Banner Graphic, Volume 18, Number 118, Greencastle, Putnam County, 26 January 1988 — Page 1
Banner Graphic Greencastle, Putnam County, Tuesday, January 26,1988 Vol. 18 No. 118 25 Cents
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Okay, snow Is swirling, the wind-chiß factor is down around your ankles and Jack Frost has already nipped off your nose. Winter’s here and the time’s not right for dancing in the street, so you’ve got to keep your sense of humor. Jim Grimes of
We’ve been waitin’ on the railroad
By ERIC BERNSEE Banner-Graphic Editor Railroad tracks ... clickety-clack...clickety-clack. They can lull you to sleep. Day after day you drive over them without a second thought But when you least expect it, they derail your front-end alignment or shatter your shocks. Or worse, they stop you dead in your tracks. The latter appears to be happening with increased regularity in Greencastle these days. Bill Lawrence advised the Board of Works of longer-than-usual backups last week, wondering what, if anything, could be done about the railroad crossing at the north end of Greencastle. AT LEAST TWICE LAST week traffic backed up around the square, congestion normally reserved for opening night of the Putnam County Fair. But, as Lawrence told his fellow board members, cause of the congestion were slow-moving freight trains. Now that’s not exactly earth-shattering news. Railroad tracks have virtually encircled Greencastle since the Turn of the Century. And getting stuck at a railroad crossing is something most Putnam County people don’t worry about... Until it happens to you. A couple of minutes after 6 p.m. Sunday, I was leaving Kroger with milk for Monday’s breakfast and M & M’s for the drive home. The diesel Luv turned over with its customary bumps and grinds, only to be out-decibeled by
Peeler Pottery turns into glass menagerie
REELSVILLE Saturday afternoon, Marj Peeler of the Peeler Pottery, Route 1, Reelsville, was working with clay when she was astonished to hear the sound of crashing glass. She went into the packing room at the pottery to find pieces of glass strewn all over the room and a jagged hole about 9-12 inches in diameter through the storm window and window pane. SHE PRESUMED a hunter must have shot the glass out, but there was no one outside. Returning to the packing room, she discovered a very stunned hawk behind a box.
Less than zero
Clearing and bitterly cold overnight with low near 5 below. Mostly sunny and continued cold on Wednesday with high near 15. Indiana Extended Outlook Thursday through Saturday: Clear and cold Thursday. Highs in the middle 20s to lower 30s. Highs Friday and Saturday from the middle 30s north to upper 40s south. Lows both days in the 20s.
Greencastle Decorating certainly has, coming up with an optimistic sign of spring at his Indianapolis Road store Monday. It may now be 55 days until spring as of Tuesday, but the a groundhog’s shadow to worry
Daze Work
the ominous chug-chug-chug of an eastbound freight BUT BEFORE IT COULD hit Jackson Street the train was making its way east through town destined to angle back north toward Lafayette. I optimistically viewed the inconvenience as a way to see about recent complaints firsthand. I even logged in the time after finding a brown coloring pencil in the glove compartment: “Eastbound freight, 6:05 p.m. The fellow in front of me flipped on his interior light to read what appeared to be the Sunday paper. The guy in the truck behind turned off his headlights and looked like he needed a snooze. I hadn’t had time to consider shutting off the engine or letting her idle before a westbound train crossed our path at 6:09 p.m. It chugged toward the North Jackson Street crossing and screeched to a halt. The eastbound train
Mrs. Peeler grabbed a sheet of thin plastic and quickly threw it over the head and wings of the hawk, carrying it outside. The hawk staggered about, but appeared to be without cuts or broken parts. And it soon flew off, leaving Marj with the task of covering a broken window and picking up broken glass. “THE HAWK must have been diving very fast to hit with enough force to shatter two panes of glass and scattered pieces of glass 12 feet across the room,” Mrs. Peeler said. “I’m amazed that the hawk didn’t break its neck, but I’ll bet it had one terrible headache!”
