GM Rolls into its financial troubles

While the news from General Motors this week was troubling, it certainly wasn't surprising. After all, when your company is losing $1.1 billion per quarter, it's probably time to take some action. In hopes of trimming expenses, GM is cutting 25,000 jobs in North American over the next three years. That's a lot of jobs.It's around 16 percent of GM's entire hourly workforce. The job cuts were forced by a number of factors - the rising cost of materials, the cost of health care coverage for employees, the cost of pension obligations, and a loss of market share to Asian-based competitors. GM says the answer is to streamline operations.The streamlining of North American operations will include not only job cuts, but the closing of a number of assembly and component plants. GM hopes the move will save them $2.5 billion a year. I hope GM can turn things around.The last thing we need is the world's largest auto manufacturer going belly up.

On The Court Basketball Previews

Valley Boys Down Argos, Still Unbeaten

AKRON - Leading Tippecanoe Valley's varsity boys basketball team to its best start in 20-plus years, 6-foot-4 senior Trey Eaton put together arguably the best individual performance of his career. In a battle of unbeatens, Eaton poured in a career-high 38 points, grabbed 18 rebounds, blocked five shots and dished out five assists to lead 3A No.4 Valley past 1A No.3 Argos 75-59. "We have a great defender in Kurt Robinson, we wanted to make Trey work for everything he got," Argos coach Doug Snyder said."Give Trey credit, he worked his tail off." Eaton, who needs just 16 points to break 1992 graduate Scott Johnson's school record of 1,352 career points, finished the game 12 of 17 from the field, including 3 of 5 three-pointers, and 11 of 14 from the free throw line.

Zoners OK Sacred Heart Sign Variace

A second freestanding sign to identify school activities at Sacred Heart School has been approved. The Board of Zoning Appeals approved the request at its meeting Monday night. The sign will be located between the circular driveway on East Fort Wayne and Harrison streets in the grassy area. Karin Steffensmeier, representing Sacred Heart, requested a variance from development standards for a second freestanding sign on one lot in the R-1 zoning district. Steffensmeier attended Monday's meeting and said an additional sign is needed to separate school activities from Sacred Heart Church activities. The applicant requested to erect a 7-foot-high freestanding sign, with a double-sided, 4-foot by 8-foot copy area.The sign will be lighted internally. The board also approved a request from applicants Kent and Roxanne Wildman for a variance from development standards to allow for a depth-to-width ratio greater than 3 to 1 at 925 S.Zimmer Road.

Bush Should Chill Out On Environment

Anyone who spends any time at all reading the stuff I write each week knows I am conservative when it comes to politics. Even though we live in the greatest nation in the world, I think there is room for improvement. I generally believe government should be smaller and more responsive - less is better. I also believe government has become too far-reaching in its scope, touching our lives in ways the founders never intended. I believe the states and the private sector are better equipped to handle lots of things the federal government currently handles. I believe taxes could be a lot lower if we were somehow able to streamline government. Since I believe these things, I generally support W because I think he believes these things, too. But he's starting to make me wonder. I know he's conservative, there's no question about that.I know he wants to shrink government, too.

Be Careful With Those Tax Dollars

I generally admire people who decide to run for elected office. It's a pretty thankless job, after all.It's probably like being in the business of writing opinion. If you make somebody happy, most times you are simultaneously making someone mad. I think the world would be a better place if more people took their civic duty seriously and at least voted, let alone run for office. It's been my job to watch the actions of elected officials at the local, small-town level for a long time. And one thing I have consistently noticed is what I like to call the Taj-Mahal syndrome. That's the syndrome that says when it's tax dollars at work, only the best will do. I have seen lots of times when local governments have appeared to squander the tax dollars of the constituents they are charged to serve. Seems like anytime we build public buildings, the per square foot costs are two or three times the per square foot costs of private or commercial construction.

Warsaw Wrestlers Suffer Third NLC Loss

Warsaw's wrestling team hosted Goshen Wednesday evening and suffered a third Northern Lakes Conference loss, falling 45-27. The Tigers won half the battles on the mat, but it was not enough as they were still out-pointed 33-27 before handing over two forfeits. "We certainly did better tonight, I thought we battled a little better and at least we fought," said Warsaw head coach Tony Boley, recalling Tuesday's loss at NLC foe Northridge."Tuesday we were so flat, but we were more aggressive this evening." Boley went on to note the need for improvement from the down position, saying, "We just were not moving." The Tigers also have a number of underclassmen wrestling on the varsity team. "We have quite a few freshmen who have been thrown into the varsity level," said Boley. Three of the six freshmen suffered losses. Steven Palladino (112 pounds) was pinned by Goshen's Zac Bechtel, a junior, in 2:35.

