The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1067030
The Press-Dispatch Local Wednesday, Januar y 2, 2019 A- 5 • For the first time since 2007, the Pike Central High School girls' cross country team advanced – as a team – to semi-state after placing fifth in the IHSA A Region 16 Girls' Cross Country Meet at Prides Creek Park. Sopho- more Libby Stone placed 20th individually to lead the Lady Chargers. • Pike Central High School sophomore Ijaa Chambers and senior Draven Huff ad- vanced to semi-state for the second straight year after they both posted top-20 fin- ishes during the IHSA A Re- gion 16 Boys' Cross Country Meet at Prides Creek Park. • Pike Central High School junior Ethan Scott and se- nior Christian Benson were named to the Pocket Athlet- ic Conference's boys' soccer All-Conference Team. In addi- tion, Chargers seniors Austin Holder and Hayden Kabrick received honorable mention as field players while junior Noah Whann received hon- orable mention as goalie. • A two-day trial for neglect of a dependent resulted in a not guilty verdict for 32-year- old Ashleigh (aka Ashley) Ar- nold, of 241 E. Harvest Lane, Petersburg. Arnold was found not guilty of the charge of ne- glect of a dependent, a Level 6 felony, after the jury heard testimony from three law enforcement officers at the scene, a 911 dispatcher and family members, plus record- ings of the 911 call by the chil- dren. They also listened to a recording of an apology call made by Arnold on Dec. 25, 2017, to Deputy Sheriff Ja- son McKinney. The origi- nal criminal action was filed on Jan. 2, 2018, following a Christmas Eve call to central dispatch by the eldest of the three children in the Arnold home. When officers arrived on the scene, they found Ar- nold slumped over and unre- sponsive in the garage. The officers found Arnold to have slurred speech, poor bal- ance, the strong odor of alco- hol, bloodshot eyes, and oth- er typical signs of alcohol in- toxication. Arnold contended, during her testimony, that she had not been drinking, but had taken a dose of Zzzquil at around 10 :15 p.m. She also said she clearly remembered that at 10 :52 p.m., her ex-hus- band had looked in the garage and told her he was leaving. • Pike Central High School's Charger Brigade placed ninth during the 2019 Indiana State School Music Association's Marching Band Scholastic Finals. The Char- ger Brigade finished in the top half of the 19 bands com- peting in Class B, which lim- its bands to no more than 55 participants. South Vermil- lion placed first in Class B, followed by Evansville Me- morial, Washington, Salem and Corydon Central. • Pike Central High School senior Kyle Williams was se- lected for Academic All-State honors for 2018 by the Indiana High School Tennis Coaches Association. A total of 75 In- diana high school boys' ten- nis players were chosen as Academic All-State, while 96 more were awarded honor- able mention. Williams was the first Pike Central boys' tennis player to receive IH- STeCA Academic All-State honors since Morgan Ste- phens in 2005. Josh Bowman also received Academic All- State honors in 2002. • Pike Central High School senior Kelsey Barrett and ju- niors Morgan Houchins and Shelby Vaughn received hon- orable mention accolades when the Pocket Athletic Conference's girls' soccer All-Conference Team was an- nounced. NOVEMBER • A big turnout turned in- to a big election night for Re- publicans as the GOP won ev- ery county-wide race in Pike County except for sheriff, which Democrats have held every term except one since 1958. Kent Johnson out-polled Republican challenger Frank Coleman 2,894-2,344 to suc- ceed Jeremy Britton, who chose not to seek re-elec- tion. In other county-wide races, Republican Judy Wood Gumble defeated Democrat Jody Hoover for Auditor; Re- publican Jeff Harting defeat- ed Democrat Lida Robinson for Recorder; Republican Mark Flint defeated Demo- crat Heath Scraper for Dis- trict 2 County Commission- er; Republican Randy Har- ris defeated Democrat Dar- en Cook for District 1 County Councilman; and Republi- can Danielle Houtsch defeat- ed Democrat incumbent Cin- dy Ridao for Jefferson Town- ship Trustee. In a non-parti- san school board race, Forrest Manning defeated two-term incumbent David Waltz. In addition, Richard Brews- ter, Debbie Lamb and Josh- ua Popp were elected to the Winslow Town Council. • The Pike County School Corporation's Board of Trust- ees approved a four-percent wage increase for all admin- istrators and non-certified personnel during its regular monthly meeting. The pay in- creases – which were retroac- tive to the start of the 2018 - 19 school year – followed on the heels of a similar pay in- crease awarded to the school corporation's certified staff as part of a collective bar- gaining agreement that was approved during the school board's October meeting. The last time Pike County School Corporation employees re- ceived a wage increase was a