The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1295359
B-2 Wednesday, October 7, 2020 The Press-Dispatch Why Vote for Susan Wheeler-Brittain for Treasurer? 1. EXPERIENCE I have served as Deputy Treasurer for more than three years, handling all aspects of the position. 2. TRUSTWORTHY I've been entrusted with funds and documents from many businesses, along with state and local government. 3. RESPECT If elected, I pledge to serve all Pike County citizens fairly and equally. After all, I work for you! After all, I work for you! Paid for by the Committee to Elect Susan Wheeler-Brittain, Marta Query, Treasurer SUSAN WHEELER-BRITTAIN PIKE COUNTY TREASURER Susan Wheeler-Brittain for Pike County Treasurer-Indiana 2020 Paid for by Nick Henson for Pike County Coroner Photo courtesy of SMD Photography ★ Licensed Funeral Director with experience in dealing with families a er a loss. ★ Lifelong Pike County resident with the desire to serve the community. ★ Operations manager at O.D. Harris Funeral Home. Vote Due to COVID-19 and the rise in numbers in our county, I will not be going door to door any longer, for the health and safety of your family and mine. As I know, evenings are a busy time with making supper, kids have homework and nightly duties. I feel this is a convenient and safe decision, but I will miss seeing familiar faces and meeting the people of our hometown, Pike County. Just remember Summer Sorgius for County Clerk when you vote. I will work hard for our County! Summer SORGIUS Pike County Clerk for Paid for by candidate Winslow council ponders budget, salaries for 2021 By Grace Miller On Tuesday and Thursday, the Winslow Town Council met to talk over the city bud- get. This meeting was discus- sion only, therefore no official decisions were made. The first order the council addressed was that of petty cash and cash change funds for different city departments. At the last council meeting, they discussed forming a pet- ty cash fund-like bank account for the park and recreation de- partment. This discussion continued, and they came up with the op- tion to give the park and recre- ation department $150 in both a cash change fund and a petty change fund, which will not go in effect until 2021 once an of- ficial decision is made. Ordinance 2020 -09, regard- ing the amending of the salary ordinance, was another topic of discussion. President Josh Popp said that he wanted the discussion to revolve around how much the increase should be and wanted to have it done before next year. "I mean, I don't think we need to set anything in stone until we know what that cost of living allowance is," vice-pres- ident Debra Lamb said. The council discussed an increase of 1.6 percent for next year. "By law, we have to put what funds these come out of," Popp said. The council went on to discuss whether they could pull less from the water fund and more from various other funds, such as waste- water, that are doing better fi- nancially. Ordinance 2020 -07, the ap- propriations and tax rates for 2021, was also addressed. The council looked over the bud- get forms that are to be sent to the state. Richard "Dick" Brewster said, "What you need to do is use it or lose it… and ask for the moon and hope you just get somewhere in between." Popp presented the estimat- ed 2021 department budgets. This projection covered, in detail, the different expenses each department will or may have next year, leaving room for reductions in the event that they are necessary. The cur- rent total estimate for 2021 is $ 364,396. The council planned to dis- cuss adopting the town hand- book on Thursday, October 1. All decisions regarding the topics addressed will be made at meetings on later dates. By Andy Heuring Two people were arrested for driving while intoxicated in Pike County last week. Sunday evening, a Vin- cennes man was arrested for operating a vehicle while in- toxicated after police stopped him for driving 81 mph in a 70 zone on I-69. Donaldo Valiente Godoy, 25, of 1706 N. 14th St., Vin- cennes, was preliminarily charged with driving while suspended (prior) and operat- ing a vehicle while intoxicated with a prior, a level 6 felony. Pike County Deputy Sheriff Paul Collier said Pike County officials were notified by Gib- son County officials of a black Nissan traveling north on I-69 and the driver was drinking. Deputy Cody