By Josh Sigler
jsigler@thepaperofwabash.com

Kyle Bowman was elected as chairman of the Wabash County Council at the council’s first meeting of the 2019 calendar year on Monday, Jan. 7.

“I appreciate the vote of confidence from my fellow council members electing me chair,” Bowman said. “As far as responsibilities, I feel the chair is more facilitating the meetings and making sure they are open for the council members as well as the public to feel free to come and speak and deliver their ideas, as well as reach out to us when they need direction of comment on issues.”
 

By Josh Sigler
jsigler@thepaperofwabash.com

The Wabash County board of Commissioners met to conduct regular business Monday morning, Jan. 14.

County Highway Superintendent John Martin presented a utility permit from Century Link to replace buried cable along County Road 200 North between county roads 700 and 800 West.

Martin informed the commissioners that the bid date for the County Road 1100 North reconstruction date would be set for February 4 at 9:15 a.m.

Sheriff Ryan Baker gave his weekly jail report at the meeting.
 

By Eric Christiansen
echristiansen@nmpaper.com

NORTH MANCHESTER -- Manchester Community Schools took another step in ensuring the safety of its students and staff this week.

Starting Monday, Jan. 14, MCS began using the Raptor Technologies Visitor Management system to check in all visitors to each school and the administration building. The system is an ID check process that is used in more than 2,000 school districts in the United States.

James Bishir, Manchester Jr.-Sr. High School assistant principal and district safety specialist explained what the Raptor system does and why it is important.
 

By Joseph Slacian
jslacian@thepaperofwabash.com

Brian Campbell is the new president of the Wabash Board of Parks and Recreation.

Campbell, who served as vice president last year, was elected to the post at the board’s first meeting of 2019, Wednesday, Jan. 9.

Campbell replaces Jon Baker, who retired from the board in December after more than 30 years of service.

Also elected were Kerri Mattern as board vice president and Rod Kelsheimer as board secretary.
 

By Josh Sigler
jsigler@thepaperofwabashcounty.com

Soon after Wabash City Schools hosted an active shooter training activity last summer, members of the community, including assistant principal Jeff Galley, school resource officer Sam Hipskind and assistant fire chief Andy Oswalt made the trip to Penn High School to witness an active shooter drill simulated during an extracurricular activity.

While they were there, Penn’s athletic department had a handout on what to do in case of an emergency situation at such an extracurricular event. Part of that handout included information on the corporation’s Safe School Helpline, a 24-7 anonymous reporting service.

Wabash officials thought that would be a useful resource for their own school district, and after working out the details, the district rolled out the helpline during the week of Jan. 7.
 

By Joseph Slacian
jslacian@thepaperofwabash.com

Filing is underway for the 2019 Municipal Elections in the various Wabash County communities.

As of Monday morning, residents from Wabash, North Manchester and Roann have filed paperwork at the Wabash County Courthouse for various seats.

In Wabash, Mayor Scott Long filed for re-election for another four years in office.
 

By Josh Sigler
jsigler@thepaperofwabash.com

Wabash High School was chosen by the Indiana Department of Education as a recipient of a Project Lead the Way (PLTW) Cybersecurity Course Grant, IDOE officials announced on Jan. 9.

The Cybersecurity Grant is an $8,000 grant to work with Project Lead The Way to create a cybersecurity course for the school’s PLTW program.

The funds are to be used to offset any costs associated with the implementation of the cybersecurity computer science course for the 2019-20 and 2020-21 school years.
 

By Joseph Slacian
jslacian@thepaperofwabash.com

Former Wabash County Coroner Carol Nose has entered a guilty plea in Wabash County Circuit Court to a charge of official misconduct, a level 6 felony.

Nose entered the plea on Monday, and Judge Robert McCallen III took the matter under advisement.

A sentencing hearing is set for 1 p.m. Feb. 18.