The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1279811
NEWS TIPS Phone: ���������������������812-354-8500 Email ����� editor@pressdispatch�net INSIDE Local ����������������� A1-8 Opinion ������������� A6-7 East Gibson ��������� A7 Sports �����������������B1-6 Classifieds ���������� B2-3 Legal Notices ������ B3-5 Home Life ������������C1-8 Church �������������� C3-5 History ������������������� C6 Obituaries ��������������� C7 Fall Sports Preview ���D USPS 604-34012 Wednesday, august 19, 2020 PIKE PUBLISHING VOLuMe 150, nuMBeR 34 $1.00 28 Pages FOuR seCtIOns thRee InseRts PeteRsBuRg, In 47567-0068 See WARR ANTS on page 2 See PETERSBURG on page 2 See SCHOOL on page 3 Two more warrants issued in Fox investigation By Andy Heuring The investigation into the death of a rural Petersburg woman continues as two more search warrants were issued last week. The body of Sharon Fox was found at the bottom of a staircase in her basement on Sun- day, July 19, by Pike County Deputy Sheriff Jared Simmons after he was requested to do a welfare check on Fox. The request was made by her estranged husband, Edward Fox, who had a protective order against him that kept him from having contact with Sharon. Edward told central dispatch his son had not been able to make contact with his moth- er for a couple of days. However, later the son told police he had not told his father that. On Wednesday, August 12, the Pike Coun- ty Prosecutor's Office sought and received a search warrant for Edward Fox's Google ac- count information. Prosecutor Darin McDon- ald said they are seeking detailed information Google records might have that can pinpoint Edward's exact location at specific times. They also issued a search warrant to learn about an insurance policy Edward had pur- chased on Sharon and continued to pay the premium on months after they had separated. In the probable cause requesting the Goo- gle account records, police claim, during a series of four interviews, Edward had admit- ted he found the body on Friday, July 17 by peeking through a window and that he had gone into the house "to see if his estranged wife was deceased." However, "he denied do- ing any other activities while at the house, in- dicating that he left almost immediately and did not tell anyone because of the pending re- straining order." During the interviews, the affidavit states Edward told police he had been at the resi- dence on Thursday, July 16, "to check on her" and that he looked in the window and saw Sha- ron in bed looking at her Kindle device and left. He said he returned on Friday to check on his tools and noticed a light on in the base- ment. When he checked on the light, he saw Sharon's body in the basement. The affidavit states "Edward's timeline, if true, would only place him at the 30181 N. CR 575 E. location for a few minutes on each occasion. Since Edward told police this timeline of events, they have received records from AT&T about his cellphone. Preliminary examination of location data shows Edward's phone "ping a signal off of a cellular tower in proximity to PC girls soccer team quarantined through Aug. 24 By Andy Heuring Pike Central's girls' soccer team has been placed on quarantine until at least Aug. 24. Pike Schools Superintendent Su- zanne Blake said "They were at risk of exposure to it." "We had a report of a positive test. We are taking necessary tests for potential close contact exposure," said Blake. The girls were scheduled to play three matches during that time: Tell City on Aug. 18, Washington on Aug. 20 and Evansville Bosse on Aug. 24. Athletic Director Dustin Powell said they would attempt to resched- ule the matches. Blake said as of Tuesday after- noon, there were no other Pike Cen- tral teams on quarantine, "I don't want this to sound like there is go- ing to be another team quarantined, but that could change quickly." By Andy Heuring With the deadline to file for school board looming, the third incumbent has said he intends to file this week be- fore the Friday deadline. Current Pike County School Board president Steve Potter said Monday morning he had decided to seek re-election. He said he would file sometime this week. He joins the other two incumbents, Chris McKinney and Chris Satterfield, in filing to seeking re-election. As of Tuesday, they were the only candidates to file for the three school board positions. The deadline to file is noon on Friday, August 21 in the County Clerk's office. The last day to register to vote in the fall election is Monday, October 5. The first day to vote early is Tues- day, October 6. Incumbents file for re-election to school board By Andy Heuring Petersburg voted to purchase a used street sweeper and had the first reading of an