Stories from Thursday, February 11, 2016

The chance passing and quick thinking of a Putnam County Highway Department worker likely saved a rural Greencastle woman from serious injury, illness or worse on Thursday morning. When Greg Whitman, sign technician for the highway department, noticed a sedan overturned in the waters of Little Walnut Creek, he acted quickly and decisively, calling 911 before plunging into the water to pull the woman from her car...

WASHINGTON -- DePauw University paying a stipend for one of its students to intern for a presidential campaign is not an illegal campaing contribution, the Federal Election Commission ruled Thursday. DePauw sophomore Victoria Houghtalen convinced four of the the six members of the commission -- three Republicans and one Democrat -- that the $3,000 grant for living expenses from her university for the eight weeks she interned with Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign was a "bona fide" education experience rather than compensation for campaign work.. ...

LITTLE POINT -- A traffic stop on Interstate 70 Thursday morning revealed a large amount of drugs and landed an Arizona man in the Morgan County Jail. At 11:43 a.m., Indiana State Troopers from the ISP Drug Enforcement Section stopped a 2008 Ford passenger car for an improper lane change on eastbound I-70 near the 52-mile marker...

With local residents, the chief of police and Greencastle City Council members calling parking along portions of East Franklin Street a "safety issue," city officials have agreed to at least explore possible changes. While nothing was formally introduced at the February Greencastle City Council meeting this week, local resident Danny Mesecher did bring the issue to the Council's attention...

A man with as many vowels and consonants in his own name as Michael Van Rensselaer has a right to perhaps be just a little sensitive to misspelled names. So when he continually observed the misspelled nature of William C. Larrabee's name on a City of Greencastle sign for "Larabee Street," Van Rensselaer set out to right a wrong...

The South Putnam seventh-grade girls' basketball team suffered its first loss Wednesday night, against Rockville in overtime, 22-19. Leading scorers for the Eagles were Ava McHugh and Alex Steffy with six points each. Macie Bumgardner had three points. Chloe Custis and Bree Mahoney-Sutherland both had two points. The Eagles (2-1) will be back in action next Thursday at Cloverdale...

GRANVILLE, Ohio -- It was a record-setting opening day at the North Coast Athletic Conference Swimming and Diving Championships as DePauw established school records in three events. DePauw is in third place with 332 points and trails Kenyon which has 622 and Denison with 583...

Greencastle's Mallary Meyer won't be making the trip to the IUPUI natatorium alone Friday as her Tiger Shark teammate and fellow soccer player Amelia Smith will make the trip with her, but Meyer will be the only local swimmer at the IHSAA State meet as she took the sectional title at Avon on Saturday in the 100-butterfly...

Mallary Meyer is a senior on Greencastle's swimming and diving team. She was born to Brenda and Michael Meyer on April 23, 1998. She is also a soccer player for the Tiger Cubs. Meyer enjoys watching "New Girl" on television and enjoys reading anything. Her favorite food is grilled cheese and her favorite subject in school is chemistry, which she takes at DePauw University...

Richard "Casey," Jones, 77, Greencastle, passed away Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2016 at IU Health Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis. He was born in Owen County, and was the son of the late William Edward Jones and Mattie Ellen (Arnold) Jones. He married Charlotte S. Montgomery on July 7, 1985, and she survives...

Greencastle Middle School instrumental students competed in the Indiana State School Music Association (ISSMA) Solo and Ensemble competition Saturday, Feb. 6 at Terre Haute North High School. There are five different groups a student could enter from Group V (easier music) to Group I (very difficult). ...

Members of the Greencastle High School Band participated in the ISSMA Solo and Ensemble contest Feb. 6 at Terre Haute North High School. Those receiving a gold rating in Group I qualified for the State Contest Feb. 27 at North Central High School in Indianapolis...

The following cases were filed in Putnam County courts recently. Bruce Summerlot, 53, Greencastle, Level 6 felony criminal recklessness Dean M. Western, 19, Clayton, Class A misdemeanor battery resulting in bodily injury Jaylon D. Western, 22, Clayton, Class A misdemeanor battery resulting in bodily injury...

Seven people were booked into the Putnam County Jail recently. At 9:45 a.m. on Tuesday, James David Flatt, 31, Roachdale, was taken into custody on a warrant for probation violation. At 9:56 a.m. Gregory Lewis Nauman II, 31, Greencastle, was booked in on a court order...

With flu season far from over, the Putnam County Health Department would like to remind residents that it is not too late to get vaccinated for the season. Flu activity most often peaks in February and the season can last until May, so there is still time to get sick, but also time to protect oneself...

CLOVERDALE -- Residents have already seen a few improvements in Cloverdale and can expect to see more as spring approaches. At Tuesday's meeting, the Cloverdale Town Council approved paying Reed and Son Contractors more than $200,000 for installing a new drainage system on Lafayette Street. The payment will come out of a grant totaling a little more than $450,000 that Cloverdale received in 2015...

Melvin R. Soots, 83, of Cloverdale, passed away on Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2016. He was born June 30, 1932 in Indianapolis. He was the son of the late Clyde and Fern (Hough) Soots. Melvin married Stella (Nevill) Soots on Sept. 10, 2000 and she survives...