Stories from Thursday, October 7, 2010

By CAINE GARDNER Film Critic If you were to look up formulaic romantic comedy, undoubtedly you would stumble across Warner Bros. Picture's latest release "Life as We Know It."Luckily for the director Greg Berlanti and screenwriters Ian Deitchman and Kristin Rusk Robinson, Josh Duhamel and Katherine Heigl come to the rescue...

The North Putnam Middle School football squads were in action on Tuesday against Turkey Run and North Vermillion. The Cougar seventh grade team received a forfeit from Turkey Run. The Cougar seventh grade scrimmaged the Warrior eighth grade coming out on the short end, one score to nothing. The Cougars outgained the Warriors, but untimely fumbles and dropped passes killed three long drives...

CARMEL -- The Tzouanakis cross country team competed at the state championship Saturday, with seven girls and four boys running. Leading the way for the girls was Seeley Stoughregen in fourth place with a time of 13:35. Emma Wilson ran a 13:46.2 to finish fifth, while Sydney Lewis was 43rd in a time of 15:42.6. Mika Mozawa was 66th in 16:40.4 and Brook Sieg was 74th in a time of 17:04.5...

CARMEL -- The Greencastle Middle School cross country teams competed at the state meet, with both teams having strong showings. The girls finished 16th, while the boys placed sixth overall. For the girls, Hannah Brattain led the way with a time of 11:49.2 to finish 11th overall out of 203 runners. Libby Brush was 46th with a time of 12:22, with Sammy Haynes finishing 128th in a time of 13:30.5. Corrie Romer was 139th with a time of 13:42.2...

ROACHDALE -- Local volleyball coaches voted at the Putnam County Volleyball tournament and named six girls to the All-County team. Those named were Cloverdale's Breegan Andersen, Stacia Shepard and Bradanne Toney; North Putnam's Megan Robinson and Samantha Lucas; and South Putnam's Emily Dabkowski...

GREENCASTLE -- One night before meeting South Putnam in the "Attack for the Cure" cancer benefit match, Greencastle had to host class 2A No. 10 ranked Cascade at McAnally Center. In the first set, Greencastle managed to grab a 7-5 lead before Cascade moved out of neutral and brushed aside the Tiger Cubs in three sets, 9-25, 8-25 and 14-25...

BAINBRIDGE -- The Covered Bridges of Putnam County Festival kicks off Friday morning and continues through Oct. 17. The festival runs each day from 8:30 a.m. until dark at the Bainbridge Community Center, across from the volunteer fire department on U.S. 36. It will feature vendors including food, crafts, a flea market, woodworkers, novelty items, jewelry and homemade items. Inside is a large garage sale hosted by the Bainbridge Improvement Society...

ROACHDALE -- A student attending North Putnam Community School Corporation was recently recognized for her entry in a statewide essay contest. For the 14th year, the Indiana Troopers Association provided the David Deuter Memorial Essay Contest for fifth grade students across Indiana...

Oct. 7: BBQ pork sandwich or spicy chicken sandwich, fries, vegetable, variety milk; Breakfast -- sausage with pancakes, milk, juice Oct. 8: Crazy Mike's pizza or jalapeņo pepper jack hamburgers, fries, vegetable, fruit, variety milk; Breakfast -- biscuit and gravy, milk, juice...

Below are upcoming events at school districts across the county for the coming weeks: Monday: Senior trip to Chicago 8th grade trip to the "Reality Store" Tuesday: Air National Guard lunch set-up Wednesday: PSATs in the morning Thursday: Jr.Sr. High FCA, 7:30 a.m...

Roachdale Elementary recently recognized students for having outstanding citizenship for the month of September. North Putnam High Varsity football players were also on hand to distribute the awards. Pictured are, row 1: Mia Bell, Cameryn Wolf, Carter Thomas, Billy Stevenson, and Thomas Davis; row 2: Ethan Mitchell, Dakota Lathrop, Cameryn Albers, Tanner Stacks, and Kyren Long; row 3: Emily O'Neal, Cheyenne Graham, and Kalishia Franklin. Jakob Curtsinger is pictured as Charlie Cougar.

