TUESDAY October 15, 2013
Bumped Off Bike Page A2 Garrett mayor struck, not seriously injured
Volleyball Victory Page B1 Baron spikers sweep Fremont
Weather Cloudy today with rain expected. High 72. Low 53. Chance of showers Wednesday. High 62. Page A6
GOOD MORNING Slain man’s family wants suspect found ANGOLA — The suspect in a Saturday killing was still at large Monday and Steuben County officials were still searching for him. Kenneth Fletcher, 41, is being sought by police in the death of 31-year-old Wilbur David Renshaw. Renshaw was found lying in a pool of blood in the 400 block of North Washington Street on Saturday. He was pronounced dead by Fletcher Steuben County Coroner Bill Harter at 10:07 p.m. at Cameron Memorial Community Hospital. Family members of Renshaw said he wasn’t a violent person, our news partner NewsChannel 15 reported Monday. Family members believe he was stabbed to death. “My brother wasn’t a fighter, let’s get this straight. My brother didn’t go down to fight,” Colleen Bowersox, Renshaw’s sister, said. “We’ve got to find this murderer. He murdered my brother. Find him.” An autopsy was conducted Sunday morning at St. Joseph Hospital in Fort Wayne. The death was ruled a homicide. Renshaw sustained “significant trauma” to his chest, and succumbed to those injuries, said Harter. The murder weapon and nature of the injuries were being withheld on Monday due to the ongoing investigation by Angola Police Department. Harter said a pathologist at St. Joseph was still doing some work following the autopsy and those findings should be released “within the next couple of days.” NewsChannel 15 also spoke to the girlfriend of Fletcher. She didn’t make a comment on camera, but did say Renshaw initiated the fight with Fletcher. Police did not confirm this. Renshaw lived in the 1100 block of West Mill Street, around the block from where he was killed near an apartment complex on Washington Street.
PHOTO GALLERY Garrett Railroader Regiment at Homestead kpcnews.comMultimedia > Photo Galleries
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Classifieds.................................B6-B8 Life..................................................... A5 Obituaries......................................... A4 Opinion .............................................B4 Sports.........................................B1-B3 Weather............................................ A6 TV/Comics .......................................B5 Vol. 101 No. 284
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Train-related accidents hurt 3 BUTLER — A Butler woman suffered injuries when a train struck her Saturday at 4:15 a.m., Police Chief James Nichols said. In a separate accident, two local residents were hurt when their motorcycle crashed into a railroad crossing gate Sunday. The woman hit by the train, Terry Gordon, 36, of the 100 block of South Broadway, had visible injuries to her face and was unresponsive when rescuers arrived, Nichols said. She was taken to Parkview Regional Medical Center in Fort Wayne, and remained hospitalized in critical condition Monday, a
hospital spokesman said. Norfolk Southern Railroad personnel called 911 to report that a train had struck a pedestrian just west of the Broadway crossing on the north set of tracks. Officer Casey Kintz responded to the scene and found Gordon. Butler Police were assisted at the scene by the Butler Fire Department, DeKalb EMS, DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department, Waterloo Marshal’s Department and Norfolk Southern police. A motorcycle struck a railroad crossing gate arm Sunday at 5:35 p.m. southwest of Butler, the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Depart-
ment reported. Michael Powell, 56, of Spencerville, the driver, had injuries to his head, face and right shoulder. His passenger, Connie Cossairt, 59, of Auburn had injuries to her head and face. A Samaritan helicopter flew them to Parkview Regional Medical Center at Fort Wayne for treatment. Powell was in fair condition, and Cossairt was in critical condition Monday morning, according to a hospital spokesman. Police said the 2007 Harley-Davidson motorcycle was traveling southbound on C.R. 59,
approaching the Norfolk Southern railroad crossing south of C.R. 42. The crossing arms were down, with red lights flashing. Powell told police he did not see the crossing arms immediately, because the sun was shining in his eyes. When he saw the crossing arms were down, he applied the brakes but slid, striking the southbound crossing arm with the front of the motorcycle. Police said neither Powell nor Cossairt was wearing a helmet. Butler Fire Rescue and DeKalb EMS assisted county police at the scene.
