THURSDAY August 15, 2013
Outdoor Page
Downtown
Caymans are costly, exciting
Commission approves two facade grants
Page A5
Purdue New coach Hazell aiming to rebuild
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Page B1
Weather Sunny today with a high of 72. Clear tonight with a low of 52. Page A9
GOOD MORNING Stutzman to speak on agriculture issues KENDALLVILLE — U.S. Rep. Marlin Stutzman, R-Howe, will answer questions and discuss the Farm Bill and other agricultural issues during Saturday’s legislative forum in the Kendallville Public Library. The library’s legislative committee is sponsoring the forum from 10 a.m. to noon.
Kids Triathlon set for Saturday
Kendallville, Indiana
Serving Noble & LaGrange Counties
kpcnews.com
Arbitrator reinstates fired teacher Smith plans return to West Noble BY BOB BUTTGEN bbuttgen@kpcmedia.com
LIGONIER — A West Noble school district teacher who was fired earlier this year said she has won a decision through arbitration that gives her job back. Elizabeth Slain Smith was fired March 25 by the West Noble School Corp., after she allegedly verbally abused students in her third-grade classroom at West Noble Elementary School in Ligonier. Smith said Wednesday that she expects to return to her school Friday — the first official day for teachers and staff to report for
the 2013-14 school year. Classes for West Noble students begin Monday. West Noble officials were not available for comment Wednesday. Syracuse attorney Jack Birch, who serves as attorney for the school board, said Wednesday he still was reviewing the decision from the arbitrator and could not offer a comment. Smith said she is elated by the decision. “I’ll go Friday to the staff day and may find out then what job I’ll be given this year. Lots of things up in the air right now. I’m just so thankful we won,” she said.
“I am returning to West Noble with some trepidation,” Smith continued. “Comments that were made have me feeling threatened for the security of my job in the future. I simply want to return to teaching and working with children as I have done for the last 27 Smith years. “I am thrilled to be able to return to the West Noble community and to families I have been lucky enough to get to know over the years.” The arbitration hearing was conducted by Stephen L.
KENDALLVILLE — The second annual Kendallville Park and Recreation Department Kids Triathlon for children ages 5-15 will take place Saturday starting at 9 a.m. on the east side of Bixler Lake. The event includes a swim in the lake, a bike ride on Bixler Lake Park and campground roads and a run on the campground roads. Olympian Amy Yoder Begley will greet each participant completing the race. Registration closed Aug. 9. The road to the east side of the lake, the east side park and campground roads will be closed to traffic temporarily during the triathlon.
ONLINE CALENDER Find out what’s going on in the area this weekend kpcnews.com
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-B8 Life..................................................... A7 Obituaries......................................... A4 Opinion ............................................. A6 Sports.........................................B1-B3 Weather............................................ A9 TV/Comics .......................................B4 Vol. 104 No. 224
Hayford. Smith was represented by the Indiana State Teachers Association. In his decision, Hayford said West Noble “did not have just cause to terminate the teaching contract of Elizabeth Smith.” He also wrote that West Noble is to “reinstate Smith to her third-grade teaching position or to another position within the corporation for which she is qualified and willing to accept.” The decision says West Noble has until Oct. 1, 2013 to reinstate her. She is also to receive her salary for the time when she did not work because she had been fired. Smith has 27 years of SEE TEACHER, PAGE A9
West Nile found in area
Second hole found in dangerous dune MICHIGAN CITY (AP) — A hole similar to one that trapped a 6-year-old Illinois boy beneath 11 feet of sand has been found on the same northern Indiana dune. National Park Service Ranger Bruce Rowe says a crew setting up groundsensing equipment to examine Mount Baldy at the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore on Monday spotted a 10-inch wide hole resembling the size and shape of the pocket described by the boy’s family. Rowe says the hole is about 100 yards east of where Nathan Woessner, of Sterling, Ill., was trapped and is about 5-feet deep. He says the dune will remain closed until scientists determine what is causing the holes.
75 cents
CHAD KLINE
Opening day at East Noble Crossing Guard Harold Woodby stops traffic as students make their way across Riley Street in Kendallville for the their first day of school
Wednesday morning. East Noble and Central Noble students returned to school Wednesday. West Noble students will start classes Monday.
