Crime, Weather Top Stories For 2013
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By David [email protected]
But not all of the top 10 stories of the year were bad news.
The top 10 local news stories of 2013 were voted on by the Times-Union staff.
#1
A Warsaw woman was charged with homicide after two men were shot in a residence south of North Webster Dec. 18, one of them fatally.
Sonya Lynn Armontrout, aka Sonya L. Fick, 42, of 3778 N. CR 175E, Warsaw, was arrested at 9:16 p.m. Dec. 18 and charged with murder, attempted murder and burglary.
Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Department deputies responded to a residence at 44 EMS B10 Lane, Pierceton, Wednesday around 7:18 p.m. after dispatch received a 911 call of a potential shooting. Armontrout surrendered to arriving officers and was taken into custody without incident, according to KCSD Sgt. Chad Hill.
Deputies entered the residence and found the homeowner, Steven L. Carman, 51, in very critical condition from gunshot wounds to the chest and head as well as knife wounds to the back, according to Hill. Paramedics from North Webster EMS arrived and summoned Kosciusko County Coroner Michael Wilson, who pronounced Carman dead at the scene.
Also shot was Joseph A. Glant, 54, Warsaw, who was transported to Kosciusko Community Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Two juvenile females, the daughters of Armontrout and Carman, were also at the scene. They were uninjured and placed in the custody of the Department of Child Services that evening.
KCSD detectives, along with members of the Kosciusko County Major Crimes Unit, have determined that Armontrout broke into Carman’s residence earlier in the evening and hid in a bedroom closet.
Carman, Glant and the two children later arrived and entered the home, at which point Armontrout exited the closet and discharged a 9mm handgun, striking Glant in his lower torso, according to information from Hill.
Armontrout then reportedly discharged the handgun several times at Carman, striking him in the chest multiple times. Armontrout proceeded to stab Carman in the back with a knife as he stumbled down a hallway to the living room area.
Armontrout followed Carman to the living room and proceeded to discharge the handgun, shooting Carman in the head multiple times “execution style,” according to Hill.
Armontrout appeared in front of Kosciusko County Circuit Court Judge Michael Reed Dec. 19 and requested a court-appointed attorney.
Armontrout was preliminarily charged with murder, attempted murder and burglary – all Class A felonies. If convicted, murder is punishable by up to 65 years in prison and attempted murder and burglary are punishable by 20 to 50 years in prison. In all, Armontrout could be facing a 165-year prison sentence.
Armontrout was placed back into custody at the Kosciusko County Jail and a pre-trial hearing is scheduled for Feb. 24 at 2:30 p.m.
#2
Violent thunderstorms raked Kosciusko County Nov. 17. Over the course of the following week, the National Weather Service determined three tornados swept through the county.
The first tornado confirmed by the NWS was an EF-2 that passed south of Silver Lake. It had a maximum wind speed of 125 mph, with a maximum estimated path of 150 yards. Its path length was 4 miles. The tornado started at approximately 3:43 p.m. Nov. 17 and ended around 3:48 p.m.
The second confirmed tornado was an EF-1 with maximum wind speeds of 95 mph. It touched down 1.6 miles south-southeast of Oswego in an open field, and lifted just east of Oswego. The tornado started at approximately 3:54 p.m. Nov. 17 and ended around 3:56 p.m. The path on the ground was 1.7 miles long.
The third confirmed tornado also was an EF-1, with a path length of 1.1 miles. The maximum estimated wind speed was 100 mph, and the maximum estimated path width was 250 yards, according to the NWS. It started around 3:38 p.m. and lasted about two minutes.
#3
The Kosciusko County Corner’s Office determined that skeletal remains found Sept. 29 are those of a missing 18-year-old from a nearby mobile home park.
Aurora Shoemaker went missing Aug. 16, 2012. Her remains were found more than a year later in a wooded area near the intersection of CRs 175E and 350N, north of Warsaw, after young people playing in the area happened upon them.
Certified technicians and autopsy results both concluded that Shoemaker died from self-inflicted injuries with no foul play suspected.
On Oct. 13, Shoemaker’s friends and family gathered on the south lawn of the courthouse to share memories of the teen who went missing last year.
#4
Tippecanoe Valley School Corp. was stunned when Sherri Adamson, 50, was found Jan. 7 in a wooded area outside her residence.
