Serving the Steuben County 101 lakes area since 1857
Michigan man guilty of Class B felony meth possession charge Page A8
Weather Sunshine with a high in the mid-70s. Low tonight 52. Sunny on Friday. Page A8 THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2013
Angola, Indiana
GOOD MORNING Leo Pride to hold two fundraisers BRUSHY PRAIRIE — Leo Pride at Prairie Heights High School will hold two upcoming fundraisers: • The first will be a Boomerang Backpack fundraiser Monday from 5-7 p.m. in the cafeteria courtyard featuring a grilled pork burger and frosty shake combination for $5. All proceeds will benefit the Boomerang Backpack initiative at Prairie Heights Elementary School which feeds qualifying students grades kindergarten to fourth on weekends. The event is sponsored by PHHS FFA and Leo Pride; Prairie Heights Education Association; South Milford and Mongo Lions Clubs; and Franke’s Fruit Farm. • Leo Pride is also assisting with Soul Drive 2013: a shoe drive to support Haitian relief efforts. The drive assists tristateimpact.com/ souldrive in its efforts to collect new to gently-used shoes of all shapes and sizes through October. Donations may be dropped off from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the PHHS main office.
Senate heads to budget vote
New autumn fest to debut BY JENNIFER DECKER jdecker@kpcmedia.com
ANGOLA — Organizers of this weekend’s Autumn in Angola Fall Festival are hoping to rake in the public to discover all the city has to offer. The newly named festival has a different organizer and diverse activities planned Friday through Sunday. Go Angola Downtown Alliance took over running the annual event after the Angola Area Chamber
of Commerce decided to change its focus to promoting member events. Go Angola changed the event’s name from Fall Fest to Autumn In Angola Fall Festival to give it a fresh start. “Everyone has busted their butts on this,” said Kim Bordner, Go Angola treasurer. Earlier this year, there was public outcry after the chamber opted to discontinue organizing the longtime Angola annual festival. SEE AUTUMN, PAGE A2
FILE PHOTO BY BRIAN GLICK
The banners are up around the Public Square promoting the Autumn in Angola Fall Festival, which runs Friday night through Sunday.
LOOK FOR VIDEO: Indiana Sea Plane Pilots Association Splash In at Pokagon State Park kpcnews.com
Contact Us • The Herald Republican 45 S. Public Square Angola, IN 46703 Phone: (260) 665-3117 Fax: (260) 665-2322 Classifieds: (toll free) (877) 791-7877 Circulation: (800) 717-4679
Index • Classified.............................................. B5-B8 Life.................................................................A6 Obituaries.....................................................A4 Opinion .........................................................A5 Sports.................................................... B1-B3 Weather........................................................A8 TV/Comics ..................................................B4 Vol. 156 No. 265
WASHINGTON (AP) — Tea party conservative Sen. Ted Cruz ended his all-night talkathon to dismantle President Barack Obama’s health care law after 21 hours and 19 minutes as legislation required to avert a partial government shutdown at midnight Monday easily cleared an initial Senate hurdle. Weary after a day and night on his feet, Cruz simply sat down at 12 noon EDT on Wednesday, the predetermined time for the Senate to adjourn, as several of his colleagues applauded. Senate Republicans and some House members congratulated the Texas freshman. Cruz actually joined every other senator in a 100-0 procedural vote to allow the measure to officially be lain before the Senate. He says Republicans should rally against the measure in a vote scheduled Friday or Saturday on whether to cut off a filibuster on the measure itself, a vote that promises to give Democrats controlling the chamber a procedural edge if Cruz is not successful in blocking them. SEE BUDGET, PAGE A8
Rett awareness fundraiser Saturday ANGOLA — The fifth annual Rockin’ For Rett event will be held from 6-9 p.m. Saturday at Piggy’s Brew Pub to raise awareness of Rett Syndrome and raise funds toward research in an attempt to find a cure for the genetic neurological disorder that occurs almost exclusively in females. There will be free food donated by several local restaurants and many items up for silent auction, including NASCAR passes from Michigan International Speedway, stay-and-play golf packages, autographed books, memorablilia, caps and shirts, Vera Bradley bags, Fort Wayne Philarmonic tickets and gift baskets. For more information about the event or Rett Syndrome, contact Kelly Butler by phone at 243-2722 or by email at kelly@gp2c.org.
