By Joseph Slacian

The Wabash County Jail passed its Feb. 9 inspection by representatives of the Indiana Department of Corrections.

However, Sheriff Bob Land informed Wabash County Commissioners, there are some concerns highlighted in the report.

“Really it’s the same things we’ve gone over,” he said of the problems. “The lighting still doesn’t conform to today’s standards.”

Wabash High School students (from left) Chaney Byers and Vali Reed put purple frosting on cupcakes as part of their Cupcake Wars display featuring Cookie Monster. Photo by Joseph Slacian

By Joseph Slacian

Sixteen teams of students from Wabash High School competed in Cupcake Wars on Thursday morning, Feb. 26, during the school's monthly Artist Lecture Series program.

The students had a variety of themes ranging from the 1980s to Cookie Monster and from Wabash High School girls' basketball to "Lady and the Tramp."

The Artist Lecture Series, offered through the WHS library, has been a part of lunchtime offering for about 25 years. This is the second time Cupcake Wars took place at WHS. The first time, according to coordinator Jeannie Cooper, was two years ago.

Comedian Karen Mills will take the Eagles Theatre stage as act two in the Thursday Night Comedy series. A 22-year comedian, touring as the opening act for Jon Stewart from “The Daily Show,” Mills said the Wabash crowd should expect an evening of fun and hard laughs. Photo provided

By Emma Rausch

On Thursday, March 5, Karen Mills takes the stage with her stand-up at the Eagles Theatre as act two in the Thursday Night Comedy series. Comedian and television personality Trish Suhr will perform as the opening act for the evening.

Mills began her comedic career after taking acting classes when she lived in Atlanta.

“I had watched the ‘Tonight Show’ and different things that had comedians on and I just kept feeling that I could do that,” she said in an interview with The Paper. “Finally I got the courage to go to open mic night at The Punchline and the manager at the time said, ‘You know I really think you could do this for a living. You just really need to work on your material and build your time.’”

Karen Land holds her retired sled dog Romano while audience participants pet him and ask follow-up questions after her program at the Wabash Carnegie Public Library. Land is a three-time Iditarod participant who currently tours the nation to talk about her experience and answer questions about her dogs, the race, and what it took to become a sled dog musher. Photo by Emma Rausch

By Emma Rausch

Three-time Iditarod Sled Dog Race participant Karen Land presented a discussion at the Wabash Carnegie Public Library on Feb. 28.

With her retired sled dog, Romano, who she said was “just there to be a pretty face,” Land discussed the ins and outs of the Iditarod with an audience of 20 people, covering topics including dog care, some of the obstacles a musher might face during the race, and the benefits that have come from the race.

“Sled dogs are incredibly unique animals so (veterinarians) have been able to use and study their physiology to help other dogs and even humans,” she said.

Chartwells employees Denise Yocum and Diana Stephan help Access youth make superhero capes on Family Night at AYC.  Chartwell's provided the supplies to make the capes. Photo provided

By Joseph Slacian

NORTH MANCHESTER – Workers at Chartwells are volunteering their time this school year to help officials and youngsters at The Access Youth Center in downtown Wabash.

The volunteers provide a variety of services and programs for The Access, located at 74 W. Canal St.

“Each year we try to do some kind of service project,” said Nancy Gjertson, Chartwells’ Director of Dining Services at Manchester University. “Typically we’ve been doing Relay for Life. This year, we wanted to direct the activities to engage our staff outside of the workplace because they really like to give and they love being a part of other activies we’ve done. We wanted to see if we could make an impact on one place.”

By Emma Rausch

A longtime Wabash business man, John W. “Jack” Miller, passed away on Wednesday, Feb. 18, at Lutheran Hospital in Fort Wayne. He was 87.

A U.S. Army veteran, Miller was the founder and co-owner of Miller Furniture in Wabash, which opened in 1954, with his business partner Hubert G. Vrooman. He retired from the business in 1994. He also was involved with a variety of local organizations, including Wabash Community Service Board, the Peabody Foundation Board, and the Falls Cemetery Board.

He was a longtime member of the Presbyterian Church in Wabash, where he served as elder, deacon, Sunday school teacher, and also enjoyed singing in the choir. He also was a member of the Wabash Kiwanis Club, and is a past president of the organization.

Steve Furnas holds a player's batting glove while standing in the coaching box in recent years. Photo provided

By Joseph Slacian

In 30 years as a youth baseball coach, Wabash resident Steve Furnas has been involved in hundreds of games – 688 games, to be exact.

But don’t ask him his winning percentage. That, he is quick to note, is something he doesn’t know.

“Why are you there as a coach?” he asked rhetorically during an interview with The Paper of Wabash County. “It’s not about the wins. It’s about teaching.”

Furnas, who has coached in T-Ball, Little League, Babe Ruth, Junior-Senior League and American Legion Ball, has decided to step away.

“I figured at the 30-year mark maybe it was just time to hang it up,” he said.

By Emma Rausch

Early voting hours will be reduced to four hours per day this year for the city and town Primary elections, Wabash County Election Board. Decided Friday, Feb. 20. Also, early voting will be available for two weeks prior to Election Day instead of the usual four weeks prior to election.

In addition, the board also decided to eliminate the Democrat ballot in North Manchester and LaFontaine due to no races. Lagro will not be having a Primary since there are no contested races.

County Clerk Elaine Martin said that hours were shortened from seven hours last year down to four hours for the upcoming Primary early voting period, including the Saturday early voting days.