WEDNESDAY August 21, 2013
City Council
Commentary
Prep Sports
Fire protection rated excellent
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Knights open soccer seasons
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Weather Partly cloudy today. High 87. Low 65. A chance of rain Thursday. High 87. Page A6 Serving Noble & LaGrange Counties
Kendallville, Indiana
GOOD MORNING Park board calls special meeting KENDALLVILLE — The public is invited to a special Kendallville Park board meeting Monday at 6:30 p.m. in the Youth Center, 211 Iddings St., to discuss project priorities for the city park system. Projects will be placed into several phases as the first step in an effort to fund the projects.
kpcnews.com
CN OKs $1.7 million HVAC project BY BOB BRALEY bbraley@kpcmedia.com
ALBION — The Central Noble Community Schools Board of Trustees Tuesday unanimously approved a $1.7 million energy efficiency project for the corporation’s high school. The move will cause a property tax increase for 2014 and 2015 as compared to this year, but taxes still will be lower than in 2012, consultant Curt Pletcher of H.J. Umbaugh & Associates told the board. The project will involve replacing a rooftop heating and cooling unit on the school that
dates back to when the current high school was built in 1972, said Kevin Livingston of Emcor Construction Services. The unit has been upgraded several times, but has reached the end of its useful life, Livingston said. That part of the project will cost $1.27 million. A temperature control upgrade will cost an additional $447,000, he said. The 2012 debt service payment for the corporation was $1.47 million, while this year’s is $1.2 million, Pletcher said. With the new bonds, debt service for 2014 will be just less than $1.36 million, and at $1.36 million the
next year. That increase will translate per year to $13.43 in additional property taxes on a $100,000 residence, 72 cents of taxes per acre for farmland and $41 on a $100,000 commercial property, Pletcher said. There were no comments during a public hearing on the proposal. The board approved a resolution to undertake the project, a preliminary bond resolution and a declaration of intent to reimburse expenditures. It also directed Superintendent Chris Daughtry to sign a letter of intent
Ending On A Sweet Note
Limberlost Public Library extends hours
PHOTO CONTRIBUTED
Avilla Legion post to host car and cycle show
Mike Hughes leans on a shipment of marshmallows produced by Kendallville’s Kraft plant.
AVILLA — The American Legion Riders 4th District Car and Cycle Show will be Saturday, Sept. 7, at the American Legion Post 240 in Avilla. The event is a fundraiser for the fallen rider memorial wall. The show will be divided into two divisions — 1979 and older and 1980 and newer — and two classes, metric and English. Dash plaques will be awarded to the first 50 cars. Registration is from 9-10:30 a.m. Awards will be presented at 2 p.m., including a commander’s trophy. The entry fee is $10. A memorial service is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. with a raffle drawing from 2-5 p.m. Food and refreshments will be available. Spike and the Bulldogs will perform from 7:30 to 10:30 p.m. For more information, contact Alan Schuette at 414-7562 or Ric Kumfer at 351-3131.
Local plant manager retiring from Kraft
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
Index
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Classifieds.................................B7-B8 Life..................................................... A5 Obituaries......................................... A4 Opinion .............................................B4 Sports.........................................B1-B3 Weather............................................ A6 TV/Comics .......................................B6 Vol. 104 No. 230
BY KATE STOLTZFUS news@kpcmedia.com
KENDALLVILLE — Mike Hughes is ending his career on a sweet note. Hughes, 54, will retire from his current position as plant manager of Kraft in Kendallville this September, marking the finish of a 32-year career with Kraft Foods Inc. Hughes’ time at the company spans several states and food groups, beginning in 1981 with cereal in Battle Creek, Mich. He also held positions with Oscar Mayer in Davenport, Iowa, and with cheese and dairy products in Glenview, Ill. He will retire with Kraft’s sweetest line: the marshmallows and caramels the Kendallville plant has been producing since 1961. “This has been my most enjoyable job in 32 years, and it’s really due to the people in
Hughes will retire as the plant’s manager at the end of September.
