, two full weeks into the filing period for the District 1 and 2 positions, no one has filed. Incumbent District 2 school board member Dave Waltz said last week he intended to seek re-election. Ron Sharp, who is the current District 1 school board member, said unless something "drastic" happened, he did not intend to seek re- election. The deadline to file for school board is noon Friday, August 24. District 1 is made up of the townships of Clay, Madison and all three precincts of Washington Township. District 2 consists of the four precincts making up the City of Petersburg. The school board races require a candi- date to reside in a specific district; howev- er, all of the county votes for each race, not just the district in which they live. A two-month old girl died at her home, apparently in her sleep, early Friday morn- ing. Journei F. Lough, the daughter of Ci- ji Lough and Jack Parks, pronounced dead at Memorial Hospital. Pike County central dispatch received a 911 call at 7:13 a.m. Friday morning report- ing a two-month-old was not breathing at 2555 E CR 375S, Winslow. Emergency per- sonnel responded and the child was taken by ambulance to Memorial Hospital, where she was pronounced dead at 8:06 a.m. Indiana State Police Detective Tobias Odom said an autopsy has been performed and they are awaiting final results, which he said will take a minimum of six weeks. "We don't suspect anything," said Odom. Two-month old dies at her home Friday Two school board districts have no candidates Egg toss elimination Tate Whitehead, 11, of Huntingburg, gets splattered by a broken egg during an egg tossing contest held at the 46th Annual Zoar Mosquito Fest on Satur- day, Aug. 4. The game was one of several old-fashioned events during the fes- tival. See additional photos on page A- . Ed Cahill photo