The Press-Dispatch
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The Press-Dispatch C-3 Wednesday, December 7, 2022 HISTORY Submit history photos: Call: 812-354-8500 Email: news@pressdispatch.net or bring in a hard copy: 820 E. Poplar Street, Petersburg OPINION Submit Letters to the Editor: Letters must be signed and received by noon on Friday. Email: editor@pressdispatch.net SEVENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO The Petersburg Press Friday and Tuesday, Dec. 5 and 9, 1947 What A Day!: Children from the Thornton Home, of Petersburg were honored guest at the Shrine Circus at Evansville last Saturday. Children from other homes in this district, un- derprivileged children and crippled children from Vincennes, Evans- ville and Princeton were included. The honored guests occupied the en- tire first floor and were given treats of sandwiches and pop. Just before starting home they were given toy balloons. Mrs. Bess Lemmons pro- vided the thickets for the Petersburg group and the Shriners provided the bus. Mrs. Bess Lemmons and grand- daughter, Jill Ann DeVries, Mrs. Ada Arnold and Mrs. Mae English ac- companied the Petersburg group. A fter returning to Petersburg, the same group attended the basketball game. The tickets were given by the Kiwanis Club of this city. Marriages: Louise Stephens and Glenn Burns were married last Fri- day evening at the home of her par- ents, Mr. and Mrs. Melton Stephens; Mary Ellen Miley and Bruce N. Rit- ter were married Nov. 24 at Hender- son, Ky, by Rev. Bedford Turner; Doris Roberts and Robert J. White were married on Oct. 18, at the West Washington St. Methodist church; Gladys Kash and Ivan Dillon were married Nov. 22, by Rev. Walter C. Brauer at Trinity Lutheran church in Evansville. Deaths: William Nichol, 70, vice-president and general man- ager of the Enos Mining Co., died Wednesday evening from injuries due to an automobile collision on Sunday night, five others were hurt in the collision; Emma Lee Colvin, 79, died at her Petersburg home, Monday afternoon after being ill; Lu- lu C. Abbott, 62, of Otwell, died sud- denly Monday evening at her home; Lawson Evans, 72, died Friday at his Winslow home. SIXTY YEARS AGO The Pike County Dispatch Thursday, Dec. 6, 1962 Wyatt Rauch New Director at Cit- izens Bank: At a directors' meeting of the Citizens State Bank of Peters- burg Wyatt Rauch was appointed to the board of directors. The meeting was held Monday evening, Dec. 3. Mr. Rauch, a native of Petersburg, is a graduate of Petersburg High School and DePauw university. He is married to the former Betty Thom- as and is the son of Mrs. Elma Rauch. Wyatt, and his mother, own and op- erate the Handy Hardware Store in Petersburg. The directors also an- nounced that William E. Lindsay had accepted the position of teller at the Citizens Bank. Mr. Lindsay is a native of Petersburg. He graduated from Petersburg High School in 1952 and is married to the former Dean- na Burger. Births: To Mr. and Mrs. James Edward Brust, of Crown Point, a son, Dail Edward, Sunday, Dec. 2, the mother is the former Dee Traylor. Marriages: Elsie Joretta Lee Slinker and Dennie Morton were married on Friday, Nov. 23, by Rev. W. O. Dudgeon, at the Church of God parsonage, at Petersburg. Deaths: Dennis Coleman, 71, of Winslow, was found dead Sat- urday evening in the field near his home, from a heart attack; Ora El- len Robling, 86, widow of Newton Robling, of Winslow, died Friday, Nov. 30, at her home; Irvin Clay Bell, 77, of Winslow, died unexpectedly Sunday night in the Good Samaritan hospital, he was recovering from sur- gery; John W. Butler, 88, died sud- denly from a heart attack at the home of his son, Howard, in Spurgeon; Ev- erett T. Hisgen, 75, of Bicknell, for- merly of Petersburg, drowned Satur- day night when his car hit a bridge abutment on a Sullivan county road near Hymera, the car overturned in four feet of water in a ditch; Ju- dith Clark Earle, 18, wife of Wallace W. Earle of Winslow, died Saturday in Washington, she had underwent surgery recently; John Smith, 79, of Alford, died Sunday evening from a heart attack; Anna Mae Workman, 71, of Petersburg, died