The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/912793
Local ...........A1-8 Sports .........B1-6 Classifi eds .... B7-8 History ........... B9 Church ........C1-3 School.........C4-5 Home Life....D1-5 Obituaries....... D6 Opinion .......D7-8 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 CONTR ACT on page 3 See CARTS on page 2 See BUDGET on page 3 $ 1 Four sections Four inserts 32 pages Wednesday, December 6, 2017 Volume 148 Number 49 Phone (812) 354-8500 Petersburg, IN 47567-0068 (USPS 604-34012) By Andy Heuring Two Gibson County 13 year olds are in critical condition in Evans- ville hospitals following a serious crash late Friday night in rural Pike County. Brandon Blackwood, 13, of Princeton, and Kadin McKan- non, 13, of Francisco, were seri- ously injured when the vehicle they were riding in crashed into a tree at 10 :47 p.m. Pike County Chief Deputy Sheriff Kent Johnson said Rachel Durham, 17, of Princeton, was driving south on CR 500 W. when she went over a hill and her 2004 Lexus R X330 went airborne. He said when it landed, she lost con- trol and went off the right side of the road into a ditch and overcor- rected. The vehicle then swerved to the left and spun around, went off the left side of the road, over- turned and slammed rooftop first into a tree. Rachel Durham, Sara Durham, 15, and Samuel Durham, 12, all of the same address, suffered mi- nor injuries. Johnson said Blackwood was partially ejected. Both Black- wood and McKannan were tak- en by air ambulance to the hospi- tal. Blackwood was taken by Life- Flight to Deaconess in Evansville and McKannan by StatFlight to St. Vincent's in Evansville. Sheriff's Sgt. Dallas Killian and Deputy Jason McKinney investi- gated the accident and called for a State Police Crash Scene Recon- struction due to the seriousness of the crash. A spokesman for Deacon- ess said she had no information about Blackwood's condition. St. Vincent's Hospital did not return a call to check on McKannan's condition. McKannon's father, on social media, reported his son had head, neck and facial injuries, and was in intensive care. According to a GoFundMe page set up for Blackwood, he sus- tained a severe head injury, bro- ken ribs and a ruptured spleen. Teens critical after Friday crash Hollywalk heads area holiday activities Petersburg Christmas parade participants Cub Scout Troop 151 took to the streets and enjoyed a great day for the Petersburg Christmas on Saturday, Dec. 3. The troop was one of several units that participated in the afternoon event. See additional photos on page A-6. By Andy Heuring Petersburg sold their old fire station building, passed a golf cart ordinance and agreed they need to get new light poles up ASAP at their Monday night meeting. "A fter multiple discussions on this, it is time to do this or not do this," said Petersburg Mayor R. C. Klipsch about the proposed golf cart ordinance before councilmen voted 4-1 to pass it. Only one councilman, Gary Leavitt, opposed the measure. The new ordinance will allow properly registered golf carts to be operated on certain city streets, but not on state highways. Some of the stipulations include the golf cart must be registered, permitted and inspected. Also, the operator has to be at least 16 years old, and have a valid driv- er's license and proof of financial responsibility. Golf carts may cross a state highway at an intersection on- ly, except for the intersection of Highway 57 and Illinois St., which has been designated a "no golf cart" intersection. Violation of the ordinance can result in increasing scale of fines. The first offense is $25, second $100 and third $200, with the pos- sibility of having the cart seized. Councilman Fran Lewis said she had a resident ask her about the ordinance earlier in the day. She said it surprised her because it is December and she didn't think people would be so ea- ger about getting the ordinance passed. However, she said the res- ident reminded her it was 70 de- grees on Monday and he had a new golf cart ordered. Attorney Brian Mahoney said while the ordinance would be- come effective once the council passed it, carts would not be com- pliant to the ordinance until they had been inspected and received a permit. Police Chief Chuck Baumgart said inspections would not take place until after the be- ginning of the 2018. He said they needed to set a date to start those inspections and get some permits ordered and printed. "I would suggest about 8,000," said Baumgart, kidding about the demand for the permits. "My prediction is there will be less golf carts running around Pe- tersburg than there is today," said Mayor Klipsch. He explained now people are just operating the carts and there hadn't been any rules so the po- lice, because they didn't have an ordinance, weren't enforcing any rules on them. "Suddenly, now the police have rules and you are either compliant or not and now Golf carts approved for city streets in Petersburg OMA approves 5-year budget By Ed Cahill A five-year budget approved by the Otwell Miller Academy's Board of Directors on Monday, Dec. 4, projects that the char- ter school's official enrollment will rise from 57 during the 2017- 18 school year to 130 during the 2021-22 school year – a 110 per- cent increase. The five-year