The Press-Dispatch

July Bargain Period SEE A-9 FOR DETAILS $ 4 OFF Wednesday, July 7, 2021 PIKE PUBLISHING VOluMe 151, nuMBeR 27 NEWS TIPS Phone: ���������������������812-354-8500 Email ����� editor@pressdispatch�net INSIDE Local ���������������� A1-12 Sports ��������������������A9 East Gibson���������� A10 Obituaries ������������� A11 Home Life ���������� B1-12 Summer Fun �����������B3 Opinion �������������B4-5 Classifieds ���������� B6-7 Legals ���������������������B7 Church ������������ B8-10 History ����������������� B11 USPS 604-34012 $1.00 24 PaGes TWO seCTIOns TWO InseRTs PeTeRsBuRG, In 47567-0068 By Andy Heuring The Winslow Town Council voted to sell a fire truck and discussed getting a contract for a Community Center director during their Monday, June 28 meeting. Council president Josh Popp said he had been approached by Patoka Township Fire Chief Brandon Truitt to see if Winslow was interested in selling their fire truck Engine 91. Council members Debra Lamb and Dick Brewster both said they were interested in the idea. But Brewster said, "I have no idea what it is worth." Popp said he would have a third party ap- praise the truck. "Are you good with that? " asked Popp. Popp said he has been periodically going to the Winslow Fire Department building and starting up the engine to make sure it will run and circulate water, "to make sure it still works." He added the only reason they have kept the fire truck is in case they would ever need it Winslow to sell Engine 91 fire truck See WINSLOW on page 2 See PATOK A on page 2 Bargain Period continues; save $ 4 July Bargain Period, The Press-Dis- patch's biggest sale, is underway. You can save $4 off the price of your year- ly subscription. For local residents in the 475 or 476 zip codes, it is $ 36 for both the print and NetEdition, $ 31 for the print-only subscription or $ 31 for the NetEdition only version. If you live in Indiana, but outside 475 or 476 zip codes, it is available in print and NetEdition for $ 39, print on- ly $ 34 or NetEdition only $ 31. If you live out of state, it is avail- able in print and NetEdition for $56, print only for $51 or NetEdition on- ly for $ 31. Out-of-state customers no longer have to wait for the mail to arrive with the NetEdition sent to your smart- phone, tablet or computer at 6 a.m. every Wednesday morning. A flyer explaining the July Bargain Period savings was recently mailed to area residents. Get it while it's hot. The deal goes away after July 31. There is no better time than now to get the best source of Pike Coun- ty news for the last 151 years than now. You can mail in the form or call 812-354-8500. Customers wanting the NetEdition need to include their email address and a password with a minimum of seven characters. See CLOSURE on page 2 How to beat the heat Sisters Selah and Bethany Wilson try to hold in spray at the Petersburg Splash Park on Monday morning as temperatures had already reached 88 degrees. Highway 57 in Petersburg to close on July 12 There are several road construc- tion projects scheduled for the ar- ea. Highway 57 in Petersburg will close on July 12 to replace a culvert near Eastwood Drive. Also on July 19, Highway 257, near Stendal, will close. In Petersburg, the Highway 57 project will be a complete closure for one day, as it requires a full pave- ment cut for excavation and replace- ment of a drainage culvert. Work is scheduled to last for about a day, depending upon weather con- ditions. Typically, crews will begin the project after morning peak traf- fic hours and will complete the pro- cess before the evening peak traf- fic hours. Local traffic will have ac- cess up to the point of closure, but all through traffic should use the of- ficial detour following S.R. 56/61, I- 69 and U.S. 50. A local detour is Lakeview Drive to 356 to Highway 61. Also slated for the area is seal coating or chip and seal work on sev- eral area highways. In Pike County, Highway 257 is planned to be seal coated beginning on Monday July 19, from Stendal town limits to State Road 64. Multiple locations are scheduled for seal coat operations, with work scheduled to last 5 -6 weeks district wide, depending upon weather con- ditions. "Typically seal coat operations in one location will last for about four days, depending upon weather con- ditions and will be performed under By Andy Heuring The 2021 version of Clog the Patoka this Saturday will be on a boats only basis due to low water conditions. Organizer Chris Clem- ent said it was an agonizing decision to not allow inflatable floats in this year's Clog the Patoka. "I hate it. I know it will cut down on our numbers," said Clement. He said he had several people go on the riv- er with him due to low levels. "We discussed it. We