The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1064171
A-2 Front Wednesday, December 19, 2018 The Press-Dispatch GRANTS Continued from page 1 $201,900 for paving through a Community Crossing award. That grant work, like the one Winslow received, will be coordinated with the city utility cuts, accord- ing to street superintendent Ross Elmore. It will be ad- vertised for two weeks, with bid opening on January 22. The third grant received was the $150,000 Own- er Occupied Housing Re- hab which involves seven qualified homes in need of improvements. Bids were opened from two compa- nies, one of which bid on just five of the properties. Bids ranged from $19,470 to $27,620 from K and K Con- struction, of Odon, while KD Mendenhall, of Bloom- field, ranged from $24,807 to $54,490. It was reported that health and safety issues would be the first items falling un- der the rehab program and that $21,965 per housing unit was the goal of the pro- gram. One contractor's av- erage cost was more than $ 30,000 per unit, while the low bidder averaged about $25,000. Klipsch informed the council that a $2400 lien needed to be placed on the 626 S. Fifth Street proper- ty. The council voted unan- imously on a motion by Bri- an VanMeter. The county transferred ownership of the 206 S. 4th Street prop- erty, which has a $ 3,600 lien placed on it. Klipsch reported the county tax draw had been received and the everything was up-to-date. Clerk-Trea- surer Tammy Selby said she was doing end of year stuff and also needed approval for her bond, which Klipsch said would be $150,000. It was unanimously approved by council board members Bertis Jenkins, John Melhis- er, Gary Leavitt, Brian Van- Meter and Petersburg Coun- cil President Fran Lewis. Under Code enforcement updates, Enforcement Offi- cer Kyle Mills stated three vehicles had been moved by the owners, but he had "20 more to go" on his list. Mills also advised residents of the dangers of leaving packag- es outside and unprotected on porches. Under Fire De- partment updates, Peters- burg Chief Ross Elmore ad- vised against overloading circuits, use of extension cords and leaving tree lights unattended. Elmore reported that man- ual meter reading was tak- ing a lot of time and installa- tion of new meters was pro- gressing. He stated the one- way sign had been placed on Goodlet Street. The lift sta- tion work at the Petersburg Elementary school has start- ed but not yet complete, ac- cording to Elmore. Elmore said they needed to add an employee to the de- partment around the first of the year. He also stated that the sewer system infiltration problem was still being ad- dressed and that substantial progress had been made. El- more said work on man hole infiltration was taking place in front of the Dollar Gener- al Store. He added that through the use of a camera, it was found that Prides Creek was leaking into the city line at Fourth Street and probably other sites. The upcoming sewer project has a camera system in the grant to assist in detecting those types of infiltration sites. Council appointments for 2019 included Gary Leavitt to stay on Redevelopment and Solid Waste Boards and Fran Lewis to stay as representative with Indiana 15 Regional Planning Com- mission. Several individuals from the Pike County Lead- ership Program attended the meeting as a part of their Chamber of Commerce and County Extension assign- ments. Klipsch said he was glad to have the young peo- ple involved and showing interest in how city govern- ment works. In the Water Company meeting, claims were report- ed to be going the right way, noting that radios were a big item this time. Two leak ad- justments were addressed during the Board of Public Works and Safety. Donald Horrall had an outside fau- cet running on Pike Avenue and had a $148.93 adjust- ment. Troy Thomas, of Al- ford St., received a $242.45 adjustment for a leak at the meter. Klipsch discussed a pos- sible Christmas decoration contest in the city next year and reported that city street light decorations had been repaired and placed up and down Main Street between 9th and 12th streets. He said the Scarecrow compe- tition was a success during that holiday season and he thought Christmas would be another good time to have a decoration contest. There was a discussion about the Santa House on 7th Street and also a report on a group researching the Wabash Erie Canal locally. Klipsch suggested that