Sunday
Second Chance Page A2 Burned dog gets new family
Piano Exhibit Page C1 Cities join for free event
August 4, 2013
Weather Mostly sunny today. High 75. Tonight, partly cloudy. Low 53. Page B8
The
Serving DeKalb County since 1871
Auburn, Indiana
kpcnews.com
$1.25
No rush to expunge criminal records GOOD MORNING Auburn man dies from crash injuries FORT WAYNE — An Auburn man died late Friday afternoon at Parkview Regional Medical Center from injuries he sustained in a vehicle crash Wednesday on Interstate 69, north of Dupont Road. Lloyd E. Myers, 84, suffered multiple blunt-force injuries in the crash at 9:40 a. m. Wednesday, the Allen Myers County coroner’s office said. A news release said investigators do not know if he was wearing safety restraints. The incident remains under investigation by the Allen County Police Department and the coroner’s office. Police said Myers had pulled his pickup truck onto the right shoulder of I-69 southbound, north of the Hursh Road overpass. He then attempted to enter the main lane to get back into the flow of traffic, but another car hit his truck. Myers is the 20th person to die in a traffic accident in Fort Wayne and Allen County in 2013, the coroner’s office said. An obituary for Mr. Myers appears on page A4 of today’s edition.
BY MATT GETTS mgetts@kpcmedia.com
When a state new law allowing people to clear their criminal records took effect July 1, Steuben County Circuit Court Judge Allen Wheat said he expected a mad dash to the courthouse by people seeking to do just that. The rush hasn’t happened. At least not yet. Wheat said he has not had even a single case come before him regarding the new law. “I’m somewhat surprised at that,” Wheat said. “That just hasn’t happened — at least in the circuit court.” The new law allows people who have been convicted of certain misdemeanor and felony
crimes to have their records cleared, as long as specified waiting periods have elapsed. A person who has had a record expunged could claim on a job application that he or she has not been convicted of a felony, a key benefit to the law, officials have said (see related story). Under most circumstances, the law doesn’t allow for the forgiveness of sex crimes, crimes involving serious bodily injury and those committed by elected officials. One attorney estimated the cost of an expungement to range from $750 to $1,000 for attorney fees, with the higher amount required for more serious offenses.
Employment spurs law change BY MATT GETTS mgetts@kpcmedia.com
The lone pending expungement request in LaGrange County is a good example of how the new legislation should be used, according to that county’s prosecuting attorney. A man who was convicted in the mid 1970s of a theft is the process of preparing a petition to have that conviction expunged, or cleared, from his criminal record. Prosecuting Attorney Jeff Wible said it’s the type of case he thinks the new
LAOTTO — One man was killed and a woman was injured in a head-on crash just outside LaOtto Saturday afternoon, DeKalb County Police reported. Thomas E. Schultis, 73, of Churubusco, was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. Elizabeth L. Freeman, 53, of the 11300 block of East S.R. 205, LaOtto, was flown by Samaritan to Parkview Regional Medical Center with a leg injury. The crash happened at 4:46 p.m. at S.R. 3 and S.R. 205.
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 •
Classified.............................................. D5-D6 Life................................................................ C1 Obituaries.....................................................A4 Opinion ........................................................B6 Business ......................................................B8 Sports.................................................... B1-B5 Weather.......................................................B8 Vol. 101 No. 213
SEE EMPLOYMENT, PAGE A6
SEE RECORD, PAGE A6
Jobs lack quality
Ashley-Hudson Festival
Positions added in July mostly part-time, low pay
DAVE KURTZ
Churubusco man killed in collision
law was created to handle. The Indiana General Assembly’s House Enrolled Act 1482 became law on July 1. It allows for misdemeanor and felony convictions to be expunged, as long as certain criteria are met. Area court officers said the intent of the legislation is to allow people looking for jobs to be able to say they do not have felony convictions on their records. “The whole purpose of this
A flag corps leads DeKalb High School’s Baron Brigade marching band in the Ashley-Hudson
Festival parade Saturday morning.