Adamson was the Tippecanoe Valley School Corp. treasurer, and was being questioned by authorities on alleged misuse of school corporation funds.
The estate of Adamson is liable for more than $300,000, according to a State Board of Accounts report filed June 14. The SBA conducted the emergency audit following the death of Adamson.
The audit, which covers her period of employment from Jan. 1, 2010, to Jan. 31, 2013, and which was forwarded to the Indiana Attorney General and local prosecuting attorney, found that during that time Adamson had misused public funds in the form of undocumented checks and credit card charges totalling $276,516.29.
The SBA additionally requests from Adamson’s estate $28,149.55 in costs related to its investigation of those undocumented checks and credit card charges.
Investigators examined accounts payable vouchers to see if documentation supported checks Adamson issued between June 29, 2012, and Jan. 3. Of the 34 checks, most with a corporate vendor posted to school records as payee, 29 appeared with Adamson as the actual payee. Investigators concluded that Adamson’s estate is liable for $34,916.63 in undocumented checks.
Investigators also reviewed copies of statements for credit cards issued to the school corporation and controlled by Adamson, noting that the school’s accounts payable vouchers did not contain all credit card statements. They concluded that, based on the types of vendors listed on credit card statements, “a significant number” of the purchases were for Adamson’s personal expenses, totalling $245,625.15.
#5
Stimmelators, the gentlemen’s club in North Webster, was in the news several times this year, but the top reason was for owner Sam Stimmel being one of five people busted on prostitution charges.
The five were arrested Oct. 30 after a three-month investigation into alleged corruption at Stimmelators Gentlemen’s Club.
Multiple agencies began an investigation into alleged corrupt business practices at Stimmelators, 114 E. Washington St., North Webster, in July. The investigation culminated Oct. 30 around 10 p.m. in five arrests including the owner of the business, Samuel Scott Stimmel, 64, of 7227 N. Syracuse Webster Road, North Webster.
The investigation began on suspicion of synthetic drug dealing out of the business, though the arrests Wednesday were on charges of promoting prostitution. Undercover officers performed the raid Wednesday out of an area hotel and entered the establishment to execute the arrests.
Two search warrants were executed at three locations including the club, an adjacent business also owned by Stimmel and a semi trailer parked outside of Stimmelators. Officers were able to recover a large amount of cash and synthetic drug substances from the trailer.
As a result of the raid, Stimmel was booked into the Kosciusko County Jail on preliminary charges of corrupt business influence and promoting prostitution and was held on a $100,000 bond.
Also arrested were Kelly Joe Whitman, 23, South Bend, for promoting prostitution; Kimberly Kay Gill, 32, South Bend, for promoting prostitution; Donn Lee Rupert, 51, South Bend, for promoting prostitution; and Christine Marie Bennett, 27, Warsaw, for promoting prostitution. Each was held on a $5,000 bond.
On Nov. 7, Circuit Court Judge Michael W. Reed granted a temporary hold on at least one of Stimmel’s financial accounts at the request of Kosciusko County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Hampton, according to the Prosecutor’s Office. The Prosecutor’s Office said Stimmel won’t be able to use the accounts for business transactions until the hold is removed by the court.
#6
A shooting that occurred in 2010 continues to make news three years later.
The Indiana attorney general asked the state Supreme Court Jan. 10 to decide whether a Cromwell boy convicted as an adult at age 12 of killing his friend’s stepfather should receive a new trial or remain in the state prison system.
The office filed a request to review a December state appeals court ruling that said a county judge improperly decided a week after Paul Gingerich’s arrest that he could be charged as an adult.
Defense attorney Monica Foster said Gingerich was a young boy whose case was mishandled by the local judge and that the attorney general’s appeal is disgraceful.
Gingerich, who turned 15 in February, was serving a 25-year sentence after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit murder in the April 19, 2010 killing of 49-year-old Phillip Danner in a plot with two other boys to run away to Arizona.
Danner was the stepfather of Colt Lundy, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder in the case. He received the same sentence as Gingerich – 25 years in prison and five years probation.
Lundy was 15 at the time of the shooting.
