FRIDAY October 18, 2013
Cow’s Choices
Guest Column
Tough finish
Hannah forecasts weekend winners
Art can help teens move away from drugs
Westview boys fall in regional
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Weather Clearing skies, highs in the low 60s. Tonight’s low 42. Rain Saturday. Page A9 Kendallville, Indiana
Serving Noble & LaGrange Counties
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Stutzman has no regrets over long battle GOOD MORNING Owl-Oween slated for today, Saturday ROME CITY — The Gene Stratton-Porter State Historic Site is inviting visitors to its Owl-Oween today and Saturday from 5:30-8:30 p.m. The annual event looks past myths and scary stories to discover the truth about bats, owls and other creatures of the night. “Participants will walk throughout the property, stopping along the way to learn more about animals not normally seen during the day,” said State Historic Site Manager Dave Fox. “Children are encouraged to attend in costume and collect treats along the way. Tour stops include: ‘The Owls of Owl-Oween,’ and ‘Curious Coyotes’ and maybe even a story or two!” Children will be able to participate in an owl pellet dissection activity, crafts, learn how coyotes call and will have a chance to meet Gene’s pet blue jay Hezekiah. Animal rehabilitation groups Soarin’ Hawk and Goin’ Bats will showcase the winged creatures of the night. Admission is $3 per person. Visitors may arrive any time between 5:30 and 8:30 p.m. to explore the site. Cabin tours are not included. For more information, call 854-3790 or visit indianamuseum.org and click on the Historic Sites link. Flashlights are suggested.
Ceremony to honor memory of train accident victim KENDALLVILLE — A candlelight ceremony in memory of Ray Sills will take place tonight at 8 near the Main Street railroad crossing in Kendallville, a relative of Sills said. Sills, 41, died Tuesday when he was struck by a freight train at the crossing. Sills was traveling in his battery-powered wheelchair. The cause of the collision remains under investigation.
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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.................................B5-B7 Life..................................................... A8 Obituaries......................................... A4 Opinion ............................................. A5 Sports.........................................B1-B3 Weather............................................ A9 TV/Comics .......................................B4 Vol. 104 No. 287
BY DAVE KURTZ dkurtz@kpcnews.net
HOWE — Back in Indiana Thursday, U.S. Rep. Marlin Stutzman, R-3rd, said he does not regret the bitter budget battle that ended Wednesday night in Washington. “Any time we’re fighting for the American people, it’s worth it,” Stutzman said about the divisive episode that caused a 16-day shutdown of the federal government On the brink of a government default Wednesday, Congress passed a bill that funded the government temporarily without meeting some Republicans’ goal
of defunding the national health care law known as Obamacare. “It’s very disappointing that the president did not want to make any changes to Obamacare,” Stutzman said. “We’re going to have to live with Obamacare until he changes his mind.” Stutzman said he could not bring Stutzman himself to vote for the bill that ended the showdown, because it raised the federal debt ceiling and lacked tax reforms. “It’s going to treat members
of Congress differently under Obamacare,” giving them a 75 percent subsidy, he complained about the bill. “I do not believe the Republicans shut the government down,” Stutzman said. “It is unfortunate that the president chose to not negotiate and shut the government down.” He pointed to House-approved budgets that Obama rejected because they defunded Obamacare. Stutzman said national news media organizations are trying to blame the crisis on Republicans and portray the Republican Party as damaged by the episode. “I don’t believe Republicans
should apologize at all for fighting for Americans in the circumstances we’re in,” he said. As for any split in his party, he said, “There was a difference in tactics and strategy. At the end of the day, Republicans are unified in that we want health care that works for Americans and that doesn’t drive us into debt and cause more disruptions to the economy.” Moving forward with Obamacare intact, “I think it’s just going to have to play out,” he said. “As more Americans are affected by the health care law and share with the White House the negative SEE STUTZMAN, PAGE A9
Parks, offices reopen Workers return as shutdown ends BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
BOB BRALEY
The car in the foreground hit an East Noble school bus, in the background, head-on Thursday afternoon, sending the bus into a sign and utility pole. Only the car’s driver was injured. He complained of hip injuries and was airlifted
by Samaritan helicopter to Parkview Regional Medical Center, Fort Wayne. Police said the car was southbound on Angling Road, northeast of Rome City, shortly before 4 p.m. when it went left of center while coming around a curve.