Monday Dec. 3; Carrie Brewer, 69, of Oakland City, died at the home of her son, James in Oakland City, following a short ill- ness. FIFTY YEARS AGO The Press-Dispatch Thursday, Dec. 7, 1972 The O. Ames and Company plant in Petersburg, manufactured han- dle Blank numbered one million last week. The significant product, a 48 inch dowel suitable for finishing into shovel, hoe, or pitchfork handle and its immediate successor number one million and one are on display in the window of the Citizens State Bank. The annual Christmas parade was delayed for a short time Satur- day afternoon when Simon Ennis, 81, fell on Main Street near Aikman's Plumbing and Heating. He was tak- en to Good Samaritan Hospital with a possible broken hip. Births: To Mr. and Mrs. James Gaskins, of Petersburg, a daughter, Emily Jean, Wednesday, Nov. 29; To Rev. and Mrs. Stanley Jones, of Lou- isville, Ky., a daughter, Heather Eliz- abeth, Nov. 16; To Mr. and Mrs. Toni McCandless, of Madisonville, Ky., a son, Anthony Michael, Friday, Dec. 1. Marriages: Emanuel Lee Ellis and Sharilyn Jo Harrell Skiff were married; James E. Melheiser, Jr. and Amy Darlene Hawkins were mar- ried; Jerry Allen Wright and Sharon Diane Duncan were married; Jenny Grantier and Randall Copeland were married Oct. 6; Janet Smith and Ken- neth Moore were married Saturday, Oct. 28; Cheryl Couts and Allen W. Nelson were married Oct. 21. Deaths: Orlando McCrary, 65, of Petersburg, died Saturday, Dec. 2; Estel J. Chandler, 75, of Muncie, formerly of Glezen, died Tuesday, Dec. 5, a W WI veteran; Harold Tis- dale, 60, of Harford, Ky., native of Winslow, died Monday, Dec. 4; Glad- ys Wood, 74, of Oakland City, died Monday, a retired restaurant and caf- eteria worker of the Rathbone Home in Evansville; Linzy, 61, of Peters- burg, died Sunday, Dec. 3; Jackson M. Rumble, 51, of Petersburg, died Sunday, Dec. 3; Frank Dillon, 71, fa- ther of Jackson Dillon, of Petersburg, died; Joseph V. McCormick, 72, of Petersburg, died Friday, Dec. 1; Flo- ria Grubb, 79, of Julian, Calif., native of Union, died Thursday, Nov. 9. TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO The Press-Dispatch Thursday, Dec. 4, 1997 Raising Money for Christmas Gifts: Kent Claridge and Gary Kin- naman helped cook pork chops during a Pike County Optimist Club fundraiser on Saturday to raise mon- ey for food baskets and Christmas gifts for 50 families in Pike County. Kinnaman said the Optimist will be giving the gifts and food baskets to needy families on Saturday, Dec. 13, at the Optimist Clubhouse at the old school superintendent's office in Pe- tersburg. He said the organization will also be selling poinsettias as part of the fundraiser. Marriages: Eva M. Miller and Larry M. Davis were married on Monday, Nov. 10, at the wedding chapel in Springfield, Tenn.; Janice Ruth Sickman and John Edward Wat- kins were married on Saturday, Oct. 25, at St. Peters Lutheran Church in Stendal, by Rev. James Culver Jr.; Darlene Conrad and Duane Mason were married at their home in West Salem, on Nov. 14, by Rev. Allen Ahl- field; William L. Byrd and Wanda S. Brewster-Gayhart, were married. Deaths: Nettie E. Atkins, 82, of Oakland City, died Friday, Nov. 28; William A. Kays, Jr., 65, of Jasper, stepfather of Michael Miller of Vel- pen, died Saturday, Nov. 29; Linda Grubb Nossett, 63, of Oakland City, died Sunday, Nov. 30, at her resi- dence; Marvin O. Davis, 69, of Oak- land City, died Thursday, Nov. 27, a song writer and played steel guitar with gospel and country bands; Mau- die Edmonds, 84, of Francisco, died Monday, Dec. 1; Patricia Ann Spe- icher, 59, of Elberfeld, died Thurs- day, Nov. 27; William K. Evans, 76, of Westport, formerly of Winslow, died Saturday, Nov. 29 at his resi- dence, a U.S. Navy veteran; Murvyn "Burl" Varvel, 80, of Oakland City, died Thursday, Nov. 27, a W WII Na- vy veteran. Republicans are rightly wonder- ing what to expect from the coming House of Representa- tives controlled by their party. Conservatives are chomping at the bit to move a hardcore con- servative agenda. My own beliefs and convictions are known. We need dramatic change to pull the na- tion out of its