The Press-Dispatch
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Lady Chargers obliterate Bosse Just 10 days until Christmas! B1 C4 Shopping NEWS TIPS Phone: ���������������������812-354-8500 Email ����� editor@pressdispatch�net INSIDE Local ����������������� A1-8 Obituaries ��������������� A7 Sports �����������������B1-8 Home Life ������������C1-8 East Gibson������������ C3 Shopping������������ C4-5 School �����������������C6-7 Church �������������� D1-3 Opinion �������������D4-5 History �������������������D6 Classifieds �����������D7-8 USPS 604-34012 $1.00 28 PAGES Four SECTIoNS ThrEE INSErTS PETErSBurG, IN 47567-0068 WEdNESdAy, dECEmBEr 15, 2021 PIKE PUBLISHING VoLumE 151, NumBEr 50 See SHELTERS on page 4 See PROJECTS on page 2 See VICTIMS on page 2 Salvation Army collections are down this year, and bell ringing time slots are open this weekend. "Collections have been steady, but behind last year's record pace in Pike County. With no increase, collections will be below the average for the past 10 years. Collections for Gibson County are running above average and may have to make up the difference in Pike County," said bell ringing chairman Cal Biddle. "If you have been blessed this year, maybe you can contribute a lit- tle more to one of the nine counter kettles and two ringing locations in Pike County. Remember 'Need has no season,'" said Biddle. As of Monday evening, ringers are needed for the following times: Petersburg Dollar General at 11 a.m. and noon Friday, December 17; most times from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Fri- day, December 24. Petersburg Hardware openings are 5 p.m. Friday, December 17; 2-5 p.m. Saturday, December 18; and 8 a.m. Friday, December 24. Call Cal Biddle at 812 582-2385 if you can help. Volunteer bell ringers sought Bids nearly double the amounts anticipated By Andy Heuring Inflation took a big bite out of Petersburg water customers' pockets on Monday night. The City of Petersburg opened bids on four separate groups of projects dealing with water improvements Petersburg has planned to do. The bids were almost double what the estimat- ed costs had been. Petersburg had been au- thorized for a $ 9.23 million loan from the Ru- ral Development and Wilbur Ross, then U.S. Secretary of Commerce, hand delivered a $4 million grant from the US Economic Devel- opment Agency to help with the cost of the projects. The project had been scheduled to be devel- oped sooner, but due to COVID, the approv- al of the design and issuance of permits were slowed down the last two years. "We started on this several years ago," said Petersburg Mayor R.C. Klipsch. "Jon (Craig) says it was in 2013. We are excited about the possibility of moving dirt," added Klipsch. They opened bids on a long list of projects that were broken into four divisions. The first division was a new water treatment plant. Four companies bid on the project. Those bids were: Debra-Kuempel, Inc., of Evansville, at $10,486,987; Deig Bros. Construction, Evans- ville, $11,620,000 ; Graves Construction Ser- vices, Inc., of Switz City, $10,710,710 ; Mitch- ell & Start Construction Co. Inc., of Medora, $10,818,593. Division two of the bids is to build two new water wells. Two companies bid that division. They were: Layne Christensen, of Louisville, Ky., $536,886 for the base bid and $402,224 for the mandatory alternate; National Water Services, LLC, of Paoli, bid $570,570 base and $441,441 for the alternate. Division three includes a new water main from the water wells to the new plant and a new water line down Main St. Three compa- nies bid that division. They were: Infrastruc- ture Systems, Inc., of Orleans, at $2,601,255 base and $ 92,370 alternate; Miller Pipeline, LLC, of Indianapolis, bid $2,974,063 base and $158,522 alternate; Wabash Utilities, Inc., of Vincennes, bid $2,566,137.75 base and $115,800 alternate. Division four includes a new 750,000 gallon water storage tank at the top of Half-mile Hill and rehabbing Petersburg's current water tow- ers. Three companies bid this division. They were Caldwell Tanks, Inc., of Louisville, Ky., at $ 3,789,900 base and $2,834,060 alternate; Inflation takes bite out of Petersburg water projects By Andy Heuring Groups are forming to help victims of Fri- day night's tornado that left a swath of destruc- tion nearly 250 miles long through southern Illinois and Kentucky. Campbelltown resident Cheryl Sims, a na- tive of Webster County, Ky., and the Peters- burg Nazarene Church are both collecting items to be taken to tornado victims