The Press-Dispatch
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Local ........ A1-10 Sports .........B1-7 Classifi eds .... B8-9 History ......... B10 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 WINSLOW on page 2 See CENTER on page 6 See CHALLENGE on page 2 $ 1 Four sections Five inserts 34 pages Wednesday, December 13, 2017 Volume 148 Number 50 Phone (812) 354-8500 Petersburg, IN 47567-0068 (USPS 604-34012) By Andy Heuring An accidental fire destroyed an abandoned house trailer near Ot- well early last Wednesday morn- ing. Chris Young, with the Jefferson Township Fire Department, said the trailer was owned by Michael Doades and was located near the intersection of CR 1000 E. and CR 325 N. He said Doades used the trailer as storage and it didn't have any utilities hooked to it. However, a couple lived on the same proper- ty in a camper. Indiana State Fire Marshal Matt Wells investigated the fire. He said while investigating the fire, he learned the person living in the camper had gone into the trailer looking for a kerosene heat- er to help heat the camper. Wells said the person was using a lighter as a source of light and accidentally set some items on fire in the area of the kerosene heater. He was unable to put out the fire and it spread quickly, destroying the trailer and its contents. Wells said the fire was so hot, it damaged the nearby camper as well. Young said the trailer was fully engulfed when firemen arrived at the 1:50 a.m. call. Wells said no charges would be filed. Search for heat blamed in trailer fire Winslow gives raises, nixes town park board Council approves event center funding By Andy Heuring Winslow approved a four percent raise for employees and announced they had abol- ished their recently appointed park board. "I don't see any reason to have a special meeting to make a move on it (salary or- dinance for 2018)," said Winslow Council president Terry Strobel. "I figure we already talked about it and know what we want to do," continued Stro- bel. "We have just talked about what the cost options would be. We haven't really made any decisions on it," said councilman Dick Brewster. "It will cost about $2,148 for each percent of increase we are facing to give it to all of our employees," said Brewster. He added, "I think we can vote on it." Strobel suggested they offer a five per- cent increase. "No, but I think we can go to four per- cent. That will cost us about $ 8,600 a year if we give each employee a four percent in- crease. Brewster said county employees got about a three percent raise. "I would like to try to give them a pay raise. I don't know what our insurance is going to cost us," said Brewster. Earlier, the council had tabled acting on medical insurance for 2018 because of dis- crepancies in their proposed premiums. "I thought you were saying you were go- ing to get a break on insurance," said Stro- bel. Clerk Beth Bennett said, "I thought we were going to get a break, but those num- bers were transposed. So when I called in to ask about he said 'Oh no.' I'm hearing we are looking at a 14 percent increase on health insurance," said Bennett. "Let's look at four percent. That 14-per- cent increase on insurance is a bite," said Strobel. Councilmen voted 3-0 to approve the four percent increase. Councilman Greg Simmons also said they needed to add back the paid holiday of the day after Thanksgiving. He said he didn't understand how that was removed for 2017. Councilmen Brewster and Strobel agreed with him. Councilmen also approved an increase to $ 9.50 an hour for a part-time employee after a small amount of sparring. Brewster said they needed to pay back pay for the position because it was supposed to be paid at $ 9.50 an hour, but they only paid $ 8.50 an hour. Both councilmen Simmons and Strobel said in their salary ordinance it was typed in at $ 8.50 an hour. "I want to make a motion we adjust him for time he worked." "We wont be able to pay back pay," said Strobel. "We can make it $ 9.50 for next year, but I don't see how we can go back to Septem- ber and do that." Brewster argued that his salary ordi- nance said $ 9.50 an hour. "That is written in," said Strobel. "The $ 8.50 was typed in." Brewster then questioned the $ 9.50 amount. "That is a bigger raise than the four percent we gave the other employees." "He is part-time and doesn't get any ben- efits whatsoever," said Strobel. The new salary ordinance was approved by a 3-0 vote. Brewster suggested they table taking any action on insurance for 2018 until they were able to get a meeting with their repre- sentative from the Barthel Agency. Brew- ster said last year they had a mistake on theirs and the company wouldn't honor it, which made the insurance more expensive than they had expected. Brewster said this year's quote had trans- posed numbers in it. He said he wanted to meet with the salesman before they signed anything. A special meeting was scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Monday, December 18 to discuss the matter Ruling could affect OMA charter issued by Grace College By Ed Cahill A federal lawsuit challenging the consti- tutionality of the Indiana statute that allows private religious institutions to authorize public, taxpayer-supported charter schools will proceed. In a ruling issued on Wednesday, Nov. 29, Chief Judge Jane