By Shaun Tilghman

NORTH MANCHESTER -- Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) Office of eLearning recently announced that Manchester Community Schools (MCS) was chosen as one of the recipients of a 2015 Digital Learning Grant.

MCS Curriculum Director Sue Gnagy shared the good news during the March MCS Board of School Trustees meeting.

“We learned yesterday that we received a Digital Learning Grant from the IDOE for $100,000,” said Gnagy.

The IDOE website states that the Digital Learning Grant supports districts ready to launch thoughtful 1:1 implementation plans, which involves each  student receiving a technology device to supplement class instruction.

By Joseph Slacian

URBANA -- Nine local agencies to receive a portion of $10,000 distributed Tuesday afternoon, March 24, by the Wabash County United Fund.

The funds, distributed during a ceremony at the Urbana Community Center, are the result of the partnership between the United Fund and Wabash Cannonball Chili for Charity.

Eight of the organizations – including the Manchester Recreation Association, the Manchester Early Learning Center and the Learn More Center, all based in North Manchester – received $1,000. A ninth organization, the Honeywell Center’s Educational Outreach Program, received $2,000.

By Emma Rausch

On April 10, the March of Dimes will be hosting a Zumba-thon at the Wabash County YMCA, announced Pat Vanlandingham, a member on the Wabash chapter’s planning committee.

The event was created to raise funds that benefit the March for Babies, a walkathon that supports community-based programs to help moms have healthy, full-term pregnancies. Currently, the committee is still seeking an ambassador family for the Wabash March for Babies event on May 2.

As an ambassador, a family would share their premature baby’s story of struggling through the early birth as well as sharing precious moments with their child.

Currently, the Huntington-based Drummond family will be sharing their story of their daughter Carter, but Vanlandingham said that she hopes a local family will also come forward to be recognized.

By Joseph Slacian

The congregation of the New Journey Community Church dedicated its new facility on Sunday, March 29.

The church, which has been meeting at the Honeywell Center, recently purchased the former W.C. Mills Elementary School from the Wabash City Schools Corporation.

“We’re glad to be in a permanent home,” lead pastor Tom Cochran told The Paper of Wabash County on Thursday, March 26, three days before the Palm Sunday celebration. “Five years as a mobile church was fun and good, and the Honeywell Center was a blessing, but it’s good to be settled.

“It’s good to be spread out to allow ourselves to do things we always wanted to do, but just couldn’t because we didn’t have a permanent space.”

The church has several projects planned, now that it has a permanent home.

By Emma Rausch

Gov. Mike Pence’s decision to sign the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) on Thursday March 26 is not anticipated to cause any major concerns locally, according to Robert Vanlandingham, City of Wabash mayor.

Specifically, the new law, also known as Senate Bill (S.B.) 101, states that a person, organization, or company may “exercise practices that are compelled or limited by a system of religious belief,” which means that a person or company may run their businesses in accordance with their religious beliefs.

However, the act sparked controversy and nationwide outcry after the law’s opponents claimed that, under the new state law, companies and organizations can openly discriminate against citizens that do not conform to Christian beliefs, such as the lesbian, gay, and transgender community.

By Joe Slacian

Gov. Mike Pence on Thursday signed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. The signing took place during a private ceremony in his office at the Indiana Statehouse.

The following statement was released following the signing:

“Today I signed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, because I support the freedom of religion for every Hoosier of every faith.

“The Constitution of the United States and the Indiana Constitution both provide strong recognition of the freedom of religion but today, many people of faith feel their religious liberty is under attack by government action."

A Wabash Police officer enters the Plaza Mini Mart on Friday afternoon. Photo by Joseph Slacian

By The Paper staff

A burglary at Plaza Mini Mart last week led Wabash Police to make two arrests.

One of the arrests was in connection with the burglary. The second stemmed from a search that took place at the business over several days.

Sgt. Matt Benson, the Wabash Police Department’s Public Information Officer, said Saturday morning that police responded to a burglar alarm at Plaza Mini Mart, 180 Harrison Ave., at about 4:40 a.m. Tuesday, March 17.

By Joseph Slacian

The Wabash County Sheriff’s Department is seeking the public’s help in solving a string of 10 burglaries that have taken place in Wabash County in recent weeks.

The burglaries, most of which have occurred during the day light hours, have taken place throughout the county, Sheriff Bob Land told The Paper of Wabash County.

There is no description of the suspects, nor is there a description of any vehicle that may be involved in the burglaries, the sheriff added.