The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/815694
The Press-Dispatch Local Wednesday, April 26, 2017 A- 5 WED APR 26 Chef Salad $ 7.99 With Ham, Turkey and Bacon, Baked Potato, Fruit Cup and Drink * Baked Parmesan Boneless Pork Chop $ 7.99 Baked Potato, Corn, Fruit Cup and Drink * Meatloaf $ 7.99 Corn, Mashed Potatoes and Gravy, Roll and Drink * Spaghetti $ 6.99 Cheesy Garlic Toast, Side Salad and Drink.* THUR APR 27 FRI APR 28 Breakfast Casserole $ 6.99 with Side of Sausage or Bacon, Applesauce and Drink.* Pastrami and Swiss on Rye $ 6.99 with Chips, Applesauce and a Drink.* 618 E MAIN, PETERSBURG SPECIALS DAILY LUNCH Cut Out and Place on the Fridge! 11AM 2PM Free WiFi cafe & cakes cof fee cafe M-F 8am-5pm SAT 8am-2pm *Your Choice of Regular Coffee, Tea or Coke Product. /CakesAndCoffeeCafe Like us on Facebook! In a Hurry? Call 812-354-2004! Turkey Manhattan $ 7.99 Turkey Breast Smothered in Gravy on Mashed Potatoes and Amish Bread with Green Beans and Drink * DOUBLE F E AT U R E DOUBLE F E AT U R E dine in or carry out Roast Beef Manhattan $ 7.99 Roast Beef Smothered in Gravy on Mashed Potatoes and Amish Bread with Green Beans and Drink * SAT APR 29 1 MAY MON TUES MAY 2 GET UP TO BY MAIL WITH PURCHASE OF SELECT MAYTAG ® APPLIANCES * 12 MONTHS FREE FINANCING • PARTS & SERVICE PROFESSIONAL INSTALLATION AVAILABLE $ 700 JOIN US FOR THE MONTH THAT WILL MAKE YOUR DAY OFFER ENDS MAY 31, 2017 SALES AND SERVICE 812-482-1155 Mon-Thur 8-5:30 Friday 8-6 Saturday 9-1 Closed Sunday 701 W. 6th St., Jasper "at the Y" Hours: PORK CHOP DINNER MEAL April 29, 2017 At the Moose Lodge parking lot in Petersburg, IN. • 1 Large Pork Chop • Baked Beans • Cole Slaw $ 10 TICKETS Serving times 11am-2pm Those with tickets should pick up their meals between 11am and Noon if possible to guarantee their meals before running out. Get tickets at History Center Mon, Tue., Thur., Fri., Sat. or contact: Rick Miley at 812-354-4328, Terry Beadles at 812-582-0290 or Sandy McBeth at 812-582-0088. Proceeds from the dinner will go to maintain the history center. We want to thank the Mo e Lodge and all their volunteers once again for all their help in making this ndraiser a success. e Petersburg Women of the Moose and Moose Lodge, would like to give a special thanks to the following businesses and individuals that made generous donations to make our Community Easter Egg Hunt a success, and to the volunteers that helped stuff eggs and helped with the egg hunt. Anson Farms Boyd Reality Bradley and Bonnie Windell China Wok CVS David Collins DougGlass Family Video Farm Bureau Ficklin Auto Supply Fish Hut Fred McCrary Gary Collins Gary Welch Geo Log Well Services German American Harris Real Estate Hershel Edmonds and Monzella Stout IP&L JB Oil Field Jean Kinnman Jeff Brenton Jim Lamb John Shawhan Kiwanis Larry Collins Larry Willis Mahoney Law Office Marge's Hallmark Mead Oil Midwest Steel Miller Testing Services Nana's Country Cookin' Onyett Fabricators Onyett Welding Petersburg Hardware Petersburg Moose Lodge PPG Collision Prides Creek Roger and Dorothy Brittain Shears Silk Design Solar Sources Sullivan's Store Sunoco e Press-Dispatch TNN Timber Tom and Ashley Willis – Edward Jones Tom Rainey Tony Schroeder Tussey Oil Union Oil Investments Walker Motors Wayne and Josephine Robling Willis Excavating Thank You NO RIF Continued from page 1 COLEMAN Continued from page 1 was forthcoming about the numbers or the grade levels." "We've also been told that some of these (pre-enrolled) students are from Daviess County and Dubois County, that not all of the students are from Pike County," Blake con- tinued. "So that puts me in a situation of having to rely on a lot of guess work." Blake said that approxi- mately 30 former Otwell Ele- mentary School students are currently attending school in Dubois County, many of whom are likely among the 88 students who have been pre-enrolled at Otwell Mill- er Academy, which would re- sult in a lesser impact on the number of students attending either Petersburg or Winslow elementary schools. "From that standpoint, af- ter knowing what we went through last year – the teach- ers, the community, the stress, everything that's in- volved with a R-I-F – I've al- ready expressed to some of the board members and the teacher's association that I do not want to R-I-F this year," Blake said. "Say all 88 are Pike Coun- ty kids," Blake added. "Let's say they're evenly balanced from K to 5. Most of my grades have three or four classrooms, per grade. So by the time you start working out the mathematics of that, each room might lose one or two