The third suspect in the case, Chase Williams, was not involved in the actual shooting, but waited outside Danner’s home and fled with Lundy and Gingerich afterward. He was charged with assisting a criminal, which would have been a Class C felony if committed by an adult. Williams, 12 at the time of the shooting, was sentenced to six years in juvenile detention. He was released in January 2011.
Danner suffered four gunshot wounds. Shots were fired by both Lundy and Gingerich, court records indicate.
Gingerich got a new hearing and accepted a new plea agreement.
As a part of his plea agreement, Gingerich has agreed to spend 30 years in the Indiana Department of Corrections with five years suspended. When he turns 18, the court has agreed to schedule another sentencing hearing.
At that time, based on DOC recommendations, Gingerich will either serve his full sentence in the DOC, be placed in a residential facility, be electronically monitored, be placed in a community corrections program, work release, or serve probation, parole, or another appropriate alternative sentence.
As a part of the plea agreement presented Dec. 16 to Special Judge James R. Heuer of Whitley County, Gingerich had the right to be sentenced within 30 days. However, Gingerich and his attorney, Monica Foster, waived that right and agreed to a sentencing date of Feb. 3 at 11 a.m.
#7
Multiple agencies conducted a concerted investigation following a four-bus chain reaction accident Wednesday afternoon on North Ind. 13 near North Webster.
Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Department investigators determined that Cynthia K. Routh, 64, North Webster, driving Wawasee Schools bus 30-11, was the lead bus driver and stopped to allow a student to exit. David W. Granger, 63, Warsaw, bus 48, was following behind Routh’s bus. Julie K. Close, 47, Syracuse, bus 44, was driving the third bus, directly behind Granger’s school bus. The rearmost bus was driven by John R. Wagoner, 61, North Webster, bus 28. Wagoner’s school bus impacted the rear of the bus driven by Close, which caused the chain reaction of all vehicles, according to a press release this morning.
A former marine, Brian Gagye, was first on the scene to the bus crash.
The accident sent 56 students and drivers to area hospitals, 50 of them at Kosciusko Community Hospital, according to Joy Lohse, KCH spokesperson. A fifth person was treated at IU Health Goshen after the first four, and the driver of the rear bus, John R. Wagoner, were airlifted to Parkview Memorial in Fort Wayne, Hill confirmed.
Tom Edington, Wawasee Schools superintendent, stated one Wawasee High School student was transfered to Fort Wayne Lutheran Wednesday night as a “precautionary measure.”
“All drivers have passed drug screenings as required with their commercial driver’s license and Wagoner’s condition is improving,” Edington said.
Edington also stated investigators are reviewing tapes from the front two buses involved in the accident. The rear two buses are older and were not equipped with cameras, and Edington added that the video quality of the second bus wasn’t clear.
#8
In January, a Warsaw man was injured after jumping from his father’s moving vehicle and died two months later. His father was then injured in a motorcycle accident in June.
Jerry Lee Charles Belcher, 21, Warsaw, was in critical condition after jumping from a moving vehicle Jan. 18 on CR 800W, just south of CR 850N, south of Nappanee. On March 25, he died from complications from traumatic brain injury from the jump.
His father, Johnny L. Belcher, 41, Warsaw, was taken to University of Michigan Hospital by helicopter after the motorcycle he was driving struck the driver’s side front tire of a Ford F-250 pickup June 2 at 1:08 p.m. at the intersection of M-60 and Reynolds Road in Spring Arbor Township.
Belcher sustained severe head injuries when his head struck the front quarter panel of the truck, according to news outlet mlive.com He was initially taken to an area hospital before being flown to University of Michigan Hospital, where he was listed in critical condition.
#9
More than six years of planning went into the opening of the Warsaw Meijer store June 13.
Hank Meijer, company co-chair, and other company and store staff helped cut the ribbon inside the store at 1200 Lake City Highway at 10 a.m. They were joined by Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer and representatives of the Warsaw Kosciusko County Chamber.
“We’ve been looking forward to bringing this here for a long time,” Meijer said, adding that they waited until having “the confidence that we could compete successfully against our much larger supercenter competitors ... That’s a confidence we didn’t have until a few years ago.”
He said they gained that confidence by taking a lot of the costs out of doing business, operating more efficiently – closing the price gap while offering “savings without sacrifice” – and improving the quality of their service.
