Stories from Tuesday, April 2, 2019

PUTNAMVILLE -- Drivers are apparently making a habit of exceeding 100 mph on Interstate 70 in Putnam County. And a veteran Indiana State Police trooper is making a habit of catching them. Monday afternoon, for the second time in 10 days, speeding drivers turning I-70 into a triple-digit race track in western Putnam County ended up being nabbed by Master Trooper Don Farris for driving in excess of 100 mph...

CLOVERDALE — A Martinsville man was killed in a single-vehicle crash east of Cloverdale early Sunday morning. Robert S. Carroll, 60, had been westbound toward Cloverdale when his SUV crossed the centerline for an unknown reason and left the roadway, colliding head-on with a tree...

More than 10 years ago, DePauw men’s basketball coach Bill Fenlon satisfied his curiosity about a very specific basketball situation by writing a 2,728-word paper titled “Up Three: To Foul or Not to Foul.” For those not familiar with this scenario, here is the basic situation:...

A jackknifed semi closed West Walnut Street west of Greencastle for more than two hours Tuesday. The road was closed from before noon until after 2 p.m. as responders tried to pull the tractor-trailer back onto the road. The Putnam County Sheriff's Department reported that the driver had attempted to turn around, getting the semi tractor stuck in the grass off the edge of the road...

CLOVERDALE -- After a brief closure due to the deteriorating condition of the road and concern for the safety of residents, the south entrance/exit of the Stardust Hills community onto Burma Road in Cloverdale has been reopened. In a message sent to the Banner Graphic, Clerk-Treasurer Cheryl Galloway related that the town, “found enough cold patch to temporary [sic] fill the deepest holes at the south entrance/exit of Stardust Way.”...

The public is invited to jump start its 2019 garage sale shopping this Saturday, April 6. Between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m., interested persons can stop by the Putnam County Fairgrounds, where numerous groups and individuals will be offering a variety of items. Saturday’s sale will be held safely indoors rain or shine...

William J. Barber II -- described by Cornel West as “the closest person we have to Martin Luther King Jr. in our midst” -- will be joined by his co-author (of “The Third Reconstruction: How a Moral Movement Is Overcoming the Politics of Fear and Division”), Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, at DePauw University on Tuesday, April 9...

The following cases were filed in Putnam County courts recently. Criminal Cases David H. Jewell II, 39, Poland, Level 5 felony possession of methamphetamine, Level 5 felony carrying a handgun with a prior felony conviction, Class C misdemeanor possession of paraphernalia...

County Jail One person was booked in the Putnam County Jail on Monday. • At 12:32 p.m. Kalvin William Doan, 32, Montezuma, was lodged at the jail on a local warrant. Sheriff’s Department Putnam County sheriff’s deputies investigated one recent property-damage crash...

CLOVERDALE -- The Hoosier Llama/Alpaca Association will have a llama show Saturday and Sunday, April 6-7 at C-Bar-C Expo Center, 253 Stardust Rd., Cloverdale. Hundreds of llamas and alpacas will be coming to Cloverdale for the event. Admission is free...

PUTNAMVILLE -- The Putnamville Cemetery will be meeting on Monday, April 8 at 6:30 p.m. at the Putnamville Methodist Church. All decorations and flowers must be removed by April 15.

Traffic is reduced to one lane along East Franklin Street in front of Jerry’s Foreign Auto Tuesday afternoon as a Duke Energy project is undertaken by 5 Star Electric.

Dollars for Scholars chapters in Putnam County have come together to sponsor a Farm to Fork Dinner to raise funds for scholarships. Members of the Cloverdale, Greencastle, North Putnam and South Putnam chapters have been meeting for months to plan this event scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 28 at the Putnam County Fairgrounds. All funds raised from the dinner will be divided among the four chapters to provide scholarships for students in each school corporation...

Coming by his fascination with small towns naturally, Putnam County Historian Larry Tippin is certainly a product of his own upbringing. Having grown up in New Maysville in northeastern Putnam County, Tippin gleefully recalls riding his bike to what he likes to call “the New Maysville Mall.”...

In January, this column explored the possible stances each side could present on its behalf in the dispute between Craig Jordan and the Greencastle Community School Corporation. At the time, Jordan was placed on “paid administrative leave” and the case was in limbo. Many people who commented to me on the column spoke to how fairly each side was presented, and several of those actually told me I had “done Jordan a favor” with what was presented...

Aidan LeBlanc is a senior at South Putnam and participates in football and baseball. ——— Banner Graphic: How important are sports to you, and what have you learned from them? Aidan LeBlanc: “I have played baseball since I was three, and since then my dad has taught me perseverance, to be able to lead and to use it to be able to show my faith through my actions on and off the field. My faith and my team helped me through an injury in football last fall.”...

South Putnam got a strong pitching performance and some timely hitting to open its 2019 baseball season with a 2-0 win over Cloverdale. The Eagles plated single runs in the second and fourth innings, getting the only run they would eventually need in the bottom of the second...

April 2 is not normally the time of year you see really good high school softball, but South Putnam and Cloverdale played a game that was the exception. The two teams competed at a high level and put on a show for the fans with the Clovers coming out on top 4-3...

A pair of troubled bridges over water have Putnam County officials in a quandary. After failing inspection last month, Bridge 45 in Jackson Township and Bridge 71 in Floyd Township were closed indefinitely. At the time, Putnam County Highway Supervisor Mike Ricketts expressed his hope that a relatively inexpensive fix could be found, such as two years ago when an even older iron bridge in Warren Township required only $10,000 of work...