FRIDAY December 13, 2013
Christmas Cheer Page A2 RISE Inc. clients enjoy party with Santa
Lions Too Strong Page B1 Leo tops Railroader wrestlers
Weather Partly sunny today with a high of 30. Snow arrives tonight with a low of 22. More snow Saturday. Page A10
GOOD MORNING Stutzman invites health law comments FORT WAYNE — U.S. Rep. Marlin Stutzman will hold what he describes as an “Obamacare listening session and open house” Monday from 1:30-3:30 p.m. Stutzman said he encourages Hoosiers impacted by the Affordable Care Act to share their stories and suggestions. The event will take place at his office in the E. Ross Adair Federal Building, 1300 S. Harrison St., Suite 3105, in downtown Fort Wayne.
The Auburn, Indiana
Serving DeKalb County since 1871 kpcnews.com
Advisory calls for heavy snow BY MIKE MARTURELLO mmarturello@kpcmedia.com
Northeast Indiana’s first wintry blast of 2013 could be on its way, with the possibility of up to a half-foot of snow, the National Weather Service Northern Indiana is predicting. On the heels of dangerously cold wind chills Thursday, snow is possible tonight and Saturday, with the possibility of significant accumulations. A weather system moving through the Ohio Valley from
California is expected to spawn conditions that could bring heavy snow, NWS said. “Current computer model solutions indicate a potent upper air disturbance over southern California will eject out of the southern Rockies tonight and then lift northeast through the Ohio Valley on Saturday,” the advisory said. The weather service has issued a winter weather advisory in effect from 7 tonight to 7 p.m. Saturday. Snow is expected to overspread
the area from west to east this evening. Total accumulations are expected to be 4-6 inches by the time the snow tapers off during the day Saturday. Roads will become snow covered, slick and hazardous Friday night, continuing into Saturday, making travel across the area difficult. A winter weather advisory for snow means that periods of snow will cause primarily travel difficulties. Officials urged motorists to be prepared for snow-covered roads
Gold coin donated to Salvation Army KOKOMO (AP) — Someone has again anonymously dropped a gold Krugerrand coin into a Salvation Army red kettle in a central Indiana city. Salvation Army Capt. Dale Brandenburg says the South African coin was found in one of its Kokomo kettles last week and it was sold it for $1,220. The Kokomo Tribune reports this marks the fifth straight year that a Krugerrand donation has been made in the city. Brandenburg says the coin sold for about $400 less than last year when the price of gold was higher. He says the donation of the coin is a big boost since the group is about $50,000 short of its $82,500 fundraising goal.
LETTERS TO SANTA Tell Santa your Christmas wishes! kpcnews.com Features > Letters to Santa
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Index
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Classifieds.................................B6-B7 Life..................................................... A8 Obituaries......................................... A4 Opinion .............................................B4 Sports.........................................B1-B3 Weather..........................................A10 TV/Comics .......................................B5 Vol. 101 No. 342
and limited visibilities and use caution while driving. Emergency officials also urged people to use caution when shoveling snow, which can be a very strenuous activity. “Current projections would indicate a potential for 4-6 inches of snow along and south of a Rochester to Toledo (Ohio) line. However small fluctuations in the track and intensity of this system could significantly alter potential snow accumulations,” the advisory said.
House OKs budget
Guard unit returns from Afghanistan TRAFALGAR (AP) — Members of an Indiana National Guard unit marched behind Santa Claus as they arrived at a ceremony welcoming them home after a 10-month deployment to Afghanistan. About 110 soldiers from the 1438th Transportation Company based at Camp Atterbury were greeted with cheers Wednesday from hundreds of people who filled the gymnasium at Indian Creek High School in Trafalgar. Maj. Lisa Kopczynski says the soldiers provided security escorts for vehicles transporting food and other supplies to bases while in Afghanistan.
