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Williams advances at Wimbledon PAGE 15
June 28, 2013 It’s Where You Live!
www.troydailynews.com
Volume 105, No. 153
INSIDE
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An award-winning Civitas Media Newspaper
Volunteers needed for concert BY MELANIE YINGST Staff Writer myingst@civitasmedia.com
Tipp man hurt in crash An 18-year-old man was injured in a car accident around 3 p.m. Thursday at 5000 Elizabeth Road. Jeremiah Leak from Tipp City was driving his Jeep Cherokee at normal speeds when he veered slightly off the road onto the narrow shoulder and lost control, falling into a ditch before he struck a tree. See Page B2.
Looking for a way to raise money for your favorite charity in a fun and unique atmosphere? Then get a group of friends together and sign up to volunteer to pour drinks, check festival bracelets, set up tables, provide security and other tasks for the Labor Day weekend musical
TROY festival’s “Gentlemen of the Road” tour, featuring Grammywinning artists Mumford and Sons. Troy Main Street’s volunteer coordinators Will Harrleson and Carri Walters are assembling shift lists and tasks for the more than 1,000 volunteers needed to help assist with the Gentlemen
of the Road tour stop in Troy on Aug. 30-31. “This is a great way to provide extra help and make money for groups,” Harrelson said. “We are happy to be able to provide a volunteer opportunity for the community which will benefit the nonprofit organization of their choice.” Harrelson said a stipend amount has not been determined yet, but non-profit groups,
including churches, service organizations and any official nonprofit organization, can benefit by volunteering to help with a variety of needs during the tour stop in Troy. Harrelson said local businesses can designate the organization of choice and their stipend can be donated to with their time
TIPP CITY
School officials continue safety talks
Ecuador heats up rhetoric President Barack Obama tried to cool the international frenzy over Edward Snowden on Thursday as Ecuador stepped up its defiance and said it was preemptively rejecting millions in trade benefits that it could lose by taking in the fugitive from his limbo in a Moscow airport.
BY CECILIA FOX For Civitas Medida tdneditorial@civitasmedia.com
See Page 5.
Agency sues Corzine over MF Global Jon Corzine once saw a boutique brokerage called MF Global as his best hope to rescale the heights of Wall Street he’d once occupied as head of Goldman Sachs. Now, MF Global is bankrupt. And Corzine faces a lifetime ban from the futures industry.
See Page 10.
INSIDE TODAY Advice ..........................7 Arts ..............................6 Calendar ......................3 Classified ...................11 Comics.........................8 Deaths .........................5 Carol Hunter Wayne F. Layton Horoscopes .................8 Opinion ........................4 Sports ........................15 TV ................................7
Remember using cell phones to make calls? Several weeks ago, my cell phone decided it was tired of all the abuse and walked out on me for good — taking three years of contact information with it. I have dropped it, kicked it and drove over it with my lawnmower more than once, so I don’t blame my poor man’s Blackberry for finally giving up late one Saturday night about a month ago. See Page 4.
STAFF PHOTOS/ANTHONY WEBER
Friends and family members attend a surprise retirement open house honoring Parker Behm in the Community Room Thursday to wish him well during his retirement.
