The Press-Dispatch

December 29, 2021

The Press-Dispatch

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RECRUITING OPEN HOUSE WHO WILL ANSWER THE CALL? Petersburg Fire Department is seeking dedicated volunteers who are eager to train, serve, and respond to fire and medical emergencies. Apply today to join a new training class of volunteer first responders who care enough to serve our community and help friends and neighbors during their time of greatest need. BENEFITS: • Join new brothers and sisters in a fantastic, life-changing, volunteer organization receiving the gratitude of your community. • Paid stipends for attending trainings, working duty shis, or responding to calls. • College tuition reimbursement (up to $1,000 per semester) • All training and equipment provided at no cost to the volunteer. REQUIREMENTS: • Commit to attending weekly training sessions to achieve certifications • Be 18 years of age by May 1, 2022 • Have a valid Indiana Driver's License and be able to pass background check. • Be physically able to perform firefighting duties. • Preference to those living or working in Washington or Madison Townships Petersburg Fire Department Saturday, Jan. 15 from 9 a.m.-noon or Wednesday, Jan. 19 from 6-8 p.m. at the Fire Station at 624 E. Illinois Street YOU CAN ALSO APPLY: FACEBOOK: @Petersburgstation4 CALL: 812-291-0221 IN PERSON: Petersburg City Hall 704 E. Main St., Petersburg MARRIAGE LICENSES Jaydlyn Goeppner, 20, of 2045 N. Pike St., Otwell, daugh- ter of Alice and Richard Goeppner, to Nathan Williams, 22, of 2045 N. Pike St., Otwell, son of Stacy Mootispaw and Daniel Williams. Patoka Valley Quilt Guild met Dec. 13 The monthly Patoka Val- ley Quilt Guild meeting De- cember 7, in the Mobel Room of the Ferdinand Communi- ty Center. President Melissa Ruschau presided. The meet- ing began with the annual Christmas dinner, with the business meeting following. It was announced that mem- bers now will need to use the new entrance to the Mobel room when attending meet- ings. The treasurer's report was given. In a vote by at- tending members, the guild decided to move the PO box to the Ferdinand Post Office at the next renewal date. Sherri Hilgeman an- nounced that the December open sewing at the library had to be cancelled. Future dates include January 13-15 and February 17-19. The In- diana Heritage Quilt show in Bloomington will be March 3-5, 2022. A bus trip to the Paducah Quilt show is avail- able through LifeStyle Tours. Hospitality recorded 33 members and one guest in attendance. Membership rosters will be distributed in January. Special Projects re- ported quilt donation to the Crisis Center and the Cancer Center. The guild retreat will take place at Spring Mill on February 11-13, 2022. Call Jane Potter with any ques- tions. Forms are due at the next meeting. In new business, monetary donations are being sent to the Ferdinand Library and Ferdinand Community Cen- ter for the use of their facili- ties. Show and Tell followed the meeting. The next sched- uled meeting will be January 4, 2022. Winslow man jailed for voyeurism By James Capozella A rural Winslow man was arrested on a charge of voyeur- ism December 17 when Pike County Sheriff Deputy Bryce Manning and Petersburg Pa- trolman Zach Loveless re- sponded to a report from Ash- ley Gosciniak that she be- lieved David Gray was knock- ing on her windows while her kids were alone. David Lawrence Gray, 33, of 4833 S. CR 100 E., Winslow, was charged with voyeurism by Deputy Manning after Gosciniak and her children re- ported a man knocking on win- dows at their 3169 W. CR 125 S. home. Manning and Love- less both searched the area for Gray, including a path through the woods. Gosciniak told offi- cers that she recognized Gray as the person looking through her bedroom curtains about a week earlier. She also told of- ficers that Gray brags about hiding in the woods, which are located behind her house, to stalk her neighbor, accord- ing to the report. By Andy Heuring The Pike County School Board, during their Monday, December 13 meeting, decid- ed to not make any changes to their COVID policy until after the beginning of the year. They also approved their 2023 bud- get and the purchase of a new antennae and amplifiers to im- prove the 800mhz emergency radio signal in Winslow Ele- mentary School. "I've got a question on COVID. On the policy that we created, we went with three feet everywhere in the classroom, except for the cafeteria and sports? " asked school board member Chris McKinney. "I believe it is anywhere you are unmasked and non-instruc- tional, "said Assistant Superin- tendent Dana Deffendoll. "My question is, it seems like we are quarantining a lot of kids who aren't sick," said McKin- ney. "But we have some that are," said board president Steve Pot- ter. "How many? . . If we aren't wearing masks in the class- room and it is three feet, then why are wearing masks in the cafeteria? " asked McKinney. "I thought about a part of what we ran into on that is be- cause we're not using the bar- riers anymore in the cafeteria. . . So you've got some face-to- face stuff going on there that you don't necessarily have in the classroom when you have got everybody placed in one di- rection," said Potter. "So what I'm getting at, is to parents we have mixed things going on out there that we need to look at," said McKinney. He added, they can't let kids be three feet apart without masks in the cafeteria, but they are letting grade school kids move their desks face-to-face. "When we say your child is going to have quarantine be- cause they were within six feet at lunch, but they are with- in three feet in the classroom, it's not making a lot of sense to me," said McKinney. Deffendoll said, "I see the value of that point." She