The Press-Dispatch

Thursday, May 4, 2023 Page 1 Press DisPatch PETERSBURG, IN 47567-0068 ThURSday, May 4, 2023 VOLUME 153, NUMBER 18 INSIDE: Prom Photos Page 2, Photo Shot of the Week Page 11 $1.00 PER ISSUE NEWS TIPS Phone: ������������������������������������� 812-766-1611 Email ����������������������sherri@pressdispatch�net USPS 604-34012 INSIDE Local ��������������������������� 1-4 Obits ������������������������������� 5 Home Life �������������������������� 6 Sports ������������������������� 7-11 Classifieds/Legals ����� 12-13 History ��������������������������14 Church ��������������������� 15-16 School �����������������������������17 Harris Realty ��������������������18 See CASA on page 3 See PANIC on page 4 Pike County will be a yard sale extravaganza Saturday By Sherri Griffin Editor sherri@pressdispatch.net Those who have a passion for hunting treasures at area yard sales should stop at the bank for cash Friday night and set their alarms for early Saturday morn- ing. The annual Pike County Yard Sale event takes place this Satur- day, May 6, throughout the coun- ty, with more than 40 yard sales registered inside The Press-Dis- patch today. From northeast Petersburg to southwest Petersburg, and ev- erywhere in between, people are gathering their items for the big sales Saturday. Yard sales in Al- ford, Algiers, Campbelltown, Win- slow, and other communities are also taking advantage of the an- nual event. Not only will there be dozens of yard sales to attend, but local churches will offer sales and food also. The Church Alive on 9th Street in Petersburg, will be hav- ing a chicken carry-out available on Friday and Saturday for those who get hungry during their hunt for special deals. Petersburg First United Methodist Church will be offering parking lot spaces avail- able for a free will donation to the church on Saturday. Weather for Saturday in Pike County is expected to be highs in the 70's with plenty of sunshine forecasted. CASA/DCS host Child Abuse Awareness Day By Mendy Ross Correspondent news@pressdispatch.net There are many individuals a part of programs in the Pike County com- munity wanting to help children and their families. Andrea Sharp, Direc- tor of Pike County CASA, Court Ap- pointed Special Advocates, is one such individual. She coordinated a day to gather some of these local pro- grams to share their resources with Pike County residents on Saturday, April 29, at the Petersburg Commu- nity Church, which coincided with Child Abuse Awareness Month. During the Child Abuse Aware- ness day there were approximately 14 booths with information on local resource handouts, awareness brace- lets, bookmarks, highlighter, pens, and other fun things for children to add to their bag of goodies. Hot dogs, chips, cookies and large cones of cotton candy were served to all in attendance; there were also raffles and games. Balloon artist Amy Sisk, Balloons Of Faith, created fun shapes such as a rooster, ladybug on a flow- er, the Mario Brother, a dinosaur and other designs the children thought of. Area churches donated items and monetary donations and High school student clubs volunteered. Sharp, who has been Director of CASA for four years, said "our goal is to provide the community with infor- mation about the resources that are available to those in need of support that could help caregivers and the community receive services and aide in a timely manner that could possi- bly help alleviate stressors that often lead to families facing a crisis which increases risk of placing a child at risk for child abuse." Some of the booths in attendance included RainTree Consulting, LLC; Ireland Home Based Services; Cri- sis Connection; TRI-CAP; Isaiah 117 House; Samaritan Center; DHS; Po- lice officers Chad McClellan and Tay- lor Deffendoll; Sheriff Jason McKin- ney and Chief Deputy Dallas Killian; Glezen Revival Center's Transformed Youth Group; Petersburg Elementary School Counselor, Mrs. Andrea Mc- Cutchan and Winslow Elementary School Counselor, Ms. Elizabeth Al- exander; The Isaiah 1:17 Project; The Jerry Grubb Foundation; T TR Haven Over the Hilltop; and CASA. Representing T TR (Trials, Tribula- tions and Redemption) Haven Over the Hilltop was Pike Central's Middle School Principal, Mindy Hill-Keeker. The T TR serves foster parents, rela- tive placements and at-risk youth. T TR also provides necessities such as food, clothing, diapers and wipes; free CPR and First Aid Certification for Foster Parents and kinship place- ments; and PATH Therapeutic Rid- ing. They also provide opportunities to volunteer. The Jerry Grubb Foundation was created to help support families in Pike County community with a Christmas Sponsorship; bringing suicide awareness and prevention, as Jerry had lost a son in 2004 through suicide; and the foundation plans on providing a high school scholarship in