THURSDAY August 8, 2013
Road Funding
Our View
Glick releases totals for area
Baseball
Breastfeeding benefits multitude of people
Page A2
Cubs come through in ninth
Page A5
Page B1
Weather Cloudy skies today, with rain possible. High 77. Low 62. Rainy Friday. Page A8 Serving Noble & LaGrange Counties
Kendallville, Indiana
GOOD MORNING Kids triathlon deadline is Friday KENDALLVILLE — The deadline to register for the Kendallville Park and Recreation Department’s second annual Kids Triathlon is Friday at 4:30 p.m. at the Youth Center park office, 211 Iddings St. The triathlon for children 5-15 years of age will be Saturday, Aug. 17, at 9 a.m. in Bixler Lake Park. Olympian Amy Yoder Begley will greet participants as they cross the finish line. Registration can be made online at kendallville-in.org/ departments/park.
kpcnews.com
School grading ‘manipulation’ found Ritz: ‘Broader issues’ need to be examined INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana’s top education official on Wednesday acknowledged “manipulation” in the way the state’s schools are graded, the latest fallout from an Associated Press report that found her predecessor worked behind the scenes to improve the score of a charter school founded by an influential Republican donor.
Superintendent Glenda Ritz told state school board members that this year’s school ratings would be held up, at least temporarily, as a result of the independent review into the A-F grading system and left open the possibility some of last year’s grades could be changed. The system was established by Tony Bennett, a rising star in the
education reform movement, who last week resigned from his new job as Florida’s schools chief amid the scandal in Indiana. “Upon our preliminary examination, the department has verified that there was manipulation of calculation categories and the department has also determined that there are broader issues that need to be examined,” Ritz said. Ritz, a Democrat, brought up the scandal at Wednesday’s school
Wolf Lake’s Annual Festival Kicks Off
Neese contemplates run for mayor ELKHART — State Rep. Tim Neese said he’s contemplating running for mayor of Elkhart. Neese announced Tuesday in a statement to the media that he has filed paperwork with the Elkhart County Clerk’s office establishing an exploratory committee to evaluate running for mayor of Elkhart in the May 2015 Republican primary race, The Elkhart Truth reports. In doing so, Neese also announced he would not seek another term as representative of District 48 in the state legislature. Neese said he will continue to serve as a state legislator until the current term ends in January of 2015. Neese is the first person to officially declare an interest in running for mayor. Mayor Dick Moore, a Democrat, has not announced whether he will seek a third term, but has suggested that he’s leaning toward running.
Info • The News Sun P.O. Box 39, 102 N. Main St. Kendallville, IN 46755 Telephone: (260) 347-0400 Fax: (260) 347-2693
Index
•
Classifieds.................................B7-B8 Life.....................................................B5 Obituaries......................................... A4 Opinion ............................................. A5 Sports.........................................B1-B3 Weather............................................ A8 TV/Comics .......................................B6 Vol. 104 No. 217
board meeting, but Bennett’s allies on the Republican-dominated board had little to say. She met privately Wednesday afternoon with Indiana’s Republican legislative leaders, who have started their own investigation. Ritz declined to discuss specifics of the review but said a final report could be ready by Sept. 2. The AP published emails showing a frantic effort by Bennett SEE GRADING, PAGE A8
Nasty slice
Police: Couple hit by train committed suicide BLUFFTON (AP) — Police say the deaths of a couple from northeastern Indiana when they were struck by a train were suicides. Bluffton Police Chief Tammy Schaffer says 26-year-old Samuel Stirlen and 24-year-old wife Kayla Stirlen left notes to family members at their Bluffton apartment, but didn’t explain why they decided to commit suicide. The Bluffton News-Banner reports witnesses said they saw the couple sitting in a car with the doors open near the tracks before they were struck by the train shortly by the train about 8 p.m. Tuesday. One witness says he also saw the couple approach an earlier train.
75 cents
Contractor error cuts phone, internet for tens of thousands BY MIKE MARTURELLO mmarturello@kpcmedia.com
BOB BRALEY
Kiddie royalty selected Wednesday for the 2013 Wolf Lake Onion Days Festival included, from left, Kiddie Prince Joseph Smith, Kiddie King
Parker Nicodemus, Kiddie Queen Alexis Cole and Kiddie Princess Kenna Alexander.
