The Press-Dispatch

April 29, 2020

The Press-Dispatch

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Local ��������������������A1-12 Sports ��������������������A8-9 Classifieds ���������� A10-11 Home Life ��������������B1-3 East Gibson ���������������B3 Obituaries �����������������B4 Church �������������������B5-7 History �����������������B8-10 Opinion ����������������B9-10 WHAT'S INSIDE: Phone: ���������������������812-354-8500 Fax: ��������������������������812-354-2014 E-Mail ����editor@pressdispatch�net NEWS TIPS: PIKE PUBLISHING Wednesday, April 29, 2020 Volume 150 Number 18 Phone 812-354-8500 Petersburg, IN 47567-0068 (USPS 604-34012) $ 1 Two sections 22 pages One insert See R APE on page 2 See COVID-19 on page 2 See SURVIVOR on page 2 By Andy Heuring A Petersburg man is facing a charge of rape and sexual battery following a January incident involving a group of people who were drinking together. David A. King, 58, of 1342 E. CR 550 N., Petersburg, was arrested on April 21 by Pike County Deputy Sheriff Paul Collier on a charge of rape, a level 3 felony, and sexual battery, a level 6 felony. According to a probable cause affidavit, a Princeton woman went to the Pike Coun- ty Sheriff's Department on Sunday, Jan- uary 12 and told police King had sexual- ly assaulted her while she was passed out from drinking too much beer on Wednes- day, January 8. According to a probable cause affidavit, Deputy Collier interviewed the alleged vic- tim, as well as Paula Adams, Terry Jones, Brian Pride and King. They said all of them had gathered at Jones' residence on Doane Lane, Peters- burg, and were drinking. Adams said the alleged victim had passed out, but was still sitting upright on the couch, with King be- side her. She said King fondled the wom- an's crotch and put his hand up her shirt. Adams said she told King to stop, but King refused to and said he could do what- ever he wanted. Pride, according to the affidavit, told po- lice he was there, and both the alleged vic- tim and King were there, but he said he didn't notice anything happen. Jones said Adams, Pride and King were there. He said after King had "put his hands down her britches," the others left. Jones also said Pride had left the residence be- fore it happened. Jones said King picked up the alleged vic- tim and carried her into a bedroom. Jones, according to the affidavit, told police he saw King take the woman's pants off and heard the woman tell King to get off of him, that he was hurting her. Then about 15 to 20 minutes later, he said King came out of the bedroom. Jones said he got mad and told King he had to leave. Deputy Collier also interviewed King. During the interview, according to the af- fidavit, King said he had not been to Jones' house for a while, he thought a month or two. According to affidavit, Collier told King multiple people had seen him at Jones' res- idence with the alleged victim. King then said he remembered seeing Jones "not too long ago. He said he couldn't remember if the alleged victim was there, and added, "if she was, what's the big deal? " King responded, "If you are asking if I did anything sexual, the answer is no." He said he never touched the woman who ac- cused him. King told police the woman went into a bedroom and he asked if she was okay and King charged with rape, sexual battery Paving in Pike County started Monday Pike County's Highway Department started paving Monday morning on CR 200 N., east of Otwell. They were pav- ing to the Pike-Dubois county line. Above are: Curt Russell, Mitch Pancake (operating the paver) and Terry Hawkins. By Andy Heuring Pike County voters will see numerous changes this year. Not only are there the changes due to the impact of COVID-19, such as election day being moved, but al- so voters in Pike County will be facing big changes including when, where and how they vote. Election day voting will take place on June 2 instead of the traditional first Tuesday after the first Monday in May. Because of COVID-19, voters are being al- lowed to vote by mail. This can be done by calling the County Clerk's Office at 812- 354-6025 and requesting an application for a ballot by mail. The application must be filled out and returned to the Clerk's Of- fice by May 21. Even if the COVID-19 pandemic hadn't hit, voting in Pike County was going to be drastically different. Pike County is switch- ing to voting centers instead of polling plac- es at each precinct. Instead of going to vote at a poll in the person's precinct, voters can now vote at any of the three voting centers. Those cen- ters right now are expected to be the Otwell Community