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Congressman On Point In Religion Debate

I had a chance to talk to U.S.Rep.Steve Buyer yesterday about the proposed constitutional amendment to guarantee religious freedom. Buyer is a Republican from Monticello.He represents - generally - the southern half of Kosciusko County. He voted in favor of the amendment.I was impressed with his views.To me, his thinking on this issue is so clear and on point I felt compelled to share it with our readers. Buyer said opposition to the amendment came on several fronts, including the American Civil Liberties Union, "who has been working pretty hard to ensure that religious expression is repressed." But the main opposition among Republicans and conservative Democrats came from constitutional scholars who believe the constitution is a sacred document and shouldn't be tampered with, he said. Since the First Amendment protects religions expression, a constitutional amendment unnecessary, they say.
GARY GERARD, Times-Union Managing Editor- | July 28, 2016

Senff, Triton Earn Conference Win Over John Glenn

BOURBON -ÊThe Triton girls team moved to 11-3 on the season by outlasting a tough and scrappy Glenn team 51-48 on Friday night.The Trojans came into the game shorthanded as they were missing senior guard Gina Westafer. Not only did this put more pressure on leading scorer and all-state candidate Ashli Senff, but it put more strain on Triton's role players.Angie Wilcox and Ashley Zelt each scored six points.Junior Carly Feldman made her presence felt on the boards as she netted eight for the Trojans. Triton coach Mark Heeter was more than aware of the contributions of his team's "X factors", a term in basketball that was coined by former Bulls' coach and current Laker head man, Phil Jackson.Jackson used the phrase to describe a player who uncharacteristically contributes to a game.
DAN RIORDAN, Times-Union Sports Correspondent- | July 28, 2016

Wawasee Wins A Wild One In Triple OT

SYRACUSE - Wow. That's what almost every person was saying as they left the triple-overtime thriller between the Whitko and Wawasee boys basketball teams in Syracuse Thursday evening. The Warriors came out on top of the classic Indiana Hoosier Hysteria barn-burner, outlasting the Wildcats 87-83. However, it did not always look like the Warriors were going to leave the game with a win. "I was disappointed with the way we came out," said Wawasee coach Phil Mishler."I don't think we were ready to play.We learned a very important lesson tonight." Whitko jumped out to an early lead as John Woods, Jeremy Coble and Alex Frantz led the Wildcats to an early 6-2 lead and never looked back. In the first four quarters, Wawasee held the lead only once.That lead came at the 29.8 mark in the first frame when Kyle Lantz grabbed a steal and netted a basket to put the Warriors up 9-8.
JEN GIBSON, Times-Union Sports Editor- | July 28, 2016

It's Not All Bad In Iraq

Perhaps you've heard of Sgt.Ray Reynolds. He's an Iowa National Guard guy serving in Iraq.He sent an e-mail to a couple dozen friends touting accomplishments of the U.S.in Iraq.At the same time, he was bemoaning the fact that the media only seem to report car bombings and roadside attacks. He then listed some accomplishments and closed with: "Don't believe for one second that these people do not want us there.I have met many, many people from Iraq that want us there, and in a bad way.They say they will never see the freedoms we talk about but they hope their children will.We are doing a good job in Iraq and I challenge anyone, anywhere to dispute me ..." His friends did forward the message - again and again.The thing went around the world, raising the ire of anti-war types who alleged it was all propaganda. Reynolds was interviewed by newspapers, TV stations and news services.
GARY GERARD, Times-Union Managing Editor- | July 28, 2016

No One Stands On Principle

There are lots of people these days who say character isn't really all that critical. They say that a few character flaws, no matter what they are, don't really affect a person's ability to lead.I think that had a lot to do with the way the election went last Tuesday. Generally, people showed that they were tired of the sanctimonious Republicans picking on Bill Clinton.They showed that they wanted Congress to get on with the business of the nation - whatever that is - and leave Bill Clinton alone. This is troubling to me. I think the Republicans pretty much botched this whole impeachment proceeding from the beginning.And now they're flat out looking like fools. It wasn't all too long ago that we were hearing the phrase "constitutional crisis."The Republicans were talking about how grave this matter was and how it was one of the most important undertakings in history.The judiciary committee's work would be long and arduous.
GARY GERARD, Times-Union Managing Editor- | July 28, 2016