2006 Will Be An Intriguing Election Year

The 2006 election should be quite interesting. The Democrats are chomping at the bit.They believe - and they may be right - that W has made the Republicans vulnerable. W's popularity is falling.Support for the war in Iraq is dwindling and the economy, while still strong, is being threatened by rising gas prices. There is an outfit in Washington, D.C.called Democracy Corps.It boasts members such as notable liberal political strategists as James Carville, Stanley Greenberg, Karl Angle and Robert Shrum. Basically, the group conducts surveys to get a feel for what Americans are thinking. They're looking for ideas and issues that they can use to get more Democrats elected.

Elected Officials Look Away From The Public

The public took a couple of pretty good slaps in the face from local elected officials this week. Both occurred on Tuesday night.One in Syracuse, one in Winona Lake. First, Syracuse. This issue hits close to home with me because I live near there and shop there and my kids go to school there. Since 1992, the town has been talking about upgrading Ind.13 - the main road through town.There is no question that improvements are warranted. For those unfamiliar, two frontage roads run parallel to Ind.13 through a retail area known as the "Village."The Village is separated from the downtown area by a residential area.The Village contains things like a grocery store, a hardware store, restaurants, video stores, haircut places, banks and miscellaneous other retailers. There are several access points to the frontage roads on both sides of Ind.13.All these intersections create a bit of a traffic problem and there have been several accidents - mostly fender-benders.

Triton Wins In Bennett's Absence

BOURBON - Heading into Saturday night's non-conference boys basketball game against Culver Military, the Triton Trojans were looking to get back on the winning track.After having played some inconsistent basketball over the past couple weeks, the Trojans were looking for something to get them going. Heading into this weekend, Triton head coach Joe Bennett knew he may have to be away from his 4-5 club.The reason? His wife was expecting a baby.Well, just prior to Saturday's junior varsity, contest Bennett was called to the hospital while his wife was in labor.Another obstacle for the Trojans? Not really.Varsity assistant Darrell Gudeman just stuck with Bennett's game plan, and the Trojans held off a scrappy Eagles team 60-48.

Gelbaugh To Retire As Winona Lake Fire Chief

WINONA LAKE - Roger Gelbaugh will miss serving the community most, and the friendships he has made while serving as Winona Lake's fire chief over the years. Gelbaugh, who has served as Winona Lake's fire chief for the past 15 years, is retiring after 35 years of service with the department. Town Council President Rolly Ortega read Gelbaugh's letter of resignation at the council's Dec.12 meeting. Gelbaugh's resignation will be effective Dec.31. "I will miss the firefighters in my department and in the county who I have made friendships with that will last forever," he said. He said though his decision to retire was hard to make, he is looking forward to a fire chief replacing him and bringing new ideas to the department. The department has recommended Assistant Fire Chief Mitch Titus to replace Gelbaugh.Titus has been on the department for 11 years and served as Winona Lake's assistant fire chief for the past year.

Shaw Leads Tigers To Thrilling Win

Warsaw boys baskteball team led just once Friday, a mere 3.1 seconds, but the Tigers led when it mattered most. In a Northern Lakes Conference clash with visiting Goshen, the Tigers scored but three points in the first quarter, trailed by 14 midway through the third, and on the shoulders of senior Jared Shaw came away a 50-49 winner. The 6-foot-4 Shaw scored 18 of his game-high 23 points in the fourth, including a pair of free throws with 3.1 seconds remaining, as Warsaw improved to 12-1 on the season. "Certainly Jared Shaw was the star of the game," 22nd-year Warsaw coach Al Rhodes said."He came through in the clutch." With Warsaw trailing 49-45 and only 49 seconds showing on the clock, Shaw converted a three-point play.After a Redskin turnover with 29 ticks left Warsaw called a timeout, worked the ball on the perimeter, and then forced it inside to Shaw, who capped off the comeback effort he played the leading role in.

Maybe We Could All Work Together

Back in July during our vacation, we traveled to southern Indiana for a few days. It was no big deal, just a quick trip to Spring Mill State Park and the Lincoln Memorial. But something struck me about the people down in that part of the state. They just seemed more friendly and engaging to me.Everywhere we went, people struck up friendly conversations with us. We stayed at a small hotel in Jasper for a couple nights.We checked in one late evening. The lady at the desk was cheerful and helpful.She was giving away free candy bars left to her by a salesman that stayed there. Just seconds after we got to the room, the phone rang.It was the lady from the front desk.She called just to see if everything was OK with the room.She asked if the accommodations were acceptable.If there were any problems, she said, it would be easier to move us to another room before we unpacked all our stuff. There were no problems.

Cash-Strapped Schools Seek To Save Money

A few kids at Wawasee High School must have gotten a laugh out of the napkins they were given in the lunch line one day last week. The napkins were printed.They said: It's a napkin ...It's a game ...It's fun! Bachelorette's last night out! Who knows the Bachelorette best? Napkin trivia game! You unfold the napkin to get to the questions about the bachelorette. The napkin notes on the front that it is "For Adults Only!" The questions inside were about "making whoopee," underwear and lingerie. The minute school officials found out about the napkins, they were removed. None of the questions were graphic or X-rated, but certainly one must wonder why in the world a high school would dole out napkins like that to its students in the lunch line. The answer is simple. The school corporation is trying to save money.