said she didn't think there was any desks permanently moved face- to-face. Instead, it was in group activities and centers of learn- ing, not a permanent arrange- ment. "I understand it is just the idea of quarantining. We have three feet in certain places, but quarantine from the lunch room at six feet." Deffendoll said, "I respect any decision, . . So this is not an argument, but if we don't' take some level of caution and expose that many more, be- cause they came sick, then I'm afraid quarantines will get even worse." McKinney said some people thought the board was crazy when they set their policy eas- ing mask requirements, but their numbers went down. Potter said, "Now we are starting to see them go back the other way." He said they had eight students who were quarantined that became symp- tomatic. Board member Chris Sat- terfield said he had informa- tion from the Indiana State School Board Association that Taylor Community Schools had adopted a policy to allow in-school quarantine. It allows asymptomatic students to wear a mask and attend classes, and includes students having their temperature taken each morn- ing. Out-of-school quarantine is 10 days. "So they wouldn't have an option. They will quarantine at home or wear a mask a school," said Potter. "I gotta tell you, I feel like we are trying to cram change to a policy tonight, that maybe we don't have enough information about. For me, that is how I feel. So I can't go with it," said board member Dave Waltz. "Well that's fine, but why did we change what we had in the classroom? " asked McKinney. "This is the first I'm hearing about us going to discuss this tonight. It would be good to get more information," said Waltz. Satterfield made a motion to move the distance for quaran- tine everywhere in the school to three feet. "Honestly, you know, the in- consistency we've had has been the biggest thing and we're this close to Christmas break. I'd like to try to get through to get to that (Christmas break) with- out having a tidal wave or see- ing some of the numbers com- ing up. I mean, I would prefer not to make any changes at all right now and stand pat, where we're at. And come back and see where we end up at after Christmas break. My fear is that we're going to go the first two weeks after Christmas break. And I will see a spike from where we're at. And so I'm a little leery to make any chang- es at this point. But we have a motion in a second on the ta- ble to go to all three feet every- where," said Potter. Satterfield's motion failed by a 3-2 vote against it, with Pot- ter, Waltz and Howard Knight voting against the motion, and McKinney and Satterfield vot- ing for it. In other business, the board voted to approve a contract for $79,454.42 with J&K Commu- nications for the purchase of a new antennae and amplifiers to improve the 800mhz emergen- cy radio signal in Winslow El- ementary School. The low bid was from VEI Communications at $49,598. Deffendoll recommended the J&K bid. She said it was based on on-site data collection, and completion of a full interior and exterior design, where VEI nev- er scheduled a walk through the school and didn't offer a de- tailed description of the design or a warranty. "As you know, price, it's a huge thing for me, and I save us whatever we can. In this case, I'm actually recommend- ing the more expensive op- tion, J & K. The reason being theirs is based on readings that they came out and we walked through, they were so thor- ough, brought a ladder with- in the hallway, looked up at the ceiling tiles, they planned where the cabling is going to go. Spent time up on the roof, taking measurements for cell and radio signal to see exact- ly what they need to use. They gave me a detailed description as we went of where things are going to go, even a map of the building, saying this is where each antenna internally is going to be placed to make sure that we get the coverage we needed. They gave me the guarantee that the board requested." She added J&K would work with all cellular service providers. She said with the VEI pro- posal, it required the school to pick Verizon or AT&T. "You can't predict in an emergency what cellphone carrier some- one's going to have. So know- ing that we're covered, regard- less if someone's stuck in a classroom and needs to call out, that they can do that is crucial. I also don't know what components exactly are includ- ed in VEI, they didn't give me a guarantee. And they also didn't give me an itemized list," said Deffendoll. "They never came out to the school today? " asked McKin- ney. "Right. They didn't," said Deffendoll. "So how would they know what they're providing is go- ing to cover what we have cur- rently? " asked McKinney. "I think they're basing it off of data gathered either long ago during 2018 or a project that's just kind of in the area for cell. He did say he was in the area and swung by, but I never had a conversation with him. I don't know if he looked at how ma- ny bars was available to hon- est about the measurement. So yeah, just underwhelmed with the information, with the com- munication. It was a struggle. I was hounding a lot and so if this was the sales strategy, then I can imagine you know, down the road, that's worrisome to me," said Deffendoll. J&K's proposal was approved by a 5 -0 vote. The board also voted 5 -0 to approve their 2022 budget, which was set at $1,728,224 for debt service, $13,112,600 for education and $ 6,767,222 for operations. The next meeting is sched- uled for 7 p.m. Tuesday, Janu- ary 11, 2022. School delays any COVID policy changes A-6 Wednesday, December 29, 2021 The Press-Dispatch Billy Like Billy Like 812-766-0386 or Brian 812-766-3003 Bonded Standing Timber Buyer

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