The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/102523
Three sections 28 pages Five inserts Wednesday, January 9, 2013 75¢ Volume 145 Number 2 Phone (812) 354-8500 Petersburg, IN 47567-0068 (USPS 604-340) Petersburg mayor resigns By Andy Heuring Petersburg Mayor Jon Craig announced he is resigning as Mayor to take a position with the State of Indiana. Craig said his resignation will be effective on Friday, January 25 and he will start in his new position as Deputy Director of the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs, on Monday, January 28. Craig will be the number two person in the Office of Community and Rural Affairs. OCRA, as it is known, oversees many of the grants issued to small cities, towns and counties in Indiana. They also are involved in the Stellar Communities program, which Petersburg was a finalist last year. Craig said they also oversee the Shovel Ready Building Site Program and Young Entrepreneur program. "They have followed the progress and success of our kids at Pike Central with the Project Lead the Way program." It was actually this project that got the ball rolling for Craig to move to OCRA. He said he traveled with Pike Central's PTLW to a symposium in which OCRA took part. At the symposium, he talked with the newly elected Lt. Governor Sue Ellsperman of Ferdinand. OCRA is one of the agencies under her control as Lt. Governor. He said he was able to "share with them my vision to make southern Indiana even stronger. They asked me to come aboard. After a lot of prayer and thought and talking with my family, I decided to accept it," said Craig. "It isn't something I was aggressively looking for. I have always had a passion for rural Indiana and being connected in the public sector," said Craig. He said the opportunity to do this doesn't come along very often. "I just thought it was the right time to make the personal deciContinued on page 2 Morton replaced in first meeting with new commissioners By Andy Heuring Pike County Commissioners appointed a new Highway Superintendent as they reorganized the highway department leadership during the first meeting of the newly elected commissioners. Bobby Joe Morton was replaced as Highway Superintendent by former Leadman Roger Ham on a 2-1 vote. Brian Davis and Ryan Coleman voted to appoint Ham as Superintendent. Nelson voted against it. It was the first meeting of 2013 and the first meeting for Ryan Coleman and Jeff Nelson, both who were elected in November. Both are Republicans and join Republican Brian Davis for an all-Republican Board of Commissioners. Morton was appointed Highway Superintendent in 2011. Commissioner President Davis said he "wanted to go a different direction." Davis declined further comment. "I don't know what is going on. I'm in the dark on this. I was told I was going to be released," said Morton. "I don't know what happened, I don't have any comment. I thought I was doing a good job, but I guess I wasn't," added Morton. Nelson said he voted against the move because he thought the commissioners "should have taken it to the street and advertised the position and taken resumes. It wasn't anything against Roger," said Nelson. Davis explained the commissioners wanted to make both leadership positions at the highway garage non-union positions. He said they eliminated the Leadman position and created an assistant superintendent position. "The Lead guy trying to be in supervision was awkward," said Nelson. "It was something that needed to be done," said Coleman. The commissioners also requested two transfers to fund the new Assistant Superintendent position. They requested $6,100 from Engineer to Asst. Superintendent and $31,900 from Leadman to Asst. Superintendent. The Assistant Superintendent position was not filled. Davis said the commissioners wanted to fill it soon. Other appointments made at the first meeting of the year were: Board of Review, Rodney Dixon and Jim Shoultz; Library board, Dottie Poehlein; Indiana Workforce Development Board, Ryan Coleman; Regional Mental Health Center Committee, Karen Craig; Shawnee Trace Workforce Investment Board, Jeff Nelson; Tri-Cap Board, Ryan Coleman; County Park and Recreation Board, Rick Continued on page 2 Fire destroys house near Ayrshire Fire destroyed an unoccupied house south of Winslow early Sunday, January 30. Patoka Township firemen responded but were eventually told by the owner to just let it burn. Patoka Fire Chief Ed Schuessler said the residence was unoccupied for several years. He said by the time the fire was reported, fire had burned through the roof causing it to collapse and the inside of the house was burned out. He said it was owned by Tamara McCandless, who lives nearby. Her sons used it as a hangout and had put an old truck wheel in the floor as a fire pit to stay warm. Schuessler said the boys