The Press-Dispatch
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Age Excellence Age Excellence 3194 A combined Years serving the County See page A-7 Local ........ A1-12 Sports .........B1-5 Classifi eds ..B7-9 History ......... B10 Church ........C1-3 Home Life....C4-6 Obituaries....... C7 School.... C10-11 E. Gibson ..... 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 Wednesday, February 20, 2019 Volume 149 Number 8 Phone 812-354-8500 Petersburg, IN 47567-0068 (USPS 604-34012) $ 1 Three sections 34 pages Five inserts See ASSESS on page 2 See PLUNGE on page 2 See PROJECTS on page 2 Mini cheer camp An excited Piper Thompson talks with Teytum Fenwick during snack time of the Pike Central Mini Cheer camp on Saturday. About 70 girls from age four to fifth grade participated in the afternoon camp. They were taught how to do cheers, chants, jumps and builds by Pike Central cheerleaders. They also played fun games like duck, duck, goose and Simon Says, and had snacks. The Polar Plunge in Petersburg is set for noon, Saturday, February 23 at Prides Creek Park. It is the fifth year for the event at Prides Creek. Francie Smith, of the Special Olympics Indiana, said they have a goal of 200 this year. On-site registration will take place on the beach at Prides Creek beginning at 10 a.m. EST. Advanced registration is avail- able at www.PolarPlungeIN.org. Pre-reg- istration is not required. The Polar Plunge is the Special Olympics Indiana's signature fundraiser. It features individuals and teams braving the elements of winter to take an icy dip to demonstrate their commitment to the cause. All funds raised directly benefit current and future Special Olympics athletes. "We recognize that this is a special mo- By Andy Heuring The Petersburg Boy Scouts have a new project planned that will give every resident of Petersburg a chance to participate and help to feed the needy of the community. Scoutmaster Larry Haycraft said the Scouts are working with Somebody's Place, the Petersburg Jay C Foodstore and the City of Petersburg. He said the Jay C Foodstore gave them 2,000 plastic bags. The Scouts are going to go around Petersburg on Saturday, March 16 and hang a plastic sack on the door han- dle of every house with a note. The note will be asking people to make donations of non- perishable goods. Haycraft said the idea is that people will put non-perishable items into the sack and then hang it on their doors or put on the steps to their doors on Saturday, March 23. The Scouts will return on March 23 to collect the sacks. These items will be then be given to Somebody's Place. "We are hoping this will help them for at least six months or more," said Haycraft of the project. "We are trying to make leaders out of them." He said in most cases, the Scouts probably won't make contact with home- owners, but he hopes they have to talk with some, just so it teaches them to inter- act with people. "My father always told me, 'To be a good leader, you must be a good servant. If you can't serve people, you can't be a good lead- er.'" Aileen Grubb, with Somebody's Place, said they welcome the food drive. "We are holding our own, but we will absolutely use a can of whatever anyone gives." She gave a short list of favorites peo- ple like. It included boxes of macaroni and cheese dinners, canned fruit, peanut but- ter and boxes of cereal. Scouts collecting food items for Somebody's Place Polar Plunge Saturday at Prides Creek By Andy Heuring There are two major projects scheduled for the next two years in Petersburg that may cause some traffic headaches. One is a complete redo of Highway 61, from Main St. to the Meadowbrook neighborhood, and then a resurface out to the White River. The other project is the Main St. Streetscape project that will start at High- way 61 and proceed south, redoing the curbs, sidewalks and street lights. The Highway 61 project is scheduled to start in 2020 with utility relocations and then actual construction taking place in 2021. It will include "full depth pavement removal and replacement" along with curb, and gutter and new storm sewer installa- tion. It also will include redoing the side- walks. "It is a big deal," said Petersburg Mayor R.C. Klipsch. He explained full depth pave- ment removal and replacement is just what it sounds like. They are going to dig down through the numerous layers of blacktop that have been laid over the last 80 plus years to the dirt base. Two major road projects set for Petersburg area By Andy Heuring Pike County Commissioners voted to ad- vertise for bids on a small parcel of land that amounts to only a few square feet during their 12-minute meeting Tuesday morning. The parcel is next to a parking lot the county owns behind W&V Auto. A next door business is interested in the property. County Attorney Val Fleig said the mini- mum bid would be the assessed value plus the cost of surveying the property. He said the bids will be public bids and bidders can raise their bids after they are opened. In other business, Tony Cochren, with GAB Insurance, warned the commission- ers there would be some price increases in their liability insurance. He said they are projecting about a two percent increase. He said that would increase the county's cost from the current rate of about $ 86,000 to about $ 92,000. EMS Director Chris Young told the com- missioners he did not advertise to hire a new EMT. At the last meeting, he request- ed permission to advertise for a new EMT. He said a current EMT was going to quit to take a different job. However, he said, since then, that employee changed their minds and wants to stay. Commissioner Assistant Kristi Disch- inger asked the commissioners for permis- sion to hire another part-time person for the trash collection sites. She said one of the employees they hired won't be able to start for a while. She requested they hire Delbert Shimer part-time to fill in until then. They approved her request. "So you still have a pool of applicants? " asked Ryan Coleman. Dischinger said she had some and was still receiving more. "I didn't see any rea- son not to continue to accept them. We might need them in the future." The next commissioners' meeting will be at 8:30 a.m. Monday, April 1 in the court- house auditorium. Commissioners warned of price increase for insurance By Andy Heuring Flooding continues throughout Pike County, especially along the White River. It crested last Wednesday at 25.6 feet at Pe- tersburg, which places it in the top 20 all- time crests recorded for the White River. On Tuesday the White River at Peters- burg was at 22.52 feet at 5:30 p.m. EST. It was predicted to continue to fall about a foot each day until it reaches 18 feet on Feb- ruary 24. It was supposed to be at 20 feet on February 21. This is about the point the White River crosses Highway 257 at the Pike-Daviess line. It is predicted to fall below flood stage at 16 feet by February 26. Pike County Emergency Management Agency Director Ryan Benner got out the county's new high-tech item, a flying drone. Benner flew the drone over flooded areas to check on potential damage in those areas. He said on he could see considerable white- caps as the water rushed over River Road. The drone was purchased last summer in August. He actually has two. One is a larg- er, faster drone mainly to be used outside, while the other is a smaller drone that can be used inside a building. Benner said the county was able to pur- chase the drones with private donations from Texas Gas, Farm Bureau Inc. Peters- burg Kiwanis and Benner & Co. "The coun- ty hasn't paid a dime for them." The drones give the county more capabil- ities for search and rescue. It also allows to them do assessments like he has been do- ing with the recent flooding. Benner said the drone will fly 44 mph so EMA director uses drone to assess flood damage Pike County Emergency Management Agency Director Ryan Benner launches the county's flying drone in the White River bottoms on Monday. He used it to survey and take pictures of flooding in the area. See additional flooding pho- tos on page A-3.