Jones, who was driving south, said he saw the vehicle driving north at 81 mph. Deputy Collier located the vehicle and pulled it over at the 44.5 -mile marker. Dep- uty Collier said when talking to Godoy, he noticed he had glassy eyes and smelled of al- cohol. Deputy Jones, who assisted Collier, said he saw open alco- hol containers in the backseat on the passenger's side. Col- lier saw a case of beer in the backseat, with one open can. Godoy admitted he had a few margaritas. He failed field sobriety tests and refused to take a test for blood alcohol content. He was taken into custody. Godoy's vehicle was re- leased to his passenger, Ga- brielle Slater, of Vincennes, after she tested negative for alcohol. A Washington man was ar- rested on charges of operat- ing a vehicle while intoxicat- ed and his passenger was ar- rested on meth chargers after police stopped them on a traf- fic violation. Jeremy Hardy, 38, of 814 E. Main St., Washington, was ar- rested for OV WI last Tuesday night. Amber M. Ridener, 39, of Jasper, was arrested on charges of possession of meth, less than 5 grams, a level 6 fel- ony, possession of parapher- nalia, possession of a con- trolled substance and main- taining a common nuisance. Pike County Deputy Sheriff Jeremy Simmons said he was driving south on Highway 61, near CR 100 E, when he saw a vehicle driving 61 in a 40 zone near PC-1 Stop. He said the vehicle contin- ued to speed, driving 68 mph in a 55 zone, and he stopped it on the I-69 overpass. Dep- uty Collier said when he talk- ed to the driver, Hardy, he no- ticed rapid, muttered speech, glassy and bloodshot eyes, and that he was making irreg- ular movements with his jaw, which are all signs of meth in- toxication. Hardy failed field sobriety tests. According to Deputy Sim- mons' report, Hardy admit- ted he had smoked marijuana the day before and used meth a couple of days earlier. Sim- mons said he smelled burnt marijuana in the vehicle. He said while police searched the vehicle, they no- ticed Ridener try to "get rid" of a zipper pouch, with the initials "A.M." on it, over the edge of the overpass. Simmons, in his report, stat- ed Ridener denied putting the pouch on the side of the over- pass, but Petersburg Officer Scott Arnold said he saw her put it there. Police said the pouch had two glass smoking devices in it. The report states when po- lice searched her purse, they found two corners of a plastic bag that contained about one gram of a crystal substance in each. It field tested positive for meth. Simmons' report states Ridener told police a friend had just given her the wallet the two baggie corners were in and she didn't know they were in it. They were both taken into custody. Two arrested for impaired driving in separate incidents By Andy Heuring Petersburg City Council vot- ed to approve their proposed budget for 2021 and they will apply for a Community Cross- roads paving grant. Both ac- tions were approved during their Monday night meeting. The new budget calls for a total budget of $1.171 million, with $ 673,508 in the gener- al fund, $ 9,000 in police pen- sion, $10,000 in local road and street, $145,522 in motor vehi- cle highway, $73,618 in park, $15,000 in cumulative capital improvements, cumulative capital development $27,000, special fire protection terri- tory general $79,250, special fire protection territory equip- ment replacement $113,500 and riverboat/casino $25,000. The City Council has ap- proved it, but it will now go to the Department of Local Gov- ernment and Finance for its approval. Mayor R.C. Klipsch said in a surprise announcement, the Indiana Department of Trans- portation said they will be hav- ing a second round of Com- munity Crossroads grants this year. Earlier, they had said there wouldn't be a sec- ond round due to financial con- straints of COVID on state rev- enues. Klipsch, earlier in the year, said Petersburg wasn't going to apply because he was afraid they wouldn't have enough funds to pay their 25 -percent match. However, he said he was surprised that Peters- burg Economic Development Income Tax revenue was very similar to last year. He sug- gested they apply for the Cir- cle Drive and Hill Drive that are connector routes between Highways 356 and 57. Klipsch said the total cost for the proj- ect would be about $ 85,000 and the grant would cover 75 percent, so Petersburg's