FRIDAY September 20, 2013
Cow’s Choices
Cleaning Up
Moving Ahead
Hannah picks weekend grid tilts
Former mobile home site cleared of debris
WN advances in soccer tourney
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Weather Rain and storms by midday, severe storms possible, high of 80. Low tonight 57. Page A8 Serving Noble & LaGrange Counties
Kendallville, Indiana
GOOD MORNING GOP caucus to fill City Council vacancy BY DENNIS NARTKER dnartker@kpcmedia.com
KENDALLVILLE — A Republican Party caucus to elect a mid-term replacement for Kendallville City Council District 3 will be held Thursday at 6:30 p.m. in the Kendallville City Hall council chambers. The caucus will choose a Republican to fill a vacancy created by April Waters, who resigned last month because she moved outside the district. Qualified Republican precinct committee members in Wayne Township precincts 21 and 22 are eligible to vote in the caucus. Any interested candidate must provide a letter of intent and a completed CEB 5 form to Randall Kirkpatrick, Noble County Republican Party chairman, at least 72 hours before the caucus. For information, contact Kirkpatrick at 402-6534 or rlkpatrick55@gmail.com.
Williams County man indicted in rapes of children BRYAN, Ohio — A Williams County man has been indicted in multiple incidents in which three children were raped from 1999 to 2010, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine announced today. On Tuesday, a Williams County grand jury indicted Daniel Bignell, 40, on five rape charges, two attempted rape charges, four charges of gross sexual imposition, and three kidnapping charges that each carried a sexual motivation specification. He is being held in the Corrections Center of Northwest Ohio pending his initial court appearance Thursday.
PHOTO GALLERIES East Noble at DeKalb football kpcnews.com Multimedia > Photo Galleries
Info • The News Sun P.O. Box 39, 102 N. Main St. Kendallville, IN 46755 Telephone: (260) 347-0400 Fax: (260) 347-2693 Classifieds: (toll free) (877) 791-7877 Circulation: (260) 347-0400 or (800) 717-4679
Index
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Classifieds.................................B5-B6 Life..................................................... A5 Obituaries......................................... A4 Opinion ............................................. A3 Sports.........................................B1-B3 Weather............................................ A8 TV/Comics .......................................B4 Vol. 104 No. 259
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LaGrange County woman abducted BY MATT GETTS mgetts@kpcmedia.com
LAGRANGE — Authorities in LaGrange County are searching for a Peru woman who reportedly was abducted Wednesday night in LaGrange County. The missing woman is Jennifer Lee Bitzel, who is 5-foot-9, 130 pounds, with blue eyes and brown hair. According to police, she may have cuts or bruising to her face. Police are also looking for a person of interest in the case,
Steven Gail Gose, 43. According to a news release, Gose should be considered armed and dangerous and should not be approached. Police declined Bitzel to describe Gose’s suspected involvement in the abduction. Police said he is 5-foot-10 and 175 pounds. Gose currently has an active
Gose
warrant for his arrest on a parole violation. Police said Bitzel was last seen at approximately 10:30 p.m. Wednesday at a residence in the 3000 block of LaGrange C.R.
600E. It is alleged that at the residence, Bitzel was the victim of an extensive
battery. She then was removed forcefully from the residence by a man who allegedly made death threats to Bitzel before forcing her into a silver, 2001 Pontiac Grand Prix, four-door sedan, bearing Indiana registration 543AIB. Bitzel’s two young children were left behind at the residence, and she has not been seen or heard from since, police said. THIS STORY WAS POSTED on
kpcnews.com at noon Thursday.
GOP split? Party tries to present unified front with budget fray looming
PHOTO COURTESY AVILLA POLICE DEPARTMENT
Police say they confiscated these and other items of evidence when they raided an alleged
marijuana-growing operation in an Avilla apartment Wednesday night.
