The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1260401
Local ��������������������A1-10 Sports �����������������������A7 Classifieds ��������������A8-9 Church �������������������B1-3 Home Life ��������������B4-6 Obituaries �����������������B7 Opinion ������������������B8-9 East Gibson ���������������B9 History ��������������������B10 WHAT'S INSIDE: Phone: ���������������������812-354-8500 Fax: ��������������������������812-354-2014 E-Mail ����editor@pressdispatch�net NEWS TIPS: PIKE PUBLISHING Wednesday, June 17, 2020 Volume 150 Number 25 Phone 812-354-8500 Petersburg, IN 47567-0068 (USPS 604-34012) $ 1 Two sections 20 pages Three inserts See COMMISSIONERS on page 3 See SCHOOL on page 2 See FELONIES on page 2 By Andy Heuring The man in red underwear and one white sock was picked up at about 9:30 p.m. last Tuesday in Vincennes after he eluded police for several hours through Pike, Gibson and Knox counties. Tanner S. Houchin, 23, of multi- ple addresses, including Loogoo- tee and Bloomington, formerly of Petersburg, was arrested after Vincennes city police saw him stopped at a gas station in Vin- cennes. At 8:52 p.m., Vincennes police saw a vehicle, matching the de- scription of a pickup truck stolen from Gibson County earlier that evening, drive onto North Sixth St. The officer followed the pick- up and when it turned into Huck's and stopped at a gas pump, the driver was taken into custody. He was later identified as Houchin. The last description given for him was a man wearing a pair of red underwear and one white sock. Vincennes Police said when Houchin was taken into custody, he was wearing a pair of red box- ers under brown shorts and was barefoot. Houchin has been charged in Knox County with auto theft, a level 6 felony, and auto theft with a prior conviction of auto theft, a level 5 felony. Similar charges are expected from Gibson County, but have not been filed yet. According to the Knox County Sheriff's Department, Houchin is accused of stealing a 2013 Buick Verano from a gas station in Vin- cennes on Monday, June 8. Then on Tuesday afternoon, Pike Coun- ty police were notified that OnStar had located the vehicle and it was driving into Pike County. It then headed south on Highway 57. Pe- tersburg Police Cpl. Kyle Mills lo- cated the vehicle going south on Highway 57 near the Pike-Gib- son County line. He turned on his lights and siren just south of the county line in Gibson Coun- ty. Houchin sped up and fled, then turned onto a county road, and eventually a dirt road (CR 1100 Houchin charged with felonies for theft of two vehicles By Andy Heuring The summer festival schedule is going to be severely altered this year. Many of the normal events aren't happening and those that are will be scaled back. JEFFERSON FOURTH OF JULY FEST SCALED BACK The Jefferson Township Ruritan Fourth of July Celebration is happening, but will be drastically scaled back. It will be more of a picnic this year, with dinners at the hamburger stand being served beginning at noon on Saturday, July 4. The dining room is closed. There will be no parade and no fireworks, but they will be serv- ing their chicken and rib dinners, home- made ice cream and kids' meals of hot dog and chips. Masks are optional. CLOG THE PATOKA IS ON One event that doesn't plan on scaling back this year is the Clog the Patoka. It is set for Saturday, July 11. Free camping is available at the Winslow American Legion Millers' Field beginning at 7 p.m. Friday, July 10 and running through noon, Sun- day, July 12. Clog the Patoka 2020 is the fourth year for the event that has explod- ed in popularity. It started out with more than 300 people participating. At the time, that was thought to be a huge crowd. Since then, it has topped 1,200 participants. ZOAR MOSQUITO FEST UNDECIDED The Zoar Mosquito Fest, which typical- ly is scheduled for the first weekend in August, is still in limbo. Organizers said last weekend they haven't made a defini- tive decision yet. Oakland City Sweet Corn Festival is cancelled. WINSLOW FALL FESTIVAL UNDECIDED Winslow's Fall Festival in September is still up in the air. Town Council member Debra Lamb said they are still hoping to have some sort of festival, or at least the light-up parade. "We aren't giving up on it," said Lamb. BUFFALO TRACE IS ON FOR NOW The Petersburg Buffalo Trace Festival is still a go, as of now, Mayor R.C. Klipsch announced last month. He said that might change in the future. The date has been moved back to October 16 and 17. Summer festival schedule pared County-wide yard sale set for July 18 A fter being postponed this spring, the county-wide yard sale is now slated for Saturday, July 18. Residents from the en- tire county are encouraged to participate in this long-anticipated event. The deadline for sellers to place their ad is July 13 at 5 p.m. Ads include a numbered yard sale sign that corresponds to the map published in the July 15 edition. A listing starts at $4 for 20 words, plus 10 cents per additional word. Sellers can also add a bold headline for $1 to help draw atten- tion to their listing. Sales will be grouped by area again this year. Call 812-354-8500 or email classifieds@ pressdispatch.net to list your sale. By Andy Heuring Pike County Commissioners were given an update on COVID by Health