in Ken- tucky. "Saturday, when I saw news about the tor- nado in Kentucky, I just started crying," said Sims. She said it was heartbreaking to see the devastation in Kentucky. She said there are a lot of small towns along the path of the tor- nado that aren't getting any attention. So she starting calling people she knew in Kentucky. Sims said she used to work for the Department of Health in Kentucky. Eventually, she found someone who could help distribute donated items to people who need them. "I thought I'm going to stop crying and start doing some- thing. Now I'm on a mission," said Sims. She is collecting donations at her husband's business, Sims Automotive in Campbelltown. She said they are located on the west side of the road, a mile and an eighth south of Pike Central. "I've got a storage building and we are going to take loads of stuff down there as long as people keep bringing it." She added the people in rural Kentucky often don't have insurance. "They are going to need stuff for a long time." Sims said they need winter cloth- ing for kids and adults, and just about every- thing. But she said not household items yet. "They don't have houses, so they don't need silverware and dishes." The Petersburg Nazarene Church is also collecting items to be taken to Mayfield and that district. Steve Hamilton, who is pastor of the Petersburg Nazarene, said, "Our church decided we needed to be involved in helping. I talked to my district superintendent and our district is trying to do something as a whole. We are joining together with all the church- es of Southwest Indiana. We are trying to fill a semi-trailer and take an entire semi-load to Mayfield." Hamilton said there is a Nazarene Church just a couple of blocks from the area devastat- ed in Mayfield. So they are working with the district superintendent from that area to coor- dinate their efforts. "We needed to do some- thing to help them. It is what churches do," said Hamilton. The Petersburg Church of the Nazarene Fire destroys Boyd home Monday morning A fast-moving fire destroyed Jeff and Linda Boyd's house at 6602 E. CR 50 S., Winslow, in the White Oak area, Monday morning. Neither were at home. Neighbors saw the fire as they were driving by and called it in as fully engulfed. Fire de- partments were paged at 9:47 a.m., but by the time Petersburg and Patoka Fire Departments were able to get to the remote scene, it was a raging inferno. The Boyds lost the family dog, Gizmo, in the blaze and everything in the house. A GoFundMe link was set up to help the family. It is https://gofund.me/5ee08e3b. Local groups forming to help recent tornado victims Mrs. Claus welcomes visitors Mrs. Claus (Teresa Houtsch) waves to passing cars from the porch of the Peter Brenton Cabin in Hornady Park. She reads children a story in front of the fireplace in the cabin and has them put their name on a Christmas tree ornament and gives them a treat. She plans to be in the cabin from 6 to 9 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 17 and Sunday, Dec. 19. By Andy Heuring A Petersburg college student spent Friday night in a parking ga- rage riding out the tornado that struck Kentucky and Bowling Green. Colin Craig, a sophomore at West- ern Kentucky University in Bowling Green, spent more than a hour hun- kered down in a parking garage as the storm raged around him. Craig said he had three finals on Friday, so he had to be there most of the day. A fter listening to the weather forecasts and predictions of severe storms, he and his par- ents, Jon and Cassie Craig, decided it was probably better if he spent the night in Bowling Green before com- ing home on Saturday. "We thought the worst of the weather was head- ed toward southern Indiana and Pe- tersburg," said Craig. Oops. A fter a long day of finals, Craig said he got hungry and was out of meal swipes for the semester. So he had to go out to get something to eat. "The storm hit earlier than they had predicted," said Craig. He went out and ate, and was on his way back to the dorm at about 2 a.m. when the wind and storm struck. He said the extreme winds were blowing debris around and other drivers were "flip- ping out. Passing people in no pass- ing zones and just driving crazy." Craig beat it back to the park- ing garage on campus. He said it is about a five minute walk from his dorm "or about two minutes in an all out sprint." He and a few other students he didn't know were caught in the parking garage. He said they got Craig shelters in parking garage as tornado strikes Bowling Green