He also noted Warsaw could potentially be the chain’s 200th store, depending on whether the time of the opening beat out a store in Portage that day – and whether or not you count the closing of a store in Newark, Ohio, as turning the count back from the official 200th opening in Flint, Mich., weeks before.
But he added more important to him is the experience of shoppers and the team who came together to open the store.
“That’s what’s more meaningful to me,” he said.
Before breaking out the giant scissors, they presented checks for $500 to the Warsaw police and fire departments and $1,000 in gift cards to the Warsaw Evangelical Presbyterian Church.
The company wanted to thank the church for hosting four days of job interviews as Meijer sought to fill more than 250 positions.
#10
A father surprising his daughter on the Grace College graduation stage finishes out the top 10 stories of 2013.
As she crossed the stage during Grace College’s commencement May 11, Katherine “Katie” Graham knew she was getting a bachelor’s degree in English education.
What she didn't know was that she would be met on the stage by her father, U.S. Army Major Billy Graham, who just returned from a tour in Afghanistan.
Upon seeing her father walk onto the stage from his hiding spot, they hugged each other tightly, her graduation cap falling to the floor. Everyone at the ceremony stood up to give the reunited family a big round of applause. One of the graduates could be heard yelling “Thank you!” to Major Graham for his service.
He brought Katie a bouquet of roses for the surprise. She loves flowers.
Afterward, Katie said it was a total surprise. When she first saw him, she thought, “Oh my gosh! And cry!”
“It’s a little overwhelming. Lots of emotions going on,” she said.
Before the commencement, backstage, Major Graham spoke about the planning to pull the surprise off.
He recently got back from a nine-month tour in Afghanistan, serving as the chaplain with the 101st Combat Aviation Brigade, Fort Campbell, Ky., which is part of the 101st Airborne Division Air Assault.
“We intentionally kept (my return) a secret. So many people were involved in the process. We even got her roommates involved. I can’t tell you all the intricate details we went through to keep her in the dark. There were some close moments,” Major Graham said.
He went to school at Grace, so Katie grew up here when he was a student for six years, Major Graham said. He received his bachelor’s and master’s of divinity from Grace.
“This is really special, it’s my alma mater. And it was her choice (to come to Grace). I didn’t ever have to bribe her,” he said.[[In-content Ad]]
But not all of the top 10 stories of the year were bad news.
The top 10 local news stories of 2013 were voted on by the Times-Union staff.
#1
A Warsaw woman was charged with homicide after two men were shot in a residence south of North Webster Dec. 18, one of them fatally.
Sonya Lynn Armontrout, aka Sonya L. Fick, 42, of 3778 N. CR 175E, Warsaw, was arrested at 9:16 p.m. Dec. 18 and charged with murder, attempted murder and burglary.
Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Department deputies responded to a residence at 44 EMS B10 Lane, Pierceton, Wednesday around 7:18 p.m. after dispatch received a 911 call of a potential shooting. Armontrout surrendered to arriving officers and was taken into custody without incident, according to KCSD Sgt. Chad Hill.
Deputies entered the residence and found the homeowner, Steven L. Carman, 51, in very critical condition from gunshot wounds to the chest and head as well as knife wounds to the back, according to Hill. Paramedics from North Webster EMS arrived and summoned Kosciusko County Coroner Michael Wilson, who pronounced Carman dead at the scene.
Also shot was Joseph A. Glant, 54, Warsaw, who was transported to Kosciusko Community Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Two juvenile females, the daughters of Armontrout and Carman, were also at the scene. They were uninjured and placed in the custody of the Department of Child Services that evening.
KCSD detectives, along with members of the Kosciusko County Major Crimes Unit, have determined that Armontrout broke into Carman’s residence earlier in the evening and hid in a bedroom closet.
Carman, Glant and the two children later arrived and entered the home, at which point Armontrout exited the closet and discharged a 9mm handgun, striking Glant in his lower torso, according to information from Hill.
Armontrout then reportedly discharged the handgun several times at Carman, striking him in the chest multiple times. Armontrout proceeded to stab Carman in the back with a knife as he stumbled down a hallway to the living room area.
Armontrout followed Carman to the living room and proceeded to discharge the handgun, shooting Carman in the head multiple times “execution style,” according to Hill.
Armontrout appeared in front of Kosciusko County Circuit Court Judge Michael Reed Dec. 19 and requested a court-appointed attorney.
