Stories from Wednesday, June 8, 2011

South Putnam Central Elementary second graders Kyle Cunningham, Evan Steffy, Alex Steffy and Macie Bumgardner participated in the Aquifina/M.L.B. Pitch, Hit and Run Sectional (stage 2) competition Saturday June 4 at Victory Field in Indianapolis. All four participants were local champions of the Boys and Girls 7/8 year old division and advanced to the sectional (stage 2) at Victory Field. ...

The South Putnam softball team will be having a pep rally Thursday night at 6 p.m. at the softball diamond weather permitting. In case of inclement weather, the rally will be moved inside. The Eagles will compete against Woodlan for the IHSAA Class 2A State Softball title Saturday at 1:30 p.m. The game will take place at Ben Davis High School...

MARTINVSVILLE -- With a hot sun hanging overhead, golfers at the Martinsville Boys' Golf Sectional were burning up the course. The day saw three players shoot sub-70 rounds and the team winner was decided by a single stroke. Putnam County will have two individuals move on to the Center Grove Regional today. Greencastle's Jim Wheeler and Cloverdale's Chris Arnold posted rounds of 73 to advance...

To the Editor: The surgery team at Putnam County Hospital would like to publicly acknowledge and thank the Greencastle Walmart Supercenter for their generous donation of toys for our pediatric surgery patients. Surgery is often a scary experience for a young child and the provided toys and stuffed animals help to comfort them before and after their procedure...

To the Editor: Vectren Energy Delivery and its predecessors have been providing natural gas to the greater Greencastle area for decades. During that time, our commitment to safe, reliable natural gas service has not wavered, and in fact, has improved. ...

To the Editor: I am a medical oncologist/hematologist at Putnam County Hospital's Cancer Center, and I treat a lot of prostate cancer. This year 4,160 Hoosier men will get prostate cancer. This is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among men, excluding skin cancer. It accounts for about 1 in 4 newly diagnosed cases of male cancer -- which is about the same incidence as breast cancer in women...

For more than 10 months now, Nicole and I have been discovering the joys and pitfalls that come with parenting. Monday taught us a big lesson for first-time parents in particular: overreaction. On the whole, I have to say it's been pretty smooth sailing. While my life looks completely different than it did one year ago today, we've been pretty lucky with our little man. Only a few late nights. He's not much of a crier. Few illnesses. No hospital visits...

Anyone who ever met Ernie Ford knows there was no such thing as a short conversation with the man. There were just "shorter" ones. Yet over the years he and I carried on a number of conversations that even though they might have been weeks apart, seemed to pick up in mid-sentence and roll with the topic, whether it was politics, sports, the downtown, the traffic, Greencastle in general, DePauw in particular or my personal favorite -- the state of affairs in our shared profession, journalism...

City Police Two theft arrests were made recently by City Police officers following separate incidents at the Greencastle Walmart store. At 5:15 a.m. Tuesday, Officer Albert Epple was called to the store after Jarrel William Votzie, 36, Indianapolis, attempted to use a gift card that store officials had reportedly red-flagged...

DANVILLE -- Plans are under way for an event coming to Hendricks County on June 25. Team entries are still available for the Park2Park Relay Race, which encompasses 60 miles from McCloud Nature Park in North Salem to the new Sodalis Park just south of Plainfield...

In an effort to support literacy among the youth of Putnam County, the Friends of the Putnam County Public Library has become the local organizer for Imagination Library.

Merl and Marjorie (Pettit) Grimes celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary on Sunday, June 5. Mr. and Mrs. Grimes have five children, Susie Brown, Becky Bond and husband Rodney, Debra Wood and husband Loren, David Grimes and wife Faye and Martha Knoebel and husband James, all of Greencastle. They have nine grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren...

The 13th annual Purdue Open Golf Scramble, sponsored by the Purdue Club of Putnam County, will be played Wednesday, June 29, at Old Hickory Golf Course. Purdue guests for the scramble and dinner following will be Leroy Keyes, head track coach Jack Warner, supervisor of football operations Casey Nuss, Purdue Alumni Association Senior Director Ben Paolillo and Gold and Black Illustrated sportswriter Kyle Charters...

The Mental Health Association in Putnam County held its Annual Meeting and Award Presentation on May 26 at the Putnam County Museum. MHAPC presented its "Person of the Year" and "Educator of the Year" awards to their "Heroes in the Fight" against mental illness...

CLOVERDALE -- The seventh annual Mary Allison golf outing is set for, July 8 at Clover Meadows Golf Course, Cloverdale. This year anyone who hits a hole in one at the designated hole will win a 2011 Buick Regal car donated by York Automotive. Registration for the golf outing begins at 11:30 a.m., followed by lunch at noon and a shotgun start at 1 p.m...

The South Putnam Quarterback Club golf outing will be held at noon June 19 at Windy Hill. The hole-in-one prize is a new 2011 GMC Sierra crew cab pickup.

BAINBRIDGE -- The announcement may have been a week late, but the good news was just as sweet to hear. The town of Bainbridge was awarded a $600,000 grant on Friday. The grant will help the town update and repair the storm water drainage system, which is a huge boon for the town but specifically for South Washington Street, said Bainbridge Town Council president Richard Cope...

The Putnam County Commissioners received bids on two projects for county buildings at Monday's meeting, but made no move on either project. County Planner Kim Hyten presented two quotes for replacing the roof at the Courthouse Annex. The possible costs of the new roof ranged from $136,860 to $298,130...

CLOVERDALE -- A motorist who abandoned his car on Interstate 70 last week has had a double dose of bad luck. Not only was his car, a maroon 1988 Oldsmobile Regency, impounded and towed to Cloverdale, but his wallet and MasterCard debit card were then reportedly stolen from the glove box of the vehicle...

River City is all riled up as Mayor Shinn (played by Jack Randall Earles, left) shares his concerns with members of The School Board, a local barbershop quartet portrayed by (from second left) Alex Asbell, Jim Rambo, Troy Pierce and Dustin Bond, in a scene from the Putnam County Playhouse production of "The Music Man."

Making way for an improved, widened road, workers from Feutz Contractors in Terre Haute take down a tree along Percy Julian Drive across from Greencastle Middle School.

BAINBRIDGE -- A North Putnam Middle School special education teacher criticized for comments she made on Facebook and involved in an August 2010 incident in which she allegedly shut a child in a "closet" turned in a letter of resignation Tuesday, effective immediately...

Vickie Pettigrew Brewster, 49, Greencastle, passed away Tuesday, June 7, 2011 at her residence. Born March 7, 1962 in Indianapolis, she was the daughter of Sam and Arlene (Roberts) Pettigrew. She married Robert Lee "Bob" Brewster on April 24, 2004 and he survives.

BY CAINE GARDNER Film Critic Edward Burns' ninth film was a return to his roots of sorts. "Nice Guy Johnny" is the same type of film that got the director's career going, "The Brothers McMullen", in the sense that it's a small movie with a passion for filmmaking at its core...