The Press-Dispatch
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NEWS TIPS Phone: ���������������������812-354-8500 Email ����� editor@pressdispatch�net INSIDE Local ����������������� A1-8 Obituaries ��������������� A7 Sports �����������������B1-8 School ���������������� B4-5 East Gibson������������B6 History �������������������B7 Home Life ������������C1-8 Church �������������� C3-7 Church �������������� D1-3 Opinion �������������D4-5 Classifieds ���������� D6-8 USPS 604-34012 $1.00 32 PAGES Four SECTIoNS ThrEE INSErTS PETErSBurG, IN 47567-0068 Celebrating The Area's Exemplary Businesses and Organizations SPECIAL SECTION C3 of Ag Ag EXCELLENCE WEdNESdAy, FEBruAry 23, 2022 PIKE PUBLISHING VoLuME 152, NuMBEr 8 See COMMISSIONERS on page 2 See K-9 BLECK on page 2 Pike County's K-9 Bleck named Best of the Best Pike County Deputy Sheriff Buck Seger stands with his partner, K-9 Bleck. Bleck was rated the number one narcotics dog last fall for Region 5 United States Police Canine Association at their yearly certification. The pair will attend Nationals this Fall to compete against other dogs from across the country. By Sherri Sebella Being named the Best of the Best out of all K-9 dogs in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana is kind of a big deal, and one Pike County Sheriff's Department can proudly boast of. The Pike County Sheriff's Depart- ment began using Bleck, a five and a half year old German Shepherd from Yu- goslavia, when Bleck was a year old, af- ter intense training as a K-9 dog. A K-9 partner for Deputy Buck Seger, Seger feels honored to work with such an in- credible dog. "He's always been a stud narcot- ic dog," Seger said. "The trainer who trained us said we scored the highest exit score he's seen, which was 199 out of 200 points. His comments were that "you've got something special there.'" Seger competed with Bleck last Fall for a yearly certification for narcotics and apprehensions, searches and track- ing, leading them to score the top rat- ing out of Region 5, which includes K- 9 dogs from Ohio, Indiana and Ken- tucky. "There were over 50 dogs par- ticipating," Seger said. "We scored a 197 out of 200 points, which qualifies us for Nationals this Fall. There were three rooms and they put two hides (drugs) in two of the rooms. There were also five cars that had two hides (drugs) in them and we found them all in five min- utes time. We had 20 minutes total to find everything, but the goal is to get it correctly and as fast as you can." There are 15 regions in the Unit- ed States, so to win this award is very prestigious, according to Seger. "Even when we aren't working, I work with Vehicle is total loss Lawrence "Buckwheat" Dent was driving a 2007 Mercury Mariner when he noticed the transmission was slipping. Dent gave it more gas in hopes that would fix the issue, but instead, the transmission went out completely and started running rough. Dent pulled over on County Road 50 in Winslow to check the car out and discovered smoke coming from the engine compartment. The car caught fire and was a total loss. Dent was uninjured in the fire. Patoka and Petersburg Fire Depart- ments were on the scene to extinguish the vehicle. Petersburg woman charged with neglect James Capozella A Petersburg woman was charged with neglect of a dependent on Feb- ruary 21 when Earl Townsend dis- covered a four year old boy who had injuries. The boy was beside a water filled ditch behind the Petersburg Hucks store when Townsend found the boy. Petersburg officer Scott Arnold was dispatched to the scene and was ad- vised Townsend that the boy was nearly struck by two separate ve- hicles. Arnold had dispatch contact EMS and the Department of Child Ser- vices while he contacted Sheriff Deputy Jason McKinney. While the EMS was with the child, Brieanna Head, 28, 107 E Wal- nut St. Petersburg, walked up and asked officers if anyone had seen the boy that she had been babysit- ting. Head told officer Arnold that her neighbor was watching other kids, but Arnold discovered that was false and no one was at the house, accord- ing to the report. Arnold had Cor- poral Paul Collier go to the 107 E Walnut address and he reported there were seven more children in- side not supervised. Local and state law enforce- ment conducted an investigation and found numerous concerns at the home. Officers found medica- tion left within reach of the chil- dren, arrows with sharp tips on a bed, a fixed-blade knife on a stand and three snakes in tanks in the bedroom. The backyard where the children played was covered in trash and contained serious injury con- cerns. A fter the boy's mother was inter- viewed, Arnold arrested Brieanna Head for neglect and transported her to the Pike County Jail. The in- juries to the boy were reported to be after he was dropped off with Brieanna Head. There were seven children under the age of 10 and none had lunch as of approximately 1:30 p.m. that day. Officers intervened and prevented three