The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/60506
A-2 Wednesday, March 14, 2012 The Press-Dispatch New GOP chairman to be chosen By Andy Heuring A meeting of Republican precinct committeemen and their vice committeemen has been set to select a new Central Committee Chair to fi ll the vacancy left by Ran- dy Harris. Harris resigned last week. The meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m Tuesday, March 20 in the courthouse basement. Vice-chair Teresa Goodpas- ter said candidates for the position need to submit their letters of intent to Republi- can Central Committee Sec- retary Jeff Harting and Indi- ana Republican Party Sec- retary Barb McClellan 72 hours prior to the meeting. ★ County pledges $250,000 Continued from page 1 Councilman Dennis Bish- op asked how much the city was going to be matching. Craig said about $3 mil- lion by the creation of a TIF zone. He said Princeton has been awarded a $1 million contribution from Toyota. Craig said he knows it is a short notice and the pre- sentation has to be turned in on April 9. The next council meeting is April 11. Councilman city's application stating they would make a signifi - cant commitment to the proj- ect or place a dollar amount on it. "This is true economic de- velopment and that is why we have this fund," said Har- ris. "I would make a motion to commit $250,000 to this project." Krohn asked if they Myreon Krohn asked how long they had been working on it. Craig said since Warm weather fun in Hornady Park Liberty Gates (left) and Jordan McGowen (right) are having a blast on one of the playsets at Hornady Park Tuesday. Libby and Jordan were just two of the many kids at the park enjoying the warm weather. Alden Heuring photo. ★ Satterfi eld pleads insanity Continued from page 1 to this case. • He is found not guilty by reason of insanity. • He is found guilty, but mentally ill, which allows for him to be treated and then to serve his sentence. • He is found guilty. McDonald on Tuesday morning talked with the Pike County Council to give them a warning of a sizeable cost to the county that may be associated with this tri- al, which is set for June 11, 2012. However, it isn't ex- pected to happen on that date. McDonald explained Sat- terfi eld has more than 1,400 pages of psychiatric history, which he said he has gone through. He said the court will appoint three psychiat- ric experts who will evaluate Satterfi eld and then give the court their opinion. He said because there are 1,400 pages for them to re- view, it will probably take them a while to study all the documentation. All the while the county will be pay- ing them an hourly fee to do so. It is expected the three experts will be appointed in a pre-trial hearing on March 19. McDonald said the case will be tried in the normal manner of a murder trial. He is not seeking the death pen- alty, but life in prison with- out parole, which he said will be less expensive than a death penalty case. "We thought we had dodged the bullet, with his medical bills," said McDon- ald. Satterfi eld was severely burned on the morning his mother died. Police have accused him of shooting his mother and then setting fi re to the house. They found a pistol near the back door of the house and a burned shoe in the yard as well as his billfold. Police were alerted that Satterfi eld had checked him- self into the Good Samaritan Hospital in Vincennes with burns and wasn't wearing pants. He was then trans- ferred to the burn center of Wishard Hospital in India- napolis. Pike County waited to fi le charges against Satterfi eld until he had completed much of his medical treatment. In- stead of taking him into cus- tody, they hired off-duty po- lice to guard his room. If he had been taken into custody, the county would have been liable for his medical bills. He was eventually arrested shortly before he was to be released from the hospital. McDonald said a jury will hear the trial. Once all the evidence has been present- ed, the court will hear from the psychiatric experts, who will be asked about their fi ndings on Satterfi eld's mental health. McDonald said the jury can take whatever recom- mendation the experts give them or they can make their own determination that goes against the experts' recom- mendation. "The jury can do whatev- er they want. Obviously we are looking into motive and spending habits that would show he knew what he was doing," said McDonald. He told the council Sat- terfi eld knew enough to lie about his mental illness is- sues when he applied for and received a federal life- time gun permit. Local tornado relief efforts Tornado relief items can be taken to Marge's Hallmark Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Church is collecting non-perishable items for Hen- ryville tornado relief. They are seeking donations of paper products, baby items, cleaning supplies and canned goods to be delivered to St. Xavier Catholic Church in Henryville. The church is one of the few remaining buildings in the town, and the location is being used as an outreach center to area victims. Donated items may be delivered to Marge's Hallmark, 716 Main Street, Pe- tersburg, during business hours. For ad- ditional information, call 354-9372. Middle School collecting supplies, funds for Henryville students, staff One of the efforts going on at the schools to help those who were hit by the tornado in Henryville has been start- ed at Pike Central Middle School. Beginning Friday, March 9, they launched Operation Henryville. "We will do a school supplies drive for Henryville Schools. We will reward the homeroom in each grade that brings in the most school supplies. Suggested items are pencils, notebooks, erasers, Kleenex, tape, glue, etc. We will also be doing a Hats on Day later next week and donat- ing the money from that day to Hen- ryville Schools." Anyone wishing to help can contact the school or one of the middle school students or staff. Red Cross accepting tornado relief donations The Red Cross Chapter is accepting donations to help people affected by re- cent storms. Donations to the American Red Cross can help to provide both food and shelter for disaster victims. Donations may be sent to P.O. Box 278, Vincennes, IN 47591, or call 812- 882-2204 to make a donation by Master Card or Visa. Online donations may be made at www.redcross.org. 1 ST. PATRICK'S DAY SPRING INTO