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Grace Men Drop MCC Opener To Marian

WINONA LAKE - The start and the end were good for Grace.The middle was a completely different story Tuesday in the Lancers' Mid Central Conference opener. An 11-point Lancer lead in the first few minutes of the game became a 30-30 tie at halftime and eventually moved to a 64-47 second-half deficit.A Grace rally closed the gap at the end, but the Lancers fell short 87-81 to the Knights (9-2, 1-0) at Lancer Gym. From the 10-minute mark of the first half to the 10-minute mark of the second half, Marian outscored Grace 51-30 to turn around double-digit leads.
Greg Jones, Times-Union Sports Editor- | July 28, 2016

Judge Alito Is No Radical

I have to say that while I am disappointed with W generally, I think his pick of Judge Samuel Alito was pretty shrewd. I think the guy is filibuster-proof. Alito, 55, graduated from Yale Law School where he edited the law review and won tons of awards. He clerked for Judge Leonard Garth.He's a former deputy assistant attorney general under Reagan and the U.S.Attorney for the District of New Jersey. For the past 15 years he's been a judge on the U.S.Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit. This is just a really brief resume.The guy is imminently qualified. After all, he was unanimously confirmed to the 3rd Circuit.Demos and Republicans alike gave him glowing reviews. I know the Democrats were happy about Harriet Miers, and have been saying all manner of threatening things about Alito.But I think their hands are pretty much tied with regard to his confirmation. After all, they unanimously confirmed him to the 3rd circuit.They gave him glowing reviews.
GARY GERARD, Times-Union Managing Editor- | July 28, 2016

Churchill's Words Still Ring True

Winston Churchill delivered some pretty fine speeches in his day. This came to mind earlier this week when London suffered its worst attack since World War II. Terrorist bombs on three subway trains and on a double-decker bus killed dozens of people and wounded hundreds of others. On July 14, 1941, Churchill delivered the famous "You do your worst - and we will do our best" speech.The speech, essentially, was a tribute to the rescuers of London.(That was us and the allies, after the Germans dropped tens of thousands of bombs on London and other cities in England.) Interestingly, the Churchill Center - which bills itself as "the international focus for study of Winston Churchill, his life and times" - edited the speech slightly to remove references to 1941 and the contemporary wartime players. In this form, it seems as if the speech could be given today with regard to the terrorist events of Sept.11, Madrid and now London.
GARY GERARD, Times-Union Managing Editor- | July 28, 2016

Let's Enforce The Laws We Already Have

Again this week, there was a nut with a gun. And surely next week, there will be someone proposing more gun laws.It's almost guaranteed. It's always tragic and disturbing when innocent people are gunned down by a lunatic. In the latest case, a white supremacist named Benjamin Smith drove across two states firing at minorities.Two people were killed and several were wounded.The shooter killed himself as police closed in. Smith tried to buy guns at two gun shops but was turned down because he flunked the background checks.Apparently, there was a restraining order against him.That was good enough to flag him in the computer and the gun shops tossed him out. No biggie.He bought a couple guns from an unlicensed individual.And that brings me to the point of this column - the obvious and pervasive lack of enforcement of existing gun laws. Why will some guy sell guns on the street without a license? Because he can.
GARY GERARD, Times-Union Managing Editor- | July 28, 2016

Pass The Chips And Get Me A Lawyer

Society today has become highly litigious. People sue anybody, anytime for anything. People don't feel they should be held responsible for their own actions.They blame someone else, and then sue them. If you get sick from smoking, sue the tobacco company.If you shoot yourself in the foot, sue the gun manufacturer.If you get drunk and wreck your car, sue the bartender. Well, I have decided to cash in. Following are some ideas for possible defendants in a flurry of civil suits I could file. Tortilla chip manufacturers. Some restaurants give you a bowl of free tortilla chips to munch on while you're waiting for your food. This makes you more thirsty, so you order a second margarita before dinner.Next thing you know, you're killing somebody on the highway.My guess is that countless traffic deaths could be avoided if there were no tortilla chips. Car manufacturers.
GARY GERARD, Times-Union Managing Editor- | July 28, 2016