share would be about $20,000. "We have enough to cover a small project like that," said Klipsch. He said they would be lucky to get it because they have been awarded funds in three or four straight applications. Councilmen voted 5 -0 to ap- prove applying for the paving grant. Paving crews are in Peters- burg this week paving streets on a previous Community Crossroads grant. City Ser- vices Manager Ross Elmore said they will be paving: • Spruce St., from 9th St. north to dead-end; • Fifth St., from Main to Il- linois St.; • Walnut St., from Ninth to 12th St.; • Poplar, from Fifth to Spruce, excluding places re- cently paved. • 11th St., from Poplar to Spruce. • 10th St., from Poplar to Spruce. Mayor Klipsch announced they had closed the lobby of City Hall to the public. "The point in all of this is we did that (closed the lobby) when we only had one or two cases. Now we have 98 active cas- es," said Klipsch. He said the small area doesn't really al- low people to social distance inside City Hall. He said about half the people come in with- out masks on. He said one person came in and said they were on quarantine, but had to pay their water bill. City Services Manager Ross Elmore said Miller Pipe- line told him they were going to work a couple more weeks and then they would be done until next Spring. They are in the process of replacing all the natural gas distribution lines in Petersburg. Councilmen voted to ap- prove a sidewalk replacement project at the Fish Hut restau- rant. Klipsch said the city keeps a fund of about $7,500 a year that pays 50 percent of the cost of new sidewalks be- ing installed. He said Fish Hut replaced 175 feet of sidewalk and Petersburg's cost was about $ 3,000 for it. Fish Hut also replaced their parking lot, but that was not involved in the sidewalk replacement. Klipsch said they still had funding available for one more small sidewalk project this year. In other business, Klipsch told councilmen they should take their laptop computers home, because the second meeting of October would probably be a virtual meeting that is streamed online instead of an in-person meeting. It is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Monday, October 19. City approves 2021 budget; will apply for paving grant A Winslow man and his fa- ther were arrested on operat- ing a vehicle while intoxicated and meth-related charges af- ter police stopped them at 8:45 a.m. Friday in Gibson County. Aaron Shover, 28, of Winslow, was arrested on charges of operating a vehi- cle with a passenger less than 18 years of age, a level 6 felo- ny; operating a vehicle while intoxicated (refusal), a class A misdemeanor; possession of meth, a level 6 felony; pos- session of marijuana, a class B misdemeanor; and possession of drug paraphernalia, a class C misdemeanor. Paul Shover, 52, of Peters- burg, was arrested on charges of neglect of a dependent, a level 6 felony; possession of meth, a level 6 felony; and dis- orderly conduct, a class B mis- demeanor. According to a State Police news release, Trooper Jor- dan Lee stopped a 1994 Ca- dillac that was making an un- safe lane movement on U.S. 41, south of SR 68. The driver was identified as Aaron Shov- er. Two passengers inside the vehicle were identified as Paul Shover, Jr., and his 14-year-old son. Police said Trooper Lee ob- served signs of impairment on both the driver and adult passenger. Senior Trooper Michael Finney and his K- 9, Boomer, arrived to assist. While walking around Shov- er's vehicle, Boomer alert- ed to the presence of narcot- ics. A search of the vehicle re- vealed small amounts of meth- amphetamine, marijuana and drug paraphernalia. Aaron Shover failed field sobriety tests and refused to submit to a chemical test. The passen- ger, Paul Shover, was also im- paired and under the influence of narcotics. Aaron and Paul Shover were arrested and tak- en to the Gibson County Jail, where they are currently be- ing held on bond. Paul Shov- er's 14-year-old son was re- leased to a family member. We're not afraid to shed some light on the truth. 812-354-8500 SUBSCRIBE TODAY! Shovers arrested for OVWI, drug charges A crew from E&B Paving started paving several streets Tuesday in Petersburg. It is part of a Crossroads Com- munity paving grant Petersburg received from the Indiana Department of Transportation that pays for 75 per- cent of the costs.