Stories from Wednesday, February 10, 2010

I got new glasses. I've worn glasses on and off since I was in elementary school. What I mean by that is I've always needed them, but after I got a new pair I'd either get bored with them and stop wearing them or I'd lose or break them and not bother replacing them...

To the Editor: I would like to wholeheartedly Thank Holly Wachtal and her staff from The Waters of Greencastle for braving the cold and snow to bring us a wonderful Go Colts! Tailgate Party. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and look forward to working with Holly and her staff in the future. Warm smiles and hot hamburgers went a long way toward brightening up a dark and cold day...

CLOVERDALE -- Kathy Moore, the Cloverdale Middle School physical education and health teacher, recently took a group of seventh and eighth grade students on a ski trip to Paoli Peaks. She shared pictures of the trip with board members Monday during the school board meeting...

Vera Jane Osborne, affectionately known as "Mamaw," 89, died Saturday, Feb. 6, 2010 at Indian River Medical Center. Born July 29, 1920 in Greencastle, she lived in Inverness, Fla. for two years and Vero Beach, Fla. for the past six years. She was the daughter of Ott and Bessie Greenlee Sears. She was a member of the Women of the Moose...

Betty Jane France Aker, 88, died at Mill Pond Health Campus Monday, Feb. 8, 2010. She was born June 18, 1921 in Brazil to George France and Grace Hicks France. She married Forest Mace Aker Oct. 4 1952 at Big Walnut Church with the Rev. Dallas Rissler officiating...

CLOVERDALE -- Superintendent Carrie Milner showed some frustration with a few educational laws before the Senate during the school board meeting Monday. She discussed Public Law 221, which is the state's comprehensive accountability system for kindergarten through 12th grade education. The Indiana General Assembly passed P.L. 221 in 1999, prior to the federal No Child Left Behind Act in 2001...

GREENCASTLE -- In 1871, a father and son legal partnership built a second renaissance revival-style building at 16 S. Jackson St. Hathaway and Hathaway Law Firm occupied the second floor and the rest of the building was leased out. The elder Hathaway, Russell, was the second mayor of Greencastle in 1850 and at his death in 1881 was the oldest practitioner in the Putnam County Bar...

The covered bridge in front of Forest Hill Cemetery has become a beautiful winter scene following several inches of recent snowfall in Putnam County. A winter storm warning is in effect for the area until 1 p.m. today with a 30 percent chance of snow until midday. The National Weather Service is calling for wind gusts of up to 40 mph. The snow caused the cancellation of all county schools Tuesday and Wednesday, as well as other local events. For all the trouble it causes, though, it makes for some beautiful scenery.

GREENCASTLE -- A traffic stop on Tuesday led to the arrest of a Cloverdale man wanted for violation of probation. Michael Wade Davis, 21, of Cloverdale was apprehended by Greencastle Police Officer Darrel Bunton on stadium drive in Greencastle. Bunten discovered there was a warrant for Davis out of Putnam County Superior Court for a petition to revoke probation, a release from the Greencastle Police Department said...

GREENCASTLE -- A report on the city's finance at Tuesday's meeting of the Greencastle Common Council revealed both negatives and positives. Mayor Sue Murray and clerk-treasurer Teresa Glenn said the certified budget is back from the Department of Local Government Finance. Two funds came in lower than the requested amount...

Anyone who enjoys bird watching has an opportunity this weekend to participate in the 13th Annual Great Backyard Bird Count on Feb. 12-15. Sponsored by the National Audubon Society with help from Wild Birds Unlimited, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, National Resource Conservation Science and the National Science Foundation...

GREENCASTLE -- Several teaching positions in the Greencastle Community School Corp. may be in jeopardy as the result of budget cuts. Corporation officials have been trying to trim $471,000 from the corporation's budget since finding out on Dec. 31 that the district's 2010 tuition support funding allocation from the state would be less than expected. ...

William A. "Knobby" Knoll, 89, of Cloverdale, formerly of Indianapolis, died Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2010 at the Putnam County Hospital. He was born on Aug. 4, 1920 in Connersville, the son of the late Henry Thomas and Edith Lorene Kenney Knoll. Mr. Knoll joined the U.S. Navy during World War II, at age 22, and served two-and-a-half years, most of them being deployed in the South Pacific. He received a medical honorable discharge...

GREENCASTLE -- Greencastle High School varsity football and head strength conditioning coach Mike Meyer was relieved of his extracurricular duties Wednesday night by the Greencastle Community School Corp. Board of School Trustees. Meyer addressed the board before they voted on his termination as coach, calling his proposed dismissal an embarrassment. He said he was blindsided by the action, and was unclear as to what the reason for it was...