The News Sun – October 28, 2013

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MONDAY October 28, 2013

The Strand

Park donation

Efforts continue to save theater

Gordon wins NASCAR veteran gets first victory of season

Group donates equipment to state park

Page A2

Page A3

Sports B1

Weather Partly cloudy skies with a high of 56 and an overnight low of 39. Page A6

Kendallville, Indiana

Serving Noble & LaGrange Counties

kpcnews.com

75 cents

Another new tax pops up

GOOD MORNING

Some seek delay on $63 fee on everyone who’s insured CHAD KLINE

SPARTA TWP. FIRE DEPT.

Farm fire The Sparta Township Fire Department was called out to this grain bin fire Sunday night near Cromwell. The fire was contained to the storage unit on a farm in the 11000 block of West C.R. 200N. No injuries were reported. Crews were called out just after 9 p.m. and had the fire out by 9:30 p.m.

Pair arrested after stabbing at Indiana University BLOOMINGTON (AP) — Two Indiana University students were charged Sunday morning in connection with a stabbing that injured another student at a campus apartment building, school officials said. University police arrested 18-year-old Zesen Shen and 21-year-old Kaiyu Lao, IU spokesman Mark Land said in a news release. Shen has been charged with intimidation and battery and Lao was charged with intimidation, Land said. Police said Shen, Lao and a 20-year-old IU student were in the Tulip Tree apartment’s parking lot around 3:30 a.m., Land said. Witnesses told campus police the three were there “to resolve a dispute when the suspects began chasing victim and wounded him with a knife,” Land said. University police Lt. Craig Munroe told the Indianapolis Star the student was stabbed in the back. The 20-year-old was taken to IU Health hospital in Bloomington with an injury that isn’t life-threatening, Land said.

Samantha Williams, 16, of Kendallville stands in front of her Cessna 150 airplane at the Kendall-

ville Municipal Airport. Williams completed her first solo flight nine days after her 16th birthday.

Teen pilot takes wing Kendallville girl can fly, but not drive, on her own BY BOB BRALEY bbraley@kpcmedia.com

KENDALLVILLE — Samantha Williams, 16, of Kendallville is allowed to fly small aircraft, and even has one of her own. But she has only her learner’s permit for driving an automobile. “I can fly by myself in an airplane right now, but I can’t drive by myself in a car until December,” Williams said. For Samantha, flying feels natural. She’s the daughter of Roy Williams of Kendallville, owner of Airframe Components by Williams, a company that works to restore, repair and refurbish airplanes and airplane parts. Samantha has a photo of herself riding in an airplane with her father as an infant.

NEIGHBORS NOBLE

COUNTY

“I’ve been around airplanes since I was born,” she said. Samantha had wanted to fly for about two years before she was able to take a plane up. Her first lesson was in October 2012, with her first solo coming about four months ago, nine days after her 16th birthday. Samantha’s airplane is a Cessna 150, said Roy. “I bought the airplane in September 2012 from a farmer in Findlay, Ill. He had used it for years to fly locally, inspecting

Soar with online video A recent flight by Samantha Williams was captured in video at kpcnews. com, along with more comments from her about flying. Scan the QR code to watch the video on your tablet or smartphone.

crops and taking grandkids for rides,” he said. “He simply didn’t have a need for the airplane anymore.” But the plane hadn’t been flown since 2004, so it needed to be SEE PILOT, PAGE A6

GAS PRICES Find the lowest area gas prices online kpcnews.com More > Gas Prices

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

Classifieds.................................B6-B7 Life..................................................... A5 Obituaries......................................... A4 Opinion .............................................B4 Sports.........................................B1-B3 Weather............................................ A6 TV/Comics .......................................B5 Vol. 104 No. 297

PHOTOS BY CHAD KLINE

Boxes filled for American heroes “Hiking for Heroes; His Pack, His Boots, My Hero!” took place Sunday at East Noble High School. Appoximately 150 walkers and runners participated in a one-mile hike and 5K run, and donated items for American military personnel. In the above photo, Jenna Tackitt of South Whitley fills a care box with items to be sent to soldiers overseas during the community service project. Volunteers filled 270 boxes, surpassing the goal of 250 set by organizer Lisa Wilson. In the photo on the right, U.S. Marines reserves Michael O’Hara, left, and Pvt. Brian Brooks, both of Fort Wayne, fill care boxes for their fellow soldiers. Organizers have compiled an extensive list of approximately 70 items that are suggested as donations for care packages.

For more information on this effort, send an email to inmarines@gmail.com, call 350-1951 or find the event on Facebook at Hiking4Heroes.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans in Congress don’t usually fight for tax increases, especially ones that are part of President Barack Obama’s health care law. But GOP senators balked when Democrats proposed delaying a new temporary fee on everyone covered by health insurance. So employers, insurance companies and other health plan sponsors are in line to pay $63 a person next year for everyone who has coverage. The temporary fee covers all workers, spouses and dependents covered by health insurance. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., proposed delaying the fee in recent budget talks with Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. McConnell and other Republican senators objected; the fee was left intact. GOP senators complained the delay was basically a favor for labor unions, traditional Democratic allies that oppose the new fee. “It’s beyond ironic that the mantra from the president and the Democrats has been, ‘There can’t be any changes to Obamacare. After all, it’s the law of the land,’” said Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa. “And then big labor comes along and wants a change and, lo and behold, there’s got to be a change.” But also opposing the fee are large employers, traditional Republican allies, even though in many cases the fee probably will be passed on to workers. “It’s a sizable expense. For some of my employers it’s millions of dollars a year and we don’t get anything from it,” said Gretchen Young, senior vice president for health policy at the ERISA Industry Committee, a group that represents large employers on benefits issues. “It’s definitely not solely a union issue.” Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., said the proposed delay was meant to balance Republican demands for other changes to the health law. Republicans in Congress have been attacking the law since it was passed in 2010, and earlier this month, they forced a partial government shutdown over Obama’s refusal to negotiate changes. Cardin said he didn’t want any changes in the law to be part of the deal for reopening the government and extending the country’s ability to borrow. In the end, the only change was an income verification procedure for people applying for tax credits to help them purchase health insurance. The temporary fee on people with health insurance is designed to raise $25 billion over the next three years. The money will provide a cushion for insurers from the initial hard-to-predict costs of covering previously uninsured people with medical problems. Under the law, insurers will be forbidden, effective Jan. 1, 2014, to turn away applicants who are ill. Insurance companies hit by unexpectedly high costs for insuring people with medical conditions will be able to tap the fund, which will be administered by the Department of Health and Human Services. The fund will mainly benefit companies participating in state-based health insurance exchanges. The fee will total $12 billion in 2014, $8 billion in 2015 and $5 billion in 2016. That means the per-head assessment would be smaller each year, around $40 in 2015 instead of $63.


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