The Press-Dispatch
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Local ...........A1-8 Sports ............ B1 Classifi eds ..B2-4 Church ........C1-3 Home Life....C4-6 Obituaries....... C7 History ......... C10 School.......... C11 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, June 5, 2019 Volume 149 Number 24 Phone 812-354-8500 Petersburg, IN 47567-0068 (USPS 604-34012) $ 1 Three sections 24 pages Six inserts See RIVER on page 3 See CONTR ACT on page 2 See JAPAN on page 2 Splash park hijinks Karleigh Smitson, 6, braces as her brother, Trevor, 9, squirts her with water guns at Kiefer Splash Park at Horna- dy Park in Petersburg. It opened on Memorial Day weekend. The splash park is open during all hours that Horna- dy Park is open. Dispute leads to three arrested on meth charges By Andy Heuring Two people were arrested for dealing meth and one on possession of parapher- nalia after police were called to investigate a verbal dispute Sunday afternoon. Alexis Brock, 22, of 1033 E. Glezen St., Petersburg, was arrested on preliminary charges of possession of meth less than five grams, a level 6 felony, dealing in meth, a level 5 felony, possession of paraphernalia, and possession of a controlled substance, Damien Mans, 23, of 1658 E. Arthur Church Rd., Winslow, was arrested on charges of dealing in meth, a level 5 felo- ny, and possession of paraphernalia. Andrew Swain, 23, of 311 E. Seventh St., Huntingburg, was arrested on a charge of possession of paraphernalia. Officer Scott Arnold said he was dis- patched to 211 W. Main St. to investigate a verbal dispute. When he arrived, he talked with Swain, patted him down and found a large bulge in his pocket. Swain said it was a glass meth pipe. According to Arnold's report, Swain told him there was more in Damien Mans' truck. Arnold also talked with Alexis Brock and his report states Brock told him she had a bag of meth in the truck. Inside that bag, Arnold said they found two smaller bags containing less than a gram of meth, a digital scale and a yellow pill identified as Clonazepam. Swain and Brock were both taken to the Pike County Jail. Arnold's report states both Brock and Swain said there were more drugs in Mans' truck. It also stated Brock told police she and Mans were going to Crane to sell their last quarter gram of meth. Another search of the truck located a blue tin with multiple twist ties, several baggies, a flashlight containing a trace of a green leafy substance believed to be mar- ijuana, a glass pipe with a white crystal-like substance, and a scale with a similar sub- stance on it. The scale had Mans' name on it. They also found a blue broken glass pipe with residue in it. All three were taken into custody at the Pike County Jail. By Andy Heuring "There is finally light at the end of the tunnel," said Brittany Har- bin. She is River Harbin's moth- er. She and Zach Harbin have watched their four-year-old son, River, fight through a longer tun- nel in his brief life than most se- niors have had to endure through the decades. The light at the end of the tun- nel is a heart transplant operation River received last Wednesday. "At about 4 p.m. on Tuesday, May 28, the transplant coordina- tor called me. It was just about 40 minutes after I had left the hos- pital. They booked an operating room time for 4 a.m. on the 29th. So I just turned around and head- ed back to the hospital," said Brit- tany. It was the news for which she and many others throughout the United States had been praying. River had been on the transplant list for 98 days, since December 2. Zach was in Martinsville on his way to Indianapolis, so they met up at Riley and got ready for the 4 a.m. surgery. It took nine hours to complete. "He is doing exceptional. Al- ready sitting up and eating, and exceeding the doctors' expecta- tions like he always does," said Brittany. On Tuesday, River moved to the cardiac step down unit. He is scheduled for a heart catheteriza- tion on Friday. Brittany said the catheterization is to make sure his new Hero heart is not reject- ing. "If he continues progressing as quickly as he is, he will be dis- charged Monday. Our family will have to stay in Indianapolis for the week due to several appoint- ments, but very hopefully, we will be under one roof in time for Fa- ther's Day. River's recovery has yet again exceeded the doctors' expectations! " While those 98 days were long, they were far from the first things River has had to survive prior to his fourth birthday on March 12 and since. River was born on March 12, 2015. He was born with a heart condition called cardiomyopathy; he was given only an 18 percent chance of