The Press-Dispatch
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SAVE $ 4 ON YOUR SUBSCRIPTIO N ! J U LY B A R G A I N P E R I O D B E G I N S TO DAY See A-3 for details Local ........ A1-B8 Sports .........B1-3 Classifi eds ..B4-6 Church ........C1-3 Home Life....C4-8 Obituaries....... C9 History ......... C10 Opinion .. C11-12 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 FIRE on page 2 See JULY 4 on page 5 Three sections 30 pages Five inserts Wednesday, June 27, 2018 Volume 148 Number 26 Phone (812) 354-8500 Petersburg, IN 47567-0068 (USPS 604-34012) $ 1 By Andy Heuring A fast-moving fire damaged a Petersburg residence last Wednesday afternoon. Ac- cording to reports, neighbors heard a loud bang and then noticed flames in the garage of a ranch-style house at 113 W. Branch St. in Petersburg. When firemen arrived, flames had en- gulfed the garage and a car that was parked partially in the garage. Firemen were able to limit the fire damage to the car and ga- rage, but the house suffered heavy and ex- tensive smoke damage. Assistant Fire Chief Jeff Nelson said a fire hydrant just across the street from the house aided in being able to quickly extin- guish the fire. He said they were able to hook directly to the fire hydrant and use a "deck gun" mounted on the fire truck that pumps much more water than a handheld line. "We normally don't use it in the city, but there was so much fire, a hand line wouldn't have knocked that down," said Nelson. "We started to pull a big hand line and I thought 'we have the deck gun.'" He said because they had the hydrant right there, they were able to use it. "Even with a sup- ply line of tankers, it is tough to keep up with the deck gun. It uses up the water on the truck in about two minutes." Using the deck gun, they were able to 4-H Horse & Pony show participant Makayla Stanley works her horse through the keyhole contest class races during the 4-H Horse and Pony Area III Show this past Saturday at the Pike County Fairgrounds. The Otwell resident is a member of the Pike's Flying Manes 4-H Horse Club. She finished fourth in the 56" Senior Division with a time of 14.63 seconds. More than 50 divisions were contested dur- ing the event. See additional story and photos on page A-. James Capozella photo Fire causes heavy damage to Petersburg home Early copy deadlines for next week's Press-Dispatch Due to Independence Day, The Press-Dispatch will have early deadlines for the July 4 edition. All display advertising is due by noon on Saturday, June 30. News items and line classi- fieds are due by noon on Mon- day, July 2. The print edition will be de- livered a day early on Tuesday, July 3. By Andy Heuring The Winslow town election will be conducted on a different format this year. It was learned only Mon- day that the three wards in Win- slow had been abolished by the In- diana Election Commission. Con- sequently, the election for Town Council will be conducted on an at-large basis, which means the three candidates who get the most votes will be elected, regardless in which ward they reside. In prior elections, Winslow was divided into three wards or dis- tricts. A candidate living in those districts ran against each other; while everyone in Winslow voted for all three wards, a councilman from each district was listed. Jenny Deffendoll, election clerk for the Pike County Clerk's office said she contacted the State Elec- tion Board on Monday and was no- tified the three wards had been abolished. Councilmen, during their Monday meeting, had voted to certify the wards. Deffendoll said the wards' boundaries had not changed since 1982, but be- cause Winslow had not re-certi- fied the wards recently, the state ruled them void and disbanded the wards. Deffendoll said she learned Winslow was required to certify them prior to Nov. 8, 2017. "I don't agree with that at all. That means you can elect three councilmen out of one district in town," said Councilman Richard Brewster. "I wish we would have been ad- vised of this. We needed to do something about this in the past. We didn't know we were never ad- vised. It is what it is, so we will still have the election. We just won't have the wards this time," said Councilman Terry Strobel. Two more candidates, George "Fred" Fiscus and RickMathias, have filed for Town Councilmen, bringing the total to six. The oth- er candidates are incumbents Richard Brewster and Terry Stro- bel, as well as newcomers Michael W. Truitt and Melvin Decisto. Trisha Bottoms filed for clerk- treasurer on Tuesday. So far, she is the only candidate for clerk- treasurer. Two years ago, Winslow vot- ed to change their election cy- cle from being in a different year than the county, state and fed- eral elections. Winslow coun- cilmen and the clerk-treasurer served four year terms and their elections were in odd-numbered years. However, two years ago, they decided to move the election to be at the same time as the coun- ty elections, which short-ended their terms on a one-time basis to three years. They will be elect- ed this fall in the November 6 gen- eral election to a four-year term. Winslow wards abolished By Andy Heuring Otwell Fourth of July Celebration and Clog the Patoka are scheduled for the Ju- ly 4 week. The Jefferson Township Ruritan's 61st Fourth of July celebration is scheduled for Wednesday, July 4 through Saturday, Ju- ly 7. It is sponsored by the Jefferson Town- ship Ruritan and has been an iconic sum- mer event that dates back to 1957. It features many of its trademark events, such as a July 4 parade, fireworks, a mid- way with carnival rides, and truck and trac- tor pulls, as well as festival food, including homemade ice cream. The festival kicks off full steam on Wednesday, July 4, with the annual parade at 10 a.m. The grounds midway rides and chicken or rib dinners open at 11 a.m. fol- lowing the parade. A firecracker baby contest is set for 1 p.m., with a children's pedal tractor pull at 2 p.m. The Ohio Valley Tractor Pullers Asso- ciation pull for Hot Farm and ITPA truck classes begin at 7 p.m. Admission is $10 for adults, $5 for ages six to 12 and free for those under six. Fireworks are set for dark. Sunset on Ju- ly 4 in Otwell is 9:16 p.m., according to Ac- cuweather. Thursday, July 5 A garden tractor pull is scheduled for Thursday at 7 p.m., with free admission. The grounds and rides will open at 4 p.m. on Thursday. Friday, July 6 The grounds open at 4 p.m. on Friday. Ride bracelets are available for $20 for un- limited riding between 4 and 10 p.m. on both Friday and Saturday. The Firecracker Tractor and Truck pull for 12,000 pounds/14 mph and 12,000 pounds/10 mph for tractors and two- wheel drives/5,800 pound trucks, as well as 11,000 pounds/open begins at 7 p.m. Ad- mission is $ 8 for adults, $5 for kids six to 12 and free for less than 6. Saturday, July 7 A six on six coed double elimination vol- leyball tournament begins at 10 a.m., with registration starting at 8:30 a.m. Registra- tion is $15 per player. The Otwell Truck and Tractor pull be- gins at 7 p.m. with Outlaw truck class for DOT tires, 26 -inch hitch open drive line, July 4th fun includes Otwell Festival, Clog the Patoka Flames billow from a garage on fire at 113 W Branch St. in Petersburg. The fire expanded quickly between the car and the garage, damaging the residence owned by Lawrence Wilcoxen, of Washington. Katie Brock was renting the house. The fire broke out at about 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 20.