Nappanee Advance-News, Volume 127, Number 50, Nappanee, Elkhart County, 9 December 2004 — Page 1

News

01. 127 Issue 50

t INFO MEETING On June 21, 2004 the Nappanee City Council passed Ordinance # 1362, known as the Minimum Housing Code of the City of Nappanee. The purpose of this ordinance is to provide minimum requirements to prevent the decay and deterioration of buildings within the City of Nappanee. On Dec. 9, at 7:30 p.m. the city will host an informational meeting covering the Minimum Housing Code and the inspection process for rental properties. This meeting will take place at Nappanee City Hall located at 300 W. Lincoln Street. Any questions you may have will be addressed at this meeting. Owners of all rental property within the limits of Nappanee are required to register their units with the City before Dec. 30,2004. Any questions may be addressed to Don Lehman at Nappanee City Hall (574) 773-2112. CURRENT CLUB The Current Club will meet on Monday, Dec. 13 at 1:30 p.m. in the home of Linda Thompson, 950 N. Main St.. A presentation will be given by Pastor Jan Brown, and a holiday goody exchange will take place. CLASS OF 1944 The Nappanee High School Class of 1944 will meet for breakfast at the Country Table Restaurant on Jan. 6 at 8:30 a.m. SANTA'S WORKSHOP The Loft Art Studio in Bremen, 4122 SR 331 South, will hold two gift-making workshops on Dec. 14 and 16 for kids. Children between the ages of five and seven will meet on Dec. 14, and those between the ages of eight and twelve will meet on Dec. 16. Projects in this top-secret workshop are confidential, but moms and dads can rest assured that kids will come away with a great handmade gift they’ll be proud to give to parents, grandparents, teachers, or friends for the holidays. Cost is $25 per student. Payment is due upon registration, which ends Friday, Dec. 10. Call (574) 546-2038 for more info or go to www.loftartstudio.com . BEAUTIFICATION AWARD NOMINATIONS SOUGHT Nominations are now being accepted for the 4th quarter Beautification Award. The 4th quarter qualifications include new businesses only. A letter or phone call to nominate a business will be accepted until Dec. 31. Please reply by sending a letter to the Nappanee Chamber of Commerce, 451 N. Main St., Nappanee, IN 46550 or telephone the Chamber of Commerce at 574-773-7812.

.■

library honors its volunteers with gala

The Nappanee Public library held its annual Appreciation Gala on Dec. 2, to honor the many supporters and 190 volunteers, program partners and presenters who have helped provide library services and programs during the past year. Guests were treated to an evening of hors d'oeuvres, awards and a special mystery drama presented by Playhouse Productions entitled "You Stole My Heart". Since November 2003, 142 library volunteers worked over 2,688 hours shelving books, preparing new materials for circulation, helping with children's programs and special projects, tutoring, assembling mailings and assisting with many other jobs. Ann Evans was recognized for contributing the most hours, with 548 during in the past year. Terry Elphick contributed 456 hours and John Metzler was honored for his 100 hours. Those who worked over 50 hours included Altha Bolin, Diane Carter, Max Gwin, Robin Insco, Julie Kemp, Jennifer Philley, Marge Quakenbush and Edna Reed. Philley and Phillip Benedict tallied the most hours for the Junior Volunteer Program.

Capital Campaign starts with a bang

By Anthony Godson Advance News Editor The Nappanee Community Ampitheatre's Capital Campaign got kicked off on Dec. 6, as the Nappanee Civic Theatre donated SIO,OOO towards.ihfi project. "With it also being in entertainment, we felt it would be a good way to use money from our fundraisers," Nappanee Civic Theatre Executive Director Steve Loucks said. Although the campaign doesn't officially kick off until Dec. 15, Nappanee Chamber of Commerce President Larry Andrews said that donations are welcomed anytime from here on out. "Checks can be made out to the City of Nappanee Gift Fund," Andrews said. "In the memo portion of the check, people can write Amphitheater Project." From Dec. 15 through January, a 25-person volunteer team will be all over the community, spreading the word about the ampitheatre.

Merchants get a heads up on bad checks

By /Whony Godson Advance News Editor The Nappanee Retail Committee took time out of its Dec. 2 meeting to play host to the first of several presentations from the Elkhart Prosecutor's Office, addressing check deception. The Prosecutor's Office has designed a new diversion program for individuals who write bad checks. Anyone who writes a bad check, knowing that it will not be honored, is committing a class A misdemeanor, and is eligible for the program. The penalty is a class D felony if the check is at least $2,500. "(Elkhart County Prosecuting Attorney)

Imß

ADVANCE NEWS PHOTO/ANTHONY GADSON Stacy Jeter, from the Elkhart County Prosecutor’s Office, helps local merchants on what they can do if they encounter any cases of check deception.

Serving Nappanee & Wakarusa

PLU 3718

made a presentation of books in honor of all of the library volunteers, literacy tutors, friends of the library board and the board of trustees. Specjal recognition was given in memory of longtime volunteer Juanita Kurtz. "Juanita's love of reading and her enthusiasm for sharing that with the community were evident in her involvement at the library and also in her work as a volunteer at the schools," Yoder said. Recently, the library learned that upon her passing in May, Juanita had left the library a generous donation of over $56,000. "We appreciate her generosity so much," Yoder said. The gift will be placed in the Nappanee Public Library Endowment Fund to support the future library programs and services as a permanent legacy. The library board will place a bronze plaque in the Adult Fiction area of the library in memory of Kurtz and her dedication and commitment to the Nappanee community.

