The Press-Dispatch
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75¢ Wednesday, April 23, 2014 Volume 146 Number 17 Phone (812) 354-8500 Petersburg, IN 47567-0068 (USPS 604-34012) Four sections 42 pages Six inserts Local ........A1-12 Obituaries ...A3-5 Sports ........B1-6 Classifi eds ..B7-11 Church .......C1-8 Opinion .......... C2 History ........... C7 More news .D1-8 WHAT'S INSIDE: CONNECT WITH US: NetEdition .... pressdispatch.net/edition Facebook .... facebook.com/pressdispatch E-Mail .......... news@pressdispatch.net Phone: .................812-354-8500 Fax: .....................812-354-2014 E-Mail . editor@pressdispatch.net NEWS TIPS: PIKE PUBLISHING Continued on page 2 By Andy Heuring The Pike County Commission- ers voted 3-0 to request $ 350,000 to build a new ambulance barn on Illinois St. and in a separate mo- tion voted to advertise for bids on construction of the proposed building. Both actions were tak- en during their 30 -minute Mon- day night meeting. Scott Carnegie, of DLZ, asked the commissioners for their ap- proval to send the proposed new EMS Building plans out to bid "as soon as possible." While talking to the commissioners, he said he had met with commissioners Bri- an Davis and Jeff Nelson prior to the meeting "to go through a few questions" which had been raised. Carnegie called the private meeting with the commissioners a "page turning." The meeting with a quorum of the commissioners was unan- nounced as either an executive session or public meeting. Commissioner Assistant Me- lissa Bryant who scheduled the meeting said it was an "informa- tional meeting." Carnegie said he wanted to send the specs out for bids as soon as the prevailing wage rates were set. He said that was supposed to take place on May 6 and he want- ed to send the plans to the printer on May 7. He hoped to be able to have the bids at the June 16 com- missioners meeting. "We antici- pate a lot of bidding activity," said Carnegie. "We know the hard con- struction budget is $400,000 to $450,000." Carnegie said they had added a clause that if the bid was less than $ 350,000, the bidder wouldn't have to use the "common con- struction rate" for wages, but if it was more than $ 350,000 then they would have to use it. The commissioners recent- ly purchased a lot on Illinois St. from Mike Voyles for $25,000. It is the intended location for a new EMS Building. After voting to give Carnegie approval to advertise the pro- posed building plans for bid, the commissioners voted 3-0 to re- quest an additional appropriation of $ 350,000 from the Cumulative Capital Development Fund. Commissioners open bids for mowing, trending, HVAC The commissioners also opened bids for three projects: mowing two cemeteries, updating the courthouse heating and air- conditioning system and "trend- ing" assessment. They opened two bids for mow- ing of the Old Town Cemetery in Petersburg (across from the ele- Commissioners request $350,000 for new ambulance barn By Andy Heuring Pike County property own- ers should receive their proper- ty tax bills in the mail any day. Pike County Treasurer Marta Query said the statements have been sent to the printer and she is awaiting word from them that the statements have been mailed out. The first of two property tax in- stallments is due on Monday, May 12. The annual deadline is May 10, however, because it falls on a Saturday, taxpayers will have un- til Monday, May 12 to make their payment. Those missing the deadline will face a five percent penalty if it is paid within 30 days of the due date. If it is paid after 30 days of the due date, there will be a 10 per- cent penalty. Property tax bills to be mailed soon The Petersburg Little League will have its season-opening cele- bration on Saturday, April 26, be- ginning with a parade through downtown to the American Le- gion Little League Park. Teams will begin lining up near the Old Petersburg Gym at 9:30 a.m., with the parade scheduled to start at 10 a.m. The parade will travel west on Main Street, turn south onto South Fifth Street and conclude at the American Legion Little League Park on Illinois St. Official opening ceremonies will be in the boys' middle field at American Legion Little League Park immediately following the parade. Little League Opening Day parade Saturday By Andy Heuring There is just three weeks until the May primary in Pike Coun- ty, which features two local rac- es, two state races and a prima- ry challenge for 8th District Con- gress. While the primary races are just three weeks away, a new candidate has filed for sheriff in the general election. Former Pike Circuit Court Bai- liff Ron Meyer has filed his can- didacy on the independent ticket. He will be challenging incumbent