Archive - Oct 2012 - News Article
October 17th
After an hour-long public hearing Tuesday night in which city officials were challenged to stand up to "bullying tactics" by the federal government, Decatur City Council unanimously passed a 50 percent sewer rate increase which will go into effect with the next billing cycle.
Rates initially will rise 37 percent, then another 4 percent a year later; then, probably, another 7 percent in the third year of a three-phase project, Meanwhile, the city will float a $3 million bond issue.
"When are we going to stand up and say we're not going to do this any longer," Cross Creek resident Greg Litchfield asked Mayor John Schultz and Decatur City Council Tuesday night in reference to an Indiana Department of Environmental (IDEM) mandate and a three-year sewage rate increase imposed later.
Litchfield, a Cross Creek resident, was speaking at a public hearing held within the regular city council meeting on Tuesday night. The hearing lasted one hour.
An unusual mishap occurred at 10:20 a.m. Tuesday in Decatur when a cement truck owned by the Erie Haven Cement Company struck a low-hanging, overhead power line on Fourth Street near Monroe Street.
The contact caused one AEP pole to break. Unaware that he had struck the wire, driver Joel E. Christian, 46, rural Decatur, continued down the street until the truck hit another wire, forcing two utility poles to snap.
One of the poles fell onto a parked SUV owned by Carl M. Shaw, Decatur.
October 16th
Finally some good news regarding the renovation project on the Adams County Courthouse. After initially believing contractors were going to need to replace an additional 500-700 bricks, that number has been dropped to approximately 50 bricks, according to Dave Meyer of building maintenance.
The Adams Central High School Marching Band is now ranked among the top 20 Class D bands in the state and has qualified for the Indiana State Music School Association (ISSMA) Semistate competition.
Last Saturday, marching bands from throughout Indiana competed in regional ISSMA contests at four sites: Chesterton High School, Center Grove High School in Greenwood, Evansville Central High School and Lafayette Jefferson High School.
Who maintains which roads in the Decatur area should now be a lot less confusing.
Decatur City Attorney Tim Baker, Adams County Highway Department Superintendent Mark Mitchel, and the city's Street/Sanitation Superintendent Jeremy Gilbert met with the Adams County Commissioners Monday to discuss giving certain streets that currently belong to the county over to the city.
October 15th
Prison sentences were handed down recently in Adams Circuit Court, including two to Decatur residents.
Wesley A. Lanning, 23, Portland, received prison time after recently pleading guilty in Adams Circuit Court to child molesting.
He was sentenced to four years in prison, with two years suspended, by Judge Fredrick A. Schurger.
An anonymous donor recently presented Adams Central with a $10,000 donation meant to be used to help AC families in need, according to Superintendent Mike Pettibone.
Pettibone told the Adams Central Board of Education Tuesday that he is "continually impressed with generosity and compassion of the Monroe community."
Two people have been arrested in connection with a case that resulted in two children being removed from the custody of their parents and a home at 104 S. 11th street being condemned by the Adams County Health Department.
Jason C. Hausauer, 42, and Sondra D. Hausauer, 37, both of Decatur, were arrested Thursday and charged with neglect of a dependent, according to police records.
October 12th
A seven year-old Decatur youth, Greyson P. Reed, W. Madison Street, was listed in fair condition this morning at Parkview Hospital in Fort Wayne where he is a patient after being struck by a pickup truck at 7:16 a.m. Thursday on N. 13th Street.
The condition listed today by Parkview officials is a huge improvement as the Northwest Elementary School student was initially listed in critical condition Thursday afternoon, suffering from head and back injuries.
