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Recklessness Suspect Found Not Guilty

Tears of joy and relief ran down Rhonda Fitzgerald's face as she heard her not guilty verdict Tuesday night around 9 p.m.in Kosciusko Superior Court I. Fitzgerald stood trial Tuesday for criminal recklessness, a Class C felony, and pointing a gun while loaded, a Class D felony, charges stemming from an incident with her neighbor July 4. After hearing testimony from 10 witnesses and deliberating for approximately two hours, the six-person jury decided Fitzgerald, a bus driver for Warsaw Community Schools, was not guilty of the two felony charges. Fitzgerald was accused of pointing a gun at her neighbor, Jennifer Ebey, during a dispute July 4. Ebey testified Fitzgerald and her friend, Kole Pennington, tossed dog feces from Ebey's backyard over a privacy fence in Ebey's yard.An argument between the women followed, and Ebey called 911 to report damage to her yard from the incident.
JEN GIBSON, Times-Union Staff Writer- | July 28, 2016

Remember When March 4

10 Years Ago March 4 1992 Fourth-grader Eric Miller was one of 92 Lincoln Elementary students who participated in "Jump Rope for Heart."Students worked in teams to jump rope for 1-1/2 hours, with team members alternating every two minutes.Lincoln students raised $2,300 for the American Heart Association. 25 Years Ago March 4 1977 The Warsaw Community High School novice debate team of Paige Mock and Brad Bartol tied for fifth place at the novice state debate tournament, which was held at Lafayette Jefferson High School. Other debaters competing were Terry Wagner and Marshal Hoskins, who survived four rounds of competition.
- | July 28, 2016

Remember When March 18

10 Years Ago March 18 1996 SOUTH WHITLEY - Rachel Brown, a senior who averaged 14 points and 11 rebounds a game for the Whitko Wildcat basketball team this season, has been selected to play in the Hoosier Small-School All-Star game. The game will be played at South Bend John Adams High School. 25 Years Ago March 18 1981 VALPARAISO - Jack Walters of Manchester is one of 16 players named to the state all-academic basketball team by the state coaches association. The 6-4 senior averaged 12.9 points for the Squires, who had their winningest season ever with a 21-2 record.Walters is the second area player to make the team in as many seasons as Whitko's Neal Frantz was selected last year.
- | July 28, 2016

Remember When June 14

10 Years Ago June 14 1995 LEESBURG - Jamiee Smith of Leesburg will compete for the title of Miss Indiana Teen USA at the Porter County Exposition Center in Valparaiso. Smith is the daughter of Shirley Smith.She attends Monarch Christian Academy in Winona Lake, where she will be a senior next fall. 25 Years Ago June 14 1980 A postman, who carried letters on the same route for two decades and was a familiar face to both local residents and courthouse employees, was honored at a retirement party at the Elks Lodge in Warsaw. Howard Swinehart, 56, of Warsaw, joined the Warsaw Post Office as a letter carrier in 1951 and after 28 years of service, retired on Nov.17, 1979.
- | July 28, 2016

Remember When February 3

10 Years Ago February 3 1996 Air Force Airman 1st Class Chuck Smith has graduated from Phase 1 of the medical laboratory specialist course at Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas. Smith is the son of Thomas and Brenda Smith, South Whitley, and is a 1989 Whitko High School graduate. 25 Years Ago February 3 1981 MENTONE - Five students named winners in the DAR American History Essay Contest will be honored at a meeting of Anthony Nigo chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution at Mentone.
- | July 28, 2016

College Roundup

HUNTINGTON - The Grace College men's tennis team cruised to an 8-1 victory Thursday over Huntington in the Mid-Central Conference opener for both teams. The Lancers won two of three doubles matches and then swept all six singles matches for the victory.Landon Reifsnider, Dan Benyousky, Zac McGowen and Drew McIntire all won in both singles and doubles.Grace has now won all 12 singles matches it has played this year, dropping just one set in the process.The Lancers (2-0, 1-0 MCC) will be off until playing new Mid-Central Conference member Spring Arbor September 11 at 11 a.m.on the road.
Times-Union Staff Report- | July 28, 2016

Library Considers Upgrading Entryway

The automatic double doors at the Warsaw Community Public Library open not just for patrons, but often when a car drives by the entrance.Then rain, snow and often unpleasant temperatures enter the building, too, explained facility manager Rick Ellsworth to the library board of trustees Monday. Covering the entrance with a glass enclosure, with doors at the west and east ends, was one of several improvement projects discussed by Ellsworth and architect Mary Ellen Rudisel of Scearce Rudisel Architects of Warsaw. Rudisel said the entrance could be reconstructed similar to the entrance of the old Lancer gymnasium on the Grace College campus.The glass allows people to see oncoming traffic, but they must turn to exit out the doors. Ellsworth said new flooring was planned for the audio-visual room and for circulation.Rudisel brought samples of the new flooring, a padded laminate often used in hospitals.She said it was easy to stand on, stain-proof and easy to clean.
TERESA SMITH, Times-Union Staff Writer- | July 28, 2016