students. That doesn't re- ally justify losing teachers." Blake said that her strong desire to avoid issuing R-I-F notices is also based on the number of retirement notic- es that are expected to be turned in before the end of the current school year. "I've kind of heard some other projections of adjust- ment on our staffing of some teachers that may be leaving or moving," Blake said. "So I think by the time we finish figuring in the financial dif- ference between those who leave and any replacement teachers, we will still be in a good financial situation for the year." "If I'm wrong, if they have their doors open in August and I lose 120 kids, I think we can survive for a year," Blake added. "But we'd probably be looking at cuts then for the 2018 -19 year." Blake noted that the school corporation's general fund ended 2016 with a positive balance, and that the school board has thus far been able to operate without having to resort to the Rainy Day Fund or a bank loan. "We do have the general fund in the black right now," Blake said. "The initial im- pact of previous reductions, cost-saving measures that we've taken for the last three, four years, plus the closing of Otwell Elementary School – all of those things are going to continue to impact our fi- nances in a positive way for at least another 12 months." "We haven't seen all of that yet, and that's another reason I feel like we can take a little different approach this sum- mer, or this year, into what's coming," Blake added. Blake admitted that, if all 88 students who have pre-en- rolled in the charter school are currently enrolled at a Pike County school, the school corporation would lose approximately $440,000 in basic grant revenues from the state, which will, instead, go to the charter school. "That's a lot," Blake said. However, Blake added that she thought Friends of Otwell Elementary still had many challenges to overcome be- fore they can actually open Otwell Miller Academy. "It's a public school," Blake said. "They can't charge tu- ition. If a student wants to en- roll, they have to accept them. If it's a student with special needs, then they have to have a plan in place or have the ser- vices provided where they have to contract for them." "You're a public school, your door is open, every stu- dent has a right to an educa- tion," Blake added. "And if they've chosen that site, for their education, then that's where they go." Blake also discounted re- ports being circulated in Ot- well that the school corpora- tion would be required to pro- vide transportation for char- ter school students. "The law is set up that if a Pike County School Corpora- tion bus goes by your house and by the charter school, we are to pick you up and drop you off," Blake said. "But it doesn't have to be door-to- door. So a student could be picked up at their home and dropped off on the highway and walk the rest of the way into the school. We don't even have to turn into the parking lot." "But I would encourage families to look real hard at how our routes are drawn," Blake added. "We have a bus that starts roughly at the in- tersection of State Highway 257 and State Highway 56 that comes through Otwell and heads to Petersburg. I think there's only a few hous- es that are between the start- ing point of that bus and the charter school location. And the ones on the other side of the intersection, toward Vel- pen, those buses go to Win- slow." Blake, who attended Ot- well Elementary School and still owns property in Jeffer- son Township, said that peo- ple tell her that Otwell has be- come a "divided community." "Everyone hated to see the elementary school closed, and I understand that," Blake said. "It was not an easy deci- sion. It definitely was not an easy decision for the board to make." "But this has caused a rift between those who want a school back open and those who understand and accept what happened," Blake add- ed. "It doesn't mean they liked it, just, they understand. So I really hate that." Blake noted that state law requires that R-I-F notices be sent no earlier than May 1 and no later than June 30, but emphasized that she had no plans to issue any this year. "It keeps everybody on pins and needles," Blake said. "We've come a long way, and I think the teachers deserve a little bit of calm. The corpora- tion should have some calm. Everybody's done a lot to help us get back in the black. I just don't think we need to go through that process again this year." "I think we can handle the staffing without having to make any cuts," Blake add- ed. "Right now, they have the 88. If