The Mail-Journal, Volume 20, Number 33, Milford, Kosciusko County, 31 August 1983 — Page 1

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VOLUME 20

Slate present board members —

Syracuse Republicans guarantee fall contest

Syracuse Republicans nominated a youthful clerktreasurer candidate and three town board veterans last week in a quick, crisp, IQ-minute caucus. Jennifer L. Hughes, 24, 47 North Shore Drive, won the nomination for clerk-treasurer. A Wawasee High School and Anderson College graduate, Miss Hughes majored in business management at the four-year liberal arts college, and graduated with a BA degree in June. Present town board members Steven Butt, William R. Hughes and Joe Morganthaler were renominated to Wards three, four and five respectively at the GOP gathering. Hess will face , Democrat James McClintic and Morganthaler will run against Joe Hughes in the November 8 town election. Morganthaler was not in attendance at the meeting because of illness. Miss Hughes, who is the daughter of town board trustee James Hughes, will run against Mark Tatman, 30, who won the clerk-treasurer nomination for the Democrats last week. For the first time, the Syracuse Clerk-Treasurer position will be a full-time job. Butt became a member of the town board after resignations left vacancies on the board in 1979. Butt, 36, is a lifetime resident of Syracuse and has served as the * town’s representative to the Kosciusko County Area Plan

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FATALITY IN MILFORD — Kimberly S. Kuhns, 20, Pendleton, was killed instantly early Thursday when her 1975 Ford Granada left SR 15 south of the Turkey Creek bridge in Milford, hit a tree and burst into flames. Authorities believe Miss Kuhns fell asleep while driving. (Photo by Doug Walker)

Car crash in Milford kills Pendleton Woman

By DOUG WALKER A fiery one-car accident on the south end of Milford early Thursday morning resulted in the 10th traffic fatality in Kosciusko County in 1983, and the first in Milford. Kimberly S. Kuhns, 20, Pendleton, was traveling south on SR 15 at approximately 2:30 a.m. Thursday when she apparently fell asleep at the wheel and her 1975 Ford Granada left the road just after crossing the Turkey Creek bridge. The vehicle

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Consolidation o/THE MILFORD MAIL )Est. 1888) and THE SYRACUSE-WAWASEE JOURNAL (Est. 1907)

✓ See photo on page 2 Commission. The board’s liason for the scout cabin and dam control, he is a member of the American Legion and serves as finance officer for the local chapter. A 1963 graduate of Syracuse High School, Butt received an associate’s degree in business administration from the International Business College in Fort Wayne. Hess is semi-retired from Maple City Tool where he has worked for the past 20 years, most recently as plant manager. The liason for the street, water and sewer department, Hess served on the town’s fire department for the past 21 years, and was the department’s chief for 17. A lifetime resident of Syracuse, Hess is a member of the Syracuse Masonic Lodge 454, Scottish Rite of Fort Wayne and Mizpah Temple of Fort Wayne. Morganthaler also became a trustee for the town in 1979. The Republicans also voted to approve a measure that would allow the party’s officers to slate a candidate if one of the candidates withdraws from the race. Age A Plus Although her age will probably be a major question in her quest for clerk-treasuer, Jennifer Hughes said it will be of benefit to her and to the town.

traveled 72 feet and slammed into a large tree, immediately bursting into flames. Miss Kuhns* body was burned beyond recognition. Firefighters were unable to remove her body from the car for over an hour due to the intensity of the explosion. There were no witnesses to the crash. Three units of Milford firefighters reported to the scene of the accident at approximately 2:45 a.m., 'and remained at the location for over two hours. Kosciusko County police and

“I think Syracuse needs someone young in there since it’s a full time job now. I think they need someone with a lot of energy,” she said. While attending college at Anderson, she worked summers and vacations at Thornburg’s Drugs in Wawasee Village. “I feel I have enough experience through my classes and through business to do the job. I’ve had a lot of contact with people and different businesses,” she said. Milford Library grants amnesty to overdue borrowers Mary L. Jurss, Milford librarian, has announced that September 3 through 10 is designated “Amnesty Week” at the Milford Public Library. All fines for overdue materials and all fines on record will be forgiven in an effort to “make a fresh start,” according to the new librarian. The purpose of “Amnesty Week” is to return as many books, magazines and records as possible to save the expense of repurchasing the items. The fine policy will be reactivated after September 10 at the rate of five cents per day per library item, but no more than the price of the library material lost or overdue.