Warsaw Wrestlers Pin Plymouth

A sign in the Career Center Gym at Warsaw reads, "The art of living is more like wrestling than dancing." But Warsaw's 40-25 wrestling win over Plymouth Thursday was more like a waltz as both teams took its turns leading. Warsaw staked itself to a 23-0 lead after dominating the lower weight classes and held on as Plymouth had the upper hand in the upper weight classes. Scott Snyder (103), Tim Roe (119), Robbie Boley (125) posted impressive wins and Adam Harter got a forfeit as the Tigers ran out to the early lead. Joe Binfet's win at 130 ended the streak and Andy DeWitt's win at 135 got Plymouth to 23-10. Aaron Banks (140) and Matt Zellers (145) got Warsaw back on the winning side and pushed the margin to 31-10.Plymouth came up with two wins at 152 and 160 to trim the lead to 31-16 before Marvin Farmer (171) and Steve Fribley (189) clinched things for the Tigers with big wins.
Greg Jones, Times-Union Sports Editor- | July 28, 2016

Braddock Beats Buzzer, Tiger Boys Beat NLC Foe Northridge

MIDDLEBURY - Wanting a chance to redeem himself, Warsaw senior Todd Braddock got it and made the most of it Friday. After struggling to find his shooting touch at the charity stripe, Braddock cashed in a full-court pass from teammate Adam Griggs with a bank shot in the lane to beat the buzzer as Warsaw came from 11 points down to knock off Northern Lakes Conference foe Northridge 49-47 in front of a nearly-packed gym in Middlebury. Six-foot-9 Northridge junior Ronnie Thomas missed a free throw opportunity with 2:00 remaining in the game, and Braddock collected the rebound for the Tigers.Warsaw junior point guard Michael Moore, who missed a shot to tie the game with Plymouth last Saturday in the NLC Holiday Tournament championship game, knotted the game at 47 with 53 ticks on the clock.
DALE HUBLER, Times-Union Sports Writer- | July 28, 2016

The Irony Of Saddam And Impeachment

As the events of last weekend unfolded, I was taken by the rampant irony. First of all, this whole Saddam thing. I thought the whole idea behind this Desert Fox operation was to weaken Saddam so that he could be toppled from power. Really, getting Saddam out of power is the only way that things in Iraq will ever be close to rational. So I thought we were going to hammer away for a few weeks and then maybe set up a no-drive zone in the south.That would keep the Republican guard at bay and allow someone to emerge as a new leader. Then we could prop the new guy up and help him out and perhaps he could gain enough support to take over for Saddam. Of course, all this was contingent on Saddam's army being decimated and the infrastructure of his country in disarray. That is something that, generally, you can't accomplish in 70 hours. So I was a bit surprised that we called off the bombing after 70 hours and declared the operation a success.
Gary Gerard, Managing Editor- | July 28, 2016

Juvenile Arrest A Matter Of Public Record

I get calls from time to time from parents who are angry because we printed the name of their underage son or daughter in the paper. This is not the honor roll or 4-H results I'm talking about. I'm talking about police reports - crime, arrests and the like. There seems to be a misconception that it is illegal for newspapers to print the names of juveniles. That is patently false.There is simply no such law.And there never has been.Maybe I shouldn't say never, but there hasn't been in the 23 years I've been involved in journalism. But nonetheless, lots of people think that we are bound by law not to print names of juveniles who commit crimes. (They don't seem to care if we print the names of juveniles who score touchdowns.) But whether there is a law or not, people still wonder why in the world a newspaper would want to print the name of a juvenile who was arrested. Well, frankly, there are a couple pretty compelling reasons.
GARY GERARD, Times-Union Managing Editor- | July 28, 2016

Wawasee Win Streak Ends At Two

LIGONIER - After winning two consecutive games, Wawasee's varsity boys basketball team fell 73-58 at West Noble Saturday. West Noble outscored the Warriors 21-12 in the first quarter and led 40-31 at halftime.Wawasee continued to keep it close to a single-digit deficit, trailing by 10 after three quarters of play.The Chargers outscored Wawasee 23-18 in the final frame, accounting for the 15-point decision. Senior Jeremy High led a quartet of Warriors in double figures with 13 points.Brent Doty added 12 points, while Travis Klenke and Andrew Packer scored 10 points apiece. Wawasee falls to 2-8 overall with the loss and will be in action again Friday in a Northern Lakes Conference battle at Northridge. WEST NOBLE 73, WAWASEE 58 Wawasee 12 19 9 18 - 58 West Noble 21 19 10 23 - 73 Wawasee - Doty 5 0 12, Gradle 3 0 6, Packer 5 0 10, Speicher 1 1 3, Farrell 0 0 0, Wilson 2 0 4, High 5 2 15, Klenke 4 0 10.Totals 25 3 58.
Times-Union Sports Staff- | July 28, 2016

