The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1271843
Wednesday, July 22, 2020 PIKE PUBLISHING VOluMe 150, nuMBeR 30 $1.00 24 PaGes FOuR seCTIOns TWO InseRTs PeTeRsBuRG, In 47567-0068 NEWS TIPS Phone: ���������������������812-354-8500 Email ����� editor@pressdispatch�net INSIDE THIS ISSUE Local ������������������������������� A1-7 Sports ���������������������������������� A9 Classifieds ���������������������� A10-11 Church ���������������������������� B1-4 Obituaries ����������������������������� B5 Home Life ��������������������������B6-8 History ��������������������������������� B9 Opinion ������������������������ B11-12 USPS 604-34012 Wednesday, July 15, 2020 PIKE PUBLISHING VOluMe 150, nuMBeR 29 $1.00 28 PaGes FOuR seCTIOns ThRee InseRTs PeTeRsBuRG, In 47567-0068 SAVE $ 4 NOW + BEAT THE INCREASE! See page A-8 for details Shoppers bounced from sale-to-sale during the County-Wide Yard Sale on Saturday. They found all types of treasures and deals. Photos inside. See WINSLOW on page 2 Shop 'til you hop LOCAL A-5 See SCHOOL on page 6 See FUNDING on page 2 See DEATH on page 7 See COVID-19 on page 4 Dog park construction underway Matt Robinette and Alex Pfeiffer use an auger to dig post holes along the perimeter of the Benner Bark Park, located on First St. in Petersburg. They were part of about 10 volunteers who showed up to work on building the dog park. This was the first Saturday. They will be working again next Saturday, beginning at 8 a.m., to put the fencing and other items in place. They hope to have the park ready in a few weeks. Lemonade stand Sawyer and Sparrow Houchins had a lemonade stand at the Farmers Market on Main St., Saturday morning. They were one of several vendors at the Farmers Mar- ket, which is open each Saturday morning on Eighth St. next to the courthouse. By Andy Heuring Petersburg will have to get by next year with $147,000 less than they did this year. Mayor R.C. Klipsch said he and Clerk-Trea- surer Tammy Selby met with the Department of Government and Finance recently and were given projected revenues for the 2021 budget. Klipsch said they basically presented the same budget requests to the Department of Local Government and Finance as they did last year. He said the general fund and the fire territory budgets took the biggest hits. In 2020, Petersburg's general fund was $740,579, but that is being reduced to $ 673,868 for 2021. The motor vehicle high- way fund was $205,522 last year, but that has dropped to $145,522. The fire district operations budget survived with minimal cuts for 2021. The fire equip- ment replacement fund saw a cut of $5,000 for 2021, but Klipsch said he expects a major reduction in 2022. Klipsch said much of the general fundre- duction was due to IPL's redistribution of as- sessed value. They shifted $ 94 million in as- sessed value from Pike County to Morgan County, which offered tax abatements on those assets. No assets actually changed lo- cation, but a loophole in state law allows them to be taxed as a single entity, which means they can move assessed value that actually ex- ists in one county and, on paper, move them into another county, where there is a lower tax rate. Klipsch said the motor vehicle highway fund, which receives revenues from gas tax- es, are down because people were driving less during the pandemic shutdown. A housing project that failed to obtain a grant has been resubmitted. The project would build 10 duplexes in Petersburg for 20 total housing units. Seven of them would be located at the former Ready Mix trailer City budget cut by $147,000 for 2021 By Andy Heuring The Buffalo Trace Festival in Petersburg scheduled for October 16 and 17 has official- ly been cancelled for 2020. Mayor R.C. Klipsch said the Buffalo Trace Committee met last Tuesday night and made the decision. "We were putting this off as long as we could, but with how closely packed people are into the downtown and the numbers go- ing up, we just didn't see anyway to pull it off," said Klipsch. He said he called the ride company and in- formed them. "I hated to tell him. They are a big reason our festival has been so successful, because their rides are so clean and well-kept," said Klipsch. He said the ride operator said he had not had a show yet this year. "He told me, he would be here next year, if he didn't go bankrupt." "This festival is done on donations. It hasn't been a great year to go around and ask busi- nesses for donations," said Klipsch. Buffalo Trace Festival cancelled for 2020 Sharon Fox County COVID-19 cases increase to 22 By Andy Heuring Pike County has lost status as having the