County Coroner Gary Eastlund were unable to positively indentify the body until Thursday afternoon. The vehicle’s license plate led authorities to believe the victim was from the Pendleton area, but positive identification could not be made until dental records were examined. Miss Kuhns was returning home after spending Wednesday in Goshen visiting a former roommate. The last traffic death in Kosciusko County had occured on April 6.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 31.1983

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WELCOME BACK, LISA! — It was just another trip through the familiar front doors of Wawasee High School for sophomore Lisa Maggart, r 1 Cromwell, who was one of about 880 students at Wawasee High School to attend classes Monday morning. Monday was the first day of school for the entire Lakejand Community-Schoo l Corporation. (Photo by Gary Lewis)

First official day of school Monday

Lakeland School Corporation opened its doors Monday for the 1983-84 school year, and according to unofficial enrollment figures, the corporation is up eight students from last year. The official enrollment for the 1982-83 school year was 2,974 and as of Wednesday morning the total number of students enrolled was 2,982. That number is constantly changing, said Lakeland School superintendent Don Arnold, due to families who are still registering their children. Official enrollment will not be known until the end of the week, and the exact number will not be considered firm until after Labor Day. The school-by-school unofficial totals and comparison .to last year’s official enrollment are as follows: Syracuse Junior High, 323 (down 25); Syracuse Elementary, 575 (up 33); Milford Elementary, 370 (down 15); Milford Junior High, 203 (up 21); North Webster Elementary, 392 (down 22); North Webster Junior High, 224 (up 14); Wawasee High School, 882 (up 2). Included in the enrollment are 13 students who participate in the North Central Indiana Special Education Cooperative program. The 13 figure is the same amount of students who participated last year. The official enrollment figure will probably be anywhere from 10 to 12 students higher than Wednesday’s totals. Arnold said the schools opened without any serious problems, except in Syracuse where there is an overcrowding problem on one of the buses. “It was a smooth opening except for some overloaded bus situations in Syracuse and overloaded classes in the elementary school,” he said. The overcrowded bus will probably force the corporation to add one extra bus route, and the classroom situation will have to be taken care of after Labor Day. “We’ll be watching classes closely until after Labor Day,” Arnold said. “We hate to make any switches in classes until we know exactly what the enrollment will be,” he added.

Milford approves $271,530 budget

The Milford Town Board passed its $271,530 budget at a special meeting at the town hall Monday evening. No citizens attended the meeting. The only item changed in the budget was the salary of the deputy marshal, which will now remain at the current level of $8,200. The change was made in order to pay for the school crossing guard, which the town is responsible to provide. The salary for that position will be kept at its current level of S9OO. The board learned that there have been two applications for the crossing guard position, and decided to offer the job to last year’s guard, Noble Fisher, if he wished to continue in the position at its present salary.

The proposed budget will be the subject of a hearing by the Kosciusko County Council sometime between October 31 and November 2. Clerk-treasurer Monica Bice announced that the final SI,OOO bond for a 1955 water improvement project had been paid off. A total of 51 bonds had been issued as “Water Works Revenue Bond of 1955” and were signed by Carl Duncan, the town board president in 1955, and clerk-treasurer Elmer Hartter. The interest rate on the bonds, issued on July 13, 1955, was three and three-fourths percent. The next regular town board meeting will be held at the town hall on Tuesday, Sept. 13, at 7:30 p.m. A Milford EDC meeting will precede the town board meeting.