fiscal, cul- tural and moral chaos. But the phrase the "art of politics" didn't come from nowhere. Politics is indeed an art — the art of knowing what can be do- ne and when. Even the great conservative icon Ronald Reagan was sometimes not bold. He nominated Sandra Day O'Connor and Anthony Kennedy to the Supreme Court. O'Connor gave us the decision that preserved the use of race and ethnicity in univer- sity admissions policy that only now may be overturned. Anthony Kennedy wrote the opin- ion in Obergefell v. Hodges that le- galized same-sex marriage. Reagan appointed Alan Green- span in 1982 to oversee a commis- sion to address the fiscal problems of Social Security. That commission produced reforms keeping the exist- ing system intact and raising taxes. Certainly not what any good conser- vative should do. George W. Bush was reelected to his second term in 2004 and ran on reforming Social Security to allow Americans to invest some of their funds rather than paying taxes. Bush controlled the government — he had a Republican Senate and a Republi- can House. Yet he failed in this at- tempt for reform allowing personal retirement accounts. Bill Clinton signed into law the sweeping reform of welfare in 1996, a reform that required work to quali- fy for welfare, a conservative reform. Yet, with Republicans controlling the House and Senate welfare reform passed and the Democratic presi- dent signed it into law. Our first Republican president, Abraham Lincoln, knew that any successful political leader, regard- less of his convictions, cannot di- vorce from public opinion. Ultimate- ly, politics is about relationships — in this case, the relationship of a lead- er with voters. Lincoln knew the importance of heeding public opinion. "A universal feeling, whether well or ill-founded, cannot be safely disregarded," he ob- served. "In this and like communi- ties, public sentiment is everything. With public sentiment, nothing can fail; with- out it nothing can suc- ceed. Consequently he who moulds public sentiment, goes deep- er than he who enacts statutes or pronounces decisions." In this sense, Repub- lican leadership must deal with diversity of opinion in the public at large, but also with di- versity of opinion within their own party. The recent support of 12 Republi- can senators for legislation to codi- fy into law same-sex marriage rais- es deep questions about the conser- vative state of affairs of the Repub- lican Party. Recent polling reported in The Economist points to the Republican Party being more fractured than Democrats. "For most of the policies we surveyed, more than three-quar- ters of Democratic supporters took the same line as the majority of Dem- ocratic lawmakers, as reflected in their voting records. It's a different story for Republicans." The survey shows divergence in opinion among many Republicans from their party on issues such as "guaranteed family leave, national marijuana legislation, free pre-school, codifying the right to gay marriage, universal health care, and government funding for free community-college tuition." At the same time, the Republi- can Party, in the upcoming Con- gress, will be the most diverse ev- er. Republicans will have at least five Black members in Congress, the most since the 1870s. There will be a record number 11 Hispanic Repub- licans and 42 women. These Republican inroads in di- versity helps take race and gender off the agenda and allow focus on the issues of concern to all Americans. It will take seasoned and skilled Republican leadership to move the country, in these complex times of diversity of opinion, race and ethnici- ty, toward our country's ideals of tra- ditional values, limited government, open markets and e pluribus unum. Regarding the race for House speaker, I have known Kevin McCa- rthy, a fellow Californian, for many years and believe he has the leader- ship skills for these times. Star Parker is president of the Cen- ter for Urban Renewal and Education and host of the weekly television show "Cure America with Star Parker." Heritage Viewpoint By Michael Cunningham Race for the Cure By Star Parker Xi's New Politburo and China's