The Press-Dispatch
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Local ��������������������A1-12 Sports �����������������������A7 Classifieds ��������������A8-9 Opinion �������������� B10-11 Home Life ��������������B1-5 Obituaries �����������������B2 East Gibson ���������������B5 Church �������������������B6-9 History ��������������������B10 WHAT'S INSIDE: Phone: ���������������������812-354-8500 Fax: ��������������������������812-354-2014 E-Mail ����editor@pressdispatch�net NEWS TIPS: PIKE PUBLISHING Wednesday, May 13, 2020 Volume 150 Number 20 Phone 812-354-8500 Petersburg, IN 47567-0068 (USPS 604-34012) $ 1 Two sections 22 pages Two inserts See COVID-19 on page 4 See COUNCIL on page 5 See WINSLOW on page 4 Deadline Friday to submit senior profile information The final deadline for Pike Central Class of 2020 seniors to submit profiles for The Press-Dispatch's commemorative gradua- tion edition is Friday, May 15 at noon. An email has previously been sent to each senior by Mr. Phil Clauss with the link to the survey. The following seniors have yet to submit a profile as of Tuesday, May 12: Cierstin Bostian Jacyn Coomer Kathleen Hanebutt Avarie Hartke Dakota Huff Whitney Humbarger Tyler Kirby Jaylon Mills Jayln Nelson Charles Neukam Connor O'Neal Lane Parks John Pauw Tyler Price Coby Reller Delaney Sanders Destiny Stafford Colton Stone Samuel Theising James Travis Brittney Willis A third case of COVID-19 was confirmed on Sunday. The Pike County Health Department said the patient is self-isolating at home. Pike County continues to have the low- est number of cases in Indiana. The next lowest are Vermillion, Martin and Perry. There has been a total of 82 tests of Pike County residents. Next door, Dubois Coun- ty announced two deaths from COVID this week, as their total number of cases rose to 59. Pike County Health Nurse Amy Gladish said, "I expect to see more cases in Pike just because there is more testing. We have new testing sites in Vincennes and Jasper." She said now people don't have to have symp- toms. They can be in a high-risk category with underlying health issues or be some- one who has had contact with a COVID-19 positive person or just live with someone at high risk. The tests are also free. "I think there are a lot more people out there who are asymptomatic than we know," said Gladish "Although Hoosiers are no longer un- der a stay-at-home order, we all need to be aware that this virus is still circulating. We continue to urge all county residents to continue to wash your hands frequent- ly with soap and water or use an alcohol- based hand sanitizer if soap and water are not available, avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands. If you go out in public, we highly recommend you wear a face covering or mask. I person- ally do not go into any public place without one. Stay home if you are sick, we cannot stress this point enough. We must all work together to control the spread of this virus and it is the responsibility of every member Police say Faries drew pistol before he was shot By Andy Heuring During interviews with Indiana State Po- lice last week, two local officers said a man, who died after being shot by Pike County Deputy Paul Collier, drew a pistol before he was shot. Michael Faries, 69, of 7858 S. Meridian Road, Oakland City, died on Sunday, May 3 after being shot by police. A State Police news release only gave a vague description about the fatal shooting. However, three days later, both respond- ing officers, Deputy Collier and Cpl. Mills, were interviewed by State Police. The state police released the following on Collier's and Mills' interviews. According to detectives, Michael Faries, 69, called 911 stating he and his wife were starving and someone was shooting at them. Petersburg Police Officer Kyle Mills and Pike County Sheriff's Deputy Paul Col- lier responded and arrived at the residence at about 2:14 p.m. Officers initially made contact with Faries' wife, Paula, at the front door to the residence and informed her they had to check on his well-being since he called 911. While at the front door, Dep- uty Collier could see Faries inside the res- idence and noticed he had his right hand in his pocket. Police had been to Faries' residence five times in the past year and three times in the previous weeks. On one of those trips, Paula had told police Michael carried a pis- tol in his right front pants pocket. Faries was also agitated and yelling. Dep- uty Collier continued to talk to Faries in an attempt to calm him down. Faries even- tually agreed to go outside to continue to talk to the officers. Deputy Collier then no- ticed a bulge in Faries' right pocket. Depu- ty Collier stepped just inside the residence and gave several loud verbal commands in- structing Faries to take his hand out of his pocket. At this point, Faries drew a revolv- er out of his right pocket. Deputy Collier discharged his service weapon, striking Faries two times. An am- bulance was requested and both officers initiated CPR, but Faries succumbed to