The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/60505
Three sections 34 pages Eight inserts Health & Wellness W INSIDE 75 Team formed for Stellar grant application By Andy Heuring Petersburg city offi cials and a team of specialists ranging from architects to fi nan- ciers and attorneys met with Stellar Com- munity Program offi cials about the nearly two-month selection process. Petersburg was notifi ed on February 28 they were one of seven Indiana commu- nities selected as fi nalists for the two re- cipients of the Stellar Community grants, which can total $20 million. An overview of the projects Petersburg hopes to fi nance with the grants includes: • SR 56/SR 57 Truck Route & Re- location Essentially this would create a new State Highway from the curve at Hornady Park on SR56 and cross SR57 near CR 400N. The highway would then continue east to the ar- ea of the I-69 interchange on SR61. This road will allow all commercial truck traffi c to bypass downtown. State Road 56 from Hornady Park to McDonalds and SR 57 from Illinois Street to the Courthouse would be truck-free. This allows downtown to be revital- Continued on page 2 Harris resigns as Republican county chairman By Andy Heuring Pike County Republican County Chair- man Randy Harris on Tuesday resigned his position with the party's central commit- tee. Harris cited family and business com- mitments for his resignation in a letter he wrote to Pike County Vice-Chairman Tere- sa Goodpaster and Barb McClellan, Secre- tary of the Indiana Republican State Com- mittee. "It has been my honor and pleasure to serve as Pike County Republican Chair since March of 1997. Due to business de- mands I resign effective today," wrote Har- ris. In a phone interview, Harris said he got involved in politics when he ran for May- or of Petersburg following the tornado in 1990, and was elected to the fi rst of his three terms. In 1997 he was elected Republican Coun- ty Chair, replacing Alan Gladish who re- signed from the position. "When I was Mayor it was a perfect fi t. Politics was my livelihood and Denise (Har- ris' wife) loves politics probably even more than I do," said Harris. They met at a Lin- coln Day Dinner in Spencer County, where she served as Republican Central Commit- tee Secretary. In 2009 Harris opened Harris Real Es- tate. "I'm very fortunate, my business just continues to grow," said Harris. He also has two daughters, ages six and one. "I love spending time with my wife and daughters and I love being a member of the county council, but there just isn't enough time in the day," said Harris. "If I have done anything as chair it has been to be open to welcoming new people to our party to offer the electorate a choice in our party," said Harris. Continued on page 2 75¢ Volume 144 Number 10 Phone (812) 354-8500 Petersburg, IN 47567-0068 (USPS 604-340) Wednesday, March 7, 2012 Trash sticker prices to double School dismissed for bad weather Commissioners raise price to $1; fi rst increase since collection established By Andy Heuring County commissioners voted 2-1 to in- crease the price of trash stickers to $1 from 50 cents during their Monday morn- ing meeting. In other actions the commis- sioners heard about a land dispute and ta- bled making a $178,000 payment to Deig Brothers for work on debris removal from the South Fork of the Patoka River. "We have talked about this earlier," said Commissioner President Mark Flint rais- ing the price of trash bag stickers. The stickers are used as a fee for each bag of trash accepted by the Pike County Solid Waste collection sites. It is the fi rst increase in the price of the stickers since the county began charging for trash collection and established the manned collection sites in the early 1990s. Flint said Commissioner Assistant Me- lissa Bryant put some fi gures together on the operation of the manned sites. He said those fi gures showed the county sold roughly $48,000 of stickers, but it cost about $115,000 to collect and dispose of residents' trash. "We went in the hole by $68,000," said Flint. He said it is estimated the county's ex- pense this year will be $107,000. "If we in- crease the price from 50 cents to $1 we should be bringing in $116,000," said Flint. "It is coming to a point we can't