Stories from Friday, January 10, 2014

With most county roads now plowed and temperatures above freezing for much of Friday, Putnam County's travel restriction status will be dropped to advisory level at 6 p.m. Emergency Management Director Tom Helmer informed the Banner Graphic of the change late Friday afternoon...

Two people were booked into the Putnam County Jail recently. At 2:15 a.m. on Wednesday, Kevin McNichols Keene, 19, Wilmette, Ill., was booked in for public intoxication, possession of false identification and being a minor in consumption of alcohol...

The open house scheduled for Friday night at DePauw University's McKim Observatory has been canceled, Howard L. Brooks, DePauw professor of physics and astronomy, announced. The next open house at the historic observatory on Greencastle's northeast side is scheduled for Jan. 24...

Nancy J. Skala, 76, Coatesville, passed away on Sunday, Jan. 5, 2014. Born September 14, 1937 in Indianapolis, she was the daughter of Bennie and Irene Baxter Steagall. She married Frank Skala on Nov. 26, 1988. A graduate of Indiana University, she worked 30 years as a CPA for Benton Icon Knox in Libertyville, Ill...

County Jail One person was lodged in the Putnam County Jail Thursday evening. -- At 7:07 p.m., Bridget Rose Hemminghouse, 22, Terre Haute, was booked into the jail for driving with a suspended license. Sheriff's Department At 1:12 p.m. on Wednesday, Juanita L. Hasty, 75, Coatesville, was westbound on County Road 50 South in a 2004 Cadillac DeVille when she saw a Putnam County Highway snowplow approaching from the west...

The Putnam County Public Library will be holding a community Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration on Saturday, Jan. 18 from 1:30 -- 2:30 p.m. The annual celebration features Civil Rights historian John Dittmer who will speak on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela, music by Blues Side Up featuring Jonathon January and Steve St Pierre and participation by Association of African American students Iesha Brookes and J'Nai Macklin...

Recently, 14 Humane Society volunteers and 11 DePauw University football players along with assistant coach Matt Nelson helped move the Humane Society of Putnam County's store, Rescued Treasures, to its new location at 1021 Indianapolis Rd. More than 5500 square feet of furnishings and inventory were moved, filling a moving van four times. ...

Cloverdale High School hosted its annual toy drive Dec. 5. The Student Councils and FFA's of Cloverdale High School, South Putnam and North Putnam High School worked hard to provide more than 500 children with toys for Christmas this past year. However none of this would have been possible without the sponsors who make the toy drive possible each and every year, which include Bent Rods Car Club (above), Return a Gift, McDonald's, Goss Oil, Cloverdale Family Dollar, Brazil Walgreens, Cloverdale Christian Church, Cloverdale United Methodist Church, Owen Community Bank, Cloverdale Lucky Clovers 4-H Club, Cloverdale Agri-Center, Cloverdale Athletic Department, Putnamville Correctional Facility: Shifting Gears Program and many more.. ...

One hundred and twenty-six students participated in Butler University's 2013 Winter Commencement on Dec. 22. Local students participating included ISABELLA GABBARD, an education administration major from Bainbridge, and ASHTON MARSHALL, a middle/secondary education major from Reelsville...

If cabin fever has you ready to explode out of the house after days of artic weather, there's good news, performances by the DePauw University School of Music resume Sunday when the DePauw Chamber Singers kick off the ensemble's 2014 North American tour to Texas and Mexico at 3 p.m. Jan. 12 in Kresge Auditorium...

BAINBRIDGE -- While the winter weather might have knocked the county for a loop this week, Bainbridge trudged through and even conducted its town council meeting on Wednesday. The first meeting of the New Year brought a change of leadership to the town council...

It will be try, try again for both the Greencastle Board of Zoning Appeals and a proposed local tattoo studio Tuesday evening. After being postponed by the extreme snow and cold last Tuesday, the BZA will try again to meet this Tuesday with a 6 p.m. public session at City Hall...

A new cable TV series being heralded as HBO's next great drama is the brainchild of a former DePauw University professor. "True Detective," which debuts Sunday, Jan. 12 and features major motion picture stars Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson, is the creation of Nic Pizzolatto...

INDIANAPOLIS -- The Pacers dominated near the basket and forced the visiting Wizards to shoot less than 30 percent in their 93-66 win on Friday. Led by 14 from forward Paul George, Indiana outrebounded Washington 61-41 and held a 38-18 advantage in points in the paint...

While students and teachers have been able to relax with an extra week of winter break, which will reach 23 full days between classes on Sunday, the local athletic directors and coaches have been scrambling to find gaps to squeeze in make-up games. The local policy is no school, no games, South Putnam athletic director Ken Schnepp said in an email earlier this week...

Francis Mildred Blanks Wheeler, 87, Greencastle, passed away on Friday, Jan. 10, 2014 at the Putnam County Hospital. She was born on Sept. 26, 1926 at Nashville, Tenn., and was the daughter of the late Elgie Eugene and Annie Lorene (Ballinger) Byrd...