The Press-Dispatch
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NEWS TIPS Phone: ���������������������812-354-8500 Email ����� editor@pressdispatch�net INSIDE Local ����������������� A1-6 Sports �����������������B1-6 School ��������������������B4 Obituaries ����������� B4-6 Classifieds �����������B7-8 Home Life ������������C1-6 History ������������������� C3 Opinion ������������� C4-5 East Gibson������������ C5 Church �������������� D1-3 Planter ��������������D5-8 USPS 604-34012 SECTION D5 75TH ANNUAL MEETING IS JAN. 18 SPECIAL PAGE A4 2022 PIKE CENTRAL BASKETBALL $1.00 28 PAGES Four SECTIoNS PETErSBurG, IN 47567-0068 WEdNESdAy, JANuAry 12, 2022 PIKE PUBLISHING VoLuME 152, NuMBEr 2 Candidate list grows for May primary County council makes 2022 appointments during year's first meeting Barriers placed to prevent abuse of detour Disney family escapes serious injury An Otwell area family escaped serious injury when they crashed off Cato-Winslow Road last Thursday while it was snow- ing. Christian Disney was driving and had his wife, Elizabeth, and children in the van. Pike County Chief Deputy Dallas Kil- lian said Disney was driving south on Cato-Winslow road when he hit a patch of ice, went off the left side of the road and overturned as the vehicle went down a steep embankment. The Disneys were checked by the Pike County EMS and refused medical treatment. They suffered bumps and bruises in the crash. By Andy Heuring Candidate filings began last Wednesday and as of Monday afternoon, there were 18 filings. Of those, three were not incumbents. There are at least two offices that will have new officeholders. Sheriff Kent Johnson has said he will not seek re-election. "Due to health concerns, I will not be seeking a second term as Sheriff. It is an honor and privilege to serve the citizens of Pike Coun- ty." Jason McKinney has filed for Sheriff on the Re- publican ticket. He is a Deputy Sheriff working as a School Resource Officer. Also, incumbent Recorder Jeff Harting has de- cided he will not seek re-election. "I have five grandchildren and I just decided it is time to slow down. Until recently, I had fully intended to seek a second term, but I just decided it was time to slow down," said Harting. He added he intended to stick around politics, saying he would be a candidate for delegate to state convention and a precinct committeemen. Misty Coleman has filed on the Republican ticket for the Recorder's Office. Harding said she has his full support. The other race right now is in the Republican primary, where incumbent District 1 County Councilman Randy Harris is being challenged by Jared L. Furman. All four council district incumbents have filed for re-election. Besides Harris in District 1, Jon Craig has filed in District 2, Max Elliott in Dis- trict 3 and Travis Troutman in District 4. Incumbent District 2 County Commissioner Mark Flint, also a Republican, has filed. Incumbent Auditor Judith Kinman Wood Gum- bel and Assessor Mike Goodpaster have also By Andy Heuring The Town of Winslow signed a five-year deal with the Patoka Fire District to provide fire protection and reorganized during their meet- ing Monday night. The action came on a split vote that was broken by Town Clerk Corbin Dixon. Council President Josh Popp, who is a member of the Patoka Fire District, did not vote or comment on the issue. He told coun- cil members Dick Brewster and Debra Lamb the Patoka Fire Dis- trict was willing to sign a one-year contract or a five-year contract. If Winslow would agree to a five-year deal at the same price of $15,000 a year, the price would remain the same for all five years. Popp explained the department has some improvements they would like to make at the Winslow Fire Sta- tion and they would prefer to have a five-year agreement instead of a one- year agreement. Councilman Brewster spoke out against the five-year agreement. He said there might be a new board in office then and they might not want to be stuck with a five-year agree- ment. He made a motion to sign a one-year deal. Lamb said she could understand Patoka wanting the longer contract if they were going to make improve- ments to the fire station. She did not second Brewster's motion. It died for lack of a second. She then made a motion for a five- year deal and it died for lack of a sec- ond. Popp did not vote on the issue. Popp said Town Clerk-Treasurer Corbin Dixon could break the tie. He moved to go with the five-year deal. The council also voted unani- mously to purchase a street patch- ing machine. It sprays a mixture of road oil and small rock to patch pot- holes and other areas of distressed pavement. The County Highway Dept. has a similar machine and is pleased with it. Public Works Superintendent To- rez Baham said they have been try- ing to patch potholes with rock and it just