Tiger Boys Lose Season Opener In OT

COLUMBIA CITY - Undoubtedly, Warsaw's boys basketball game at Columbia City Saturday night was what coaches refer to as a teaching tool. After falling 47-42 in overtime to the Eagles, veteran Warsaw coach Al Rhodes stood in a locker room and said he was disappointed but not discouraged. The game was the first of the season for Warsaw, and the Tigers played like it much of the game. "Overall I thought we played very poorly as an offensive unit, one offense," Rhodes said."I thought our defense was solid, but we gave up a few threes to No.15 (Ryan Boylan) that hurt us." Six-foot-1 junior Ryan Boylan, the No.15 Rhodes was speaking of, finished the game 3 of 5 from the arc.He finished with 11 points, including the last five of the third quarter to give Columbia City a 33-23 lead going into the fourth.

News From Around The World by Associated Press

Theories of piracy or pilot suicide gain more credence as search for missing plane expandsKUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Piracy and pilot suicide are among the scenarios under study as investigators grow increasingly certain the missing Malaysia Airlines jet changed course and headed west after its last radio contact with air traffic controllers.The latest evidence suggests the plane didn’t experience a catastrophic incident over the South China Sea as was initially suspected. Some experts theorize that one of the pilots, or someone else with flying experience, hijacked the plane or committed suicide by plunging the jet into the sea.Adding to the speculation that someone was flying the jet, The New York Times on Friday quoted sources familiar with the investigation as saying that the plane experienced significant changes in altitude after it lost contact with ground control, and altered its course more than once.A U.S. official told The Associated Press earlier that investigators are examining the possibility of ‘‘human intervention’’ in the plane’s disappearance, adding it may have been ‘‘an act of piracy.’’ The official, who wasn’t authorized to talk to the media and spoke on condition of anonymity, said it was possible the plane may have landed somewhere. The official later said there was no solid information on who might have been involved.While other theories are still being examined, the official said key evidence suggesting human intervention is that contact with the Boeing 777’s transponder stopped about a dozen minutes before a messaging system on the jet quit. Such a gap would be unlikely in the case of an in-flight catastrophe.———Electronic trail, difficulty of hiding plane would make it hard to steal a big airlinerTo steal Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 out of midair would require a pilot who knew how to elude detection by both civilian and military radar. It would take a runway at least a mile long to land the wide-body jet, possibly in the dark, and a hangar big enough to hide it. All without being seen.Improbable but not impossible, experts say.With the search for the missing airliner entering its eighth day, scenarios involving piracy or hijacking are increasingly being talked about as possible explanations for the disappearance of the Boeing 777 with 239 people on board.Authorities say they’re not ruling out other theories, which include a catastrophic structural failure causing the plane to break up, engine failure, or pilot suicide. But a U.S. official gave an intriguing twist to the story Friday by saying that investigators are considering whether the plane’s disappearance was due to ‘‘an act of piracy’’ and whether the big jet might have landed somewhere without being detected.A takeover of the plane seemed to be ruled out a few days ago, when officials discounted any link between terrorism and two passengers who were traveling on fake passports. The piracy theory, however, gained new life when it was reported that the plane’s transponders had been turned off, making it more stealthy; and that signals from the plane indicated that it kept flying for several hours after the last radio contact, possibly turning west toward the Indian Ocean.———US urges Moscow to reject Sunday’s vote in Crimea to join Russia and secede from UkraineLONDON (AP) — The West braced Friday for a vote by the Crimean Peninsula to secede from Ukraine — and likely be annexed by Russia — as the last attempt for diplomacy broke down despite threats of costly international sanctions and other imminent penalties against Moscow for forcibly challenging a pro-European government in Kiev.Russia’s top diplomat said Moscow will make no decisions about Crimea’s future, including whether to embrace it as a new territory, until after a local referendum Sunday to decide whether it should remain part of Ukraine.But U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the vote’s results are all but a foregone conclusion, and urged Russia’s parliament against accepting any offer to claim Crimea as its own.‘‘We believe that a decision to move forward by Russia to ratify that vote officially within the Duma would, in fact, be a backdoor annexation of Crimea,’’ Kerry told reporters in London after six hours of talks Friday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.Kerry instead called on Moscow to support broad autonomy for Crimea — still as part of Ukraine — instead of a move by the strategic peninsula to secede. And he predicted the probability of ‘‘if the people of Crimea vote overwhelmingly, as one suspects they will, to affiliate or be associated with Russia.’’———Killer who escaped from Army prison in 1977 recaptured in Fla. via face-recognition softwareDEERFIELD BEACH, Fla. (AP) — In the nearly 40 years after he escaped from the maximum-security military prison at Fort Leavenworth, convicted killer James Robert Jones carved out a new life for himself in Florida, living under an assumed name, getting married and working for an air conditioning company.It all came to an end this week when Jones — or Bruce Walter Keith, as the former Army private was known in Florida — was recaptured with the help of technology that was more sci-fi than reality when he broke out during the disco era: facial-recognition software.‘‘The first words out of his mouth were, ‘I knew this would catch up with me someday,’’’ Barry Golden, a senior inspector with the U.S. Marshals Service, said Friday.Jones, 59, was one of the Army’s 15 most-wanted fugitives after his 1977 escape from the Kansas prison dubbed ‘‘The Castle’’ for its large walls and tower keeps.He was convicted of murder and assault in the 1974 killing of a fellow soldier at Fort Dix in New Jersey.