Kosciusko County Commissioners recognized a veteran and three deputies for their service this morning. Rex Rife, who served 18 months with the 1st Cavalry Division in Vietnam and is now commander of Warsaw VFW Post 1126, was named Veteran of the Month. He said after receiving the award he rejoined the VFW six years ago when celebrating 25 years of sobriety. And three Kosciusko County Sheriff’s deputies were recognized for their actions in response to life-threatening situations, credited by doctors with saving lives at the scene. Officers Don McCune and Chris Rager responded Sept. 25, 2013, when a 20-year-old Columbia City woman named Abigail M. Deuter was struck by a train, which severed her arm. The two climbed under the train and applied a tourniquet to her arm to limit blood loss until paramedics could arrive. And Deputy Neil Likens responded to the Aug. 25 shootout in Cromwell involving Gary Helman and three recovery agents, where he found Tadd Martin, one of the agents, shot in the femoral artery. Likens applied a tourniquet to Martin’s leg, which doctors later said most likely saved his life. Commissioners later approved the formal establishment of the county Community Corrections Program, an alternative to incarceration that moniters certain offenders as they live and work outside the jail. Kosciusko was until now one of eight counties without a community corrections program, a state-funded response to changes in the criminal code, said Barry Andrew, director of the county Alcohol and Drug Program. Andrew said he’s been working since spring to set up the program, which will be covered by a $360,000 grant renewable every two years. It will save the county money that would otherwise go to keeping participants in the jail, he said, while helping find jobs for those offenders deemed elligible for the program so they can pay taxes and child support and otherwise contribute to the community. Commissioners also approved a letter of understanding with the state setting the unofficial detour for bridge deck overhaul on Ind. 13 over Grassy Creek, about five miles north of U.S. 30. The route will take East CR 200N to North CR 850E to East CR 350N and back to Ind. 13. The official state detour will follow state roads, but the county has to declare its own route in order to receive reimbursement for any road repairs, said Highway Superintendent Scott Tilden. He said the work will begin Oct. 8 and he expects it to finish early next year.
