Stories from Sunday, January 6, 2008

Laurra A. "Tootsie" Cummings, 76, Cloverdale, died Saturday at The Waters of Greencastle. Born in Cloverdale, she was the daughter of William and Nina Maude (Kelly) Haltom. She was a homemaker and had been co-owner of Frank's Marathon in Cloverdale. She was a member of Cloverdale Church of Christ...

The number of fatal vehicle accidents in the Putnamville District of the Indiana State Police increased in 2007, while the statewide count showed fewer traffic-related deaths. Putnamville District recorded 30 fatalities in 2006 and 34 in 2007. In 2007, Hendricks County led the district with thirteen fatalities followed by Morgan County with twelve. ...

Lane Ralph, a long-time aide to Sen. Richard G. Lugar, was named the 2007 Mayor William Graham Rural Champion Award recipient for his tireless efforts to strengthen rural communities in Indiana. Ralph is a resident of Greencastle. The Indiana Rural Development council presented the award during the Indiana Rural Development Conference in Anderson...

Greencastle residents Phil and Georgenna Gick are doing their part to conserve energy and offset what can be outrageous heating costs by utilizing geothermal technology in a massive home on East Washington Street. The Gicks, who have returned to Greencastle following Phil's 35-year military career, recently installed a geothermal heating system in the nearly 7,000-square-foot home they purchased in 1994...

A new Subway restaurant opened its doors in Cloverdale on Friday, and though it took only seconds to cut the ceremonial ribbon, the new eatery represents nearly two decades of hard work and a small piece of what the owner calls the American dream. Ashok Bhargaua arrived in New York City 18 years ago on a flight from New Delhi, India. With his wife, teenage daughter and a background in electrical engineering Bhargaua, had high hopes for prosperity in America, but found little upon his arrival...

My career as a college professor has included lots of public speaking and I think I know a good public speaker when I see one. The seven candidates we saw in action last week in Iowa -- six Democrats, one Republican -- were outstanding public speakers, each and every one of them. ...

INTRODUCTION By Bruce Stinebrickner and Aden Stinebrickner-Kauffman As a father-and-son pair, we had different reasons for going to Iowa last week. Bruce is a political scientist who has written and lectured about the presidential nomination process, and he was interested in observing the last few days of campaigning and the Iowa caucuses themselves. Because Aden attends college in Grinnell, Iowa, he was eligible to participate in the caucuses and wanted to familiarize himself with the candidates before deciding whom to support. We drove to Iowa on New Year's Eve and spent the next three days going to campaign appearances by seven candidates and former president Bill Clinton. After each event, candidates gave autographs, posed for photos, and sometimes took a few questions. We also got an opportunity to chat with various candidates' spouses, including Bill Clinton. (Full disclosure: Bill Clinton was a college classmate of Bruce while both attended Georgetown in the 1960s.) Finally, we met and talked with a dozen or so Iowans at the different campaign events that we attended. All in all, we had a great experience and learned a lot. More specific observations from each of us appear below.

Putnam County Jail Five people were booked into the Putnam County Jail recently. Greencastle Fire Dept. Greencastle firefighters handled several runs recently. On Saturday: On Sunday:...