Serving the Steuben County 101 lakes area since 1857
Northeast Indiana given a healthy report in ‘state of region’ presentation
Weather Cloudy, rain expected, high in the mid-50s. Low Tonight 40. Page A6
Page A5 WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2013
Angola, Indiana
GOOD MORNING Trine Christmas show is Saturday ANGOLA — The Trine Music Department Christmas Show will take place Saturday at 3 p.m. in the Dale Hughes Auditorium, 317 S. Wayne St., Suite 2J, Angola. The Brass Ensemble opens the concert and will be followed by the University Choir. The Chamber Orchestra wraps up the afternoon event with a selection of holiday favorites, including “O Come, O Come Emmanuel,” “Cantique de Noel” also known as “O Holy Night,” and “Wizards in Winter” as performed by Trans-Siberian Orchestra. A sing-along will feature a selection of songs including “Joy to the World,” “O Come All Ye Faithful” and “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.” Admission is free. Trine will present two other free concerts this weekend. The Applied Studies Recital and Percussion Ensemble Concert are at 7 p.m. Friday in Fabiani Theatre in the Rick L. and Vicki L. James University Center. The Trine University Big Band will perform traditional holiday music during the Annual Holiday Community Jazz Concert at 4 p.m. Sunday in Fabiani Theatre.
Mayor opposes gay proposal Hickman 1 of 11 Indiana leaders in effort to defeat constitution change FROM STAFF REPORTS
INDIANAPOLIS — Mayors from across Indiana — including Angola’s Dick Hickman — on Tuesday stood with Freedom Indiana and spoke out against House Joint Resolution 6, the proposed amendment to the Indiana Constitution that would permanently define marriage and would remove existing protections under law for same-sex and unmarried couples and families. The bipartisan group of 11
Indiana mayors oppose the amendment for a variety of reasons but they all agree the language should not be added to the state’s constitution. “We’re proud to stand with these mayors from across our state as champions of freedom for all Hoosiers,” said Freedom Indiana campaign manager Megan Robertson. “They represent cities large and small, and they understand that this amendment will make it harder for them to
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Index • Classified.....................................................B8 Life................................................................B6 Obituaries.....................................................A4 Opinion ........................................................B4 Sports.................................................... B1-B3 Weather........................................................A6 TV/Comics ..................................................B7 Vol. 156 No. 333
build their local economies, recruit new residents and maintain existing protections for same-sex and unmarried couples.” Of the mayors Hickman that took a stand against the ban on same sex couple marriage, Angola was the smallest community. “Equality means equality for all. Equal rights means equal rights for all. To take these rights away from one group of people means we can take them away or deny them to anyone we don’t understand or agree with,”
Hickman said in a statement released by Freedom Indiana. Freedom Indiana is leading the fight against enactment of HJR-6. The resolution has already been approved by one legislature and must be approved by the end of the 2014 session before the proposed constitutional amendment could be put before the public for a vote in November. If the measure does not pass this upcoming legislative session it dies. If the language of the proposed amendment is altered and it is approved, the resolution will have to pass a second time in either 2015 or 2016 to be put on the ballot.
Crash charges studied Angola eyes fees for doing wreck reconstructions BY JENNIFER DECKER jdecker@kpcmedia.com
Include the pets in your holiday photos Are you going to include your cat and dog in your family Christmas card photo? Do you like candid photos of your pets on the holidays? Columnist Annette Kleinhenz offers tips taking pet photos.
