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Police Blotter • Three booked into Noble County Jail ALBION — Three people were booked into the Noble County Jail Thursday and Friday, the county sheriff’s department said. • Andrew Robert Terry, 20, of Rome City was charged with operating with a Schedule I or II controlled substance in the body and operating a vehicle while intoxicated-endangering a person. • Carl D. Waters, 32, of Albion was booked on a body attachment writ. • Basil Lee Wicker, 33, of Wolcottville was booked on a warrant for alleged resisting law enforcement and body attachment.
Business burglary attempted ALBION — Someone tried to burglarize a business in the 300 block of South Orange Street, the Albion Police Department said. An alarm went off at the business. A K-9 officer tracked a scent to a mobile home park. The burglary was reported Friday at 2:56 a.m. No other information was released.
Air conditioner stolen LIGONIER — An air-conditioning unit valued at $3,429 was stolen from a location in the 10000 block of North S.R. 5, the Noble County Sheriff’s Department said. Wires were cut when the unit was removed. The theft was reported Thursday at 10:42 a.m.
Car hits SUV door KENDALLVILLE — A car struck the door of a sport-utility vehicle Friday, the Kendallville Police Department said. Donald W. Eckert, 73, of Albion was northbound on Allen Chapel Road at North Street at 2:30 p.m. when he failed to yield the right of way to a 2003 Ford Escape that was stopped waiting for traffic so its driver, Karen J. Munk, 67, of Kendallville, could turn southbound. Eckert’s 2000 Lincoln Continental struck the SUV in the door. No injuries were reported. Damage was estimated at $1,001-$2,500.
Pickup hits post KENDALLVILLE — A pickup truck hit a the base of a post in a parking lot Saturday, the Kendallville Police Department said. Angela L. King, 40, of Albion was traveling in a parking lot in the 2500 block of East North Street at 8:25 a.m. when she braked her Chevy K-1500 and it slid into the concrete base of a sign post. No injuries were reported. Damage was estimated at $1,001-$2,500.
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MONDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2013
Canada geese not to be found at area marsh There’s an open field in the Jasper-Pulaski Fish and Wildlife Area in northwest Indiana, a field of many acres where nothing grows but grass, not a tree or a bush. There are trees around OUTDOOR that field. Beyond the NOTES trees to the northwest is a wetland, a Neil Case marsh. Woodland and marsh are appropriate habitats for an area devoted to wildlife, not a field of grass. Yet hundreds, thousands of people with binoculars, spotting scopes and cameras visit Jasper-Pulaski in fall, park on the east side of that field late in the day, then get out and stand at a fence or climb the steps to an observation platform where they stand staring out across that open field.
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Forty to 45 years ago, only a few acres of that field were open grassland. Then, too, Canada geese were uncommon nesters in Indiana. And the manager of the Jasper-Pulaski Fish and Wildlife Area, J-P it’s commonly called, was interested in Canada geese and doing everything he could to increase the number that nested at J-P and in the area around it. He got live Canada geese, hauled them to J-P and released them. He got Canada goose eggs, hatched them in an incubator and released goslings at J-P when they were old enough to survive on their own. He had that field cleared by bulldozer and seeded to create that grassy field. He called it the goose pasture. It was an area where geese could browse, feed and rest, an area with a marsh nearby. Canada geese did increase at J-P, and they gathered and fed in that field. They increased and they spread to surrounding areas. Then they were
WIKIMEDIA COMMONS PHOTO
Sandhill cranes fly above the Jasper-Pulaski Fish and Wildlife Aea in northwestern Indiana.
spread, deliberately, trapped and released on other fish and wildlife Areas. Then they were trapped and released on private land. A land owner who had a pond or a marsh with a pasture or other open field nearly could contact the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, somebody from the DNR would look at his land and if they considered it suitable, a pair of Canada geese would often be released there. Some members of the DNR called this program “a goose for you, too.” Everybody who drives anywhere in the northern half of Indiana knows how well the effort to establish more nesting Canada geese in Indiana succeeded. Gaggles of Canada geese are a nuisance in many
places. There’s an early hunting season on Canada geese every year early in the fall, early so hunters will get geese that are resident in the state, not migrants going through. Sandhill cranes have increased too, in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and Indiana. Migrating sandhill cranes fly a short distance when migrating south in fall, then gather and feed in an area for a time before continuing south. J-P is such an area. At night when they are at J-P, sandhill cranes roost standing in shallow water in the marsh. During the day they fly out in small flocks, then feed in grain and grassy fields around J-P. Late in the afternoon they return to J-P, flock after flock flying in, gathering, but not in the
marsh. They land in the goose pasture, now more appropriately the crane field. With other members of my family I visited J-P twice recently. Both times we got to J-P late in the afternoon, drove around looking for and spotting flocks of cranes in the air and in fields around J-P, then drove to J-P, parked by the goose pasture, got out and stood by the fence watching as flock after flock, often several flocks at once coming from different directions, flew in and landed. Before they rose to go to the marsh to roost through the night there were thousands of sandhill cranes in a field once called the goose pasture — and we didn’t see a single Canada goose.
