The Press-Dispatch
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Local ........ A1-10 Sports .........B1-4 Classifi eds .... B5-7 Church ........C1-3 School............ C4 History ........... C6 Opinion .......D1-2 Home Life....D3-7 Obituaries....... D8 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 See LAWSUIT on page 8 $ 1 Four sections Two inserts 32 pages Wednesday, May 31, 2017 Volume 148 Number 22 Phone (812) 354-8500 Petersburg, IN 47567-0068 (USPS 604-34012) VIDEO NetEdition Exclusive Two road closings will affect Pike Coun- ty motorists the first week of June. Highway 61 and Highway 356 will both have road closures. On Monday, June 5, Highway 61 will close for four to five days at the railroad tracks just north of Win- slow. Crews will be resurfacing the rail- road crossing. The official detour is High- way 56 to 257 to Highway 64. However, CR 150 S. (Sugar Ridge Road) to Line Road to CR 375 S. (Ayrshire Road) is a county road alternate detour. Local traffic will have ac- cess to the point of closure. Highway 356 will be closed on Tuesday, June 6 while it is chip and sealed from Pe- tersburg to Highway 257 near Otwell. IN- DOT officials said the road will be closed for four or five days depending on weath- er. Jason Tiller, of INDOT, said while it is a complete closure, local traffic will be ac- commodated, but through traffic will need to use the detour. INDOT's official detour is Highway 61 to 56 to 257 to the south or Highway 57 to Highway 257 to the north. Two highway closures to affect area residents Open House Tuesday for new health department location The Pike County Health Department will have an open house at their new location in the Old Petersburg Gym located at 907 E. Walnut St., Petersburg. The open house is set for 4 to 6 p.m. Tuesday, June 6, with a rib- bon cutting at 4:30 p.m. Residents are invit- ed to check out their new location and meet newly appointed Health Officer Dr. Mark Luff, who replaces Dr. Honesto Fenol, who retired after more than 30 years. The Health Department moved from the Pike County Courthouse to one block north on Walnut St. to the former school corpo- ration offices. The only town in America named Stendal will celebrate its 150 -year heritage with a gathering of high school alumni, a Tin Fest car show, a flyover, a parade, musical per- formances, quilt raffle, silent auction and fireworks on June 9 and 10. Located in southeastern Pike County along Old State Road 64, at the end of High- way 257, Stendal once included several phy- sicians, a shoe shop, two blacksmith shops, a hardware and tin shop, a furniture store and hotel, a grocery and dry goods store, cream stations, canning factories and a mil- linery store. Plotted in 1867 by Mr. Freder- ick Poetker, adjoining land donated by Rev- erend William Bauermeister to the German Lutherans for their church, it was named Stendal in honor of Bauermeister's home- town in Saxony, Germany. Stendal's most famous son, Rupert Vance Hartke served in the U.S. Senate. It also was the childhood home of NBA star Don Buse, who played for the Phoenix Suns and Indiana Pacers. Sponsored by Lockhart Township Com- munity Club, the celebration begins with an opening ceremony Friday evening at 6 p.m. (Eastern Time), including a patriotic medley performed by Pike Central High School Swing Choir, John Kendall singing "Back Home Again in Indiana," and Co- ry Goeppner singing "I'm Proud to be an American." The Iron Mountain band will perform on stage from 7 to 10 p.m. Food booths, St. Peter's Lutheran Church Women's Coun- try Store, a quilt raffle, and a silent auction will open at 5 p.m. Festivities continue at 9 a.m. Saturday with food booths and a Country Store, a Tin Fest car show, children's games and a kid- die tractor pull sponsored by Pike Central FFA. The Stendal High School alumni re- union will include a cake and punch recep- tion from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. during which historical photos and artifacts will be on display in the Community Center. At noon, Jennifer Kline,of Huntingburg, will sing the "National Anthem," and Lin- coln Hills Aero will conduct a flyover. The parade begins at 3 p.m. Pork chop dinners will be served in the Community Center beginning at 6 p.m., while Tony Rothrock performs country, bluegrass and gospel music. Nashville re- cording artist Payton Lynn, 17, will perform country rock beginning at 7:30 p.m. until the celebration closes at 9 p.m. with a fire- works display sponsored by Warex. For more information, call Ann and Leo Oxley at 812-489 -1228. Stendal to celebrate sesquicentennial next weekend Monroe Co. group says law allowing Grace College to authorize schools unconstitutional By Ed Cahill A lawsuit has been filed in federal court challenging the constitutionality of the In- diana statute that permits Grace College and Seminary – an evangelical Christian college and theological seminary located in Kosciusko County – to authorize public, taxpayer-supported charter schools. The 11-page complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern Dis- trict