THURSDAY October 17, 2013
Proper Peyton
Inside Comment
Ex-Colt downplays return to face Colts
Plenty of sweet treats, scary fun on tap for kids
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GOOD MORNING Boosters asking EN fans to wear pink Friday night KENDALLVILLE — East Noble Football Boosters are encouraging fans to wear pink to Friday night’s East Noble vs. Bellmont football game for breast cancer awareness. The boosters will be accepting donations for breast cancer research.
Defense claims officer did not appear intoxicated FORT WAYNE (AP) — A defense attorney says an Indianapolis police officer charged with causing a fatal crash with his squad car didn’t appear drunk to the many officers and others who spoke with him that day. Attorneys made opening statements Wednesday in the long-delayed trial of David Bisard on charges including reckless homicide and drunken driving stemming from the August 2010 crash into two motorcycles that killed a man and seriously injured two other people. Defense attorney John Kautzman says he’ll have experts testify that blood tests done on Bisard were flawed. Prosecutors say those tests showed Bisard had a blood-alcohol level of more than twice Indiana’s legal limit of 0.08 percent.
Indy tries to warn of heroin dangers INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A new public service announcement campaign is warning Indianapolis residents about the dangers of heroin after the Marion County coroner’s office reported 49 people died of overdoses from the drug in the first six months of this year. Coroner Frank Lloyd says the numbers represent a disturbing trend. Officials say the campaign launched Tuesday also follows a sharp increase in the number of emergency room visits and property crimes related to heroin use.
Online Poll What will be the long-term result of the government shutdown? kpcnews.com
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Man killed by train identified BY DENNIS NARTKER dnartker@kpcmedia.com
KENDALLVILLE — Anthony Sills, 41, of Kendallville was killed Tuesday when he was struck by a train while crossing the Main Street railroad tracks in a battery-powered wheelchair. Investigators don’t know exactly what happened and hope video from Sills a camera mounted on the train’s lead engine will provide them with answers. Was he trying to cross before the train passed, or could he have been stopped on the crossing for some reason and could not escape in time? These are among the questions investigators hope to answer after reviewing the video.
Sills often traveled on city sidewalks and crossed the Main Street tracks in his powered wheelchair. Police Chief Rob Wiley said Wednesday the investigation is continuing, and results from the video may be available in about a week. Sills died from blunt-force trauma from the train hitting him, Noble County Coroner Joan Cripe reported Wednesday. No autopsy is scheduled. Emergency responders were called to the scene at 5:18 p.m. The westbound freight train had stopped, blocking the Main Street and Riley Street crossings. Sills’ body was found along the north side of the tracks, just west of the Kendallville Pawn Shop at 211 N. Main St.
Victim was well-known throughout Kendallville BY DAVE KURTZ dkurtz@kpcmedia.com
KENDALLVILLE — Ray Sills “was one of those people that everybody loved, and everybody in town knew him,” longtime friend Faith Meyer of Kendallville said Wednesday. Though cerebral palsy confined Sills to a wheelchair, “He never let his disability limit him on where he would go. He would get in his power chair and go down to Bixler Lake and hang out with people,” Meyer said.
BY DENNIS NARTKER dnartker@kpcmedia.com
KENDALLVILLE — The Kendallville Area Chamber of Commerce has a new executive director. Lynette Leamon of Kendallville, the chamber’s marketing and public relations coordinator from 2010 to 2012 and a marketing and public relations specialist, started her duties Tuesday as executive director. Leamon, a 1982 East Noble High School graduate, fills a vacancy created by Michael Walton’s resignation last month. Asked why she returned to the chamber, Leamon said she is excited about promoting and supporting local businesses and the relationships she has enjoyed over the years with people in the Kendallville community. “With my marketing background, I hope to boost the chamber’s connections to business and industry,” she said. As the chamber’s public relations coordinator, Leamon solicited chamber memberships and sponsors and coordinated planning and sponsorships for all chamber events. From 2003 to 2010, Leamon was membership and marketing director for Cole Center Family YMCA in Kendallville, and from 1994 to 2003 she was a marketing assistant and marketing and communications administrator
SEE VICTIM, PAGE A6
In the nick of time Senate, House pass bill to avoid default, open government
DENNIS NARTKER
Lynette Leamon, center, is the new Kendallville Area Chamber of Commerce executive director. She started her duties Tuesday at the chamber office at 122 S. Main St. Leamon, who grew up in Kendallville and resides in the city, replaces Mike Walton, who resigned last month. With Leamon are chamber staff members Lisa Wolf, left, and Sara Fisher, right.
for Group Dekko. Most recently she worked for Community State Bank. In 2002, she earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a marketing focus from Indiana Tech. “My nonprofit knowledge and fundraising abilities will help the Kendallville Area Chamber of
Commerce continue to grow and serve its members,” she said in her resume. The chamber is hosting a members appreciation night at Country Heritage Winery in LaOtto on Thursday, Oct. 24. It will offer an opportunity for chamber members to network and meet Leamon.