more children to be dropped off that day. Polar Plunge Saturday at Prides Creek Commissioners discuss improving broadband service in Pike County By Sherri Sebella During Tuesday's Commissioner meeting, Pike Co. Economic Development Executive Director Ashley Willis discussed the need to apply for permits to improve broadband ser- vice throughout Pike County. "This will make us more competitive," Wil- lis said. "People want better broadband ser- vice. We still need to get the full county cov- ered with broadband." Commissioners ap- proved Willis' request to begin applying for permits. Commissioners approved Ordinance 2022- 2 which establishes Pike County as a Broad- band Ready Community, seeking to promote private investment in broadband infrastruc- ture. This ordinance will help support the grant application process to keep moving things forward to improve service through- out the entire county. In old business, Commissioners had to make a decision regarding their renewal of commercial insurance for liability that was discussed at last month's meeting. A fter ask- ing eight to nine different insurance compa- nies for quotes, none of the companies were willing to work with the county on a policy, due to the number of claims filed previous- ly, so commissioners agreed unanimously to go with the policies offered by Anthony Co- chren of German American Insurance. "This is something we have to do today," Mark Flint, President of the Commissioners, said. "Since no other companies would give us a quote, this is what we will have to accept." A work order proposal from DLZ, with a standard fee structure for engineering and architectural work, in the amount of $4,900, was approved by commissioners unanimous- ly for the proper abandonment of seven moni- toring wells located at the former Main Street Gas Station site, located at 1812 East Main Street, in Petersburg. Ordinance 2022-1, establishing a Veter- ans' burial allowance and allowance for set- ting of grave markers was approved unani- mously. This ordinance allows the county to pay a veteran burial allowance of $200, sub- ject to terms, provisions, and limitations, and $50 for the setting of a grave marker, subject to the same terms, provisions, and limitations. The original ordinance establishing the allow- ances could not be located in the County Or- dinance book, so a new one was established. Anyone requesting an allowance as provided COVID numbers plunge locally, state-wide By Sherri Sebella It's not too late to take part in this Saturday's Polar Plunge at the Pride's Creek Beach. Registration takes place from 10 -11:30 at the Pride's Creek Golf Course Clubhouse, with the plunge happening at noon (all times are Eastern Standard Time). "Freezin' for a Reason," raises funds for Special Olympics to cover participation costs, uniforms, equip- ment and more. "This is our eighth year in Peters- burg," Francie Smith, South Region- al Manager of Special Olympics, said. "I plunge every year. I'm the last one in, after I get everyone in the water. It really is fun. We have a lot of people that return every year." An "A fter Splash" party at the clubhouse is also planned where food, hot chocolate, and a silent auc- tion will take place. Those who will be indoors will be asked to wear a mask for COVID safety precautions. Participants are asked to raise a minimum of $ 85 to plunge and re- ceive a souvenir shirt. All monies raised will help athletes within ev- eryone's community, according to Smith. With temperatures expected to be in the high 30's and sunny, Smith ex- pects a good crowd to support Spe- cial Olympics. Participants can al- so register online at polarplunge- IN.org. By Andy Heuring COVID numbers continue to plunge in In- diana and Pike County. The number of active cases are down to 28 in Pike County and the seven-day all test positivity is at 12.5 percent, which is low enough to be in the orange ad- visory level. There were 24 new cases reported in Pike County over the last seven days down from 45 new cases the week prior in Pike County. State-wide the number of cases continue to drop. They were between 1,429 and 1,509 from Feb. 15 to Feb 19 but dropped to 640 on the 19th, 463 on the 20th and jumped to 963 on the 21st. That is a dramatic drop from less than a month earlier when from Jan. 26 to Jan. 28 the daily totals in Indiana were 12,089, 16,897 and 10,002. COVID deaths state-wide ranged from 32 on Feb. 15 to 17 on Jan. 19. The last COVID death in Pike County was on Jan. 18. The hospitalizations in Indiana have con- tinued on a downward trend as well. On Feb. 15 there were 1,526 COVID hospitalizations. That dropped about 75 a day until it hit a low of 1,093 on Feb. 20, but then took a slight in- crease to 1,107 on Feb. 21. According to the Indiana Department of Health 100 percent of all new cases as of Jan- uary 31 were the Omicron variant. The availability of ICU beds has increased to 22.5 percent now available. In January it was as low as 9.5 percent.