Onion Days get off to rainy start BY BOB BRALEY bbraley@kpcmedia.com
WOLF LAKE — When you open an onion, tears start to fall. As the Wolf Lake Onion Days opened Wednesday, raindrops fell on the festival. While it rained hard at times, the festival was not a rain-out. Events continued, although some were moved under the awning at Noble Township Park, the festival’s main location. Phil Hakey Sr. and Lucy Hakey were recognized as the 2013 festival’s grand marshals and presented with a plaque. The Hakeys are members of Wolf Lake United Methodist Church, where Phil built a new handrail. They are members of the Fort Wayne Corvair Club, Wolf Lake Lions Club and Albion Eagles Club. Phil also belongs to the Albion Sons of the American Legion. The Hakeys volunteer at the Wolf Lake Food Pantry. Phil also dresses as Santa Claus for Avalon Village Nursing Home, Ligonier. The Kiddie King and Queen contest went forward under the awning. Alexis Cole was named the Kiddie Queen, Parker Nicodemus Kiddie King, Kenna Alexander Kiddie Princess and Joseph Smith Kiddie Prince. Food booths and vendors drew attention, and people listened to music from the Auburn Dixielanders. Kids Night proceeded as planned, and the annual Pet Show rounded out the evening.
BOB BRALEY
Lucy Hakey, left, and Philip Hakey Sr. were honored Wednesday as the grand marshals of the 2013 Wolf Lake Onion Days Festival.
The festival continues through Saturday. Today’s events include the pizza-eating contest at Portside Pizza at 5:30 p.m., the three-on-three basketball tournament and the Kiddie and Adult pedal pulls. Registration for the tourney and pedal pulls start in the park at 5:30 p.m., with the events there at 6 p.m.
ANGOLA — Upward of 30,000 Mediacom Internet and phone service customers across northern Indiana lost service for 10 hours due to a fiber optic cable cut Tuesday. “When a fiber cut like this occurs, it has a very negative effect on our customers, and we are very sorry for that,” said Mediacom spokeswoman Phyllis Peters. The cut occurred at about 12:37 p.m. EDT near the Illinois-Indiana border when a private contractor not working for Mediacom was doing soil boring work and cut a major Mediacom fiber cable in multiple places, Peters said. Service was restored at 10:40 p.m. Between 20,000 and 30,000 customers lost phone and Internet service. Complicating the issue was the fact that boring rods used by the contractor became stuck in the soil, Peters said. Once Mediacom crews determined the extent of the damage, they set about replacing the damaged fiber with 800 feet of new fiber. The repair was difficult, because the contractor’s equipment was difficult to remove so repairs could be made. Typically a cut of this magnitude takes 5-7 hours to repair, Peters said. Peters said the fiber that was cut was the main line that services all of northern Indiana. Mediacom television was interrupted for about 20 minutes, Peters said. Television service was SEE NASTY, PAGE A8
New entrance will welcome ENMS students, visitors BY DENNIS NARTKER dnartker@kpcmedia.com
KENDALLVILLE — East Noble Middle School’s new main entrance is more secure, visible and handicapped-accessible. Seventh-graders and their parents attending today’s seventhgrade orientation, which new Principal Andy Deming calls “Knight Transition,” will use the new Riley Street entrance identified by a new East Noble Middle School marquee and ramp. It is the only ramp entrance to the building. “The biggest change students will notice is the entrance and new administrative offices near the entrance,” Deming said Wednesday during a tour of the office area. A classroom and gym concession area have been converted into offices. Visitors using the new entrance will be directed into the office area to sign in and obtain visitor passes. “The structure of the day and the grades are not changing,” Deming said. The old Sheridan Street entrance door will be used for morning student drop-offs and after-school pickups, and all doors including the Sheridan Street doors will be secured during the school day. Visitors must use the new entrance.
ENMS plans tours, orientation session
DENNIS NARTKER
New Principal Andy Deming stands at the new Riley Street main entrance and marquee for East Noble Middle School. Administrative offices have been moved to a new site inside the entrance.
The glass in the set of entrance doors on gymnasium side have been replaced with steel covering, so visitors cannot see into the gym. Earlier this year, the East Noble school board discussed ways to make the middle school more secure and safe for students. They endorsed Superintendent Ann Linson’s recommendation to move
the entrance to the Riley Street side of the building, placing the administrative offices near the entrance. The work was done over the summer primarily by school district maintenance staff and Strawser Brothers Construction. At the Sheridan Street entrance last spring, visitors had to climb a flight of stairs, be “buzzed SEE ENMS, PAGE A8
KENDALLVILLE — Orientation for East Noble Middle School students and parents is scheduled for today from noon to 4 p.m. Students and parents should enter the school through the new Riley Street ramp entrance. Important information will be distributed, and students can tour the classrooms. A Back to School Night for all East Noble Middle School students and parents will be Monday from 5-6:30 p.m. Students and parents can meet the new principal, Andy Deming, assistant principal and athletic director Bill Cain and teachers.