his injuries at the scene. The handgun Faries drew from his pock- et was a loaded .38 caliber revolver. Deputy Paul Collier is a five-year veteran of the Pike County Sheriff's Office. Corpo- ral Kyle Mills is a nine-year veteran of the Petersburg Police Department. An autopsy conducted on May 4 revealed Faries died from gunshot wounds. Toxicol- ogy results are pending. State Police stated in the news release, "This is an ongoing investigation. When the investigation is complete, it will be turned over to the Pike County Prosecu- tor's Office for their review, which is stan- dard practice when a police officer is in- volved in a police action shooting." The shooting is being investigated by State Police Detectives Wes Kuykendall, Sgt. Brad Chandler and First Sgt. Trevor Helmer. PC Graduation video session Pike Central senior Rose Reece Ballengee donned her cap and gown to re- ceive her diploma on Tuesday morning from Dr. Suzanne Blake during her video session at Pike Central gym. All senior students were invited to appear individually and be recorded re- ceiving their diplomas as part of a video presentation of graduation which can be seen on Friday, May 22 at 7:30 p.m. Third COVID-19 case confirmed in county Your next four-legged family member is waiting! PAGE A-6 from PAWS Gas line hit City Services Manager Ross Elmore, fireman Carl Benner and city worker Darin Cook talk about a leaking gas line near the intersection of Fifth and Spruce sts. Monday morning. Elmore said their locates paperwork showed it would be marked by 7 a.m. on Monday. However, when they started work at 8 a.m., there were no markings. They were dig- ging to repair a water line leak and hit the unmarked gas line. Vectren was called and the line the was repaired. By Andy Heuring Winslow Councilmen talked about estab- lishing better communication with their various departments, limited hours at Town Hall and installed stop signs at three inter- sections. The discussion began with councilmen saying they are worried about how the pan- demic is going to affect the tax base and revenues Winslow will receive. Councilman Dick Brewster said he want- ed the town to establish a purchase order system to track items being purchased and how much they cost. Councilmen Josh Popp and Debra Lamb said they wanted to meet with various de- partments to get plans for purchases those departments will need in the future. They also wanted to talk to the departments about things that need to be done better. Popp said he wanted to get an inventory of items each department has. He also want- ed to put a cost limit of $200 on new pur- chases without getting quotes from more than one place. He said the Street Dept. has a list of "about $5,000 worth of items that aren't re- quired, but would make their lives better." Brewster said if they had a purchase or- der system in place, they would be able to keep track of items needed and items pur- chased. Brewster asked if the $200 limit was town-wide or limited to the street depart- ment. Popp said he didn't think many office items would cost more than $200. Brewster said he wants the street de- Winslow council wants better communication with departments By Andy Heuring County Councilmen transferred $50,000 to the Public Safety Fund to help keep the EMS in the black. EMS Director Chris Young told the council their insurance, along with a vaca- tion pay and an extra pay period early in the year due to overlapped 2019 and 2020 caused his funds to be low. He said the EMS got a $15,500 stimulus payment to help with the COVID-19 pan- demic. "We used it toward payroll, which is an acceptable expense," said Young. Coun- cil president Jon Craig said Young had giv- en them good numbers regarding his cash flow. Young said they had several big ex- penses in the first part of the year which caused them to use a larger portion of the funds before mid-year. He said in prior years the fringe benefits were paid out of the Commissioners budget instead of the EMS. He said he didn't care if the county ap- propriated a small amount to keep the ser- vice in the black and see how the rest of the year goes. "It is just a matter of how of- ten do you want me to keep coming back in here," said Young. Auditor Judy Gumbel had prepared a draft resolution with no amounts in it to transfer money from an unnamed fund to the Public Safety fund. It stated, "Where- as insufficient funds exist in the Pike Coun- ty Public Safety Fund 1170 to meet the ex- pense of the EMS Budget" which "has been adversely affected by COVID-19 and pay- ments through sources such as Medicare may be delayed." Young said transfer runs had all but stopped and many people weren't calling the ambulance until they had to, because they are afraid of COVID-19. "There have been no elective procedures in six weeks," said Young. He also said nursing home patients have not been allowed out of the nursing homes to go to the doctor. All of this has cut into their normal revenue. Councilman Craig asked Auditor Gum- County transfers $50,000 to keep EMS in black