Pot-growing operation found BY BOB BRALEY bbraley@kpcmedia.com
AVILLA — A marijuana-growing operation with more than 40 plants and related items was discovered Wednesday evening in an Avilla apartment, the Avilla Police Department said. Police responded to a drug complaint at an apartment in the 400 block of Lillian Street at 8:02 p.m. Avilla Town Marshal Glen Wills noticed an odor of alleged narcotics from the apartment. The tenant, whose name was
not released Thursday morning, was detained. Officers from the Avilla Police Department, Indiana State Police, Noble County Sheriff’s Department, Kendallville Police Department and Noble County Probation Department responded to search the scene. During the search, Avilla officers allegedly found an indoor marijuana-growing operation with more than 40 plants, lights and other items used to grow and cultivate marijuana. Police also located what was described as a large
amount of cultivated marijuana. Police processed the scene for more than six hours, collecting evidence allegedly including marijuana and paraphernalia. The case remains under investigation, Noble County Prosecutor Steven T. Clouse said Thursday. No arrests had been made as of Thursday. Charges were expected to be filed after further investigation results were in. AN EARLY VERSION of this story was
posted on kpcnews.com at 10:15 a.m. Thursday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Congressional Republicans struggled to tamp down a family feud Thursday as they approached a politically charged showdown with the White House that combines the threat of a government shutdown, a possible first-ever federal default and the GOP’s bid to repeal the nation’s three-year-old health care law. One day after conceding that the Democratic-controlled Senate probably would prevail on the last part, Sen. Ted Cruz still vowed to do “everything and anything possible to defund Obamacare.” That includes a possible filibuster of legislation to prevent a partial government shutdown, added the Texas Republican. That was a step further than Sen. Mike Lee of Utah — Cruz’s partner in a summertime run of “Defund Obamacare” television commercials — was willing to go. President Barack Obama’s health care law “is not worth causing a shutdown over,” he said. The two men spoke at a news conference with several House Republicans where lawmakers stressed they were unified and thanked Speaker John Boehner for SEE GOP, PAGE A8
Area gets high marks at economic forum BY DENNIS NARTKER dnartker@kpcmedia.com
KENDALLVILLE — At Thursday’s sixth annual Northeast Indiana Regional Economic Development Forum, site selector Paige Webster said he was amazed at what the region has to offer industry looking to expand or relocate. “I’ve never been to this part of Indiana, but after only 14 hours here, I’ve been completely amazed what’s going on in this area,” he told about 140 business and industry representatives and elected officials from northeast Indiana. When Webster learned that Trine University in Angola produces a lot of engineering graduates each year, he again was startled, saying, “That’s something this region should market. I’ve got a client who’s looking for 500 engineers.” The Noble County Economic Development Corp. sponsored the forum at Cobblestone Golf Course and Event Center west of Kendallville. Webster, owner of Webster Global Site Selectors in Phoenix, Ariz., spoke about what site selectors look for when
Workers hard to find, execs claim BY DENNIS NARTKER dnartker@kpcmedia.com
KENDALLVILLE — Area industry representatives on a panel at Thursday’s Northeast Indiana Regional Economic Development Forum said their companies have job vacancies, but few qualified applicants. Jennifer Fisher, Group Dekko’s culture and retention manager in Garrett, and Julie Carmichael, human resources director for Metaldyne BSM LLC in Fremont, said they have been looking to fill engineering positions at their companies for months. Kevin Franks, plant manager at Graphic Packaging SEE WORKERS, PAGE A8
recommending sites for clients. Webster is one of 275 site selectors in the nation who assist
DENNIS NARTKER
Paige Webster, center, owner of Phoenix, Ariz.-based Webster Global Site Selectors, was the keynote speaker at Thursday’s sixth annual Northeast Indiana Regional Economic Development Forum in Kendallville. From left are: Rick Sherck, Noble County Economic Development Corp. executive director; Dave Koenig, Steuben County Economic Development Corp. executive director; Webster; Ken McCrory, DeKalb County Economic Development Partnership executive director; and Keith A. Gillenwater, president and chief executive officer of the LaGrange County Economic Development Corp.
with about 75 percent of new and expanding industrial projects in the country. Site selectors are
40th ANNIVERSARY le
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Up to 40%
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OFF Furniture & Bedding + 40 mo.
hired by companies to research and recommend sites that fit
Same As Cash
106 Peckhart Court, Auburn, IN • (260) 927-8267
SEE FORUM, PAGE A8
STORE HOURS: Mon.-Fri. 9 AM-7 PM Sat. 9 AM-5 PM Sun. closed to spend time with family
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