the histor- ic Wabash Erie Canal could become a project, such as a walking and hiking trail. Next Petersburg council meeting is Jan 7 at 6:30 p.m. Water Board is at 6 p.m. and Board of Public Works and Safety is at 6:15 p.m. 1050 WERNSING ROAD • JASPER 812-482-5141 • TOLL FREE: 1-800-686-1444 HOURS: MON-FRI 9AM-8PM; SAT 8AM-4PM SALES TEAM Dave Luegers, Kyle Dauby, Jeff Teder, Mark Gudorf, Eddie Luegers, Sam Beach, Woody Fischer, Valerie Lange, Stephanie Martin, Scott Crump, Jace Gordon www.bobluegers.com Shop 24/7 at VISIT BOB LUEGERS PRE-OWNED CENTER for a great selection of more than 100 pre-owned vehicles in inventory. MODEL YEAR-END CLEARANCE EVENT UP TO BUICK SAVE $13,000 on a New 2018 GMC Sierra 1500 Crew Cab! * *SEE DEALER FOR DETAILS. Single $275 $230 Student/Senior $225 $180 Husband/Wife $460 $405 Family $635 $520 NOW 1-year Membership specials 604 E. Illinois St., Petersburg 812-354-1303 Mon-Thur:10am-7pm Friday:10am-6pm Saturday: 10am-1pm Gift certificates are available and make a great gift! Christmas savings Special e gift that keeps on giving Like us on Facebook! Merry Christmas from... TANNING SPECIAL 2 Months Tanning on any bed $60 What's your New Year's Resolution? Take advantage of this special and come get healthy with us in 2019! By Andy Heuring Three men were arrested on theft charges after a sur- veillance camera allowed po- lice to identify a truck going onto a property in southern Pike County. Alan D. Finney, 49, of 420 Division St., Oakland City; Daniel R. Goodman, 41, of 10311 S. CR 675 E., Elber- field; and James Norrick, 28, of 431 E. Columbia St., Oakland City, were arrest- ed on charges of burglary, a level 5 felony, theft, more than $750, a level 6 felony and criminal trespass. The investigation began several weeks ago when Donald Pancake contacted Pike County Deputy Sheriff Jason McKinney and asked him for some extra patrol in the area. He said some- one had stolen parts off his antique tractors, including manifolds, radiators and oth- er metal items. McKinney told Pancake he would try to keep an eye on the property, but he should install surveillance cameras. On November 22, Pan- cake called McKinney and said the cameras he had in- stalled had taken pictures of people removing items from his property. Then on December 4, Pancake's son called McKinney and said they had pictures of a black truck with black rims and a black Baha rack behind the cab on it coming onto the property empty and leaving with several items in the bed of the truck. Donald Pancake said he drove around Oakland City and located a truck match- ing that description. Deputy McKinney and Sheriff's Sgt. Dallas Killian went to Oakland City and watched the truck, which was parked at the Cozy Cove. A fter about 20 min- utes, a truck drove up next to the truck and Finney got out. McKinney, in his report, said he and Sgt. Killian ap- proached both Finney and the driver of the truck. McKinney said the driv- er of the truck, James Cole- man, said he was just trying to help Finney get his truck started. Coleman was al- lowed to leave. According to the proba- ble cause affidavit, McKin- ney said they asked Finney if he knew why they were look- ing for him and he said he probably did. The probable cause states when police asked Finney if he knew anything about stolen property out of Pike County he said he did. It continued that when they said they had his vehi- cle on camera going in and out of the property where items had been stolen, Finney said, "I knew that I was going to get caught." Finney told McKinney the items were taken from a property just east of the Ar- thur Junction. According to the affida- vit, Finney told police they took antique metal. He al- so told police Goodman and Norrick went with him and they had gone to the prop- erty to steal items several times before he started go- ing with them. According to the affida- vit, Finney said he had only been there three times and when they would go, they would "get as much as they could get in his truck." During questioning, Finney said they would take the stolen items to a scrap- yard at Ireland. He added they would split the money and he got about $150 each time. Finney was arrested at that time on the charges. Warrants were issued for Goodman and Norrick. They were arrested on those warrants on Friday, Decem- ber 13. Theft investigation yields three arrests SOLAR Continued from page 1 er portion of it. We should