IN|Whitley County June 1, 2017

Page 1

NORTH MANCHESTER — A South Whitley woman turned herself into police after a fatal shooting in North Manchester last week. Tiffany Renae Champman-Lane, 32, was taken into custody about one hour after the alleged incident with her ex-husband. Jacob A Chapman, 36, died from gunshot wounds. His wife, Sarah Chapman, 37, was treated at Parkview Regional Medical Center in Fort Wayne and was released. The shooting occurred in the 600 block of East Fifth Street in North Manchester.

Two dead in motorcycle crash WHITLEY COUNTY — Two Columbia City men were killed in a motorcycle crash northeast of Columbia City Saturday night. The Whitley County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement that a motorcycle driven by Rick Bowling, 57, went off the road near County Road 450 East and Cider Mill Road. Bowling and his passenger, Jordan Tuttle, 28, were pronounced dead at the scene. According to the news release, Bowling was southbound on C.R. 450 East when he left the road for an unknown reason. The motorcycle traveled approximately 50 feet before colliding with a tree. The crash remains under investigation by the Whitley County Sheriff’s Department.

INFORMATION

Telephone: (800) 717-4679

Community Calendar�������������19

Welcome to Morsches Builders Mart Your Supermarket of Building Materials 260-244-6145

www.morschesbuildersmart.com June 1, 2017

CCHS judging team successful nationally By Tyler Roebuck troebuck@kpcmedia�com

COLUMBIA CITY — Since 2012, the Columbia City High School Livestock Judging Program has been on a winning streak nationwide, and 2017 was no exception. The team won the National Western competition in January in Denver with four

students placing in the top 10 and, in May, took home two state championship titles. The FFA members logged more than 100 hours and 4,000 miles through the course of the 2016-2017 season participating in competitions across the U.S. Most of the kids agree that their coaches, Greg Rupert and James Schinbeckler, have contributed

tremendously to their success. Rupert humbly turned the attention back to the students. “It’s been a really good group of returning kids,” he said. “The older kids take leadership and carry their teams. They had their goals set very high and went to state contests and achieved their goals. I’m really proud of them

for that.” Rupert revived the livestock judging program in 2003, with the intention to not just coach, but establish a long-term program. “The focus has been building up younger kids, while at the same time progressing our older kids,” he said. Brad Johnson, a senior member of the group

who has been judging since the seventh grade, shared his story. “It’s definitely a process,” he said. “My first few years, I struggled like everyone else did, but once you start getting the flow of things, you start doing well. Luckily enough, I was able to get my See JUDGING, Page 4

Brommers face both sides of organ donation Whitley County family perseveres despite difficult situations By Nicole Minier nminier@kpcmedia�com

COLUMBIA CITY — Not many families have experienced both sides of organ donation first hand like Julie Brommer. After spending time on the transplant list herself, Brommer had to make the difficult decision to make her 21-year-old son an organ donor. Julie, her husband Randy, and daughter Lyndsey, are serving as an inspiration to all, volunteering for the Indiana Donor Network while waiting for Julie to become eligible for the transplant list again. The last four years have been a nightmare for the Brommers. Julie has had Type 1 diabetes for the past 40 years. Four years ago, she was put on the transplant list for kidneys and a pancreas. That was just the start. “I was getting sick quite often. I wasn’t feeling right and was getting dehydrated a lot,”

CONTRIBUTED

The Brommer family poses for a photo with picture of Cody Brommer and his truck. From left are Jacob Beard, Lyndsey, Julie and Randy Brommer. Beard, Cody’s best friend, is engaged to Lyndsey.

Brommer said. In October 2014, she was diagnosed with stage four colon cancer, which had metastasized to two places in her liver, as well as her diaphragm. “The hospital in Fort Wayne gave me

six months to live and sent me out the door,” Brommer said. She went on to Cleveland Clinic, but some doctors didn’t even want to take on her case. “My doctor had to fight with other doctors

for them to take me on,” Brommer said. “I was sick, sick, sick.” Difficult times Brommer took on an intense treatment of radiation and chemotherapy, which took a toll on all her loved ones.

“I could see how much they were affected by seeing me like that,” Brommer said. “I didn’t want people to feel sorry for me. It was so hard watching everyone else See DONATION, Page 5

EDC program helps to build agriculture business KPC News Service COLUMBIA CITY — With so many opportunities in manufacturing, it can be easy to forget that agriculture plays a large part in local jobs. More than 16 percent of Indiana’s workforce is connected to agriculture, food and forestry, according to the Whitley

County Economic Development Corp. website. Nearly 6.4 percent of farms in northeast Indiana are located in Whitley County. As a result, the Whitley County EDC started an agribusiness initiative. The initiative is designed to help grow opportunities in the agriculture

INWhitley County

S. Whitley woman held in fatal shooting

Vol. 1 No. 9

INSIDE

inwhitleycounty.com

inwhitleycounty.com

NEWS IN BRIEF

INWhitley County 123 N. Main Street, Churubusco, IN 46723

Sports ����������� 14-17

123 North Main Street,Churubusco, IN 46723

wc wc

WhitleyCounty County Whitley

COLUMBIA CITY • WARSAW • GOSHEN HUNTINGTON • WABASH

industry. Jon Myer, president of Whitley County EDC, wants to help local residents who work in agriculture to lead the way in innovation within their industry. “If you identify someone who’s got a great idea, and wants to start a business based on some product, or something like that, let us know, and we can coach them, and let them know where to get assistance and funding,” Myer said. Part of the initiative involves finding companies that can use the food produced locally and finding companies that can benefit from the local

agriculture industry, Myer said. One example could be a fertilizer company the EDC is currently trying to attract to the county. “I’m currently talking to a fertilizer company, that has some special aspects to it that would just be a good match to the community,” Myer said. The fertilizer company can supply the farmers who grow crops. Then, some of the crops can go back to the fertilizer company to feed animals that produce the fertilizer. The business creates an interconnected web that provides mutually

beneficial arrangements for companies that are in Whitley County and companies that could potentially move in to the area, Myer said. Filling the gaps in the supply chain is also key. “One of those companies that my predecessor recruited a few years ago is called Iotron and they’re out at Park 30,” Myer said. “They have this huge machine that uses special radiation to sterilize stuff. The need at the time was the orthopedic companies needed to package their products and then sterilize them once they were in See EDC, Page 4


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.
IN|Whitley County June 1, 2017 by KPC Media Group - Issuu