By Josh Sigler
jsigler@thepaperofwabash.com

Superintendent Jason Callahan gave some insight as to where Wabash City Schools was in its process toward taking over the First Merchants Bank building as it prepares to move its administrative offices downtown, following Monday night’s school board meeting.

At a previous board meeting, the board voted to approve two appraisals on the property.

“We’re still waiting on the second appraisal to come in,” Callahan said. “Once we have that second appraisal in, we can start to negotiate price and move forward with that.”
 

By David Fenker
david@nmpaper.com

NORTH MANCHESTER -- After eight day-long courses, 26 up-and-coming Wabash County leaders are better prepared to lead in the workplace.

Continuing a decades-old program of the former Wabash County Chamber of Commerce, Grow Wabash County offered its first Wabash County Leadership Development course last November.

Grow Wabash County President and CEO Kieth Gillenwater said that before starting the class this year, the organization looked at past classes' feedback.

“We used the opportunity to go back and look at feedback from previous participants, and try to figure out, based upon the last few class's feedback, what can we do to make this program better, to be more responsive, because it had kind of stayed the same throughout that period of time,” Gillenwater said. “At that point, we realized there were some things we could do to make it more of a true leadership development program. We brought in a new facilitator … Jim Smith. Jim's a retired educator, retired superintendent, former principal here at Manchester High School, sat on the town council here in town.

“That was also important for me from the standpoint of, this is a countywide program. I wanted to bring in someone who wasn't necessarily a Wabash person.”
 

By The Paper staff

A Wabash County resident has received a Fulbright Scholarship.

Adam Benjamin Smith, son of Michael J. Smith and Julianne Tiede-Smith, received the Fulbright U.S. Student Program award to France from the U.S. Department of State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board.

Smith will support the teaching of English at Lycée Robert Doisneau in Lyon as part of a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship.

By Joseph Slacian
jslacian@thepaperofwabash.com

NORTH MANCHESTER -- A public meeting to discuss the possibility of merging Manchester Main Street and the North Manchester Chamber of Commerce is planned for 7 p.m. June 4 at the Manchester Firehouse.

The respective boards of directors of the two organizations are proposing to join together and create a more streamlined organization with the strength and agility to take advantage of opportunities and address challenges impacting our community.
 

By David Fenker

david@nmpaper.com

LAKETON -- Those hooked into Laketon's sewer system will see an increase of $5.60 in their monthly sewage bill beginning July 1.

The Laketon Area Regional Sewer District board of trustees met for a public hearing Thursday, May 17, to receive public input on the proposed increase. After the hearing, the board voted 4-0 (one member absent) to increase the rate from $59.40 to $65, effective July 1. The same ordinance provides for an additional increase of $4.65 effective July 1, 2019, to a rate of $69.65.

The increases stem in part from higher-than-expected operating costs, including a recent increase by the Town of North Manchester, which treats Laketon's sewage
 

By Josh Sigler
jsigler@thepaperofwabash.com

The Metropolitan School District of Wabash County’s board of education touched on an array of subjects at its Tuesday night, May 22 meeting.

Prior to the start of the meeting, board members met with Darren Bates of Data Pit Stop in a work session to get a glimpse into what the tax ramifications might be should MSD ever consolidate with Wabash City Schools.

Bates informed the board that the net assessed value of the property in the MSD school district is more than $775 million, while those properties in the Wabash City Schools district had a cumulative net assessed value of over $204 million.

“So, the taxable value is $979 million of the assessed value, which means MSD accounts for 79 percent of the taxes,” Bates said. “You have more people to pull from. Nearly 80 percent of the money is from the bigger base, the bigger area.”
 

By Joseph Slacian
jslacian@thepaperofwabash.com

A request by an attorney for Corey Kelch to receive bond was denied on Wednesday, May 16, by Wabash Circuit Court Judge Robert McCallen III.

Kelch, 22, Marion, was denied bond during an initial hearing May 7 on charges of felony murder and robbery, a Level 2 felony, in connection with the death of a LaFontaine man.

One of Kelch’s attorneys, Scott Lennox, requested bond be set for his client.
 

By Josh Sigler
jsigler@thepaperofwabash.com

Planting season in the Wabash County has gone about as well as anyone could’ve asked to this point in the season, according to Curt Campbell, Wabash County’s Purdue Extension educator.

In fact, he said this planting season has gone smoother than any he can remember in the last five or six years.
“We had that cold April where it was wet, and not being able to get in,” Campbell said. “But, boy, once we got in, things just really worked quickly. Guys really got in.”

“I’ve been at the Extension 10 years in the county, and I’d say this is the quickest we’ve got this much corn planted in the 10 years I’ve been there.”