The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1293358
NEWS TIPS Phone: ���������������������812-354-8500 Email ����� editor@pressdispatch�net INSIDE Local ���������������� A1-12 East Gibson ��������� A6 School �������������������� A7 Obituaries ����������� A8-9 History �������������������A9 Classifieds ���������� A8-9 Legal Notices �������� A11 Sports �����������������B1-4 Church �������������� B5-7 Opinion �������������B8-9 Home Life �������� B10-12 USPS 604-34012 Inside Inside IMPROVEMENT Inside IMPROVEMENT IMPROVEMENT IMPROVEMENT IMPROVEMENT FALL HOME IMPROVEMENT IMPROVEMENT IMPROVEMENT IMPROVEMENT FALL ALL ALL ALL ALL ALL FALL FALL FALL F HOME OME OME OME OME OME OME NEWS TIPS Phone: ���������������������812-354-8500 Email ����� editor@pressdispatch�net INSIDE Local ���������������� A1-12 East Gibson ��������� A4 Obituaries ���������������A6 History ������������������� A7 Opinion ������������� A8-9 Classifieds ������� A10-11 Legal Notices ��� A10-11 Sports �����������������B1-5 School ��������������������B6 Church �������������� B7-9 Home Life �������� B10-12 USPS 604-34012 WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2020 PIKE PUBLISHING VOLUME 150, NUMBER 40 $1.00 36 PAGES THREE SECTIONS TWO INSERTS PETERSBURG, IN 47567-0068 F See COCHRENS on page 2 Begins Today! A-6 Begins Today! Begins Today! Ba See VOTING on page 2 By Andy Heuring Two Petersburg men were ar- rested on meth-related charges last Tuesday night after police executed a search warrant of their residence. Nathaniel Eugene Willis, 39, of 202 N. White River Ave., Peters- burg, has been charged with deal- ing in meth, between one and five grams, a level 3 felony; possession of meth, less than five grams; three counts of neglect of a dependent; maintaining a common nuisance; and possession of a narcotic drug, all level 6 felonies. Arrested at the time of the search was Christopher John Willis, 46, of the same address. Pike County Deputy Jared Sim- mons said he got a search warrant for Willis' residence on White Riv- er Ave. and at about 1 a.m. Tues- day, September 22, Deputies Sim- mons, Jason McKinney, Paul Collier and Mike Willis, along with Peters- burg Officer Scott Arnold and State Trooper C. J. Boeckman, went to the residence. A fter they knocked on the front door several times, announcing the Sheriff's Office was there, po- lice heard a loud crash toward the back of the residence. Deputy Sim- mons' report states officers entered the residence and found a juvenile sleeping on the couch in the front room, and three more sleeping in a back room. They also found Melin- da Adams in a back bedroom. She told police she didn't know Nathaniel Willis' location. A juve- nile told police Willis was outside. Police went to an outbuilding and located Christopher Willis in the building. He told police he had just gotten to the residence a few minutes be- fore they arrived and he had not seen Nathaniel since about 5 p.m. He said he had been living at the residence, but usually slept on the couch. A search of Nathaniel's bedroom located a Crown Royal bag with sev- eral clear plastic baggies and a skull smoking device containing a burnt residue. A cellphone identified as Nathan- iel's, a set of black digital scales, a brown crystal substance which field tested positive for meth, and a brown substance that field tested positive for heroin were also found. They also found a broken smok- ing devise with burnt residue, three $20 bills and a clear plastic bag with two corners cut off of it. Police said they believed the loud noise they heard was Nathaniel ex- iting the house when they entered it. He turned himself into the Pike County Sheriff's Department on September 23 and was taken into custody. Willis, Willis arrested on meth-related charges Annual pump tests at Prides Creek Annual pump tests for area fire trucks were conducted at Prides Creek on Tuesday. Above, from left, Spurgeon-Monroe Township Asst. Chief Scott Arnold, Emergency Vehicle Tecni- cian Sam Martin and Fire Chief Don Pancake check equipment for Spurgeon-Monroe Fire Depart- ment. Arnold of Evansville was on hand for tests of several fire trucks from Pike and Dubois Counties. By Andy Heuring Election Day is not until November 3, but voting starts on Tuesday, October 5 in Indiana. Registered voters may go to the Clerk's office and vote in person any time from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday every day in Oc- tober, except for