settle down in January to be more in the long-term pat- tern," said Chancellor. He said they have already increased their coal produc- tion to 3.3 million tons in 2018, which is up from 2.2 tons in 2016. However, when they get all the mines up and going, that number should nearly double to more the 6 million tons a year. He said the local offices in Petersburg will not be closed. However, "They are going to be reconfigured to eliminate duplications. We will locate some of them at the mines and change how they do maintenance." Pike County native Stan- ley Nelson recently received an honor from the Republic of Korea. Nelson, a veteran of the Korean War, was left for dead on the battlefield. He had been shot repeated- ly and beaten before he was later found. He lost his leg and recovered only after sev- eral months in the hospital. Nelson, who has five pur- ple hearts, was declared an "Ambassador for Peace" by the Minster of Patriots and Veterans A ffairs, Republic of Korea. Along with two medals, he was presented the Offi- cial Proclamation stating: "It is a great honor and pleasure to express the ev- erlasting gratitude of the Re- public of Korea and our peo- ple for the service you and your countrymen have per- formed in restoring and pre- serving our freedom and de- mocracy." "We cherish in our hearts the memory of your bound- less sacrifices in helping us reestablish our Free Na- tion." "In grateful recognition of your dedicated contribu- tions, it is our privilege to proclaim you an "Ambas- sador for Peace" with every good wish of the people of the Republic of Korea. Let each of us reaffirm our mu- tual respect and friendship that they may endure for generations to come." "I got this on my birthday (his 87th). I'm proud of it. It isn't a medal for honor, but for sacrifices," said Nelson. It is the second time he has been recognized by Ko- rea. In 2000, on the 50th An- niversary of the Korean War, he received a letter from Kim Dae-jung, president of the Republic of Korea. Nelson holds numerous medals from his military service. In addition to the five purple hearts, he also has a Silver Star, Occupa- tion of Japan Medal and Ko- rea Service Medal. He was also given the French Croix De Guerre Vermillion Star, which is the highest honor France can give to a non- French person. Nelson receives honor from Korean officials Storytime with Santa Laramie Teeters of Winslow gets close to Santa Claus as he reads Christ- mas stories to children at the Pike County Library in Petersburg on Saturday. Santa Claus was played by Tim Loveless during the event. By Andy Heuring An Evansville woman was arrested on theft, false informing and three other warrants from two different counties following an early morning traffic stop in Pe- tersburg. Megan L. Husk, 34, of Evansville, was arrested ear- ly Sunday morning on charg- es of unlawful possession of a syringe (prior), false in- forming and theft. Petersburg Police Cpl. Jared Simmons stopped a Ford Ranger that didn't have an operating license plate light at Locust Street and Highway 61. He said while talking to the driver, he no- ticed the smell of marijuana. Pike County Deputy Sheriff Jason McKinney, who was assisting, said he noticed the smell of marijuana on the passenger as well. The driver, Seth Walker, of Wadesville, passed field sobriety tests. However, dur- ing a search of the vehicle, officers found a hypodermic needle in Husk's backpack, along with three cellphones and a debit card belonging to Jesse Jefferies. Husk claimed the needle was from someone else. She said Jefferies had loaned her his card to buy cigarettes and she had forgotten to give it back to him. Husk first told police her name was Ashley Meridith. A fter police could not find an Ashley Meridith, she said her name was Eakins or Sal- lee. Again they couldn't find her in the system. However, when they turned on the three phones, one of them came up as Me- gan Husk. Another had Jes- se Jefferies' name and pho- to on it. Cpl. Simmons said he drove to the Jefferies' resi- dence and asked them about the phone and debit card. Jefferies said the phone was his girlfriend's and Husk wasn't supposed to have ei- ther the phone or the deb- it card. Police eventually matched Husk with BMV records and photos. According to Cpl. Sim- mons' report, they also found active warrants for her from Warrick and Van- derburgh counties. Husk arrested on multiple drug, theft charges