Banner Graphic, Volume 21, Number 15, Greencastle, Putnam County, 20 September 1990 — Page 1

BannerGk apnic Greencastle, Putnam County, Thursday, September 20,1990, Vol. 21 No. 15 35 Cents ■■

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Dreaming of Hardee’s and the homefront By ERIC BERNSEE Banner-Graphic Editor Before Army Spec. Darren L. Riggle’s first letter home arrived in Roachdale, his mother wondered how he’d handle life in the heat of the Sandia desert. Marge Hubble isn’t as worried any more. Sure, she’s apprehensive about the Mideast situation, the Persian Gulf predicament and how her son’s 24th Infantry Division will fit into the scheme of things. But motherly instincts tell her that her 25-year-old son is adapting we 11... if not feeling right at home. “He said (wrote actually), ‘Mom, I’m listening to the radio and eating Hardee’s.’” PRAY TELL, HOW DID Spec. Riggle procure Hardee’s rations in the middle of the desert? Could Radar O’Reilly be his buddy? Even Mrs. Hubble is stumped. “But I know my son,” she laughed, “If there’s food to be found, he’ll find it. He probably paid somebody to bring him Hardee’s.” Spec. Riggle, son of Bill and Marge Hubble, Route 2, Roachdale, and Bob and Gerri Riggle, Fairview Heights, 111., has been in Saudia Arabia since Aug. 27. The 1983 North Putnam High School graduate specializes in artillery surveillance, setting up satellite dishes that can pinpoint enemy targets for his artillery crews. “HE DOESN’T TALK TO ME about it too much,” Mrs. Hubble said. “I don’t think he wants to worry his mother. The only thing he says is that he’s pretty close to the front line when he has to set up the equipment” The Hubbles were able to visit the soldier for a weekend before a 19-hour flight took him from Savannah civilization to Saudia desert. “It was kind of depressing at first. Before we got there we saw all these boys leaving and got right behind a convoy out of Fl Campbell,” Mrs. Hubble said. “We thought we’d missed him when we saw that They seemed in good spirits, though.” Judging by newspaper stories and TV reports, his parents know the 24th Infantry, one of the first divisions sent out from Ft. Stuart, Ga., has moved locations since his letter arrived early last week.

From Cloverdale to Saudia Arabia

By LISA MEYER Banner-Graphic Staff Writer Cloverdale has several natives either in Saudi Arabia or ready to be sent there. Bonnie Hardwick was able to take home videos of her son, Randy Pittman, and his family before he was sent to the Middle East on Aug. 18. Pittman is a flight engineer on a KCIO the huge mid-air fuelers that refuel other fighter and cargo planes during flight Mrs. Hardwick said her son was in Korea, expecting to receive a five day leave to visit his family, when he learned that all leaves had been cancelled because of the Mid East crisis. SGT. PITTMAN WAS LUCKY, however. When he returned to Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in North Carolina, he learned he would still receive his leave. He returned to Cloverdale with his wife, the former Patty Callahan of Cloverdale, and six-year-old daughter, Miranda, for those five days. Since going to Saudi Arabia, he has returned to the United States only once, and that was for just 10 hours at Pope A.F.B. where he did get to see his family. But he did have to miss his daughter’s first day of school the next day.

In the midnight hour

Becoming mostly cloudy overnight with a 50 percent chance of showers and thundershowers developing after midnight. Overnight low in the upper 50s to around 60. Showers and thundershowers likely Friday with high 70 to 75. Likelihood of rain is 70 percent. Winds light and southerly. Indiana Extended Forecast Saturday through Monday, Mostly cloudy Saturday with a chance of showers, followed by cooler conditions on Sunday. Monday will be partly cloudy and wanner. Lows will be in the 50s Saturday morning, in the 40s

Daze Work

cm Sunday and from the middle 40s to around 50 on Monday ; highs will range from the middle 60s in the north to the middle 70s in the south on Saturday, from 65 to 70 on Sunday and in the 70s on Monday. Abby A 4 Calendar A 4 Classifieds Alo,All Comics A 6 Crossword All Heloise A 4 Horoscope All Obituaries All People A 6 Sports Theaters Al 2

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SPEC. DARREN RIGGLE: At the front

