The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1394777
PAGE A-5 FOR SCHEDULE 1 00 th A nnu a l J u l y 2 5 - j u l y 3 1 , 2 0 2 1 pike county pike county 4-H Fair 4-H Fair SEE A-8 July BARGAIN PERIOD $ 4 OFF Wednesday, July 21, 2021 PIKE PUBLISHING VOluMe 151, nuMBeR 29 NEWS TIPS Phone: ���������������������812-354-8500 Email ����� editor@pressdispatch�net INSIDE Local ���������������� A1-12 Reunions ����������������A6 Sports ��������������������A9 East Gibson���������� A10 Obituaries ������������� A11 Home Life ���������� B1-12 Summer Fun �����������B3 Opinion �������������B4-5 Church ��������������B6-8 History �������������������B9 Classifieds ������� B10-11 USPS 604-34012 $1.00 24 PaGes TWO seCTIOns ThRee InseRTs PeTeRsBuRG, In 47567-0068 Alyssa Jenkins Keanna McDowell Libby Stone 2021 Miss Pike County candidates Pageants kick off 100th 4-H Fair Fox murder trial begins on Monday By Andy Heuring The murder trial of a man accused of killing his estranged wife is set to start on Monday, July 26 in Pike Circuit Court. Ed Fox, 65, is facing charges of murder; burglary, where serious bodily injury oc- curs, and burglary to a dwelling, a level 1 felony; and burglary of a dwelling, a lev- el 4 felony. Sharon Fox, 66, was found dead at the bottom of a stairway into her basement on Sunday, July 19, 2020, by Pike County Dep- uty Sheriff Jared Simmons at about 8 p.m. Simmons had gone to the Fox residence at 3081 N. CR 575 E., Petersburg, to check on Sharon after Edward had called police and asked them to do a welfare check on her. Fox told police his son had not heard from his mother in several days. Edward and Sharon had filed for divorce on July 12, 2019. Deputy Simmons said after knocking on the door of Sharon's house, he went around to the back of the house and looked in the win- dow in a door to the basement and could see a motionless body. It was later deter- mined to be Sharon Fox. Fox was initially arrested the next day on obstruction of justice and resisting law enforcement charges. Those charges stemmed from an incident while Indiana State Police Det. Tobias Odom and Peters- burg Officer Kyle Mills were interviewing Fox. According to a probable cause affi- davit, Fox got into a physical altercation with Odom and Mills when they took pos- session of his cellphone while waiting on a warrant to search the phone. A week later, Fox was arrested on a charge of entering his wife's house. In a se- ries of interviews, police claimed Fox had initially denied any knowledge of the cir- cumstances of his estranged wife's death. According to a probable cause affidavit, when police confronted Fox with evidence they had found, he admitted he had gone into the residence and touched her body to A black bear has apparently roamed into Pike County recent- ly. Indiana Department of Natural Resource officials are confirming a bear sighting and issuing a warning to rural residents to not leave trash receptacles outside. "The black bear that has been seen in Pike County has gotten in- to garbage there and is likely still roaming around southern Indiana," states a DNR news release. The DNR warned, "If trash or re- cycling containers are easily acces- sible, the bear could start to associ- ate people's homes with a place to find food. To protect the bear and personal property, residents of Pike and surrounding counties should se- cure those and other potential hu- man-generated outdoor food sourc- es." "Seeking out easily accessible food is normal behavior for many wild animals," said Brad Westrich, DNR mammologist. "Unfortunate- ly, bears can become sick or even die when they eat items from our garbage." Westerich said, "The sighting in Pike County occurred on the morn- ing of July 5, when a resident woke to discover that their solid waste dumpster had been opened and accessed. Trash was strewn about their yard and the evidence DNR ob- served (scat and paw prints) indicat- ed a bear had accessed the trash. Then a few days later, on July 8, the bear was reported to have been in the same area, though not trying to get into trash this time because it had dragged bags of trash into the Black bear sighting in Pike County confirmed No harm no foul A concrete pump truck and its driver both escaped without damage or injury Monday afternoon when it overturned in a ditch near Union. Raymond Marner, of Montgomery, was uninjured and his concrete