EASTSIDE SPORTS: Football team extends win streak to three, MORE ON PAGE 3
TUESDAY OCTOBER 22, 2013
THE
Bulletin
Butler An edition of
The
147th YEAR — ISSUE #43 On the web at: kpcnews.com
75 cents Butler, Indiana ESTABLISHED IN 1866
Police arrest four; two face meth charges BUTLER — Over the course of a busy weekend, Butler Police made four arrests in three separate cases. Around 2:10 p.m. Friday, police arrested Thai A. Hill, 33, no reported address, and Jean M. Dunakin, 40, of the 200 South Broadway, Butler, each on a charge of trespassing, a Class A misdemeanor. Butler Police Chief James K. Nichols said police received information about two people entering an abandoned house. Police searched the house and allegedly found Hill
COMMUNITY EVENTS ‘Trunk-or-treat’ set for Saturday BUTLER — The Butler community “trunk-or-treat” event will take place from 5-7 p.m. Saturday in the American Legion parking lot, 118 N. Broadway. This event provides a great opportunity for children to get Halloween treats in one location.
Trick-or-treat hours announced Local communities have announced trick-or-treat hours. Butler: 5-7 p.m. Saturday. Spencerville: 5-6:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 31. The Halloween party will be from 6:30-8 p.m. Oct. 31 at the Spencerville Community Club. For more information, call Roberta Carnahan at 238-4532.
Schools plan special needs meeting BUTLER — The DeKalb County Eastern Community School District is planning an informational meeting for parents of children with special needs. The meeting will take place at 9 a.m. Monday, Oct. 28 at Butler Elementary School, 1025 S. Broadway. This meeting is for parents who reside within the school district’s attendance area and have children who are home-schooled or attend a non-public school. For more information, call principal Kim Clark at 868-2123.
Sewer district board meets Wednesday SPENCERVILLE — The St. Joe-Spencerville Regional Sewer District’s board of directors will meet at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Spencerville Community Club. The public is invited to attend.
Helping Hands Ministry open BUTLER — Helping Hands Ministry is an outreach ministry of Christ’s Church at Butler assisting needy families in the Butler area. Monetary contributions and donations of new or gently-used clothing and bedding items are accepted during business hours. Individuals may visit and shop for bags of items priced at $3-$5 each. Helping Hands is located at 136 W. Main St. and is open Tuesdays 4-6 p.m. and Saturdays 10 a.m. to noon. A food pantry is open the second Tuesday of each month from 4-6 p.m.
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and Dunakin inside. Additional charges are possible against both subjects, police said. Around 3:15 p.m. Sunday, police encountered what Nichols described as a “very dangerous situation” involving what was termed a mobile methamphetamine lab. Police received a report of a suspicious man in the 500 block of West Main Street. When Assistant Chief Matt Traster and Detective Matt Tamez arrived, they found Bruce L. Jones, 26, of Northcrest Mobile Home Park, carrying a small backpack.
Jones gave police consent to search the backpack, and police allegedly found several items commonly associated with the manufacture of meth, Nichols reported. “This subject was basically carrying a mobile meth lab on his back at the time he was talked to by our officers,” Nichols said. Jones has been charged with possession of two or more precursors with intent to manufacture methamphetamine within 1,000 feet of a park or school, a Class C felony. Later Sunday, police responded to a
residence in the 200 block of East Main Street to continue an investigation that began Saturday night. There, Tamez found two active, one-pot meth labs on the property. Police evacuated the property and called the Indiana State Police Clandestine Lab Team to dismantle the labs. “We had to shut U.S. 6 down for a brief amount of time at the request of Indiana State Police” due to the serious nature of the ➤ Arrest, Page 6
Shooting drill opens eyes BY JEFF JONES jjones@kpcmedia.com BUTLER — Gunfire rings out in the hallways of the school. In the office doorway lies a school resource officer. A few feet down the hallway is a student, facedown — another shooting victim. In the distance, more gunfire is heard as the shooter goes from room to room, leaving more victims in his wake. In one room, two student victims can be seen holding hands, as if trying to comfort the other. Spent shell casings are strewn about the hallways as more students fall victim to the sniper. Police officers — more and more by the second — arrive and enter the building, armed with shotguns and rifles. This scenario has taken place in more than one school across the country in the past 15 years. On this Oct. 15 morning, the shooting is at Eastside Junior-Senior High School, but it is only a drill, conducted by Indiana State Police, the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department and Butler Police, as teachers, principals and staff members from Eastside and Butler and Riverdale elementary schools observed.