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the first place. “We believe that in America, nobody should have to worry about going broke because somebody in their family or they got sick,” Obama said, flanked by people the White House says have benefited from the law. Despite Obama’s sunny presentation, officials are furiously working behind the scenes to rectify an unresolved issue with enrollment data that could become a significant headache after the first of the year. Insurers say much of the enrollment data they’re receiving is practically useless, meaning some consumers might not be able to get access to benefits on Jan. 1, the date their
ANGOLA — The city will consider writing an ordinance establishing rates to help recuperate some costs associated with law enforcement crash reconstruction. Angola Police Officer Matt Kling made a presentation Monday to the Angola Common Council about what goes into reconstructing an accident and costs involved. Kling has been a reconstructionist for three years. Reconstruction is necessary for a severe crash involving a fatality or serious injury. “Reconstruction determines criminal involvement or who is at fault,” Kling said. He said legally, a crash report is required if there is an injury or more than $1,000 in damage. Currently, the city charges $5 for reconstruction reports and another $5 for associated photos. On average, Kling said a reconstruction costs around $1,100, not including extra law enforcement personnel. Kling told the council a recent accident involving a car and semi truck cost $480 in manpower. He then spent 2 1/2 days reconstructing the crash. “The city and county have been working together on reconstruction for the last few years,” he said. Kling said the Steuben County
SEE HEALTH CARE, PAGE A6
SEE FEES, PAGE A6
JUDY OXENGER JOHNSTON
Foggy morning The fog became rather thick early Monday as commuters made their way to and from work and school. Here, westbound traffic on Toledo
Street in Fremont make their way along the soupy atmosphere.
Obama: Health law working WASHINGTON (AP) — Seeking to regroup from his health care law’s disastrous rollout, President Barack Obama on Tuesday insisted that the sweeping overhaul is working and warned Republican critics that he would fight any efforts to strip away its protections. “We’re not repealing it as long as I’m president,” Obama said during a health care event at the White House. “If I have to fight another three years to make sure this law works, then that’s what I’ll do.” Earlier Tuesday, the administration released a 50-state report saying that nearly 1.5 million people were found eligible for Medicaid during October. As website problems
depressed sign-ups for subsidized private coverage, that safety-net program for low-income people saw a nearly 16 percent increase in states that have agreed to expand it, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. The White House is trying to cast the health care law in a positive light after the first two months of enrollment for the centerpiece insurance exchanges were marred with technical problems. With the majority of problems with the sign-up website resolved, by the accounting of administration officials, Obama and his team plan to spend much of December trying to remind Americans why the administration fought for the law in
Emergency personnel plan for disaster BY AMY OBERLIN aoberlin@kpcmedia.com
ANGOLA — A bottle of potassium silver cyanide fell to the Angola High School chemistry room floor when the sprinkler system activated. The fire started around an electrical outlet and spread rapidly to a nearby waste basket. A thick hydrogen cyanide gas mixed with the flames, smoke and spurting water as people struggled to exit the room. Choking, sick students gasped on the sidewalk outside the school as sirens approached
GATSBY
from the distance and teachers tried to take tally of approximately 900 freshmen through seniors. At 10:30 a.m., several students and faculty were unaccounted for … This scene played out Tuesday morning, but not at Angola High School. It was a tabletop exercise attended by around 30 public employees and members of Steuben County Emergency Management’s Local Emergency Planning Committee. They met in the training room at the Angola Public Safety Building and spent four hours talking over the “what
29th Annual
Saturday, December 7, 2013 at 8:30 PM
ifs” of a hazardous materials incident at Angola High School. One of the top considerations was the chaos that would occur when frantic parents began descending on the campus to pick up their their children. With texting and social media, word could spread to the public faster than emergency crews could get there. And how would the school district keep track of multiple student patients that had to go through a decontamination unit prior to being taken to a hospital?
Metropolitan School District of Steuben County safety director Rob Bach, transportation director Scott Poor and custodian Howard McKeever attended the tabletop exercise. They provided input and shared plans already in place for major catastrophes. Representatives from Angola Fire Department, Angola Police Department, Steuben County Sheriff’s Department, the American Red Cross, Steuben County Emergency Medical Service, county dispatch, Cameron
Cameron Hospital Benefit Ball Potawatomi Inn, Pokagon State Park
Hors d’oeuvres & Cash Bar Entertainment by Trine Jazz Band followed by Blammo Make reservations at www.cameronmch.com
SEE DISASTER, PAGE A6