The Press-Dispatch

July 8, 2020

The Press-Dispatch

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A-4 Wednesday, July 8, 2020 The Press-Dispatch LOCAL Call: 812-354-8500 Email: news@pressdispatch.net or bring in a hard copy: 820 E. Poplar Street, Petersburg Shutts arrested for arson after July 4 fire An arson arrest has stemmed from a Fourth of Ju- ly house fire in Winslow. Robert R. Shutts, 37, no address, was arrested on charges of arson, a Level 4 fel- ony and disorderly conduct, a class B misdemeanor. The arrest stems from a fire that damaged Robert As- trike's garage at 801 E. Por- ter St. According to a prob- able cause affidavit Astrike, who lives next door, noticed smoke coming from the eaves of a separate garage on the property at about 11:33 a.m. on Saturday, July 4. He called 911. When firemen arrived they noticed the window on the north side of the garage was open and flames were com- ing from inside the garage. There is a bedroom in the ga- rage building. Chief Deputy Sheriff Dal- las Killian requested a fire in- vestigator. State Fire Marshal Matt Wells investigated the fire and determined it origi- nated inside the garage next to the opened window on the north side of the garage and spread up the wall into the up- per levels of the garage. In the affidavit Wells states, "It was determined the first item(s) ignited were ordinary combustibles including card- board and paper on top of the work bench next to the win- dow, on the north side of the garage. Wells said it was deter- mined, "some type of open flame, most likely a lighter" and that they were "intention- ally ignited by a person." Investigators also learned Shutts and Jamie Man- ning, Astrike's daughter had stayed together in the bed- room of the garage and had been "fighting the night be- fore the fire." They also learned the morning before the fire, Shutts and Manning were again fighting. Manning told investigators Shutts pushed in the window air conditioner on the north window of the ga- rage. She said when this hap- pened, she left and went to a friend's house. Astrike later noticed smoke coming from the window. Wells, in his affidavit, said when he was driving to the fire scene he saw Shutts walking on CR350E near the S River, carrying a clear plas- tic sack. Wells said the sack had shoes and what appeared to be clothes in it. Pike County Sheriff's Dep- uties located Shutts and brought him back to the fire scene. According to the affi- davit when he got out of the police vehicle he began shout- ing at people at the scene. The affidavit states Shutts was interviewed and admitted he was in the garage on the morning of July 4 and pushed in the window air conditioner. He also admitted he went in the garage to retrieve clothes and belongings, but denied he set the fire. Petersburg makes $3K adjustment for water customer By Andy Heuring Petersburg City Councilmen made a $ 3,300 adjustment for a water and sewer customer in their Monday night meeting. Phillip Summers said he was shocked when he got a water and sewer bill for more than $5,000. "I felt like I was going to be put in the grave," said Summers. He explained he had a wa- ter well that leaks into his basement so he didn't notice the leak. He also said their wa- ter bill had been only about $ 60 a month until the last bill, so he didn't know they had a leak. Then he realized the city had been estimating the bill for a couple of months. "The city should have been reading the meter, but I should have noticed the leak," said Summers about the situation. Petersburg Mayor R. C. Klipsch said the city's policy is to reimburse customers for the amount of their sewer bill over their average sewer bill. Klipsch said the average sewer bill for Summers was $44.16. So the city reimbursed him $ 3,317. However, it still left Summers owing a water bill of $1,552 . Klipsch said the city would offer Summers a payment plan. Summers asked why, in Washington where he works, they get notified by the city if they have a toilet running. Klipsch said Petersburg is in the process of installing new water meters that send a signal back to City Hall and tells them continually the water usage on each customer. However they only have about 900 of 1,500 meters installed. He said be- cause transmitters are failing on the current set of meters, the city workers must read the failed ones manually. City Ser- vices Manager Ross Elmore said they only had about 130 meters of the old system that worked the last month. Klipsch said this is why ma- ny of the meters are being es- timated. The city also gave a $ 307 adjustment to a person who claimed the leak was caused by Miller Pipeline installing new gas lines at his residence and all over Petersburg. Petersburg awarded a pav- ing bid to Calcar Paving of Jasper. They