doesn't work. He consulted with the County Highway Depart- ment and they did a demonstration with the county patcher and liked the results. In other business, the coun- cil reorganized, with Popp being re-elected as president and Lamb as vice-president of the council. They announced Tara Baham has been appointed the new director of the Winslow Community Center, fill- ing that vacancy. They also voted to approve spend- ing up to $18,000 to have the Com- munity Center's banquet room floor resurfaced. It is a concrete floor that has been painted. Lamb said the paint has been peeling. She said they have an estimate of about $15,000 to put down a commercial epoxy-based flooring that will look like marble. Billy Marshall, who is on the Park and Recreation Board, said a new play set to be placed at the Winslow Sports Park is supposed to be deliv- ered this weekend. The set was pur- Winslow signs five-year deal with Patoka Fire District Randy Leister, with the Pike County Highway Department, places a large concrete barrier on the inside of a sharp turn on Harvest Lane. The barriers were being put in place to keep semi-trucks from driving through residents' yards on the detour for Highway 61 construction. See WINSLOW on page 3 See ELECTION on page 2 See COUNCIL on page 2 By Sherri Sebella Pike County Council members met for their first meeting of the year on Tuesday to vote on council appointments, discuss budgets and plan business for the year ahead. All council members were present as they elected Jon Craig to continue as president of the Pike County Council, with Greg Willis as vice-president in a unanimous 7-0 vote. In other appointments, Joe Smith was voted unanimously to be reappointed to the Alcohol- ic Beverage Board for a term of one year. The Parks and Recreation four-year term was ta- bled to the next meeting due to Craig not hav- ing the opportunity to talk to the current ap- pointment, Dottie Poehlein, about reappoint- ments. Todd Meadors will also continue on the Wabash Valley Community Corrections seat in a unanimous vote. Dennis Bishop was reappointed to the one- year term on Growth Council unanimously, and Travis Troutman, who holds the current one-year term for the Soil and Water Conser- vation seat, was also reappointed unanimously. Randy Harris was appointed in a unanimous vote to continue his seat with the Petersburg Redevelopment Commission for one year. Both Dennis Bishop and Greg Willis were al- so reappointed to the Redevelopment Com- mission for a one-year term. P TA BOA (Board of Review) member Bri- an Simpson has recently changed jobs, but still resides in Pike County and agreed to con- tinue his one-year term as his schedule per- mits. Simpson was reappointed to his seat in a unanimous vote. E911 Advisory Board's one-year term was appointed to Jon Craig in a unanimous vote. Courthouse Security Committee current seat holder Todd Meadors will remain in his posi- tion for a one-year term, along with Max El- liott, who remains for one year on the Tech- nology Committee. In other news, a COVID update was given and there are currently 124 active cases with- in Pike County in the last seven days, with a positivity rate of 17.3 percent. Those fully vac- By Andy Heuring Concrete barriers were put in place Tuesday morning at a corner on Harvest Lane, which connects White River Ave. and Highway 61, in an effort to reduce damage to the yards on the detour. Petersburg Police Chief Kyle Mills said Monday night a semi- truck got hung up in a yard at a sharp curve on Harvest Lane. "It had traffic completely blocked for about 30 or 40 minutes," said Mills. Tuesday, the Pike County High- way Department placed the barriers on the inside of the curves. "The local drivers have it figured out," said Petersburg Mayor R.C. Klipsch. Chief Mills said truck drivers from out of the area are using GPS systems that are telling them they can get around the road construc- tion on Highway 61. Klipsch said they have ordered two new signs saying "no truck traf- fic, fines up to $1,000" in an effort to get trucks stopped before they get into the Meadowbrook neigh- borhood. He said on Monday, at their next meeting, he is going to ask the Pe- tersburg City Council to increase the fine for trucks ignoring the road closed signs to $500 for the first of- fense and $1,000 for the second and each subsequent violation. It is legal for local traffic and smaller vehicles to use the Harvest Lane and White River Ave. detour, but not commercial trucks. Highway 61 is in Phase II of be- ing rehabilitated. It had been closed from Main St. to Seventh St. and Ab- igail Sts. for Phase I from July to ear- ly December. Now work on Phase II has started, with the detour being White River Ave. to Harvest Lane. Phase II is expected to have Hwy. 61 closed until late summer or ear- ly fall.