lowest number of COVID-19 confirmed cases in Indiana. Pike's numbers have climbed to 22. Pike County Health Nurse Amy Gladish said even though the state map shows Pike with 21 cases, it is really 22. She said one case was credited to another county on the map, but will soon be corrected. As of June 29, Pike County had only six cas- es, but then the numbers started picking up. They had five new cases between June 30 and July 4. Then from July 11 to July 19, there were 10 cases. Pike's 22 cases ranks it fourth fewest in In- diana. Union County, which has tested 627 people, has 18 positive tests. Warren County has only 17 positives, with 367 people being tested. Vermillion County has 20 cases, with 975 being tested. Gladish said on Monday, Pike County had 11 active cases. "All are mild or asymptomat- Fox found dead in her basement By Andy Heuring The Pike County School Board approved the school calendar for the 2020 -2021 year during their meeting last Tuesday. School will start on August 12. On Monday, July 20, Pike County Schools posted on their website a link to a survey they want all parents to fill out, as well as many changes to school this year. The survey asks how many children will be attending school in person and which school they will attend. It also asks which children will be attending online school. The two op- tions are spelled out for parents. Blake, during last Tuesday's meeting, said the online version of school will be different than what they had this Spring. "Once enrolled in virtual learning, the stu- dent must remain in this option for a minimum of one nine-week grading period to ensure sta- bility within the virtual and in-person classes. Students fluidly moving from one program to another would create chaos and decrease the ability of both teachers to deliver appropriate content/instruction, provide timely feedback and monitor student progress. (Extenuating circumstances requiring an early change can be reviewed and approved by the Superinten- dent). Other questions asked is if they will be riding the bus, if they have reliable internet access and what type of computer or device the child has. During the last two school board meetings, board members expressed concern about stu- dents moving back and forth between the on- line and in-person classes. Board president Steve Potter said there would have to be a set amount of time students remain in online learning. Superintendent Blake said most school dis- tricts are going with nine weeks rather than a whole semester. She said circumstances could change with the local COVID situation. She said it could change quickly, getting better or worse, causing parents to change their minds about which version of school in which they want children to participate. Another stipulation of online learning states: Parents/guardians will commit to su- pervising and assisting in the facilitation of virtual learning within their home. This in- cludes: • Helping your child with classwork and/ or accessing educational sites and resources. • Ensuring your child has good atten- dance and can participate in virtual instruc- tion during the required times. • Securing reliable internet access and an appropriate device. (The corporation is orga- nizing a program to assist students without Parents to be surveyed concerning school attendance Preliminary cause ruled accidental By Andy Heuring Indiana State Police are actively investigat- ing a rural Petersburg woman's death. Sharon Fox, 66, of 3081 N. CR 575 E., Pe- tersburg, was found deceased in her residence at about 8 p.m. Sunday night by police after her estranged husband asked police to check on her. Pike County Deputy Sheriff Jared Simmons said, in a probable cause affidavit, that Edward Fox called central dispatch at 7:55 p.m. Sun- day and asked for police to check on Sharon. Edward said his son, Robert, who talked with his mother on a regular basis, had not been able to reach her by phone for a few days. Sim- mons said he arrived at Sharon's residence at 8 p.m. and noticed the yard "looked as if it had not been mowed for a couple of weeks." Deputy Simmons said he went to the front door and knocked, but didn't get an answer. While looking in the windows of the house and garage, he noticed a red 2014 Jeep Patriot in the ga- rage. When he looked in- to the window of a door on the backside of the house that went into a basement, he said he "could see a mo- tionless body." He was able to get in the back door and determined the body was Sharon Fox and she was deceased. Simmons noted in the affidavit he saw what he thought was blood on the outside of the