were one of five bidders that bid on the first round of the Crossroads pav- ing grants project. Their bid was $140,801.38. Other bidders were JH Rudolph of Tell City at $155,772.77; E&B Paving of Bloomington at $185,035.85 and Hughes Paving of French Lick at $160,530.47. Klipsch said RQAW engi- neering looked over the bids and said they were all in order and recommended the low bid, which was Calcar. He added the Indiana De- partment of Transportation is not going to have a second round of Crossroads grants this year. The last two years they have awarded grants in Spring and Fall, but due to COVID-19's impact on the state budget they aren't hav- ing a second round this year. In an update, Klipsch said he and other officials went to see Huntingburg's social me- dia set-up that allows them to stream meetings. He said $75,000 has been made avail- able to Petersburg to purchase COVID-related items. He said the he hopes to get a system that will allow Peters- burg to stream their meetings and allow councilmen to par- ticipate without being attend- ing the meeting. The next council meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Mon- day, July 20. SR57 to close July 13 in Elnora for pipe replacement Highway 57 will be closed near Elnora beginning Mon- day, July 13. Indiana Depart- ment of Transportation 57 will close for pipe replace- ment. Beginning on or around Monday, July 13 INDOT maintenance crews will close S.R. 57 in Elnora from near the intersection of S.R. 58 to the intersection of Coun- ty Road 1600 North. During this project, workers will re- place two drainage culverts, requiring full excavation. Work is expected to take about two days depending upon weather conditions. Ac- cess will be maintained for lo- cal traffic up to the point of closure, however all through traffic should use the official detour following S.R. 58, S.R. 67 and U.S. 231. INDOT urges drivers to slow down and stay alert near crews. NEWS BRIEFS Pike Central Swing Choir auditions July 6-10 Pike Central High School students are invited to audi- tion for the 2020 -2021 Swing Choir by appointment on Ju- ly 6 through 10. For an appointment, contact director Me- lissa Traylor at mtraylor@pscs.k12.in.us. Pregnancy Care center banquet July 23 The Pregnancy Care center of Washington is having their Gift of Life Banquet at the Simon J. Graber building on July 23. Doors open at 6 p.m. and the banquet begins at 6:30 p.m. The speaker will be Angela Minter. She's Pres- ident of Sisters for Life in Louisville, a dynamic speaker and helps coordinate prayers in front of the abortion clinic in Louisville. The meal will be catering. Tickets are availa- ble by calling 812-257-1041. You can also stop by and pick up tickets. Hours: Monday through Thursday. If you de- sire to, you can have tickets reserved and pay at the door. READER GUIDE Subscriptions: Change of address: subscribers changing addresses will please give old address as well as new one along with phone number. We cannot guarantee prompt change unless this is done. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Press-Dispatch., P.O. Box 68, Petersburg, IN 47567-0068 or e-mail to subscribe@ pressdispatch.net. Subscription rates: One year: $31 for Pike County and all 475/476 zip codes; $34 in the state of Indiana; $51 elsewhere in the USA. Paid in advance. Subscriptions taken after noon on Friday will not receive a paper until the second edition after their subscription date. About us: Andy Heuring and John B. Heuring, Publishers Andy Heuring, Editor John B. Heuring, Adv. Mgr. Eric Gogel, Production Mgr. Monica Sinclair, Office Mgr. Cindy Petty, Adv. Sales Pam Lemond, Adv. Sales Kate Lindsey, Adv. Designer • • • Published every Wednesday by the Pike County Publishing Co. Phone: 812-354-8500 820 E. Poplar St., P.O. Box 68, Petersburg, IN 47567-0068 • • • Entered in the Post Office in Petersburg, Indiana for transmission through the mails as Periodical Mail, postage paid at Petersburg, Indiana – published weekly. (USPS 205-620) Contact us: Phone: ..........................................................................812-354-8500 Fax: .............................................................................. 