WEDNESDAY January 15, 2014
Moving On CN girls defeat Blazers in tourney Page B1
Plans For The Year
Hoosier Upset
City water officials list new projects
IU, Ferrell hand Badgers first loss
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Page B1
Weather Snow expected, high in the mid-20s. Low tonight 16. Warmer Thursday, high 34. Page A6 Kendallville, Indiana
Serving Noble & LaGrange Counties
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Rodeo bull charged at firefighters GOOD MORNING Coe running for Albion council Leslie W. “Les” Coe has signed up to run in the Republican primary for one of the two seats on the Albion Town Council. Due to incorrect information provided to The News Sun, a story in Tuesday’s edition said Coe was running for a different office.
Student, 12, shoots two classmates at New Mexico school ROSWELL, N.M. (AP) — A 12-year-old New Mexico boy drew a shotgun from a band-instrument case and shot and wounded two classmates at his middle school Tuesday morning before a teacher talked him into dropping the weapon and he was taken into custody, officials and witnesses said. Gov. Susana Martinez says a boy was critically injured and a girl was in serious condition following the shooting at Berrendo Middle School in Roswell. The students were in the gym, where she said they typically hang out before classes start during cold and inclement weather. The 12-year-old pulled a shotgun and opened fire there at about 8 a.m. But he was “quickly stopped by one staff member who walked right up to him and asked him to set down the firearm, which he did,” Martinez said. Officials at University Medical Center in Lubbock, Texas, say an 11-yearold boy was flown there in critical condition and a 13-year-old girl was en route in serious condition. Information from nurses treating the boy indicates he was the shooter’s target, hospital spokesman Eric Finley said. There was some confusion about the boy’s age, but Finley said his parents told the hospital he is 11. The governor says a staff member received very minor injuries but declined medical care because he wanted to stay and help.
PHOTO GALLERIES See highlights from area high school sporting events kpcnews.com Multimedia > Photo Galleries
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.................................B7-B8 Life..................................................... A5 Obituaries..................................A4, A6 Opinion .............................................B4 Sports.........................................B1-B3 Weather............................................ A6 TV/Comics .......................................B6 Vol. 105 No. 14
Animal put down after search, pursuit BY BOB BRALEY bbraley@kpcmedia.com
KENDALLVILLE — An escaped rodeo bull charged members of the Kendallville Fire Department on a frozen lake surface before it was destroyed Monday, the Noble County Sheriff’s Department said. Noble County E-911 Dispatch received calls starting about 5:25 p.m. that an animal described as a rodeo bull with large horns was loose. The animal had freed itself from a pen as it was being readied for transport from a
location on C.R. 1000N, west of S.R. 3. According to Noble County E-911 dispatch reports, bull owner Kolton Bode said he was trying to load the bull into a trailer when it got loose. The animal was spotted on S.R. 3 one-half mile north of C.R. 1000N. Emergency personnel, including Kendallville firefighters, were called to the area. Firefighters were the first to arrive. Firefighters found the bull on frozen Cree Lake as they approached from Cree Lake Drive South. The bull was walking east. Firefighters tried to guide the bull, but it began to charge at them, then walked and ran east into wooded areas.
“We got the call as a cow on the ice on Cree Lake,” said Kendallville Fire Chief Mike Riehm. “While on my way, I learned it was a rodeo bull.” The bull didn’t want any part of people, according to Riehm, adding, “He was mean. He wouldn’t let anyone get close. We were 50 to 60 yards from him when he charged us, and we ran.” The sheriff’s department and firefighters set up a perimeter to find the bull. The Noble County Emergency Management Agency contacted Black Pine Animal Sanctuary to try to set a tranquilizer for the bull. The bull wasn’t seen again until about 7 p.m., when firefighters saw it crossing C.R.
900E north of C.R. 1000N. It continued north through a snow-covered field. Deputies began to track the bull. The owner felt it necessary to have the bull put down due to its aggressive behavior, the length of the tracking and the time of night, the sheriff’s department said. After tracking the bull through multiple fields and wooded areas, search teams found it again south of C.R. 1125N in a field west of C.R. 1000E. Attempts to get close were negated either by the bull’s aggressive behavior or because it ran from people. The animal was put down at about 7:45 p.m., the sheriff’s department said.
State of the State
ENMS damaged BY DENNIS NARTKER dnartker@kpcmedia.com
AP
Indiana Gov. Mike Pence walks to the podium to give his State of the State address to a joint
session of the Legislature at the Statehouse Tuesday in Indianapolis.
Pence keeps it simple Business tax cut, marriage amendment highlight State of the State INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Republican Gov. Mike Pence held close to a carefully scripted message for 2014 during his second State of the State address, prodding lawmakers for a business tax cut and education items while asking them to take action on a controversial marriage amendment this year. Pence offered little in the way of new details Tuesday, sticking to what has become a defining hands-off approach with lawmakers and his legislative agenda. Instead, he asked them for a second year largely focused on continuing the same strategy of cutting taxes and expanding sweeping education changes. “We’ve made progress in jobs and schools, but with still too many Hoosiers out of work,” Pence said. “With our state lagging behind in per capita income and health and too many kids in underperforming schools, I
believe we must remain relentless, bold and ambitious to keep our state moving forward.” Although Pence left a proposed constitutional ban on gay marriage out of his formal agenda, he asked lawmakers to put the issue to rest in 2014. “Let’s have a debate worthy of our people with civility and respect. Let’s protect the rights of Hoosier employers to hire who they want and provide them with benefits that they earn. And then let’s resolve this issue this year once and for all,” he said, to applause from the assembled lawmakers, a majority of whom are Republicans. Pence spoke before a joint session of House and Senate members held in the House chamber. Just one day earlier in the same space, a key House panel delayed a vote on the marriage amendment following hours of emotional testimony on the issue.