Center, Gospel Center Church in Petersburg and the Winslow Communi- ty Center. The other option is to vote early in person at the Pike County's Clerk's Office. This op- tion is usually available for a month prior to the election. But this year, it will only be from May 26 to June 1, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Monday through Friday. Then on Satur- day, May 30, from 8 a.m. to noon, and again on Monday, June 1, from 8 a.m. to noon. Pike County Clerk Lana Griffith said she doesn't expect a very heavy turnout in the primary. Voting will be much different this year Schools continue to provide two meals a day Pike County Schools, with the help of donors, are continuing to provide meals to school-age children. Above: Mi- chelle Aydelott, Amanda Hickman and Brittney Tyring take food out to a vehicle. The schools are providing two meals a day for about 500 kids. They have pickup at several locations throughout Pike County from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The meals are prepared and distributed by the schools' cafeteria staff and volunteers. By Andy Heuring Pike County's one and only confirmed case of COVID-19 is now off quarantine and glad to have it behind him. Petersburg resident Gary Graves is the name attached to the "1" that shows up in Pike County on the Indiana COVID-19 map. He said it was a tough couple of weeks, but his faith was a big factor in getting through the time. He said it was a combination of both feared exposure and symptoms that led him to worry he had COVID-19. His broth- er-in-law, Mike Burns, a Pike County na- tive, lives in Daviess County and works at a long-term care facility. "It was about the time COVID-19 talk was exploding. He was afraid he might have picked it up and would transmit it to residents of the facility," said Graves. Burns checked with health authorities and told him his concerns. At that time, they said he didn't meet the qualifications to be tested. A few days later, Memorial Hospital in Jasper told him to come over and be screened to be tested. Graves drove him over to the testing cen- ter. He still didn't meet all the criteria to be tested. Burns said he was worried about all the people he was surrounded by in the wait- ing room at the testing facility, even though most of them were wearing masks. Burns was tested for a few things, such as pneu- monia, but not COVID-19. He was given By Andy Heuring Pike County remains the only county in Indiana to have just one case of COVID-19, while every other county has at least four con- firmed cases. Indiana appears to be headed toward some loosening of regulations. Last Friday, Governor Eric Holcomb announced certain elective medical procedures can now be done. He said on Friday, May 1, he will an- nounce Indiana's plans for moving forward. On Tuesday, Dr. Lindsay Weaver, Chief Medical officer of the Indiana State Depart- ment of Health, announced Indiana will open 20 new test centers throughout the state next week. Two of those centers will be located in the area: one in Jasper and another in Vin- cennes. That number will increase to 50 new centers by mid-May. Once those sites are up and running they will be able to test 6,000 people a day and 30,000 a week. The locations of the second 50 sites have not been determined. Dr. Weaver said they will be targeted in areas where they have the most need for the testing. The testing will be free. However, if a per- son has private insurance, they want that per- son to bring their insurance information. Dr. Kristine Box, Commissioner of the In- diana Dept. of Health, has issued an order to allow anyone with COVID-19 symptoms to get the testing. Holcomb was asked during his Tuesday press conference why the state was getting ready to start reopening when the largest number of cases in single day had been re- ported. On Monday they had 963 new cas- es reported. Holcomb said while the number of new confirmed cases had increased, other num- bers such hospitalizations were continuing to decrease. He said the number of ventila- tors in use was dropping, as was the number of ICU beds. Dr. Kristine Box said they expected the number of new cases to increase because more people are being tested. County Health Nurse Amy Gladish said ev- erything in Pike County is pretty much the same this week as last. Holcomb said they are looking to start opening businesses and services in a gradu- al manner. He said those businesses won't be Gary Graves remains county's only COVID patient State awaits decision Friday from governor concerning restrictions

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