———Malnutrition grows among Syrian children as poverty, lack of heath care take tollKAB ELIAS, Lebanon (AP) — Trapped in her northern Syrian village by fighting, Mervat watched her newborn baby progressively shrink. Her daughter’s dark eyes seemed to grow bigger as her face grew more skeletal. Finally, Mervat escaped to neighboring Lebanon, and a nurse told her the girl was starving.The news devastated her. ‘‘They had to hold me when they told me. I wept,’’ the 31-year-old mother said, speaking in the rickety, informal tent camp where she now lives with her husband in the eastern Lebanese town of Kab Elias.Her daughter Shurouk has been undergoing treatment the past three months and remains a wispy thing. The 9-month-old weighs 7 pounds (3.2 kilos) — though she’s become more smiley and gregarious. Mervat spoke on condition she be identified only by her first name, fearing problems for her family in Syria.Her case underscored how dramatically Syrian society has unraveled from a conflict that this weekend enters its fourth year. Such stark starvation was once rare in Syria, where President Bashar Assad’s autocratic state ran a health system that provided nearly free care.That system, along with most other state institutions, has been shattered in many parts of the country where the fighting between Assad’s forces and the rebels trying to overthrow him is raging hardest. The war has killed more than 140,000 people and has driven nearly a third of the population of 23 million from their homes — including 4.2 million who remain inside Syria and 2.5 million who have fled into neighboring countries. Nearly half those displaced by the war are children.———Records opened: Clinton feared 1994 losses; team later gave conflicting advice on responseWASHINGTON (AP) — Sensing a Republican tidal wave, President Bill Clinton worried in the summer of 1994 that Republicans were energized heading into the midterm elections while his Democratic base was deflated. ‘‘There’s no organization, there’s no energy, there’s no anything out there,’’ Clinton said of his own party.‘‘They’re organized and they’re working,’’ the president observed of conservative activists, according to an August, 1994 transcript. ‘‘And our cultural base. ... They walked off.’’Clinton’s concerns turned out to be justified: Republicans swept to power in the fall elections, wresting control of the House and Senate from the president’s party. The transcript was among 4,000 documents released Friday by the National Archives.They’re just part of the roughly 30,000 pages expected to be released in coming weeks. The documents, which cover Clinton’s two presidential terms, are much anticipated in the political world, partly because then-first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton is considering her own bid for the presidency in 2016.The documents shed ample light on her husband’s administration, highlighting the behind-the-scenes maneuvering of aides, the stroking of allies and erstwhile opponents and the sting of the first Republican takeover of Congress in 40 years.———Ex-librarian, mechanic convicted in NYC of kidnap-rape-killing plot they claimed was fantasyNEW YORK (AP) — A retired New York high school librarian and a New Jersey auto mechanic were convicted Friday of scheming to carry out gruesome fantasies of kidnapping, raping, torturing and killing women and girls.The verdicts in Christopher Asch and Michael Van Hise’s conspiracy trial came a year after a conviction in a headline-grabbing case of a police officer accused of plotting abductions and cannibalism. A fourth man, a former hospital police chief, pleaded guilty in January.Together, the cases plumbed an online underground where people share macabre fetishes, and the prosecutions hinged on the boundaries between imagining and actually intending to bring fantasies to life.Lawyers for both said they would appeal. No sentencing date was set.‘‘Today, a unanimous jury found that the twisted conspiracies of Michael Van Hise and Robert Christopher Asch were not mere fantasy, but steps within very real plans to kidnap real victims,’’ Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement, using Asch’s full name; he goes by Christopher.———Chris Brown jailed without bail after R&B singer discharged for violating rehab rulesLOS ANGELES (AP) — Chris Brown was arrested Friday and will be held without bail on a warrant issued by probation officials in the latest legal entanglement for the R&B singer who has struggled to put his 2009 attack on Rihanna behind him.The warrant was issued by the judge overseeing Brown’s case after he was informed Friday morning that the singer had been discharged from rehab ‘‘for failure to comply with rules and regulations of the program.’’ No further details were released, but more information will be presented to Superior Court Judge James R. Brandlin when Brown appears in his courtroom on Monday afternoon.Sheriff’s officials said Brown was cooperative when he was arrested at a Malibu treatment facility where he had been staying and transported to a jail facility in downtown Los Angeles.Brown had been ordered to remain in rehab for anger management treatment. A January letter from the facility stated that the singer was also being treated for bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder and past substance abuse.An email sent to Brown’s attorney Mark Geragos was not immediately returned. A probation spokeswoman declined to comment on what prompted Brown’s arrest.———Donald Trump says he’s not running for New York governor, calls state GOP ’dysfunctional’NEW YORK (AP) — Real estate mogul Donald Trump said Friday he will not run for governor and criticized the state’s Republican Party for failing to unify behind him.‘‘While I won’t be running for Governor of New York State, a race I would have won,’’ he posted on Twitter, ‘‘I have much bigger plans in mind- stay tuned, will happen!’’The executive vice president of the Trump Organization and special counsel to Trump, Michael Cohen, confirmed that Trump will not run but said he could not elaborate on Trump’s bigger plans.Trump had been flirting with challenging Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo for a few months, but he had said he would run only if he faced no rival for the Republican nomination.Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino announced this month that he will seek the Republican nomination for governor.———Person familiar with negotiations tells AP: Phil Jackson to be introduced Tuesday by KnicksPhil Jackson won NBA titles as a player and a coach. He’ll now try winning as an executive.And this quest will take him back to where his career began.Jackson has agreed to run the New York Knicks’ front office and will be formally introduced by the team at a news conference at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday morning, a person familiar with the negotiations between the 11-time champion coach and the franchise told The Associated Press on Friday.The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the Knicks would only confirm that a ‘‘major announcement’’ involving team executives was scheduled. Jackson also did not make any immediate public comment, but the move had been expected for several days — and was practically confirmed earlier this week by Knicks star Carmelo Anthony, who said he had heard the Hall of Fame coach was ‘‘coming on board.’’Jackson had been courted by clubs before, and fans in Los Angeles clamored for him to return to coaching not long after he left the Lakers after the 2010-11 season. He’s largely shunned limelight during this three-year break from work, during which he did things such as working on his health — arthritis pain hampered him toward the end of his coaching career — and released a book chronicling his basketball life.

