Serving the Steuben County 101 lakes area since 1857
Putting their heads together Ohio, Indiana officials gather to discuss meth problem
Weather Mostly cloudy, chance of showers, high in the mid-50s. Low tonight 42. Page A10
Page A3 FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2013
Angola, Indiana
GOOD MORNING Trick-or-treat events moved to tonight ANGOLA — Due to inclement weather, Go Angola Downtown Alliance has moved the Go Angola Spectacular featuring trick-or-treating at downtown businesses to Friday 5:30-7:30 p.m. The change affects only trick-or-treating in downtown Angola around the Public Square. Halloween trick-ortreating times for the city of Angola remain 6-8 p.m. today, the Angola Mayor’s office said. In another note, Clear Lake has changed its trick-or-treating times to 5:30-7:30 p.m. Friday.
Medicare made simple at library FREMONT — Fremont Public Library, 1004 W. Toledo St., is hosting a presentation called Medicare Made Simple Thursday with sessions at 2 and 6 p.m. Attendees will learn some of the basics of Medicare and get a chance to ask questions of an insurance and retirement professional. Dennis Postema of Postema Insurance & Investments LLC will give the presentation. The program is free and open to the public. For more details, call 495-7157 or visit fremont. lib.in.us
Food pantries help fill gap BY JENNIFER DECKER jdecker@kpcmedia.com
Local food pantries are bracing for a possible influx starting today. That’s when some 48 million people across the nation — including 21 million children — will experience major federal cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program’s food stamps. The SNAP benefits will drop by 7 percent — or $10 per person monthly — as a result of the 2009 stimulus ending. In fiscal 2012, the average benefit per person was about $133 monthly, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Under the cuts, that will mean a family of three will lose about $29 monthly in benefits. That is equal to buying 16 meals at “thrifty rates,” at $1.81 per meal. Dot Mazier, director of West Noble Food/Clothes Pantry in Ligonier, said she is trying to get ready. “We are always bracing,” she said. “Our numbers have increased. There’s never enough, and there will always be hunger.” Those numbers have increased at West Noble to 35-50 families served per month. Mazier said those in need simply do not receive enough food to last through the month. Wednesday, Mazier said she
had just returned from picking up food from Community Harvest, Fort Wayne. She never knows what she will bring back to Ligonier. “We take a truck. Some items, I pay 19 cents per pound. Today we got a lot of cereal, canned fruit, vegetables, apples, 200 pounds of meat — hamburger, pork chops, chicken thighs,” she said. “Today, I bought $27 worth of peanut butter.” Mazier said she also receives government commodities monthly, but she always makes sure to buy toilet paper for the needy, too — the only paper product she requests. She said all food pantries are hurting, but she does the best she can in volunteering at the pantry with two others. Patti Sheppard, director of the Community Center of Caring Food Pantry in Auburn, is ready to serve more people. “We haven’t received word yet” as to just how many, “ but we’re braced.” Sheppard noted her pantry has been relatively steady in providing basic food needs. Since 2005, her pantry has served a total of 114,805 individuals and 31,581 families. The same steadiness is true for Marsha Boyanowski, director of the food pantry at Pleasant Lake United Methodist Church in Steuben County. The number of people served there has been increasing
slowly, she said. “Starting last week, we were getting 15 more, knowing that some get $16 a month,” she said. “We average 70-75 families a week. Last week, we had 82.” Boyanowski said it’s likely the need for food only will get worse. “Luckily, we get fruits and vegetables. Last week, we got milk and yogurt,” she said, adding that she orders meat and sometimes receives it, but is limited to receiving only two or three boxes. Cheri Perkins, director of the LaGrange County Council on Aging, said cuts to food stamps would have little effect on senior citizens served there. The agency has a senior mart for those 60 and older who qualify, featuring food and other items that vary, such as laundry detergent. That food is also purchased from Community Harvest. She said All Cut Up, a LaGrange salon, recently donated more than 500 pounds of food with proceeds from a charity haunted house. The cuts come when reports say 49 million people — about 14.5 percent of all U.S. households — are food-insecure, meaning they lack money to meet their basic food needs. Reports say hunger is a reality for one in six people in the United States.
