The 2018 Kathy Swan Award winners included (from left) Jack Gatchel, Dana Hueston, Zack Reed and Brandon Pearson. Photo by Josh Sigler

By Josh Sigler
jsigler@thepaperofwabash.com

Wabash City Schools’ board celebrated its Kathy Swan Award winners during an eventful meeting Monday, March 19.

Swan was a longtime teacher at Wabash High School who, according to Superintendent Jason Callahan, embodied the relationships that the school district wants out of its staff as it pertains to students.

Swan loved kids, and would seek out those students who worked hard and had a kind, good spirit, and would advocate for and champion them.

Tragically, she was lost in a plane crash in 2005.

“As (board member) Tony (Pulley) said, the board wanted to do something to keep her memory alive, and what she stood for alive,” Callahan said. “This has been an amazing award.”
 

Wabash County Veterans' Service Officer Sam Daugherty (left) speaks during the VA Town Hall in Laketon, Friday, March 16. Mike Stevens, from the Indianapolis  VA office, sits next to Daugherty. Photo by David Fenker. 

By David Fenker
david@nmpaper.com

LAKETON – Speaking to a full house, representatives from several offices associated with Veterans Affairs presented on a variety of topics at a recent town hall event.

The VA officials visited Laketon American Legion Post No. 402 for the fourth year in a row Friday, March 16, with Michael Stevens, regional director for the VA's Indianapolis office, leading the presentation.

Concerning issues currently facing veterans, Stevens noted that any veteran who served a total of 30 days at Camp Lejeune in North Caroline and has since developed one of several disabilities may be entitled to healthcare or compensation.
 

By Joseph Slacian
jslacian@thepaperofwabash.com

The Wabash River Trail wil host its second informational session on the trail’s development between Lagro and Wabash.

The meeting will be at 6 p.m. Wednesday, March 28, at the Lagro Community Building. The session will be run by Green 3, environmental consultants from Indianapolis, and members of the Wabash River Trail committee.

Bill Konyha will moderate a question and answer session.

Those in attendance will hear updates regarding the trail development within Lagro, the proposed trail alignment from Lagro to Wabash, and the connection to Paradise Spring’s River Walk.
 

By Joseph Slacian
Jslacian@thepaperofwabash.com

The Wabash Board of Parks and Recreation received three bids on Wednesday, March 14, to refurbish the big pavilion at Wabash City Park.

Bidding were:

D-T Construction Services, Silver Lake, $57,299. It also included a $900 option for an R-Loc metal roof (the base bid was for an M-Loc roof) and a bid of $8.33 per square foot to replace decking.

B’s Construction, Wabash, $40,346.80, with an option to wrap the fascia boards with painted aluminum for an additional $1,3000.

Masonry Solutions, Wabash, $49,886.42, with an additional $4,000 for the M-Loc Roof.

The matter was taken under advisement. 

By Joseph Slacian
jslacian@thepaperofwabash.com

Smith Masonry submitted a bid to demolish a wall at 131 S. Wabash St., to the Wabash Board of Public Works and Safety on Thursday, March 15.

The firm bid $14,900 for the work, which includes removing the brick veneer and capping the brick on 131 S. Wabash St.

The wall was placed to protect the bricks at 131 S. Wabash St. after the Masonic Lodge burned in the 1950s, Building Commissioner John Stephens said after the meeting.
 

By David Fenker
david@nmpaper.com

With no public comments during a 9 a.m. hearing, the  Wabash County Commissioners unanimously approved renewing a tax rate to fund county building repairs and replacements.

The cumulative capital development fund, re-established by county ordinance 2018-85-01 during the commissioners' March 12 meeting, now carries a maximum tax rate of .0333 on each $100 of assessed valuation, the same as when it was established in 2002.

The tax rate applies to 2018 taxes, payable 2019.

“This is restoration of the tax rate that was established on June 17, 2002, and the cumulative capital development fund is the fund we use for planned building repairs and replacement,” commissioner Barry Epply said.

By design, the tax rate for that fund decays over time.

“The plan now, going forward, is to routinely have this public hearing to keep tax rate at the rate established by the ordinance,” Epply said.
 

By Josh Sigler
jsigler@thepaperofwabash.com

A special U.S. Congress election won by a Democrat in Pennsylvania has given Mel Hall, a Democratic candidate for Indiana’s  Second U.S. House District, an enhanced sense of hopefulness and confidence as the May 8 primary nears.

Hall is one of six candidates on the Democrat ballot.

Democrat Conor Lamb won the Pennsylvania’s 18th District’s special election over Republican Rick Saccone by a slim margin in a district won by President Donald Trump by 20 points.

Indiana’s Second District was also won by Trump by 20 points.

During a meeting with The Paper staff Thursday, March 15, Hall said Lamb was successful because he focused on economics, healthcare and what Democrats are for.

“(Lamb) worked really hard,” Hall said. “And, I don’t think there is any substitute in any line of work, whether it’s farming or newspaper writing or editing, or starting and running a business – there’s no substitute for hard work. That’s what we’re doing. We do this full time.

“Candidates who are willing, and say it right out front, ‘I’m going to work across the aisle,’ candidates who work hard, and candidates who are more focused on getting something done than being ideological which puts us at opposite ends – that’s the formula that works,” Hall added.
 

Indiana Supreme Court Justice Christopher Goff addresses students at the Metropolitan School District of Wabash County academic recognition banquet on Tuesday, March 13. 

By Josh Sigler

jsigler@thepaperofwabash.com

Long before he became an Indiana Supreme Court Justice, Christopher Goff was a student at Southwood High School.

By his own admission, he was a pretty average student, unlike the honor students he addressed at the Tuesday, March 13, academic honors recognition banquet for Metropolitan School District of Wabash County seniors, held at the Honeywell Center.

“The lessons I learned at MSD were lessons that have stayed with me in my life,” Goff said. “I always hoped when I’m invited to speak at something like this, that I can share some things that might be helpful to you as you make this transition into another important stage in your life. “