Shop With A Cop Page A2 Butler police accepting applications
WEDNESDAY November 13, 2013
A Soldier’s Life Page A5 DAR chapter hears Civil War story
Weather Sunny skies, high 38. Low tonight 27. Sunny and warmer Thursday, high 47. Overnight low 32. Page A6
The
Serving DeKalb County since 1871
Auburn, Indiana
GOOD MORNING Contractors working on two I-69 bridges AUBURN — Southbound lanes of Interstate 69 will be intermittently restricted between Exit 326 (C.R. 11-A) and Exit 329 (S.R. 8) during nighttime hours until Saturday morning, the Indiana Department of Transportation said. Weather permitting. INDOT is performing proactive maintenance work on bridges over the CSX Railroad and Diehl Ditch and over C.R. 48. Both bridges are approximately one mile south of S.R. 8. The work will take place between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m., beginning with a restriction in the southbound right lane. As work progresses, the contractor will restrict the southbound left lane. INDOT said drivers should be aware of traffic controls including barrels, cones and arrow boards while the work is in progress. A 45 mph speed limit will be in force within the construction zone when workers are present. A width limit of 14 feet is in force within the project limits. The maintenance is expected to be complete by 6 a.m. Saturday. The work is part of a multi-location bridge maintenance contract, with work taking place in upcoming weeks throughout the INDOT Fort Wayne District. The contract was awarded to Pioneer, based on its low bid of $196,000.
Library earns stars For the fourth time in the past six years, Butler Public Library has been named a “Star Library” in Library Journal magazine’s annual index of public library service. The announcement was made in the publication’s November issue, based on 2011 statistics. SEE PAGE A2
MY COMMUNITY NEWS Read the latest news submitted by KPC readers kpcnews.com
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.................................B7-B8 Life..................................................... A5 Obituaries......................................... A4 Opinion .............................................B4 Sports.........................................B1-B3 Weather............................................ A6 TV/Comics .......................................B6 Vol. 101 No. 313
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DeKalb Eastern marking 50 years BY JEFF JONES jjones@kpcmedia.com
BUTLER — While the DeKalb County Eastern Community School District was established in July 1962, the first seniors to graduate from Eastside Junior-Senior High School received their diplomas in the spring of 1964. To commemorate 50 years, school officials will host an informal open house Wednesday, Nov. 27, as part of the boys basketball game between Eastside and Garrett. Patrons can walk the Eastside hallways, visit the Millie Hansen Auditorium, dinner theater
and witness some of the latest classroom technological advances, explained principal Larry Yoder. Staff members will be available in various parts of the building. School consolidations — often between rival schools — occurred in part due to Indiana’s School Corporation Reorganization Act of 1959. Locally, that brought together students who attended the Metropolitan School District of Butler and the Riverdale School Corp.
In a special election held May 8, 1962, voters approved the creation of the DeKalb Eastern school district. The first elected school board was comprised of president Franklyn Sechler, vice president Walter Reinhart, secretary Wendell Cooper, treasurer Joseph Parshall, and members Keith Culler, Frank Laub and Delbert Washler. The superintendent was Ernest Zeller and the school attorney was Henry C. Springer. That brought together the histories of the Butler Windmills and Riverdale Comets. Coinci-
dentally, Riverdale was a consolidation of the St. Joe Tigers and Concord Township, Spencerville Red Raiders and Spencer Township, and Newville Township. Patrons are invited to share memorabilia, including old photos, yearbooks, athletic apparel, trophies and newspaper articles pertaining to any of the schools in eastern DeKalb County. Contributors can bring their items to the Eastside office, 603 E. Green St. Patrons are asked to tag their items for easy identification and can be picked up when school resumes Monday, Dec. 2.
Storm aid is slow PHOTO CONTRIBUTED
A cross-functional team of employees at Eaton’s Auburn plant works together to improve material flow. The project has helped improve safety,
ergonomics and efficiency throughout the plant, a company spokesman said.
Eaton going with faster flow AUBURN — Eaton Corp. says its plant in Auburn has reduced the distance material and parts travel through the plant by 4.5 miles per day to improve safety, ergonomics and efficiency. The improvements are part of the plant’s Material Flow Project, a company spokesman said. The Auburn facility designs, engineers and manufactures clutch components for the global commercial vehicle industry. The Material Flow Project began last year to address changes to Auburn’s product mix and growing production volume — more than 50 truckloads of material a day come in and out of the facility. “The project was a real team effort that involved machining, assembly, production, maintenance, materials, engineering and safety,” said Ralph Beam, Auburn’s plant manager. Team members conducted a thorough analysis of Auburn’s overall manufacturing footprint and individual production cells, material storage, work in process, sub-assemblies, finished goods, packaging and shipping areas.