Partial Birth Abortion Is A Tough Sell

I don't envy the pro-abortion folks in Washington these days. It must be tough trying to defend an indefensible position. It must be tough to argue against a ban on "intact dilation and extraction" - what has come to be known as partial birth abortion. During the procedure, the abortionist partially extracts a fetus legs first through the birth canal, cuts an incision in the barely visible skull base and then drains the contents of the skull before completely aborting the fetus. The U.S.Senate Tuesday approved a bill banning the procedure, falling just three votes short of the two-thirds necessary to override an almost-certain presidential veto. The vote was 64 to 36, with 51 Republicans and 13 Democrats supporting the ban.Four Republicans and 32 Democrats opposed it.Sixty-seven votes are needed to override a veto if every senator is present. The only exception to the ban in the legislation is to save the life of the mother.
GARY GERARD, Times-Union Managing Editor- | July 28, 2016

A Couple More Things That I Don't Get

Here's a couple more in a long series of things that bug me. Well, maybe they don't really bug me, they just don't seem to make a whole lot of sense. Claypool I see now where Warsaw Community School Corp.is thinking of re-opening Claypool Elementary School. That's "re-open" because they closed it at the end of the 2003-04 school year. When the school board closed it, it was reallyÊa contentious decision.Lots of people in Claypool thought it was a dumb idea. I wasn't too crazy about it myself. Here's what I wrote in August 2003, before the board voted to close elementaries Claypool, Atwood and Silver Lake. The reason was to save money. "...There really do seem to be some drawbacks to the current plan. "I think closing schools in Atwood, Silver Lake and Claypool will really hurt what is left of those towns.You can't hang a price tag on something like that.
GARY GERARD, Times-Union Managing Editor- | July 28, 2016

We're Becoming Technology-Dependent

I have to admit I have become fairly dependent upon technology. I never considered myself a techno geek.I always had the idea I was more the rugged individualist.I must be changing. I really didn't think about how technology-dependent I was until earlier this week when I lost my cellular phone. For two days I was out of contact.It was unnerving. Things are back to normal now.I found the phone - in a little tray-like depression on the dashboard of my car. That would seem to be a pretty obvious place but it somehow eluded me nonetheless. I searched under the seats, in the glove box, in every nook and cranny of my car for two days. I turned the house upside down.I even looked in the refrigerator and the freezer.Every time I lose something I look for it in the refrigerator and the freezer. A long time ago, somebody told me to do that.I don't know why.But I continue to check those places for lost items even though I have never found anything there.
GARY GERARD, Times-Union Managing Editor- | July 28, 2016

Tigers Top NLC Foe Northridge

MIDDLEBURY - John-Wesley Maierle may be the X-factor in determining Warsaw's success from this point of the season on. The senior guard, who returned after missing three games with a broken thumb, scored seven points and pulled down four rebounds as the Tigers held off Northern Lakes Conference foe Northridge 56-43 Friday night in boys basketball action. While Maierle's stats weren't gaudy, he provided an emotional spark for a team that looked lackadaisical during his absence. "You have to say that John-Wesley Maierle is our leader and emotional stalwart.He played with a lot of toughness out there tonight," said fourth-year Warsaw head coach Doug Ogle. Maierle provided bookend scores for a 14-2 Warsaw run to start the game.Sandwiched in between Maierle's baskets were three's by Colin Clemens and Steve Lemasters. The Tigers lived by the three against Northridge as they hit 8 of 14 from beyond the three-point arc.
DANIEL RIORDAN, Times-Union Sports Writer- | July 28, 2016

Wining The Cultural War

Once in a while I read something and say to myself, "I wish I had written that." What follows is one of those things.A friend of mine e-mailed it to me.It was quite lengthy, so I did some editing.Portions are omitted where you see the ellipses.It is still long, but I think it is pretty compelling. It is a speech by Charlton Heston, delivered Feb.16 to the student body at Harvard Law School.It's called "Winning The Cultural War." I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
GARY GERARD, Times-Union Managing Editor- | July 28, 2016

