The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/571435
A-2 Front Wednesday, September 16, 2015 The Press-Dispatch yeah, it's that fast! net edition Z M www.PressDispatch.net/Subscribe The Press-Dispatch. No matter where you live. FESTIVALS Continued from page 1 The Lions Club will be selling BBQ chicken din- ners beginning at noon be- hind the Fish Hut. MONROE CITY FALL FESTIVAL The Annual Monroe City Fall Festival at the Blue Jeans Community Center on Main St. is set for Thurs- day through Sunday. It will begin at 5 p.m. Thursday, September 17, with a chicken and noodle dinner served by the Blue Jeans Center Gang. The Fall Festival Queen and ba- by contests begin at 7 p.m. A spaghetti supper is scheduled for 5 to 7 p.m. on Friday and is being served by the Monroe City High School Alumni. There will also be food booths on the front lawn, as well as rides and inflatables. A concert by Aaron and Tabernacle of Praises begins at 6:30 p.m. Friday. Saturday starts with a pancake breakfast from 6:30 to 9 a.m., served by Jim Reed. The Cow Muck Cook- ers will be selling their BBQ on the front lawn beginning at 9:30 a.m. Regional antique dealers will have an Antiques Road Show from 1 to 4 p.m. Eu- chre games will run from 1 to 4 p.m. and Good Samar- itan Hospital will do free blood pressure screening from noon until 2 p.m. Pizza will be available from 5 to 7 p.m. The Knox County's Got Talent show begins at 7 p.m. and fireworks will follow the talent show. Sunday will feature Jeff Black's Fried Fish dinner from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. A Gospel Concert by Hon- ey in the Rock begins at 1 p.m. The annual parade be- gins at 2 p.m., followed by a performance of the South Knox band at 3 p.m. on the front lawn. Anyone wanting informa- tion about having a booth can call Marlis Day at 812- 743-2787, to register for the queen or baby contest, call Brooke Ziegler at 812-881- 7469, for information on the talent show, call Amanda Weber at 812-881-8700, and for parade entries, call Jer- ry Coonrod at 812-887-4182. MONROE CITY FALL FESTIVAL SEPT. 17 - 20, 2015 Blue Jeans Community Center 1242 Main Street • Monroe City • 812-743-2393 Thursday, Sept. 17 • 5:00 p.m. - Chicken & Noodle Dinner • 7:00 p.m. - Queen and Baby Contests Friday, Sept. 18 • 5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. - Spaghetti Dinner by MCHS Alumni • 6:30 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. - "Aaron & Tabernacle of Praise" concert Saturday, Sept. 19 • 6:30 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. - Pancake Breakfast • 9:30 a.m. - Bar-B-Que by Calmuck Cookers, eat in or carry out • 12:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. - Free Blood Pressure Screening by GSH • 1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. - Euchre Games • 1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. - "Antiques Roadshow" • 5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. - Pizza • 7:00 p.m. - Knox County's Got Talent Contest • 9:00 p.m. - Fireworks Sunday, Sept. 20 • 11:30a.m. - 1:00 p.m. - Fish Fry • 1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. - "Honey in the Rock" Gospel Concert • 2:00 p.m. - Parade • 3:00 p.m. - South Knox Band Concert on Front Lawn ALL WEEKEND New rides & inflatables by DENO'S AMUSEMENTS Music, Dunking Booth, Flea Market Vendors, Silent Auction, Walnut Grove Home- made Ice Cream, Sandwiches & Cold Drinks, Reed Family Coneys and Funnel Cakes, Country Store, Train Rides & more. For more information, call Marlis Day 812-743-2393 or Jerry Coonrod 812-887-4182. Affordable Service, Professional Work, Tree and Shrub Trimming, Property Clearing and Removal, Lawn Mowing, Bush Hogging and Landscaping with Complete Clean-Up Now Offering Garage and House Powerwashing! MYYARDMAN LAWN SERVICE 15 YEARS EXPERIENCE FREE ESTIMATES Call or Text 812-259-4461 Located in Pike County terest to be at the meeting even though he now lives just west of the Pike-Gibson County line. "So this is more of a ques- tion of people rather than money? " asked Hunt. Schroeder said he thought there were probably people who would donate money if they saw positive activity in the fire department. Petersburg Fire Chief Rich Coan and Fire Cap- tain Jeff Nelson, who is also a Pike County Commission- er, attended the meeting. Petersburg, in recent months, has been taking the runs. Nelson said it probably makes more sense for Ha- zelton to take the runs be- cause of the time it takes for Petersburg to get to Union. "We had a run on CR 875 W. this month. Our response time was 16 minutes and we had people on station when we got the call," said Coan. Union is in Clay Township and has no fire agreement with Petersburg. People at the meeting asked how much it costs to operate a fire department. Coan said Petersburg's budget is about $70,000. Hunt asked, "What is the liability between having a minimal staff and not hav- ing one at all? " He was told when Union was operating, they respond- ed and if they needed help, they would then call for Pe- tersburg or Hazleton. "So is the question you are asking, Is it better to let it go and let a more-qualified, better-equipped, better- manned fire