Driver hits school bus head-on BY BOB BRALEY bbraley@kpcmedia.com
WOLCOTTVILLE — A man was airlifted after his car drove head-on into an East Noble school bus Thursday afternoon, the Noble County Sheriff’s Department said. No one on the bus was injured, deputies said. The car’s driver, whose name was not released Thursday afternoon, complained of hip injuries after the crash. He was airlifted by Samaritan helicopter to Parkview Regional Medical
Center, Fort Wayne. No other injuries were reported. Police said the car was southbound on Angling Road, just south of C.R. 1200N, shortly before 4 p.m. when it went left of center while coming around a curve. The car crashed head-on into East Noble school bus 23. The bus driver had tried to avoid the collision. The impact sent the car off the road on the southbound side. After the impact, the bus left the road on the northbound side and drove head-on into a speed limit
sign and Noble REMC utility pole, breaking the pole. East Noble officials said the bus was on its normal route at the time of the accident. The name of the bus driver was not released Thursday afternoon. A Noble REMC crew had to be called in to replace the pole before the bus could be removed. Debris was scattered across the road for about 30 yards around the crash site. Why the car’s driver drove left of center was not determined Thursday afternoon.
Two men hurt as semi collides with lift at I-69 bridge project BY MIKE MARTURELLO mmarturello@kpcmedia.com
ANGOLA — Two workers with a private contractor replacing a bridge over Interstate 69 were injured when a semi collided with the hydraulic lift they were in while on the job Thursday afternoon. The two were working on the reconstruction of the C.R. 325W overpass of I-69, just north of the rest stop on the southbound lanes. Mary Foster with the Indiana Department of Transportation said orange barrels had been placed in the road to divert traffic out of the work site, which was the travel lane of the highway. The men, Ted Cook of Marion and Brandon Morris of Columbia
City, are employees with Pioneer Associates, Albion. The company received the bid to replace the bridge at a cost of $717,000. The work is to be complete early in November. Adam Sparks, Indianapolis, the southbound semi driver, told police he slowed and was passing under the bridge when he heard a collision with his truck, said Steuben County Sheriff’s Department Sgt. Phil Nott. Sparks said he had not seen the bucket of the lift prior to striking it. He continued south then turned around and returned to the scene. Nott said a brace was being removed from the south side of the bridge that was over the passing
lane. As Sparks drove under the bridge, he struck the bucket of the lift with the passenger side of his cab. Morris fell from the bucket into the passing lane of the highway and Cook remained in the bucket but also was injured, Nott said. Foster said the men were conscious when they were taken from the scene by Steuben County Emergency Medical Service crews. They were taken to Parkview Regional Medical Center in serious to critical condition, Nott said. Southbound traffic was closed for a short period while investigators from the Steuben County Sheriff’s Department investigated and the scene was cleared.
From the Liberty Bell to Alcatraz, federal landmarks and offices reopened Thursday. Furloughed employees were relieved to get back to work — even if faced with email backlogs — but many worried about another such disruption in a matter of months. “We’d hate to have to live through this all over again,” Richard Marcus, a 29-year employee of the National Archives in Washington, said after the government shutdown finally ended. Nationwide, from big-city office buildings to wilderness outposts, innumerable federal services and operations shifted back into gear after 16 days. The U.S. Forest Service started lifting a logging ban on national forests. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services restarted the computerized system used to verify the legal status of workers. Boat trips resumed to Alcatraz, the former federal prison in San Francisco Bay, with 1,600 tickets snapped up by tourists in the first hour of business. In Alaska, federal officials rushed to get the red king crab fishing season underway. The opening had been delayed because furloughed workers were not around to issue crab-quota permits. National Park Service Director Jonathan Jarvis said all 401 national park units — from the Golden Gate National Recreation Area in California to Acadia National Park in Maine — were reopening Thursday. More than 20,000 National Park Service employees had been among the 800,000 federal workers sent home at the peak of the shutdown At Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks, employees were busy with reopening chores. They returned just in time to begin closing the parks up again for the winter in a couple of weeks. At Philadelphia’s Independence National Historical Park, one couple’s long wait to see the Liberty Bell and other attractions finally drew to a close. SEE SHUTDOWN, PAGE A9
Band hopes to add to success in regional BY DENNIS NARTKER dnartker@kpcmedia.com
KENDALLVILLE — The East Noble Marching Knights enter regional competition Saturday at Lafayette Jefferson High School in Lafayette having earned some of the highest scores this season in more than six years. The band will be one of 15 units in Class B seeking to qualify
for semistate. Ten will move on. East Noble is scheduled to perform at 6:35 p.m. “This is a very competitive regional this year, and in reality 13 groups should advance, but only 10 will,” said Bryan Munoz, East Noble director of bands. “We are in a great spot, but you can never predict results as our activity is so subjective, and you cannot guess
what six judges will think of your show from week to week.” At the regional, bands will be rated gold for a score of 70 or more, silver for scores of 60-69, bronze for scores 50-59 and participation for 49 and lower. East Noble has scored as high as 84 in competition this season. “We’re having our best season we have had since I’ve been director,
and some of our highest scores in over six years,” said Munoz. Other Class B bands competing at Lafayette are DeKalb, Northridge, Fort Wayne North Side, Columbia City, Concord, New Castle, Elkhart Memorial, Elkhart Central, Zionsville, Greenfield-Central, Plymouth, Pendleton Heights, Munster and Lowell.