The Press-Dispatch
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Local ........ A1-12 Sports .........B1-6 Opinion .......B7-8 Classifi eds B9-11 Church ........C1-3 Home Life....C4-8 Obituaries....... C8 School.... C11-12 E. Gibson C13-14 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 BUILDINGS on page 2 Wednesday, September 12, 2018 Volume 148 Number 37 Phone (812) 354-8500 Petersburg, IN 47567-0068 (USPS 604-34012) $ 1 Three sections 36 pages Nine inserts See FESTIVALS on page 2 By Andy Heuring This weekend will be full of ac- tivities as The Winslow Fall Festi- val is set for Saturday, along with the Petersburg City-wide Yard Sale and the Monroe City Fall Festival. WINSLOW FALL FESTIVAL Winslow will have a full day of musical entertainment culminat- ed by the Light-up Winslow pa- rade at dark. Events will be at two locations at Center and Main Sts. downtown, and also at the Riv- erside Park. The Lions Club will have breakfast available in River- side park starting at 7 a.m. until 11 a.m., when lunch will be served. Sign-ups for karaoke will start at 8 a.m. and run throughout the day the karaoke contest starts at 4 p.m. A kayak run starts at the new Patoka River bridge at 8 a.m. and takes out at Riverside Park. Live music in the park will run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., with Low- ell Thomas performing from 10 a.m. to noon. Common Ground will perform from 1 to 4 p.m. There will be an inflatable slide and games all day in the park, as well as a tractor show and flea market. Also at noon, the Lions Club will give out their yearly awards. In downtown Winslow, activi- ties begin when the Flea Market opens at 8 a.m. A special event will honor the fire fighters and police on 9/11 in New York City. The 9/11 Memo- rial Stair climb in the Communi- ty Center will be open from 8 a.m. to noon. "This Stair Climb commemo- rates the loss of 343 firefighters and 70 law enforcement members who died on Sept 11, 2001. The challenge is to retrace the ascent (and descent) of the 110 stories of the World Trade Center – this equals 60 'laps' in the Winslow Community Center bleachers," said Rebecca Popp, of the Pato- ka River Fitness Center, which is sponsoring the free event. She added, "The Stair Climb is a physically demanding activity in that the goal is always to achieve a climb (and descent) of 110 sto- ries. This distance is the equiva- lent distance of the height of the Festivals, yard sales highlight this weekend By Andy Heuring Between three and eight inch- es of rain fell on Pike County over the weekend, causing flood- ing and road damage, and being blamed for at least one accident. However, area farmers are get- ting some good news. The White River at Petersburg was original- ly projected to jump to above 23 feet, which would have devastated thousands of acres of crops ready to be harvested. That forecast has been reduced to a crest of 18.8 feet on Sunday. "That may be a little bit high," said Al Shipe, Hydrolo- gist for the National Weather Ser- vice in Indianapolis. Shipe, who has been monitor- ing and forecasting river levels on the White River for more than 30 years, said on Saturday, India- napolis had already received four inches of rain and the forecast was for another two to five inch- es. He said that is what prompted the 23-foot forecast. He said the two to five inches of rain for central Indiana didn't ma- terialize. Shipe said another fac- tor is the hardest rain fell in south- ern Indiana instead of central In- diana. "The hardest rain record- ed in the state over the weekend was at Huntingburg, where they had 9.5 inches," said Shipe. He said the fortunate thing about that is this was the driest area in the state. Flood stage at Petersburg is 16 feet, so the predicted crest is about three feet above flood- stage. It will still affect lots of farm ground, but it will not be as devas- tating as 23 or even 20 feet would have been. Much of the farm ground in the White River bot- toms floods at about 18 feet. So if the 18.8 is downgraded to near 18 feet, it will have even less affect. Shipe said the forecast doesn't' call for rain until Sunday or Mon- day, so that should allow for it to dry quickly. Pike County Highway Assis- tant Superintendent Josh Byrd said they were called out Satur- day night for a tree over a road. He said most of the culverts held up in this storm. "It must have fallen slowly enough that it didn't take out many pipes." It did wash out two large "tank car" culverts on County Road 150 N. located in Logan Town- ship. Byrd said the road will be closed until at least Thursday. He said they are hoping to have a large culvert delivered and put in place so they can reopen the road on Thursday. Rainstorms cause flooding, road damage, accident By Ed Cahill The Petersburg Common Coun- cil is one step closer to the demoli- tion of two downtown buildings as part of a blight clearance project. During its regular meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 5, the council held a public hearing regarding the need for the city to apply for a grant through the Indiana Of- fice of Community and Rural A f- fairs to finance the demolition of buildings located at 606 and 608 Main Street. According to those who spoke during the public hearing, the buildings – which the city recent- ly acquired with the intention of removing – are not only unsight- ly, but a threat to public safety as well. "I took it upon myself to enter this building about two years ago, when it was still relatively unsafe," said Petersburg resident Jim Gas- kins. "No, it's totally unsafe, and I recommend nobody go in it, at all." "What I'm afraid of is if we don't do something quick, it's going to end up laying out on Main Street," Gaskins added. "We clearly don't need to have that happen Sept. 28 or 29 this year," Mayor R.C. Klipsch replied, referring to the dates for the 2nd Annual Buffalo Trace Festival. "That scares me to death." Former Petersburg Mayor Ran- dy Harris told the council that he had looked into buying one of the buildings approximately 12 years ago. "I slipped through a floor, up to my waist," Harris said. "One of the upper level floors had just rot- ted out." "So you're suggesting it hasn't gotten any better? " Klipsch asked. City closer to razing two Main St. buildings Petersburg 38 sales Y ard S ale Pike Central COMMUNITY FESTIVAL Winslow PAWS PET ADOPTION PAGES CONTINUE THIS WEEK. SEE PAGE A-6. SATURDAY • PAGE B-12 FRIDAY • PAGE C-11 SATURDAY • PAGE A-4 Storm damage repair Crews work to prepare the road sides and stream bed for culverts that will be installed on CR150N in Logan Township. Two large tank car culverts were washed out over the weekend in heavy rains. The road is expected to be closed through Thursday, when culverts are expect- ed to be delivered and installed. Pothole patching crew David Gayhart and Steve Nelson, of the Winslow Street Department, were out shoveling cold mix into potholes on Monday. Above they put mix into holes at the intersection of Walnut and Lafayette Sts. Gayhart said they had about 16 tons of mix to put out this year.