Vol. 37, No. 51
PO Box 603, Wabash, IN 46992 (260) 563-8326
Saturday, Feb. 28th GIRLS BASKETBALL SEMISTATE 3:45pm of Wabash County Inc. February 25, 2015
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Changes made to Primary Election voting By Emma Rausch emma@thepaperofwabash.com Early voting hours will be reduced to four hours per day this year for the city and town Primary elections, Wabash
County Election Board. Decided Friday, Feb. 20. Also, early voting will be available for two weeks prior to Election Day instead of the usual four weeks prior to election. In addition, the board also decided to
eliminate the Democrat ballot in North Manchester and LaFontaine due to no races. Lagro will not be having a Primary since there are no contested races. County Clerk Elaine Martin said that
hours were shortened from seven hours last year down to four hours for the upcoming Primary early voting period, including the Saturday early voting days. Beginning Monday April 20, early vot(continued on page 4)
Grants allow Heartland to expand programs By Joseph Slacian jslacian@thepaperofwabash.com
Mark Hobbs, director of the Heartland Career Center, discusses several grants the facility has received in recent weeks. Photo by Joseph Slacian
The Heartland Career Center (HCC) has received grants worth more than $250,000 to help upgrade its industrial technology programs. Officials from HCC, Ivy Tech, the county’s three public school corporations and a variety of supporters gathered Wednesday, Feb. 18 to learn about the grants and how educators envision using them. “We’re truly blessed to work with a large, collaborative group of people for support of your efforts to continuously improve the education and training for our students from Wabash, Miami, Grant and Huntington counties,” HCC Director Mark Hobbs said, discussing the grants. HCC has received three grants, Hobbs noted, saying a $20,000 grant from the Community Foundation of Wabash County actually began the changes of the school. With that grant, he said, “we started plans for our welding teacher, Jack Holley to be trained as certified welding inspector and educator. This grant also served as a starting point for each of the grants we’ve been awarded.” The remaining grants were $100,000 through the Ivy Tech
Community College’s Kokomo Region, and a the CTE Innovative Grant for $134,886. “The Kokomo IT region received a $3.27 million Youth Career Connect Grant and generously included Heartland as a partner,” Hobbs said, explaining the first grant. “Students in our advanced manufacturing classes and our welding and precision machine robotics classes have the opportunity to earn an associate’s degree in the integrated technology program for free through this grant.” Through the grant, HCC will be “placing 150,000 worth of manufacturing equipment in our building for students of all ages to benefit from,” he continued. “I’m talking about the 18 year old student, the 28, 38, 48, 58 … students of all ages. They are benefiting from it and will continue to benefit from it.” The first grant, through Federal Perkins Funding, “will enable us to purchase equipment for students to earn a welding technical certificate from Ivy Tech., along with the AWS industry recognized welding certification,” Hobbs said. The largest part of that grant will be spent on a virtual welding simulator costing $48,000. The second grant “will focus on (continued on page 5)
Longtime businessman remembered for his support of Wabash By Emma Rausch emma@thepaperofwabash.com A longtime Wabash business man, John W. “Jack” Miller, passed away on Wednesday, Feb. 18, at Lutheran Hospital in Fort Wayne. He was 87. A U.S. Army veteran, Miller was the founder and co-owner of Miller Furniture in Wabash, which opened in 1954, with his business partner Hubert G. Vrooman. He retired from the business in 1994. He also was involved with a variety of local organizations, including Wabash Community Service Board, the Peabody Foundation Board, and the Falls Cemetery Board.
He was a longtime member of the Presbyterian Church in Wabash, where he served as elder, deacon, Sunday school teacher, and also enjoyed singing in the choir. He also was a member of the Wabash Kiwanis Club, and is a past president of the organization. Steve Wampner, who purchased Miller Furniture from the Miller family in December, said Miller treated him as one of the family. “He reached out to me and was very welcoming after I purchased the business,” Wampner said. “He enjoyed bringing the mail in every morning, and we looked forward to (continued on page 18)
Steve Furnas holds a player’s batting glove while standing in the coaching box in recent years. Photo provided
Furnas retires after 30 years of coaching youth baseball By Joseph Slacian jslacian@thepaperofwabash.com In 30 years as a youth baseball coach, Wabash resident Steve Furnas has been involved in hundreds of games – 688 games, to be exact. But don’t ask him his winning percentage. That, he is quick to note, is something he doesn’t know. “Why are you there as a coach?” he asked rhetorically during an interview with The Paper of Wabash County. “It’s not about the wins. It’s about teaching.” Furnas, who has coached in T-Ball, Little League, Babe Ruth, JuniorSenior League and American Legion Ball, has decided to step away. “I figured at the 30-year mark maybe it was just time to hang it up,” he said.
The coaching begins A lifelong baseball fan, Furnas’ interest in youth leagues began before JOHN W. “JACK” MILLER
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