Kendallville,” Hughes said. “Over the years, I’ve worked with great people who I learned a lot from, who were invested in my development.” Kendallville’s Kraft plant will celebrate its 80th anniversary next year, with nearly 400 employees, and Hughes has been working hard since 2008 to make sure the branch flourished. Under his leadership, the company invested in improving the plant’s infrastructure and equipment, including a more modernized building, a new sugar and loading system that improved operations and plastic packaging lines for marshmallow cream. The plant currently is putting in two new packaging lines. “Our business continues to get more competitive, and we’ve responded to the push well here,” Hughes said. “The employees understand that challenge, and the
to allow Emcor to begin getting engineering work on the project. Also Tuesday, the board unanimously: • hired Andy Hopkins as varsity boys and girls cross country coach at the high school. • approved the 2014 corporation budget. The budget of $13.99 million will include $9.32 million for the general fund from the state, $1.50 for school transportation, $1.42 for capital projects, $176,000 for bus replacement and $141,608 for school pensions, along with debt service as discussed with the building project.
U.S. mulls aid to Egypt
ROME CITY — Limberlost Public Library is extending its hours beginning Tuesday, Sept. 3. The new operating hours will be: Mondays and Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The extension means an extra 30 minutes on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays and 2 1/2 hours on Thursdays. The Kendallville Public Library Board of Trustees recently approved the extension. Limberlost library staff recommended the new hours after conducting surveys in the community and talking to library patrons. The new schedule will allow more people to use the library’s programs and services. Limberlost Public Library, 164 Kelly St., is a branch of the Kendallville Public Library.
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Administration reviews funding, relations with nation
workforce has added skills and become more efficient. Our folks here are what made it happen.” The Kendallville facility had the first production line across all of Kraft to be running at 85 percent efficiency, a term certified as 3 Sigma, which involves using different tools to figure out the best way to run the machines. “Mike has done a lot in terms of trying to mentor and develop people and help them succeed,” said Joyce Hodel, Kraft’s associate director of corporate affairs. “Some have been able to move on to bigger things. Kendallville is known as an exporter of talent at Kraft, and that’s a real tribute to Mike’s legacy.” Hughes received the Lifetime Quality Achievement award and the Calhoun County Corporate Volunteer of the Year award from Kraft, as well as a congressional
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration, undertaking a major review of U.S. relations with Egypt, edged closer to a decision Tuesday about curtailing some of America’s $1.5 billion in annual aid after the Egyptian military’s crackdown on supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi. Top administration officials met at the White House to review the possibility of cutting military or economic aid to Egypt, a longtime U.S. ally and the most populous nation in the Arab world. Some cuts are forthcoming, according to U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to talk publicly about the sensitive discussions. Tensions in Egypt have soared since the army ousted Morsi, who was the nation’s first freely elected president. The July 3 coup followed days of protests by millions of Egyptians demanding that Morsi, who hails from the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood, step down. Some 1,000 people have been killed in ensuing violence. The U.S. is in a bind. While
SEE KRAFT, PAGE A6
SEE EGYPT, PAGE A6
Merlins bring their magic to Pokagon BY MIKE MARTURELLO mmarturello@kpcmedia.com
LAKE JAMES — It could be that 2013 will go down in history as the year of the raptor at Pokagon State Park. Just months after it was discovered that bald eagles were nesting in the park, quite possibly for the first time in more than 100 years in Steuben County, another raptor, one that’s even more rare, has been spotted at Pokagon. This time the bird is a Merlin, a pair of which apparently has nested in Pokagon. A Merlin is a small falcon found primarily in northern forests and prairies, the Cornell University Lab of Ornithology’s website says. Its breeding range is primarily in Canada, but it is known to pass through Steuben County as it migrates south for the winter, said Fred Wooley, Pokagon’s interpretive naturalist. “To have these birds here at
this time of year is significant, as there are no known nesting records of Merlin in Indiana,” Wooley said. The birds were discovered by Montgomery, Mich., nature photographer Fred Zilch on Aug. 12. At first, the avid birder thought he saw an American kestrel, but something didn’t seem right. “Having my camera with me for just such an opportunity I clicked away. Through the view finder I saw what wasn’t a kestrel at all but a Merlin. A Merlin in Indiana in August; not likely. These are birds of the north,” he said. “Upon returning home I examined the photos on the computer to find that the bird was indeed a Merlin.” Zilch photographed the Merlin, formally called pigeon hawk, in some conifers near the comfort station at the Pokagon State Park south beach parking lot. He SEE MERLINS, PAGE A6
FRED ZILCH
An immature Merlin tests its wings in a conifer tree in Pokagon State Park. The bird is a raptor that apparently was born in Pokagon. It is believed that this is the first time Merlins have nested in Indiana.