State facing erosion of its fiscal foundation INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana’s fiscal picture is looking good roughly one year after former Gov. Mitch Daniels left office with about $2 billion in cash reserves and a strong credit rating, but the next few years could leave the state in a fiscal pinch nonetheless. The state is continuing to crawl out of the recession, with depressed earnings by many residents and an improving, but persistently high unemployment rate. The State Budget Committee had to downgrade expectations last week, after state budget and tax forecasters came back with an expectation the state will collect $298 million less than expected over the next two years. The pinch will likely weigh most on Republican Gov. Mike Pence, who is heading into his second year with a potentially pricey legislative agenda. The governor’s plan to expand the state’s school voucher program to preschool-age
children and teachers carries an unstated price tag. And eliminating the personal property tax, which accounts for about $1 billion in local revenues each year, would require some sort of backfilling of money, either by the state, local governments or some mix of the two. In particular, the personal property tax, which is levied on business equipment, has depressed economic growth in Indiana, he said. “It discourages companies from investing in new technology and the expansion of their businesses. As the most manufacturing-intensive state in the nation, we are holding back new capital investment because of our business personal property tax,” Pence said in prepared remarks last week, laying out his case for the tax cut. The state’s fiscal footing is one of the best in the nation. Indiana has maintained a top credit rating from the major bond-rating companies, the
state still has a cash reserve of close to $2 billion and lawmakers found money in the most recent budget to retire old debt and pay for some new capital projects without accruing new debt. But those tax cuts, combined with declining tax collections, are squeezing the pot of money leaders have to work with. If the business tax cut goes through, it will be the third consecutive session featuring a significant tax cut. Lawmakers started to phase out the state’s inheritance tax in 2012 and they signed off on further cuts this past session, including a portion of the income tax cut Pence asked for. Shortly before lawmakers received the grim budget news last week, the economist kept on contract by the state said Indiana should expect to see steady growth over the next few years. The state’s unemployment rate has continued a steady decline and auto parts makers have the potential to spur more growth.
Alcohol laws challenged INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana liquor laws that date from the days of Prohibition are facing a challenge from the state’s largest beer distributor, which argues it should be able to supply liquor to bars, restaurants and stores. Monarch Beverage Co. has filed suit against the Indiana Alcohol and Tobacco Commission, alleging a state law that prohibits alcohol wholesalers from supplying both beer and liquor violates the U.S. Constitution. Monarch officials say that after Prohibition, state politicians doled out licenses for liquor, and county officials handled those for beer. Alcohol wholesaling has remained separate since. “The General Assembly has never provided an official explanation for why it chose to prohibit beer wholesalers from
“It’ll be difficult for lawmakers to rationalize additional spending or even budget cuts given the new revenue forecast.” John Ketzenberger Indiana Fiscal Policy Institute
• All of it could keep lawmakers cautious during the upcoming session, say Indiana budget observers. “Although the economic forecast is optimistic, the state expects less revenue than when the budget was written last May,” said John Ketzenberger, president of the Indiana Fiscal Policy Institute, which tracks the state budget and other fiscal issues. “The improving economy’s just not producing as much tax
revenue at this point and the conservative revenue forecast reflects that. It’ll be difficult for lawmakers to rationalize additional spending or even budget cuts given the new revenue forecast.” Pence has continued the tightfisted budgeting Daniels established, but unexpected downturns have still hampered some goals. He responded to news that monthly tax collections had dipped $141 million by selling the state plane and cutting agency and higher education budgets. And the state lost $63 million a year from the national tobacco settlement after a federal arbitrator determined the state had not done enough to collect settlement proceeds from small tobacco manufacturers. Winning new programs and tax cuts from the Legislature may have to wait another year, until lawmakers begin work on their next budget and have a better idea of the long-term fiscal trends.
THE Outdoor PAGE
holding a liquor permit,” Monarch argues in its suit. “The available evidence, however, suggests that this restriction was enacted to further a post-Prohibition patronage system that operated to the benefit of state and local politicians.” The Indianapolis Business Journal reports the lawsuit is the latest challenge to Indiana’s alcohol laws, which lawmakers have been reluctant to change. Grocery and convenience stores wanting to sell cold beer have raised a similar challenge, arguing that the law governing cold-beer sales violates the 14th Amendment by favoring “one class of retail over another.” Monarch has tried the last four legislative sessions to advance a bill supporting its position, without success.
Every Thursday E-mail your stories and/or photos to amyo@kpcnews.net
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