The Press-Dispatch
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Three sections 34 pages Seven inserts 75¢ Wednesday, December 4, 2013 Volume 145 Number 49 Phone (812) 354-8500 Petersburg, IN 47567-0068 Parades, Santa breakfasts this Saturday Commissioner, council districts to get new boundaries By Andy Heuring The Winslow and Petersburg Christmas parades are set for Saturday. They highlight a day of Christmas activities. Christmas parades are Saturday, December 7 The Winslow parade is set for 10 a.m. It will proceed from Union St. north on Main St. to the Little League park. Line up is at 9 a.m. near the Winslow Fire Department. Following the parade, Santa will be at the Winslow Fire Department to talk with children. The Mouse House, where children can select and purchase inexpensive gifts for their family, will be open in the Winslow Nazarene Fellowship Hall. Helpers will be there to help children select and wrap the presents from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. It is hosted by the Beautification Committee. They are also taking donations to build a gazebo in memory of Buck Ashby. They have already raised $3,600 for the project, with a goal of raising $7,000. Petersburg parade starts at 3 p.m. The Petersburg Christmas parade will begin at 3 p.m. The Hadi Shriners are planning on participating in the parade with numerous units. Line up for the parade will be on Walnut St., beginning at 2 p.m. The parade will proceed south on Main St. from Highway 61. Prizes for the parade units best displaying the spirit of Christmas will be awarded $100, $50 and $25 by the Pike County Chamber of Commerce and Petersburg Business and Professionals Association. Parade participants are asked to give contact information to parade chair Amy Barber. Breakfast with Santa in Petersburg, Otwell Children will be able to talk to Santa while eating donuts and juice on Saturday, December 7. The Petersburg event will be at the VFW and is sponsored by the Petersburg Delts. It runs from 8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. Otwell's Breakfast with Santa will be in the cafeteria at the Community Center from 9 to 11 a.m. At the same time, the vendor fair will be taking place in the gym. Christmas in the Park Christmas in the Park is underway. Hornady Park is aglow with thousands of Christmas lights in numerous displays throughout the park. It is lit from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 6 to 10 p.m. Friday through Sunday. Pet pictures with Santa Amber Manor will host the Lions Club on Monday, December 9, for Pet pictures Continued on page 2 Ceremony marks 100 years of Hornady Park A Christmas angel stands at twilight in Hornady Park, part of the display for Christmas in the Park. The 100th Anniversary of Hornady Park was recognized in a ceremony on Friday evening, the first night for the displays to be viewed. Hornady Park was willed to Petersburg upon the death of the last surviving Hornady family member who died on November 28, 1913. Christmas in the Park will be open Monday through Thursday from 6 to 9 p.m. and Friday through Sunday from 6 to 10 p.m. from now until Christmas Eve. Bank offering insurance building to city By Ed Cahill German American has offered to donate the building currently housing its insurance office to the City of Petersburg, according to Mayor Frank Coleman. "How do you guys feel about moving City Hall next year?" Coleman asked the city council during its regular monthly meeting on Monday, Dec. 2. The building, located at 518 East Main Street, formerly housed Doty Insurance (USPS 604-340) Agency. "I have had discussions with some of their representatives," Coleman said. "It probably won't be a quick thing, if it happens, but they're going to be moving their insurance part into the bank, upstairs." Coleman noted that the Petersburg branch of German American Bank will have to undergo "pretty extensive" remodeling before the insurance office can be relocated. "They have to put a staircase in and differ- ent things like that, so that's going to take a while," Coleman said. "I think they're in the planning and design stages of that. But they have offered graciously the building to the city for municipal use for free." Coleman described the building as "wellmaintained" but, in response to a question by council president Fran Lewis, said that some work will have to be done to bring it into full compliance with the Americans with Continued on page 2 By Andy Heuring The Pike County Commissioners are now in the process of updating the county commissioner and county council district. The commissioners district will take some major changes. A new state law requires them to have it done by December 31, 2013, or in about 27 days. Tuesday, Leslie Barns, Co-Legal Counsel with the Indiana Election Commission said in the past the state law required counties to keep the population of the commissioner and council districts even. "Each district is supposed to be the same," said Barnes. She said in the past if the population of the districts had stayed similar they didn't have to redistrict. But the new law for