department as- sume the roles of this area? " asked Hunt. "If someone has to drive 15 miles to get somewhere and someone has to drive three or four, it makes a big difference," said Coan. Mike Ice said when they first organized the depart- ment, they asked the ques- tion, "If someone caught fire, how long would it take for Petersburg to get here. You know, a garden hose is better than nothing." "Nobody wants a fire de- partment until they have a fire and someone gets trapped in it." He said, originally, when Union started, they got a 1954 truck out of Illinois. "It wasn't much but it had a good pump on it and it would pump water." He said they then add- ed a tanker truck that had $2,200 of steel work done on it and they didn't have a way to pay for it. So the Rurita- nettes started having sales and fundraisers. "They sold enough stuff to pay for it." Jason Meedhammer said he and his 16 -year-old son attended the meeting with the idea of joining the fire department. Jeff Sullivan, owner of the Union Store, said he had talked to three or four who were interested in join- ing the fire department, but couldn't be at the meeting. Nelson and Coan were asked about how much train- ing was required for volun- teers. They said the minimum was 40 hours, which could be done in two weekends or strung out for six months. "There are plenty of train- ers in the area to help you," said Nelson. Schroeder said, "I think I hear enough interest for us to have another meeting and see where it goes from here," They scheduled a second meeting at the Union Com- munity Church's Communi- ty Room for 7 p.m. Thurs- day, September 17. FIRE DEPT Continued from page 1 By Ed Cahill Pike County School Su- perintendent Suzanne Blake informed the school board during its regular meeting on Monday, Sept. 14, that general fund expenditures are expected to exceed ap- propriations in October. "We're in trouble," Blake said. "We're going to hit the negative again. We will ex- ceed appropriations again." Blake noted as of the end of August – when the gener- al fund had a positive cash balance of $1,035,233.14 – almost 75 percent of appro- priations approved by the Department of Local Gov- ernment for 2015 were used. Blake added that the gen- eral fund balance would be enough to "roughly" cover two more payrolls without having to draw any addi- tional money from the Rainy Day Fund, which currently has a balance of $1.4 million. "I want to note that we have not yet started to use the Rainy Day Fund," Blake said. "We do have approval for the additional appropria- tion request and can do so. Tentatively, we anticipate starting to draw into that in October." "What happens if we don't transfer out of the Rainy Day Fund? " Waltz asked. "Will we still have paychecks? " "We have the cash balance in the other funds, so as far as issuing the checks, yes, they're good checks," Blake replied. "But in terms of the appropriations from DLGF, they'll be coming out of a different fund, so that part, from DLGF review, we'll be in trouble, because we're hit- ting the negative." Blake said the school cor- poration will continue to re- ceive monthly payments of approximately $1 million from the state and a tax draw was expected in mid- December from the Novem- ber tax payments. However, she added, the school corporation still had to be in a position to repay a $ 3.895 million tax anticipa- tion warrant "plus interest" to German American Bank by the end of the year. In other business, the school board approved the use of a standards-based re- port card for kindergarten students. "The kindergarten teach- ers and administrators have reviewed this, and I believe part of this also came from a recognition of the need to update the kindergarten report card to be more rel- evant and reflect the stan- dards that we have for the students now," Blake said. "They worked on this ... and they would like your approv- al so this can be used this school year." Blake noted that the first grading period would be ending prior to when par- ent-teacher conferences are scheduled in mid-October. "So they will have an op- portunity to review this with parents one-on-one, if they have any questions on how it's scored or ... exactly what it means or how it reflects their child's achievements." The board also approved a lease agreement with Otwell Community Center for the use of the gymnasium from November 2015 through February 2016 and from No- vember 2016 through Febru- ary 2017 for "athletic prac- tice, games and possible convocations conducted by the Schools," according to the contract. "For the last two years, we've worked with the Ot- well Community Center to use their gym to help meet our needs in scheduling some basketball games," Blake said. "We particu- larly have been focused on using the facility for sixth grade games, and the desire is to use it for both practic- es and games so it's consid- ered home court for those students." Board vice-president Chris McKinney noted that Otwell Community Cen- ter's gymnasium would be needed especially since the school corporation had pre- viously voted to discontinue the use of the Old Peters- burg Gym as a cost-cutting measure. "Right," Blake said. "Some