Heartland Career Center in Wabash recently had four programs certified as State Earn and Learns (SEALs), enabling students to graduate with industry credentials, college credits and valuable work and learn experiences with local employers.

The four SEALs are: welding; health sciences; precision agriculture; and precision machining. Students enrolled in the programs receive industry-tailored instruction, on-the-job-training and opportunities to continue their education or enter the workforce upon graduation.

The Indiana Department of Workforce Development (DWD) is helping to skill-up the state’s workforce by developing and facilitating comprehensive work-based learning programs with education and industry partners, offering SEAL programs to employers and education partners through its Office of Work-Based Learning and Apprenticeship (OWBLA).

A Safe Haven Baby Box will soon be coming to one of the City of Wabash’s fire stations.

The Wabash Board of Public Works and Safety approved an agreement Thursday, Aug. 6, with the LIFE Center to install the Baby Box at one of the stations.

A Baby Box is typically installed at either a fire station or a hospital and allow people to safely surrender their babies to authorities.

An alarm rings when the door to the box is open. A second alarm rings when the baby is placed inside a bassinette inside the box, and a third alarm rings when the door is shut. Personnel respond to the alarm within minutes to begin caring for the infant.

During First Friday on Aug. 7 in Downtown Wabash, locals joined at the corner of Canal and Miami Streets to celebrate the official dedication of some public art.

The event honored the installation of fifteen decorative art wraps on traffic control boxes throughout Wabash and North Manchester. The project was a partnership between Visit Wabash County, City of Wabash, Town of North Manchester, Manchester Alive, INDOT, OCRA, Bad Apple Graphics, and Wabash Marketplace.

The large, metal boxes at prominent intersections are wrapped in famous works of art. In addition, two of the designs feature artwork by local artists.

The Wabash City School board members met on Monday Aug. 3 to conduct business.
During this meeting, the board dealt with personnel changes including hirings, resignations, and extensions of administrator contracts.
Extended administrator contracts were approved for the following:
Jason Callahan, Superintendent of Schools, 260 days, first of three-year contract.
Matt Stone, CFO/COO, 240 days, first of two-year contract.
Josh Blossom, Ivy Tech and College Career Director, 240 days, first of two-year contract.
Kyle Wieland, principal at Wabash High School, 220 days, first of two-year contract.
Mike Mattern, principal at Wabash Middle School, 210 days, first of two-year contract.
Emily Tracy, principal at O.J. Neighbours Elementary School, 205 day, first of two-year contract.
Jeff Galley, assistant principal at Wabash High School, 205 days, first of two-year contract.
Beth Phillipy, assistant principal at O.J. Neighbours Elementary School, 2015 days, first of two-year contract.
Floyd McWhirt, athletic director, 205 days, first of two-year contract.
Justin Vail, director of technology integration, 220 days, first of two-year contract.

A 37-year-old man is being held on charges of murder in connection with the death of his young son.

The man, Anthony Dibiah, Indianapolis, is accused of killing his 10-year-old son, Nakota Kelly, a Wabash resident and student at Sharp Creek Elementary school.

Dibiah was being held in Macon County, Mo., where he was found on July 21. On Friday, a Missouri judge ordered Dibiah to be extradited to Indiana where he will face charges.

On the evening of Saturday, July 18, Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department responded to a 911 call from a relative of Dibiah saying that he had just had a phone conversation with Dibiah in which he allegedly admitted to killing his son.

Upon arriving at the Indianapolis apartment, officers knocked on the door, and after receiving no answer, left the premises with no reason for forced entry.

On Sunday morning, 911 received another call from a friend of Dibiah stating that Dibiah allegedly had asked to borrow a suitcase and then admitted once again to killing his son.

IMPD arrived on the scene once again with more reason for forced entry. Blood was allegedly found at the entryway of the apartment along with in the bathroom. Neither Dibiah or Nakota were at the scene.

For months, Mississinewa Battlefield Society officials held out hope that they would be able to have their annual event this coming fall.

But with the alarming spike in COVID-19 cases throughout the country, they made the difficult decision to cancel Mississinewa 1812, originally scheduled for October 9-11.

“It is with great sorrow that we announce that Mississinewa 1812, which was scheduled to take place has been cancelled,” the Mississinewa Battlefield Society released in a statement earlier this week. “The executive officers and directors of the Mississinewa Battlefield Society did not make this decision lightly, and followed the course of due diligence as far as it possibly could while allowing for reopening phases to occur, which resulted in the realization that due to the unpredictable risk that COVID-19 presents to our participants and visitors, and the inability to fully secure a safe and socially distant environment that would meet the State and Local requirements, we have been forced to cancel our 33rd year.

True, it was about six weeks late, but the 2020 senior class of Southwood High School had its commencement ceremony on Sunday, July 19.

The ceremony was filled with both laughter and tears, as an impromptu pep rally took place to make up for one that was canceled in March as the Knights’ basketball team prepared for its regional basketball contest. The IHSAA postponed and ultimately canceled the remainder of the boys basketball tourney, as well as the entire spring sports schedule.

The tears came as Valedictorian Daisy Sparks reflected on those who touched her life along her school career, including her late grandmother.

Attendance at the commencement was limited due to the state’s COVID-19 pandemic guidelines. Those in attendance sat spaced apart, as did the graduates and faculty members attending the event. Several – students, staff and guests – wore masks during the ceremony.

It also was one of the topics mentioned in Sparks’ speech.

Just as a global pandemic couldn’t stop, members of the Northfield High School Class of 2020 from having a commencement ceremony, a mid-summer rain storm couldn’t impact the Sunday, June 19, ceremony.

Just as Allysa Haupert was giving her welcome to the students, faculty and audience in attendance, the skies opened up and rain beat down on the metal roof of the Northfield gym. The sound brought a slight laugh from Haupert as well as several students and audience members, but the show went on.

Co-valedictorians Levi Fulkerson and Alyssa McKillip each addressed the crowd, limited in size due to the state’s COVID-19 guidelines. Each student received two tickets to the ceremony, and those in the crowd practiced social distancing throughout the ceremony.

Fulkerson thanked the Northfield teachers and staff for their efforts through the years. He also thanked his parents and siblings.