The Press-Dispatch

May 6, 2020

The Press-Dispatch

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A-2 Front Wednesday, May 6, 2020 The Press-Dispatch REOPEN Continued from page 1 716 Main St. Petersburg • 812-354-9372 Visit us at facebook.com/margeshallmark Hours: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday 9-5; Friday 9-6 Marge's Hallmark MOTHER'S DAY Gift Ideas New Arrivals for Mother's Day and Graduation • Willow Tree • Jim Shore • Precious Moments • Variety of Hallmark Cards, Gis, Invitations and Party Goods • Libs Candy & more Assorted Gis and Various Prices DOORS NOW OPEN! Curbside Pickup still available. Call 812-354-9372 • Gi Certificates Available • Over 30 New Fashion Styles (sizes small - 3x) • Over 200 Fashion Jewelry Pieces • Huge Clearance Section • ree Rooms of Shopping Fun! THIS MOTHER'S DAY, TREAT YOUR MOM WITH A GIFT FROM MAKE ME UNIQUE BOUTIQUE Hours: Tuesday - Friday 11-5 Saturday 11 - 2 (Pike County Time) Contact Us: Follow us on Facebook 711 Main, Petersburg Marisa Hayes 812-582-0850 Make Me Boutique Unique 242 S. SR 57 PETERSBURG Village Inn Belated MOTHER'S DAY BUFFET SUNDAY, MAY 16 $ 12 95 PLUS DRINKS & TAX Reservations a must, 812-354-9259 SETTINGS AVAILABLE AT 11 A.M. • NOON • 1 P.M. • 2 P.M. (Limit 50 people per setting) SERVING ASSISTED BUFFET: Chicken, Roast Beef, Ham, Salad Bar, Vegetables and Dessert Francisco woman escapes injury in crash near Alford Francisco woman es- caped serious injury last Fri- day when she hit a guardrail head-on near Alford. Renee E. Lashbrook, 64, of 307 E. Wood St., Francis- co, was driving east on High- way 356, just east of the I-69 overpass, when she ran off the right side of the road and hit the end of the guard rail head-on, causing her 1998 Buick Park Avenue to spin off and come to rest in the middle of Highway 356. Pike County Deputy Sher- iff Brad Jenkins said it was raining and the road was wet when the accident happened at 11:07 a.m. He said Lash- brook put on her brakes to slow and went off the road, hitting the guardrail. Laskbrook refused med- ical treatment. Her Park Avenue had an estimated $10,000 to $25,000 damage. A Petersburg woman es- caped serious injury and an Oakland City man was ar- rested after a trailer from the man's vehicle came loose and hit the woman's vehicle, causing it to go air- borne and overturn. Jarrod L. Bruce, 47, of 1338 N. CR 1200 E., Oakland City, was arrested on charg- es of possession of meth, op- erating a vehicle while intox- icated and possession of par- aphernalia, following the 1 p.m. accident last Wednes- day. According to the Indiana State Police, Maklaine Con- ner, 23, of Petersburg, was driving her 2008 Chevrolet Tahoe northbound on SR 57, just north of SR 64, near the Diplomat Motel, when she observed a detached trailer traveling south. The trailer crossed the centerline into Conner's path. A fter impact with the trailer, Conner's vehi- cle became airborne and rolled over onto the guard- rail along SR 57. She was checked by EMS, but re- fused medical attention at the scene. The driver of the truck that the trailer had detached from was identified as Bruce. He was driving south on SR 57 in his 2002 Toyota when his trailer came loose. It was determined the trail- er's safety chains were not being used. Troopers noticed Bruce was displaying signs of im- pairment at the scene and he failed field sobriety tests. When troopers searched his vehicle, they found a clear glass smoking device and two baggies containing methamphetamine. Further investigation at Gibson Gen- eral Hospital in Princeton revealed he was under the influence of methamphet- amine. Bruce was arrested by Trooper Jordan Lee and tak- en to the Gibson County Jail, where he is currently being held on bond. Bruce charged with OVWI after unhitched trailer hits oncoming car COVID GRANT Continued from page 1 apply. STEPS TO APPLY FOR A BUSINESS GRANT Businesses are required to complete the application form, an ACH form for the county, and every employee of the business must com- plete an income survey. If your business is awarded a business grant, it does not have to pay back the relief assistance. Willis said, "This is for businesses that have felt the impact of COVID-19 and need relief assistance. Com- pleted business grant appli- cations must be returned and submitted to Ashley Willis at Pike County Eco- nomic Development Corpo- ration by 4:30 p.m. on Mon- day, May 18, 2020, for eval- uation. Send applications to pike- growth@pikeco.org or mail to Pike County EDC at P.O. Box 204, Petersburg, IN 47567. For more information on how to apply or to receive an application, contact Willis at pikegrowth@pikeco.org or 812-354-2271. Applications can also be sent from the Pike County Commission- ers Office at kdischinger@ pikecounty.in.gov and the Pike County Chamber of Commerce at chamber@ pikecounty.in.gov. WATER GRANT Continued from page 1 save Petersburg as much as $7,000 in disposal costs. Klipsch also gave an up- date on the new water me- ters being installed. They have transponders that send a signal that can be picked up without having to manu- ally read the meters. In the last year, Petersburg has started replacing the old meters. He said they had re- placed between 700 and 800. Klipsch said the old water meters still accurately read water volume, but the tran- sponders no longer work. Consequently, city workers have to read the meters man- ually. Councilmen voted 5 -0 to cancel their May 18 meet- ing. Monday night's meet- ing was conducted with all Petersburg officials wearing face masks and their desks spaced at least six feet apart. Their next meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Monday, June 1. "Everyone still thinks the deadline to pay property taxes is May 10," said Que- ry. She added, "We have five different ways for people to pay their taxes. . . We have call after call asking, 'When can I come in and pay my tax- es? '" County Auditor Judy Gumbel said she wanted to have the same guidelines of a three-people limit and sneeze