The Press-Dispatch
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See B-7 for details. $ 4 OFF JULY BARGAIN PERIOD Local ........ A1-10 Sports .........B1-3 Classifi eds .... B4-6 Church ........C1-3 History ........... C4 Home Life....C5-9 Obituaries..... C11 Opinion .. C12-13 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 BENNER on page 7 $ 1 Three sections Three inserts 32 pages Wednesday, June 28, 2017 Volume 148 Number 26 Phone (812) 354-8500 Petersburg, IN 47567-0068 (USPS 604-34012) See FESTIVALS on page 2 See PAQUET TE on page 6 See HOUSING on page 2 By Alden Heuring How many homes can we afford to build each year? " That's one of the many questions Ash- ley Willis hopes to have answered when a housing study on Pike County is finished this July. Willis, who leads the Pike Coun- ty Economic Development Corporation (PCEDC), hired Ratio Architects of Indi- anapolis in March to study the housing market in Pike County in-depth, and she's working with them as it goes to dig out a plan for the county's housing. "Our process so far has been we've looked at it as a county-wide initiative, so where should the next housing develop- ment be? " Willis said. "Most of the jobs are in Petersburg, but we've also targeted some areas in Otwell and Winslow for hous- ing. Ratio is putting together a pro forma of each potential housing site." Willis said those pro formas would help the PCEDC answer more questions, such as: "Would it be rented? Would someone buy the homes? Is there a financial gap? " The study will also "analyze current housing market trends; housing stock; price, age, condition, etc. of the homes; where is the distribution of jobs; and where does it make sense for residential commu- nities to go," she said. To help fund the study, Willis said Vec- tren awarded the PCEDC $10,000, which covers more than half the cost. And as the study progresses, Ratio is meeting with Willis and other stakeholders to share what they've found so far. "We've developed a housing committee, and we meet monthly or twice a month to check in on the study and see where we're at," Willis said. "We first addressed poten- tial housing sites in the county, then we nar- rowed it down to, what are the most realis- tic sites to develop first? We've narrowed it down to about seven sites... The next time the committee meets, we'll be talking about what tools we can use to get development started." And, Willis said, Pike County isn't alone in wanting more homes. "When we meet with SWIEDC (the Southwest Indiana Economic Development Coalition), housing comes up across the region every month," Willis said. "Dubois County is addressing it currently, but their biggest problem is their developer needs to build roughly 200 homes to make a prof- it. So we're brainstorming: could SWIEDC get a developer to do 200 homes combined across multiple counties? We're all signing on the dotted line, getting what we need, County studying housing market in Pike County Locations, developers, trends are part of the study Boonville man airlifted after I-69 crash A Boonville man was airlifted from the scene of a crash on I-69 in Pike County last Wednesday afternoon. Brandon Hicks, 26, of Boonville, was northbound on I-69, just south of the 39-mile marker, at about 1 p.m., when he drifted off of the right shoulder into the gravel in his 2006 Buick minivan. He returned back into the roadway, spun out across the lanes of travel and into the median. The Buick then began rolling over, making one full revolution be- fore coming to rest on its wheels. Hicks was transported by LifeFlight to St. Vincent Hospital in Evansville, where he was treated for back pain. The front seat passenger in the Buick was not injured. Seatbelts were on at the time of the crash, which greatly reduced and prevented further injuries. The northbound lanes of I-69 were restricted for two hours while Troopers investigated the crash. State Police were assisted at the scene by the Pike County Sheriff's Department and Pike County EMS. By Andy Heuring The 60th Anniversary of Jefferson Town- ship Ruritan's Fourth of July Festival kicks off Saturday and will run through Tuesday, July 4. Pike County's 4-H Fair will follow right on its heels beginning on Sunday, July 9 and running through Saturday, July 15. JEFFERSON RURITAN'S 60TH ANNIVERSARY FOURTH OF JULY CELEBRATION Jefferson Township will start off with a callout to