Stories from Tuesday, January 16, 2018

Ward J. Robertson, 92, of Greencastle, passed away Saturday, Jan. 13, 2018 at Putnam County Hospital, Greencastle. He was born on Feb. 23, 1925 in Seymour, Ind., to the late George A. and Lula A. (Lucas) Robertson. In 1944 he graduated from Cortland High School and begin working on a dairy farm. ...

Florence J. Smith, 92, of Lafayette, passed away at 8:50 a.m. on Sunday, Jan. 14, 2018 at Rosewalk Commons. The daughter of the late Henry and Bessie (Crose) Bogan, she was born on March 7, 1925 in Stockwell, Ind. Florence's marriage was to Clinton H. Smith in 1946 in Lafayette. He preceded her in death...

Racquel "Quel" Elyse Vickrey, 29, of Brazil, passed away on Saturday, Jan. 13, 2018. She was born on June 7, 1988 in Indianapolis, the daughter of Brian Vickrey and Darcy S. (Hensley) Enyart. She was a 2007 graduate of South Putnam High School. Racquel worked at the McDonald's restaurant in Brazil and had worked at the Burger King restaurant in Greencastle...

Richard "Dick" Warner, 68, of Poland, went to be with the Lord do to an extended illness, Friday, Jan. 12, 2018. Dick was born in Anderson, Ind., March 11, 1949 to Keith and Rosemary (Cummins) Warner. He married Connie Allen on Nov. 21, 1992, and she survives...

A Putnam County farmer is among the individuals that U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue has announced will serve on the Indiana USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) State Committee. Kim Ames of Fillmore has been named to the five-person committee that will be chaired by Ken Rulon of Arcadia...

The following cases were filed in Putnam County courts recently. Criminal Cases Donald R. O’Conner, 50, Crawfordsville, Level 6 felony driving while intoxicated endangering a person, Class A misdemeanor driving while intoxicated endangering a person, Class C misdemeanor driving while intoxicated...

County Jail Four people were booked in the Putnam County Jail recently. Sunday • At 12:15 a.m. Jason David Grimes, 33, Greencastle, was taken into custody for driving while intoxicated with a prior conviction. Saturday • At 11:48 p.m. Brandon Lee Runnells, 28, Greencastle, was housed at the jail on a local warrant...

The Putnam County Public Library will host the Putnam Adult Literacy Services (PALS) Pups this Saturday, Jan. 20 from 1-2 p.m. Parents can reserve a 15-minute slot for their children to read to one of the pups by calling 653-2755.

The Putnam County Public Library will partner with Greencastle Parks and Recreation to celebrate Winnie the Pooh Day Thursday, Jan. 18 at 3:30 p.m. Enjoy stories, crafts and treats.

Those willing to brave the near-zero temperatures Tuesday night got a little break from cabin fever at Wasser Brewing Co., with Jackie Gibson (left) and Dr. John Wheat providing music for the evening. As downtown diners enjoyed their microbrews, Gibson and Wheat, with their twin acoustic guitars, played a mix of covers and Gibson originals...

A larger portion of Putnam County’s Economic Development Income Tax (EDIT) will be going to, well, economic development in 2018. Set to approve the 2018 EDIT plan on Monday morning, the Putnam County Commissioner instead opted to make a change to its contribution to the Greencastle/Putnam County Economic Development Center...

INDIANAPOLIS — The House Committee on Education Tuesday unanimously passed District 44 State Rep. Jim Baird’s (R-Greencastle) bill to ensure those serving on the USS Indiana (SSN-789) are eligible for in-state tuition rates. “We have a new namesake, a submarine was christened the USS Indiana in April and will be commissioned sometime this summer,” Baird said. “We would like to make the sailors aboard the USS Indiana honorary Hoosiers and in turn, make them eligible for in-state tuition.”...

Good things sometimes come in small packages. The Putnam County Public Library’s technology department is one of them. The department consists of just two people: Director Michael Acsbok and his trusty technical assistant, C. J. Shields. Together, these two maintain the entire network of library tech as well as programming for library patrons...

Tipoff: 7:30 p.m. The coaches: Bryce Rector is in his second year at Greencastle. Collin McCartt is in his fourth year at North Putnam. Season recap: Greencastle has won three straight games since starting the season 3-4. North Putnam had a three-game winning streak broken Saturday night in a loss to Monrovia...

Wes Lesko is a senior basketball player at South Putnam. Banner Graphic: How long have you been playing basketball, and how many other sports did you play? Wes Lesko: “When I was younger, I played football and baseball but when I got into high school I just stayed with basketball. ...

CLAYTON — After a sluggish third quarter in which they were outscored 21-7, South Putnam’s Eagles came back strongly to start the fourth period and cut Cascade’s lead to 44-40 with 5:17 to play. Cascade’s Dalton DuBois took over at that point, scoring 15 of his team’s final 19 points to help the Cadets record a 44-point second half and pick up a 63-48 win over the Eagles...

BAINBRIDGE -- The North Putnam School Board has agreed to move forward with a preliminary engineering report for connecting the high school to Bainbridge water, Clerk-Treasurer Monica Bray reported during the Bainbridge Municipal Utilities Board’s recent regular meeting. The school and the town are to split the cost of the report, about $12,000. The report will investigate how best to make the connection and what changes, if any, would need to be made to the town’s current utility infrastructure to support it...

CLOVERDALE — A medical issue preceded the crash that claimed a Cloverdale woman’s life last week, the Putnam County coroner has confirmed. A cardiac issue apparently caused 56-year-old Lavada Boyette to lose control of her vehicle on Wednesday, Jan. 10...