tech ambitions Kevin McCarthy, a Republican leader for complex times Personnel is policy, even in a com- munist dictatorship. Last month, Xi Jinping consoli- dated his power by engineering a shake-up of Chinese Communist Party leadership, sidelining faction- al rivals and stacking the Politburo with his protégés. The new lineup re- flects Mr. Xi's push to make China in- to a technological superpower that can rival the United States both com- mercially and militarily. The most important factor in the leadership shake-up was loyalty to Mr. Xi, as official explanations of the selection process make clear. He forced his top rivals into early retire- ment and filled all seven seats of the Politburo Standing Committee with his allies. He also circumvented de- cades of precedent to appoint a key ally—Li Qiang—as premier. Longtime protégés of Mr. Xi now occupy roughly half of the 24 seats in the Politburo. Most of the rest have won Mr. Xi's trust by loyally promot- ing his leadership and implementing his policies over the last decade. But what is most striking are the six ap- pointees—one-fourth of the new Po- litburo—who belong to a new class of political elites that has emerged under Mr. Xi. This class consists of leading ex- perts in aerospace, public health and engineering who did not rise through the system the traditional way but were hand-picked to enter the highest halls of power. It also in- cludes the former head of a state- owned weapons supplier. Despite having little or no politi- cal experience, these people were ap- pointed by Mr. Xi to senior provin- cial leadership posts in the last five to 10 years. This qualified them for Po- litburo appointment at last month's Party Congress. There was likely a political ele- ment in Mr. Xi's embrace of this group. With many of his longtime protégés nearing retirement, he needed a new support base, free of the influence of factional politics, that would owe their political ca- reers to him. While that's somewhat specula- tive, there is no doubt that their ele- vation to the CCP's most senior ranks reflects the emphasis Mr. Xi places on technological innovation. The do- mestic development of key technol- ogies was a major theme of Mr. Xi's work report to the Party Congress. That report constitutes the most au- thoritative outline of CCP priorities for the next five years. It's not just this group of relative political newbies who have tech cre- dentials, though. At least two oth- er members of the Politburo have worked or studied in science and technology fields at some point in their careers. Technology backgrounds are even more prominent among the 205 full members of the Party's Central Com- mittee. Citing data from the Brook- ings Institution, The Wall Street Journal reports that 40 % of Central Committee members have science and technology backgrounds—a sharp increase from the 18 % of the previous Central Committee. This emphasis on technology isn't new. China's long march for indige- nous innovation predates the Xi era. The CCP leadership has long viewed China's reliance on the U.S. and its allies for key chokepoint technolo- gies as an existential security risk that must be overcome. Significant progress was made in Mr. Xi's first two terms, due to initiatives such as Made in China 2025, but the deteri- oration of U.S.-China relations since 2018 has given the matter even great- er urgency. China is determined to close the technology gap with the U.S. and will stop at nothing to do so. By stacking the Politburo with scientists and en- gineers experienced in some of the most important technological areas, Mr. Xi is both showing his determi- nation to accomplish this task and as- sembling a team to get it done. China still has a long way to go be- fore it achieves its goal of "techno- logical self-reliance," and the U.S. should not help Mr. Xi get there. Rather, Washington should close regulatory loopholes that allow the transfer and sale of sensitive tech- nologies to China. Failure to do so would be grossly negligent, helping produce a China that could rival the U.S. not only in science and com- merce, but also in military strength as well.