The Press-Dispatch
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Local �������A1-8 Sports �����B1-3 Classifieds B4-8 Church ����C1-3 Home Life C4-7 Obituaries ��C7 Gibson �����C10 School �����C11 History �����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, August 28, 2019 Volume 149 Number 36 Phone 812-354-8500 Petersburg, IN 47567-0068 (USPS 604-34012) $ 1 Four sections 28 pages Five inserts See PROJECTS on page 2 See DOG PARK on page 2 See HIGHWAY on page 2 See FESTIVALS on page 2 Petersburg Loogootee Washington 356 56 Fire destroys Milford house trailer An early Wednesday morning fire destroyed the house trailer where George and Barbara Milford lived. Jefferson Township Fire Chief Chris Young said when firemen arrived, the north end of the trailer where a bedroom was located was fully engulfed. They received the call at 5:20 a.m. Young said a neighbor called in the fire. He said Barbara was not a home Wednes- day morning and George had walked over to Circle A. Young said the parts of the trailer not damaged by the fire were damaged by heat and smoke. He said it appeared to have started in the north end of the trailer. "We haven't nailed down anything yet. It is being investigated by the Indiana State Fire Marshal's office," said Young. Firemen were on the scene for about two hours. They were assisted by the Petersburg Fire Dept. An Iva resident was seriously injured Monday afternoon when he lost conscious- ness and drove his van into a neighbor's house. Donnie Wiseman, 55, of 3616 N. CR 850 E., Otwell, was driving south on 850 E. when he ran off the road and collided with a house owned by Stanley and Con- nie Reed, according Indiana State Troop- er Ryan Johnson. Trooper Johnson said Wiseman told him he doesn't remember anything about the crash that happened at about 1:36 p.m. Monday. Johnson said Wiseman ran off the road, drove through a bean field for about 50 feet, and then hit the house that was about 35 to 40 feet off of CR 850 E. Nicole Query lived in the residence, but was not home at the time of the crash. Trooper Johnson said the impact of the 1997 Ford Econoline pushed the entire house about two feet off of its foundation, scattering and breaking belongings and snapping the water line to the house. Trooper Johnson said Wiseman was tak- en by ambulance to Deaconess Midtown, where he was still in the ICU unit Tuesday morning. Wiseman injured when van crashes into home By Andy Heuring A dog park in Petersburg ap- pears to be well on its way. They have raised more than $ 3,800 to- ward their goal of $5,000 to build the park. The dog park is the brainchild of Leadership Pike County. The group of young leaders partici- pating in an 11-month program through Purdue Extension came up with the idea. One of the participants was Ry- an Benner. His father owned a par- cel of ground on First St., across from Somebody's Place. He had planned to locate Benner and Co. at that location, but eventually went with another location. When he heard about the dog park, Ben- ner offered to donate the ground to the leadership group for the dog park. "He has been so generous to us. Without him, this wouldn't be a re- ality," said Holly Schutter. Schutter is a member of the Leadership Pike County group and has headed up the planning on the dog park. She said the park is going to be fairly simply. It will have a six- foot high fence around about a half acre. She said they plan on having a couple of benches with awnings or umbrellas over them for people to be able to sit in the shade while their dogs play. "We will have some things just to make it fun for the dogs. May- be a couple of fake fire hydrants," said Schuetter. It will also have a gravel park- ing area. Residents will be required to go to Petersburg City Hall with paperwork showing their dogs have all their vaccinations. This will get them a card similar to a credit card that will unlock the gate to the park. Schutter said they want to make sure all the dogs have vaccina- tions so diseases won't be spread from dog to dog in the park. She said they are working with the Indiana Housing and Com- munity Development Agency, which has offered them a match- ing grant if they can raise their goal of $5,000. There are a couple of ways peo- ple can donate. They can take their donations to City Hall. Clerk- Treasurer Tammy Selby said peo- ple can bring a cash or check to her for the dog park. They can al- so mark their donations for the dog park and leave them in the Dog park fundraising nears $ 5,000 goal By Andy Heuring September in Pike County and nearby will be a fun month filled with festivals and other activities. On tap for the month is the County-wide Yard Sale, Timeless Classics Car Show, Monroe City Fall Festival, Win- slow Festival and the Petersburg Buffalo Trace Festival. COUNTY-WIDE YARD SALE The County-wide Yard Sale is scheduled for Saturday, September 14. Anyone pur- chasing a classified ad in The Press-Dis- patch will be listed on a map of the yard sales. Typically, there are more than 40 yard sales on this Saturday. Ads start at $4 for 20 words. The deadline to place an ad is Monday, September 9 at 5 p.m. TIMELESS CLASSICS CAR SHOW The Timeless Classics Car Show at Gold- en Living Center in Petersburg is set for Thursday, September 19 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Music and food will be provided. They will also give out Residents' Choice Awards. The event is free