THE UNIT HAD BEEN housed in an old Saudia concrete factory. Talk about rock-hard bunks. And the availability of running water? Forget it. All the water available comes from the bottle. Showers are at a premium. “He says it’s super hot They really can’t do anything between 11 (a.m.) and 5 (0.m.) because of the heat. After 5 they hold classes and go about their duties and such. He’s really not too worried about anything happening, but that’s probably because they’re not getting much news.” And while news absorbed on the homefront continues to worry Americans, Spec. Riggle’s loved ones have responded with patriotic spirit. The flag is flying in front of his Roachdale home. Yellow ribbons also adorn the trees and homes of grandparents, Rosanne Riggle and the late Joe “Jody” Riggle, Roachdale, and Lewis and Kate Shrout, Ladoga. “HE SAID IN HIS LETTER to put up extra yellow ribbons for all the troops,” Riggle’s mother said, adding, “He said he wishes it were over and they were all coming home.” That, indeed, would be fine. After all, radio reception and the availability of Hardee’s burgers and fries has to be better here. * ♦ ♦ Anyone wishing to contact Spec. Riggle can do so by writing: Spec. Darren Lee Riggle, 310-84-2907, HHBI/41 FA, 24th Infantry Division, APO, New York 09315. * ♦ ♦ Anyone with further information about other Putnam County soldiers actively involved in the Persian Gulf/Mideast situation is invited to contact the Ban-ner-Graphic at 653-5151 or P.O. Box 509, Greencastle 46135.

Mrs. Hardwick said her six-year-old granddaughter was thinking about her father on the way to school. She said that as Miranda walked with her mother, planes from the base flew overhead and Miranda said, “Bye, Daddy.” MRS. HARDWICK SAID HER son was not able to tell her where he would be, since he will travel all over the Mideast. Pittman has send his mother one postcard since leaving. It came from the Azores. She said anyone wanting to write to her son can address it to his North Carolina home: 829 Lusberry, Goldsboro, N.C. 27534. Bernice Lucas also has a son in Saudi Arabia. AIRMAN JAY LUCAS is a member of the 317th PAW Deployed Mac. He was deployed Aug. 7 and works on the ground crew for Cl4l cargo planes. Mrs. Lucas said she received two letters from her son last week telling of the intense heat and long work days. Lucas wrote that personnel can only shower every two days, shave every three days, have small portions of food, and have no tobacco products except when a flight crew returns with some. Col. 2, Back Page, this section

Third of three escapees pleads guilty

By JOE THOMAS Banner-Graphic Assistant Editor John W. Montgomery, the third of a trio of Indiana State Farm inmates who tried to escape from the Putnamville prison May 19, pleaded guilty to fleeing lawful detention Monday in Putnam Circuit Court. Montgomery, 25, joined James D. Stidd, 25, and William B. Conner, 25, in walking away from the State Fann’s dairy bam at about 10 a.m. May 19. Stidd was captured at about 3 p.m. on the railroad tracks near a train overpass on Manhattan Road. It took the ISF escape squad another seven hours to find Conner, but he was near the same location. Montgomery was not captured until

Main Street sees busy times present, future

By ERIC BERNSEE Banner-Graphic Editor It’s been*three months since Main Street Greencastle bid adieu to its first and only project manager, Bill Dory. Meanwhile, the MSG Executive Committee, so to speak, has been minding the store. And with all that’s been going on lately, finding time to interview possible successors has been tougher than turning onto Indianapolis Road. JUST LOOK WHAT’S happened in Greencastle’s Historic Courthouse Square business district in recent weeks: Hathaway’s restaurant, a unique and nostalgic deli/restaurant, has opened in the basement of 16 S. Jackson St. The upper floors of the same 16 S. Jackson site have seen the law offices of Larry Wilson give way to the national headquarters for the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) and its 20-some employees. On. the north side of the square, Almost Home, a tea room/craft shop has just opened in the restored 17 W. Franklin St, building owned by Bonnie and Bob West, who operate their own Rocking Horse children’s clothing business next door. The historic Fleenor building at the southwest comer of Indiana and Washington is currently being turned into a business called Paper Magic, featuring paper supplies and cabinetry, while the addition of a homemade candy store is also awaited in what was Dory’s Main Street office at 14 S. Indiana St. The Ashley Square Shopping Center part of the so-called Vine Street corridor that links the downtown with the Walden Inn and the DePauw University campus has been purchased by local owners, Rick and Kay Bundy, for the first time in its history. The Bundys have opened a men’s clothing store, the Brass Hanger, there, and an adjacent restaurant/yogurt shop, The Right Stuff, is already thriving. The city administration has voiced a rededication to seeing the 60-space Market Street parking lot become a reality. ALL OF WHICH BRINGS a smile to the face of Main Street Greencastle President Bonnie West. “We’re becoming pressed for space downtown,”