budget also proj- ects that the charter school's to- tal revenue will rise from $754,727 (which includes $ 309,000 in sup- port from Friends of Otwell Ele- mentary, Ltd.) during the 2017-18 school year to $1,151,649 during the 2021-22 school year – a 52.6 percent increase. In addition, the five-year budget projects that the charter school's total expenditures will rise from $787,987 during the 2017-18 school year to $ 880,993 during the 2021-22 school year – an 11.8 percent increase. "I've seen it," said Lou Fort, By Andy Heuring A local businessman told county commis- sioners he could save them $5,000 a year in fuel costs if they purchased their fuel from him. Alan Woodford, owner of PC-1 Stop, said he could offer the county 24-7 availability to fuel at a savings to what they are pay- ing for the fuel now. The PC-1 Stop conve- nience store is located about a quarter of a mile from the Highway Department. Woodford said county vehicles would be issued credit cards that would allow them to purchase fuel from his pumps 24-7. He said the diesel fuel pumps behind the store pump 30 gallons a minute, which would make their fill-ups faster. Woodford told the commissioners he ba- sically was offering the county the ability to purchase fuel at 15 cents a gallon over with wholesale market price. He presented them with paperwork that showed, based on what Pike County had paid for fuel prices, it would save the coun- ty about $5,000. He said they would also not have an exclusive contract, which would al- low the county to purchase fuel at a differ- ent location. He used the example of if an ambulance was on a run to Evansville and needed to fill up, they could use the card they were given to fill up at a Sunoco sta- tion in Evansville. A Sunoco representative told county of- ficials the system would also help with the county's record keeping of fuel costs and taxes. Woodford said all of the liability for gas spills and theft would be on him instead of the county. However, he said third party ac- cidents would not be his liability. He gave the example of if a county vehicle were in- volved in an accident while fueling. County Commissioner Jeff Nelson told Woodford they recently learned they had a buyout clause in their contract with their current supplier. He said they have to pur- chase 68,000 more gallons of fuel from them or pay out 10 cents per gallon penal- ty. Nelson said it would be about a year be- fore they used that much fuel. Woodford said the contract with him "would start when they signed it and would end when you don't want it anymore." "We will have to take a look at our cur- rent commitment," said Nelson. Commissioners consider local fuel contract Two 13-year-old boys were seriously injured Friday night when the Lexus SUV they were riding in careened off of CR500W, overturned and struck a tree. Both were taken by air am- bulance to Evansville hospitals suffering head and other injuries. Three others including the drivers also suffered minor injuries. By Andy Heuring Christmas activities continue this week with the Hollywalk in Petersburg and Breakfast with Santa in Otwell, both on Saturday. CAROLING AND STORIES AT CHRISTMAS IN THE PARK Christmas in the Park is now open from 6 to 9 p.m. each night of the week at Hor- nady Park. It will remain open through Christmas Day. Lowell Thomas is organiz- ing Christmas Caroling for Saturday, De- cember 9 and 16 at Peter Brenton Cabin. He said anyone wanting to participate should show up a little before 7 p.m. at the cabin. Also, Mrs. Claus will be reading Christ- mas stories to children in the cabin at var- ious times during the weekend. HOLLYWALK, DECEMBER 9 The annual Hollywalk will include free carriage rides, chats with Santa and the model train show. It all starts on Saturday morning. Santa will arrive at 11 a.m. at 702 E. Main St. He will be available to talk to children from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Candy canes and bal- loons will be given to children talking with Santa. The free carriage rides will also start at 11 a.m. and run to 3 p.m. The rides start at the southeast side of Seventh and Main Sts. A model train show sponsored by Pike Collision is set for noon to 4 p.m. at the Gos- pel Center's Community Center. Marge Leavitt, of Marge's Hallmark, said other activities are also in the works for the Hollywalk. Some of the specials available include a free large cookie with the pur- chase of a Saturday special at Cakes and Coffee, sales and bargains at Petersburg Hardware, Mikel's Graphics, Silk Designs, Ole Flower Shoppe, Make Me Unique and Daugherity Auction Service. Marge's Hallmark will feature refresh- ments and drawings, plus a free ornament with a $25 purchase. The Chamber of Commerce is having their Christmas Tree Ornament project. OTWELL BREAKFAST WITHSANTA SET FOR DECEMBER 9 Santa will also be at the Otwell Commu- nity Center from 8 to 10 a.m. on Saturday, December 9 to talk with children. They will have juice and donuts available. REINDEER RUN SET FOR SUNDAY, DECEMBER 10 The Reindeer Run, a 5K run or 1K Santa Shuffle, is scheduled for 2 p.m. at the ARC of Pike County on Illinois St. Registration begins at noon. It is now $20 and includes a T-shirt. For more information, call Melissa Walden at 812-677-6045.