the near future. Families with a new baby on the way can find help with car seats through the Samaritan Center lo- cated on Main Street in Petersburg. The Center offers families with edu- cation and help to install the various car seats available. They offer other services as well as a 24-Hour Crisis Sisters, Natale and Dakota Arnold play a game of jumbo size check- ers during the event CASA and DCS hosted, a Child Abuse Aware- ness Day that included resource booths, games and food at the Pe- tersburg Community Church, on Saturday, April 30. Pike County prepares for 74th 4-H Fair Pageant By Mendy Ross Correspondent news@pressdispatch.net Registration for Miss Pike County Queen, Teen, Junior, and Little Miss and Mr. are open from now until May 31. This year's Miss Pike County 4-H Fair Queen pageant is scheduled for Saturday, July 22, 2023. Interested girls may contact Pageant Director Summer Sorgius Roelle by emailing summersorgius78@gmail.com for both registration and information. She is hoping to have online registra- tion up and running soon to make it easier to sign-up. This year there will be a total of five practices and a dress rehearsal. Little, Junior and Teen will have different walks, a different introduction style and only one outfit change. "We are crowning our 74th queen this year and have had the same style of crown for at least 25 years," said Sorgius. Miss Pike County ap- plicants must be 18 years old by Janu- ary 1, 2024 and may not reach their 22nd birthday by June 1, 2024, and be a current resident of Pike County. This category will keep with the tra- ditional pageant style. "We offer a five-hundred-dollar scholarship, the queen will represent Pike County at the Indiana State Fair Pageant," said Sorgius. "She will be used in all kinds of advertising and reign over the Pike County Fair. We offer former queens and queens court to help get the con- testants pageant day ready." Sorgius added "our traditional pageant will consist of interviews with the judges, most of those questions come from in- formation provided by the contestant, they will be scored on their interview outfit during the interview. Stage por- tion will be introduction to upbeat music keeping dancing to a minimum this year, theme wear which would be dress as you are out doing your favor- ite activity. Then we move into long formal wear and stage question. It may sound like a lot but you can ask any former contestant it all goes so fast" Teen Miss applicants are to be 13 to 17 years old; Junior Miss 9 to 12 and Little Miss and Mr. 5 to 8 years old. These three groups will have introduc- tions, questions and formal wear only. Entry fees for Littles, Junior and Teen is $40 per contestant and Miss Pike County as $65. According to Sorgius, this year they will be changing the Teen Miss com- petition. There will not be an interview nor theme wear. They will be judged on introduction, short formal wear and answer a couple of stage ques- tions. This year Miss Pike County is the only group having interviews with the judges. She said they continually try to make changes and updates to the pageant so that the experience for the contestants will be easier, includ- ing less practices for busy schedules. The attire for this year is as follows: Little Mr. will be nice dress pants or shorts with a nice shirt, bow ties are great too. Little Miss is short to long formal. Junior Miss and Teen Miss will be a short formal. The Miss Pike County will continue with the tradition and wear the long formal. "I know a lot "We are crowning our 74th queen this year," said Pageant Director Summer Sorgius Roelle. "Pageants have nothing to do with beauty, it has everything to do with boosting confidence, teaching girls how to sit in an interview, give them courage to speak in a public setting and how to gracefully walk in heels!" Registration for Miss Pike County Queen, Teen, Junior, and Little Miss and Mr. are open from now un- til May 31. This year's Miss Pike County 4-H Fair Queen pageant is scheduled for Saturday, July 22, 2023. Pictured is Miss Pike Coun- ty 2022, Jordan Schatz, who won last year's pageant. See PAGEANT on page 3 Petersburg one step closer to $5 per 1,000 gallon sewer bill increase By Andy Heuring Petersburg City Council came one step closer to raising sewer custom- ers' bills by $5 per 1,000 gallons and they voted to confirm the creation of a Revitalization Area. Both actions took place during Monday night's 60 minute meeting. The Petersburg council started the process of raising the current sewer flow rate, which is $7.47 to $12.47 per 1000 gallons. This is on top of the base rate all sewer custom- ers pay. A customer using 2,000 gal- lons of water would see an increase of $10 per month. At the April 17 council meeting Klipsch said the sewer department was operating at about an $11,000 a month loss. He said