The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1228200
A-2 Front Wednesday, April 1, 2020 The Press-Dispatch yeah, it's that fast! net edition Z M www.PressDispatch.net/Subscribe The Press-Dispatch. No matter where you live. eLEARNING Continued from page 1 JACEY Continued from page 1 Birmingham, Alabama attorney Robert Norris helps injured claimants, nationwide, collect cash benefits from Asbestos Trusts. "No representa- tion is made that the quality of legal services to be performed is greater than the quality of legal services performed by other lawyers." Insulators, pipefitters, electricians, welders & other laborers who built or maintained the Special trusts have been set up by vendors and suppliers of the Petersburg Generating Station to pay asbestos victims. If you built or helped maintain the Petersburg Generating Station before 1982 you may have been exposed to asbestos - and not even know it. You could be entitled to multiple cash settlements without going to court, filing a lawsuit, or even leaving your house. If you built or helped maintain the Petersburg Generating Station, and have been diagnosed with Lung Cancer (even if you are a smoker) - or Esophageal, Laryngeal, Pharyngeal, Stomach, Colon, or Rectal Cancer or know someone who died from one of these cancers, call 1-800-478-9578 Free Claims Analysis www.getnorris.com/asb Nationwide Service PETERSBURG GENERATING STATION Lung Cancer • Other Cancers 8–7 • Monday 8–noon • Tuesday 10–7 • Wednesday 8–5 • Thur. & Fri. Dr. Clint Shoultz 715 S. 9th St., Petersburg 812-354-9400 Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and CDC advice, we are compelled to limit patient contact, but are still here for eye health issues and emergency situations. Routine check-ups and eye exams will be re- scheduled once the state of emergency is lifted. If you have glasses or contacts to pick up contact the office for arrangements. If you have an emergency or eye health issue, call us at 812-354-9400. Thank you for your understanding! Locally Owned and Operated RESCHEDULING ROUTINE EXAMS fun to see again," she said. Although she still has plenty to do during the pan- demic, Fears is ready to get back to chasing her dream, the reason she moved to New York in the first place. She said it was her time in theatre at Pike Central with Vance Hays that inspired her. "I joined swing choir my freshman year and immedi- ately started doing plays and musicals. Mr. Hays noticed quickly that it was some- thing I really loved to do, so we spent a lot of time talk- ing about different plays, about acting and the arts. He definitely mentored me through it, and I think real- ly treated me more serious- ly than other high school teachers would have," she said. "He's stayed in touch with me since then and kept track of where I'm at in my career. I wouldn't have made it here without him. I don't think I would have found the love for it without him show- ing me and mentoring me." Fears is working towards starting her own stand-up act, and said her next big goal after that will be to ap- pear on television as a com- ic. She fondly remembered how she first came to love comedy–watching T V with her dad as a kid. "Seinfeld is the first thing that comes to mind. My dad and I watched it a lot," she said. "I'm going to expose my dad as being a goof to the local newspaper, but he would always quote the shows we watched. He has a knack for remembering the best bits of the things we watched together. We'd be standing in the living room and acting out bits from Seinfeld or Barney Miller... and I remember getting older and starting to under- stand why these things were actually funny. That was so exciting to me." A fter she graduated from Pike Central in 2015, Fears took a bachelor of arts cur- riculum at Western Ken- tucky University, where she quickly saw she would need to get serious if she wanted to have a chance in the per- forming arts. "A lot of my peers went to performing arts high schools, so they'd already been studying things I hadn't heard of," she said. "It was a lot of work to catch up: reading about theatre history, learning acting techniques. But I'm grate- ful for that now, because now studying is something I like to do." In addition to studying like mad and homing in on her craft as a comic, Fears also made connections with many people in the arts com- munity, and worked several theatre internships, such as a summer at Celebration Barn and Theatre in Maine right after her college grad- uation. "It (Celebration Barn and Theatre) is a hub for phys- ical comedy–some slap- stick, but a lot of clowns, ac- tually. I spent a lot of time with circus folks there and fell in love with that," Fears said. "And it is literally an old racehorse barn up in the mountains in Maine. A mime bought it in the 70s and converted it to theatre space. There's some cabins on the property, so people can come up to the moun- tains to learn, and work and write together." Fears came out of her summer at Celebration with a show of her own that she directed for a multiple-day