Secrists Still Lending 'Helping Hands'

MENTONE - Eighteen years ago, Jerry and Mary Secrist opened Helping Hands Food Bank, 10274 W.CR 600S, Mentone. It's the same year they were married. This year on Dec.21, they will have people lined up for Christmas assistance beginning at 6 or 7 a.m.The food bank won't open until 11 a.m. Helping Hands, Mary said, started in a little trailer."We outgrew it before we were even opened," she said.Jerry built the building Helping Hands now is housed in.Originally, they distributed food and clothing, but now just concentrate on food and the essentials.At Christmas, Jerry said, they do have some toys. "We are so fortunate to have Toys For Tots for the fourth year.We're so grateful for that," said Mary. "Over half the people, 52 percent, are single women," said Jerry of the people they assist."They all got three to four kids." Mary said in November, Helping Hands probably had at least 30 new families out of the more than 100 families they assisted.

Calorie Cops Begin To Mobilize

A story that moved across the Scripps Howard wire earlier this week almost made me laugh out loud. Perhaps you saw it.I ran it in Tuesday's edition. It was a real hoot.I mean, it wasn't meant to be funny, but it truly was. But I guess it was kind of tragic, too, at the same time, because it was incontrovertible evidence of what a twisted up wreck our society and culture are becoming. When I stopped laughing, I shook my head in disbelief. The story was about how there are people in this country pondering a fat tax. Not a tax on people who are overweight.(Not yet, anyway, that's probably not too far off.) No, it's a tax on things that make you fat.And maybe some lawsuits, too. Check this out: Former Surgeon General David Satcher says obesity translates into 300,000 premature deaths each year, and $117 billion in fat-related health bills from eating-related diseases like adult-onset diabetes and cholesterol-clogged arteries.

Disposition Of Murder Case Disappointing

There were various levels of disappointment for me in the case of the murder of Kathy Vroman. First of all, I was upset that someone was murdered in Milford.I suppose there is a certain level of naivet that goes with living in a small town like Milford. You know, the "it can't happen here syndrome."But that is precisely why most people choose to live in a small town. I could have worked in a bigger town at a bigger newspaper.Actually, I had that opportunity.But I wanted to live in a small town because I think it's safer and more neighborly and a better place to raise kids. So it was pretty upsetting to hear that a woman in Milford was shot a couple times in the head, transported to Michigan and dumped in the snow. Bad enough as the murder was, even more disappointing to me was the adjudication of the case. It's no joke.It's no clich.In Kosciusko County, somebody got away with murder.

Warsaw Wrestling Team Beats Goshen 38-27

GOSHEN - Warsaw's wrestling team improved its Northern Lakes Conference wrestling record to 5-1 with a 38-27 Thursday win over Goshen. Opening with three straight losses could have been a real setback for the Tigers, but the tide turned when Tanner Connealy (125) won an 11-5 major decision. This began a string of five wins for Warsaw that put the Tigers back in control. Warsaw's Robert Raymer (103) and Philip Anuta (112) were each pinned in 50 seconds.Raymer was the victim of a cradle, and Anuta was tied up in a figure-four headlock. When Anthony Boley (119) lost 8-5 to Tom Skinner, the team appeared to be on its heels.

Winona Appoints Several To Boards

WINONA LAKE - At their end-of-year meeting, the Winona Lake Town Council made several board appointments. To the Winona Lake Planning Commission, the council appointed Randy Ruppel, Mike Grill, Kim Endicott, Wally Ortega and Craig Snow.Ruppel's appointment is until 2003, Grill's is until 2004 and the remaining appointments are for one year. Snow, Mike Workman and Grill were appointed to the board of zoning appeals. Ivan Schuler was appointed to the park board; Don Fluke to the housing authority board and Thad Rothrock was recommended to the Economic Development Committee, a county board. Several transfers were approved and the town council members were sworn in.

Vikings Survive In Rochester 76-74

ROCHESTER -ÊFire alarms must have been going off all over Rochester when Tippecanoe Valley and Rochester met in a four-alarm overtime barn burner Friday night. Fortunately for Valley's boys basketball team, it finished hotter than the Zebras and earned a 76-74 Three Rivers Conference win. After the Vikings (9-2, 3-0 TRC) and Zebras (3-6, 1-2 TRC) played to a 64-64 stalemate in regulation, Josh Lett capitalized on a steal by B.J.Swank, and then Nick Patterson hit a basket to put the Zebras up by four, 68-64, making Valley fans more than a little nervous. However, one slick play by Cody New erased that lead and put the fans at ease.New hit a three-point basket and was fouled with 2:13 left in the overtime period.After New sank the free throw, the score was knotted at 68-68.