The Mail-Journal, Volume 8, Number 9, Milford, Kosciusko County, 31 March 1971 — Page 1

Phones: 658-4111 & 457-3666

VOLUME 8

Shoot Out Thursday At Hickory Lounge

Armondo Obiedo, 22, Milford, remains a patient in the intensive care ward of the Goshen hospital today as the result of a shoot out last Thursday night with Dean Speicher, 36, Nappanee. The shooting occurred at about 9:45 p.m. in the Hickory Lounge at Milford. Obiedo. a Mexican American, is also known as Pedro “Pete” Mendoza He has been in Milford for about a year, residing with his sister and brother-in law. Mr and Mrs Nicholas Hernandez, in their apartment on Mam street Milford police chief Don Drake's report show£ Obiedo and Eddie Osbaldo Salinas. 23. also of Milford, entered the Hickory Ixiunge on Milford'S Mam street a little after 9 pm, Thursday The record shows both Obiedo and Salinas appeared to have been drinking They annoyed customers in the lounge and according to Dean Speicher, cook and fkxirman. and Mary Liniger. owner, they were refused service when they or dered Speicher related to investigating officers that Obiedo took a swing at him and was in turn sprayed with mace Salinas also took a swing and was sprayed with the chemical which is much like tear gas Both were assisted to the front door by Speicher Pair Het urns Some 15 to 20 minutes later both men re-entered the tavern Obiedo pulled a gun which was spotted by Mrs Liniger She called for Speicher who was in the cooler working Speicher came out and seeing the gun stated he was concerned a patron might get shot He therefore threw up a hand to attract the pair’s attention, grabbed a gun from under the counter and ran tbward the kitchen The pair followed Speicher told investigating officers he told the two to go home and "sleep it off ' His answer was said to have been “you're dead” as Obiedo pulled the trigger on his 22 caliber German made pistol The gun. however, did not go off Speicher's P-38 Herman made gun also failed to fire As Speicher was injecting another cartridge the gun fired The cartridge struck the facing on the doorway where Obiedo was standing, knocking wood from its casing poor to hitting Obiedo in the abdominal area Drake stated the bullet went in about 14 inches below the belt buckle and slightly to the left Obiedo threw his gun into the bar room where it landed on the floor Mrs Liniger picked the gun up and took it into the kitchen She later stated this was done so no one else would get it Following the shooting Salinas was taken into custody and held overnight in the county jail as a material witness Statements have been taken from some six witnesses following the shooting Both guns were examined. Police failed to find cartridges for Obiedo s gun There were none in the chamber and none in the clip A search of his .personal effects at the hospital revealed nothing. Obiedos brolher inkiw stated the gun was taken from his suitcase at the apartment No arrests have been macft. Investigating the case are Drake, deputy Roger Fellows, sheriff's detective Stan HoWernian and slate police officers Janes E Risner and John Hammersley

Mail Journal i,

Consolidation of THE MILFORD MAIL (E*t. 1888) and THE SYRACUSE - WAWASEE JOURNAL (Est. 1907)

,WKw: THE WEAPONS — Shown above are the two weapons involved in Thursday night’s shooting. The larger one. on the left, is a P-38 and is of German make. It was used by Speicher. The smaller gun is a .22 caliber pistol and is also a German make. The victim was reported to have taken it from his suitcase. 11 fl TELL OF SHOOTING — Tavern owner Mary Liniger and cook Dean Speicher of the Hickory Lounge at Milford tell about last Thursday evening's shooting as state trooper James E. Risner listens. Speicher shot a Mexican-American Armondo Obiedo. also known as Pedro "Pete” Mendota when he entered the establishment with a gun and threatened Speicher. Obiedo remains in the intensive care ward of the Goshen hospital

Hey, Boys And Girls! Enter The Easter Coloring Contest. Win Prizes!

Again this year the Lakeland area merchants and The MailJournal are co-operating to sponsor an Easter coloring contest for the boys and girls of the Lakeland area Boys and girls may enter the contest by coloring the pictures featured in this issue of the paper, then taking them to the sponsoring merchants. Prizes will be awarded to a winner from each sponsoring firm and a grand prize will be given by The MailJournal. The contest rules are as follows: 1. Contest open to children in this area, kindergarten through fourth grades. 2 Paint/ pencil or crayon may be used for coloring 3. Entries must be received at each sponsor's firm not later than Wednesday. April 7. at 12 noon Absolutely no entries will be received at either Mail-Journal office 4 Accuracy and appearance counts. Judge’s decision will be final ; 5. Mount each entry on an 84 inch by II meh sheet of paper which you have labeled with name, address, parent's name, telephone number, school and grade 6 Takeeacheartoon.to the firm which sponsored it before the

