Archive - News Article
March 9th, 2011
The long and drawn out saga surrounding how members of the North Adams school board are seated may finally be over. Board members voted on Tuesday evening to accept a citizens' petition that calls for board members to be elected, effectively replacing the school district's 40-year method of filling board seats by appointment.
Barring an 11th-hour remonstrance from citizens who prefer to retain the appointment method of filling seats, board members will be elected, on a staggered basis, beginning in 2012.
Scott Litwiller will no longer be the acting superintendent of South Adams Schools.
At their meeting on Tuesday, school board members (except for Steve Dobler, who was absent) unanimously approved Litwiller for a four-year contract as superintendent, effective July 1, 2011.
March 8th
Rainfall expected late tonight in Decatur and Adams County isn't expected to renew severe flooding woes here.
The St. Marys River has fallen another foot overnight and stood at 18.2 feet at 7 a.m. today, local weather station officials said. The river crested at 22.3 last Thursday.
The National Weather Service said this morning that there is a slight chance of rain in the Decatur area tonight, then a 100 percent chance of rain and possibly a thunderstorm after 1 a.m.
An emergency was declared by the Adams County commissioners on Monday, but not involving snow or floods or tornadoes.
The "emergency" was merely a technical legal maneuver to allow up to $13,500 be spent to made Adams Superior Court handicap-accessible by installing doors and automatic door-opening systems.
March 7th
Floodwaters were continuing to recede in Decatur and Adams County today and at this time, the National Weather Service sees no major threat from rainfall now forecast to return Tuesday night.
The St. Marys River was down to 19.2 feet in Decatur this morning, after having crested at 22.49 feet on Thursday — a fall of more than three feet. The only weekend precipitation here came Saturday, .22 of an inch.
US 224 at Jackson St. was reopened to traffic slightly before 4 p.m. Friday.
The Rick Hill case is officially over and the State of Indiana won.
Adams Superior Court Judge Patrick R. Miller said Thursday that the Indiana Supreme Court denied transfer of Hill's appeal from a ruling by the Indiana Court of Appeals that upheld the conviction and the sentencing.
Miller oversaw the jury trial of Hill in January of 2010 on multiple charges of animal cruelty in regard to horses Hill owned,
March 4th
The good news: The St. Marys River was rapidly falling in Decatur this morning.
The bad news: Rain was not only imminent this morning, but the National Weather Service says heavy rainfall is possible.
The St. Marys crested overnight at about 22.3 feet, then began receding. By 7 a.m. today, it stood at 21.48 feet.
It's all over for the elementary schools at Monroeville and Harlan.
The East Allen County Schools Board voted 4-2 on Tuesday night to close Monroeville Elementary School in a money-saving consolidation plan. Board members Richard Allgeier and Neil Reynolds voted against the change.
The vote on closing Harlan Elementary was unanimous.
March 3rd
Despite one of the harshest winters in recent memory, spring nonetheless is in the air.
That means that golf carts are coming out of winter storage. And accordingly, complaints about restrictions on the operation of those vehicles are beginning to find their way to public officials.
Such is the case in Berne, where Mayor John Minch on Monday evening updated the city council on a "golf cart situation" which has resurfaced there.
Conditions were mostly on hold in Decatur and Adams County today as everyone waits to see what happens in the next 48 or so hours.
"Not a lot has changed. Everything that was closed yesterday is still closed today," Decatur Street/Sanitation Superintendent Jeremy Gilbert said early this morning.
