The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/950460
A-2 Front Wednesday, March 7, 2018 The Press-Dispatch We're not afraid to shed some light on the truth. 812-354-8500 SUBSCRIBE TODAY! MOOSE LODGE #1617 Lucky Get 17TH AT THE LIVE MUSIC & DRINK SPECIALS MARCH SATURDAY Starting at 6pm Guest Night Games Prizes 115 Pike Ave, Petersburg • (812)354-9480 ST. PATRICK'S DAY Patoka RiveR Fitness 105 N. Main St., Winslow, IN 47598 812-296-7024 Teaches members basic movements and how to scale them to fitness level. We go over basic mobility exercise to help with recovery and muscle activation. Light warm-up to prepare the body for the workout. Technique and strength training to continue to thrive with our proven programming. Followed by the Workout of the Day, mixing multiple domains of fitness (Weightlifting, Cardio, and Gymnastics) scaled to any fitness level. intRo Class "Foundation to Fitness" APRIL Week 1: 2, 4, & 6 Week 2: 9, 11, & 13 6-7 PM DAILY WORKOUT TIMES Monday - Friday 5-6 am | 6-7 pm | 7-8 pm PIKE COUNTY DEMOCRATIC PARTY 2018 ST. PATRICK'S DAY DINNER AND FUNDRAISER Saturday, March 17 Sts. Peter and Paul Parish Hall South 7th Street Petersburg, IN Meet the Candidates 5:00 p.m.-6:00 p.m. John Hurley and Joseph Lannan for State Representative. There will be hors d'oeuvres and a goodwill offering to raise funds for their campaigns Dinner at 6:00 p.m. EDT Our special guest and featured speaker is William Tanoos, Democratic Candidate for US Representative, District 8. Dinner will be catered by 423 Smokehouse. Ticket are $20 each. RSVPs are due by Monday, March 12. If you have any questions, please contact Wil Teague at 812-582-9797, Ashley Gideon at 812-582-8571 or Melissa Traylor at 812-354-5600. By Andy Heuring A traffic stop led to a Lin- ton man being arrested for possession of heroin early Friday. Benjamin Wade Held, 27, of Linton, was arrested on charges of possession of her- oin, a Level 6 felony; operat- ing a vehicle while intoxicat- ed, refusal; unlawful posses- sion of a syringe; possession of paraphernalia; and pos- session of a schedule 4 drug. Pike County Deputy Sher- iff Jason McKinney said he was notified by central dis- patch that a motorist on I- 69 was following a south- bound car, at the Pike-Da- viess County line, that was all over the road and had run off the road. McKinney said he went to I-69 and Highway 61 and saw the vehicle go south. He talked with central dispatch, which was still on the phone with the motorist following the vehicle. Deputy McK- inney said while he was fol- lowing the vehicle, he saw it go into the left lane without using a signal, then it went off the road and came back into the right lane without a signal. He stopped it at the 43-mile marker. Deputy McKinney said while talking with Held, he noticed Held was having a hard time sitting still. Held said he drove off the road because he was taking his socks off. Held failed field sobriety tests. He was asked if he would take a chemical test and originally agreed to, but then as he was getting into the police car, he asked if he could refuse it because it would be cheaper. Indiana State Troop- er John Davis and Peters- burg Police Chief Chuck Baumgart were assisting. They inventoried Held's vehicle. They said they found a black digital scale and what they believed to be a plastic snort tube sticking out of a plastic card holder attached to the scales. They said there was a white pow- der in the plastic bag. Police also found two small plastic bags containing what field tested positive for heroin. Another bag had five blue pills that were identified as a schedule 4 controlled sub- stance. They also found a camou- flage fanny pack that con- tained two 10 -packs of un- opened syringes, five sy- ringes laying loose in the bottom of the fanny pack and a black zippered case. It contained four syringes, one with a liquid in it, a Min- nie Mouse spoon that had a white powder on it and sev- eral pills that were identified as pills for veterinarian use. Traffic stop leads to heroin arrest Kindergarten and pre- school roundup will be in late March for Winslow and April for Petersburg. Winslow Kindergarten Roundup will be Thursday, March 22. A child must be five years old by August 1, 2018, to be eligible for kin- dergarten next year. There will be two sessions of screenings, from 4 to 6 p.m. and from 6 to 8 p.m. To reg- ister, call Winslow Elemen- tary School at 812-789 -2209 for an appointment. Preschool Roundup at Winslow will be Friday, March 23. A child must be four years old by August 1, 2018, to be eligible. Screening sessions will last 30 minutes, offered from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday, March 23. Call 812-789 -2209 for an appointment. Petersburg Kindergarten Roundup is set for Thursday and Friday, April 12 and 