pump truck was not damaged in what was described by Marner as a near slow-motion incident. Pike County Deputy Sheriff Ja- son McKinney said Marner was driving north on Highway 65, near the Pike-Gibson County line, when he saw an elderly woman pulling weeds along the side of the road. He said he noticed she sat down and then as he went by, she was struggling to get back to her house. So he stopped and start- ed backing up to assist her. As he was getting off the road, the ground near the ditch gave way and his truck overturned. Deputy McKinney said Marner assisted the woman, then got a ride home and called a wrecker for the truck. By Andy Heuring As of now, Pike County Schools' back-to-school plan calls for them to open on time, in person and without mask mandates in place. The 2021- 22 school year back-to-school plan was released at their Tuesday, July 13 school board meeting. They also made numerous personnel decisions during the meeting. "Thankfully, due to the current level of spread, we are not requir- ing masks," said Assistant Super- intendent Dana Deffendoll. "We re- ally want to focus on learning. We want to get back to normal as soon as possible." She gave a brief summary of their back-to-school plan, which states: "Students and staff are encouraged to wear masks, but they are not re- quired." However, that is quickly followed in bold-face type stating: "In the event of a statewide or local mask mandate, we will follow the re- quirements outlined in the order." She said on buses and in class- rooms, they will continue to sani- tize "high-touch areas." Buses and classrooms will also have assigned seating to make contact tracing eas- ier if needed. They also encouraged parents who could to drive their children to school. Also, water fountains are be- Masks not required at school Ed Fox See SCHOOL on page 2 See TRIAL on page 2 See BEAR on page 2 By Andy Heuring Pike County's 100th 4-H Fair starts Sat- urday, with the Miss Pike County 4-H Fair Queen pageant at the Pike Central High School Auditorium. It is one of four pageants that day. A parade, opening ceremonies and a reception celebrating 100 years is set for Sun- day evening. Free rides on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, along with a rodeo, motocross races, a demo derby and fireworks will fill the evenings. The lineup of pageants begins at 3 p.m. with the Little Miss and Little Mr. pageants, fol- lowed at 5 p.m. by the Junior Miss Pageant, and then Teen Miss Pageant at 6:30 p.m. The Miss Pike County pageant begins at 8 p.m. (See photos of contestants in each pageant on A-7). SUNDAY, JULY 25 A parade begins on Walnut St. at 4 p.m. and will proceed down Main St. to the fairgrounds. A special Opening Ceremonies is set for 5:30 p.m. in the amphitheater at the fairgrounds. They will have former fair queens. A recep- tion with cupcakes in the air-conditioned 4-H building will follow the opening ceremonies. Fair board President Kara Willis said the re- ception will be to relive history of the fair and reminisce about years gone by. The first three days of the fair will be most- ly 4-H activities with a limited midway. MONDAY, JULY 26 Monday starts will the poultry show at 9 a.m., followed by the pleasure horse show at 7 p.m. TUESDAY, JULY 27 The goat show is set for 9 a.m. and swine show at 6:30 p.m. WEDNESDAY, JULY 28 Free Family night is set for Wednesday night. There will be Goat Olympics at 4 p.m. Red Dragon laser tag and a cornhole tour- ney both start at 5 p.m. All the activities are free. Willis said it is just fun activities through which families can be introduced to 4-H. Also set for Wednesday is the rabbit show and beef, dairy and sheep shows. THURSDAY, JULY 29 Carnival rides and amphitheater events start on Thursday. The featured event will be the X-treme Roughstock Rodeo at 7 p.m. An hour before the rodeo will be a family hour with horse and pony rides. FRIDAY, JULY 30 A demolition derby is featured on Friday night starting at 7 p.m., as well as the live- stock auction. SATURDAY, JULY 31 Saturday's activities start early with a car show at 10 a.m. Pike County's Got Talent at noon and bingo from 5 to 8 p.m. The Supercross motorcycle races begin at 7 p.m. The fair will end with a bang with closing ceremonies and fireworks at 10 p.m. The rides are free Thursday, Friday and Sat- urday, but there will be a $5 parking fee on those nights.