Armontrout was preliminarily charged with murder, attempted murder and burglary – all Class A felonies. If convicted, murder is punishable by up to 65 years in prison and attempted murder and burglary are punishable by 20 to 50 years in prison. In all, Armontrout could be facing a 165-year prison sentence.
Armontrout was placed back into custody at the Kosciusko County Jail and a pre-trial hearing is scheduled for Feb. 24 at 2:30 p.m.
#2
Violent thunderstorms raked Kosciusko County Nov. 17. Over the course of the following week, the National Weather Service determined three tornados swept through the county.
The first tornado confirmed by the NWS was an EF-2 that passed south of Silver Lake. It had a maximum wind speed of 125 mph, with a maximum estimated path of 150 yards. Its path length was 4 miles. The tornado started at approximately 3:43 p.m. Nov. 17 and ended around 3:48 p.m.
The second confirmed tornado was an EF-1 with maximum wind speeds of 95 mph. It touched down 1.6 miles south-southeast of Oswego in an open field, and lifted just east of Oswego. The tornado started at approximately 3:54 p.m. Nov. 17 and ended around 3:56 p.m. The path on the ground was 1.7 miles long.
The third confirmed tornado also was an EF-1, with a path length of 1.1 miles. The maximum estimated wind speed was 100 mph, and the maximum estimated path width was 250 yards, according to the NWS. It started around 3:38 p.m. and lasted about two minutes.
#3
The Kosciusko County Corner’s Office determined that skeletal remains found Sept. 29 are those of a missing 18-year-old from a nearby mobile home park.
Aurora Shoemaker went missing Aug. 16, 2012. Her remains were found more than a year later in a wooded area near the intersection of CRs 175E and 350N, north of Warsaw, after young people playing in the area happened upon them.
Certified technicians and autopsy results both concluded that Shoemaker died from self-inflicted injuries with no foul play suspected.
On Oct. 13, Shoemaker’s friends and family gathered on the south lawn of the courthouse to share memories of the teen who went missing last year.
#4
Tippecanoe Valley School Corp. was stunned when Sherri Adamson, 50, was found Jan. 7 in a wooded area outside her residence.
Adamson was the Tippecanoe Valley School Corp. treasurer, and was being questioned by authorities on alleged misuse of school corporation funds.
The estate of Adamson is liable for more than $300,000, according to a State Board of Accounts report filed June 14. The SBA conducted the emergency audit following the death of Adamson.
The audit, which covers her period of employment from Jan. 1, 2010, to Jan. 31, 2013, and which was forwarded to the Indiana Attorney General and local prosecuting attorney, found that during that time Adamson had misused public funds in the form of undocumented checks and credit card charges totalling $276,516.29.
The SBA additionally requests from Adamson’s estate $28,149.55 in costs related to its investigation of those undocumented checks and credit card charges.
Investigators examined accounts payable vouchers to see if documentation supported checks Adamson issued between June 29, 2012, and Jan. 3. Of the 34 checks, most with a corporate vendor posted to school records as payee, 29 appeared with Adamson as the actual payee. Investigators concluded that Adamson’s estate is liable for $34,916.63 in undocumented checks.
Investigators also reviewed copies of statements for credit cards issued to the school corporation and controlled by Adamson, noting that the school’s accounts payable vouchers did not contain all credit card statements. They concluded that, based on the types of vendors listed on credit card statements, “a significant number” of the purchases were for Adamson’s personal expenses, totalling $245,625.15.
#5
Stimmelators, the gentlemen’s club in North Webster, was in the news several times this year, but the top reason was for owner Sam Stimmel being one of five people busted on prostitution charges.
The five were arrested Oct. 30 after a three-month investigation into alleged corruption at Stimmelators Gentlemen’s Club.
Multiple agencies began an investigation into alleged corrupt business practices at Stimmelators, 114 E. Washington St., North Webster, in July. The investigation culminated Oct. 30 around 10 p.m. in five arrests including the owner of the business, Samuel Scott Stimmel, 64, of 7227 N. Syracuse Webster Road, North Webster.
The investigation began on suspicion of synthetic drug dealing out of the business, though the arrests Wednesday were on charges of promoting prostitution. Undercover officers performed the raid Wednesday out of an area hotel and entered the establishment to execute the arrests.