Woeful Wildcats Drop To 0-8

SOUTH WHITLEY - A matchup between a team that is 5-3 and one that is 0-7 is not usually expected to be much of a basketball game. However, when the teams playing are Manchester and Whitko, records can be tossed into the trash. In the end, Manchester came out on top, but not without a fight from a hungry Whitko team.The Squires pulled out a 54-45 victory to improve their record to 6-3 overall and remain undefeated (4-0) in the Three Rivers Conference. Whitko's Ben Ryan scored the first basket of the evening with 7:00 on the first-quarter clock, but Lee Shafer answered with a basket of his own to knot the score at 2-2. The teams traded baskets for the rest of the first stanza, and after eight minutes of play, Manchester held a slim 16-15 lead behind eight Shafer points. With 7:45 on the second-quarter clock, J.R.Manuel hit two shots from the charity stripe for the first points of the period, giving Whitko what would be its last lead of the game.
Jen Gibson, Times-Union Sports Writer- | July 28, 2016

MRC Reports The Best Of The Bias

Newspaper editors look back over the past year and give us a rehash of what they perceive to be the most important or most significant news stories of the year. Lots of other organizations and news outlets do it, too.This time of year, we are pretty much bombarded with "Best of '97" lists. Not to be outdone, the Media Research Center also puts out one of those "Best of" lists.
Every year around this time, newspapers are busy doing their "Best of '97" stories.- | July 28, 2016

South Whitley Celebrates 'A Small Town Christmas'

SOUTH WHITLEY - "A Small Town Christmas," a Christmas walk and celebration, is Sunday in South Whitley. The house walk, from noon to 4 p.m., includes the homes of Joe and Darci Kessie at 403 N.Calhoun St.; Brad and Cathy Nestel, 102 N.Maple St.; Larry and Libby Reynolds, 215 N.State St.; Doris Snyder, 101 N.Line St.; Bryan and Vicki Sprunger, 801 S.Metzger Circle; and Richard and Mary Yarnelle, 210 N.Calhoun St. The homes are all decorated for Christmas.Cost is $5 per ticket. Two homes on the walk, those of Bruce and Kay Gilson, 411 Carroll Road, and Tim and Cindy Grant, 309 S.Water St., will include Christmas crafts and decorations. South Whitley's "Small Town Christmas" begins with a beef and noodle dinner served at the VFW Post from 11:30 a.m.to 2:30 p.m.
TERESA CARRANO, Times-Union Lifestyles Editor- | July 28, 2016

This Christmas Is A Good Time For Optimism

It's a strange time in the U.S. There just seems to be this unusual surreal kind of mood around. Yeah, everybody is all patriotic and united, but there seems to be this kind of social pall hanging over us. Maybe it seems more prevalent to me because it's Christmas. The holidays are generally a happy time.People giving and receiving gifts.Kids smiling and laughing. There's still a good bit of that going on, but it just seems different this year. The "war" in Afghanistan is certainly a factor.So is the economy. Lots of people have lost jobs and are losing jobs.Lots of people didn't get dividend checks or bonus checks or salary increases or wage increases this year. Lots of people's 401Ks and retirement accounts are looking a little feeble. There are plenty of people in this country - and this community - who have fallen on hard times. And even those of us fortunate enough to avoid financial hard times still are feeling the pinch.
GARY GERARD, Times-Union Managing Editor- | July 28, 2016

Ethanol Issue Is Not A Clear-Cut Case

Our local officials - zoners, commissioners, councilmen - have some pretty important decisions looming with regard to ethanol production. At some point, an ethanol producer or two are going to come knocking, asking for permission to build ethanol plants in our county. Their charge is to decide what's best for the county. That's where opinions differ. VeraSun is proposing an ethanol plant near Milford.The proposal is being met with resistance from area residents who think Milford is a bad place for plant. They want the plant built somewhere far away - more than the two miles proposed near Milford - from things like schools and nursing homes. They talk about pollution and spills. Then there are people who raise ducks, chickens or hogs.They talk about short supplies of corn and higher prices for their feeding operations.
GARY GERARD, Times-Union Managing Editor- | July 28, 2016