ordinance that will regulate when fireworks can be used during their Monday night city council meeting. They purchased a 2005 street sweeper that had been used by the city of Bluffton. Mayor R.C. Klipsch said he and City Services Manag- er Ross Elmore went to look at the street sweeper last week. At last month's meeting, Petersburg dis- cussed their three options, which was to purchase a used but refur- bished unit for $109,000, the 2005 unit for $ 35,000 as is or a 1995 unit with less hours, also for $ 35,000. Klipsch said Owensville has al- ready bought the 1995 unit. He and Elmore both said the 2005 unit was in better shape than they expected. The other unit was a refurbished unit, which Klipsch said means they take it apart down to the frame and replace any of the parts that look used beyond a certain percentage with all new parts. Klipsch said they asked for a fig- ure to replace the hydraulic lines, filter and belts on the machine and was given a price of $ 6,000. He rec- ommended they have that work do- ne to it before it is delivered to Pe- tersburg. The council agreed with him and voted 5 -0 to purchase the street sweeper. Klipsch said after he and Elmore saw the unit opened up, they think Petersburg can do most of the rou- tine service work on it. He added the unit had stiff brushes on it and he hoped those would cut some of the weeds that are growing along curbs. Councilman Jody Hoover said she had a resident express concern to her about people blowing grass in- to the street when they are mowing. Klipsch said it is a violation of city ordinance for people to blow grass into the street while mowing. WORK ZONE SAFETY Elmore asked if they could get assistance from the police depart- ment on people driving through their work zones. He said on Mon- day, they were working on a project on Highway 61 on the north side of town and people were speeding past their work zone. Elmore said not only are people not slowing down, but they also sometimes drive around the cones and go through the work zone. "It is getting so bad. I have one guy watching out for the other guys to make sure they don't take a step back." Petersburg replaces street sweeper By Andy Heuring Pike County Schools returned last Wednes- day to in-person teaching for the first time since mid-March of 2020. There were some long lines on the first day as students, parents, teachers and administrators did their best to adhere to COVID-19 provisions and get back to normal. Long lines of cars at Petersburg Elemen- tary School backed up on Highway 61. Lines stretched south out to Petersburg Hardware and north almost to Main St. "That first day it was a little bit longer. A f- ter the first day, it has been flowing very nice- ly. Everyone has done a good job cooperating with what we want them to do," said Peters- burg Elementary School Principal Rick King. Petersburg Police Chief Chuck Baumgart said since the first day, they haven't had any problems in the morning. But for several days, they were having trouble in the evenings as parents arrived and lined up along Goodlet St., waiting for the kids to be released from school. "I think we have got it taken care of now. We are double stacking them on Goodlet St. Because it is a one-way street, we can do that." Baumgart said he now goes out each af- ternoon and helps the vehicles form two lines on Goodlet St. "Once the kids start being released, it just opens up and flows fine," said Baumgart. At the elementary schools, students were released from their buses by grade level to limit their exposure to other students as much as possible. Superintendent Suzanne Blake said, "I think things went very well. Parents, students, ev- eryone was very patient as we worked through School begins with smooth start, few glitches Winslow Elementary School Principal Rich Luker gives a big welcome to Kaylee Inman as she comes to school on the first day. Pike County Schools returned to in-person instruction last Wednesday for the first time since mid-March, when a state- wide lockdown was imposed by Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb. See more first day pictures on pages A-3 and A-8. Abandoned water line capped Water sprays out as Petersburg city workers try to cap off an old abandoned water line on Main St., Petersburg on Tuesday. City Services Manager Ross Elmore said the line was a service line to businesses on the other side of Main St. before the Downtown Terrace development was built. He said they had been shut off on the other side. When crews were working to dig out the leaking line, they hit it with the mini-excavator and made their job a lit- tle tougher. It was repaired by the middle of the day. No one lost water service and no boil order was needed.