THURSDAY September 5, 2013
Good Test Scores
Inside Comment
EN spikers win
CN, PH districts top IREAD state average
Downtown shows revitalization progress
Knights defeat Heights in three
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Weather Partly cloudy with a high in the upper 70s. Tonight’s low in lower 50s. Page A6 Serving Noble & LaGrange Counties
Kendallville, Indiana
GOOD MORNING Parade of Classics DVDs can be ordered at KPC paper offices An item in Wednesday’s edition about DVDs from the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Festival Parade of Classics should have said DVDs may be ordered at any KPC Media Group newspaper office. All DVD orders will be filled within several days. The DVDs include video of the complete parade.
kpcnews.com
Panel votes for strike on Syria WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama’s request for speedy congressional backing of a military strike in Syria advanced Wednesday toward a showdown Senate vote, while the commander in chief left open the possibility he would order retaliation for a deadly chemical weapons attack even if Congress withheld its approval. Legislation backing the use of force against President Bashar Assad’s government cleared the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on a 10-7 vote after it was stiffened at the last minute to include a pledge of support for “decisive changes to the present military balance of power” in Syria’s civil war. It also would
rule out U.S. combat operations on the ground. The measure is expected to reach the Senate floor next week, although the timing for a vote is uncertain. Sen. Rand Paul, a Kentucky conservative with strong tea party ties, has threatened a filibuster. The House also is reviewing Obama’s request, but its timetable is even less certain and the measure could face a rockier time there. The administration blames Assad for a chemical weapons attack that took place on Aug. 21 and says more than 1,400 civilians died, including at least 400 children. Other casualty
Stutzman wary of strike BY MATT GETTS mgetts@kpcmedia.com
U.S. Rep. Marlin Stutzman, R-Howe, has a pair of distinct questions he needs answered before he even thinks about voting in favor of military action against Syria. Saturday, President Barack Obama announced that he would be seeking congressional approval before launching any kind of military strike in retaliation for what he said was the use of chemical weapons against the Syrian people by the regime of
LOOK FOR VIDEO featuring East Noble-Warsaw and Lakeland-Fremont football highlights on kpcnews.com
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.................................B6-B8 Life..................................................... A5 Obituaries......................................... A4 Opinion ............................................. A3 Sports.........................................B1-B3 Weather............................................ A6 TV/Comics .......................................B5 Vol. 104 No. 244
President Bashar al-Assad. The administration says 1,429 people died from the attack Aug. 21 in a Damascus suburb. Casualty estimates by other groups are far lower, according to The Associated Press, and Stutzman Assad’s government blames the episode on rebels SEE STUTZMAN, PAGE A6
SEE SYRIA, PAGE A6
Man who held women captive takes own life COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The Cleveland man serving a life sentence for holding three women captive in his home for a decade hanged himself in his prison cell with a bedsheet, officials said Wednesday in another shocking twist in the case that transfixed and appalled the city. Ariel Castro, 53, was found hanging Tuesday night at the state prison in Orient, said JoEllen Smith, a spokeswoman for the corrections system. Prison medical staff performed CPR before Castro was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. “He took the coward’s way out,” said Elsie Cintron, a neighbor who lived up the street from the former school bus driver. “We’re sad to hear that he’s dead, but at the same time, we’re happy he’s gone, and now we know he can’t ask for an appeal or try for one if he’s acting like he’s crazy.” Through a spokeswoman, his three victims declined to comment. Castro was sentenced Aug. 1 to life in prison plus 1,000 years after pleading guilty to 937 counts, including kidnapping and rape, in a deal to avoid the death penalty.
