The Press-Dispatch
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Local ........ A1-10 Sports .........B1-5 Opinion .......C8-9 Classifi eds B10-11 Church ..... C1-12 Home Life....C4-7 School.........C8-9 E. Gibson ..... C11 Obituaries..... 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 PAR ADES on page 2 See CHARGES on page 2 Wednesday, November 21, 2018 Volume 148 Number 47 Phone (812) 354-8500 Petersburg, IN 47567-0068 (USPS 604-34012) $ 1 See COUNCIL on page 2 Four sections 44 pages Twelve inserts See ISTEP+ on page 6 Winslow councilman dies Wednesday Winslow Fall Festival fun Austin Vaughn lets fly in the bowling game at WES on Friday. It was one of the many games at Winslow Elementary School's Fall Festival Friday night. See additional photos on page A-3. By Andy Heuring The annual Christmas parades in Win- slow and Petersburg are set for Saturday, December 1. Santa will be in both parades and available in both towns after the pa- rade. The Winslow parade is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Saturday, December 1. Line-up is at 9 a.m. at the Winslow Fire Department on Union St. The parade will proceed from there to Main St., and then north to the Lit- tle League park. Other activities in conjunction with the parade include Santa and Mrs. Claus meet- ing children in the Nazarene Church Fel- lowship Hall following the parade. This will also be the location of the Mouse House, which allows kids to purchase inexpensive gifts for siblings and friends for between $1 and $5. Winslow will also have a Winter Wonder- land featuring numerous Christmas dec- orations and displays in the former Dime Store on Main St. It will be open on the day of the parade. PETERSBURG PARADE DEC. 1 The Petersburg Christmas parade, spon- sored by Discover Downtown Petersburg, Inc., will start at 3 p.m. on Saturday, De- cember 1. Line-up will be on Walnut St. in front of the Old Petersburg Gym and be- hind the courthouse on Walnut St. The pa- rade will go one block on Highway 61 to Main St. and then proceed south to Sec- Some changes in store for this year's Christmas parades Greg Simmons By Ed Cahill The Indiana Department of Ed- ucation released school account- ability grades on Wednesday, Nov. 14, based on the 2017-18 ISTEP+ test. Among the Pike County School Corporation's four schools, the grades for Pike Central High School, Petersburg Elementary School and Winslow Elementa- ry School stayed the same while Pike Central Middle School saw its grade decline from 2016 -17 to 2017-18. • Pike Central High School re- ceived a state school grade of B for the fifth straight year after com- piling an overall school score of 88.3 points. PCHS recorded 45.1 performance points, 95.4 growth points and 100.4 multi-measure points. • Pike Central Middle School saw its state school grade drop from a B in 2016 -17 to a C in 2017- 18 after compiling an overall school score of 72.7 points PCMS recorded 51.5 performance points and 93.8 growth points. • Petersburg Elementary School received a state school grade of C for the second straight year after compiling an overall school score of 73.1 points. PES recorded 53.1 performance points and 93 growth points. • Winslow Elementary School received a state school grade of C for the sixth straight year after compiling an overall school score of 78.3 points. WES recorded 53.0 performance points and 103.5 growth points. The Pike County School Cor- poration, as a whole, saw its state school grade improve from a C in 2016 -17 to a B in 2017-18 with a score of 80.0 points. PCSC record- ed 52.5 performance points and 95.2 growth points in grades 3-5, 45.1 performance points in grade 10, 95.4 growth points in grades 10 -12 and 100.4 multi-measure points in grade 12. "The results show that every- one in our schools worked hard during the 2017-2018 school year," Pike County Schools Superinten- dent Suzanne Blake said. "Two of our schools were less than two points from reaching the next higher letter grade. That's sig- nificant given the changes in our state testing guidelines over the past couple of years." "Achievement points were in the 50s for the most part, but Winslow Town Councilman Greg Sim- mons died last Wednesday, two days after being taken to the hospital. Simmons, 53, had been suffering from cancer. At the Monday, November 12 meeting, Town Councilman Terry Strobel had a prayer for Simmons prior to the start of the meeting. He said