Two search warrants were executed at three locations including the club, an adjacent business also owned by Stimmel and a semi trailer parked outside of Stimmelators. Officers were able to recover a large amount of cash and synthetic drug substances from the trailer.
As a result of the raid, Stimmel was booked into the Kosciusko County Jail on preliminary charges of corrupt business influence and promoting prostitution and was held on a $100,000 bond.
Also arrested were Kelly Joe Whitman, 23, South Bend, for promoting prostitution; Kimberly Kay Gill, 32, South Bend, for promoting prostitution; Donn Lee Rupert, 51, South Bend, for promoting prostitution; and Christine Marie Bennett, 27, Warsaw, for promoting prostitution. Each was held on a $5,000 bond.
On Nov. 7, Circuit Court Judge Michael W. Reed granted a temporary hold on at least one of Stimmel’s financial accounts at the request of Kosciusko County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Hampton, according to the Prosecutor’s Office. The Prosecutor’s Office said Stimmel won’t be able to use the accounts for business transactions until the hold is removed by the court.
#6
A shooting that occurred in 2010 continues to make news three years later.
The Indiana attorney general asked the state Supreme Court Jan. 10 to decide whether a Cromwell boy convicted as an adult at age 12 of killing his friend’s stepfather should receive a new trial or remain in the state prison system.
The office filed a request to review a December state appeals court ruling that said a county judge improperly decided a week after Paul Gingerich’s arrest that he could be charged as an adult.
Defense attorney Monica Foster said Gingerich was a young boy whose case was mishandled by the local judge and that the attorney general’s appeal is disgraceful.
Gingerich, who turned 15 in February, was serving a 25-year sentence after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit murder in the April 19, 2010 killing of 49-year-old Phillip Danner in a plot with two other boys to run away to Arizona.
Danner was the stepfather of Colt Lundy, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder in the case. He received the same sentence as Gingerich – 25 years in prison and five years probation.
Lundy was 15 at the time of the shooting.
The third suspect in the case, Chase Williams, was not involved in the actual shooting, but waited outside Danner’s home and fled with Lundy and Gingerich afterward. He was charged with assisting a criminal, which would have been a Class C felony if committed by an adult. Williams, 12 at the time of the shooting, was sentenced to six years in juvenile detention. He was released in January 2011.
Danner suffered four gunshot wounds. Shots were fired by both Lundy and Gingerich, court records indicate.
Gingerich got a new hearing and accepted a new plea agreement.
As a part of his plea agreement, Gingerich has agreed to spend 30 years in the Indiana Department of Corrections with five years suspended. When he turns 18, the court has agreed to schedule another sentencing hearing.
At that time, based on DOC recommendations, Gingerich will either serve his full sentence in the DOC, be placed in a residential facility, be electronically monitored, be placed in a community corrections program, work release, or serve probation, parole, or another appropriate alternative sentence.
As a part of the plea agreement presented Dec. 16 to Special Judge James R. Heuer of Whitley County, Gingerich had the right to be sentenced within 30 days. However, Gingerich and his attorney, Monica Foster, waived that right and agreed to a sentencing date of Feb. 3 at 11 a.m.
#7
Multiple agencies conducted a concerted investigation following a four-bus chain reaction accident Wednesday afternoon on North Ind. 13 near North Webster.
Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Department investigators determined that Cynthia K. Routh, 64, North Webster, driving Wawasee Schools bus 30-11, was the lead bus driver and stopped to allow a student to exit. David W. Granger, 63, Warsaw, bus 48, was following behind Routh’s bus. Julie K. Close, 47, Syracuse, bus 44, was driving the third bus, directly behind Granger’s school bus. The rearmost bus was driven by John R. Wagoner, 61, North Webster, bus 28. Wagoner’s school bus impacted the rear of the bus driven by Close, which caused the chain reaction of all vehicles, according to a press release this morning.
A former marine, Brian Gagye, was first on the scene to the bus crash.
The accident sent 56 students and drivers to area hospitals, 50 of them at Kosciusko Community Hospital, according to Joy Lohse, KCH spokesperson. A fifth person was treated at IU Health Goshen after the first four, and the driver of the rear bus, John R. Wagoner, were airlifted to Parkview Memorial in Fort Wayne, Hill confirmed.