years, the sixth grade might play at Otwell, and then they might play at the middle school, and then they might play here. So this establishes some continuity of 'this is where they prac- tice, this is where they play.'" Blake said that Pike Cen- tral athletic director Billy Hewig was already in the process of preparing prac- tice schedules for winter sports without using the Old Petersburg Gym. A motion by McKinney to approve the contract with the Otwell Community Cen- ter – which was seconded by Waltz – passed by a 3-2 vote, with board treasurer Nathan Harker and board member Ron Sharp casting the dis- senting votes. The school board also voted 4-1 to authorize Blake to sign a five-year contract with Coca-Cola Refresh- ments USA, Inc. "In reviewing the doc- uments, we did ask Coca- Cola to check on some lan- guage, and they are revising it," Blake said. "When the re- vised document comes in ... I want permission to go ahead and sign the contract." Blake explained that the contract contained a provi- sion that if any component of a school campus is closed for a period of 120 days or more, Coca-Cola would have the right to terminate the agreement. "We asked for clarifica- tion of that, and they said with the pending closure of an elementary school, that would not void the contract," Blake said. "They're chang- ing the language so that is not in question." "When are they supposed to have that to us? " Sharp asked. "Any day," Blake replied. Sharp subsequently cast the lone no vote. "I just don't like voting on a contract until I see it in writing," Sharp said. "I'm sorry. I like to see it in writ- ing in front of me." In other action, the board voted unanimously to dis- miss Kyle Mills from the school corporation's custo- dial staff, effective Aug. 25. According to an undated letter addressed to PCSC director of support services Ryan Coleman, PCSC main- tenance coordinator Ross Elmore recommended that Mills be terminated "based on insubordination." "Kyle left his work ar- ea without notifying either one of the lead people on his shift and/or his supervisor," Elmore wrote. "On the next day, he did not call in until one and a half hours after the start of his shift. Chad Griffith called him in to re- turn his keys and offered for him the opportunity to turn in a resignation letter, which he declined to do." In an unrelated personnel matter, the school board ac- cepted the resignation of Melissa Durst as a PCSC custodian, effective Friday, Sept. 11. Before the meeting ad- journed, Winslow Elemen- tary School principal Ritch Luker announced that, from the first day of school on Aug. 4 through Monday, Sept. 14, the school had an average attendance rate of 98.08 percent. "I'm proud of the kids for doing that," Luker said. "They work very hard at that." In addition, Luker noted that, as part of the school's Accelerated Reader pro- gram, each student is giv- en a goal every nine weeks. "They shoot for 100 per- cent of that goal, and then they get a party or a little bit of ice cream or whatever we can get donated to us to give those kids some recog- nition," Luker said. However, Luker added, two students – third grad- er Blaine Barrett and fifth grader Riley Chism – had already achieved 200 per- cent of their goal in the first six weeks. "They are really avid read- ers and they love to read, so I told them I was going to recognize them tonight for their reading abilities and their desire to excel," Luk- er said. Funding woes continue for school corporation By Andy Heuring Police are investigating a hit and run accident last Friday near the communi- ty of Coe. Pike County Deputy Sher- iff Brad Jenkins said Thom- as Verkamp, 63, was driv- ing an RH Corn semi-truck on Highway 61 and slowed to turn left onto CR 900 S., when an older blue Ford Bronco hit the back of his truck and left the scene. Jenkins said Spurgeon Town Marshal Ray Brook received information about the vehicle and located it in Spurgeon. On Monday, September 14, Deputy Jenkins said he went to Spurgeon and talk- ed with the owner of the residence where the Bron- co was parked and was told the Bronco was their neph- ew's. Jenkins then went to interview the nephew, Josh Bailey. Deputy Jenkins said Bai- ley admitted hitting the semi-truck, but said it left the scene. So, after waiting for it to return, he left. Jen- kins said Bailey also admit- ted he was driving without insurance and while sus- pended. Deputy Jenkins said charges are pending against Bailey, 24, of Fredonia St., Spurgeon. Hit-and-run accident near Coe investigated Child injured in Campbelltown crash Rescue personnel load a passenger from an SUV into an ambulance following a crash on Highway 61 in Campbelltown Tuesday at about 4 p.m. Indiana State Trooper Brock Buchanan said Karen Williams, 70, of Winslow, was driving a Ford Fu- sion south on Highway 61, when a school bus stopped in front of her. Williams stopped, but Anthony Woolsey, 28, of Winslow, failed to get stop and crashed into the back of Williams' vehicle. Trooper Buchanan said a small child in Woolsey's vehicle suffered a minor contusion to his forehead and was taken to the hospital. Buchanan estimated both vehicles were a total loss.