75 cents
kpcnews.com
PHOTO CONTRIBUTED
Shawn Snyder zip lines through a cloud forest near Monteverde, Costa Rica.
Snyder dives into Costa Rican adventure in summer enrichment THIS IS THE FINAL INSTALLMENT of a series three articles on
Teacher Creativity Fellowship grants used by Steuben County teachers over the summer. BY AMY OBERLIN aoberlin@kpcmedia.com
ANGOLA — Zip lines, sea turtles and black sand beaches awaited Shawn Snyder as she departed this summer for a three-week get-away. Snyder, an Angola Middle School teacher, received a Lilly Endowment Teacher Creativity Fellowship grant, which she used to study Spanish in the Spanish-speaking country of Costa Rica. As part of the package she got to do one of her favorite things — diving. Also an environmentalist, the trip allowed her to explore a biologically diverse and beautiful country. This year, Lilly Endowment gave 100 $10,000 grants to teachers, principals and assistant principals. Their projects are meant to be personally renewing and intellectually revitalizing. Snyder is one of three teachers in Steuben County who received the award. She applied for the grant at the urging of fellow middle school science teacher Paul Beckwith, who has gone on some Lilly sponsored summer adventures himself. Snyder wanted a fitness and spa component, specifically with the opportunity to scuba dive, while increasing her command of the Spanish language. She said she had a great student last year who she was unable to communicate with well due to the language barrier. Snyder’s degree is in marine biology from Palm Beach SEE SNYDER, PAGE A8
ELIZABETH BRIDGES
Shawn Snyder gets ready to dive at Elephant Rock off the Pacific Coast.
Molesting trial is underway BY AMY OBERLIN aoberlin@kpcmedia.com
ANGOLA — A 15-year-old girl who was allegedly repeatedly molested was the first to take the stand Wednesday afternoon in a Steuben Superior Court trial. A 12-person jury was seated by late morning from a pool of 51 people who appeared for the trial of Nicolas D. Duesler, 28, of Duesler Garrett. The girl, who was 14 at the time Duesler allegedly had sexual intercourse with her, retold her experiences through questioning by Steuben County Prosecutor Michael Hess and Duesler’s Fort Wayne attorney Samuel Bolinger. Also taking the stand Wednesday afternoon were two expert witnesses and the victim’s 13-year-old cousin — who Duesler allegedly gave synthetic marijuana and cigarettes the day one of the incidents allegedly occurred. Duesler is charged with four counts of Class B felony sexual misconduct with a minor. Each charge carries up to a 20-year prison term. The trial continues today. According to testimony, the girl had been living with family SEE TRIAL, PAGE A2
Fremont weighs breaking top student tie BY JENNIFER DECKER jdecker@kpcmedia.com
FREMONT — Fremont High School finds itself with what’s likely a nice problem with its senior class. Fremont High School Principal Mark Sherbondy told the Fremont Community Schools Board of Education at a special Tuesday meeting the problem is two students are tied for top academic honors. He discussed with the board how to handle it. Sherbondy asked for clarification if those two students are tied at the end of the third
FREMONT SCHOOLS hires new
business manager during special meeting. SEE PAGE A2 quarter, when the valedictorian is determined, if they would both share that honor and no salutatorian would be chosen. “We have two students tied at the top with a perfect 4.0. We don’t differentiate between A’s and A-pluses,” Sherbondy said. “We do have a policy distinguishing between the valedictorian and salutatorian by totaling their
grades and adding dual-enrollment credits.” Sherbondy said calling the race a tie could cause problems as both students might not necessarily choose classes geared for their future or to pursue interests. It could also set a future precedent. “I want students to go after their interests,” Sherbondy said. “I would be a huge supporter, but we need to follow policy,” said Sheri Thomson, board president. “I’d be open to a policy change.” Tim Knoblauch, another board member, said the key is defining what exactly a valedictorian is.
“It’s become high stakes,” Knoblauch said. Sherbondy said he hasn’t had the problem of co-valedictorians in the 10 years he’s been principal, but said it has happened before in the high school’s history. “It’s going to make me look at policy and make it more distinctive by putting a policy in place so we reward dual credits,” Sherbondy said. “I’m comfortable with the distinction.” The board opted to go with policy and come up with a tie-breaking method if the students remain tied after the third quarter.