this year requires the county, even if they don't change the boundaries, to recertify their districts in odd number years. Cities and towns have to the do the same in even numbered years. Commissioner Jeff Nelson said he became aware of it when he was reading an article in the Indiana Business Review magazine about a large number of counties not complying with the law. "I guess we were actually supposed to get it down in 2011," said Nelson. When Pike County officials looked at their districts recently they found the commissioner districts way out of balance and the council districts were slightly out of balance. "We have heard of a number of counties that haven't done this yet. They still have time to comply this year. Not much time," said Barnes. The biggest imbalance is in the commissioner districts where District 1 has almost 60 percent of the population and District 2 only about 19 percent. Commissioner District 1, which is Jeff Nelson's district has 59.1 percent of the population, according to the 2010 Census. It consists of the precincts of Jefferson 1 and 2, Marion, Washington 1, Patoka 1, Winslow and all four Petersburg precincts. District 1 has a population of 7,599 with 5,467 registered voters. District 2, which is held by Brian Davis, has only 2,410 population with 1,864 registered voters or 18.8 percent of the population. It consists of Washington 2 and 3, Clay, Madison and Logan. District 3, held by Ryan Coleman, consists of Patoka 2, Monroe and Lockhart with 22.1 percent of the population or 2,836 people and 2,030 voters. The good part about the commissioners district is everyone in the county votes in all three commissioner district races. However, a commissioner is required to live in the district he represents. The council districts are different. There are four districts and only the voters who live in those districts vote in that district's race. The four districts are: District 1, Petersburg's four precincts, held by Randy Harris has 18 percent of the population with 2,311 people and 1,705 registered voters; District 2 is held by Greg Mangin. It consists of Washington 1, Jefferson 1 and 2, and Marion, and has 27 percent of the population. District 3, held by Max Elliott, is WashingContinued on page 2 Helsley resentencing trial postponed until April By Andy Heuring The re-sentencing for a convicted murderer has been postponed until April because of time constraints. Chris Helsley, convicted of murdering Pike County EMTs Brad Maxwell and Marsha Hale in April 2001, was scheduled to be re-sentenced in Dubois County Court beginning Monday morning. However, that has been delayed until April 21. It is being heard by Judge William Wiekert, of Dubois, because Pike Circuit Court Judge Jeffrey Biesterveld prosecuted Helsey when he was convicted and had to recuse himself from the case. Pike County Prosecutor Darrin McDonald said the sentencing phase of the trial had been scheduled for three days. Helsley's defense listed 16 witnesses and it would take longer than three days. So it was decided to reschedule to April when there are more days available on the court calendar. A jury will be seated and they will hear evidence and determine whether or not to recommend a PIKE PUBLISHING sentence of Life Without Parole for Helsley. In May of 2013, Helsley filed a petition with Pike Circuit Court claiming he was inadequately represented during his trial and also during the sentencing phase of the trail. He requested a hearing to have both the sentence and his conviction overturned. On the day of the hearing, a last minute agreement was reached between the state and Helsley. It called for the conviction to be upheld and the Life Without Parole sentence to be overturned and retried. McDonald, at that hearing, cited statements from Helsley's attorney Michael Keating about the original trial and sentencing. Keating said he was confident about his defense during the trial, but the sentencing phase "might have been substandard." Dr. Honesto Fenol was the only expert witness called by Keating. McDonald said it is typical for defense attorneys to call psychiatrists and other behavioral experts to testify on behalf of the defendant. Continued on page 2 WHAT'S INSIDE: Local ........A1-10 Classifieds B10-11 Health.........C6-7 Obituaries ......A3 Church .......C1-8 Shopping..C8-10 Sports ........B1-5 Opinion..........C2 History ......... C11 National Honor Society rings bells Pike Central National Honor Society members Erik Stuteville and Caleb Freeland rang bells for the Salvation Army at the Petersburg Dollar General Store on Saturday. John Burns said the NHS has volunteered to ring all day every Saturday through Christmas. "That is a huge help to me," said Burns, who along with Cal Biddle are the bell ringing chairmen for Pike County. To volunteer, call Burns as 789-3536 or Biddle at 354-8069. NEWS TIPS: Phone:........................354-8500 Fax: ............................354-2014 E-Mail . editor@pressdispatch.net CONNECT WITH US: NETedition ... pressdispatch.net/edition Facebook .... facebook.com/pressdispatch E-Mail .......... news@pressdispatch.net