it was illegal for the city to operate the sewer depart- ment in the red. There was no pub- lic comment on the rate increase. A second public hearing is set for 6:30 p.m. Monday, May 15. At the meet- ing the council is schedule to take public comment and then vote on the proposed increase. The council voted 5 -0 to have the public hearings and have the coun- cil vote on the matter. Mayor R. C. Klipsch said this in- crease has nothing to do with the increase they will have to impose when construction of a new sewer plant begins. "This is just to meet our operating costs," said Klipsch. He said he hoped by passing this in- crease now it would make the next increase to pay for the sewer plant less. Klipsch said if it is passed at the Health Department to install panic button By Sherri Griffin Editor sherri@pressdispatch.net A fter multiple incidents at the Pike County Health Department in the past, the Health Department Board, along with the Pike County Commis- sioners have agreed that a panic but- ton system should be put in place at the Pike County Health Department. The panic button links to the police department in case of emergency. A quote to the Commissioners in the amount of $3,787.75 was approved by Commissioners and the Health Board, to be installed by VEI Com- munications out of Vincennes. The money for the panic button comes out of the Health Board fund and has al- ready been appropriated for use. Dr. Rudolph will sign off on the quote to begin installation. During the Monday, May 1 Com- missioners Meeting, Jerry Blackwell, Head Custodian of Maintenance at the Pike County Courthouse dis- cussed the issue of bees living in- side a wall on the third floor of the courthouse between the jury room and small claims office. Blackwell met with Jim Bobs Bees and Honey to discuss removal of the bees and repairing damages result- ing from the removal of an estab- lished honeybee colony within the structure walls. Repair may include, but not limited to: siding, decking, roofing, sheet rock and other finished wall coverings, flooring, and ceiling sheet rock. Drywall repairs will be taped and finished smooth and then Blackwell will do the painting. The project will be done in phase and begin Wednesday, May 3, since the Commissioners voted unanimously to the agree- ment presented by Jim Bobs Bees and Honey. Blackwell stated that bees are a protected insect and that they have to try to remove the bees before just killing the bees. "You can't just go in and kill them," Blackwell said. "We don't know how they're getting in. It may be a beam above the interior wall but we can't see where they are coming in." Black- well will be working with Josh Byrd of the Pike County Highway Depart- ment to bring a lift to the courthouse to check the exterior of the building for a possible location where the bees are entering. A new lease with Pitney Bowes was approved in the amount of $266 to cover the postage meter at the Courthouse. The meter needs up- grading and the bill was $255 per quarter. The price rose to $266 per quarter. Commissioners approved a two-year lease. Ashley Willis, Executive Director of the Pike County Economic Devel- opment Corporation presented a Use and Development Commitment and Agreement for Petersburg Energy Center Project to the Commission- ers during Monday's meeting which entails a 2,000 acre commercial solar field, transmission lines and related facilities on real estate situ- ated in Pike County, near the I-69 and Indiana 56 interchange. Willis stated during the meeting that it is a $250,000 capital investment for the county and no tax abatement has been requested. Willis also stated that no solar panels along County Road 400 will be installed. "Signing this agreement is just the first step," Willis said. The Com- missioners approved the agreement unanimously. In business by public, Pike Coun- ty Sheriff Jason McKinney stated that the police vehicles involved in a pursuit into Daviess County were in need of repairs and they have re- ceived one of the vehicles back. A dis- cussion was had about how to handle the insurance issue concerning dam- ages. Commissioner Ryan Coleman stated that if the county pays for the damages through their insurance and fight it, it could take two years or more to get reimbursed. Val Fleig, Pike County attorney, suggested that the county attempt to deal straight with the other person's insurance. Commissioner President, Mark Flint, stated that it is worth a try to deal straight with their insurance and if that does not work out, the county has two years to file a claim. Josh Byrd of the Pike County Highway Department stated that his crew has been working in Dodge City to get the roads cleaned up for farmers and they are just waiting on See CLOSER on page 5 NOW PUBLISHING EVERY THURSDAY!

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