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The True Spirit of Santa Claus

Continuing an annual tradition, I searched the Internet for an inspirational Christmas story. I hope you enjoy this year's installment. An Adventure With Grandma (Author anonymous) I remember my first Christmas adventure with Grandma.I was just a kid.I remember tearing across town on my bike to visit her on the day my big sister dropped the bomb: "There is no Santa Claus," she jeered at me."Even dummies know that!" My Grandma was not the gushy kind, never had been.I ran to her that day because I knew she would be straight with me.I knew Grandma always told the truth, and I knew that the truth always went down a whole lot easier when swallowed with one of her world-famous cinnamon buns.I knew they were world-famous, because Grandma said so.It had to be true.
GARY GERARD, Times-Union Managing Editor- | July 28, 2016

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

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

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

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

Flexibility Bill Is Bad Public Policy

There's a bill before the Indiana legislature that would set a bad precedent. I hesitated to write about it because it affects newspapers and it may seem a bit self-serving.But I truly believe it's a bad piece of lawmaking. It's SB 391, which was amended in the Indiana House to give schools "flexibility" to not publish school performance reports in local newspapers if they choose. Instead, they could mail parents a copy.Of course that would leave the majority of taxpayers in the community without a copy of the report.If they wanted one, they would have to come to a public meeting, stop by the school administration office and pick one up or look for it on the Internet. Now, at first blush one might think this sounds reasonable and isn't that bad of a bill.One might also think that the reason I'm against it is because this newspaper would lose advertising revenue.It is true we would lose a small fraction of our revenue.
GARY GERARD, Times-Union Managing Editor- | July 28, 2016

Changes In Warrior BB Programs

SYRACUSE - In a span of 48 hours, Wawasee athletics has lost a girls basketball coach and potentially two boys basketball players. First things first.Varsity girls basketball coach Randy Aalbregtse announced Wednesday he will temporarily step down from teaching classes and coaching his team the rest of this year.He's taking a nine-week medical leave of absence, effective Friday.Aalbregtse and Wawasee athletic director Mary Hurley declined to mention specifics for the record.Aalbregtse gathered his players and talked to them Wednesday afternoon. "This is the best for everybody involved - the kids and everybody at school - at this time, because of my situation," Aalbregtse said. Aalbregtse missed two games for personal reasons earlier this season.Mark Sumpter stepped in then, and he will coach the team the rest of the way now.In those two games, the Warriors lost to Class 3A No.1 NorthWood 57-33 on Dec.16, then beat Northridge 44-41 in overtime on Dec.20.
Jeff Holsinger, Times-Union Staff Writer- | July 28, 2016

Warsaw Girls Pull Away From Northridge

At times it wasn't pretty, but in the end a 16-point win looks pretty good. The Warsaw girls basketball team, playing in its first game since a 56-45 loss to No.1 (3A) South Bend St.Joseph's December 22, struggled early but topped Northern Lakes Conference foe Northridge 50-34. "I thought with the exception of a two-minute stretch we were pretty sluggish," said second-year Tiger head coach John Snyder. That two-minute stretch was a 6-0 run by Warsaw to start the fourth quarter. Senior Julie Seiss scored four of her 10 points off two consecutive turnovers by the Raiders while Kate Denlinger added a basket. Besides that stretch, it was a struggle for Warsaw to get going. The Tigers were erratic from the field and lacked any cohesiveness on offense. Warsaw clung to a 14-10 lead midway through the second quarter and led 25-21 at halftime. Seniors Jennifer Scherer and Tasia Smith gave Warsaw some breathing room as the two combined to go on an 8-2 run.
DANIEL RIORDAN, Times-Union Sports Writer- | July 28, 2016