two-percent pay bump dur- ing the 2011-12 school year. A fter wages remained un- changed in 2012-13, employ- ees saw their wages decrease by three percent in the 2013- 14 school year. In 2014-15, wages returned to the 2012- 13 level and had remained un- changed in the 2015 -16, 2016 - 17 and 2017-18 school years. • Pike Central High School volleyball senior Becca Crow was selected for Academic All-State honors for 2018 by the Indiana Coaches of Girls Sports Association, while se- nior teammate Alyssa Jenkins received honorable mention. • The Pike County Council said 'no' to another $250,000 needed to build an event cen- ter at Prides Creek Park. The Pike County Park and Recre- ation Board's request for an additional $250,000 died for the lack of a second. The Park and Recreation Board, in con- junction with the Pike Coun- ty Economic Development Corporation, had received a grant to build an event cen- ter at Prides Creek. Howev- er, bids for the project came back about $200,000 high- er than estimated at a cost of $ 825,000. • A homeless man was ar- rested on a charge of rape af- ter threatening texts sent to his victim prompted her to call police and report the as- sault. Roger Roach-Philpot, 46, formerly of Beaver Dam, Ky., was arrested by U.S. Mar- shals in Kentucky on a war- rant from Pike County. The warrant was for a Level 3 fel- ony charge of rape, which car- ries a sentence of three to 16 years in prison. Roach-Philpot was accused of raping a wom- an in June while she worked with him to clean up a trail- er lot in Minnis Trailer Court. The woman told police she didn't report the rape because she was afraid of Roach-Phil- pot. However, when she re- ceived threatening text mes- sages that he wanted to rape her again, she called police. • Winslow Town Council- man Greg Simmons passed away. The 53-year-old Sim- mons, who was defeated in his bid for re-election earlier in the month, had been suffer- ing from cancer. • The Indiana Depart- ment of Education released school accountability grades based on the 2017-18 ISTEP+ test. Among the Pike Coun- ty School Corporation's four schools, the grades for Pike Central High School (B), Pe- tersburg Elementary School (C) and Winslow Elementa- ry School (C) remained the same while Pike Central Mid- dle School saw its grade de- cline from a B in 2016 -17 to a C in 2017-18. The Pike County School Corporation as a while saw its state school grade im- prove from a C in 2016 -17 to a B in 2017-18. • Pike Central High School senior Natalie Bohnert signed a National Letter of Intent to swim and play golf at South- west Minnesota State Uni- versity, a NCA A Division II school located in Marshall, Minn., which announced ear- lier this year that it was rein- stating its women's swimming and diving program, starting with the 2019 -20 season. • A woman was arrest- ed on dealing meth charg- es after she pushed a jailer to the floor while being strip searched, grabbed a bag of drugs off a table, and attempt- ed to flush them down a toi- let. Tera Jo Nalley, 31, of 302 W. Williams St., Fort Branch, was arrested on preliminary charges of dealing in meth, at least 10 grams, a level 2 fel- ony; possession of meth, at least 28 grams, a level 3 fel- ony; dealing schedule I, II or III controlled substances; bat- tery-no injury, victim is a pub- lic safety official, a level 6 fel- ony; obstruction of justice, a level 6 felony; resisting law en- forcement; trafficking with an inmate, a level 5 felony; and possession of marijuana. • Two Pike Central High School football players – se- nior Braxton Rice and junior Connor O'Neal – received honorable mention on the Pocket Athletic Conference's All-Conference Team. Rice was awarded honorable men- tion accolades as an offen- sive lineman, while O'Neal received honorable mention as an offensive end. DECEMBER • The road project called "Priority Number One" by lo- cal economic development officials received the back- ing of both the Pike Coun- ty Commissioners and the County Council, which both passed resolutions supporting the project. It is a $5 million project that will widen and im- prove CR 300 N, from High- way 61 to the Indiana South- ern rail crossing. The Pike County Highway Depart- ment is applying for a grant that will pay 80 percent of that cost, which would make Pike County's portion of it $1.046 million over five years. • The Pike County Public Library celebrated its 95th birthday. The celebration came as the library's cur- rent director, Stephanie Raw- lins, is working toward an $ 800,000 expansion for the library building. Her expan- sion plan adds 3,200 square feet, and the new library floor plan would include a geneal- ogy room, reading lounge, study room, computer room, community office, children's activity room, family room and, of course, book sections for adults, teens and children. • A Pike County mother of four children died from injuries sustained in an ear- ly morning traffic accident