church, Lake Bethel Church, collected 94 pairs for the drive. Britanie Jernigan, junior, added that it’s nice the community and staff members chipped in like that. “I learned everyone’s in need — not just all over our country,” said Ashley Spinger, Leo Club treasurer. Leo Club president Amanda Miller, senior, was pleased with the project’s outcome and thinks it went better than last year’s drive. Tarnow noted some members of Leo Club qualify as recipients of the group’s projects. But that doesn’t stop them from giving back. The group is also doing three other endeavors. Operation Christmas Child, sponsored by Samaritan’s Purse, is winding down. Collection of items will continue until Tuesday. SEE SHOES, PAGE A10
SEE IRAQ, PAGE A10
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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.............................................. B6-B7 Life.................................................................A5 Obituaries.....................................................A4 Opinion ........................................................B4 Sports.................................................... B1-B3 Weather.....................................................A10 TV/Comics ..................................................B5 Vol. 156 No. 301
• Ashley Church of God, 101 N. Gonser Ave., weekly farm wagon every Tuesday opening at 10 a.m., need to provide Zip Code, number in household and age groups. • Fremont Community Church, 495-4122, pantry Wednesdays 3-5 p.m. or by appointment, meal third Wednesday of the month 4:30-6:30 p.m., 601 N. Coldwater St., Fremont. • Pleasant Lake United Methodist Church, 4751722, Thursday 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., 1160 W. Main St., Pleasant Lake. • Project HELP of Steuben County, 665-9697, every Monday, Wednesday and Friday 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., 711 E. Harcourt Road Angola.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Terrorists “found a second chance” to thrive in Iraq, the nation’s prime minister said Thursday in asking for new U.S. aid to beat back a bloody insurgency that has been fueled by the neighboring Syrian civil war and the departure of American troops from Iraq two years ago. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki told a packed auditorium at the U.S. Institute of Peace that he needs additional weapons, help with intelligence and other assistance, and claimed the world has a responsibility to help because terrorism is an international concern. “They carry their bad ideas everywhere,” al-Maliki said of terrorists. “They carry bad ideas instead of flowers.” The new request comes nearly two years after al-Maliki’s government refused to let U.S. forces remain in Iraq, after nearly nine years of war, with legal immunity that the Obama administration insisted was necessary to protect troops. The administration had campaigned on ending the war in Iraq and took the opportunity offered by the legal dispute to pull all troops out. Al-Maliki will meet Friday with President Barack Obama in what Baghdad hopes will be a fresh start in a complicated relationship that has been marked both by victories and frustrations for each side. Within months of the U.S. troops’ departure, violence began creeping up in the capital and across the country as Sunni Muslim insurgents, angered by a widespread belief that Sunnis had been sidelined by the Shiite-led government, lashed out. The State Department says at least 6,000 Iraqis have been killed in attacks so far this year, and suicide bombers launched 38 strikes in the last month alone. “So the terrorists found a second chance,” al-Maliki said
ANGOLA — The Steuben County Republican Party will meet for breakfast Saturday at 8 a.m. at Timbers, 1212 W. Maumee St. For more details, visit steubencogop.org.
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PHOTO CONTRIBUTED
Members of Prairie Heights High School’s Leo Pride recently collected several pairs of shoes as part of “Souls for Soles,” which will be forwarded to the needy in Haiti. Leo Pride is also participating in Operation Christmas Child and is
collecting items for a Giving Tree. Club members include, back row, from left, Andrea Ledgerwood, Tara Penick, Amanda Miller, Jessica Miller, Darren Shoemaker and Joey Blakeley. Front row, Ashley Springer and Maggie Franke.
Leo Pride roars in ‘Soles for Souls’ BY JENNIFER DECKER jdecker@kpcmedia.com
BRUSHY PRAIRIE — Zach Zimmer didn’t hesitate to donate some 30 pairs of his late grandmother’s shoes to “Soles for Souls.” The Prairie Heights High School senior lost his grandmother, Norma Beaty, two weeks ago. He gave her shoes to a drive the high school’s Leo Pride group conducted for the needy in Haiti. Zimmer said he was moved to act in memory of his grandmother by learning what Shari Tarnow, Leo Pride co-adviser, did. “Ms. Tarnow told me a story she donated her mom’s stuff” when she died, he said. Zimmer said he looks at his donation as a form of healing. “It’s getting better. It hurt giving her stuff away, but it
helped,” he said. Leo Pride is a civic-service organization of Lions Clubs International. Zimmer’s donation helped the 35-member group finish its “Soles for Souls” drive. The goal for the project was 500 pairs of new or gently used shoes. As of Thursday, members were unbagging shoes adding to a huge pile of 471 pairs that likely put the total at or above the goal. The drive was a lesson in compassion, as Leo Pride members talked about how meaningful they felt their efforts were. “I learned little Prairie Heights school can make a difference,” said Jessica Miller, senior, Leo Club vice president. Other members had the community get involved, as Maggie Franke, junior, said her
Community Gift and Craft Show AT FAIRVIEW MISSIONARY CHURCH
SATURDAY, NOV. 2 • 8 AM - 3 PM Over 100 Booths of Unique Crafts and Gifts. Lunch Available
* CRAFTS * DRAWINGS * GIFTS
Fairview Missionary Church Corner of SR 827 & 200 N 525 E 200 N, Angola, IN 46703 Phone: 260-665-8402 www.fairview-missionary.org