Emmons Takes Over As City's HR Director

Phyllis Emmons was introduced as the city's human resources director during the city council meeting Monday. Emmons, of South Bend, has been at work for a week with an office in the police station on Fort Wayne Street. She has worked in the human resources field for 20 years and has a bachelor's degree from Cornell University and a master's degree from Notre Dame. A native of Walkerton, she said she was somewhat familiar with Warsaw, through consulting work with Zimmer Corp.and as a member of the Workforce Investment board in the 1990s. Mayor Ernie Wiggins said the police station office is a temporary stop for Emmons."Depending on where we end up, she'll end up," he said alluding to the possibility of relocating city hall.

Plan Now For Your New Year Celebration

New Year's Eve is less than two weeks away, but now is the time to make plans. Local restaurants and hotels are taking reservations and they are going fast. Barbee Hotel Bar & Grill will have two dinner seatings on New Year's Eve.The first is from 5 p.m.to 7:30 p.m.with a limited menu.Prices are available on the menu. The second dinner seating will begin at 8 p.m.The charge is $49.95 per person and includes dinner, appetizers, party favors and champagne at midnight.The duet "McV" will perform. Reservations can be made by calling 834-2984. The Ramada Inn is offering a special package for guests on New Year's Eve. The package includes three buffets, party favors and champagne at midnight.The buffets are for dinner, midnight and breakfast.The band "Fanatics" will perform. The cost is $199.99 and includes either a king or two double rooms. Reservations can be made by calling 269-2323.