TANNING SPECIAL MARCH $6 OFF FITNESS Purchase a Willow Tree Collectible Figurine and get a select gurine Marge's 716 Main Street 354-9372 SPECIAL FOR ONLY $4 Several To Choose From Shop p Petersburg Monday-Thursday 9-5; Friday 9-6; Saturday 9-6 "When you care enough to send the very best" Saturday, March 17 A.M. – P.M. • SALES • Refreshments • Drawings • 10% off ANY ITEM if you are wearing green! the the Now is the perfect time to get fi t and be ready for your summer vacation. Whether your headed to the beach or to the moun- tains, being fi t can make it that much more enjoyable! CONGRATULATIONS to our team of Biggest Losers for Weeks 4: The Hall of Famers and One Odd Ball 24-HOUR ACCESS TO FITNESS CENTER WITH KEY MEMBERSHIP 24-HOUR ACCESS TO FITN T ESS CENTE 604 East Illinois St., Petersburg (near the Little League Park) 354-1303 Fitness Center itness Center Hours: Mon - Thurs 10–8 Fri 10–7 • Sat 10–2 • Closed Sunday "ANY BED" MONTHLY TANNING PACKAGE regularly $36 Gift Certifi cates Available Supplements on SALE Now Select end of January. "I appreciate the magni- tude of this, but we are on a short time frame and this is a once-in-a-lifetime oppor- tunity." County Auditor Ron Wil- son said the County Eco- nomic Development In- come Tax brings in about $800,000 a year and cur- rently has $1.4 million bal- ance. He said the Rainy Day Fund has about a $774,000 balance. Krohn said the coun- cil had already committed $500,000 to an industrial park. He then asked if the county would have enough to continue to fund paving as they have in past years. He said last year they used $675,000 for the fund. Krohn also said they are go- ing to have an expensive tri- al to pay for. "I would hope you would have to use Economic De- velopment money for that," said Craig. Craig asked if the council would write a letter for the were going to eliminate the $500,000 industrial park commitment. "I think this would be money better spent," said Councilmen Joe Sutton. "I would hate to see this opportunity slip away based on you needing to have a half-million set aside for an industrial park," said Growth Council Executive Director Paul Lake. It was passed by a 7-0 vote. "I didn't vote against it, but I think we ought to take that $500,000 out of there," said Krohn. In other business the council heard a proposal for the Park and Recreation Board about building a disc golf course at Prides Creek. Dane Prevo, a Pike Coun- ty resident, told the council he is member of the Ace Ea- gles Disc Golf Club and they are proposing a course for Prides Creek. He said the sport is booming and has grown to more than 4,000 courses from 970 in the last 10 years. He explained it is similar to golf, except a Frisbee® is thrown from a tee area to a basket that acts as the hole in golf. The proposal is for an 18-hole course that would cost about $15,000 to set up. But he said there is little to no maintenance. Jan Hollis said the park al- ready mows the area. Prevo said the club he belongs to would take care of maintain- ing the course. "He came to us (park board) and sold us on it. We think it is a win-win situa- tion," said Hollis. Prevo said people will drive for hours to play a good course. He said he and a friend designed the Mesker Course in Evansville and it is rated the third-best course in Indiana. He said the site at Prides Creek lends itself to a better course. Hollis said they won't be charging people to play the course, but they will be charged to get into the park. Prevo said the Evansville club has 120 members and they range in ages from 11 to 81 with at least two oth- er members more than 70 years old. Councilmen also heard a presentation on a ditching machine. They watched a video of it in operation. A spokesman from the company said it will allow the county to do between six to 10 miles of ditching a day, versus a traditional ex- cavator which will do about a half-mile of ditch. He also said it takes less manpower and will reduce the cost per mile of ditch to about $300 a mile from about $4,500 a mile. No action was taken. The next council meeting is 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, April 10 in the courthouse audi- torium. Monday morning storm siren was accidental By Andy Heuring Petersburg residents were alarmed early Monday morning at about 6:30 a.m. when they heard the storm sirens blaring on an unsea- sonable warm morning. But it was just an accident. Cen- tral dispatch was handling several calls and request- ing assistance on a run when apparently an operator acci- dently pressed two buttons instead of just one. Pike County Homeland Security Director Tonda Dixon said they think it was just a matter of two buttons being close together and the operator accidently hit the siren button while press- ing a nearby button. "I don't think they realized the si- rens were on until someone called them and told them they were on. So the sirens stayed on a little longer than normal," said Dixon. Make matters worse it was a warm morning condu- cive to storms as well as peo- ple were still wary of storms after tornados caused nu- merous fatalities in south- ern Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky recently. Summer writing program offered The Department of Cre- ative Writing at the Univer- sity of Evansville has cre- ated a new opportunity for high school students: a two- week summer writing pro- gram at Harlaxton College, UE's British campus near Grantham, England. The Harlaxton Summer Writing Program for High School Juniors and Seniors will give promising stu- dents the opportunity to work with experienced au- thors to further their craft and their global curiosity. Students will live and study in a historic manor house, work with notable British and American faculty, and explore England's rich lit- erary history through trav- el to cities such as London and Stratford-upon-Avon. Additional program de- tails, including application requirements, are available at hswp.evansville.edu. Pro- gram director, Rob Griffi th. John L. Lewis Day April 1 at Oakland City The annual John L. Lew- is Day celebration dinner will be Sunday, April 1 at 11 a.m. CDT at the American Legion in Oakland City. All retired miners and their spouses as well as wid- ows and widowers of retired miners are invited to attend. IRI SH T E ( FREEGIFT with $25 FREEGIFT with $25 purchasepurchase A r l e i m i t p c u s t o m e r )