FALL SPORTS: Eastside athletics earn several honors, MORE ON PAGE 3
TUESDAY NOVEMBER 5, 2013
THE
Butler An edition of
The
Bulletin
147th YEAR — ISSUE #45 On the web at: kpcnews.com
75 cents Butler, Indiana ESTABLISHED IN 1866
Eastside band 10th at Mid-States finals
File photo by Jeff Jones
Eastside’s Marching Blazer Pride band performs in a recent contest. The Blazers placed 10th at the Mid-States Class A championships in Cincinnati, Ohio this past Saturday.
COMMUNITY EVENTS Veterans Day parade is Saturday GARRETT — The DeKalb County Veterans Day parade is planned in Garrett at 1 p.m. Saturday. The parade will begin at the Garrett American Legion Post 178, 515 W. Fifth Ave., and end at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post at 118 N. Cowen St. Parade line-up will be at noon at the legion. The parade will travel east on Fifth Avenue and north on Cowen Street to the VFW Post where auxiliary members will host a luncheon.
AIDS review committee to meet BUTLER — The DeKalb County Eastern Community School District’s AIDS and Wellness Committee will meet at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 12, in the conference room at Eastside Junior-Senior High School, 603 E. Green St. in Butler. The emphasis of this meeting will be AIDS. The public is welcome to attend.
Spencerville Thanksgiving dinner is Saturday SPENCERVILLE — The annual Spencerville community Thanksgiving dinner will take place at 5:30 p.m. Saturday at the Spencerville Community Club. This is a free event, and everyone is invited to enjoy the evening meal. The menu includes turkey, ham, mashed potatoes and gravy, dressing and drink. Visitors are asked to bring a dish to share. There will be bingo. For more information, call Roberta Carnahan, 238-4532.
Veterans’ questions to be answered BUTLER — DeKalb County veterans’ service officer Brian Lamm will visit American Legion Post 202, 118 N. Broadway, from 6-8 p.m., the second Monday of every month to answer questions regarding benefits and issues. This is open to any area veteran or widow of a veteran.
Submit your news BUTLER — The deadline for news items is noon Friday. News items may sent by email to jjones@kpcmedia.com or by fax to 925-2625. THE
Butler Bulletin P.O. Box 39 Butler, IN 46721 PHONE: 868-5501
BY JEFF JONES jjones@kpcmedia.com CINCINNATI, Ohio — Eastside’s Marching Blazer Pride band put a nice cap to its marching season with a 10th-place finish at the Class A Mid-States Band Association championships. The contest, featuring 25 bands from Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky, took place at Shea Stadium at Norwood High School in Cincinnati. Of the 25 bands competing, 10 were named finalists by one set of judges and performed again at night for a new judging panel. Eastside tied for seventh in the preliminary round. “The Eastside Marching Pride gave two of their strongest performances of the year,” said director Damon Newell. “I can say, with complete honesty, their final performance of ‘These Gifts’ was their very best performance of the show. “To finish the season having
them play it as well as they did will be a memory they will have for the rest of their lives,” Newell added. “I was incredibly impressed with the kids,” he said. “It was a great experience overall, and the kids had a blast doing it.” Mid-States shows are based on band size, not school size. Class A was for bands with 35 musicians or less. First-place Alter, Ohio swept caption awards for music general effect (two sets of scores), general effect, music performance and visual performance. Second place went to Rising Sun of Indiana; followed by Holmes, Ky.; Archbishop McNicholas, Ohio; Taylor, Ohio; Nelson Co., Ky.; Bullit East, Ky.; Norwood; Crawfordsville and Eastside. Indiana bands placing were: 13. Eastern (Pekin), 14. Bluffton, 16. Blue River Valley; 17. Morristown and 19. Southwestern (Hanover).
Utility projects coming BY JEFF JONES jjones@kpcmedia.com BUTLER — Two forthcoming infrastructure projects will make life uncomfortable, but better off in the long run, City of Butler officials indicate. Monday’s Board of Works meeting was devoted to water main and force main projects that will impact the downtown area. The water main project will replace a 100-year-old main along Broadway that has been repaired many times as it ages. City superintendent Ted Miller said he wants to have meetings
with residents and business owners in advance of the projects to inform them what to expect in the coming months. There will be some short-term water service interruptions when contractors connect to the new main, and downtown street traffic will also be impacted. Miller recently met with representatives of Bowen Engineering and Wessler Engineering, who are developing project plans. Plans could be ready by the end of this year or in early 2014, he said. At the same time, Donahue &
Fall property taxes due Nov. 12 AUBURN — DeKalb County fall property taxes are due Tuesday, Nov. 12, DeKalb County Treasurer Holly Albright said. The courthouse will be closed Monday, Nov. 11, in observance of Veterans Day, she added. Taxpayers will not receive separate bills for the fall installments. Both the spring and fall installments were mailed in April. Anyone who has billing questions may contact the treasurer’s office at 925-2712 or visit its website at co.dekalb.in.us to view property tax information online. Albright said paying taxes recently became easier. People now may pay taxes online directly from a checking or savings account. Albright said the county is pleased to present a new, online tax payment system that is quick, easy and free of charge.