performance at the Louis- ville Fringe Festival later in 2019. "The artistic director there, Amanda Huotari, helped me nourish that proj- ect... That's when I started to realize I could actually do things professionally and kind of on my own without a teacher." The next step was to find a place to work and live, and Fears ended up with a place in Brooklyn, a job in Man- hattan, and another intern- ship–this time with an off- Broadway company called The New Group, where she helps with development and fundraising. New York, she said, was a big change. "I had to start walking and talking faster in New York; that was the biggest thing I noticed. And I miss trees and cornfields, and the miles of nothingness. Some- times." However, she said, "Everyone here is constantly moving towards something, which is great, but nerve- wracking. Everyone has a big dream...I can feel every- one around me dreaming and working towards some- thing. It's stressful, but it's exciting." Looking back, Fears of- fered encouragement to any- one else who's on the fence about chasing a big dream in a small town: "I think coming from where we come from, grow- ing up in Pike County, you don't think about this kind of career being an option. But it absolutely is," she said. "We live in a time where we can learn whatever we want to learn, whenever we want to learn it. So make art now, wherever you are. Art is im- portant everywhere. Don't be afraid to do what you can where you're at." A New York City subway car, often filled to standing room only, is empty during the city lockdown. Hoosier Boys State in In- diana has been cancelled for 2020 due to the risks of CO- VID-19. "Since 1937, Hoosier Boys State has enjoyed great suc- cess as one of the premier children and youth pro- grams sponsored by the American Legion, Depart- ment of Indiana. However, this year has brought about a pandemic event unlike anything we have seen in our lifetime. The Coronavi- rus is a very serious world- wide event that has forced us all to make tough, but re- sponsible decisions," said Scott Weyler, director of Hoosier Boys State. "As the program direc- tor of Hoosier Boys State, I am speaking on behalf of the board of directors. A f- ter consulting with Jennifer LaRose, our contact person at Trine University, a mutual decision has been reached. With tears in my eyes, re- garding this year's program, I regret to inform you that Hoosier Boys State is can- celed for 2020." Pike Central's delegates this year were to be Sam Haycraft and Hunter Rus- sell. Weyler added, "I have been in contact with De- partment Commander Al- len Connelly and Adjutant John Crosby concerning re- imbursements to sponsors as soon as possible. Thanks to all members of the board, the enrollment committee and American Legion De- partment of Indiana Posts. Also, a very special thanks to our dedicated staff. We will assemble in 2021 to make the 83rd Hoosier Boys State truly 'A Week to Shape a Lifetime.' Stay safe and healthy. Good Luck! " Hoosier Boys State cancelled A vehicle was disabled when it hit a dog near Ar- thur on Tuesday morning. Jill Bieker, 52, of Hunting- burg, was driving her Ford Explorer west on Highway 64, when the dog ran out in front of her near CR 550 S. and Muren Church of God. Pike County Deputy Sher- iff Brad Jenkins said the im- pact with the dog damaged Bieker's radiator. The dog was owned by Mark Mc- Clure. It happened at 10 :01 a.m. Bieker's vehicle had to be towed. She was uninjured. Impact with dog disables vehicle tions. "We just want to make it convenient for parents. If their child goes to Winslow or Pike Central and they happen to be in Petersburg, they can drop it there. What- ever is most convenient," said Blake. She said another way for those who may not have a good internet connection is to get online and down- load the assignment. They can then log off and do the work, then take a picture of the work that has been do- ne and send that to their teacher. "Our high school was al- ready on one to one with a majority of our teachers and students interacting through Google classroom. That is now being done at home." The spring schedule of yearly events like prom, the Spring Fling and grad- uation are all in flux, mak- ing it more difficult for planned renovations to the high school gym. It will be getting new bleachers and paint, which is scheduled to start in June and limits the school's flexibility for scheduling both graduation and prom. Graduation was originally scheduled for May 22. With the state waivers and eL - earning days, Pike Schools are still scheduled to gradu- ate on May 22. "I'm optimis- tic we will be back on May 4. If not, we will finish the next two weeks, May 4 to 15, on the same pattern of three days each week and then ask for a waiver of school on May 18 -22, and that would be the end of school," said Blake. Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb, on Tuesday, in a statewide online news con- ference, said he would be an- nouncing in 48 hours about the status of Indiana schools returning on May 4.