guards being put in place. County Health Nurse Amy Gladish told the commission- ers, "I would recommend the limited access to the offic- es. It would be a good idea to the put the taped Xs on the floor, so people have a place to stand, if officehold- ers have a set number of peo- ple in their offices." Commissioners' Assis- tant Kristi Dischinger asked what the recommendation was for the rotunda and the hallways. "What are we go- ing to do with the extra peo- ple standing around, congre- gating outside the offices? " "I have my opinion. It is just that, my opinion. So- cial gathering of 25 people changes to 50 people in a week. When we open on May 11, social gathering limit is 25 people. . . I think Adam (Thompson, Sheriff's Dep- uty assigned to the court- house for security) would be the one to police that," said Commissioner Presi- dent Mark Flint. Commissioner Ryan Coleman asked if Thomp- son would be in the rotun- da enough to do that or if he would be in the courtroom. Dischinger said the courts have been operating from home. Clerk Lana Griffith said the courts weren't com- ing back to the courthouse until May 17, which is when the limit on social gathering increases to 50 people. "I think we let Adam po- lice that," said Coleman. Sheriff Kent Johnson asked, "what is the plan af- ter Adam goes back to the court? " "I think by then we should be open," said Commission- er Jeff Nelson. He added, "As commis- sioners, all we need to be concerned about is how open are we? First week, we are open to employees and sec- ond week to people." Gladish asked if the com- missioners wanted the health department to keep checking the temperature of everyone who goes in the courthouse. "I can go to Eastland Mall today and no one is check- ing your temperature," said Nelson. Gladish said the Gover- nor's order says employees should be screened daily through July 25. "It doesn't say what that screening en- tails. Is it just asking them if they feel okay or taking tem- peratures? " She added, "Taking tem- perature isn't rocket sci- ence, anyone can do it. We can leave the monitor over there." Flint suggested they con- tinue to take employees' tem- peratures for the first week while it is just employees in the courthouse. "I don't think it is neces- sary, if they abide by rules in place." Gladish asked about re- quiring face masks. "It is up to the officehold- ers," said Coleman. Dischinger asked, "Do you want everyone (all of the county employees) to come back to work? " "My opinion is everyone needs to come back," said Flint. "I feel the same way, un- less an employee is sick. Obviously, they should stay home if they are sick," said Coleman. "I agree," said Nelson. Courthouse employees have been working on a stag- gered basis, typically with half the staff in the office." Josh Byrd said the Coun- ty Highway Department has continued to work full staff, but have been practicing so- cial distancing. In other COVID-19 re- lated matters, Emergency Management Agency Di- rector Ryan Benner asked the Commissioners to ex- tend Pike County's declara- tion as a disaster for anoth- er month. Benner said there are still several bills coming in for PPE and other equipment, and they may need to have that declaration in effect to have it paid for by the feds. He said they received 100 N95 masks, 3,000 surgical masks and 15 gallons of hand sanitizers. Assessor Mike Goodpas- ter asked if they could get some of the hand sanitizer to put in their offices. Benner said he would take care of that and get surgical masks for them as well. Auditor Judy Gumbel said she was informed last week by the state they need to put a COVID-19 expense line item in each department's budget. The Commissioners voted 3-0 to transfer $ 3,500 from courthouse repairs to COV- ID-19 expense to purchase sneeze screens for counters and desks in the courthouse. They also voted 3-0 to re- quest a transfer of $ 9,175 from the highway depart- ment's material line item to PERF (Public Employee Re- tirement Fund) to fund the item for the rest of 2020. Commissioners voted 3- 0 to hire John Lane at the Highway Department. The next commissioners' meeting is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Monday, May 18. It will be an in person meet- ing, open to the public. Mon- day's meeting and the two prior meetings had been conducted via the internet. Second COVID-19 case confirmed Pike County's second pos- itive test for COVID-19 was announced on Friday, May 1. The Pike County Health Department said the individ- ual is self-isolating at home. "We are working close- ly with local and state offi- cials to ensure that contacts of the patient are identified and monitored and that all infection control protocols are being followed," stated Pike County Health Nurse Amy Gladish in a news re- lease. She said despite the low number of cases in Pike County, residents still need to be careful and continue to practice social distanc- ing guidelines. Pike County continues to have the fewest number of confirmed COVID-19 tests in Indiana at two cases. The next lowest is Spencer Coun- ty, which as of Monday after- noon was at five cases, with 138 people being tested in Spencer. There have been 66 people tested in Pike County and no death reported. Human coronaviruses most commonly spread from an infected person to others through: *Respiratory droplets re- leased into the air by cough- ing and sneezing. *Close personal contact, such as touching or shak- ing hands. *Touching an object or surface with the virus on it, then touching your mouth, nose, or eyes before wash- ing your hands. *Rarely, fecal contamina- tion. The best way to protect yourself from any respira- tory illness, including the flu is to: *Wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. If soap and wa- ter are not available, use an alcohol-based sanitizer. Renee Lashbrook, 64, of Francisco escaped injury Wednesday morning when she ran off the road and hit a guardrail near Alford on Highway 356.

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