Vol. 38, No. 15
PO Box 603, Wabash, IN 46992 (260) 563-8326
of Wabash County Inc. June 3, 2015
www.thepaperofwabash.com Proudly Serving Wabash County Since 1977
County fair poultry show canceled By Emma Rausch emma@thepaperofwabash.com
Southwood High School seniors (from left) Shelby Babbitt, Kellie Baum, Margrette Baxter and Braya Benedict prepare to move their tassels from the left side to the right, indicating they have become graduates. Photo by Joseph Slacian
Southwood seniors receive diplomas By Joseph Slacian jslacian@thepaperofwabash.com The spirit of Dr. Seuss was alive Friday night, as 92 seniors at Southwood High School became the school’s newest alumni. Valedictorian Michael Lengel, throughout his commencement address, invoked quotes from the legendary children’s storyteller. Lengel told his classmates, “Dr. Seuss once said, ‘You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. You’re on your own and you know what you know. And you are the guy who’ll decide where to go.” But he also reminded his fellow students that graduation isn’t necessarily the end.
“Graduation is about the future,” he said. “We have worked roughly 12 years toward this day. Graduation is just a small stepping stone toward the rest of our lives.” The Southwood Class of 2015 did more than graduate from high school on Saturday night, he noted. “We are also graduating into adults,” Lengel said. “It is up to each and every one of you to decide what is right for your future. Whether you are going to college I the fall, entering the workforce or something else entirely, just make sure it is the right decision for you because as Dr. Seuss also said, ‘Only you can control your future.’” A track and cross country participant at Southwood, Lengel likened life to that of a cross-coun(continued on page 14)
NHS seniors begin new Wabash High School’s chapter in their lives graduating class off to ‘live life’ By Joseph Slacian jslacian@thepaperofwabash.com
The 78 members of the Northfield High School are venturing our on a new chapter of their lives. That fact was hammered home several times during the school’s commencement ceremony on Saturday night by valedictorian Lauren Early, salutatorian Alexandria Peterson and classmate Joseph Burcroff. “The past is so much a part of who we are,” Early told her classmates. “It has defined us into the young me n and women standing here today. It has been a great adventure so far and this is just the beginning. “We are on the verge of reality at last.” Early, whose senior year was the only time she was a student at Northfield, noted that the class had a wide variety of experiences throughout the year, all working toward their one special night. “Today is a day to be inspired and to be thankful,” she said. “Today is a day to be remembered. It is indisputably and ending to the life that we are all familiar
One hundred and eight students left Wabash High School for good this past weekend as the 2015 graduating class and walked toward their futures, with diplomas in hand, to “live as [they] desire.” Valedictorian Kevin Dong emphasized that at the school’s graduation ceremony on Sunday May 31 in the Honeywell Center. Before his peers could throw their caps in celebration of the occasion, Dong posed a question to his classmates,“…How does conforming to the expectations of others benefit you, the individual?” “Perhaps you developed a persona of being the class clown during high school,” he continued. “So what? What does that matter now that high school is done and over with?” Dong told his peers that they shouldn’t willingly
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By Emma Rausch emma@thepaperofwabash.com
All bird showings at the Wabash County 4-H Fair have been canceled this year as a precaution to the spread of avian influenza, according to Angela Christopher, Wabash County 4-H youth educator. The cancellation is a result of the Indiana State Board of Animal Health’s (BOAH) ban on all public displays of birds, including shows, exhibitions, and public sales, as of May 27. The decision was made “to protect Indiana’s poultry from potential exposure to H5 avian influenza virus,” the BOAH announced in a press release. While virus is not dangerous to humans through poultry meat or egg consumption, it is often deadly for chickens, turkeys, exotic birds, and other fowl, according to the BOAH. “This was not a decision made lightly,” Indiana State Veterinarian Bret Marsh wrote in the release. “The spread of the H5 viruses has been unprecedented, and our goal is to protect the health of small, backyard poultry flocks as much as our commercial industry from this disease.” Nationally, 16 states including Iowa, Minnesota and Pennsylvania have diagnosed cases of avian flu, resulting in the deaths of more than 40 million birds, the BOAH reported. In Indiana, one backyard flock of 77 poultry in Whitley County was diagnosed with highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) on May 9. Christopher told The Paper of Wabash County that she knows it wasn’t easy decision to make. “It wasn’t easy to email the kids in this county and (continued on page 6)
County workers may receive pay raise By Joseph Slacian jslacian@thepaperofwabash.com
Wabash County employees could receive their first pay raise in several years next year. On Monday, Wabash County Commissioners approved recommending to the Wabash County Council to allow up to 3 percent pay raises for workers. However, Commissioner Barry Eppley told The Paper of Wabash County, that the action doesn’t guarantee any raises, just yet. It is up to the County Council, during its budget talks later this year, to approve pay raises for employees. The suggestions will come from individual department heads. And, he added, just because the Commissioners recommended up to 3 percent, department heads may recommend 1 or 2 percent increases, depending on an employee’s performance. If the department head recommends the lower rate, he continued, the Council cannot increase it to the 3 percent level. However, the council can reduce the pay increase, no matter how much is suggested, depending on the county’s financial status at that time. The last increase, 1 percent, came in 2013.