of Indiana on Tuesday, April 25, by the Indiana Coalition for Public Educa- tion-Monroe County, an association of par- ents, teachers and other supporters of pub- lic schools. Named as defendants in the complaint are Jennifer McCormick, Indiana's super- intendent of public instruction, who chairs the State Board of Education; James Betley, the executive director of the Indiana Char- ter School Board; and Seven Oaks Classi- cal School in Elletsville. Seven Oaks Classical School is one of three charter schools currently autho- rized by Grace College and Seminary, which granted "conditional" authorization to Friends of Otwell Elementary, Inc., last October to open a charter school in the eastern Pike County community in Au- gust 2017. Seven Oaks Classical School was autho- rized by Grace College and Seminary dur- ing a private meeting in January 2016 – de- spite widespread public opposition in Mon- roe County, including from the county's two public school corporations – after two unsuccessful applications to the Indiana Charter School Board. The school opened in September 2016 with approximately 160 students in kindergarten through eighth grade. The two other charter schools current- ly authorized by Grace College and Semi- nary are Smith Academy for Excellence in Fort Wayne, Ind., and Dugger Union Com- munity School in eastern Sullivan County. The complaint asserts that the Indiana Charter Schools Act "violates the Estab- lishment Clause by delegating discretion- ary government power to a religious institu- tion, and authorizing the payment of public funds to that religious invitation." The Indiana Charter School Act allows authorizers such as Grace College and Seminary to claim up to three percent of a charter school's public funds. In addition, the complaint asserts that the Act "violates the Indiana Constitution's prohibition against drawing money from the treasury for the benefit of a religious institution." The complaint seeks: • a declaratory judgment that the provi- sions of the Indiana Charter Schools Act authorizing Grace College and Seminary to be an authorizer of charter schools as unconstitutional, in violation of the Estab- lishment Clause; • a declaratory judgment that the provi- sions of the Indiana Charter Schools Act au- thorizing the creation of charter schools, but subject the authorizer to state regu- lation, are unconstitutional under the Es- tablishment Clause, as applied to Grace College and Seminary's authorization of a charter for Seven Oaks Classical School; • a declaratory judgment that the char- ter for Seven Oaks Classical School from Grace College and Seminary was issued in violation of the Establishment Clause and is invalid; • an injunction prohibiting the defen- dants from allowing Grace College and A rural Winslow man was injured in a mo- torcycle crash Sunday afternoon when he crashed into a ditch. Greg Helton, 61, was riding his 2010 Ka- wasaki motorcycle north on Highway 61 and lost control, running off the side of the road. Pike County Deputy Sheriff Paul Col- lier said Helton went into a ditch and con- tinued to ride about 20 to 30 feet down the ditch before he crashed and came to a stop. Deputy Collier said Helton complained of a back injury, saying he didn't have any feel- ing below his chest. Helton was taken by Air Evac to Deacon- ess Hospital in Evansville. The crash oc- curred at about 4:30 p.m., an estimated one mile south of Highway 61 on a straight sec- tion of the road. The Farmers Market in Petersburg will open on Saturday, June 3 from 9 a.m. to noon at a new location on Eighth St., next to Main St. Maria Restrepo-Turner, of the Pike Coun- ty Extension Service, said they will have lettuce, green beans and other cool season- al vegetables. "This will be a soft opening so please come back as more veggies come into season. The market will continue to grow." She said there will also be kids' ac- tivities such as face painting this year. Be- sides vegetables, eggs, meat, baked goods and possibly some music are expected to be available this year at the market. Farmers Market opens Saturday in Petersburg Helton injured in motorcycle crash Memorial Day salute Bugler Jack Fulcher performs Taps during the Petersburg VFW's Memorial Day Ceremony at Walnut Hills Cemetery in Petersburg. The extended service that included a bag pipe performance and a featured speaker was one of 12 the VFW conducted in the northern half of Pike County. The Winslow Amer- ican Legion squad performed similar services at 13 cemeteries in the south- ern part of Pike County. See more photos and coverage on pages A-8 and B-8. PCHS Class of 2017 celebrates graduation Pike Central's 137 graduates from the Class of 2017 celebrate graduation with an explosion of confetti and really big smiles. The graduation ceremony was Friday night in the high school gymnasium. See page A-4 for more coverage. Legality of charter school authorizor challenged WINSLOW YARD SALE 12 SALES PAGE B-5 ARTHUR • CAMPBELLTOWN • WINSLOW INSIDE THIS EDITION SEE PAGE A-4 MEMORIAL DAY COVERAGE S ATURDAY, JUNE 3 PIKE CENTRAL GRADUATION