Why Bush Beat Kerry

I must say I was thoroughly impressed with the way John Kerry handled the election. His concession showed a lot of class.I will admit it is not what I expected. I expected an army of attorneys to descend on Ohio, combing through individual precincts, attempting to discover disenfranchised voters. I expected lawsuits and a protracted legal battle all the way to the U.S.Supreme Court. But no.I was dead wrong.Kerry did the honorable thing. Frankly, the election surprised me. I wanted W to win, because Kerry was just a little too disingenuous for my tastes.And I pretty much always thought W would pull it off - until the final week. After the Republican National Convention, I was making bold predictions about Kerry becoming another Michael Dukakis and winning only four or five states. But the closer it got to the election, the more concerned I got. First, there were the lackluster debate performances by W.
GARY GERARD, Times-Union Managing Editor- | July 28, 2016

Survey Says I Am Fully Out Of Step

It's difficult when you come to the realization that you're out of step with the majority of Americans. That's what has happened to me over this whole mess with President Bill Clinton. According to the polls, the majority of Americans don't think Clinton should be impeached. In fact, only about 25 percent of them think he should.That puts me squarely in the minority.This is difficult for me to understand. Some people say that this is just about sex.I see it as being about perjury, witness tampering and obstruction of justice. More people say that it's about perjury, witness tampering and obstruction of justice, but they don't think it warrants impeachment. Lying to a federal grand jury is a felony punishable by five years in prison. If that isn't an impeachable offense, what is? I know that Clinton's attorneys are scurrying to come up with a defense.They say his answers are "legally accurate" or that the questions were "non-specific" or whatever.
GARY GERARD, Times-Union Managing Editor- | July 28, 2016

9/11 Changed Views Of Government

If I ran into W on the street, I would ask him one question. Who are you and what have you done with George W.Bush? I mean, really, what in the world has happened to W since taking office? When you consider what he campaigned on and what he has done in office, it makes a Republican scratch his head a little bit. Remember the W who advocated leaner government? He gave us the giant, ubiquitous Department of Homeland Security.The USA Patriot Act.The No Child Left Behind program. He talked about responsible, efficient government and has now presided over the biggest deficits in history. He was a neophyte when it came to foreign affairs.He seemed to not know much about foreign countries, let alone foreign policy. Now we are occupying a couple foreign countries and are immersed in some of the most sensitive foreign policy issues of our time, like North Korea, India, the Middle East and our relationships with other NATO allies.
GARY GERARD, Times-Union Managing Editor- | July 28, 2016

We Need Some Random Acts Of Renewal

Last week I wrote that our nation is in need of a spiritual renewal. The evidence keeps mounting. Just this week five people were killed in southern Indiana and Illinois by suspects who the police say apparently had no motive. The killings were "random acts of violence." Now there's a scary term for the '90s. Violence for no apparent reason.Violence for violence's sake. The big question is why.Why would anyone want to kill someone just to watch them die? Murder is always heinous.But at least it's a little less baffling in the case of the drug turf war, the jealous husband or the gang banger. But teens preying on hapless innocents just to see what it's like? It defies explanation. The fact that we, as a society, are generating these homicidal miscreants is very unsettling to me. And don't tell me it can't happen here.I'm sure the people in Odon, Ind., and Albion, Ill., didn't think it could happen there either.
GARY GERARD, Times-Union Managing Editor- | July 28, 2016

Just Not Sold On A War In Kosovo

I am glad to see the Kosovo engagement winding down. But since the beginning I have wondered why we were involved.It is difficult for me to see the national interest. I am not a big fan of war to begin with, but when we do have to get involved in such matters, I like to think there is a really good reason. Several conflicts the United States has been involved in seem not to meet that standard. I could see, for example, the need to get involved when Saddam Hussein took over Kuwait.He probably wouldn't have stopped there. He probably would have kept going until he had control of most of the Middle East.That wouldn't be a good thing.It would not be in our national interest for Saddam to control the vast majority of the world's oil production. Now, I know the politicians told us that attacking Saddam wasn't about oil.It was about returning autonomy to the sovereign nation of Kuwait.
GARY GERARD, Times-Union Managing Editor- | July 28, 2016