13. A child must be five years old by August 1, 2018, to be eligible for kindergarten. Screenings will be 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Petersburg. Call 812-354-6876 for an appoint- ment. Preschool Roundup at Pe- tersburg is Friday, April 20. A child must be four years old by August 1, 2018, to be eligible. The 20 -minute screening session is from 8:20 a.m. to 3 p.m. Call the school at 812-354-6876 for an appointment. Kindergarten, pre-school roundups begin March 22 By Andy Heuring A report of a stolen car led to the arrest of one for au- to theft and two others on possession of meth charges. A Loogootee man was ar- rested after his mother told police he had stolen her car. Tanner Stephen Houchin, 21, of 132 Country Ct., Loo- gootee, was arrested on charges of auto theft, a Lev- el 6 felony, and resisting law enforcement. Pike County Sheriff's Sgt. Dallas Killian said he was contacted by Indiana State Trooper John Davis that a vehicle owned by Michelle Early had been stolen and it was being driven by her son, Tanner Houchin. Da- vis said he had information the vehicle was in the White Oak area. Sgt. Killian said at about 4 p.m., he was driving south on Highway 61 in Winslow when he saw Houchin walk- ing north near Center St. So as he slowed to turn around, he saw Houchin start run- ning west on Center St. to- wards Millers Field. Despite him yelling for Houchin to stop, he contin- ued to run. Killian chased him into a small wooded ar- ea and was able to catch up to Houchin, who stopped and allowed Sgt. Killian to put him in handcuffs. When questioned about the car, Houchin said it was at the Eagles parking lot in Winslow. However, when Trooper Davis drove him to the Eagles to locate the car, it wasn't there. Houchin told police the people who had the car didn't know it was stolen. While Houchin was being charged with auto theft and resisting arrest, Trooper Davis got a call telling him Michael Wood was in pos- session of the car and gave him Wood's phone number. Trooper Davis called Wood and told him the car he was driving was stolen, and he needed to pull over and give him the address of their location. He said it was near the PC -1 Stop on Highway 61. Police went to the area and found the car near CR 100 E. Sgt. Killian said he could see people walking south on Highway 61, so he approached them. Police talked with Wood, 30, of Indianapolis, and Ka- ci Biggs, 24, of Otwell. During a search of Biggs', purse they found a crystal- like substance, which po- lice believed to be meth, in a small baggie. Biggs said she didn't know it was in her purse. Later, she told Sgt. Killian she had more meth hidden between her breasts. Killian, in his report, stat- ed they told Biggs when they got to the Pike County Jail, she would be allowed to retrieve the meth. She told police Wood had given it to her when he found out police were com- ing to get the car. Accord- ing to Killian's report, Biggs said she didn't want to take it, but Wood became ag- gressive and she took it out of fear. Sgt. Killian's report stat- ed Wood appeared to be un- der the influence of meth. It also stated Biggs told po- lice she and Wood had used meth earlier in the day. Both were charged with possession of meth; Biggs more than 10 grams, a Level 4 felony, and Wood posses- sion of less than five grams, a Level 6 felony. Stolen car leads to meth arrests By James Capozella The full Petersburg Coun- cil listened to results from Code Enforcement Officer Kyle Mills regarding recent warnings for code violations he has issued in one sec- tion of town. The council re- viewed a list of warnings and heard a report from Mills. He said that he "wrote one citation so far" and that "half of those with warnings are in compliance." He said what the code describes must be interpreted and only then can a warning be issued for the property. Mills add- ed that "people were coop- erating" with the measures. Mayor Klipsch said the code ordinance is there to "pro- tect everybody," including health and property values. Council member Gary Leavitt told the council and Mills he knew of several complaints about cars on the street, parked the wrong way for several months. At this point in time, only a por- tion of the city has been driv- en and surveyed by Mills. He works part-time in code en- forcement for the City of Pe- tersburg and is a full-time Petersburg police officer un- der Chief Chuck Baumgart. In other updates, Klipsch informed the council that the city received a block grant from Indiana Office of Community and Rural A f- fairs (IOCR A) for $40,000 for a new comprehensive plan. Klipsch said the city has to have the updated comprehensive plan to qual- ify for any of the grants and projects that are available. He said the Taylor Design Group will be putting it to- gether and