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Angola Middle School students go beyond the call of duty with fundraising efforts
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Angola, Indiana
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Steuben children get to Shop with Cop GOOD MORNING
BY JENNIFER DECKER jdecker@kpcmedia.com
STEUBEN COUNTY
2014 CALENDAR
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THE HERALD REPUBLICAN
Free calendar The 2014 edition of the KPC Media Group-Herald Republican Steuben County calendar is ready to place on your wall. The calendar features photos from all around Steuben County. INSIDE TODAY
JENNIFER DECKER
It was a hard choice for Savanna Tink to select a sled she wanted Thursday at the annual Shop With a Cop event at the Angola Meijer store. She was
helped by Angola Police Patrolman Brandon Booth and dispatcher Sandy Ferrell, not pictured.
ANGOLA — Sirens flashed from emergency vehicles in the Angola Meijer parking lot Thursday night as children descended upon the store looking for just the right Christmas gifts. It was all part of the annual Steuben County Shop With a Cop event. Emergency personnel were paired with children between the ages of 6-11 to shop for Christmas. More than 100 children each received $200 to shop and were recommended for the event by their school guidance counselors. “We spent about $200 a kid — which doubled it from last year,� said Steuben County Sheriff’s Deputy Rich McCarty, who organizes the annual
event. He said Meijer and Walmart helped with the program this year. Many families got involved with the event. Steuben County Sheriff Chief Deputy John Gonya assisted children with his wife, Kelly, who works in probation, and their sons, Logan and Caleb. Logan said he came to help others willingly. “It’s the Christmas season,� he said and his brother agreed. “They wanted to do this. We’ve been looking forward to it,� Kelly said, as she helped Jaden Redding check out clothes. Over in the boys’ clothes, Steuben County Coroner and Angola Fire Department Captain Bill Harter helped fit brothers Jayson and Terrence SEE SHOP, PAGE A7
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Colorado student wounds two others, takes own life CENTENNIAL, Colo. (AP) — A teenager who may have had a grudge against a teacher opened fire Friday with a shotgun at a suburban Denver high school, wounding two fellow students before killing himself. Quick-thinking students alerted the targeted teacher, who quickly left the building, and police immediately locked down the scene on the eve of the Newtown massacre anniversary, a somber reminder of how commonplace school violence has become. One of the wounded students, a girl, was hospitalized in serious condition. The other student suffered minor gunshot-related injuries and was expected to be released from the hospital Friday evening, authorities said. A third person was being treated for unspecified injuries but had not been shot, a hospital spokeswoman said. Arapahoe County Sheriff Grayson Robinson initially reported that the most seriously hurt student was wounded after confronting the gunman, but he later said that did not appear to be the case. The gunman made no attempt to hide the weapon when he entered the school.
AMY OBERLIN
Angola Middle School’s LEGO team Hamza Tariq, front left, Aisha Tariq, Mark Burgett, Chris Burgett and Jordan Baker; back, Trine University senior Braydon Humphrey, Kaitlyn Mory, Trine winter graduate Jay
Carey and AMS teacher Amy Sams are in Fort Wayne today at a statewide competition at Indiana University-Purdue University, Fort Wayne.
AMS robotics team state bound Stutzman votes yes on budget pact BY AMY OBERLIN aoberlin@kpcmedia.com
WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Marlin Stutzman, R-Ind., voted in favor of a budget agreement that passed Thursday by a vote of 332-94 in the House of Representatives. “While this bipartisan agreement isn’t perfect, it stops President Obama’s dangerous habit of governing from one budget crisis to the next,� Stutzman said in a statement released after the vote. “Each Stutzman of the president’s manufactured crises brought new calls for more taxes and higher spending, and that’s exactly what I’m working to prevent.� He added, “This is by no means a permanent solution, but it does give Congress an opportunity to cut our debt, end ObamaCare’s pain, and lower taxes for families and businesses.� Earlier in the week, Stutzman had said he was undecided about how he would vote on the judgment agreement.
SEE LEGO, PAGE A7
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ANGOLA — A technological contingent from an Angola Middle School after-school program made a name for itself this year. A team of sixth- and seventh-graders is competing today in the state’s largest LEGO competition at Indiana University-Purdue University, Fort Wayne. Part of the SLAM Dunk after-school program provided through the Steuben County Literacy Coalition, the team took third in the region at a FIRST LEGO League competition a few weeks ago in Fort Wayne. This is the second year AMS SLAM Dunk has been involved in the national robotics program for children ages 9-14. A grant provided through the Indiana Department of Education and IndianaFirst provided the materials for a demonstration board and last year’s projects, built around the theme “Senior Solutions.� The Angola students went to the regional last year, but this year they excelled, said tutor Jay Carey, a Trine University civil engineering student and SLAM Dunk tutor. “We started working on this about the second week of September,� said Amy Sams, an Angola Middle School remediation teacher and coordinator of SLAM Dunk at AMS. “Every year, you get a kit to set up the board for all the challenges,� said Carey. While the grant was not renewed, Sams said she was able to purchase this year’s
kit, titled “Nature’s Fury.� The students completed the three-part challenge for regional judges at the LEGO League competition at the Public Safety Academy in Fort Wayne. “It’s pretty cool,� said sixth-grader Kaitlyn Mory. Her favorite part of the competition, which was held on a Saturday, was seeing the relics from Fort Wayne’s past, “old fire helmets, axes, police badges.� They competed against 14 other teams from as far as South Bend and south of Fort Wayne — taking third place. They programmed their robot to conduct a series of actions that either simulated natural disasters or did rescue missions after a storm. “We programmed it and make it do three things,� said Hamza Tariq. The programming is done on a laptop, seventh-grader Casey Robinson said. The robot portion of the challenge must be completed in 2 1/2 minutes, said Tariq. This week, the LEGO team has been practicing the robot routes over and over, said Casey. If it is only an inch or two off, it could run into an obstruction instead of topple a tower. The programming requires students to use mathematics principals to determine the number of wheel rotations needed to go from Point A to Point B, maneuver obstacles and pick up and drop items. The three-part competition also included a presentation by the students, in which they
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