The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1463869
B-2 Wednesday, April 6, 2022 The Press-Dispatch Hatton charged for bringing meth in Pike Co. Jail By Sherri Sebella A Petersburg woman, Am- ber Hatton, 42, was in a vehicle that was pulled over on Mon- day, March 21, by Pike County Sheriff Deputy Briar Meadors, after Meadors observed a driv- er's side headlight not work- ing. A fter a traffic stop was con- ducted on State Road 356, near County Road 200 East, Police could smell the odor of mari- juana coming from the vehicle. Police asked both occupants to step out of the vehicle, while a search was conducted. The driver advised that there was not any marijuana in the vehi- cle at that time, but that he had smoked marijuana inside the vehicle before. A fter running both subject's information, Pike County Cen- tral Dispatch advised that Hat- ton had an active warrant out of Gibson County. Hatton was placed into handcuffs while a probable cause search of the vehicle was conducted. Pike County Sergeant Jar- ed Simmons located a plastic tube containing a white pow- dery substance that field test- ed positive for methamphet- amine inside a black glasses case in a purse on the passen- ger side of the vehicle where Hatton was previously sitting. She identified the purse as her property and claimed all prop- erty inside of the purse, except for the glasses case. Hatton was asked multi- ple times on the scene if she had anything illegal hidden on her person and she stat- ed there was not. The driver was released from the scene and Hatton was transported to the Pike County Jail where she was asked again if she had anything illegal hidden on her person. Hatton again denied hav- ing anything hidden on her person, but after a search by a Pike County Sheriff's Of- fice Matron, Ashley Gideon, a glass smoking pipe containing black burnt residue that field tested positive for metham- phetamine and a metal smok- ing pipe containing black burnt residue concealed in the crotch area of Hatton's pants. Hatton was booked into the Pike County Jail and charged with Trafficking With An In- mate - Controlled Substance, Deadly Weapon or Cell Phone, Possession of Methamphet- amine under 5 Grams, and Pos- session of Paraphernalia - Prior. Death of Velpen man ruled suicide By Andy Heuring A rural Pike County man's death has been ruled a sui- cide. Terry Seger, 58, of 1531 S. SR257, Velpen died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Pike County Chief Depu- ty Sheriff Dallas Killian said Pike County's central dispatch received a call from Brenda Seger at 10 :42 a.m. Friday re- porting her husband Terry had shot himself. Killian said police went to the home and located Seger, who was still in possession of the .22 caliber pistol. Pike County Deputy Bryce Man- ning investigated the death. Killian said Seger was pro- nounced dead at the scene and no foul play is believed to have been involved. Road and signal work in Princeton to begin Thursday Indiana Department of Transportation announces lane restrictions for State Road 64 in Princeton for a pavement and traffic signal project. Beginning on or around Thursday, April 7, contrac- tors will begin work on three signals in Princeton, and re- pave about a mile of S.R. 64 between U.S. 41 and Brown Street. Work will begin on curb ramps and sidewalks in preparation for the signal equipment and will be in inter- mittent locations. Following signal modernization, crews will begin milling and repav- ing S.R. 64. Work is expected to last un- til the end of September, de- pending upon weather. During the project, one lane will be open at all times. INDOT urg- es drivers to slow down and stay alert near crews. CITY COUNCIL Continued from page 1 EGG HUNT SATURDAY, APRIL 9 starting at 10 a.m. Hornady Park, Petersburg If rain, drive-thru at the Moose Lodge Proudly Presented by Women of the Moose Chapter #1740 Loyal Order of the Moose Petersburg Lodge #1617 All area children invited! ANNUAL EASTER EASTER Made possible by community donations for CO U N T Y C O UNC I L I want to continue my term on the County Council. I am a lifelong Pike County resident and all of my children are Pike County residents. After graduation from Pike Central, I obtained a Finance degree from Indiana University Kelley School of Business. I had a 40 year career in banking. I feel I am qualified for the job. In the 12 years I've been on the Council, we have made great strides in the community. While keeping a good budget, we have accomplished the following: Increased collection rates with EMS to reduce costs, transitioned EMTs to Paramedics, and reduced average response times by more than half. Increased cooperation with counties and cities. Improved equipment at the Highway Garage. Helped create a shovel-ready site at I-69, with utilities, for development. I will make it a priority for Pike County to thrive and be prepared for any opportunities for growth. We need to create a community in which our kids and grandkids will have opportunities for employment where they live. 1 2 3 4 Paid for by Max Elliott Committee for Council Truck drivers still ignoring No Outlet sign A semi-truck driver with FOLTZ Trucking, out of Detroit Lakes, Minne- sota, was issued a citation on Tuesday after he failed to obey the No Semi-Truck Outlet sign on State Road 61 and caused extensive damage to a yard on Har- vest Lane. The truck driv- er was able to get through the detour illegally and was stopped by Police on State Road 61 near Main Street in Petersburg. He was issued a citation for illegally going through the detour and an ac- cident report was filed, since there was damage to the resident's yard, ac- cording to Petersburg Po- lice Chief Kyle Mills. AMBULANCE Continued from page 1 reopen on