Winona Council Receives CR 250E Project Update

WINONA LAKE - A cost analysis study for the CR 250E project from Pierceton Road to U.S.30 has been conducted. The Winona Lake Town Council received information on the study and an update on the project at its meeting Tuesday. Bonar Group is the contractor for the project.Thomas Cicero, president of Bonar Group, and Randall Post, project engineer, attended Tuesday's meeting and presented the update and cost analysis study. Cicero said the original project schedule has been extended due to the purchasing of the required right of way. Cicero said the right of way needs to be cleared by the middle of December and final plans need to be submitted to Indiana Department of Transportation. Bids will be advertised in April and the project is projected to begin in June, Cicero said. The town is responsible for 20 percent, $693,240, of the project and federal participation will cover the remaining 80 percent, $2,772,960.

Patrons Question Warsaw's Athletic Suspension Policy

Warsaw Community Schools' athletic policy came under fire at Monday's school board meeting when two parents of high school students objected to the "365-day rule." Terry Milton, who said he has three children attending Warsaw Community High School, called the 365-day rule "overly punitive" and said it is the "toughest policy in the United States. "Punishment of one year for the first offense is, in my opinion, tantamount to child abuse," he said. Milton was referring to Warsaw's athletic code, which specifies that a first violation of WCS' drug and alcohol policy will result in an athlete being suspended from competition for 365 days.The athlete would still be able to practice and travel with the team. Instead of the suspension, Milton said, athletes who violate the code should be required to perform community service.

Whitley Couple Accept $75,000 For Winona Property

Two weeks away from a trial by jury, Ralph and Joellen Fitch of Larwill accepted an amount of $75,000 Nov.3 for their property at 800 Park Ave., Winona Lake. The Whitley County couple purchased the property in 1992, renting out apartments on a weekly basis. Six years later the building was inspected by the Kosciusko County Health Department and cited for numerous health code violations. In 2000 the property was designated as blighted by the Winona Lake Redevelopment Commission.An area designated as blighted means the commission decided there is a better use for that parcel and it did not conform to the use of other property around it. Town coordinator Craig Allebach said then the property deteriorated to the point it did not fit in the area for economic growth as far as the Tax Increment Financing District was concerned.

CVB Repeats Request For Funds

With tourist association membership dates past due, imminent or expected in the next couple of months, Mike Stetzel, Convention and Visitors Bureau Inc.chairman, repeated a funding request before the Convention, Recreation and Visitors Commission Tuesday. Total expenses add up to $51,575, which the commission is recommending the county council pay, because, as commissioner John Elliot said, "this is the guts of what we need to do, and we don't have time to tweak it." Stetzel originally requested these funds as part of the Bureau's $140,853 budget request in September.

Planners Send 2 Zoning Ordinances To City For Approval

Warsaw Plan Commission Monday approved submitting favorable recommendations for two zoning ordinances to the Warsaw City Council.

Warsaw Schools Director Of Athletics Dave Fulkerson Resigns After 26 Years

After 26 years with Warsaw Community Schools, Athletic Director Dave Fulkerson is resigning, effective June 30.

County Residents Weigh In On Presidential Primary

The presidential primary is two weeks away, and some Kosciusko residents have determined who they will vote for while others are undecided.

KOSCIUSKO COUNTY AREA PLAN MAY 12 VARIANCES

Glen Terrace 'Quite A Nuisance,' Official Says

The condemned and vacant Glen Terrace Apartment complex, on Walter Way, Warsaw, is housing unwelcome guests occasionally, creating both fire and safety hazards, according to Pam Kennedy, Warsaw's building inspector and assistant building commissioner. At the Warsaw Code Enforcement hearings Monday Kennedy gave an update regarding the condemned 40-unit apartment building. The first notice of code violation orders was received in December 1999.Tenants were evicted in June 2000. The lack of fire separations between apartments is considered the major violation along with a long list of other problems. Over the course of the last year repair work has started and stopped, management companies have supposedly been changed, and, in the latest turn of events, owner John Call communicated to Kennedy he plans to allow foreclosure by the USDA Rural Development. Neither Call nor a Rural Development representative appeared at the hearing.

Triton Proposes Building Program

BOURBON - More than 130 parents, students, teachers and other residents of the Triton school district attended a school board meeting Thursday to hear a proposal to upgrade the facilities at Triton Junior/Senior High School. The building was built in 1968 and school officials said updates are needed. The plan includes infrastructure upgrades with an estimated cost of $6,701,750; building additions costing $5,835,225; and renovations, $3,458,469; bringing the project total to $15,995,444. Triton schools superintendent Ted Chittum explained the process that was followed to develop the plan.From the summer of 2003 through November, an economic feasibility committee of six patrons from each township in the Triton district worked along-side the school board with engineers, architects and financial advisors giving input and gathering information for the project.

