Stories from Thursday, April 27, 2017

A reported attempted armed robbery at the Family Video business on Indianapolis Road in Greencastle Wednesday night sent Greencastle Police Officer Brad Hiatt to the scene at approximately 7:50 p.m. The store clerk advised that he had been talking to his girlfriend on the phone when the suspect came into the video store. When the clerk hung up on his girlfriend, the woman then called the police to request a welfare check at Family Video...

U.S. 231 South is closed Thursday, the Indiana Department of Transportation has announced. Crews are working to replace an electric transformer between county roads 300 South and 350 South. The transformer exploded during the storm Wednesday evening, also knocking out power lines...

INDIANAPOLIS -- A Marion County jury has found two of the three persons accused in a $2 million scam involving a bogus winning Hoosier Lottery ticket guilty on multiple counts, while a third defendant was found not guilty. Found guilty Wednesday were Ashlee Campbell Parsley, 30, and her brother-in-law, Jackie Parsley II, 35...

Fourteen people were booked in the Putnam County Jail recently. Wednesday • At 6:05 p.m. Caitlin Marie Abdon, 22, Bainbridge, was lodged at the jail on an out-of-county warrant. • At 3:06 p.m. Robin Lynn Wilkes, 53, Poland, was charged with battery...

The following cases were filed in Putnam County courts recently. Mercedie S. Vance, 42, Reelsville, Level 6 felony possession of methamphetamine, Class A misdemeanor driving with a suspended license, Class C misdemeanor possession of paraphernalia Scott Michael Staggs, 43, Greencastle, Level 6 felony driving as a habitual traffic violator...

Spencer Rhine is a Greencastle senior football player who anchored the Tiger Cubs’ offensive line last fall, and is a thrower this spring for the track team. Banner Graphic: How important are sports to you and what have you learned from them?...

ROCKVILLE – North Putnam swept a pair of three-way track meets on Tuesday, winning the girls’ meet by 38 points over Rockville and taking the boys’ meet by 50 points over second-place Riverton Parke. In the girls’ meet, Hannah Sims won both hurdles events to lead a balanced attack...

There is no election this year but that doesn’t mean local political activity has ground to a halt. As proof of that, Putnam County Democrats will host a town hall meeting on Sunday, April 30 from 7-8 p.m. at the Greencastle Elks Lodge, 202 S. Indiana St...

All the right ingredients were there. Hail, hail and more hail. Winds clocked at greater than 70 mph. Wall clouds -- with that infamous rotation. That’s a prime recipe for tornadic action. But the sum of those weather parts didn’t equal the whole on Wednesday night...

Putnam County Master Gardeners will sponsor a plant auction on Saturday, May 13 at the Putnam County Fairgrounds. Flowers, ornamentals, trees, bushes and house plants will go up for bids inside Harris Hall on the western edge of the fairgrounds. Preview is set for 9:15 a.m. with the auction starting at 10 a.m...

For the last few years, I’ve been keeping a file of clippings about the erosion of transparency and candor in government. I’m sorry to report that it’s getting rather full. This is not a good thing. Public officials should feel strongly obliged to do their business in an open and upfront manner. ...

To the Editor: Recently we were shopping at the local Walmart store. For a very long time they have only a few riding carts for those needing them. We’re talking as low as four or five carts in use. Many have waited a half-hour or more. I thought this was a huge problem for those needing them...

To The Editor: Indiana experienced one of its first major victories under the Trump administration recently. While some will lament the action taken to halt the Clean Power Plan (CPP), there are thousands of Hoosiers who praise the order. And Vice President Mike Pence deserve some of the credit to boot...

To the Editor: This letter is directed to Mr. Brad Phillips and the men and women of the Greencastle Street Department. As a 20-year veteran of the United States Air Force and a citizen of Greencastle, I write this letter in recognition of these folks for the work they do for our city and the community in maintaining our streets and city property...

This time it’s personal. The weather, I mean. Dodging raindrops and hailstones seemed bad enough Wednesday night, but that was before I spent part of the evening in the inner sanctum of Buffalo Wild Wings and the rest of the night in my La-Z-boy with no power, no cable TV and no motivation...

Mark Bless knows a thing or two about coaching football. The eighth-year Avon coach has won 205 games in his 28 years, which include six years at North Vermillion and 15 years at Mooresville before going to the Hendricks County school. He has won four sectional titles and one regional crown, and has produced numerous Division I talents. His 2015 regional champs were led by Mr. Football Brandon Peters, who now plays at Michigan...

For its final concert of the season, Sunday, April 30 at 3 p.m. in Kresge Auditorium, the DePauw University Band will present two distinguished soloists -- Master Sgt. Michael Mergen (United States Marine Corps, "The President's Own") and Paul Mergen, tuba (formerly, United States Marine Corps, "The President's Own") -- in the premiere of their commissioned work for trumpet, tuba and wind ensemble: "Hanging by a Thread" by American composer James M. Stephenson...

Gloria A. Bergstrom, 84, passed away Tuesday, April 25, 2017 at Mill Pond Health Campus following an extended illness. Gloria was born in Iron River, Wis., on June 3, 1932, the daughter of James Blaine and Nellie (Chiles) Haus. She was a graduate of Iron River High School...