Jeff Jones
Armed police officers go through the Eastside hallways as teachers and staff look on during a training exercise Oct. 15. The drill was conducted by Indiana State Police, the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department and Butler Police. “It’s something I hope always remains an exercise and something no one has to come through and face in a real-life situation,” Superintendent Dr.
Jeff Stephens said. “For the staff, I think how much time it seems to take is very eye-opening,” he said. “On TV, (police are) there
within 30 seconds, the situation is resolved, and you go on with life. That’s not how it works.” ➤ Drill, Page 6
Butler train victim still critical BY JEFF JONES jjones@kpcmedia.com BUTLER — Butler resident Terry Gordon is described as a fun-loving, caring person, according to a family member. Gordon, 36, has opened her eyes and talked to family members as she remains hospitalized in critical condition at a Fort Wayne hospital. Gordon was hit by a freight train in the early morning hours of Oct. 12 west of the downtown Norfolk Southern railroad crossing in Butler. “She opened her eyes for a few seconds at a time (Wednesday),” said brother-in-law Brent Lopez.
Gordon talking with family members Thursday night, Lopez reported Gordon was talking to family members. Although she is on a breathing machine for assistance, Gordon is able to breathe on her own, he said. Since she was struck, Gordon has undergone multiple surgeries, including having a steel plate inserted into her foot and plastic
surgery to repair facial fractures, he said. Gordon has lived in Butler for about five years, attends church locally, and works for Maintenance on Wheels. Gordon “She’s just fun-loving,” Lopez said in describing Gordon. “She loves everybody, and she loves life. She prays for everybody else before she prays for herself. She’s all about family and God. She’s a great person.” An MRI was scheduled to
determine the extent of Gordon’s brain injuries, he said. She has several fractures from head to toe, and there is no date yet for her to be removed from intensive care. Only family members are allowed to visit Gordon at this time. Butler Police are conducting an investigation into the circumstances of the incident and to determine if any foul play was involved, Police Chief Jim Nichols said. The train was traveling at about 50 mph when the engineer and conductor spotted Gordon on the foggy morning, Lopez said. The train was moving at about 20 mph when it struck Gordon, Nichols reported.
Council approves waterworks project BY JEFF JONES jjones@kpcmedia.com BUTLER — A major Butler waterworks improvement project
moved one step closer to reality Monday. Acting on earlier recommendations from the Board of Works and
CYCLO-CROSS BIKE
BUTLER — The Butler Bulletin has a new email address for your church, club or group to share its news and photos. The new email address is jjones@ kpcmedia.com. News items must be submitted by noon Friday. News items may also be faxed to the attention of Jeff Jones at 925-2625. THE
Butler Bulletin P.O. Box 39 Butler, IN 46721 PHONE: 868-5501
Jeff Jones
Chad Tieman, left, a cyclo-cross bike enthusiast, instructs Eastside eighth-grade student Joe Firestine on gear-shifting on the lightweight, competition bike during a recent physical education program. Later, Firestine took a spin over a course in Butler’s Maxton Park.
Public Safety, the City Council — with Ron Baker, Jerry Eldridge, Eric Johnson and Larry Moore present — approved separate measures to proceed with the project and sell municipal bonds to pay the cost, not to exceed $1.4 million. This project calls for replacing approximately 2,000 feet of water main in the 100 and 200 blocks of South Broadway, and approximately 1,000 feet of water main along East Green Street near Eastside Junior-Senior High School and the Norfolk Southern railroad tracks. It is believed South Broadway water main is at least 100 years old, and has been repaired many times, particularly in the past several years. In other business, the City Council approved the following measures: • The final reading to rezone the Walter Prosser property along C.R. 61 from industrial to agricultural use; • The renewal of a lease with DeKalb Health for EMS quarters at the Butler fire station. The monthly lease will remain at $650; and • A request from the Butler Police Department to participate in Operation Pullover. Off-duty
Aging Butler water main to be replaced officer salaries will be paid for with a grant. Leaf pick-up has begun in Butler, according to Mayor Ron Walter and Clerk-Treasurer Angela Eck. Residents are asked to rake leaves to the curb, but not into the street. The Butler-Wilmington Fire Territory board will meet at 7 p.m. Nov. 14 at the fire station. In the Board of Works meeting, city planner Steve Bingham reported he and Butler’s building inspector identified several properties that need attention and may require action by the board’s unsafe building committee. One vacant industrial property — the former Engineered Materials building — and several residential properties were identified. While he was not present Monday, street superintendent Ted Miller was “not happy” that API Construction has delayed street paving until early November, Eck said. Street work was slated to begin Oct. 14.