Claypool Awards Trash Contract

CLAYPOOL - Stafford Solid Waste Inc.will remain the trash collector for the town with no increase to the 146 households, the town council decided in its meeting Monday.Monthly costs for current customers are $4.26 per stop.Customers at New Beginnings subdivision will be charged $4.50.Monthly fees include emptying several dumpsters around town for a total cost of $782.50 per month. Also bidding were AmeriWaste and Wabash Valley. The AmeriWaste representative said if the town is happy with Stafford they should stay with them.AmeriWaste owns the nearby landfill and Stafford dumps trash loads there. "We'll get the business one way or another," he said. Trash pickup will continue on Thursdays. Lewis Canby approached the board with a property issue.He has been buying, on land contract from Troy Miller, a 150-foot by 90-foot plot of land on the southwest corner where Railroad and Harrison streets meet.Now Canby wants to own the property outright.
TERESA CARRANO, Times-Union Staff Writer- | July 28, 2016

Group Hears Options For Old North Webster Elementary

NORTH WEBSTER - Lakeland Youth Center and Kosciusko Community YMCA representatives believe they can work cooperatively in the elementary school. The school, which will close at the end of December when students move to a new facility, is being considered as community space. In addition to LYC and the YMCA, interested parties include the North Webster Day Care/Latchkey Program and the North Webster Tippecanoe Township Library. Additionally, a portion of the facility may be used by the Freedom Academy and Wawasee Schools as an alternative school. The North Webster Town Council also expressed a strong interest in moving town offices there. The organizations want the "new" portion of the building, according to Bob Murphy of R.P.Murphy and Associates, Larwill. Representatives met Monday to tour the facility and take another look at their spaces.MSKTD architect Brent Doctor was on hand to get a feel for everyone's wishes.
TERESA SMITH, Times-Union Staff Writer- | July 28, 2016

Library Tracks Usage

The Warsaw Community Public Library served an average of 77 patrons an hour during a "typical week" when 4,202 patrons were served and the library was open 54.5 hours. The "typical week" - a tool used by libraries to measure circulation - was Oct 18 through 23 when 9,527 were checked out. WCPL board of directors heard these numbers Monday, with director Ann Zydek saying the figures were down from last year's total of 10,654 items checked out and 4,687 patrons served during 62 hours (or 75 patrons per hour) in 2004. Zydek said patrons are adjusting to the reduced hours and she hopes to increase the library's hours again in February. Through October, 419,480 items have been checked out this year.
TERESA SMITH, Times-Union Staff Writer- | July 28, 2016

Return To The Wisdom Of The Founders

Is this the land of the free or the land of "the fee"? Lawyers' fees, that is.Ninety-five percent of all civil lawsuits in the world are filed right here in the United States.Obviously, just about everybody wants something for nothing - the exact opposite of what true freedom is all about. If ever there was a time to go back and rediscover our rich history as a nation, it's now! And I am not talking about memorizing a few dates, making a cardboard Civil War cannon, or reciting three points and a poem from early American Literature. I'm talking about rediscovering the wisdom of our Founding Fathers...the kind of truth and passion that inspired Patrick Henry to exclaim, "Give me liberty, or give me death."But it appears we have wandered so far from our foundation that few of us truly understand the concept of liberty as laid down by our Fathers more than 200 years ago.
Editor's Note: In observance of American Education Week, the Times-Union is publishing a series of articles from area school superintendents. Today's column is written by Karen Boling, superintendent | July 28, 2016

Demos Gather For Annual 'Fame' Dinner

The movers and shakers of the Kosciusko County Democrats gathered Saturday evening at the Shrine Building to honor the newest inductees to their Hall of Fame. This year's honorees were long-time party activists Claud Stahl, Isabelle Smith, Jane and Bob Eherenman and Vernon and Marcella Meredith. Cindy Knepper, executive director of the Kosciusko County Boys and Girls Club, was presented with the Distinguished Hoosier Award, bestowed upon her by Gov.Frank O'Bannon. "We tried to get Cindy a Sagamore of the Wabash, but the governor said she wasn't old enough," said county party chairman Steve Haines."So we'll just have to try again in 20 or 30 years." Knepper said that without her staff, board of directors, friends and family, she wouldn't have received the honor.
DAVID A. BEALL, Times-Union Staff Writer- | July 28, 2016

Mentone Eyes Uses For Saemann Building

MENTONE - Day care.A senior citizen center.Alternative education. Those are just a few of the ideas thrown out Thursday night at a meeting in Mentone concerning a feasibility study on the use of the Saemann Building. Bell Memorial Library is looking at the building as its new facility, but the building is too large to house just the library. The structure is 22,000 square feet, with preliminary plans to demolish the old portion of the building.That would leave 15,000 square feet of space.The library is about 1,000 square feet and a needs assessment conducted nine years ago shows that the library requires about 2,700 square feet.An updated needs assessment will likely not exceed 3,000 square feet, according to Tim Kelty of R.P.Murphy & Associates, Larwill, who is working with the library on obtaining a grant. This would leave about 12,000 square feet of unused space that could be made available to the town.
RUTH ANNE LIPKA, Times-Union Staff Writer- | July 28, 2016