Panthers Survive Late Meltdown

NAPPANEE -ÊIt isn't a good idea for any Northern Lakes Conference boys basketball team to dig itself too big of a hole at the beginning of the conference season. Not in a tough and rugged conference like this one. Heading into Saturday's NLC clash between Wawasee and NorthWood at the Panther Pit, each team was trying to pick up its first conference win and trying to avoid going 0-2 in conference play. "We really feel like we should beat anyone on our schedule,' Wawasee coach Phil Mishler said."You have to play four solid quarters to win in this league.' After three quarters of looking like the Panthers would pick up their first win in the conference, the Panthers crumbled in the fourth, and the Warriors looked to pick up a huge win in a very tough environment. After struggling badly, the Panthers got some key baskets late and held off the pesky Warriors 69-63.
Craig Helfrich, Times-Union Sports Correspondent- | July 28, 2016

Valley Trips Northfield 65-44

AKRON -ÊAfter playing Argos, primarily an outside-shooting team, Thursday, Tippecaoe Valley coach Bill Patrick was concerned about switching gears for Saturday's game against Northfield, primarily an inside-shooting team. However, Valley's basketball team (8-2) calmed Patrick's concerns by downing Northfield (2-7) 65-44 and improving to 2-0 in the Three Rivers Conference.Northfield falls to 0-2 in TRC play. After a patient Valley team held the first possession for more than a minute, Cody New started the game with a basket at the 6:58 mark.New continued to own the Norsemen through the quarter as he hit 3 of 4 three-pointers and 5 of 6 overall for 13 points in the quarter. The Viking man-to-man defense held Northfield to just four points the entire first quarter, while the Valley offense scored 18.
Jen Gibson, Times-Union Sports Writer- | July 28, 2016

Parker-less Valley Picks Up TRC Win Over Northfield

AKRON -ÊTippecanoe Valley girls basketball coach Gary Teel knew Friday night's game against Northfield would be a challenge.Especially without team leader Rebekah Parker. Parker, who injured her knee in a game against Bremen earlier this season, was in Indianapolis Friday night recovering from knee surgery while her teammates were on the court beating Three Rivers Conference opponent Northfield 63-46. "I think the kids gave an outstanding performance," said Teel."You never know how a group is going to handle adversity, and our girls responded like a true team.Each player who came into the game did something positive for the team." After Northfield's Audrey Mast hit the first bucket of the game, Holli Jackson responded wih a steal and a basket of her own.Then a pair of free throw's by Viking Heather Rathbun gave Valley a 4-2 lead.
JEN GIBSON, Times-Union Sports Editor- | July 28, 2016

The News From Iraq Isn't All Bad

Before the war in Iraq started, I suggested that W shouldn't go to war without the support of the U.N. When he decided to go to war without U.N.support, I wasn't really all that enthusiastic about it, but I supported the decision and the troops. Since then, I have been critical from time to time of some of W's policy, including spending, and what appears to be hawkish foreign policy. Media reports in general seem to be quite negative when it comes to the war in Iraq. I realize that when something blows up in Iraq, it is news.There is no question about that. But there are positive things going on in Iraq, too, and I think those stories are being underreported by the mainstream media. To that end, what follows is a message allegedly sent by Lt.Col.Scott Seitz, a commander in Iraq, to his troops.He was attempting to show his troops that they should be proud of what they have accomplished in Iraq.
GARY GERARD, Times-Union Managing Editor- | July 28, 2016

We And The GOP Have An Opportunity

I must say I was pleasantly surprised with the result of the election this past week. I was glad to see that W's approval rating was able to help Republicans get elected in so many races. Not many people would have predicted gains in the house and a shift in power in the Senate during a midterm election. It was historic. Most times in the past, the president's party loses seats in midterm elections. There were a lot of factors that entered into it, but I think the overriding factor was W's popularity. People just like him.They trust him.He seems more populist than most politicians. He exudes a sort of down-home, roll-up-your-sleeves persona. Granted, when it comes to oratory, he lacks polish.Heck, sometimes he lacks grammar and diction.But you know what, I think people relate to that. They understand it.Most people think it's really hard to get up and speak in front of people and they empathize.
GARY GERARD, Times-Union Managing Editor- | July 28, 2016
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