75 cents
Boehner lashes out at tea party WASHINGTON (AP) — Battle-fatigued and suddenly bipartisan, the House voted JENNIFER DECKER Thursday night to ease acrossthe-board federal spending cuts Firefighters work to put out a fire at a barn on about $55,000 damage and required seven and prevent future government Old S.R. 1 on Thursday morning. The fire caused departments to battle. shutdowns, acting after Speaker John Boehner unleashed a stinging attack on tea party-aligned conservative groups campaigning for the measure’s defeat. The legislation, backed by the Hagerty said the electrical fire was deemed White House, cleared on a vote of FROM STAFF REPORTS ANGOLA — Seven fire departments responded accidental. The fire was reported at 9:20 a.m. and 332-94, with lopsided majorities of to a rural Angola pole barn fire in the 100 block of departments were on the scene until 11:30 a.m. Republicans and Democrats alike North Old S.R. 1 Thursday. battling in single-digit temperatures. voting in favor. Final passage is The fire caused an estimated $55,000 in damage, Fire departments responding to the fire included expected next week in the Senate. Angola Fire Department public information officer those from Angola, Fremont, Hamilton, Ashley, The events in the House gave a T.R. Hagerty said. Hudson, Steuben Township and Metz and the Steuben light coating of bipartisan cooperaThe barn is owned by Tracey L. Takach. There County Sheriff’s Department and emergency medical tion to the end of a bruising year of were no injuries. service. divided government — memorable for a partial government shutdown, flirtation with an unprecedented Treasury default and gridlock on immigration, gun control and other items on President Barack Obama’s second-term agenda. In the end, the debate in the House was tame by comparison with Boehner’s criticism of Republican-favoring outside groups that at times have been JOHANNESBURG (AP) — more of an obstacle to him than The man accused of faking sign Democrats. interpretation while standing “I think they’re misleading alongside world leaders like U.S. their followers,” the Republican President Barack Obama at Nelson speaker said of the groups, whom Mandela’s memorial service said he pointedly also blamed for last fall’s politically damaging partial Thursday he hallucinated that government shutdown. “I think angels were entering the stadium, they’re pushing our members in has schizophrenia and has been places where they don’t want to violent in the past. be. And frankly, I just think that Thamsanqa Jantjie said in they’ve lost all credibility” by a 45-minute interview with opposing legislation before the The Associated Press that his details are known.” hallucinations began while he He mentioned no organizations was interpreting and that he by name, although it appeared he tried not to panic because there was referring to Heritage Action were “armed policemen around and Club for Growth, both of me.” He added that he was once which have sought to push the hospitalized in a mental health House further to the right than the facility for more than one and a Republican leadership has been half years. willing to go. The statements by Jantjie also Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., a raise serious security issues for chief GOP architect of the deal, Obama, other heads of state and made the conservatives’ case for United Nations Secretary-General support. The measure “reduces Ban Ki-moon who stood next to the deficit by $23 billion. It Jantjie as they made speeches does not raise taxes and it cuts at FNB Stadium in Soweto, AP spending in a smarter way,” said Johannesburg’s famed black Thamsanqa Jantjie gestures at his home during an interview with the Budget Committee’s chairman, township. The ceremony honored the Associated Press in Johannesburg, South Africa, Thursday. whose handiwork could well be Mandela, the anti-apartheid icon Jantjie, the man accused of faking sign interpretation next to world challenged in the 2016 Republican and former president who died on leaders at Nelson Mandela’s memorial, told a local newspaper that presidential primaries. Dec. 5. he was hallucinating and hearing voices. The second-ranking Democrat, A South African deputy Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland, Cabinet minister, Hendrietta joined other party leaders in but the owners “have vanished Jantjie provided found a different Bogopane-Zulu, later held a news swinging behind the measure, even into thin air,” said Bogopanecompany there, whose managers conference to announce that “a though he noted that he represents Zulu, deputy minister of Women, mistake happened” in the hiring of said they knew nothing about Children and People with Disabil- 62,000 federal workers and said SA Interpreters. A woman who Jantjie. However, many questions future government employees will ities. answered the phone at a number remain, including who in the pay higher pensions costs because She apologized to deaf people that Jantjie provided confirmed government hired the company of the bill. “This agreement is around the world who were that she worked at the company that contracted Jantjie, how much better than the alternative” of ever offended by Jantjie’s incomprethat hired him for the memorial money the government paid deeper across-the-board cuts, he hensible signing and said an service but declined comment and the company and Jantjie’s own said. investigation is under way to hung up. involvement with the company — determine how Jantjie was hired The agreement, negotiated by Government officials said and even whether it really exists. and what vetting process, if any, Ryan and Democratic Sen. Patty they have tried to track down the AP journalists who visited company that provided Jantjie the address of the company that SEE INTERPRETER, PAGE A10 SEE BUDGET, PAGE A10
Seven departments battle blaze
Mandela event’s interpreter maintains he was hallucinating