Index Abby A 4 Calendar A 4 Classifieds A 9 Comics a 5 Crossword A 8 Heloise A 4 Horoscope A 9 Obituaries AlO People AS Sports A6,A7,A8 TV A 4
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Accreditation anticipation North Putnam officials ready for important inspection
By BECKY IGO Banner-Graphic News Editor You’ll have to pardon the North Putnam School Jr.-Sr. High School teachers, administration and staff if they seem both anxious and excited, while awaiting one of the most important reviews ever to take place within the school corporation. For in early February, educators and others will be the focus of an in-depth review that will serve as a basis on whether the junior-senior high school will receive accreditation from the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCA). TO BECOME A member, the school must meet standards set by the NCA, which governs not only the staff, but facilities and programs as well. To do this, junior-senior high school educators had to prepare a self evaluation, which covered such areas as the school and community, philosophy and objectives, educational program, student activities, learning media, student services, school facilities and staff and administration. The self evaluation also covered subject areas including agriculture, art, business education, driver and traffic safety, English, foreign language, health education, home economics and industrial technology. Also, mathematics, music,
about next week, as well as be low-zero temperatures overnight. But until then at least, State Road 240 travelers will get a chuckle out of Grimes’ humor. (BannerGraphic photo by Gary Goodman).
maintained its rythmic progress and I began to count freight cars. Eighty-eight in all I figured, estimating the first 30 or so. I had only reached 41, however, when both eastbound and westbound progress ground to a complete halt at 6:17 p.m. FORTUNATELY, THERE WERE no passengers to hear my comments. And I noticed the guy behind had jerked himself upright at the 90und of chain-reaction bumping of freight cars. I tried to check the rearview mirror to gauge the length of the traffic to the north, which appeared to extend to the viaduct beyond Kroger. But remember, this was 6:15 p.m. on a Sunday, not 4 o’clock on a weekday afternoon. I fiddled with the radio dial, resuming my freight-car count. And about the time I tuned in the Sports Writers on Chicago’s WGN, the eastbound train cleared the CSX track. Within a couple of minutes, the westbound freight had done likewise, and we were cm our way again 20 minutes after encountering the railroad roulette. No emergency vehicles were delayed thankfully, but one of the pizza delivery men who promises 30 minutes or free was stuck in the northbound line. I somehow didn’t feel sorry for him. But I did decide to investigate what’s been causing these recent delays. GREENCASTLE POLICE CHIEF Jack Hanlon informed us that state law prohibits any CoL3, back page, this section
physical ducation, science, social studies, special education, along with trade, technical and vocational education. PREPARATIONS FOR the NCA evaluation began almost two years ago, according to math teacher Shirley Steward, who serves as chairman of the Steering Committee which oversees the entire project. Working with Steward on the Steering Committee are North Putnam Jr.-Sr. High School Principal Bill Schad, social studies teacher Bill Brothers, English teacher Roger Cook, art teacher Linda Gjesvold, home ec teacher Jacque McGaughey, science teacher John Moser and Supt. Tom Rohr. Meanwhile, the entire high school faculty has been involved in preparing the self-evaluation reports. Serving as committee chairmen toward that end are Linda Patrick, Betty Job, Ron Price, Lisa Leonard, Kay Greeson, Gaylene Layton, Jim Brothers, Andy Maier, Linda Gjesvold, Charlene Logan, Elaine Chase, Pat Gottschalk, Phil Myers, Jacque McGaughey, Don Steward, Shirley Steward, John T. Wilson, John Moser, Edith Lake and retired educator Anne McKeehan. The repot, which covers 24 subject areas, also includes input from school board members, the community and students, Steward said.