afford to have trash pickup if we don't do some- thing." "We have discussed this. Nobody wants to raise the price of these stickers, but to continue to operate in the negative isn't fea- sible," said Flint. "Even at $1 we will still be one of the cheapest counties in the area," said Com- missioner Assistant Bryant. Continued on page 2 Ag Day Breakfast at Otwell on Saturday The agricultural community of Pike County will celebrate National Ag Day with a breakfast from 7 to 10:30 a.m. Sat- urday, March 10 at Otwell Community Center. Admission for the breakfast is $1, which represents what the American farm- er would get at market for the products to make the breakfast. It will include: eggs, sausage, pancakes, Cup Creek Maple Syr- up and juice. Along with the breakfast there will be several vendors including, Good Samari- tan Hospital doing free health screenings. The winners from the "What's in your Lunch Box?" poster contest will be on dis- play and awards presented at 9 a.m. Door prizes from numerous donors will be giv- en out. The Pike County SWCD will also begin their rain barrel sale. Visitors to the new library will fi nd 12th Street is now one-way, with a 15 mph speed limit. The change was implemented to make the narrow street safer to travel. New library open house is Saturday By Andy Heuring An all day celebration on Saturday is planned for the new Pike County Barrett Memorial Branch of the Pike County Li- brary in Petersburg. It will include a perfor- mance by the Pike Central Swing Choir, Mi- chael Cochren, Phil Spaulding, children's story readings and author Frank Cassell, who wrote Josie and Salem: An Indiana Love Story about Petersburg natives Josie and Salem Hammond. The activites begin at 9:30 a.m. with the Pike County Swing Choir. Their per- formance will culminate with the National Anthem at 10 a.m., which will be followed by the offi cial ribbon cutting. Then at 11 a.m. Phil Spaulding will per- form piano music. Spaulding has per- formed with artists such as Bob Wills, Bobby Helms, Lawrence Welk's Orches- tra, Asleep at the Wheel, Freedy Fender and Anne Murray. Also at 1 p.m. author Frank Cassell will be at the library to talk about his book Josie and Salem: An Indiana Love Story. Librari- an Ginger Rogers said Cassell is expected to bring a few of the letters from Josie and Salem with him. Susan Staford will read Dr. Seuss chil- dren's stories beginning at 2 p.m. At 3 p.m. local musician Michael Co- chren will perform. Cochren released his second album Our Time is Here on March 3. Time changes Sunday; move clocks forward Daylight Savings Time begins at 2 a.m. Fire destroys barn in Petersburg A barn located behind Liberty Apartments was destroyed by fi re early Tuesday evening. Petersburg Mayor Jon Craig said the building was engulfed in fl ames when the fi re department arrived. He said the barn appeared to be used for storage and didn't appear to have any machinery in it. It also didn't have any utilities hooked up. Offi cial were unsure Tuesday who owned the barn. WHAT'S INSIDE: PUBLISHING PIKE Local ........A1-12 Obituaries ......A3 Sports ........B1-4 Classifi eds ...B8-11 Church .......C1-6 Opinion ..........C2 History ...........C7 Health .......C9-10 NEWS TIPS: Phone: ........................354-8500 Fax: ............................354-2014 E-Mail .editor@pressdispatch.net Sunday, March 11. When you go to bed Saturday, remember to set your clock for- ward by one hour or you might be late for church. Pike County will remain an hour ahead of Perry, Spencer, Warrick, Gibson, Posey and Vanderburgh counties. However, it will get dark an hour later because our clocks will be moved an hour ahead. CONNECT WITH US: Facebook .... facebook.com/pressdispatch Twitter ......... twitter.com/pressdispatch E-Mail .......... news@pressdispatch.net The Pike County School Corporation let out school early Friday afternoon because of the possible outbreak of bad weather. Fortunately, Pike County was spared all but rain showers and some hail. It was hit with snow on Sunday night and Monday morning. Other Indiana towns were devastated by tornadoes on the southeastern side of the state. Kar- en McKinney helps Konner Simmons and Daylen Staats leave Winslow Elementary and cross the street to head home.