Lawmakers first approved the proposed constitutional ban in 2011. It must pass again this year to be put to voters in November. If lawmakers don’t act, the process of amending the constitution would start from scratch. House Minority Leader Scott Pelath, D-Michigan City, said Pence had a chance to “douse the flames” on the gay marriage debate, but did not. Instead, Pelath said, the governor seemed more concerned about protecting his political career — noting the marriage issue could cloud his chances if it shows up with him on a potential 2016 ballot. “He wants finality before the 2016 election. That’s what he really means,” he said. Pelath criticized Pence for offering “small, symbolic solutions” to real problems such as low wages and unemployment. “Mike Pence believes a SEE PENCE, PAGE A6
Albion company adding six jobs BY BOB BRALEY bbraley@kpcmedia.com
ALBION — An Albion machining operation plans to add six jobs, the Albion Town Council learned Tuesday. The council voted 4-0 to approve a tax abatement for B & J Specialty on $310,000 in used equipment purchased from Wisconsin and new to Indiana. A statement of benefits for the abatement says the equipment is projected to add six jobs with an average yearly salary of $35,000 each. The equipment would be used in computer-numeric-controlled machining work at the Albion plant. The Albion Tax Abatement Committee recommended that property taxes on the equipment be phased in over five years. The council agreed to that recommen-
dation 4-0. Also Tuesday, the council: • elected Mitch Fiandt as its president and re-elected Chris Magnuson as vice president. Fiandt is in the last year of his current term and has announced he will not seek re-election. • made appointments to various positions. Three department heads were reappointed — John Forker as water and waste water superintendent, Mark Tarlton as street and cemetery superintendent and Casey Myers as parks superintendent. Myers was reappointed to the Region III-A Board of Directors, and Fiandt as representative to the Noble County Emergency Management Agency. Also reappointed were Albion Redevelopment Commission members Tim Christopher and Wanda Truelove.
Town attorney Mike Yoder’s contract was renewed with no changes. Shellie Porter was selected for a four-year term on the Albion Economic Development Commission. She replaces Richard Magnuson, who decided not to seek reappointment. • received word of Fiandt’s appointment as council president. Fiandt reappointed Steve Lemish to the Albion Plan Commission, Darold Smolinske to the Albion Park Board and David Bremer to the Albion Board of Zoning Appeals. Each appointment is for a four-year term. Fiandt also reappointed four members of the Albion Redevelopment Commission to one-year terms — Tina Craft, Duane Simpson, David Fiandt and John McGill.
KENDALLVILLE — Fire and water recently damaged the East Noble Middle School building. A fire in the heating system damaged two East Noble Middle School classrooms Tuesday morning, four days after a water pipe burst Friday flooding the school’s gymnasium and main office area. No students were in the school at the time of either incident. At about 7:23 a.m. Tuesday, firefighters and police were dispatched to the school at 401 E. Diamond St. after a staff person in the building pulled the fire alarm. A motor overheated in a heater in Room 301 in the 100-year-old part of the building, causing smoke on the third floor, said Kendallville Fire Chief Mike Riehm. The fire in the floor spread to the ceiling tile in Room 201 directly below on the second floor. Firefighters used fire extinguishers with pressurized water to attack the fire, and brought it under control in about 15 minutes. Portable fans were used to clear the smoke. No one was injured. Officials could not immediately estimate the cost of the damage. Police vehicles and fire trucks blocked Diamond, Riley and Sheridan streets around the school campus during the fire. The incident occurred before students were inside the building, said East Noble Superintendent Ann Linson. Students arriving for school were escorted by teachers and staff across Riley Street into the nearby St. John Lutheran School gym to get out of the below-freezing weather. Students arriving by bus were kept on the buses in a bus turnaround lot. Students were allowed into the building at about 8 a.m., and firefighters were back in service at 8:13 a.m. Students and staff were not in the building during Friday morning’s water pipe break because East Noble officials had called off classes due to snowy and icy road conditions. Firefighters responded to a water flow alarm at the school. A capped-off sprinkler pipe broke near the Riley Street entrance, flooding the gym floor and office area, damaging new carpeting and drywall in the offices, said Riehm. The pipe had been installed in the building as a backup in case of a fire, but no longer was needed because the fire department had access to nearby fire hydrants. The pipe had been capped. The rubber gym floor was not seriously damaged, Linson said. A contractor was called in to clean up the water damage. In a renovation project last summer, a handicapped-accessible entrance off Riley Street was converted into the school’s main entrance, and nearby space was made into administration offices. The East Noble School Board of Trustees is considering options for the building’s future, including renovation, replacing the oldest section or constructing a new middle school at a different site.