Mangus-Stinson, of the U.S. District Court for the Southern Dis- trict of Indiana, denied a motion by Sev- en Oaks Classical School in Elletsville – a charter school authorized by Grace Col- lege, an evangelical Christan college and theological seminary located in Kosciusko County – to dismiss a lawsuit filed in April by the Indiana Coalition for Public Educa- tion-Monroe County, an association of par- ents, teachers and other supporters of pub- lic schools. The lawsuit asserts that the Indiana Charter School 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 institution." Seven Oaks Classical School is one of four charter schools currently autho- rized by Grace College. The other three are the Smith Academy of Excellence in Fort Wayne, the Dugger Union Communi- ty School in eastern Sullivan County, and the Otwell Miller Academy in eastern Pike County. Seven Oaks Classical School was autho- rized by Grace College during a private meeting in January 2016 – despite wide- spread public opposition in Monroe Coun- ty, including from the county's two pub- lic school corporations – after two unsuc- cessful applications to the Indiana Charter School Board. Judge Magnus-Stinson rejected the law- suit's claim that permitting a religious school such as Grace College to receive public funds as a result of making autho- rizations was unconstitutional. However, Judge Magnus-Stinson ac- knowledged, "the allegations in the Com- plaint support a reasonable inference that the Charter School Act permits a religious authorizer to accept any application it chooses." "Authorizers make important decisions about who may establish charter schools and under what circumstances a charter Excitement at the train show The train show Saturday was a big hit with Aria Segert, 2 years old. She attended with her father, Branden Segert, and had a great time. The train show, which has become part of the Petersburg's Hollywalk, is located in the Gospel Center's gymnasium. See additional photos on page A-9. Charter school law challenge to proceed Hollywalk carriage riders Nicholas Norrick, Ayden Stewart and Lucas Stewart took at carriage ride Saturday with Su- san Norrick during the Hollywalk celebration in Petersburg. By Andy Heuring The Pike County Council voted 5 -2 to ap- prove $450,000 to help build an events cen- ter at Prides Creek Park that could handle a maximum of 250 to 300 people. The final vote came after more than 60 minutes of discussion at Tuesday mornings meetings. However it has been discussed previously at least three other meetings. Councilmen continued to call for more details about the operational plans and design. The project was approved for a state grant that will help fund the project. How- ever their was no final design. Instead the project had been bid in vague terms allow- ing contractors to present their concepts for the building, that varied widely up to an 8,500 square foot building that hold up to 350 people and had a projected cost of $1.2 million, down to a building of less than $700,000. Tuesday morning DeWayne Sanders, a member of the Pike County Park and Rec- reation Board and an engineer by trade, talked to the board about proposed design changes. A fter the series of meetings and the county council's concerns over going in debt to build the center, it was decided to attempt to reduce the size of the project so they can build it without going into debt. Sanders said he thought the maximum square footage would be 7,000. He said after doing a cost estimate that didn't in- clude site preparation, they could do it for about $ 654,000. He said Pike County's part of that would be about $450,000, which he said would leave an operating balance of about $ 325,000 in the park budget. The meeting was attended by about 30 people and numerous supporters of the project spoke about the project. "We got involved with this project be- cause it directly compliments what we are trying to do with economic development and quality of life," said Economic Devel- opment Council Executive Director Ash- ley Willis. She said it was considered in the early 90s, and it was in the park's strategic plan again in the early 2000s. "We (EDC) got involved as their partner to apply for the grant. . . This is the mag- ic formula business attraction—quality of life. You can't have one with out the other. It is to benefit every resident of Pike Coun- ty. Most of the park is geared toward out- door life, but this is geared more toward in- side events." She said it would help widen Prides Creek's appeal. She said companies want to make sure areas they are considering are "a good place to live." She said they are interested in schools, broadband service and quality of life amenities. Willis also reiterated that Pike County is enjoying a time of extremely good relations with state officials. She said if Pike Coun- ty were to reject the grant already given to them, it would reflect poorly on the county. "We have a great relationship and I would hate to see that go away," said Willis. Pike County has received numerous cer- tifications and grants to help them with the development of the I-69 interchange. John Mandabach, who is an officer on the Pike EDC and employed by Bowman Fam- ily Holdings, told the council he could un- derstand them wanting to know why the EDC is even involved in the project. He said