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Manchester Teacher Headed To Russia

Michael Schlitt, Manchester High School teacher and Warsaw native, is one of 12 educators nationwide chosen to travel to Russia on a 12-day study tour. The group will visit the Russian Ministry of Education, schools and businesses in hopes of observing and promoting free market economics. Schlitt, an economics, world history and government teacher, is excited to embark upon the tour, which will put him in direct contact with his Russian counterparts. "We're going to see what they're doing, tell them what we are doing, hold panel discussions and give presentations," Schlitt said."We'll educate each other." This trip, conducted by the National Council on Economic Education, is one of several to former Soviet states since the Iron Curtain fell.Trip funding comes from the U.S.Department of Education and The U.S.Department of State. Recent NCEE travels include visits to Ukraine, Lithuania and Belarus.
KRISTA PRIMROSE, Times-Union Correspondent- | July 28, 2016

Web Site Helps Students Learn About Careers

Few people aspire to becoming a brain surgeon, but it doesn't take one to discover the profession's requirements. Internet access to pfconnextions.communityos.org links inquisitive students, and the educators who guide them, to career information available locally and throughout the area. "The selling point is the single point of contact for businesses and educators for the entire region," said David Simpson, "Connextions" coordinator for the Warsaw/Kosciusko County Chamber of Commerce. Brain surgery isn't specifically on the list.Health services are, though, along with agriculture and natural resources, engineering, science and technologies, building and construction, educational services and transportation, to name a few career types. If a student would like to tour a facility, job-shadow or become an intern in a certain field, Career Connextions, using PathFinder programming, is the place to make a request.
TERESA SMITH, Times-Union Staff Writer- | July 28, 2016

Concerns About Step Ahead Vouchers Not Widespread

Questions regarding the Step Ahead Voucher Program through Combined Community Services arose when Elrod Daycare Inc.took out an advertisement in today's Times-Union. The advertisement reads: "We are very sorry but we are joining other daycares throughout the county in not accepting new clients on the Step Ahead Voucher Program due to insurmountable problems in dealing with the administration.We hope our public stand on this will not trigger a character assassination on us as in the recent Pam Houser incident." Asked to elaborate on what kind of problems Elrod Daycare is having with the program, president Michele Elrod said the problems were related to the administration of the program and she did not wish to comment further.She said there were many child care providers in the county who are not taking Step Ahead clients. The Step Ahead voucher program is administered by Combined Community Services.Jim Coons, CCS executive director, disagrees.
DAVID SLONE, Times-Union Staff Writer- | July 28, 2016

This Year's Taste Of Ag Event Features New Events For All Ages

The eighth anniversary of "A Taste of Agriculture in Kosciusko County: A Family Affair" will be April 11, 5 to 7:30 p.m.on the Kosciusko County Fairgrounds. This event is an expansion of the Ag Day event for county fourth-grade students.This event is free for the entire family. Many new events are highlighting Taste of Ag.The first annual Ag Olympics is at 6 p.m.Participants will compete in a pie eating, egg carry and bio-security dress-up contests.Celebrities participating are: Allison Hayes, Fox28 Sports; Kari Hutson, Channel 16 WNDU Morning Team; Dustin Grove, Channel 22 WSBT TV news reporter; and Denny Wilson, pastor of Warsaw Community Church. Event emcee will be Kevin Deardorff of Lake City Bank. A new children's activity corner is being added to the event.Bring a camera to take pictures at the new display boards while meeting Corny Corn and the whole gang.Face painting, an ag "sand" pile, Inky the Clown and balloons are being added for the kids.
Staff Report- | July 28, 2016

Solid Waste District Tax Rate To Be Unchanged For 2003

The Kosciusko County Solid Waste District's tax draw should stay the same for a couple of years, according to a decision made Tuesday during the board of directors' meeting. Currently the tax levy is set at $.002 and draws $71,000 per year.Board president Ron Truex noted the district has a $53,000 certificate of deposit, too. While raising the rate to $.0079 would bring in enough funds to pay off the building in one year, Truex expressed his reluctance at such a move and the board agreed. "It's difficult to raise taxes when we have a savings account," he said. Ironically, the solid waste districts are set up to lose money.Tipping fees - a per-ton charge paid by waste haulers when trash is unloaded at the landfill - make up a good portion of the district's revenues.The district is designed to reduce the trash flow - and tipping fees - through promoting recycling, reusing and renewal of materials.
TERESA SMITH, Times-Union Staff Writer- | July 28, 2016

O'Bannon Urging All-Day Kindergarten

INDIANAPOLIS - Gov.Frank O'Bannon is touting the cornerstone of his education agenda before the current session of the General Assembly - full-day kindergarten. "My visits with the school districts around the state have shown me that there is near unanimous support for the full-day kindergarten plan," he said in a teleconference with the statewide media Thursday."Studies show that students who go to full-day kindergarten are better prepared and better able to read through the third grade.
DAVID A. BEALL, Times-Union Staff Writer- | July 28, 2016