Monday, October 12, which is Columbus Day, and the courthouse is closed. The Clerk's office will also be open for voting on Saturday, October 24 and 31, from 8 a.m. to noon, for in-person voting. Pike County is using the voting center sys- tem this year. It was used in the primary and will be used this year for the first time in a general election. County Clerk Lana Griffith said they are having satellite voting centers at remote loca- tions throughout the month of October. People will be able to vote in person from 3 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, October 13 in Jordan Me- morial Park in Spurgeon. On Tuesday, Octo- ber 20, there will be a voting center from 3 to 8 p.m. in Union at the Union Community Build- ing. On Tuesday, October 27, the satellite vot- ing center will be in Stendal at the Lockhart Community Center from 3 to 8 p.m. The satellite voting center will also be in Winslow on consecutive Saturdays, October 24 and 31, from 8 a.m. to noon. Any registered voter in Pike County may vote at any of the satellite center locations or any of the three voting centers on Election Day. The three voting centers on Election Day will be at the Gospel Center Church in Peters- burg, Winslow Community Center and the Ot- well Community Center. Instead of polling places in nearly every precinct in the county, requiring voters to go to their precinct's poll, Early voting begins Tuesday, Oct. 6; Monday is last day to register Winslow Lions sponsor Tractor Drive Cheyenne Hughes of Winslow heads out as the Tractor Drive pulls away from Whitehead Motors of Petersburg to begin their 30-mile circuit through Pike County. The tractor caravan began Saturday morning, traveled to Dodge City, then through Pecan Flats, stopping for lunch catered by the Pike County Young Farmers at the home of Ross and Leslie Elmore. They then traveled south through the former Rum- bletown community back to Petersburg by Cart Road. By Andy Heuring Indiana moved to Stage 5 of the Back on Track Plan as the positivity rate statewide dropped to 3.9 percent. But in Pike Coun- ty, the largest numbers of positive tests have spiked in the last few days. The most for one day since COVID began was on September 26 as 11 new cases were reported. Since Septem- ber 22, there have been 29 new cases. Pike's total number of cases has risen to 169 as of September 28, the last day the Indiana De- partment of Health has numbers listed. Several of those new numbers are coming from the Amber Manor Care Center, as dou- ble digit positive cases have been recorded for residents and staff in the last few days. The Press-Dispatch contacted Amber Manor and Trilogy personnel for a comment and they did not respond. "A significant number have been attribut- ed to long-term health care facilities. I don't have firm numbers on that yet, but it is a sig- nificant number," said Gladish. Gladish added, "They are doing a fantastic job. Bottom line is, this is a virus and viruses spread, and anytime you have people living in close proximity, it can spread more rapidly." So far, there has only been one death offi- cially listed as COVID-19. Pike County is one of nine counties listed by the Indiana Depart- ment of Health as in category 1.5 or higher. Five of those nine counties are in southwest Indiana. There are two counties, Gibson and Mon- roe, at level two, with Knox, Daviess, Pike and Warrick in the 1.5 category, which is a sev- en-day positivity rate of 5 percent to 9.9 per- cent. Most of Indiana is in the 0.5 category, which is less than 10 new cases per 100,000 residents and less than five percent positivity rate. The data is kept by the state and it has not been updated since September 22. With 29 new cases since then, Pike's rating could go much higher. Pike County Health Nurse Amy Gladish on Monday said there were 37 active cases. On September 28, the number of new cas- es in Indiana was at 760, which is down from 1,178 new cases just three days earlier. There were 15 new deaths on September 26, which is the most since there were 15 on August 27. Hospitalizations have gone up since last week, when they were at 759 on Sept. 21. That rose to 957 by Sept. 27 and fell slightly to 942 on Sept. 28. TEST SITE SCHEDULED TO OPEN NEXT WEEK "We hope to have the testing site open sometime next week if there aren't any de- lays," said Gladish. It will be located on the Moose Lodge park- Pike County has 37 active COVID-19 cases See COVID-19 on page 2