The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1343317
SPECIAL SECTION A-5 SPECIAL SECTION A-5 Bart Stinson makes frightening parallels between current events and the rise of Nazis LUCID MOMENTS — OPINION B-4 Wednesday, February 24, 2021 PIKE PUBLISHING VOLuMe 151, nuMber 8 NEWS TIPS Phone: ���������������������812-354-8500 Email ����� editor@pressdispatch�net INSIDE Local ���������������� A1-12 Obituaries ������������� A10 History ����������������� A11 Home Life ���������� B1-10 Sports ��������������������B3 Opinion �������������B4-5 School ����������������� B6 East Gibson������������B6 Church �������������� B7-9 Classifieds ������� B10-11 Legal Notices ��� B10-11 USPS 604-34012 $1.00 24 PaGes TWO seCTIOns Three InserTs PeTersburG, In 47567-0068 The tax man cometh, and he cometh soon The Indiana Department of Revenue (DOR) is now accepting tax filings for the 2021 indi- vidual income tax season. Indiana filers have from now until April 15, 2021, to file their in- dividual income tax returns and pay any tax- es owed. "The DOR team has skillfully prepared all our systems and operations for this year's in- dividual tax filing season," announced DOR Commissioner Bob Grennes today. "This is our busiest time of year, and we look forward to serving millions of our fellow Hoosiers with the processing of their returns, payments and refunds." Whenever possible, DOR recommends elec- tronic filing and payment as electronic pro- cessing is higher quality and much quicker than paper processes. Refunds resulting from electronic filings are issued up to four times faster than paper returns, on average under 14 days. Looking for some help? Hoosiers have sev- eral free options to help them file their tax- es including: The Indiana free file program allows over two million qualified Hoosiers that had an ad- justed gross income of $72,000 or less in 2020 to file both their state and federal taxes for free using certified online software. The A ARP Foundation Tax-Aide program focuses on helping low- and moderate-income people, with special attention to those over By Andy Heuring The COVID vaccine has been extended to all those age 60 and older in Indiana. The In- diana Department of Health put out this mes- sage Tuesday morning. You can register for the vaccine by going to ourshot.in.gov. This news comes as numbers in Indiana and Pike County continue to drop. Many on the national level think much of the country will reach herd immunity by the end of April. There were only eight new cases of COVID reported in Pike County bringing their total number of cases to 1272. From February 16 to February 22 the cases reported in Pike Coun- ty were two on Feb. 18 and 19, three on Feb. 20 and one on February 22. Statewide the num- ber of new cases continues to drop as well. On February 22 the number of new cases report- ed was 715, which is a sharp drop from the previous months. On January 22 there were 3,128 new cases in Indiana and on Decem- ber 22 there were 4,667 new cases in Indiana. Pike County Health Nurse Amy Gladish said the number of active cases in Pike Coun- ty has dropped to eight, which is down from 14 last week. No new deaths were reported in Pike Coun- ty since January 14. However the overall num- ber of deaths this week jumped to 32 from 30. Gladish explained the state health depart- ment has been reviewing records from long- Vaccine now available for ages 60 and under See TA XES on page 2 See TREASURER on page 2 See COVID-19 on page 2 See ROBOTICS on page 2 See WATER LINE on page 4 Race to the bottom A large group of friends met Friday afternoon in Hornady Park to go sledding. The kids sledded and the mothers caught some rays on the bright sunny day. Above, the group had a race; Blayne Hartke is going over the jump and Corbin Knepp on the right. The others behind them are Xavery Weisman, Avelyn Knepp, Daegan Knepp and Brock Weisman. Petersburg robotics teams qualify for state finals All three of Petersburg Elementary School robotic teams have qualified for the VEX Ro- botics state finals Robot Skills Challenge to be on March 6. All three teams are currently ranked in the top 51 teams in Indiana as well. Robotics sponsor Terra Knust said this year has been very different due to COVID. The competitions have been virtual, conducted over Zoom. Knust said they got off to a late start and didn't even know if they were going to com- pete this year. "We normally start practicing the second week of school, but this year we didn't start until December. I had a hard time deciding if we would even do robotics due to COVID," said Knust. "I was nervous about the students working so closely with each other and handling the same parts. I had several students begging for robotics so I decided to give it a try," said Knust. She is glad she did. "It has gone very well. The kids wear their masks and keep their distance as much as they can. Getting practices in hasn't been easy with hybrid schedules, e-learning, and snow. We've had a lot of obstacles to overcome. I also cut down on my numbers. We went from 25 team members to eight. I have no new students this year, which means next year I will be start- ing with a brand new team when all my fifth graders move on to middle school," said Knust PES teams have competed three times this year virtually. Since they have been virtual, there has been no teamwork challenge this year, only driver skills and autonomous chal- lenges. "This has really changed our approach to practicing, allowing teams to focus on only working alone," said Knust. "I hope that next year COVID is more under control which will allow us to go back to the traditional in-person competitions and team- work challenges. One of the best parts of ro- botics is strategizing with other teams and working together. We have really missed that this year," said Knust VEX Robotics teams this year compete only in the Robot Skills Challenge, where one robot Treasurer gathering new info for tax bills The Treasurer's Office is gather- ing information for creating the new tax bills for this year. If you have moved in the past year, Please call the (Auditors Office) at (812) -354-6451 to get your address updated in order to get your proper- ty taxes to you in a timely manner. The post office does not forward that information to us. It is your respon- sibility to let us know. We are currently getting courtesy letters ready to send out to all tax- payers who are delinquent on their taxes. Remember this is just a cour- tesy letter, which gives you extra time to make payments in order to get you caught up on your taxes. If you have any question on your taxes feel free to call us at (812) -354-6363. There is a drop box at the en- trance on Ninth St. for everyone to drop their tax payment, in order to be able to pay at all times now. It is labeled in order to identify easily. If tax payers enclose a self-addressed stamped envelope with their pay- By Andy Heuring Petersburg city councilmen opened bids Monday for a water- line project. The bid opening was delayed a week due to the extreme weather last Tuesday, when they were scheduled to open bids. Coun- cilmen also discussed interior fur- niture being left outside residences during their meeting. Petersburg had scheduled a bid opening for last week on the water line relocation project. Mayor R. C. Klipsch said when the snow storm on Monday hit, con- tractors started contacting them worried they might not be able to get their bids to Petersburg by the bidding open due to road conditions. So they delayed the bid opening un- til Monday, February 22. The project will install a new main water line along Highway 61 north of Petersburg. The current line is un- der the paved portion of Highway 61. Petersburg opted late last year to move the line from out of the road bed to beside the road in the right of way before the Highway 61 is re- worked. Indiana Department of Transpor- tation is going to completely rehab Highway 61 from Main St. Peters- Petersburg takes water line project bids under advisement Ice rescue training Firemen Dylan Veale and J. D. Riddle are pulled from a hole in the ice at Prides Creek lake, where area fire departments participat- ed in ice rescue training Saturday morning. Brian Dodge of Vincennes Township Fire De- partment was the instructor. Firemen donned heavy-duty neoprene dry suits. One person got in the water and the other approached and attached rescue ropes to him and a group of firemen pulled them across the ice to safety.