By Josh Sigler
jsigler@thepaperofwabash.com

The Wabash City Schools board accepted the resignation of O.J. Neighbours Elementary School Principal Danielle Miller at its Monday, June 18 meeting.

Miller was named the new principal at North Miami Elementary School earlier in the month.

"Danielle and I have worked together for a long time now," Superintendent Jason Callahan said. "I worked as a colleague with her. I came here 13 years ago. So, I've known Danielle as long as I've been at Wabash City Schools. It was difficult, but it's also bittersweet because Danielle is not just an employee. She's a friend. This is good for her family, so I am happy for that."

Wabash City Schools already has Miller’s replacement lined up.

Emily Tracy had been named O.J. Neighbours’ assistant principal for the 2018-19 school year, but will now move into the principal’s position.

Tracy had been an administrator in the Madison Grant School system but has children in the Wabash City Schools system.
"Emily is a highly committed educator," Callahan said. "She's been an administrator for nearly a decade, in either elementary or middle school education. She is, just like Danielle, very strong in curriculum and instructional leadership, She is highly committed to the community. Commitment to this community is very important to the DNA of Wabash City Schools."
 

By David Fenker
david@nmpaper.com

With the upcoming closing of the old Parkview Wabash Hospital facility, the county's morgue is in need of a new home.
As a temporary fix, the county commissioners signed a memorandum of understanding with Grandstaff-Hentgen Funeral Service Monday, June 25. County Attorney Steve Downs originally presented the memorandum at the commissioners' June 18 meeting.

“You're aware that the hospital is closing the morgue at the end of the month, and arrangements have been made with Grandstaff-Hentgen to store and autopsy bodies at their facility,” Downs said at the June 18 meeting … that will be effective when the morgue closes in the hospital, and will last until we find a permanent replacement location for the morgue.”

Per the memorandum, the county will pay Grandstaff-Hentgen $400 for a body stored and autopsied at the funeral service's Manchester Avenue location in Wabash. Bodies stored but not autopsied will incur a $200 per body cost.
 

Matt Cressell of Boomers Fireworks rearranges a display on Friday, June 22. With the Fourth of July quickly approaching, authorities are preaching firework safety to prevent as many injuries as possible. Photo By Josh Sigler

By Josh Sigler

jsigler@thepaperofwabash.com

While children and adults are out enjoying firework displays this season, the Wabash City Fire Department is asking the public to err on the side of caution to promote safety, prevent structure fires and limit injuries.

Firefighter Carl Hall says the most important aspect to discharging fireworks is to promote adult supervision for any children using fireworks.

People should keep their fireworks in a cool, dry place away from flames to prevent accidental ignition.

“Always make sure there is enough space for the fireworks,” Hall said. “In case something goes wrong, everyone will be a safe distance away.”

Fireworks should never be launched in a crowded area, nor should they be used indoors.

The fire department puts out public service announcements throughout the year to keep patrons up to speed on firework safety.

“Firework season seems to be so broad,” Hall said. “I’ve seen them used on New Year’s Eve, as well. There are laws that specifically spell out the time you can do fireworks – the time of the day and the time you have to quit.”
 

By Joseph Slacian
jslacian@thepaperofwabash.com

An unsafe building hearing scheduled for Thursday, June 21, before the Wabash Board of Public Works and Safety has been tabled until August.

Building Commissioner John Stephens told the board that the notices for the hearing were sent to everyone listed on a title search for the structure, located at 362 E. Hill St. However, the person listed as the owner, Oval King, passed away in 2007.

Stephens noted that there are four children listed in King’s obituary, and his department is working to contact those individuals.
 

By David Fenker
david@nmpaper.com

NORTH MANCHESTER -- In less than one week, North Manchester area residents have gathered more than enough signatures to put a controversial project to referendum this November.

Wabash County Clerk Elaine Martin confirmed on Tuesday, June 19, that 535 registered voters signed petitions requesting that Manchester Community Schools' proposed construction project, which is projected to cost around $26 million after interest.

The project includes safety renovations at all four MCS facilities, an advanced manufacturing lab, a new roof at Manchester Administration Office, turf for the Manchester Jr.-Sr. High School football field, and a roughly $15 million Squire Fieldhouse, to be built between MAO and MJSHS.
 

By David Brinson
news@thepaperofwabash.com

During the first weeks of June, Wabash County students (first through 12th grade) rehearse three separate musicals simultaneously throughout the Honeywell Center. It’s noisy. It’s frantic. It’s just a little messy. But ask any of the show’s directors, and they’ll admit that theater is often all those things.

The Visual and Performing Arts (VPA) Summer Theatre Camp lasts multiple weeks of practice and ends with the children putting on a big show in front of their family. With nearly 120 participants, the program takes up every available corner of the Honeywell Center. Educating and entertaining the community since 1984, VPA had been struggling to stay afloat until the Honeywell Foundation recently took the helm.
 

A look at one of the dressing rooms at the Rustic Barn at Hopewell. Photo by Joseph Slacian

By Joseph Slacian

jslacian@thepaperofwabash.com

Deb Conner has a lot of memories from her childhood about her grandparents’ dairy barn.

Today, she’s trying to help others create memories, not of watching the dairy cows be milked. Rather, the memories she’s helping to create are of the most important day in a couple’s life.
Conner and her husband, Steve, have converted the barn into a reception hall named the Rustic Barn at Hopewell.

Work began last summer and as of Saturday, June 16, two wedding receptions have taken place there. Many more are planned later this year, with nearly every weekend in September and October already booked.

Conner said she and a variety of work crews, the majority of which were local, put in hundreds of hours of work to get the barn in the condition it is in now.

By The Paper staff

Flagstar Bancorp, Inc. has signed a definitive agreement to acquire 52 Wells Fargo Bank branches in Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin and Ohio, including the Wabash branch.

The sale will provide Flagstar Bank with approximately $2.3 billion in deposits and $130 million in loans, along with certain related assets. Flagstar will pay an effective deposit premium of approximately 7 percent based on balances as of Dec. 31, 2017. Management expects the transaction will be moderately accretive to 2019 earnings per share.