Democrat Sheriff Jeremy Britton. In the primary on May 6, the races include: • Incumbent county coun- cilman and former Petersburg Mayor Randy Harris is being challenged by first time candi- date Kurt Vaughn for the District 1 County Council seat in the Re- publican primary. • The other local race is five- term incumbent county council- man Myreon Krohn being chal- lenged by former councilman Norman Dillon for the District 4 Democrat nomination. The two council races are only voted on by people in those dis- tricts. • At the state level, current District 63 State Representative Mark Messmer is seeking the State Senate District 48 seat. He is being challenged for the Repub- lica nomination by Ted Metzger. • That has left an opening for Messmer's District 63 seat. Du- bois County businessman Mike Braun, owner of Meyer Distrib- uting, and Dubois County doc- tor Richard Moss are vying for the District 63 Republican nom- ination. • At the federal level, Repub- lican incumbent Eighth District Council, state races highlight local primary The first Azalea Fest in down- town Petersburg is scheduled for Friday and Saturday, May 2 and 3, and will feature contests, ath- letic events, musical performanc- es, crafts and food booths. It will be located at Eighth and Walnut Sts. and starts at 5 p.m. on Friday, May 2 with a performance by the Pike Central Jazz Band. The Little Miss Azalea Blossom pageant is set for 6:30 p.m. A pie eating contest will start at 7:45 p.m. Then at 8 p.m., the local teen band, Fighting For A Chance, will perform. Saturday morning's events be- gin at 9 a.m. with the Azalea Blos- som Run, which will include a five mile run and two-mile run/walk. It begins on Illinois St. at the Tri- Cap building. The Timeless Classics Cruise- In is set for 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Silly Safaris Show is for 1 p.m. A cornhole tourney with cash prizes is set for 1 p.m. Entry fee is $20 and it is limited to 20 teams, with registration starting at noon. There will be numerous kids' activities from 1 to 4 p.m., in- cluding pick up ducks, sidewalk chalk, face painting, wood crafts and bounce houses. Musical entertainment will fea- ture performances by Mike Sum- ner and Family, and Lynna and Jim Woolsey. There will be a men's hairy leg contest at 6 p.m. Three Legged Dog band will perform at 7 p.m. Space is still available for food and craft vendors. Azalea Fest to feature variety of events, crafts Helsley claims amnesia in re-sentencing trial By James Capozella A Dubois County jury began de- ciding if the decade-old sentence imposed on Christopher M. Hels- ley in the double murder of EMT co-workers Brad Maxwell and Marsha Rainey would be upheld. Helsley was arrested and con- victed of the April 18, 2001 dou- ble murder. The Dubois County re-trial of Helsley's sentence began Monday, April 21 and is expected go to the jury today ( Wednesday). The tri- al was venued to Dubois County because Pike Circuit Court Judge Jeff Biesterveld was the prosecu- tor when Helsley was convicted. The conviction resulted in a life sentence without the possibility of parole. However, a petition filed for post conviction relief resulted in an agreement to keep the con- viction intact but retry the sen- tence portion of the trial. Michael Keating, the defense attorney in the original trial, said he was comfortable with his de- fense of Helsley, but considered his argument against the life with- out parole sentence lacking. The Dubois County jury, comprised of six women and six men, repre- senting nearly every age group, must vote unanimously for the life sentence without parole for the sentence to stand. Dubois Circuit Judge William Wiekert conducted the trial with Pike County Prosecutor Darrin McDonald and defense council Steven Ripstra representing Hels- ley. Wiekert advised the jurors pri- or to the proceedings that impos- ing 45 years on each count would be the minimum sentence if the jury was unable to unanimously approve the life sentence without parole. In the former case, Hels- ley would be eligible for parole at age 69. During the first day of the sentencing retrial, the jury and about 15 family members and friends of the victims heard tes- timony from forensic pathologist Dr. Mark Levaughn, former EMT Continued on page 2 Continued on page 2 Old fashioned fun Julian Gish is all smiles as he hangs on and swings on a rope swing over a bank Saturday afternoon. Woman survives wild ride Pike County Deputy Sheriff Brad Jenkins inspects the passenger compartment of Aman- da Murfin's truck at the bottom of a steep 50-foot embankment beside the Highway 56 over- pass of a railroad. Murfin suffered seizures prior to driving down the embankment at about 2:30 p.m. Friday.