near Oakland City. Mary A. Russell, 29, of 3031 SR 61, Winslow, died after being trapped in her car underwa- ter. According to the Gibson County Sheriff's Office, Rus- sell was driving west on High- way 64 in her 2009 Chrysler Sebring when she attempt- ed to slow for traffic that was stopped for a previous acci- dent. Deputy Bruce Vanoven said Russell appeared to have applied her brakes and lost control, spinning about 180 degrees before sliding across eastbound traffic and then off the roadway into a large ditch, overturning. • Pike Central High School senior Abigail Sutt was one of more than 600 high school cheerleaders and dancers from across the nation that represented the camp brand of Varsity Spirit in the fourth annual Varsity Spirit Spec- tacular at the Walt Disney World® Resort in Orlando, Fla. The individuals invit- ed to perform in the parade were part of a select group of ninth to 12th grade cheer- leaders who attended a Varsi- ty Spirit summer camp this summer hosted by the Nation- al Cheerleaders Association. Sutt received the honor of be- ing named an All-American Cheerleader, landing her a position in this year's parade. • Solar Sources, which has been active in Pike County since the 1970s, was recently purchased by White Stallion Mining, LLC, which plans to open and re-open several mines in the area and nearly double coal production over the next three years. Steve Chancellor, chairman and CEO of White Stallion Min- ing, said they purchased 51 percent ownership of Solar Sources back in April 2017. Then, in October, they pur- chased the remaining por- tion. • Pike County native Stan- ley Nelson, a veteran of the Korean War, was named an Ambassador for Peace by the Minister of Patriots and Vet- erans A ffairs, Republic of Ko- rea. He received the honor on his 87th birthday. It is one of many medals he earned dur- ing his military career. • Pike Central High School senior Natalie Bohnert set yet another school record during a home meet against Evans- ville North. Bohnert placed first in the 100 -yard breast- stroke with a time of 1:14.30, breaking the previous school record of 1:16.50 set by Mis- sy Barnes in 1984. With the 100 -yard breaststroke record, Bohnert – who broke her own school record in the 100 -yard butterfly earlier in the sea- son – also holds the school records in the 200 -yard free- style, the 200 -yard individual medley, the 50 -yard freestyle, the 100 -yard freestyle, and the 100 -yard backstroke, as well as the 200 -yard medley (with Cass Conder, Maya Freder- ick and Brittany Young), and the 200 -yard freestyle relay and 400 -yard freestyle relay (with Quin Bailey, Maya Fred- erick and Young). Bohnert al- so broke the school record in the 500 -yard freestyle as a freshman in 2016, which was later broken by Maya Freder- ick in 2017. • A Taswell man was found guilty in Pike Circuit Court of dealing meth in the Pe- tersburg Little League Park. A 12-person jury took only about 10 minutes to deliber- ate before returning a guilty verdict after hearing two days of testimony. Jason McMickel, 41, was accused of driving his van and buddy, Jason Atkins, 41, of Birdseye, to the Little League Park to meet Nati- sha Branum, who was acting as a confidential informant. Atkins told the court he had made arrangement for him- self and McMickel to sell two grams of meth to Branum for her mother. He testified he only had one gram of meth, so McMickel gave him an ad- ditional one to sell. • A Petersburg man was ar- rested on charges of domes- tic battery and domestic an- imal cruelty after being ac- cused of shoving his ex-girl- friend and killing her two pet bearded lizards. Dakota Bay- er, 20, of 6383 N. Veale Dr., was charged with shooting his ex-girlfriend's pet beard- ed lizards after she left him. OCT. 3 — Rides and fireworks lit up the Petersburg skyline Saturday night during the Buffalo Trace Festival on Main St. The above photo is a compos- ite of night-time exposures. The festival featured fireworks as well as free rides and free concerts. Main St. was packed with people most of the day and evening as families and individuals took advantage of free activities. Eric Gogel photo OCT. 10 — Steve Nichols (front) of Austin, Texas, and Jim Dickerson, of Pe- tersburg, look at pictures of Winslow High School basketball teams and visit with each other during the triennial Winslow High School Alumni weekend. Displays in the Winslow gym and a chili supper in the cafeteria were provid- ed on Friday evening. NOV. 21 — 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 Festi- val Friday night. Continued from page 4 RECAP DEC. 5 — Mr. and Mrs. Claus were in the Saturday Winslow Christmas pa- rade. They rode in a beautifully made gift-hauling sleigh. After the parade they spent time at the Winslow Nazarene Church Mouse House event. For- mer Winslow residents Ed and Deb Lemond were Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus. James Capozella photo