Stories from Wednesday, January 2, 2013

CRAWFORDSVILLE (AP) -- An illegally killed deer led Indiana Conservation Officers to bust a Crawfordsville man for drugs. Just after 11 a.m. Friday, the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office received a 911 call reporting shots fired in a rural area southwest of New Richmond. 
Believing the call to be hunting-related, Montgomery County Deputies contacted IDNR Conservation Officers...

Arts Spaces Inc. and Arts Illiana recently announced the 2013 Max Ehrmann Poetry Competition. Entries must be mailed or delivered by Feb. 22. Competition is open to individuals of all ages, living, working or attending school in six Indiana counties, Putnam, Parke, Clay, Sullivan, Vermillion and Vigo...

CLOVERDALE -- Every winter, thousands of Hoosiers enjoy fishing, skating, hiking or just sliding around on frozen ponds and lakes in the Wabash Valley. But, every year, people drown after falling through thin ice. Since the winter season has begun, Indiana Conservation officers are urging winter sports enthusiasts to put safety first...

The Greencastle Parks and Recreation Department will sponsor a snow sculpture contest from Jan. 1 through March 6. Residents are invited to construct a snowman, snow woman, snow child or snow creature and submit it to the contest. Winners will be announced on March 7, 2013...

Nearly two decades ago, DePauw sent its first Winter Term in Service delegation to the village of Consolacion in El Salvador. The brutal 13-year Salvadoran Civil War had come to an end a year before the trip, but behind United Nations checkpoints, at the end of unpaved roads leading deep into the jungle, the despair remained...

Weather was a major story throughout 2012 across Indiana, including Putnam County, right up until the calendar flipped over to 2013. Warmth became a dominant weather story throughout 2012 across Putnam County and central Indiana. The year 2012 set the record for warmest year since records began in 1871 with an average temperature of 57.0 degrees, knocking 1921 (56.5 degrees) from the Hoosier record books in the process...

Recent snows and the rolling terrain of Robe-Ann Park combine to create a perfect sledding opportunity Sunday afternoon for brothers Landon and Keaton Chew, who were accompanied to the city park by dad Jerod Chew of Greencastle.

James R. Sparks Sr., 76, Plainfield, passed away on Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2013 in Hendricks Regional Health, Danville. Born on Sept. 10, 1936 in Owensboro, Ky., he was the son of Carl and Hazel Henning Sparks. He married Donelda Terry on Aug. 29, 1981. James was a driver for Roland's Golden Memories Retirement Club for 10 years. Previously he was a truck driver for Koger Inc. and Neier Trucking Company. He also had the honor of serving as a fireman and a police officer in Greencastle...

David A. Baird, 67, passed away at his home on Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2013. He was born on April 6, 1945 to Harry Clifford and Olive B. Everman Baird in Crawfordsville. He graduated from Roachdale High School in 1963. He was a carpenter, farmer and rural mail carrier...

Eric Lane McNary, 44, passed away on Thursday, Dec. 27, 2012 at the VNA Hospice House in Vero Beach, Fla. He was born in Greencastle, grew up in the Chicago area and lived in Detroit for the past 18 years. Eric was a graphic artist and a gifted musician who performed with several bands in the Detroit area...