took a big group and they all said don't use tubes." Clement explained there were numerous places tubes would be dragging and many of them would probably pop, leaving their oc- cupants sinking or walking their way out of the Patoka river bottoms. He said because of the numerous tree clogs in the river, it is nearly impossible to go upstream in a motor- ized boat, so rescuing stranded tubers would be difficult. Clement suggested jon boats, canoes, kay- aks or stand-up paddle boats. The Clog has reached more than 1,000 par- ticipants in pre-COVID years. It is a six-mile float from CR 650 E., east of the Pike State Forest at Survant, to the Winslow Riverside Park public access ramp. Last year's Clog was complicated by low water, bridge construction at the put-in site and COVID. It still drew 617 participants, 'Clog the Patoka' set for Saturday Hunt residence destroyed by fire Monday An unnoticed fire Monday morn- ing destroyed the residence of Josh Hunt and Nina Eiling. The house at 5729 W. CR 50 N. was owned by Chris Robling, but Hunt and Eiling lived there. Petersburg Fire Chief Ross El- more said when he arrived, there were no trusses or portions of the roof left. He said it is believed it had been burning for a long time. "Depu- ty Buck Seger had a call to the Union area at about 9:30 a.m. Saturday and he said he saw smoke in that area," said Elmore. The fire wasn't discovered until about 11:11 a.m., when it was report- ed by Gene Atkins. Atkins said he was driving in the area near 500 W. and saw smoke. "I'm real close with Chris, so I came over here to see what it was. When I topped the hill, I saw it was his house," said Atkins. "It was mostly a mop up," said El- more of the fire. Hunt, Eiling and their 16 -month old daughter, Kinzley, had lived in the residence, but were in the pro- cess of moving into another house. Hunt's father, Larry, said they had bought another house and were re- modeling it. While they were re- modeling, they were going back and forth between a camper next to their new house and Robling's house. He said they were moving room by room. They had moved a couple of rooms, including their beds, moved to the new house, but most of the furniture and all their appliances were still in the house that burned. Petersburg and Patoka Township fire departments responded, but it was too late to save anything. Elmore said a state fire marshal had looked at it, but because the fire was so advanced, they couldn't determine what started it. Elmore said he thinks because there were no trusses left, it probably started in the attic. By Andy Heuring COVID numbers in Pike County and Indi- ana are continuing to be low, as only two cas- es of COVID were reported in the county over the last seven days. One was reported on July 2 and other on July 4. This brings the total num- ber of COVID cases in Pike County to 1,387. There has not been a death due to COVID in the county since March 10. There were 153 new cases of COVID report- ed in Indiana on July 5. That was the least for one day over the last week, when the daily numbers ranged from a high of 302 on July 1 to the 153 on July 5. COVID deaths have averaged three a day in the last week; however, that is largely due to eight deaths being reported on June 28. No more than two were reported on another day in the last week. There were zero deaths on July 5. Just a month ago, on June 5, the daily average for new deaths was nine. Hospitalizations are continuing to stay low as well. They declined to an all-time low of 371 on July 3. They have bumped up slightly in the last two days to 413, as the number of hospi- talizations in Indiana due to COVID tends to go up and down. Still, they are on a downward trend. One month ago, on June 5, there were still 600 people hospitalized in Indiana. On May 5, that number was 991. There have been 5,494 people vaccinated in Pike County so far. Statewide, there have been 2.84 million people fully vaccinated. As of Tuesday, there are only six counties in Indiana that are not at the blue level for pos- itivity rate in Indiana. They are Switzerland, Montgomery, Howard, White, Benton and Newton counties. Indiana reviews their sta- tus every Wednesday and some of those could change on Wednesday. Indiana's seven-day positivity rate is 2.6 percent, while Pike Coun- ty's is one percent. COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations continue to decline in Pike County A Saturday morning fire destroyed a house owned by Chris Robling at 5729 W. CR 50 N. The fire was discovered by Gene Atkins, but little was left when it was discovered. Josh Hunt and Nina Eil- ing, who were living in the house, were in the process of moving to a new house.

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