The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1212075
Local ����������� A1-8 Age of Excel A6-9 Sports ��������� B1-5 School ����������� B3 Opinion ������� B4-5 East Gibson ���� B6 Classifieds ��B7-10 Church �������� C1-3 Home Life ��� C4-7 Obituaries ������ C7 History ����������� C8 WHAT'S INSIDE: Phone: ���������������������812-354-8500 Fax: ��������������������������812-354-2014 E-Mail ����editor@pressdispatch�net NEWS TIPS: PIKE PUBLISHING Wednesday, February 19, 2020 Volume 150 Number 8 Phone 812-354-8500 Petersburg, IN 47567-0068 (USPS 604-34012) $ 1 Three sections 28 pages Three inserts See SCHOOL on page 2 See COUNCIL on page 2 See INSUR ANCE on page 2 Easter is quickly approaching. Easter Sunday is April 12. Sever- al local churches are having Ash Wednesday services on Wednes- day, February 26 to mark the be- ginning of Lent, which his six and a half weeks prior to Easter Sun- day. STS. PETER & PAUL CATHOLIC CHURCH Ash Wednesday, Feb. 26. Fast- ing and Abstinence. Services: 8 a.m. EST mass and ashes at Sts. P & P. For Bl. Sacrament - Bene- diction 6 p.m. CST and Mass 6:30 p.m. and ashes. Lenten Breakfast will be Satur- day, March 7, 8 a.m. at Sts. Peter and Paul Social Hall. ALFORD UNITED METHODIST CHURCH There will be an Ash Wednes- day service Feb. 26 at 6:30 p.m. Everyone is welcome. HOLLAND U.M. CHURCH Wednesday, Feb. 26, 6 p.m. Ash Wednesday service. ZOAR U.M. CHURCH Wednesday, Feb. 26, 7 p.m. Ash Wednesday service. WINSLOW CHRISTIAN CHURCH Ash Wednesday service at 6 p.m. on Feb. 26. Everyone is wel- come to attend. Area churches prepare for Ash Wednesday Potts injured in Monday crash A Petersburg woman was injured Monday morning when the SUV she was driving crashed into the back of a slow-moving semi-truck. Chelsea Potts, 31, of 109 S Eastwood Dr., complained of arm and neck pain. She was tak- en to the hospital by Pike County EMS. Pike County Deputy Sheriff Jason McKinney said Austin Begle was driving the semi-truck and had pulled from Division Road. He was driving south when he saw Potts' vehicle ap- proaching and hit the back of his trailer. Deputy McKinney said the collision occurred about 200 yards south of Division Road. Begle was uninjured and his trailer had minor damage. Potts had her seatbelt on and her two small children were secured in car seats. The chil- dren were uninjured. The accident happened at about 8 a.m. Above, Doug McDowell with the Patoka Fire Department spreads a quick dry to absorb liq- uids leaking from Potts' vehicle. EXCELLENCE EXCELLENCE A ge of See pages A6-A9 By Andy Heuring Pike County School Board approved 148 new computers for teachers, hiring a Fire Sciences instructor, as well as roofing and lighting projects during the meeting last week. The school board voted to hire a Fire Sci- ence instruction to handle 15 to 20 students in Fire Science 1 and then Fire Science 2. It passed by a unanimous voted, but not with- out concerns. School board member Chris McKinney expressed concern about where the classes would be conducted. "Where is this going to be housed? " asked McKinney. Superintendent Dr. Suzanne Blake said, "I think we have to look at contingency de- pending on where our numbers go. We have a site at Otwell Learning Center and the Pike Central site." "Right now, we don't have a Diesel Tech position. So it looks like Pike Central auto shop will be the location. If I suddenly get an diesel instructor, then we might have to look at the Otwell Learning Center. If that changes, we may have to revisit this," said Blake. "My question is, do we have to take on the responsibility of adding a new posi- tion? We don't have any of the startup costs. Looking ahead, what is the status of Ot- well? We just voted tonight to not put light- ing at Otwell. So I need to know, it might be PC or Otwell. To me, it can't be Otwell," said McKinney. Blake said there were still numerous variables in play on the Fire Science. "If we go to move forward. If we get a $100,000 grant from Community Foundations. If we get donations from people and businesses, who say if you start this program, I will do- nate to you. Everything is on hold until ei- ther we have a teacher or know the next step," said Blake. "I have a spot for a Fire Sciences teacher." She added, "I'm not saying it isn't going to cost us anything. But we have thousands contributed to us right now. We also have CTE incentive money available to us." "I understand, I just want to know it is going to be housed at Pike Central and not Otwell," said McKinney. 