CASA salutes superheroes KENDALLVILLE — Real-life superheroes were honored at the annual Northeast Indiana CASA Volunteer Banquet Wednesday at the Kendallville Event Center. But these aren’t costumed characters with super powers; these are people who make a super difference in the life of children, said Northeast Indiana CASA executive director Kristi Bachman. “Because of you, nearly 350 kids were served in 2012,” Bachman told the crowd of Court-Appointed Special
Late Tuesday afternoon, Sills was in his mobile chair when a train struck and killed him at the Norfolk Southern railroad crossing on Main Street in downtown Kendallville. “I don’t think it was a suicide like a lot of people were saying,” Meyer said. “He’d been having trouble with the joystick on his power chair. … He would have to turn it off and on to get it to work,” she said. “He got stuck on Main Street in the middle of the street
SEE IDENTIFIED, PAGE A6
Leamon to lead chamber
BY BOB BRALEY bbraley@kpcmedia.com
ONLINE POLL
Dodgers down Cards in Game 5
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Weather Cloudy, chance of rain, high in the mid-50s. Tonight’s low 40. Slightly warmer Friday. Page A6
Staying Alive
Advocates, board members, judges and other CASA supporters. Currently, 175 children are being served by CASAs in the area, she said. Three volunteers were specifically honored for years of service. Bonnie Schoppman of Hogback Lake was honored for 20 years as a CASA, and Dick and Judy Westlake of Angola each were celebrated for five years of service. CASAs function as the voice of children, Northeastern Indiana CASA board member Margo Phillips of LaGrange County SEE CASA, PAGE A6
Early Midwest snow? AccuWeather.com is predicting snow for the upper Midwest this weekend. While the forecast for snow doesn’t quite reach Indiana, it is possible that snow could fall in the coming week.
Index
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BOB BRALEY
Margo Phillips of LaGrange speaks to the Northeastern Indiana CASA Volunteer Appreciation Banquet in Kendallville Wednesday evening.
Vol. 104 No. 286
ACCUWEATHER.COM
SEE BILL, PAGE A6
Don’t look now, but snow may be coming BY MIKE MARTURELLO mmarturello@kpcmedia.com
Classifieds.................................B7-B8 Life..................................................... A5 Obituaries......................................... A4 Opinion ............................................. A3 Sports.........................................B1-B3 Weather............................................ A6 TV/Comics .......................................B6
WASHINGTON (AP) — Up against a deadline, Congress passed and sent a waiting President Barack Obama legislation late Wednesday night to avoid a threatened national default and end the 16-day partial government shutdown, the culmination of an epic political drama that placed the U.S. economy at risk. The Senate voted first, a bipartisan 81-18 at midevening. That cleared the way for a final 285-144 vote in the Republican-controlled House about two hours later on the legislation, which hewed strictly to the terms Obama laid down when the twin crises erupted more than three weeks ago. The legislation would permit the Treasury to borrow normally through Feb. 7 or perhaps a month longer, and fund the government through Jan. 15. More than 2 million federal workers would be paid — those who had remained on the job and those who had been furloughed. After the Senate approved the measure, Obama hailed the vote and said he would sign it immediately after it reached his desk. “We’ll begin reopening our government immediately and we can begin to lift this cloud of uncertainty from our businesses and the American people.” Later, in the House, Rep. Harold Rogers, R-Ky., said, “After two long weeks, it is time to end this government shutdown. It’s time to take the threat of default
ANGOLA — Say it ain’t so. Say it ain’t snow. The sad reality is at least one weather forecasting outlet is calling for possible snow in nearby parts of the Midwest this weekend. Weather maps do not show snow in Indiana’s future — at least not yet. AccuWeather.com reports as waves of colder air sweep southward from Canada, the first snowflakes of the season are possible for some locations in northern portions of Minnesota,
Wisconsin and Michigan. The combination of progressively colder air and weak disturbances will set the atmosphere up to produce chilly rain showers over the Upper Midwest starting this weekend, predicts AccuWeather. com, which provides weather for our website, kpcnews.com. The warm waters of the Great Lakes will warm the air slightly but, at the same time, will add some moisture to the air and make some of the showers heavier. Where the showers are heaviest and the atmosphere cools enough SEE SNOW, PAGE A6