WEDNESDAY December 4, 2013
National Attention Page A3 Publication focuses on local Learning Link
Tough One Page B1 Baron girls drop close game at Leo
Weather Rain expected today. High 55. Low 40. Cloudy with showers possible Thursday. High 47. Low 29. Page A6
GOOD MORNING Museum invites public for photos with Santa Claus AUBURN — The Auburn Cord Duesenberg Automobile Museum is inviting the public to visit free of charge Saturday from 1-3 p.m. to have pictures taken with Santa and Mrs. Claus in the museum’s original art deco showroom. Visitors may bring their cameras and take pictures, or a museum volunteer will take a picture of an entire family with Santa Claus. “The Auburn Cord Duesenberg Automobile Museum wishes to share this free opportunity with its community in celebration of this wonderful holiday season,” said Kendra Klink, the museum’s director of operations.
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Police seize guns outside school Eastside locks down during man’s apparent prank BY JEFF JONES jjones@kpcmedia.com
BUTLER — A Butler man who reportedly intended to scare his daughter as he arrived to pick her up at school is in custody after Eastside Junior-Senior High School was placed on lockdown Tuesday afternoon. Chad J. Czaja, 34, of the 200 block of Park Lane, was arrested along East Green Street, directly
in front of the high school. At 3:19 p.m., police received a report of a man dressed in camouflage clothing and possessing a rifle in a red Dodge Durango near the high school. Butler Police responded immediately and found Czaja inside the vehicle on Green Street. Police gave Czaja several verbal commands to exit the vehicle, but Czaja did not obey those
commands, according to a news release. Czaja finally exited the vehicle, but again did not comply with police commands until officers were able to apprehend him at gunpoint, Butler Police Chief Jim Nichols said. Police recovered one rifle and one loaded handgun from the vehicle. “We do not believe at this time that there was any criminal intent
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Info • The Star 118 W. Ninth St. Auburn, IN 46706 Auburn: (260) 925-2611 Fax: (260) 925-2625 Classifieds: (toll free) (877) 791-7877 Circulation: (toll free) (800) 717-4679
Index
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Classifieds........................................B8 Life.....................................................B6 Obituaries......................................... A4 Opinion .............................................B4 Sports.........................................B1-B3 Weather............................................ A6 TV/Comics .......................................B7 Vol. 101 No. 333
SEE GUNS, PAGE A6
MetalX adding Auburn location
Congress debates ban on plastic guns WASHINGTON (AP) — With 3-D printers increasingly able to produced plastic weapons, the House voted Tuesday to renew a 25-yearold prohibition against firearms that can evade metal detectors and X-ray machines. On a voice vote, the House passed a bill to renew the Undetectable Firearms Act for another decade. The Senate could vote on the bill next Monday when it returns from a two-week Thanksgiving recess. The law is due to expire the following day. Some Senate Democrats have mounted an attempt to amend the law to require plastic guns to have at least one metal piece for making it fire. But with the National Rifle Association opposed to the measure, the House bill is likely to pass the Senate unchanged, particularly going into an election year when many lawmakers would prefer to avoid a new fight over gun legislation.
with the weapons. Just a series of very, very bad choices,” Nichols said after the incident. Czaja has been charged with operating a vehicle while intoxicated, criminal recklessness and leaving the scene of an accident. Additional charges are possible, Nichols said. Nichols confirmed Czaja was wearing camouflage clothing, including a face mask, when police apprehended him. “A witness saw Czaja go over
Stahly leaving Auburn council BY AARON ORGAN aorgan@kpcmedia.com JUDY OXENGER JOHNSON
Paddling Santa A man wearing a Santa Claus hat paddles his canoe near the bridge between Clear and Round lakes in northern Steuben County. Don Luepke, an
avid photographer and local artist, was out looking for nature shots and instead found himself the focus of a photographer.
