IN Whitley County May 11, 2017

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‘Moana’ picked for downtown movie

Staff reports COLUMBIA CITY — The move has been selected for next month’s Movie on the Square, hosted by the Columbia City Main Street Association. Disney’s “Moana” will be shown on the Whitley County Courthouse lawn at 10:15 p.m. June 2. Free popcorn and water will be provided. Attendees are encouraged to bring a blanket or lawnchair to sit on. The event is being held in conjunction with the city’s new First Fridays events, which is presented by the Downtown Business Alliance, an entity that’s part of Main Street.

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129 S. Eagle Glen Trail, Columbia City, IN 46725 EagleGlennGC_65843 Front tab INWC 5-11-17 #75MD ek/ek 4c

Fahls’ hard work pays off for CC By Nicole Minier

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COLUMBIA CITY — A lifetime of hard work by one Columbia City couple is helping provide a place for families for generations to come. The Russel and Evelyn Fahl Aquatics Center is expected to begin construction this week. The late Fahl couple donated $500,000 toward the $4.2-million facility, which will replace the 60-year-old Burnworth Pool and carry on the Fahl

Humble beginnings Russel Fahl’s life began in poverty and ended in philanthropy. “Dad came from a dirt poor family of 13 kids — he was number six,” said his daughter, Pam McCoy. When he was young, Russel moved around a lot because his father was a sharecropper. Eventually, the Fahl family landed in Whitley County, at a farm on Airport Road, north of

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Columbia City. Russel and his siblings were often put to work all day to help make ends meet and put food on the table — a lot of food was needed to feed 13 children. “Grandma always game up with paying jobs for the children,” McCoy said. “They would work all summer, not only at home, but for other people. They grew up during the depression.” See FAHLS, Page 5

CONTRIBUTED

The family of the late Russel and Evelyn Fahl made a $500,000 contribution toward Columbia City’s new aquatics facility, which is expected to open next year.

Community Corrections saves tax dollars

Prom-perfect

Active shooter workshop

INWhitley County 123 N. Main St., Churubusco, IN 46723

Telephone: (800) 717-4679

Vol. 1 No. 6

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CONTRIBUTED

Mackie Sheets and Jayla Wigent take a prom-perfect selfie before heading to the Grand Wayne Center in Fort Wayne for Columbia City

High School’s prom. See more prom coverage on Pages 4 and 17.

COLUMBIA CITY — Looking at the numbers, Whitley County’s Community Corrections program is saving the taxpayers a lot of money — nearly $700,000 last year. Those serving sentences in the Community Corrections program can either be a part of work release or home detention. Community Corrections also manages community service sentences. Being a part of those work release or home detention programs requires inmates to have a job. Much of the income the inmates earn is put back into the program, making the program more financially sound than jails or prisons, where taxpayers are footing the bill. “When they’re out here, they have the ability to secure employment, provide assistance to their families for child support and make restitution to their victims,” said Paula Worden, director of Community Corrections. Most of the offenders in Community Corrections are low-level felons — none See CORRECTIONS, Page 7

Exposed: Technology has embarrassing ramifications By Nicole Minier nminier@kpcmedia�com

COLUMBIA CITY — Many parents might not give a second thought to giving their children cellphones, tablets or computers, but community leaders are warning parents to be informed on the dangers of those devices. Whitley County Consolidated Schools hosted “Parent Univer-

sity” Tuesday at Indian Springs Middle School. The event, featured a panel that included community leaders from several different agencies in Whitley County, and looked to shed light on a very serious problem affecting families in Whitley County on a weekly basis. A recently launched website allows users to

INWhitley County

INFORMATION

By Nicole Minier

123 North Main Street,Churubusco, IN 46723

COLUMBIA CITY — The Columbia City Police Department and Whitley County Chamber of Commerce are working together to offer an active shooter training workshop. This workshop is open to local business owners, managers and human resource professionals. CCPD officers will be leading the workshop, which will teach an overview of how to respond if a tragic event unfolded in a workplace. Responses taught could be effective in preventing or counteracting a violent event. The workshop will be held 8-10 a.m. May 30 in the City Hall Fire Training Room, located on the second floor of Columbia City Hall. This training is provided free of charge, and light refreshments will be available. Seating is limited. To RSVP contact the Whitley County Chamber of Commerce at 248-8131 or by email at office@ whitleychamber.com.

May 11, 2017

inal act. “It depends on the age of the D.J. Sigler Whitley County Prosecutor person sending the photo, and the age of the recipient, on whether namelessly post photos or not it would be illegal publicly — photos that activity,” Whitley County were intended to be private. Prosecutor D.J. Sigler said. Local police and the “If someone willingly sends prosecutor are investigating a nude photo of themselves the criminality of the and the person they sent it website, but for now, the to decides to disseminate photos are public. it, there’s no criminal sancMany of those photos tion.” were self-taken and However, if the person apparently sent via text wasn’t aware the photo was messaging, or smartphone being taken, it is a crime. applications such as SnapSigler did not comment chat. The photos were then on the website specifically, shared unexpectedly, which, but said these situations though embarrassing, may are taken on a case-by-case not necessarily be a crimbasis.

The internet is forever.”

“If there’s illegal activity, you can bet I will prosecute it,” Sigler said. “Each case is very fact-sensitive.” Sigler has a message to all technology users, young or old: “The internet is forever.” Proactive parenting “This is a problem that needs to be pushed to the forefront,” said Columbia City Police Detective Chip Stephenson. “It needs to come out. Parents need to have discussions with their children.” Parents should put thought into how, when and where they allow children to utilize their devices. See TECH, Page 9


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