deadline for entries The winners will be announced in The Mail Journal the week after Easter. Sponsors of the contest are as follows: Augsburger’s of Milford. Lynnwood Bakery at North W : ebster. Love Furniture at Syracuse. Lavon’s Variety Store at Milford. Farmer's State Bank at North Webster. Manse s Town and Lake Shop in the Wawasee Village. Jot-Em-Down Store of Barbee Lake. Walter s Drugs at Milford. Augsburger’s of Syracuse. Gray’s Super Market of North Webster. Lakeland Office Supply at Syracuse and Campbell's Market at Milford Each store will award $5 cash or merchandise to the winner of its contest with an additional $5 going to the grand prize winner Stationed At Fort Knox Ky. .Allen Conner, son of Mrs. Betty Anderson of Syracuse, entered the U. S. armed services in February of this year and is currently stationed at Fort Knox. Ky His address is: Pvt. Allen Conner 305-60-5732 15-14 Platoon 1 Bravo Fort Knox. Ky 40121

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 31, 1971

Board Begins Construction Bid Study Members of the Lakeland school board and the Lakeland School Construction Co., Inc., met with representatives of the architectual firm of Maurer. Van Ryn, Ogden and Natali. Inc., South Bend, last evening to begin an initial study of bids received on March 23. The bids are for new construction in North Webster and to Wawasee high school and for remodeling at Milford and Syracuse. No decisions were reached last evening. Several questions were asked of the architects, many of which had no immediate answer. The architects will follow through with the questions and report to the board when it reconvenes Friday night. Os urgent concern are the tads for the remodeling projects which board members feel should begin as soon as school is dismissed for the summer. _ 1 Firemen Respond To Grass Fire Call The volunteer fire departments of Syracuse and Milford responded to a grass fire call at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday. The fire was along the north side of the B & 0 railroad tracks about a mile west of Syracuse. Cause of the fire was undetermined. This time of year firemen receive a number of grass fire calls that prove inconsequential, but they are faithful in responding to alarms to prevent this possibility of such fires spreading to outbuildings. ■ VISITS IN MILFORD Mr and Mrs. Steve Cain and daughter Angela of Lafayette spent several days last week with Mr and Mrs. Hubert Cain of Milford.

County Dumps Close Tonight The old county dumps will close tonight according to an announcement made this week by county auditor Lawrence Butts. The county’s new landfills will open at 10 am on April 1 and will be in operation in the future The landfills are as follows: Hyman — located on road 400 S. south of Warsaw. Custer — located on 300E and 800 S in Monroe township. Scott — located on 1050 N and 300E in Van Buren township. Likens — located on the Ralph Roberts farm south of road 750 N, north and east of North Webster The Custer landfill will be open from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. Thursday. Friday and Saturday while the other landfills will be open each day except Sunday from 10 until 6. The dumps which have been closed will be patrolled FINED IN GOSHEN HOME FROM FLORIDA Mr. and Mrs. William Kerfin have returned to their Syracuse home following an extended stay at Venice. Fla.

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THEY’RE NUMBER ONE — These four Wawasee high school juniors won state-wide recognition Saturday at the annual Future Teachers of America meeting. * Karen Allen, far left, was chosen as Miss Indiana FTA and will represent not only Wawasee high school but the state FTA

Wawasee’s Future Teuchers Win Stute Honors Suturduy

The Wawasee high school Future Teachers of America Phi Tau Alpha chapter walked off with top honors Saturday at the Indiana state FTA conference held at Arlington high school in Indianapolis. The Wawasee FTA scrapbook won the grand sweepstake award for the best chapter scrapbook in the entire state and Karen Allen won the title of Miss Indiana FTA. The chapter received a plaque for the scrapbook prepared by Nancy Crowl and Jan Criswell. Both girls were present to accept the award. Nancy is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Crowl of r 3 Syracuse and was scrapbook

