By Josh Sigler
jsigler@thepaperofwabash.com

Gasoline prices are expected be as much as 50 cents higher this summer when compared to 2017, an energy economist from Purdue University told The Paper of Wabash County.

Wally Tyner, the James and Lois Ackerman Professor of Agricultural Economics at Purdue, explained that like any other market, gas prices are set by supply and demand.

There are drivers on both the supply and demand sides which will combine to make the cost of fuel to remain higher than in recent summers.
 

Wabash High School student Gage Ballard gets out of the car to check out the damage following the "accident." Photo by Joseph Slacian. 

By Joseph Slacian
jslacian@thepaperofwabash.com

Just days before their 2018 prom, students at Wabash High School received a lesson of how making bad choices can have deadly consequences.

Thanks to the efforts of a number of local agencies and businesses, the students viewed an Operation Safe Prom program on Thursday, May 10. A mock crash between two vehicles was staged in the parking lot of the Honeywell Pool.

Prior to the performance, WHS Principal Kyle Wieland and Wabash County Coroner Suzie Lewis spoke to the students.

“We have some really excited events coming up,” Wieland said. “We have prom, followed by graduation. It’s a great time to celebrate, but it also provides itself with some really tough decisions from time to time.

“One of the things as a school, we want to make sure you’re thinking about, ‘What is that safe choice for me?’ and also, ‘What is that safe choice for my friends and family?’ Sometimes, if you really are a true friend, you have to have those conversations if your friend is making a choice that is harmful to yourself or others.”
 

By The Paper staff

The lineup has been set for the 2018 Plaza Music Series at the Honeywell Center.

Free concerts will be presented from 5-7 p.m. each Thursday in June beginning June 7.

The lineup includes:

June 7 – Tuxedo Junction

June 14 – The Time Travelers

June 21 – Three to One

June 28 – Mississinewa Valley Band (Ford Theater at 7:30 p.m.)
 

By Joseph Slacian
jslacian@thepaperofwabash.com

There’s no denying, Andy Williams had a major factor in the success the Osmond family has had in show business.

“He was my mentor, my friend,” Jimmy Osmond, the youngest of the Osmond siblings, told The Paper of Wabash County in a recent telephone interview. “I started performing over 50 years ago, when I was 3, on his show. My brothers were already going.”

Jimmy will bring the program, “Andy Williams: Moon River” to the Honeywell Center’s Ford Theater on Saturday, May 19.
 

Cason Myers (from left) looks on as Chelly Myers, Mayor Scott Long, former Mayor Robert Vanlandingham, Patty Grant, Adam Hall and Keith Gillenwater break ground for the Inclusive Park. Photo by Joseph Slacian. 

By Joseph Slacian

jslacian@thepaperofwabash.com

Ground was broken Wednesday afternoon for the city's Inclusive Park. More than two dozen individuals gathered to listen as officials spoke about the park going from a dream to soon being a reality.

Keith Gillenwater, President and CEO of Grow Wabash County and Mayor Scott Long spoke, as did park committee co-chairs Shelly Myers and Adam Hall. Patty Grant, Executive Director of the Community Foundation of Wabash County, also gave brief remarks.

All of those speaking noted that while the committee did the work, the park would not have been able to become a reality without the help of residents of Wabash, Wabash County and other locations around the state and country.
 

By Joseph Slacian
jslacian@thepaperofwabash.com

Voters around the State of Indiana will be taking to the polls on Tuesday, May 8, to choose candidates for local, state and federal seats up for election in November.

Locally, Republican voters will decide candidates for the Wabash County Council’s second and third districts. In addition, they will choose a candidate for Wabash County sheriff.

There also are some races for the township seats on both the trustee and advisory board level.

On the Democrat ballot, voters have no local races to decide. However, they do have races for the Indiana House and U.S. House of Representatives to cast votes in.
 

Corey Kelch

By Joseph Slacian
jslacian@thepaperofwabash.com

MARION – A citizen’s tip on Friday, May 4, led to the arrest of the second suspect in the death of a LaFontaine resident.

The unidentified citizen notified the Marion Police Department that the suspect, Corey Kelch, 22, Marion, was at a home at 1813 E. 38th St. in Marion.

Further investigation by the Marion Police as well as the Indiana State Police revealed that Kelch was most likely at the home, according to a news release Friday night from Sgt. Tony Slocum, the Public Information Officer at the Indiana State Police Post in Peru.

By Josh Sigler
jsigler@thepaperofwabash.com

Deciding what young adults are going to do with their lives following high school can be a daunting task for some.
Events like the interactive Career Expo on Wednesday, May 2, at the Honeywell Center are designed to help children find their career path a little easier in the coming years.

Students from all around the area, including Wabash City, MSD of Wabash County, North Manchester, Huntington and Heartland Career took part in the expo, which exposed students to countless potential career paths.