THURSDAY July 25, 2013
Revving Up
Guest Column
Car show slated for weekend
Baseball
Smoking: Toll on babies, children alarming
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Tribe down Mariners 1901
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Weather Sunny today. High 80. Low 58. Sunshine Friday. High 83. Low 63. Page A6 Kendallville, Indiana
GOOD MORNING Two arrested with 35 pounds of pot LAGRANGE — Two California men are in the LaGrange County Jail after Indiana State Police allegedly found about 35 pounds of marijuana in their rental truck Tuesday. State police said Trooper Ted Bohner was driving east about 9:25 a.m. near the 114 mile marker on the Indiana Toll Road when he stopped a Penske rental truck en route from the East Coast to California for an alleged moving violation. Bohner’s encounter with the driver led him to request assistance from Trooper Nicholas Meade and his K-9 partner Sabre, state police said. Sabre allegedly made a positive alert, and the troopers began to search the truck until they came to a padlock on the back for which there was no key. After a search warrant was obtained, three boxes — allegedly containing a total of 35 individually wrapped packages of marijuana — were found in the locked area of the truck, state police said. The driver, Robert Scott Baldwin, 60, of Santa Rosa, Calif., and his passenger, Jon-Michael Debettencourt, 32, of Oakland, Calif., were taken into custody without incident and transported to the LaGrange County Jail. Baldwin is facing preliminary charges of dealing in marijuana, more than 10 pounds; possession of marijuana, more than 30 grams; and possession of paraphernalia. Debettencourt is facing preliminary charges of dealing in marijuana, more than 10 pounds.
State sees 1st human West Nile case INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana health officials say the state’s first human case of West Nile virus has been reported in southeastern Indiana and that mosquitoes in nine counties across the state have tested positive for the disease. The Indiana State Department of Health says the case occurred in Ripley County, about 40 miles west of Cincinnati, Ohio, but provides no other details about it. The Health Department says adjacent Jefferson County, along the Ohio River, is one of the nine counties were mosquitoes have tested positive for the virus. The others are Allen, Adams, Grant and Starke in northern Indiana; Clinton, Vigo and Vermillion in the west; and central Indiana’s Hamilton County.
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Bus BB shooter sentenced Avilla man pleads guilty, gets timed served BY MATT GETTS mattg@kpcnews.net
ALBION — An Avilla man pleaded guilty and was sentenced Wednesday to time served and a year on probation after admitting he shot a school bus carrying children with a BB gun on Feb. 12, breaking a pair of windows. Andrew M. Thiel, 22, described by his attorney as mentally low-functioning, was ordered to undergo a psychiatric evalua-
tion and counseling, and he was forbidden to contact any East Noble School Corp. employee. Noble County Superior Court I Judge Michael Kramer’s order also banned Thiel from going on any property the school corporation owns or rents. A plea deal in the case called for Thiel to receive 14 days of incarceration and 351 days on probation for criminal mischief, a Class A misdemeanor. Since
Thiel already spent seven days in custody before his court date, his jail time has been served, according to Indiana good-behavior credit rules. Thiel used a BB gun to shoot at the bus as it entered the Cranberry Acres subdivision in Avilla at about 3:15 p.m. Feb. 12, East Noble School Corp. Superintendent Ann Linson said in an email sent to all school parents later that afternoon. Acting on a tip, police detained and questioned Thiel later that evening.
Back from the brink
SEE SHOOTER, PAGE A6
House backs NSA program
Native’s book describes journey away from despair BY KATE STOLTZFUS kstoltzfus@kpcnews.net
KENDALLVILLE —Inspiration came to Timothy Christian on a treadmill. Christian, a Kendallville native, published his first book, “Behaviors of Change,” with WestBow Press in April. For the last 20 years, Christian said, he’s been waiting for a “kick in the pants” to share his story. He was working out in his home gym when he became “overwhelmed with the idea” and went up to tell his wife, Sara. “Behaviors of Change” took 2 1/2 years to write. The book is a self-help memoir that details Christian’s point of rock-bottom in his 20s and the spiritual experience that pulled him out of despair, as well as the physical and mental strategies he used to change his mindset. “The heart of the book is evidence that I’ve had rough points in my life,” Christian said. “But I overcame them, and I can help you if you’re experiencing them.” Christian, 43, works as director of facilities for OfficeMax and lives in the Batavia, Ill., area, but he grew up in Kendallville with his parents, Everett and the late Eloise Christian, a sister and two brothers. Christian loved football, playing as a defensive tackle and
In court Wednesday, Thiel was ordered to pay restitution for the cost of replacing the two bus windows he shot out and for a $1,500 reward the school corporation paid for information that led to his arrest. Kramer asked Thiel if he understood that children could have been injured as a result of shooting the BB gun at the school bus. “I wasn’t thinking about that,” Thiel told the judge. Thiel’s attorney, Seth Tipton,
Challenge to secret collection of records narrowly rejected