Syracuse And Area Towns May Lose Passenger Service

Syracuse will probably lose its last remaining passenger trains May 1 or soon afterward, according to plans announced last week by the National Railroad Passenger Corporation The corporation will take over the operation erf the nation's passenger trains May 1. It announced last week that — New York and Washington to Chicago trains would be routed via the ‘current Penn Central lines through Fort Wayne. When the new corporation, takes over, the B & O railroad, which presently operates the passenger trains between Washington and Chicago (through Syracuse) may discontinue them without protest, according to W r iley Spurgeon. Jr., r 1. Spurgeon, a former editor of The Journal, has been active in espousing the need for railroad passenger trains locally. Syracuse will not be alone in its loss of passenger trains. Elkhart, now served by three trajns each way daily, will lose all of these. And the new corporation’s trains along the Fort Wayne routing are not scheduled to stop at any other Indiana point. Thus. Warsaw will lose its (wo eastbound and three

artist. Jan is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Criswell of r 3 Syracuse and is FTA historian and scarpbook editor. Sweetheart The new Miss Indiana FTA is the charming daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Dale Allen of r 4 Syracuse. She won her title over seven other finalists. Some of her duties will be to travel around the state of Indiana representing the FTA. Karen will also head the FTA booth at the Indiana state fair next summer. Connie Plank, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Leon Plank of r 4 Syracuse was runner-up for state FTA president. All four girls are juniors at Wawasee high school.

westbound trains, and Plymouth will lose all of its passenger trains. South Bend residents, like those from Syracuse, seeking rail connections to the east, will need to travel to Fort Wayne or Chicago to get them. Spurgeon described the new corporation’s service as “extremely limited.” While trains are supposed to be better (equipment from western roads — and possibly the current B & 0 routing — will be used to re-equip the Penn Central trains), with ' expanded dining, lounge and sleeping car facilities, there will likely be only one train each way — from Chicago through Fort Wayne. It will be split at Harrisburg, Pa., with cars going from there to both Washington and New York. Story Hour Saturday At Syracuse Library Another children s hour will be held Saturday at the Syracuse Public Library according to an announcement by children’s librarian Mrs. Oscar Bjella. and all ages are welcome. Theprogram will start at 10:30 a.m. and will include a movie.

organization next year. Connie Plank, second from left, was run-ner-up for the post of state FTA pt’esidenl. Nancy Crowl and Jan Criswell are shown with the school's scrapbook and plaque it won as the grand sweepstakes winner. Nancy i&«crapbook artist and Jan is FTA historian and scrapbook editor.

Car Stolen By Runaway While Couple Attends Church Saturday

The 1966 Chevrolet owned byLewis and Beulah Lentz of Milford was stolen Saturday night by a runaway from, the Bashor Boys Home in Goshen as the couple was attending church services at the Christian church. William Reneker. assistant probation officer, stated the boy is 14'and has been forsaken by his parents who are presumablyliving in Arkansas. The boy walked from Goshen to Milford where he stole the car, driving it south on state road 15. He said he turned east on Arthur street in Warsaw and lost control. The auto crashed through a yard and fence It the Lloyd Berkey residence at 602 North Detroit and continued through the property of Paul Mesencew at 513 North Ellsworth street before hitting a garage. Damages were listed at S6O to

Kindergarten Round-Up Set For A>ril 19 The Syracuse elementary school will have its annual kindergarten round-up in the school cafeteria at 7 p.m. on Monday, April 19. All children eligible to attend kindergarten at Syracuse during the next school year should attend this round-up with their parents. The children will be enrolled at the round-up. To be eligible to attend kindergarten at Syracuse in September. a child must be 5-years-old on or before September 1, and his parents or guardian must reside jin Turkey Creek township. To facilitate the enrollment of these children, parents are requested to bring the legal birth certificate to the round-up. (Hospital certificates are not acceptable.) Legal birth certificates are obtainable from the health department of the county in- which the children were born. If you do not have a legal birth certificate for your child, you

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the Berkey residence, $350 to the garage and $495 to the car. Following the accident the boy fled on foot. Upon being informed of the accident Milford police chief Don Drake immediately began looking for its owners. He was unable to locate them. At approximately 8:30 p.n). Drake received a call from the Lentz’s son-in-law Clifford Replogle of Milford reporting the vehicle as stolen. A search continued throughout the night for the car’s driver. At 6:30 Sunday morning the young runaway was spotted along the railroad tracks north of Warsaw. He was caught a short time later near the Warsaw Furniture factory and booked at the county jail where he was held for authorities from Elkhart county.

should send for it now. At the round-up, parents and future kindergarteners will meet the school nurse, Mrs Clarence Eby, the two kindergarten teachers, Mrs. Milton Brice and Miss Karel Hollingsworth, the principal, Robert D Hamman, and other parents and children. They will also have an opportunity to tour both kindergarten rooms informally and visit the teachers there. The children will not just be bystanders, they will be actively, involved while visiting the rooms. If anyone knows families with eligible children, please let them know about this round-up. All who know a family with a child old enough for first grade in September, but who did not attend kindergarteri this year should have them contact the school office. Children who do not attend kindergarten must be tested to determine they should enter first grade or kindergarten. “Your assistance is most sincerely appreciated, said Robert D. Hamman, principal.