75 cents
Waters leaves council BY DENNIS NARTKER dnartker@kpcmedia.com
a bedroom window in the singlewide mobile home. The home’s occupants — Lisa Shepherd, 27, and her son, Damion — were outside, unharmed. Shepherd and her son had been in her bedroom before the fire started. She left the room, then smelled smoke. She couldn’t get to her son, who apparently had locked the door. The incident happened during a thunderstorm with heavy rain and lightning. Williams lived in the neighboring mobile home at 1816 Oak Tree Road. He heard Shepherd scream that she couldn’t get to her son, and he ran out in his bare feet. He punched out the exterior glass window to Damion’s
KENDALLVILLE — Republican 3rd District City Council member April Waters has resigned from the council, effective immediately, because she has moved from her district. Waters submitted her letter of resignation to Mayor Suzanne Handshoe. “Since my election in 2008, it has been my honor to serve the citizens of Kendallville. I also had the honor of working with the best people from the mayor, my fellow councilmen, Waters department heads and all the city’s employees. We are truly blessed to have those people serving our city,” she said in a prepared statement. Waters was Kendallville’s first elected woman council member. She was re-elected to a second term in 2012. She said she did not realize all the aspects of city government before being elected as the 3rd District representative on the five-member council. She mentioned how emotional it was for her to see underpaid employees, and yet the council could not do much for them because of budget cuts. She added, “The citizens do not see this because we provide the same professional services we always have with less.”
SEE HERO, PAGE A6
SEE WATERS, PAGE A6
DENNIS NARTKER
At Tuesday night’s Kendallville City Council meeting, city officials honored Kevin Williams, 15, for saving the life of a 5-year-old boy in a mobile home fire. From left are Fire Chief Mike
Riehm, Williams, Mayor Suzanne Handshoe and police Det. Sgt. Lance Waters, president of the local Police Benevolent Association.
Council salutes teen hero BY DENNIS NARTKER dennisn@kpcmedia.com
KENDALLVILLE — Officials at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting honored a local teen who saved a young boy from a fire last month. Mayor Suzanne Handshoe, Fire Chief Mike Riehm and Kendallville police Detective Sgt. Lance Waters, president of the local Police Benevolent Association, presented Kevin Williams with framed certificates of valor and appreciation and gift cards for his heroic effort in pulling 5-year-old Damion Shepherd from a burning mobile home in the Maple Grove Mobile Home Park on Aug. 12. “We’d like to recognize Kevin for his courage and valor with the fire department’s valor
award,” Riehm said. “I still don’t know how he avoided getting cut stepping on broken glass in his bare feet.” Waters presented Williams the Police Benevolent Association award for his selfless act of saving another person’s life. Handshoe gave Williams a City of Kendallville certificate of appreciation for his courage and for being a good citizen of the city. Council members and everyone attending the meeting gave Williams a standing ovation. At 9:58 p.m. Aug. 12, firefighters were dispatched to a mobile home fire with a person trapped inside at 1818 Oak Tree Road. Firefighters arrived at 10:02 p.m. to find smoke coming from
Overnight fire destroys Big Lake home BY BOB BRALEY bbraley@kpcmedia.com
BIG LAKE — An overnight fire destroyed a home along Big Lake in Noble County, according to Noble County records. Firefighters were called at 6:43 p.m. Tuesday to 5194 S. Union St., at the corner of Union and Wilt streets on Big Lake near S.R. 109 in southwest Noble County. The Noble Township Fire Department took charge at the scene. Firefighters from the Albion and Thorncreek fire departments also responded, along with Noble County EMS. When the fire was believed to be out, they left the scene.
A second fire call to the scene, this time for a fully engulfed house, was made about 12:45 a.m. Wednesday. The house was destroyed by the blaze. The same units responded to the second fire, as well as the Churubusco and Cromwell fire departments. The second fire was declared under control at 4:24 a.m. All units were back in service by 5:10 a.m. The house is registered to James J. Pearce, who lives there, according to property records from the Noble County Recorder’s office. No one was home at the time of either blaze. No information was released Wednesday morning about a cause of the fire.
BOB BRALEY
This was all that remained Wednesday of a house destroyed by flames overnight at the corner of Union and Wilt streets on the shores of Big Lake in southern Noble County.
Celebrating 150 Years.
Sensible Banking for Sensible Lives
Community & Customer Appreciation Day
TM
Sept. 13
Main Office Orchard and Williams Streets Kendallville, IN
Free Porkburgers and Hotdogs 10:30 a.m. until 2:00 p.m.
NMLS # 416300 ©2013 Campbell & Fetter Bank.