812-354-2014 E-mail: Andy Heuring, Editor editor@pressdispatch.net Advertising ads@pressdispatch.net General News news@pressdispatch.net Sports sports@pressdispatch.net Subscription Services subscribe@pressdispatch.net MISSING DOG LOST! Last seen 4274 W Co. Rd 350 N in Petersburg (Cart Road) on June 30. Answers to Buster He is a Grey/Silver Mini Schnauzer 12 years old He is microchipped. Runs with back leg up in the air. Had a GREEN reflective collar and a grey flea/tick collar on. He needs a special dog food for health reasons. REWARD for any information/return. Call 812-380-1720 ai159404979252_Buster AD.pdf 1 7/6/2020 11:36:33 AM REDUCED TEMPERATURE SWINGS ENHANCED PERFORMANCE IMPROVED DEHUMIDIFICATION Variable-speed technology means invariable comfort. The Infinity ® 20 air conditioner combines the energy efficiency of Greenspeed ® intelligence with the convenience and precision of the Infinity System Control. With reduced temperature swings, improved dehumidification and ultra-quiet operation, the Infinity 20 air conditioner will have you more comfortable than ever before. Energy Efficiency That's Right in Your Comfort Zone. ©Carrier Corporation 4/2018. carrier.com PH: 812-743-2382 HEATING & AIR-CONDITIONING LLC Serving the area since 1950. Perry ' s Perry ' s 303 Breckinridge Rd, Monroe City Email: perryshvac@gmail.com Craig Perry Vance Perry Chase Perry 40th wedding anniversary Danny and Tammie (Hamm) Evans of Peters- burg will celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary on Sat- urday, July 11. They were married by Rev. Bob Russell on July 11, 1980 at the Gener- al Baptist Church in Peters- burg. Attendants were Lisa Hamm and Jerry White. Parents of the couple are Don and Mary (Abell) Ev- ans, of Petersburg and the late Leon and Eula (Stone) Hamm. They are retired and plan on traveling. With This Ring... County doubles COVID-19 numbers, now 11 By Andy Heuring Pike County nearly doubled its number of COVID-19 cas- es in the last week. The coun- ty continues to have the lowest number of positive tests in In- diana, but they jumped from six last Tuesday and 11 by Sun- day afternoon. On Wednesday, two posi- tive tests were confirmed in Pike County. Then another on Thursday, one on Friday and another on Saturday for a to- tal of 11. No more cases have been found in Pike County. Pike County Health Nurse Amy Gladish said all of the new Pike County cases are self-quarantining at home. None of them have been hos- pitalized yet. The five new cas- es are the first cases record- ed in Pike County since May 23. Pike County has had no deaths. Gladish said several of those testing positive thought they caught it while on vaca- tion. "Not all of them and it isn't absolutely certain, but they think they got it while traveling on vacation." She also said in two instanc- es family members had tested positive at the same time. She said three of the 11 were com- pletely asymptomatic. Anyone wanting to be test- ed can call 888 -634-1116 to schedule a test at the Gibson County Fairgrounds in Princ- eton. You can also go to LHI. care/covidtesting. Both Gibson and Dubois Counties had big jumps in their numbers of positives. Gibson County had 37 new positives from July 1 to July 6 for a total of 81 cases in the county. Gibson County has had two deaths a person in their 70s and another in their 90s. Statewide, Indiana had 314 new cases reported on July 6, which is down from 590 re- corded on July 4. Deaths con- tinue to remain at or near sin- gle digits the last 10 days. On- ly on July 1 and July 5 did the death total hit 10. This is down from a peak of 50 deaths on April 22. Hospitalizations are also trending down. They peaked on April 13 at 1,799. That to- tal has continually dropped with slight up ticks about ev- ery five or six days. They hit a low on June 26 at 595 then jumped to 695 by June 29. Hos- pitalizations then started back down reaching a low of 613 on July 5 before increasing to 655 on July 6. Governor Eric Holcomb last Wednesday decided to slow the opening to stage five be- cause of the upticks in num- bers to a 4.5 for two more weeks. Through at least July 17, the following restrictions will con- tinue: This is what Stage 4.5 means: • Social gatherings follow- ing the CDC's social distanc- ing guidelines will be limit- ed to up to 250 people. This limit applies to wedding re- ceptions, parties, and other events where people are in close physical contact for ex- tended periods of time, partic- ularly indoors. • Dining room food ser- vice may continue operations at up to 75 percent capacity as long as social distancing is observed. Bar seating in restaurants may continue op- erations at 50 percent capac- ity. Bars and nightclubs may continue operations open at 50 percent capacity as long as they adhere to social distanc- ing guidelines. • Cultural, entertainment and tourism sites may contin- ue operations open at 50 per- cent capacity. • Movie theaters, bowl- ing alleys and similar facili- ties may continue operations open at 50 percent capacity. • Amusement parks, wa- ter parks and similar facilities may continue operations open at 50 percent capacity. Reser- vations are encouraged to lim- it the number of customers at any one time. • Raceways may continue operations open at 50 percent grandstand capacity.

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