survival before birth. Because of that condition, he was born in Indianapolis and di- rectly taken to Riley Children's Hospital, where he was immedi- ately a known fighter for his life. "He still proves to be a fighter," said Brittany. River had open-heart surgery at seven days old and was listed on the 1A heart transplant list. A fter six weeks, he improved so much, he was released from the hospital to go home with his family. He has had many checkups with his doc- tors at Riley's over the last three years, along with managed outpa- tient care and daily medications at home. His latest stay at Riley Chil- dren's Hospital has now been since December 2, 2018. He has had multiple surgeries, one with a Berlin Heart being placed and ECMO due to his heart not work- ing well enough for survival. His struggles are a testament to his strength and will to fight. So far, he has endured a brain bleed, kidney failure, collapsed lungs multiple times, RSV, and many other complications all through the 2018 holidays and his fourth birthday until today. Since December 2, 2018, Riv- er has had two open-heart sur- River Harbin receives his new heart By Andy Heuring Pike County Commissioners, during their Monday morning meeting, ended their contract with Alan Tegmeyer for mow- ing two cemeteries. Part of their disagreement stemmed from a misunderstanding. The commissioners told Tegmeyer they had received complaints about the mowing of Old Town in Petersburg and Coleman Cemeteries. "What is your concern? " Tegmeyer asked the commissioners. Commissioner Ryan Coleman said he went down to the Coleman Cemetery dur- ing the second week of May and "it wasn't mowed." Tegmeyer said he is only allowed to mow it two times a month. "It was knee high," said Coleman. "We have been getting complaints from relatives," said Commissioner Mark Flint. Tegmeyer said Coleman was wrong about it being knee high, because he had mowed it before Memorial Day. He also asked if they had pictures of it because he knew he had mowed it and it wouldn't be that high. Flint asked, "You aren't going to take the commissioner at his word." "He is wrong" said Tegmeyer. The discussion then switched to Old Town Cemetery in Petersburg near the el- ementary school. Commissioner Coleman asked Tegmeyer if he mowed the bank at the Old Town Cem- etery, from the cemetery down to Highway 356. "Just the cemetery, like the contract says," said Tegmeyer. He said it was unsafe to mow the bank be- cause of traffic on Highway 356. He added, "That has never been mowed." He then told them when he started mow- ing for the county, Brian Davis was com- missioner. He said, at the time, Davis told him to only mow the bank one time a month or spray it. Tegmeyer also complained that he isn't allowed to mow in the month of April. He said, especially this year, the cemeteries needed to be mowed in April. "Let me give you a little history. Before I was commissioner, I mowed that for four years and I mowed the bank," said Coleman. Disagreement leads to end of mowing contract for two cemeteries By Andy Heuring Petersburg Mayor R.C. Klipsch returned home from a week-long business trip to Ja- pan on May 26. Consul-General Naoki Ito invited Klipsch to travel to Japan to meet with business ex- ecutives, government leaders and Japan- America organizations. The Japan Founda- tion Center for Global Partnership invited and paid for the expenses of this business development trip to strengthen relations between Pike County and Japan. "The Petersburg/Pike County-Japanese relationship has been ongoing for nearly five years with Pike County's vision to at- tract new business and create more jobs," said Klipsch. During the week, Klipsch traveled to To- kyo, Japan, and Kitakyushu, Japan, where he toured Nippon Steel Yawata Works. He also met with members of Kitakyushu Chamber of Commerce for a traditional Jap- anese dinner to share about the opportuni- ties of investing in Pike County. Upon Mayor Klipsch's return, he indicat- ed it was a remarkable trip and "they treat- ed us very well and appreciate us taking the time to visit and learn more about Jap- anese culture. I had the exciting opportu- nity to meet with the Japan Vice Minister of Foreign A ffairs, the Japan Foundation and the Japan External Trade Organization ( JETRO) to discuss business relationships between our two countries. I delivered the same message to the various groups that Mayor Klipsch goes to Japan to meet business, government leaders Brittany and Zach Harbin are with their son, River Harbin, following his heart transplant surgery that was completed last Wednesday at Riley Children's Hospi- tal, in Indianapolis.