Report shows region makes gains BY BARRY ROCHFORD brochford@kpcmedia.com
Efforts to bolster the northeast Indiana economy are being backed up by data that suggest the region is making strides compared to other parts of the country. But the hard work is far from over. The Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership held a “State of the Region” event Tuesday at The Summit in Fort Wayne, where representatives of the partnership and the Community Research Institute at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne discussed the findings of two reports that track a decade’s worth of economic data. One report, which the partnership has taken to calling a “dashboard,” compares the 10-county region to 14 roughly similar areas in the Midwest,
South and Great Plains and gauges how it’s faring compared to them. The other report focused solely on northeast Indiana’s largest industry sector: manufacturing. Coincidentally, in the days leading up to the event, data released by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis showed that per-capita personal income in northeast Indiana rose 5 percent in 2012, which was faster than the nation’s 3.4-percent growth rate. That’s significant because per-capita income has been singled out as an economic bellwether for the region by those charged to aid in its development. “That’s what the whole shebang is about,” said Katy Silliman, vice president of regional initiatives at the partnership, at the “State of the Region” event. In 2009, per-capita income in
northeast Indiana was 79 percent of the national average. With the gain in 2012, the disparity lessened; per-capita income in the region was 81.2 percent of the national average. “We’re not done until we’re at 100 percent or surpassing it,” Silliman said. Maintaining that rate of growth will be important in the years ahead, said Ellen Cutter, director of the CRI. The “dashboard” report is part of an ongoing initiative launched last year by the Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership and the CRI to measure the area’s progress — to compare “the perception of what we’re doing to the reality,” Cutter said. Through endeavors like Vision 2020, the partnership, along with SEE REGION, PAGE A6
AUBURN — Waterloo-based metal recycler MetalX is planning to launch a second operation — with a reported $7.75 million investment — in Auburn. The Auburn City Council on Tuesday night heard plans for a proposed resolution granting MetalX tax phase-ins of six years on real estate and five years on personal property. The council is expected to consider a resolution at its Dec. 17 meeting. While details are not clear at this point, MetalX plans to move into the recently vacated Alcoa facility on Oren Drive, just off South Grandstaff Drive, the council learned. City attorney Erik Weber called the plan a “significant, significant proposal.” MetalX opened its first facility on Waterloo’s west edge in 2012. It recently announced plans to expand that plant, leading the town to annex acreage to allow for the development. In other Auburn council business Tuesday, Councilman Dick Stahly announced his resignation from the District 4 seat he’s held for six years, saying the decision came with “great, mixed feelings.” Stahly and his wife are moving to their retirement home off Lake Wawasee, he said. SEE METALX, PAGE A6
Ex-police officer stands trial for conversion BY KATHRYN BASSETT kbassett@kpcmedia.com
AUBURN — A former police officer took advantage of a federal program and turned it into a personal shopping program, special prosecutor Joe Rowe told DeKalb County Judge Kevin Wallace Tuesday. But defense attorney Kevin Likes said his client, Sean Kahkola, did not believe his use of the items obtained through the program was unauthorized. Kahkola, of the 15000 block of Towne Park Run, Huntertown, stood trial in DeKalb Superior Court I for two counts of criminal conversion, both Class A misdemeanors. He has pleaded not guilty. Kahkola originally
was charged with two counts of theft, both Class D felonies, but the charges were amended to the less-serious misdemeanors before the start of Tuesday’s bench trial. Wallace did not announce his verdict Tuesday, but said he will issue a written ruling after reviewing the more than 25 exhibits that were entered as evidence at the outset of the trial. Kahkola is accused of knowingly or intentionally exerting unauthorized control of a truck owned by the City of Auburn and a camper owned by the City of Garrett. In his opening statement, Rowe said Kahkola had been a police officer first in Garrett and then at the Auburn Police Department
and had been authorized to screen for items through a program that gives police departments items the federal government no longer wants, free of charge. Kahkola is accused of obtaining a 1988 Chevy truck that he indicated he was obtaining for the Auburn Police Kahkola Department and a 2002 Rockwood camper that he screened using his Garrett Police Department login number while he was employed by the Auburn Police Department. The titles for the truck and camper ultimately were transferred
into Kahkola’s name. He went on to sell the truck to his parents for $500 and traded in the camper and another vehicle he owned for $3,500 to an area car dealership, Rowe said. In his opening statement, Likes said Kahkola did obtain the truck and the camper after the vehicles were signed over to him by Auburn Police Chief Martin McCoy and former Garrett Police Chief Rex Harpel. “The transactions are not in dispute,” Likes said. “It’s our position Mr. Kahkola did not knowingly or intentionally exert unauthorized control over the property.” The state’s only witness, SEE TRIAL, PAGE A6
11TH ANNUAL HOLIDAY BAZAAR Saturday, Dec. 7 • 8 AM-2 PM Christmas/Holiday Décor & Gifts • Primitives Antiques & Collectibles • Crafts • Jewelry • More
Luncheon and Bake Sale DCCOA Ways & Means Committee
Heimach Senior Activity Center • 1800 E. 7th St. • Auburn • 925-3311
Auburn Community Band 11 AM