I'm No Longer A Cyberphobe

I've never been afraid of technology, really. A few of my coworkers were.I remember this one old guy at my first newspaper job.He was still using an old Underwood manual typewriter. Everybody else in the newsroom had a video display terminal.I thought that was kind of dumb.After he typed up his stuff, he'd copy edit it longhand and then give it to a typist. The typist would type it into the computer system. The guy finally came around and started using a VDT.But it was a struggle.After awhile, he really liked it.He couldn't imagine using his old Underwood again. Then there was this photographer. When autofocus came along, he resisted.He figured it would hinder his creative control.But after awhile he found it quite handy.Now he wouldn't go back. I was never like that when it came to new technology.I was always eager to give it a try. Then came the Internet.
GARY GERARD, Times-Union Managing Editor- | July 28, 2016

Manchester Girls Win Big

NORTH MANCHESTER - All that coach-talk about approaching the season one game at a time, fifth-year Manchester High School girls basketball skipper Mark Underwood wants to take it even further. With the start of the state tournament not far off, Underwood wants his team to take things one possession at a time. Wednesday night against Peru his philosphy worked, as the Class 2A second-ranked Squires used strong starts to both halves to tame the Tigers 54-34. "I'm proud of the girls," said Underwood, who posted his 100th career win as a high school coach."One of the things we're trying to stay focused on is not taking anyone lightly.In high school girls basketball anybody can beat anybody on any given night.We're trying to stay focused and block everything else out." And the Squires certainly did some blocking out against Peru, beating the Tigers 44-24 in rebounding.
Dale Hubler, Times-Union Sports Editor- | July 28, 2016

On The Court...

ARGOS AT TIPPECANOE VALLEY TIPOFF: 8 p.m.Saturday at Mentone COACHES: Chuck Evans (Argos), Gregg Sciarra (Valley) RECORDS: Argos 5-3, Valley 5-3 LAST GAME: SB Adams 70, Argos 58; Plymouth 81, Valley 60 MATCHUP: ...The Dragons have only three seniors on their varsity team.Junior Eric Stults leads Argos with 19.6 points per game.Junior Brent Johnson adds 11.3, and junior Bill Redinger scores 9.0.Junior Phillip Ummel dishes out 4.0 assists per game for Argos.
Staff Report- | July 28, 2016

Vikings Go Cold, Fall To NorthWood Girls

AKRON - NorthWood head girls basketball coach Steve Neff said his team played one of its worst games of the season in a 41-36 loss to Wawasee Friday.And while the Panthers didn't look like world beaters, they did enough to leave Akron with a 50-36 win over host Valley Monday night. The Vikings wrestled away the game's momentum in a frantic final 23.5 seconds that saw Valley rip off six straight points and turn a double-digit deficit to just four points at 28-24. Senior guard Kara Kramer missed the back end of two free throw attempts with 23.5 seconds left in the second quarter.Hannah Krueger gathered the offensive board and found Holli Jackson, who connected on an old fashioned three-point play.
DANIEL RIORDAN, Times-Union Sports Writer- | July 28, 2016

Northridge Upsets Warsaw In Double Overtime

The door left open, Warsaw's varsity boys basketball team knocked, just never came through. Trailing Northern Lakes Conference opponent Northridge by 13 midway through the third quarter Friday, the Tigers made a valiant comeback, but eventually lost 66-62 in double overtime. While Warsaw's comeback effort, led by junior Dan Gensinger, was impressive, the Tigers did squander away a chance at winning the game in regulation. After running two minutes off the clock, working for the winning basket, the Tigers turned the ball over with 30 seconds left in regulation. Northridge as well failed to convert, and the contest went to overtime knotted at 46. After each team scored four points in the first overtime, 6-foot-8 junior Eric Eaton put Northridge on his back and took over the game. Eaton scored the Raiders' first 10 points of the second overtime, lifting Northridge to a 60-52 advantage with 58 seconds left in the four-minute period.
DALE HUBLER, Times-Union Sports Writer- | July 28, 2016