“We have tried to make tax payment as convenient as possible and offer a variety of payment options in one stop,” she said. To pay online, visit co.dekalb.in.us. Tax payments may be made in person at the treasurer’s office on the second floor of the courthouse in downtown Auburn. Business hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. Payments also may be mailed to the DeKalb County Treasurer, 100 S. Main St., Auburn, IN 46706. Payment is considered on time when postmarked by the U.S. post office on or before the installment due date of Nov. 12. A taxpayer may enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope for a receipt. Otherwise, a cancelled check will serve as a receipt. Penalties are assessed for ➤ Taxes, Page 5
Associates will soon begin prep work for the Steel Dynamics force main project. That project includes extending a force main along Railroad, Beech and Green streets to the wastewater treatment plant. Currently, the force main stops just west of the downtown area, and has been linked to odor issues during periods of high volume discharges. During the City Council meeting, city planner Steve Bingham said Habitat for Humanity officials have made inquiries about possibly rehabilitating some vacant homes in Butler
as a possible option to building new homes. There has been no official action, just preliminary discussion, he said, and owners of vacant houses would need to be contacted to see if they would be willing to sell to Habitat. Miller expressed concern about basketball hoops, boats, trailers and campers being parked or located in or close to streets. The proximity of those items can interfere with street cleaning and plowing, and Miller doesn’t want to be responsible for damages. ➤ Projects, Page 6
COAT DRIVE RECEIVES DONATION
Jeff Jones
The Butler Church of Christ received a $400 donation from Autoline Industries of Butler for its upcoming coat giveaway. The coat giveaway will take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 16 at the church, 173 W. Oak St. At left, Autoline representatives Johnnette Berry and Ammie Mellott present their check to Church of Christ representatives Bob and Cathy Walker and Wilbur and Jean Camp.
Time running out to complete GED testing FORT WAYNE — The deadline to take the current General Educational Development (GED) test is approaching. Many northeast Indiana residents in 11 counties could lose the work they’ve already done toward passing the GED test if they don’t do so by Dec. 13, an official with the Northeast Indiana Regional Workforce Investment Board said. That’s because the state intends to have a new high school equivalency assessment in place by the first of year. That test, said workforce development board Executive Vice President of Strategic Initiatives Gary Gatman, will be much more rigorous than the current one. The Indiana Department of Workforce Development and the Indiana Business Research Center estimate more than 60,000 Hoosiers — including those in DeKalb, LaGrange, Noble and Steuben counties — between ages 18-64 would be required to take the new test if they don’t achieve high school equivalency before Dec. 13.
The workforce investment board, through the WorkOne centers it manages and with the assistance of community partners, offers free GED preparation classes at locations across northeast Indiana. The board and its partners have set up a GED hotline to field questions about the new test or the free GED services. People can call 469-4411 for information. The new test, called the Test Assessing Secondary Completion (TASC) and offered by CTB/ McGraw-Hill, will be aligned more closely with college and career readiness and industry needs. Gatman said that is a good thing for northeast Indiana in its push to elevate economic stability by increasing overall educational attainment and skills-building. “Employers are going to look more favorably on people with more skills,” Gatman said. Just as important, he said, is that obtaining high school equivalency in any form enhances a person’s standard of living. “The jobs you’ll be able to
compete for pay better,” he said. “The benefit packages with those jobs are more significant. The retirement options available to you become more meaningful.” The current GED test includes five sections. If participants don’t pass all five, they must study anew the portions they’ve failed and retake those sections. Gatman encouraged those who are in the process of obtaining a GED to finish the work before the new test kicks in. “It would be a shame to lose all of the hard effort you’ve put in toward ensuring a better future for yourself and for your family,” Gatman said. It is his hope that even after the new test begins, more people will pursue achieving high school equivalency. “The stepped-up skills demands of industry are growing rapidly,” Gatman said. “It is vital that people bolster their chances of workplace success through formal education and skills training.” ➤ GED testing, Page 6
GED class locations: DeKalb County Ashley Community Center, 500 S. Gonser Ave.; 4-7 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays; 9 a.m. to noon Tuesdays and Thursdays. Kathy Pfister, instructor. Auburn Presbyterian Church, 111 W. Twelfth St.; 8-11 a.m. and 4-7 p.m., Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Linda Behrman (a.m.), Karen Noll (p.m.) and Patty Jue (p.m.), instructors. Butler Elementary School, 1025 S. Broadway; 5-9 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Mark Schea, instructor. Garrett United Methodist Church, 110 W. Houston St.; 5-9 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Shalon Schea, instructor.