RAILROADERS LOOK TO BUILD off last season, MORE ON PAGE 6
The Garrett Clipper An edition of The
SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO TOWN
By Sue Carpenter scarpenter@kpcmedia.com GARRETT — Efforts continue to determine which school calendar Garrett-Keyser-Butler Schools will follow next year. Tonya Weaver, director of administration and innovation, shared preliminary results of a survey completed by staff members with the school board Monday night. A calendar committee was formed in May to study and propose an academic calendar for the 2014-15 school year. Members include teachers, administrators, parents and school board members. Options include the traditional calendar with a two-week winter break and one-week spring break, with occasional days for during the
school year for holidays. A balanced calendar would reallocate school days across a calendar in a more even fashion, Weaver said. This option would shorten the time school is in session without a long break. A typical balanced calendar has nine weeks of instruction with a two-week break between sessions, during which an intercession is used to provide remediation or enrichment activities for students. Weaver emphasized the balanced calendar is not an all-year session, but offers more school year breaks and allows for a six- to seven-week summer break. Any calendar option would include 180 instructional days. Weaver said of the 111 staff members who completed the survey, about 67 percent prefer a balanced calendar. Other options are whether to align a calendar with other school districts. A meeting is planned next week to continue discussion, with the
bottom line to determine which option is best for students, she said. In other business Monday, Superintendent Dennis Stockdale reported the certified assessed valuation for the school corporation has dropped from $430 million to $323 million, which will result in higher tax rate. Stockdale said he would have a better hold of the numbers for next month’s meeting. The district will be offering retired Apple iPad devices at a sale next month for $65 apiece, according to technology director Grant Surfus. The first-generation, 16 GB iPads and power supplies are in good working order, sold as-is with no warranty, he said. Some applications may not work, because the devices are not capable of updating to current IOS. The devices will not be eligible for the school’s Bring Your Own Apple Device program due to application issues.
Garrett Clipper file photo
The Garrett Fire Department will escort Santa to town Friday morning.
Santa to visit Garrett GARRETT — Santa Claus will arrive in downtown Garrett on Friday, Nov. 29 at 11 a.m. The Garrett Fire Department will escort him to the Silver Screen Cinema, 111 S. Randolph St., where he will greet children inside. Children should bring their Christmas lists, and parents are welcome to take photos during this session. Santa will be giving free treats to all the kids, and Deb Argast will offer free face painting in the theater lobby. Donations of canned goods and other non-perishable food items are welcome. The donations will be taken to a local food bank. The Kiwanis Club is sponsoring Santa’s visit.
AUBURN — Jan Bauman has declared her intention to run for DeKalb County auditor in 2014. Current Auditor John Fetters will complete his second term at the end of 2014 and cannot seek a third term. Bauman began working in the auditor’s office in 1999 handling accounts payable. She said she has added many other responsibilities over the past 14 years, Bauman including: settlement, net assessed values, tax increment financing districts, abatements, annual abstract, property tax refunds, corrections of errors, deductions and exemptions and capital assets. Bauman has earned Bachelor of Science degrees in business and education. She is a member of the DeKalb County Republican Women and is the group’s treasurer-elect for 2014. She has been married to her husband, Mark, for 20 years. They have one daughter and reside in Auburn.
The Garrett Clipper P.O. Box 59 Garrett, IN 46738 Phone: 925-2611 ext. 45 Fax: 925-2625 attn: Garrett Clipper
VOL. 127 ISSUE #95 On the web at: kpcnews.com
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Photos by Sue Carpenter
ABOVE — Kindergarten student Addisyn Terry reads from a book to her grandmother, Deb Lepley and great-grandfather Herb Kleeman during Grandparents Day at J.E. Ober Elementary School Monday morning. AT RIGHT — David Schenker, right, shares a moment with his grandson, Nate Kromer, center. With them is Nate’s first-grade classmate M’Kenzii Prater.
