The Press-Dispatch

September 2, 2020

The Press-Dispatch

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PC HOBBLED BY TECUMSEH SPORTS B-1 PC HOBBLED BY TECUMSEH PC HOBBLED BY TECUMSEH SPORTS B-1 The Tecumseh Braves were able to notch a 39 -0 Pocket Athletic Con- ference win at their place on Friday while the Chargers suffered from missing several key players. LOCAL A-4 Marking the end of WWII NEWS TIPS Phone: ���������������������812-354-8500 Email ����� editor@pressdispatch�net INSIDE Local ���������������� A1-12 East Gibson ��������� A6 History ������������������� A7 Opinion ������������� A8-9 Classifieds ������� A10-11 Legal Notices �������� A11 Sports ��������������� B1-12 School ��������������������B4 Obituaries ���������������B5 Home Life ����������� B6-8 Church ������������ B9-11 USPS 604-34012 Wednesday, september 2, 2020 PIKE PUBLISHING VOLUme 150, nUmber 36 $1.00 24 paGes tWO seCtIOns three Inserts petersbUrG, In 47567-0068 September 2, 2020, marks the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II. To mark this occasion, the Ernie Pyle World War II Museum in Dana, Ind., and Scripps Howard Foundation has offered columns written by Pyle, a Pulitzer Prize win- ning war correspondent. It is an appropriate time for us to recall the sacrifices made by those who have served and are serving in our Armed Forces. It's a remind- er to everyone of the ultimate sac- rifice made by so many Americans to maintain the freedoms we enjoy. We are publishing two of his col- umns. One is about the death of Capt. Waskow. It is widely consid- ered to be the best column ever writ- ten. The other is Pyle's last column. It was found in his shirt pocket, un- completed, when his body was re- covered. The son of tenant farming par- ents in west-central Indiana, Pyle became history's greatest war cor- respondent. When Pyle was killed by a Japanese machine gun bullet on the tiny Pacific island of Ie Shi- ma in 1945, his columns were be- ing delivered to more than 14 mil- lion homes, according to his New York Times obituary. During the war, Pyle wrote about the hardships and bravery of the common soldier, not grand strategy. His description of the G.I.'s life was more important to families on the home front than battlefront tactics of Gens. Dwight Eisenhower, Doug- las MacArthur or George Patton. Prior to the United States' en- try into World War II, Pyle traveled to England and wrote about the Nazis' con- tinual bomb- ing of London. His columns helped move the mood of America from isolationism to sympathy for the stubborn refusal of Great Britain to succumb to the will of Adolf Hitler. The Pulitzer Prize winning jour- nalist's legacy rests in his words and the impact they had on Americans before and during a war that threat- ened to take the world behind a cur- tain of fascism. His columns open a window to the hardships endured by the common U.S. soldier during World War II and serve today to hon- Remembering Ernie Pyle on 75th anniversary of end of WWII Ernie Pyle War Correspondent By Andy Heuring A Petersburg business owner is the second Pike County victim of COVID-19. Roger Wil- lis, owner of the Ole Flower Shoppe, died late Monday night. Willis' sister, Juanita Richardson, said Wil- lis was admitted to the hospital on August 14. "He was just really sick and didn't know what was wrong," said Richardson. Once in the hos- pital, he was diagnosed with COVID and dou- ble pneumonia. His mother, Mary, was hos- pitalized about the same time with COVID. She has been dismissed from the hospital. "We have her at home now. She is doing pret- ty well for 90," said Richardson. Willis taught school at Loogootee for more than 30 years. A fter retiring from teaching, he and his mother started a flower shop eight years ago. It was located south of Petersburg on Highway 57 in Willis' father's barber shop. Later, Roger purchased the Ole Flower Shoppe in Petersburg. (See obituary on page B5). By Andy Heuring Pike County Schools so far are adapting and overcoming as they try to negotiate their way through the COVID pandemic. "Our current situation is we have a high number of individuals in a quarantine situa- tion. Not necessarily high illnesses, but be- cause of identified exposure, they have to be quarantined due to the state and CDC guide- lines," said Pike County Schools Superinten- dent Dr. Suzanne Blake. As of Tuesday, Pike County schools had 17 teachers who had been quarantined. Blake said all of those teachers were teaching from home by means of technology similar to Zoom. Their students are still meeting in the class- room, unless they also have been quarantined, and are able to see and hear their teachers. Dr. Blake said a teacher's assistant or