all grill masters or anyone who thinks they are a grill master. The four-day festival kicks off on Saturday with a cook- off. Sign in and set up for the cook-off be- gins at 6 a.m. The cornhole tourney regis- tration starts at 3 p.m. and cook-off judging starts at 3:30 p.m. They will judge the sauces at 3:30 p.m., steaks at 4 p.m., pork chops at 4:30 p.m., chicken at 5 p.m. and ribs at 5:30 p.m. A power wheels contest for kids at 6:30 p.m. will precede the demolition derby that starts at 7 p.m. Admission to the demo derby is $10 for adults, $5 for kids six to 12 and free for those under six. Each night, the rides on the midway will run from 4 to 10 p.m. with a $20 bracelet or individual tickets available. SUNDAY, JULY 2 Sunday will feature AT V dirt drags at 7 p.m. and a volleyball tourney starting at noon with registration at 11 a.m. Food stands will open at 4 p.m. MONDAY, JULY 3 The Little Miss Firecracker pageant, and local truck and track pulls are set for Mon- day. The Little Miss Firecracker starts at 6 p.m. with a $ 3 admission. The truck and tractor pulls begin at 7 p.m., with admission $ 8 for adults and $5 for kids 6 to 12. TUESDAY, JULY 4 The annual Firecracker parade starts things off at 10 a.m. on the Fourth of Ju- ly. The midway will open at 11 a.m. with lunch, with carryouts available, in the air- conditioned dining room. The Firecracker Baby contest is set for 60th July 4th Celebration begins Saturday The July Bargain Period gives readers the opportunity to save $4 while subscrib- ing to The Press-Dispatch, which has been serving residents of Pike County since 1898. Beginning July 1, one-year subscriptions for readers with a 475 or 476 zip code is just $26, which is $4 off the standard price of $ 30. Anyone living in Indiana but outside those zip codes can purchase a one-year subscription for $29. Out-of-state subscrip- tions are $46 and the online only version is $ 31. Each of those prices is $4 off the stan- dard price. Print subscribers can also add the NetEdition for just $5 a year. Readers can send in the form at the bot- tom of page C-10 or call 812-354-8500. Hurry, the offer ends on August 1, 2017. Save $4 during July Bargain Period By Andy Heuring The Indiana Court of Appeals has ruled Brian Paquette's sentencing was too harsh and ordered him to be re-sentenced. Paquette pleaded guilty to killing three people, including a pregnant woman, when he was high on meth and fleeing State Po- lice. He was driving the wrong way on I- 69 and crashed head-on into two vehicles on Friday, February 12, 2016. Stephanie Molinet and Autumn Kapperman were in a Ford Focus that Paquette's Chevrolet Tahoe crashed into first. Both Molinet and Kapperman died of their injuries. Kapper- Paquette's sentence ruled too harsh; to be re-sentenced By Andy Heuring About five years ago, Carl Benner was sit- ting in a Sunday morning worship service at the First United Methodist Church in Pe- tersburg. Former Pastor Mel Camp, who was a volunteer fireman with Benner on the Petersburg Fire Department, showed a film of several church members who had gone to Mississippi on a mission trip to help with disaster victims. "It was like a light- ning strike to me. I looked over to my wife (Brenda) and said 'I'm going to do this. I want to leave today,'" said Benner, who is now president of the board of directors with the Hope Crisis Response Network. Brenda is also a member of the board of directors. They started going to Mississippi on short trips, volunteering and helping where they could. A few months later, a tornado hit Hen- ryville in southern Indiana. Benner went with his church to this area and he crossed paths with Kevin Cox, the CEO and founder of Hope Crisis Response Network. Benner said HCRN was heading up orga- nizing the recovery process at Henryville. "They needed HVAC work and found out I did that," said Benner. He had recently opened Benner and Company Heating and Air in Petersburg. He said most of the HVAC companies in the area were swamped so they talked to Ben- ner. He said HCRN had limited funding, so he contacted Bryant, an HVAC manufactur- er, and was able to work out special pric- Church video leads Benner to mission work Carl Benner points to explain a graphic on his computer about the work Hope Crisis Response Network is doing in California after a devastating fire. Benner was recently named President of HCRN's board of directors.