to the community. Gold- en Living Center is located at 309 W. Pike Ave., Petersburg. MONROE CITY FALL FEST SEPT. 20-22 The Monroe City Fall Festival is set for Friday through Sunday, September 20 -22 and is based at the Blue Jeans Communi- ty Center. Friday night, they will have a spaghet- ti dinner from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., with food booths, vendors and inflatables. A dodge- ball tournament for all ages begins at 6 p.m. To enter the dodgeball tourney, call Lynette Benton at 217-246 -5051. BBQ will be available early Saturday. The Cowmuck Cookers will have BBQ from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. A pet parade is set for 10 :30 a.m., with queen pageants running from 2 to 4 p.m. They will have musical entertainment in the gym from 7 to 9 p.m., with fireworks be- ginning at dark. Sunday's events start with a Communi- ty Church Service at 10 :30 a.m. The Jeff Black Fish Fry will run from 11:30 to 1 p.m. A parade is set for 2 p.m. and the South Knox Band will perform at 3 p.m. For more information about the parade, call Donetta Cardinal at 812-890 -9681. WINSLOW FALL FESTIVAL SEPT. 21 Winslow's annual Fall Festival is set for Saturday, September 21. A new event for the Winslow's Festival is a kayak trip on the Patoka River. The Kayak Mafia is provid- ing kayaks for people to do a two-mile float from CR 350 E. down to Riverside Park. It will have the traditional events of the Light- up Winslow Parade, an all-day flea market, food booths, music, dunking booth, games, kiddie trains, inflatables, a tractor show, beauty pageant and a frozen T-shirt contest. This event gives each participant a free fro- zen "I chilled out at the Winslow Commu- nity Festival" T-shirt. The contestant who thaws the T-shirt and puts it on first wins. BUFFALO TRACE FESTIVAL SEPT. 27-28 The festival will again be on Main St., Pe- tersburg, between Fourth and Ninth Sts. Yard sale, car show, festivals highlight September activities By Andy Heuring Petersburg is in the middle of two major infrastructure projects. They are replacing the water plant, which is currently the old- est operating plant in Indiana. Mayor R.C. Klipsch said the current plant was built in 1934. They are also working on expanding their wastewater treatment plant. "The water plant funding has been ap- proved and committed. It is in the design phase," said Klipsch. The wastewater treatment plant is being reviewed by the Rural Development divi- sion of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Klipsch said he is hopeful they can get a grant to help with the cost of the wastewa- ter treatment plant. The new water plant did not receive a grant. Rural Development offered a low- cost loan to Petersburg to help fund the project. It is projected to have a cost of about $12 million; however, those num- bers aren't finalized yet as it is still in the design stage. Some features of the water treatment project include a new water treatment fa- cility, plus a new water well in the well field and a storage tank near the I-69 exchange. Klipsch said Petersburg is blessed with a tremendous water supply. There is also de- mand for their water. Pike-Gibson, which purchases a large portion of their water from Petersburg, is in the process of ex- panding their system. Consequently, they will need more water. "We have the water, but we have to be able to treat and deliver it," said Klipsch. The wastewater treatment project is now City water, sewer plant projects take step forward Preliminary route alternatives are shown in red. A new multi-lane highway is being con- sidered for southern Indiana. The proposed highway route is being called the Mid- States Corridor. A project has begun to ex- amine the concept of an improved highway connection that will start at the William H. Natcher Bridge, over the Ohio River, from Highway 66 and head north through Du- bois County, and eventually tie into I-69. Dubois County business leaders have been calling for an improved connection for them to I-69. The Mid-States Corridor Region- al Development Authority and the Indiana Dept. of Transportation are in the process of completing what they call the Tier 1 En- vironmental Impact Statement, which is to determine a preferred corridor. According to the Mid-State Corridor RDA, the study will include: • Analysis and comparison of benefits, impacts and costs of a range of reasonable options to identify a preferred corridor for the proposed facility. • Assessment of the social, economic and environmental impacts of each corri- dor, along with the consideration of ways to avoid, minimize or mitigate impacts. • Identification of the project's purpose and need, and consideration of a variety of options to meet both, including improve- ments to and use of existing facilities and construction of new roadway facilities. • Analysis of a no-build alternative to serve as a baseline for comparison. • Public involvement, including opportu- nities to participate and comment. • Coordination and consultation with lo- cal, state and federal agencies. The projected timeline is that Tier 1 of New multi-lane highway being considered Emergency personnel work to extricate Donnie Weisman from his van after it crashed into a house on CR 850 E. Monday afternoon. Weisman was taken to Deaconess Midtown, where he was in the intensive care unit on Tuesday. The impact pushed the residence about two feet off the foundation.