The Star - September 20, 2013

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FRIDAY September 20, 2013

School Staff Page A2 DeKalb Central hires associate principal

Rivals Spiked Page B1 Baron volleyball team downs Knights

Weather Rain and storms expected by midday. High 80. Low tonight 57. Cooler Saturday. Page A8

GOOD MORNING Police seek woman and alleged abductor BY MATT GETTS mgetts@kpcmedia.com

LAGRANGE — Authorities in LaGrange County are searching for a Peru woman who reportedly was abducted Wednesday night in LaGrange County. The missing woman is Jennifer Lee Bitzel, who is 5-foot-9, 130 pounds, with blue eyes and brown hair. Police said she may have cuts or Bitzel bruising to her face. Police are also looking for a person of interest in the case, Steven Gail Gose, 43. According to a news Gose release, Gose should be considered armed and dangerous and should not be approached. Police declined to describe Gose’s suspected involvement in the abduction. Police said he is 5-foot-10 and 175 pounds and has an active warrant for his arrest on a parole violation. Police said Bitzel was last seen at approximately 10:30 p.m. Wednesday at a residence in the 3000 block of LaGrange C.R. 600E. It is alleged that at the residence, Bitzel was the victim of an extensive battery. She then was removed forcefully from the residence by a man who allegedly made death threats to Bitzel before forcing her into a silver, 2001 Pontiac Grand Prix, four-door sedan, bearing Indiana registration 543AIB. Bitzel’s two young children were left behind at the residence, and she has not been seen or heard from since, police said.

PHOTO GALLERY East Noble at DeKalb football kpcnews.com Multimedia > Photo Galleries

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Index

Classifieds.................................B5-B7 Life..................................................... A5 Obituaries......................................... A4 Opinion ............................................. A3 Sports.........................................B1-B3 Weather............................................ A8 TV/Comics .......................................B4 Vol. 101 No. 259

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Site selector finds region amazing Speaks at local development forum BY DENNIS NARTKER dnartker@kpcmedia.com

KENDALLVILLE — At Thursday’s sixth annual Northeast Indiana Regional Economic Development Forum, site selector Paige Webster said he was amazed at what the region has to offer industry looking to expand or relocate. “I’ve never been to this part of Indiana, but after only 14

hours here, I’ve been completely amazed what’s going on in this area,” he told about 140 business and industry representatives and elected officials from northeast Indiana. When Webster learned that Trine University in Angola produces a lot of engineering graduates each year, he again was startled, saying, “That’s something this region should market. I’ve

got a client who’s looking for 500 engineers.” The Noble County Economic Development Corp. sponsored the forum at Cobblestone Golf Course and Event Webster Center of Kendallville. Webster, owner of Webster Global Site Selectors in Phoenix, Ariz., spoke about what site

“... after only 14 hours here, I’ve been completely amazed what’s going on in this area.” Paige Webster Professional site selector

SEE SITE SELECTOR, PAGE A8

Budget battle looms Congress, Obama set for showdown

AARON ORGAN

An excavator rips through a mobile home inside the abandoned Hidden Valley Mobile Home Park, off S.R. 8 on the county’s western edge, Thursday. A contractor began clearing the land

that is littered with trash, debris and abandoned homes – a scene that led the county to deem it in violation of code earlier this year.

Cleanup begins at Hidden Valley BY AARON ORGAN aorgan@kpcmedia.com

AVILLA — The Hidden Valley Mobile Home Park wasteland on the county’s western edge finally is being cleared away. A crew with Auburn-based Pat Longsworth Excavating Inc. on Thursday demolished the first of a handful of dilapidated mobile homes still standing in the abandoned park off S.R. 8 west of Garrett. The company has been contracted by the land’s owners — Virginia-based holding company ATCF REO Holdings LLC,

according to the county assessor’s office — to clear the park’s 10.94 acres that have been relegated to a unsightly dump and fallen into violation of county code. As a large excavator ripped apart one mobile home, which had a recliner and a bed left behind, rodents scurried out from under deep piles of debris and trash. Pat Longsworth scooped pile after pile of rubble into a trailer, while another worker dismantled aluminum pieces from the mobile home’s frame to be recycled. In the midst of the dust, Don Myers with the DeKalb County

Building Department stood watching, after working for more than a year to follow a complaint on the property. The county received a complaint in May 2012 regarding the state of the land, which is littered in layers of discarded furniture and household items, trash, debris and other materials surrounding a scum-crusted small pond. Finding the land owner, though, became a wild goose chase for Myers after he learned it had been sold to a holding company with offices in

WASHINGTON (AP) — Congressional Republicans struggled to tamp down a family feud Thursday as they approached a politically charged showdown with the White House that combines the threat of a government shutdown, a possible first-ever federal default and the GOP’s bid to repeal the nation’s three-year-old health care law. One day after conceding that the Democratic-controlled Senate probably would prevail on the last part, Sen. Ted Cruz still vowed to do “everything and anything possible to defund Obamacare.” That includes a possible filibuster of legislation to prevent a partial government shutdown, added the Texas Republican. That was a step further than Sen. Mike Lee of Utah — Cruz’s partner in a summertime run of “Defund Obamacare” television commercials — was willing to go. President Barack Obama’s health care law “is not worth causing a shutdown over,” he said. The two men spoke at a news conference with several House Republicans where lawmakers stressed they were unified and thanked Speaker John Boehner for agreeing to tie the anti-shutdown and anti-Obamacare provisions into one bill.

SEE CLEANUP, PAGE A8

SEE BUDGET, PAGE A8

Butler Police seize meth lab, make one arrest BUTLER — A theft complaint resulted in the arrest of a Fort Wayne man Wednesday, according to Butler Police. William F. Wernle, 27, of the 4700 block of Arlington Avenue, Fort Wayne, has been charged with possession of methamphetamine within 1,000 feet of a park or school, a Class B felony; possession of precursors with intent to manufacture methamphetamine within 1,000 Wernle feet of a park or school, a Class C felony; theft, a Class D felony; and possession of paraphernalia, a Class A misdemeanor, Butler Police said. Wernle was being held at the DeKalb County Jail for $15,500 bail. Assistant Chief Matthew Traster was called to a theft complaint in the 200 block of

West Main Street around 9:30 p.m. Wednesday, Butler Police Chief Jim Nichols said. While investigating, Nichols said Traster discovered two active, one-pot meth labs that had been abandoned, allegedly by the theft suspect. Also found at the West Main Street address were numerous precursors used in the production of meth, Nichols said. As Traster processed that scene, Detective Matthew Tamez and Officer Casey Kintz located and apprehended Wernle at an apartment complex in the 100 block of South Broadway. During the interview process, Wernle allegedly admitted his involvement in the theft and meth labs, Nichols added. “This is our second meth lab seizure within six days,” Nichols said. “Our intelligence network and the dedication of our officers continues to be our best weapon against those who are involved with meth.

BUTLER POLICE DEPARTMENT PHOTO

This photo shows items Butler Police allege a Fort Wayne man used to make methamphetamine at a West Main Street address Wednesday. The suspect, William F. Wernle, was arrested on multiple charges.

“Please continue to report suspicious activity,” Nichols

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