End in sight? Party leaders show signs of hope after Monday’s meetings
Myers of the county building department hints at intentions to clean the property. In February, Rodman suggested to Myers that the home would be bulldozed in the spring; it was not. Commissioner Randy Deetz said the county should be sure all efforts to have the property cleaned have been exhausted before the court is involved. Knauer also reported to the commissioners that cleanup work at the county’s last public environmental nuisance site, the abandoned and badly dilapidated Hidden Valley Mobile Home Park on S.R. 8 on the county’s west edge, is progressing nicely. A crew with Auburn-based Pat Longsworth Excavating Inc. began demolishing mobile homes at the park last month. The
WASHINGTON (AP) — Racing the clock, the Senate’s Democratic and Republican leaders closed in on a deal Monday night to avoid an economy-menacing Treasury default and end the two-week partial government shutdown. “We’ve made tremendous progress,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid declared after an intense day of negotiations with Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell and other lawmakers. “Perhaps tomorrow will be a bright day,” he said, suggesting agreement could be announced soon after weeks of stubborn gridlock. McConnell also voiced optimism — although not as much as Reid, D-Nev., had — and the details under discussion generated little if any satisfaction among rebellious House conservatives. Officials said that in the discussion to date, the $16.7 trillion federal debt limit would be raised enough to permit the Treasury to borrow normally until mid-February, if not a few weeks longer. The government would reopen with enough money to operate until mid-January at levels set previously, and agencies would be given flexibility in adjusting to reduced funding levels imposed by across-the-board spending cuts. Officials cautioned that those
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SUE CARPENTER
This vacant home and outbuildings on C.R. 54 south of Garrett are targeted for cleanup by the DeKalb County Commissioners.
County wants rural site cleaned BY AARON ORGAN aorgan@kpcmedia.com
AUBURN — A vacant and unsightly property south of Garrett has fallen in violation of county code and the county will push for cleanup, county officials said Monday. County zoning administrator Clint Knauer approached the county commissioners Monday to request permission to take action against a property in the 1400 block of C.R. 54 south of Garrett. Knauer said the home, badly damaged by a fire, is vacant and boarded up. Its owner, Ronald Rodman, is jailed on a drug conviction, he said. Knauer told the commissioners the county has had the property in its sights since the 1990s, and attempts to see it cleaned have been unsuccessful.
“It gets cleaned up, it gets messy again, cleaned up, it gets messy again, catches on fire, now it’s out there just a piece of the building,” Knauer explained. “We’d like to go after this as a public environmental nuisance.” As the county proceeds with a nuisance claim, it will issue a cleanup order within a month. If that step fails, the county could pursue a court order to place a lien against the property to cover costs of cleaning. The problem is, the property already has $82,000 in liens charged against it by the state, a bank and a creditor, Knauer explained. “I bet you’re not going to get it back if you take that action,” Knauer said about the money, “but cleaning it up is the ultimate goal.” A log of contact with the Rodman family kept by Don
Kendalllville sign portrays Obama as Hitler BY BOB BRALEY bbraley@kpcmedia.com
KENDALLVILLE — A large video sign on U.S. 6 in Kendallville Monday portrayed Barack Obama with a Hitlerstyle mustache and called for impeaching the U.S. president. The sign’s owner said it is a paid advertisement not affiliated with the businesses in Cornerstone Plaza where the sign is located. That the sign’s rotation also includes a “Welcome to Kendallville” message prompted Kendallville Mayor Suzanne Handshoe to say it was inappropriate, regardless of what anyone may think of the president, and doesn’t reflect a message the city would want to send. The sign shows a rising image of Obama, revealing a mustache similar to the one worn by Nazi leader Adolf Hitler on his upper lip. The image is followed by the words, on the screen in separate frames, “IMPEACH” and “OBAMA.” Cornerstone Plaza owner Roger Diehm said advertising on the sign was purchased over the weekend by LaRouchePAC, the political action committee of Lyndon LaRouche, who is seeking Obama’s impeachment. “They were in town Sunday
handing out literature,” Diehm said. “We rent space on the sign. … Any political party can put any message there.” Some people Monday referred to the advertisement as being a pharmacy’s sign, because the animated LED display including the Obama image and message is directly above a large sign advertising the pharmacy as a plaza occupant. Other business logos and names also appear in that part of the sign. But the businesses in the plaza have no say in the animated display’s content, Diehm said. It’s his and Cornerstone Plaza’s, he said. The sign also includes as part of its rotation a farm harvest scene and the words “Welcome to Kendallville,” with the city’s logo. “That’s distasteful,” Handshoe said upon learning of Obama image and message. “That’s not the message that we would want to send as a city.” It’s especially inappropriate for a sign to give people the impression that the community is disrespectful toward the office of president, Handshoe said. Whether someone agrees or disagrees with Obama, he is the president, and people should respect the position he holds, she added.
JAMES TEW
This picture of President Barack Obama with a Hitler-style mustache is part of a paid ad running on the Cornerstone Plaza sign on U.S. 6 in Kendallville Monday. Immediately following the image are the words “impeach Obama.” A video of the entire sequence may be viewed at kpcnews.com.
The sign also includes other messages linked to LaRouchePac, including one seeking to restore the Glass-Steagall act, which LaRouche PAC calls “The Return to Prudent Banking Act.” LaRouche was a presidential candidate eight times between 1976 to 2004, running once for his own U.S. Labor Party and
campaigning seven times for the Democratic nomination. He was sentenced to 15 years of imprisonment in 1988 for conspiracy to commit mail fraud and tax code violations and was released in 1994 on parole. He is the founder of the LaRouche movement, a political and cultural network promoting him and his ideas.