"Some people may want to make their donation in 2004, in order to use it was a tax deduction," Andrews said. Andrews and Ampitheatre Project Chairman Greg Taylor were at the Nappanee Public LtbrarrnTi Dec. 6' for a press conference, getting the campaign underway. "I'm really excited," Taylor said. "It will be an extension of everything Nappanee has done in the past. We have the support of everyone I've talked to: The school superintendent, the mayor, (park superintendent) Wayne Schuemann and the group at the park board." Working with the park board is something Taylor is adamant about. "We do nothing without authority from the park board," he said. "We want to be totally under the supervision, of the park board." The SIO,OOO donation from the civic theatre gets the ampitheatre one step closer to reality, as the nine-member ampitheatre committee tries to raise

Curtis Hill developed the program and wanted to kick it off in Nappanee," Nappanee Chamber of Commerce Director Larry Andrews said. "We're proud to the be first place, and we're looking forward to working with the prosecutor's office." The holiday season is the most opportune time for people to write bad checks. Statistics show that almost 2 million checks are written per day that end up bouncing. According to Elkhart County Check Deception Diversion Program Coordinator Stacy Jeter, there were 174 summons in an eight-week span in the county for check deception.

Thursday, December 9,2004

Ik; Tat. fiMA r, , II: , rJ lpl|l §llll 'J'jkfaj . f , W ||f|| ||f|g, - ■■■ Hll ukwM i M r W’ c v •* ; qßgj|gjlj

ADVANCE NEWS PHOTO/ANTHONY GADSON Volunteers and supporters were treated to a mystery drama performed by Playhouse Productions.

Yoder went on to note that special projects this year have included Families First, an initiative that is bringing together many program partners in Elkhart County to help ensure that all children in the community are healthy and ready to start school. Workshops for parents with children from infant

$50,000 by the end of May. The money must be raised by June 9, in order to receive -a $25,000 matching grant the Nappanee Leadership Academy worked for from the Elkhart Community Foundation: If the $50,000 is raised, then the corn* mittee will have $75,000 to work with, but SIIO,OOO to $150,000

The latest artist conception of the ampitheatre.

to pre-school age are the focus, bringing together health and education resources to meet the needs and interests of parents during these critical child development years. "Our goal is to be this community's resource center," Yoder said. On average, 450 people visit

will be needed to completely do the project. "We are hoping that the capital campaign will raise SIOO,OOO, in addition to the grant," Taylor said. Taylor foresees that ampitheatre* will seat between 1,500 to See THEATRE, Page 4

"It is very prevalent in Elkhart County," Jeter said. To help deter people from writing bad checks, while still keeping the court system open for more serious crimes, Hill and his office developed the diversion program. "It's a balancing act," Hill said. "How do we get businesses their money, while holding the people accountable for their actions, without clogging the system." The pre-trial diversion program was the solution. "We want to give people the opportunity to do better," Hill said. In the past, if businesses were unable to get the money from the writer of the bad check, they would have to go to small claims court, which ends up costing more than what w r as taken; "Someone might write a bad check at a shoe store for $45," Hill said. "The business then spends thousands of dollars on a $45 check." Now businesses have a new option to recover their losses. The first step is to send a certified letter to the writer of the bad check, with a return receipt requested. If the letter is not returned within 10 days, a packet, which can be picked up at the local law enforcement agency or online at w’ww.elkhartcountyprosecutor.com, can then be sent to the Check Deception Division. Once the files are delivered to the prosecutor's office, they are reviewed and submitted to the county clerk's office, which leads to the check writer being summoned Sm DECEPTION, Page 3

50c

574-773-3127

the library each day, and during the past -year, 544 programs have been held for children and adults. "Those are amazing numbers for a community this size and for a staff this size," Yoder said. "And, as always, our program partners and our volunteers are at the heart of it all."

End of the year business By Anthony Godson Advance News Editor The City Council breezed through another quick meeting on Monday, with only a couple ordinance up for reading , followed by reports from department superintendents. Ordinance No. 1375 was first on the agenda, passing on its third reading. The ordinance amends a prior ordinance that dealt with miscellaneous fees. The first reading of an ordinance to transfer funds was passed on its first reading, then the rules were suspended to allow for a second reading, which was also approved unanimously. "Usually this time of year is when we transfer funds," Mayor Larry Thompson said. Nappanee transfers funds where needed once a year, but that isn't the case for all municipalities. "In a lot of towns, I see them transfer often," Clerk/Treasurer Kim Ingle said. The council suspended the rules in order to pass the ordinance on its second reading on Monday night because the matter needs to be taken care of in a timely manner. "It's important to keep it moving," Thompson said. Cities transfer funds from' department to- department to ensure no one is in the "red". The council also approved an ordinance on its first reading, that amends the city's electrical ordinance. There are no major changes in the ordinance just a few tweaks City Attorney Brian Hoffer did to update the ordinance, since itsjast revision in the mid-1980s. "It's not as if it was broken," Hoffer said about the ordinance. "We just changed some procedural issues. I don't want the council to think we were having problems." The council approved $445,469.04 in claims, a number which is high, but according to Ingle, for good reason. "It is really three weeks of invoices and fire department pay," Ingle said. "There were several big line numbers that make this up."