Lakeland school tax set at $3.77 per SIOO

By GAIL WIDMOYER The Lakeland Community School Board held a special session on Thursday, Aug. 25, to officially approve the budget for the 1984 fiscal year at $3,849,480 with a levy of $3.77 per SIOO of taxable valuation. The increase can be broken down with $2.30 for general funds; .954 for debt services; .25 for cumulative building; and .27 for transporation; making a $2,346,000 increase in general funds; a $973,080 in debt service; a $255,000 in cumulative building; and a $275,400 in transportation for a $3,849,480 total. Net taxable property in the school corporation has dropped to $102,000,000. Superintendent Don Arnold predicted the proposed tax rate “undoubtedly will reduce some,” as it has in previous years. The budget was adopted unanimously by board members. In other business, George Gilbert, assistant superintendent, recommended “that Allen Dairy be awarded the (milk) contract for the 1983-84 school year.” Bids were submitted at an earlier meeting by Auburn and Burger Dairy in addition to Allen and Gilbert noted the bids “were so close we needed to give a break down of the three bids.” Gilbert’s tabulation of the milk quotes and estimates for a year’s usage showed Allen with the lowest Ind of $52,520; Burger with $53,013.50; and Auburn with $55,050. In addition to the lowest bid, Allen also offers a one per cent discount for all bills paid within seven days of receiving statements which would amount to an additional $520 savings. On another item, Arnold informed the board that a SIO,OOO grant towards Lawrence Pletcher’s salary has been awarded the corporation. Pletcher will be working in computer instruction and with the gifted and talented program. The corporation was “pleased to receive the grant” since it will help offset the cost of an added staff member to replace Pletcher’s former position. Don Harper, bus mechanic, was commended for his work since all buses passed inspection the first time through, advised the administration. This is the first time all buses have been approved on the first examination.

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DOCTOR, WIFE HONORED — The Milford Area Development Council honored Dr. and Mrs. William Percy at a reception last Saturday in the Milford Community Building. The new doctor, shown on the right, opened his Main Street office on August 18. During the reception, Dr. Percy’s nurse-receptionist, Esther Hoover, gave tours of the new offices. ’ Pictured at the refreshment table from left are Missy Sorensen, MAD secretary; Evelyn Orn and Becky Doll, who were in charge of the reception; Bernice Dwyer, Edith Baumgartner, Naomi Beer, Theo Beer, Mrs. Percy and Dr. Percy. (Photo by Arch Baumgartner)

Also, all buildings are in good shape for another school year. Mediations between teachers and the administration failed to produce desired results on contract negotiations, so the two groups will be involved in a factfinding session on Monday, Sept. 19, at 7 p.m. This session is open to the public. Board president, Bill Little, commended and thanked Terri Stevens for painting the signs and

Webster's tax rate approved at $2.97

The North Webster Town Board members met on Monday to adopt the following budget: $159,873 for the general fund; $35,324, motor vehicle fund; $6,503, local R & S fund; and $13,474, capital improvement fund. A total tax rate being 2.97. Steve Beaver and Dixie Pryor were in attendance and told the board members all paper work has been finalized and completed and will be mailed to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Division of Outdoor Recreation, before the August 31 deadline; regarding the proposed city park and beach area for the SIOO,OOO federal grant. Also in conjunction with the new proposed public beach and parte, a letter was read from Charles Parker, director of the International Palace of Sports, listing the conditions of the SIOO,OOO donation to the new park. Again there has been no reply from the Triax Corporation as to the progress on cable television. Eve Payne, clerk-treasurer, said she sent them a letter asking them to attend the September 7 monthly meeting. Robert Breyer, trustee, brought it to the attention of the other board members that it is not necessary to order procedure forms. After contacting several people, Breyer said forms can be copied from an original form by a local company for a much lesser amount than ordering the original forms. The street paving has been completed and wort has been

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football field markings; and the 166 corporation volunteers who helped throughout the system last year. Little noted the volunteers were an addition to the corporation and submitted a request foi* more volunteers this year. All items passed unanimously with the next regular school board meeting scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 13, at 7 p.m. in the administration building.

done satisfactorily. The board voted to send Gage Brothers the payment for work done. Also discussed for sometime were benefits for part-time employees. The board voted only full time employees will receive benefits regarding vacations, sick leaves and insurance beginning October 1. The board voted to accept a bid of $1,990 and not to exceed $2,100, for the purpose of slow testing meter calibration and lift station pumps' performance test by Stemmel and Hill. Breyer, questioned the clerk-treasurer, Mrs. Payne, as to how the mail was delivered to the departments. Mrs. Payne reminded the board members all mail directed to the Town of North Webster, is property of North Webster, and copies of all correspondence should be in the clerk’s file. Greg Nance, town marshal, apparently had mail opened that was addressed to him. Mrs. Payne said it was the first time she had deme this, and didn’t think it was out of line. The board then agreed that any mail addressed to an individual be delivered to the person unopened but copies of correspondence be given to the clerk’s office for filing. The resignation of Betty Russell, a dispatcher for the town was read and Greg Nance, town marshal, asked the board’s approval to hire Diana Likens, presently an alternate dispatcher, as a full time employee. (Continued on page 2)