Sunday
Sand Castle Build Page C1 Competition dates back to 1977
Dragster Benefit Page A2 Auction supports wheelchair program
August 18, 2013
Weather Sunny today. High 82. Tonight, mostly clear. Low 60.
The
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Stutzman defends Farm Bill changes BY DENNIS NARTKER dnartker@kpcmedia.com
Hoosiers Feeding the Hungry plan fundraising event HUNTERTOWN — Hoosiers Feeding the Hungry will sponsor a fundraising bow shoot, barbecue and auction Sunday, Aug. 25, at Izaak Walton League of America, 17100 Griffin Road, Huntertown. The bow shoot will run from 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., with the barbecue from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and a live auction at 2 p.m. The event will feature games of chance, a silent auction, live auction and mystery blind. Hoosiers Feeding the Hungry is a nonprofit organization that has provided more than 1 million meals to Indiana families in need. All shooters will be entered in a drawing with a chance to win a .12 gauge Mossberg shotgun. Organizers said the event will feature more than $14,000 worth of auction, silent auction and raffle items.
$1.25
DENNIS NARKTER
U.S. Rep. Marlin Stutzman, R-Ind., addresses a constituent’s question during Saturday’s legislative forum at the Kendallville Public Library.
KENDALLVILLE — U.S. Rep. Marlin Stutzman, R-Ind., told constituents Saturday morning Congress is dysfunctional due to ideological differences, but he’s optimistic Congress will pass a Farm Bill when it returns to Washington, D.C., in September after a five-week recess. “It’s a mess,” he said at the Kendallville Public Library. “I’m optimistic we will work through our differences. I think a Farm Bill will pass.” Stutzman spoke at a legislative forum sponsored by the library’s legislative committee. He qualified his comments about various issues, saying the
national debt at $17 trillion and growing is always on his mind when reviewing legislation. “The national debt is the greatest threat to our country,” he said. Much of the two-hour session with about 25 people in attendance dealt with the Farm Bill and agriculture issues. In July, the U.S. House of Representatives defeated a five-year $939 billion farm-andfood bill after lawmakers adopted food-stamp amendments opposed by Democrats, including $20.5 billion in cuts to the food stamp program over a decade. Just before Congress took a five-week recess this month, the
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Index •
Classified.............................................. D5-D6 Life................................................................ C1 Obituaries.....................................................A4 Opinion ........................................................B6 Business ......................................................B8 Sports.................................................... B1-B5 Weather.......................................................B8 Vol. 101 No. 227
SEE STUTZMAN, PAGE A6
Security forces storm mosque
Butler Fire
Police checking new information on Diana’s death LONDON (AP) — British police say they are examining newly received information relating to the deaths of Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed, and that officers are assessing the information’s “relevance and credibility.” Scotland Yard declined to provide details about the information, only saying Saturday in a statement that the assessment will be carried out by officers from its specialist crime and operations unit. The force stressed that it was not reopening the investigation into the 1997 deaths of Diana and Fayed, who were killed in a car crash in Paris.
Republican-controlled House pushed through a Farm Bill without the food stamp program by a 216-208 vote. A Senate version of the Farm Bill includes the food stamp program, and only about $4 billion in cuts. The current agriculture legislation passed in 2008 expires Oct. 1. Stutzman voted against the initial Farm Bill and supported the version without the food stamp program. He said he favors separation because of the impact the food stamp program is having on the national debt. “I support giving food to people who need it, but the food stamp program is out of control
Violent clashes kill 173 people JEFF JONES
Early morning fire destroys garage Firefighters battle a fire in the 300 block of West Depot Street in Butler around 3:20 a.m. Saturday. The fire destroyed a garage and damaged a neighbor’s house before it could be contained. No other information was available.
Alpacas increase in popularity BY KATE STOLTZFUS kstoltzfus@kpcnews.net
LAOTTO — Fine fur is exactly what you want in alpacas. But when it starts to blind them, said Lisa Crick, owner of Crick’s Alpaca Farm in LaOtto, then you have a problem. She compares her fuzziest alpaca, Votto, to Fozzie Bear. “He had so much fleece that he got infections in his eyeballs,” Crick said. “We actually had to take scissors and cut away the fleece to find his eyes.” Crick’s 15 alpacas, which she described as having “cat’s personalities,” are raised primarily for their fur. Crick looks for crimp and density in the fleece she sends away to be tested. The farm shears about 200 local alpacas per year, and the fur is used to make yarn. In northern Indiana, the popularity of raising alpacas seems to be climbing. Cindy Berman, public relations director for Alpaca Owners and Breeders Association, which has more than 3,500 members nationwide, said the alpaca industry is in a definite growth period. The llama, the alpaca’s camelid cousin, was imported first and had its rise in popularity; now the alpacas get a turn. “We saw a spike after 9/11,” Berman said. “People took another look at their lives and wanted to get out of the city, and they found that these animals were a perfect option.” The animals on Crick’s farm move as a unit, even relieving themselves in a single spot in the pasture, one after the other. When Crick caught Votto to show the fineness of his fiber, the animal
KATE STOLTZFUS
Alpacas at Crick’s Alpaca Farm in LaOtto.
began to mewl and ran to the others as soon as Crick let go of him. Yet another reason for their popularity: it is rare to find an alpaca owner with just one animal. “They need a herd because their instinct is to stay together,” Crick said. “They get all nervous when they’re away from the pack.” Crick, 38, started her alpaca farm nine years ago with her husband, Kevin, and just two animals. The alpacas now serve several purposes: for breeding and selling, for fiber production and as 4-H animals for the couple’s three kids, Cameron, 13, Brady, 10, and Gage, 7. Kris Enslen, Noble County’s Alpaca Club leader, said the 4-H club used to include both alpacas and llamas, but became strictly alpacas four years ago. SEE ALPACA, PAGE A6
“We saw a spike after 9/11. People took another look at their lives and wanted to get out of the city, and they found that these animals were a perfect option.” Cindy Berman Public relations director, Alpaca Owners and Breeders Association
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CAIRO (AP) — Egyptian security forces stormed a Cairo mosque Saturday after a heavy exchange of gunfire with armed men shooting down from a minaret, rounding up hundreds of supporters of the country’s ousted president who had sought refuge there overnight after violent clashes killed 173 people. The raid on the al-Fath mosque on Ramses Square was prompted by fears that deposed President Mohammed Morsi’s group, the Muslim Brotherhood, again planned to set up a sit-in, security officials said, similar to those that were broken up Wednesday in assaults that killed hundreds of people. The arrest of the brother of al-Qaida chief ISLAMISTS TARGET Ayman Christian churches, al-Zawahri came in SEE PAGE A6. connection to the raid on the mosque. Officials said that he planned to bring in armed groups to provide support to those holed up inside the mosque. Mohammed al-Zawahri, a Morsi ally, is the leader of the ultraconservative Jihadi Salafi group which espouses al-Qaida’s hardline ideology. He was detained at a checkpoint in Giza, the city across the Nile from Cairo, the official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity as he wasn’t authorized to brief journalists about the arrest. The Egyptian government meanwhile announced it had begun deliberations on whether to ban the Brotherhood, a long-outlawed organization that swept to power in the country’s first democratic elections a year ago. Such a ban — which authorities say is rooted in the group’s use of violence — would be a repeat to the decades-long power struggle between the state and the Brotherhood. For more than a month since the July 3 military overthrow of Morsi, Brotherhood members and SEE EGYPT, PAGE A6