thought they had put the fire out the night before, but it must have rekindled and caught the house on fire. It was reported at about 7:30 a.m. Schuessler said McCandless told firemen to just let it burn so it would be easier to clean up. It was located on CR225E, just west of The Trading Post. Ambulance barn renovation estimates received By Andy Heuring County councilmen were told the mold problem at Pike County Ambulance Barn was not a major concern and could be remedied for between $10,000 to $30,000 during their first meeting of 2013 on Tuesday morning. They also made numerous appointments. Josh Ward of Elite Systems evaluated Pike County EMS Building in Campbell- town for mold contamination. He talked to the county council about their findings. "Clearly there is a mold issue in the structure. There is fairly visible mold growing," said Ward. He added, "We believe this (mold contamination) is caused by leaks and damage to the structure. Those (leaks) have been corrected," said Ward. He said one spore count of 34 was found Nurse gives tips to help your child during flu season Candidates set for Homecoming Winter Homecoming candidates at Pike Central High School have been selected and the Homecoming event is being planned for Friday, Feb. 1, with the crowning to take place before the varsity game. The candidates for Princess are: Freshmen: Nicah McFarland and Erica Gaines; Sophomores: Baily Davis and Emma Crow; Juniors: Stephanie Richardson and Marisa Aders. The candidates for Homecoming Queen are Seniors: Alyssa Jones, Lexie Shoultz, Kari Lemond, Kyndall Coleman and Kendall Clerk. The student body will be voting on the queen and princess the week before homecoming. Home Building to open in new building on Friday Home Building Savings Bank announces the opening of a new branch facility located at 501 Main St. Petersburg, on Friday, January 11. The branch will be closed all day Thursday during the transition to the new facility. The branch address will not change. The existing branch will be demolished to expand customer parking. PIKE PUBLISHING in the ambulance bay. The spore count in the outside air is 12. Ward explained there are no standards for acceptable amounts of spores for human exposure. "All we have to go on is a comparison to the outdoor air." He said mold spores occur naturally in the environment, and in the summer, counts of this mold could be in the thouContinued on page 6 PES Spelling Bee champ Andrew Clark celebrates after clinching the spelling bee with "artichoke." His victory came only after he and Jenna Meyer (left) spelled all of the words on the bee's list, effectively sending the bee into overtime. The teachers switched to the study list for the regional spelling bee, which Clark will advance to with his win See related photos on page A7. WHAT'S INSIDE: Local ........A1-10 Classifieds....B8-9 History ...........C6 Obituaries ......A3 Church .......C1-5 Health.........C7-8 Sports ........B1-3 Opinion..........C2 NEWS TIPS: Phone:........................354-8500 Fax: ............................354-2014 E-Mail . editor@pressdispatch.net By Alden Heuring As the flu season approaches its peak time between January and February, the disease has started to work its way through Pike County schools. Winslow Elementary school nurse Vicki Oxby shared some helpful information for parents of schoolage children during the flu season, and explained what the schools are doing to prepare. "There is definitely something going around. The flu is out there," she said. "But, we haven't seen high numbers yet. We've had about 90% of kids coming in. Everyone here at the schools has been doing a lot to try to keep kids well. I sent out a communication to the staff and they're good about talking to kids about hand washing and such, plus the maintenance staff is on watch. We're ready for when the flu season is at its worst, which is usually mid-January through February." Oxby's tips for preventing the flu are: -proper rest, -good nutrition, especially a good breakfast and -avoiding excessive touching, especially faces. "Try not to be in each other's faces," she said. "We kiss our kids goodnight and there's nothing wrong with that, but in this season be careful not to spread something." Even if they do everything right, a child can get sick and may be contagious. Oxby said the three symptoms to watch for when your child wakes up in the morning are: -vomiting, -a cough, or -a fever, especially 100 degrees or higher. "The viruses out there are not necessarily flu. A cough or fever can be a lot of things. We've even seen some strep," she said. "Use common sense and pay attention to your kids. When they wake up sick, espeContinued on page 2 CONNECT WITH US: NETedition ... pressdispatch.net/edition Facebook .... facebook.com/pressdispatch E-Mail .......... news@pressdispatch.net