Grand marshal, 93, enjoys ride BY DAVE KURTZ dkurtz@kpcmedia.com
ASHLEY — At 93 years of age, Clyde McEntarfer of Ashley still rides a lawn mower on a regular basis. Saturday, he got a faster set of wheels. A sleek, new Corvette convertible carried McEntarfer down the main streets of Ashley and Hudson as grand marshal of the towns’ annual festival parade. The Corvette’s chauffeur gave him a taste of its horsepower, throwing him back in his seat, he said. As for the rest of the ride as grand marshal, “That was quite an honor,” he said. “I never thought I’d ever be that.” McEntarfer’s main mode of
transportation in summer is a 60-inch, zero-turning-radius lawn mower. He has “three good-paying jobs” mowing lawns, he said, and he does his neighbors’ lawns for gasoline money. In his full-time working days, McEntarfer rode McEntarfer heavy construction equipment. He served with an engineers unit in the Army, building bridges and airports. He served in the Battle of the Bulge in Europe during World War II and was called up again during the Korean Conflict, but went to Europe for a second tour.
Born in Ashley, he moved back to a home just north of town in the 1950s and settled in town in 1970 at a home he still occupies. He raised two daughters, Patricia Brown of Waterloo and Pam Myers of Spencerville. Now, grandson Aaron Myers lives with McEntarfer. Together, they attend tractor pulls, and McEntarfer won a trophy driving in a competition last year. Relaxing in a beer tent in downtown Ashley after the parade, McEntarfer credited his longevity to “a beer a day,” or occasionally something stronger. He said he leaves the ladies alone, but “I get a lot of kisses and hugs” — including a big one from his whole community on Saturday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The 162,000 jobs the economy added in July were a disappointment. The quality of the jobs was even worse. A disproportionate number of the added jobs were part-time or low-paying — or both. Part-time work accounted for more than 65 percent of the positions employers added in July. Low-paying retailers, restaurants and bars supplied more than half July’s job gain. “You’re getting jobs added, but they might not be the best-quality job,” says John Canally, an economist with LPL Financial in Boston. So far this year, low-paying industries have provided 61 percent of the nation’s job growth, even though these industries represent just 39 percent of overall U.S. jobs, according to Labor Department numbers analyzed by Moody’s Analytics. Mid-paying industries have contributed just 22 percent of this year’s job gain. “The jobs that are being created are not generating much income,” Steven Ricchiuto, chief economist at Mizuho Securities USA, wrote in a note to clients. SEE JOBS, PAGE A6
DeKalb schools group makes trip to China BY KATHRYN BASSETT kbassett@kpcmedia.com
WATERLOO — As a social studies teacher, Brett Eltzroth hopes students in his classes at DeKalb Middle School have a respect for other cultures and individual differences. “I hope that they have an understanding of different cultures in the world,” said Eltzroth. For some of his students, that understanding has come not only from books but also from immersion. In June, Eltzroth led a group of about two dozen DeKalb Central school district residents on a nine-day visit to China.
The group included Eltzroth’s wife, Neah Eltzroth, who is a second-grade teacher at Rome City Elementary School; DeKalb Middle School associate principal Michelle Molargik; middle school teachers Nora Schwartz and Jarrod Bennett; McKenney-Harrison Elementary School teacher Carrie Bennett; DeKalb High School treasurer Nancy Gurtner; students Rachel Pfafman, Caroline Harlow, Tori Pfafman, Gabe Seltenright, John Gurtner, Emily Jones, Cade Molargik, Devon Winebrenner, Lauren Woodcox and Riley Winebrenner; and parents and patrons Jim Harlow, Russell Emerick, Mary Pfafman,
Mary Seltenright, Brad Woodcox, ClaraMary Winebrenner and Tim Schwartz. The trip marked Eltzroth’s second visit to China. He first made the journey two years ago with a group from Global Indiana with the goal of establishing a relationship with a Chinese sister school. That relationship since has been cemented, and the group visited the sister school in Taizhou. “They had a big welcome for us,” Eltzroth said. This past school year, DeKalb Middle School hosted teacher Cindy Wang and administrator Chen Ronghua from SEE CHINA, PAGE A6
“I hope that they have an understanding of different cultures in the world.” Brett Eltzroth DeKalb Middle School social studies teacher
•