Weekend brings Chautauqua festival BY DENNIS NARTKER dnartker@kpcmedia.com
ROME CITY — The annual Chautauqua Days Festival, celebrating the life of Gene StrattonPorter, Indiana’s most widely read female author, takes place Saturday and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. at the Gene Stratton-Porter State Historic Site, 1200 Pleasant Point, Rome City. This year’s festival has special meaning, as it coincides with Stratton-Porter’s 150th birthday. “Chautauqua Days is an annual celebration honoring our namesake Gene and things that were common during the time she lived in Indiana,” said Dave Fox, Gene Stratton-Porter State Historic Site manager. “To celebrate her 150th birthday during the festival, we are hosting a series of exciting events including a parade, birthday cake, old-fashioned crafts, children’s
activities and live bluegrass music to name a few.” Saturday’s events feature a special breakfast hosted by Rome City from 7-9 a.m. at American Legion Post 381 at 611 Kelly St. A parade through Rome City is scheduled to start at 10 a.m. The Miami Nation of Indiana is hosting a drumming circle following the parade to signal the official opening of the festival. “We have the Rome City Lions Club cooking and serving up pork burgers while offering boat rides on Sylvan Lake,” said Fox. A wing cook-off is from 2-4 p.m. with an awards presentation following the contest. A special Lyrics in the Park program will close Saturday’s activities at 7 p.m. in Lakeside Park. Sunday’s events include presenters covering topics from themed gardening and living off the land to a local bird rescue group.
Admission to the state historic site costs $3 and is free to children 4 and under. It includes all activities except for the cabin tours. Chautauqua festivals were common from 1874 to the late 1920s as a means of adult education and enlightenment, according to Tiffany Conrad with the Indiana State Museum, which manages the Gene Stratton-Porter State Historic Site. Speakers, musicians, politicians and even religious leaders made presentations at the evens. Stratton-Porter’s father, Mark, would bring the family to Sylvan Lake to participate in Chautauqua festivals, and that is when she first discovered the beauty of Sylvan Lake. The cabin and Wildflower Woods that inspired Gene Stratton-Porter’s nature writings will be open for tours.
INDIANAPOLIS — West Nile virus-infected mosquitoes have been found in all four northeast Indiana counties, the Indiana State Department of Health reported. Health officials continue to encourage Hoosiers to take steps to protect themselves from West Nile virus and other mosquito-borne diseases after mosquito samples from 35 counties have now tested positive for the virus. There has been one human case of West Nile virus in Ripley County and one equine case in Adams County. Counties with West Nile virus-infected mosquitoes include: Adams, Allen, Carroll, Clinton, Daviess, Delaware, DeKalb, Grant, Hamilton, Jay, Jefferson, Knox, Kosciusko, LaGrange, Lake, Marion, Marshall, Martin, Monroe, Montgomery, Morgan, Newton, Noble, Ohio, Parke, Steuben, Sullivan, Tippecanoe, Tipton, Starke, St. Joseph, Vanderburgh, Vigo, White and Whitley. The ISDH has collected and tested nearly 120,000 mosquitoes from all 92 counties for West Nile virus and St. Louis encephalitis. There have been no positive findings for St. Louis encephalitis. State health officials recommend the following preventative measures: • avoid places where mosquitoes are biting; • apply insect repellent containing DEET, picaradin or oil of lemon eucalyptus to clothes and exposed skin; • install or repair screens on windows and doors to keep SEE NILE, PAGE A9
Board: Officer justified in shooting dog BY MATT GETTS mgetts@kpcmedia.com
ALBION — A Noble County Sheriff’s Department firearms review board ruled Tuesday that a Noble County deputy was justified in shooting a 130-pound Rottweiler as it charged at him Saturday in a Bear Lake neighborhood in the southwestern part of the county. Noble County Sheriff Doug Harp said the review board consists of one of the department’s senior firearm instructors, the department’s chief deputy and a civilian. After going through the evidence, including an audio file with the sound of a large dog charging the officer and statements from two witnesses, the board backed up the reaction of Deputy Shafter Baker. “They ruled the officer was
justified in shooting the dog,” Harp said. The board convenes whenever an officer discharges a weapon in the line of duty, with the exception of putting down injured animals such as deer, Harp said. Harp has the option of overruling the board’s findings, but said he will not. “There was nothing in the information that would cause me concern in the way it was handled,” he said. The dog’s owner, Brandie Sturgill, was skeptical of the board’s findings, particularly since two county deputies sit on the three-person panel. “Of course the officers are going to have his back,” Sturgill said. Shortly after the shooting, social media websites came alive SEE SHOOTING, PAGE A9
PHOTO CONTRIBUTED
This picture posted on the social media website Facebook shows Chevy, a 130-pound Rottweiler who was shot and killed as he charged a Noble County Sheriff’s Department deputy Saturday near Bear Lake.