Martin Case Changes All The Rules

It's hard not to root for Casey Martin. He's the would-be pro golfer who sued the Professional Golf Association. He has a degenerative circulatory disease in his right leg.Sooner or later, as I understand it, the disease will cost him his leg. Until then he wants to play golf on the pro tour.His condition precludes that, however, because he is physically unable to walk an 18-hole round. PGA rules state that golfers at the pro level have to walk the entire 18 holes of each round. So Martin sued the PGA after it refused to allow him to ride in a cart.The case eventually wound up in the Supreme Court, and the court this past week ruled in his favor. I really wish the PGA would have relented early on and just let the guy ride. Of course, that would have miffed a lot of the current tour players.They don't like to talk about it, but I bet most of them probably feel like Martin is gaining a big advantage by getting to ride in a cart.
GARY GERARD, Times-Union Managing Editor- | July 28, 2016

A Triton Resurgence

BOURBON - Jeff Rupe points to a spot on the wall in the Triton gym.It's a banner.Listed on this banner are all of the years the Triton basketball team has won the Northern State Conference. It's all of one.1991 is the only year listed. "That was the last time," Rupe, Triton's 5-foot-8 senior point guard, says."We've won it one time.That's what we're shooting for." Don't laugh.It could very well happen.Triton's basketball team is off to a 7-2 start this season.What folks in Bourbon already know, others are just starting to get the news: These Triton Trojans are for real. That's right.Triton and for real in the same sentence. Ask Caston coach Craig Teagle, who knew Triton coach Kevin O'Rourke when he attended Blackford High School.His Comets are off to a 7-2 start.One of the two losses came to Triton, 75-59 in the Culver Holiday Tournament.
Jeff Holsinger, Times-Union Staff Writer- | July 28, 2016

South Side Topples Tigers

FORT WAYNE - Experience, as defined by Webster's Dictionary, means to have lived through something. A more simple definition of experience might be, "been there, done that." With three full-time starters returning for their senior season and a classmate who made his way into the starting lineup for the sectional, as well as a coach entering his fourth year as head coach and 19th season in the program overall, it's fair to say Warsaw's varsity boys basketball team had experience entering the 2005-2006 season. That experience wasn't evident, however, Saturday night as the Tigers fell 64-44 to host Fort Wayne South Side, a team that was led in scoring by a sophomore and a junior and had just one senior in the starting lineup.
Dale Hubler, Times-Union Sports Editor- | July 28, 2016

On The Court Basketball Previews

GARY WALLACE AT WARSAW Tip-off: 7:30 p.m.Friday in Warsaw Coaches: John Hoover (Gary Wallace), Al Rhodes (Warsaw) Records: Gary Wallace 5-4; Warsaw 9-1 Last game: Gary West 81, Gary Wallace 77; Warsaw 63, Penn 39 Last year: Gary Wallace 76, Warsaw 74 Matchup: The Tigers are winning games by an average of 15 points per game ...The Tigers dominated their tournament, beating 4-4 Lake Central 62-48 and beating 4-4 Penn 63-39.Warsaw was in control of both games by halftime.The Tigers saw one area of their game improve in the tournament: outside shooting.Chris Wiggins especially shined, hitting 15 of 25 field goals in the two games, including 7 of 15 three-pointers.
Times-Union Sports Staff- | July 28, 2016

Warrior Swimmers Sweep Northridge

MIDDLEBURY - The Wawasee Warrior swim team is on a quest to win the Northern Lakes Conference title this season, but head coach Roger Karns knows two teams in particular - Northridge and Warsaw - stand in the way. On Tuesday, the Warriors pushed Northridge aside and crossed the Raiders off the list.One big meet down, one to go. The Warrior boys, ranked No.10 in this week's Associated Press poll, beat Northridge 98-88.They are 5-0 overall and 3-0 in the NLC.Northridge fell to 2-1 in the NLC. "They came in ready to go," Karns said."When you tell them you have Northridge on Tuesday night, whether it's the girls or the guys, you don't have to say a whole lot to get them fired up. "This is one of the bigger ones." The Raiders were no patsys.They slugged it out with the Warriors down to the end, leading 79-77 with the 100-yard breaststroke and 400 freestyle relay remaining.
Jeff Holsinger, Times-Union Staff Writer- | July 28, 2016
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