'I wouldn't move it to Otwell unless some- thing came up. I would come back to the board," said Blake. "It would have to be board approved," said McKinney. He added, "We still don't know the start- up costs. If we have 50 students and we have 30 pieces of gear, are we going to have to buy more pieces of gear? " "No, because the class can't have more than 15 kids," said Blake. She said, "Petersburg Fire Chief Ross Elmore said we can use anything in their fire house." It was eventually approved by a 5 -0 vote to hire Don Vaal as the Fire Science instruc- By Andy Heuring The County Commissioners voted to renew their liability in- surance and voted to advertise for mowing bids on two cemeter- ies during their Tuesday morning meeting. Tony Cochren of German Amer- ican Insurance said the county's bills were going up about $4,000 this year to $153,000. Cochren said explained vehicle liability is going up for all insur- ers, due to large vehicle liability settlements allowed recently. He said another factor is an increase in the value of the county's prop- erty. Cochren said an evaluation of all large older structures was being done. He said they didn't have the one for the courthouse completed yet. However, he said they were building in a 30 percent increase in so they cover any in- creases. Commissioner Jeff Nelson asked if they should wait until the evaluation was completed and Co- chren said the 30 percent would catch it. Cochren said it would be adjusted once the evaluation was completed. The commissioners also vot- ed to advertise for mowing of the Old Town Cemetery in Petersburg and Coleman Cemetery in Mon- roe Township. Commissioner As- sistant Kristi Dischinger said she made some minor modifications to the bid specs. She said it includ- ed the areas that are to be mowed and she added one more mowing. Coleman asked if they could County insurance to increase School board approves purchases, hiring, building projects By Andy Heuring Pike County Councilmen decided to de- lay using an expensive consultant to do re- search for them on their revenues and ex- penses. Instead, County Auditor Judy Gum- bel told them she could provide them most of the data the consultant would provide. Gumbel provided the first report to them showing revenue over several years and how it compares with this year. "My recommendation is to continue this data collection between now and the tax draw. We will be able to compile a lot of this data ourselves." Council president Jon Craig earlier had encouraged the county to seek a financial consultant to help the county determine the effect that losing $ 90 million assessed val- ue from IPL was going have on county rev- enues. However, after reviewing data from Gumbel he said, "My recommendation is to continue this data collection between now and the tax draw. We will be able to com- pile a lot of this data ourselves." He said the county has about $700,000 surplus on hand. "We were about $700,000 to the good. It was good news to see our boat is not sinking. We may be leaking and we have time to right the ship. I think this is a great work in progress," said Craig. "There are some things on here I think are excellent. Once we digest the trend on these numbers, then if we want to do fore- casting we can re-visit professional servic- es," said Craig. Councilman Greg Willis said they still don't know how much the "circuit breaker" rules would affect the county's revenues. Circuit Breaker legislation was enacted a few years ago in Indiana to cap how much property taxes could increase on an indi- vidual plat of property. "My thought is, once we collect taxes, we will have a pretty good handle on what that affect is going to be," said Willis. Councilmen decided not to hire Baker Tilly. Councilmen also voted 7-0 to approve hir- ing a new person at level 2 tier of a four-ti- er level in the Soil and Water Conservation District. SWCD board members Norman Dillon and Kelly Atkins said they lost the last person because she took a federal job that paid considerably more. They found a person who wants to work in Pike County and was willing to take the position. How- ever, they wanted her to start at tier two instead of tier one. The council had imple- mented a tier system so courthouse em- ployees would not start at the same pay rate Council opts to do research internally 4-H enrollment Kelli Jenkins works with Raeleigh McCracken as McCracken enrolls in 4-H online Saturday at the 4-H Round-up pancake breakfast in the 4-H Building. Enrollment for 4-H is underway and kids kindergarten through seniors in high school can enroll either online or at the Pike County Extension Office in the courthouse. There are 11 4-H Clubs with diverse interests in Pike County.