a sub- stitute teacher is in the classroom with the stu- dents to oversee the room and help answer questions. "Most of the quarantined individu- als have no symptoms," said Blake. "Honestly, our biggest challenge seems to be maintaining coverage in the classrooms. Fortunately, because they aren't getting sick, they are able to do instruction from home and kids are able to continue in their studies," said Blake. She said the number of kids who have been quarantined is "a lot. It is a significant num- ber." However, she said just because they are in quarantine doesn't mean they have symptoms or have tested positive. She said only 2.4 per- cent of the people being quarantined have test- ed positive for COVID. Allergy season and strep throat, which have similar symptoms to COVID, are making it hard to discern what is going on in several people. Blake said not everyone who is show- ing symptoms are having symptoms from COVID. She said they are being quarantined for 14 days from the time they were exposed to someone or they have tests showing their symptoms are from something else. Blake said the number of people being quarantined is "significant. But I don't want to make everyone think it is rampant. We are sending a lot of people home. Some are out a day or two because it is identified as some- thing different. We are responding to many different things and taking the approach that Area schools adapting to navigate through COVID virus By Andy Heuring Pike County's COVID-19 cases have topped 100 and a second death was recorded (see re- lated story). Two new cases on Monday and another on Tuesday put the total at 102. Pike County has been steadily racking up new cas- es. In the last week, there have been 20 new cases confirmed since August 25. The schools have had cases reported and have quarantined "a significant number" of adults and students. However, the number of positive cases is low (see related story). Currently, there are three people hospital- ized from COVID in Pike County. Statewide, Indiana has had between 1,136 new cases reported on August 28 and 720 re- ported on August 31. Deaths in Indiana have ranged from a low of two on August 26 to a high of 13 on August 28, then five each day from August 29 to Aug. 31. Hospitalizations state-wide dropped to 867 on August 26. Just two days before, it was at 987. A fter the low on August 26, it had a slight increase to 883 by August 30, but then fell to 848 on August 31. Ventilator use was down to 2.6 percent of the available ventilators in Indiana on August 31. Pike County Health Nurse reemphasized the importance of social distancing and wear- ing masks. She said while being out, she had seen many people not wearing masks and sometimes if they are wearing masks, they are not social distancing. She said it is important to continue to do both. Gladish said the Pike County Health De- partment hopes to have a testing center up and running in late September or early Oc- tober. COVID cases top 100; 20 new cases since Aug. 25 Petersburg business owner is second victim Paving underway again The Pike County Highway Department started paving on Monday. Above, they are paving on Me- ridian Road. They were paving Meridian from the Sugar Ridge Road to Division. Assistant Superin- tendent Josh Byrd said this was the first of several roads they will be paving this fall. It is from a 75 percent grant they received from the Indiana Department of Transportation through the Communi- ty Crossroads program. The roads this fall will total about $1 million. See PYLE on page 4 See SCHOOLS on page 2 Tree limb falls on Hill while mowing About 15 neighbors, firemen and EMS personnel helped lift a large tree limb off Brooke Hill. A large limb, about 18 inches in diameter, fell out of a tree and hit Hill in the head, and pinned her on a riding lawnmower. Patoka Fire Chief Brandon Truitt said the limb fell from about 30 to 40 feet up. Pike County Deputy Sheriff Paul Collier said it looked like the limb was dead. He said it had just started to rain when he was responding and there was some wind with the rain that probably caused the limb to fall. Hill was mowing near the tree line behind her mother TuWanna's residence. She started screaming and her moth- er, TuWanna, heard her screams. She went outside and saw Brooke, then ran next door to her brother Rick Willis' residence. Rick ran to help and fell going down the hill, breaking several ribs. Hill was taken to St. Vincent's Hospital in Evansville suf- fering from head and leg injuries. She has since been released from the hospital. Willis fell again on Tuesday morning and died later in the day from those injuries.

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