Stories from Friday, December 26, 2008

The ice coated roadways quickly on Tuesday, leaving motorists with travel anxiety. Semi-truck drivers were stopping their rigs anywhere possible for the night. Out-of-town motorists were left searching for a place to stay and wait out the storm. There was no room at the Greencastle Inn, with all 15 rooms booked by weary travelers. ...

Despite the popularity of cell phones, it may not always help in emergency situations. The items listed below should be kept somewhere in the vehicle during the winter season...

More than 120 ornaments crafted by Hoosier students are on display on a holiday tree in Superintendent of Public Instruction Dr. Suellen Reed's Statehouse office. The ornaments were submitted as part of Reed's Reading Tree, an annual event asking students to decorate a holiday ornament featuring a scene or character from a book...

PLAINFIELD -- Vaughn Thomas McCammack, 51, Coatesville, passed away Monday, Dec. 22, 2008 at Putnam County Hospital. He was born Oct. 19, 1957, in Greencastle, to Merrill T. "Tom" and Margaret (Gibbs) McCammack Mackall. He married Linda Hughes in Indianapolis in 1989 and she survives...

Wallace "Wally" R. Parker, 87, passed away Monday, Dec. 22, 2008 at the Putnam County Hospital following two bouts with cancer in recent years. Wally was born Feb. 3, 1921, in Morgan County. He was the son of Vern and Nettie Parker. He grew up in a farming family south of Stilesville and attended grade school and high school in Belle Union where he graduated in 1938. He then attended Purdue University where he graduated with honors as a chemical engineer in 1942...

CLOVERDALE -- Hubert P. Nickerson, 89, Greencastle, died Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2008 in Indianapolis. He was born Jan. 6, 1919, to Daniel Holbert and Verna Alice (Lasley) Nickerson in Cloverdale. He was a Cloverdale High School graduate, past commander and sergeant-at-arms...

Scientists and physicians have noticed that the rates of asthma have been increasing in recent decades. Several national reports call it an epidemic: a 74 percent increase in self-reported asthma over the past two decades, says the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention...

The William Eaglesfield House Estate sits just over the Putnam County line in Clay County. The former estate built in 1855 has a beautiful home and three-story barn, and is listed in the National Register of Historic Homes. Since the Civil War construction, the house has been a home for several families, a way station, restaurant, motel and apartment house and a totally self-sustaining northern plantation with a smoke house, fresh water well, grape arbor and fruit trees as well as several acres of garden.. ...

PUTNAMVILLE -- Indiana State Police Superintendent Paul Whitesell, Ph.D., announced the promotion of F/Sgt. Dan Jones to the rank of lieutenant to serve as commander of the Putnamville State Police Post. Jones received this promotion through written testing and a competitive interview process...

A new Medicare Five Star national ratings system has been created to help consumers, their families and caregivers compare nursing homes more easily. This system provides an opportunity to compare the quality of care at 16,000 U.S. nursing homes. Ratings are taken from health inspections, staffing and quality measures. A star is provided for each of these three sources. These are then combined to calculate an overall rating...

The closing of the Cloverdale Altra Biofuels may be a sign of the times for the renewable fuels industry--at least for ethanol. In early December the company released official statements announcing layoffs in both Cloverdale and in Coshocton, Ohio. Regarding the Cloverdale closure, the release read, "Due to the poor margin environment, we have made the decision to stop producing ethanol at our Cloverdale facility. ...

Harry Cecil Brickert, 76, died at 6:00 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 25, 2008 at his daughter's residence in Indianapolis. He was born on April 18, 1932, in Martinsville, to the late Charles Leroy and Mary Marie (Fisher) Brickert. He was a self-employed contractor and more specifically a building mover...

BEECH GROVE -- Charles E. Justice, 62, Beech Grove died Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2008. He was born Dec. 4, 1946, in Beech Grove to Charles R. and the late Beulah Justice. Mr. Justice was a veteran of the United States Army and had retired from Chrysler Corporation after 30 years of working on the assembly line. He was also a member of Cataract Yacht Club...