Surfus said the devices can be used for Internet access, Facebook and other applications. A sale will be held Dec. 18 and 19 from 8-11 a.m. and 1-3 p.m. at the central office at 900 E. Warfield St. Those interested should enter the east door of the building. People may call Surfus at 357-7040 for information about the sale. Stockdale reported staff members have been trained to implement the school’s antibullying protocol. Complaints are reviewed and forwarded to school nurse Janis Arrington and guidance counselors. Any student charged with alleged bullying meets with administration, and in-school and out-of-school suspension is considered, if needed. “We will work swiftly with zero tolerance” for such behavior, Stockdale said. School calendar, Page 4
Babyneglect mom back in jail
GRANDPARENTS DAY VISITORS
Bauman will run for county auditor
NOVEMBER 27, 2013
School reviews calendar options Offering retired iPads for $65
NEWS IN BRIEF
WEDNESDAY
BY KATHRYN BASSETT kbassett@kpcmedia.com AUBURN — A former Auburn woman who went to prison for placing her newborn daughter in a trash bin will serve more time behind bars for using marijuana while on community corrections. During a hearing in DeKalb Superior Court I Monday, Alison Lesch, 23, of the 1200 block of East 10th Street, Indianapolis, admitted Lesch violating the terms of community corrections by providing a diluted urine sample that tested positive for THC, a chemical found in marijuana. She also admitted being delinquent on her community corrections user fees, owing $2,049 as of Nov. 15. In November 2010, Lesch was sentenced to eight years in prison for neglect of a dependent, a Class C felony, by Judge Kevin Wallace of DeKalb Superior Court I. Lesch admitted giving birth to a baby girl on Nov. 7, 2009, at her home in Auburn. The next day she put the child in a trash bag and placed her in a trash bin outside her East Nineteenth Street apartment. At her sentencing hearing, Lesch said she thought the baby was dead when she placed her in the trash bin. Police said the baby girl apparently spent nearly 2 ½ hours in the plastic Baby-neglect, Page 3
Airport road closing to get new legal look Commissioners to ask for legal review By Aaron Organ aorgan@kpcmedia.com AUBURN — DeKalb County commissioners on Monday said they will have an attorney take a second look into the legality of the DeKalb County Airport Authority closing C.R. 29 to make way for an airport runway extension. Resident Daniel Brown approached the commissioners in September to raise issues about the county’s power over the road closure. He met with commissioners again Monday to present two cases he said show the county can stop the closure of C.R. 29. The Airport Authority voted
this summer to close a stretch of the roadway between C.R. 60 and C.R. 62 to make way for a planned 2,000-foot extension of its runway to a total length of 7,000 feet. Brown said that in 1994, the St. Joseph County airport authority petitioned county officials to close a road for a runway extension. In that case, Brown said, the county officials approved the road closure by passing an ordinance. In 2006, Brown said, the Plymouth airport was working on a runway extension when the Federal Aviation Administration’s Great Lakes region spokesman reported that county leaders are the only power able to close a roadway. According to Brown, the spokesman said then that even if the FAA were to approve a project,
the administration could not make the county close a road. Brown said his research has shown that only the county executives — the commissioners — have the power to approve or deny petitions to close roads. Brown said he believes the DeKalb Airport Authority and the county’s attorney misinterpreted the airport governing body’s powers. Brown contends the airport agency only has power to petition the county commissioners for a road closure. The commissioners’ attorney, Jim McCanna, recused himself from the discussion at its outset because he also represents the Airport Authority. He said Monday a state law allows airports to close roadways. The Airport Authority
maintains it has followed the appropriate steps to close the roadway lawfully, authority member Brad Hartz told the commissioners Monday. “We have followed all of the legal requirements so that it is not a void decision,” Hartz said. “There should be no question that we operate in the appropriate manner when it comes to road closures. The resident should criticize us and the state for taking longer than necessary to pursue these projects, which have a direct economic benefit to the community.” The commissioners said they would meet with county attorney Don Stuckey and have him further Airport, Page 4