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about 9 a.m. Sunday. He was found in a bam near Reelsville. ALL THREE MEN have now pleaded guilty to either escape or attempted escape. Connor, however, is seeking to have his conviction set aside by seeking post-con-viction relief. Connor is the only one of the three to be sentenced thus far. He received a four-year prison term that runs consecutive to the eightyear term he is serving for three Marion County burglaries. That means he will serve his term for the burglaries before he starts serving his term for attempted escape. Stidd and Montgomery face between two and eight years for their try' at freedom, but neither have been sentenced vet.

WRTV news to feature Greencastle and SPJ A mini-feature on Greencastle and the return of Sigma Delta Chi the Society of Professional Journalists to its local roots was filmed Tuesday for use as an upcoming “Howard Caldwell’s Indiana” segment on the Channel 6, WRTV, news. The feature had been expected to run Thursday night (tonight), but Caldwell said he was unable to prepare the segment in time. It will air, he said Wednesday, either Friday or Monday during the evening news. That means it can be seen sometime 5-6 p.m. Caldwell said he has been doing a series of profiles on Hoosier towns and he has tied the Greencastle piece in with promotion of WRTV’s Antique Auto Tour. The parade of classic cars will come through Greencastle on Saturday, Sept. 29.

she says, thrilled to be talking about such a predicament. “We’re still getting requests. We have some people that are waiting on space in the Old Opera House.” Only two spots the old Pancho Pepper’s restaurant and the Marc Santiago-owned building at the corner of Jackson and Franklin remain vacant on the square. The latter is currently occupied by the Putnam County Democrats, however, and they’ll be around until at least Nov. 7, the day after the general election. “THAT’S A GREAT start-up location,” Mrs. West said of the location that lasted housed the ill-fated Cindy’s All-in-One Shop. The Opera House, planned for rebuilding/restoration on the west side of the square, will certainly ease that pressing need for more space. Approximately 3,600 square feet of retail space will be available on the first floor of the building. Main Street Greencastle is making the project possible with the assistance of a loan package. It includes a $40,000 loan from the City of Greencastle’s Continued on Page AS

Connor, represented by former public defender Cheryl Danberry, is seeking to have his attempted escape conviction set aside for three reasons. FIRST, HE ALLEGES he had incompetent counsel because Danberry did not do all that she could to gain an acquittal in the case. That is a common complaint of inmates seeking to have previous convictions set aside. He also claims he was tricked into pleading guilty after prosecutors threatened to file a habitual offender count against him. The habitual offender is a sentence-en-hancing charge that carries a standard 30-year prison term.

With students’ eyes fixed to her moves, Cynthia Mcllvain from the Dans Ethnick company illustrates the classic “Princess and the Pea” tale through Russian and Polish dances for Fillmore Elementary students. The youngsters were treated to a special story-telling hour through dance Wednesday. The visitors also conducted dance workshops for the children. The special convocation was sponsored by a grant from the Indiana Arts Commission. (BannerGraphic photo by Angie Howland).

Connqj also claims he was victim of double-jeopardy in the case. First, he says, the Conduct Adjustment Board at the State Farm took away his good-time credit. Goodtime credit is a reward inmates receive for behaving behind bars. It grants them two days of credit for each day served, effectively cutting the offender’s sentence in half. HE WAS PLACED in double jeopardy then, he claims, by the Putnam Circuit Court, which added the four-year prison term. Hilary Reeve, a deputy public defender in the Indiana Public Defender’s office, has been appointed to represent Connor. No court dates have been set in that case.