Community supports Behm at surprise party BY NATALIE KNOTH Staff Writer nknoth@civitasmedia.com Family and friends of Parker Behm — who has restored more than 20 downtown properties — celebrated his retirement Thursday evening at a fitting location: the Community Room that he renovated in the 1990s. Behm revitalized downtown over his 43 years working in Troy, purchasing, restoring and leasing both retail and office properties. To celebrate his dedication to Troy, his wife Jane, daughter Heather Davey and son-in-law Rob helped organize the surprise party. “It was Rob’s idea, and we put it all together,” said Davey before her father arrived. “My parents and friends of theirs (Max and Carol Littlejohn) are coming downtown to see the sculptures and the plan is to go to the Caroline after for dinner. Then we have to get him upstairs.” Behm and Jane raised their two children, Heather and Andy, in Troy. The family had purposely placed a sign announcing the party on the door, knowing that Behm preferred property owners not place signs on the exterior and thus it would draw
“
I remember being quoted a few years ago as saying, ‘Every day in Troy is like being on vacation,’ and that’s the truth. I love being here. I love the people and the support, and it’s a great place to be. Isn’t that the type of place you want to be when you’re on vacation? — Parker Behm
”
his attention. Thus by the time he reached the Community Room, he was already well aware of the surprise. In an interview at the party, Behm reflected on what has made Troy such a special place for him to live and work. “If you can’t do it in Troy, you can’t do it anywhere,” Behm said. “I remember being quoted a few years ago as saying, ‘Every day in Troy is
TROY like being on vacation,’ and that’s the truth. I love being here. I love the people and the support, and it’s a great place to be. Isn’t that the type of place you want to be when you’re on vacation?” Mayor Michael Beamish also spoke highly of Behm’s role in dramatically improving the city of Troy. “Parker has given his time, his talent and his investment to making the community — and downtown — what it is today,” Beamish said. “He has definitely shown his love for the community. We need more Parker Behms in Troy.” Dave and Jerri Smith, who ran Trojan House of Carpets before they retired last year, said Behm expected only the best from those who worked on renovating his properties downtown. “When Parker said the job’s ready, you better be ready. No other contractor I’ve ever worked with has ever been like that,” Dave said. “I saw Troy when it was kinda rough, but building by building, I saw him make Troy what it is today. This guy’s a real fixture in Troy.”
OUTLOOK Today Storms likely High: 82° Low: 66° Saturday Scattered rain High: 78° Low: 63°
• See CONCERT on Page 2
Funding cuts to impact CORS BY WILL E SANDERS Civitas Media wsanders@civitasmedia.com
Sequestration and federal spending cuts have Complete weather resulted in local cuts to the information on Page 9. nine-county area of the Council on Rural Services Home Delivery: (CORS), though the organi335-5634 zation’s executive director Classified Advertising: said Miami County is not (877) 844-8385 one of those counties affected. Shirley Hathaway, CORS executive director, said the board of trustees 6 74825 22406 6 approved a realignment
PIQUA plan for the Head Start and Early Head Start programs that will impact those in Auglaize, Greene and Shelby counties. The council, which provides educational and support services to children and families, made the cuts earlier this week and laid off 37 staff members in the wake of the sequestration, Hathaway said. As a result of realignment, seven Head Start
classrooms were closed and the program will accept 171 fewer children. The total budget cuts that went into effect total $646,000, Hathaway added. Hathaway said the plan in those counties that are affected by the cuts is to create some home-based services that families can benefit from. “We made sure that counties that are affected has at last one center-based program that we can transport some of the most needy children to,” said
Hathaway. According to CORS, the agency is also “addressing many ongoing changes that will allow the agency to respond proactively to the future of economic conditions.” Hathaway said if additional funding becomes available the emphasis would be placed on “rebuilding” the programs in the affected counties that underwent the cuts. “Our main emphasis in
School officials are still searching for new ways to make Tipp City schools a safer place for children. Board members, administrators and police met Wednesday night to discuss different methods of increasing security, including arming teachers in an emergency. “These are the times, unfortunately, that we’re in,” Superintendent Dr. John Kronour said, discussing the necessity for increased safety measures. Officials met with representatives from Sidney schools and the Shelby County Sheriff in May to discuss Sidney’s new safety plan, which includes arming teachers in emergencies. Board members and school administrators discussed implementing a similar plan in Tipp City, which includes hiring uniformed, armed reserve officers to work the district school buildings and training volunteer staff members to serve on a response team if there’s an active shooter in a school building. Biometric safes, which scan fingerprints to open, would hold handguns for team members. “The chances of Tipp ever having to implement this, I think are extremely rare,” school board member Scott Dixon said, arguing that arming staff would act as a deterrent. “But in the case where I’m looking to do some damage and I know Tipp has enhanced procedures in place and Vandalia does not, I might go to Vandalia.” Acting Tipp City Chief of Police Eric Burris and Sgt. Detective Chris Graham weighed in on the idea. While there are certain benefits to arming staff members or hiring retired officers, both officers said they would prefer that Tipp City police be the only ones carrying guns in schools, although they added they would back the school district in whatever it chose to do. Burris listed several cons to arming teachers, including: the armed teachers become targets; they’re not as well trained as a police officer; there’s a chance of friendly fire casualties; it requires
• See CUTS on Page 2 • See SAFETY on Page 2
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