Public invited to tour Shenandoah facility this Friday
The first of Greencastle’s four new industrial residents will open its doors to the public for the first time this Friday, Jan. 29. Shenandoah Industries, a division of Automotive Industries, will hold a public open house 3-8 p.m. Friday at its plant site at Fillmore and Indianapolis roads, company officials have announced. The 200,000-square-foot facility began manufacturing plastic auto trim parts in early December and its first shipment went out Dec. 10. At present, there are 39 employees working in the new plant, Shenandoah personnel manager Dorothy Stringer said Monday. MRS. STRINGER, who retired from 27 years as personnel manager at Mallory Capacitor Co. last August, said visitors will be able to tour the plant and view displays of the products to be manufactured locally. In addition, the injectionmolding equipment will be running and employees will be on hand to explain the process. Shenandoah officials will be stationed throughout the facility to direct visitors through the plant Refreshments will be served. Shenandoah officials anticipate a good turnout, especially since the weather is due to warm up again by the end of the week. According to Plant Manager Bill Radle, Shenandoah is
Eight hours needed to pick jury Monday
By JOE THOMAS Banner-Graphic Assistant Editor Attorneys trying the child molesting case of Randy Traver spent eight hours Monday in Putnam Circuit Court questioning panelists in a search of a 12-person jury. Traver, 29, Greencastle, is charged with two counts of child molesting. He allegedly engaged in sexual intercourse or deviate sexual conduct with an eight-year-old girl and a six-year-old girl. Both counts are class B felonies.
In each report, the committee identifies what they see as the strengths and weaknesses of that particular program, and makes recommendations for improvement. AND AFTER ALL the preliminaries, the work will come under review Feb. 2-5 by the North Central evaluation team, which will make an on-site visit to the school, Steward says. The NCA evaluation team will be comprised of 18 members, who are educators themselves. “Fifteen of those people are from North Central,” Steward pointed out, “and the other three represent the vocational and technical education areas.” The team will take a close look at the facilities and programs being offered. Members will compare their perception of the school with the self evaluations prepared by the North Putnam staff. “I’ve even heard that sometimes some of them may go into a community and ask people there about the school system,” Steward said. ‘That is possible.” THE TEAM PREPARES its own report, identifying strengths and weaknesses of each program area. Areas identified as weak will be accompanied with a recommendation for improvement, Steward explained. After the formal visitation ends, a detailed report of the 24 subject
presently manufacturing parts normally made at the company’s Slrasburg, Va., plant. The Greencastle operation is expected to begin producing its first regular product door assemblies for the Ford Ranger in August. Those parts will be shipped to the Ford truck plant in Louisville. SHENANDOAH’S contract with Diamond Star, the Chrys-ler-Mitsubishi joint venture under way in Bloomington, 111., won’t result in full production at the local plant until January or Februaryl9B9, Radle notes. The company, however, has gradually added employees, and is expected to be at its promised 200 marie by August or September. Automotive Industries announced plans to locate on 40plus acres of the old IBM property just over a year ago Jan. 22,1987, to be exact. SINCE THAT announcement, three other industrial residents have chosen Greencastle for new plants TechnoTrim, a join venture of Johnson Controls and Tachi-S, which will make auto seat covers; Charming Shoppes, to be located in the old IBM building as a clothing distributor, and the newly-announced Shigeru Industry Co. Ltd., a Japanese firm making plastic auto trim parts, which will utilize the former Ryan Building.
TRAVER IS BEING represented by Greencastle attorney James Houck, while the prosecution is being handled by deputy prosecutors Dianna LaViolette and Anne Flannelly. The attorneys took all day Monday questioning prospective jurors, ensuring they were not only unbiased, but would not be repulsed by the sexually explicit testimony they are likely to hear in the case. During the jury selection process Houck told the prospective jurors Col. 5, back page, this section
areas is issued to the school by the chairman of the visiting committee. Serving as NCA evaluation team chairman is Bud Bearss, director of Elementary and Secondary Education at South Adams Schools in Berne, Ind. Then comes, perhaps, the most important aspect of the evaluation, according to Steward. “Once you find out what may be wrong, you need to address it,” she said. “AH is not good if change and planning doesn’t come from it.” Therefore, the school should be prepared to plan ways it can improve the educational programs based upon the recommendations given by the school’s staff and the visiting committee, Steward says. “WE WILL BE asked to set goals and there will be time limits for setting those goals,” Steward explained. “Those will be given to the faculty, administration and school board.” The school may study changes and implement them immediately, make changes in the near future or plan for changes in the more distant future via short-term and long-term planning. Once a school receives accreditation by the NCA, it must be reevaluated every seven years, Steward notes. At that time, the entire process begins again with selfevaluation reports started by the Col. 1, back page, this section