Nurse Amy Gladish and signed a resolution to approve $ 60,000 of COVID relief during their brief Monday morning meeting. "We are in a pretty good place. We are still at six total cases and no deaths," said Gladish about Pike County's COVID-19 situ- ation. It has been 23 days since the last case of COVID-19 was announced. Testing con- tinues to increase. As of Monday afternoon, 288 people had been tested in the county. All six of the cases in Pike County have re- covered and none of the six were hospital- ized. Gladish said, starting this week, all of the nursing home personnel in Indiana are go- ing to be tested. Also, the Indiana Depart- ment of Health announced anyone can be tested for free. Gladish said until now, test- ing was only for people who had symptoms, were in a high-risk category or had expo- sure to one of the categories. Now anyone can be tested. Gladish said they just need to call 888 -634-1116 to make an appointment. The nearest testing center is in Princeton. She said the centers in Jasper and Vin- cennes have been closed as the personnel at those sites are now testing nursing home personnel. The Pike County Health Department is changing their hours to make it more con- venient for children to be immunized. Gladish said the new hours are 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday and Thurs- day. On Wednesdays, they are open 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. and closed on Fridays. She said this allows families with working parents time to bring their children to the Health Department, located on Walnut St. in the former Petersburg High School gym. In other business, the commissioners Commissioners extend disaster declaration School board unsure how COVID-19 will affect school year By Andy Heuring School board members said they don't know what school is going to look like this fall when students return to school. Shelley Edrington, a parent and school bus driver, asked if the recommendation is for students to wear masks, "Can parents put children in face shields instead of face masks? " "Right now, I don't think anyone can tell you we are starting at this time and this is what we are going to be doing," said school board president Steve Potter in their Tues- day, June 9 meeting. "I have seen lots of things out there and it just isn't feasible," said Edrington. On Friday, June 5, the Indiana Board of Education and State Health Department re- leased guidelines for all Indiana schools to consider this fall. Potter said what he has seen of the guide- lines appeared "extreme." "We are nearly at stage five and those guidelines are almost like we are at the start of stage one," said Potter. He added, "With the length of our bus routes, it would destroy our daily schedule." "Those are the guidelines. We are aware those are unrealistic for us to be able to start in August under those conditions," said Su- perintendent Dr. Suzanne Blake. Edrington also asked about summer sports programs. "We won't know until July 1," said board member Chris Satterfield. Governor Eric Holcomb is supposed to release more infor- mation on how the state is doing and recom- mendations for the summer and fall. The complete index of guidelines re- leased by the Indiana Department of Educa- tion is available at https://www.doe.in.gov. Board members passed a student inter- net and technology responsible use agree- ment. "It is very similar to the one we used last year, however, with a year's experience, we have a few updates," said Dr. Blake. Some points of the agreement state use of corporation-owned devices and telecom- munications "is a privilege, not a right. In- appropriate use will result in the cancella- tion of those privileges." It spells out what devices and services are covered by it and what are inappropri- ate uses. It also spells out what to do if one is damaged. The board accepted three donations. Two of the donations were from the Gaskins Family fund. The Pike Central Spectrum Alliance Club received $500 and the mid- dle school got $250 for calendar magnets. A $286 donation from the Petersburg Free Methodist Church for the Pike Cen- tral Swing Choir was accepted. Assistant Superintendent Dana Deffen- doll recommended a change in the soft- ware used for employee evaluations, from the PIVOT system to Standards for Success system. Deffendoll said the new system was eas- ier to use and would save the corporation $1,741 annually. She said there is a one-time Tin Fest a big hit Carson Hulsey eats a snack sitting in the shade of her friend, Brandon Fine's 1979 Volksforce van Saturday at the Tin Fest Auto Show in Stendal. It was one of more than 100 vehicles on display at the fest that normally draws less than half the entries. Many of the participants said they made it a point to attend because it was the first car show of the year in this part of the country. Participants came from all over the state. See more photos on page A-10. Bleachers are gone The bleachers in the Pike Central's high school gym have been removed. They were original to the gym that was completed for the 1975-76 school year. Pike Central played at the Peters- burg gym the first year season. Superintendent of Pike Schools Dr. Suzanne Blake said crews were planned to start putting the new bleachers in place this week.