By Joseph Slacian
jslacian@thepaperofwabash.com

The Wabash Board of Public Works and Safety took two sets of bids under advisement when it met on Thursday, May 3.
One set of bids was for a new ambulance for the Wabash Fire Department, while the second set was for the city’s phosphorus removal project.

Bidding for the ambulance were Horton Emergency Vehicles – Robert Brew Midwest Sales, 187,351, and Crossroads Ambulance Sales and Service, Middlebury, $171,600.

Bidding on the phosphorus removal project were James S. Jackson Co., Bluffton, $585,701; Mason Engineering and Construction, Fort Wayne, $590,000; Ottenweller Contracting, Fort Wayne, $869,000, and Thieneman Construction, Westfield, $747,000.
 

By Josh Sigler
jsigler@thepaperofwabash.com

The Metropolitan School District of Wabash County Board of Education approved the reinstatement of some elementary school sports programs at the Tuesday, April 24 meeting.

Sixth grade volleyball and sixth grade girls and boys basketball will be among the new offerings for the 2018-19 school year at Sharp Creek Elementary and Southwood Elementary.

The goal is to offer additional teams the following school year.

The additions will require the district to hire additional coaches the program, and the board approved the purchase of a new activity bus to help with the influx of athletes in the programs.

“The benefits are being able to allow the students to have more opportunities to be able to be involved in after school programs, and to also build the programs up into the junior high and high school,” Superintendent Mike Keaffaber said. “It’s fantastic. I’m happy that the board approved it, and that we are able to offer other opportunities. So, we are very excited to offer this opportunity to the kids. And, it is revitalized with more rigor, We want to be able to have it to be a very formalized program for our students.”
 

By Joseph Slacian
jslacian@thepaperofwabash.com

Two people with ties to Wabash County were among the area officials to sign a Code of Ethics agreement sponsored by the Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership.

Wabash Mayor Scott Long and Bill Konyha, president of the Regional Chamber of Northeast Indiana, were among the officials signing the document during a ceremony April 18 in Fort Wayne.

The document, signed by officials in from all 11 counties in Northeast Indiana, is designed to serve as a public proclamation of the region’s commitment to higher levels of performance and accountability through a culture of trust and respect.
 

By Joseph Slacian
jslacian@thepaperofwabash.com

The Wabash Board of Public Works and Safety ordered one home demolished. Meanwhile, the board agreed to work with the owner’s representatives on a second home, tabled action on a third home and heard complaints about a fourth during its meeting on Thursday, May 3.

The board ordered a home at 978 Mill St. owned by Michael and Colleen Wilcox to be demolished.

Building Commissioner John Stephens told the board that the roof is bad and has been leaking, causing damage to the home’s interior.

It has been vacant for two or three years, he continued, and should be considered a fire hazard.
 

Crews begin work to disassemble the Teague Barn on Millcreek Pike, a structure that has a storied pas in Wabash County. 

By Josh Sigler
jsigler@thepaperofwabash.com

The historic Teague Barn is getting a new home.

After years of deterioration and restoration efforts, the barn on Millcreek Pike has found a new home as a wedding venue in Fremont County, Colo.

Marilyn Miller, who’s mother- and father-in-law lived on the property from 1960 until the Winer family purchased it in 2014, tried for years to fund raise and think of ways to restore the barn, which was originally built in 1861.

The Winers sought estimates on how much the barn would cost to restore, and opted to try to sell it. Midwest Lumber out of Flora came to the forefront to purchase the barn, and then sold it to an Amish company in Colorado.

The barn will be fully restored to the way it looked in Wabash County, and will be used as a wedding venue.
 

By Josh Sigler
jsigler@thepaperofwabash.com

FORT WAYNE – Jurisdictions participating in Northeast Indiana's Permitting Excellence Coalition (PEC) were honored at a permitting recognition reception Wednesday, April 18, hosted by the Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership and the HPG Network.

The City of Wabash was among those participating.

Streamlined business permitting is a top priority in the region's business attraction efforts through the Vision 2030 initiative, spearheaded by the Regional Partnership. The HPG Network, a non-profit organization dedicated to cultivating thriving communities, manages the PEC on behalf of the Regional Partnership. The collaborative effort aims to increase Northeast Indiana’s business-friendly environment by making it easier and faster for companies to obtain appropriate permits to build and expand in the region, encouraging economic growth.

By Josh Sigler
jsigler@thepaperofwabash.com

A Kokomo man will spend the next four years behind bars for causing a crash while intoxicated that killed one of his passengers in 2016.

Dakota Jackson, 25, was sentenced April 25 to five years in prison, with one year suspended with probation on a charge of operating while intoxicated causing death, and another two years for operating a vehicle while intoxicated causing serious bodily harm.

The sentences are to be served concurrently.
 

The winning design, drawn by Wabash senior Olivia Hipskind. 

By Joseph Slacian
jslacian@thepaperofwabash.com

A Wabash High School senior’s artwork was selected as the logo for the 2018 Wabash Cannonball Chili for Charity Chili Cook-off.

Olivia Hipskind was notified of the decision by members of the chili committee on Wednesday, April 25, during a meeting of the Best of the Best art program.

Chili Committee members asked the students in the program, which has received funding from the chili cook-off in past years, to design logos to be used on T-shirts and sweatshirts at this year’s event. The committee then judged the entries and chose the winner.

“We liked a lot of them,” committee member Wade Weaver told the group. “You guys did a good job. But we did have to come up with one.”