Auburn plant adds employees AUBURN — Employment at Eaton Corp. in Auburn has grown by roughly 20 since a landmark labor agreement in late 2011, plant manager Ralph Beam said Tuesday. The plant now employs 175 people. “The single greatest factor is we introduced in 2011 the ability to bring in temporary workers to our Auburn facility,” Beam said. Before the agreement, similar Eaton facilities in Charlotte, N.C. and Mexico were able to hire temporary workers. They were more likely to be targeted for job growth by the parent company, since it did not have to worry about laying off workers if a new project did not work out as hoped. Two years ago, the Auburn They identified a 23-step improvement plan that ranged from moving equipment closer to workers and making greater
plant and its union came to an agreement to allow temporary workers to be hired, making the Auburn location more competitive for new work projects, Beam said. “We have an excellent relationship with the union,” Beam said. “They want jobs here just like the company wants jobs here.” Beam said the Auburn plant carries, on average, five temporary workers among the 20 new hires since the deal was inked in late 2011. Since the local plant is tied so closely to trucking fleets, any uptick in the economy could lead to more work and more jobs, Beam said. “We’re dependent on what the economy does,” he said. use of transport carts to installing full-size bearing presses and relocating robotic cells and entire SEE EATON, PAGE A6
TACLOBAN, Philippines (AP) — Desperately needed food, water and medical aid are only trickling into this city that took the worst blow from Typhoon Haiyan, while thousands of victims jammed the damaged airport Tuesday, seeking to be evacuated. “We need help. Nothing is happening. We haven’t eaten since yesterday afternoon,” pleaded a weeping Aristone Balute, an 81-year-old woman who failed to get a flight out of Tacloban for Manila, the capital. Her clothes were soaked from a pouring rain and tears streamed down her face. Five days after what could be the Philippines’ deadliest disaster, aid is coming — pallets of supplies and teams of doctors are waiting to get into Tacloban — but the challenges of delivering the assistance means few in the stricken city have received help. “There is a huge amount that we need to do. We have not been able to get into the remote communities,” U.N. humanitarian chief Valerie Amos said in Manila, launching an appeal for $301 million to help the more than 11 million people estimated to be affected by the storm. “Even in Tacloban, because of the debris and the difficulties with logistics and so on, we have not been able to get in the level of supply that we would want to. We are going to do as much as we can to bring in more,” she said. Her office said she planned to visit the city. Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said relief goods were getting into the city, and the supply should increase now that the airport and a bridge to the island were open.
Town can’t provide school resource officer BY AARON ORGAN aorgan@kpcmedia.com
HAMILTON — It appears Hamilton Community Schools will not tap the Hamilton Police Department for a school resource officer. School district and town representatives held an open and informal meeting Tuesday night inside the school to discuss hiring a fifth town police officer as a resource officer at the school building. The state has awarded the school district a $35,000 matching grant for security measures.
But news came quickly in the meeting from Town Councilwoman Tina Bosse that seemed to be a deal-breaker. She reported that hiring a fifth officer would change the police department status and force the town to pay overtime costs. With four officers now, the town is exempt from those costs. “That’s a big hurdle to surmount,” Bosse told school board members and Superintendent Jon Willman. However, Bosse said the town would be willing to change officers’ daily routines to allow
patrols inside the school and on school grounds. Willman requested patrols be made whenever possible, but especially during morning drop-off and afternoon pickup times. “You can start that tomorrow,” school board President Scott Lucas said. “That would be welcomed with open arms from everybody on this end.” The police department requested a computer be placed inside the school building for an officer to perform basic duties, allowing the officer to spend more time in the building. The district
also will issue each officer a key card for around-the-clock access to the building, Lucas said. Lucas said the school board was not in a position to comment whether it would pursue a resource officer from either the DeKalb or Steuben county sheriff’s department with the grant dollars, saying it was thrown a “curve ball” with news of the town police department’s restriction. The district has until year’s end to have a resource officer in place to receive the state grant. Willman must notify the state in the event SEE TOWN, PAGE A6
Pinnington-McComb Funeral & Cremation Services invites you to celebrate the memory of your loved one “Coping During the Holidays”
Sunday, November 17 • 4:00 p.m. Pinnington-McComb Funeral & Cremation Services
Refreshments
502 N. Main Street, Auburn, IN 46706 For Reservations and Photo Submission Call Alex at (260) 925-3918 or Apinnington@pinnington-mccomb.com