Stories from Monday, July 13, 2020

It was a Miss Putnam County contest unlike any other. What would have seemed a compliment any other year is a stark reality in 2020. Pandemic … social distancing … small crowd … livestreaming. However, as different as it was, 2020 Miss Putnam County Kinzee Wilson managed to react in much the same way as so many young women who came before her in a contest dating back to 1958...

ROACHDALE -- With Putnam County schools anxiously on the cusp of coming back while looking to promote safety, North Putnam Schools now has its own plan for an uncertain 2020-21 school year. During a special school board meeting held Thursday evening, Superintendent Nicole Singer outlined the broad points of a back-to-school plan for when students and staff are set to eventually return next month...

In previous years, First Friday only had the weather to worry about in separating a no-go from a successful evening on the Courthouse Square in Greencastle. But 2020 has been a different breed, and First Friday organizers have lost April, May, June and July events to issues related to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak...

Jeff Gibboney’s first school board meeting as Greencastle Community Schools superintendent promises to be a big one. With COVID-19 questions looming large over the coming school year, the first board meeting of Gibboney’s tenure is set Wednesday to discuss the school reopening plan...

The Brazil Concert Band, directed by Matthew Huber, will present “The Band Played On” this Sunday, July 19 at 8 p.m. in Forest Park, rain or shine. The waltz by the same name is by Charles Ward and John Palmer. From the movies, the BCB will feature “Beauty and the Beast” arranged by Calvin Custer with “Belle,” “Gaston” and “Be Our Guest.”Also, “Show Boat” arranged by Robert Russell Bennett with the song “Ol’ Man River,” among others, will be featured...

Partners in life for 64 years, William Alva Wood and Karen Wood of Greencastle passed away just four days apart in April. Karen, 83, passed away on Saturday, April 11, 2020. William, 88, passed away on Wednesday, April 15, 2020. The family is planning a memorial service in honor of William and Karen from 1-5 p.m. on Saturday, July 25 at First Baptist Church in Greencastle...

TERRE HAUTE (AP) — A U.S. district judge on Monday ordered a new delay in federal executions, hours before the first lethal injection was scheduled to be carried out at a federal prison in Indiana. The Trump administration immediately appealed to a higher court, asking that the executions move forward...

Back in the Bard’s day, the Globe Theatre produced his plays in an outdoor setting. Following that example, the Putnam County Playhouse Youth Theatre Workshop productions of Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” will take place in the bandshell at Robe-Ann Park in Greencastle this year instead of at the Hazel Day Longden Theatre...

More than 100 DePauw student-athletes have earned recognition from the North Coast Athletic Conference as members of the league’s 2019-20 Academic Honor Roll.

Scams targeting electric and natural gas customers are on the rise, with imposters implementing new tactics during the COVID-19 pandemic to trick utility customers out of money and personal information. June was the highest single month on record for reported scam attempts targeting Duke Energy customers across the states it serves, hitting more than 4,000...

Denzil William Benassi, 88, of Fillmore, passed away on Sunday, July 12, 2020 at his residence surrounded by his family. Denzil was born in Putnam County on Sept. 30, 1931, the son of Attilio and Gladys (Smyser) Benassi. He was a graduate of Belle Union High School...

Ten people were booked in the Putnam County Jail recently Sunday • At 11:53 p.m. Erik D. Wilburn, 33, Poland, was housed at the jail for driving as a habitual traffic offender. • At 10:48 p.m. Darrell L. Goff, 42, Brazil, was booked in for possession of methamphetamine and unlawful possession of a syringe...

The community had the opportunity to get in on some interesting purchases over the weekend during the “Summer Shopping Experience” at the Beyond Homeless shelter. Set up as a kind of mini-outlet mall, the idea was to help move an overabundance of items from the thrift store located on Jackson Street...

Not signing up for Medicare at the right time: As you approach 65, you’ll want to enroll during what the government calls your initial enrollment period (IEP). This seven-month period goes from three months before the month in which you turn 65 until three months after. If you don’t sign up during your IEP, you will get another chance to enroll during Medicare’s annual general enrollment period from Jan. 1 through March 31 of each year...