State Drops Lawsuit Against Syracuse Care Agency

A desire to help others brought Forte Residential into existence in 1992, but a step outside the limits of its abilities threatened to shut it down in February. That threat has now passed, with the dismissal of a lawsuit that was filed in Kosciusko Circuit Court.The case sought an injunction against the residential service provider, alleging it was operating as a home health care agency without proper licensing. "It was never our intent to do anything illegal," said Thomas Van Meter, owner of Forte Residential, Syracuse."There was a set of circumstances that were unfortunate." In fact, the agency was attempting to help a muscular dystrophy patient remain in her own home when the investigation by the Indiana State Department of Health began, according to Van Meter.
Ruth Anne Lipka, Times-Union Lifestyles Editor- | July 28, 2016

IPFW Offers Several Classes In Warsaw

Want to earn that bachelor's degree you started working toward and never finished? Want to take college classes only part time and don't want to drive out of the county? Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne has the answer for you. Since about 1985, IPFW has offered general education classes in Warsaw.Originally, they offered about three classes a semester.
DAVID SLONE, Times-Union Staff Writer- | July 28, 2016

WHA's Status As City Department Debated

Whether the Warsaw Housing Authority is a city department or not must be decided before the start of the next fiscal year. The WHA is not officially recognized as a city department, but the mayor appoints the members of its board of commissioners, and the agency's board minutes, budgets and annual reports are filed with the city's clerk-treasurer. WHA Executive Director Catharine Walker said Monday the Department of Housing and Urban Development is mandating that the agency either be recognized as a city department or reorganized as its own entity prior to the start of its next fiscal year, which begins Oct.1. Walker said the matter became a problem when she tried to get a tax identification number to make purchases for the office.
Ruth Anne Lipka, Times-Union Lifestyles Editor- | July 28, 2016

Local Safe Kids Group Establishes Permanent Car Seat Fitting Station

California was the only state to receive a perfect score. Indiana and 23 other states flunked. Flunked for inadequate laws to protect children riding in vehicles; for allowing children to ride completely unrestrained in the back seats of cars; and for allowing children to ride in nothing more than a seat belt designed for an adult. "We don't do enough enforcement," said Darlene Eherenman, Kosciusko County Safe Kids Chapter Coordinator, on why Indiana scored so badly."We don't do enough awareness." The study, in which all 50 states and the District of Columbia were rated on how well their laws protect children who are riding in vehicles, was conducted by the National Safe Kids Campaign. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, each year in the United States about 1,800 children under age 14 die in motor vehicle crashes and more than 270,000 are injured.
DAVID SLONE, Times-Union Staff Writer- | July 28, 2016

Mason Therapy Contract Subject Of Disagreement

As the final days of Kosciusko Community Hospital drew to a close, some loose ends needed to be tied up - including securing a contract for therapy services for Mason Health Care. On Jan.29, following a flurry of activity, KCH officials and Mason Health Care administrator Brian Catron agreed to a service agreement for Kosciusko Regional Rehabilitation, a department of KCH.KRR, while a department within the hospital, is operated under a professional services contract with Tom Johnson and a staff of 13 therapists. The resulting service contract with Mason is not in dispute, but the circumstances that led to its signing, and whether Mason was prevented from obtaining service from the best therapy provider, are the subject of disagreement.
DAVID A. BEALL, Times-Union Staff Writer- | July 28, 2016

Candidates Offer Opinions On Local Drug Task Force

Editor's Note: This is the second of two articles on the local drug task force. Half of the eight candidates running for sheriff in Kosciusko County say they would seek to revitalize the local Drug Task Force. In the past two years, the task force was temporarily shelved, saw a reduction in staff and, according to some, had difficulties with the prosecutor's office. At the same time, the number of felony drug arrests has fallen from 81 in 1995 to 52 in 1997. Det.Sgt.Sam Whitaker, who created the task force in 1987 but was reassigned by Sheriff Al Rovenstine after a brief suspension in 1996, claims the task force has become virtually inactive. He said county officers have not made a drug buy in the past two years. He also claims a $93,000 grant used by the task force could be in jeopardy because only one officer is assigned to the task force.
Dan Spalding, Times-Union Staff Writer- | July 28, 2016

Gilroy Gives Local GOP A Lot To Think About

Sue Ann Gilroy stepped beyond the podium, spoke without notes and told local Republicans what they needed to hear Thursday night. Indiana's secretary of state, who's outwardly showing interest in succeeding Dan Coats in the U.S.Sentate, opened her speech at 2517 with a few typical jabs at liberal Democrats, then settled into the thrust of her speech. In what Kosciusko County Republican Party chairman Mike Miner afterward called a wake-up call, the highest-ranking elected Republican in Indiana laid the cards on the table, admitting Democrats were beating their party at their own game. Gilroy, who stepped into office as part of the "Lugar Team" during the 1994 Republican revolution, spoke of disappointment in the election results of 1996, which included victories for Democrats in the governor's mansion and the White House.
Dan Spalding, Times-Union Staff Writer- | July 28, 2016

Local Legislators Voice Support For 'Major Moves'