Third Quarter Fuels Warsaw Win

For whatever reason, the fire alarm sounded at halftime of Warsaw's 53-39 girls basketball win over Whitko Tuesday, forcing the small crowd to retreat to the parking lot. With the two teams shooting a combined 15 of 50 (30 percent) from the field and turning the ball over 22 times between them in the first two quarters, it wasn't the game that triggered the alarm. In fact, the hottest thing in the gym at the time may have been Warsaw coach Will Wienhorst's temperature.Wienhorst didn't attend practice on Monday due to illness, and assistant coach Ray Davis answered questions after the game. Though it was unplanned, that fire alarm was just what Warsaw needed. After leading by two, 23-21, at the break, Warsaw heated up in the third quarter and outscored the Wildcats 17-4 in the frame. "That fire alarm helped us a little bit there," said Davis, who resigned as Whitko's coach last spring.
DALE HUBLER, Times-Union Sports Writer- | July 28, 2016

Triton's late Rally Falls Short In 63-61 loss

BOURBON -ÊTriton coach Mike McBride kept repeating the same phrase to anyone who would listen after Saturday night's 63-61 loss to John Glenn. "I guess we needed two seconds," said McBride. Triton trailed by as many as 14 midway through the final quarter. The Trojans, spurred by a technical foul and missed Glenn free throws, found themselves trailing 63-61 with one second left. After Glenn called a timeout it inbounded the ball three quarters down the length of the court.Triton's Cory McClarnon stole the ball, gathered and fired from 60 feet. The result? A miraculous make that would give Triton the one point win. The problem for Triton? The buzzer sounded a second before McClarnon could get his shot off.
DAN RIORDAN, Times-Union Sports Correspondent- | July 28, 2016

Kids Shouldn't Drive Fast

I'm young enough to vividly remember the things I did as a teen-ager, and old enough to realize how stupid some of those things were. And now, with all the hypocrisy of the most flagrant demagogue in Washington, I am telling my kids not to do those very same things. The biggie has to do with driving too fast. Even though my oldest child is still more than four years away from a driver's license, the lectures already have begun. Speed kills, I tell them. And unfortunately, in recent weeks there have been a couple of tragic opportunities for me to shove the newspaper in their faces and say, "See! See what can happen if you drive fast?" The ultimate "I told you so." It's really too bad it has to be that way.Just this week a 17-year-old girl from North Manchester was critically injured in an accident in Warsaw. A couple of weeks ago, an 18-year-old girl from Syracuse was killed. Speed was a factor in both accidents.
GARY GERARD, Times-Union Managing Editor- | July 28, 2016

County Native A True War Hero

With the Memorial Day weekend release of the movie "Pearl Harbor," there seems to be a bit of resurgence of interest in World War II. I would like to share a brief version of a story of a true war hero from our county. His name is Charles Mendel.His parents were Mr.and Mrs.L.B.Mendel, of Burket.He was born in Burket and lived by Yellow Creek Lake. He had six brothers and sisters, three of whom still live in the area - Arden Mendel and Naomi Hartle, of Warsaw, and Ethel Rosbrugh, of Leesburg. Hartle's son, Hal Hartle, also lives in Warsaw. These days, Charles Mendel lives in Sarasota, Fla., and is in failing health. But his story - and countless stories like it - are worth telling and worth remembering. Worth telling because they should live on long after the war and war heroes are gone.Worth remembering because they illustrate the dire consequences of war.
GARY GERARD, Times-Union Managing Editor- | July 28, 2016

Whitko Sees Room For Improvement In ISTEPS

PIERCETON - Whitko Schools' ISTEP scores were released last night and no one was particularly pleased with the results. Superintendent Dr.Jeff Hendrix said the scores were "okay." The current sophomore class scored the highest with 83 percent in English and language arts and 79 percent in mathematics. Principal Parrish Kruger said this class's general education students scored 91 percent in language arts; 86 percent in English and 84 percent in math. Scores from special education students lower the results of their peers.The 10th grade's special education scores were 19 percent in language arts and 38 percent in mathematics. The 9th-grade class scores were: English/language arts - 73 percent; math - 72 percent. The eighth-graders' results were: English/language arts - 68 percent; math - 66 percent. Seventh-graders' scores were: English/language arts - 69 percent; math - 79 percent and science - 64 percent.
TERESA SMITH, Times-Union Staff Writer- | July 28, 2016
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