Simmons' wife had called him and said Simmons couldn't make the meeting because they had to take him to the hos- pital. Simmons was nearing the end of his term on the Winslow Town Council. He had sought re-election despite his ill- ness and had attended the second meet- ing in October. His obituary can be seen on page C-12. By Andy Heuring A rural Velpen man is wanted by police on a warrant for numerous charges follow- ing him stealing two vehicles, fighting with police twice and fleeing. Joseph A. Schaefer and two acquaintanc- es are now facing drug charges after Schae- fer fought with and fled police on Monday. Pike County Deputy Sheriff Buck Seger said he was dispatched to a report of a vehi- cle in the ditch on Cato-Winslow Road, near CR 200 S., at about 6:25 a.m. The caller ad- vised the vehicle appeared to be abandoned. Deputy Seger said when he arrived, he found Bruce Phillips, who had been driving the vehicle, and Schaefer there trying to pull him out of the ditch. Deputy Seger said a vehicle had a chain hooked to Phillips' vehicle. Seger recognized the second person as Schaefer from an inci- Velpen man sought on multiple charges ISTEP+ grades released for area schools Special Section Inside Winter Sports SHOPPING SPECIALS Black Friday A-4 and A-5 Shopping B-6 and B-7 Winter Sports By James Capozella A fter consideration of five em- ployee health insurance options researched by German American, the Petersburg council decided this past Monday against the renewal and voted unanimously for a poli- cy with an increased deductible. Renewal of the present policy that covers 15 employees would have in- creased by 10.95 percent, with cost rising from $221,220 to $245,436 per year. Instead of renewing at the in- creased rate, the council decided to go with a $2,500 deductible poli- cy which is 2.07 percent lower than the present cost. The SIHO Alter- native 2 at $216,636 is $4,584 less than the present contract, which is a $500 deductible. The difference in savings between the renewal rate of $245,436 and the council's choice of $216,636 (Alt 2) is $28,800. There was an agreement be- tween Mayor R.C. Klipsch, council- men Bertis Jenkins, John Melhiser, Gary Leavitt, Brian VanMeter and City Attorney Brian Mahoney that the $500 deductible was a thing of the past and too costly. Klipsch said that the city could change health in- surance on a monthly basis if need be but not other types of insurance. Klipsch wanted to explore the Health Savings Account (HSA) concept, as did Melhiser, during the discussion prior to passage of the motion to choose Alternate 2. Melhiser made the motion with the caveat that it's possible to change the policy and add HSA in the fu- ture. Jenkins seconded the motion and it passed unanimously, with council president Fran Lewis ab- sent. INFRASTRUCTURE CONCERNS There was a discussion and pre- sentation by Klipsch concerning the 12-inch main water line that runs from the plant to town. The mayor said, during the water com- pany meeting, that before the water improvements are in place, there is a concern about the condition and ability to find and repair a leak on that line. Klipsch said he found out that there was not sufficient timber to harvest, but the growth on the line would make it difficult to ser- vice the line. He reported an es- timate of $ 9,500 to clear the area above the line and make it possible for an access road; however, dam- age could occur to the line. Coun- cilman Gary Leavitt commented that if the ground were frozen, it could preclude any damage. It was learned that the line ran south for about 1,000 feet. Jenkins said the line was very old and could become a problem. DEPARTMENT UPDATES Petersburg Fire Chief Ross El- more announced two new fire de- partment members, Austin Kend- all and Ryan Benner. He said both were already trained and the two brought the department up to over 40. He added there were some in that number that were not active and that he would be talking to Petersburg deals with insurance, water, housing Santa's house arrives Santa's house arrived just in time for Santa. Santa will see children following the Christmas parade from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, December 1. He will then be available from 2 to 4 p.m. on December 2, 8, 9 and 16. The San- ta House is sponsored by Deno's Sturdi Built Buildings, Willis & Co., GE Tree Service, Onyett Fabricators and the Pike County Public Library.