State officials gathered at Farm Bureau Insurance, Warsaw, Saturday morning to discuss current Indiana topics and field questions from Kosciusko residents. Sen.Tom Weatherwax and State Reps.Bill Friend, Bill Ruppel and Dave Wolkins focused a majority of their time detailing such topics as Major Moves and the importance of ethanol and biodiesel fuels. Each legislator strongly supported Major Moves, a proposed $3.85 billion lease agreement for the Indiana Toll Road with Statewide Mobility Partners, a partnership of Australian and Spanish corporations.
Joe Kirkendall, Times-Union staff writer- | July 28, 2016

County Passes EDIT Resolution

By a vote of 6 to 0, the Kosciusko County Council approved a resolution enacting the Economic Development Income Tax at 0.3 percent and raising the County Option Income Tax from 0.6 to 0.7 percent. EDIT will be distributed on a population basis, according to the council's resolution.EDIT may be distributed to members of the County Income Tax Council, which includes the county council and each city or town in the county, according to the population of the municipality or according to its assessed property valuation. Councilman Lewis Bertsch was not present at the meeting Thursday.
DAVID SLONE, Times-Union Staff Writer- | July 28, 2016

New Arts Board Orgainized

The Lakeland Art Association applied to the National Endowment for the Arts when the association's lease expired at 109 N.Lake St., to make room for the Justice Building expansion. The association has since found a home on Buffalo Street in Warsaw. However, an ArtsREACH Project grant was awarded in 1999 and ended in October 2000. The grant, which totaled $8,900, provided for a community arts survey and a directory of artists. More than 400 Kosciusko County residents responded to the survey regarding development of a visual and performing arts center. The survey indicated a need for such a building.Toward that end, Lakeland Art Association Inc.signed a six-month option to purchase the Eagles building, on the corner of South Buffalo and East Market streets, Warsaw, from the Saemann Foundation last year.That option expired Nov.30.An extension has been granted through July 31.
TERESA SMITH, Times-Union Staff Writer- | July 28, 2016

Location Dictates Success Of Rezoning Petitions

Two petitions before the Kosciusko County Area Plan Commission Wednesday to rezone ground from agricultural to residential district resulted in different outcomes. The reason? Location, location, location. Vasilios Batalis petitioned to rezone 54.738 acres from agricultural to residential.The property is on the south side of CR 225S and zero feet east of Country Club Road in Wayne Township. Dan Richard, plan commission director, said the property is south of Winona Lake and to the south of it is an industrial II district. Attorney Steve Snyder, representing Batalis, said the property was part of 79.48 acres recently auctioned. "This is just a logical extension of the growth we've seen in this county for several years now," said Snyder.
DAVID SLONE, Times-Union Staff Writer- | July 28, 2016

Local Firm Gets Training In Lead Abatement

Hooded figures were poised over the table in white paper "safe suits."Peering through safety goggles at wooden boards coated with multiple layers of paint, 20 men, seasoned construction workers, listened to instructions regarding lead paint removal. Joan Kelterman, an instructor of the Environmental Management Institute, Indianapolis, reminded her students that the most dangerous thing about lead paint is the dust. "An amount equal to an artificial sugar packet, spread over an area the size of a football field, is enough to poison a child," she said."You don't want to carry it home on your skin, clothes or boots." The boards were coated with acrylic paint for safety purposes.The dust never flew while the fellows took turns using a belt sander with vacuum attachment, drilled through a dollop of shaving cream and used chemical paint removers.
TERESA SMITH, Times-Union Staff Writer- | July 28, 2016

Whitko Project To Start In May

PIERCETON - Plans are to advertise bids for the Whitko High School renovation project March 1. By mid-May, contractors should be on site to begin the vast project which will upgrade and improve the entire building, according to Dana Wannemacher of Barton Coe Vilamaa Architects. During their meeting Monday, the Whitko School Board approved letting bids. Board member Dave Tranter asked how excessive change orders could be avoided. Wannemacher said the teachers and staff have been given every opportunity to make modifications to the plans and he did not foresee any major changes unless they would be structural in nature. Transportation routes around the elementary school and high school were defined. Security measures will include moving the cafeteria walls up to 7 feet, 4 inches with windows to allow light in above that height; entrance cameras and a buzzer system to gain entry after classes begin.
TERESA SMITH, Times-Union Staff Writer- | July 28, 2016

Code Enforcement Fines Property Owner $1,000

David Wentzel, owner of the building at 110 E.Center St., Warsaw, appeared before Warsaw code enforcement hearing judge Larry Clifford Monday. At the hearing in November, Wentzel was ordered to accomplish several tasks to refurbish the three-story brick structure in downtown Warsaw. Wentzel complied with some of the orders, hesitating on others. Warsaw Fire Department Safety Officer Mike Wilson testified that most hazards have been addressed.However, because the building is unoccupied, it is considered a safety hazard. Building commissioner Todd Slabaugh said little progress has been made since the November orders. Wentzel explained he intends to refinance the project and he hasn't applied for a building permit because he doesn't have $3,000 for an architect's seal. Clifford said he was to have applied by Dec.19. "I'm trying to determine what is a good faith effort and what's foot-dragging," Clifford said.
TERESA SMITH, Times-Union Staff Writer- | July 28, 2016
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