Council Denies Street Vacation

Warsaw City Council, citing a concern for the greater public good, denied a recommendation to vacate the city's right-of-way of a portion of Widaman Street Monday. "The basic question tonight is whether the public right-of-way provides public access to the lake," said City Planner Jeff Noffsinger in explaining Ordinance 98-11-1. The ordinance would have vacated a 31-foot right-of-way from Brubaker Street to Pike Lake, with one-half of the right-of-way going to the adjoining property owners Lewis P.Dobbins and David Essig. "Our purpose for seeking the vacation is to be able to expand our lot so that we can meet the city's requirement for lot width for the purpose of building a retirement home on the lot," Essig said. Essig's lot, which lies to the north of the right-of-way, is currently 45 feet.The city requires a 20-foot setback.
DAVID A. BEALL, Times-Union Staff Writer- | July 28, 2016

Commissioners Table Tippy Rezoning Request

Kosciusko County commissioners tabled a request Tuesday to rezone a 2.2-acre tract of land on Lake Tippecanoe from residential to commercial zoning.
Tim [email protected] | July 28, 2016

Under Cover Of Darkness, Tornado Ravages Elkhart County Town

NAPPANEE - Severe storms spawning twisters ripped through Kosciusko and Elkhart County Thursday night, leaving destruction to homes and businesses in its wake.
Daniel Riordan and Jen Gibson- | July 28, 2016

Streets get facelift this summer

SOUTH WHITLEY - The relative peace and quiet of the town's downtown area will be replaced this summer with the sound of jackhammers, dump trucks and the shouts of construction workers as the streetscape undergoes a long-anticipated facelift. The folds and wrinkles of the uneven and crumbling sidewalks will be hauled off and replaced with smooth concrete, bordered with memorial bricks and lined with ornamental street lights. Citizens received a construction schedule from Gove Associates engineer Jerry Williams Wednesday during a special meeting of the town council. The sidewalk reconstruction project is the brainchild of South Whitley's Main Street organization, a project that has come to fruition after four years of planning.
TERESA SMITH, Times-Union Staff Writer- | July 28, 2016

Sidney Residents Quiz Engineer Regarding Sanitary Sewer Project

SIDNEY - No one went away happy about the prospect of a sanitary sewage project in the town. More than 40 residents heard about a proposed system from town council members Kenny Koontz and Harold Lent, who turned the meeting over to Benjamin Adams of Schnelker Engineering Inc., Fort Wayne, in the fire station Saturday morning. Adams has designed a sanitary sewage collection and treatment system with a capacity of 15,600 gallons per day.The effluent would be discharged to the Koontz ditch. The central collection system proposed is to be of the gravity flow type with pump discharge of the sewage to the treatment facility, a waste stabilization pond. The council has an option on 53 acres southwest of town to build the treatment pond.The property is at Ind.13 and CR 900. "It's not a negative thing," Adams said of the project.He said such a system would increase property values and allow the town to grow.
TERESA CARRANO, Times-Union Lifestyles Editor- | July 28, 2016

House Board OKs 2007 Rates

Fair market rent rates will increase by 5 percent beginning Sunday for Warsaw Housing Authority residents. The WHA Board of Commissioners approved the increased rates at its meeting Thursday night. The board voted at its Aug.28 meeting in support of the increase and a second vote was needed and approved during Thursday's meeting. The vote raised the fair-market rent rates from Housing of Urban Development's proposed 100 percent to 105 percent. The new rate will begin Sunday and be effective until Sept.30, 2007. "The increased rate will allow families to find housing more easily as the cost of utilities and sewer rates rises," said HOW Executive Director Pam Kennedy. Market rates for 2006 included $447 for a one-bedroom, $528 for a two-bedroom, $672 for a three-bedroom and $782 for a four-bedroom. The 2007 fair market rent and estimated utilities include $483 for a one-bedroom, $635 for a two-bedroom, $809 for a three-bedroom and $941 for a four-bedroom.
JENNIFER PERYAM, Times-Union Staff Writer- | July 28, 2016

Animal Shelter Budget Raises Some Eyebrows

Dividing a limited amount of county funds between services for animals and people created concern at the county council's budget hearing Thursday. The council tentatively approved a 1997 budget of $136,938 for the county's animal shelter, an increase of almost $7,000 over the 1996 budget. Council members had no objections to how the shelter spends its money, but expressed concern that the county allocates more for the animal shelter than for human services. "We spend more on animal care than on our own senior citizens," said councilman Harold Jones. So far in the 1997 budget sessions, combined requests from Home Health Care, the youth shelter, the Council on Aging and the Beaman Home total $125,000, almost $12,000 less than the budget for the animal shelter. The problem, according to shelter director Kay Amsden, is that the need for animal control in the county is accelerating.
Laurie Hahn, Times-Union Staff Writer- | July 28, 2016
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