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Homecoming court is all set for Angola High School festivities
Weather Partly sunny, chance of showers, high in low 80s. Low tonight in 60s. Page A8
Page A2
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2013
Angola, Indiana
GOOD MORNING Locks, safety next Angola neighborhood watch topics ANGOLA — Home safety and locks will be discussed at Tuesday’s Angola Neighborhood Watch meeting. The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. at the International Oddfellow’s Lodge, 501 W. John St. A representative from Larry’s Lock & Safe Service will share information at the meeting. Also, an update on the neighborhood watch will be given. All neighborhoods in Angola and surrounding communities are invited to attend. Refreshments will be served. For more details, contact Cheryl Skiba-Jones at 665-3929.
Fremont to hold decorating contest to celebrate the season FREMONT — Fremont residents will be able to participate in a yard-decorating contest with a bicycle theme from Oct. 13-26. Maurice’s of the Outlet Shoppes at Fremont is sponsoring the contest. Also along the bicycle theme, the Fremont Area Chamber of Commerce is sponsoring a window-decorating contest downtown. Winners will be announced. To sign up for either contest, call 495-9079 or the Chamber at 495-9010.
Hotel may replace off-track betting parlor in Fort Wayne FORT WAYNE (AP) — A Fort Wayne businessman is proposing building a 110-room, $6 million hotel where an off-track betting parlor is now located. Jason Patel of Jaikar LLC has filed plans to build the hotel with the city’s Board of Zoning Appeals. It would be built at the site of Hoosier Park’s gambling parlor. Board approval is needed because the proposed four stories would exceed the 35-foot height limit imposed by the property’s zoning. Hoosier Park says in a statement it has no plans to close its Fort Wayne operation but is exploring options to relocate.
Stutzman in national glare Obama calls out Stutzman for comment BY MATT GETTS mgetts@kpcmedia.com
WASHINGTON — There is room for some horse trading over the now three-day-old government shutdown, says U.S. Rep. Marlin Stutzman, R-3rd. The first obstacle is to get the traders together. Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives have tied a government funding bill to the fate of the Affordable Health Care Act. Democrats in the U.S. Senate have balked at changing the bill that was signed into law in
March 2010. The two sides are now at an impasse, and Stutzman said it’s time that meaningful dialogue between the two sides begins in earnest. Stutzman “A shutdown is not a victory,” Stutzman, of Howe, said Thursday. “A shutdown is a failure of leadership. There has to be some sort of communication. Leadership in the House, Senate and White House — it’s up to them to
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Index • Classified.............................................. B6-B8 Life.................................................................A5 Obituaries.....................................................A4 Opinion ........................................................B4 Sports.................................................... B1-B3 Weather........................................................A8 TV/Comics ..................................................B5 Vol. 156 No. 273
Stutzman cancels with Steuben County GOP Breakfast Club ANGOLA — U.S. Rep. Marlin Stutzman, R-3rd, has canceled as the speaker at the Steuben County Republican Breakfast Club meeting Saturday at 8 a.m. at Timber’s Casual Dining and Lounge, 1212 W. Maumee St. Party spokeswoman Mary Trausch said Stutzman canceled late Thursday due to the budget talks in Washington, D.C. The breakfast will go on as scheduled. A replacement speaker is being sought.
SEE STUTZMAN, PAGE A8
Seventh graders get a day in outdoors
Fremont teacher talks at impasse
BY AMY OBERLIN aoberlin@kpcmedia.com
LAKE JAMES — Angola Middle School seventh graders spent a misty day at Pokagon State Park for the annual Duck Day, hosted by Delta Waterfowl. Hamilton and Fremont seventhgrade students heard about conservation and the outdoors on a warmer, sunnier day Wednesday. Duck Day is in its 18th year, made possible by local volunteers and donors, notably the Christel DeHaan Family Foundation. It is the largest youth conservation activity in the nation, involving around 500 students in two days. The DeHaan Foundation gives $6,000 to provide the outdoor venue, T-shirts, pizza and water for the children for a day. There are numerous other donors and helpers, including Angola High School Future Farmers of America members, who assist with some of the projects. “It’s wonderful to see where this funding goes,” said Keith DeHaan, who uses his discretionary funding through his family’s foundation for conservation projects such as Duck Day. “Kids who went through the first one, their kids are starting to come through.” The foundation’s focuses are education and children, and Duck Day is a “perfect fit,” DeHaan said. Founded in 1993, the Christel DeHaan Family Foundation, for which the board of directors includes Keith’s mother Christel and her children, provides support to arts and cultural organizations in Indiana. Since 1997, it has disseminated more than $50 million to arts, education, child welfare and human need organizations. “We have a love for the
BY JENNIFER DECKER jdecker@kpcmedia.com
AMY OBERLIN
Maddie Harrell, an Angola Middle School seventh grader, gets some wetland life from a pool on the beach at Pokagon State Park as Derek Craig of Delta Waterfowl explains the various creatures that can be found in a Steuben County swamp. Derek Craig of Delta Waterfowl holds two polywogs for Angola seventh graders to look at. Polywogs are frogs after they are tadpoles and before they are completely mature.
