Stories from Thursday, February 19, 2009

The Cloverdale and Greencastle eighth grade girls' basketball team s duked it out Tuesday evening, with the Clovers coming away with the victory 34-27. The Clovers used a balanced attack to get the win. Paige Gruener and Justeena Wellington led the way with 11 points each, while Sydney Shrum added seven and Amillia Nally chipping in four points. Bristina Skiles and Cedar Woolworth rounded out the Cloverdale scoring with one point each...

The Central Indiana Chapter of the National Football Foundation announced its Class of 2009 inductees Wednesday. Putnam County will be well represented as North Putnam's Griffen Dahlstrom was inducted as a High School Scholar-Athlete and DePauw's Michael McNelis was bestowed the Collegiate Award...

The Board of Directors of the Heritage Preservation Society (HPS) approved a motion Wednesday to host the Western Regional meeting of the Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana this summer. The group will be making recommendations to the Foundation for historic sites in Greencastle to hold a progressive dinner...

Putnam County Jail Ryan Shepherd, 36, Terre Haute, was booked into the Putnam County Jail at 6:47 p.m. Tuesday for failure to appear. Troy Thomas, 40, Oaktown, was booked at 9:27 p.m. Tuesday for operating a vehicle while intoxicated, operating per se, public intoxication and possession of marijuana and paraphernalia...

Marian Agnes Edwards Pearson DeLong, 89, of Mulberry died Sunday, Feb. 8, 2009 at the Mulberry Health and Retirement Home. Marian had been an Alzheimer's resident since April 2004. She was born Nov. 17, 1919, in Carp to the late William H. and Estella Mae Keller Edwards. She was the 10th of 12 children. She was educated in a one-room schoolhouse until she passed the eighth grade. She later obtained her GED...

The bond of a Roachdale woman charged in Putnam County Circuit Court with Class D felony theft has been revoked. Jonella K. Wallace, 51, was originally arrested at the Greencastle Wal-Mart store on Oct. 14, accused of attempting to steal $577 worth of merchandise...

Citing Criminal Rule 4(A) of the Indiana Rules of Criminal Procedure, public defender James Recker has filed a motion for the release of his client, Terrell Britton, who was arrested in June and charged with six Class A felonies, six Class D felonies and two Class A misdemeanors for his alleged involvement in sexual misconduct with four minors...

INDIANAPOLIS -- A Fillmore woman sentenced in December to two-and-a-half years of prison time may be released into a transition program in April. Tonya M. Benassi, 36, had nearly a year of time served credit when she was sent to the Indiana Women's Prison in Indianapolis on a reckless homicide conviction on Dec. 4...

Putnam County Commissioners signed a proclamation at their Monday night meeting naming March 15-21 as Ag Week in Putnam County. This event occurs during National Agricultural Day (week) every year on the first day of spring. It honors agriculture for providing safe, abundant and affordable products, a strong economy and sources of renewable energy and job opportunities...

RUSSELLVILLE -- The Russellville Community Center board is drafting a rental agreement for anyone renting space there. It is something they haven't done before, but are doing so for liability reasons. As of Jan. 1, rental fees are $75 for the gym; $35 for the kitchen; $30 per room; and $200 for a wedding reception. The higher fee for weddings includes two-and-one-half days to three days time...

He may be out of Washington this week, but 8th District Representative Brad Ellsworth is still thinking and talking about Congress's recently passed economic stimulus plan. Only now it's with his constituents, not his colleagues. Ellsworth made a stop at Greencastle City Hall as part of his third-annual Open Door Listening Tour Wednesday. As he took questions from local residents, the topic rarely strayed far from the failing economy and what elected officials are doing about it...

CLOVERDALE -- A 35-year-old man died following a single-vehicle accident Wednesday morning on Interstate 70. The accident occurred around 8:45 a.m. at the 41-mile marker, near the Cloverdale exit. Donald Everett Martin Jr. was driving a Kenworth tri-axle dump truck filled with gravel, when something went wrong. Authorities are still unsure what caused him to strike a guardrail, go airborne and land on the railroad tracks below...