that "the plan- ning commission will be very much involved." Klipsch said the plan will serve as a road map for projects and that the city needed "a new list." Under fire department news, Klipsch noted that he got a phone call for a recom- mendation concerning the Il- linois Street fire house devel- opment. He said he found out that to construct the same building size with the same features by the same con- tractor "would cost $500,000 more" now than when Pe- tersburg started theirs about two years ago. Klipsch said "the timing of building the new Petersburg fire house couldn't have been better." Petersburg Fire Chief Ross Elmore reported during the fire department update that there were seven new mem- bers and five were going to get their training at the Jas- per fire school later in the month. He also noted that Nathan Harker was going to earn his instructor certifi- cation. Elmore said the new members and Harker's certi- fication would be "a really big plus for the department." El- more reported on an Emer- gency Responder class at the fire barn and also that bids for a new tanker truck were advertised and should be con- cluded on April 11. In an update on streets and sewers, Elmore said that the streets had been holding up through the winter and that pot hole repair would be starting soon. He added that there had been trouble with lift station two at the el- ementary school, but it was taken care of the same night. One pump at the plant had to be adjusted and a rebuild on all the pumps was due since they were 20 plus years in operation. Elmore also re- ported that the department was going to make a few re- pairs on the old truck before it goes in service at Hornady Park for their needs. He is al- so working on updates and li- censing for the radios locat- ed on the tower. He also not- ed that water leaks had been routine over the last couple weeks and that work was still on going on meter replace- ment. There will be a meet- ing on March 8 concerning meter replacement. The new meters will be capable of be- ing read in water. During police updates, Petersburg Chief of Police Chuck Baumgart reported "the department has been very busy" with several ar- rests over the weekend. He also stated that the new Pe- tersburg Police Department patrol car was completely outfitted except for one set of decals. The new car is a traditional police "black and white" two tone with black front fenders, white in the middle and black on the rear quarter. Under council concerns, Klipsch reminded everyone of the second Buffalo Trace Festival coming up in Sep- tember and how much must be done to provide a similar activity following the anni- versary event. He said Dis- cover Downtown Petersburg is in the planning stages on several events, including the Buffalo Trace Festival. The group is looking for individ- uals, families and businesses to support the efforts to plan activities and improvements for downtown. Individuals can join the group for $25, families are $40 and busi- nesses are $50. Checks can be made payable to Discover Downtown Petersburg, Inc., 704 E. Main Street, Peters- burg, IN 47567. In other business, coun- cil president Fran Lewis asked clerk-treasurer Tam- my Selby about the Win- slow clerk-treasurer situa- tion and Selby stated she had taken a call concerning helping them out. Selby also stated that Umbaugh Finan- cial had performed a review of the books for the city re- cently but have not reported on their findings yet. During the Board of Works and Safety meeting, Fran Lewis and John Melhis- er voted to adjust the Moose Lodge bill due to a leak. The bill was nearly double their usual bill. It was reported that the leak had run the bill to $ 397 for the month. Klipsch reported that one display in the Christmas in the Park drive had not been taken down because the bucket truck was out of ser- vice. Street and sewer, po- lice and fire territory up- dates were also a part of the Board of Public Works and Safety meeting. The next Pe- tersburg City Council meet- ing is Monday, March 19 at 7 p.m. in Petersburg City Hall. Petersburg reviews code enforcement results MEN March 10 at Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic; March 17 at First Baptist Petersburg; March 24 River of Life Fel- lowship. WOMEN March 10 Free Methodist Petersburg; March 17 at Otwell Unit- ed Methodist; March 24 at Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic. Lenten Prayer Breakfast schedule: PES class virtual travel Director of Technology Phil Clauss helps Blayden Miller with his VR glass- es recently at Petersburg Elementary School. Mrs. Terra Knust's class used the VR glasses to take a virtual field trip to view the Great Wall of China. Stu- dents were able to see the wall in 3D imagining while Knust talked about the Great Wall and its features.