Ruben Sanchez, 29. They are being held in Steuben County Jail without bail. Baxla remained in jail Wednesday afternoon in lieu of $5,000 bail, set during Wednesday afternoon’s hearing. He told Coffey he planned to hire his own attorney. A pretrial conference is set for Sept. 9 at 1 p.m. in Steuben Circuit Court. If he does make bond, he is prohibited from having any firearms or ammunition. He is charged with obstruction of justice because he allegedly threw a weapon police believe was used in the killing out the window of a car he was in with Hines and Biggs with the intent to prevent
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House narrowly rejected a challenge to the National Security Agency’s secret collection of hundreds of millions of Americans’ phone records Wednesday night after a fierce debate pitting privacy rights against the government’s efforts to thwart terrorism. The vote was 217-205 on an issue that created unusual political coalitions in Washington, with libertarian-leaning conservatives and liberal Democrats pressing for the change against the Obama administration, the Republican establishment and Congress’ national security experts. The showdown vote marked the first chance for lawmakers to take a stand on the secret surveillance program since former NSA systems analyst Edward Snowden leaked classified documents last month that spelled out the monumental scope of the government’s activities. It is unlikely to be the final word on government intrusion to defend the nation and Americans’ civil liberties. “Have 12 years gone by and our memories faded so badly that we forgot what happened on Sept. 11?” Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., chairman of the Intelligence committee, said in pleading with his colleagues to back the program during House debate. Republican Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan, chief sponsor of the repeal effort, said his aim was to end the indiscriminate collection of Americans’ phone records. His measure, offered as an addition to a $598.3 billion defense spending bill for 2014, would have canceled the statutory authority for the NSA program, ending the agency’s ability to collect phone
SEE CHARGED, PAGE A6
SEE NSA, PAGE A6
PHOTO CONTRIBUTED
Timothy Christian gathers with his two daughters, Hanna, left, and Ellie, and his wife, Sara. Christian, a Kendallville native, recently became an author of an inspirational book.
kicker at East Noble High School and in the 1988 Indiana All-Star game. After graduating from high school in 1988, he spent five years on the field at Ball State University, a love that led him to become a pro football prospect in 1991. It was there the journey that inspired his future book began. In Christian’s fourth year, NFL teams sent scouts to watch his games; he signed with an agent in 1992 and was being considered for the draft as offensive guard.
“It was a dream come true, because growing up, I knew that opportunity was there,” Christian said. “The opportunity to give my parents financial freedom was the icing on the cake. I was on top of the world.” During his fifth year, however, the agent told Christian that the teams scouting him no longer were interested, which sparked depression, weight gain and suicidal thoughts. Then he had a spiritual experi-
SEE BRINK, PAGE A6
Alleged murder accomplice charged BY AMY OBERLIN amyo@kpcnews.net
ANGOLA — An alleged accomplice in a July 7 killing has been charged with obstruction of justice. Lucas R. Baxla, 18, of Fremont, was arrested Tuesday on a Class D felony charge and arraigned at 1 p.m. by Judge Randy Coffey. The charge carries up to a three-year prison term. Mark Zachery Hines, 28, and Tyler Baxla Lee Biggs, 18, both of Jimmerson Lake, are charged with murder and conspiracy to commit murder in the shooting death of
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.................................B7-B8 Life..................................................... A3 Obituaries......................................... A4 Opinion ............................................. A5 Sports.........................................B1-B3 Weather............................................ A6 TV/Comics .......................................B6 Vol. 104 No. 203
Passenger train derails in Spain, killing dozens MADRID (AP) — A passenger train derailed Wednesday night on a curvy stretch of track in northwestern Spain, killing at least 40 people caught inside toppled cars and injuring at least 140 in the country’s worst rail accident in decades, officials said. Bodies were covered in blankets next to the tracks and rescue workers tried to get trapped people out of the train’s cars, with smoke billowing from some of the wreckage. Some passengers were pulled out of broken windows, and one man stood atop a carriage lying on its side, using a pickaxe to try to smash through a window. Images
showed one car pointing up into the air with one of its ends twisted and disfigured, and another severed in two. Officials gave differing death tolls in the immediate aftermath of the crash just outside Santiago de Compostela, on the eve of the city’s annual religious festival that attracts tens of thousands of Christian pilgrims from around the world. Alberto Nunez Feijoo, president of the region of Galicia where Santiago de Compostela is the capital, said at least 40 people died. But the president of Galicia’s main court, Miguel Angel Cadenas, was SEE TRAIN, PAGE A6
AP
Emergency personnel respond to the scene of a train derailment in Santiago de Compostela, Spain, Wednesday. The train derailed in northwestern Spain on Wednesday night, toppling passenger cars on their sides and leaving at least one torn open as smoke rose into the air.