BASKETBALL BEGINS: Eastside girls lose opening game, MORE ON PAGE 3
TUESDAY NOVEMBER 19, 2013
THE
Butler An edition of
The
COMMUNITY EVENTS
Bulletin
147th YEAR — ISSUE #47 On the web at: kpcnews.com
75 cents Butler, Indiana ESTABLISHED IN 1866
Police arrest 3 on meth charges BY JEFF JONES jjones@kpcmedia.com BUTLER — Three people are facing charges after Butler Police broke up a suspected methamphetamine lab just before 11 p.m. Saturday, Police Chief Jim Nichols said. Police arrested the following individuals: • Kelsey M. Bates, 20, of the 300 block of East Main Street, Butler, on charges of manufacturing methamphetamine within 1,000 feet of a park, Class A felony; possession of a Schedule IV controlled substance, Class C felony; possession of synthetic marijuana and possession of paraphernalia, both Class A misdemeanors; • Derrick H. McHale, 21, of the 3900 block
One released pending further investigation Bates
McHale
Oberlin
of S.R. 1, Butler, on charges of manufacturing methamphetamine within 1,000 feet of a park, a Class A felony; possession of methamphetamine within 1,000 feet of a park, a Class B felony; and
• Ashley D. Oberlin, 28, of the 400 block of South Broadway, Butler, on charges of manufacturing methamphetamine within 1,000 feet of a park, a Class A felony and possession of methamphetamine within 1,000 feet of a ➤ Arrest, Page 5
Inside today’s edition The 2013-2014 Eastside winter sports preview is enclosed in today’s edition, featuring stories about the boys and girls basketball teams, boys and girls bowling teams and varsity wrestling teams.
Leaf pickup taking place in Butler BUTLER — City crews will pick up leaves as they are available around Butler. Residents are asked to rake their leaves to the curb, but not into the street.
Church plans soup kitchen Dec. 14 BUTLER — Seabreeze Ministries, 404 S. Federal St., will host a community soup kitchen from noon to 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 14. The event will take place at the church, located just south of the Norfolk Southern railroad tracks, between Depot and Walnut streets.
Sewer district board meets Wednesday SPENCERVILLE — The St. Joe-Spencerville Regional Sewer District board of directors will meet at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Spencerville Community Club. This meeting is being held a week earlier than normal to avoid conflicting with the Thanksgiving holiday.
A ‘Treasure’ in Butler BY JEFF JONES jjones@kpcmedia.com BUTLER — Dave and Janet Ermis have a love for restoring old structures. The former Elkhart residents recently acquired the former Higley Book Store building and have opened a new business, Treasures on Oak Street, 108 W. Oak St. Janet’s brother, Daniel Hardman and his wife Lisa have started three businesses in Butler in recent years. One day, the Ermises came for a visit and fell in love with the building. They bought the building in July and began remodeling the late 1880s two-story structure. Treasures features antiques, repurposed furniture, children’s books, and Christmas items are now on display. “It’s very eclectic,” Janet Ermis said in describing the business. “We like old, historic things,” Dave Ermis explained. “We had a historic home in Elkhart. Before relocating to Butler, they operated a similar store in Elkhart, and displayed talents of
local artists. They’d like to offer space for Butler and area artists as well. “It’s lots of fun,” she said. “Maybe they don’t have a place to show their work.” The front half of the building is currently open for retail space, but another portion is slated to be finished soon. Additional ideas include offering consignment opportunities and maybe coffee and pastries. Business hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday and Friday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. Janet has a degree in interior design, and Dave was a professional painter for 15 years. Their previous home dated to 1912. “We went to an open house one Sunday (to see it),” she explained. “We went back and looked at it. We had no plans to move, but it was a gorgeous, historic house. “When we saw this building (the Higley building), we weren’t planning to move to Butler,” Janet continued. ➤ Treasure, Page 5
Jeff Jones
Dave and Janet Ermis are owners of Treasures on Oak Street, located in the former Higley Book Store building, 108 W. Oak St. The business features repurposed furniture, children’s books and antiques.
Police plan holiday patrols
OLDEST VETERAN HONORED
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.
Historical photos wanted to print Do you have old photographs of the Butler, St. Joe, Spencerville, Newville, Concord, Orange, Moore or Artic areas? Please allow us to scan and print them so we can share them with readers throughout the year. Photos will appear periodically in The Butler Bulletin and online. Photos can be scanned and returned while you wait by visiting the Star office, 118 W. Ninth St., Auburn, during business hours.
Submit your news 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. THE
Butler Bulletin P.O. Box 39 Butler, IN 46721 PHONE: 868-5501
Jeff Jones
Butler resident Kenneth Graham, 98, was honored as DeKalb County’s oldest veteran during Veterans Day services recently. Graham accepts a decorative plate from DeKalb County veteran service officer Brian Lamm, left, and American Legion Post 202 commander Ted Miller. Graham served in World War II.
BUTLER — Thanksgiving is one of the busiest travel periods in Indiana and local, county, and state police are adding extra patrols to increase safety on the state’s streets and highways. “Until Dec. 1, we will have saturation patrols and DUI checkpoints as part of a comprehensive effort to curb impaired driving,” said Assistant Chief Matt Traster of the Butler City Police Department. “Anyone found to be driving impaired will be arrested. Also, occupants not using seat belts or who are not properly restrained will be cited and given a ticket. ➤ Patrols, Page 5
City officials want to meet merchants BY JEFF JONES jjones@kpcmedia.com BUTLER — City officials hope to meet with downtown merchants soon to explain the forthcoming water main replacement project. Future Butler Board of Works and City Council meetings will include engineering firms presenting plans for the Steel Dynamics force main and the water main replacement, city superintendent Ted Miller told the Board of Works Monday. He wants to meet with merchants so they have first-hand information about the project and what steps will be taken so customers can still access their businesses during construction next year. The project will replace an aging section of water main — possibly more than 100 years old — in the 100 and 200 blocks of
Project to include sidewalks, maybe new street lights South Broadway. In addition to water main replacement, sidewalks will be replaced, and there’s a chance street lights in those two blocks will be replaced as well, Miller said. The SDI force main will be connected directly to Butler’s wastewater treatment plant. Currently, the force main ties into Butler’s sewer system just west of
the downtown area. All of this work needs to be finished before the Indiana Department of Transportation comes through to mill and repave S.R. 1 (Broadway) in 2015. “It’s going to be a busy year and a half,” Miller said. The Board of Works approved a $34,850 quote from Lentz Enterprises to excavate next to one of the digester tanks at the wastewater plant so some valves can be replaced. The valves are located 14 feet underground and are located next to the tank, Miller explained. “We don’t have the equipment or the safety procedures to take something like this on,” he said. Two other contractors did not respond to requests for bids. Miller said a Lentz representative doesn’t believe the work will cost the full amount. In other business, the Board
of Works approved a $29,970 bid from The Baldus Co. of Fort Wayne for an electronic message sign in front of the Butler Fire Department. Firefighters have pledged $7,000 of their own money, Clerk-Treasurer Angela Eck said. The remaining funds will come from the Butler-Wilmington Fire Territory budget. Two other fire department requests are pending, subject to state approval for additional appropriations: • For $8,175, the department wants to replace a hydraulic motor that powers its extrication tools. The current motor is more than 20 years old; and • For $5,988, the department wants to replace the keyless entry system at the fire station and provide similar access for DeKalb EMS personnel to their quarters.