AMY OBERLIN
SEE DUCK DAY, PAGE A8
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FREMONT — Mediation is beginning between the Fremont Community Schools Teacher’s Association and Fremont Community Schools on a master contract. The teachers’ contract expired in June. The Fremont Community Schools Board of Education is meeting in an executive session Monday to discuss collective bargaining. The executive session will be followed by a special meeting and the master contract is the lone agenda item. Fremont School Superintendent Lori Vaughn said she could not comment on collective bargaining. The Herald Republican was unable to get comment from the teacher’s association. The Indiana Education Employment Relations Board oversees labor relations between public school teachers and school employers they serve. According to IEERB’s website, since a Fremont contract was not ratified and submitted, an impasse has been declared. The parties then have until Oct. 10 to ratify and submit a collective bargaining agreement. Once that impasse has been declared, IEERB appoints a mediator within 15 days. Mediation is mandatory with the cost split between both parties. During that mediation, the mediator will attempt to help the parties reach a settlement, but cannot force one. Mediation consists of one to three sessions and lasts up to 30 days starting from the date of the SEE FREMONT, PAGE A8
Greenhurst Golf Club to become ‘park-like’ BY DAVE KURTZ dkurtz@kpcnews.net
AUBURN — Ownership changes at Bridgewater Golf Club will result in a “park-like setting,” open to the public, for the west course formerly known as Greenhurst. Mark and Abby Millett of Auburn and former Auburn residents Rick and Vicki James have purchased the former Greenhurst course, Mark Millett said Thursday. “We purchased the property to prevent development of what we consider is pristine piece of land and a part of Auburn’s heritage,” Millett said. “We just want to conserve it. Our plans are not solidified yet,” he added. “Our present intent is to create a park-like setting for the future enjoyment of the community.” The Greenhurst course opened in the 1920s and was purchased by Bridgewater several years ago. It
will close as a golf course Oct. 31 and will not reopen next year. Keith Busse and Walt Fuller will continue as the two remaining owners of the BridgeJames water East Course, which opened in 1998. Millett had been one of five owners over the past decade until the recent transactions. Busse and Fuller sent a letter last week to Bridgewater employees and the Bridgewater Community Association, describing improvements they are planning for the east course. Millett said he sees the likelihood of some limited development on the Greenhurst property, which he estimated at 120 acres. “I would imagine just on the periphery, there would be some limited development, a handful of homes,” he said. “The core of the
property, we want to maintain as a pristine, park-like setting.” Millett said cross-country skiing and bike paths could be among future uses Millett of the Greenhurst site. He said it may need very limited contouring, such as eliminating the golf course’s greens and sand traps. The property stretches from North Main Street to and beyond Cedar Creek, until it reaches residential neighborhoods and the border of the Bridgewater East course. Millett said the new owners of Greenhurst plan to do “whatever we can do to make it accessible” to the public, but their plans are not fully formed, only a few days after the purchase. The letter from Busse and Fuller says, “… in all of the years
we have operated, the Bridgewater group has never cash-flowed. The financial burden to the owners has been sizable.” They add that the recession “has made operating two golf courses in a small town nearly impossible,” leading to the closing of the former Greenhurst course and its 18 holes. As for the newer, 18-hole east course, “Bridgewater’s greens are some of the best in all of northeast Indiana, but the bunkers need some work and will get some much-needed attention in 2014,” the letter says. Golf carts will be replaced next year, as well. The letter from Busse and Fuller promises “moderate improvements” to the restaurant at Bridgewater and resealing of its parking lot. “Very few, mostly part-time, employees will be affected in the transition,” the letter says. It adds that “in an attempt to SEE GREENHURST, PAGE A8