Saturday, April 16. Good Friday is a scheduled hol- iday, so all sites will be closed. The closure may be extended or possibly rescheduled due to inclement weather. To better accommodate pa- trons, the Coe site will be open Monday, April 11 through Thursday, April 14, and the Stendal site will be open Tues- day, April 12 and Wednesday, April 13. All dates are subject to change. According to Pike County Health Nurse Amy Gladish, things on the COVID front have been quiet. There is one active case in Pike County and 5,144 full vaccinated residents. Gladish said a second booster has been approved for those 50 years of age and older, so the office may be busier than it has been recently. The next Pike County Com- missioners meeting will be Monday, May 2, at 8:30 a.m. in the Pike County Courthouse. The public is welcome to at- tend these meetings and a lower property tax rate, the fire district's revenue fell about $ 30,000 per year. Councilman John Melhis- er asked if they could make it higher than the 0.0333 rate. "No, that is the state allowed maximum," said Klipsch. People interested in contest- ing the tax rate increase can file a petition of 25 or more taxpayers in the taxing unit affected by the rate increase with the Pike County Auditor not more than 30 days from April 6. If a petition is filed, the Department of Local Govern- ment and Finance will sched- ule a public hearing on the matter. WATER DEPT. HAS CLOSE CALL Petersburg was close to be- ing dry, as in no drinking wa- ter. "We dodged about three big bullets," said Petersburg City Services Manager Ross Elmore about the water plant. Elmore said late Tuesday, March 22 he got a call from Bob Burke at the water plant. telling him, "We have a prob- lem." Elmore said they lost a high service pump at the plant. He said they were either going to have to get a new one or have one rebuilt. "We were lucky we found a new one for about $ 9,000." El- more explained getting the old pump rebuilt was going to be about $ 8,000. The Petersburg water plant, which is second-oldest in the state, has two high-service water pumps. So they were down to one. He said Friday evening he was notified the second pump wouldn't start. Elmore explained they have a soft start system on them to prevent them from kicking on at full force and damaging the water distribution system. He said after some testing they realized the soft start sys- tem was having a problem, so he called the company that sells and services them. They suggested they take the soft start system off the burned-up pump and put it on the second remaining pump. Elmore said they went to supper, then came back and started the conversion. When they turned it on "we toasted the soft start," said Elmore, which was better than his first concern that they had burned up the pump motor. He said contacts in the sys- tem had welded together and caused the soft start system to burn up. "We devised a plan to use another contact and start it with a fast start. It isn't good for the system, but there is a valve that is supposed to han- dle that," said Elmore. They got it running, but then on Saturday morning El- more said they started getting "erroneous readings" from the computer that helps coordi- nate all the different systems and pumps. He said they cleaned up all the electric contacts and it helped, and ran until Sunday when they repeated the clean- up. That lasted until Monday when they again couldn't get the last pump to run. He said eventually they had to go to manual operation. They had earlier found a new pump in the state of Washing- ton and it arrived. They have since installed it and are now running at 100 percent. "We can't get that new plant built soon enough," said El- more. "We know with the shape that plant is in we are going to have more problems like this," said Councilman Scott Jenkins. "We are 18 months away from a new plant. We have pushed the envelope as far as we can push it," said Klipsch about the current water plant. In other business, Police Chief Kyle Mills said he is starting to see trash being piled up in residences and buildings that are being va- cated. "Is trash pickup something we need to readdress for the city? " asked Councilman Mel- hiser. "No," said Klipsch initially. He said he thought it would be cost prohibitive because he had looked into it and thought a minimum charge would be $20 or $22 a month. He said with the county's manned site on Illinois St. most people could get by for two or three dollars a week. He also said most contrac- tors would require everyone in town to participate. Melhiser said he pays a monthly fee for curbside pick- up, but he didn't know fee amount. Mills said his is $22 a month. Councilman Gary Leavitt said, "I can take care of mine for two bucks a week. Maybe four at the most. We are very fortunate for how cheap our trash removal is." Mills said the younger gen- eration likes the convenience. "We aren't going to solve this tonight," said Melhiser. Klipsch agreed and said they might try to contact some contractors to get a price on the fee and see if they would require everyone in town to participate. The next city council meet- ing is set for 6 p.m. Monday, April 18. There are several Easter egg hunts scheduled for this year. The Petersburg Moose Lodge hunt is set for 10 a.m. Saturday at Hornady Park. There is no rain date for the event, but if it is raining it will be drive through event at the Moose Lodge in Petersburg. Oakland City University will have an Easter Eggstrava- ganza from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 9 on the cam- pus at 705 N. Franklin St., in Oakland City. They will have food, games, an egg hunt and vendors. The egg hunt is for children pre-school to sixth grade. Easter Egg hunts this Saturday