Serving the Steuben County 101 lakes area since 1857
Fitness With Friends Group classes help individuals stay on track Page C1
Weather Heavy snowfall today. High of 25. Low of -10. Page B8 Angola, Indiana
kpcnews.com
SUNDAY, JANUARY 5, 2014
$1.25
Dangerous Weather
GOOD MORNING Large trucks banned on Toll Road through Monday GRANGER — The Indiana Toll Road Concessions Co. has issued a winter weather ban for triple, long double, high profile oversize permit loads and low profile steel haulers, effective Saturday, an IRTCC news release said. The ban remains in effect through Monday, noon. This ban will be re-evaluated prior to Monday at noon for possible extension. The ban is in effect for the entire length of the Indiana Toll Road and only pertains to the vehicles listed.
Kpcnews.com content free during winter storm Content on kpcnews.com will be available for free for the duration of the severe winter weather. Although a login box still shows on the website, logging in will not be required to view any web stories. E-editions beginning with today’s newspapers will be posted in the “Free Editions” section. Anyone experiencing difficulty viewing content at kpcnews.com should contact online editor James Tew at jtew@kpcmedia.com.
City falls to al-Qaida BAGHDAD (AP) — The city center of Iraq’s Fallujah has fallen completely into the hands of fighters from the al-Qaida-linked Islamic State in Iraq and Levant, police said Saturday, yet another victory for the hardline group that has made waves across the region in recent days. ISIL is also one of the strongest rebel units in Syria, where it has imposed a strict version of Islamic law in territories it holds and kidnapped and killed anyone it deems critical of its rule.
PHOTO GALLERIES Check out photos from area high school basketball games kpcnews.com Multimedia > Photo Galleries
Contact Us •
Extreme cold on its way BY DENNIS NARTKER dnartker@kpcmedia.com
KENDALLVILLE — Buried deep. And dangerously cold to shovel out. Northeast Indiana could see 11-14 inches of snow by Monday morning, followed by bitterly cold wind chills through Tuesday night on top of last week’s 7-10 inches of snowfall. Saturday the National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning until 1 a.m. Monday and a windchill warning from 1 a.m. Monday to 8 p.m. Tuesday. Tonight’s low will be 4 below zero, and Monday’s high will be 0 with 22 below zero Monday night. Tuesday’s high is expected to be zero with 8 below zero Tuesday night. Wind chills could be 30 to 45 below tonight through Tuesday. Ball State Meteorologist David Call said the cold snap might be one for the record books for Indiana. “This could bring the coldest temperatures in two decades, creating extremely hazardous conditions,” he said. “This could be one of the coldest air masses to affect Indiana and the Midwest since January 1994.” Today’s snowfall will be followed by high winds causing blowing and drifting snow and near whiteout conditions. Health officials and police warn area residents to be prepared for the extreme cold. “Stay inside, if possible. Don’t go out when it’s that cold,” said Cheryl Munson, Noble County Health Department nurse. Indiana State Police public information officer Sgt. Ron Galaviz agreed with Munson. “If you must go out be prepared.
Southern Indiana home gutted by fire early Saturday
PATRICK REDMOND
Two horses tied up outside the LaGrange County Courthouse Friday morning are enveloped in a cloud of steam created by the horses exhaling. Subzero temperatures blanketed the area Friday morning and is expected to raise through the weekend. FEMA RECOMMENDS precautions for extreme weather, creating car kits, SEE PAGE A5.
Dress appropriately. Check the road conditions, and take along an emergency preparedness kit.” Those traveling be prepared for road closures and bitterly cold wind chills. Blowing and drifting SEE COLD, PAGE A5
“This could be one of the coldest air masses to affect Indiana and the Midwest since January 1994. ” David Call Ball State Meteorologist
•
Beirut bombings linked to al-Qaida BEIRUT (AP) — An al-Qaida linked group claimed responsibility on Saturday for a suicide car bombing last week in a Shiite-dominated neighborhood in Lebanon, as its fighters fought other rebels in neighboring Syria in the most serious infighting since the uprising began. It was the first time at the al-Qaida linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant claimed responsibility for an attack in Lebanon, underscoring how the ever more complex Syrian war is increasingly spilling over into its smaller neighbor. The group may have rushed to claim responsibility to try to divert attention from the infighting in Syria, said Aymenn al-Tamimi, an expert on the country’s militant groups.
