THURSDAY December 19, 2013
Cow’s Choices
Inside Comment
Hannah forecasts weekend winners
Answer to Virginia’s question still the same
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One Gets Away Heat come from 15 down, defeat Pacers
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Weather Cloudy, rain possible, high 40. Low tonight 35. Rain Friday. Page A7 Kendallville, Indiana
Serving Noble & LaGrange Counties
kpcnews.com
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EN board hears middle school costs GOOD MORNING Save the Strand free trolley rides offered tonight KENDALLVILLE — Save the Strand free trolley rides are scheduled for tonight from 6-9 p.m. Due to a reporter’s error, Wednesday’s edition incorrectly reported the date for the event. A heated trolley will be parked in front of the Strand Theatre on Main Street to offer free rides to see neighborhood Christmas lighting displays. The trolley will depart every half hour from 6-9 p.m. Tickets may be obtained in advance from Campbell & Fetter Bank branches in Kendallville and Albion and the Kendallville Area Chamber of Commerce, 122 S. Main St. Tickets also will be available at the theater. Free hot chocolate and popcorn will be available inside the theater. The Save the Strand Theatre campaign committee is organizing tonight’s event and is asking residents to turn on their holiday lights tonight.
BY DENNIS NARTKER dnartker@kpcmedia.com
KENDALLVILLE — Estimated costs for the East Noble Middle School project’s three options range from $22.7 to $24.7 million, according to architect Kari Vilamaa of Fort Wayne architectural firm Barton Coe Vilamaa. Vilamaa, who has 37 years of experience designing school buildings and designed East Noble’s North Side and Wayne Center elementary schools, reviewed updated estimated construction costs for the proposed middle school project for the East Noble school board Wednesday night.
“The board has not made a decision on the project. We’ve not asked for bids or selected land. None of this is put in place at this point,” said East Noble Superintendent Ann Linson. Trustees took no action Wednesday night regarding the project. During a series of community meetings last month in Kendallville, Avilla and Rome City, Linson detailed numerous issues with the existing building, parts of which date back to 1915, and presented three options for the middle school. Vilamaa reviewed the costs for each option:
• Option 1 — A new, 119,000-square-foot middle school with two gymnasiums, an athletic field and combination gym and cafeteria on a new site — $24,018,000 with new construction ($16,065,000), site work and utilities ($2 million), kitchen equipment ($500,000), new land ($300,000), demolition of entire existing building ($350,000) and related costs such as architect and attorney fees, bond issuance, contingency, furniture, equipment, technology and capitalized interest (allow 25 percent). • Option 2 — Additions to and renovations of existing building — $22,727,500 with 73,000
Decisions, decisions
Nominations sought for Forty Under 40 FORT WAYNE — Greater Fort Wayne Business Weekly is accepting nominations for its 2014 Forty Under 40 Awards. Nominations for individuals under 40 years of age, as of Dec. 31, 2013, who are making a difference, either on the job or in the community are eligible. READ MORE ON PAGE A2
Info • The News Sun P.O. Box 39, 102 N. Main St. Kendallville, IN 46755 Telephone: (260) 347-0400 Fax: (260) 347-2693 Classifieds: (toll free) (877) 791-7877 Circulation: (260) 347-0400 or (800) 717-4679
Index
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Classifieds.................................B6-B7 Life..................................................... A6 Obituaries......................................... A4 Opinion ............................................. A5 Sports.........................................B1-B3 Weather............................................ A7 TV/Comics .......................................B5 Vol. 104 No. 348
SEE EN BOARD, PAGE A7
Deal passes Senate Across-the-board cuts scaled back in bipartisan bill
Polar Bear Plunge set at Bixler Lake KENDALLVILLE — The fourth annual Kendallville Park and Recreation Department Polar Bear Plunge at Bixler Lake will take place Wednesday, Jan. 1, at 4 p.m. at the west beach. Participation is free of charge. Minors must be accompanied by supervising adults. Signed waivers must be provided. Swimming is at the participant’s risk. A warm change of clothes and towels are recommended. Each participant should wear an old pair of shoes to enter the water and have a dry pair to change into after coming out. Waiver forms are available at the Youth Center park office, 211 Iddings St., or online at kendallville-in. org/departments/park/ documents.spx.
square feet of new construction ($10,585,000), new 12,000-squarefoot gym with locker rooms and storage ($1,620,00), renovating remaining 39,500 square feet of existing building ($3,950,000), site work and utilities ($1,250,000), kitchen equipment ($500,000), demolition of three-story sections ($277,000) and related costs (25 percent). Indiana law requires when removing all or part of a public school, it must remain vacant for two years to allow for charter school interest in taking it over, said Linson, who consulted an attorney about the law. This means
PATRICK REDMOND
Twins Barbie and Katie White study the toys in the aisle at Walmart trying to decide what to get.