Tom Edington, Wawasee Schools superintendent, stated one Wawasee High School student was transfered to Fort Wayne Lutheran Wednesday night as a “precautionary measure.”
“All drivers have passed drug screenings as required with their commercial driver’s license and Wagoner’s condition is improving,” Edington said.
Edington also stated investigators are reviewing tapes from the front two buses involved in the accident. The rear two buses are older and were not equipped with cameras, and Edington added that the video quality of the second bus wasn’t clear.
#8
In January, a Warsaw man was injured after jumping from his father’s moving vehicle and died two months later. His father was then injured in a motorcycle accident in June.
Jerry Lee Charles Belcher, 21, Warsaw, was in critical condition after jumping from a moving vehicle Jan. 18 on CR 800W, just south of CR 850N, south of Nappanee. On March 25, he died from complications from traumatic brain injury from the jump.
His father, Johnny L. Belcher, 41, Warsaw, was taken to University of Michigan Hospital by helicopter after the motorcycle he was driving struck the driver’s side front tire of a Ford F-250 pickup June 2 at 1:08 p.m. at the intersection of M-60 and Reynolds Road in Spring Arbor Township.
Belcher sustained severe head injuries when his head struck the front quarter panel of the truck, according to news outlet mlive.com He was initially taken to an area hospital before being flown to University of Michigan Hospital, where he was listed in critical condition.
#9
More than six years of planning went into the opening of the Warsaw Meijer store June 13.
Hank Meijer, company co-chair, and other company and store staff helped cut the ribbon inside the store at 1200 Lake City Highway at 10 a.m. They were joined by Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer and representatives of the Warsaw Kosciusko County Chamber.
“We’ve been looking forward to bringing this here for a long time,” Meijer said, adding that they waited until having “the confidence that we could compete successfully against our much larger supercenter competitors ... That’s a confidence we didn’t have until a few years ago.”
He said they gained that confidence by taking a lot of the costs out of doing business, operating more efficiently – closing the price gap while offering “savings without sacrifice” – and improving the quality of their service.
He also noted Warsaw could potentially be the chain’s 200th store, depending on whether the time of the opening beat out a store in Portage that day – and whether or not you count the closing of a store in Newark, Ohio, as turning the count back from the official 200th opening in Flint, Mich., weeks before.
But he added more important to him is the experience of shoppers and the team who came together to open the store.
“That’s what’s more meaningful to me,” he said.
Before breaking out the giant scissors, they presented checks for $500 to the Warsaw police and fire departments and $1,000 in gift cards to the Warsaw Evangelical Presbyterian Church.
The company wanted to thank the church for hosting four days of job interviews as Meijer sought to fill more than 250 positions.
#10
A father surprising his daughter on the Grace College graduation stage finishes out the top 10 stories of 2013.
As she crossed the stage during Grace College’s commencement May 11, Katherine “Katie” Graham knew she was getting a bachelor’s degree in English education.
What she didn't know was that she would be met on the stage by her father, U.S. Army Major Billy Graham, who just returned from a tour in Afghanistan.
Upon seeing her father walk onto the stage from his hiding spot, they hugged each other tightly, her graduation cap falling to the floor. Everyone at the ceremony stood up to give the reunited family a big round of applause. One of the graduates could be heard yelling “Thank you!” to Major Graham for his service.
He brought Katie a bouquet of roses for the surprise. She loves flowers.
Afterward, Katie said it was a total surprise. When she first saw him, she thought, “Oh my gosh! And cry!”
“It’s a little overwhelming. Lots of emotions going on,” she said.
Before the commencement, backstage, Major Graham spoke about the planning to pull the surprise off.
He recently got back from a nine-month tour in Afghanistan, serving as the chaplain with the 101st Combat Aviation Brigade, Fort Campbell, Ky., which is part of the 101st Airborne Division Air Assault.
“We intentionally kept (my return) a secret. So many people were involved in the process. We even got her roommates involved. I can’t tell you all the intricate details we went through to keep her in the dark. There were some close moments,” Major Graham said.
He went to school at Grace, so Katie grew up here when he was a student for six years, Major Graham said. He received his bachelor’s and master’s of divinity from Grace.
“This is really special, it’s my alma mater. And it was her choice (to come to Grace). I didn’t ever have to bribe her,” he said.[[In-content Ad]]
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