House fire kills 3
At least five people were killed in the Thursday attack that targeted a south Beirut neighborhood that is bastion of support for the Shiite group Hezbollah. ISIL vowed more attacks. It was “the first small payment of a heavy account which these criminal hypocrites should wait for,” it said in a statement, referring to Hezbollah. The statement was posted on a website used by Sunni militants. The al-Qaida group sought to punish Hezbollah — and their ordinary Shiite Lebanese backers — for sending fighters to Syria to shore up forces of the Syrian president Bashar Assad, who is trying to quell an armed uprising against his rule. The bombing was the latest in a wave of attacks to hit Lebanon
in recent months. The violence has targeted both Sunni and Shiite neighborhoods, further stoking sectarian tensions that are already running high as each community in Lebanon lines up with its brethren in Syria on opposing sides of the war. It also reflected how Lebanese are turning on each other. On Saturday, Lebanese authorities confirmed the identity of the suicide bomber, the state news agency reported. Local media identified him as a Lebanese citizen from a northern border town with Syria. Thursday’s bombing came a week after a car bombing in Beirut killed prominent Sunni politician Mohammed Chatah. The top aide to ex-Prime Minister Saad Hariri SEE BOMBINGS, PAGE A5
NEW ALBANY, Ind. (AP) — Three children under the age of 10 were killed early Saturday when a fire gutted the room of the southern Indiana house where they were sleeping, authorities said. A fourth child was injured and hospitalized, Floyd County coroner Dr. Leslie Knable said. She also said the children’s mother was with that youngster at an undisclosed hospital. New Albany Fire Marshal Chris Koehler told The Courier-Journal of Louisville, Ky., that the bodies of the children, all under age 10, were found in a front room of the home where they had apparently been sleeping. Authorities had not released the victims’ names as of Saturday afternoon. He said the rest of the house in the Ohio River city just north of Louisville sustained major heat and smoke damage from the fire, which was reported just after 2 a.m. Koehler said firefighters had to force their way into the back of the home. Lee Lipford, who told the newspaper she was a cousin of the children’s mother, said the family is in agony. “The whole family’s hurting. Everybody loved those kids like they were their own kids,” Lipford said. Koehler said the cause of the fire remains under investigation, including whether the children’s mother and another adult were inside or outside at the time of the fire. Knable said that she believes the woman and the adult who lived at the home were outside when they saw flames and reported the fire. Neighbor Marshaun Long told The Courier-Journal the woman and her children lived in a neighboring apartment complex but that they frequently visited the home and played in the neighborhood. “The whole block has been crying,” Long said. “I sat my kids down and talked to them. It’s a horrible thing. My kids never seen me shed a tear until today.”
The Herald Republican 45 S. Public Square Angola, IN 46703 Phone: (260) 665-3117 Fax: (260) 665-2322 Classifieds: (toll free) (877) 791-7877 Circulation: (800) 717-4679
Index • Classified.............................................. D5-D6 Life................................................................ C1 Obituaries.....................................................A4 Opinion ........................................................B6 Business ......................................................B8 Sports.................................................... B1-B4 Weather.......................................................B8 Vol. 157 No. 4
Stutzman blames nation’s problems on Obama BY MIKE MARTURELLO mmarturello@kpcmedia.com
ANGOLA — U.S. Rep. Marlin Stutzman, R-3rd, said many of the country’s problems could be tied directly to the Obama administration. The Howe congressman who is in his second term said President Barack Obama has not managed the country well in a number of areas, particularly the Affordable Care Act, which has been beset with problems when individual signup was rolled out in October to a host of failures. Stutzman was speaking Saturday before a Steuben County Republican Breakfast Club audience at Timbers Steakhouse and Seafood in Angola. Stutzman said the ACA, also known as Obamacare, will hurt
people and the economy as it moves forward with its inception. The health insurance plans that were bought by some 2 million Americans started taking effect Jan. 1. “This is going to be the issue we talk about a lot and how do we fix it,” Stutzman said. While the president is making things up as he goes, Stutzman said, work will be done by Congress to change the program. As he theorized about how the ACA might evolve, Stutzman was asked if a system envisioned by Sen. Edward Kennedy, the late Massachusetts senator who was a champion of health care who preferred Medicare for all, would ever come about. “After Obamacare I don’t see SEE STUTZMAN, PAGE A5
U.S. Rep. Marlin Stutzman talks with Angola resident Bob Fitzwater, right, following the congressman’s talk with the Steuben County Republican Breakfast Club Saturday morning. MIKE MARTURELLO