This exhibition of work by Michelle Given, Jennifer Herrold, Justin Schwab and Rachel Wolfson is the first of four media-themed group shows that highlight some of the best contemporary artists in the state. In particular, the work in 2D(A) features paintings and photographs that focus on the figure and how individuals fit into uncomfortable and unusual spaces. ...

Oct. 1, 11:37 a.m.: Chemical fumes from household cleaners at 101 Woodhaven Drive. Aired out the house. Cleared 12:42 p.m. Oct. 1, 3:40 p.m.: Motor vehicle accident at Gas America, 1157 Indianapolis Road. A vehicle hit the kerosene pump, but no leak was found. Cleared 4 p.m...

BAINBRIDGE -- The town of Bainbridge was recently awarded $917,500 in grant funding to complete a Water Improvements Project, which clerk-treasurer Jason Hartman said is "a big boost for the town." "I anticipate with the grant that rates will not go up for quite some time in the water utility," Hartman said...

MARSHALL, Ill. -- For Greencastle native Sara York English, participating in this weekend's Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Walk for the Cure is a very personal undertaking. In March of 2009 English's son Ryan, now 4, was diagnosed with type 1 juvenile diabetes...

The Central Elementary Parent-Teacher Organization will host a Fall Festival Fundraiser from 5 to 7:30 p.m. Saturday. There will be carnival games from 5 to 7:30 p.m., a pizza buffet from 5 to 7 p.m., a raffle and a basket auction at 7:30 p.m. Central Elementary is located behind South Putnam High School at the intersection of U.S. 40 and U.S. 231...

GREENCASTLE -- With the Albin Pond Trail now suitable for walking and receiving its finishing touches, dozens of students, community leaders and citizens gathered Wednesday morning at Deer Meadow Primary School for International Walk to School Day. It was the city's first observance of the event, as school locations made it difficult to impossible for many students in the city to walk to school...

Anger knows no age, at least not if you're Keith Morris. The original lead singer of Black Flag the Circle Jerks has formed punk supergroup OFF! with Steven McDonald (Redd Kross), Dimitri Coats (Burning Brides) and Mario Rubalca (Earthless, Rocket from the Crypt, Hot Snakes)...

ROACHDALE -- The consequences of not dealing with a case of cyber bullying can last a lot longer than a bruise or black eye from a physical fight, a fact high school principal Alan Zerkel and other administrators within the North Putnam Community School Corporation are in the process of trying to monitor more closely...

ROACHDALE -- The Roachdale Community Fire Protection District is enacting an open burning ban for the areas of Jackson and Franklin townships in Northern Putnam County as well as the town of Roachdale. Roachdale Fire Chief Mike Poole said the ban includes any type of campfire, recreational fire, leaves, brush, rubbish and is effective immediately...

INDIANAPOLIS -- How is it that one of the best bands working in America today can play a concert at a relatively small venue like Broad Ripple's Vogue (capacity around 1,000) and not sell it out? It's a comment on something, but this writer can't figure out quite what...

Logan Page and David Coward work to make vehicles at the Putnam County Public Library's Brick Mania. Brick Mania was a chance for kids to play with Lego and other block toys at the library. Coward has been playing with Lego for roughly seven years, he said. "I've got quite a collection," he said. He was making a hovercraft. Troy Scott, the assistant director of the Greencastle Parks and Recreation Department said 30 people attended the event. The Parks and Recreation Department partnered with the library to organize Brick Mania. Cortina Ziuchkovski, the library's children's librarian, said she hopes to have a monthly brick-building event at the library, but they need more block donations. Banner Graphic/JOSH GARVEY

­Florence Irene Rissler, 81, of Charleston, passed away Thursday, Oct. 7, 2010 at her home. Florence was born Aug. 20, 1929 in Reelsville, the daughter of John Roy Diel and Ruby (Moss) Diel. She married Harlan Dale Rissler on July 6, 1947 at the Reelsville Baptist Church. He preceded her into Heaven Dec. 5, 2008...

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GREENCASTLE -- Health care. Same-sex marriage. Tax caps. Those were just some of the issues District 44 Indiana state representative candidates Jim Baird (R) and Nancy Michael (D) discussed Wednesday night at a local candidates' forum. The event, hosted by DePauw University radio station WGRE FM 91.5, was held at the Watson Forum in the Pulliam Center for Contemporary Media on the DePauw campus...