The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1232982
Local ����������A1-12 Sports ��������� A8-9 Classifieds A10-11 Church �������� B1-3 Home Life ��� B4-7 East Gibson ���� B5 Obituaries ������ B7 Opinion ������� B8-9 History ����������B10 Home and Garden ������������� C WHAT'S INSIDE: Phone: ���������������������812-354-8500 Fax: ��������������������������812-354-2014 E-Mail ����editor@pressdispatch�net NEWS TIPS: PIKE PUBLISHING Wednesday, April 8, 2020 Volume 150 Number 15 Phone 812-354-8500 Petersburg, IN 47567-0068 (USPS 604-34012) $ 1 Three sections 34 pages Four inserts See COMMISSIONERS on page 2 See SCHOOLS on page 2 See COVID-19 on page 5 See TA X BILLS on page 2 INSIDE THIS EDITION Home & Garden Spring By Andy Heuring Pike County Commissioners approved no in-person paying of tax bills, approved mowing bids for two cemeteries and appropriat- ed more than $400,000 for paving during what they called a historic meeting. The commissioners met online via an internet connection to comply with Indiana's Stay-at- Home Executive Order from Gov- ernor Eric Holcomb. "This is historic. I don't like it," said Commissioner Jeff Nelson of the internet hookup. Each person participating in the meeting and observing it could hear each oth- er and speak as well. County Attorney Val Fleig re- quested all the votes be taken by roll call to prevent any confusion. County Treasurer Marta Query told the commissioners the prop- erty tax deadline has been extend- ed from May 11 to July 5. "I don't want people in my of- fice at all. So I'm trying to come up with how to deal with this. . . I'm out of ideas," said Query. Last month, the commission- ers voted to close the courthouse COVID-19 grip increases on county and state By Andy Heuring Pike County schools, nor any other schools in Indiana, will go back to school this year. Governor Eric Holcomb last week announced all schools will continue with eLearning for the remainder of the year. Pike County has already posted their schedule for school days until the end of the year. They will basically be doing eLearn- ing on Tuesdays, Wednesday and Thurs- days until their last day of school on Thurs- day, May 14. "I'm still holding out for graduation on May 22," said Pike County Schools Super- intendent Dr. Suzanne Blake. She quickly noted that may or may not happen, depend- ing on where the state and country are in the COVID-19 Pandemic. With the announcement of eLearning for the rest of the week, all Indiana High School Athletic Association sports have been cancelled for the 2019 -20 school year. Seniors who are enrolled in enough cred- its this semester to graduate in May will graduate, Indiana Superintendent of Pub- lic Instruction Jennifer McCormick said last week. That doesn't go for underclass students. She said they will continue on eLearning and distance learning on their individu- al schools plans. They will be graded on the work they do for the second semester. McCormick also said it is up to the local schools to determine if the students have successfully completed a grade level. It is not a decision the state will be making. Governor Holcomb said in making the decision to close the schools except for eL - earning, it was a safety issue and they could not, in good conscience, send kids back in- to the classrooms. Blake said she hopes to be able to sched- ule the Spring Fling for the middle school and prom for the high school, as well as Schools to continue eLearning all year; graduation exercises tenuous Pike County property tax bills will be in the mail no later than April 13. County Treasurer Mar- ta Query said the deadline on the bills is Monday, May 11. Howev- er, that deadline has been extend- ed by Indiana to Friday, July 10. "This means that you have until July 10, 2020, to pay your taxes, without incurring any addition- al penalty." However, Query said she and the state treasurer are en- couraging all taxpayers to make timely payments in order to en- sure orderly operations of local and state governments. The Courthouse is closed to the public and will remain closed until April 20, at which time the Commissioners will re-evaluate according to state-issued guide- lines. Property owners will not be al- lowed to pay their taxes in person in the treasurer's office. Query said the payment options are: to mail them in, pay by cred- it card over the phone and to pay online. • If paying by mail, include your check, money order or ca- shier's check, along with your tax coupon. Mail them to: Pike Coun- ty Treasurer, 801 Main St., Peters- burg, IN 47567. Query added, "Be sure to enclose your pre-printed tax coupon, otherwise you will Tax bills to be mailed by April 13 Commissioners meet online, discuss tax payments with courthouse lockdown Just killing time Jim Woods said he was just out killing time last week at Prides Creek. He said he was bored and decided to go fishing to have something to do. He was successful killing time, but said he hadn't had a bite all morning. Prides Creek is still open to the public for fishing, walking, biking and disc golf. However, camping areas,playgrounds, bathrooms and shelter houses are closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic Stay-at-Home order from the Governor. By Andy Heuring Pike County is one of only three counties in Indiana to have no confirmed cases of Coronavirus. Benton to the north and Per- ry to the east are the other counties with no confirmed cases. Pike County Health Nurse Amy Glad- ish said that only means there are current- ly no positive tests. "I'm sure we have it," said Gladish. According to the latest update by the In- diana Department of Health's website for COVID-19, only 11 people in Pike County have been tested. Again, Gladish said those are only the reported test cases. She said there are more people who have been test- ed and they are awaiting the results. She said that can take up to five days. Indiana is up to 5,507 confirmed cases with 173 deaths out of 2,864 people who have been tested. Marion County, which has Indiana's largest city, Indianapolis, has nearly half the cases with 2,141. The sur- rounding counties and Marion account for 3,371 cases. Gladish said people experiencing any symptoms should call their local doctors. They will connect them with the proper people to be tested. She said all the doctors are affiliated with hospitals. It is the hos- pitals that are doing the testing. She said people will be asked a series of questions about their symptoms to determine if they should be tested. Testing capability has been increasing. Gladish emphasized people should stay at home and stay away from other people. In the last few days there have been sig- nificant updates and a tightening of restric- tions on people's movements in Indiana. On Monday, Governor Eric Holcomb ex- tended the Stay-At-Home order which lim- its people's movement to only essential trips from their homes. It was issued on top of closing classrooms statewide and limit- ing all schools to distance and eLearning for the rest of the year. This prompted all Spring sports to be cancelled. On Monday, Holcomb closed all essential businesses to foot traffic, so all businesses now must operate like restaurants and bars. Gladish said on Tuesday local health of- ficials are still trying to "get more clarity on this order." Locally the Jay C Foodstore now will on- ly allow 100 people in the store. No more than one person from each family will be allowed in at a time. Other tightening included closing all Petersburg Elementary School staff Sara Fields-Teaching assistant, Ronelle Linneweber-Resource teacher, Anisia Burkhart-2nd grade teacher, Winnie Foster-secretary look through boxes for specific students assignment packets for the next two weeks. Parents drove into the parking lot and were lined up in multiple directions to get the assignments.