Plank Moves On

After 13 years as mayor of Warsaw, Jeff Plank Friday announced his decision to leave public office and join the private sector. Plank and his wife Jo met with the city's department heads at 1 p.m.Friday to make the announcement.He said he has accepted a position to join Instrumedical Technologies Inc., a private firm in Warsaw. He gave nothing specific as the reason for his decision, but said that "the time was right." Details about his new position were sparse, but he said it would be similar to what he does now, only he would be doing it for the private sector.Plank said, "It's going to afford me an opportunity to share in a good opportunity for creativity and growth." He also said the new job, while good for him economically, would allow him to spend more time with his family, which is his priority.

Local Teachers Mostly Support Plan For

BY LAURIE HAHN, Times-Union Staff Writer Kindergarten teachers in Warsaw Community Schools appear to be cautiously supportive of Gov.Frank O'Bannon's proposal for full-day kindergarten. "I have mixed reactions," said Cindy Snyder, kindergarten teacher at Madison Elementary."I think, for a lot of children, it would be a great thing - they would have more structure, we would be able to do more thematic units." Angel Meck, kindergarten teacher at Washington Elementary, said she thinks full-day kindergarten is a good idea. "I feel I can't get enough taught in the 2-1/2 hours we're here," she said. The amount of subject matter kindergarten teachers must cover in a short period of time each day is a concern to many teachers, and a full day would help the students absorb the material, most said.

Warsaw Schools In Midst Of Fiber Optic Project

A fiber optic project for Warsaw Community Schools is under way, with plans to complete the project in three phases. The project, installing fiber optic lines to ultimately connect all Warsaw schools, is expected to cost approximately $400,000 once all phases are completed, said Dennis VanDuyne, WCS technology director. The installation is being done by Derry Electric Inc., of Warsaw. VanDuyne, in the June 17 school board meeting, first publicly recommended that the board consider fiber optic lines, which he wanted to do last summer.However, he said at the June meeting because of the cost of the project and because of "fiscal considerations," only the preliminary work, such as obtaining permits, would be done. No public mention of the project was made again until the Dec.18 Warsaw Board of Works meeting, in which city planner Jeff Noffsinger said installation already had begun along Main Street, and the formal approval by the Board of Works had not been sought.

Mentone Seeks To Plug Loophole In Ordinance

MENTONE - Rewriting an ordinance for placement of mobile homes within town limits was deemed necessary after a loophole was unwittingly found. Jim Keirn approached the Mentone Town Council last month to seek permission to place a mobile home on a lot across from Mentone Egg Products.After being given a list of criteria that must be met before consideration could be given to his request, he returned to the council Monday. Keirn pointed out that the mobile home he plans to place on the lot meets all the conditions.However, the council moved into a discussion as to whether the ordinance was being interpreted the way it was intended.It was the consensus of the council that the ordinance was written to keep smaller or older mobile homes from replacing old ones being removed from established lots in town. Town attorney Larry Beeson said the ordinance reads that if the criteria are met, the council must approve the request.

Chapman Rezoning OK'd Despite Public Opinion

The county commissioners rezoned ground on the east side of Chapman Lake from agricultural to residential despite remonstrance by Chapman Lakes residents who attended Tuesday's meeting. The board overturned the Area Plan Commission's recommendation to deny rezoning 18 acres of the Plain Township property.The rezoning petition came from Sam Carnes, an official of the Open Bible Baptist Church. The item was tabled from the July 26 meeting while the commissioners gathered more information.The property is near Lozier Drain, which flows into Little Chapman Lake. Matt Sandy, assistant planner, reminded the commissioners the APC voted 6 to 1 against the rezoning because of perceived incompatibility with the agricultural area.Several letters of remonstrance were presented.

Etna Green Resident Provides Activities For Kids

ETNA GREEN - With the belief that Etna Green has a good batch of kids, one resident has been meeting with area youth and even sponsored a get-together for them. Now Kevin Smith wants to help the kids with fund-raisers to pay for a cement slab to be poured at Heritage Park for in-line skating and other activities. Smith, who has four children, said he doesn't want to see the kids playing in the streets.And, with rules being established that ban skating in the park, Smith said the kids are forced to use town streets. On Saturday, Smith provided hamburgers, hot dogs and a disc jockey to show that somebody does, indeed, care about giving the kids something to do in Etna Green.About 40 kids, along with six adult chaperones, attended the event, and Smith said he'd like to plan on having one or two such gatherings each month.Dates for the events will be posted in town and published in the Times-Union under the "What's Happening" section on Thursdays.