The girls were part of the Johnson Township Fire Department’s Shop with a Firefighter program.
Johnson firefighters take kids on Christmas shopping trip BY PATRICK REDMOND predmond@kpcnews.net
WOLCOTTVILLE — Firefighters train to be prepared for just about any emergency situation, but Christmas shopping in a large store with two 11-yearold girls may be nearly too much for even the most skilled firefighter. Monday night, five Johnson Township volunteer firefighters put themselves on the line when they took eight Wolcottville elementary school children to the Sturgis, Mich., Walmart store so they could shop for the holiday, courtesy of the fire department and its fourth annual Shop with a Firefighter program. Grabbing empty shopping carts and breaking into four different teams, the firefighters paired up with area children from needy homes. Each child was allowed to spend up to $100 any way he or she saw fit. Five-year veteran firefighter Gene Landers paired up with Katie and Barbie White, twin 11-year old girls and fifth-grade students at Wolcott Mills Elementary School. The girls brought their handwritten Christmas lists with them. The first stop of almost all the kids was the store’s toy department. The White sisters, somewhat shy but seemingly on a mission, walked up and down the toy store aisles as if to take it all in. Then, the girls start looking more closely at toys in a long aisle filled with all things Barbie before they moved on to another aisle overflowing with stuffed animals, games and baby dolls. Other than the occasional “ooo” or “ahhh,” the pair said little. Finally, the twins begin to grab a few things here and there that they wanted this Christmas — a baby doll, a Barbie accessory, a stuffed toy kitten and a plastic pug pup. It became clear that their firefighter’s job was to keep track of the cart and to keep the girls on task and within budget. “Can I have this?” Katie asked, running up to the firefighter with a new toy in hand. Landers did a
SEE BUDGET, PAGE A7
PATRICK REDMOND
Barbie White studies a toy before putting it in her cart as she shops with Johnson Township firefighter Gene Landers and her twin sister Katie.
quick check of the price, keeping a running total in his mind. “$14.95? Yeah, sure,” he answered, and the young girl put the toy in the shopping cart and returned to the aisle. With a few prized toys safely squared away in the cart, the girls decided its was time to move on and start shopping for gifts for their older brother and SEE SHOPPING, PAGE A7
Goshen man killed in accident SHIPSHEWANA — A Goshen man was killed Wednesday morning when he drove through a stop sign and his pickup truck hit a passing dump truck, police said. Harvey S. Borntrager was pronounced dead at the scene. News reports said he was 72 years old. Medics and LaGrange County Sheriff’s Department deputies were called at 6:20 a.m. to the
WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress sent President Barack Obama legislation Wednesday scaling back across-the-board cuts on programs ranging from the Pentagon to the national park system, adding a late dusting of bipartisanship to a year more likely to be remembered for a partial government shutdown and near-perpetual gridlock. Obama’s signature was assured on the measure, which lawmakers in both parties and at opposite ends of the Capitol said they hoped would curb budget brinkmanship and prevent more shutdowns in the near future. “It’s a good first step away from the shortsighted, crisis-driven decision-making that has only served to act as a drag on our economy,” he said of the measure in a statement issued after the vote. And yet, he quickly added, “there is much more work to do to ensure our economy works for every working American.” The legislation passed the Democratic-controlled Senate on a vote of 64-36, six days after clearing the Republican-run House by a similarly bipartisan margin of 332-94. The product of intensive year-end talks, the measure met the short-term political needs of Republicans, Democrats and the White House. As a result, there was no suspense about the
intersection of U.S. 20 and C.R. 600W, southeast of Shipshewana. Investigators said Borntrager’s red 2006 Chevrolet truck was traveling southbound on C.R. 600W when he apparently disregarded the stop sign at U.S. 20, according to a news release from the sheriff’s department. Borntrager’s truck hit a white 1995 Peterbilt dump truck driven
by Elmer J. Yoder of LaGrange and registered to JM Logistics of Ligonier. The sheriff’s department noted in the report that Yoder could not avoid the collision. Yoder was not injured. Indiana State Police investigated the crash. The sheriff’s department said it remains under investigation.
Fed plans small cut in stimulus WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve has decided to reduce its stimulus for the U.S. economy because the job market has shown steady improvement. The shift could lead to higher long-term borrowing rates for individuals and businesses. The Fed’s decision amounts to a vote of confidence in the economy six years after the Great Recession struck. It signals the Fed’s belief that the U.S. economy is finally achieving consistent gains. The central bank said in a statement after its policy meeting ended Wednesday that it will trim its $85 billion a month in bond purchases by $10 billion starting in January. At a news conference afterward, Chairman Ben Bernanke said the Fed expects to
SEE STIMULUS, PAGE A7