it does make 120, I think we can tighten our belts for another year and absorb it and then we'd have to look at 2018 -19. But, given the vari- ables that I have right now, and the uncertainty, I guess you would say I'm skeptical that some things are going to be completed and ready. So, I just feel like, right now, for the corporation, we can sit tight, and we'll wait and see." Coleman was placed un- der arrest for Possession of Methamphetamine, Dealing in Methamphetamine, Pos- session of Paraphernalia, Carrying a Handgun Without a Permit, Maintaining a Com- mon Nuisance, Possession of a Controlled Substance (x4) and Possession of a Firearm by a Serious Violent Felon. He was transported to Hunting- burg Police Department for processing and then to the Du- bois County Security Center. Two arrested on OVWI charges By Andy Heuring An Illinois woman was ar- rested after she drove on the wrong side of the street for nearly a block in Winslow late Friday night. She was one of two people arrested for drunken driving over the last week in Pike County. Heather D. Waldrop, 35, of 201 W. Plumb St., Rob- inson, Ill., was stopped by police at 11:53 p.m. in Win- slow at the corner Lafayette and Bluff streets, while they were working another inci- dent. Deputy Sheriff Buck Seger said he and several other officers had respond- ed to a different incident and he was standing in the street when noticed a silver Cama- ro turn from North St. onto Bluff St. He said it went in- to the oncoming lane of traf- fic and nearly off the road, before driving on the wrong side of the road for about a block. According to Deputy Seger's report, officers ap- proached Waldrop's vehicle and while talking to her, no- ticed lethargic speech and slowed movements. She failed field sobriety tests. Deputy Seger said she told police she had smoked marijuana about 45 minutes earlier. She refused a chemical test and was transported to the Pike County Jail. During booking, jail staff located a metal container inside her bra. They said it had a white powder inside it, which field tested posi- tive for methamphetamine. Deputy Seger said during a search of Waldrop's vehi- cle, they found a black digi- tal scale in the driver's side door and a butane lighter. She was preliminarily charged with operating a vehicle while intoxicated (refusal) and possession of methamphetamine. An Oakland City man was arrested at about 9 p.m. Monday, April 17 when po- lice stopped him for speed- ing. Matthew James Lee, 33, of 510 E. Washington St., Oakland City was stopped by Indiana State Trooper CJ. Boeckman, who said he saw Lee driving 66 mph in a 55 zone on Highway 64. Troop- er Boeckman said after he turned around he saw Lee drive across the center line three times and off the right sise of the road twice before stopping him. While talking with Lee, Trooper Boeckman said he noticed blood shot eyes, slurred speech and poor manual dexterity. He said Lee also admitted to drink- ing earlier in the night. Lee failed field sobriety tests in- cluding testing three times the legal limit on a portable breath test. Trooper Boeckman said Lee became combative and spit on his car and began to kick and scream obsceni- ties and resist having hand- cuffs put on for about five or six minutes. He was eventu- ally transported to the Pike County Jail, where police attempted to get a breath sample from him. Trooper Boeckman said during the sixth attempt Lee became verbally abusive and they ended the tests. Trooper Boeckman said when police inventoried Lee's vehicle they found a plastic bag believed to con- tain marijuana. He was preliminarily charged with operating a ve- hicle while intoxicated, pos- session of marijuana and re- sisting arrest. Heritage opens in Petersburg Heritage used car sales opened recently at the intersection of Illinois and First Sts. in Petersburg. They celebrated with a ribbon cutting on Monday afternoon. Above, Hugh Eskew of the Pike County Cham- ber of Commerce, Salesman Ted Baker, owners Keith and Erica White, Stephanie Gaskins, Pam Harra- wood and Leslie Tegmeyer of the Chamber participated in the ribbon cutting. White said he deals in late- model cars and trucks and specializes in offering payments of $200 to $250 a month for late model ve- hicles. He started in the car business in 2001 as a finance manager for a dealer. He then opened a used car business in Linton after they lost their Chevrolet dealership, and followed that two years later by open- ing a lot in Petersburg. They are open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day except Wednesday and Sunday.