By Joseph Slacian
jslacian@thepaperofwabash.com

A study from a group of Manchester University students suggests major changes to Market Street, east of Huntington Street, in downtown Wabash.

The students of Dr. Leonard Williams spent the last semester creating a policy analysis through collaboration with the university, the City of Wabash and Grow Wabash County.

The students interviewed residents, entrepreneurs, public officials and non-profit leaders about the needs, possibilities and challenges of redeveloping Market Street. They also collected and reviewed relevant housing and economic data.

The students presented their findings to the Wabash City Council on Monday, May 14.
 

By Josh Sigler
jsigler@thepaperofwabash.com

Prior to Monday night’s meeting, the members of the Metropolitan School District of Wabash County’s board of trustees heard a presentation from Jami Krynski of PSG Energy Group about the prospects of installing solar panels at Southwood High School during a scheduled work session.

According to Krynski, over a 25-year period, MSD could save as much as $1.8 million in energy bills from the installation of panels at just the one school.

“It’s savings,” Krynski said. “It’s savings that’s real, tangible and for a long time. In an era where schools are being challenged to do more with less, this is an application that can save them real money for a long period of time. There may be nothing out there that can save them as much over such a long period of time.”
 

By Josh Sigler
jsigler@thepaperofwabash.com

Dennis Starbuck served tours of duty during the Vietnam War, operating as a tank commander in the Marine Corps during his service oversees.

On his final flight home into San Francisco, instead of a hero’s welcome, Starbuck was subjected to extreme protests, with protesters spitting and throwing objects at he and his fellow veterans.

Some went as far as to scream obscenities at the veterans, calling them names such as “baby killers.”

Starbuck’s daughter, Denise Snavely, heard about those stories growing up. She went on to become a veteran herself, and it always bothered her that her father was treated so poorly on his return home from war.

She wanted to do something to rectify that, and found a way, helping Starbuck sign up and eventually served as his guardian on an Honor Flight, where veterans from World War II, Korea and Vietnam are flown out to Washington, D.C., and escorted to all the different monuments commemorating the wars.
 

Dr. Gregory Garner (center), president of Midwest Eye Consultants, poses with Self Reliance Award recipients (from left), Kaitlyn Jones, Nathan Ozenbaugh, Noah Cressell, and Kassandra Burchett. Photo by Joseph Slacian. 

 By Joseph Slacian

jslacian@thepaperofwabash.com

WABASH – A Manchester High School senior was among four Wabash County students honored Tuesday, May 15, at the 2018 Midwest Eye Consultants Self Reliance Award ceremony at the Honeywell Center.

Nathan Ozenbaugh was honored along with Kassandra Burchett and Noah Cressell, both of Wabash High School, and Kaitlyn Jones of Southwood High School.

The students each received a certificate and check for $2,000, which can be used for anything they wish.

The four were selected from a field of about 40 candidates. The Wabash Kiwanis Club overseas the program, including interviews with the various students selected as semifinalists.
 

By Joseph Slacian
jslacian@thepaperofwabash.com

Wabash’s Board of Public Works and Safety accepted two bids when it met on Thursday, May 17.

One bid was for the city’s phosphorus removal improvement project, and the other was for a new ambulance for the Wabash Fire Department. Both bids were received when the board met on May 3, but were taken under advisement for review.
 

By Joseph Slacian
jslacian@thepaperofwabash.com

A home at 610 High Street was declared unsafe and ordered demolished by the Wabash Board of Public Works and Safety on Thursday, May 17.

Building Commissioner John Stephens told the board that the home has been unoccupied for several years and has drawn complaints from neighbors. The yard has been unmaintained and the city has had to mow it since at least 2016, he said.
 

Students from Wabash Middle haul brush away to a waiting City of Wabash truck. Photo by Joseph Slacian

By Joseph Slacian
jslacian@thepaperofwabash.com

Visitors to the Wabash Riverfront Plaza will now have a better view of the Wabash River, thanks to the efforts of the city and several area organizations, and even students from the Wabash Middle School.

The groups spent Thursday evening, May 17, removing brush from the banks of the river, just west of the Wabash Street bridge. On Friday morning, May 18, the students loaded the trimmings into city trucks to be transported to the city’s brush recycling site.
 

Indiana State Police troopers salute their fallen comrades during a ceremony at the Peru Post. Photo by Joseph Slacian

By Joseph Slacian
jslacian@thepaperofwabash.com

PERU -- Local law enforcement officers, retired state police employees, local government officials, and family members joined troopers from the Indiana State Police Peru Post on Wednesday morning as they paid tribute to the 46 Indiana State Police employees who have died in the line of duty since the department’s inception in 1933.

The service started with troopers standing at attention as Capt. Dave Kirkham, Area I commander for the Indiana State Police, read a roll call of the fallen employees. Lt. Jeremy Kelly, commander of the Indiana State Police Peru Post, then provided a brief description of what lead to the fallen employees’ final call.